Great Commission

Introduction

This is the last message in the series but it is foundational because this is what Jesus has called us to do. It is the imperative and the motivation to keep going. To take what we know and pass it on. Invite a new generation and other nations into it.

Jesus has called the church to make disciples. To help people to learn about and trust in Christ for salvation. And we are called to do this over and over throughout all nations.

He left this for the church to do. 

This isn’t just God’s good idea. He is communicating with authority.  With power to act. 

Christ has both promised He is the One with authority and that He will be with us. IN the middle of that He gives us a life of purpose and meaning by acting out His commissioning statement. we have found the source of life and want others to find it as well. It is a mission to invite others to find purpose and peace in the God who gave it in the first place. It is a response to everything that God is done. Our role is to rush in and respond to His call.

A couple months ago a friend of mine who I have know for 15 years contacted me where he lives in Oregon.  We hopped on FaceTime and chatted for a bit and he told me his daughter was coming to the East coast to college and that he and his wife and thier daughter were coming to Providence for a weekend trip.  I haven’t seen this guy in 8 years since we moved.  In Oregon we met each month to talk, pray and walk through ministry together. 

I told him that I would clear my schedule when he got here and we could connect. He set up his schedule so that he could have Friday and I picked him up at the hotel and we hung out all day while I showed him the great East coast. 

It was the greatest invite ever.  My friend travelled 3000 miles to be able to hang out together. There is not a single situation in which I would have said no. It was an obvious absolutely to connecting. 

The Great commission is the obvious yes from the church.  God has done the work, reconciling people back to Himself, the greatest news ever.  All the things that are torn and broken, God puts back together in Jesus.  Christ enters our lives and says that we can be a part of what He is doing.  

The most obvious things you would do to such an invitation is to say yes. The church on mission is to say yes to what God is doing by inviting people to know the God who comes close and who brings all the far away things close together. 

If God has come this close and if God is reconciling the world to Himself then the response from the church is the most obvious absolutely yes.

. The Great commission is the response that says that if you have found the source of life then do everything you can to invite other people in who are looking for it as well.

Jesus tells us what to do but He also gives us what we need to do it. He goes with us, He speaks with authority. Nothing is left behind for us when it comes to how Christ has communicated His mission to the church. The Great commission is couched in Christ’s authority and in His presence.  When we make disciples He has already gone with us and is with us. 

We will look at how Jesus calls the church particularly to the Great Commission and how Jesus uses the church to accomplish the Great Commission.

The Great commission is to the church and it is through the church

The God who holds all things by Himself, who creates simply by speaking, gives us meaning and mission. 

And when we gather, as one expression of the local church, we recognize that Christ Himself has handed His mission to us and others who are doing the same thing right now

The Great Commission Challenges us that Value of God’s Work in Christ is not only for us but for all who listen.

TO understand that we have to start with Jesus words:

Jesus defines for us what it means to “go.” 

Matthew 28:19 ESV

Go therefore

This word means to “travel” or “go out.” It means “walk around.”  Jesus is commanding His people to get out, get going, walk around, travel.  To be on your way.  

It is an important imperative because JEsus is going to say Go (travel, be on your way) and make disciples of all nations. 

Disciple equals apprentice

We are told to go and make disciples.  Not that disciples would just show up.  Or that we make disciples by osmosis.  Travel around. Find them, look for disciples.  

This is a dynamic word to “go.” We want to respond to it in kind. 

We are called to be a people who are active, who are looking, who are going.  

We don’t force it . We look for where Godmismworking in the world and respond to people who are interested

We are not doing this to build bigger churches or better people.  We believe that the way to be most human in the world is through the cross of Christ. Because this is not about better ideas but about God’s activity, the work of the church is to call people to be reconciled to God  

English Standard Version Chapter 5

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We are motivated by the reality that God is bringing back together what we have torn apart. Christ by His own authority calls us to be a part of that. To be a part of what God is doing in the world.

Look around, there are people here that we are called to disciple.  

But look around.  There are people who are not here that God in Christ is calling us to disiciple

In that way we are called to go.  

And the rest of Jesus command:

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We are commanded to go to others and because of how God has formed us and changed us and shaped us and shown us what it means to life well in the world, then we are called to invited others into that process. 

We follow Jesus in such a way that others can follow Him as well. Christ has commanded us to follow Him, to do as He did, live as He lived, to trust Him to be the victorious one in the world. That when we have not been able Christ is. 

But as we follow Him we are called into the world. We are not called to stay and just and make ourselves busy we are called to go into the world and make new disciples of Christ.

To make disciples means we need to be a go and make church not a stay and take church 

Jesus limits us on who to go to.  He tells us, go to all nations. That means If we are going to do church well. In a way that we are going and making disciples then there will be and should be people who are very unlike you sitting next to you. 

But that will often look differently than our own comfort zones. It means we will be in relation and connection with People who look and act differently, but who belong to God in Christ. That we will be in relation to People in different walks and places in their spiritual lives, but who belong to Christ. 

We will constantly have to make the choice as a church if we will be a go and make or a stay and take kind of church

We are called to baptize people into the name of the Father, Son and SPirit.  Not into the name of the churhc or city or nation.  Not into the way of a person or influence or action.  Not into the way of performance or politics.  Not into the way of agreement or disagreement.  Not into a denomination or a country. We are baptized into a name.  Into the name that God has given us, the Father, Son, and Spirit. That means the point of the church is not how much we agree or disagree with each other on lesser things but about how we belong to Christ. 

If we are going to be faithful to Jesus command then we will be a go and make and we will constantly be stretched. Where the church will continue to shift and change and will be louder than we like or messier than we like. But there will be life. People will grow in their faith. They will learn to love God. People will be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and SPirit, and will learn to follow JEsus. 

Or if we are a stay and take then everything can remain controlled and easy. Comfortable. But we will stay comfortably quiet until we die as a church. And we will die in direct disobedience to the God of the universe.

To make disciples, inviting people to follow Christ is the constant reminder that God is with us. That Christ really meant what He said that

Matthew 28:20 ESV

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

To make disciples is to act on the words of the living God. It is to show people and tell people that God is bringing back together whatever it is we have torn apart.

It is to agree that God is looking for people to call His own, looking to redeem and restore and He has given the church the task of inviting people into life with Him. We want to be a part of this. For you to be a part of what God is doing. I sometimes have people asking me, “What does God want for my life?”

And the answer is this. He wants this for your life. To love HIm with everything. And to love others so much that you invite them to experience life with God, restoring them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to follow Jesus in all things.

We have stories of peoples lives who have changed because of this. My life changed because someone took this seriously.

Jesus speaks these words with the authority of Heaven itself behind Him.

Matthew 28:18 ESV

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

This isn’t Jesus’ good idea or helpful tip. These are words to wrestle with and then do something about. Maybe it means having a conversation with someone who is struggling. Or reaching out in care and compassion to a family in town. Maybe it is inviting someone to church or to the Easter Egg hunts we have going on, just something to show people love. Maybe it is sharing the Gospel or praying for someone. Maybe it is moving to another continent to share the goodness of God in the world whose name is Jesus.

But I want to introduce a family in our church who have taken God at His word and have left their home country of Brazil to be missionaries here in the United States. And maybe you hear that and say, “Isn’t the united States the ones who normally send missionaries?” And while we do send a lot, the truth is that we need more help here than you know. I am grateful for Ray and Sonale and their kids and am grateful to God for their call to the States.

They are going to share a bit of their story.

Ray and Sonale come on up.