Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

JUNIOR CHURCH DISMISSED

This morning we continue in our series Authentic where we are looking to the Bible and the NT church to discover what an authentic church is and how we can be one today in the 21st century.

This morning we will focus on Authentic missions.

Missions is integral to a New Testament church being authentic and obedient to Christ.

That’s why I’m excited about our Missions conference coming up in March of next year.

I’ve looking forward to operating our missions program according to what’s known as Faith Promise Missions.

I’ll talk more about that later.

I also wanted to let you know about a missionary we have coming in on Wednesday October 2nd.

That night we will have a full service with singing from our worship team and preaching from Pastor Kevin Folger.

A representative of Spiritual Leadership Conference Asia and the work being done in the 1040 window.

If you don’t know what that is, I suggest you google it today after church and pray for missions in that area.

None the less, please mark your calendars and plan on being here that night.

I would like to have a full auditorium to show our support and hear the message God gives him for us.

Open your Bibles to this morning.

Here we will look at some verses that help us see the process and importance of Missions and how we can be involved.

It was just before Christ’s ascension into Heaven that He gave us the misson of the local church.

Think about what He said there.

He said All the world.

When I was studying this last week the current world population was over 7.7 billion people.

According to Joshua project.net

approximately 5.11 billion of those 7.7 reside in the 1040 window.

The 1040 window is also known as the resistance belt.

It’s there where most of the world’s population resides and where there is much resistance to Christianity.

And just as God died for us He died for them.

But how can they know him unless someone tells them?

How can someone tell them unless someone is sent?

How can someone be sent unless someone surrenders to go?

Worldwide missions is a great task laid upon the local church, but there is another, just as equally important task that we must take up and make a priority.

And that is local missions.

What is a mission field?

Jesus described it in

He was speak to those who lived in Jerusalem at this time.

He said your first obligation in missions, in getting the gospel out, is in your home town.

Is where you live.

When you leave this property you are a missionary.

Jesus said “Even as my father hath sent me, so send I you.”

You have been sent out into the world, commissioned to be an ambassador of Christ.

One person can’t reach the world, One church can’t reach the world, one missionary can’t reach the world, but many Christians that are of one mind and one accord, focused on engaging those around them with the life giving and and life changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ can see God do great things through them.

Questions for you to ponder: What are you doing for missions?

There are two types of Christians when it comes to missions: Those who are doing something for missions and those who are not obeying God’s word.

Which are you this morning?

Which do you want to be?

Here in we encounter an Authentic church full of people obedient to the Lord.

Working together to see people saved and then God calls the first missionaries out of it.

Follow along as I read please

PRAY

Notice with me first the Context of Missions

I.

The Context of Missions

Where does missions take place?

Where is all the action at?

Is it a denomiational headquarters?

Is it a missions board?

No.

I believe that the hub of activity for missions is in a local church.

A. The local church

Verse 1 in our text sets the tone for the context of missions.

The church that was in Antioch.

Remember, a church is not a building or a place it is a called out group of people that believe in Jesus as their savior.

This church in Antioch was started by believers that had been spread out because of the persecution in Jerusalem.

gives some insight here

In the beginning of the church at Antioch we see that they were preaching to the Jews only.

Yet, after a time they began to see something happening that was unexpected.

They had Gentiles begin to trust Christ as their savior and become part of the church.

The church in Jerusalem heard about this and sent Barnabus to investigate it.

Barnabus arrives in Antioch and sees things are going well and desires for them to continue and cleave unto the Lord.

It’s no surprise really that this type of church is the one God used to call the first missionaries unto the rest of the world, specifically Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.

There was something driving them, something that made this church special.

Something that opened their hearts to the gentiles.

I believe it was because the church Antioch was a loving church.

B. A Loving Church

It’s my prayer that Liberty Baptist be known as a loving church.

A church like the ones found throughout the book of Acts marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit and known by the fruit of it’s labor in the community.

This was a loving church that was also a diversified church.

They had people from all different walks of life.

They had Patriots fans and broncos fans, They had red sox fans and Yankees fans, They had people that believed the toilet paper should go over the top rather than from behind.

And with all that diversity, they were able to be a loving church.

No matter the backgrounds or nationalities, they had a common bond of love.

notice the international nature of the church in verse 1.

Barnabas was a levite from Cyprus

Simeon that was called Niger was a black man.

The word Niger is from Latin and means black

Lucius of Cyrene was from a city in northern Africa on the Mediterranean Sea.

It is in modern day libya

Manaen, was a companion of Herod

Then there was Saul who was a Jewish Rabbi and High ranking Pharisee before his salvation.

All of these different backgrounds yet the church showed so much love and character of Christ in their community that it was at Antioch the name Christian was coined.

Acts 11:26

The church did not develop the title Christian, which means Christ like.

they were given it and wore it as a badge of honor almost because it signified they were living what they were teaching and loving as Christ as taught them to love.

A church that exists without this type of love.

The love of Christ, for each other and the lost, will never experience missions the way God intends.

Authentic missions takes place when the local church has a loving heart.

The love of Christ is a love that takes us beyond our own personal needs and beyond our natural prejudices to care for people who are not just like us but who are without the gospel.

It’s this type of church that God uses and calls missionaries from.

Look with me at the calling of missionaries.

II.

The Calling of Missionaries

This takes place in churches that exhibit that Christ like love.