I have traveled throughout the Southern Baptist Convention this past year helping dozens of local churches, associations and state conventions to more fully implement and utilize the Acts 1:8 partnership. As a result, I am amazed and humbled by the renewed passion God is creating among His people for His mission.

The Acts 1:8 Challenge is unique among denominational emphases of recent years.   From the beginning, the purpose of the Acts 1:8 Challenge initiative was to not to become a program, but a passion!

Pastors and other key leaders of Southern Baptist churches of all sizes are identifying a return to an Acts 1:8 style of missions as God's way of refocusing their ministries. The purpose of the church is for every member to be actively sharing Jesus Christ with a lost and dying world..."in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth!"

Versailles Baptist Church in Versailles, Ky., recently celebrated what God has done through its focus on Acts 1:8 since officially kicking off its Acts 1:8 Challenge emphasis in November 2007.

“Our missions giving has increased over 30 percent this past year,” said Michael Cabell, minister of discipleship and evangelism. “Our Lottie Moon giving was double what it was the year before. In 2007, we had 16 people go on short-term mission trips. In 2008, we had 138 people [go]…that’s an 870 percent increase!

“Acts 1:8 has made a marked difference in our church,” said Cabell. “It has become the ‘bonfire around which our church gathers.’”

Stories like that of Versailles Baptist are being repeated in many of the nearly 3,500 churches across the Southern Baptist Convention that have accepted the Acts 1:8 Challenge.

When a church focuses on the Acts 1:8 paradigm of missions, every aspect of the church—His church—has purpose. For example, no longer is a small group Bible study, music or youth ministry only for members who have been assimilated into the body of the church. Rather, these programs become strategic and significant outreach tools to share the message of Jesus Christ.

First Baptist Church, Star City, Ark., was founded in the 1800s and has a long history ministering to the rural community surrounding it.

During an Acts 1:8 conference hosted at the church for the Harmony Baptist Association, I visited briefly with the church's young pastor, Stephen Beavers.  

As with many churches its age, tradition sometimes trumps new and innovative ministry to the community. But through the church’s focus on God’s mission and a commitment to the Acts 1:8 Challenge, Beavers said God continues to keep its evangelistic glow alive.

Recently, after the church’s youth pastor left, God used a mission trip to its Samaria to raise up a new leader for the church’s youth.

“While in Wichita, Kansas, where we were dong street witnessing, God ignited a passion for youth ministry in a man who was saved at our church,” said Beavers. “He personally led several people to the Lord.”

Today, the man serves as the church’s interim youth pastor.

“God has done a great work there,” said Beavers. “And it started during a missions trip experience. He is a real soul winner!”

At this time of year with the Christmas Season and New Year at hand, now is a great time for a church to consider "rebooting" its mission, so to speak, and install new Kingdom focus "software" and missional DNA that will fuel everything it is and does.

A commitment to making disciples of all nations by taking the Gospel to a church's community (Jerusalem), region/state (Judea), nation/continent (Samaria) and world (ends of the earth) clarifies purpose, simplifies and gives direction to a church’s earthly existence.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and pageantry of Christmas programs, churches with God’s mission at their core focus on the true reason for the season and how they share Christ in a world so desperately in need of Him.

Tim Yarbrough is a mission strategist and leader of the Church Relations Team at the North American Mission Board. He serves as the national coordinator of the Acts 1:8 Challenge initiative. More information about the Acts 1:8 Challenge is available at www.ActsOne8.com.

Many Christians have little or no idea what they're getting themselves into when they surrender their lives to Christ and commit to follow him. Once an individual says he is no longer going to his life under his own strength, but by Christ's strength alone, things change...or they should.

The same is many times true of the local church. After all, it IS a big mission, isn't it? That is, to fulfill Acts 1:8 by literally reaching the world for Jesus Christ. Before we become too overwhelmed, we must remember that we're told we don't have to go it alone. We have the power and the might of the Holy Spirit as promised in Acts to guide us in all of our ways as new Christians. What's more, Southern Baptists have the support of their denominational partners to help the church reach Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Support comes in the form of the local association, state convention, North American Mission Board and International Mission Board.

The thing is, many Christians never do truly surrender their lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ, so they just end up going about their business as wimpy, weak vessels that don't make any kind of difference in the world. The same can be said of many churches.

That's just what the evil one would have us do. That way he can go about his business with the least amount of bother. Commit yourself and your church today to go forward today boldly in Jesus' name and to become the "missional" force Christ outlined so beautifully in Acts 1:8!

Tim Yarbrough is a mission strategist and leader of the Church Relations Team at the North American Mission Board. He serves as the national coordinator of the Acts 1:8 Challenge initiative. More information about the Acts 1:8 Challenge is available at www.ActsOne8.com.