RivesBaptist.org

An important mission for those who follow Christ is to share their faith with others. Paul tells us in the Bible that once we come to know Christ we become ambassadors…not for our country or even a religion...but for the Kingdom of God. We are to proclaim Christ near and far. You might be thinking, “Don’t missionaries have to go to Africa or something? Who am I anyway? I have no idea where to begin!” Well, good news. Paul also wrote that even though we are fragile clay pots, God has given us the “ministry of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5.18). This means that God uses us - - little buckets in the well of humanity - - to draw people to Himself. If we offer ourselves to Him, we become part of His great mission.

RBC has established a missions committee to oversee mission-related activities. The members of the committee serve as liaisons between the people of Rives and the missionaries we have chosen to support through prayer and financial resources. Some of their duties include:

• Voting on missionaries’ financial support based on the Faith Promise budget
• Teaching about and monitoring Faith Promise*
• Maintaining and scheduling the missionary house for missionaries on home visit
• Planning and orchestrating the yearly missions conference and quarterly missions emphasis Sundays
• Communicating between the congregation and missionaries (i.e., prayer requests, news, decisions)
• Coordinating short-term mission trips*

The most obvious goal of the committee is evangelism. Decisions aim to facilitate the work of reaching people with the good news of Jesus Christ. The committee wants to see Rives obeying Jesus’ command in Mark 16.15 to go into all the world and preach the gospel. And thus another goal of the committee includes teaching and leading members of the congregation toward involvement in missions. Involvement mainly includes praying, committed giving, and going. The missions committee provides tools and education for growing in this area.

Check out the Missions Menu (top left) for more about our missionaries and our short-term missions projects.