Transcript Document

THE CALL OF THE CHURCH IN MISSIONS:
BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING
Genesis 12:1-3
OBJECTIVES:
1. For us to realize and not take for granted
that God has blessed us both individually
and as a Church.
2. For us to know that God has a purpose in
blessing us and to recognize our
accompanying responsibilities related to
all our blessings.
3. For all of us to prayerfully identify our
God-directed role and fulfill them as we
obey the Great Commission.
II. LESSON PROPER
A. GOD HAS BLESSED US IN CHRIST
1. AS BELIEVERS IN CHRIST WE ARE
BLESSED.
How many of us would say that we
are blessed?
If we are true Christians, we are
blessed whatever our circumstances
because we have been given the
greatest gift: the gift of salvation.
If we have Christ, we have been
given everything that is eternally
worthwhile. We have all spiritual
blessings in Christ, even the spiritual
gift(s) to be able to serve in the
Church.
God had been personally pouring
His blessings and empowering us
through a living relationship with
Him through Jesus Christ.
 What are you doing with God's
blessings in your life, your time, your
money, your prayers, your gifts?
 God doesn't want us to just hoard His
blessings.
 God wants us to enjoy all the
blessing He wants to pour into our
lives, but not to stop there. He
desires that we be channels of His
blessing.
2. AS A CHURCH WE ARE BLESSED IN SO
MANY WAYS
How many of us believe that we are
blessed as a church?
The Hebrew word “blessed” conveys
the idea of not just in the state of being
happy but of being strengthened of our
weaknesses, being compensated for
with God’s strength. It is an
empowerment to be able to do what is
not within our natural capabilities.
WHY DOES GOD BLESS HIS PEOPLE - HIS
CHURCH?
B. GOD’S PURPOSE IN BLESSING US IS TO
RECOGNIZE OUR ACCOMPANYING
RESPONSIBILITIES RELATED TO ALL OUR
BLESSINGS
1. THE BLESSINGS THROUGH THE
ABRAHAMIC COVENANT (Gen. 12:1-3).
 There are about 395 passages
throughout the Bible that either
paraphrase or abridge Gen. 12:2-3
 This third covenant, made with
Abraham was different, as it was
established with a small part of
humankind but with great
implications for the rest of the
human race.
2. TWO ESSENTIAL PARTS OF THE
ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
 “I had read them [Gen.12:1-3] many
times before. Now I realized that I had
underestimated their significance—
that the various promises included in
the covenant, together constitute one
coherent purpose of God.
 I saw that the various promises
contained in the covenant can be
arranged under two main headings.
I call them THE “TOP LINE” and THE
“BOTTOM LINE”...” Don Richardson
a. THE “TOP LINE” BLESSINGS - INDICATES
BLESSINGS WE RECEIVE FROM GOD.
 I will make you a great nation
 I will bless you
 I will make your name great
 you shall be a blessing
 I will bless those who bless you
 The one who curses you I will curse
b. THE “BOTTOM LINE” BLESSINGS- TELLS
US THE PURPOSE OF THOSE BLESSINGS
AND THE ACCOMPANYING
RESPONSIBILITIES THAT WE HAVE
RELATED TO SUCH BLESSINGS.
 “And in you, all the families of the
earth will be blessed”
 The second part of the covenant
states that through Abraham all
peoples on earth will be blessed.
 God never told Abraham that His
blessings would just be for his own
family or his own people (from his
own culture).
 God made it very clear that His
blessing needed to cross cultures and
boundaries in order to reach ALL
FAMILIES OF THE EARTH.
 Galatians 3:6-9
 The Bible is really one story, the story
about God’s plan to redeem a people
from every nation, tongue, and tribe
or people group. According to God's
promises in the Bible, every nation or
people group will be represented
before the throne of God to worship
Him throughout all eternity.
 Revelation 7:9-10
 Many times however, we only teach half
of this story…or only listen to half of
this story. WE FOCUS MORE ON THE
BLESSING AND NOT ON THE
RESPONSIBILITY. We are to always
remember that we are blessed in the
Church to be a blessing to others!
 There is a “bottom-line responsibility” to
the covenant. God wants to make us a
blessing to the nations (other cultures).
He has entrusted us with the gospel of
Christ to preach before He returns: “…the
gospel will be preached to all nations
(“ethne” or people groups) and the end
will come” (Matt 24:14)
 This bottom-line responsibility is what
WE OFTEN FAIL TO TEACH. WE ONLY
HEAR HALF THE STORY.
For each of the following verses or
passages, let us identify the “TOP LINE
BLESSING” then the “BOTTOM LINE
PURPOSE/RESPONSIBILITY.”
[1] May God be gracious to us and bless
us and make His face to shine upon us,
[2] that your way may be known on
earth, your saving power among all
nations. (Psalm 67:1-2)
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be
exalted among the nations…” (Ps. 46:10)
DAVID TO GOLIATH:
“This day the Lord will deliver you into my
hand, and I will strike you down and cut off
your head. And I will give the dead bodies
of the host of the Philistines this day to the
birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the
earth, that all the earth may know that
there is a God in Israel,…” (1 Samuel 17:46)
ON THE PARTING OF THE WATERS:
“[23] For the LORD your God dried up the
waters of the Jordan for you until you
passed over, as the LORD your God did to
the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until
we passed over, [24] so that all the
peoples of the earth may know that the
hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may
fear the LORD your God forever.” (Joshua
4:23-24)
ON GOD’S CONTINUED FAITHFULNESS TO
ISRAEL:
“It is too light a thing that you should be
my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I
will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of
the earth.”(Isaiah 49:6)
TO CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS:
“But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for
his own possession, that you may
proclaim the excellencies of him who
called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
JESUS TO HIS DISCIPLES BEFORE HIS
ASCENSION TO HEAVEN:
“But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth.”(Acts 1:8)
MULTIPLE BOTTOM LINE PASSAGES
 Psalm 67:3,4,7 - "...may your ways be
known on earth, your salvation among
all nations...."
 2 Kings 19:17-19 - "...so that all
kingdoms on earth may know You...."
 Isaiah 25:6-8 - "...for all peoples...."
 Isaiah 61:11 - "...so the Lord will cause
righteousness and praise to spring up
before all nations...."
 Jeremiah 3:17 - “ . . . all nations . . . will
honor the Lord . . . ”
 Daniel 7:13,14 - “ . . . men of every
language worshipped Him . . . ”
 Haggai 2:7 - “ . . . the desire of all nations
will come and fill this house with glory...”
 Zechariah 8:23 - "...ten men from all
languages...."
 Malachi 1:11 - "...My name will be great
among the nations...."
 The blessings God gives us are intended
to be shared with all, beginning with the
inestimable blessing of salvation from
sin and including all the other good
things the Lord has given to us.
 Many of us want the blessings of
Abraham but forget the responsibilities
as the seed of Abraham to be a blessing
to all the families of the earth
 As the New Testament makes clear,
these promises of blessing that God
made to Abraham ultimately point to
Jesus Christ and find their fulfillment in
Him (Gal.3:16).
 According to Galatians 3:29, “If you
are Christ's, then you are Abraham's
offspring, heirs according to promise.”
 As we share in the blessings that have
flowed to us through Abraham and
then Christ, we have a corresponding
responsibility to pass on this blessings
and seek to make disciples of all
nations for the glory of Christ and for
the joy of other peoples.
C. PRAYERFULLY IDENTIFY OUR GODDIRECTED ROLE AND FULFILL THEM AS
WE OBEY THE GREAT COMMISSION.
GLCC PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY
PART 5: THE EVANGELIZATION
OF THE LOST OR MISSIONS:
Reaching the lost with the gospel of Jesus
Christ, both at home and abroad, to
people who belong to our culture or to
other cultures, to the "reached", "least
reached" and "unreached" people groups,
is to be one of the goals of the Church
(Matt. 28:19-20; Rom. 1:14 16; Acts 1:8).
 We do this through the faithful sharing
of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ,
through means that are sensitive and
adaptive to culture and people group
but will in no way alter, dilute, or hide
the full implications of this gospel (Acts
20:20, 27; 2Cor. 2:17 Gal. 1:8).
 THE LORD HAD RAISED UP FOREIGN
AND LOCAL MISSIONARIES IN OUR
CHURCH WHO ARE LABORING NOW TO
DO THESE BOTTOM LINE BLESSINGS
MISSIONS AND CHURCH OUTREACH
MINISTRY (MCOM)- THE MISSIONARY
ARM OF THE CHURCH WITH ITS VISION:
To see Guiding Light Christian Church
(GLCC) glorifying God by passionately
fulfilling the Great Commission where the
Church is mobilized and wholeheartedly
engaged in reaching the least reached and
unreached peoples groups locally and
globally. (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8)
GLCC – MCOM MISSION STATEMENT:
To reach the least reached and unreached
peoples groups as we educate, motivate,
equip, disciple and train members of
Guiding Light Christian Church (GLCC) to
identify their God-directed role and fulfill
the Great Commission as senders, goers,
mobilizers, intercessors and welcomers.
(Matthew 24:14, 45-47)
The Great Commission was not given to a
selected few but to the entire Church. We
have to realize that if we are not GOERS
(missionaries) then we are SENDERS
(financial supporters, mobilizers,
intercessors, welcomers). We cannot be
indifferent to our Lord’s last command. We
have to pray hard for God’s place for us in
His great Commission work to exercise His
bottom-line blessings.
We need to align with what Jesus told
His followers in the Great Commission
of Matt. 28:19-20 that we are to make
disciples of ALL NATION. His strategy for
fulfilling His redemptive purpose is for
the Church to take His redemptive
blessings (TOPLINE) to all “people
groups” scattered throughout the earth
(BOTTOMLINE). His plans have never
changed.