Mere Missions

164 • M ere M issions : M oving F orward to M ultiply

vastness of the harvest field and the importance of reproduction and multiplying themselves to create disciples and church planting movements (2 Tim. 2.2; 1 Thess. 1.8). They need to be able to disciple and apprentice. Mark/Target #6 – Possess a strategic vision for contributing to the Great Commission, and a practical plan to implement it. The apprentice must have a vision from the Lord that burns within and a plan to unleash this Spirit given vision. Jesus knew that, in and of themselves, the apostles could not meet the expectations Jesus had. His Kingdom advancement and expansion is a worldwide vision and mission. They would need a power, not of this world. A divine, supernatural power. Jesus needed to implant His very own Spirit within them in order for them to receive power and rise-up to the commission He had given them. So, Jesus, “ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1.4-5). This would be their commissioning for missions. Comissioning Commissioning usually involves a service in which the laying on of hands takes place upon the individual. Sometimes prayer and fasting precedes and/or accompanies this time (Acts 13.3). Though the individual has already received the Holy Spirit, the laying on of hands in the commissioning service is associated with the recognition that he/she needs the power of the Holy Spirit for the responsibility given them by the Holy Spirit. It is a conferral of authority that Church leadership affirms for the task that they have been identified and equipped to accomplish (See Acts 6.6; 13.3; and 1 Tim. 4.14) for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4.12).