THE CALL OF THE CHURCH IN MISSIONS: BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING Genesis 12:1-3

OBJECTIVES: 1.For us to realize and not take for granted that God has blessed us both individually and as a Church. 2.For us to know that God has a purpose in blessing us and to recognize our accompanying responsibilities related to all our blessings. 3.For all of us to prayerfully identify our God-directed role and fulfill them as we obey the Great Commission.

II.LESSON PROPER A.GOD HAS BLESSED US IN CHRIST 1.AS BELIEVERS IN CHRIST WE ARE BLESSED.  How many of us would say that we are blessed?  If we are true Christians, we are blessed whatever our circumstances because we have been given the greatest gift: the gift of salvation.

 If we have Christ, we have been given everything that is eternally worthwhile. We have all spiritual blessings in Christ, even the spiritual gift(s) to be able to serve in the Church.  God had been personally pouring His blessings and empowering us through a living relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

 What are you doing with God's blessings in your life, your time, your money, your prayers, your gifts?  God doesn't want us to just hoard His blessings.  God wants us to enjoy all the blessing He wants to pour into our lives, but not to stop there. He desires that we be channels of His blessing.

2.AS A CHURCH WE ARE BLESSED IN SO MANY WAYS  How many of us believe that we are blessed as a church?  The Hebrew word “blessed” conveys the idea of not just in the state of being happy but of being strengthened of our weaknesses, being compensated for with God’s strength. It is an empowerment to be able to do what is not within our natural capabilities.

WHY DOES GOD BLESS HIS PEOPLE - HIS CHURCH? B.GOD’S PURPOSE IN BLESSING US IS TO RECOGNIZE OUR ACCOMPANYING RESPONSIBILITIES RELATED TO ALL OUR BLESSINGS 1.THE BLESSINGS THROUGH THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT (Gen. 12:1-3).  There are about 395 passages throughout the Bible that either paraphrase or abridge Gen. 12:2-3

 This third covenant, made with Abraham was different, as it was established with a small part of humankind but with great implications for the rest of the human race. 2.TWO ESSENTIAL PARTS OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

 “I had read them [Gen.12:1-3] many times before. Now I realized that I had underestimated their significance— that the various promises included in the covenant, together constitute one coherent purpose of God.  I saw that the various promises contained in the covenant can be arranged under two main headings. I call them THE “TOP LINE” and THE “BOTTOM LINE”...” Don Richardson

a.THE “TOP LINE” BLESSINGS - INDICATES BLESSINGS WE RECEIVE FROM GOD.  I will make you a great nation  I will bless you  I will make your name great  you shall be a blessing  I will bless those who bless you  The one who curses you I will curse

b.THE “BOTTOM LINE” BLESSINGS- TELLS US THE PURPOSE OF THOSE BLESSINGS AND THE ACCOMPANYING RESPONSIBILITIES THAT WE HAVE RELATED TO SUCH BLESSINGS.  “And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed”  The second part of the covenant states that through Abraham all peoples on earth will be blessed.

 God never told Abraham that His blessings would just be for his own family or his own people (from his own culture).  God made it very clear that His blessing needed to cross cultures and boundaries in order to reach ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH.  Galatians 3:6-9

 The Bible is really one story, the story about God’s plan to redeem a people from every nation, tongue, and tribe or people group. According to God's promises in the Bible, every nation or people group will be represented before the throne of God to worship Him throughout all eternity.  Revelation 7:9-10

 Many times however, we only teach half of this story…or only listen to half of this story. WE FOCUS MORE ON THE BLESSING AND NOT ON THE RESPONSIBILITY. We are to always remember that we are blessed in the Church to be a blessing to others!

 There is a “bottom-line responsibility” to the covenant. God wants to make us a blessing to the nations (other cultures). He has entrusted us with the gospel of Christ to preach before He returns: “…the gospel will be preached to all nations (“ethne” or people groups) and the end will come” (Matt 24:14)  This bottom-line responsibility is what WE OFTEN FAIL TO TEACH. WE ONLY HEAR HALF THE STORY.

For each of the following verses or passages, let us identify the “TOP LINE BLESSING” then the “BOTTOM LINE PURPOSE/RESPONSIBILITY.” [1] May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, [2] that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. (Psalm 67:1-2)

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations…” (Ps. 46:10) DAVID TO GOLIATH: “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,…” (1 Samuel 17:46)

ON THE PARTING OF THE WATERS: “[23] For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, [24] so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” (Joshua 4:23-24)

ON GOD’S CONTINUED FAITHFULNESS TO ISRAEL: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”(Isaiah 49:6)

TO CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

JESUS TO HIS DISCIPLES BEFORE HIS ASCENSION TO HEAVEN: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”(Acts 1:8)

MULTIPLE BOTTOM LINE PASSAGES  Psalm 67:3,4,7 - "...may your ways be known on earth, your salvation among all nations...."  2 Kings 19: "...so that all kingdoms on earth may know You...."  Isaiah 25:6-8 - "...for all peoples...."  Isaiah 61:11 - "...so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations...."

 Jeremiah 3:17 - “... all nations... will honor the Lord... ”  Daniel 7:13,14 - “... men of every language worshipped Him... ”  Haggai 2:7 - “... the desire of all nations will come and fill this house with glory...”  Zechariah 8:23 - "...ten men from all languages...."  Malachi 1:11 - "...My name will be great among the nations...."

 The blessings God gives us are intended to be shared with all, beginning with the inestimable blessing of salvation from sin and including all the other good things the Lord has given to us.  Many of us want the blessings of Abraham but forget the responsibilities as the seed of Abraham to be a blessing to all the families of the earth

 As the New Testament makes clear, these promises of blessing that God made to Abraham ultimately point to Jesus Christ and find their fulfillment in Him (Gal.3:16).  According to Galatians 3:29, “If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”

 As we share in the blessings that have flowed to us through Abraham and then Christ, we have a corresponding responsibility to pass on this blessings and seek to make disciples of all nations for the glory of Christ and for the joy of other peoples. C.PRAYERFULLY IDENTIFY OUR GOD- DIRECTED ROLE AND FULFILL THEM AS WE OBEY THE GREAT COMMISSION.

GLCC PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY PART 5: THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE LOST OR MISSIONS: Reaching the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ, both at home and abroad, to people who belong to our culture or to other cultures, to the "reached", "least reached" and "unreached" people groups, is to be one of the goals of the Church (Matt. 28:19-20; Rom. 1:14 16; Acts 1:8).

 We do this through the faithful sharing of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, through means that are sensitive and adaptive to culture and people group but will in no way alter, dilute, or hide the full implications of this gospel (Acts 20:20, 27; 2Cor. 2:17 Gal. 1:8).  THE LORD HAD RAISED UP FOREIGN AND LOCAL MISSIONARIES IN OUR CHURCH WHO ARE LABORING NOW TO DO THESE BOTTOM LINE BLESSINGS

MISSIONS AND CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRY (MCOM)- THE MISSIONARY ARM OF THE CHURCH WITH ITS VISION: To see Guiding Light Christian Church (GLCC) glorifying God by passionately fulfilling the Great Commission where the Church is mobilized and wholeheartedly engaged in reaching the least reached and unreached peoples groups locally and globally. (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8)

GLCC – MCOM MISSION STATEMENT: To reach the least reached and unreached peoples groups as we educate, motivate, equip, disciple and train members of Guiding Light Christian Church (GLCC) to identify their God-directed role and fulfill the Great Commission as senders, goers, mobilizers, intercessors and welcomers. (Matthew 24:14, 45-47)

The Great Commission was not given to a selected few but to the entire Church. We have to realize that if we are not GOERS (missionaries) then we are SENDERS (financial supporters, mobilizers, intercessors, welcomers). We cannot be indifferent to our Lord’s last command. We have to pray hard for God’s place for us in His great Commission work to exercise His bottom-line blessings.

We need to align with what Jesus told His followers in the Great Commission of Matt. 28:19-20 that we are to make disciples of ALL NATION. His strategy for fulfilling His redemptive purpose is for the Church to take His redemptive blessings (TOPLINE) to all “people groups” scattered throughout the earth (BOTTOMLINE). His plans have never changed.