The Missional Life, Class #1: Foundations for Missions Uptown Church Sunday School: Missions Class January 2, 2011

Transcription

1 The Missional Life, Class #1: Foundations for Missions Uptown Church Sunday School: Missions Class January 2, 2011 Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Introduction Title of class The Missional Life: Advancing God s Kingdom to the Ends of the Earth Missions Fest was held August to highlight how God is using our church to expand the global kingdom in numerous ways; over 100 adults attended The pastors and Missions Committee wanted to build on the momentum and visibility created by the missions conference As with many things in the Christian life, one of the ways to grow the church body is by laying a firm doctrinal foundation that can inform and guide how Christians live out the faith, whether we're talking missions, evangelism, discipleship, sanctification, etc. Goal of this class is to equip every person in attendance with a broad global missiology to help him/her... Become more informed about global missions Pray more effectively Become more knowledgeable stewards of their financial and other resources Develop a personal or family vision for global missions Understand historical and contemporary missions issues Provide clarification / external calling for individuals considering a missions call Prayer Outline for today's class Baseline discussion broad missions concepts Biblical basis for missions an Old Testament perspective Missions at Uptown how God is using our church, and how you can get involved A. Baseline discussion: broad missions concepts To set the stage for the SS series, it is important to get a general sense for the baseline knowledge about broad missions ideas / definitions. Missions means different things to different people. Discussion questions: What is a good definition of missions? Pros and cons of the definitions below: Advancing God kingdom by making disciples of all nations until Jesus returns Proclaiming the gospel message outside those in your own culture The cross-cultural expansion of the church of Jesus Christ Forming viable indigenous church-planting movements worldwide Uptown SS Missions Class #1 1

2 The church's use of various means towards the conversion of the heathen What is the 10/40 Window 1? Regions between 10 and 40 latitude in the eastern hemisphere where... There is the largest concentration of poverty and low standard of living There is the least access to the Christian message or churches Encompasses Saharan and North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia An estimated billion individuals (depending on how you define it) reside in approximately 8,811 distinct people groups in the 10/40 Window 2 Prominence of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and non-religion (China) What is contextualization? Often debated and sometimes controversial One end of the spectrum: simply presenting the gospel using the language and norms of a given people group Other end of the spectrum: appropriating meanings, models, metaphors, etc. from the culture in order to present the gospel in a relevant, meaningful way (implied: possibly softening or modifying the gospel to fit the needs / culture of the audience) What is an unreached people group? How does this differ from unengaged? An unreached or least-reached people is a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group. A people group is engaged when a church planting strategy, consistent with Evangelical faith and practice, is under implementation. 3 6,918 42% 6,615 40% Unreached Nominal Established 3,065 18% Total = 16,598 What is a closed country? How many are there? This includes countries where government policy or practice prevents Christians from obtaining Bibles or other Christian literature. Also included are countries where government-sanctioned circumstances or anti-christian laws lead to Christians being harassed, imprisoned, killed or deprived of possessions or liberties because of their witness...[may also include] large areas in nations where 1 Coined by Luis Bush at the 1989 Lausanne II Conference in Manila 2 JoshuaProject.org, 3 JoshuaProject.org Uptown SS Missions Class #1 2

3 governments consistently attempt to provide protection for the Christian population, but Christians are victims of violence because of their witness. 4 Some common practices of closed countries: No open evangelism Illegal to convert to Christianity from another faith (e.g., Islam) No Western missionaries living in the country long-term for the express purposes of proselytizing No access to Christian literature or Bibles Approximately nations (or more, depending on the definition) The specific classes of this SS series will delve into many of these topics further: Date Session Teacher 1/2 Foundations: key concepts and biblical basis for global missions; Greg Lanier Uptown s missions efforts 1/9 Reaching the unreached in closed countries: strategies, challenges, Guest and fruit of evangelism among M*slims 1/16 Doing short-term missions well: learnings from the field Dave Kulp, Forde Britt 1/23 Contextualization: The Hot Button of Contemporary Missions Phil Parshall 1/30 Relational evangelism: new models for making disciples in Bob Dyar domestic and international mission fields 2/6 Missiology: contemporary missions issues in a postmodern world Tyler Dirks 2/13 Making a missionary: perceiving calling, training, and bearing fruit in the field Luke Johnson, Phil Parshall 2/20 Social justice, not social gospel: the role and importance of medical Greg Lanier missions, disaster relief, poverty alleviation, and microfinance 2/27 Building a family vision for missions Grae Garrison, Tom Ellis 4 Persecution.org website Uptown SS Missions Class #1 3

4 B. Biblical basis for missions an Old Testament perspective It is fairly common (and rightfully so) to start with Matthew 28:19, Acts 1:8, or other NT passages (or the life of Paul) in order to derive a biblical doctrine of missions. However, it is important to remember that the Old Testament also provides insight into God's command to expand his kingdom missionally. We will focus on a few passages from the prophets. Outline of biblical missions in the OT Read Micah 4:1-5 Kingdom mandate: establishing the mountain of the Lord Arrows out and arrows in: centripetal and centrifugal dynamic True worship, not mere assent Strategy and content Corporate and individual emphases Eschatological focus: missions is by definition focused on NH/NE Kingdom mandate: God's redemptive plan has always been to establish his kingdom globally Re-read Micah 4:1 Note: very similar passage in Isaiah 2 Q: What does Micah mean by Mountain of the Lord? Define the kingdom of God. God's chosen people (first Israel, then the church) were created and set apart to be the nucleus of true worship and obedience to him Mountain of the Lord imagery refers to the temple in Jerusalem, which was the epicenter of religious life and the physical (theophanic) presence of Yahweh among his people Represents true worship: shall become the highest among the mountains The kingdom of God is a robust, multi-faceted doctrine, but in sum the OT usage refers to God establishing his sovereign reign in the earthly and salvific realm over all the nations / peoples of the earth, such that all saved men worship him freely and joyfully. God already has dominion in a universal / providential sense, but his creatures live in a state of rebellion; the created order needs to be restored. Q: What does v1b suggest about the nature of the temple / mountain / kingdom of God with respect to the nations? How does this reflect the covenant(s)? God's chosen people were always intended to extend God's blessings to all nations Noahic covenant emphasized God's preservation of all of the earth Abrahamic covenant (Gen 15/17) makes strong reference to the community of faith being a blessing to all nations (Rom 4:13 - heir of the world ) Mosaic covenant emphasized that Israel's worship and obedience would both set them apart from the surrounding heathen nations but also attract them to Yahweh Latter days refers to an immediate (restoration from exile), intermediate (coming of Christ), and ultimate (church age and second coming) fulfillment of the kingdom Uptown SS Missions Class #1 4

5 Centripetal and centrifugal dynamic of the mission of God's people: attracting in and going out Re-read Micah 4:2 Q: What is notable about the shift in action from 4:2a to 4:2b First part of the verse shows the nations going to Israel (the mountain) to learn God's law Second part of the verse shows the law going forth out of Zion (the mountain) to become a blessing to the nations Original purpose for Israel: serve as the central point of true worship, an example and model for all the nations Q: What would I mean by centripetal mission as it relates to Israel? Centripetal mission: directed inward Read Ex 19:5-6 God set apart Israel as holy among the nations, and the nations would see how God blesses his covenant people and be attracted to Zion Evolution of this purpose of Israel: sending his people out among the nations to bring the blessings of the covenant to them Q: What would I mean by centrifugal mission as it relates to Israel? Centrifugal mission: directed outward Read Jonah 1:1 and 4:11 God sent a prophet from Israel to preach repentance to Assyria, Israel's worst enemy (at the time) Illustration of the exile itself: Israel failed at its original centripetal mission by becoming like its enemies (idolatry, temple prostitutes, wickedness). Thus, God dispersed Israel and Judah into foreign lands. Jeremiah and Isaiah talk about the exile as a means of saving a remnant from among foreign lands, and Ezekiel has a vision of the Lord leaving the temple and going east to be among the exilic community (the Lord is not stagnantly tied to a geographic location) This would only be partially fulfilled in Israel's time and would point to final fulfillment in the church age, when the gospel went to the Gentiles in a big way. Implications for today: The church is primarily to be the nucleus of worship and growth for believers Additionally, gospel is to go out from the church for the conversion of unbelievers among the nations Acts 1:8 strategy Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth Establishing true worship: content and scope Re-read Micah 4:2b-4 Content: preaching the word of God Q: What does 4:2b indicate is the key subject or content of this missional movement from Zion? The word of God (law in OT, gospel in NT) is the message which is being delivered to the nations for their benefit Read Isaiah 2:3-4 The nations are attracted to the word of Yahweh, for it is there that they learn how to walk in his ways Uptown SS Missions Class #1 5

6 Word of God must be the overarching emphasis of any missions effort, for only in God's special revelation......do we learn about Christ...Do we learn how to worship God rightly...do we have a coherent framework for any other activity affecting the lives of believers and non-believers (health, education, poverty relief) Q: What is the implication of this? Christian missions must be word-based at their core if they are to be effective in raising up people who walk in his paths ; any other emphases must stem from a gospel orientation Scope: corporate and individual Q: What is notable about the target audiences mentioned in v3 and v4? Peoples, nations, nation...against nation Every man under his vine Corporate focus : God addresses the covenant community at times as a corporate body ( nations ) though there may of course be tares among the wheat Read Isaiah 19:16-25 God extends covenant blessings (and curses) to Egypt and Assyria, and he will be worshiped by them along with Israel Q: What does this passage reveal about how God expands his kingdom? What are the implications for our mission work today? A chief way God works is through establishing churches among people groups and nations so that his purposes can be executed in new, thriving communities of faith Individual focus : At the same time, salvation is a grace that is individually applied. We are justified, adopted, and sanctified as individual sinners, though the grace is often mediated in the context of corporate community. OT agricultural blessings (vine, fig tree) often symbolized covenant blessings to those who are saved by Yahweh Read Zech 8:23 Ten men from the nations will follow each Jew up to Israel for worship; even in Israel's context, the individual had a role, not just the temple. Our missions (and evangelism) efforts are intensely personal and relational. Q: What are the implications of this for present day missions? Christian missions must embrace a variety of tactics and strategies to build up corporate bodies of believers (e.g., church-planting) and individual believers (e.g., street evangelism). We need both, for they work hand-in-hand. Eschatological focus: missions ultimately focuses on the return of Christ Re-read Micah 4:5 The last verse of the passage alludes to a great division between those who continue to worship their own false gods (despite the centripetal and centrifugal mission of Israel/church) and those who worship Yahweh forever and ever Expansion of the kingdom of God through missions is by definition the end game of God's redemptive plan Uptown SS Missions Class #1 6

7 Read Zechariah 14:16 Context: the Day of the Lord in which God returns to do battle with his enemies, bring judgment on all mankind, and establish his kingdom forever Q: What does this passage imply? The remnant of the faithful from among all nations that survives the judgment shall go up to the Mountain of the Lord (Jerusalem) to worship Festival of Booths permanent presence of God among his people (tabernacle) and allusion to adherence to the word (e.g., Leviticus) Revelation 21 describes the descent of the heavenly Jerusalem down to the earthly realm, with the permanent establishment of the presence of God among man Thus, the coming in to the Mountain of the Lord and the accomplishment of the purpose of the going out of the message of God from the Mountain will both be perfectly fulfilled in the Day of the Lord, when God consummates his kingdom Q: How does the eschatological connection between the mountain / temple / city of Zion and the New Heavens / New Earth provide a focus or direction to missions? From a missions perspective, our fundamental goal must be to expand the kingdom of God on earth among all nations in anticipation of the final establishment and perfection of the kingdom at Christ's second coming. Redemption of the elect (spiritual focus) must be primary, though meeting physical / emotional / material means through missions can serve as complementary means to this ultimate end Implications of the prophetic message regarding missions Q: What can we learn from these OT passages about missions? It starts here: the church is the mountain of the Lord in the NT era It encompasses true worship and ministry It involves every believer, for we are both to attract unbelievers by modeling obedience as well as serve as ambassadors of the gospel wherever we are It is primarily driven by the Word: gospel ministry leads to deed ministry (Mic 4:2) It is global and local, corporate and individual It is ultimately about God's dominion over all the nations of the earth It is consistently eschatological C. Missions at Uptown Uptown is actively involved in missions around the world, and every member can have a role. God has used our church to advance the kingdom in numerous ways. Global in scope 30 missionary families and church planters 12 in North America, 7 in Europe, 5 in Africa and Middle East, 6 in Asia Diverse ministries of Word and Deed Church planting: Prague, Utah, N. Mexico, Bangladesh, North Africa, East and Southeast Asia, England Uptown SS Missions Class #1 7

8 Teaching and equipping: training curriculum development; sports ministry; seminaries in Mexico, Uganda, Middle East, and South Africa; missions sending agencies and training Campus ministry: JWU, Davidson, GSU, CNU, Duke, Prague, East Asia Mercy ministry: children's schools, orphanages, business as missions Financial stewardship 8% of church budget goes to missions, 10% goes to church planting Over $100,000 in additional one-time giving in past two years How you can become involved Join the missions committee (we're recruiting!) Go on a short-term trip Support missionaries financially and through prayer Provide hospitality for visiting missionaries (cars, housing, desserts, etc.) Life group missionary adoption (prayer, care packages, etc.) Become a missionary! Conclusion and application In what ways is missions something you / we do (or is a thing )? In what ways is missions more than that (a comprehensive, all-embracing motive)? Analogy of worship : something we specifically do in various corporate or individual contexts, but also a concept that pervades all of our daily lives Counter-balance: When everything is missions, nothing is missions Uptown SS Missions Class #1 8