Worship is the fuel of missions

Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!” who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the Lord...I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High” (Ps 104:34, 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.

The deepest reason why our passion for God should fuel missions is that God's passion for God fuels missions. Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God's delight in being God. And the deepest reason why worship is the goal in missions is that worship is God's goal. We are confirmed in this goal by the biblical record of God's relentless pursuit of praise among the nations. "Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him all peoples!" (Ps 117:1). If it is God's goal it must be our goal.

 

With the foundation in place, how do we look at defining the task of planting a church?  

 

First, the place. In today's day and age, who is worshipping with you on the website, following your web stream.  When a group of people begin to clearly pursue worship with you, a purposeful relationship begins to unfold. Over time, contact only then increased, and after a personal visit to that community, it may seem clear that God is calling you to that city.





Secondly, the man. To plant a church anywhere you need a senior pastor. Always be on the look out these men, to help assess, train, and equip them for the task that God has called them to. This isn’t a quick process.  It’s even slower when you prepare to head to a new country.



Thirdly, the support. Give support - more support than you can possibly give.  Through encouragement, care, prayer, training, counsel, and a financial grant to help towards the plant, bed a blessed planter!  Because the support is relational, it “moves” with you! You haven’t headed out as lone rangers into a foreign land. You go as part of a family who are standing beside you and eager to get in the trenches with you.



What does that mean for us? “Here are eight practical exhortations and implications aimed at pastors of churches:”

• Focus your mission efforts on church planting.
• Consider who you are sending out.
• Consider what you have trained them to do.
• Consider how you are going to support them.
• Build into your church culture a desire to see the kingdom of God expand in your area and beyond.
• Encourage other evangelical church planters around you.
• Consider reclaiming existing churches.
• Pray for the spread of healthy churches.

Here are five things you may want to build into the culture of your church:

• Discipleship
• Personal evangelism
• Missions
• A desire to strengthen other churches broadly
• A desire to encourage gospel growth in your own area

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUuj3QFMBOc&feature=colike



 

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