Matthew 9:35-10:39 The Church That Fulfills God’s Mission

SLIDE 1 – Title Page

SLIDE 2 – Fast Facts

This past week has been the “Week of Prayer for North American Missions.” We have been asked as a church plant to reach out to people groups in North America. There are   250 million lost people in the United States. North America is the second highest mission field in the world. While we do not see the people leaving other countries and coming to Seligman, we have seen an entire generation raise up without the teachings of Christ as their primary way of looking at the world.

SLIDES 3-14 – Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

SLIDE 4 – Why Are We Doing This?

While we are asked to raise money for North American missions this month, I want to suggest to you that each one of you is sent to be a missionary to your local community. You are a North American missionary to the people of Washburn and Seligman.

This section is a direct application of Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus called us to a mission, and He gave us a method for that mission. While this is not the only way in which we can fulfill God’s mission, there is a reason in which Jesus expected His disciples to “go out” to the people.

SLIDE 5 – Picture of Annie Armstrong

SLIDE 6 – Example of Annie Armstrong

FACTS ABOUT ANNIE ARMSTRONG AND HER MISSION

In order to do this, we have to think like a missionary. You may be a neighbor to the people around you, but in terms of spirituality, you are a missionary. And you have to think like one. The problem is that Christians don’t think they are missionaries. We have been taught that we only need to be a friend and that we only need to invite people to the church. But we are not just friends to people in the world. We have a call to share a person who can change thier lives. That means we have to act like a missionary. Seligman is our mission field, even if we live here. Washburn and Seligman are our foreign mission fields, even if we are native to the area. Let me know show you six costs of being a foreign missionary:

SLIDE 7 – The Cost

Six Costs of Frontier Missions

This text powerfully speaks for itself. So let me, without too much comment, focus our attention on six costs of being on the frontline of frontier missions. These difficulties are the kind of thing we may expect today even if in God’s forbearance we may be spared some of them.

1. The cost of being arrested by authorities.

Verses 16-18: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.”

2. The cost of family betrayal.

Verse 21: “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.” This is almost unbelievable: Fathers and children will so be so opposed to the Christian faith, they will want each other dead rather than believing.

3. The cost of being hated by all.

Verse 22: “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” Be careful that you don’t elevate friendship evangelism to the point where this text makes evangelism impossible. You will be hated by all does not mean: You can’t do evangelism.

4. The cost of being persecuted and driven out of town.

Verse 23: “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.”

5. The cost of being maligned.

Verse 25b: “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.” Jesus died in our place so that we might escape the wrath of God, not the wrath of man. He was called to suffer for the sake of propitiation; we are called to suffer for the sake of propagation.

6. The cost of being killed.

Verse 28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” So they can kill the body. And sometimes they do. Don’t ever elevate safety in missions to the point where you assume that if one of our missionaries is killed we have made a mistake. Jesus said plainly in Luke 21:16, “Some of you they will put to death.”

For two thousand years, thousands of missionaries—unnamed people of whom the world is not worthy—have counted this cost and put their lives at risk to reach the lost with the only message of salvation in the world. And the reason they could do this is that the blessings so outweigh the costs.

SLIDE 8 – Going into the Wal-Mart of the culture

Our example, in this case, is Jesus. He went into the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues (Matthew 9:35).

Why did Jesus go into their synagogues? He was trying to reach Jews with the gospel. Jews hang out in synagogues. Well, where do the people in this area hang out? Well, it is not church? Just like most communities, people hang out at a Wal-Mart. While this community may not have a real Walmart, there is a place where they hang out. Perhaps it is the school. What is the Wal-Mart (or synagogue) in which the people of this town hang out?

You see, when you go into Walmart, everything is there. You buy groceries. You get your tires replaced. You get your medicine. Different vendors are selling you things under one roof. You can go to different shops under one roof. Walmart is like a community within the community.

Our problem right now is this:

We are building a fruit-stand next to a Wal-Mart and we expect people to stop going to Wal-Mart and get their apples from us.

Instead, we should go into the Wal-Mart and show our apples. In church planting, we call this the incarnational approach. This is the idea of contextualization in the marketplace.

What we have been doing is trying to compete with the Walmart. We have tried to make the church the Walmart of Washburn. The problem is that just like other “mom and pop” shops, we eventually cannot compete. Walmart is too big, can spend much more money, and provide more quality type products at a cheaper price.

The same is true with local ministry. If we try to compete with others by providing the same types of services (ministries and activities), we will lose people in the end. We have not become unique enough to ATTRACT people.

We can continue to ATTRACT people through large events that work. For example, “4th of July,” “Safe House,” “VBS,” “Outdoor Men’s Conferences.”

But in the end, we have go from ATTRACTING people to INTERACTING with people.

If you want to share Jesus with people in the community, then you have to do it in a way in which it makes sense to them, and receives their trust.

SLIDE 9 – The Wal-Mart of Walmart

So what is the Wal-Mart of this area? But where does everyone go? What does everyone do here that the church could naturally relate to? What grabs the attention of people here which the church could be part of? Perhaps the church could be the leader of that part of what this community does.

One of the Wal-Marts that everyone buys is music. People go to music events. So instead of saying that we don’t do that, we should enter that “Wal-Mart” in Seligman and participate. This is bringing “Christ into the Culture.”

What is another Wal-Mart here? Stuff for kids. People are always shopping for things to do for their kids. They will go to another town and another state for their kids. So we need to be doing things for kids. Vacation Bible School could be another way.

Instead of expecting the culture to come to Christ. We need to bring Christ to the culture.