Every gathered people of God (the local church) is to be a world mission strategy center.
It is a command of our Lord to His people, and therefore to local churches.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28:19, NKJV).
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15, NKJV).
you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8, NIV).
He had called His twelve disciples to Him He gave them power saying "Go " (Matthew 10:1-7, NKJV).
Each church, by Gods design, is to be a center for strategies for taking the gospel to every person in the world. It is also from each local church that God intends to provide laborers for His harvest fields. This is the story of Acts.
Deacon Philip was sent by the Holy Spirit to Samaria, and then to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8). The Spirit led Peter to Cornelius, a gentile. This was Gods purpose, evidence that the whole church approved of what God was doing through Philip and Peter.
It is soon noted that Gods plan included all believers, as the Spirit would thrust them forth. Acts 8:1 reveals that they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles (NKJV). Acts 9:31 says that after the conversion of Saul [Paul], then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were multiplied (NKJV).
What a picture the Bible paints of the purposes of God unfolding in the earliest churches. The fullest picture includes: [they] had peace and were edified walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31, NKJV).
Later, it was a local church (at Antioch) that the Holy Spirit directed to send Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:1-3). It was God Who called, and it was God Who sent, all from the local church. Also, it was the "lay people" whom He called and sent.
My dad was a businessman, but he knew the New Testament. When there was a need for a Baptist churchand there was no pastorhe assumed that role, just as he had read in the scriptures. He obeyed, and God built a church. My uncle and aunt were calledfrom their local churchto go as missionaries to China. They were in North China during the great Shantung revival.
Our home is a place where we believe God calls out laborers. Our oldest is the president of the Canadian Baptist seminary. Our second son will be senior pastor in an international church in Norway. Our third son pastors in Canada. Our fourth son is a pastor in Texas, and our daughter and her husband will soon serve with the International Mission Board.
In my 30 years of pastoring, we saw more than 100 people respond to Gods call into ministry, missions or both. We taught missions in every age group. Our worship services always magnified Gods plan through the local church and a constant invitation was given calling out the called to go!
Our church was a church on mission to the jails, nursing homes, new church plants in other communities, high schools and college campuses. We were always on some mission trip. We believed that our (Gods) church was a world mission strategy centerby Gods eternal design.