A Greater Work
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SLIDE — CONTEXT IS....THE CHURCH…ALL OF US…AND US INDIVIDUALLY
Question - Why are we religious about doing some things and let others slip? What makes something stick?
Question - Why are we religious about doing some things and let others slip? What makes something stick?
What makes something stick? Why are we religious about doing some things and let others slip? What makes something stick?
SLIDE —
Ask it another way: Is God in it?
So lets take yet another step back…ask a couple of leading questions:
Why would God use your church? (corporately)
Why would God use you? (individually)
We could probably ask that in an even better way…remember when Jesus said…in the sermon on the mount…when He’s teaching the disciples to pray…remember when He says “Your Kingdom come - Your will be done here on earth as it is in Heaven...”
Maybe a better way to ask that question is…instead of saying “Is God in it?” …are we moving along with God - are we allowing God’s spirit to guide our actions and our words? Are we confident that God is using us as a church? Are you confident that God is using you as an individual?
Our passage for today is simple…but pretty profound. And we’ll look at some other passages that support this concept too.
But the main passage is this...
SLIDE — Jesus promises a greater work in John 14:12 “Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in me, the works that I am doing he will do also, and he will do greater works than these because I am going to the Father.”
John 14:12
12 Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in me, the works that I am doing he will do also, and he will do greater works than these because I am going to the Father.
Greater does not mean more power. Greater does not mean more knowledge. You can’t have more power or more knowledge than Jesus.
Greater means extent: Jesus’ ministry was limited to three years in a specific geographical range within the middle east.
Today the church has the mandate to go to all people in all nations. (Matthew 28:19-20)
SLIDE —
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age.”
This is called the Great Commission - Now lots of times we don’t reference this passage…but we’ll refer to it simply as the great commission. Meaning…Jesus’ marching orders.
This past week a station I listen to a lot…and on we have on in the lobby during day care hours…is K Love. And what they’ve found and what they’ve learned from many church surveys ....is that most churches/Christians don’t know what the great commission is.
So here’s the great commission in a nutshell. Jesus basically is getting ready to go back to the father…and before he does, he says, I’ve taught you about why I came…I showed you who God is…and now I want you to live like I lived and share this “life” …meaning me…the ultimate and only way to real life…with the whole planet.
So here’s where that goes....
Sometimes us…fulfilling the great commission....doing “a greater work”.....the biggest line to cross isn’t a geopolitical boundary; sometimes is a property line…or the space between your school desk and the desk next to you. Or it might be the space between you and your coworker’s cubicle. Or it might be…you see where we’re going there.
I think that Jeff would say that one of his favorite books is one called ‘Just walk across the room.’
Question: What if everyone here today reached just one person through this next year. Reached meaning they started either attending or at least became interested or maybe even made a belief decision for Jesus. The church here would double in size.
SLIDE --
Point 1 - A great work begins with believers on the move.
Point 1 - A great work begins with believers on the move.
The ascension is referenced in our Bibles in Mark, Luke, Acts and 1 Timothy. This event is a huge one in Biblical history…in Christian history.
Here’s the passage Luke writes…the other passage…LUKE and Acts 2 volume set. Jesus-Luke : Church - Acts
Acts 1:1-14
Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection get a lot of attention don’t they? And rightly so...
We celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas
We remember Jesus’ death on Good Friday
We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter
But the ascension…we don’t celebrate that as much. Now certain tribes of Christians do. Ascension Sunday is on the calendar…but for the most part we don’t. We know the story.
But it was a pretty significant historical event.
Illustration: We use to watch the space shuttle go up…evening launches were awesome weren’t they? Now, we’ve watched SpaceX launch, with Nasa, people up into space using their Falcon 9 Rocket. This past April 23rd Falcon 9 took 4 astronauts to the International Space Station. Just yesterday Falcon 9 took supplies to the International Space Station as well. If you watch the launch, and many times it was and or is early and in the dark…you get to see that trail of light through the dark sky. It’s incredible.
There’s an incredible amount of engineering that goes into any singular launch…into that one moment. T Minus ....then the countdown. Then someone has to hit that button.
The ascension of Jesus is the giant red button for the church…beginning the process of the church…the life of the church.
Remember what the angels said…the “men clothed in white”…why are you standing here? I’m guessing these two weren’t just gazing up like there had just been a firewords show and everyone around was going …oooooh…ahhhhh.....these angels were on mission…therefore....Why are you standing here....go!
An inactive Christian does not understand the significance of the ascension.
An inward focused church will never be a church on the move.
The disciples move after being corrected…brought back to reality…a bit. They worship, have great joy, and eventually, after following Jesus’ instructions take the gospel to the world.
A totally inappropriate response to King Jesus: standing around and staring…being a watcher…
Believers that honor God are on the move. Now…not on their own strength…but being guided and energized by the Holy Spirit...
SLIDE —
Point 2 - Believers on the move get together with their church family (as they can) and they watch for others to invite.
Point 2 - Believers on the move get together with their church family (as they can) and they watch for others to invite.
Love your neighbor as yourself. If you think it is important to be a believer…you understand the significance of forgiven sin and the promise of eternity with God…then that importance will also translate to those around you. Your neighbor, your classmate, your coworker. Here’s a passage that is often hard to hear for many…easy to become defensive with.
SLIDE —
Hebrews 10:24–25
And let us think about how to stir one another up to love and good works,
not abandoning our meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging each other, and by so much more as you see the day drawing near.
A painter was hired to paint the exterior of a church.
His practice was to thin the paint so that he could make a larger profit.
As he was painting the church a torrential rain began to fall and it washed all of the paint off.
Then, as quickly as the rain began, it ended, and the sun came out.
As the painter gazed skyward, he heard a voice from above saying:
" Repaint ! Go, and thin no more."
Sometimes there’s Godly principles that we’ve just become lax with. Maybe we’ve forgotten about them or maybe they’re even a bit uncomfortable for us because we see that we might need to change.
Sometimes there’s a scripture that just makes us squint and pierce our lips like we just ate a lemon.
Spiritually we might call that conviction right?...
This might be one of those verses for you. Now…i don’t think any of us would disagree with the principles of this verse…but often we’ll ask…but do I have to ATTEND? Sometimes we just hear God saying…I want you to do what is best…what is best for you and your church family… We try sometimes to get by with our old habits…but God calls us to something deeper with more meaning and more purpose. Spur one another on. You meet together and directly with me now…less separation. This is a good thing! This “fellowship” is what was missing…when this church thing can work as best as it can on earth now…even as the world is imperfect…it can help other people get a glimpse of what was lost in the beginning…when sin came in…and get a glimpse of what togetherness…with each other and God…might really mean.
A few principles found in this text
If you care about people, then being with your church family will be important: “concerned, promote love, encouraging ‘one another.’ How? Through the church…the church family. Not that attending is the good thing to do but why it is a good thing. We’re not checking the box. We’re in the habit of meeting together because you help each other.
Another thing to focus on here is this. The author says why this is so cool that we can do this....they say this. Because the curtain is open, we can together approach Jesus and spend time with Him and encourage each other. (vv. 19-23) This book is Hebrews…meaning it was written to the Jewish believers. Their habit was to go into the temple area and worship together at a distance. The author here is saying this…don’t give up meeting together because guess what…look what it is now versus what it used to be!
The last thing to notice here is that the author closes this short passage by saying this…do this…keep meeting together…please do this as you see the Day drawing near. If we believe Christ is coming again, then it’s even more critical that we work through and in the body of Christ…the church…in His Kingdom.
Church attendance is like exercise. Do it twice a year and it might hurt.
When you’re exercising you might not remember any one workout, but you do see the cumulative effects of working out over time.
Same with spiritual disciplines like prayer, reading God’s word, being together with each other in worship.
Conclusion
Everyone should have at least one person they are praying for and trying to reach…someone lost, someone unchurched, someone dechurched.
80% of people are receptive to an invitation to church…reach out to them:
Invite them to a Sunday morning time here together.
Bring them to a group setting....invite some church friends over and them as well.
Take them out to eat after our time on Sunday morning.
Who is your one? A greater work begins with just one. If everyone reached just one, then a great work would multiply rapidly.