Understanding The Great Commission

God means to fulfill the Great Commission through local churches. How did the apostles and the churches of the New Testament obey the Great Commission? By gathering Christians together in churches. The church is God’s plan for evangelism, discipleship, and the Great Commission. This connection between the Great Commission and the church dramatically impacts how both leaders and members should think about their work of making disciples. We do it together.

After His resurrection, Jesus gave His followers a mission: to go to all the nations and make disciples. What does this Great Commission mean? How are disciples made? And does every Christian have a role to play? In this booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul explores the Great Commission by defining key terms such as the gospel, evangelism, missions, and discipleship. Dr. Sproul explains that disciple-making requires much more than just sharing the gospel, and two thousand years after Jesus' commission, this mission continues. The Crucial Questions booklet series by Dr. R.C. Sproul offers succinct answers to important questions often asked by Christians and thoughtful inquirers.

Most Christians know and understand that we are to seek to reach the lost around the world. Yet, Christ's command to us is more specific and calls us to a higher standard of involvement with the peoples of the world. He has called the church to make disciples of all people groups and to teach them to observe all He commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20). In recent years mission agencies and missionaries have increasingly shifted away from discipleship and teaching toward an emphasis upon evangelism and church planting—many to the exclusion of any other field activity. While evangelism and church planting are essential components of a biblical missions program, they are not sufficient for the complete task to which we have been called. Reaching and Teaching examines the task Christ gave in the Great Commission and redefines the task of missions from that which is currently prevalent. It surveys missions strategies and methodologies that have increasingly replaced Christ’s Great Commission instructions even as they have sought to fulfill it. It is a clarion call to return to the biblical task of reaching and teaching the nations for Christ’s sake.

Why did Jesus give the church a meal to eat together? The Lord's Supper isn't just something churches do together, it's something that binds us together, making many into one. This accessible work biblically explains what the Lord's Supper is, how it relates to a local church's life together, who should celebrate the Lord's Supper, and how we should approach it.

Congregational authority is less about the meetings and more about the mission. Congregationalism has a bad rap for well-known reasons: inefficient meetings, upstart members, browbeaten ministers. But biblical congregationalism isn’t so much about the meetings. It’s about empowering the whole church to promote and protect the gospel. Pastors lead and equip. Members get to work strengthening one another and pursuing Christ’s mission in the world.

Jesus' Great Commission is one of the key pillars of the church's evangelistic work and has been the guiding principle for missionaries throughout church history. In 40 Questions about the Great Commission, scholars Daniel Akin, Benjamin Merkle, and George Robinson unpack the meaning, history, theology, and practical applications of Jesus' command to go and make disciples. Ideal for personal or group study, this volume will reignite your passion for evangelism while answering key questions like:

• Where do we stand in relation to fulfilling the Great Commission?
• How do baptism and teaching relate to the Great Commission?
• What is the meaning of "I am with you always, to the end of the age"?
• How does the Old Testament relate to the Great Commission?
• What is the special contribution of each Gospel's version of the Great Commission?
• What is the responsibility of the local church to the Great Commission?
• What are some mobilization resources that can help churches and individuals to become Great Commission focused?

Other highlights include an overview of some of the great evangelists and missionaries in church history, and a collection of notable quotations on the Great Commission, ideal for teaching and preaching.

"40 Questions About the Great Commission is an indispensable text for any pastor, professor, or student who cares about the Christian mission. In it, a biblical scholar, missiologist, and seminary president join forces to answer every question you've ever asked—or never asked—about our Lord’s parting commission to his disciples. Substantive, lucid, and compelling." --Bruce Ashford, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

"The church has one job. It is called the Great Commission. Every Christian soldier should know the who, the what, the why, and the where of the marching orders left by our Lord and Commander-in-Chief, and this book does just that in an engaging and encouraging way. Read it and then get on with it!" --James Merritt, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"This book is a succinct and at the same time wide-ranging exposition of the commission of Jesus given to the disciples and thus to the church to proclaim the gospel far and wide. The authors elucidate the meaning of key passages in Scripture and thus present the geographical scope, the theological content, and important historical parameters of the mission of the church. This book deserves to be read by every Christian believer committed to the glory of God in all the world and to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ." --Eckhard J. Schnabel, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

With nearly fifty years combined global church-planting experience, Craig Ott and Gene Wilson are well qualified to write a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for cross-cultural church planting. Combining substantive biblical principles and missiological understanding with practical insights, this book walks readers through the various models and development phases of church planting. Advocating methods that lead to church multiplication, the authors emphasize the role of the missionary church planter. They offer helpful reflection on current trends and provide best practices gathered from research and empirical findings around the globe. The book takes up a number of special issues not addressed in most church planting books, such as use of short-term teams, partnerships, and wise use of resources. Full of case studies and real examples from around the world, this practical text will benefit students, church planters, missionaries, and missional church readers.

What's the big deal about baptism? Jesus commands his disciples to be baptized, and it’s a glorious picture of a person’s union with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Still, many Christians feel unclear about the topic, having more questions than answers. This short work provides a biblical explanation of baptism. What is it? Who should be baptized? Why is it required for church membership? And how should churches practice baptism?

Go and do. Jesus commands it, and the world needs it. Mission mobilizer Paul Borthwick shows how proclamation and demonstration of the gospel go hand in hand, bringing together the Great Commission of Matthew 28 and the Great Compassion of Matthew 25, while offering practical, holistic ways for us to live them out in every sphere of our lives.