{"id":32653,"date":"2022-09-10T16:17:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/how-to-motivate-church-members-to-live-on-mission\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:17:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:17:59","slug":"how-to-motivate-church-members-to-live-on-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/how-to-motivate-church-members-to-live-on-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Motivate Church Members to Live on Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Thom Rainer<\/em><\/p>\n

The word missional is a popular buzzword in the church today. Living missionally simply means having a Great Commission and Great Commandment mindset in all your encounters.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy for church members to grow accustomed to spending most of their time with other Christians. But living on mission means spending time with the unchurched. The local church cannot rely on the pastor to evangelize the entire community. Everyone in the church must work together.<\/p>\n

So how can a pastor motivate members to live missionally? Lead by example and with enthusiasm. A pastor must live missionally before leading others to do the same.<\/p>\n

Here are some practical ways to live on mission. Practice biblical hospitality by inviting non-Christian neighbors into your home on a regular basis. Find ways to invest in the community\u2014become a member of a civic organization, attend community functions and local sporting events. Some might ask \u201chow do you balance that with family?\u201d Take them with you. As a family, integrate yourselves into the community and get to know people.<\/p>\n

For a pastor to be missional, it means being present in the community, living like a missionary and loving like Christ. A pastor also must embrace missional activities with such enthusiasm it\u2019s contagious.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

As you lead by example and with enthusiasm, here are some ways your church can be on mission. <\/p>\n

1. Love your community.<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m encouraged to hear about more and more churches meeting needs in their communities where people work, live and play. Consider adopting an under-resourced elementary school. Offer to paint classrooms in the summer or provide ESL classes and after-school\u00a0tutoring.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not sure where to start, ask key leaders in your community what your church can do to help fulfill a specific need.<\/p>\n

The old clich\u00e9 about showing people you care before they will listen to what you say is ringing true in today\u2019s culture. But let me be clear: a verbal witness is absolutely necessary to the mission of God. The non-Christian will never hear the gospel unless we share it. But too often we fail to show Christ\u2019s love along with His message. It\u2019s not either\/or; it\u2019s both\/and. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
See also  3 Practices That Reveal the Power of a Vulnerable Pastor<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2. Live incarnationally.<\/h3>\n

The word incarnational means \u201cin the flesh\u201d or physically present. But for the church, it has the deeper meaning of\u00a0being present as a representative of Christ. You cannot be missional unless you are present. When you are in your community, try to see the people you encounter through Jesus\u2019 eyes. It makes all the difference in the world. <\/p>\n

3.Develop true friendships with non-Christians.<\/h3>\n

Building relationships with non-Christians is vitally important to leading them to faith in Christ. More often than not, we have to develop authentic relationships with people before they will ever listen to us talk about our faith in God. But remember, people we befriend may never accept Jesus. Investing in others for the sake of the gospel often involves disappointment. Yet, we are still called to live missionally.<\/p>\n

Living on mission is difficult in today\u2019s culture. America is clearly becoming less Christian, less evangelized and less churched. Many around us have no desire to hear what we have to say about Christ. But there are those who are open to relationships with Christians and over time their hearts will be softened to the gospel. In the meantime, it is my prayer that we ask God to give us the strength to live and love like Jesus.<\/p>\n

\n

Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Thom Rainer The word missional is a popular buzzword in the church today. Living missionally simply means having a Great Commission and Great Commandment mindset in all your encounters. It\u2019s easy for church members to grow accustomed to spending most of their time with other Christians. But living on mission means spending time with … Continue reading “How to Motivate Church Members to Live on Mission”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}