Series: The Diverse City

 

Title: You Can Impact the Global Church

 

• What is the Global Church?

 

(Boston University) Global Christianity connotes one faith, in one Lord, expressing itself in a myriad of forms and expressions. No greater display of diversity in unity or unity in diversity exists or can exist.

 

Ephesians 4:5-6

        

⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 

The body of Christ consist of many members from every nation, tribe, and language around the globe.  It includes all those who believe in Jesus and have confessed Him as their Lord and Savior.

 

Though we are distanced from many of our brothers and sisters around the world, through the Spirit of Godwe are connected as one body, with one calling.  This calling is mainly to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have not yet heard.  So it is with the body of Christ. 

 

Romans 12:4-5

 

⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

 

If I am to perform a certain task, then the members of my body are all doing different things to help me accomplish that task.  Many members from many different ethnicities make up the global church.

 

• How did the global church get started?

 

It started with the message of the cross which tells of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.  It was then initiated by Christ’s commands to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”  Furthermore, He told them to wait in Jerusalem until they had received the promise. 

 

Acts 1:8

 

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

 

Receiving the power of the Holy Spirit was vital to becoming a witness for Christ.  It was only then that the global church would officially be launched.  The disciples obeyed the commands of the lord and found themselves waiting in an upper room amongst a crowd of 120 believers. 

This may seem like a small number of people in comparison to the estimated 300 million people living on the earth at that time.  How could such a small group of people fulfill the great commission. 

 

Hypothetically speaking, if it was solely the responsibility of those in that upper room to proclaim the gospel throughout the world then each person would be responsible for evangelizing to 2,500,000 people to ensure that everyone heard the good news.  Surely this is not would Christ had in mind. 

 

However, if each of those people in that room were to disciple one person, then you would double the amount of believers to 240.  Then if all 240 believers would then disciple someone else you would be up to 480 believers.   You can see how this process of multiplication could more rapidly impact the entire earth. 

 

However, the Lord had an even greater plan than that to launch the gospel and initialize the global church. 

 

Acts 2:1-12

        

¹ When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 

On this day, we find a group of diverse people with one faith, in one Lord, all unified with one purpose.  Everyone who was gathered in that place was filled with the Holy Spirit.  We have just read that Jesus hadpromised the Holy Spirit with intent of empowering witnesses.  Now we have a 120 people who are filled with the Spirit and are therefore empowered to be a witness. 

On top of that they all began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

Why speaking in tongues, you may ask?

During this time people from all various places were gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover.  Imagine trying to communicate what had happened in the upper room to a group of people who do not speak your language. 

That is when the Holy Spirit steps in and causes these 120 disciples to declare to those who had gathered, the marvelous things of the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit gave them the ability to communicate in different languages so that all who were there would hear in their own language the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

 

⁵ Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹² And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” (Again, we see diversity)

It was the power of Christ undoing the powers of darkness. 

During the construction of the tower of Babel, the Lord saw their work but more importantly their motives in building this great structure.  He had seen that they were wicked and prideful and He was not pleased.  Consequently, the Lord had confused the languages so that the Babylonians could no longer understand one another, and their work suddenly came to a halt. 

 

Now in the book of Acts, we see the very opposite thing taking place.  Believers came together for one purpose and the Lord caused them to speak in different languages not to bring about confusion or division but to bring clarity and unity to those who were present.  It was imperative that all would hear the gospel in their own language. 

 

The building of the kingdom of God is based on faith and humility.  Unlike the tower of Babel, which represents the world systems, it was built on pride and conceit.  Furthermore, this illustrates that the Kingdom of God will always triumph over the kingdoms of this world. 

 

In the next few verses, we see that Peter of all people stands up, shares the good news of the gospel and 3000 people are saved that day.  Those who were visiting Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost went back to their own towns and shared what had taken place in Jerusalem. As a result, the Global Church is born.  This global church consists of many individuals from many walks of life but who have one faith, one Lord, one baptism one Holy Spirit with one purpose. 

 

• What is the purpose of the Global Church?

 

To answer this, we go back to the command that Jesus gave before He ascended. 

Matthew 28:18-20

 

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

A few observations:

            All authority has been given to Jesus by His Father

            Jesus then authorizes His disciples to go, meaning He gives them the same authority. 

                        In going they are to make disciples of all nations, not just Jerusalem

                        They were to baptize them

                        They were to teach all of them all that He has commanded them.

            Jesus promised to be with them to the end of the age

 

When Jesus gave the command to make disciples of all nations, He was initially talking to His disciples.  However, this movement was to carry on till the end of the age. 

 

The end of the age has not yet taken place, so for this to happen it would be necessary for the disciples to make disciples by teaching others about Christ, and these new disciples should in turn make disciples as well.   Which we have already established that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to become witnesses.  The unified purpose of the Global church is to make disciples.  Much like God’s command to Adam and Eve “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it”

There are 7.753 billion people in the world today.  It is estimated that in 2022 there are Approximately 2.38 billion people who claim some form of Christianity.  Which is about 1/3 of the world’s population.  I would imagine this number to be much less if you were to tally those who are doers of the Word versus those who are hearers only.  Nonetheless, this data indicates that most of the world’s population is not saved.  So, there is much work to do.

 

• How can you impact the global church?

 

Take The Great Commission Seriously 

 

After all, this is the Master’s plan to bring in those sheep who are not yet a part of His sheepfold, into His sheepfold. 

 

John 10:16

 

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 

 

The Lord, the great Shepherd desires to be one with His flock.   There are still yet those who are not yet apart, but they belong to him. 

 

How do we know who belongs to the Lord or not? 

 

John 6:44

⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. 

 

Truth be told, we do not know who the Lord has elected for salvation, only He does and only He can draw them to salvation.  But not knowing does not excuse us from not going.

 

The commission of the global church is to “go therefore.”

 

Romans 10:14

 

¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

           

Therefore, it is not up to us to decide who gets in or who does not get in, rather our responsibility is to make disciples and teach them to obey the Lord.  The goal of the great commission was that eventually every nation, people and tongue would be given the opportunity to hear about the good news of Jesus. 

 

The Lord is merciful and slow to anger, He desires that none should perish.

2 Peter 3:9

 

⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Fulfilling the great commission is a great way to make an impact on the Global church. 

Another way to impact the global church:

 

            Pray for the Global Church

 

Pray for the persecuted church.  Many people across the world do not have the freedom to worship God as we do.  Yet they are doing so anyway knowing that they risk it all.  Many others are in war torn parts of the world struggling to have their necessities met such as food and water.

 

Get familiar with their stories through organizations like Voice of the Martyrs, Opened Doors, or Barnabas Fund.  Learn from them as they continue to demonstrate courageous faith and pray that they would remain steadfast. How many times have you prayed for the church in Ukraine?

 

1 Corinthians 12:26

²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Let us put aside the us & them mentality and start considering them as apart of us.

 

Go on a Mission Trip

One of the greatest ways to encourage and strengthen the global church is to go where others are currently laboring for Christ and encourage them.   

 

Philippians 2:25-30 Epaphroditus was sent as an encouragement to Paul and then sent back as an encouragement to the church at Philippi.  The point was that Paul was encouraged by his coming. 

 

Workers on the front line get tired and discouraged and could use an encouragement from time to time.  So, when you go on a mission trip, you become a co-laborer of that missionary.  In a sense you become like Aaron and Hur who held up the hands of Moses during the battle.  

 

Consider Giving Generously (sponsor a child, village)

 

Philippians 4:15-16

 

¹⁵ And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. ¹⁶ Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 

 

One of the main reasons why Paul wrote Philippians is to thank the church at Philippi for their generous donations. Even though they were distanced physically, they were Paul’s greatest supporters while he was doing the Lord’s work in Thessalonica.  To put it in perspective, Thessalonica is about the same distance from Philippi as Gulfport MS is from Houma.

The church at Philippi demonstrated with their resources what it means to impact the global church.  They had seen the need for evangelism, they found good ground to sow into (mainly Paul) and they gave generously.

 

We are one body consisting of many different members who are all unified for one purpose, which is to make disciples of all nations until the end of the age.  We all play a part in the global church. We are all called to make a difference.