“The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.”
― Henry Martyn
Sending is one of the central themes in the Bible. Early on we see Abraham sent by God and throughout the Old Testament God continually sends prophets to deliver his message. Moses is sent to rescue the Israelites. Nehemiah was sent to rebuild the wall. Into the New Testament Jesus is sent. During his ministry we see multiple times where Jesus sent people out with his final message to us telling us to go. After he ascended up to heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us. Over and over again we see a biblical theme of sending. And yet, so few of our churches put any focus on sending.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
-Acts1:8
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:18-20
Two of the cornerstone verses in the Bible and yet there doesn’t seem to be much of a priority from the church to fulfill either. The church in Antioch met together, prayed and fasted together with the expectation the God would move among them and Paul and Barnabas were sent. Paul refers in his letters many to times where churches sent people to him to be with him and help him.
Does your church have a defined Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria or Uttermost? Do you have a vision for missions? Can you confidently answer the question, “Are you doing missions?” Here 2 There believes every church should have a Great Commission Strategy and that every church should be able to define where they are working and what they are working to accomplish. We must move beyond Love Others-Make Disciples-Change The World to exactly what does that look like and how we plan on doing it. Only then can the church focus on training people to actually go out and do it.
For help on creating a sending culture at your church we are offering a free opportunity to join us at our next cohort on SENDING. For more information go to here2there.org.
