The Mission of the Church Class 1: The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few The Bible as a missions story Class 2: Every Christian is a world Christian (going, praying, sending, welcoming, mobilizing) Class 3: A closer look at mobilizing The Pauling Cycle

The Harvest is Plentiful… All “nations” -eth'-nos a race (as of the same habit), that is, a tribe; specifically a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually by implication pagan): - Gentile, heathen, nation, people.

The Harvest is Plentiful

There are over 3.6 billion unreached people in the world today Of those 3.6 billion people, 88% live in or near the 10/40 window Only 2.17% of these unreached people live in North and South America combined! In the 10/40 window alone there are 724 million Muslims, 787 million Hindus, and 240 million Buddhists.

The Laborers are Few It is estimated that only 4% of foreign missionaries today are working to reach these unreached people. Of all the money designated for "missions" in the U.S., only 5.4% is used for foreign missions, according to the World Christian Encyclopedia. Of that 5.4%, only 0.37% is used to take the gospel to unreached people who don't have access to the gospel.

The Bible as a Missions Story Introduction: Genesis 1-11 Plot: Genesis 12 - Jude Conclusion: Revelation.

Conclusion "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb...“ Revelation 7:9 WHAT ARE YOUR INITIAL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE MISSIONS THEME OF GOD'S STORY & THE RESPONSIBILITY BELIEVERS HAVE IN REACHING NATIONS? WHAT ARE SOME QUESTIONS YOU HAVE CONCERNING MISSIONS?

Every Christian a World Christian The main habits are: Going Praying Sending Welcoming Mobilizing

Going “The calling of the missionary to the heathen is a glorious high calling. He who thinks himself above it, ought not to call himself a follower of Christ” – Samuel Mills, 1806 A definition of the goer is the person physically present, laboring cross-culturally on the mission field. Going may mean a short- term trip or an extended amount of time.

Going "But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’" (Ex. 3:11) "I will be with you" (Ex. 3:12) "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Praying "I used to think that prayer should have the first place and teaching the second. I now feel it would be truer to give prayer the first, second and third places and teaching the fourth." - James O. Fraser "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1) "This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." (Matt. 6:9-10)

Praying "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'" Matthew 9: The average Christian prays 2 minutes a day How often do we pray and what is the content of that prayer? What would it take to truly see a prayer movement in your heart of purposeful intercession for the nations that would spill out to your community?

Praying Never deny the natural inclination to pray Like everything else, prayer is a discipline and we need to train ourselves to do it. If we go into prayer without expecting oppression, we have already lost. If you seek to participate in world missions by praying, you must practice these things.

Sending “Missions can be compared to going down into a well. You are either the one being lowered or the one holding the ropes for the one being lowered, either way you are going to end up with scars on your hands” "And how can they preach unless they are sent?" (Rom. 10:15) The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike." (1 Sam. 30:24-25)

Sending A sender may work in one or all the following specialized roles: logistics, prayer coordination, communications, research, finances, or re-entry coordinator A specialist in logistics deals with the practical side of sending. They deal with packing the missionary's goods, travel plans, cost and acquirement of items needed on the field. The prayer coordinator can find specific prayer needs based on research, missionaries in the field and missions societies. They are also needed to enlist others in intercessory prayer for the team and organize special prayer meetings. For prayer needs to be known, a communications specialist is enormously helpful. It is their responsibility to open lines of communication to the team so that prayer requests and equipment and other needs are known

Sending “How different are World Christians from other Christians? In some ways, very little. They still spend much of their time doing day-to- day chores, filling their role in life (being a parent, spouse, friend), fulfilling the requirements of a job, fixing things around the house. They too work on character issues in their own life… But in other ways, they are very different. The World Christian uses his free time differently, keeping in mind a global perspective…He spends his finances wisely, freeing up more money for the global expansion of the kingdom. He always envisions how his ministry and activities can somehow result in eventually having an impact in the nations. Living a World Christian lifestyle as a sender doesn’t mean taking a vow of poverty – since poverty isn’t necessarily spiritual and wealth isn’t necessarily unspiritual. But being good stewards of money as we seek first the Kingdom of heaven is definitely a mark of a World Christian sender…the lifestyle of a globally significant sender isn’t mostly about money. It’s about character.” –Bill Stearns

Welcoming Over 650,000 international students and scholars are studying here from 188 countries of the world "The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God" (Lev 19:34). "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt" (Deut 10:18-20). 80% of the internationals on campus will never be invited into an American home

Mobilizing “The business of the recruiting officer may not blazon the pages of history but it wins battles.” – Thomas Richards, 1906 A mobilizer is a normal, everyday Christian who walks with God, yet has a global perspective and stays on the home front to rouse others to action "Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that the one who reads it may run" (Hab. 2:2). "Every Christian a World Christian and every World Christian a mobilizer."

Mobilizing Every great mobilizer thinks in terms of three areas: Motivation, Information, and Attention. With Motivation the key issue is understanding how to story-board the missions theme of the Bible and be able to share your own story in a powerful and concise way. Also, they understand the Information that is available and are able to pass it on to others. Whether that means magazines, books, websites or stats of where the reached vs. unreached are, the mobilizer is informed. Beyond Motivation and Information, mobilizers are also able to give Attention. This is bringing the key ingredient of follow up and accountability so that those who enter the pipeline stay in the pipeline. Recommend reading Radical by David Platt

So what does this mean? Take a look at these five habits and ask these questions: What habits can I major in while in this season of life and which should I minor in? What habits are my strongest? Which are my weakest? What are some practical applications I can make regarding each habit to build them into my life?