Lesson 7: Witnessing and Sending

Introduction

In this lession, we shall learn the following

What is the mission of the Church?

What role does an individual play in the mission of the Church?

What role does a local church play in the mission of the Church?

What is the mission of the Church?

What do you understand by the word missions or Christian missions?

Christian mission is the organised effort by Christians to carry on evangelism in the name of Jesus Christ. It is following the Christ’s call to share the gospel with the lost world through God’s wisdom and strength.

What is evangelism?

Evangelism is the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ with unbelievers, with the goal and intention that they may believe the message of the gospel, repent, and believe in Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life.

How different are missions from evangelism?

Missions cross cultural boundaries in order to proclaim the gospel. Examples of missions include those which brought Christianity to Uganda, for example, the Church Missionary Society and the White Fathers. These groups crossed racial and cultural boundaries to spread the gospel to people who had never heard about Jesus Christ.

Those who go on such missions are called missionaries. Not every Christian is a missionary. Only those who have crossed cultural boundaries may be considered as missionaries.

Evangelism is the spreading of the gospel with people of the same culture. Sharing the gospel with your next door neighbour or your kaalo mates isn’t mission but evangelism. Going to South Sudan or even in Karamoja to spread the gospel is mission.

Who are called to the task of evangelism?

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What do we observe about missions from this passage?

Go

The first thing we see is the going of people to make disciples. This is an intentional act by people to go out to fulfill the great commission.

Make Disciples

The word disciple simply means one who follows the teachings of someone else. Therefore, those who go out are to make followes of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

How do we make disciples of all men?

Baptizing them. We baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Teaching them. We teach them to observe the things that Jesus commanded His apostles to teach the Church. Those teachings are found in the New Testament. Basically, we teach the whole counsle of God, both in the Old and New Testaments, showing how the Old Testament was prophecy of what God was going to do to save His people, and how the New Testament is a fulfillment of those prophecies.

I am with you

In our definition of missions, we said, “It is following the Christ’s call to share the gospel with the lost world through God’s wisdom and strength.” When Jesus promises to be with His Church during missions or evangelism, He is

All Authority

The missions we carry out are under the authority of Jesus Christ. They are not under our authority or dominion. It’s under the authority of Christ. And He exercises His authority in saving those whom He wills. Our job is to preach the gospel.

Triune God

Mission is the work of the Triune God. Baptism is in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is not 3 names but one name. Yahweh.

Missions is how the Church collectively fulfills the Great Commission.

Missions in the Old Testament

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Many of us have come to think that this blessing is material things. Many of us even relate this to the current nation of Israel, especially with regard to the wars its engaged in, and therefore do not see any wrong with whatever they do.

But this blessing relates to something specific.

What is the blessing of Abraham?

Acts 3:25–26 ESV

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Galatians 3:8–9 ESV

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The blessing of Abraham is salvation. In Abraham, all the families of the earth would be blessed. God’s intention was that, through Abraham, all the nations of the earth would receive His free gift of grace, salvation in Jesus Christ.

Therefore the Church’s mission is to go and make disciples of all nations.

What role do individuals play in the Church’s mission?

The Church is not an organisation or an NGO. It’s a the body of Christ, made up of individuals who have been saved by the grace of God. You are the Church. Therefore, when we talk about the Church’s mission, we are talking about the mission of the body of Christ, whose member you are individually, if you have been saved.

When we talk of witnessing, we are referring to evangelism and missions, the preaching of the gospel worldwide.

What is the motivation for witness?

Mark 12:29–31 ESV

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Our motivation is love for God and love for neighbour. If we love God, we shall be concerned and enthusiastic about His work. What is His work? John 6:29 “Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.””

Therefore, Christians should be

Secondly, motivation for witnessing is love for neighbour. All those who are not born again are under the judgement or condemnation of God John 3:18 “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Their only hope to avoid the wrath of God is to believe in Him. Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Our call, the Great Commission, is to go out and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, to not share the gospel with your neighbour is not to love them.

What are some of the things that inhibit our sharing the gospel?

Fear

Persecution

Rejection

How do we go about evangelism?

Pray

First we pray to God. Why? Because only God can open their hearts. Therefore, we pray that God may open their hearts otherwise evangelism is useless. We do not convert anyone. Only God changes the hearts of men to believe the gospel.

Matthew 9:37–38 ESV

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

2 Corinthians 4:3–6 ESV

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Our role to present a compellng case for the gospel. They are not converted becaue of our eloquence but because God has changed their heart to believe the gospel of His Son. We do not have to manupulate them into a decision.

Love

Love for people should motivate our prayers. So many of us do not care about those who are perishing, yet we claim to love God with all our hearts, all our soul. all our strength, and all our mind.

Ezekiel 18:23 ESV

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

God does not delight in the death of the wicked, yet some of us are so indifferent to the fact that so many are perishing

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Love is the root of all mission. God’s love is what led to the great mission by Him to save the world. Our missions must be rooted in love for God and people. Just like He sent His Son, He sends us out.

Just lTherefore, our love shold be manifest in our love for people, to the point of praying regularly for them that God may change their hearts to believe the gospel.

Invite

We must invite people, invite them to our churches, to our homes, to have conversations about the gospel. We should also remember that preaching the gospel, while urgent, is not a one day event. It will certainly require patience and perseverance on our part.

Just look back at your life. You probably did not get saved at the first time of asking. In fact, some people probably persisted with you, inviting you over and over again until you accepted. Then, eventually you believed through the preaching of the gospel, and, as they say, the rest is history.

We must also be patient and persevere with those around us, our families and friends.

Speak

Lastly, we must speak. There is a saying, “Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.

Who can tell me what the problem with this statement is?

The gospel is to be preached and lived out. There must be preaching.

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”