Missions
The theme of God's word is summarized by John 3:16. "For God so loved
theworld that He gave His only son". The word of God is a statement of
God's missionary heart. God sent His prophets to initiate the revelation
of His redemptive plan. He later sent His Son to fulfill that plan.
Jesus then sent His church with a mandate to proclaim God's redemptive
plan throughout the world.
This is the mission of the Church. The
scriptural authority of God's missionary work rests upon the entire
design and spirit of the Bible. It is the responsibility of the church
to recognize that missions is an essential part of the church's ministry.
We must give missions the same careful, prayerful attention that we
give to any other part of our work. Our vision must extend beyond the
four walls of our own church. It is easy for a fellowship to become
self-centered and lose sight of the needs that are outside of it's own
community .However we must lift our eyes to see past ourselves. We must
be willing to invest our time and money in other works that have a
similar vision and are doing what our hearts bear witness to as the work
of God. We must also be willing to branch out and begin new works here
at home as the Lord leads us. We must seek the Lord and consider
creative ways in which we may proclaim the gospel here at home and also
recognize that foreign shores are not beyond our reach. Our support of
foreign missionaries is simply an extension of what we are doing at
home.