Bible Class at Trinity Christian School

Missions

Introduction:

1. Who I am (Student Pastor at First Baptist Church Texarkana, Husband to Katherine Hill, and the father of three boys Blake (5), Archer (4), and Zane (1)

2. I’ve been in full-time student ministry since May of 2015 and served in three churches.

3. While in college I served through the North American Mission Board as a short-term missionary in Minnesota and served as a Sports and Recreation Intern at Germantown Baptist Church in Germantown, TN.

4. It was through a mission trip the Lord laid on my heart the calling to full-time ministry.

What do we mean when we say missions?

A working definition of missions in the context of religion:

- It is the effort to spread religion to a location where that religion does not exist. Also: Evangelism; Evangelize; Missions; Outreach

What about Christianity, specifically?

- Missions is the “Task on which God sends a person that He has called, particularly a mission to introduce another group of people to salvation in Christ. In the Christian context the person sent is called a missionary. This person is charged with the task of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to people to whom he is sent. The mission of the churches is to send our missionaries to all parts of the world until everyone has had the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus and accept Him as Lord. Interestingly, the term mission is not found in the Scriptures, yet the concept of mission permeates the entire Bible.”[1]

- Missions is God’s mode of reaching all peoples with eternal life.

Is there a Scriptural basis for missions?

Jesus’s last command while on earth drives our mission.

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

- Missions is God’s design to take the good news of Jesus Christ’s payment for our sin and his defeat of death so that we can have life. It is through the mission of sharing the Gospel people respond to the good news and are saved through the power of Jesus Christ.

Also, Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Three locales of missions.

1. Local missions.

a. Local missions are things you are doing in your place of residence.

i. Helping feed the homeless

ii. Sharing the Gospel with friends at school, your waiter or waitress, etc.

2. National missions.

a. Nation missions are missional activities outside of your hometown.

b. They consist of partnerships with other faithful Christians who are on that mission field.

c. Church partnerships are the most popular form of this kind of missions.

d. Examples

i. Partnering with church plants.

1. Vacation Bible Schools

2. Community canvasing

3. Sports camps

4. Block parties

5. Construction projects

3. International Missions

a. Missions that take place outside of your home nation.

i. East Asia, Europe, Canada, Mexico, etc.

b. Four ways to be involved in international missions:

i. Financially

1. Most people fit in this category when they tithe at church. If you are in a Southern Baptist Church. Every time you tithe, a portion of the money goes to national and international missions through the Cooperative Program.

ii. Prayer

1. Ask your pastors to help you know a name of an international missionary and pray for that missionary and family daily.

2. You can also pray on the behalf of missionaries.

3. Pray for God to send more missionaries out internationally.

iii. Short Term Trips

1. This brief temporary mission trip aid someone who is already on the field.

iv. Long Term Mission

1. These are those who go to live with the people and do all they can to reach that people group. They dedicate their lives to seeing God move in that people group.

Why is missions so important?

It is the only way people hear the truth.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

If Jesus is truly the only way to salvation, he is the only source of truth, and is the only source of life, we then must proclaim Jesus is the truth.

Some professing Christians and non-Christians believe in a teaching called universalism. Essentially, they believe ultimately no matter what a person believes God will save them because he is so loving. Yet, that totally ignores the fact that Jesus teaches repeatedly that those who are unrepentant sinners will be eternally condemned.

Therefore, Jesus says that he alone is the way to salvation, he alone is the truth, he alone is life and that no one comes to heaven and God except through saving faith in Jesus.

Thus, we must share the gospel with others so they do not spend an eternity separated from God and live in suffering.

There are many who have never heard the good news.

- Currently, in the world, there is over 3.2 Billion people who have never heard of the Bible.

- The State of the Bible survey, which was conducted by the Barna Group and surveyed 2,000 Americans, found that 72 percent of Americans believe the Gospel is available in all of the world's languages. However, the report states that only 43 percent of languages actually have Bible translations available. (2015)[5]

- There are people working on translating languages to reach these people but the work is slow.

- India alone has 1.3 billion (total population of approximately 1.4 billion people) unreached people which is roughly 40% of the unreached people in the world.

- China has only 9% of its population that identifies as Christian of a population of 1.4 billion people.

- But let’s bring it back to the United States, we have had a Cultural Christianity where for a long time most everyone went to church somewhere for some length of time as a child. Yet, we have entered into a time when there are fewer people in that category. Most statistics point to major declines in those who identify as Christian while there is a significant rise in those that identify as nones. They don’t believe in anything.

- Thus, we need to teach others the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus.

It is why Jesus warned in Matthew 7:21-23

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

So, why is missions so important? It is the only way for people to hear the good news of salvation in Christ Jesus and as servants of the Lord we dedicate our lives to making sure as many people as possible get to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!

Questions?

[1] Bob Compton, “Mission(s),”ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1140. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 28:19–20. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ac 1:8. [4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 14:6. [5] https://www.christianpost.com/news/bible-not-available-in-57-of-world-languages-most-americans-believe-the-bible-is-available-in-every-language.html(accessed 3/31/2022) [6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 7:21–23.