God’s Unfinished Story & Alliance Missions
People are lost without Jesus. This is a biblical truth we affirm but often fail to adequately grasp. Just as we were all lost, many of our neighbors, friends, family members, and billions of our fellow humans remain in this precarious position. While we rejoice in our salvation, we can grow numb to the tragedy of those who remain lost. (Tim Crouch)
Until our Lord comes back, God invites us to join His unfinished mission, His unfinished Story. He calls us to make disciples of all peoples. We all are missionaries. We all are His witnesses. We also join God’s mission by sending, supporting, receiving, hosting, and praying for the missionaries who serve full-time on the frontlines of God’s mission. Today we are going to talk about unfinished stories, and then look at what God is doing through the Alliance missions.
In Acts 13-14, we read about Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey. They were sent out by the Antioch church to people without access to the gospel; people who have not yet heard about Jesus. Where they went they proclaimed the good news. Many believed. The Lord confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders (Acts 14:3). However, they also experienced opposition, misunderstandings, and suffering. When Paul healed a crippled man the people thought they were gods. The Jews, filled with jealousy and refusing to believe, stirred up some of the Gentiles. They divided the people. They plotted to mistreat them and stone them. And one time they did stone Paul, dragged him outside of the city and left him for dead but he got up and walked back to the city. In spite of all this, they continued to preach the good news. And when they returned, they shared with the churches they visited the stories of all that God has done.
Like Paul and Barnabas, our Alliance missionaries have seen what God is doing. But many have also been threatened and experienced opposition. They have felt “beaten up,” low, and discouraged because people refuse to believe. They have had their share of hardships, suffering, and frustrations. And like Paul and Barnabas, they return on home assignments, visit churches and share with us the stories of all that God is doing. Many of these stories are unfinished stories, part of God’s great unfinished story, his unfinished mission.
1. We Invite God into Our Unfinished Stories
When we believed in Jesus Christ we invited God into our unfinished stories, our own unfinished spiritual journeys. We allow Him to mold us, form us, grow us into Christ’s likeness. We invite Him to help us see the world and people through his eyes.
As a church, we invite God into our unfinished story when we accept His call to be His people and His witnesses in the world. We are all together on this unfinished spiritual journey. We are growing in our understanding of the gospel. We are growing in our faith and knowledge of the Son of God. We are growing in our understanding of how to fulfill our calling and mission in this rapidly changing world that presents us every day with new challenges and opportunities to be the salt and light of the world.
The Antioch church heard the Spirit’s voice. They sent out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries (Acts 13:1–3). But the church’s journey to understanding the gospel was unfinished. The matter of law and grace was one God was still working out within their midst. Some taught that you must also be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabas argued that salvation in Jesus is God’s free gift of grace and not dependent on works. So they went to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this question. (Acts 15:1–2)
There Peter stood up and said, “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:7-11)
Everyone is either saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ or not saved, just as they are. No one is better or worse than the other. No one has earned salvation more than the other. No works, deeds, laws, or rules save people. Salvation by grace revealed the preciousness and value of all people to God. God does not discriminate; neither should we. Discrimination actually “makes it difficult for those turning to God” (v 19). We discriminate when we add qualifications and requirements to grace. We are saved by grace through faith alone. We must make sure that we don’t make it difficult for some turning to God.
2. God Invites Us into The Unfinished Stories
Like Paul and Barnabas, our Alliance missionaries have many stories to tell of what God is doing. We should watch, read, listen to, and share these stories. Through these, God invites us into the unfinished stories of the individuals, communities, and peoples whom He loves. This invitation motivates us to pray, to serve, to send, and support those who have been called to take the gospel to the regions beyond. The Phoenician and Samarian churches were also on Paul and Barnabas’s “speaking tour.” The reaction of these churches shows how the telling of these unfinished stories results in further motivation for rmissions: “This news made all the brothers very glad” (Acts 15:13).
But these stories are unfinished. Acts 14:22 tells us these people needed Paul and Barnabas to “return to their cities, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.” They needed assurance to go through hardships; they needed elders among them. Their faith was new, and their journeys were unfinished. Later in Acts 15:36, Paul expresses the desire to return again to these people and see how their journeys were going. There has been rebirth and growth—but the journeys of these young believers and young churches are unfinished. This is also true of many believers and churches around the world.
The sending, sacrificing, supporting those sent, praying for them, in short, the engagement of our church with missions does bear fruit. The sacrifices are worth it. When we hear these stories of all that God is doing through the missionaries, we rejoice and give Him glory. But these stories also invite us into the work that God is doing, into his mission, to join him.
3. We Join God in His Unfinished Mission — The Great Commission
So, we join God in His unfinished mission—the Great Commission—until all have had the opportunity to hear and respond to His invitation. God “had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” — unreached people groups in today’s terms (Acts 14:27). It is estimated that there are over 4,000 people groups today without access to the gospel. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Mt 24:14) “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” (Rev. 7:9)
When we look at these verses, we see that this open door is God’s unfinished mission. Multitudes need to hear the gospel. The question for us isn’t: “Will these peoples come to the door?” Rather it is: “Will we follow God through His open door to reach these peoples?”
God has opened the door for Tunisia, North Africa where our partners, the Long Beach Team, are serving. They are following Him through that door. And we are a part of that. We want to be a part of God’s mission. What other doors has God opened that He wants us to follow Him through? God’s mission is still unfinished. That mission is “that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name” (Acts 15:17). This is simply what God does, what has ALWAYS been His plan, and what He now wants to finish.
4. Alliance Missions
What a privilege and joy to think that we can be a part of what God wants to finish! Joining in Alliance missions efforts means that we are able to participate in new and unfinished stories around the world. The goal of the Church is to see the Great Commission carried out. We are supporting Alliance missions, but are we aware of what is happening, of what God is doing?
In the US in 2020 there were 427,680 worshippers in 1,913 Alliance churches speaking 38 languages and dialects. There are roughly 734 Alliance International Workers serving more than 70 people groups in over 60 countries. 82% of these workers are in locations where there is limited to no gospel access (meaning that less than 2% of the population are Jesus-followers).
Our Alliance workers focus on the following:
Serving communities—They model and demonstrate Christ’s compassion through disaster relief, community development, medical and educational services, and business initiatives which open doors to proclaim the good news. They use their vocational expertise to impact the whole person and their surrounding neighborhoods.
Multiplying church networks—They help establish and develop multiplying networks of churches. Once established, the churches sustain and multiply holistic ministry in their communities and join in the mission to advance the gospel.
Developing people—They focus on disciple-making and leadership development. They invest in seeing the gospel transform the whole person. In turn, these men and women with a passion for Jesus show and share the gospel in their neighborhoods and become leaders in their own communities and church networks.
Our Alliance missionaries serve in one of four ministry structures:
aXcess— workers proclaim the gospel and multiply networks of faith communities among the least-reached of the world.
CAMA— workers respond to disasters globally and partner locally to restore communities and alleviate poverty.
Envision—workers identify and develop missional leaders through short-term missions experiences and innovative ministry strategies.
Marketplace Ministries— facilitates marketplace professionals who bring their expertise to a community to disciple those around them.
The U.S. Alliance is part of the Alliance World Fellowship that represents over six million members, speaking 180 languages in over 22,000 churches. Through the Alliance worldwide ministries:
Every four minutes, someone prays to receive Christ.
Every hour, three patients receive physical and spiritual care through Alliance medical ministries.
Every day through 43 radio broadcasts, people without a gospel witness hear the good news.
Every week, over 3,500 new believers are baptized.
Every month, 250 new groups or churches join the Alliance worldwide family.
Every year, 10,000 students are trained and equipped for ministry through more than 125 Alliance theological schools.
So when we talk about Alliance missions, the question the Lord asks us, “Will you join Me?” Today He asks these questions to each of us:
Will you do what I ask, joining Me in finishing My mission?
Will you give sacrificially for the mission I’m pursuing?
Will you be a prayer warrior for peoples still lacking access? Who are the 2-3 missionaries you are praying for? Have you adopted a people group whom you are praying for?
Will you minister to those in your city for whom “it’s been made difficult to turn” to Me?
Are you willing to serve peoples of the world still living without access to the good news? Is God calling you to full-time missions?
Today, will you let God do unfinished work in your heart and stir up your readiness to join Him in His unfinished mission?