Missions
Paul Proctor in his commentary ‘News with Views’ wrote about today’s church being misguided by its emphasis on results that has spawned a generation or more of pragmatic pleasure-seekers who still think slick marketing and clever gimmicks are how God grows His Church in spite of falling numbers and moral decay. He goes on in his commentary asking the question, ‘Can the lost be entertained into eternity or tricked into the kingdom with a cross-less Christ’?
Grace Baptist Church, as a member church of the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA), rejects this emphasis on results and is steadfastly committed to the advancement of Christ’s kingdom by following God’s Word as our only guide for missions.
Grace Baptist Church’s mission is founded upon the Great Commission given by the Lord Jesus Christ in His last words to His followers: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” This is our mission. It is what we are called to do. The word ‘mission’ in Latin means ‘sent’. As God the Father sent the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to redeem a people, even so, as our Lord and Head of His Church, He sends us. (John 20:21)
We believe the Church as God’s ordained instrument has been sent into the world to make disciples. It is the Church that sends missionaries. And as the Church does this, it is in obedience to Christ’s great commission. This does not necessarily equate with an activity, but is at the heart of all we do. Since the Word of God is the work of God we believe our mission is to see that the gospel is being proclaimed both within and outside the church. The entire church is actively participating in the gospel ministry as those, who are called by God and set apart for His purposes, are sent into the world as Christ’s witnesses. God’s Mission is our mission. The church consecrated is commissioned and sent by Jesus Christ to proclaim the gospel of God’s grace in redeeming a people unto Himself for His own glory.
Grace Baptist Church’s misson simply stated is to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the Power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father. It is our responsibility as a corporate body and each individual believer to be equipped and prepared to fulfill God’s purpose to make disciples as we are going into the world. This is accomplished through the proclamation of the gospel in the power of the Spirit. As people respond they are gathered into the church to reproduce as they too go in the power of the Spirit to make other disciples who will also make disciples. And this mission continues until Christ returns.
Our mission is to bear witness to Jesus Christ and what God did through Him as He was sent by the Father. Jesus’ final words are weighty and deserve to be heard and acted upon:
Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Mark 13:10 “The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.”
Luke 24:46-49 “and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. "You are witnesses of these things. "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” John 20:21 “So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
Grace Baptist Church’s mission can be summarized by the answers to the following questions:
WHAT? Our mission is God’s Mission: to make disciples of all the nations through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
WHY? Our Mission is by the Authority of Jesus Christ who commissions what we are to do.
WHEN? We are to carry out our mission until the end of the age when He comes to judge the world.
WHERE? As a ‘sent’ people, we are to go in dependence upon Him into the world as His witnesses.
HOW? We are not sent with a message of ‘come and see’, but in submission to our Head, we are sent in the power of the Holy Spirit to ‘go and tell’ all the nations who Jesus Christ is and what He’s done.
To fulfill our mission, we are committed to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word and to bear witness to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. Also, we are committed to making disciples by evangelizing the lost with the gospel of God’s grace and edifying believers with the truths of God’s word. Our desire is to see people come to know Jesus Christ and be gathered in churches both at home and abroad through the preaching of the gospel so that they may worship the true and living God. As John Piper says in his book Let the Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate.”
Mission: Zambia
Our support for Emmasdale Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia and Pastor Isaac Makashinyi.
