16. Finishing The Task

Clusters of church energy release the power of God

See The Lessons

In Your Bible Read This
Acts 16, 6-15, 1 Thessalonians 1, 4-10

Here Is Your Memory Verse
Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity
among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel
in the regions beyond you. 2 Corinthians 10.15-16.

Afterwards Talk About This
Can this be done in your church or the churches you know?
If not, why not?

Something To Do Before Next Time
Think about different Clusters to see who you know that might fit
  into each area. Can you imagine some peoples who the Clusters
might target in their prayer and ministry. Who and where are they?

Written Diploma Work
Look again at the list of clusters and write down other,
maybe even better ideas for Clusters which are relevant to your
nation, circumstances and culture.

Meditate On These Verses
Acts 6, 3-4

Spend a Minute to Change the World

Pray For Peru - Operation World page 444

25, 000,000 Andean people, 89% Roman Catholics in crisis

Evangelicals growing fast, economic and legacy of terrorism problems

 

Be sure to teach this lesson to others.

Always pray and prepare well adding your own verses and stories to bring it to life.

1. Come Quickly, Lord Jesus.

People everywhere long for Jesus to return, and he will when the gospel of the Kingdom has been preached to all the world’s different peoples. We are closer than ever before, and now is the easiest time in all of history for your church to reach far beyond its local boundaries.

2. Finishing The Task.

Missions experts have listed 12 important strategies that every church can embrace to help finish the Great Commission. Here they are - beginning with the easiest and ending with the hardest.

1. Intercession and spiritual warfare.
2. Networking with the global Church.
3. A new openness to using the gifts of the Spirit in the missions context.
4. Recovery of urgency in the church.
5. Expand church evangelism to cross geographic or cultural barriers.
6. Marry overseas social work with gospel preaching and vice-versa.
7. Outreach to the world’s children.
8. Outreach to the women of the world who are kept behind closed doors of religious traditions.
9. Outreach to the world’s mega-cities.
10. Visit poor native church leaders to help, mobilise and equip them.
11. Outreach to an unreached people.
12. Re-evangelise the Old World.

Pastor will think that this means even more work for him to do, and he has so little spare time already. The treasurer will worry because world ministry sounds expensive and there is no spare money. On the other hand many people will be thrilled with the idea of reaching out to others far away, but they do not know what to do. What is the answer?

3. Clusters Release People Power.

Cluster ministry can help your church to step forward into world ministry without overburdening the pastor or causing stress to the treasurer.

What Is Cluster Ministry?
Cluster or cell ministry happens when say from 5 to 15 church members meet together to do something in mission that interests them. The pastor trains them how to relate to him and to each other. He appoints a leader for each Cluster and a church elder as the Cluster overseer. The Cluster pray, talk together and then present the Pastor with their goals and a plan.

Who Pays For This?
Each Cluster raises its own money by faith and work. All the Pastor has to do is let them go. There is no extra work for him, his only job is to encourage, to listen, and to review each Cluster’s progress every six months. The release of energy can be remarkable taking the church targets for missions prayer, missions giving, going and sending through the roof in spectacular growth.

4. What Kind Of Clusters?

Let us think big and suggest the following ideas. We will take the strategic list and start with the easiest things to do with room for everybody, and work our way along to the most difficult and demanding.

Maybe in the beginning only one or two Clusters can come together but God will soon give growth as people catch the vision and want to join in.

1. Let those who want to pray for the nations, for missionaries, for the church worldwide, especially the suffering churches meet, say weekly.
2. Let those who like writing link your church with churches around the world. You will soon be receiving visits and maybe God will make it possible for you to go and visit them to learn about their faith.
3. Let those who prophesy or see visions, wait upon their ministry to get words of direction for missions, missionaries and for trips.
4. Let those who lead the church have their own cluster to lead by example into Isaiah 54, 2-5.
5. Let those who sing or do drama prepare items to make the whole church aware of God’s wide world and the call to missions.
6. Let those who want to reach out to other cultures meet with local foreigners to discover the issues and learn how they react to the gospel.
7. Let those who love street work plan to visit the nearest big city where millions are trapped in crime, drugs and prostitution. They should find out about world cities and link up with believers there who will be glad of help.
8. Let those who love the poor make plans to reach out to a world of hungry, ragged and sick people, particularly to women and orphans. Find out who can help them because big things like this are best done in partnership.
9. Let those who weep for the world’s neglected children make their plans, however simple, to reach them in love with food, protection and school.
10. Let those who feel called to reach unreached peoples nearby or far away plan the steps for teams to go. Consider locations, costs, languages, training and travel. Don’t forget that Europe, spiritually is the darkest, most secular continent on the earth. Let those who know languages use them to help the missions team.
11. Let those who can make money by God’s gift and grace look for ways to make the funds for church missions and missionaries.
12. Let those who know the Bible plan to visit believers who truly hunger to know the Scriptures but have no Bibles or pastors to teach them. There are thousands of pastors in the world who know almost nothing of the Bible.

Best of all you will find that God is with you in a new way. Don’t be afraid to ask him for help, or to enter into partnership with other churches and missions who can help you participate in world ministry.

To Close Pray For The

World's Most Unreached Peoples By Name

 

Taken from the Joshua Project 2000 Unreached Peoples List

at www.ad2000.org these people have no church and as yet

no cell, church or mission has committed themselves

to prayer, adoption or church planting among this people.

 

© Dr Les Norman | School of Christian Leadership, UK
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