Mission Sunday - Sept 3rd 2023

Introduction to the day

Good morning, and welcome to Restoration Church Bryan!

Introduce ourselves

Matt Prine - Executive Pastor of Ministry and Church Planting

Matt Ullrich - Executive Minister of Operations and Missions

If this is your first Sunday with us, today will be a little bit different than our normal Sunday.

Today is Mission Sunday at Restoration!

Today Matt and I will lay some of the foundations for the next several weeks of our Missional Community Groups (which we refer to here as MCGs).

***Show Xplore book

Over the next 5 or so weeks, our MCGs will be walking through a study called Xplore.

This is a resource that was produced by a ministry called “Via” (formerly Center for Mission Mobilization) which some of you may be familiar with.

The ultimate goal of Xplore is to connect Christians with their role in the Great Commission

This morning, Matt and I will be covering (loosely) sessions 1 and 2.

But I would encourage you to walk thru these two chapters yourself, once you get the book in MCG.

Before we go any further, I want to take a moment to make a shameless plug for our MCG’s

If you are not part of an MCG, you are missing out on the real life blood of Restoration Church Bryan.

MCGs are our version of small groups meeting throughout the week.

They are the place where discipleship and mentorship happens.

They are the place where we unpack what we talk about on Sunday mornings.

I will be blunt… if you are not an active part of MCG, then you will not last here.

I don’t say that to be ugly, I say that to say, MCGs are an integral part of our DNA and what drives our church.

If you would like to sign up for a group, you can do that a couple of ways:

Go to the App, click the second banner down that says: “Join a Missional Community Group”

You can go to the website: restorationbryan.com/MCG

Or if those are all too many buttons to push you can open up your camera and scan this QR code and it will take you right to the place you need to be.

Prayer - Ullrich

Before we dive in, I want to take a moment and pray for our time.

I want to ask you to do two things.

First, I am going to ask you to pray for yourselves

Ask the Lord to soften your heart to His Word AND that you would respond to what He is calling you to do - especially as it relates to God’s mission in the world.

Second, I am going to ask you to pray for us.

First, that we would be faithful to God’s Word.

Second, that we would step out of the way so that we can all see and experience Jesus this morning - because it is all about HIM!

Speed square analogy

Anyone know what this is?

The Speed Square is a framing carpenter’s best friend

There are two very obvious uses for a speed square

Marking 45 and 90 degree angles - which is what I use mine for most often.

But there are many more uses for a speed square:

Marking any number of angles

It can function as a fence for a skill saw - meaning you can make a perfectly straight cut by hand.

It can measure & mark all of your rafter cuts

and several other things.

I even use mine as a note pad to mark the measurements I have to cut

Sure, you can use it for just marking two angles, but you will miss the bigger picture of what a speed square was meant to do.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because I think that Christians tend to think of Missions a bit like a speed square.

There are two options…

a ten day mission trip

OR

Pack a few meager belongings into a coffin and you move overseas to live in a mud hut until you die.

A speed square is about much more than cutting 45 and 90 degree angles

And missions is about much more than going on a short term trip or becoming a vocational missionary.

Missions is not for “super Christians” or the spiritual elite.

The missional call of God is a call on the life of EVERY believer - no matter who you are.

What is Missions?

Before we get too far, I want to make sure that we are all on the same page about what we mean when we say “missions”.

This definition is spelled out, word-for-word on our website- with more detail - so if you’re curious to know more, check it out there.

The way we define missions is this:

Mission is God’s redemptive work in the hearts and minds of His people through the work and person of Jesus Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Ultimately, mission is God’s work throughout the world, and He graciously invites His Church to participate in His mission.

Our view is that the local church is THE primary means of making and equipping disciples.

That should make us ask this question:

What is the Biblical Basis for Missions?

Matt 28:18-20 - which is the Great Commission - is probably the most famous missions passage.

But missions is not just one passage in the Bible.

And it is not some footnote in the broader story of God.

It is is the theme that is repeatedly and loudly proclaimed throughout the entire Bible.

Ralph Winter, who was a missiologist, said that "The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible”

Missions is the redemptive story of God’s glory throughout the earth - He invites us into that story.

God’s Word - Prine

Today we are going to look at two passages that give us a glimpse into God’s plan for the world.

Genesis 12:1-4 and Acts 1:8.

Genesis 12:1-4

Genesis 12:1–4 (ESV)

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

We could spend quite a bit of time on this passage, but I want to quickly get us to the point…

The command

God told him to “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

He was asking Abram to give up what he knew in exchange for what was completely foreign to him and follow God.

And there were several promises attached to the command...

The Promises

1. I will make you into a great nation

2. I will bless you - meaning he will be given favor of God

3. I will make your name great

4. SO THAT you will BE a blessing

This where I want us to camp out for a few minutes.

Genesis 12:3 (ESV)

3b in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abraham was the Father of Israel - but this blessing is not just for his biological descendants…

It says: “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” which includes those who are not biological descendants of Abram.

What does it mean that all the families of the earth shall be blessed?

Pauls tells us in Galatians 3:7-8

Galatians 3:7–8 (ESV)

7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

The Blessing of Abraham is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.

Jesus is the blessing!

Because in Him, the nations (as Paul calls them) find salvation.

This was God’s plan and intention the WHOLE time.

God’s will was meant to be lived out through Abraham!

Don’t miss the beginning of v. 4 - “So Abram went, as the as the Lord had told him”

He was obedient!

Abraham was chosen, not just so that he could be a cul-de-sac of God’s blessing, but so that he could be the conduit of it.

This was the calling for all of Israel as well - but they missed the point.

They became inwardly focused, proving something about themselves.

Although they were biologically related to Abraham, they were not his sons - which is a way of saying, they didn’t know God.

Paul says as much in v. 7 - It is those of FAITH who are sons of Abraham.

I wonder, how many Christians today are missing the point and living as a cul-de-sac of God’s blessing rather than a conduit for it?

How do we keep from living like Israel largely did?

Acts 1:8 provides us with the answer to this...

If Genesis 12:3 reveals God’s will, lived out thru Abraham

Then Acts 1:8 reveals God’s will, which is to be lived out thru us!

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

8 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.”

There are three quick thoughts I want to make before Matt talks about our world:

Power

First, we will be given power, thru the Holy Spirit

I want to be really clear here when we talk about power, because it can be easy to misunderstand this - just like the disciples did.

The disciples wanted the power of military might - hopefully to overthrow Rome.

Christians tend to want power for self determination

Neither of these are the power that Jesus is talking about...

It is about something exponentially more difficult.

The power that Jesus talks about is power to OVERTHROW our own hearts and desires. ****DON’T MISS THIS!! REPEAT THIS!****

Christian, this is something that we need power for every single day of our lives, because we are constantly trying to sit on His Throne.

Why do we need our hearts and desires overthrown?

Because in our flesh, they are not aligned with His will and the calling He has on our lives…

Witness

Second, we are to be witnesses for Jesus

The Greek word here may sound familiar to you:

It is the word “Martys” - where we get the English word, Martyr

It means “one who gives public testimony to his faith before a tribunal, and suffers the penalty” - A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament

We need power, because Jesus is calling us to be martyrs - to be His witnesses.

It is this power that will keep us from backing down from opposition to the gospel.

It is this power will compel us forward, driving us into the places where the Lord is going to save people.

And where might those places be?

Global in Scope

Third, our witness will be global in scope

Jesus clarifies that we will be His witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

There’s a pesky little conjunction there - the word AND.

Jerusalem AND Judea AND Samaria AND the ends of the earth

The disciples were not given a choice as to where they would be His witnesses.

They were to be witnesses at home, but they were also to think globally.

What does this mean for us?

Very bluntly, Christian, you don’t have a choice about where you are going to engage…

And we cannot simply stay in our own backyard.

We must reject this idea that “there is still need here, so we will not engage there.”

To think and live this way is in direct opposition to Jesus’ plan to save people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.

It is through the faithful witness of those who already know Christ that the gospel will be carried to those who don’t.

The condition of our world, and the command of the Lord demand that we engage in the global mission of God.

God’s World - Ullrich