Missions, Methods And Motivation

I. MISSIONS

ILL.- Oscar is a done deal. Who’s hot? And who’s not? And I say, who cares? God doesn’t care anymore about those people in Hollywood than He does you and me or the AIDS child in South Africa or the people of Papau New Guinea.

We need to think about worldwide missions because God thinks about all the people in the world. He isn’t just concerned about what is going on in America. He has every hair of every head in this universe numbered! His love and compassion knows no limit!

Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of (what?) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Our mission is to make disciples or followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we believe He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and Savior, it is our desire to turn people onto Him! Teach them and turn them on! And do this worldwide!

ILL.- Christianity Today: Missions Incredible. South Korea sends more missionaries than any country but the U.S. And it won’t be long before it’s number one.

Samuel Kang was God’s improbable choice to be a leader in the world’s fastest-growing missionary movement. Kang was born in Japan when the Japanese empire was forcing alien Shinto beliefs down Korean throats.

At the end of World War II, the Kang family returned to Korea and grew deeply fervent in their Christian faith. The Kangs dedicated their son Samuel to God, and they told him, "You will become a pastor."

Kang rebelled. "I did not want to accept my parents’ dedication of me to God without my consent," he says. For years, he resisted God’s call. But by the time he was 20, Samuel’s heart softened, and he felt compelled to give himself to God. "No one can escape from his sovereign call," Kang says.

It took another 20 years of discipling and discernment before Kang set foot on a mission field. At age 39, Kang and his wife, Sarah (who had discovered her own call to missions work), left South Korea for Nigeria. When they departed in 1980, there were only 93 Korean missionaries worldwide.

During the next 11 years, Samuel and Sarah Kang raised a family, planted Nigerian churches, and started a Bible college for Nigerian pastors. Kang’s eyes sparkle as he recalls his days in Africa. "The Lord gave me this wonderful opportunity to serve him," he says. "If God gives me another life, may I give it to him as a missionary."

Kang doesn’t look backward very often. Now 64 years old, with silvery hair and a gentle smile, he is leading an ambitious 25-year plan to help South Korea send out more missionaries than any other country. (Commitment, dedication, passion!)

Kang is chief executive director of the Korean World Mission Association and dean of the Graduate School of World Mission at Seoul’s influential Chongshin University. He has helped move South Korean missions into a place never before imagined: South Korea today sends out more missionaries than any other country except the United States. In terms of missionaries per congregation, Korea sends one missionary for every 4.2 congregations, which places it 11th in the world. (The U.S. does not rank in the top 10.)

Scott Moreau, chair of intercultural studies at Wheaton College (Illinois) said, "The day of Western missionary dominance is over, not because Western missionaries have died off, but because the rest of the world has caught the vision and is engaged and energized."

Brothers and sisters, God wants us to catch the vision of worldwide missions! We are to go into ALL the world, not just Jonesboro, AR! Not just the USA!

II. METHODS

Mark 16:15 “He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

Acts 8:4 “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”

Matthew 10:7 “As you go, preach this message: ’The kingdom of heaven is near.”

Everyone needs a method to their madness, whatever that madness is.

ILL.- For many years I ran marathons; fourteen marathons to be exact, including the Boston marathon. And you don’t just go out and run a marathon without some kind of training or method. When I decided to run my first marathon I had many runners tell me, “Once you run 20 miles you can run a marathon.” A marathon is 26.2 miles and I found out that they lied. I ran 20 miles in training about 3 or 4 weeks before my first marathon and when I got to 20 miles my body said, “No more” and I “hit the wall.”