Missions: The Mandate

Dennis R Wiles
FBC Arlington
November 7, 2021

2021
A JOURNEY OF FAITH
Celebrating 150 Years of Ministry:
Appreciating Our Past
Anticipating Our Future

MISSIONS 2021
Sharing the Faith
November 7 - 21, 2021

Missions 2021: Sharing the Faith
Missions FBCA: Live Sent!

Missions: The Mandate
Acts 1:8

By what authority?

I will share an introductory story about an experience I had in Bangladesh years ago. I will call for the quote by John Stott:

Millions of people in today’s world are extremely hostile to the Christian missionary enterprise. They regard it as politically disruptive (because it loosens the cement which binds the national culture) and religiously narrow-minded (because it makes exclusive claims for Jesus), while those who are involved in it are thought to suffer from an arrogant imperialism. And the attempt to convert people to Christ is rejected as an unpardonable interference in their private lives.
-John Stott

EMPOWERED!
ENGAGED!
EVERYONE!
EVERYWHERE!

The exercise of power is inherent in the concept of a kingdom. But power in God’s kingdom is different from power in human kingdoms. The reference to the Holy spirit defines its nature. The kingdom of God is his rule set up in the lives of his people by the Holy Spirit. It is spread by witnesses, not by soldiers, through a gospel of peace, not a declaration of war, and by the work of the Spirit, not by the force of arms, political intrigue or revolutionary violence. At the same time, in rejecting the politicizing of the kingdom, we must beware of the opposite extreme of super-spiritualizing it, as if God’s rule operates only in heaven and not on earth. The fact is that, although it must not be identified with any political ideology or programme, it has radical political and social implications. Kingdom values come into collision with secular values. And the citizens of God’s kingdom steadfastly deny to Caesar the supreme loyalty for which he hungers, but which they insist on giving to Jesus alone.
-John Stott

Live . . . Sent!