Reclaim the Mission
Notes
Transcript
How has Jesus changed your life?
How has Jesus changed your life?
Mr. Larry and I were talking a couple of Wednesday nights ago and he asked me, when did I know I was called to preach.
I told him I knew when I was saved I was called to preach, but it took a long time for me to get it right.
It’s a long story many of you have heard but the big moment happened when I was 24.
I worked for IBM - I was a Senior Administrative Specialist - a real fancy name for a billing and inventory control clerk.
I was good at what I did and my boss and her boss wanted me to apply for a training job.
I would have traveled between Atlanta, New Jersey and New York teaching people how to do what I did.
Like many small town boys, I loved the idea of bright lights and the big city.
But that evening, heard something in my spirit.
I have no other way to describe it - I didn’t hear a voice, I didn’t see a vision, but if you are a Jesus follower you know exactly what I’m talking about.
In my soul I heard, “You know what you are supposed to do Randy; if you take this job, you are on your own.”
I could not have understood the message any more clearly.
The next day I went into my second level bosses’ office.
I thanked him for the opportunity but I declined the offer.
And I told him I’d be leaving to go back to college so I could be a pastor.
Many times, I’ve thought about what my life would have been like if I had made a different choice.
What about you?
How had Jesus changed your life?
What would your life look like if you had made different choices?
Open your Bibles to the book of Acts 1:1-8.
Acts is located right after Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible.
It is the second book Luke wrote to finish up his history of how Jesus changed the world.
If you are watching by live stream, I encourage you to open your Bibles and follow along as well.
We are grateful to the Lord that you have found our live stream and worship with us each week.
If you are ever near Gray or if you are able to attend in person again, we would love to see you here.
Our scripture is Acts 1:1-8.
Here now the Word of the Lord: Acts 1:1-8
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
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.”
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Jesus was crucified.
He was in the grave Friday evening, all day Saturday.
Then on the third day, on Sunday, the death that holds every person captive lost its battle with the Lord.
Luke says, “He presented himself alive to them...”
The disciples and a whole host of people saw Jesus - talked to Him - touched Him.
Luke wants us to make no mistake - Jesus was indisputably alive.
He promised them again that the Father would send the Holy Spirit “not many days from now.”
They asked Him what seems to be very appropriate questions, considering.
“Are you going to rid the world of all of our oppressors?
“Are you going to make our lives easier now?
“Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel right now?
Jesus’ answer had to disappoint them.
“Guys, it’s not your business to know what the Father has planned to do.”
“But I will tell you what you need to know.”
First, you’ll receive power to do what you need to do.
Second, you’ll do what you need to do, everywhere you go.
And then He left.
Just like that.
No further instructions.
No nothing.
Just gone.
So they did what Jesus said.
They went back to Jerusalem and they started living their lives while they waited.
They worked on their organization to get it in order.
And they prayed.
Until the Holy Spirit came.
And then the 120 people mentioned in Act 1 starting telling people how Jesus changed their lives.
And those people told other people, who told other people, who told other people how Jesus had changed their lives.
And this continued for centuries.
In 2022, statisticians said there are 2.38 Billion Christians in the world.
A third of the population of the world changed.
Made different.
Because someone told someone who told someone how Jesus had changed their life.
How has Jesus changed your life?
It started when someone told you about Jesus.
I’ve had the privilege of talking to a very young man about Jesus after Awana for a few weeks.
He’s had teachers telling him about Jesus.
His mom and dad have devoted themselves to telling him about Jesus and to make sure he was in places where he would hear about Jesus.
And this young man heard.
He asked Jesus to save him from his sins and be his Savior.
We baptized three last week - it worked the same way for them.
You, if you are a Christ follower, that’s what you did.
Somebody told you - you heard - and your life was changed.
Let me ask us a few questions.
How hard is it to tell someone about Jesus?
How hard is it to tell someone about Jesus?
Don’t take this as gospel because this is my opinion, but I believe the evil one has had a field day with witnessing courses.
I do and know I need to be careful because witnessing classes do serve a purpose.
But here’s my problem with them.
Just from it’s title, “witnessing course,” there is an implication that there is something special you need to know in order to witness correctly.
There is special knowledge that you have to learn in order to “do it right.”
You must learn from a “witnessing expert” - someone who knows how to tell other people about Jesus “the right way.”
That plants a seed in our minds, "It must be hard - I don’t want to do it the wrong way.”
When I was young, the Church was going through a Witnessing Renaissance.
Campus Crusade for Christ developed a tract called “The Four Spiritual Laws, I remember seeing them in high school
D. James Kennedy, a Presbyterian minister in Florida wrote the wildly popular “Evangelism Explosion” witnessing course.
Never to be outdone, the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention developed its own “Continuing Witness Training” course.
We have the Wheel of Salvation, the ABC’s of salvation, the Roman Road of Salvation.
I even developed my own personal model so I could memorize “how to do it.”
PNPRC - God created us with a purpose.
But we have a need because of sin.
The Lord made a provision for that sin with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
We must repent and commit ourselves to Him and we will be saved.
100’s of thousands of people took those courses.
And people were saved - some of you may have been saved because someone used what they learned.
But millions of Christians stayed home.
“I can’t memorize things well.”
“I don’t like talking to strangers.”
“I don’t have time for 6 week, and 8 week, a 12 week course.”
“I don’t like thinking of my friends as targets.”
I think the devil had a field day with witnessing courses for just that reason.
The devil, I believe, accepted the collateral damage of losing the battle so he might win the war.
All he had to do was convince good Christian people that they “don’t know how” to witness.
“You need to leave that witnessing stuff to the professionals, to people who know how to do it right,” he whispered in our ears.
Now, having said all of that, look back at what Jesus said.
Wait until you have the Holy Spirit.
Then be my witnesses.
If you go back to Matthew 28 to the Great Commission, you hear Jesus say, Matthew 28:19 “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,”
And I’m sure you’ve heard that the word “Go” there literally means, “as you go,” or, “as you continue on your journey.”
He never gave them instructions on the right way to make disciples.
Why?
Let me answer that question with a question.
What is the right way to tell someone how Jesus changed your life?
Do you remember the story that Jeff Pruitt read to us earlier in the service?
Jesus went to the land of the Gerasenes.
A man came flying out of the graveyard at him.
Screaming.
Crazy.
Possessed by over 2,000 demons.
Jesus sent the demons into a herd of pigs and the pigs went so crazy they drowned themselves.
Remember hearing this? Mark 5:15
And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
Jesus changed that man’s life, didn’t he?
When it came time for Jesus to leave, the formerly demon-possessed man - changed by Jesus - we don’t even get to know his name.
This changed man begged Jesus to let him go with him.
Can you imagine how he felt?
He knew what he had been just a few hours before.
He didn’t know how to live.
He didn’t know how to do much of anything.
Don’t you think he might have been just a little afraid that it could happen to him again?
I expect he was so amazed and grateful that he never wanted to leave Jesus side ever again.
But Jesus said no.
Do you remember what the scripture said?:
And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
So that’s what he did.
And how did that work out for him?
And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Everyone marveled.
But all he did was tell them “how much Jesus had done for him.”
What do I need so I can do the mission of a disciple?
What do I need so I can do the mission of a disciple?
How hard is it to tell someone about something that happened to you that was really, really good?
We talked about reclaiming the Church.
With all of its faults and foibles, I’d rather be a part of the church than any other organization.
We talked about reclaiming Jesus.
All we did for one solid sermon was talk about who Jesus was and what He has done for people.
Today our theme is reclaim the Mission - but what is the mission?
Mark 5:19 “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.””
Guys, that’s it.
That’s all there is to it.
Go home and tell your friends.
Now, are we saying that you should go home today and get on the phone or go to everyone’s house and start telling them about Jesus?
Nah.
Chances are great that will be a bust - because - nobody wants Jesus crammed down their throat.
But I suspect as you talk to your family, they talk about their struggles.
I know your co-workers do.
And a lot of their problems, you’ve already had them, haven’t you?
People listen best under two conditions.
Number 1 - they have a problem.
Number 2 - you’ve had the same problem.
As a poem I’ve heard many times says, nothing makes you listen better than to hear the words, I’ve been there.
I’ve been there.
I survived - this is how I did it.
How has Jesus - changed - my -life?
The mission is to remember what Jesus has done for me and tell people that.
I don’t mean in philosophical or theological terms.
I mean literally, when you look back on my life, what do you see that Jesus has done?
It could have been big stuff like changing the trajectory of your career like he did mine.
Or smaller stuff like changing a job, or a relationship.
Or somehow helping you stretch no money into getting your bills paid.
Or maybe it’s a child you prayed through their wild period.
Or a husband or wife you prayed through temptation.
Or someone you loved that you held their hands and prayed until they entered heaven peacefully.
It could be any number of a million or more things.
What has the Lord done in your life?
Would you do this?
Will you make some time this week and get somewhere and be still and quiet?
I know it’s hard, Mom and Dad’s especially, to find a moment to be still and quiet - but give it your best shot.
Take your Bible in your lap unopened, and simply think.
“What has the Lord done in my life?’
Think back - reminisce about good times, think about bad times, and pay attention.
You’ll see Jesus.
Once I see Jesus, what do I do with that?
Once I see Jesus, what do I do with that?
Tell your story.
No matter what is happening in the world, tell your story.
If we go back to Acts 1:8, we hear Jesus tell them to be his witnesses “to the end of the earth.”
However, if you keep reading Acts, you see them all hanging around home.
They told their stories to the people there - but there wasn’t much “end of the earth” stuff going on.
Until Acts 8:1
And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Life got very hard and the Christians left town for safer places.
And as they went their way and met new people, they ended up talking about what Jesus had done for them.
They told people who have the same problems they had, they told them about Jesus.
And those people were saved.
Until today 2.38 billion people profess that Jesus is Lord.
How hard is it to tell someone something really good that happened to you?
We’ve allowed Satan to make the mission of the church hard.
You’ve got to be super spiritual.
You’ve got to be uber trained.
You’ve got to witness to every nurse and waitress on the planet or you aren’t a good Christian.
Load us up with guilt and inadequacy and fear.
The evil one is a master - but he isn’t telling the truth.
That’s not how Jesus said the job should be done.
Jesus’ instructions were simple: Mark 5:19
And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
I suspect we can do that without a whole lot of effort.
Let us pray.
Father, we are genuinely forgetful creatures.
We are so stuck in the reality of every moment, that the past slips our minds.
Things happen and we face the future with so much ammunition in our arsenal.
Yet we forget that we are even carrying it.
Lord, life is moving so fast - I suspect it’s on purpose.
The faster we move, the more we forget.
I suspect that’s why you said, Psalm 46:10 ““Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!””
You will not allow your name to be forgotten.
You will be known among the nations.
You will not let us forget.
Remind us daily O Lord, of your mercies towards us.
Illuminate our memories so we will be your beacon of hope for all we love and know.
In Jesus’ name.
So as we stop to remember everything we’ve sung and heard preached today, let’s ask ourselves, what are we going to do with it?
What had Jesus done for me?
What has Jesus done for you?
Let me point out something very simple.
If Jesus has saved you, you can take communion with all of your brothers and sisters.
And if you aren’t a Christ follower - Jesus has still done something for you.
He’s put you here today to see that there is a difference between being saved and not being saved.
And He’s put you here to remind you that He will save you.
All you have to do is ask.
Jesus gave us a way to never forget him - the most perfect way to make sure we always remember.
Not a meal passes just about that bread isn’t available.
Jesus told us, every time you sit down and have a piece of bread, remember Jesus.
Remember what Jesus did for you.
So, let’s eat.
As you step out of your seat and come to the front, take every stray thought captive.
Try, for these next few minutes, to remember how Jesus has changed your life.
And then, whisper a word of thanks.
Let us return thanks for this meal:
Oh Father,
We ask you to bless and sanctify this bread and this juice to the souls of all who receive it.
Cause us to eat in remembrance of the body of Your Son Jesus.
Cause us to drink remembering his spilled blood.
Please let our eating and drinking remind the world of your sacrifice and your victory.
Cause us to always remember Jesus and revere His Church and speak His name
That the world might know that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of you, God, our Father.
We ask in Jesus’ name.
Amen