The following is taken directly from a handout we received in our Membership Matters class on missions and outreach
Background
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 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.”
·
“Make disciples of all nations”
o
Evangelism
o
Discipling
·
Three primary ways this happens in the New
Testament: Personal Evangelism, Global Evangelism (missions), Churches Helping
Other Churches.
Personal Evangelism
How
many of you came to know Christ through someone personally sharing the Gospel
with you?
· most people believe
because someone personally shared the good news with them.
·
Personal evangelism is relational.
o
Through relationships with friends, family, etc.
o
That means it’s done primarily by you and not
simply by bringing people to church.
o
If the content of Sunday services never extends
beyond what non-Christian can
understand, we won’t fulfill the vision Jesus has for us.
·
How does the church get involved?
1.
When your non-Christian friends come visit,
they’ll hear and see the gospel.
§
Hear: As we sing and preach the gospel.
§
See: Lord’s supper and baptisms; love and unity
in the congregation.
§
Kind of silly to share the gospel and not introduce people to one of the
primary witnesses to the truth of the gospel—the local church.
2.
Equip you to share the gospel.
§
Core seminars: evangelism, apologetics, Two Ways
to Live, Christianity Explained.
3.
Events and ministries to share the gospel and introduce people to the church
§
Lunchtime Talks at local colleges, Henry Forums.
§
ESOL and ISM (international student ministry).
§
Central Union Mission, Juvenile Detention Center
Bible studies, Angel Tree.
§
Three things to note about these ministries:
a.
They’re your responsibility. The church can help, but sharing the gospel
and caring for those in need are things you
must do.
b.
Care for all suffering—especially eternal
suffering.
c.
We have a fairly entrepreneurial approach to
ministry development.
§
Campus Outreach (evangelism, discipling, bridge
from campus to local church)
1
Global Evangelism / International Missions
·
While personal and local evangelism are
important, we also understand that Jesus said we are to “make disciples of all nations.”
o
So in Acts: Paul and Barnabas sent out.
o
3 John 6-8: “send them on their way in a
manner worthy of God. It was for the
sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such
men so that we may work together for the truth.”
o
“Missions:” proclaiming the gospel across
language, cultural, and geographic barriers.
·
Every member should be involved either by
sending or going.
·
Sending
o
We make sure that at least 15% of our budget
goes to global evangelism, with roughly half going to the IMB
§
The IMB is a bit different than most missions
organizations. While most of these
organizations require missionaries to raise financial support, the IMB does
not. (explain how it works)
o
But when it comes to supporting missions, we want
to be more involved than just writing checks.
§
Housing for missionaries
§
Try to visit each of our missionaries each
year.
§
Our strategy is to focus intense effort on a
small group of missionaries (about 30 at present) rather than a small level of
support to a lot of missionaries.
§
Focus on Central Asia. Because it’s so unreached and we have good
relationships with Christian workers in this region.
o
Access Partners: consulting firm, staffed by
members of this church, that develops for-profit businesses to provide
missionaries with legally and culturally-legitimate platforms for gospel
ministry in countries where Christian workers are illegal.
·
Going
o
Short-term trips: generally come in two flavors
§
Childcare trips
§
Scripture distribution trips
o
Long-term going.
If
you’re thinking of going out as a missionary at any level, you should—as soon
as possible—have a conversation with Andy Johnson.
We understand from Scripture that missionaries are sent by churches—they don’t
just decide to go on their own. So if
you’re interested in going, as many in this church eventually do, we want to
help guide and support that decision, and your eventual work overseas, so that
you can be sent out by us.
Caring for other churches
·
One common theme running through the New
Testament is churches helping other churches.
For instance, think of Acts 15:41 where Paul and Silas are sent out by
the church at Antioch to encourage other churches. Or 2 Corinthians 8 where
Paul commends the Macedonian churches for giving generously to help churches in
need back in Judea.
·
How do we try to do this at CHBC?
o
Sending young men to seminary
·
Any point in time: financially support about a
dozen.
·
Also give to directly fund the five SBC
seminaries: Southeastern, Southern, New Orleans, Southwestern, Midwestern,
Golden Gate.
o
Training pastors here
·
Every six months a new group of interns
arrives.
·
We provide housing and a stipend.
·
Read, write, and observe—to learn how God has
designed the church and what that looks like in real life.
o
9Marks
·
Helping other local churches flesh out the
Biblical model for what it means to be a church.
·
Conferences, pastor counseling, a website
loaded with articles, bi-monthly journal, books, and Weekenders.
·
Together for the Gospel: where several church
leaders from various backgrounds come together to model how we can disagree on
things like church polity and yet work together for the furtherance of the
Biblical gospel
1
The Southern Baptist Convention
·
A significant part of missions and outreach in
our church involves a partnership with the Southern Baptist Convention.
·
What does it mean to be Southern Baptist?
o
A Southern Baptist church is a local church
that has voluntarily chosen to be “in friendly cooperation with, and
contributing towards the causes of, the Southern Baptist Convention.”
o
Every SBC church is autonomous under
Christ. They don’t take orders or
direction from the SBC.
o
More a big pot of money that different
churches contribute to than what most people think of as a “denomination.” Money funds missionaries and seminaries.
·
Where did the SBC come from?
o
The SBC emerged out of the need to better
support and facilitate missions, both here in North America and around the
world.
o
1814: Baptist churches from South Carolina to
Massachusetts came together to form the first national Baptist organization in
America, charged with coordinating the funding of international missionaries.
o
1845: split over two issues
1.
Should a central board send out missionaries or
local churches?
2.
Could slaveholders be missionaries?
o
Sadly, most of the Baptists (as well as
Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopalian) churches in the south, didn’t believe
slavery was morally wrong. However, most northern churches, Baptist and
non-Baptist alike, correctly understood that American slavery was an
abomination and antithetical to the gospel.
o
At about this time, almost all of the major
Protestant denominations split on north/south lines, including Baptists, over
the issues of slavery and secessionism, with the southern churches in our case
forming the Southern Baptist Convention—also known today as Great Commission
Baptists. And the Northern churches
formed what became the more theologically liberal American Baptist Convention[1].
o
Fortunately, the SBC has since publicly
repented and apologized for its past position, declaring that church members
must, “unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin” and
“repent of racism of which we have been guilty whether consciously or
unconsciously.”
o
That was 1 of 2 big crises that’s shaped the
SBC.
o
2nd: theological liberalism
(characterized by denial of the authority of the Bible)
·
By 1970s SBC pastors being trained by professors
who denied authority of Scripture.
·
1980s: grassroots rebellion in the SBC (not seen
in other major US denominations)àseminaries
and sending boards reformed.
·
So today we’re excited about how our money is being
used. Another example of churches
cooperating together to do more than they could on their own.
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