A Church Focused on Missions

Yesterday the Missions Committee held our first meeting since I was installed as the pastor here at Trinity. While the meeting itself consisted of quite a bit of housekeeping (committee member responsibilities, strategic plan for the coming year, etc.), it got me thinking about us as a church. As I’ve said from the pulpit, missions is very important to me. I truly believe that we as a church are not being obedient to the Word of God if we are not assisting in the mission of bringing the gospel to all nations. For some, that will mean accepting a call to go as a missionary. For some, that will mean taking short-term trips whenever possible to assist in the work of full-time missionaries. But for everyone it will mean being involved in some way. Here’s a few ways you can be involved in missions as Trinity.

1. Pray. Pray that God would guide our committee and give the members wisdom as they accomplish the work given to them by the session. Pray that we would come into contact with missionaries who need our support. Pray for the PCA missionaries already on the field. Pray that God would raise up missionaries from within Trinity Presbyterian Church. And if you go through all that and still want to pray more, go here to find more prayer requests from the PCA’s missions agency, Mission to the World. As I have said, and will continue to say, prayer is never “just prayer.” Prayer is always the first thing we should do.
2. Give. Did you know that Trinity has a missions budget? Did you know that it enables us to do things like the one-time gift we sent earlier this year to MTW to help with relief efforts with the church in Ukraine? Did you know that in order to support missionaries on a long-term basis we need to have sustained giving so that we can commit to giving them financial support? In my call as pastor, before my salary was listed there was this statement, “That you may be free from worldly care and avocations, we hereby promise and oblige ourselves to provide you with…” 1 Corinthians 9:14 says, “those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” When you give to missions, you are helping us as a church to ensure that those who are taking the gospel to those who have never heard “may be free from worldly care and avocations.”
3. Serve. Go on short-term trips. Serve on the committee if you’re asked. Help the committee with tasks assigned to it even if you’re not on the committee (I can promise you there will be times when we need people to help). Any and every way you can serve the church as she seeks to take the gospel to the unreached, to those who have never heard.

Those are just a few thoughts on how every member at Trinity can participate in the work of the church as we seek to be obedient to the Great Commission. If you have questions about the Missions Committee, feel free to ask me or one of the other members of the committee. If you’d like to serve in any way, you can talk to us about that too. As I said above, though, the biggest thing, the most important thing to do first is pray. Pray and then watch God do amazing things as his gospel is proclaimed!