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(Acts 1:8)

INTRODUCTION: Our message series is called Christ Our Purpose, and we are taking some time this fall to look at our church purpose statement together and seeing what God’s purposes are for our church as revealed in Scripture.

The purpose of our church is to make disciples of Jesus, and we have identified six things from Scripture that we are supposed to be doing in order to fulfill that purpose. So far, we have looked at the first four of these: calling people to Christ, helping them grow in Christ, receiving them into fellowship and service, and involving them in personal and group worship. Now we are ready to look at number five: sharing God’s love in Broward County and beyond. (Read Acts 1:8 and pray.)

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One of my favorite cartoon characters is Buzz Lightyear from the movie Toy Story. Buzz is a lovable, but misguided toy who happens to think he is a real space ranger. He is also very full of himself, but hopelessly sincere about his mission. One of his most famous lines is the catchphrase: “To infinity and beyond!” Well, we have a similar catchphrase in our church purpose statement this morning. We want to share God’s love “in Broward County and Beyond!” And I hope that we are as sincere in our mission as Buzz was in his.

No church exists for itself. The moment a church turns inward, it begins to die. When Jesus commissioned his disciples, he set their sights on the whole world. He told them: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). As a church we must look outside, beyond our own walls, if we are to fulfill Christ’s mission for us. We need to love each other within the church, but we must also love those outside the church. We need to share God’s love “in Broward County and beyond!”

So how do we do that? First, we need to have compassion for the lost. Secondly, we need to commit to both local and world missions. And thirdly, we need to make sure that we present the gospel in everything we do.

I. Have compassion for the lost (Matthew 9:36; John 20:21)

First of all, we need to have compassion for the lost. This compassion was modeled for us by none other than Jesus himself. We read in Matthew 9:36: “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” When Jesus saw the crowds, he was not indifferent towards them. He was not judgmental. He was compassionate. He loved them. He saw that they were lost and needed a shepherd, and he had compassion on them.

Once again, the church is not meant to be an inward or a closed community, but one that reaches out to other people. We are called to love our neighbor, not just ourselves. As soon as we stop reaching out, we cease to be a healthy community.

The church should never act or feel superior towards those outside the community of believers. We need to remember that we were once lost, too. We should not be angry, abusive or unkind. Rather, we should act lovingly toward those outside of Christ.

Jesus said: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Jesus had compassion for the lost, and so we must follow his example and reach out with compassion to those outside the church community. Some may come to Christ, while others may not. Either way, love for your neighbor involves reaching out with loving compassion to those who do not know Christ.

There are so many lonely, needy people right in our own neighborhoods, condos, workplaces, and classrooms. We need to learn to see people as Jesus saw them. When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them. Sharing God’s love in Broward County and beyond begins by looking outward, and looking outward begins by having compassion for the lost.

II. Commit to both local and world missions (Acts 1:8)

Secondly, we need to commit to both local and worldwide missions. When Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into all the world with the gospel, he told them first to start at home: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). He told them to start at home, but he also told them not to stay there. And as you follow the spread of the gospel in the book of Acts, you see that it did indeed begin in Jerusalem, and then spread to the surrounding regions, and then went into all the world.

It is important for a church to have balance in these areas. Some churches are heavily involved in world-wide missions, but they are not involved in the community where they live. Other churches support local missions, but they are not part of the world-wide spread of the gospel.

Both are vitally important. God has placed us in a community for a reason, and if we are not reaching out with God’s love to those immediately around us, then we are missing out on God’s purposes for our community. But God has also commanded us to bring the gospel to the world, and so if we are not concerned for unreached people groups who have never heard the gospel, then we are missing out on God’s purposes for the world.

Here at Plantation Community Church we try to fulfill this commitment to local and world missions in several ways.

First of all, we commit a significant amount of our church funds to missions. It’s been said you can tell a lot about what’s important to a person by looking at their checkbook. Well, the same is true of churches. You can tell a lot about what’s important to a church by looking at the church’s checkbook. And I am happy to report that the checkbook at Plantation Community Church says that missions is very important to us as a church.

We have a long history of generous giving to missions at our church. We practice both budgeted giving and designated giving to missions. First, we budget a certain amount each year that we give to our missionaries on a monthly basis. But then many of you also designate money for missions, either online or using our missions envelopes. When you designate money to a specific mission, 100% of the money goes to that mission.

Between our church’s budgeted giving to missions and individual designated giving to missions, we currently give about 20% of our offerings to missions each year. That’s amazing! That means 20% of the money that comes into this church on a Sunday morning goes outside the doors to support other people.

How do we fulfill this commitment to both local and world missions here at Plantation Community? First of all, we commit a significant amount of our church funds to missions.

And then, secondly, we seek to maintain a healthy balance between local and world missions. On the back of the sermon outline in your worship guide, you will find a list of all the various missions we support as a church. We also have mission brochures out in the foyer that describe each of these missions in more detail.

You will see that we currently support 17 missions, and we have organized them into ministries that we support in Broward County, ministries we support in the USA, and then ministries we support overseas. This is our equivalent of Acts 1:8 where Jesus told the disciples to share the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Broward County is our Jerusalem, the United States are our Judea and Samaria, and overseas missions is our ends of the earth.

We support seven missions locally right here in Broward County: 1) First Priority, bringing the gospel to teens on middle and high school campuses, 2) God’s Fund, a discretionary fund of our church to assist those in need, 3) Hope Women’s Center, ministering to women in crisis pregnancy situations, 4) Plantation Christian Preschool, our own outreach ministry to the community here on campus, 5) Sheridan House, ministering to families and children in need,
6) the Well of Sychar, ministering to women and children suffering from various forms of abuse, and 7) Youth for Christ, sharing the hope of the gospel with at-risk students. We also partner with local missions like Love Life and 4 Kids in various ways.

And those are just the local missions. Our campus is buzzing with activity all week long as we share space with others in the community. On Thursdays the Classical Conversations homeschool group meets on our campus. On Saturdays, Rabbi Matthew and Mosaic ministries provide Christ-centered worship and teaching from a Jewish perspective. We share space with Broward Youth for Christ throughout the week for their ministry and planning needs. The Girl Scouts share space with us once a month. We provide space for the disability community here in in Broward County. We have opened up space for Love Life to do baby showers at the church.

And that’s just what’s going on in the present. In the past we have also provided space for Evangelism Explosion, the Coast Guard, Plantation Police training, the Broward County Foster Parents Association, A.A., voting and registration, the Bloodmobile, and many others.

Why do we do all these things? Because we want to share God’s love in Broward County and beyond. Broward is our Jerusalem, and we want to be actively loving those in our community.

So, that’s local ministry. How about outside Broward County? We currently support one mission based in the United States: The Landing, with Dave and Heater Tarpley, ministering to pastors, missionaries and other full-time Christian workers who are hurting.

Then we support nine additional missions overseas: 1) Jaime and Linda Jullian with Christian Mission in the Far East in the Philippines, 2) Kerem and Joy Subasiguller in Eastern Europe, 3) Jorge and Alice Pratas in Mozambique, 4) Norberto & Lisa Cortes with Mazahua Mission in Mexico, 5) Ryan and Mandy Kennedy in Indonesia, 6) John and Madhu Taide with REWA Mission in India, 7) Walter and Diane Kennedy in Indonesia, 8) Dr. Josue Hernandez and family with VIDA Hospital in Honduras, and 9) David and Debbie Grohman with World Outreach in South Africa. We also participate with Operation Christmas Child each year, distributing shoeboxes through Samaritan’s Purse.

Wow! That’s a lot! And by coming to this church, by participating at this church, by your financial giving to this church, you are a part of every single one of those ministries. I encourage you to become familiar with each of these missions and to pray for them regularly.

That’s a second way we share God’s love in Broward County and beyond: by committing to both local and world missions as a church.

III. Present the gospel in everything we do (Mark 16:15)

And then thirdly, we need to present the gospel in everything we do. Jesus said: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” (Mark 16:15) There are many loving and kind things we can do for other people. But the greatest human need is salvation from sin through the death of Jesus on the cross. So, we need to make sure that in all the good that we do for others, we are also sharing the gospel. As a Christ-centered, missions-minded church, it is essential that we share Jesus Christ.

All of the missions that we support as a church have to pass three criteria. First of all, they must be Christ-centered and gospel-sharing. Secondly, they must be financially accountable. And thirdly, we look for the opportunity to interact and make a significant difference by our involvement with their ministry.

But did you notice the first one? They must first be involved in presenting the gospel. There are many good organizations doing good work out there, and there are many ways to share God’s love, but Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. The missions we support provide food, clothing, education, and medical care for those in need, but they also present the gospel of Jesus. If we are truly going to share God’s love with others, we must share God’s greatest love of all: “God so loved the world he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

CONCLUSION: The purpose of Plantation Community Church is to make disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one of the ways we do that is by sharing God’s love in Broward County and beyond. 1) We need to have compassion on the lost. 2) We need to commit to both local and world missions. 3) We need to present the gospel in everything we do.

Now, you are already a part of all that simply by being a part of our church. But I believe God is calling you to do more. Perhaps God is calling you to be more loving to your neighbors and friends. Perhaps he is calling you to get involved with one of our local missions or even to go to the foreign mission field. Perhaps he is calling you to pray more for our missions or to give more towards missions (remember those mission envelopes we talked about earlier).

Whatever God may be calling you to do, remember this is an essential purpose of the church. We do not exist for ourselves. We exist to bring glory to God and to bring Jesus Christ to other people.

And as my friend Buzz Lightyear would say, one of the ways we do that is by sharing God’s love … “in Broward County and Beyond!”

© Ray Fowler

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