2018 Service Material Together, sharing Christ around the world

Transcription

1 2018 Service Material Together, sharing Christ around the world Version for those with Technology (If needed, download the non-technology version from website Guidance 1. Use this material for your 2018 World Church Service, traditionally during February in the Methodist Church in Ireland calendar. 2. This material is representative of the overseas mission work of the Methodist Church in Ireland. Please do not substitute this with the work of other organisations or experiences of individual church members. They could be accommodated on other dates. NB If you have invited an official World Mission Partnership speaker (i.e. one recommended by the WMP office), they will be telling their own WMP stories. However, PLEASE still show the first video in which Laurence Graham explains the new name and emphasis. Thank you. 3. Give out the accompanying new-look World Mission Partnership Annual Reports and offering envelopes at the beginning of the service. NOT the week before and not as an option. Hopefully people will be more engaged and responsive when they have attended the service. These resources are available from the office from mid-january. 4. The PPT and video material can be downloaded from the WMP website at or requested from the office at

2 SLIDE 1 main logo and title Introduction The story of Jesus life, teaching and sacrifice for us is well known to us. However, for many in the world, Christ s gospel is still hidden. They have not heard of God s offer of salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ. Today we will learn of our Methodist Church in Ireland s mission throughout the world. All the stories of evangelism, church growth and discipleship happen because of your prayers and giving to World Mission Partnership (formerly the Methodist Missionary Society). Later, Laurence Graham will explain (on video) why there has been a name change. The Methodist Church in Ireland is a church committed to mission to the world. SLIDE 2 call to worship Call to worship All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. And all the families of the nations will bow down before him. For the dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over all nations. SLIDE 3 children in South Africa Children s address Even if your congregation does not have children, this story can be told in a way to inform adults on another element of MCI s world mission. Hold up the letter A (end of this document) What is this? Hold up the number 3 (end of this document) What is this? Get their answers and then ask How do you know?. Some answers could be My teacher told me, I learned it at school etc. Basically, someone had to tell or show them. We know because a teacher/parent told us or we go to school. In South Africa is a church like ours. It is called Pinetown Methodist Church. They are just like us and care about people. A lot of children who live near the church are from poor families and they don t always have the money to go to school or the schools are maybe not very good. So the church decided to do something. SLIDE 4 Nomalanga This is Nomalanga. Pinetown church has trained Nomalanga to be a teacher.

3 She goes into the poor places where these children live and she teaches them in classes. She teaches them their letters and numbers. She also has toys that help the children learn their colours, how to behave well and so much more. Most of the children have very few toys so this is great fun and they learn as well. All the children are aged 4 to 6 years old. Because Nomalanga teaches them in this way, when they go to primary school, they are able to do the work and therefore are more likely to keep going to school. Going through school is a great help when they are older so that they can get better jobs. SLIDE 5 JMA Now why am I telling you about Pinetown Methodist church in South Africa? Because this year, our Irish Methodist JMA is helping Pinetown do this work. JMA, Junior Mission for All, is a programme for primary aged children to learn about children in other parts of the world, pray for them and serve God by raising money for a Christian project. Really, children who do JMA, are doing world mission. This year the project is Pinetown Methodist s work with children like these. Pinetown Methodist Church give training to 240 groups like Nomalanga s and every day over 10,000 children get to learn. So today we have learned about children in South Africa. We are going to pray for them. And if we support JMA this year, we will be serving God by helping others. The 2018 JMA pack has stories, quizzes, crafts, as well as information about the project. (Wording depends on whether your church already engages with JMA. This can be done via Sunday Schools, uniformed organisations etc. who have primary aged children.) IF YOUR CHURCH DOES NOT ENGAGE WITH JMA, GIVING A WORLD MISSION DIMENSION TO THEIR PROGRAMME THEN PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE 18,000 was raised by Irish Methodist children last year for a children s ward in Ghana. Enable your children to join in. Pray for Pinetown Methodist Church, Nomalanga and the other teachers, the children and their families, thanks for this good start in life that they get SLIDE 6 main logo and title SLIDE 7 Bible readings Bible Reading Genesis 12, V 1-3 Matthew 9, v (at end of this document) SLIDE 8 main logo and title Main address

4 The Challenge The world population is 7.6 billion. How many do you think are Christian? (number or percentage) SLIDE 9 world religions map The purple areas are where Christianity predominates. We might assume that well over half the world is Christian. However, it is the most populous regions that are without a strong Christian witness. Areas where other religions or atheism dominate. SLIDE 10 religions pie chart In fact, only 33% of the world s population is Christian. That means about 5 billion people do not know Christ. Over 2 billion have never heard the gospel at all. For them, God, Christ and salvation, are totally unknown. Nothing has changed since Jesus day. He would still look at the world and tells his disciples, us, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. There is a harvest. There is still a great need for evangelism, discipleship and church in our world. SLIDE 11 main logo and title The change in the name Our Methodist Church is committed to mission. Mission is our purpose. And it is committed to holistic mission. God wishes all of people s needs to be satisfied. Jesus repeatedly demonstrated that the emotional, physical, material, social and spiritual needs of people were all important to him. The Methodist Church in Ireland has two departments that seek to fulfil people s needs in the wider world, beyond Ireland. The World Mission Partnership department primarily seeks to satisfy people s spiritual needs. It used to be called the Methodist Missionary Society but has recently changed its name. Now our Methodist President, and General Secretary of World Mission Partnership, Rev. Dr. Laurence Graham, explains this name change. VIDEO an explanation from Laurence Graham re: World Mission Partnership (2 min). The content of this video is very important. PLEASE show in the context of your World Mission service, whatever else is happening i.e. prioritise its showing. SLIDE 12 China Methodism is a growing church

5 In China... the China Christian Council, the largest partner church of MCI, has 37 million members. It is thought there are between 50 and 100 million Christians in China in total. Last year, Rev. Brian Anderson, ex-methodist President, arrived in Shimekan, to be greeted by Methodist hymns, brought to the region 130 years ago. Brian gifted a peat cross as a sign of our continuing, prayerful connection. SLIDE 13 Zimbabwe In Zimbabwe... despite political oppression and economic hardship, the church is growing and recently held its celebration of 40 years of autonomous mission. Over 40,000 Methodists filled the national sports stadium where there was preaching, dancing, singing and communion on the Sunday morning. The Methodist Church in Ireland has had a long history of mission in Zimbabwe through the sending of missionaries and mission partners, containers from the Container Ministry and the giving of mission grants. Yes, the Methodist family is global, it is healthy and it is growing. Through World Mission Partnership we can play our part in this growth. SLIDE 14 Zambia and Costa Rica We can be inspired about mission by our partners throughout the world As our national church membership declines, many of our sister churches increase. World Mission Partnership, as well as supporting our partners, encourages us to learn principles of mission and being church from partners. Indeed, in April, all Irish church leaders will receive a resource to help them reflect upon how they are doing church and how they can evolve to be even more effective. The resource, Being Church, uses stories from Methodist churches in South Africa for reflection. Many churches in the world are growing because they are innovative. In Zambia... your support has enabled the United Church of Zambia to open United Voice Radio to broadcast in the capital, Lusaka. Their programmes include Christian music, publicising the churches work and events and sharing the gospel. It is now self-funding through advertising. Although another radio station in Ireland may struggle to be heard, this principle of being open to doing new things is challenging. What are the possible new innovative ways for sharing Christ here in Ireland? But a novel approach is not the answer alone. In Costa Rica... in 2010 the membership was just 1,400. In the last seven years, it has grown to 25,000. Why? They say discipleship has caused this phenomenal growth. Making disciples of Christ who are taught to become contributors to the Kingdom of God, developing leaders who are true worshippers of God and teaching good financial stewardship. Another thing is that they are a very united, or connexional, church, congregations working with each other and praying for each other.

6 Discipleship is a vital stage after a Christian s conversion. It trains us up so we can grow the Kingdom. Do we take responsibility for our own discipleship? Does our church fulfil its discipleship role well? Is it prioritised? SLIDE 15 - Peru Appropriate training of leaders is another key focus for your donations. In rural Peru... in Patacanha, the Methodist Church had 15 members 27 years ago. Now? 150. This forms one fifth of the total community population. So, Methodists now have a significant influence in their society. Some of the pastors there have benefitted from your donations, receiving leadership training to help them lead congregations and embark upon mission. In Uganda... your giving has again covered the training of church leaders and youth in worship, evangelism and leadership. This has been through World Mission Partnership s work with the Cliff College International Training Centre. SLIDE 16 - Panama Innovation, discipleship, training. But in mission, Christians also need boldness and passion, a real belief in and reliance upon their God. In Panama... Syntiche Dedjii, a British delegate to the Americas Methodist Youth Assembly, tells of her experience in Panama City. One thing all youth in the Americas seem to have in common is their passion for evangelism, something we don t always have at home. Today was therefore a new (and at times challenging), experience for me as we had a day of evangelism, followed by Praise in the Park adjacent to a Methodist Church. We made posters, fliers and invitations, and spent the morning walking around the local neighbourhood evangelising and inviting the locals to our evening of praise. It was awesome! The phrase WWJD? ( What would Jesus do? ) swept across Europe and the USA in the 1990s. Instead of just asking themselves that question, the young people I met in Panama are living it out. Confident, bold, passionate. Young El Salvadorians told me how they continued to evangelise despite threats and murders by the local gangs. Instead of hiding, they continue to evangelise. This bold living for Christ really challenged me in how I share my faith and contribute to my community. Now it is time for me to be courageous and do it In our Genesis reading, Abram was being called by God to leave what he knew and go to the unfamiliar. Mission can be like that. It requires boldness, courage. It may be the courage to do new things or old things in a new way. It may be the courage to be with new people or to continue to be with those we know but to share the gospel in a more overt way than before. It can be scary. The Lord said to Abram, Go from your country, your people and your father s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Answering God s call to mission can be daunting. But he will bless us and, more importantly, he will bless others.

7 SLIDE 17 main logo and title Methodism has a long history of boldness, of a seriousness regarding discipleship, of innovative ways of doing mission and taking advantage of training opportunities. And all in order to reach those who are unreached by a gospel of love. Here are some thoughts from around the world on mission and Methodism. VIDEO Methodist voices on mission SLIDE 18 - Togo Finally, in Togo, West Africa... We find a real challenge to us about outreach. MCI s first official contact with the Methodist Church Togo was in 2007 when a group from Ireland visited. However, the Togo church was established 175 years ago. In 2013, to celebrate 170 years, they set themselves targets; to increase the number of evangelists, plant four new churches, increase the visibility of the church and see 500 conversions. In fact, they added five new evangelists to the 25 already existing. Instead of planting 4 new churches, they planted 10. There were 678 conversions, not 500. Historically a church of the south, it is spreading into the more rural north where there has not been Christian witness before. They have a map showing their existing, new and intended churches and church plants. They set themselves targets and, with God s help, surpassed them. This is under the leadership of Rev. Matine-Grace Lawson, the first female Methodist President. Today you receive an envelope for the work of World Mission Partnership, our way, as Irish Methodists, of engaging in mission beyond Ireland. We hope that you will be part of God s mission in this way and give generously. SLIDE 19 main logo and title Pray Father, thank you for our global Methodist family. A family that has continued to grow and do mission where others fear to tread. We thank you for our partner churches; in Togo, Panama, Uganda, Peru and so many more. We thank you that we can play a part in their mission. Their mission activities inspire us, May we too be innovative, bold and grow as disciples. Together Lord, may we change this world, declaring your word and imitating your Son, That all may know his name. So, Lord, inspire us to pray for world mission, to give generously to world mission and, if called by you, to go in world mission. In Christ s name Amen Intercessory prayers Produce prayers from the following resources:

8 This sermon material and its stories The WMP Annual Report WMP s bimonthly prayer points from Irish Methodist mission partners ( ed in January) PPT slide provided if required (SLIDE 20) Prayer Focus (contains WMP entries for partners churches and mission partners: Pages 12,16, 19, 23, 27, 31, 46, 51, 58, 63, 65, 67, 69) SLIDE 21 Benediction Benediction to be said together All our problems we send to the cross of Christ All our difficulties we send to the cross of Christ All the devil s works we send to the cross of Christ All our hopes we set on the risen Christ Amen (originally from the African Anglican Church) SLIDE 22 main logo and title

9 Readings Genesis 12, v The Lord had said to Abram, Go from your country, your people and your father s household to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Matthew 9, v Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

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