Leadership Seminar “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the Ends of the Earth.” -- Jesus Christ

The last recorded words of Jesus Christ spoken on this Earth. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the Ends of the Earth.” Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the Ends of the Earth.” Today, where are some of the places the our churches in North America are seeking POWER? Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

“You will receive power… Places where our churches seek power:  Finances  Facilities  Programs  Success Ranking  _________________ Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

“You will receive power… Some of Jesus’ disciples had been looking for power… where?  Positions of influence  Political power Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the Ends of the Earth.” God intends for our power source to be the Holy Spirit. Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

Why does God give us power through the Holy Spirit? “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the Ends of the Earth.” To be His witnesses… Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

Why should a church invest time, effort, and resources in making disciples? According to the scriptures, there are several reasons… Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

Reasons a church should invest in making disciples: 1.Christians are commanded by Jesus to make disciples of all people groups. (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8). Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

Reasons a church should invest in making disciples: 2. God has chosen the church to make the gospel known to all people groups. (Ephesians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20) Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

Reasons a church should invest in making disciples: 3. God desires to draw people to Himself; and is pleased when worshippers are gathered in His name. (Psalm 86:9-10; Isaiah 48:10-11; Romans 12:1; Revelation 5:9-10) Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

Reasons a church should invest in making disciples: 4. Making disciples is a direct out growth of living the two great commandments. (Matthew 22:36-40) Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

Reasons a church should invest in making disciples: 5. Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. (Acts 4:12; John 14:6) Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

Video: The Church and the Grocery Store Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge

When a church embraces the Acts 1:8 Challenge, that church is saying: We are committed to developing a comprehensive mission strategy with assistance from our Acts 1:8 denominational partners. Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Ends of the Earth —This mission field encompasses the vast reaches of our world where many people have not yet heard about Jesus. (Your primary partner to assist you in reaching your ends of the earth is your International Mission Board.) There are peoples of the world to whom God desires your church to take the gospel. “All the nations You have made will come and bow down before you, Lord, and will honor Your name. For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.” (Ps. 86:9-10 HCSB) Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Ends of the Earth —This mission field encompasses the vast reaches of our world where many people have not yet heard about Jesus. (Your primary partner to assist you in reaching your ends of the earth is your International Mission Board.) IMB missionaries are now reaching almost 200 new people groups each year. Yet 1.6 billion people in 5,000 people groups still have little or no access to the gospel. “This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14, HCSB). Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Samaria -- For churches in North America, this mission field includes the United States, Canada, and in some cases include US territories. It includes a myriad of ethnic, linguistic, and socio-economic designations. (Your primary partner for reaching your Samaria is your North American Mission Board) For today’s church, as for the early church, Samaria is “a close-by place that we rarely visit,” and Samaritans are “those who live relatively near us, but who are not like us.” “Now he [Jesus] had to go through Samaria” “Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water’” (John 4:4; 4:9-10). Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Samaria -- For churches in North America, this mission field includes the United States, Canada, and in some cases include US territories. It includes a myriad of ethnic, linguistic, and socio-economic designations. (Your primary partner for reaching your Samaria is your North American Mission Board) Are their certain “people groups” or “types of people” your church might have a certain amount of prejudice toward? It may or may not be a racial prejudice or resistance; but, rather a socioeconomic, geographic, business classification (union workers, non-union workers, military, those who work in the gaming or gambling industry). Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Samaria -- For churches in North America, this mission field includes the United States, Canada, and in some cases include US territories. It includes a myriad of ethnic, linguistic, and socio-economic designations. (Your primary partner for reaching your Samaria is your North American Mission Board) I Timothy 2:3, 4 – “This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and come the knowledge of the truth.” (HCSB) Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first for the Jew, and also for the Greek.” (HCSB) Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Samaria -- For churches in North America, this mission field includes the United States, Canada, and in some cases include US territories. It includes a myriad of ethnic, linguistic, and socio-economic designations. (Your primary partner for reaching your Samaria is your North American Mission Board) Galatians 3:28 – “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (HCSB) God calls Christians to personalize the gospel for the diverse peoples in and near their homeland. It is estimated that 251 million people in North America, or 3 out of 4 people, do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Judea (our region and state)—This mission field is the general area in which we live. Each state or region is symbolically a “Judea” mission field with its own unique spiritual climate. ( Your primary partner for reaching your Judea is your State Convention) If Samaritans are seen as “those who live relatively near us, but are not like us,” then Judeans can be seen as “those who live relatively near us, who in many ways are like us.” “For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, since you have also suffered the same things from people of your own country, just as they did from the Jews” (1 Thess. 2:14, HCSB). Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Judea (our region and state)—This mission field is the general area in which we live. Each state or region is symbolically a “Judea” mission field with its own unique spiritual climate. (Your primary partner for reaching your Judea is your State Convention) In the United States, there is an average of one Southern Baptist church for every 6,800 people. In Canada, there is an average of one church for every 140,000 people. One great challenge of the Judea mission field is the barrier of “presumed familiarity” that people have with the gospel. Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Jerusalem (our local community)—This mission field is the city or surrounding community where we live. Every local church is planted in a particular “Jerusalem.” Theses are the people in our communities, work places, and schools. (Your primary partner to assist you in reaching your Jerusalem is your local association) In a typical county in the United States, more than 45 percent of the population is unclaimed by any religious group – Christian or otherwise. God calls Christians out into their local communities, even to people who need a new or different church. Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Jerusalem (Your primary partner to assist you in reaching your Jerusalem is your local association) “When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and knew that they had been with Jesus. … the Sanhedrin …conferred among themselves, saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign, evident to all who live in Jerusalem, has been done through them, and we cannot deny it.” Acts 4:13-16 (HCSB) If you do not have a credible, effective witness in your Jerusalem, it is difficult to have one anywhere. Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Ends of the Earth It is important to note that these mission fields are not defined solely in terms of geography. But, they are also to be interpreted ethnically, linguistically and culturally. Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Ends of the Earth DO IT: Identify Your Mission Fields: Specifically, as best you can, identify your church’s mission fields. –For instance, you might identify your “Judea” as “the residents in the government project housing 12 miles from the church.” –Be specific. Do not identify your “Samaria” as “people in Wyoming.” What people in Wyoming? Your Jerusalem_____________________ Your Judea ________________________ Your Samaria_______________________ Your Ends of the Earth:_______________ Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Four Mission Fields

Understanding the Acts 1:8 Challenge Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply Prepare—empowering a designated leader of missions and developing mission teams, strategies and plans to take the gospel to our community, state, continent and world. Learn—bringing mission awareness and interaction to the entire church body, training members for service and connecting them to missionaries and mission needs. Pray—asking God for Kingdom perspective and worldwide vision, interceding for Christian workers and unevangelized peoples.

The Eight Kingdom-Growing Responses Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply Give—increasing the financial support of the Cooperative Program and other SBC cooperative missions. Go—enabling a growing number of members to directly participate in short-term, long-term and marketplace opportunities to minister and spread the gospel beyond our church’s walls. Tell—involving an increasing number of members in intentional, culturally relevant evangelism.

The Eight Kingdom-Growing Responses Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply Send—providing members with opportunities to hear and respond to God’s call to vocational mission service. Multiply—participating in church planting and facilitating church planting movements

The Eight Kingdom-Growing Responses Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply Review… What are the primary reasons for reaching all peoples with the gospel? True or False – The primary distinction in people groups of the world is political boundaries. What are the four general mission fields? True or False – To embrace the Acts 1:8 Challenge, churches must follow the eight denominational requirements. What are the last spoken words of Jesus Christ prior to his departure from the Earth.?

Prepare & Learn The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Prepare – Empowering a designated leader of missions and developing mission teams, strategies and plans to take the gospel to our community, state, continent and world. The role of the pastor is critical to the missional success of a church. It does not really matter what a church chooses to call their mission team. The role of the mission team is to lead the church in total participation of the “Eight Kingdom Responses.” The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Prepare – Empowering a designated leader of missions and developing mission teams, strategies and plans to take the gospel to our community, state, continent and world. How your mission team functions depends greatly upon the structure and polity of your church body. The Pastor must be an ongoing “cheerleader” for missions and missional engagement. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Suggested First Steps for the Mission Team 1. Pray for a fresh, clear vision of God’s heart for the world. 2. Define Your Team Structure. 3. Communicate the Vision. –Plan a worship service or one-day rally around the Acts 1:8 theme. –Offer regular updates of the mission team’s work through newsletters, announcements in worship services, or brief reports on the strategies being implemented. –Identify mission efforts under The Acts 1:8 Challenge name. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Suggested First Steps for the Mission Team Consider providing copies of the following resources to your mission leadership team, Bible study leaders, and church staff team to read: The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Empowering the Church to Be On Mission, by Nate Adams, –Empowering Kingdom Growth: The Heartbeat of God, by Ken Hemphill. –Let the Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Mission, by John Piper. –Shaped by God’s Heart, by Milfred Minatrea. –To The Ends of the Earth: Churches Fulfilling the Great Commission, by Jerry Rankin. –Foreign to Familiar, by Sarah Lanier. This “easy read” resource is an excellent primer for helping persons to begin thinking cross-culturally. –Strategic Outreach, by Eric W. Ramsey and Ed Stetzer. –Breaking the Missional Code, by Ed Stetzer and David Putman The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Suggested First Steps for the Mission Team 4. Coordinate Budget and Calendar. –Annual planning by the missions team should look at least 12 to 24 months ahead for the most effective coordination to occur. 5. Regular Evaluation –Brainstorm together to develop fresh, new ways to mobilize your members in the Great Commission. –Think through each of the eight Kingdom-Growing Responses and consider innovative ways to expand your church’s reach. –Keep the partnership connections current and updated in each of the fields. Contact each of the primary partners to inquire about new ideas and emphases being considered. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

DO IT: Does your church already have a mission team? If so, what is the name of that mission team? List 3 persons who, in your opinion, would be among the best persons in your church to lead the mission team: Who in your church might best represent each of the four mission fields? –Jerusalem:____________________________________ –Judea:_______________________________________ –Samaria:_____________________________________ –Ends of the Earth:______________________________ The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Learn – Bringing mission awareness and interaction to the entire church body, training members for service and connecting them to missionaries and mission needs. * Living the command of Jesus Christ to be witnesses in the four mission fields, involves more than just learning about missionaries – believers need to learn to live missionally. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Learning is a critical prerequisite for going, telling, sending, and multiplying. Illustration: Ken and the Buddhist The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Learn A big part of learning is helping church members discover (through experience) lostness in the four mission fields. Jesus’ disciples learned by observing, listening, and emulating – but, much of their learning was through experiencing. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Learn The vast majority of learners in our Western culture are multi-mode learners and at least in part, kinesthetic learners (hands on or experiential learners) –Learning occurs in context –Learning is active: "Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me, I understand.“ –Learning is social. Learners benefit from working collaboratively in groups. –Learning is reflective. Learning is facilitated when learners are given chances to express and evaluate on their own thinking. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Learn CONSIDER: What is your church doing to learn about YOUR mission fields? In your church, how are children being made aware of mission opportunities and responsibilities in each of the four mission fields? What about youth/students? What about adults? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Resources: New resources are being created every day to assist churches in educating their members to the mission of God. Age-graded resources specifically focused on the Acts 1:8 paradigm are available free for download for your church by visiting or North American Mission Board (NAMB), Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) sponsor organizational approaches to mission education. Staff of both entities, as well as at your state convention and in many associations, are available to assist you. For further information, contact NAMB at (770) or visit WMU at (205) or visit and your state convention and association partners. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Prepare & Learn Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray – Asking God for Kingdom perspective and worldwide vision, interceding for Christian workers and unevangelized peoples. Perhaps the most underestimated and most neglected discipline in today’s North American church is prayer. Acts 4:31 says, “And when they prayed… they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness.” The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray – Asking God for Kingdom perspective and worldwide vision, interceding for Christian workers and unevangelized peoples. Dr. Jerry Rankin, in his book, To the Ends of the Earth, writes, “Praying enables us to participate in the providential work of God’s Spirit as He moves among the nations, claiming them for His possession.” In Ephesians 6:18, Paul urges us to, “pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray Prayer is motivated by compassion. Compassion comes from seeing or experiencing the need (lostness). Jesus looked at the crowds and had compassion. Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt. 9:38, NIV). The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray Praying for God’s mission advancement is often a first step toward becoming personally involved in the Great Commission. The mission leadership team must keep prayer as a primary focus of the church’s mission endeavor. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray The entire church body should be given regular intentional opportunities to pray for missionaries, mission causes, and mission fields. Prayer is what lead’s to powerful proclamation of the truth, and the Holy Spirit’s action of softening the hearts of those who need to know the Truth. –Dr. Jerry Rankin said it this way, “Prayer is what enables the Holy Spirit to give boldness to our witness. It unleashes the power of God and changes lives. It is the foundation for empowering kingdom growth.” The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray Illustrations: TCWM / IMB Short-term medical mission team in Southeast Asia. Morganton Baptist Church Hispanic Ministry The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray Illustrations: TCWM / IMB Short-term medical mission team in Southeast Asia. Morganton Baptist Church Hispanic Ministry The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray In your church, what place of value does prayer hold? Do you have an intentional church-wide prayer strategy for your: –Jerusalem? –Judea? –Samaria? –Ends of the Earth? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Pray What are your next steps in leading your church to intentionally pray for missionaries, mission efforts, and mission opportunities? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Give -- Increasing the financial support of the Cooperative Program and other SBC cooperative missions Giving is biblical Giving is practical Giving is an exercise in cooperation The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Give Video: Vision for Giving: Small Town, Big Impact The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Give The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Give Illustration: 2005 Hurricanes… More than 150 Southern Baptist churches closed their doors… How many missionaries had to come home? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Give SBC Missions Giving Avenues: Cooperative Program Association Missions Offering State Convention Missions Offering Annie Armstrong Easter Offering Lottie Moon Christmas Offering The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Give Increasing your church’s missions giving: Do not promote an “offering” or “organization” – communicate the cause to which your church is giving. Tell stories and celebrate missions successes and spiritual victories. Lead your church to increase giving goals, and develop plans to reach those goals. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Give Increasing your church’s missions giving: Invite missionaries to speak – schedule early. Incorporate giving testimonies from church members in your services. What are some ways by which your church has increased missions giving? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Pray & Give Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go -- Enabling a growing number of members to directly participate in short-term, long- term and marketplace opportunities to minister and spread the gospel beyond our church’s walls. Going is Biblical Acts 1:8 (four mission fields) Matthew 28:19 (lit. “as you go”) – making disciples requires going. Going increases missions awareness The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go The “mission field” is anywhere God is at work expanding His kingdom; and compelling His people from other cultures to join Him in planting the gospel. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go Missions is more caught than taught. Going leads to learning, praying, giving, telling, sending, and multiplying. Going is perhaps the best way to “teach missions.” The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go Going to your Jerusalem Your association has opportunities Look for needs in your community Ask public officials, school board members, and neighborhood organizations Be creative The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go Video: Transportation Ministry The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go Going to your Judea Ask your state missions office Ask your association about mission partnerships Discover where in your region North American Missionaries are serving, contact them, and investigate partnership opportunities. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go Video: Surf’s Up! The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go Going to your Samaria Contact your state missions office regarding state-to-state partnerships Contact your NAMB regarding short- term mission opportunities High priorities might be areas of disaster relief, certain cities, or new work areas. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Go Going to your ends of the Earth Contact your IMB regarding missions opportunities Contact the Fellowship of Baptist World Ministries (partnership missions organizations with approved IMB projects) Contact your state missions office regarding established partnerships The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell -- Involving an increasing number of members in intentional, culturally relevant evangelism God does not expect His people to make converts; but, He does empower us to be and expect us to be His witnesses. Acts 1:8 – “You will be my witnesses…” (lit. must & will) The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell -- Involving an increasing number of members in intentional, culturally relevant evangelism Illustration: Courtroom The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell -- Involving an increasing number of members in intentional, culturally relevant evangelism IT IS IMPORTANT TO TRAIN BELIEVERS FOR EVANGELISM BUT, TRAINING BY ITSELF IS NOT ENOUGH. EQUIPPING CHURCH MEMBERS FOR EVANGELISM ALSO INVOLVES GIVING THEM OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE THEIR FAITH. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell -- Involving an increasing number of members in intentional, culturally relevant evangelism Video: Laundromat The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell Resources for evangelism training: NET: This resource, available through the North American Mission Board, equips believers to effectively share the gospel by incorporating their personal testimony in the gospel presentation; thereby helping believers to have a “fresh” presentation of the gospel that is Biblically centered and personal. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell Resources for evangelism training: F.A.I.T.H. -- This resource, available through Lifeway Christian Resources, equips believers to share their faith in contexts where there has been some exposure to God. The strength of this program is the way it incorporates outreach and evangelism into the Sunday School infrastructure. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell Resources for evangelism training: I.C.E. -- Inter-City Evangelism equips believers for one-on-one personal “cold call” evangelism in an urban setting. This resource is available through the North American Mission Board. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell Resources for evangelism training: T4T -- Training for Trainers is a highly effective reproducible evangelism and evangelism training method being utilized among people groups throughout the world. Materials will soon be available through the International Mission Board. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell Resources for evangelism training: CAMEL TRAINING -- This resource is designed to assist believers in sharing their faith with Islamic peoples; helping them to understand the words of the prophets and then consider the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Tell What are you doing to train church members and offer opportunities for intentional evangelism in your: Jerusalem? Judea? Samaria? Ends of the Earth? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Go & Tell Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send -- Providing members with opportunities to hear and respond to God’s call to vocational mission service. Throughout history, God has been sending people to fulfill His purpose… The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send In Exodus 3:14, Moses told the people, as God had instructed him, “I AM has sent me to you.” (HCSB) In Isaiah 6:8, responding to the voice of God, Isaiah said, “Here I am. Send me.” (HCSB) The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send In Luke 14:18, Jesus read from the writings of the prophet Isaiah, powerfully proclaiming His purpose and the fulfillment of prophecy; “… He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind…” (HCSB) In Matthew 9:38, Jesus told the disciples to pray asking the “Lord of the harvest to send out workers…” (HCSB) The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send In John 20:21, Jesus Christ said to his followers, “…Father has sent me, I also send you.” (HCSB) In Romans 10:15, the apostle Paul writes, “…how can they preach unless they are sent?” (HCSB) The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send Do you see both the pattern and the progression? God sent his messengers, leaders, and prophets. God sent the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, to be the propitiation for our sins. Jesus send his followers, disciples, learners, emulators, to continue the task. The church continues sending those called by God to plant the gospel among all peoples The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send In not so distant Southern Baptist History, it was common for pastors to offer a public invitation (alter call) for “full-time Christian service.” God is likely calling more to serve as missionaries than are responding to that call. Our churches need to offer opportunities for believers to God’s call. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send The North American Mission Board and International Mission Board defines missionary as: “A person who, in response to God’s call and gifting, leaves his/her comfort zone and crosses cultural, geographic or other barriers to proclaim the gospel and live out a Christian witness in obedience to the Great Commission” The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send What is your church doing to actively “call out the called?” God is likely calling persons in your church to “be sent.” What is your church doing to offer those persons an opportunity to respond to that call, grow in the understanding of that call, and exercise that call – whether short-term or long-term? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send What “sending opportunities” does your church currently provide for: Adults Youth Children Families The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Send Of the sending opportunities your church currently provides, how many are to your: Jerusalem Judea Samaria Ends of the Earth The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Each Square = 5 Million Lost Individuals There are 5,377 lMB Missionaries

There are 16 million Southern Baptists Each Square = 5 Million Lost Individuals

Send What is your next step in leading your church to provide additional sending opportunities? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Multiply -- Participating in church planting and facilitating church planting movements. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Multiply -- Participating in church planting and facilitating church planting movements. Video: Triad Church Planting Testimony -- Maryland The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Multiply -- Participating in church planting and facilitating church planting movements. Consider:  Who are the people your church has been unable to reach?  Is anyone else reaching them?  If not, what kind of church would it take to reach them? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Multiply -- Participating in church planting and facilitating church planting movements. Consider:  Perhaps your church should consider sponsoring a new church start to reach these people. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Planting a church is not something that must be done by a full-time vocational pastor or missionary. Video: Go Start a Church The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

What are you doing to involve your church in multiplication in your: Jerusalem Judea Samaria Ends of the Earth The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Send & Multiply Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

–God has chosen the church to make known his message. –We are the Church. –God has empowered the church to be His witnesses. –We (the Church) are to be His witnesses in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and ends of the Earth. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Your Church Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Video: Revival: Can It Happen Again? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Your Church Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Consider the following: Has God placed you in your current ministry role? Why has God placed you there? The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Your Church Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply

Consider the following: Has your church identified their mission fields? How is your church doing in impacting the cultures within these mission fields? Identify the things which are standing in the way of your church impacting the cultures in your mission fields. The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Your Church Prepare Learn Pray Give Go Tell Send Multiply