Deliver: Part 1

Introduction

Well, good morning and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season…ate some good food, spent much needed time with friends and family…but listen, I hope you used some of those opportunities to share the reason for Christmas…the reason we gather and celebrate.

Listen, I’m excited to be here this morning because over the next three weeks, I get to talk to you about the mission and vision God’s placed on our hearts…I get to discuss some goals we believe He’s calling us to accomplish in the next several years here at First Baptist Church.

And listen, this isn’t the mission or the vision or the goals of your pastor or your leaders…we’re not reinventing the wheel here. Jesus told His disciples almost 2,000 years ago what our mission is, right? And so, our responsibility as shepherds…its to make sure that we’re on track or we’re headed towards the goal Jesus has already set before us, right?

If you remember last year…last January, we walked through Ephesians together…and during the study of that letter, we introduced a new mission and vision statement. And the reason we thought it necessary was because we felt we really wanted to steer us towards what it was Jesus commanded His disciples before He ascended to the Father.

And listen, it can kinda get confusing when it comes to the differences between a mission statement and vision statement. Right? But let me help explain what each of those things are.

A mission statement, its a statement that defines what an organization or a group of people are all about…it’s our aim…our goal in life. It’s what we wanna accomplish over everything else. Meaning, at FBC, our mission statement, it should drive everything we do…our ministries, our mission trips, Sunday morning, our budget, anything, right?

A vision statement’s different…it’s a statement that defines how that organization or group of people are gonna accomplish that mission statement. Meaning, the vision statement shows us how we’re gonna accomplish the mission.

And listen, in the church context…we’re not just some organization…we’re not a business or another entity like we see in our world. We’re a group of broken people that have been brought together through the power and grace of Jesus. And so, really, because of that…what we have to do is understand why it is Jesus brought us together to begin with…what’s His purpose? And guys, what we’ll find as we dig into Scripture…it’s that every church…across every age…we’ve always had the same mission and vision. Now, we might write them out differently…they might have catchy phrases or whatever…but what we’re gonna see…its that the mission and vision of the church is and will always be the same…or at least it should be.

And so, again…as we go through this over the next couple of weeks before we dig into Genesis....this isn’t Pastor Steven’s mission or vision…it’s not our leaders’ mission or vision…even the goals we’ll kind of touch on and look at in Sunday school next week…these are all things that have been commanded to us by Jesus Himself. Now, we’ve done our best to seek God…to make the mission and vision relevant to FBC…to list out some goals that will help us determine whether or not we’ve accomplished what God’s called us too…but nevertheless…everything we present to you....I challenge you, always back it up with the Word of God. You understand what I’m saying? And so, as we walk through this new sermon series....I want you…I want your families…I want you to take this home with you…and I want you to pray over it....I want you to back it up with Scripture…because that’s got to be our foundation…amen?

And so, with that…what’s the mission statement at First Baptist Church? If you have a bulletin, you’ll see it listed out there on the front cover…it’s to be a church without walls, right? And let me clarify…because we’ve had some people ask questions…what’s that mean? Well, first off…being a church without walls…it doesn’t mean we’re an affirming church. Right? We’re not okay with sin....we’re not gonna affirm any kind of sin that’s clearly listed out in Scripture…meaning, we’re not affirming homosexuality or abortion…and as long as we stand on the truths of Scripture…we’ll never affirm those things. Now, we show grace to those that have fallen into sin, just like we all have…but we don’t affirm sin and say it’s right.

Being a church without walls, it means we seek to be a church that gets out of these four walls and gets into the world…all with the purposes of advancing the gospel…all with the purposes of reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We wanna become a church without walls because we recognize people aren’t gonna necessarily come to us searching…just as Jesus did in His ministry, we have to meet people we’re they’re at…and that means we have to get out…we have to see the places God’s placed us in as mission fields. Everyone of us…we have a mission field…and those mission fields, they’re ripe…they’re ready for someone to bring the good news of Jesus. Those are places the church as a whole can’t reach…but we can with you. And so, we’re a church without walls because you’re a part of this church and you allow us to meet people where you’re at…you alone, as individuals…allow us to be this church without walls. We can get into some really dark places…places we could’ve never gotten into before, with you. And so, being a church without walls…it means the only way to accomplish this…its to empower each of you and to help you find your mission field.

And so, how we gonna do that…what’s our vision statement? Well, if you look at the bulletin…we’re gonna deliver the message of salvation to those that need it, we’re gonna disciple born again believers, and we’re gonna deploy them back out to replicate the mission, right? And listen, that’s our purpose over the next three weeks…it’s to show you what each of these three things actually mean…deliver, disciple, deploy. How can we become a church without walls? It’s to teach you what it means to deliver, disciple, and deploy.

And if you pay attention…each of the goals that we’ve set over the next 7 years…that too, it’s in your bulletin…they all cover these three things, right? And I encourage you…next week, we’re gonna look at these goals in more detail…we’re gonna explain them and let you ask some questions…that’ll be during our Sunday school hour next week. But I want you to see how each of those things help us be the church God’s called and commanded us to be. And listen, these goals…these are things we’re gonna focus on over the next 7 years....because when we stand here in 7 years from now…and when we see each of these things accomplished…the only One that we can praise…it’s Jesus. These are some big goals…goals that we can only accomplish through Him. 100 decisions for Christ…150 people on mission…or in KNOT Groups…250 in home groups…$0 in debt....I mean 1 church planted…those are big goals that only Jesus can accomplish through us. But listen, each of those things…they help us deliver, disciple, deploy as we become a church without walls. We do those things…and we’re aligned with what Jesus commanded His disciples.

And so, with that our passage this morning and over the next couple weeks…Matthew 28. If you’ll go ahead and turn with me there. It’s a pretty popular verse…but it’s a verse that lays out the mission of the church. It’s the last words Jesus gives His disciples before He goes to the right hand of the Father.

And listen Danny Akin…he’s the president of my school…Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary…he said this, “Last words are meant to be lasting words, and that means that Jesus’ final command is our first priority: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.”

And so, if you’re there with me…let’s stand together as we read starting in verse 16. It says this, “16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”

Thank you, you can be seated.

Listen, as we dig into this passage over the next several weeks…you’ll notice its a little bit differently than how we typically walk through a verse or a passage. Typically, I believe in an expository preaching method but over the next couple of weeks, it’s gonna be a bit more topical as we look at this verse and several others so that we can understand what it is Jesus wants us to do. And I’ve spent tons of time making sure that everything I use is in context and preached correctly to you but I encourage you to pay attention, write some of these verses down…and study them for yourselves.

And so listen, this morning…our goal is to look at just the first parts of our vision statement…deliver. If you noticed…our sermon series, its titled “Can You See It?” Can you see what God’s doing at FBC? Can you see what God’s gonna accomplish here at our church? Constantly, throughout Scripture…God lays out His vision…He lays out the future and He commands His people to action…He gives them things to keep ‘em on track....to keep their eyes set on Him. And that’s the purpose of this series…to help you see how He’s commanded us to deliver, disciple, deploy…and how those things will allow God to work through us and focus on what He wants to accomplish.

1.) What Do We Deliver?

And so, this first thing…deliver…what’s it mean? What exactly are we supposed to deliver? Well listen, before you can understand exactly what we’re delivering…you have to understand what Jesus is commanding here. This verse, so oftentimes, it’s misused to command us to do something....to go or to baptize or to teach, right? So many times, preachers, they use this verse to encourage us to do those things…and while those things aren’t necessarily unbiblical…that’s not the essence of Jesus’s command here. It’s not His mission for the church. According to the Greek language and the syntax of this verse…make disciples, that’s the only command here. Go is not a command…baptize is not a command…teach is not a command. The only imperative here is to make disciples. And if we were to translate this verse literally as it’s written it would be something like…as you’re going, make disciples…as you’re baptizing, make disciples…as you’re teaching, make disciples…you understand? The emphasis here, its on the disciple making.

And so, the real question here is what’s a disciple? What defines a disciple? Because if you don’t understand that, you certainly aren’t gonna know what it is we deliver.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

And so, what Paul tells us about a disciple…its an individual that’s been adopted by God, formed by God, empowered by God for life and mission. To make it simple…a disciple follows someone, right? And so, the disciples we’re after…the disciples we wanna make…its people that follow after Jesus. The disciples Jesus wants us to make here at FBC, its people that learn to walk in the truths of Christ. That’s why the emphasis is on making disciples as we baptize and as we teach.

And so, taking it back to our vision statement and that first thing we wanna do…deliver…what is it we deliver? Listen, in order to make something…in order to make a disciple, we have to deliver something to them, right? Well, at the end of Mark, speaking about the same events…it records it just a little bit differently....In these verses, Jesus says, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

And so, according to Jesus…in order to make disciples…bringing these two verses together…we have to deliver the gospel to people in order to make disciples. It’s by delivering the gospel that people have the opportunity to believe according to these verses at the end of Mark. And so, what Jesus is saying to His disciples…the gospel is what has to be delivered…the gospel is the crucial piece to this disciple making. The gospel’s the driving force to the work we’re called to.

And so, what’s this mean for us? Well, number one…we have to understand the gospel…we have to understand it as individuals and as a church…We have to understand that the gospel isn’t just John 3:16....its not just that God loves us and sent His Son to die for us…the gospel’s so much more than that…it’s that God created us and He created us perfectly…He created us without blemish…and He created us with the purposes of having relationship with Him. And we broke that…we severed that through our rebellion…through our desire to wanna glorify ourselves. And listen guys because there’s no gospel without the bad parts…because of that truth…because we all have hearts of stone…hearts that are selfish…we separated ourselves from God and that relationship He created…and guys, it brought about our death…it brought about sin and pain and hurt and suffering and disease and all the bad stuff we see today. But the gospel tells us about a God that cared so much for us that He sent His Son to come and to die and to raise again on our behalf…to pay for our sins…to take our punishment....the gospel teaches us that this Son, Jesus, He ascended to the right hand of the Father and He prepares a place for us even now to spend eternity with Him…and listen, the gospel teaches us that’s He’s coming back for His church…that He will judge this world…that He will bring about restoration. Guys, the gospel is the whole counsel of God’s Word. It’s Genesis to Revelation…It’s the easy parts to read…its the hard parts…its the parts telling us about God’s nature…its the scary parts…its the gracious parts. You understand? The gospel is the whole counsel of God’s Word…and every word that’s been given to us by the Spirit of God was given for a purpose…for us to understand this God and to understand His purpose.

That’s what Paul writes in 2 Timothy, “16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Notice he says, “that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.” How’s he do that…how’s he become complete and equipped? Through the whole counsel of God’s Word. That’s the gospel. The Bible is the gospel…it’s a collection of books, inspired by God, all with the purposes of telling the story of Jesus.

And so, what’s that mean for us? It means that in every thing we do at FBC…we have to teach the whole counsel of God’s Word. It means in kid’s club....we seek to teach the whole counsel of God’s Word…teaching kids the good and bad parts of the gospel…in means in youth group…we’re gonna seek to teach the whole counsel of God’s Word....it means in Sunday school and in worship service…we’re gonna seek to teach whole counsel of God’s Word…It means in home groups and KNOT groups…we’re gonna seek to teach the whole counsel of God’s Word…even the parts that are hard to understand…we’re not skimming over difficult parts of the text…we’re not skipping things because there’s disagreements. We have to strive to teach and understand the whole counsel of God’s Word…because if we’re gonna make disciples…we have to know what we’re called to deliver in order to make that happen.

That’s why in the next 7 years…if you look at those goals in your bulletin…we believe God wants us to get more people involved in home groups and KNOT groups....it’s in those places we’re gonna push people to dig into God’s Word. And we believe as people dig into it…and as we strive to teach the whole counsel of Scripture…we’re gonna see God reach those 100 people....and we’re gonna see it because people at FBC are more confident in delivering the whole counsel of God’s Word…you’re gonna hopefully be more confident in delivering the gospel to those around you.

And so guys, we have to get serious about what it is we’re called to deliver. We have to get serious about the gospel message and how we deliver here at FBC and in our personal lives. That’s the means to disciple making.

2.) Why Do We Deliver?

And so, that’s what we deliver…but why do we deliver? Why do we take the gospel to a broken world?

Listen guys, because it goes beyond just Him commanding us to do it. Of course, we do it because He told us too but we do it for much more than that. We do it because we know the nature of God…we know that He works through His words. It’s His words that give us special revelation about Himself. In the beginning, God created all there was with words. John, he calls Jesus the Word…and he says that the Word became flesh. Matthew 4:17, Jesus came to preach. Luke 4:18, the Spirit came upon Jesus so that He could preach. When God works…whatever good He means to do…He does most of that through Spirit-induced words.

And guys, that’s why Scripture’s so important to us today…That’s why our foundation’s built on the Bible…because it’s God’s spoken word to us…and it’s special…its reveals this God to us…it allows us to know Him. It allows us to follow Him…It allows us to be shaped and conformed to Him rather than this world. And guys, His Spirit…He works through His Word. It’s why, we’re pushing so hard to get you in the Bible…to follow a reading plan. As you hear the Word of God, it changes you…it grows you…His Word never comes back void…According to Hebrews 4:12, “12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Guys, that’s why deliver…to make Him known…because we know how God works. We know that its His Word that saturates the person’s heart…Remember it was Isaiah that said God’s Word either rains or it snows on a person’s heart.

Listen, turn with me to the book of Isaiah chapter 55. Look at verse 10 with me. We’ve looked at this before but It says, “10 “For as the rain and the snow.” Look at that again…it says…rain and snow. Ultimately those two things, they do the same thing to the earth, right? They water the earth. Now they don’t do it the same way. When it rains, the earth’s immediately wet…when it snows sometimes the water, the moisture, it stays as snow… sometimes for days, or weeks, or in some places like here…for months, right? All before the sun melts it and it waters the earth. But look at what it says, “For the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” Ultimately the rain and the snow, they do that right? But look what he says…11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Listen guys, I so believe that…it’s what gives me confidence when I stand up here every Sunday morning and open the Word of God. I believe that promise. But here’s what I’m telling you….some Sunday’s….IT FEELS LIKE RAIN!!!! We all leave wet! We’ve felt the Word of God…we felt it come alive in our hearts and we leave changed…we leave impacted. I mean we’re walking out of here with our rain boots on. And listen guys, that’s why I continue to preach, week in and week out…because I know the Word of God, it impacts lives. But then there’s other Sunday’s it ain’t rain…and I feel that toooo. It’s cold in here. It’s frozen…people are falling asleep…they’re checking their watches. And listen, when I first started in my preaching ministry…my emotions, they were effected by that. But guys, now that I understand the Word of God…here’s what I know…sometimes what’s happening on Sunday is God snowing in your life…and it’s gonna be Wednesday at work, in the middle of a crisis…when the Spirit of God begins to melt that snow and the Word of God begins to rain in your heart. And here’s my point…it doesn’t matter if it rains or snows on Sunday, the Word of God is always gonna do what He promised it’d do…it’ll always do what He sent His Word to do and it’ll never come back empty.

And so, that’s why we deliver…yes people are gonna reject it…yes people might not respond to it the way we had hoped…but guess what my God says? His Word will never come back void. We deliver because we know God works through His Word and we know that God’ll work if we’re obedient…and so the results don’t really matter…we deliver because we know lives’ll be changed through the Word of God. And so, we deliver!

3.) How Do We Deliver?

And so, we know what to deliver…why we deliver…but how do we deliver? Look at our passage again…specifically verse 19. It says, “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.”

So Jesus says, “Go, make disciples.” And He gives two ways we do that…first by teaching…and then through His power.

Look, this is simple…we make disciples by teaching people all that He’s commanded, right? And so, what’s that? It’s Scripture…its teaching the whole counsel of God’s Word. It’s walking people through the Bible…Genesis to Revelation. It’s making Him known by using the words He’s given us. And because of that, we have to dive into it…we have to know it…we have to study it…we have to constantly be in saturating our minds and hearts with these words. We deliver the gospel by the means of the Bible. And so, if we’re gonna be a church that delivers this truth…we have to be a church that dives into this truth. There’s a ton of people that wanna argue theology, but there’s a lot less people that wanna get into His Word.

I encourage you…if you don’t have one already…a reading plan…start walking through the Bible with us…use the reading plan we’ve put out…walk through the Bible using the plan we have here at FBC. And listen, start meeting with someone else to talk about what you’re reading.

But listen, Jesus also says, “I’m with you always, to the end of the age.” As a believer…what really separates us from the rest of the world, it’s the power of Christ…its the fact that God Himself, He dwells with us…inside of us…and its His power that not only changes us…or sanctifies us…but it gives us the ability to do some pretty remarkable things, right? One of them…we’re able to take the gospel out to a lost world and through His power, lives are changed. The real power behind the message we deliver, it’s found in Jesus. Jesus does all the changing.

That’s why in Acts 11, after the church had been persecuted and shattered…the Christians they start taking the gospel out…they start sharing the good news of Jesus with Gentiles…but notice who does the changing?…it says in that passage, “And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great many turned to the Lord.” The Lord was with them…and because of that power…because of Him…lives were changed. And so, when it comes to the how we deliver…we can never forget, its through the power of Christ in us…because He’s with us to the end of the age.

Closing

Guys, as we close this morning, let me bring it back to our sermon series title…can you see it? Can you see what God’s doing here at FBC? Better yet, can you see what God wants to accomplish in your own life? Someone asked me a few weeks ago, “Pastor Steven, how do you know what God wants? How can you be so sure what God wants us to to do in the future?” Well, first off…its through His Word. You’d be amazed at what you learn about God and His plans if you’d just dig into consistently…but secondly, if you understand His mission and vision revolving around making disciples…when you align your heart with His…when you begin caring about making disciples and advancing His kingdom all for His glory…I promise, everything else kind of falls into place. Guys, God’s not a God of confusion…God doesn’t wanna hide His plans from us. We just have to align ourselves with Him…we have to get through our own selfishness and become burdened for the people around us. When we do that, when we begin caring about delivering the gospel and discipling people, that’s when it starts making sense to us. Our mission and vision…these goals that we’ve laid out…all of ‘em, they help us accomplish what Jesus commanded. All of em help us to deliver the gospel and disciple those we’re able to reach.

Guys, can you see it? Can you see what God wants to accomplish?

Listen, as you think about that, would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?

Guys, can I ask you…what do you care the most about right now? What drives you? What gets you out of bed? Listen, as a believer, Jesus gave us a mission…and He’s told us that our motivation, it should be to make disciples. We should wake up everyday burdened for the people around us…and with excitement at the opportunities we have to do that.

Listen, 18 months ago, I asked you to write some names on a sticky note and pin it to the cross, right? Did you do anything else with that? Have you been trying to deliver truth to those people you wrote down? Or listen, some of you weren’t here for that…how are you reaching the people around you in the places God has you? Are you motivated to do that? Because that’s your mission.

And listen, this morning…what some of you need to do during our invitation time…some of you need to ask God to reorient your hearts…to burden your hearts for those people…to give you the courage to stand up and speak truth…to deliver the gospel to those that need it. Some of you, you need to ask God to help you get through that selfishness…to help you take advantage of the opportunities He gives you…to take advantage of some of the things we’re even doing here at FBC…maybe its a mission trip or whatever…I don’t know but we have to get serious about His mission. And so listen, I challenge you…at the start of 2023…start with His Word…start diving into it.

Or listen, maybe you’re here and what you need most is Jesus this morning. Maybe you’ve never heard the gospel…or maybe you’ve never responded to the gospel. Guys, the fact that you’re here with us this morning…the fact that you have breath in your lungs, its grace and its because God’s not finished with you. He has a plan for you but you’ll never understand it…you’ll never experience it if you never turn to Him. Listen, the Bible tells us that God created everything and that when he did that, everything was good and perfect…but that we rebelled. We wanted things our way. And that rebellion, that sin, it divided us from God…and because of that divide, we brought death and punishment on ourselves. But God sent His Son, Jesus, to restore us. He lived a life we couldn’t…a perfect life…and He went to a cross where He wore the weight of our sin…He took on our punishment…and He died…experiencing the death made for you and for me. He was our sacrifice…and all of God’s wrath, it was poured out on Him so that we wouldn’t have to experience that at the judgement seat of Christ. And the Bible says that He rose three days later to prove to us that He was exactly who He says He was. And it says when we repent and believe. When we ask for forgiveness and turn to Him…when we believe He is the Son of God and that He did those things, He saves us. He restores us. He gives us His Spirit…He changes us. Guys, repent…believe…because its the greatest decision you’ll ever make.

Listen, whatever it is this morning…would you respond to the Spirit of God? These steps, they’re open…this is your time, just between you and God. And listen, as you do that…the deacons and I, we’re gonna prepare the Lord’s Supper. And so, you take this time and I’ll close us in just a moment.

[Prayer]

Listen, this morning…we wanna do something just a little bit different. We’re gonna take the Lord’s Supper together, but we’re gonna do it in family units. And so, you come as you’re ready. We’ll have two stations set up this morning. And so, you and you’re family, you’ll come to a deacon at the front here…they’re gonna pray with you…and then you’ll come to either myself or Josh and we’ll administer the Lord’s Supper. When you’re done…that’s it, you can leave. Alright? And so listen, you take as much time as you need and then you come as you’re ready.

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 says, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [Pray for the bread – eat the bread]

Continuing in 1 Corinthians 11, verses 25 through 26 say, “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” [Pray for the juice – drink juice]