‘Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers in to his harvest!’ ‘Make disciples of all nations!’ ‘Equip God’s people for works of service!’ ‘Train up faithful people who will be able to train others also!’ ‘How can anyone preach unless they are sent?’’[1]
Raising Up Gospel Workers: Accountability to Pray, Plan And Persevere.
There are many open doors for the gospel in our world, and we also need to work towards providing leaders for our churches in Australia. A future Archbishop of Melbourne might be in your Children’s Ministry! A future pioneer missionary to an unreached people group may soon be converted at your church! Future Vicars of Anglican churches in Melbourne and Victoria may be in your youth group! Where else will they come from?
All church ministers should work and pray to raise up and mentor future gospel workers for Melbourne, Australia, and beyond. This includes not just ordained but also lay workers, and for a wide range of gospel ministries, including parish and congregational leadership; pastoral ministry; youth and children’s ministry; church-planting; evangelism; local and international student ministry; chaplaincy in schools, hospitals, sports, prisons, and Aged Care; Bible translation; and training others for vocational gospel ministry.
As Jesus said, ‘the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few’ (Matt 9:37).
Praying for and training up future gospel workers is an essential part of our ministry.
Our task: 1. convert people 2. disciple people 3. train people for ministry.
(Are you: Converting people? Discipling people? Training people for the ministry they do in the church?)
with two aims:
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2. to raise up global gospel workers:
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If 1. is your only aim, you need to learn gospel generosity! Learn to send out your best people, for God’s global gospel plan in other places and ministries.
If you want to achieve 2, then doing 1 will provide a pool of people from whom some will go out to other churches and ministries.
In doing 2, we need to challenge people to go to difficult areas in Australia: disadvantaged suburbs, ethnic ministry, rural and out-back ministry, ministry with indigenous people.
If you are not yet intentionally praying for God to raise up future gospel workers, it is not too late to start!
Let’s all pray and work together in this part of God’s global gospel plan!
- Matt 9:38, 28:19; Ephes 4:12; 2 Tim 2:2; Rom 10:15. ↑