Explore Missions Explore Missions IMB.org 1 Explore Missions Explore Missions Copyright © 2017 International Mission Board All rights reserved. First printing 2017. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. Contact Permissions, International Mission Board, info@. Printed in the United States of America. International Mission Board 3806 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230 imb.org Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the HCSB, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. HCSB is a federally registered trademark of Holman Bible Publishers. IMB.org Explore Missions Contents Contents • Explore Missions 1 • Course Contents 2 • Missions and the Old Testament 6 • Introduction: Mission from the Beginning 7 • Lesson 1: The Big Picture of the Bible 9 • Lesson 2: Missions in the Law of the Old Testament 15 • Lesson 2: God’s Promises to Abraham 17 • Lesson 3: Missions in the Psalms 19 • Lesson 4: Missions in the Old Testament Prophets 23 • Lesson 5: Mission in the Book of Jonah 27 • Group Discussion: Missions and the Old Testament 31 • Missions and the New Testament 36 • Introduction: Four Types of New Testament Literature 37 • Lesson 1: Missions and the Life and Ministry of Jesus 39 • Lesson 2: Missions in the Book of Acts 44 • Lesson 3: Missions in the New Testament Letters and Revelation Next 49 • Lesson 3: Missions in Revelation 53 • Lesson 4: Missions and What the Bible Teaches About the Lost 55 • Lesson 5: Mission and the Bible: What Is The Mission of God’s Church? 59 • Lesson 5: What is the Mission of the Church? 62v • Group Discussion: Missions in the New Testament 64 • Being a Disciple of Jesus 73 • Introduction: Essence of Following Jesus 74 • Lesson 1: The Central Command of the Great Commission 76 • Lesson 2: Transformed Heart and Mind 81 • Lesson 3: Transformed Desired and Will 85 • Lesson 4: Transformed Relationships and Purpose 90 • Lesson 5: The Practices of a Disciples 94 IMB.org 3 Explore Missions Contents • Group Discussion: Being a Disciple of Jesus 99 • What do Missionaries Do? 105 • Introduction: Basic Missionary Tasks 106 • Lesson 1: Engaging Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel 109 • Lesson 1: Engaging Strategically 112 • Lesson 2: Sharing the Gospel 115 • Lesson 2: Principles of Contextualization 119 • Lesson 3: Discipling Believers 121 • Lesson 4: Planting and Multiplying Churches 126 • Lesson 4: What Should the Church Look Like? 129 • Lesson 5: Training Leaders 132 • Group Discussion: What do Missionaries do? 137 • Our Family Story 144 • Introduction: Our Family History 145 • Lesson 1: Missions in the Early Church 148 • Lesson 1: A “Christian” Empire 151 • Lesson 2: Missions in the Middle Ages 153 • Lesson 2: Christianizing Europe 156 • Lesson 3: Mission in the Reformation Age 161 • Lesson 3: Protestant First Fruits 164 • Lesson 4: The Great Century of Missions 167 • Lesson 4: Phase Two — To the Interior 171 • Lesson 5: Missions in the Modern Era 177 • Lesson 5: Phase Three — To Every People Group 180 • Group Discussion: Our Family Story 185 • Missions and the World Today 192 • Intro: Looking Back 193 • Lesson 1: Unreached and Unengaged People Groups 195 • Lesson 2: Other Religions 199 • Lesson 2: Building Relationships 210 • Lesson 3: Crossing Cultures 212 • Lesson 3: Levels of Culture 214 • Lesson 3: Relating to Other Cultures 217 IMB.org Explore Missions Contents • Lesson 4: Missions and the Local Church 220 • Lesson 4: The Role of Churches Today 222 • Lesson 5: Suffering for the Gospel 226 • Lesson 5: Suffering as a Missionary 230 • Lesson 5: The Joy of Suffering 232 • Group Discussion: Missions and the World Today 235 • Final Charge by David Platt 239 IMB.org 5 Explore Missions Contents Course Overview What does Jesus want us to do? The first answer to that question, of course, is that he wants us to repent of our sins and put our trust in him. This course is intended for people who have already taken that step. For those of us who know Jesus and trust him, we know that he taught us a lot about how we are to live our lives, love other people, and worship God. However, we also believe that he wants us to do these things in the context of a mission that he gave us—a mission we are to carry out in the world. This course is designed to help you explore and understand that mission. Explore Missions is designed to be read in community. You should find at least one other Explore Missions partner so that you can learn and discuss together. The course is organized into six sections, each with five lessons. We recommend working through the content with at least one reading partner over the course of six weeks. IMB.org 1 Explore Missions Course Contents section Course Contents An Introduction to Explore Missions As Christians, we believe that the Bible is the actual word of God, and we look to it as our ultimate authority. For that reason, this course will begin by exploring the subject of missions as it is woven into the big story of the Bible. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) was not something Jesus simply tacked on as an afterthought right before He went back up into heaven, but rather one of the major themes that tie the Bible together. We will look through the Bible from beginning to end to see how God’s plan for the nations flows through every part, and then sum it all up by looking at two crucial questions: What does the Bible as a whole teach us about people who have never heard the gospel, and what does it teach us about the nature of the mission God has given us? Course Purpose Once we have established our understanding of missions in the big story of the Bible, we will look at what missions actually involves. We will define missions as disciples of Jesus making new disciples of Jesus, out of peoples and places not yet reached with the gospel. For this reason, we will spend a full unit of lessons defining what it means to be a disciple, and then we will spend another unit exploring the basic tasks that make up the work of missions. In an age where the word “missions” can mean almost anything the church does outside its own walls, it is very important that we understand exactly what is involved in doing biblical mission work. IMB.org 2 Explore Missions Course Contents In Unit 5, we will get to know our family story. As adopted children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, we are part of a family that goes back to the days of the Bible, and our family history includes the history of global missions from the days of the apostles to the present. From the point of view of the first followers of Jesus, where we live is “the ends of the earth,” and the history of missions tells us how the gospel got from them to us. It also shows us things that have worked well and things that have proven unhelpful in the spread of the gospel. As there really is nothing new under the sun, we need to learn from our family members in the past. In the sixth unit of lessons, we will look at missions today. We will see where things stand at this point in the advance of the gospel, and explore issues that affect how we do the work that God has given us. Finally, David Platt, President of the International Mission Board, will give a challenge to you to take what you have learned and use it to engage the world with the gospel. This course is an introduction for people who want to learn about missions but who have little or no background in it. The authors are practitioners who are involved in the global spread of the Good News of Jesus, and their experience includes decades of working in places and among people who have the least access to the gospel in the world. There are six units in this course which may be covered in six weeks, but you may take it at whatever pace works best for you. Each unit has an introduction, five lessons to be done during the week, and then a summary with discussion questions and exercises to be done, ideally, with a group of people who are taking the course together. Our goal is to do more than simply inform you about missions. Real training involves not just your head, but your head, your heart and your hands together. We want the word of God and the lostness of the world to change the way you think, the way you feel, and what you do. For that reason, each unit will have questions to help you understand and apply what you are studying, and will include things for you to do with what you are learning. Our prayer is that this course will transform every area of your life.We believe IMB.org 3 Explore Missions Course Contents that the word of God is true, and we live under its authority. By God’s grace, we have come to realize that we are rebels against God who deserve only condemnation, and who can never save ourselves. By His grace, we have heard the gospel, trusted Jesus, and been saved from what we deserve. By His grace, we have been made alive by His Holy Spirit, rescued from condemnation, forgiven every evil we have ever done or will do, adopted as His children, and guaranteed eternal life with Him.