Stage 1: Mobilizing
Workers called, trained and sent
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this,
- Outcome: Workers on site
- Key Person: Worker in Training
- How to Give: Give toward launching and sustaining long-term global workers
- How to Pray: Pray for God to help them discern their call, prepare the way, for their equipping, and for people to join with their finances
- How to Go: Go on scouting trips to discern what God is doing in that community
- How to Partner: Partner with the long-term global worker by being one of their sending churches or individual supporters, adding them to your budget and your prayer list.
Description:
Our God is a missionary God. Therefore, when God sees a group of people who need Jesus, he puts it on someone’s heart to care. Then, someone needs to pray. Someone needs to go. Which means some people need to give. Some churches need to partner. This stage is complete when a worker is trained and on the ground with the people group.
Biblical Foundation:
Jesus sends the church on mission, just as the Father had sent him; this is the starting point. This sending is for every disciple—not a select few—just as every disciple is commissioned by Jesus to make disciples (Matt. 28:18). When Jesus sends his disciples into the world, he calls them to participate in the mission of the Triune God – sent by the Father, modeled by the life of Jesus, and filled with the Spirit. Jesus’ disciples are sent to do what he did - reveal who God is (John 1:18), demonstrate God’s love (John 15:9), proclaim the good news (Luke 4:43), and reconcile people to God (2 Cor. 5:20). In response to being sent, we are faced with the question—are we willing to participate in God’s mission and reflect his heart of love and compassion for people? This call to love others, just as we have been loved, lies at the heart of this first stage of mobilization (1 Cor. 13:1-3).
The church as the body of Christ, continues to send disciples following the Spirit’s leading. Jesus first calls his disciples to pray that God will send out workers—prayer both precedes and surrounds our involvement in God’s mission (Luke 10:2). When one is sent by Jesus, there is a deep sense of God’s calling on one’s life – this call does not always involve a change in location but rather, “as you are going,” you are called to embody the good news of Jesus (Matt. 28:18). God calls people in various ways to participate in his mission—sometimes in response to need (Dorcas), sometimes through an invitation (Timothy), and at other times through the setting aside by the Spirit (Paul and Silas). This calling reflects both an “inner” invitation by the Spirit to respond to God’s voice (Acts 9:15) as well as an “outer” affirmation of that call by the Spirit working through the church (Acts 13:2-3; Gal. 2:2). The pattern within the New Testament involves both the church sending out and workers reporting back to the church what God had done (Acts 8:14; 11:18; 14:26-27).
The sending of disciples is mediated through their character and gifting. While Paul affirms the aspiration to be a leader in the church, he also recognizes that those who wish to serve must reflect good Christian character, which is to be tested within the church (1 Tim. 3:1, 10). How one is sent is also closely linked to the gifting of the Spirit, who provides each person with the ability to contribute to the mission of God in a unique way as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11). Paul calls this gift of grace, a “manifestation of the Spirit” that reveals the work of the Spirit and can be recognized and affirmed by those who share the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7).
Just as Jesus trained his own disciples before sending them out, so too training is critical to participate effectively in mission. Jesus taught his disciples in various ways—telling stories, asking questions, explaining meaning, creating experiences, and modeling what he taught. Several times Jesus sent his disciples out on short trips to proclaim the good news and heal diseases (Luke 9:1-6; 10:1-16), after which they returned to report what God had done.
<<Mission Strategy Map Stage 2: Connecting>>
Stage 1: Mobilizing
Workers called, trained and sent
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this,
- Outcome: Workers on site
- Key Person: Worker in Training
- How to Give: Give toward launching and sustaining long-term global workers
- How to Pray: Pray for God to help them discern their call, prepare the way, for their equipping, and for people to join with their finances
- How to Go: Go on scouting trips to discern what God is doing in that community
- How to Partner: Partner with the long-term global worker by being one of their sending churches or individual supporters, adding them to your budget and your prayer list.
Description:
Our God is a missionary God. Therefore, when God sees a group of people who need Jesus, he puts it on someone’s heart to care. Then, someone needs to pray. Someone needs to go. Which means some people need to give. Some churches need to partner. This stage is complete when a worker is trained and on the ground with the people group.
Biblical Foundation:
Jesus sends the church on mission, just as the Father had sent him; this is the starting point. This sending is for every disciple—not a select few—just as every disciple is commissioned by Jesus to make disciples (Matt. 28:18). When Jesus sends his disciples into the world, he calls them to participate in the mission of the Triune God – sent by the Father, modeled by the life of Jesus, and filled with the Spirit. Jesus’ disciples are sent to do what he did - reveal who God is (John 1:18), demonstrate God’s love (John 15:9), proclaim the good news (Luke 4:43), and reconcile people to God (2 Cor. 5:20). In response to being sent, we are faced with the question—are we willing to participate in God’s mission and reflect his heart of love and compassion for people? This call to love others, just as we have been loved, lies at the heart of this first stage of mobilization (1 Cor. 13:1-3).
The church as the body of Christ, continues to send disciples following the Spirit’s leading. Jesus first calls his disciples to pray that God will send out workers—prayer both precedes and surrounds our involvement in God’s mission (Luke 10:2). When one is sent by Jesus, there is a deep sense of God’s calling on one’s life – this call does not always involve a change in location but rather, “as you are going,” you are called to embody the good news of Jesus (Matt. 28:18). God calls people in various ways to participate in his mission—sometimes in response to need (Dorcas), sometimes through an invitation (Timothy), and at other times through the setting aside by the Spirit (Paul and Silas). This calling reflects both an “inner” invitation by the Spirit to respond to God’s voice (Acts 9:15) as well as an “outer” affirmation of that call by the Spirit working through the church (Acts 13:2-3; Gal. 2:2). The pattern within the New Testament involves both the church sending out and workers reporting back to the church what God had done (Acts 8:14; 11:18; 14:26-27).
The sending of disciples is mediated through their character and gifting. While Paul affirms the aspiration to be a leader in the church, he also recognizes that those who wish to serve must reflect good Christian character, which is to be tested within the church (1 Tim. 3:1, 10). How one is sent is also closely linked to the gifting of the Spirit, who provides each person with the ability to contribute to the mission of God in a unique way as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11). Paul calls this gift of grace, a “manifestation of the Spirit” that reveals the work of the Spirit and can be recognized and affirmed by those who share the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7).
Just as Jesus trained his own disciples before sending them out, so too training is critical to participate effectively in mission. Jesus taught his disciples in various ways—telling stories, asking questions, explaining meaning, creating experiences, and modeling what he taught. Several times Jesus sent his disciples out on short trips to proclaim the good news and heal diseases (Luke 9:1-6; 10:1-16), after which they returned to report what God had done.