Missions: The Heartbeat Of The Church

We are going to discuss some things today that several of you will find very basic. Many of you will find this new information so I want you to remember several things. First of all remember that I am not crazy. The ideas and concepts presented here are not new neither do they originate with me. When we talk about missions and our church’s role in missions people often get frustrated. Secondly,let me encourage you to not become frustrated but listen to the voice of God and let Him speak to you. Thirdly, we are all family here so lets remember we are friends.

Our text is taken from Mark 16:15 with these words of Jesus Christ, "And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (KJV)

Let’s dissect this verse and see just what God’s idea is here for worldwide evangelization.

First we see "The Personnel." Now remember this is not difficult. The first question is just who is the personnel of missions. Who is responsible here to carry out this task? The scripture says "Go ye." This is simple we are the "ye." The command is given to you and me. It is our responsibility to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are the ones that are to go.

Second we find "The Place." Where are we to "go?" Okay, back to the scripture again. We find again a simple answer "into all the world." We have been given the task to take the Gospel "into all the world."

So far there is no room for speculation. No room for opinion. We are just simply reading scripture and accepting it literally for what it says.

Third we understand "The Plan." Here again we need no theologian to explain it for us. The plan is to "preach the gospel to every creature." This is really basic. Just proclaim the gospel to every person. Let me share with you what Christ has done for me.

Here is a command given from Jesus Christ that is so simple but is many times ignored or misunderstood. The Personnel of the command is you and me. The Place we are to go is the world. The Plan is for us is to share the gospel with everyone.

What is so great about our God is that He never asks us to do a job that He does not equip us to do. In Acts 1:8 we find that He not only gives us the command but He also give us The Power to do it. Our fourth point is The Power. God provided us with the Holy Spirit to empower us to carry out this wonderful and awsome task. We need not work in our flesh, but allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us.

As we move from Mark to Acts we see that the church has been established now and God begins moving in and through the church to carry out His plan for His empowered personnel to take the gospel to this world.

We see The Provision God makes is through His church. There is a great financial responsibility that goes along with evangelization. We see throughout the book of Acts that missionaries were sent out from the churches. If we are going to send out people to labor in the field then we must see to their need. Let’s look at it this way. The world is our field and we are enlisting the help of someone to go and work in a part of our field that we can’t get to. We must accept the responsibility to take care of them while they labor for us.

Can we fulfill this command? I do not believe it is a question of what we can do, I believe it is a question of what we will do.

The Personnel, The place, The Plan, The Power, The Provision is all in and of God. Will we fulfill the command?