The Gospel Starts with Go, and Going starts with a Sender

The Great Commission in the Gospels:

Matt 28:18-20 “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Mark 16:15 “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”

Luke 24:47-49 “It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ You are witnesses of all these things. “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.””

John 20:21-23 “Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.””

Focusing on the last passage: What does it mean when Jesus says “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you?

What does it mean to be sent like Jesus was?

Let’s play “Him who sent me” Bingo

Here’s the categories to write across the top:

Dependent, God’s Will, God’s Words, God’s Works

I will take us through the book of John to understand what he meant when he said “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

MEGATABLETIME

John 5:30 “I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.”

John 5:36 “But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.”

John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”

John 6:44 “For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.”

John 6:57 “I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me.”

John 7:16 (NLT) So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me.

John 8:25-27 ““Who are you?” they demanded. Jesus replied, “The one I have always claimed to be. I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won’t. For I say only what I have heard from the one who sent me, and he is completely truthful.” But they still didn’t understand that he was talking about his Father.”

John 8:28-30 “So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” Then many who heard him say these things believed in him.”

John 8:42 “Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me.”

John 10:32 “Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?””

John 11:44-45 “And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.”

John 12:49 “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.”

John 14:10 “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.”

John 14:24 “Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.”

John 20:21 “Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.””

After the Mega Table, wrap up with these Principles:

Jesus did nothing on his own

Jesus went out to accomplish the father’s will, not his own

Jesus went out to speak the Father’s words, and not his own

Jesus went out to do the Father’s works, and not his own

Jesus was Dependent on God

Come back to the Great Commission according to John:

John 20:21 “Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.””

For us to be sent as Jesus was sent means that we are to be Dependent on Jesus like Jesus was dependent on God the Father.

Our greatest quality is not:

Work ethic

Charisma

Speaking ability

Influence

Power

Tactics

Beauty

Intelligence

Our most significant quality is dependence on God.

Application: Going Requires Dependence

John 15:1-5 ““I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

Going requires dependence

Dependence looks like constant communication with the Father

Constant Communication with the Father looks like reading the Bible and Prayer

My friend and I always push eachother back to the basics, because we don’g have control over anything else, and because it’s the only way to weather everything else.

So remember Joyfully the words of Christ: “Apart from me you can do nothing!”

How to abide?

Depend on Read the Scripture Daily

Pray