Of All Nations

1: You are made to enjoy God and all His glory and exult God to all the nations

2: God has put his spirit to make us more like Jesus and empower us to be more like Him from the inside out

3: God’s Spirit Empowers us to make more disciples of Jesus: Share, Show Teach his word and serve the world

Talk about trips to Ecuador

Experiencing new cultures, foods, and languages through international travel can be exciting and fun. Some places will seem more familiar than others, but everyone who travels learns that people from across the globe share many common qualities. Faith is not always one of them, however—spiritual practices vary greatly from region to region, and the Christian faith has not even reached every community. Yet Jesus gave the gospel so we could take it to all the world. In today’s session, we are going to look at the call that Jesus emphasizes to make disciples “of all nations”—not just next door.

Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

Matthew 28:19 “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,”

Nations: Ethnic

not just referring to nations: United Nations

Tribal groups languge groups

Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,”

over 11,000 people groups in the world

God is calling us to make disciples in all of them

Acts 1:8 “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.””

Jerusalem: Your home

Judea and Samaria: Acts 8:1 “And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

End of the Earth: Acts 11:19–21 “Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.”

Acts 13:1–3 “Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”

SEE MAP!

IF I HAVE TIME

Making the gospel available to all the world is not a new challenge for the church. When Jesus’s followers first began proclaiming the good news, they were opposed by Jewish Christians who resisted the idea of sharing their savior with Gentiles. But the apostle Paul explained that Jesus would belong to every person who heard and believed the gospel message. In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul reminded them that their salvation was found only in Christ’s grace, not their own merit (2:5, 8–9). Jesus brought together two groups, the Jews and the Gentiles, through his death on the cross. Because they share Christ’s peace and mutual access to the Father, all believers “are no longer foreigners and strangers” (2:19), but one new family called the church (2:17–20).

With that background in mind, read Ephesians 3:1–6. Here, Paul explains how the unification of Jewish and Gentile believers into the church was a mystery not revealed until Jesus. The Jews had forgotten that God had chosen Israel to be a light to the Gentiles, to show them what living for God was supposed to look like. Now as Christians, the Jewish Christians struggled to understand that God had invited outsiders in as equals.

In verse 6, Paul described the Gentiles with three terms: “coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise.” No Christian is inferior in God’s family. We all share equally in God’s grace and mercy

Jews hearing Paul’s words would have been astonished to know that the “outsiders” were now fully “insiders” in God’s family. Background, ethnicity, age, sex, economic rank in society—none of these outward signs of status that governed society mattered in the church.

Instead of keeping his children separate, God planned for them to unify.

Ephesians 3:7–13. Paul’s call as “a servant of the gospel” came by God’s grace, he said, so he could “proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ . . .” When we share the gospel, it’s a form of service to God.

In verses 10–11, Paul reflects that God’s wisdom in establishing the multi-cultural church was being revealed as the church grew. A worldwide, culturally diverse church was God’s purpose all along.

The existence of the church also reveals God’s “multi-faceted wisdom” to the spiritual forces, the “rulers and authorities in the heavens.” The united church, not by merit but because it reflects God’s purpose, exists as a witness of his wisdom to the world and the spiritual realm.

Verse 12 reminds us that we have access to God through Christ. It’s possible that we take such favor for granted, forgetting that our God is the almighty, all-powerful, perfectly holy creator of the universe. Yet he invites us into an intimate relationship with himself. Our access to him can make us bold when we take the gospel to the world.

Our next session we will talk about what does all this mean to us.

We don’t just make disciples who look like us or among us. We are called to make disciples all over the world

SO What?

If the foundation purpose for our lives is to make disciples of all nations, then how should that change the way we live on a daily basis?

DEEPER WALK

Learn: Research the ethnic groups that have little to no exposure to the Christian faith. Learn about their history and traditions, what kind of religion they might practice, and how they understand the world and spiritual realm. Pray for them to receive the gospel as the church moves into their region. Give: One aspect of making disciples internationally involves giving. We cannot all go, nor are we all in a position to send a group, but we can participate by giving financially. You could support a teen or adult for a short-term trip, or perhaps begin financially supporting a long-term missionary. Commit: Learn what mission opportunities your church offers in the coming year and commit to participating in one of them, whether you go, send someone, or give supplies or finances to help. Commit to praying for the people going and those they will serve.

“If you continue to be a Christian, I will kill you now.”1

Nineteen-year-old Mee stared at the barrel of the gun pointed at her forehead by a Communist guard in her Laotian village. It had been three months since she’d encountered Christ in a dream and decided to follow Jesus.

After a five-year battle with thyroid cancer, she’d been given three months to live. Desperate, she went to church with her sister who was a Christian and prayed a prayer as audacious as it was dangerous, “If you are really true, God, you heal me and I will serve you until I die.”

That night in a dream, she saw two paths stretch out before her. One was darkened with shadows. The other was flooded with light, a man at the end saying, “Come with Me.” She chose the path of light. When she woke up, she told her sister that she wanted to believe in Jesus. A month later, a checkup revealed that her cancer was completely gone. God had answered her prayer and saved her life. Now, she was committed to serving him with every breath she had. But while she’d known persecution was possible, she hadn’t anticipated that three months later, instead of dying from cancer, she’d be faced with a choice—a choice between life and Christ.

“You can kill my body but not my spirit,” Mee replied to the guard. She’d made her choice. She wouldn’t back out now.

8,000 miles away

Several years later, 8,000 miles and an ocean and culture away, 24-year-old Jaelene Hinkle was also faced with a choice.“2 A defender on the North Carolina Courage soccer team, her career was skyrocketing. In June 2017, she was invited to play for America in two international games. It was a dream come true and an incredible opportunity. Yet days before the event, it was announced that players on the American team were required to wear rainbow jerseys designed to honor the LGBTQ+ community for Pride Month. Jaelene’s biblical convictions on marriage and gender now clashed with her career, and she had to make a decision. Would she compromise her beliefs and wear the jersey or pull herself off the team and compromise her career?

A few years earlier, Jaelene had whispered a prayer similar to Mee. During the spring season of her junior year in college, she began having excruciating pain in her left leg from an extensive blood clot. In order to save her life, a stent would have to be put in—but that would mean she’d never be able to play soccer again. The night before the surgery, she desperately told God, “If you allow me to play soccer, this is going to be for you.”

The next day, her doctors discovered the blood clot was miraculously gone. Now, several years after God had answered her prayer and allowed her to play, Jaelene had a choice to make—would she place her commitment to God above her soccer career as she’d promised?

After three days of seeking the Lord, Jaelene pulled herself off the team. She’d made her choice. She wouldn’t back out now.

She was slammed on social media and booed during games. She was called names by sports writers. When she tried out for the Women’s World Cup, she was cut from the team. Yet she remained faithful.

A call to courageous obedience

After Mee boldly proclaimed, “You can kill my body but not my spirit,” the Communist guard lowered his gun and walked away. Once again, God had brought her life back from the brink of death. She still lives in constant danger of persecution, but as her husband Vang says, “When you try to avoid what God says, you try to build your own kingdom. Either you listen to God’s Word, or you listen to the world. We must follow God and obey what God says we must do.”

Jaelene and Mee’s cultures and circumstances are worlds apart. The consequences for their actions are also vastly different. Yet even though their backgrounds and the dangers of their choices vary widely, their commonalities are a stronger tie than their dissimilarities—both young women based their actions off of a desire to be obedient to God, regardless of consequences.

It’s tempting for us who live in the comfort and relative safety of 21st-century America to read a story like Mee’s and think it’s irrelevant to our lives. After all, we don’t usually have guns pointed at our heads because of our faith in Christ. Our decision to follow Jesus affects our lives but usually doesn’t endanger them.

Yet in the midst of this mindset is the subtle idea that standing for truth doesn’t matter as much in the circumstances we face today. Like Jaelene, we are often daily presented with choices. Will we stand by God’s Word when it’s unpopular? Will we hold fast to what we believe when our convictions are challenged by a coworker, family member, or neighbor? Will we allow our biblical views of marriage, sexuality, identity, justice, or gender to be altered by the pressures of society?

Romans 8:31-39

“What then shall we say to these things?”

What things???

Romans ch 1-7 (Wrong) Sin what I do or don’t do against God Horizontal relationship

Sin is against God himself

Piper said:

What makes sin sin is not first that it hurts people, but that it blasphemes God. This is the ultimate evil and the ultimate outrage in the universe.

“What is sin? It is the glory of God not honored. The holiness of God not reverenced. The greatness of God not admired. The power of God not praised. The truth of God not sought. The wisdom of God not esteemed. The beauty of God not treasured. The goodness of God not savored. The faithfulness of God not trusted. The commandments of God not obeyed. The justice of God not respected. The wrath of God not feared. The grace of God not cherished. The presence of God not prized. The person of God not loved. That is sin.”

Paul’s use of the words “for” and “therefore” and how they contribute to the flow of his argument. In Romans 8, Paul opens with one of those words—“therefore”—building on the points he made in the first half of the book about our ongoing struggle with sin and Christ’s power to overcome our sin.

Romans 8:1-4 No condemnation. You are justified for those who are in Christ.

Now that we are justified “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

What shall we say???

If we have life in Christ, a Father who loves us and home waiting for us then we should be able to proclaim if God is for us who can be against us?

5 rhetorical questions:

1- If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

2- (vs. 32) He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

a. The value something has is shown by what you are willing to pay for it. Why would He put his Spirit in you and not give you the ability to overcome everything (marriage, kids, etc.)

3- Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (vs. 33)

a. If God accepts me whose disapproval, do I fear.

4- (Vs 34) Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

a. If Jesus is judged in my place, whose judgement should I fear.

5- (vs. 35) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

a. This list is the same as 2 Cor. 11:24-27

b. God’s love will meet you in those places

Vs 37-39- We are more than conquerors through HIM who loved us.

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Greek says BUT not no

The love of God is not only a lavishly of affection through the holy Spirit because of Jesus Christ but an empowering of the inner man or woman.

Life or Death: nothing in this physical world can separate us from the love of God

Angels or ruler: nothing in the spiritual world

Present or future: not temptation or suffering or uncertain times

Powers: anything miraculous or bigger than you can imagine could separate us

Height or depth: the vastness of the universe

Most true about us right now: God is for us if we are in Christ

Relational circle.

So What?

“When you try to avoid what God says, you try to build your own kingdom. Either you listen to God’s Word, or you listen to the world. We must follow God and obey what God says we must do.”

God loves you. No matter what trials, afflictions, or hardships you face, he loves you. He’s proven his love by sending Jesus to die in your place. Because Jesus died, rose from the dead, and intercedes for us now, we can be certain (if we are in Christ) that nothing can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ. Nothing now or in the future, nothing you’ve done or will do, not a single thing can ever remove his love from you.

For those outside of Jesus this can be true for you today all you have to do is say yes to Jesus and no to yourself.