Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning we are picking back up in our study of the Gospel of Mark.

If you’re new to our church, we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.

What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then studying them from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to understand how the Bible applies to our lives today.

With that said, for the last two years we have been in an ongoing study of Mark’s Gospel, a gospel that was written to teach us who Jesus is, what he came to do, and what it means to follow him.

And believe it or not, today is the day we will be wrapping up this study.

I know some of you never thought you’d see it happen in your life time, but here we are at the end of this amazing Gospel story.

And as I said last week, this has been one of my favorite studies, mostly because I believe it has prepared us for the next chapter in the life of our church.

A chapter that I believe is going to lead us to a greater expansion of the Gospel in our community and region.

I believe that because now that we have a solid understanding of who Jesus is, what he came to do, and what it means to follow him, Jesus has a mission for us.

A mission, if accomplished, has the ability to change the world we live in.

We’re going to talk about that mission today, but before we do, I want to begin by setting the stage and building a framework for the message today.

And to do that, I want to reference a movie series that most of us are probably familiar with.

The series is called “Mission Impossible”.

Anybody ever heard of it?

You might be wondering, “What is the book of Acts about?”

The book of Acts is about the birth of the birth of the church and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Because the truth is, without the power of the Holy Spirit, the mission Jesus is about to give us this morning would be impossible.

If you’re not familiar with the series, the series revolves around a character named Ethan Hunt.

And in the series, Ethan Hunt is a covert agent that works for an agency called the IMF which stands for “Impossible Mission Force”.

Now, I know I’ve

And it’s called “Impossible Mission Force” because the missions that Ethan Hunt is asked to go are impossible missions.

Covert missions that nobody in their right mind would sign up for.

In fact, the missions are so insanely impossible, that when a mission is presented to Ethan, he has the option to decline the mission.

Here’s how it typically works.

The movie always begins with Ethan Hunt receiving a cryptic prerecorded mission invite and briefing.

For example, in one of the movies, he’s walking by a phone booth and the phone rings.

And so he goes in the booth and picks up the phone, and as he lifts the receiver to his ear, a computer screen flips up out of the front of the payphone.

And then he here’s the following statement, “Good morning Mr. Hunt, your mission, should you choose to accept it is...”

And from there, on the computer screen, he’s given the details of the impossible mission.

And then once the information has been relayed, the message ends with this statement, “As always, if you or any member of your team be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

This message will self destruct in five seconds, good luck.”

So he listens, and once the information has been relayed, the message ends with this statement, “As always, if you or any member of your team be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

This message will self destruct in five seconds, good luck.”

At that point Ethan hangs up the phone, steps out of the booth, and the pay phone goes up in flames.

And the question now is, “Will Ethan accept the mission?”

Well, of course he will!

Wouldn’t be much of a movie if he didn’t.

Next question, “Having accepted the mission, how will Ethan accomplish this impossible mission?”

To do it, Ethan will utilize three resources at his disposal:

First Resource: Ethan will build a team of fellow IMF agents, usually 2-3 team members, that will assist him using their own unique gift sets.

For example, one of the team members will probably be a computer genius that can hack any computer.

And what I always find interesting about these team members is they always seem to sign up no questions asked.

In other words, they didn’t hear the cryptic message.

They haven’t heard all the impossible mission details yet.

All they know is their’s a mission and Ethan wants them on his team, so they sign up not knowing where they’re going, what they’ll be asked to do, or what dangers they may face.

Second Resource: Along with his team, Ethan has at his disposal special gadgets to help him accomplish the impossible mission.

One of my favorite resources is called the “Latex Face Mask”.

This gadget allows Ethan to replicate a latex copy of anybody’s face.

And then using a special vocal gadget, he’s also able to mimic the persons voice.

This allows Ethan to assume the identity of anybody he wants, and then infiltrate dangerous and impossible places unnoticed.

In fact, I have an example of one of these masks.

Check this out.

For example, if I were to go to a Chiefs game in order to do recon, I’d need to blend in within the enemy camp.

So, I too have a special mask that I had made that makes me look like any other Chief fan.

Check this out.

Third Resource: Along with his team and special gadgets, Ethan utilizes his unique gift set.

Because you wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but Ethan is a professional acrobatic dare devil.

From buildering, to spelunking, to rock climbing, to parachuting, to acrobatics, Ethan can maneuver himself into impossible places.

He might as well paint an “S” on his chest.

He’s Ethan Hunt, IMF agent.

At the end of the day, with a little luck and skill, Ethan has everything he needs to accomplish that impossible mission.

Now, you might be thinking, “Ok, that’s great pastor, thanks for the Mission Impossible explanation, but what does this have to do with the final message in Mark today?

What’s the connection?”

I reference the mission impossible series, because in much the same way, Jesus has a mission for us.

A mission that at first glance will appear impossible.

A mission that will require us to build a team, tap into special resources, and utilize personal gifts.

A mission, that should we choose to accept, has the potential to radically change the world around us.

So, what’s this mission?

That’s our focus this morning.

So, let’s find out as we come back to Mark’s Gospel, as the resurrected Jesus relays the mission details to the disciples.

Picking back up in verse 15, Mark writes:

Mark 16:15-2

Now that Jesus has risen, and with only a short time left on earth with his disciples, Jesus now gives his disciples their final instructions for the future.

It’s a mission commonly called, “The Great Commission”.

And in this mission briefing Jesus gives them not only the mission, but the resources they will need to accomplish the mission.

So, let’s get started as we unfold this mission, and what I want you to notice first is that the mission consists of mission parameters and mission objectives.

First, we have the mission parameters, and their geographical.

Jesus says we are to go into all the world.

Meaning, this isn’t just a local mission.

This isn’t just a regional mission.

This is planet wide mission.

In fact, in the book of Acts, Luke gives us a little more detail into how far reaching this mission is.

Luke writes:

In this passage Jesus gives the disciples the geographical parameters for the mission.

It begins at the local level in Jerusalem, the place where they live.

From there it moves out into Judea, the region where they live.

And finally it extends to the ends of the earth, meaning the rest of the world.

So, that’s the mission parameters .

The second part involves the mission objective, and the objective is to spread the gospel to the whole creation.

In other words, the mission is to take the good news of Jesus Christ to the entire world.

The message that Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth, lived a life we couldn’t live, died a death we deserved, paid the price for our sins, and rose from the dead.

And if we’ll put our faith in that, then we can be reconciled with God.

Jesus says take that message and tell it to anybody that has the breath of life in them.

That’s quite a mission, isn’t it?

To make sure every human being on the planet hears about Jesus and hopefully chooses to follow him before it’s to late.

So, let me ask you this, “Do you think this mission might have seemed a little impossible to these 11 men?” Do you think they might have felt a little pressure.

Because on top of letting everybody know about Jesus, Jesus says there are some serious consequences for those who reject the message.

Jesus says:

Do you think this was a lot for the disciples to take in?

I’m going to say it was.