The Bible

The Bible is the inspired Word of God and is to be our final authority in all matters of our Christian lives and our daily living. Human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit, penned the words we read in the Bible. As a result of being inspired of God, it is truth without any mixture or error; it is infallible (Psalm 12:6; 119:105, 160; Proverbs 30:5; 2 Timothy 1:13; 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

God
God is the Creator and Ruler of the Universe. He eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are equal and are one God (Genesis 1:1, 26-27; 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:3).

Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the Son of God born of a virgin. He is equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all by dying on the cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to heaven’s glory and will return again to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:22-23; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 1:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 4:14-15).

The Human Condition
Mankind is made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. We are the supreme object of God’s creation. Although mankind has tremendous potential for good, we are all marred by sin. Sin separates us from God (Gen. 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a; Isaiah 59:1-2, Romans 3:23).

Salvation
Salvation is a gift from God to mankind. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can we be saved from sins’ penalty. Eternal life begins the moment we receive Jesus Christ into our life by faith. Because this eternal life is through Jesus Christ all believers are secure in salvation for eternity. Our salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian (John 1:12; 14:6; Romans 5:1; 6:23; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; 10:10, 14; 1 Peter 1:3-5).

Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son as God. He is present in the world to make mankind aware of our need for Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells a believer at the moment of salvation and provides the power for Christian living, understanding of spiritual truth and guidance in doing what is right. All believers receive spiritual gifts that differ, according to the will of God, to be used for the common good (John 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:1).

The Church
The Church is the body of Christ, which is composed of all believers who have accepted Christ as Savior (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).

God’s Global Purpose
The Bible is the story of God’s plan to gather worshippers from all nations.

God’s plan to be glorified among all nations began in the first chapter of the Bible (Gen. 1:28) and is the overarching theme of the Bible (Luke 24:44-47), including its conclusion (Rev. 7:9). The Bible is the story of God extending His glory to all nations through His people as a response to His marvelous grace. We were created to enjoy God's grace so that we can extend His glory to all nations. (Gen. 12:1-3, Ps. 67:1-2). God is especially glorified when people from diverse cultures and languages worship Him as their God across their differences (Is. 12:4, Rom. 1:5).

The Global Mandate
The primary task of global missions is to establish healthy churches among every people group.

The primary command to obey and task to complete in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19) is to “disciple all nations.” This is a measurable task and will be completed in the end (Rev. 7:9). “Nations” (Matt. 28:19) refers to ethnic people groups and not countries. The task of “discipling the nations” is to plant the church among every people group which is summarized in the three actions in Matthew 28:19-20 (going, baptizing, and teaching). The Great Commission is not just a general command to “make disciples” but a specific command to “disciple all nations” by establishing healthy churches among every people group.

The Global Priority
The church should prioritize reaching unreached and unengaged people groups.

There is a distinction between the ministries of “evangelism” and “missions”. Evangelism is the ministry of the local church of reaching more “people” (individuals) locally, and the global missions ministry of a church is focused on reaching more “peoples” (people groups) globally. Global missions should prioritize reaching unreached and unengaged. Frontier missions that focus on the world’s peoples that are unreached and unengaged should be a significant priority in global missions (Rom. 15:19-24). Missions among reached people is also important, but the reality of the vast imbalance of resources in global missions directed toward already reached people and/or neglecting unreached peoples of the world, should inform the churches global priorities.

The Mission Motive
The primary and sustaining motive for global missions is a passion for God’s glory to be known and praised among the nations.

God’s ultimate goal is that His name be known and praised among all the peoples on earth (Rom. 1:5). God is being robbed of the glory that He alone deserves among the nations through false worship and religions. Jesus came in order that the “the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Rom. 15:9), and Paul summarized his ministry as a “priestly duty” to offer the Gentiles as a praise to God (Rom. 15:15-16). Jesus, the Lamb of God, is worthy to receive the reward of His suffering, a ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev. 5:9-10).

Global Urgency
The lost will remain lost unless the church sends missionaries so the lost will hear the gospel and believe.

All are lost and accountable to God (Rom. 1:18-20, 1:21-25, 2:17,24), and without faith in Jesus as the only way for salvation (Rom. 3:9-12, 3:21-25) will experience eternal conscious torment under God’s wrath (Mark 9:43-48, 2 Thess. 1:9-10, Rev. 20:10). God saves the lost (Rom. 10:12) who must hear and believe (Rom. 10:14) through missionaries (Rom. 10:15) who are sent by churches (Rom. 10:15) to proclaim the good news of salvation in Jesus alone.

The Role of Every Believer
Every believer can have a part in the Great Commission by being engaged in various ways through their local church.

It is not God’s will for everyone to be a missionary but for every believer to be a Global Christian. Knowing the story of God’s plan to gather worshippers from all nations should inform every church member to be a Global Christian and to actively participate in God’s global purposes. As heirs of the promise given to Abraham, we are also heirs of the purpose of making Christ known among the nations (Gal. 3:29). Each of the five ways of living as a Global Christian (mobilizer, intercessor, welcomer, goer, and sender) are an essential work and role in the completion of the global task of planting healthy churches among every people group.

The Centrality of the Local Church
The local church is central in God’s plan to establish healthy churches among every people group.

Missions is central to God’s purpose for the local church (Luke 24:44-47, Rom. 15:8-12). The Bible is the story of God’s plan to gather worshippers from all nations. This mission came before the church and is therefore central to God’s purpose for the church. The local church has a central role in the completion of the mandate to establish churches among the unreached by recruiting, training, and sending missionaries from their local church, and supporting and sustaining those that are sent (Acts 13:1-3, 14:26-27). The church partners with missionaries to take the gospel to all nations (Phil. 1:3-5). The church also develops opportunities for their whole church to engage in global missions as goers, senders, intercessors, mobilizers, and welcomers.

Reaching the Nations Among Us
Local churches should be intentional to reach unreached and unengaged peoples locally.

God is sovereignly orchestrating that representatives from unreached and unengaged people groups from around the world (frequently called the Diaspora) are increasingly moving and living near churches in the U.S. (Acts 17:26-27). Churches must be faithful to intentionally reach out to these peoples through local evangelism, discipleship, and church-planting. This is a strategic opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission locally and to prepare and equip more missionaries and individuals from unreached peoples to be sent out for effective global missions.

Adopting a Specific Focus as a Church
Local churches need to determine a specific strategic focus to have a greater global impact.

Maintaining a strategic focus as a church in terms of a location(s) or a people group(s) is wise and increases engagement of the congregation in global missions and maximizes the global impact of the church. The apostle Paul gave priority to planting the church among unreached peoples (Rom. 15:18-23). Churches should be proactive by supporting fewer missionaries who are known and supported at a greater depth rather than being reactive by responding to appeals for support from many missionaries scattered in many locations (Acts 13:1-3). A church, therefore, will choose to not support every missions opportunity presented, and will give priority of resources to support missionaries who are part of the church’s strategic focus.

Definitions of Key Terms

A People Group
A significantly large grouping of individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity with one another because of language and culture. (adapted from Joshua Project)

An Unreached People Group
A people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group. (adapted from Joshua Project)

An Unengaged People Group
A people group that has no known on-site active church-planting currently underway. (adapted from Joshua Project)

An Engaged People Group
A people group is engaged when a church planting strategy, consistent with evangelical faith and practice, is under implementation. In this respect, a people group is not engaged when it has been merely adopted, is the object of focused prayer, or is part of an advocacy strategy. (IMB Global Research Office)

Four Essential Elements for Effective Engagement
-Pioneering missionary efforts in residence within the people group
-Commitment to work within the local language and culture of the people group
-Commitment to long-term ministry
-“Sowing” work in a manner consistent with the goal of seeing a self-sustaining movement of church planting emerge (ABWE article: The Difference between Unreached and Unengaged).

Conversion
Conversion is the divinely enabled personal response of individuals to the gospel in which they turn from their sin and themselves (repent) and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord (believe). Two particular implications of this reality are significant. First, the gospel must be proclaimed for anyone to be converted. No one can be saved apart from receiving, understanding, and believing the gospel. This makes the task of evangelism critically urgent. Second, the content of the message matters. It is absolutely essential that missionaries get the message right, especially in light of distortions of the gospel that are popular around the world. Any gospel message that denies or dilutes the full deity and humanity of Jesus, identifies the human problem as anything else or anything less than our sinful rebellion against God, does not major on the substitutionary death of Jesus and the reality of his bodily resurrection, or does not teach that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, is an unbiblical gospel which does not lead to biblical conversion. (from IMB key terms)

The Missionary Task
A people group is considered “reached” when the missionary task has been completed. The missionary task has been completed when a healthy indigenous church is established, capable of evangelizing their own people. A healthy indigenous church is self-governing, self- supporting, and self- propagating. In Acts 14:26, the missionary task is described as the “work that [Paul and Barnabas] had now completed.” This completed missionary task included evangelism (they preached the gospel), discipleship (they were strengthening the disciples) and church planting (Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in every church they had planted) (Acts 14:21-28).

A Missionary
A disciple of Jesus set apart by the Holy Spirit and sent out by the local church to cross cultural, linguistic and usually geographic barriers as a part of a missionary team focused on establishing healthy churches among unreached peoples and places (based on the IMB definition).

A Global Christian
One who understands God’s heart for the world and strategically lives their life in such a way that wherever they are and whatever they do they are striving to see Him glorified among all nations. (adapted from “Explore the World Christian Lifestyle” study)

There are five ways to live as a Global Christian as a mobilizer, intercessor, welcomer, goer and sender.

Mobilizer: Connecting God's people to God's purpose for the nations.

Intercessor: Standing in the gap for unreached peoples.

Welcomer: Reaching the nations who have come to us.

Goer: Establishing churches within people groups where the church does not yet exist.

Sender: Partnering in various ways with those who go.

A Local Church
A local church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ, to be exhorted from the Word of God, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper under the guidance of duly appointed leaders. According to this definition there are at least seven qualifications if a group wants to be a church in the New Testament sense.

1.Believers. People from a cross-section of the community that give evidence that they are believers—that they trust Jesus as Savior and Lord (John 1:2-13).
2.Baptized. The people must be baptized identifying them as followers of Christ (Matt. 28:19).
3.Meeting regularly. There must be a regular assembling (Heb. 10:25).
4.Worshiping God through Jesus Christ. Among these meetings there must be gatherings for worship (Eph. 1:6,12,14).
5.Exhorted from the Word of God. Meetings must include exhortation from the Word of God (Matt. 4:4).
6.Celebrating the Lord's Supper. We are commanded to "do this in remembrance" of Christ (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24).
7.Duly appointed leaders. The church needs the guidance of duly appointed leaders (Eph. 4:1,12). (from John Piper, The Local Church Minimum vs. Maximum)

A Missionary Calling
Rather than a prospective missionary asking themselves, “Am I called?” we recommend these four questions instead to discern if they are a goer.

Clarity : Do I have clarity on the Biblical task of global missions? (Luke 24:44-47)
Conviction: Is my heart convicted that God's mandate is to be glorified among all nations? (Romans 15:20-21)
Confirmation: Does my church confirm I have the ministry experience, the character, and skills required to be a missionary? (Acts 13:2-3)
Commitment: Am I committed to making the sacrifices necessary to complete the task of planting the church among an unreached people group? (Acts 20:24)