These notes are offered for churches that wish to reflect together on what it might mean for them to be God's missional people. The main point seems to be that, while God does send out individual missionaries, the people of God--the church or Church--are meant to be God's missional people as well. The four key Old Testament texts bring this emphasis to the New Testament missional texts: as God's people, we engage in the work of God's mission in the world. Note how strongly the themes of holiness and righteousness are present: mission is not just a message of God's salvation in Jesus Christ--which it is--but it is also the presentation to the world of a transformed, holy, and righteous life of God's people, a community of God.
The Missional Church: Four Old
Testament Mission Texts
Introduction
Mission
is the unfolding of God’s OT promises, a story unfolding in Jesus and through
the people of God
I.
Matthew
28.16-20
A.
Isaiah 66.18-23 (story of sin, exile, and
restoration: survivors going to the nations to bring back the exiles, declare
God’s glory, include the nations, establish worship)
B.
Isaiah
2.1-5 (nations coming to God’s people to learn righteousness)
C.
Matthew:
1.
Disciples
go to the nations (Mt. 24.14)
2.
Make
disciples
a.
Baptizing
(repentance, forgiveness, Trinity)
b. Teaching (Jesus’ commandments)
3. Jesus’ presence
II.
Luke
2.32; 24.47; Acts 1.8; 28.28 (beginning and end of each volume)
A.
Isaiah 49.6 (God’s servant to restore exiled
Israel and be a light to the Gentiles)
B.
Luke:
1.
Repentance
and forgiveness of sins
2.
Mission
in the power of the Holy Spirit (as Jesus)
3. Witnesses (of Jesus’ life, death,
resurrection, ascension)
4.
From
Jerusalem to Samaria to ends of the earth
III.
John
20.21-23
A.
Ezekiel 37.9 (with Genesis 2.7)
B.
John:
1.
Peace
2.
Mission
as representing Jesus, who represents the Father, to the world
3.
Sent
4.
Made
alive by the Holy Spirit
5. Offer forgiveness of sins
IV.
1
Peter 2.9-10; Revelation 5.9-10
A. Exodus
19.5-6
B.
1
Peter:
1.
Chosen
race, royal priesthood, holy nation, people for God’s possession
2.
So that you might proclaim the excellencies
of Him
3. Who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light
C. Revelation:
1. Witnesses to Jesus’ ransom of all
the nations.
2. Kingdom and priests to reign on the
earth
Conclusion
Mission
is a task of the ‘people of God’—not just missionaries—the c/Church is God’s missionary people to
the world
Comments