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.”
I later discovered there was a better way, a better method for marathon preparation. I discovered that if I ran at least 22 miles in training and did that several times over the course of 3 or 4 months, then and only could I run the marathon distance. THERE WAS A METHOD TO MY MADNESS OF MARATHON RUNNING.
There must also be a method to worldwide missions work. There is translation work, as in the case of John and Marsha Relyea’s work and there is, of course, dealing with the people on a one-to-one basis, which they also did.
But the basic method of worldwide evangelism or missions is simply this: 1- Someone has to go 2- And someone has to send.
We either go or else send someone in our place! That’s the method of worldwide missions! Have you decided what you are going to do?
I can hear some of you say, “Hey, it’s too late in the game for me. I’m on the downhill slide, etc.” Maybe. Maybe not.
ILL.- Here’s an interesting article I read. One church, one disease. Defeating HIV is going to take generations of the faithful. How will Christians decades from now look back on what we did and did not do through our families, churches, and governments? What will they say about us when we Americans decided that $15 billion over five years was all we were willing to spend to defeat HIV globally? (Experts believe it will take $12 billion a year from all sources to defeat HIV globally.)
Look at what one organization has done to defeat one disease. Rotary International has been fighting polio since 1979. In 1988, there were 350,000 polio cases. At the end of 2005, there were 1,670 cases worldwide—better than a 99 percent reduction.
There are 1.2 million Rotarians around the world. Now just imagine what 2 billion Christians might accomplish as one faithful force against one disease. Imagine the possibilities for proving church-mocking skeptics wrong. Imagine closed doors opening for the gospel. Imagine the lives saved.
What are we saying? We can do far more than we think we can! The Lord’s church can do far more in regard to reaching the lost of this world than she realizes, imagines or is presently doing.
ILL.- 2 Cents. The amount spent on overseas missions for every dollar donated by a congregation, in a survey of 28 Protestant denominations.
10 Cents. Amount spent on overseas missions for every dollar donated in they year of 1920. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR MISSIONARY ZEAL?
The method is: we either go or send someone in our place.
III. MOTIVATION
II Cor. 5:13-15 “If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God. And we might add for His cause in this world. We’re talking passion, compassion and love. Our ultimate motivation. The love of Christ.
ILL.- Tony Gwynn (San Diego Padres, from 1982 to 2001) has been one of the best hitters in major league baseball. Gwynn has hit .300 or better in 17 major league seasons. He’s won 8 league batting titles. He has collected more than 3,000 hits. What the secret of his success? It’s not a secret to the people who watch him work every day. Gwynn says, "There’s got to be a passion for it, a love for the game. And I still love it."
San Diego Padres General Manager Kevin Towers said, "I think the key thing is his passion for the game, a passion for what you do. Never take anything for granted, keep trying to hone your skills and be better… that’s what Tony Gwynn is all about."
Tony Gwynn is not the only person who is passionate about something.
ILL.- "I’m not a preacher, and I’m not a pastor. But I really feel my career was leading me to make this," Mel Gibson has said in reference to The Passion of the Christ. "The Holy Spirit was working through me on this film, and I was just directing traffic. I hope the film has the power to evangelize."
And indeed, God has used Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ" to evangelize. Bob Kraemer of Campus Crusade Canada shares the words of a young Muslim man:
"I was raised as a Muslim by my father. I was never really fond of the religion. After seeing The Passion of the Christ and knowing Jesus did so much for me, it opened my eyes. It made me wonder if I was worth it. I think I’m not worth it. He did so much for us and yet people reject him. Well not me, because today and till the day I die and so on I’ll always love Him because He saved me and also because He loves me too."
Thank God for those who have a passion for Christ and for the millions who are lost without Him! Thank God for those who have a passion to do something about it.
ILL.- The story is told of General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, and the day Queen Victoria of England asked to meet with him. Because she had heard so many favorable things about his work in the slums, she asked him for the secret of his success. “Your Majesty,” he replied, “Some men have a passion for money. Some people have a passion for things. I have a passion for people.” So be it. And may it somehow be with us.
The mission: reach people for Christ. The method: any method is better than no method at all. The motivation: the love of Christ in us. If the love of Christ doesn’t motivate us, I don’t know what will.
