May is Kingdom Advancement Month – Empowered to Go: Fulfilling the Mission of Jesus Locally and Globally

Empowered to Go: Fulfilling the Mission of Jesus Locally and Globally

By Dr. Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey

How Shall We Fullfill Our Mission?

Global Methodists are regularly encountering our denominational mission statement adopted at the 2024 Convening General Conference:

“The Global Methodist Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe.”

So, how shall we fulfill our mission? As a denomination, the GMC is developing a ‘flat structure’ missional system. We are committed to maintaining low connectional funding, enabling local churches to pray and discern how God is leading their congregation to directly engage in missions.

When You Think of "Missions," What Comes to Your Mind?

Perhaps your first thoughts in answering this question include images of food banks, caring for orphans, rebuilding homes in response to natural disasters, and providing wells to villages without clean water. Meeting people’s physical needs through acts of compassion, justice, and mercy—these are all tangible expressions of Christ’s love in action.

When we consider passages such as Matthew 28:19-20 (with its command to ‘go; make disciples of all nations, baptize and teach people to obey Jesus’ commands), we’re reminded there’s ‘more’ to mission. People’s spiritual needs matter greatly to God.

The Mission of the Church

Throughout the scriptures, we’re reminded that God has a heart for the nations and He yearns for people to know Him. (This was made evident throughout the Old Testament, as Israel was called to be a light to the nations.) Today, as recipients of God’s grace through Jesus Christ, the church is empowered by the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses—communicating salvation in Jesus—through whom sinful, broken people may find forgiveness and be restored into a living, loving relationship with God.

This is our calling as the Church. In fact, the mission of Jesus is the reason the church exists.

Helping people come to know God through Jesus Christ, making disciples who love God and love others, incorporating them into the Church, and equipping them to join Jesus in His mission—so that God is glorified among the nations—is the very heart of what it means to be the Church.

Methodists: We're a Both/And People

Biblically, without clear evangelism and disciple-making, “missions” is incomplete. This is why church-planting, evangelism, and disciple-making are recognized as common to “mission work” around the world. Building and extending Christ’s Kingdom, they become avenues by which souls are cared for. As people hear the gospel and are enabled by the Holy Spirit to respond in repentance, they are empowered to enter into the saving, healing, life-transforming relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

As Global Methodists leaning into our Wesleyan distinctives, we answer the question “What is missions?” as both/and people: both ‘evangelism & disciple-making’ and ‘compassion, mercy, and justice ministries.’ We’re not an ‘either/or’ people; we’re a ‘both/and’ people. This is what it means to be “in mission” as biblical, Wesleyan Christians!

Does your church have a comprehensive plan for fulfilling Jesus’ mission?

Accomplishing More Together: All Global Methodist Churches are Encouraged to Become “Acts 1:8 Missional Congregations.”

This is based on Jesus’ instructions to the disciples prior to His ascension:

“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 to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8

Consider your congregation. Are you being strategic in reaching people for Christ and meeting needs with a local, regional, cross-cultural, and global pattern in mind?

While some may respond to this verse by saying, ‘But there are so many needs here at home...’ we know Jesus is calling the church to be both/and in our reach. By working together, we can accomplish more!

Here’s a quick summary of what Acts 1:8 missional engagement looks like:

• Jerusalem: The church has a local ministry that reaches out beyond the walls of the church building and includes bringing the gospel to the unreached within the community (for example, hosting Alpha or backyard Bible clubs).

• Judea: The church supports (and optimally participates in) a regional ministry that includes evangelizing and making disciples of Jesus. Judea ministries often involve the collaborative efforts of multiple churches/denominations to bring the gospel to unreached people (for example, supporting a domestic violence shelter or serving with a prison ministry).

With “Samaria” and “Ends of the Earth,” we’re entering cross-cultural ministries, what has historically been understood as “missions.”



• Samaria: The church is engaged in or partnering to bring the gospel cross-culturally. This can include reaching a people/language group for Christ that is different from one’s own (for example, assisting with a cross-cultural church plant) or partnering in another nation where there may already be a solid Christian presence.

•  Ends of the Earth: The church is partnering to help bring the gospel to nations and people groups that are most unreached and lacking access to the gospel of Jesus Christ: a ‘10/40 window’ nation, or among a people group where less than 2% of the population is evangelical Christian. Click here to learn more.

Churches of All Sizes Can Become Acts 1:8 Missional Congregations

It’s amazing how God will bless congregations that take this to heart! As Bishop Kenneth Levingston explains, “God seeks to reconcile a broken and sinful world unto himself through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus invites those who place their faith in him to become his disciples and to make disciples of all nations. When we journey with others to belief and faith in Jesus Christ, we are truly walking into our purpose on earth as his disciples. We take on the character of Jesus and joyfully live out the great commandments to love God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves.” 

As a church, prayerfully consider whether your church is fully participating in Jesus’ mission locally and globally. Are you being called to greater obedience? Fruitfulness? What steps will you take?

For Samaria and Ends of the Earth ministries, explore the GMC “Wesleyan Network for Global Missions” to discover opportunities to partner with vetted GMC & pan-Wesleyan ministries for the fulfillment of the great commission.

Dr. Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey leads the GMC Mission Mobilization team, part of the Kingdom Advancement Commission. She and her husband, Mike, are missionaries who served twenty years in the 10/40 Window and established a pan-Wesleyan mission organization after serving as Methodist pastors in Kentucky.