In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame, before Him…” (1 :3,4) How often do we take for granted the divine sovereign process that God ordained to bring us to Himself? For most of us, it was by means of a faithful friend in Christ, who faithfully planted the seeds of the Gospel in a heart that had been prepared by God in advance to receive the truth of His saving grace. The missions are the church’s response to the supremacy of God in salvation. John Piper, in his book Let the Nations Be Glad, writes, “The ultimate goal of God in all of history is to uphold and display his glory for the enjoyment of the redeemed from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. His goal is the gladness of His people, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. The goal of missions therefore is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God.” How can the nations be glad and sing for joy (Psalm 67:4) until they know the grace and the goodness of God that comes from hearing and trusting in the certain truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

 

To this end, we “do missions” at FBC. We take seriously the Great Commission of Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:19 and Acts 1:8. We believe that we have an active duty and responsibility to carry the gospel to all the nations (people groups). Paul writes again in Romans 10:14ff: How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things?”

 

Over the years we have been blessed with many opportunities to become involved in gospel missions. Not only have we responded to the urgency of financially supporting missionaries on several continents, we have also seen some of our own members answer the call for career missionary service. More recently, God has enabled several “short-term” missionary teams from this church to go to a variety of places and minister using a diversity of skills. In the past years we have sent teams to both Guatemala and Utah, laboring with our hands and showing the love of Christ to others. The eternal fruit from these trips is immeasurable. We believe that as God continues to provide the means, and as He opens the doors, more teams will be sent out in years to come.

 

Our Missions Task Force exists primarily to maintain regular contact between our supported missionaries and the congregation. Each month a different missionary is “spotlighted” during the morning worship service with updates and special needs presented. From time to time, offerings will be received to assist with special projects or other unique needs of the missionaries.Each fall a Missionary Bible Conference is held where several missionary families are invited to present their work to the church. This is a fun-filled time, not just for the missionaries, but for our families as well, since a variety of activities takes place. Our children’s Sunday school is actively involved in special projects throughout the year, and many creative ideas have turned into huge blessings. Special items for prayer are posted in the weekly bulletin and on our Internet web page. We believe that prayer support is often the most important service we can provide for our missionaries on a daily basis.

 

The Fellowship Bible Church is serious about prayer and financial support of like minded missions. Each week we receive requests from new missionaries seeking access to the Church body. In an effort to focus our efforts, we ask you to apply only if you and your mission board can wholeheartedly agree with our doctrinal statement. We recognize that many great missionaries and mission boards do not always see eye to eye with us on these major issues, but we believe it will be the best stewardship of our time and effort to support the people we are in doctrinal agreement with.