The Mission of the Church

As we begin 2017, I’m asking everyone who attends this church to focus on one thing over the next several months. Through prayer, Bible study, mutual encouragement and accountability, I would like us to focus on one overall theme.

Has anyone ever told you, “Hey, focus!” or “Stay on task?” I have no idea what that is like, but for those of you who lose focus from time to time, I’m sure it can be frustrating to those around you.

We all know what happens when other people lose focus. At times it can be humorous or no big deal, and at other times it can be dangerous and deadly. Accidents are the 4th leading cause of death in the US – a large portion of accidents are from complacency – from losing focus.

In the spiritual application , it’s no different. If the Church (i.e. Christians) becomes complacent and loses its focus, the results can be just as dangerous and deadly. Truthfully, the stakes are higher because the stakes are eternal.

And so this morning, I want to encourage those who call Sunnyside Nazarene their home to focus. To focus on The Mission of the Church. Focus until we get it – becomes a part of our DNA.

What’s the mission of the Church? “To go and make Christlike disciples in the nations.” This is the mission Jesus gave to His Church – and who is the Church? We are. Every Christian has been commissioned to go and be a part of making Christlike disciples.

This is not a missionary thing, a denominational thing, or even a pastoral thing – this is a Christian thing – the Christian faith is a missionary faith. And so I’m asking that over the next ‘who knows how long’ that we focus on the Mission of the Church – to go and make disciples.

Of course, we get our mission from the Great Commission in Matthew 28. Before we get to the actual commission in verses 18-20, we have to begin on a personal level. See, the Great Commission is not a special event or an evangelistic program or something you add to your life – it’s not something you just squeeze in when you can.

The Great Commission is personal. The Mission of the Church is our life and it flows from our relationship with Jesus Christ. The Great Commission is personal, because we’re dealing with a personal God who desires all people to come to a personal and saving knowledge of Him. It begins with us.

Matthew 28:1–10 NIV

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Matthew 28:16–18 NIV

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Since the Mission of the Church is personal, I have four personal questions to ask ourselves this morning.

1. When was the last time I genuinely looked for Jesus?

What do I mean by that? Notice that both the women and the disciples were looking for Jesus. The circumstances were a little different for each, but the idea was the same – they left one place to look for Jesus in another.

The emphasis here is not merely looking, but rather looking for that which is desired. They desired to see the resurrected Christ. Their hearts longed to see Him, to hear Him, touch Him, be near Him. They were not passively looking, but actively looking for Christ.

I’m not trying to force the narrative to say something that it doesn’t intend, but I have to wonder, when was the last time you or I genuinely desired to see Jesus and then did what was necessary to see Him? See, it’s one thing to “Oh yea, I read my Bible today, when to church, I prayed today” - and it’s another thing to actually desire to see Jesus and to do what is necessary to meet with Jesus.

Psalm 42:1–2 NIV

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

When was the last time you did what was necessary to meet with God? (Fasting, taking a day of prayer, several hours with just the Bible, a pen and paper, prayer retreat …?)

If we won’t do what is necessary to be with Jesus, then why would anyone else?

2. When was the last time I was inconvenienced by Jesus?

The reason I ask this is because if we’re going to follow Jesus, and go where He directs, there will be times we are inconvenienced. There will be times when Jesus says “Go there” or “Do that” and we’ll be like, ‘That doesn’t make any sense’ or ‘That’s kind of an inconvenience, Lord.’ And the temptation will be to ignore God because it is an inconvenience or because it doesn’t make sense to us.

I wonder how many golden opportunities we miss because we think, “God would never ask me to do that – especially during Wheel of Fortune.”

Where was Jesus crucified? Jerusalem. Where was Jesus resurrected? Jerusalem. Where were the disciples and the women? Jerusalem. Where did Jesus say, “Meet me”? Galilee.

“Wait a cotton-pickin’ minute! Jesus just came out of the grave and He says ‘meet me in Galilee.’ That makes no sense! Besides, (get this), Galilee is around 80-miles away. That will take us 5-7 days on foot – just to meet Jesus!”

Look, if we’re going to authentically follow Jesus, we will be inconvenienced. We will be called to go places we don’t want to go and do things we don’t want to do and do things that don’t make sense. We will be asked to deny ourselves, pick up our crosses and follow Him.

And so the bigger question is really about obedience – am I listening to and obeying the voice of the Shepherd - even when it’s an inconvenience? Christianity is not about convenience – it’s about loving Jesus enough to obey and go where He asks us to go so we can make Christlike disciples.

3. When was the last time I worshipped Jesus?

Both the women and the men in this passage, when they saw Jesus literally stopped in their tracks, hit their knees and worshipped. They didn’t do that for the three years they were with Him, so why now? Probably because it was the first time they truly saw Him – they finally understood who Jesus was – God in the flesh.

When was the last time you literally stopped in your tracks because you were in such awe of Christ, and maybe even fell to your knees and worshipped? What about us as a congregation?

I wonder if perhaps the number one problem in Western Christianity is that we have lost our sense of awe and fear of God? If the Church has lost its awe and fear of God, then there is a lack of authentic worship. A lack of authentic worship means lack of God’s presence and power. And if there is a lack God’s presence and power, then what do we have to offer the world?

When was the last time you saw Jesus for who He really is (as revealed in Scripture) and not for who you want Him to be?

4. When was the last time Jesus came to me?

In this passage, both the women and the men were looking for Jesus, they worshipped Jesus and Jesus went to them. I think this is very important because what Jesus does here is so God. From beginning to end we see this truth throughout Scripture - God will come to those who seek Him and worship Him.

Some of you might be wondering where is Jesus. “I believe and all, but I really don’t see Him in my life.” Perhaps you have a drawing problem.

James 4:7–8 NIV

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

As the disciples drew nigh to Jesus, they fell down and worshipped and Jesus drew nigh to them. It’s hard for Jesus to draw nigh if you’re always running, too busy to sit down ….

And so this morning, I want to begin 2017 with a challenge: take these 4 questions, ask the Lord which one do I need to work on first. He might say, “You’re not really looking for me. Just going through motions.” Or, “You’re not obeying – you’re looking for convenience.” Or, “You haven’t truly worshipped me in a while.” Or, “It seems like I’m not around because honestly, you’re the one not around.” That’s the challenge to us.

However, that’s on a personal level. But we also need to take it to the corporate level because the personal effects the corporate and the corporate effects the mission.

So we’re going to be spending time refocusing on the Mission of the Church – which really is each individual’s mission.

We need to be a seeking church – seeking Christ above all things

We need to be an obedient church – obedient to Christ above all things

We need to be a worshipping church – exalting Christ above all things

We need to be a going church (next week) -

We need to be a Great Commission church, which means we need to be a Great Commission people – are you seeking Christ, obeying, worshipping and going?