Missions

INTRODUCTION

What is the most common thing we think of when we hear the word missions. Other countries right? We hear the word missions or hear of a mission and we assume that they are talking about someone in another country or an organization trying to help people on another continent that the one we live in. We think of third world countries that have nothing and need the gospel.

We think of similar things when we hear the word missionary. Our first thought often times is someone who uproots their original home and moves to another country or continent. We have it in our minds that they help other groups of people. They have to go around from church to church asking for support so that they can achieve their ministry goals. Even the Oxford dictionary has something about how missionaries are typically sent to another country in its definition.

Those are the things we naturally think about when we hear the words mission and missionary. But what if I told you that you were called to be a missionary. You were called to the missions field. As I see many of you looking around a sweating a little bit let me explain what I mean. Jesus actually called all of us to be missionaries and to be on the missions field. But get this there is actually more than just a missions field in another country. You actually dont have to go to another country to be a missionary or to be on the mission field. You see there are three main missions fields out there that we can find ourselves in and the thing is that all of us are called to one of the three. Jesus calls all of us to be missionaries. We find this call in Acts 1:8. Lets turn there together and look at the first missions field Jesus calls people too.

TEXT

Here is a little background before we look at the first missions field. Jesus is about to ascend into heaven and leave this earth and He is talking to His disciples for the last time. And he calls them to be missionaries. But wait he doesn’t use the word missionary so how does he call them to that. What do missionaries do? They witness, they bring the gospel to people, they bring Jesus into people’s lives. Jesus was calling the disciples to be missionaries and was calling them to several different fields. He says Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and finally the ends of the earth. Jerusalem was one mission field, Judea and Samaria were another, and the ends of the earth was another. The first mission field we are going to look at that Jesus mentioned is Jerusalem.

What was Jerusalem to the disciples? It was the epicenter. It was their home city. It was their local people. The people they knew and could connect with. The people they could very easily talk to and have conversations with. This first missions field that Jesus was calling the disciples too was local. It wasn’t far away. Jesus wasn’t calling them to the ends of the world first. Jesus was calling them to their local community. The people they knew and did life with. The people they would normally pass on the street. The people they had the most report with. And many stayed in Jerusalem for a long time preaching to the local people. Jesus didn’t want his own people neglected from the gospel and his story. He wanted to make sure that the very people in their own community were getting what they needed as well. And look what happened. Acts 2:40-47. Their own local body was changed. Their community was impacted. A huge number of people were changed. Then those people were able to reach out to their families and their friends and more people were being added because their community was being changed.

The disciples were being missionaries on a mission field. They were just being missionaries to their own people. They were bringing the gospel to their own people the people around them. And they were doing life with them. That was a huge key of being a missionary. The most successful missions you hear about are groups that do life with the people they are doing the gospel with. Because bringing the gospel to people is more than just taking your bible and throwing it at them and leaving. Its about embodying the thing you're talking about to those people. Thats what the disciples were doing. Peter didn’t just throw Jesus at them and then leave them to figure out life on their own now that it was changed. They continue to disciple and live life with them.

They were being missionaries on the mission field. Bringing the gospel and living life with people helping them in everyday life as well. And you know who else did something similar to the disciples. Jesus! Jesus told his disciples to do all of this because he did it himself. Who did Jesus start preaching too. His own people. The people who he knew the most. The people he already did life with. The people who he passed on the street on a regular basis. Jesus knew the importance of bringing what you have to those around you. The people in your community because those are the people you can have a great impact with.

The same thing goes for us. We are called to be missionaries on a missions field. And to be honest the majority of us are going to be called to “Jerusalem.” Actually really all of us are called to it. Because we are to minister to our own community and bring the gospel to the people we do life with everyday. The people we pass on the street. The people we have the most report with. Those are some of the people we are going to have the most impact with.

You know some of us are called to Judea and Samaria. Judea and Samaria was their borders. For us our Judea and Samaria is a state. Our border to border. Acts 8:1. You see at first the disciples were doing exactly what Jesus said. They were staring in their community, but they began to forget about the second part. To continue to spread out. It took a persecution to finally get them out of their community and to the borders. At this point the church has grown and the number of people following Christ is bigger meaning they can have a larger reach. There are more people from different places. They can bring the gospel to places where they know there is a need. They know the need well and have a heart for those people. Maybe that is you. Maybe you know the needs not only in our community but you see a greater need in the surrounding areas. You see this great need for the gospel in the borders of Missouri and you want it to reach border to border. Maybe God is calling you to be a missionary in a bigger mission field. Maybe God is calling you to a need outside of our small community. Those people in the scripture when they spread out brought the gospel to where they were and more people were added to the number of Christians.

But maybe you are called to a bigger missions field and that is bringing the gospel to the ends of the world. Maybe you have a heart to bring the gospel to the rest of the world. Thats what they were doing all throughout the new testament after the were scattered. They brought it to the edges of their own known borders. and because they did that even more people were added.

But here is the thing not all of us fall into that category. Or into the judea and samaria category. God doesn’t call everyone to those missions field. However, what are we supposed to do for those who are called. Support them. Which is more than just with money. We support by volunteering to help, and by praying. We help them try to be as successful as possible because they are doing something that we are ourselves are not called to. Here is the thing we are all called to minister to our communities. We are all called to be missionaries to our communities. That is why the church was created. We plant a church somewhere to minister to that community. Not to just minister to the people within the walls. Our main job is to minister to our community and the people outside of our doors. Ministering to our people in the walls is very important, but we are also called to be missionaries on the mission field. The mission fields are different but we are all called to them in different ways.

Let me give you some help. Do you want to know the best way to be a missionary. How to bring the gospel to people? Live life with them. Be Christ. It can open doors you didn’t think possible.