Missions

2020 Christianity Today Award of Merit for Missions
2020 Outreach Magazine Cross-Cultural and Missional Resource of the Year

A deeper understanding of the grand history of mission leads to a faithful expression of God's mission today.

From the beginning, God's mission has been carried out by people sent around the world. From Abraham to Jesus, the thread that weaves its way throughout Scripture is a God who sends his people across the world, proclaiming his kingdom. As the world has evolved, Christian mission continues to be a foundational tradition in the church.

In this one-volume textbook, Edward Smither weaves together a comprehensive history of Christian mission, from the apostles to the modern church. In each era, he focuses on the people sent by God to the ends of the earth, while also describing the cultural context they encountered. Smither highlights the continuity and development across thousands of years of global mission.

How is it that a first-generation Jewish messianic movement undertook a mission to the pagan world and rapidly achieved a momentum that would have a lasting impact on world history? In this monumental two-volume study, Eckhard Schnabel provides a unified and detailed picture of the rise and growth of early Christian mission. He begins with a search for a missionary impulse in the Old Testament and Second Temple Judaism and then weighs the evidence for a mission of Jesus to Gentiles. But the center of focus is the apostolic missionary activity as it is related in Acts, Paul's letters, and the rest of the New Testament.This study seeks to describe all the evidence relevant to the missionary strategy and expansion of the early church, to explain the theological dimensions of the early Christian mission, and to integrate numerous studies published in recent decades into a synthetic picture. Schnabel's detailed analysis will form a solid basis for a new understanding of the rise of Christianity and the nature of Christian mission--both then and now.

While Africa and Madagascar seem like strange and faraway places, the world in which we now live has become much smaller than many of us could ever have imagined. Moreover, even our neighbors visit the local fortuneteller, read the horoscope page in the newspaper, and attend séances that seek to reach departed friends, lovers, and family members. Consequently, as we begin a journey into faraway places, we may soon find they are not as far away as we may have expected.

- Chapter 3

I Am Not Afraid is Rev. Dr. Robert Bennett's fascinating first-hand account of the spiritual warfare found within the Lutheran Church of Madagascar. Is spiritual warfare something new to the Church? Bennett reviews what the Bible, Church Fathers, and contemporary Lutheran leaders have to say.

Part One includes recent conversations dealing with spiritual warfare, an introduction into the Malagasy Lutheran Church, and the traditional Malagasy worldview. These are the stories of those who have been rescued from the darkness of sin and brought into the light of the Gospel.

Part Two looks to the Bible and the Church for explanation and historical perspective on the spiritual warfare found in the Malagasy Lutheran Church. Is it something only found in the time of Jesus and the apostles? What has the Church said in the past about such activities? Bennett explores the views of Martin Luther and other Lutheran leaders, and finally provides some helpful contemporary material and resources for dealing with spiritual warfare in today's context.

Includes a glossary of key terms, transcripts of personal interviews, bibliography, Scripture index, and subject index.

Modern missional movements have often viewed the historic Christian traditions with suspicion. The old traditions may be beautiful, the thinking goes, but they're too insular, focused primarily on worship and on the interior life of the church, and not looking outward to evangelism and good works.

In Liturgical Mission, Winfield Bevins argues that the church's liturgy and sacramental life are in fact deeply missional. He explores the historic practices of the Christian church, demonstrating how they offer a holistic framework for everyday Christian discipleship and mission in the twenty-first century. The result is a book that not only invites all Christians back to the historic liturgy of the church, but also invites those already in liturgical churches to rediscover the missional life that has too often remained latent in their own traditions.

Outreach is more than hosting community events and hoping they stick! Getting unchurched people through your doors is one thing, but engaging them over time is another.

Effective outreach helps people move from congregational visitors to committed members and disciples of Jesus. This book addresses what makes for effective, Word and Sacrament based outreach that can help you reach the unchurched people in your community.

Rev. Mark Wood walks readers through a four-part process for congregations wishing to strengthen or initiate their outreach efforts, including:

This resource book is perfect for congregation leaders, volunteers, and outreach teams. It is a great supplemental resource both for those who have completed the Every One His Witness workshop and for those who want to learn about effective community outreach!