That All Might Hear

Introduction: Missions, Missionaries, The Great Commission, Missions Trips, Outreaches, etc.

‘A Christian missionary is someone who dedicates their life to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and serving others in His name. It is a challenging and rewarding path, but one that can transform lives, both the missionary and those they serve.

‘Missionaries are individuals who have a deep desire to spread the gospel and share their faith with people around the world’.

• AG Missional Strategy

Fundamental to Assemblies of God World Missions’ outlook is our commitment to establishing the Church among all peoples everywhere. We do that by reaching, planting, training, and serving. These four categories of ministry actions support the breadth of God’s work. They are rarely separate acts or processes but woven together in the work of our global teams and partners. So all can hear the hope of the gospel.

• Today, the World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF) alone comprises approximately 160 national councils, 370,000 churches, and 70 million believers around the world. These are indigenous national churches with their own leadership and training institutions. They are evangelizing their own people and sending out and supporting cross-cultural missionaries.

https://news.ag.org/en/articles/news/2023/08/the%20case%20for%20missionaries

https://agwm.org/en/strategy/

Our 2023 Missionaries we supported:

Missions Quotes

“We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.” – John Stott

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t.” – John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad

“The great commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.” – Hudson Taylor

CLC firmly believes in the support-raising process for workers desiring to do cross-cultural ministry, and we offer thorough training on how to develop a partner network in a way that glorifies God.

Question: Why should we give to missions? Why should we give to other places when there is such a need here at home? Why should we give to places that have rejected the Gospel over the years?

1. Because giving to missionaries is biblical.

The New Testament says more about giving to missionaries than about any other type of giving. 3 John 8 spells it out: We have a responsibility to meet the needs of missionaries. God’s Word tells us to give to missionaries.

3 John 5-8, also offers instruction in giving to workers of God: “Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers. So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.”

^NLT  2 Corinthians 9:5 ‘So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly. (2Co 9:5 NLT)

2 Corinthians 9:6-8, is a beautiful exposition on generous giving and its results.

1 Chronicles 29:9 also tells of the joyful process that giving can be: “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.” In this way, missionaries who are raising support are providing a way for others to experience the joy of heartfelt generosity.

Transition: Reason #2

2. Because they need your partnership.

Normally, people who receive goods or services pay for them, providing a living for the people who provide them. But the gift of salvation is free. Missionaries can’t charge for their work. That’s why, in God’s model, believers give to provide for missionaries (Romans 10:15; Luke 10:7). Your giving is t

Transition: Reason #3.

3. Because it’s a blessing /good for you.

The Philippians gave generously and repeatedly to Paul’s missionary ministry, and he encouraged them to keep giving for their own sake. “I seek the fruit that abounds to your account,” he wrote in Philippians 4:17. Giving to missionaries is good for you.

Transition: Reason #4

4. Because it helps align your heart with God’s heart.

We know God is not willing that any should perish and desires all people to have the opportunity to know Him. This is clearly on His heart throughout the Bible. So how do we keep that on our hearts? Matthew 6:21 tells us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. So give to missionaries who serve Him so all can hear.

Transition: Reason #5

5. Because we’re called to be generous.

God is infinitely more generous than any of us. We’re called to grow more like Him daily. Paul instructed Titus to have the Cretan believers support missionaries because they needed to learn to be generous (Titus 3:13-14). Giving to missionaries is a biblical avenue for generosity.

Transition: Reason #6

6. Because it’s giving to God. In Numbers 18, God instructed His people to give to Him and provide for the Levites. Paul cites this as the reason people under the new covenant should give to God by giving to missionaries in 1 Corinthians 9.

Conclusion: Missionary Martyrs and their stories.

A news flash alerted the world: “Five Men Missing in Auca Territory.” The date was Monday, January 9, 1956. A team of missionary pioneers trying to make peaceful contact with an infamous tribe of Indians in Ecuador, the Waodani, had failed to make a scheduled radio call. For almost a full day no word had come from their camp on the Curaray River, which they named “Palm Beach.” Then a hovering pilot reported the badly damaged plane at the camp. This was followed by a gruesome confirmation on Wednesday, January 11, when the first body was spotted in the river. Though a search and rescue team was quickly formed, the discovery of more bodies quickly changed the mission from rescue to retrieval and burial.

By Friday of that week, the team reached the missionaries’ campsite and hurriedly buried four of the bodies. The men had died violently from repeated spear wounds and machete cuts. The fifth body (Ed McCully)was never located after being identified on the beach but then washed away by the river. Five widows and eight orphans mourned the deaths and looked to God for comfort and direction. The world witnessed in stunned amazement.

Shockwaves from the tragedy traveled around the globe. Eventually, thousands of Christians identified the news of the deaths of five young men as the turning point in their lives. In her book, Through Gates of Splendor, written a year after the deaths, Jim Elliot’s widow, Elisabeth, described some of the remarkable early results from what seemed like a tragic waste of life. The places of service vacated by those men were filled many times over by young men and women moved and motivated by their selfless sacrifice. Fifty years later, the effects continue to be felt.

Within two years of their deaths, Elisabeth Elliot and Nate Saint’s sister made friendly and lasting contact with the Waodanis. Bible translation into the Waodani language began. One by one, the men who committed the murder became believers in the One who sent the missionaries to reach them.

Steve Saint spent much of his childhood among the Waodanis. Despite the fact that they had killed his father, Steve became an adopted son of the tribe and eventually took his own family to live for a time among them. The painful arrival of the Gospel among those violent people worked a miracle of transformation.

Question: Why and how could/would people do this?

Commitment Card: How many of you know that you could give $5-$10 dollars a month.

How much CLC gave in 2023?

We give a percentage of our income to missions.

Why? Because of all of the above!

What do you believe God can do through you for Missions 2024?