May 22, 2022 - MISSIONS (May Sermon Series)
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As we make our way through the month of May, and with each week approach a topic of importance within Christianity...
Today we come to the topic of - MISSIONS
I’m quite confident that when we speak of MISSIONS - in Christian circles - our minds automatically think about...
flying overseas
trecking thru the jungle
…and finding a tribe to witness to
Now as a church - we sponsor a missionary who is working over in England (Stephanie Luke)
SLIDE: Pic
And so I think WE think - OVERSEAS - when we hear about MISSIONS...
That’s - potentially - accurate....BUT...
We need to know - that while MISSIONS CAN entail that....
Missions ALSO entails walking out your front door, and heading to your neighbors house.
…or across the street
MISSIONS has ALWAYS been about proclaiming Jesus - both FAR - AND Near....
and that’s a good thing...
Why are we even ABLE to read the Bible in the English language? - MISSIONS
How did the Gospel go from Jerusalem - to Columbia Station?
MISSIONS
See nothing has changed - in all this time....
All believers are CONNECTED and involved in the same MINISTRY...
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
We’re ALL IN MINISTRY = and so - if I ever ask you - How’s your ministry going?
And you think - I don’t remember signing up for a ministry....
Just know - you ARE in ministry
The Ministry of Reconciliation
It’s a ministry of DECLARING the message of Jesus - to the lost!
WHICH MEANS:
SLIDE: MISSIONS: A Call To Obey Christ
MISSIONS
MISSIONS
We keep hearing this same TRUTH - over and over again in our current Bible Study with Mark Fender...
And it’s something we need to ALWAYS be REMINDED of...
why?
Because i think by-and-large - we’re comfortable…IN the WORLD
In our culture - we’d much rather CURL UP - on the couch - all cozy...
...with our hot cup of Christianity - and sip it all day long...
We don’t typically have this sense of URGENCY…in our walks of faith
Because we rarely share our faith...
See - I think the MORE WE SHARE our faith - the more clearly we’ll see Jesus...
And the more clearly we see Jesus - the more URGENT our lives will become - for Him!
And MISSIONS - is really just a way to communicate - the Ministry of Reconciliation!
It’s the call - placed on each BELIEVER - to - GO
19 Go therefore and make disciples of 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 that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We’re called to - MAKE Disciples!!
And it’s not a suggestion here in the text...
It’s an IMPERATIVE verb...
Which means - our GOING - equates to - OBEDIENCE!
…and to NOT GO - is disobedience!
SEE - BEFORE Jesus walked the earth - the CALL was - to GO
ABRAHAM:
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
MOSES:
11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
Well - Moses eventually died....
JOSHUA:
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant,
2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.
Fast forward to the ministry of Christ…when Christ walked the earth....and that CALL to GO - changed to what??
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
PRETTY CLEAR no?
The call from the mouth of Jesus was - FOLLOW ME!
And that CALL - a call to OBEY or NOT obey...
Obedience was on the line...
When the God of the universe says - FOLLOW ME....
He’s not ASKING!
BUT THEN - Jesus went away…He KNEW He would be going away....
and before He did…a NEW COMMAND came along....just like the first!
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Before Christ - GO
With Christ - FOLLOW ME
Post Christ - GO
Why “GO”??
Because God has chosen to USE us for His purposes...
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
We see here that God makes His appeal - THRU us!
NOW - What is that APPEAL?
SLIDE: MISSIONS: A Call to Be Reconciled to Christ
MISSIONS
MISSIONS
As we saw before - We ALL have been given a Ministry to walk in...
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
To be RECONCILED:
is to reestablish a close relationship
to be ACCEPTED
And so THINK about OT reconciliation...
How did that take place?
We think about the Cleansing rituals...
If someone was UNCLEAN according to Jewish Law - they would have to bathe and perform this ritual cleansing!
If that took place = THEN that person could REJOIN the group...
There was RECONCILIATION...
20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there.
24 And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.
What is happening here?
This is OT - Reconciliation!
It was TEMPORARY - and so it was a FORM / a SHADOW of what was to COME IN CHRIST!
And yet while it points to Christ - It ALSO points to the SIN of MANKIND.
NOTHING has CHANGED!
The world STILL NEEDS to be RECONCILED to God!
BUT NOW - we don’t use a SCAPEGOAT!
NOW - we know the LAMB of God has taken away the SINS of those who believe!!
The CALL that goes out to the world - THROUGH US - is this:
BE reconciled to God - In Christ!!
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Name of Jesus Christ!
And so - MISSIONS - is...
A Call to Obey Jesus
A Call to be Reconciled to Jesus
But HOW do we do this?
MISSIONS: A Call to Rely on Christ
MISSIONS
MISSIONS
We should know that the Ministry of Reconciliation that we’ve all been called INTO...
Is POWERED by the Holy Spirit
The Bible tells us that even the Ministry of Jesus Christ - on this earth - was POWERED by the Holy Spirit
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
When Jesus SENT the apostles out into the world…He said...
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
MISSIONS - is a call to RELY on the POWER of God - and not our own power!
And as Mark has been reminding us - When we do this - WE CAN’T FAIL!
SUCCESS is not CONVERTING someone to Christianity!
SUCCESS is not - making someone BELIEVE in Jesus!
SUCCESS is - Faithfully sharing the message and Good News of Jesus! - That’s IT!
We leave the RESULTS up to God!
SUMMARY
And so - MISSIONS entails:
A Call to Obey Jesus
A Call to Be Reconciled to Jesus
A Call to Rely on Jesus
ADRIAN BOTA: INTERVIEW
We hear this - and we probably get scared...
But there’s a REASON - NOT to be scared...
11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.
12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Back to verse 13
13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
And so when we think about MISSIONS
- WHATEVER that is
- Going overseas
- Going NEXT DOOR to your neighbor...
WHATEVER...
...Jesus Christ is actually inviting you to COME TO HIM....
• In other words: AS Christians, we’re called to join Jesus outside the camp. Go to Him and share in His sufferings.
• We’re called to -
- Abandon the camp of comfort and security, and ease - and GO to Jesus!
We FAR too often will fight for our comforts...but not for the glory of Christ...
And our excuses are KNOWN by God.
Think back to Moses...God CALLS Moses....
First thing Moses says - WHO AM I?
God's first response is - I WILL BE WITH YOU...
BUT then Moses gets into the "What IF" game...
Moses starts to try and think ahead. He's wanting to be prepared for all the questions he "might" receive if he goes.
Don't we far too often get hung up on the "mights" of this life?
Well, this might happen God, so sorry....Well, they might respond to me this way....sorry.
"What shall I say?"
This might be the biggest obstacle that stands between us and lives of service to the Lord."What shall I say?"
Isn't that question really an indictment on ourselves?
Why don't we know what to say very often?
Shouldn't we know what to say?
We're called to STEP out in FAITH....
If we knew ahead of time how everything was going to play out - then we wouldn't NEED faith...
WHY GO?
v14 - we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
This place - is NOT our home...
THEREFORE....let's stop trying to make...
OUR homes...our neighborhoods...our yards...our cities...
...paradise on earth...Jesus died SO THAT we would STOP trying to make our lives HERE...paradise on earth...
What does that mean?
That means we need to STOP pursuing COMFORT....and start pursuing NEED.
Until we are OVERWHELMED with LOVE for Jesus Christ......our love FOR others will never rise to the level of us BRINGING to them, the name of Christ.
And so you might say - Yes, I LOVE Jesus...I just don't love lost people enough to take them the name of Jesus!
That statement is a FALSE statement....!
If you don't tell people about Jesus Christ....your problem is not a LACK of LOVE for those people...It's a LACK of LOVE FOR Jesus....
As we’ve heard in our Bible Study - the Sin of Silence is real…Eternity is at stake
And so may we EMBRACE MISSIONS -
That we OBEY Jesus Christ in Going
That we would RECONCILE the world to HIM
That we would DO SO - In HIS strength - powered by the Holy Spirit
....taking the name of Jesus to the world - both NEAR and FAR
Let's pray...