1. Lesson 1
October 1, 2023
The Great Commission An
Ethnocentric Approach

2. GOLDEN TEXT
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
(Mc 16.15)

3. PRACTICAL TRUTH
Jesus' imperative order to his disciples
points to the universality of the
preaching of the Gospel in the world.

4. DAILY READING
Monday – Mt 9.37,38 – The harvest is great and the harvesters are few
Tuesday – Rm 15.20 – Striving to preach where Christ was not
announced
Wednesday – Lk 24.49; Acts 1.8 – Filled with the Spirit to fulfill the
Great Commission
Fifth – Gn 3.15; 6.11-14; Gen 12.3 – God desires to reach the people of
the entire world
Friday – Acts 9.15; 16.5; 22.14,15,21 – The mission of the Church to
expand the Kingdom of God in all nations
Saturday – Luke 24.46-49 – Repentance for the forgiveness of Sins

5. BIBLE READING IN CLASS
Matthew 28.19,20; Mark 16:15-18
Matthew 28.19 – 20
19 – Therefore go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;
20 – teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded
you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Amen!

6. Mark 16.15 – 18
15 – And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 – Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
17 – And these signs will follow those who believe: in my
name they will cast out demons; they will speak new
languages;
18 – they will pick up serpents; and if they drink
anything deadly, it will not harm them; and they will lay
hands on the sick and heal them.

7. INTRODUCTION
This quarter, we will study missionary work. It is an invitation to
reflect on the imperative of our Lord Jesus to preach the Gospel
to every creature. Therefore, in this first lesson, our purpose is to
clarify the Great Commission, conceptualize and develop the
theme of Transcultural Missions and present a global vision of
the Gospel message in the world. We will see that missions is a
divine order and that God counts on each believer to say “yes” to
the work that He began through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Keyword: Ethnicity

8. I – THE GREAT COMMISSION
1. What is the Great Commission? - It is the Lord's
commandment for his Church to proclaim the Gospel to all
nations. This commandment has traces in the Old Testament (Is
45.22; cf. Gn 12.3) and is based on the New (Mt 9.37,38; 28.19; At
1.8). In this way, the Great Commission can be better understood
as a post-resurrection order of Jesus Christ given to his disciples
(Mt 28.18-20; Mk 16.15-20; Lk 24.46-49; Jn 20.21-23; At 1.4,5,8 ).
Regarding it, James Hudson Taylor, an English missionary in
China for 51 years, said: “The Great Commission is not an
option to be considered. It is a commandment to be
obeyed.”

9. James Hudson Taylor was born in
1832 in Barnsley, England. After
studying medicine and theology, in
1853, at age 21, Taylor went to
China as a paid missionary for the
Society for the Evangelization of
China. He died in Changsha in 1905
(before the communists took over
the country he loved), he had left
250 missionary points in China with
849 missionaries from England and
125 thousand Chinese Christians
(OSWALD CHAMBERS
PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATION,
2018)

10. 2. The cultural issue. Jesus’ “Go” also means crossing
borders. In this case, announcing the Gospel in a different
culture is the great challenge of missionary work. Therefore,
we must not despise the culture of a people to whom we
intend to evangelize, nor impose ours on them (1 Cor 1.1,2).
However, the culture of a people must be evaluated and
proven by the Scriptures. If, on the one hand, culture is rich in
beauty and goodness, as man was created in the image and
likeness of a good and loving God; on the other, as a result of
the Fall, it was stained by sin and, in part, dominated by
demonic actions. Therefore, let us be ready to preach the
Gospel beyond our borders! Let's prepare for this challenge!

11. 3. The command to make disciples of all nations. The word
“nation” is the translation of the term ethnos, which refers to
ethnic groups and not primarily countries. A country is a politically
defined nation, whereas an ethnicity is a culturally defined people
with their own language and culture. According to some
missiologists, there are 24,000 ethnicities in the world. Almost half
of this total has not yet been evangelized. Does this not move us?
There are millions of people who have not yet heard the Gospel
of Christ. The cry of the apostle Paul is urgent and imperative:
“Striving in this way, to preach the gospel, not where Christ has
already been announced” (Rm 15.20 – NAA).

12. The word ethnicity comes from
the Greek ethnos, which
means people. The concept is
used to represent the different
races or groups of people in the
world. (MIRANDA, 2019).

13. 4. The effectiveness and objectives of the Great Commission.
To be effective and fulfill its objectives, the Great Commission must
be carried out by people filled with the power of the Holy Spirit
(Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8), as it is He who convinces the person of sin
(John 16:8), regenerates the sinner (Titus 3.5) and enables men to
confess Jesus as Lord (1 Cor 12.3). In this sense, the Church will be
ready to achieve the following objectives of the Great Commission:
1) Proclaim the Gospel in words and actions to every creature; 2)
Disciple new converts, making them faithful followers of Christ; 3)
Integrate them spiritually and socially into the local church, so that
they grow in grace and knowledge through the action of the Holy
Spirit in their lives, always enjoying the communion of the saints.

14. SYNOPSIS I
The Great Commission is a call to
proclaim the Gospel to every creature
and everywhere.

15. II – CROSS-CULTURAL MISSIONS
1. Concept. The prefix trans comes from Latin and has
the meaning of “movement beyond” and “through”. In
general terms, Transcultural Missions are about
transposing a culture to bring the Gospel message. This
message cannot be restricted to just one culture, but can
reach all corners of the Earth, wherever there is an
ethnic group that has not yet heard of the Good News.

16. 2. Cross-cultural view of the Bible. When talking about cross-
cultural missions, the Holy Bible is the standard to be followed.
The Old Testament records the revelation of a missionary God.
On at least three specific occasions in the book of Genesis, He
dealt with all humanity and not just with one nation (Gen 3.15;
6.11-14; Gn 12.3). In this sense, Transcultural Missions have this
same appeal and are a fundamental part of the Church's mission,
as it is an executive mission agency. God did not choose another
institution, no matter how financially powerful it may be, for this
endeavor. However, He chose his Church, establishing it on Earth
with the mission of expanding his kingdom to all nations (Acts
9.15; 16.5; 22.14,15,21; 26.16-18).

17. 3. Barriers in Cross-Cultural Missions. There are complex
barriers to the evangelization of the world and the Church needs
to know them and prepare to carry out its missional task. The
barriers are countless. Let's see: a) Geographic barriers: new
nations and new cultures; b) Cultural barriers: life values, customs
and habits; c) Economic barriers: differences in currency and
trade; d) Language barriers: native languages; e) Religious barriers:
Islam, atheism, materialism, secularism, etc. The apostles faced
these same barriers. But, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the
Gospel left Jerusalem and reached the “ends of the Earth”. This
same Spirit is with the Church of the present century to confirm
the noble mission of proclaiming the Gospel.

18. To the Ends of the Earth – When
the LORD commissions His Church
to preach to the “ends of the Earth”,
He is telling us to bring the gospel of
the Kingdom to the farthest places
and beyond its borders (OLIVEIRA,
2013).

19. SYNOPSIS II
Transcultural Missions face the cultural
challenge of native peoples.

20. III – GLOBAL VISION OF THE GOSPEL IN
THE WORLD
1. Evangelization and Discipleship. In Matthew 28:18-20, we notice
an emphasis on “making disciples”. Now, making disciples is an order
based on the relationship between a master and his disciple. In this
order, it is understood that the mission does not take place in just one
act, one moment. Making a disciple, according to the Scriptures, takes
time. Our Lord spent at least three years forging the character of his
disciples. On the other hand, in Mark 16.15-20, we notice an emphasis
on “proclamation” and “announcement”. The missional task takes into
account the public proclamation of the Gospel while at the same time
acting on the permanent formation of the new convert. Evangelization
and discipleship are not mutually exclusive, but two sides of the same
mission.

21. 2. Repentance and empowerment of the Spirit. In
Transcultural Mission, the missionary message must take into
account the call for repentance for the forgiveness of sins
(Luke 24:46-49). This appeal must be under the authority of
Jesus, whose object is to “be [his] witnesses”, in the power of
the Holy Spirit, “both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1.8) . In this sense,
we must be ready to announce the message of Jesus under the
capacity of the Holy Spirit, as we read in the Acts of the
Apostles, praying that sinners repent and believe in the Gospel
(Mc 1.15).

22. SYNOPSIS III
The proclamation of the Gospel takes
into account evangelization,
discipleship, repentance and the
empowerment of the Spirit.

23. CONCLUSION
We have a great challenge in Transcultural Missions: reaching the
entire world with the genuine message of the Gospel. Therefore, as
the Church of God, we are called to leave “Jerusalem” with a view to
reaching the “ends of the Earth”. There are many people in this
world to be reached, so God counts on every believer committed to
the cause of the Kingdom of God. It is a Kingdom imperative that
we ask ourselves what we are doing so that “the water of life”
quenches the thirst of those who are thirsting for eternal life around
the world. The sinner depends on the sending of the Body of Christ
to hear the Good News of salvation from us.

24. REVIEWING THE CONTENT
1. What is the Great Commission?
It is the Lord's commandment for his Church to proclaim
the Gospel to all nations.
2. Name at least two goals of the Great Commission.
Proclaim the Gospel in words and actions to every
creature;
Disciple new converts, making them faithful followers of
Christ.

25. 3. Name at least two barriers in Cross-Cultural Missions.
a) Geographic barriers: new nations and new cultures;
b) Cultural barriers: life values, customs and habits.
4. What do we notice in Matthew 28:18-20?
In Matthew 28:18-20, we notice an emphasis on “making
disciples”.
5. What does the missionary message have to take into
account in Transcultural Missions?
In Transcultural Mission, the missionary message must take
into account the call for repentance for the forgiveness of
sins (Luke 24:46-49).

26. References
MIRANDA, J. Ethnicities. In: SCHOOL GROUP. 11 Mar. 2019. Available
at: https://www.grupoescolar.com/pesquisa/etnias.html. Accessed on:
27 September. 2023.
OLIVEIRA, A. C. de. From the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky.
In: CALL TO THE NATIONS. 17 Aug. 2013. Available at:
https://chamadoparanacoes.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/dos-confins-
da-terra-ate-os-confins-do-ceu-parte-1/. Accessed on: 27 September.
2023.
OSWALD CHAMBERS PUBLICATIONS ASSOCIATION. Hudson
Taylor. [S. l.], 2018. Daily Bread Ministries. Available at:
https://paodiario.org/autores-classicos/hudson-taylor/. Accessed on:
27 September. 2023.

27. SBS | 4th Quarter of 2023 | CPAD Adults |
Theme: To the Ends of the Earth – Preaching the
Gospel to all Peoples until the Return of Christ |
Sunday Bible School | Lesson 1 – The Great
Commission An Ethnocentric Approach.
Slides created by Celso Napoleon

28. LESSONS
1. The Great Commission: An Ethnocentric Approach
2. Transcultural Missions: To their Origin in the Nature of God
3. Cross-cultural Missions in the Old Testament
4. Cross-cultural Missions in the New Testament
5. A Pentecostal Perspective on Missions
6. Praying, Contributing and Doing Missions
7. The Church’s Responsibility towards Missionaries
8. Tentmaking Missionaries
9. The Church and Missionary Support
10. The 10/40 Window Challenge
11. Missions and the Persecuted Church
12. The Missions Model of the Church of Antioch
13. The Purpose of Missions
14. Missions and the Return of the Lord Jesus