La Gran Comisión
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· 45 viewsmessage on The Great Commission to be delivered to the youth in Peru
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THE GREAT COMMISSION:
Feb 4, 2023 - Cusco, Peru
Youth Conference
What’s up gang?!
My name is Chris Kroger
I’m the pastor of Roots Church in Monument, CO.
So blessed to be here with you.
We have been praying for you, your pastor and his family, this conference.
Praying for your church
Praying for your country
Praying for God’s calling upon your life
And I pray that you know this.
That God has a plan and a purpose, and a calling upon your lives.
If you are IN CHRIST. You have been born again.
Born of the Spirit. Born of God.
By faith.
God has placed you where He’s placed you
The time, the space, the place
The boundaries of your dwelling
Everything in your life
So, that you would cry out to Him.
Receive Him by faith.
Finding your true identity.
And step into your purpose, and your calling God.
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being //Acts 17:26-28
26 De un solo hombre hizo a todo el género humano, para que habiten sobre la faz de la tierra, y les ha prefijado sus tiempos precisos y sus límites para vivir, 27 a fin de que busquen a Dios, y puedan encontrarlo, aunque sea a tientas. Pero lo cierto es que él no está lejos de cada uno de nosotros, 28 porque en él vivimos, y nos movemos, y somos. Ya algunos poetas entre ustedes lo han dicho: “Porque somos linaje suyo.”
This is true for you. This is true for me.
This is true for all of mankind. True for the entire world.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. // John 3:16-19
16 »Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree no se pierda, sino que tenga vida eterna. 17 Porque Dios no envió a su Hijo al mundo para condenar al mundo, sino para que el mundo sea salvo por él. 18 El que en él cree, no es condenado; pero el que no cree, ya ha sido condenado, porque no ha creído en el nombre del unigénito Hijo de Dios. 19 Y ésta es la condenación: que la luz vino al mundo, pero los hombres amaron más las tinieblas que la luz, porque sus obras eran malas.
God didn’t come to condemn you.
God came to save you.
God didn’t come to condemn the world.
But that the world through Him might be saved.
INCREDIBLE!
God’s heart that none should perish.
Everything in our lives, pre-appointed, everything in our lives pre-determined
All lining up, that we would seek the Lord, in the hope that we might grope for Him and find Him
For He is not far from each us
This is the glorious gospel.
If we strip it all away…
God’s Word tells us we have been created in God’s image and that our purpose, is to glorify Him
Everyone who is called by My name,
Whom I have created for My glory;
I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” // Isaiah 43:7 (READ)
Created BY GOD & Created FOR GOD.
“As born again believers in Jesus Christ, our purpose is “To know Christ and make Him known.”
So, now what?!
What does this look like?
I want to look at Mathew 28:16-20
And allow the Lord to speak to us about this.
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. // Matthew 28:16-20
16 Pero los once discípulos se fueron a Galilea, al monte que Jesús les había señalado, 17 y cuando lo vieron, lo adoraron. Pero algunos dudaban. 18 Jesús se acercó y les dijo: «Toda autoridad me ha sido dada en el cielo y en la tierra. 19 Por tanto, vayan y hagan discípulos en todas las naciones, y bautícenlos en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo. 20 Enséñenles a cumplir todas las cosas que les he mandado. Y yo estaré con ustedes todos los días, hasta el fin del mundo.» Amén.
The Great Commission
Commission: an instruction, command, or duty given to a person or group of people.
The Great Command of Jesus
To you and I as Christians
Those of us in Christ, born again, born of God
By faith. For by grace you have been saved through faith.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; // Mathew 28:19-20 (READ)
Quite a task. Daunting. Impossible.
But, the courage that propels me
The courage that propels us in this endeavor
Is not rooted in OUR wisdom or OUR experience
But in the presence, power, wisdom, and grace of our redeemer
Of all the ways God could have chosen to reach the world for Christ.
God in His perfect wisdom and sovereignty
Chose you and me
His church
& The courage that propels us in this endeavor
Is not rooted in OUR wisdom, OUR knowledge, or OUR experience
But in the presence, power, wisdom, and grace of Jesus.
Our confidence, our hope, and our motivation
Jesus, His Word, and His Spirit
His promise to us as His sons and daughters.
The disciples had been through a whirlwind of unimaginable things
The late-night arrest of their Messiah in Gethsemane
The false trial of Jesus and His torture
The public crucifixion of their friend, rabbi, teacher, Messiah
The sight of His empty tomb and His post-resurrection appearances
Try to put yourself in their place
Try to imagine their confusion
The internal debates
The fear and the doubt and the wonder of the future
Imagine the joy of His appearances after His resurrection
Crashing against the struggles of belief that would accompany the miracles and the mystery
Consider what happens next…
In the context of what the disciples were dealing with emotionally and spiritually
Jesus, knowing that there were both doubt and belief in the room
Was about to commission this group of fearful believers
To carry the gospel of resurrection life to the world
Yes, He would commission these men at this earth-shattering moment
I likely would have thought…
They’re not ready, it’s too soon
They need to know so much more
They need to come to a deeper understanding of what just happened
They need time to mature
But in the middle of the most amazing, confusing
and gloriously mind-bending moment in history
Jesus did not hesitate…He simply said… “GO.”
I love the words that follow
Because they tell us why Jesus was confident to call these men, at that moment
For this worldwide gospel mission
He was confident not because of what was in them and what He knew that they would do
He was confident because He knew what was in Himself and what He would do
So He says…
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” - Jesus (Mathew 28:18) (READ)
What Jesus is saying to these men
What Jesus is saying to YOU and ME
Is that there is…
NO situation, NO location, NO people, NO community, NO difficulty
Outside of His sovereign rule and reach.
There is no situation, no location, no people, no community, no challenge outside His heart and charge.
Jesus wanted them and US (you and me) to understand…
That everything under heaven and on earth is under His command
BUT JESUS HAD MORE TO SAY…
He then looked at the room of men
Filled with a mixture of doubt and faith in their hearts and said…
“ and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” - Jesus (Mathew 28:20) (READ)
These words are much deeper than saying “I’ll be there for you.”
Jesus is taking one of the names of God: “I AM”
JESUS SAYS…
“Know that wherever you go, the I AM, will be with you”
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
The one whom all the covenant promises rest
The one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever
The one who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end
JESUS SAYS…
“ I AM, the I AM, and I would never think of sending you without going with you in power, and in glory, in wisdom, and in grace.”
The disciples would find all they needed for what they were being commissioned to do
In the power, presence, and grace of the one sending them.
AND THE SAME IS TRUE OF YOU AND I !!!
Do we understand this?
Do you and I believe this?
Do you and I know, that we know, that we know?
We live and move and have our being, in Him.
And we step out in the great commission, the great command of Jesus in Him and with Him
Always.
This is the glorious truth and the glorious hope that we have church.
Because of the completeness of Christ’s authority
The inescapability of His presence
And the surety of His promises
We don’t have to be afraid
We do not do this in our own power or strength brothers and sisters
We are not left to our own small bag of personal gifts, talents, and resources
Because of Jesus, our potential is great
Because of Jesus, the outcome is guaranteed
Change is possible
Life will come
His church will be built
His Kingdom will come.
And so it is the same gospel of His presence, power, and grace
That gives me courage, hope, and great confidence
As we step out into this great commission, this great charge of our Lord and King, Jesus.
—————
Marks account says…
“Go in to all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” – Mark 16:15 (READ)
GO AND PREACH! – Evangelism.
This is not a bad word. It’s actually a command to each of us, directly from Jesus Himself.
Evangelism isn’t and shouldn’t be weird, or aggressive, or painful, or hurtful
It should simply be a natural extension of ourselves as professing Christians
The Gospel is GOOD NEWS!
The great theologian, C.H. Spurgeon said…
“As soon as a man has found Christ, he begins to find others.” - Charles Spurgeon
How could we not? If we believe what we say we believe? If we have met Jesus personally?
The one true living God!
How could we not tell everyone we know?
“Go in to all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”
May seem daunting, but we have to remember… We serve a BIG GOD!
When our God is small, the world looks big.
But when our God is BIG, the world looks small! (& gang, we serve a big God)
The one true living God over all of creation.
Think for a moment about the disciples.
No running water, No electricity, No cars, No printing press, No modern medicine, No $$$, No internet
The list goes on… And this call to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Started with them. (Talk about daunting)
How on earth did the gospel go forth from these faithful men
Without 21st century technology and advancements?
It’s really quite simple…One person at a time!
Don’t despise small beginnings gang! (Zech. 4:10)
This is our entire story line!
By faith, by the Power of the Gospel, and by the Power of the Holy Spirit!
Remember church.
God doesn’t command us to things without also enabling us to accomplish those things He calls us to.
CHURCH…The world needs Jesus. He is the remedy.
What the world needs is an army of soldiers for Christ
To stand up and walk in Power and Spirit, Love and obedience…
And to believe that not only is He God,
But that He can fulfill every promise He has ever made. This is walking by faith.
This is also the only way of accomplishing His heart of…
“reaching every creature with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
First and foremost, in our families and homes
In our schools and communities
Think about the sphere of influence the Lord has given each of us
Remember, none of that is accidental
Family. --- Friends. Co-workers. Where do we shop, bank, eat, etc…
Evangelism is relational. & It’s no accident who is in your life and who you will come in to contact with
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Mathew 28:19 (READ)
Vine's Expository Dictionary defines a disciple as "a learner"
“indicating thought, accompanied by endeavor”
The term Discipleship means... “to make a disciple, to teach, to instruct”
The principle of discipleship, is beautifully simple really…
One person training another, instead of one person being the teacher of all.
It’s the reason why we continue to see the church grow.
It’s integral to the Gospel and Integral to the Church
Every person born into God’s Family is to multiply. (I’ll say that again.)
WHENEVER YOU FIND A CHRISTIAN WHO IS NOT LEADING MEN & WOMEN TO JESUS
THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG!
Sadly, we see this all too often in the church at large.
Even those of us that have been saved for years, decades even.
And yet they are still so immature, that they are incapable of spiritual reproduction.
CHURCH! This shouldn’t be so.
Sadly, this describes far too many Christians today
Mathew 13:23 – The Parable of The Sower Explained
23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”// Mathew 13:23 (READ)
The 4th soil is the good soil, the desired soil, the soil that bears fruit!
Fruitfulness is the sign of a mature Christian
Spiritual fruit in our lives yes, but these verses also speak of the fruit of (Multiplication)
Jesus quotes Isaiah in Mathew 13 as He explains His use of Parables.
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’ // Matthew 13:13-16
13 Por eso les hablo por parábolas: porque viendo no ven, y oyendo no oyen, ni entienden. 14 De manera que en ellos se cumple la profecía de Isaías, que dijo: “Ustedes oirán con sus oídos, pero no entenderán; y verán con sus ojos, pero no percibirán. 15 Porque el corazón de este pueblo se ha endurecido; con dificultad oyen con los oídos, y han cerrado sus ojos; no sea que con sus ojos vean, y con sus oídos oigan, y con su corazón entiendan Y se vuelvan a mí, Y yo los sane.” 16 Pero dichosos los ojos de ustedes, porque ven; y los oídos de ustedes, porque oyen.
Church do WE hear the Word and understand?
Do we see? Do we hear? Do we understand?
Or have our hearts grown dull?
The reality is discipleship takes time.
It takes trust. It takes relationship.
Christianity itself is a relationship with Jesus.
So, it makes sense that evangelism and discipleship would be relational.
Discipleship isn’t hurried. It’s not a 30-minute challenge in a church service.
It’s the ongoing and never ending journey we’ve all been called to as Children of God.
& It starts with one.
There must be ONE before there can be TWO.
There must be 2 before there can be 50.
There must be 50 before there can be 500.
500 before God can take a city.
But it starts with one.
& IT’S NOT BASED ON OUR ABILITY, BUT ON GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
IT’S NOT ABOUT HOW MUCH WE KNOW
IT’S ABOUT WHO WE KNOW AND HOW DESPERATE WE ARE FOR OTHERS TO KNOW HIM
We have to remember, that when we sow the seed of God, we will get supernatural results
It’s God who is responsible for the increase!
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
// 1 Corinthians 3: 6-7 (READ)
What great encouragement!
1st Corinthians 3:9 – Paul goes on to explain that we are God’s fellow workers.
We are CO-LABORERS WITH CHRIST!
How incredible to think that God would invite us into this, His plan of redemption!
“Go in to all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” – Mark 16:15
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” // Mathew 28:19
& THE REALITY IS… WE HAVE AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE TO ACCOMPLISH OUR TASK
THIS BRINGS US TO MY LAST POINT
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” // Acts 1:8
These last words that Jesus spoke in Acts 1
Are clearly meant to be words to guide us as His disciples
In the time between his Ascension to Heaven and his return for us His Church
(The time period that we are in right now.)
AND… I would say this is some pretty IMPORTANT INFORMATION GANG!
The Lord continues TODAY
to work through the lives of those who have dedicated themselves to be instruments of God. To be baptized by, filled with, and led by His Holy Spirit.
As we continue the ministry of Jesus in the world today.
BEGAN.
Acts 1:1 “all that Jesus began both to do and teach”
The word “began” suggests that the work of Christ is not over.
The FINISHED work of Jesus was on the cross.
The UNFINISHED work of Jesus continues through the new generation.
This one we read about in the NT
And then the next.
And then the next.
And then the next.
All the way down the line to US!
Then you and I become those through whom the Holy Spirit fills, indwells, and empowers.
We are those that the Holy Spirit now guides in all truth & declares the truth to
Teaching us all things and declaring all things to us “As we go therefore and make disciples”
Witness: in Acts 1:8 is the Greek word “Martys” (mar-toos)
Our English definition for Witness: means to “give or serve as evidence of; or to “testify to.”
It’s where we get our English word martyr - Those who have died for their faith.
I think of it as… Someone who LIVES for their faith and is WILLING to die for their faith
Witness: Someone who is telling someone else what they’ve experienced, seen, or heard.
JESUS ALSO PROVIDES AN OUTLINE FOR US
Acts 1:8
“ and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We see the ever-growing witness of Jesus through us, His church
& This is the outline we see played out through The Book of Acts
ACTS
1-7 The Gospel Witness going forth to Jerusalem
8-9 The Gospel Witness going forth to Judea and Samaria
10-28 The Gospel Witness going forth to the ends of the earth (at the time, Rome)
PERSONAL APPLICATION
CUSCO.
This is your Jerusalem.
Your starting point.
Your families, friends, and neighbors.
Your community.
Your surrounding communities.
To the ends of the earth.
But it starts here.
It starts with you. and it starts with one.
Church --- We have a mission and We have an unfair advantage.
Jesus says. - “We will receive power . . . and we will be His witnesses."
We will no longer merely be advocates.
But filled with the HS
You & I will speak with the unwavering assurance of one who has tasted and knows the reality so personally and so powerfully that all doubt is gone.
We move from being an advocate of Christianity to being a witness of the living Christ.
We move from simply deducing Christian truths
To proclaiming them boldly as personal, experienced realities.
This is the mission of every Christian, as we see in the scriptures.
This is how God has chosen to spread the gospel to the entire world.
Through us His church!
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? // Romans 10:14-15
14 Ahora bien, ¿cómo invocarán a aquel en el cual no han creído? ¿Y cómo creerán en aquel de quien no han oído? ¿Y cómo oirán si no hay quien les predique? 15 ¿Y cómo predicarán si no son enviados? Como está escrito: «¡Cuán hermosa es la llegada de los que anuncian la paz, de los que anuncian buenas nuevas!»
God is a sending God
And we are to be a going people
God is sending you and me
God is sending us
May our hearts be as the Prophet Isaiah’s
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Mathew 28:19)
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
This is God’s plan.
This is how He has chosen to spread the gospel to the entire world.
YOU AND ME! The church!
AMEN?
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:20-21
20 Y a Aquel que es poderoso para hacer que todas las cosas excedan a lo que pedimos o entendemos, según el poder que actúa en nosotros, 21 a él sea dada la gloria en la iglesia en Cristo Jesús por todas las generaciones, por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.
LET’S PRAY
God, we are desperate to see as many people as possible come to know Jesus!
We pray that you would give us your heart and your vision for the lost.
That you would use us in-spite of us. That we would realize that as we walk out these doors
Every day, THIS IS OUR MISSION FIELD.
