Acts 13:1-3  Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

The very foundation of the Old Testament Church reflects an outward, sending movement of God. Look at the life of Abraham or Moses and you will see God sending them out to strange lands or into Egypt to free His people. God does not sit still. Nor does His Church. 

Should it surprise us, then, that following Pentecost, God seeks to send His Church into the world? When they are slow on the take to do that, God allows for the persecution of Christians, forcing their hand to go out into the remote parts of the world. 

At the center of mission is the sense that life is to be lived away from ourselves. Mission involves the willingness to leave our comfort zone, knowing that where we go, we take with us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. 

Sending churches do not seek to raise up members as much as they seek to raise up missionaries—those who live as Jesus did, with an awareness that they are sent. Sending churches operate with a different scorecard in measuring their effectiveness. Rather than asking how many people were seated in church on a Sunday, they are asking how many people were sent out as missionaries. Reggie McNeal puts it this way: 

 “A missionary church culture will need to begin keeping score on things different from what we measure now. These may include how many ministry initiatives we are establishing in the streets, how many conversations we are having with pre-Christians, how many volunteers we are releasing into local and global mission projects aimed at community transformation, how many congregations are starting to reach different populations, how many congregations use our facilities, how many languages (ethnic and generational) we worship in, how many community groups use our facilities, how many church activities target people who aren’t here yet, how many hours per week members spend in ministry where they work, go to school and get mail” (p. 67)
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish