The disciples of Jesus lost all hope when their Master and leader was killed on the cross. After His resurrection Jesus had to regather His disheartened and scattered disciples who gave up thinking He had perished. Right after His resurrection, Jesus had to hang around for 40 days to rebuild his team by presenting himself to them and by giving them convincing proofs that he was alive Acts 1:3. Also Jesus had to hang around for 40 days to recast His Vision of the Kingdom of God.
Finally, just before His departure to Heaven, Jesus warned His disciples to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit and outlined His Next Step Plans in v.8
He said, … you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8Jesus did not promise to give His followers money, buildings, musical instruments, the New Testament Bible, theological colleges, private jets or vehicles but He said all you need is the Holy Spirit power.
The Holy Spirit is the most important person on earth. He is one of the God Heads who can live inside the believers’ heart; and also can be everywhere in the world convicting everyone of sin, righteousness and of the coming judgement (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit is at work in every nation: He is in the palaces, in mosques, in temples, in the market places, in homes, in prisons etc.
No one can stop the Holy Spirit – no government, no religious organisation or corporate organisation can stop Him. Lockdowns and travel bans cannot stop Him.
To Jesus the most important person was the Holy Spirit. That is why He said, it is better if I go and He comes. John 16:7
In Acts 2 – when the Spirit filled Jesus’ followers – they immediately became a force to reckon with. They were generous, bold, courageous and contagious!
The movement took off from the Upper Room and filled the entire city of Jerusalem. Within the first 30 years, Christianity spread from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria all the way to Rome – the Capital of the Roman Empire.
Within 300 years, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire.
Spirit empowered people are people of influence!Because of the Christian influence, the Roman emperors outlawed crucifixion, terminated the brutal gladiatorial contests that had flourished in the Rome for nearly seven centuries, it has altered attitudes towards women, uplifted the sanctity of marriage & discouraged licentious & rampant sexual immorality in the Empire.
As it spread to other continents throughout time, Jesus’ movement did the same thing. For example, Christianity was instrumental in abolishing suttee practice in India – the practice of burning widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands. In 1800 Christianity was instrumental in abolishing slavery. Spirit empowered Christians were the first to start universities, hospitals, orphanages, homes for the elderly, care for the poor and the homeless.
Within 2000 years, a handful disciples grew from 120 people to 2.2 billion. That is an incredible growth. However, the task of global mission is far from over. There are still more people to reach – 3.2 billion people needs to hear the Good News.
It is absolutely vital for the churches in the West and in the Global South, (Africa, Asia, South America) to
partner in order to reach the unreached people of our world. Did you know that 70% of Christians are now in the Global South region?
CityLife-World Impact is partnering with 18 Mission Partners in 11 strategic nations in Ethiopia, Czech Republic, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Indigenous in Australia. Between all of our partners, we have planted over 900 churches. This is a significant milestone.
Our partnership includes: Training: 90% of church leaders in the Global South region do not have a formal theological or biblical trainings.
• Our LifeTracks resources have been translated into six languages.
• In three nations these resources are being taught by the local leaders.
• We also have developed Train the Trainer resource and presented the material in a number of countries.
• Thousands of leaders have been trained in six nations.
Pastors Seminars: • From time to time we have been conducting Pastors Seminars in various strategic partner nations.
Scholarships: • We have offered scholarships to key national leaders in CityLife Ethiopia so that they can lead the movement with enough Biblical knowledge and awareness.
Blessings Communities through projects: • We have supported several development initiatives such as water connections, primary education, literacy campaigns, providing shoes, building projects and many more.
Kingdom Business Initiative: • We have launched a new initiative called Kingdom Financial Sustainability (KFS). This is a brand new initiative to mobilise business professionals in our church to engage in global missions.
Practical ways you can participate in global missions in the field. 1. Prayer - Prayer is indispensable! Nothing can stop prayer. Every Monday night we have a team that prays for our mission partners around the world via Zoom.
2. Financial Giving is another most powerful way of participating in global missions. It is impossible to take the gospel to the nations without funds.
3. Life Group Adoptions: we encourage our Life Groups to adopt a Mission Partner and support the work in prayer and through practical giving.
4. Going: when travel ban is lifted, more short term missions trip opportunities will be made available.
Discussion Questions1. When Jesus started His ministry, He started off by announcing the arrival of God’s Kingdom (Matthew 3); also just before His ascension to His Father in Heaven, He spent 40 days with His disciples explaining to them about the Kingdom of God. Why do you think Jesus had centred His ministry on the proclamation of the Kingdom of God? Why is it important to Jesus to reach every nation of the world?
2. 3.2 billion people in the world have not heard the Good News – what should be the role of the church to fulfil this mission? Do you think the Church global is doing enough? What should be done to scale up the Church’s involvement?
3. One way to get involved in missions is through adopting a Mission Partner in the field. Has your Life Group adopted a worker so far? If not, what can you do to adopt a worker? If you have adopted one, what can you do to do more?
4. Spend some time praying for the nations that the Lord may send more workers into the harvest field and that more resources are provided to complete the task.
Contact