Here, There, and Everywhere
Notes
Transcript
We have a mission
We have a mission
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
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.”
Pastor Mark has spring boarded from that verse to get us to “here, there, and everywhere” as a slogan that helps us understand our purpose. In Acts the here - Jerusalem - was the city they were in. Judea and Samaria were the two countries that made up what the original whole country of Israel covered, and the ends of the earth covers everywhere else.
In our constitution we defined our purpose as a church in Article 4. That purpose has two parts, a mission and a vision. The mission you’ve heard in some form or another every Sunday morning and it’s on our screens, it’s the Gather Grow Give and Go. It says...
IV. Purpose
a. Mission
At Crossroads Church Tell City we strive to Gather together through worship, Grow the saints with the Scriptures for God-centered relationships and ministry to others, Give from our resources, and Go to the world with the Gospel message.
This mission is the “what we are doing” part of purpose. Now our vision is the desired result of our mission being lived out for God.
b. Vision
It is the vision of Crossroads Church Tell City to create a community of Christ followers who value Jesus above all things and live daily with purpose for Him.
When you read that the first thought is that we’re talking about creating a community here in this church. That’s certainly true but it’s not the only place we want the community of Christ followers to thrive. We want that community to grow not just here, but out there, and everywhere.
In our mission as a church we build up with each G. First we gather together. We think it’s vitally important that followers of Christ gather together to worship and encourage one another. To that end the author of Hebrews encourages us in chapter ten verses 23-25
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
When gathered we grow together in worship and by reading and studying scripture. We know that our faith grows in this process because Paul tells us in
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
And Hebrews 11:6 follows saying
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
In response to a growing faith we give from our resources; Time, talent, and treasure as some like to say. This makes sure things function in a very practical way. Each of those three parts of Giving have strong encouragement in the Word.
Time:
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Talent:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Treasure:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
So we give to build God’s kingdom.
Ultimately we Go to share the Gospel message. All of our mission statement leads to the Go. It starts here in all of the comfortable and easy places, but it Goes out there, and it Goes everywhere.
So first we all need to understand the Gospel if we are to go to the world with it. A great short summary is given to us in...
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
The Gospel is the story of Jesus. It is the historical reality of what Christ has done on the cross for us. We need to tell people about that event that changed the world. How do we do that? It’s simple but often very hard. Just tell people about the story of Jesus.
For one young man, whose father was a deacon at the church, it started with a very hard reality. He grew up wealthy and knowing about Jesus but had not trusted in the Lord. Soon though, he had reason to trust and cling to hope. Now, I should also mention he lived long ago. In fact it was about 1,600 years ago when one morning at the age of 16 he was kidnapped by raiders from the sea and made a slave. His name was Maewyn Succat though he changed his name later in life. He lived on the edge of the Roman Empire in Britannia… Did anyone this week think about the fall of the Roman Republic by chance? (expecting none) Why this week? Do you recall the phrase “beware the ides of March” that’s a saying about the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15th, 44BC a pivotal point during the fall of the republic. Only a short time later after civil war does the empire begin with Caesar Augustus in 27BC. So this week that might have been something you thought about but more likely you were thinking of a holiday we had. No, I don’t mean Pi day 3.14 it was good though we had several pies at our house I hope you had some at yours. That’s not the holiday you might have thought of I’d guess and no, I don’t mean my birthday on the 16th… or Konnor’s and Lenox’s birthday yesterday, did we have anymore birthdays this week? Awesome week... Okay well there was another holiday but before we get to that I want to jump back to the story of this boy Maewyn Succat. He wrote down an account of things that we still have. I’ll read to you from the first paragraph of his story titled Confession.
My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest, who lived at Bannavem Taburniae. His home was near there, and that is where I was taken prisoner. I was about sixteen at the time. At that time, I did not know the true God. I was taken into captivity in Ireland, along with thousands of others.
We celebrate on March 17th the life of this Maewyn Succat who changed his name to Patrick when he entered the ministry of the church. What is there to celebrate about his life? Well here’s where we pickup the story again. He was kidnapped by raiders from Ireland that had come across the sea and sold into slavery. After about six years of captivity as a slave herdsman with little food and clothing he had a dream. In this dream he saw a boat that was prepared and ready to take him. He fled to the coast and found a ship that did eventually take him home. Several years after his return home he had a dream where the people of Ireland were saying “We beg you, holy boy, to come and walk again among us.” He was deeply touched by this dream and eventually did return to Ireland.
He was quite unsure of himself because he did not have a great education, he wasn’t prepared in all the best knowledge, or trained with the best evangelism techniques, but he still went. In Ireland he did his best to treat everyone fairly and proclaimed the Gospel. He understood at any day while there he might be killed, he was held prisoner many times but always freed to continue on. In fact I think he says he’s bought himself back 10 times over from judgments against him in Ireland.
Patrick’s story reminds me of the encouragement that Paul had for Timothy in
2 Timothy 4:2a (ESV)
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;
For Patrick who went to a pagan country that still had sacrifices and rituals with druids, gods and goddesses all around there wasn’t a Sunday morning service that he waited for to tell someone about Jesus. There wasn’t “the appropriate time to talk about religion” there was only the moment he was in. Jesus calls to us and says in...
And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
You cannot fish by just standing on the shore. You need to cast in a line. You cannot proclaim the gospel without words. You can spoil your witness through sinful living but you cannot present the gospel by righteous action alone. It is vitally important that your behaviour does not make your words sound false. If we tell people about the Love of God as seen in...
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
but then we live a life that doesn’t exhibit love for everyone around us they’ll despise our words about love. We aren’t perfect and we will likely fail to love everyone around us but we can repent. We can do this radical thing and apologize to people when we wrong them. It’s something we make our kids do but how often do we do it?
We can be generous and full of grace. On Patrick’s journey home they had been in the wilderness for 28 days and run out of food and the pagans, who had taken him on to bring him home, looked at him and asked what about this Christian God that Patrick said was so powerful? He was already telling people about Christ even while fleeing his slavery. They asked couldn’t he pray for food so they wouldn’t all starve, with no humans anywhere to be found they had no other hope. He prayed and told them to turn to faith in God for nothing is impossible for Him. A herd of pigs appeared in their way and they were full from that day on until they finally found people on the same day they ran out of food. Our God is a generous God and we should be a generous people.
Do you see yourself as a fisher of men? Are you telling yourself you’re not educated enough, you don’t know what to say, you don’t know how to tell people about Jesus? Patrick had the same doubts. He wasn’t sure he could do what God was asking but God equipped Him to accomplish God’s mission. Moses had the same doubts. Exo 4:10
But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
Even the prophet Jeremiah said Jer 1:6
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”
Yet the Lord knows how to equip the saints for the work he has appointed them to do. Jer 1:7-10
But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
You see all of us have these doubts but we need to follow the Lord and be fishers of men. It’s even said of the Apostle Paul in
For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”
This is Paul recounting what others say of him! Here’s a list that continues on of the people who had doubts in the Bible yet God used them mightily for His purpose. Aaron, Gideon, Ezekiel, Amos, Isaiah, Zechariah, Peter, and Thomas are among them. An even longer list could be made but you get the point here. All of us have the same doubts. But like Patrick, Moses, and Paul were equipped, likewise God equips His people for their ministry. One ministry we all share is telling the Gospel to others. We can tell the story of Jesus in the simplest way mentioning his death burial and resurrection. Or we might have a more narrative means that connects His story to the person we’re talking to. The more we are gathered together the more we are able to encourage and one another and grow in our faith. We give our time, talent and treasure to build our community of believers here, there, and everywhere. We go and tell others about the gospel here, there and everywhere.
This morning you might be someone who’s heard this story of Jesus and realized you need to respond to that reality by submitting yourself to God. Or you might be encouraged to gather with us more intentionally by becoming a member of the church, your desire to grow may be pulling at you to come to more than the Sunday morning service to join us in Sunday school, or the women’s group, or wednesday night bible study. You might be hearing the call to give to the church some of your time, talents, or treasure. The message this morning may have stirred in your heart the deep desire to go and tell people about the story of Jesus. We want to pray over you and encourage you and come along side of you as we all Gather Grow Give and Go together. I’ll invite the praise team to come up for a song of response and the Elders will come up while we pray and you can come pray with the Elders about anything on your heart. You’re also welcome to just come to the altar and kneel before the Lord in prayer.
Let’s Pray