Missio Dei

Intro

Welcome to our summer series for Collide, Go!, where we talk about what God’s mission is and how we are a part of it.

Welcome all the 6th graders. Introduce myself.

Do you guys know what a mission is?

This is your mission if you choose to accept it.

What are missions?

The things you do to accomplish the mission.

Today we are going to try and define, what the mission is, and introduce how we are to accomplish that mission.

In this series, we will be talking about different parts of the Great Commission throughout the summer and will have a couple fun things sown in throughout. We will have a story from a missionary some weeks. This week we will have one from one of our CVC missionaries in Indonesia. We will have some of our high schoolers share about their experience with missions before and after they come back from their trip to Panama. We will also have some guest speakers that will help walk us through what it means to be a part of God’s mission.

The Problem

Last week we wrapped up the New City Catechism

EXPLAIN NCC FOR 6TH GRADERS

Pastor Joe answered a really important question about eternity and laid out 2 realities for us.

What will the Lake of Fire be Like?

Eternal torment

2. Separated from God - with the devil

The new heavens and new earth be like?

New bodies

All those who trust Jesus to be the leader and forever of their lives will spend eternity with bodies that don’t break anymore.

No more death

this means no more sickness, no more broken bones, no more diseases

No more pain

2. New Emotions

No more tears, no mourning (sadness), crying

Fear -gone

Anxiety - gone

3. New minds

No more depression

No more learning disabilities

No more dyslexia

No more forgetfulness

Relationships without judgement

4. New Experiences

God made humans for earth. God made us to to enjoy all that he created

the beauty of nature

fun with friends

great food

laughs, music, parties, dancing, adventure, relaxation,

Revelation 20:15 ESV

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:3–4 ESV

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

The realities of eternity should change the way that we live. We need to live our lives in light of eternity.

How would your life change if this would actually was true?

It should cause us to do something!

If you had the cure to cancer. Would you just keep it to yourself?

Of course not right? We would want to share it with anyone and everyone.

“Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.” - John Piper

As we look at God’s mission and our involvement in it, we can all agree that the eternal reality is something that we should care about. People are going to spend time in eternity after this life, either eternally with the Lord in the perfect heaven, or eternally in the lake of fire, separated from God, in eternal torment. We can be a part of changing the eternal reality of so many in this world.

The realities of the Gospel, what we just spent all year learning about, who God is, what sin is, who the redeemer is, and how we can be redeemed is the exact message that the world needs to hear in order to be united to Christ for eternity.

Missio Dei

Who is God?

Have you ever asked yourself why God decided to create the world?

Why did he create humans?

Revelation 4:11 (NLT)

“You are worthy, O Lord our God,

to receive glory and honor and power.

For you created all things,

and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

God created us (the world) to bring him glory.

Isaiah 43:20–21 (NLT)

The wild animals in the fields will thank me,

the jackals and owls, too,

for giving them water in the desert.

Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland

so my chosen people can be refreshed.

I have made Israel for myself,

and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

How many of you take a language class at school?

LATIN

Missio Dei = Mission of God

Philippians 2:9–11 (NLT)

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor

and gave him the name above all other names,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

God’s Mission is to build his kingdom to bring himself glory. The end goal is that every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

How is that to happen? Well, God’s mission is to make the good news of Jesus known to the ends of the earth. The mission of God’s people is to take their role in this mission.

“The horizon of God’s mission is the ends of the earth. God’s intention is to restore all nations, all cultures, indeed all of the creation from the sinful rebellion of humankind and its effects. So God’s purpose is restorative and comprehensive and it involves a battle against corruption and idolatry that befouls his creation.”

Why Go?

So what are we supposed to do. Well Jesus tells us right after his resurrection he gives some very very important instructions to the disciples that are in invitation to be involved in God’s Mission.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

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.”

We are to GO! We need to tell people about Jesus!

You guys will see this passage again, a bunch more times. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at who we need to bring the Gospel to, what we are to bring them, what we are to do when we go, and how we can support those who go.

I hope today it was helpful to zoom out a bit and look at the bigger picture, God’s Mission for the creation of the world.

T&K

Now we are going to pivot to something different! These first three weeks we will be hearing stories from some people who embody the mission of God in a beautiful way. These are people that have given up so much to serve those people who need to hear about who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

Today we will be hearing from Tony. Tony and his family are Missionaries all across the world. They have been doing it for over 15 years now and have just returned 6 months ago to a new group of people that need to hear about Jesus. You may recognize this guy because he was our young adult director last year and also preached at Frontlines last year. He was the guy with the poop. Remember that? Anyway, lets watch this video.