FINISH THE MISSION

BRINGING THE GOSPEL TO THE UNREACHED AND UNENGAGED

JOHN PIPER and

DAVID MATHIS, editors

CROSSWAY

wheaton, illinois

Finish the Mission: Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged

Copyright © 2012 by Desiring God

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Matthew Taylor, Taylor Design Works

First printing 2012

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked hcsb have been taken from The Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the authors.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-3483-6

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3484-3

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3485-0

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3486-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Finish the mission: bringing the Gospel to the unreached and unengaged / John Piper and David Mathis, editors.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN 978-1-4335-3483-6 (tp)

1. Missions. 2. Evangelistic work. I. Piper, John, 1946– II. Mathis, David, 1980–

BV2061.3.F56 2012

269'.2—dc23 2012008009

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

For those who have left

house or brothers or sisters or mother

or father or children or lands,

for Jesus’s sake and for the gospel

to finish the mission

CONTENTS

Contributors

Introduction: Remember, Jesus Never Lies

David Mathis

1 The Galactic God Who Invites Us into His Glorious Plan

Louie Giglio

2 The Glory of God, the Lostness of Man, and the Gospel of Christ

David Platt

3 Christ, Courage, and Finishing the Mission

Michael Ramsden

4 From Every Land to Every Land: The Lord’s Purpose and Provision in the Lord’s Prayer

Michael Oh

5 To Our Neighbors and the Nations

Ed Stetzer

6 Let the Peoples Praise You, O God! Let All the Peoples Praise You!

John Piper

A Conversation with the Contributors

Appendix: What Next? Disciple a Few

David Mathis

Acknowledgments

Subject Index

Name Index

Scripture Index

Desiring God: Note on Resources

CONTRIBUTORS

Louie Giglio is pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia. As founder and leader of Passion Conferences, he travels worldwide challenging this generation, college students in particular, to a passionate pursuit of God. A graduate of Georgia State University and the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he has been at the forefront of collegiate ministry for over twenty years. Louie is author of The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life and I Am Not But I Know I Am. His wife is ...