Like Jesus - Missional

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Prayer Oct 22

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Introduction

Main Point - You Are Either On Mission, Or You Ain’t A Christian.

The nicer way to say this is All Christians Have A Mission, but I prefer the way the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon puts it - “Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor.”

Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor.

Charles Spurgeon

Christians have a mission. This might upset you a bit to hear this. You might think I’m being harsh. I assure you, I’m not. Jesus was on mission and he instructed his disciples to be on mission as well.

You might say, our mission is the Great Commission. Go and preach the gospel to every creature. Read Mark 16 or Matthew 28. Jesus was specific about what he expects of us.

And here is what I love about it - The master never asks us to do anything he did not do or wouldn’t do.

Good morning, if you are just joining us, we are in a sermon series called Like Jesus, where Jesus invites us into discipleship under him and his promise is that every disciple that is fully trained will be just like his master.

So that’s our goal - to be like Jesus. Today we are going to look at Jesus on mission. So turn with me to Luke 19. We are going to read one verse and discuss this idea in depth.

The words are on the screen and I have notes loaded into the app for you.

Main Text

Luke 19:10 ESV

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Jesus Christ came into this world and he had a mission. He had a purpose. God revealed it to Him and He pursued it. It was his driving purpose throughout his ministry.

And for those of us looking back on his time on Earth, we can clearly see that everything he did, every step He took, every decision He made put him on a clear trajectory to the cross.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. His target was the cross and He didn’t miss. He hit exactly what He was aiming for. He didn’t just come to try to seek and save the lost. He actually accomplished it. He did it, He didn’t just try to do it.

Jesus was on mission. He is what we would call missional. He had a clear vision and mission that propelled Him from the son of the Jewish carpenter to Savior of the World.

And just Like Jesus, we are called to live a life on mission with God. We are called, like Jesus, to live our lives in a way that are intentional, purposeful and seeking to accomplish God’s mission on the earth.

Let’s define what I mean by missional. Missional is the act of living your life as a missionary in your local context. It’s adopting the mindset, practices and heart or a missionary, but rather than going overseas, you are on mission here in Clayton and Garner and Smithfield, etc.

The church is missional. It is the body of divinely called and divinely sent ministers proclaiming the gospel and advancing the kingdom of God.

Gregg R. Allison

Allison here says simply that the church is missional and its based on the mission of Christ. Jesus came to seek and save the Lost. We are to be about his business.

If our church, Cornerstone Church is going to abide and remain and make an impact in Clayton and surrounding areas, it’s going to happen inasmuch as we are about our Father’s business. In other words, churches that do not share the gospel…die.

When we can get over the fear, the hesitancy, the anxiety, the apathy and the distractions of this world and really grab ahold of what God is calling us to, then we will make an amazing impact that will be generational.

And while our church is called to be missional, as individuals, we are called to be on mission.

…being missional is a matter of corporate identity first, then individual engagement.

Gregg R. Allison

In other words, our church, Cornerstone Church should be known as a missional church, we should be a church on mission. And individually, as Christians, we should missional as well. So this idea is both/and.

The church has a responsibility, The elders and I have a responsibility and you have a responsibility. And that is to be about the Father’s business of seeking and saving the lost.

This morning, I want to look at the two main aspects of us as individuals living missionally, or living out God’s mission on the earth to seek and save the lost. Number 1…

We Are Empowered By His Spirit

Jesus himself was empowered by the Holy Spirit. He was a man like us and he showed us how to walk in the authority and power of the Spirit of God. Jesus declared his dependency on God when he said things like…

I can only do what I see the Father doing.

I only say what I hear the Father saying.

I didn’t come to do my will, but the will of the one who sent me.

‘The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”

So Jesus understood his mission was not dependent on Him alone, but on the Father. Everything the Father did, he did, and he did it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We see to start his ministry the Holy Spirit came upon Him at his baptism. And Jesus confirms it when he gives the declaration of his empowerment in the gospel of Luke.

Luke 4:17–21 ESV

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus says the Spirit has empowered Him to do what God has called him to do. We also are to empowered by the Spirit.

The trap is to think you are supposed to do this alone. The trap is to think that you can do it alone. The trap is to think this is a pull-yourself-up by your boot straps religion. Christianity does not teach that. It proclaims that God is the one who does it.

It’s the Spirit working in you that produces fruit. It’s the Spirit’s job to convict hearts. It’s the Spirit’s job to convert souls.

So it’s His job. It’s His mission that he’s inviting us on.

We Are Sent With Purpose

Number 2, we are sent with purpose. Jesus was sent with a purpose. He proclaims in Luke 4 that his purpose is to proclaim the good news, bring liberty to the captives, sight for the blind and set free the oppressed.

Jesus had a purpose. He was coming to seek and save the lost. He was sent from heaven with a divine mandate. Find those who are lost and save them. That’s it.

We are sent with the same mission. God wants us to seek after the lost, to proclaim His good news to them and lead them into the kingdom. That’s our mission.

God has a purpose for this church and a purpose for your life and that is that you would share his good news. That you would proclaim his death and resurrection, the forgiveness of sins to those that are perishing.

God has a plan and that means you have a mission and that mission means you have to GO!

What are the stakes if you don’t go? People will die in their sins. People are headed to hell.

“I heard a story about a guy who applied for a job as an usher at a theater in the mall. As a part of the interview process, the manager asked him, "What would you do in case a fire breaks out?"

The young guy answered, "Don’t worry about me. I can get out fine."

That’s exactly how many in today’s world respond to a lost and dying world around them. If you asked them "What would you do if Jesus came back tomorrow?" they would probably respond, "Oh, don’t worry about me. I’d be fine."

But what is all to easy to forget is that you’re an usher! It isn’t enough just to get out yourself. You are responsible for helping others know the way.

Jesus put it this way…

Luke 15:4 NIV

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

Jesus is asking us to do what he did. He’s asking us to be like Him. He is asking us to go into all the world and preach this gospel. This isn’t a job for just pastors or evangelists, this is your job. This is your mission.

You Are Either On Mission, Or You Ain’t A Christian

Obstacles To Being Missional

Demonic Forces

Apathy

Fear

Self-Centeredness

A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him.

So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do.

"Well," said the chaplain, "you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don't provoke them."

For weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked…

"By the way, did you take my advice?"

"I did, for two or three nights."

"How did it work?"

"Well," said the young man, "I felt like a whipped hound and the third night I got out of bed, knelt down and prayed."

"Well," asked the chaplain, "How did that work?"

The young soldier answered: "We have a prayer meeting there now every night, and three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest."

What I love about this story is the chaplain is not the good guy. In trying to love this soldier, the chaplain tries to ease the man’s heartache. Too often, as a pastor, it can be incredibly tempting to tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear.

I don’t want to be this chaplain, but I DO want you to be like this soldier. I want you to have boldness. I want you to chase after God’s mission. I want you to share your faith. I want you on mission.

You Are Either On Mission, Or You Ain’t A Christian

Conclusion

So to end today, I want you to know, I’m not asking you to do something I’m not comfortable doing. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been fortunate enough to be on the front lines of what God is doing and led 4 people to Christ.

Now, I was just harvesting seeds others had planted. It wasn’t anything that I had done, I just happened to be the one who asked the question. Are you ready to repent and put your trust in Jesus?

So my encouragement to you is to get out in the field. It’s time to plant, water and harvest. Jesus says the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. I’m praying now that you will answer the prayer to get into the field and get on mission with God.

With all of this in mind. As we sing, I first want to invite those who don’t know Jesus to respond. If you are here today and God is convicting your heart and today is the day you want to put your trust in Jesus, I want you to come forward. The Bible says that if we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, we will be saved. There’s two parts, you have to believe and you have to confess, which is a public display of your faith. Some of you have never done that. I want you to come forward and do that today.

If you are a Christian, I want you to spend your time praying for those here that are not and I want you to do something else as well. Ask the Lord to bring to mind unbelievers in your life. Who do you know that needs to meet Jesus?