How To Have A Mission-Hearted Church In A Mission-Minded World 4
Posted by wagardner - 27/03/08 at 10:03:01 pmBy Greg Locke, Pastor of Global Vision Baptist Church
15. EMBRACE YOUR PASSION FOR MISSIONS AND DO NOT LET UP. Repetition is the key to learning, and indeed missions must be repeated often and probably in every service. People will give to what they are the most passionate about. Passion is something that drives an individual to greatness. If we desire to have a great and exciting missions program, then we must get serious about creating passionate believers. At the beginning, passion must be pushed and forced. But in a very short amount of time the momentum will be out of control and passion will ooze out of the entire congregation. Don’t let up. Don’t stop. Don’t give in to the critics. Stay strong, direct and passionate. It will work!
16. ENHANCE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ANNUAL MISSIONS CONFERENCE. It is a shame that the least effective and most unattended meeting in most churches is the mission’s conference. It is almost an afterthought in many churches and there is no real preparation before and certainly no passion during the meeting. I for one believe that the mission’s conference is the most important meeting of the entire year. The revivals are extremely important. The Bible conferences are wonderful. But the mission’s conference allows the congregation to sense the heartbeat of God and to put into practice what they have learned and gotten right about in the other meetings. It cannot be overstated that this conference needs to be first class in every way and that missionaries should leave the meeting literally begging to come back to the hosting church. Missionaries have given up their entire lives to serve behind the scenes in some remote area of the world and when they are with us for a conference they should be treated as if they were royalty. Let people know that the annual mission’s conference is not a series of fund-raising services. It is an all important time to see the world as God sees it. People will get behind the missions program in a big way if the conference is a highlight and not a burden.
17. ENLIST PEOPLE FOR MISSIONS AND TRAIN THEM WELL. It is the responsibility of the local church to see that their people are discipled and trained properly. Whether that means personal one on one or sending some off to a good Bible College, people must be trained. Most churches are far to concerned with their seating capacity, when they had better get concerned over their sending capacity. If a church is never reproducing itself in the lives of others then something is gravely wrong. It should not be our desire to just be the largest church in the area. We should be consumed with training our own and sending them to the uttermost parts of the world. It should be preached on repeatedly and when asking for volunteers, the church may be surprised as to the ones who answer the call.
18. EMPOWER YOUR MISSIONS PROGRAM THROUGH EARNEST PRAYER FOR YOUR MISSIONARIES. The Bible teaches us that the “effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” The word “availeth” means to accomplish. If we desire a dynamic mission’s program to accomplish much for the glory of God, then we must earnestly pray. The people should often be encouraged to fervently pray for the needs of their own individual missionaries. Their names should not just be placed in a prayer bulletin and casually glanced at or mentioned from the pulpit. People must know the needs in order to feel as if they are a part of them. Our prayer services should be of New Testament proportions. We should call out the names, reveal the needs and take special time to cry out to God for what needs to be done. Once people get a taste and a glimpse of answered prayer, there will be no turning back to carnal and cold religion.
19. EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE MADE A VITAL AND ACTIVE PART. There should not be one single person within the church that does not know about the great need of missions. But not only should they be aware of it. They should consistently participate in doing something about it. Every child, every senior citizen, every staff member, every volunteer and certainly every family should be told of their God given obligation to reach the world for Christ. Missions is not to be stressed to the select few in the church that seem to have money. Missions have always been carried forth by the widow’s mite more than the businessman’s millions. Let everyone know of their personal responsibility and then expect all of them to do their part. If the Pastor will go missions crazy, then so will the church. There is absolutely no exception to this rule!
20. EMBARK ON A JOURNEY TO REACH THE WORLD AS IF YOUR CHURCH IS THE ONLY ONE DOING ANYTHING AT ALL. Treat the missions program as if no other church in the world has one. Now, we understand that there are other great churches that have a heart for missions. But teach people to give to world evangelism as though the others do not exist. If we teach our people that everyone else is doing it to, then they will be glad to let them. It is our responsibility to do our part regardless of what anyone else is doing. We ought to rejoice at what others do for missions. But may we never get comfortable with what they have done. If we do, then we are already comfortable with what we have done. We will never do enough no matter what we give. Let’s roll up our sleeves and work like no one has ever done it before.
21. ENVISION HOW YOU CAN DO MORE NEXT YEAR. A wise man once said that, “If you never have goals, you will reach them every time.” A church needs to set some major goals for their missions program and then follow through with them. However, we should always be looking toward the future. Contentment is bred when we get used to what we are doing or feel too good about what we have already done. We need to press forward and dream big. What we are doing now may be good or in the eyes of some even great. But what we follow through with tomorrow should be even greater. The world is cursed with small thinkers. Those who never dream big and trust God to do miracles will never do much. And they will certainly never make a dent in world evangelization. We must plan our work and work our plan. Let us commit to doing more than we have every dreamed of doing. I trust that these principles will serve as a daily reminder to the real mission of the church. To some they will seem all too simple and to others they will seem ridiculous. But for those with a heart for missions, not merely a mindset, they will be refreshing points to ponder to overwhelmingly increase the giving as well as the spiritual temperature of a strong local church missions program. May God give us a vision bigger than ourselves.
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