The Global Church

Announcements:

Friday Night - Guy’s Night

Prisoners in texas = $53,863 in a month

Next Saturday - pass around sign up sheet

Halloween - We Need Your Help!

Recap last week - the local church

Light of the world

We aren’t to hide

From each other

From the world

Breakout Groups - where we started the process of becoming real with each other

The Global Church

What it is and it’s mission

Same as local church........to be witnesses to the ends of the earth

We are all one family

Example: Family Reunions - you know those awkward get togethers where you have to pretend to like everybody, or where you meet people you didn’t even know you were related to?

My family doesn’t really do family reunions, mainly because we are spread out around the world

Savannah’s Family

Elijah’s example - sitting in car eating

But if we’re all honest, most of us would prefer to just stick to our original family

Tonight, we’re going to be looking at something similar to this dilemma, the Global church in light of the local church.

What are we called to do? Do we just focus on our local church and local ministry (which we are called to do), or are we called by Christ to keep the global view in focus?

AKA.....Global view over local view

Local view is necessary and good

And if we’re called to keep it in focus, what does that look like for us?

Global view can never be forgotten

Turn to

We are all one offspring, so the whole world is important to God

All the families of the earth will be blessed by the coming Christ

AKA…redemption of the entire world. God wants the whole world to hear about Jesus and come to salvation

But that happens by keeping the global aspect of the church in view, and not forgetting it....remembering that we are all one in Christ

What this means is, even if by an amazing act of God’s grace our whole community heard about Christ and came to salvation in Him....it means our work isn’t finished, it’s actually no where near finished.

Cumberland, 20,859 people

Hagerstown, 40,000 people

Baltimore, 805,000 people

Maryland, 5.7 million

And so the task at hand for the global church is to reach the world with the good news of Jesus Christ

Where Christ has not been named

When I say Paul, as in Paul who was Saul but went from Saul to Paul after being blinded on a road and having scales over his eyes until Ananias laid hands on him....that Paul

Example: Let’s say he was at the dreaded DMV of his day, waiting to get his license to own and drive a camel, and he fills out the application and comes to the line “Job Title”. What do you think he would write down?

Pastor? Theologian? Apostle? Missionary?

If you think missionary, you are 100% right, congratulations!

, “ 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

, “ 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.”

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus

Paul was a missionary, that was his calling, and it became his life’s mission

, Paul says this, “ 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

“Those who have never been told of him will see,

Yes, he was all of those other titles, but his ultimate aim was to preach Christ where He needs to be preached. His view of church was this world wide family of believers who continue to spread a little farther and a little farther until Christ is proclaimed everywhere.

and those who have never heard will understand.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Glory of Christ > Anything else

And that’s honestly what we are called to as well.

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

, “ 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

And that’s the role of the global to church, of which we are a part of, to proclaim Christ to the ends of the earth so that all can hear.

Sometimes we are quick to forget

, “ 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 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? 15 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!”

Before the end will come

, “ 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Here is the truth from Matthew:

Many people have never heard the name of Jesus

Over 1 billion people it is estimated in 2016 that haven’t heard Jesus

In fact, they don’t even have access to hear about Jesus

No t.v., no radio, no Bible, no missionaries

How will they hear without someone preaching?

The end won’t come until all hear

I don’t know about you, but I want to go to Heaven

I was telling Savannah this the other night, I had been reading this article about the people of Rohingya, and if this conjure up feelings of immense sorrow and anguish and desire for the end to come, I’m not sure what will:

The people of Rohingya are the one of the most persecuted ethnic groups in the world

The government of Myanmar is basically doing ethnic cleansing, which is pretty much what Hitler did in Germany

Organized massacres, village by village

288 so far

Throwing babies into fires

Stabbing babies

Cutting off boys’ heads

Raping and then killing girls and women

Setting houses on fire with people inside

In a month and a half 3,000 people have been killed and 300,000 people have fled

But do you know what I realized this week as I thought about it....more than my desire to go to Heaven, should be my desire for these people to come to Christ.

I mean Paul in even says that if it was possible, his desire was that he could go to Hell so that his fellow kinsman, his people, could come to Christ.

Myanmar needs the Gospel

77% engaged

48 unreached people groups

9 unreached/unengaged

Meaning <2% Christians

No church planting

This is what Paul’s life mission was, to take the Gospel to where it is needed

This should be our life mission as well, to do whatever we can to let people hear about Jesus

Not just Myanmar…look at map

We ALL have a role to play

We can either help SEND or we can consider to GO, or we can do BOTH

Send/Support

As a local church, we have a responsibility to support those who have gone

Cornerstone = 33 total missionary supports | $111k/year in giving | Weekly prayer support

As a member of a local church, how are you supporting the global church?

Give

, “5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”

Samaritan’s Purse - $10 to date

Samaritan’s Purse - $10 to date

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Prisoners in texas = $53,863 in a month

Prisoners in texas = $53,863 in a month

Supporting the proclamation of the Gospel in areas that need it

Freedom Classroom Sponsorship

How many of you make money?

How many of you are given money to spend daily/weekly/monthly?

How many of you are never given or work for any money?

Pray

Our church, Cornerstone, prays for these missionaries every week

Go

As believers, we have a responsibility to the Gospel to ask God, where do you want me to go?

Why we are taking a short term mission trip - to hopefully ignite a passion in you to go into all the world and preach the gospel

Savannah and I still ask this question as a family....Where do you want us God?

When did you last ask God how He wanted to use you?

We make plans

God fits our plans

, “Here I am, send me!”

God might not send us, but we at least have to ask and be willing to say like Paul said, “preach Christ not where He has been named, but where He is yet to be named”

Yes, we may be called to just support, but too often we take the easy way out and never ask the hard question!

Utilize job overseas

Graduate college and take a year and serve in full time missions

Freedom intern

Partner

Regardless, we are called just as much to the global church as we are the local church....because we are all one in Christ

We do that by supporting, by praying for, by going to them, and we do that.....

Because we are all one in Christ

, “ 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Let’s never be guilty of being so self-centered as a local church that we neglect the global church, and those who are striving to proclaim Christ to the ends of the earth.

Do you pray for the churches in China? How about the few missionaries in Myanmar?

How are you supporting them?

How does what you do and how you live change based on the global church?