“To the End of the Earth:” An Acts 1:8 Vision – Part 2

Acts 1:8  → “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” ESV)

Acts 1:8 means that God expects us to . . .

1. Be empowered by the
2. with the –  here, there, and everywhere.
3. Make –  who hear, repent, believe, are baptized, and learn to follow, obey, and share the good news of Jesus.
4. Plant –  who gather in Jesus’ name, preach the gospel, make disciples, celebrate the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, practice church discipline, and reproduce.
5. Continue the “to the end of the earth” and to “the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

Revelation 5:8-10

And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying,

       “Worthy are you to take the scroll
              and to open its seals,
        for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
               from every tribe and language and people and nation,

¹⁰    and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (ESV)

Revelation 7:9-12

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (ESV)

So what’s the status of the mission?
(IMB Global Research; www.peoplegroups.org; January 1, 2021)

People group – “an ethno-linguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members.  For strategic purposes it is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.”

Total people groups → 11,947 people groups; 7.8 billion people

No longer unreached → 4,664 people groups; 3.2 billion people
“No Longer Unreached people groups are those among whom evangelical Christians account for 2 percent or more of the population.”

Unreached people groups →  groups; 4.6 billion people
“A people groups is considered unreached (UPG) when there is no indigenous community of believing Christians able to engage this people group with church planting.  Technically speaking the percentage of evangelical Christians in this people group is less than 2 percent.”

Unengaged unreached groups →  groups; 271 million
“Unreached people groups are unengaged (UUPG) when there is no church planting strategy, consistent with evangelical faith and practice, under way.  Gathering believers and planting churches are the keys to establishing an effective and multiplying presence among these people groups.”

How can you be involved in the mission?

1. –  imb.org; Annual Statistical Report

Through your giving at Ingleside and in partnership with the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), you are funding the mission by:

• Supporting field personnel as of 10/31/2021.
• In 2020 alone, baptizing new believers and planting 18,380 new churches.
• Providing pastoral training, advanced theological training, and church planting training to 127,155 people.

Since 2009, Inglesiders have gone with the gospel to . . .

1. Austria
2. Bahamas
3. Bolivia
4. Brazil
5. Bulgaria
6. Cambodia
7. Canada
8. China
9. Dominican Republic
10. East Asia
11. Haiti
12. Honduras
13. India
14. Indonesia
15. Ireland
16. Israel
17. Jamaica
18. Japan
19. Kazakhstan
20. Kenya
21. Malawi
22. Nepal
23. Nicaragua
24. Peru
25. Philippines
26. Puerto Rico
27. Russia
28. Scotland
29. Singapore
30. Thailand
31. Ukraine