Glory of Christ Fellowship

     On May 12, 1792 William Carey published a little pamphlet entitled, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens . By God’s grace, his words inspired the modern missionary movement, and by God’s grace, I’m praying that they will inspire a fresh passion for global missions at Glory of Christ.      Having pled with his readers to rise up and pray for the missionary enterprise in the world, Carey then called them prayer-born action. Specifically, he thought it would be good for ministers and non-vocational Christians who were serious about the Great Commission to form themselves into missionary societies, or what we would call a non-profit organization.      As for the members of these societies, Carey suggested that they possess three things: (1) a passion for the work, (2) a seriousness about the Lord, the Church, and the call of the Great Commission, and (3) a spirit of perseverance. ...

     On May 12, 1792 William Carey published a little pamphlet entitled, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens . By God’s grace, his words inspired the modern missionary movement, and by God’s grace, I’m praying that they will inspire a fresh passion for global missions at Glory of Christ.      Carey was persuaded that one of the most important actions mission-minded Christians must take is fervent, united, and persistent prayer. However, he added, we “must not be contented…with praying, without exerting ourselves in the use of means for the obtaining of those things we pray for.” In other words, we must add to prayer Christ-centered, faith-filled, Spirit-empowered action. Indeed, Christians should seek to use any and all acceptable means to accomplish their mission, and they should be more passionate about their aims than are the children of this world. Carey writes, “Were the children of light, but...

     On May 12, 1792 William Carey published a little pamphlet entitled, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens . By God’s grace, his words inspired the modern missionary movement, and by God’s grace, I’m praying that they will inspire a fresh passion for global missions at Glory of Christ.      Having concluded that the church must take up the Great Commission and seek to bring the gospel to the world by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, Carey argued the importance of fervent and unified prayer. He then shared with his readers some recent answers to prayer, for he was convinced that answered prayer encourages persistence, and indeed, persistence is what’s needed. At that time, Carey and others gathered once per month to plead with God for the advance of the gospel. These meetings were not perfect, in fact, they were quite similar to many we’ve had at Glory of Christ through the years. T...

     On May 12, 1792 William Carey published a little pamphlet entitled, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens . By God’s grace, his words inspired the modern missionary movement, and by God’s grace, I’m praying that they will inspire a fresh passion for global missions at Glory of Christ.      Having addressed several issues that make engagement in global missions difficult, Carey turned his attention toward the subject of prayer. If it is true, he reasoned, that the Lord has given the Great Commission to his church, “it must be inferred that all Christians ought heartily to concur with God in promoting his glorious designs, for he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit.” In other words, an integral part of being one with God in Christ is being on mission with God in the world. Even as the Father sent the Son, so now the Son sends his own (John 17:18), and even as the Son obeyed the Father, the ...

     On May 12, 1792 William Carey published a little pamphlet entitled, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens . By God’s grace, his words inspired the modern missionary movement, and by God’s grace, I’m praying that they will inspire a fresh passion for global missions at Glory of Christ.      In the second section of his pamphlet, Carey identified and responded to several difficulties that made it challenging for the church of his day to preach the gospel to the nations of the world. In the midst of his response, he addressed ministers of the gospel and then he described the type of persons needed to serve as missionary around the world. Carey wrote,      "The Missionaries must be of great piety, prudence, courage, and forbearance; of undoubted orthodoxy in their sentiments, and must enter with all their hearts into the spirit of their mission; they must be willing to leave all th...