Jesus's Commission to us

I was able to attend the KNCSB Church Forward meeting this last week

It is a fun time for church leaders to gather together and talk and meet

To hear what resources are available and how things are going through out the state

I was able to talk with the DOM of the Pittsburg Area, a pastor friend of mine, some friends from Lawrence, from from Junction City, and Wichita

I was able to hear from the President of the NAMB and some workers from the NAMB

I was able to hear that by 2030 1/3 of all SBC churches will have been planted by 2010

I learned that God is at work on our college campuses so much that other university's including the US Navel Academy are calling our Christian Challenge at K State to see what they are doing so they can replicate that at Annapolis

What I learned

We are headed on the right path

Our Mission Statement at Maranatha Baptist Fellowship is:

To make Jesus KNOWN to people

If you will recall KNOWN is an acronym

KNOWLEDGE

NEW CREATION

OBEY

WITNESS

NECESSARY

In making Jesus KNOWN to people we are to witness to people

To tell them about Jesus and what He has done in our own lives

Sometimes to begin that boldness we start by praying for the lost people by name

Not as a group general prayer

But to be specific in our prayers for the lost people we know by name

At the meeting they came up with some great ideas of doing that in church

We have tried with the big number 1 in the back and it is still there I would encourage you to still use it

I also saw in another church they kept track of gospel conversations they had as a church each week that will be exciting

In another church they prayed for the lost people by name and put a list on the on the screen of lost people’s names submitted by members of the church

We must be praying for lost people by name

When we start praying for them and praying for us to have a heart for the lost

God does a work in our own heart to make it more like His

See church God has called us and commanded us to go

Matthew 28:18–20 NASB95

18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This is after Jesus has already died and came back to life

Before He has ascended into heaven

He gives a command to those men's who have said yes to following Him

That command that Jesus gives His disciples whom he called from the boats and tax booths

Is the same command that you and are given today

If the call to follow after Jesus is the same then the command is the same

Church we are called to the Nations

We are called to make disciples

We are called to baptize them

We are called to teach them

Please understand there is no negotiation with Jesus about this

You are to take it on faith that it is better than what you could do

If you say yes I am going to follow after Jesus then when it comes to the charge or command you don’t get to negotiate with Jesus to say

Well I don’t know about that

I am not sure about that

You are either with Jesus or not

Like marriage and pregnancy

No sorta following after Jesus

All Jesus asks us to do is to be obedient

And He has even given us what we are to be obedient about in doing

To go to the nations

We hear this and immediately we start to get knots in our stomach about getting on a plan and going to live in a hut in a far away land

Reverend John Jay has some things to say about that if you will come to our Evangelism Training you will find out

Yes we are all called to the nations but not everyone is called to go and live in a hut in a far away land

Acts 1:8 NASB95

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

This tells us that not everyone will go to the remotest part of the earth

That some will but that others will be called just a stones throws away

And still others we see will receive the same power of the Holy Spirit that those who are called to the Remotest Part of the earth receive while staying at home to be a witness of the Power of the living God right at home in Jerusalem

This is not a case against the IMB in fact 95% of the worlds population live outside the United States

To think you are never going to go to the nations or reach the nations is a small minded view of the great commission

But to understand that you can still reach the nations by reaching your neighbor is what God has called us to go in like of Acts 1:8

That as we are going about our daily lives we are to reach those around us while reaching the nations

We have such a great opportunity here at Maranatha

You are called and commanded to live on mission for Jesus as well as reaching the nations

What are we doing about it

We planted a church in Holton

We have missionaries that welcome us on trips

But church we are called to live on mission in our daily lives to be salt and light as individual members of the Body of Christ

We are to as we go to the nations or next door

We are to make disciples

Essentially church we are to live our life of faith in front of people not to rub it in but so they see Jesus

Which would mean we will be different

Again this is not an opportunity to negotiate with Jesus

Like we don’t agree to follow after Jesus and then at certain times say well Jesus it is going to be awkward if people know I follow after Jesus so I am just going to take a few hours off from living for you

Church understand it is not negotiable

This command to make disciples is not an option

That we are to

Proverbs 27:17 NASB95

17 Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.

To do this

Means you do life together

To sharpen something you grind off the dull parts

In life sometimes that means you help chisel or sand off the rough parts of life with people

Again we must spend time together and we must be open and honest with each other

Which would mean we are going to be vulnerable with each other

we are to spend time together

We are to encourage each other, to hold each other accountable, to teach each other

That is how we sharpen each other

To disciple someone

2 Timothy 2:1–2 NASB95

1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

We are to find the older wiser believers and ask if they will pour into us

We are to find those faithful men to teach and preach the message

We are to find the faithful men and and I would add women to pour into us

If they will help grow us in Christ

If they will help hold us accountable

You are never to old to be poured into and you are never to young to be part of a discipleship group

And let me get to the heart of the matter

You will make time for what's important to you in your life

If being obedient is important then you will make time to be a disciple and make disciples

If being obedient is not important and if you are all Christian just for show you will be found out

Your fruit will expose you

I feel like I repeat myself a lot but you can only say it you are called and commanded to make disciples so many different ways

Then we are called to after we go to them

After we spend time discipling them

Then church we celebrate with baptizing them

After we have lead them to Jesus

After they have decided themselves to do what you are doing which is to follow after Jesus

After they have repented of their own sin and trusted Jesus to be Lord of their own life

Romans 6:3–7 NASB95

3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

We have said this but Baptism is just an outward expression

What it is expressing is the decision they have made to repent of their sin

To turn away from their sin

To die to their sinful life

To trust Jesus and believe that God raised Him from the dead

To believe that the Spirit of the living God now dwells inside you

That is what baptism is expressing and church we are called and commanded to as people we have gone to and then discipled which is to point to Christ

And after they have repented of their sin and trusted Jesus they are saved

What they are expressing through baptism is their salvation

That they have died to the old life and been raised to walk in the new life through Christ

Church we are to baptism them

What a joy and celebration that is

That doesn’t come on it’s own but that comes through all the hard and difficult work of going

Going to our neighbor and going to the nations and everyone else in between

To disciple them even when it is tough and hard

To spend time with them living our Christian faith in Jesus in front of them so they see Jesus and not us

It’s only after that hard and difficult work that we get to celebrate baptisms

Then church as it would seem this is the end and we start again

This last part of the command is the growth that starts it over again

We are called to teach them

We are called to teach and preach to our new brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

Deuteronomy 4:9–10 NASB95

9 “Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. 10 “Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’

We are to keep growing

To do that we are to not forget the words of God then things we have seen God do in our lives

To notforget the goodness of God throughout all of hisotry

To do that church we must be plugged into a local church

Not just any local church of course I am biased a bit in that I think you should join and be a part of Maranatha Baptist Fellowship

But more importantly you should be obedient as to where God has called you

To ensure the church is teaching and preaching the word of God

To ensure you are growing in Christ

Please hear me you don’t get to leave church just because you got your feeling hurt, or because you don’t like the music or you don’t like what the Pastor has to say as long as it is Biblically true

But as we are plugged into a local church and we are continuing to grow

We start the cycle all over

So that it never really stops

Because church we have been called

We like to say called because it sounds nicer to be called rather than commanded

But make no mistake this is a command from Jesus that we are to do

We are called to a mission

So what is the mission

To share the message that Jesus loves and Jesus saves

Church our mission statement at Maranatha is just that

To make Jesus KNOWN to people

You don’t get to do it part time or negotiate your participation in that command you were given from Christ

As I was preparing for this sermon I sort of started with the invitation in that I actually planned the invitation song on my own

I spoke with Lydia and asked her if Emma could do the invitation

The song is My desire by Jeremy Camp

Let me clear this should be the cry and pray of our heart

The Chorus go like this

This is my desire

This is my return

This is my desire to be used by you

That our desire is to be used by God should be the prayer of our life

That no matter what God has instore for us we will desire and long to be used by God

That we long and desire to be obedient to what He has called us to do which church is the great commission

We are called to the Nations

We are called to make disciples

We are called to baptize them

We are called to teach them

So this morning as we come to a close

Emma is going to come and play My Desire by Jeremy Camp

As you stand and sing this song

Allow this song to be your hearts pray to the God of the universe

If you are here this morning and do not know Jesus personally then I invite you to the front where you can speak with someone about a personally relationship with Christ

that you desire to be obedient in repenting of your sin and trusting in Jesus

Maybe you already have a personal relationship with Jesus but you have put things on auto pilot for sometime

As you sing this prayer mean it

Repent from allowing things to be on auto pilot and return to Jesus and be obedient in what He has called you to do

Maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer at the alter

Maybe you need to make another decision of church memebership

The alter is open please be obedient this morning in how you respond