Who Should Take Part In Missions? - Jenny

In Matthew 9:37 the Lord says, “...The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” The Lord said a lot when He spoke these words. Why is it that the laborers are few? Why is the Christian content to sit back and watch the world continue in its sin? Why do Christians seem comfortable in a world that they should feel uncomfortable in? Christian, let me ask you this, if you knew God as your personal Lord and Savior wouldn't you want others to know what you know and to experience the joy that you have in knowing God and the home He has waiting for you?

As I was talking to my mom about the article I had to write she said something that kept repeating itself over and over again in my head: “We are all ambassadors for Christ.” The “we” being those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as their Savior. Though, in order to take part in missions you not only need to be saved, but you must be living a godly life and actively seeking God's will for your life.

I think that one of the reasons that we are afraid to stand out and dare to be different is that we are afraid of being rejected. Remember that it is not us who is being rejected by the world, but the world is rejecting the Lord and the promise of an eternity with Him. It is easy to fit in with the world when you carry with you this kind of attitude. The Christian must be willing to stand for Christ, even if that means we are persecuted for our faith. We must be willing to suffer for Christ as Jesus suffered for us when He died on the cross to take away our sins and offer to us salvation and through that an eternal life. Matthew 4:11 says, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my name's sake.” We must make people wonder and ask why we are different. Believe me when I say that an unbeliever will notice the joy that you carry around with you wherever you go if you know Christ as your Savior.

As I study Psalm 23 in my devotions I see that no matter where we are Christ is with us. In verse 4 of Psalm 23 the Psalmist says, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” The Lord will take care of us, therefore, we only have to concern ourselves with the spread of the gospel. I encourage you believer to not worry about what might happen if you try to spread the gospel. If you do your part in spreading God's Word and leading others to Christ then God will take care of the rest. If you have not accepted Christ as your Savior, or if you are not willing to suffer for His name's sake, then you cannot take part in missions. But for those who have trusted Christ and are completely submitted to Him, are you ready?

What is the ultimate goal of Missions - Ashley

If you were to stop and think about the main goal of missions, I believe most people would conclude the purpose is to see souls come to Christ. Seeing people accept Christ as their Savior is a very important aspect of ministering to others. God has commanded us to “…Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” (Mark 15:16) We should desire for God to open the hearts of people in this lost world, so that they can understand and accept the Gospel. However, should this be the ultimate goal of missions? Should we base our spiritual successes or failures on how many people come to Christ?

In II Corinthians 2:14-15, we find our answer to these questions. “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.” If we are telling others about Christ, whether or not they come to salvation, we are a sweet savour unto God and we are accomplishing what He intended us to. God receives glory if someone accepts Him as their Savior, or if they reject him. We triumph in Christ through every situation! He receives glory in everything because His Word is being proclaimed, and seeds are being sown in the hearts and minds of those who hear it. There is no way to measure the impact we have on someone. The testimony of God, the verses of Scripture we quoted, the words of Christ we have spoken to them, are all things we leave with a person we witness to. Those seeds have been planted and who knows when someone else may come along to water the seeds. Maybe, not today, or tomorrow, but sometime down the road that person may come to know Christ through the words we spoke unto them.

So what is the ultimate goal of missions?? Is it to see hundreds of thousands of people come to Christ? No, even though God could perform that miracle, I believe the ultimate goal is for Christ to receive glory through every situation. No matter what the outcome may be, we are put on this earth to share the Gospel, and through proclaiming His Word, we give glory and honor to God! “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

Revelation 4:11

How should missions be accomplished? - Willie

As you may have read before, there are some strong reasons that explain how important missions is that are rooted from the Bible. The same applies to how we should accomplish these missions. The Bible lays out some good foundations as to how we should approach these situations, from what our intentions are inwardly to the way we conduct ourselves outwardly.

This idea applies to my first point: We should have a Godly attitude inward and out. In Deuteronomy 11:13, it says “if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” The Bible cannot be any clearer as to what we should do. We need to serve the Lord with all that we have and are blessed with. During that passage, it is also stated that we should love our God. This is strongly related to serving the Lord. We need to make sure that we do his commandments purely from love and not just doing them to do them.

The Bible provides further information as to how we should serve the Lord. In Psalm 89:1 the word says “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” This verse is extremely appropriate since we will be helping the children of Puerto Rico. When I see all generations, I think of the children because they are the most impressionable, especially with so many children growing up around all the corruptness of the world today.

The last idea that I want to point out was found by doing my daily devotions. In the book of Leviticus Moses is a near perfect role model of our servitude towards the Lord. In chapter 8, verses 4 and 5, it says “And Moses did as the LORD commanded him and the assembly was gathered together… And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done.” How great would it be to follow the Lord like Moses did. The Lord commanded him to do something and he simply did it. No complaints or whining. This is the attitude we should have. Simply do what the Lord does us to do and our missions will be accomplished the way God wants them accomplished.

Article #1 - Why is missions important? - Pastor Valiante

As we begin our weekly articles focusing on various topics pertinent to our upcoming missions trip, I thought it would be fitting at the start to lay a foundation for missions and take a look at its importance.

Missions (which holds the goal of seeing people receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior who are then baptized and discipled) does not find its primary importance in the great need of the lost (though this need should sober, challenge and stir up believers as it did the Lord [Matthew 9:36]). Instead, missions work holds great value because of the God who has commissioned His children to go forth and spread the seed of the gospel (Mark 16:15). As with all matters of theology, it is easy to shift from a God-focused understanding of Scripture and life to one which is primarily man-focused. In our lives, it is vitally important to be driven by proper theology. A theology of missions that is solely focused on man’s need will result in an unbiblical practical outworking of that theology.

The reason missions is important is because it is important to God. Missions is not important because of the intrinsic value of men (though God has set His love upon men who scorned and rejected Him [Romans 5:8]). The value in the commission (“to go into all the world and preach the gospel”) lies in the commissioner.

In making these statements, the question is raised, “Why then is missions important to God.” Possibly one of the most important passages in regard to a Christian’s witness, upon which missions is built, is found in II Corinthians 2:14-16. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?”

When you read that Paul said that he always triumphed in Christ (with the context of the passage referring to presenting the gospel), we need to stop and consider what he means. If Paul only triumphed when he presented the gospel and a person received Jesus as their Savior, then in the end Paul was a miserable failure. Far more people rejected the gospel he preached than accepted it. What then does Paul mean that he always triumphed? The answer is found in the following section. The triumph Paul speaks of has nothing to do with a person or group’s reception of the gospel. It had everything to do with the spreading of the gospel. He makes an even stronger statement by declaring that when we present Christ to the lost, we are a sweet smell (savor) to God. This sweet smell (or something which is pleasing to God) is not just attached to those who receive Jesus as their Savior, but also with those who reject Him.

Missions is important to God the Father because it spreads the knowledge of the Son of God which in turn brings Him great pleasure. The Father takes pleasure in His Son. He takes pleasure in the fact that He can offer the free forgiveness of sins based on what His Son did on the cross. This is why missions is important. It is all about God. It is the spreading of the knowledge of God to a world in darkness which is separated from God because of sin; a world that God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son. Whether six billion people accept or reject the offer of the gospel, the commission remains the same. When you tell others about Christ, the bottom line is that God is pleased, and it is for that reason missions is important.

*Check back next week to read Willie's article which will look into the question, "How should missions be accomplished?"*