God's Mission for the Church
The Healthy Christian • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsThe mission of the church is received from Christ, the Head, not produced by the church itself. This passage outlines the main function of the church: Making Disciples. The mission of making disciples includes elements of reach, community, and replication .
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Intro: Have you seen the movie Mission Impossible? Now, I don’t know much about the secret agent life, but what I do know is that, though we look at the agent as the superstar, even the most talented spy does not act on his own behalf.
You see, the agents are given a mission and the means by which to accomplish it. Their job is to carry out the given mission. If an agent were to decide that he was going to act independently- maybe set out on a mission that he has chosen, then he would be named a traitor - gone rogue.
Similarly, the church belongs to God; the head of the church is Christ. Christ assigned the church a mission. If a church decides to act outside of this mission, then that church is rogue. We see a warning about this going rogue business in Rev. 2:1-5
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:
2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;
3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.
4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
If we are not diligent, we can find ourselves doing a lot of good things, but missing God’s purpose. So, what is God’s purpose? We find it recorded in each of the gospels, but for our time today, we are going to examine Matt. 28:18-20.
(READ)
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
[PRAY]
These words are the last words that Matthew includes in his gospel account. They are vital for us because they summarize the over-arching purpose of the church. At its core, it is the continuation of Jesus’ mission. He came to seek and save the lost. His focus was to atone for the sins of the world, which He accomplished on the cross.
That is the good news: You and I, and all humanity, are sinners. That means that we are not holy or righteous. We cannot stand before God in our sin because He is holy and righteous and He must, by his own character, judge sin. But Jesus took our sins upon Himself and received God’s judgment. We are offered salvation by believing in Jesus- who he is and what he’s done, and repenting from our sins to follow Him in obedience.
The church is a steward of this good news. Stewardship means that we rightly manage something.
Do you remember the parable Jesus taught about the talents? It’s recorded in Matt. 25:14-30. [Recap]
Now, there are several applications to this parable. BUT, the primary application in in regards to our mission. The mission is to Make Disciples; that is the clear mandate. God has given us means by which to accomplish this mission and we are called to invest them in such a way that we please the Lord.
So, in our time together this morning, I want to break down the elements of this mission so that we have a clear understanding of what it means to make disciples. We will finish our time together by observing the Lord’s Supper as a sign of commitment to Christ’s mission for LRBC.
The sermon is titled, “God’s Mission for the Church.” If you have bulletin, I invite you to use the sermon guide and follow along as we learn together.
If we were in a NT class, I would show you how this passage is broken down in the Greek so you could see that the word “go” is a participle dependent upon an imperative, which is why we call this the Great Commission. I would also point out that this commandment is issued by the One with all authority (v. 18) We might do well to move the word ‘therefore’ to the beginning of v. 19.
Because all authority belongs to Christ, we are subject to to Him. This is not an option. But I also want to point out that the Great Commission begins with the authority of Christ to send us and it ends with the presence of Christ to empower us. IOW, all that we do as a church is derived from Christ’s authority and power.
The reason that I want to point that out is that we must understand that we do not exist apart from Christ- It is His authority that we GO in and His power that we DO in. That should give us great confidence! It’s not my mission or your mission, it’s the mission we have received from Christ and NOBODY has more authority than Him.
So it is with that in mind that we examine God’s Mission for the Church. The first element of our mission is:
The Element of Reach (19)
The Element of Reach (19)
The Great commission begins with the command “Go Make Disciples… of all nations.” The word nations literally means ethnicities. ALL peoples; We can analyze this and look at a map to see what areas of the globe we could go to.
According to the Joshua Project, there are over 7100 unreached people groups who have no access to the Gospel. That is a total of about 3.5 billion people. So there is no shortage of “All Nations” by which the mission of the church must engage.
We simply must be involved in the mission of reaching! We must partner with missionaries, raise up and send out missionaries, and support these global efforts. However, when we think only in these terms, we tend to detach ourselves a bit from the mission. The mission becomes ‘out there,’ BUT I’m here to tell you that the mission is not only out there, but right here!
I’d like to reframe the scope of our mission. Since the Gospel is intended for ALL NATIONS, that means the Gospel is relevant for ALL PEOPLE. Therefore, you and I- followers of Jesus who live in WNC, must GO MAKE DISCIPLES of EVERY PERSON WE CAN REACH.
That means that our focus must be intentional, even if not international. The reality is that much of our community has not encountered the Gospel in a way that they can be considered ‘reached’.
Go to the people who moved in from New York or California.
Go to the people who ride their bikes on the roadways.
Go to the people who grew up with a false understanding of the Gospel.
The mission of the church requires us to be intentional and strategic in our reach. So, what does ‘reaching’ look like?
Reaching means:
Building relationships - people don’t care about what you have to say about their life if they do not see that we care about them as people.
Serving the community - If we are God’s people, the community should be better with us in it! We are to be the model; the reflection of Christ in the community.
Proclaiming the Gospel - Reaching requires words. People cannot respond to a Gospel they have not heard or understood.
Demonstrating the love of Christ - People need to see how, while we were yet sinners, Christ demonstrated His love by taking our sins upon himself and dying for us.
Being available- even if one rejects the gospel, your presence and love may draw them to receive it later.
The mission of the church is to Make Disciples of All Nations. That necessarily means reaching.
That takes us to the next part of the Great Commission and that is:
The Element of Community (19b)
The Element of Community (19b)
Again, we go back to our passage: “Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,”
Here, I want to look carefully at an aspect of the mission that I’ve labeled ‘community.’ This part of the mission is not so much about doing as it is ‘being’. Jesus commanded the disciples and the church to BAPTIZE.
We understand baptism as the act of immersing under water. You’ve heard me teach about this before: Baptism does not save, but it is a picture of salvation, for we testify that we have died to our sins and have been raised to new life in Christ: Buried with Him, raised with Him.
But more than just a symbol, baptism is a sign of entrance into the covenantal community of Christ. Baptism marks the submission of one to the Lordship of Christ into a body of like-minded believers where they will learn and grow and join in the mission of the church.
Let’s lean in a bit: It is only because we have a covenant with Jesus that we are saved. He made the covenant in His body with His blood so that you and I could be brought from death to life. Because of this covenant, we will stand before God as HOLY and RIGHTEOUS.
ILL: When I was in high school, I played on the football team. Every day, I would be working out, going to practice, and learning to play on this team. And on Friday nights, we’d all put on the same color jersey and we would play football. My teammates all had the same goal: win. Our mission was to beat the other team! We did this by playing together- different positions, all on the same team, agreeing that we would each do our assigned role. Some would block, one guy threw the ball, others ran routes, played defense, etc.
When we are baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are putting on the Christian Jersey that says I am part of THIS TEAM. I am part of THIS CHURCH.
We are confessing our new identity as a Christ-follower in the midst of other Christ-followers. Together, we will join arms and walk in newness of life. We will hold up the Word of God and exhort one another in it. We will love one another because Christ loved us and that will be a sign to the world that we are His disciples.
Disciples are made as we reach people with the Gospel, and Baptize them into the body where they can learn and grow.
But we need to step back a second and understand what a disciple is so we can make one. A disciple is a learner. And, a learner is necessarily taught. We often call the twelve who followed Jesus ‘disciples’, because they were being taught by Jesus and they were learning to be like Jesus.
That brings us to the final piece of God’s Mission for the Church:
The Element of Replication (20)
The Element of Replication (20)
Verse 20 says, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you...”
As disciples of Jesus, the 12 were taught to obey God’s commands and to live like Jesus. Their mission was to reach people, share the Gospel, baptize them into the church, and teach them to become what they were becoming. Teach them to observe all that I have commanded YOU!
IOW, the goal of discipleship is to replicate or reproduce in others what is true in our life, which ought to be absolute surrender and obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ; a life where we can truly say that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength!
ILL: Many of you have kids, so this is an easy concept. Kids are like sponges. They pick up on your attitude, your habits, your personality. And, many times our kids are products of what they have learned from mom and dad. If you are a good athlete, chances are you will teach your kid to be a good athlete. If you are and angry or bitter person, your child will probably learn that as well.
Raising children is a form of discipleship.
The mission of the church is to produce more Christ-followers who love Jesus and are committed to Him. If we do not make disciples, we are not really disciples of Jesus.
Here is a key principle: We cannot produce what we ourselves are not. And this is true all the way down to our basic practices. If we are not excited about God’s Gospel, neither will new believers. If we compromise God’s Word, so will they.
BUT, if we are careful to live out and to teach what God has taught us through the Bible, then we will produce disciples as Christ intended. That means that we have to practice forgiveness, love, self-control, grace, humility, etc.
This is not a program, mind you. You cannot make disciples in an 8 week study. Jesus’ disciples followed him everywhere for 3 years. They were never apart from Christ. They were there to see him teach, heal, and pray. They watched him respond to haters and fans alike. They helped him serve the needy. They ate together, traveled together, slept in the same rooms.
What am I saying? Making disciples means that we have to share our lives with others. We have to let them into our less than spotless homes, eat our less than perfect food, and talk through how to live as a Christ-follower through both good and challenging seasons of life. We must cry together, laugh together, enter into conflict together, all for the sake of becoming more like Jesus.
God’s Mission for the Church is to Make Disciples for the Glory of God. We do this through the command to reach, the command of community, and the command to replicate.
Jesus’ last words recorded by Matthew should compel us to be on mission. I want to ask you who have been baptized into this mission to recommit to making disciples. By taking the Lord’s Supper together this morning, we proclaim the mission of Christ as our own, for He is the head of this church.
As the serving deacons come and prepare for the Lord’s Supper, let us prepare our hearts and minds.
[PRAY]
Discuss: In your own words, explain the Great Commission.
Discuss: How will you take part in the Great Commission this year? Be specific.
Discuss: Who can you ask to help you learn and grow as a Christ follower?
