Our Mission

It was March 7, 1945. The Allied forces had fought their way across France and Belgium and now stood at the last great barrier to victory — the Rhine River. Every bridge across that mighty river had been destroyed by the retreating Nazi army, cutting off any path into Germany — or so it seemed.

That day, a small patrol from the U.S. 9th Armored Division reached the town of Remagen (RAY-mah-gen). Through the smoke and dust of battle, they saw what looked like a miracle — the Ludendorff Bridge still standing. It was the Allies’ only way across, but it was rigged with explosives, guarded by machine guns, and ready to blow at any second.

Lieutenant Karl Timmermann, only 24 years old, faced a moment that would shape history: Wait for reinforcements… or move now. He looked at his men and said, “Let’s go get that bridge.” Under heavy fire, they sprinted forward, cutting wires with their hands and throwing explosives into the river. The bridge shook and shuddered — but it held. Moments later, the first American soldiers crossed the Rhine. Two months later, the war in Europe was over.

Likewise, church — we face a daring mission that can shape not history, but eternity. It’s the mission of world evangelism — rescuing souls and advancing the Kingdom of God. Each day we stand before the same kind of choice: Do we wait, or do we go get that bridge? Will we charge the gates of hell armed with the power of God — the Gospel — or will we hold back while others perish?

In Colossians 1:28, the Apostle Paul gives us our mission statement — a battle plan for the church of Jesus Christ. It’s clear, it’s bold, and it’s ours: This morning, I’m calling us to take up that mission — our mission — together. Because I can’t do it alone, and neither can you. The mission isn’t mine; it’s ours.

We must decide today to be the instruments God uses to:

I. Pry people from the grips of Hell.

A. The Scope of Our Mission (every man)

Hell holds a tight grip on the lost of this world. That is everyone who does not have a saving relationship with Jesus. Notice the term “every man” (pas anthrōpos) is used three times, making it important, It means every human being without exception needs Jesus! Paul says that the scope of his ministry (ours) is everyone, regardless of age, sex, creed, race, or status, everyone needs Jesus!

You see each soul is valuable to God, Dr. R.G. Lee once said, “each letter is valuable to the alphabet and each digit is valuable to the multiplication table, how much more is each soul valuable to God… much more valuable.” Enough that He sent Jesus His only begotten to die for each sinner.

B. The Method

Friends, the Grip of hell can’t be pried loose with a crow bar, it holds its victims tight, but Paul teaches us that proclaiming Jesus can shatter the hold of hell like a how a rock shatters glass, leaving it scattered and broken on the ground.

Our mission is to proclaim Jesus! “Whom we preach” Preach/Proclaim katangellō means to openly proclaim throughout, its the idea of reporting to the world who Jesus is and what He has done so that mankind can be saved! It’s Gospel message, that God in Christ came into this world cloaked in humanity to offer Himself a sin offering for the world. He willingly left the hallways of heaven to endure a mission of mercy that ultimately saw Him suffering and nailed to a cross, He died but was resurrected from the dead on the third day, giving glorious hope that heaven is ours! Isn’t that wonderful news that the world needs to hear. Through the blood of Jesus they can be forgiven of sin and inherit heaven!

ILL: This past weekend, I remembered that I like Coca-Cola. (That first taste OMG!) I drank 5, one with each dinner. The impact Coke has had in our world is fascinating. I’ve been to 4 continents and at least 11/12 3rd world countries and I’ve had a coke in each. I mean Coca-Cola has impacted the world • 91% of the world’s population has heard of coke • 74% have seen coke • 51% have tasted. Yet • its estimated that only 10% of the world’s population has heard the true Gospel of Jesus. Its a sad fact that Coke has done a better job of impacting the world than the Church has for Christ Jesus.

Don’t say, “That's what we pay you for.” Paul wrote to the Church at Colossae and told them (Col. 4:16) that after reading it, send it to Laodicea. Its a message for the Church, the body of Christ, that's you and me! The Church’s mission is to proclaim Christ Jesus so that people can be saved!

ILL: An old Pastor once said “Many churches today remind me of a laboring crew trying to gather in a harvest while they sit in the tool shed. They go to the tool shed every Sunday and they study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and then get up and go home. Then they come back that night, study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and go home again. They comeback Wednesday night, and again study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and get up and go home. They do this week in and week out, year in and year out, and nobody ever goes out into the fields to gather in the harvest.” Is that true of us? We must proclaim Jesus whom we have come here today to learn about and to worship, so that the lost world around us can be pried looses from the grip that hell holds on them.

II. Place people on the Straight and Narrow

Our mission is not only to see people saved but to place them on the sanctifying road of Biblical truth! People enter through the narrow gate of the Gospel and we must teach them to stay on the road.

This is a call for one on one discipleship! We often applaud the Churches who are baptizing people left and right, Churches that are growing by leaps and bounds. We think they are doing something right! But in that setting, more times than not, new Christians are left to wonder what's next. They are left to fend for themselves. Robert Coleman is a great preacher and every church he pastored showed tremendous growth. But after preaching homecoming for churches that he once pastored, he noticed that attendance was back where it was before he got there. He realized a great truth, that he did not teach the church to disciple the new Christian, therefore when he left so did the new members! He then wrote a book called the Master’s plan of Evangelism, it calls for one on discipleship, like how Jesus did it, and how Paul did it! The great Pastor, Henry Ward Beecher once said: “The longer I live, the more confidence I have in those sermons where one man is the minister and one man is the congregation.” The idea is that we must take an interest in those whom we bring into the fold of Christ Jesus!

A. Warning Everyman

Paul tells us to warn everyman. This means every person we have proclaimed Jesus to must be warned about sin and its consequences.

ILL: This weekend Hope and I explored Daytona, we went to Ponce Park to walk on the beach. As we paid to enter the park the attendant warned us that the Jetties were closed due to the rough seas caused by the Tropical Storm Jerry that was out in the Atlantic. When we got to the beach and saw the 6-9 foot waves crashing over the Jetties we understood why the Jetties were closed, it was for our own protection! The attendant cared about our safety and we should care about the safety of others too, that includes their Spiritual safety!

I’ve warned you time again of the consequences of sin to the unbeliever, its God’s wrath in hell… but in context, Paul is warning about false doctrine that could lead a Christian to veer off the straight path and out of fellowship with Christ! Talk about great Spiritual harm, lose of fellowship!

In Colossae there was an early form of Gnosticism being taught, The Gnostics believed that all matter is evil therefore Jesus could not be God because He came covered in matter (human flesh). In other words they held Jesus to be less than God , so, salvation can’t be exclusively through Christ. A form legalism followed, making rules far more important than than work of Christ and mankind’s need for Him!

B. Teaching Everyman

We warn about false doctrine and teach true doctrine! In this context its a call to have the highest view of Jesus possible! The theme of this letter is the “the preeminence of Christ” that means that Christ has first place in our life. He is not only important but the most important. Nothing compares to Jesus! Col. 1:13-14 He is our Savior who forgives our sin, Col. 1:15 He is the invisible God made seen and has the first place in all of creation, Col. 1:16 He is the creator of everything that is seen and that is invisible, Col. 1:17 He is the sustainer of the world who holds all things together, Col. 1:18 He is first in the Church, 1st to raise from the dead to never die again, and He has 1st place in all things!

Jesus is the foundation of Christian life, we give the people we pry from the grip of hell and firm foundation.

ILL: This weekend, I notices all the hotels and condo’s on Daytona have a 10 foot high concrete foundation, I watched wave after wave crash into the foundations and the buildings never shuttered. Christians will be faced with false teachings and numerous other obstacles than easily push them off course, therefore we must place people on the firm foundation of Christ Alone!

We do this not through worldly knowledge but through the Spirit-given wisdom as we grow in grace, faith, and truth! So, warn and teach placing people on the straight and narrow so they do not wander off!

III. Present People Complete in Christ

The ultimate goal is to help every man become complete in Christ, I’m talking about conformity, when people look at you and only see Jesus, no other distractions.

ILL: It took Leonardo Da Vinci three years to paint what he called “His Crowning Work” the Last Supper. Before the unveiling, he decided to show it to a friend, whose opinion he had the utmost respect. The friend’s praise was unbounded. “The cup in Jesus’ hand,” he said, “is especially beautiful.” At once Da Vinci began to paint out the cup. Astonished, his friend asked for an explanation. “Nothing,” Da Vinci explained, “must distract from the figure of Christ.” That our job too, to remove anything that takes away from Christ being the focus of our life and then helping others to do the same.

You see one day we will see Jesus face to face, and give an account of all we have done in life, I have seen over 7500 people come to Christ, perhaps a crown awaits me, but how many of them will stand before Jesus complete, because I made it my crowning work to see to it, that they are complete in Christ bearing only His image.

Con: Our mission is a daunting task, Its too much for one man to do, that's why its the mission of the church, “We proclaim Him....” “striving according to His power, which mightily works within us. (Col. 1:29)” Now friends, lets go take that bridge.