Living Sent: the incarnational, intentional, and relational mission of carrying Christ to the World as Priests

Opening Illustration

In the first 3 centuries after Christ, the Roman Empire was in constant turmoil and what probably seemed like endless wars. And wars brought famine, plague and death to many Roman cities.

There are records of many high and wealthy Romans abandoning their cities leaving the people - Roman citizens- to die of hunger and disease.

But a very marginalized group of people were known for interceding and taking care of the needs of these people- the very same people whose leaders persecuted Christians.

Eusebius, the early church historian, records that even though the empire was against them, the Christians were the only ones that came in and to care for the sick, feed the hungry, and to bury the dead.

Here's what he says,

"All day long some of them [the Christians] tended to the dying and to their burial, countless numbers with no one to care for them. Others gathered together from all parts of the city a multitude of those withered from famine and distributed bread to them all." (1)

So picture this.... Christians under persecution, went into the cities of their enemy and tended to the sick, providing food to the hungry, and buried the dead at severe risk to themselves. And many of those Christians became sick or died themselves in the process of helping others…

Do you think in the process of Christians doing this that Christ was proclaimed and that many of those Roman citizens came to the Lord?

Eusebius states that the citizens of that city and country spoke constantly about their deeds and they began glorifying God who sent the Christians to them.

Why did Christians, who were being martyred by the Roman Emperor, provide help, aide, and service to Roman citizens, these people who could rightly be called their enemies?

Today, I want us to answer that question by taking a look at what we commonly call the great commission and then applying that to our own lives and contexts ….

Personal / Sermon Intro

Good morning, TBA Church.

My name is Jamie Bennett and I'm the discipleship pastor here at TBA, where we are living sent to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus Christ in order to impact our community and our world with the Gospel.

What an awesome privilege it is to be gathered together as the body of Jesus Christ today.... And we’re concluding our series this morning on he essence of TBA by bridging the gap between who were are in essence with our next series which is going to speak about the Throne Room experience…

If we were scaling a mountain that represents who we are as a community, certainly Living Sent is the summit of that mountain.

As I said a minute ago, Today are going to look at what we commonly call the great commission... do you all know the great commission?

How does that start out... how does the great commission start, someone shout it out....

"go and make disciples...."

That's what we think of when we use the words, the great commission, but there's actually more to it than that.... “Go and Make Disciples” isn’t actually the first words of the great commission… but more on that in a second.

So if you have your Bibles or your Bible app, and I hope that you do, please turn to Matthew chapter 28....

Matthew chapter 28, staring in verse 18.  This is actually the beginning of what we call the great commission.

Would you stand with me as we read from the Word of God....

Main Passage (Matt 28:18-20 CSB) and Background

SLIDE:

Matthew 28:18–20 CSB

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 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 everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God...

You may be seated.

So the background is that Jesus had suffered and died on the cross.  He rose from the tomb on the third day and appeared to many people and to all of his disciples. He gave them many instructions and commands in his post-resurrection appearances and then he gives this final command for the disciples to begin the mission..... after giving these final instructions, Jesus ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God taking up his rightful place as the King over all creation.

Today I want to cover two points from this passage that speak to Living Sent, and then by way of Application I want to review how you can put them into practice starting today.

1. Living Sent (scent) is a Presence Centered Mission

I mentioned just a moment ago that the great commission doesn’t start with the words, Go and Make Disciples and you will notice in our passage that it actually starts with Jesus proclaiming that he has all authority in heaven and on earth.

Verse 19 says, “Go Therefore” and friends, if you ever see the word therefore in a passage of Scripture you need to ask, what is the therefore, there for?

And so that means you need to back up and consider the context. And we see that the command to “go” is there because Jesus has all authority. That’s the basis of the great commission.

If you know the Gospel of Matthew, go back and think about the very first thing that Jesus preached. Jesus began his preaching ministry by saying “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

With that in mind…. If Jesus has all authority over heaven and earth…. what does that make him? It makes him a king….

The Gospel of Matthew starts out declaring that Jesus is the King of the Jews… but here at the end, we find that it’s much bigger than that, for Jesus is King over the entire universe.

If Jesus is a king, then that means there is a kingdom. And the question is, when did the Kingdom start? And if we read our Bibles we see that the Kingdom of God with Christ as King started right here.

You see, there are some extreme forms of a certain type of theology that states the Kingdom of God doesn’t start until the future millennial reign of Christ spoken about in Revelation 20 - now there are different views about the millennium, but that’s not the issue at hand… the issue is this: we do not have wait until the millenium to experience the reign of Christ.

Church- Jesus the Messiah, is ruling and reigning right now from his heavenly throne… there is not a single atom in the universe that Christ is not sovereign over.

And if that’s true, then the question is, are we participants in his Kingdom work? How do we know that we are?

You see, Jesus doesn’t just rule from heaven.

He is also present with us at every moment of our lives… and he has sent a helper for us. Verse 20 states that Jesus promises that he is with us always.

Jesus makes good on this promise by sending the Holy Spirit to us so that we can be guided by him for the mission that’s been given to us. Jesus has promised that, through the Holy Spirit, his presence is with us always when we do kingdom work.

The commands of our Mission from Jesus begin and end with his authority and his presence.

Far from being just a command to evangelize, the great commission is how we live, function, and work in the Kingdom of God.

We say that we are “living sent” at TBA which is our shorthand way of talking about taking up the great commission in incarnational, intentional, and relational ways.

If you were here at the beginning our series, Stivey talked about all the amazing things that the Lord has done through TBA.

But he said something very important, he said

We are Living Sent because we are Living Scent… S. C. E. N. T. -

We must have the scent, the fragrance of the Lord on us.

That means that everything begins with him. We have to be with him first. Look again at the Words of the Great Commission….

It begins with Jesus declaring that all authority was given to him.

But it also ends with a promise from Jesus.

Every command that Jesus gives here is centered on his Lordship. If we want to be empowered and authorized to Live Sent in any capacity, we must first live S. C. E. N. T. - the presence of God must be with us and on us.

This is what it means to be a priest…. did you know that the New Testament calls you a priest? And priests are first in the presence of God so that they can bring his presence to the people.

In other words, Living Sent begins with Being with God rather than doing. Doing has to come, that’s our mission, but first we need to be in his presence. We must Be before we Do.

As I’ve said before, that old song got it wrong… Do-Be-Do-Be Do…. Thanks Frank Sinatra, but I’m sorry, you’re wrong.

The correct phrase is Be-Do, Be-Do, Be-Do….

And this is our First Point:

SLIDE:

Living Sent is a Presence-Centered Mission

It starts and ends with being with Christ…. we can’t carry Christ to the World if we’re not with Christ first.

And, so, that leads us to consider next the actual commands of the Great Commission….

2. All followers are to “Go and Make Disciples” by Living Sent Incarnationally, Intentionally, and Relationally

Let’s go back to our text.

SLIDE- Scripture Passage

verses 19 and 20 give use the commands of the Great Commission…. Jesus stated, that we are to “GO” and “Make Disciples” and then he further qualifies those activities by stating that the process of making disciples includes baptizing them in the name of the trinity, and teaching them some of his commands….

Some of his commands?

No, ALL of his commands.

Believe it or not, Jesus actually expects his followers to do what he commands them to do, which includes the very command that Jesus is giving in this passage.

You see church, the great commission isn’t just for certain people like missionaries or evangelists, it’s for everyone.

This mission is for everyone that is a follower, a disciple… and those two words are synonymous. If you are a follower, you are a disciple. If you are a disciple, you are a follower.

But the question is - are you an obedient one?

Amen? Ouch?

So today, we’re not going to spend a lot of time on the commands to baptize and to teach, but I do want to point out that those things can’t be separated from the great commission.

Baptism is about identification with the Lord and receiving the teaching of Jesus’ commands is about growing in grace and knowledge… and I want to say this last thing about the commandments of Jesus——

What did Jesus say was the first and greatest commandment? He said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul. And the second is like it, he said, love your neighbor as yourself.

If you ever have any questions about what Jesus has commanded us to do- fall back on this. Jesus’ law is the law of love- and in Jesus’ book- love is self-sacrifice.

There’s a lot of different ways that the world describes love today but Jesus made it very clear for us: Love is giving your life up for another. Your time, your treasure, your giftedness, your entire person is to be given sacrificially to God and to others.

This is our code of ethics in living sent… the Law of Love.

So that was a little aside… a freebie, no charge this morning for getting the great commandment with the great commission.

So back to the commands of the Great commission

Jesus said to “Make Disciples”

Now, this is the only imperative verb in this passage… what’s an imperative verb- someone tell me….

That’s right, its a commandment. Make Disciples is the only imperative verb in this passage.

baptizing and teaching - these are called participles…. the are descriptive verbs. They describe to us the way we’re supposed to carry out Making Disciples. So as we go about the task of making the disciple, along the way we’re supposed to baptize them and teach them all the commands of Christ…. That’s how making disciples is done.

But what about this word “Go”

Well in this passage, Go is an aorist participle…

And there a popular idea out there that this verb means “as you are going” “when you’re going somewhere” or “as you go along”

-That idea suggests that it functions just like the other participles (Baptizing / Teaching). That it is somewhat passive….

In other words, you only Make Disciples when the opportunity comes around or when you think about it during your day….

But the form of the word doesn’t allow for that. That’s not correct.

And the problem is, it takes intentionality out of the command…

This type of verb piggybacks onto the command “make disciples” and therefore, it functions as a command too.

Brothers and Sisters- that means you are commanded to “Go”

Not sit passively back and wait for an opportunity- Jesus Christ, the one who has all authority has commanded us all to go.

You can’t escape the word “go”. If you call Christ Lord, by virtue of being a disciple of Jesus Christ, he expects us to do that to. You can’t escape the command to GO!

Are you an obedient disciple?

Now as you ponder that… maybe you’re wondering, where exactly am I supposed to Go. Well, for some of you, that could be to the very ends of the earth.

But for the vast majority of us, that means the circumstances of our life is the mission field for us.

That’s why we call it Living Sent. We recognize that God has sovereignly placed each and everyone of us in a specific context- a place, a time, and a life circumstance.

So here are 3 ways that we can Go by Living Sent.

Progressive SLIDES:

We Live Sent Incarnationally

First, we live sent incarnationally.

The most amazing thing about Jesus is that being God- he stepped down from his place in heaven and joined himself to humanity by taking on flesh and dwelling with us.

The second person of the Trinity became the God-Man Jesus, the Messiah.

We can likewise “incarnate” in the places that we live, work, and play. Jesus empowers us through the Holy Spirit to see the people of the world in the way that he sees them. To care for the poor, and the sick, and the down-trodden. And to hope for the salvation of all of creation. In the marketplace, in the workplace, and in our communities, we can Live Sent by representing Christ and by doing the things he did, namely Loving your neighbors.

So we put flesh to our confession when we look at our neighborhoods and see the opportunity to serve and love.

SLIDE 1,2,

Second,

2. We Live Sent Intentionally

You can Live sent in your daily life and everyday routines. God is working all around you. What we need to do is develop eyes for seeing what God is doing around us. How do you develop eyes to see what God is doing

… go back to the first point today- we have to be submerged in God’s Presence.

You see, Jesus saw where the Father was working and joined Him. He wants you to join Him too!

Henry Blackaby said,

“Watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work.” - Henry Blackaby

And here’s the third,

SLIDE 1,2, 3

3. We Live Sent Relationally

It is important that we remember to be motivated by Christs’ love. The people we are ministering to need to feel loved and honored.

They’re people, not projects.

This is why serving others and evangelism can’t be separated.

When we split up the act of spreading the message of God’s transformative power (the Gospel) and the act of serving others or providing practical life skills,

we give the wrong impression that the world is fragmented.

We make it seem like God’s work of salvation is somehow separate from helping people in need.

But tell me, Did Jesus separate his ministry work and service from the call he gave to follow him. No he didn’t and neither should we.

Service to our neighbor and helping those in needs are all relationship building practices. They are not a means to an end but and end themselves.

We’re not trying to close the deal when we Live Sent, we’re trying to form the relationship.

They’re people, not projects.

People don’t care to know what you know, until they know that you care.

So that’s covers our second and final point today:

SLIDE:

All followers are to “Go and Make Disciples” by Living Sent Incarnationally, Intentionally, and Relationally

So first, Living Sent is a Presence-Centered Mission. We must be with Christ first before we Go.

Second, all of us are commanded to Go and Make disciples… and we can do that by Living Sent incarnationally, intentionally, and relationally.

Application:

So how do we apply this to our lives?

Well concerning point 1- we are about to enter into a series called the Throne Room.

We will have a teaching every Sunday morning and as you’ve heard, we are going to have an extended practical teaching on Sunday nights. Sign up for that.

Slide from announcements?

This starts next week and runs until March 30th. Childcare is provided…. Text the word “Class” to TBA Connect to sign up…. you will want to be a part of this.

So for our second point… We live sent in two ways as TBA. Corporately (Highland City - the hub, Honduras - Burro Bueno) and Individually (Various ways)

For the corporate live sent opportunities- well you heard some great things about Burro Bueno and Honduras today already.

Our hope is that everyone that is part of the TBA family will one day get to participate in a trip to Honduras.

There will be many many opportunities to do that so stay connected with that ministry… and pray, please pray for the Burro Bueno missions team.

Second, you’ve heard about Highland City for a long time as our other Live Sent opportunity.

And yes, you’ve also heard about the h city mission church that is launching at the end of the month,

and that’s super exciting. That church is a missional church- it’s for and all about the people in the Highland City community.

Pray for the launch of that church service and for the missionaries on the ground who will be serving there.

But there’s so much more the Highland City and these are just as exciting- maybe even more exciting because God has been working for many years already!!!!

And you can plug into this living sent opportunity as well.

SLIDES

Homework Club

Food Pantry

Prayer Walk

Service Project Days

More to come… (CR, Teaching Financial Peace, Teaching Life Skills, etc)

So there are so many great things happening in Highland City - Prayer walk is a great entry point to join in our corporate living sent opportunity in Highland city, so start there.

Finally,

To “Go” to Live Sent is all of our responsibility.

SLIDE: All followers are to “Go and Make Disciples” by Living Sent Incarnationally, Intentionally, and Relationally

And there are many many ways that you can Live Sent in your own context.

There are people here now that host dinners for people in their own neighborhoods. Nothing speaks love and friendship like food, right?

Today is super bowl Sunday. What an excellent opportunity to invite people over to your own house for fun, food, and fellowship.

So hospitality- that’s a great way to live sent.. the gospel comes with a house key.

Foster parenting, visiting the elderly in their home or nursing homes, these are wonderful and very Biblical ways to Live Sent.

Also, think about the Make it Happen Riders. Here, some men and women got together and formed a bikers club, but they are bikers with a mission.

They visit hospitals, they help people move, they clean up yards, they help the elderly and widows, they’ve done sponsored rides where money goes to a good cause…

They took something they love and turned it into a Live Sent ministry.

Some disciples here make prayer blankets and bring them to the sick and disabled.

Some disciples just look for opportunities to stop and pray with people.

Who’s Your One? Continue to pray for our One to receive salvation. That’s o=an ongoing way to Live Sent- prayer for the lost.

Brothers and Sisters….God has opportunities sprinkled all through-out your communities and life situations… do you have eyes to see them?

And I want to emphasize something when you consider what God is calling you to as you pray and process what it means to Live Sent.

Living Sent does not mean you need to be an entrepreneur or come up with something extremely creative.

In fact, I want you to get that out of your head…. Living Sent doesn’t mean that you need to start up a huge ministry.

Again, it may be just as simple as inviting people over for dinner in your neighborhood on a regular basis.

What you do want to do is look for where God is working and join him in that. Maybe it’s a ministry that already exists.

Or maybe someone is doing something here in the TBA family and you sense that God is calling you to join that person and help them.

That’s what happened with me… I saw God moving and I wanted to be part of that. I didn’t need to come up with anything on my own….

And if you’re not sure, spend some time in our corporate ways of living sent in Highland City and Honduras…

and make sure you’re intentionally spending time in the throne room- in the presence of God - this will develop those eyes in you for you to see where God is moving.

Brothers and Sister, here’s how we’re going to wrap this up.

First, we’re going to pray ….

Then right after that, I want you to watch a video of one of our dear sisters in the TBA family who has found that her life circumstance allows her to participate in TBAs corporate living sent and also has a unique personal Living Sent story.

Prayer / Closing

Let's Pray: (2)

Lord, grant that our hearts may ache for a lost and broken world. May your Holy Spirit work through our words, deeds, and prayers to bring your saving health unto all nations; guide the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may come to the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We commend to your goodness all those who are in any ways afflicted or distressed, in mind, body, or spirit; that it may please you to comfort and relieve them in of all their afflictions.

We ask that you break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle to accomplish your purposes on earth; send your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of the Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and forever.

Almighty God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ:

Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Stir our hearths this morning, Holy Spirit.  Teach us how to live sent in our life situations, each and every day.

Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight... Amen.

May God use that prayer to bring the mission to our hearts and minds on a daily basis.

Church- Watch this video….

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Notes:

1. Eusebius of Caesarea and Paul L. Maier, Eusebius--the Church History : A New Translation with Commentary(Hardback) - 2013 Edition (Kregel Publications,U.S., 2013), 328-329.

2. FROM:  Winfield Bevins, Liturgical Mission: The Work of the People for the Life of the World (Downers Grove, IL: IVP: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022), 167–168.