Fruitful Church: Engage in Risk-Taking Mission


Acts 13 tells us about the sending of the first Christian missionaries.  The church at Antioch had grown rapidly, and its members fasted and prayed about what God wanted them to do.  The Holy Spirit told them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work God had for them.  After another time of prayer, the church laid hands on these two and sent them off.

Today, most American missionaries go to their mission fields with good support.  But for Barnabas and Saul, their journey was full of risks. Included among them were crime, violence, persecution, sickness, and even death!  The only resources they had were the Holy Spirit and a little money!

But off they went.  And the rest, they say, is history.  The world would never be the same again.

Early Christ followers learned about risk-taking mission from Jesus himself.  Jesus proclaimed that his mission was to bring good news to the poor and oppressed (Luke 4:18-19).  He told his followers that God would judge them according to how they ministered to the people no one cared about (Matthew 25:35-37).  The things he said were risky, but the things he did were more so!  He healed people on the Sabbath, touched lepers, ate with notorious sinners, and more.  His risks cost him his life!

Today, fruitful churches engage in risk-taking mission.  Once, people considered missions as a side thing churches did.  But today, mission is what the church does.  Members of fruitful churches get outside their church walls and make themselves uncomfortable by engaging in risk-taking mission on international, national, and local levels.  They believe it's just as important to minister to outsiders as it is to minister to members!

Engagement in risk-taking mission begins with individual church members.  Ask yourself the question:  What have I done in the last six months to make a positive difference in the lives of others that I would not have done were it not for my relationship with Christ?

Get yourself out there and discover the exhilaration and reward of risk-taking mission!

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