Global Impact - What the Bible Says about Missions
You may be surprised how often Scripture, from Genesis through Revelation, talks about God's passion that all peoples come to worship Him. (The word "nations" is often used by translators for the word that actually means an ethnic people group. These are people who share a common language and culture, not just a geographic location.)Take a few moments to read through these verses. Let God's heart for the nations become your heart.
"The Lord had said to Abram, ... ‘All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'"
Genesis 12:1,3, NIV
"Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples."
--1 Chronicles 16:23-24, NIV
"Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name."
--Psalm 18:49, NIV
"Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn--for he has done it."
--Psalm 22:30-31, NIV
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
--Psalm 46:10, NIV
"God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us--that Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations."
--Psalm 67:1-2, NASB
"Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples."
--Psalm 105:1, NASB
"On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever."
--Isaiah 25:7-8a, NIV
"I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
--Isaiah 49:6b, NASB
"Nations will come to your light, And kings to the rightness of your rising."
--Isaiah 60:3, NASB
"... There before me was one like a son of man ... He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him..."
--Daniel 7: 13-14, NIV
"I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty."
--Haggai 2:7, NIV
"Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'"
--Matthew 9:37-38, NIV
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."
--Matthew 24:14, NASB
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."
--Matthew 28:19-20a, NASB
"My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."
--Mark 11:17a, NIV
"And the gospel must first be preached to all nations."
--Mark 13:10, NIV
"This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations..."
--Luke 24:46-47, NIV
"Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest."
--John 4:35, NASB
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
--Acts 1:8, NIV
"And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.‘"
--Acts 3:25, NIV
"Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.'"
--Acts 10:34-35, NIV
"For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'"
--Acts 13:47, NIV
"Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
--Romans 1:5, NIV
"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?"
--Romans 10:14-15a, NIV
"It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known."
--Romans 15:20a, NIV
"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."
--2 Corinthians 5:18-19, NIV
"He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus."
--Galatians 3:14a, NIV
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place ... that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
--Philippians 2:9-11, NIV
"All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it ..."
--Colossians 1:6, NIV
"Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.'
--1 Timothy 3:16, NIV
"Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
--1 Peter 5:9, NIV
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
--2 Peter 3:9, NIV
"And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God."
--1 John 4:14-15, NIV
"With your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."
--Revelation 5:9b, NIV
"... Before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb."
--Revelation 7:9, NIV