Missions
by Andy Johnson
– A concern for the lost is a concern that every Christian should have.
– The church has the Gospel and must guard, share and proclaim it.
– If we are convinced that eternal damnation exists, how else could we prioritize anything more important?
– Prioritizing missions should be done out of our love and devotion for Christ.
– Global missions is the responsibility of a local church.
– The church is the bride of Christ. We are the stagehands and He is the star; we must not forget that.
– Do not try to get people excited about missions until they fall in love and appreciate what God has done for them.
– Missions in the most historical and traditional term means crossing geographic, linguistic and cultural bounds. If we consider everything to be missions, then nothing is missions.
– A missionary should not be a self-standing man, he should be supported by and accountable to a church.
– We are not to send just warm bodies, but laborers who gets the job done. Christ told us to pray for laborers, not just anyone. (Mt. 9:38)
– What kind of missionaries to send out:
1. Assess their Character – men that are self-starters, honest, spiritual and will get the work done. 1
2. Assess their Fruitfulness – are they taking up space or producing fruit? If they are not producing fruit where they are at, they most likely will not produce fruit on the field where they go.
3. Assess their Bible Knowledge – people who stand out in their knowledge of the Scriptures. They should both know for themselves what they believe and know how to teach the Scriptures to others so that it can be reproduced and lived out in the lives of others.
– People that are not faithful and fruitful members of church will not be good missionaries.
– When we support missionaries from our church, our giving should be:
1. Serious
2. Significant
3. Sacrificial
– One of the best things that we can do to encourage the missionaries on the field is to send other missionaries to go work alongside them.
– Evaluate the missionary that you’re going to support by making sure he is still logically sound, has a good work ethic, has the right understanding of the church and has character. Find out their goals and plans on their field.
– If a pastor wants to see more laborers for the field, he should:
1. Preaching from the Pulpit – use illustrations, use victories and use stories of all God is doing overseas.
2. Praying from the Pulpit – teach your people to pray for missions, the lost and the need for more laborers.
3. Relationship Based – get to know your missionaries, their needs, their families and their ministries. Help them, go see them and send a group from your church to visit them.