On Wednesday Night, Aug 5^th , we will discuss what it means to be a “missional” church. According to the Bible (Matthew 28:19-20), the Mission of the Church is the Great Commission – “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Back in April, I was invited to be a part of a seminar taught by one of our Georgia Baptist State Missionaries, Stuart Lang, concerning what it means to be a Missional Church. He explained to us that being “missional” is different than being “missions minded”. Churches that emphasize missions, pray for missionaries, and give money for missions causes are said to be “missions minded.”

There is a difference between being “missions minded” and “missional.” Ed Stetzer, who is the Executive Director of Lifeway Research, defines a missional church as follows: “a missional church is a church that acts like a missionary in its community.”  Stuart Lang expanded that definition : “a missional believer is one who lives an authentic life of faith in covenant with a local church and seeks to intentionally engage his (her) community with the gospel of Christ as if he were a missionary in a different culture.”

So missions minded Christians believe in missions and give to missions – but missional Christians see themselves as missionaries sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ wherever in the world they happen to be at the time – whether they are located in Murrayville or Mozambique.

The Question for the Evening:

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