Acts 1:3-8SACRIFICIAL MISSION 52% of Christians who attend church monthly and say their faith is important and agree they have a responsibility to share their beliefs.Barna Group73% of Christians belief it was their responsibility to share their faith, but only 52% have actually shared their faith at least once with someone in the last year.Telling the Gospel31% of Christians believe they are not called to share their beliefs.Lifeway Research18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:18-19 The degree of sacrifice as well as the kind of sacrifice will vary, depending on context and calling. Some will work in the slums of Africa, others will raise a large family; some will take on a job that pays a low salary, others will make lots of money and give most of it away. There is no absolute rule to follow here, no perfect standard against which to measure both quality and quantity of sacrifice. Comparisons are simply out of the question. Only one truth applies to all: the ultimate sacrifice we make should be the whole of ourselves to God. And then we should simply let life take its course.Gerald SittserIf we take the Christian faith seriously, we will probably end up traveling somewhere or loving someone or trying something we would never have imagined at an earlier stage in our lives. It is simply what a life of disciples requires.Gerald SittserSacrificial Mission: We pursue sacrificial missions by giving, serving, and loving sacrificially in our homes, our Church, our community, and the world.Serving-focused Missions: overemphasizes meeting the physical needs of others and downplays the power of the Gospel. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it[c] for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”John 12:4-8Conversion-focused Missions: overemphasizes the moment of salvation rather than inviting people into a life-long devotion to Jesus. This downplays the really physical needs people face and also downplays the importance of discipleship.15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[b] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.James 2:15-16Jesus-focused Missions: sees people created in the image of God and is moved with compassion for the WHOLE person; spirit, soul, body, relationships, world, etc.After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”John 6:1-5Jesus-focused ministry is moved with compassion based off of the need we see, not what is convenient for us.Luke mentioned that on this occasion Jesus went out to a deserted place to be alone (Luke 9:10), yet the crowds followed Him there. In spite of this imposition, Jesus still served the multitude with great compassion.David GuzikGod chose to risk everything in the incarnation; such a risk was costly beyond measure. But the incarnation also reminds us that the risk is worth taking. Our salvation is proof of that. God calls us to take risks too, following, however inadequately, the example that Jesus set. Gerald SittserThe God who loves to have an outgoing Image of his Son loves to have many images of his love (who are themselves outgoing).Michael Reeves15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15Myth: People could use Jesus, but they don’t NEED Him.Reality: People are separated from God, and have the ability to be eternally separated from Him.For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:“None is righteous, no, not one;11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”Romans 3:9-1213 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And ...
