Christ We Proclaim in the Globalized City
My Conference Theme
Disciplining the Globalized City: Our Savior’s
Great Commission Provision
Tuesday Evening:
The Globalized City and Great Commission Ministry
Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary
2017-10-31
Introduction: Yesterday, we established that the globalized city should be a major focus of Great Commission ministry. Individuals, churches, Bible colleges and seminaries of like faith should work together (network) focusing on discipling the world within the globalized city, so that we can disciple the world outside the city. By doing so, we will join our Savior who promised He will build His church.
We must disciplize the globalized city (The globalized city: A city of at least 1,000,000 people, which has global influence and international connections.)
- By joining our Savior: Recognize our obligation: Fill the earth with His image and rule the earth, subdue the earth
- Gen. 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
- Gen. 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
- Gen. 9:7 “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
- Matt. 28:18-20 18And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
It has always been God’s intention to fill the earth with His image. Those who were His image were to manage the earth. There is continuity between the cultural mandate in Genesis 1 and the Great Commission in Matthew 28. In both passages, God’s intention to spread His image globally is clear. It is our responsibility to fulfill His command.
Good intentions are not enough.
- Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Christ has assured us that He will complete the construction of His church, and He has commanded us to join Him. It is our stewardship, as His image, to do so.
- Prov. 1:20-22 Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: 22 “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
Being God’s stewards, responsible for doing the Great Commission, we must look discerningly at the world around us and ask ourselves the question, How is our Savior providing for the building of His church? One major answer is this, He is bringing the world to the globalized city, so that we can go to the city, minister to the world in the city, and follow those human relationships back to all points of the globe.
- Prov. 24:10-12 If you are slack in the day of distress, your strength is limited. 11Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. 12If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?
It will not be enough for us to have good intentions, to be nice Christians. Our God and our Savior expects us to think deeply about His mission in the world and to join Him. Doing any old thing is not enough. We must commit to doing the best thing to make Him known globally.
Illustration: Intern Andrew Eddy
We must disciplize the globalized city
- By building a foundation: Boston and Beyond
- The Model Church
A church successfully ministering to the full demographic of Boston
- An International Village
An apartment building for retired Christian missionaries and international families to live.
A yard for international mothers and children to relax and socialize
A building that houses a coffee shop, art gallery and bookstore
A building to house the offices of those administrating the Globalized city church planting initiative
- A Biblical and theological institute
Our students do not need degrees, but they do need knowledge.
We must disciplize the globalized city
- By networking globalized-city church planting: Mobilizing compatible churches, individuals, Bible colleges, theological seminaries, and mission agencies and individuals to strategize and implement a globalized-city church planting movement.
- The goal of this mobilization will be to focus our resources in at least three areas:
1) Building the foundation in Boston (internships, biblical and theological training, and manpower)
2) Following human connections from Boston and other strategic places back to their home countries and helping those young converts become faithful disciplers in their places of origin.
3) Targeting the 10 most globally strategic cities in the world, and implementing a plan to build discipleship centers (like Boston) in those cities.
A Model: Campus Bible Fellowship: their area liaison committee
The choices before the church are simple: (1) Will we rely on formulas and strategies without reference to the sovereign and surprising work of God? (2) Will we misinterpret the teaching of God’s sovereignty over all to lead us to indifference or fatalism? (3) Will we understand the clear connection in the Bible of God’s sovereignty and His call to his people to make disciples of all nations, beginning in our communities and cities?” John Massey
Invitation: Our Savior is inviting us to join Him in His work of building His church. Will you?
Know God’s intention for the city-Recognize your stewardship-Yield to your responsibility