God's Plan for Mansfield

Welcome, Intro, & Thank You

Neal, Jess, Mary Logan & Ellie Ann

Thank you to Search Team, Mansfield Baptist, & Pastor Danny

My prayer is this, that we as believers would align and submit our lives to the Lord for greatest Kingdom advancement.

Matthew 28:16–20 CSB

The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 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, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Talk about the text

Matthew 28:18 CSB

Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Nothing is outside of the control of Jesus.

Believers should live their lives with clarity & confidence in the authority & power of Jesus.

Clarity - ALL means ALL. Jesus is very clear about how much authority has been given to him and the realm in which it has been given to him.

ALL authority (100 %)

Heaven & Earth

No room for doubt.

Confidence -

Knowing, understanding & obeying the Bible is going to build my confidence in Jesus authority & power.

Jesus rose from the dead,

Demons flee, mountains move, chains are broken

Matthew 4:8–10 CSB

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

Because of this I can say what is next…the guy with all authority is about to give you instruction…let us listen.

Matthew 28:19 CSB

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,

Jesus gives us four instructions in this passage...Go, make disciples, baptize them, teach them to obey.

Believers should live with a deep conviction and commitment to the great commission of Jesus.

What convictions do you have in your life?

Don’t know???? Ask your kids, they will tell you.

The life of a believer should reflect a conviction and commitment to the commission.

Horses in a race…the horses are in the stalls ready to go...you fire the gun and the expectation is for the horse to fire out of the stable.

You want the horse to start and run the race with conviction, not passiveness. We need to be committed to the very things Jesus tells us to be committed to.

What does Jesus tell us to be committed to? To live with conviction on?

1. GO - we need to realize that we are “sent people”

Requires action…again we act on what were convicted about

Live on mission

Home, work, church, play

95% of your time is spent away from the church

We have to realize that the instruction to “GO” is a go and tell instruction not a come and see.

Now we want people to come and see but we need to be intentional about going out!

2. Make Disciples

Disciples make disciples…its in the very name.

We are all making disciples of something right

I’m a Florida Gator fan because of my Father.

EVANGELIZE, EQUIP, EMPOWER, & ENCOURAGE (Eph 4:11-13)

3. Baptize

Requires effective evangelism

The people who are getting baptized are new believers.

“Never assume the gospel”

Step of obedience, public testimony, witnessing event

4. Teach to observe

The key hear is to teach to observe…not just teach.

I can teach my kids words and phrases, but I have to be intentional to teach them to observe and put into practice what I am teaching them.

Life on LIfe

Requires - Time, patience, forgiveness, love, & truth

Matthew 28:20 (CSB)

“And remember, I am with you always”

- Another way it may be phrased would be “ALL the days”

I love that Jesus does this…what he has just told the disciples is very weighty. What he has just told them to do, is nearly impossible in their own power and in their own ability.

Believers should live in comfort of the constant presence of Jesus.

It reminds me of something I will do with Mary Logan, there are times when I need her to calm down or when I need her to hear me say something. She may be sitting in my lap with her head looking down…I will have to tell her to look up and look into my eyes.

I feel like what Jesus does here is bring the guys heads up to look into his eyes, so they can see the love, and the compassion Jesus has for them.

He says, “hey, REMEMBER, I am with you always/all the days.”

Matthew 1:23 (CSB)

See, the virgin will become pregnant

and give birth to a son,

and they will name him Immanuel,

which is translated “God is with us.”

Jesus is still with them, and in the same way He reminds them that he is with them, He is with us.

John 16:7 CSB

Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.

My days will not be comfortable. Jesus makes this much clear in his teaching while on Earth. But I will have the comfort of knowing that the one who has overcome the world will be with me all the days.

Where do you go for your comfort?

Job, spouse, bank account?

When things are tough we look to the Lord…but it’s when things are going good that we need to examine where we find our comfort because those are the moments that we can easily slip into a comfort of something in the world.

Remember believer… “HE IS WITH YOU”

THE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING!

Matthew 28:20 (ESV)

“to the end of the age.”

The King is coming!

Jesus the ruler of heaven and hearth will return and it will be a triumphal return.

Believers should live in celebration of the coming of King Jesus.

Does your life reflect the upcoming party?

Who are you inviting to the party? Who have you invited? Who do you need to invite?

I once heard Pastor Tim Dowdy say “We need to be serious about inviting people into relationship with Jesus now because there will be no evangelism in heaven.”

Our lives of celebration should be attractive to an outside world.

We have hope because Christ is our risen King and Heaven is our home.

I believe the great commission to be true, because it is true, it has changed my life. Has it changed yours?

My hope rests in Jesus, not my performance, but in Christ alone who willingly gave his life for me.