VISION-Go and Make Disciples

Matthew 28:16–17 NIV

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

BEFORE - This is important.

Doubt is about where you look for your stability

Jesus died and was resurrected - they see him standing there. And yet they doubt.

James 1:6 (NIV)

...the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Ephesians also expands on this idea:

Ephesians 4:14 NIV

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

IMAGE - A boat Being driven by the waves and a strong wind. No anchor, no foundation.

But on the sea, it comes from weather patterns, underwater currents. in faith, it comes from other people’s deceitfulness and craftiness, falling prey to random teachers that tickle our ears, or placing our hope of stability in things other than the direct person of Jesus.

MET PEOPLE WHO SAY, show me a big enough sign and i’ll believe.

These guys saw Jesus die, and he was standing right there, with holes in his hands and feet - and they were like well....show me something BIGGER than that, and i’ll believe.

John 20:29 NIV

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

You are blessed when you trust Jesus at his word

LEARNED - God asks for obedience, he doesn’t usually provide the whole picture. We find out later why it was such a good idea to do what we did.

Now, I want to be clear - this is also a portrait of hope for us. Because the people who had spent 3 whole years with Jesus, who saw these miraculous things - they struggled. And we will too.

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So back to the point of this message.

We want to set as a church the focus for the year. And we’re gonna take our cue from Jesus in matthew 28.

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

All Authority Belongs to Jesus

We are to go and make disciples

Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say - go and just pray and God will make the disciples for you, don’t worry about doing anything. He doesn’t say, go and make beautiful buildings, and gather there and worship, and ignore the outside world.

He doesn’t say, this task I have is focused on YOU. What he says is,

Go out and build up the next person

I need you to catch this emphasis here.

Jesus died for our sins, he welcomes us with open arms. He’s saved us, and given us a new life and a new hope and a new purpose.

And then Jesus in all of his authority in heaven and on earth says, ok, now YOUR job is to go and bring more people in.

God hasn’t called us to a spa where we come in and get pampered, he’s called us to a mission where we go out and rescue others.

The primary unit of Jesus’ expectation on us in acting out our faith is about going and reaching somebody else.

What did Jesus teach people that the greatest way to serve God was? ‘Love God AND Love Others’.

What would it look like for our first goal as a group of believers to be

we need to make more disciples

And not a secondary thing? MAKE DISCIPLES AFTER we’ve sorted things like, what’s the right kind of music, what sort of seating should we have, how long should service be, what’s the right order to do things in, what color should the walls be, what kind of coffee should we serve after....

These are all great questions. But we don’t exist for them. We exist to make disciples. We’ve been COMMANDED to make disciples.

And I was careful with my language. I didn’t say, ‘what would it look like for our first goal as a CHURCH to be...’. I didn’t want anyone thinking, ‘ya, that’s the church’s job. Pastor Jon and the board and the volunteers. Not mine.’

This commission was not to just the leaders. It was made to every last person, from then until Jesus returns.

If you’re a Christ Follower-You Need to be a Disciple Maker

That’s intimidating - thankfully, Jesus followed this up with a promise:

Jesus will be with us every single step of the way

And remember what we said earlier. ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus’.

The one who crafted the stars, who spoke galaxies into existence - he’s promised to walk with you every single step in this journey.

Remember when we talked about doubt earlier? What more stability could we POSSIBLY get than the author of the universe promising to literally live inside of us every single moment?

How do we start this fundamental shift?

Define your faith by the go

Jesus didn’t define his walk on earth by his ability to regularly be at the temple, or at the local synagogue. He was out in the world, healing, feeding, teaching, meeting. PHARISEES CALLED HIM ON THIS - he’s here for the sick.

Our ability to gather here, to worship together, it’s amazing. But it’s supposed to be a springboard and a recharge. It’s a motivating piece to energize us back up to go back out and keep doing the work of the kingdom.

The disciples, they defind themselves by the GO. Peter - preaching at pentecost. Paul - all things to all people.

The difference between an effective Christ-follower and an ineffective one is not education, ability, skill, personality, whatever - it’s that drive to GO.

You’ll never find someone effective for the kingdom that isn’t driven to go and make disciples, and you’ll never find someone who is driven to go and make disciples that isn’t effective for the kingdom.

So… go.

And we’re gonna do whatever we can to empower as many of you as we possibly can for the Go. But we want everyone to understand and be on board -

We exist to see lives transformed in our community and church

That’s not past tense. It’s not, ‘we exist because lives were transformed’. It’s right now. This is why we are here.

And it’s not a low bar. We don’t exist to fill the building each week. We don’t exist to provide a comfortable place to hide from the world. We will settle for nothing less than life transformation. If new people aren’t regularly meeting Christ in transformational ways, then we’ve missed the mark.

And not just in ourselves - in everyone around us. In fact, the transformation WE experience is momentum moving us outward to see more transformation in others.