Standing Orders for the Church

Call to worship

Welcome everyone!

Call to Worship

Rev 5:1-12 (NLT) “Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD

“Worthy is the Lamb”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS

Lord, we are here because of You and only because of You. We stand because you cause us to stand. It is You who has redeemed us and given us a heart for You. May our worship be pleasing to You!

“Blessed Be the Name

Words and Music by Hillsong

“Revelation Song

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS

Lord, Open our hearts to hear from you. Let us not approach Your Word casually or without fear. But let us come to Your Word today with reverence and awe. Let us hear this passage today as a great honor that we get to SERVE YOU IN THIS GREAT CALLING TO MAKE DISCIPLES. May Your Word correct, encourage, and strengthen this ministry. Amen!

SERMON

Introduction

We have come to final five verses in this gospel which will conclude our series on discipleship through Matthew. This sermon today is number 61 and we started all the way back in 2021!

The message is titled “the Standing orders for the Church”. Last week we read about the women’s encounter with Jesus. They saw Him, fell down at His feet and worshiped Him, and then were instructed to go tell the other disciples. These verses today tell us what happened when the 11 disciples encountered the risen Jesus and the instructions they received.

This is the Great Commission which is not for some people, but all who follow Christ. This is the standing orders for the church. It has always and will always be the church’s mission to be carrying out.

A church who is not involved in this Great Commission that we will study today is not worthy to be called a church! God is missional minded and the church is to be missional minded as well.

My prayer is that this message is instructive, encouraging, convicting, and sanctifying for us all today!

Matthew 28:16-17 “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Explanation

These are Jesus’ parting words before he ascended in heaven

So there is a certain emphasis of importance upon what He was saying here

The only COMMAND in the whole Great Commission: “Make disciples”

The other three verbs are participles (go, baptize, teach) and they tell us how to make disciples

What is a disciple?

This was the name given to the early believers. They were disciples of Jesus

A disciple is both a learner and a follower; He makes it His life ambition to learn from Jesus and He follows Jesus

Being a disciples was about being attached to a person, not nominally to a group of people such as with church membership.

He learned, not just by listening, but also by practicing what he had learned.

FOR US TODAY: A disciple, then, is one who has attached himself to Jesus by repenting of his sins and believing in Jesus.

He has expressed his faith in Christ by being baptized publically.

He then becomes an integral part of a church body who commits himself to the teaching of that church so that he might live a life that pleases Jesus and so that he can go and win others to Christ and teach them!

The idea then is multiplication! All disciples were involved in making disciples.

This was the pattern of the early New Testament church.

2 Timothy 2:2 NASB95

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Sadly, many churches have departed from this pattern.

In most churches, the congregation pays the pastor to preach, evangelize, disciple the converts—while the church members function as spectators. The “converts” who are won, are then baptized and join the other spectators.

That is not the way a healthy church functions, nor is it the way we want this church to function.

A church will be much happier, much more spiritually satisfied, and far more pleasing to God if every member would see this as their “standing orders”

Let me give you some good advice

Take this command as personal instructions from Jesus to you

Jesus is telling each one of us, just as He was telling each one of His disciples then, “this is what I expect you to be doing while I am gone”

Like the parable of the talents

He gives his servants what they need and expects a return when He comes back.

Some will be better than others, but all must be involved

And He has put us each in unique places, around people that the rest of us will never be able to reach, that we need to make disciples of

How does Jesus expect us to do this?

Remember I told you there was one main command and three subordinating participles?

Those three participles tell us how we are to make disciples (underline them)

A participle is a form of a verb with an “ing” attached to it

So Jesus is saying, make disciples by:

Going

Baptizing

Teaching

And we are going to look at each of these individually

#1 Going

Jesus did not say to them, since I have resurrected, there is nothing more to do. Go and enjoy the comfort of your homes, work with your hands, catch all the fish you can, try to have the best life you possibly can and then I will take you to heaven with Me when you die!

He told them is essence, NOW ITS TIME TO GET BUSY! TRAINING CAMP IS OVER, THE MINISTRY THAST I STARTED, HAS NOW BEEN PASSED ON TOP YOU!

GO, get out of your hiding place and get involved in making disciples!

Go to your neighbors, go to your family members, go to the people you work with, GO to the different houses in your community, GET UP AND GET GOING!

The world needs to know about Jesus Christ!

And you are now My ambassadors who are to take that message to them!

Do you know what many churches do today?

They put a sign up by the road that tells the world to come to them.

There is not a command in the Bible that tells the lost people to come to church?

But there is Scripture after Scripture that tells the saved people to go find the lost and bring them to Jesus.

If you want to know what a dying church looks like, it is one that is not willing to go!

If you want to see what a dying disciple looks like, it is one who is not willing to go!

If you want to see what a backslidden pastor looks like, it is he who is not willing to go!

How can the world know that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day we are not willing to go??

We might be tempted to think that most people already know about Jesus and that there is no need in this country to go and tell them...

TRUTH: Most people has a warped view of Jesus, of the Bible, of the church, of the plan of salvation, of why they need to be saved, of what salvation looks like, and how they can be saved from their sins.

And how will they ever know if the the church is not willing to get up out of the seats and air conditioning and go tell them?

Going is not just about going to tell them the gospel.

Jesus doesn’t say go tell the world the gospel (though that certainly is included).

He says, “Go make disciples”

And in our post-ChristIan culture that includes:

Correcting bad doctrine

Sharing truth with those who have believed a lie

Pointing out the evidence of a Creator that is evident to all the world in Creation

Convincing the world that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God and only in Him can we have eternal life!

Application

We have a “going ministry” in this church

We do this because there is no better place for people to learn how to communicate the good news than with hands on training.

Some great things about this ministry:

It’s free

There is only minimal risks involved

You are almost guaranteed to get an opportunity to share Jesus with someone

You do not have to talk, you can simply learn by listening

And you will learn more out there than I could ever teach you in here

Knocking on doors may not be your thing (and thats totally ok)

BUT YOUR THING MUST BE “GOING” or you cannot be a follower of Jesus

Maybe its your circle of friends

Maybe it’s your family

Maybe it’s your neighbors

BUT WE ALL MUST BE INVOLVED

#2 BAPTIZING

Baptizing is an important part of making disciples

We are not simply to tell go out and make followers of Jesus, we are to baptize them!

What is baptism?

Baptism is a public testimony of one’s personal commitment to Christ

It is a physical illustration of what has happened in someone’s heart

Going under the water symbolizes our death and burial with Christ

Coming out of the water symbolizes the resurrection of a new spiritual life

Romans 6:3–4 NASB95

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Think of baptism as when repentance and faith goes public

It is about identifying with the church and world that we have received Jesus as our Savior and Lord

Jesus said “baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit”

What is a disciple? He is one who has attached himself to the master, teacher, Lord

Baptism publically attaches us to Jesus and His followers

Application

All believers are to be baptized

That is, they are to be marked for Christ as belonging to Christ

But baptism is not a little ceremony that should be taken lightly

There must be some discernment of baptism candidates before they are baptized publically

What are we discerning?

If they are truly following Jesus!

We cannot know people’s hearts, but there will be signs when someone has truly repented of their sins and been born again

Why is this important? TWO REASONS

1) It protects the person being baptized

If we just baptize anyone who wants to be dunked, we risk giving a false assurance of salvation to someone who may be lost and going to hell.

Baptism is only for those who have repented and placed their faith in Christ

The early church took this so seriously, they had a two year waiting period before anyone could be baptized

I think that is a little extreme, but I whole heartedly believe discernment must be used before baptizing someone

It is much harder to convince a person who lives like the devil yet has been through the ceremony of baptism and prayer that they need jesus than it is a person who knows they are lost!

2) It will protect the church

This church is led by the pastor AND ruled by the congregation

That is why we have business meetings

The congregation votes on everything we do.

If the majority church does not want to move, then they vote against it.

The budget is voted on by the church

The doctrine is voted on by the church

The places in which people serve formally are voted in by the church!

How dangerous is it if lost people who have been baptized are ruling the church?

Jesus told a parable about this: “The wheat and the tares”

And in that parable the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat

Why would the enemy do this?

To highjack ministry!

To take control of a church. To take control of ministry

To make church about games and fun and food and not about making disciples

To make the church look just like the world so it loses it salt and light

#3 Teaching

(v 20) “Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”

Christianity is faith based on knowledge

To walk by faith means to trust and do all that Jesus has told us to do

This is why Jesus said, “teach them all that I commanded you”

Christianity rests upon the solid foundation of God’s Word that is unchanging

It is not about how we feel or what we think

I’m not saying God cannot move us internally and guide our Spirits

But the main point here is that disciples need to be taught ALL things that Jesus taught so that we may live the Christian life that is pleasing to Him

This is why a teaching ministry is essential in the church

If disciples hear the gospel, repent and believe the gospel, then what?

They need clear, organized instruction that tells them how to live obedient lives to Jesus

What do we have in this church?

We have a discipleship ministry designed just for that

It is to take new believers through the essential doctrines of the faith so that they may be equipped to live the Christian life

Everyone who comes into the church and says, “I want to follow Jesus” will then be encouraged (not forced) to spend about 2 months doing discipleship

Who does this pertain to?

All of us

If you are a faithful follower of Jesus, then you are called to make disciples which includes teaching them

2 Timothy 2:2 NASB95

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

The plan of church growth is multiplication

Just imagine if everyone in here spent this next year pouring into a new convert (JUST ONE)

Our church would double in size to 50 by next year

Do that again and we would be at 100 the following year

On and on and we would reach this city for Christ

A word of encouragement to us all

Matthew 28:20 “and lo [behold], I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Explanation

“and lo” (NLT) “And be sure of this” (NIV) “and surely”

This is a marker of emphasis

a. It emphasizes the next thing that Jesus is going to say: and we need to hear it

"I will be with you always until the end of the age!

Specifically in this context, Jesus is saying, do not be afraid to carry out the Great Commission, because I will be with you!

I will put people in your path who are going to believe the gospel!

I will speak through You when you tell someone the gospel

I will bring to mins the Scriptures when you are telling them about Me

I will give you discernment when you have baptism candidates

I will give you understanding when you sit down to lead another in discipleship!

I WILL BE WITH YOU ALWASY AND YOU DO NOT NEED TO WORRY ABOUT HOW YOU ARE GOING TO DO THIS BECAUSE I WILL EMPOWER YOU!

BUT how is He with us?

John 14:16–18 NASB95

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Through the Holy Spirit

He will not leave us as orphans, but will be present within us.

And though we cannot see Him we will fell the effects of Him

John 3:8 NASB95

“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Conclusion

The church is a living organism. And an organism that does not reproduce will surely die.

The life and death of a church depends on how much its members are willing to make the standing order for the church their God given assignment.

Will you be willing to take a step of faith and trust the Lord to use you in this?

Maybe you have never made your profession of faith public and you want to do that, or be baptized, or discipled. You can do that now.

~PRAYER~

RESPONSE

PUBLIC INVITATION

“We all Bow Down”

Words and Music by Lenny LeBlanc

OFFERING

We will now worship the Lord through our tithes and offering.

BENEDICTION PRAYER