Missions on Point

Pastor, LEAD YOUR CHURCH IN MISSIONS! Your role is crucial to the effectiveness of implementing this biblical local church-centric missions ministry philosophy. There are a number of simple, not-overwhelming things you can do to be an effective catalyst for missions in your church. Embracing this biblical church-centric view will give you freedom, focus, and fortitude as you enable and equip your...

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The two biggest categories of reasons why missionaries come home permanently from the field (attrition) due to preventable reasons are unrealistic expectations and lack of relational accountability. The sending church can be the solution for each of those. Rethink the candidate's pre-field training and qualifications. Build a strong web of relatio...

Once you have the foundations laid for leadership and organization for missions values, you turn to "mobilizing the whole congregation in missions" by developing a church missions culture. Prayer, family devotions, biblical foundations, and engaging all the small group or affinity group ministries of your church and be inspired, informed, and enabled to participate in missions in practical ways. Y...

The first concept to understand that it is not the church leadership or Missions Team/Committee's responsibility to do the work of missions on behalf of their church. Their responsibility is to mobilize the entire church in missions. That means taking seriously their leadership in informing, inspiring, and providing opportunities for every active member to do their part in missions as an intention...

It has been very helpful for church missions leaders to understand and implement a simple means of evaluating how much to financially support missionaries and ministries. Having passed through the initial application and alignment with the church's values in doctrine and relationship, this X-Y-Z grid helps visualize where the candidate is in X - relationship to your church, Y - priority of type of...

Adopting a Strategic Focus can be a game-changer in terms of earning greater participation and ownership of your church in missions. It clarifies, simplifies, and amplifies involvement. It is also more satisfying than casting out thinly and widely without deep missionary relationships.  See the biblical model of Paul. Realize the benefits. Then act to do it! You can always give your feedback and i...

One of the amazing benchmarks of a church fully grasping its role in world missions is to raise up, send, and shepherd its own people as missionaries. It can be frightening at first. "How do we do that!!!" Yet, it shouldn't be much different than raising up church leaders, but with cross-cultural and international elements to it. This little episode can help inform your vision for "how to do that....

If you want to achieve a goal, you need to define the goal. The New Testament gives us a clear goal for Great Commission missions. The goal of missions is the local church. It is planting and strengthening local churches in every tongue, tribe, people, and nation on the planet. Too often missionaries, mission agencies, and even churches confuse and cloud methods and strategies with the desired end...

This episode is dangerously fun. Here we answer the most frequent objections raised by church and missions agency leaders to restoring or repatriating missions to the local church.  Want to learn the answers to these objections?  Listen to this podcast. Could you share it with others? We believe the Bible is so strong on this that the pain of implementation must be overcome by our commitment to Go...

We transition in this preview of a more complete treatment in the book to come from the biblical basis to the implementation of the centrality of the local church in missions.  Step one, if you will, is simply agreeing with the Scriptures and having your local church take ownership of missions. There are lots of good reasons to do so! Starting down this pathway will be of great benefit to all the...

Propempo is a very special term, transliterated from the Greek New Testament, which demonstrates the central role of the local church in sending out missionaries for the sake of the Gospel. This episode traces the use of the word "propempo" to demonstrate how it is used to describe this crucial responsibility of the local church.  Track along with us as we show how it can fuel our understanding of...

In this episode, we explore the scope and nature of God the Father's view of the centrality of the local church in missions. We discover that God is the originator and designer of the local church. The Bible is full of evidence of His involvement and purpose behind the local church together with its unique mission on earth. God's mission is the local church's mission. God's glory is found in and t...

We dare not underestimate the incredible role of the Apostle Paul in establishing the centrality of the local church in missions. Paul clearly understood his special calling to preach the gospel and to establish local churches. In fact, he was under submission to his own sending church as he went out. His view and understanding of the centrality of the local church in missions is a model for our t...

"You can't see the forest for the trees" can be true of us. Sometimes we don't see the big picture because we don't lift our eyes to see the most obvious things. Every book of the New Testament was written by church leaders and church planters to local church leaders and local churches for the good of local churches everywhere. The local church is the beginning and end of missions. But it's not ju...

When the Apostles and disciples of Jesus heard the Great Commission, what did they do? How did they obey it? We'll see in this episode that they went all over the map preaching the Gospel and disciplining believers resulting in the planting of local churches. Acts is our guide for this 30,000-foot overview of early church history.  Church tradition about the Apostles' work also confirms this summa...

Please consider the well-known "Great Commission" passages in the Gospels and Acts. These contribute to a solid understanding that the Great Commission cannot be adequately fulfilled apart from planting local churches. It is NOT only evangelizing and disciplining; it IS establishing a mutually committed body of believers who worship, care for each other, study the Scriptures, observe the Ordinance...

We like to start with the Bible. What better way than to start with Christ's view of the local church?  After getting a big-picture overview of the use of the word "church" in the New Testament, we'll dive into how Christ Himself portrays His connection to and special relationship with local churches.  In the largest scope, the whole New Testament, inspired by Christ and fueled by His Great Commis...

This introduction begins a more extensive series on "The Centrality of the Local Church in MIssions." It is my heartbeat. It crystallizes my lifelong convictions for the local church and missions. Please listen attentively, recommend it profusely to others, and pray for its ultimate effectiveness for God's glory through the church to all nations.

The Muslim world is in the month of Ramadan (Mar. 22 -Apr. 20, 2023). This episode hopes to open your eyes to the strategic time of opportunity to share Jesus with your Muslim friends, coworkers, fellow students, and neighbors. Muslims are especially sensitized to pursue spiritual things during this month. They need to know more about their "Prophet" Jesus. They are more open to reading the New Te...

Congratulations, you have crossed the finish line of producing a new (or improved) Church Missions Handbook. Now it's time to roll out the implementation of the Handbook. Take some time to celebrate with your Missions Team or Missions Committee. Make sure everyone understands its content. Then progressively roll it out to the Elders, the congregation at large, and your supported missionaries and m...

Sometimes it is challenging to discuss measuring "performance," especially in spiritual things. Yet, information is a friend to effectiveness. Why you measure is essential. You want to have the right attitude about using metrics to better achieve your goals to mobilize the congregation in missions. What you measure may be obvious, less obvious, or even least obvious. It all works together to build...

This episode could be used by every ministry group in the church! Here we'll look at key principles to having effective Missions Team meetings, decision-making processes, and the subtle dynamics that make for genuine unity.

Beyond the usual mechanical functions of a Missions Team, the deeper efforts of mobilizing the whole congregation for missions, missionary candidate development and sending, and larger partnerships come into play. Go the extra mile to become a Propempo-minded church in your role and functions. Access the episode Transcript page.

Finding the right people on the Missions Team can be a minefield! Sometimes people with strange ideas want to be on the Team to leverage their agenda. How do you avoid that? Who and how do you get the right people on the Team to do this great ministry? Build a good foundation for qualifications, expectations, and team spirit as you serve the church in this vital ministry of world missions.

Structure, specialization, and delegation are keys to effectiveness, both short-term and long-term. This episode walks through 9 key areas for specialization in structure in order to have maximum impact on mobilizing the congregation for missions and for effectiveness with your field workers.