Support for Missions

Thursday:	Support for Missions
Bible Lesson:	Good Soldier: We should endure the world's contempt when living and sharing our faith. (Jeremiah and the cistern)
Memory Verse:	Romans 1:16
Missions Concepts:	Missionaries need prayer and financial support.
Missions Examples:	Paul
Bible Passages:	Ephesians 6:18-20, Romans 15:23-24, 2nd Corinthians 11:7-12, Philippians 4:14‑19, Colossians 4:2-3, 2nd Thessalonians 3:1-2, Philippians 1:12-14

Introduction: Support

God calls a person to be a missionary. But then what? How does that missionary live while he is doing his job, and how do the people he talks to come to know God and start churches? Two of the most important things a missionary needs are other Christians praying for him and sending money so that he can do God's work where he is. The Bible talks about this in a lot of places. Paul specifically asked churches to pray for him, and sometimes they also sent him money. The Antioch church had sent Saul (whose new name was Paul) to be a missionary, but other churches helped too. The Antioch church was sometimes too far away to help Paul -- they didn't even know what was going on -- but other churches were closer when Paul needed them.

Example: Thessalonica

When Paul went to Thessalonica to start a church, he was far away from Antioch. The church in Philadelphia, which was nearby, sent him money so that he would have food and clothing and whatever he needed. By supporting Paul, they were helping to bring the good news of Jesus to the people in Thessalonica.

Another time Paul was in Rome and wrote to the Christians in Colosse and asked for prayer. He said, Pray that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should. Paul was chained and on house arrest because he was telling people that Jesus had died for everyone, and some people didn't like that. Paul needed prayer so that he would have a chance to tell people about Jesus, because when you're arrested you can't just go wherever you want. Paul needed God to make a way for him to do his job as a missionary. So Paul asked the Colossians to pray.

The Point: Missionaries need prayer and financial support.

Was Paul the only missionary that ever needed money? Do you think other missionaries need the same thing? What about prayer? Do other missionaries need prayer like Paul did? Who is going to pray for and send money to our Grace Brethren missionaries? Will people from other churches do it? (Not likely.) What about people that don't go to church? Will they pray for our missionaries? (Probably not.) They don't even know about them. It is up to us to pray for the Bejenkes, Pastor Meeker, Samuel Ngum, and others. It is up to us to make sure that these missionaries have the money they need to do God's work. If we don't pray and send money, how will they do the work? We don't know if Paul would have had opportunities to lead the guards to Christ if the Christians hadn't prayed. But we do know that God answers prayers.

Invitation: Supporting Missions

Invite any children who want to support our missionaries to bring offering on Friday and to pray for our missionaries.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.