The Call To Go!

Introduction:

As we continue with our worship of the Lord this morning, before we dive into the Word together, let's take a few moments to pray together.

Let’s Pray together.

As a church, we just finished our series on Jonah. As you think about Jonah and all that he had gone through, there are a few points that become very evident through that short book.

Think about it. God called Jonah to go to a rebellious people.... to a group that had in years past had been opposed to Jonah’s people, to a people that was known for their wickedness, God sent Jonah there to warn them of the destruction that was coming. Now, we know that Jonah had wrestled with this call. He rebelled against God by running the other way, but God in His grace did not let Jonah go in his rebellion. God loving pursued Jonah to fulfilled the mission that God had given him. This was Jonah’s ministry. This was Jonah’s calling on his life.

What we see in the book of Jonah is the fact that God is a missionary God. God is set on bringing redemption to the nations. In fact, if you read through the Old Testament, it is about how God is going to bring redemption to a rebellious world....and it just highlights all of the ways in which humanity has decided to live life apart from God, but how God in His love for the world is going to send someone to come a save it. God is going to send the Messiah.

And the awesome truth about that is....we know what?

That God has sent the Son to save us! That is the truth that we celebrate each and every week. Even in our rebellion, God has sent Jesus to come and die for our sins. But He didn’t just die. Jesus rose again on the third day that we might have life. Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah who was to come.

The Old Testament promises find their fulfillment in HIM. That is good news. That is news that is worth celebrating. That is why we are here, is it not?

But, what is so amazing, is the fact that God did not leave us on the sideline in His mission to the World.

What we need to see is that like Jonah, we too have been given a mission from God. This good news that we celebrate here this morning, is not meant to be the best kept secret in town. NO. God calls us to so much more.

That is why over the next several weeks we are going to be starting a new series called: GO. (Show intro slide)

Through this series we are going to talk about different aspect of what it means to be a people who are sent on mission for Christ. You see, we cannot simply set back and wait. God did not call us to such a thing. He has given us marching orders, and we have to decide are we going to trust Him and follow Him, or are we going to be rebellious like Jonah?

This morning what I want to do is lay the foundation for our study. I want us to see that this is not something that we are making up, but rather this is something that we need to listen to.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Matthew 28:16-20. As you are turning there, let me set the stage. Christ has already been crucified. He was buried. He has already rose again from the grave. What we are seeing here in this text is the resurrected Christ.

Hear the word of the Lord this morning.

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”( Mt 28:16–20)

Body:

Words are powerful, aren’t they? With words we can build someone up. We can encourage others. We can tell people how we feel or give directions with what is to be done. But also, with our words we can cut people down. We can say things, and they don’t even have to be true, but we know that if we say certain things it is going to cut them, and it is going to cut them deep. Words are powerful!

The power of words is amplified when you begin talking about some one’s last words. I want you to think of this. Let say this, some of you have experienced this, someone you love is about to pass away, or move away, and they draw you near to them because they have something they want to share with you, what do you do? How intently do you pay attention to those words that are spoken? You are hanging on every word, right? This is going to be the last time that you get to speak to this person, and they have requested you at their bed side. Or, they are getting ready to move away, go to another state, go to into the army, or whatever the case may be…. there is a seriousness that is in the moment and everything else does not seem to matter. All that matters is what is being said, and the words that are spoken to you very well could in that moment shape apart of you for the rest of your life.

Has any of you experienced this in your life? Can you remember a time, and it doesn’t have to be the persons last words, that someone said something to you that changed you?

What I want to do today is go back to Jesus’s last words in the Gospel of Matthew. I want us to see what Jesus tells the disciples to do. I want us to draw near to Him as He speaks these words to them, and hear these words spoken to you as well. This mission was not just for those that followed Him then, this mission is given to every single person who is a follower of Christ.

Main Point: As followers of Christ, we are called to make disciples of Christ.

That sounds really simple doesn’t it? But here is what I know: it is simple, but it is work. It’s not complicated, but yet we don’t know how to do it because many of us have never had had someone take the time personally to do it.  We do know how do it. We don’t know the process. We don’t know what it takes to make disciples. What we have focused on so much as a church culture is, lets make converts.... lets get them to church.... lets let them hear the preacher man....lets get them to say this prayer....and then we move on. But that is not what Jesus says here.

We have lost sight of what it means to make disciples. We do not see this as our goal or our mission. We have become content with just gathering to gather. What we do, we do for us. It is not supposed to be this way. Christ has called us collectively on mission with Him. Jesus came to seek and save the lost…and now, we are called to join Him upon giving our lives to him. As followers of Christ, we have been commanded to make disciples of Christ.

As we think about Christ’s command here in Matthew 28, what I want to do this morning is talk about discipleship in 3 ways....

1. What Is A Discple?

2. What is the Motivation to make Disciples?

3. How Do We Make Disciples?

What is a Disciple?

There are two passages that I want to help shape our understanding of what a disciple of Jesus is. Let me give you the references.

Luke 14:25–33

25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

A Disciple Is Someone Who Renounced All Things to Follow Christ.

That means that no matter what.... no matter the cost… they were going to give everything to come and follow Him. Jesus was worth everything that this world had to offer them. They wanted Jesus and nothing else.

The second reference is Matthew 10:25

25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household

A Disciple Is Someone Who Is Becoming Like Jesus.

Now you might be thinking to yourself..... “ok. This sounds a whole lot like what it means to be a Christian. I’m not sure on what the difference is between the two.” And you would be correct. There is no difference. In the book of Acts in chapter 11 it tells us that “In Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” There is not to be a difference. We as a culture are the ones who have split these two concepts apart in our minds and our churches. We watered down what it means to be a Christian to something as simple as saying a prayer and getting baptized. I’m not saying those things are not important because as we will look at here in just a second, those things are profoundly important, but being a Christian isn’t about getting saved and that’s it.

We made these two groups. You had your Christians…those who believe in Jesus and then you have your disciples.... those who were serious about their faith. It is not supposed to be that way. To be A Christian is to be a disciple of Jesus. They are one and the same. Let me give you a simple definition of what it means to be a disciple...

A Discple is Someone who is Following Christ, Growing in Christ, and Going on Mission with Christ.

A disciple was a learner. When Jesus said this word these people knew what he meant. To be a disciple was to give up your way of life, give up everything that you had knew, and to go and live life with this other person. You walked around with them. You ate dinner with them. You watched how they were around their family. You studied the Scriptures with them. You did everything with them. You were trying to become like them. You were a student of their life so that you could one day have students of your life.

Disciples of Jesus are a little different. We are not trying to make little copies of us. I cause enough problems, I don’t need more of me running around. Could you imagine what that would be like? That would be awful!!! For everyone! But, we are trying to make disciples of Christ. That is what we want to see in the lives of people. That is our mission. That is what we are trying to make. Our mission is to help people become like Christ.

But, why in the world would we try to convince people that this is a good idea. What would cause us to make this our mission? What we are really getting at here is the second thing that we want to see if Matthew 28......and that is....

2. What is the Motivation to Make Disciples? I want you to notice three things in the passage when it comes to our motivation for doing so.

The first one is this.. Worship.

When these disciples saw Jesus, they worshipped Him. They were bowing down to Him. They knew who He was and wanted to give Him the glory and honor that was due to Him. This is a huge statement for Christ being divine by the way. Only God is to be worshipped, and here we have Jesus accepting worship. It just adds to Jesus being who He said that he was. And notice this, the Gospel is not shy either about how some doubted. The word means, hesitated. They weren’t sure what to make of the situation. But even then, what does Jesus do? He moves to them. It is the same way for us. If we are going to make disciples, then we must do it from a position of worship. We must set our eyes and hearts right on Christ and allow our worship to over flow into what we do.

The second thing that should motive us is.....Jesus has ALL Authority.

I want you to think about that statement. Jesus has all of the Authority, in heaven and on earth. There is nothing that is outside of HIS POWER. Sure, rulers, governments, teachers, and even parents sometimes, think that they are in control, but that is not TRUE. Those things do not have any power expect that which has been given to them by Christ. It is always a delegated responsibility. Christ on the other hand, He answers to no one! His rule has no end. HE will and does rule forever and ever. There is Nothing that HE CANNOT DO. WE have nothing to FEAR! WE are following the one who has all authority. We are doing what the rightful King of the universe says to do. Think about that. Think about what that means for your life. Nothing is going to happen to you that Jesus is not watching over. Nothing gets past Him. That is why he say’s I have this authority now GO and Make Disciples. It is meant to motivate us to be on Mission

The third thing that should motivate us is the promise at the end of this text.

Jesus is with us always.

When we are making disciples, we can rest assured that Jesus is with us in the middle of that process. He is always going to be with you, forever and always. You are not expected to do this on your own. We don’t have to do this in our own power. Christ is with us. What is Jesus called? Immanuel? God with Us! That is HIS promise to His people. You don’t walk through this life alone. Instead, Jesus is with you every step of the way as you step out in obedience to make disciples. Let those things drive you as you begin thinking about what it means to be a disciple-maker. Focus on Christ. Worship Him. Know that He has all authority, so you don’t need to fear. You are not alone. The God who has all authority just promised to be with you. Let that bring you peace and confidence.

We have looked at what is a disciple, the motives behind disciple making, now lets talk about the third thing that I want us to see this morning, and that is

How Do We Make Disciples?

In Matthew 28:16-20 this is the central command here in this text. Everything else revolves around it. I am not saying that these other things are not commands or do not carry the weight of a command here, but they revolve around this command. They clarify for us what we need to be doing. So, how do we make disciples? Well, the first thing that we need to see is that....

We Make Disciples By Going. This is seen in the word Go.

When Jesus first called the disciples back in Matthew 4, He had told them what his intended purpose was. Jesus called these men to follow Him so that they would become fishers of men. The funny thing about fishing is that you have to leave where you are to go to where the fish are. You cannot fish without leaving your house. I know that is an overly simplistic answer, but the truth of that statement remains the same. If we are going to reach people for Christ, we first and foremost must be willing to GO. We cannot sit back and wait for them to come to us.

This is certainly not what we had seen in the life of the early disciples. Think about what Jesus told them in Acts 1:8. Listen to His words to them… 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.”

Why were they given the Holy Spirit? Was it not to go? Notice, there is movement with Jesus’ words. They were not to stay in one place. The Gospel was to travel to the ends of the earth.... sounds a lot like Matthew 28, does it? How do we get to the ends of the earth if we never go? We don't. That is why we must see that in order to make disciples we must Go. We must get out of our comfort zones. We must be willing to arise and Go. For some of us that might mean Going across the street. For others that might mean that we Go with intentionality to work. For some, that may even mean that God calls you to go across the globe. But, we must be willing to go!

But, that raises the question, what are we being sent to do? If we are going, what are we trying to accomplish?

This is where the second part of making disciples comes in.

We Go To Baptize.

Or another way to say this would be, we go to help people become followers of Christ. We go with the intended purpose of sharing the Gospel with people so that they may find forgiveness of their sins and the new life that is only promised in Jesus Christ.

This is what Jesus had sent the apostles to do.

45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Lk 24:45–47).

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls ( Ac 2:41).

8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized (Ac 18:8).

As the disciple went about proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, when people gave their lives to the Lord, they were then baptized. Being baptized was a way of identifying yourself with Christ. It was a visuable statement to the world that you were breaking ties with the Old you and that you had found new life in Christ. Just think about Paul’s words in Romans 6:1-4.

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life ( Ro 6:1–4).

In a very real sense, this is what it means to make disciples. As you are following Christ yourself, you simply bring someone along with you for the journey. It doesn’t mean that you have all of the answers, but it does mean that your eyes are on Christ and you are teaching people to do the same thing.

That is my simple answer. But I want to give you a process too. Here is the process, I am going to break it down in three areas for us, and these three areas go along with our definition.  I use the word area because these are not steps in discipleship. You never move away from one area, you only gain another level of understanding, if that makes sense.

Here they are and then I’ll add to what that actually looks like for us as a church and how that applies to you.

Here they are: Follow This is the first step because this is the step of becoming a Christian. This is where the heart is change by God’s grace and the accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is seen in Jesus’s words, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” TO be baptized is to identify that you have given your heart to Christ and that you are going to follow Him all the days of your life. Grow: This means that a person in being changed by Christ. Not only have then believed in Jesus, but they are plugged in somewhere where they are experience life change. This is seen when Jesus says “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” The goal is not that you teach them everything, but that they learn how to listen to Jesus’ voice on their own. Go: This is seen in Jesus’ word ‘GO” The disciples had followed Jesus to the point that they are able to help someone else walk down this path of life change. Conclusion: That is the process. It is basic life stuff. I want to practically show you how this applies to us as a church and to you as disciples As a Church Follow: How are we going to help people follow Jesus?

Through our Sunday School Ministry. Helping people see Jesus is going to become the major emphases in Sunday School. We want people to Follow Him. Through Visitations with People Through Our outreach events Grow: How are we going to help people Grow in Christ? Through our Worship Services. Through Growth Groups, which we will be starting later this year. These will be places where a small group of Bible are seeking Christ together with prayer and accountability. Through other trainings GO: How are we going to send people out? Giving people opportunities to serve in the community By holding outreach events By doing training You as a follower of Christ: Follow: How can you help people follow Jesus? Invest your life in lost people Talk about Jesus with them- Share the Gospel Invite them with you to Sunday School and Worship Grow: How can you help people Grow? Hold a Growth Group

Hold people accountable Teach others to pray and Read the Bible Get them connected to the Body of Christ GO: How do you help people Go? Help get people connected to serve others Teach them to share the Gospel with others Go with them to visit others. Give them the freedom to go. Meet with them regularly to see how it is going All of these things are just ways that I think we can make disciples if we just make some small changes in the way that we do life. I know that this sounds daunting and scary, and that I why I started with the motivation first. Lol. WE ALL need JESUS in this regard. No of us can do this work by ourselves, and he doesn’t expect us to….but HE DOES WANT US TO BE OBEDIENT to HIS CALL on OUR LIVES. We cannot ignore this call to GO and Make Disciples. Our Lord has given us a command that must be followed. You need to ask yourself, and I really mean ask yourself, where are you on that process? Both kids and adults, you need to ask yourself, where do I stand with the Lord? Some of you, this message means very little because you have not taken that first step. You have not given your heart to Christ. You are not following Him. You are still doing life you own way, trying to make it on your own. You don’t need to. Christ Died for you so that you can be forgiven, no matter what the sin. Jesus died because we are not good people, but we need a GREAT GOD to Save us! IF that is you, I beg you this morning, give your heart to HIM. Follow Him TODAY. Some of you, you have been a follower of Jesus, but growth has been hard. You are not sure on what to do next. You have been trying to figure this life out all on your own. I invite you, if that is you, come talk to me, or someone else you think is a strong Christian, and ask them if they would meet with you to help you. I can tell you this, none of us have it figured out, and we all need someone else to pour into our lives. Find that someone. Maybe you need help to Go. Signup for the tanning and let’s get started.

Let’s be faithful to what Christ had told us to do. Let’s be faithful to do what Christ has saved us to do. He is good! Let’s make disciples who are able to make disciples and let’s see the lost get found. May we Go and make Disciples

Go: A Call to be Missional.

Conclusion: