Sermon: Missions
Bible Passage: Ezra 1:1-7
I. Introductory Comments on Missions
1. The word “mission” derives from the Latin word mitto “to send” and missio “sending”
2. The word “mission” was first used in 1544 by the Jesuits like Ignatius Loyola and Jacob Loyner to describe the spread of the Christian faith in the world
3. In 1588, Loyola wrote, “By mission I mean journeys and undertakings carried on from town to town for the sake of the word of God”
4. Though the term may not occur in the English Bible, the concept of mission—“sending” certainly does
5. The Greek New Testament uses two terms to describe sending: pempo and apostello
6. These terms are used synonymously to describe
a. God sending angels and prophets
b. The Father sending the Son
c. The Father and the Son sending of the Holy Spirit
d. Jesus sending of the disciples
7. Until the 1950s the terms “mission” and “missions” were generally used synonymously to describe the spread of the Christian faith by missionaries who are sent by the church with the explicit calling and mandate to preach the gospel to those who had never heard and gather converts into churches
8. From the 1960s the term “mission” has come to be used more broadly to describe all of God’s sending activity: “God’s Mission” in the world Missio Dei
9. Mission is not merely the tasks of missionaries, but it is the very sending mandate of the church as a whole
10. DEFINITION FOR MISSION: THE SENDING ACTIVITY OF GOD WITH THE PURPOSE OF RECONCILING TO HIMSELF AND BRINGING INTO HIS KINGDOM FALLEN MEN AND WOMEN FROM EVERY PEOPLE, NATION, AND TONGUE
11. The phrase “missional church” emphasizes that the church does not merely send missionaries, but the church itself is sent by God with a missionary mandate
12. To be missional is to live with the sense of “having been sent by God” to the domains of our life to accomplish God’s purposes
13. From its start to finish, the Bible is the story of God Himself reaching into human history to reconcile a fallen and rebellious humanity to Himself and to reestablish his reign over all creation
14. In this sense God is a missionary God, i.e., a God who sends his emissaries, messengers, and ultimately his Son and the Holy Spirit as agents in this story of redemption
a. John 3:16: God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life
b. Gal 4:4-5 when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law
c. Acts 2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing
d. The God’s mission is Trinitarian!
Now, let’s study a passage where we see the missio dei – Ezra 1:1-7
God wanted to rebuild the Temple and restore His people from their Exile (Ezra 1:1-4; cf. Jer 29:10; 25:11–14)
II. To accomplish His purpose, God used three types of people in the first phase:
1. The Emperor of Persia (1:1-4)
a. He made an edict favoring the rebuilding of the Temple
b. He released Jewish people to return to Jerusalem from Babylon and facilitated their return
2. Zerubbabel, Joshua, 50k Jews, Haggai, and Zechariah (1:5)
a. They left the place of their comfort and travelled to Jerusalem
b. They worked/volunteered on the building
3. The Jews who would support God’s work (1:6)
a. They stayed back in Babylon
b. They supported financially
III. All of them had a role to play in God’s work
1. Some with their power, others with their skills, and others with their money!
2. Ultimately, it is God who used all these resources and accomplished His objectives (cf. Ezra 6:13-18)—the completion of the Temple
3. The Triune God continues His outreach through the Church
a. Matt 5:14, 16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden
b. Matt 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age
c. John 20:21 As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you
4. The term “mission” has come to describe not merely the tasks of missionaries, but the very sending mandate of the church as a whole
a. Light for the world (Matt 4:14)
b. Masterpiece of God (Eph 2:10)
c. One new man (Eph 2:15)
d. The household of God (1 Tim 3:14-15)
e. The Temple of God (1 Cor 3:16)
5. We use the term “missional church” to refer to: the church does not merely send missionaries, but the church itself is sent by God with a missionary mandate
6. To be missional is “to be sent by God on His assignment into the world”
7. Mission is God’s overarching purpose in history
8. Mission has its origin in the heart of God
9. Mission begins with God, and it is His own undertaking
10. The mission of the church is participating in God’s mission
Take Away:
Be on God’s mission with your time, talent, and resources