Back to the Pathway
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16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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 all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Happy New Year one last time. As I stand here with you, this morning is going to be a little bit different. I don’t want anyone to worry, I still fully believe the regular preaching diet of the local church should be expository preaching through books of the Bible. But, from time to time, it is helpful and even wise for us to step aside to address a particular topic or season the church is walking through and see what scripture has to say about it. This morning is one of those times. Soon, we will jump back into the gospel of Luke but today, at the beginning of another calendar year, I want us to walk again through the mission and vision of Hope Bible Fellowship and then challenge you to take part more deeply in what God is doing among and through us.
Mission – Stays the same through different times and places. Think of it as the what. What are we doing? What is the mission? What is the goal? What is the endgame?
Vision - If mission is the what then vision is the how. Vision changes to align with particular times and places. This doesn’t necessarily stay the same. The vision is how we accomplish the mission set before us.
What are we aiming at? What is our end goal? Let me share a story with you.
In East Peoria, we lived near a bike path. I generally like walking alone. I used to get up early in the morning and walk with Bethany on this path. I remember there was one time when I woke up five days in a row and sort of begrudgingly walked out the door and onto the bike path. We would walk two miles. I’d go with her all the way to the street that marked one mile from our house and then turn around and walk back. Now, I’ve walked and jogged by myself before and even since then. When I would set out with a goal, a target, a destination in mind, I would walk there and turn around and come back. However, if I left the house and headed out for a “walk” but had not previously determined where I was headed or how long I was going to go, I would be very likely to decide I was too tired and turn off the path early or turn around early and head back. Either it got tired or I just decided I didn’t have time to make the goal. What I’m getting at here is that we need to have something we are trying to accomplish. We need to have a target in mind or we will miss every time.
Our Mission: The Great Commission
Look back at Matthew 28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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 all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Under the authority of Jesus:
1. Going
2. Making
3. Baptizing
4. Teaching
Know that Jesus will be with us always.
So we don't need a catchy mission because we already have a mission. What we have needed is to zero in more on how we apply that mission to Dixon. We apply it through three short phrases that we call, Gather, Grow, Go.
How we apply the great commission in our context:
Gather Together
Grow Deeper
Go Wider
(Show diagram with arrows)
Notice the centrality of the gospel.
Imagine you book tickets to your dream vacation of Ireland. You're all packed and get to O'Hare Airport early. You board the plane and are waiting for takeoff when the pilot finally gets the go-ahead from the tower and you race down the runway and lift into the air. You're finally on your way. You decide you'll take a nap. Now, how would you feel if you knew that as soon as you reached cruising height and you napped, the pilot was in the cockpit frantically scanning the manual for the plane to figure out how to land this thing when you get to Ireland?
Sometimes, we can be so excited to start doing something that we skip over some key details that just feel like they will get in the way or slow us down. Definitions are some of those details. But they're important. Words are important because they have meanings. So before we take off on this journey through our discipleship process and how our mission is worked out here, we need to define what we mean when we call ourselves a church.
Why churches get off track - they have an incomplete view of what a church is supposed to be…
I. What a church is…
I. What a church is…
Not a building
A people, not a place. The word ekklesia in Greek where we get church, means a gathering or assembly. At a fundamental level, the church is an assembly of people.
But not just a random gathering of Christians…
The church is universal and local.
Universal: all true Christians from all time and in all places.
can’t see it now but one day we will all be gathered in one place worshipping God.
NT sometimes speaks of the church in the universal sense.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Jesus is the head of the universal church.
Local: Most of the references in the NT to church refer to local churches. So what is the local church?
Jonathan Leeman is helpful here when he writes,
“ A local church is a group of Christians who regularly gather in Christ’s name to officially affirm and oversee one another’s membership in Jesus Christ and his kingdom through gospel preaching and gospel ordinances.” - Jonathan Leeman
“…officially affirm and oversee one another’s membership in Jesus Christ and his kingdom…”
The Kingdom of God is God’s people, in God’s place, under God’s rule. This is at the very center of who the church is.
II. What a church does…
II. What a church does…
If we are supposed to do something we should probably figure out what those things are.
A church displays the image of God.
The Bible pictures the church in various ways.
A Body I Corinthians 12:12-27
A Family I Timothy 5:1-2
A Flock of Sheep I Peter 5:2
A House I Peter 2:5
A Priesthood I Peter 2:9
So if this is what a church does, how does the church do this?
What are some of the implications of this?
The local church is God’s plan to display His glory to the nations.
It’s the job of the church and there is no plan b. This is serious business.
We do this when we gather together for worship.
This happens when churches are planted and gather to worship God in other nations.
2. The local church is to be distinctly different form the world. We should stand out.
We serve a different king so we should behave as subjects of that king and not as those who serve the king that the world serves.
As we grow deeper, we will look more and more different to the world. (not talking physically i.e. dress)
3. The other implication of this understanding of the local church is that your relationship with God is personal but it is not private.
We gather together. We grow deeper together. “We”.
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The church gathers together under the gospel.
The church grows deeper in the gospel.
The church goes wider with the gospel.
As we gather, grow, and go, there are 8 values that move us.
8 Values that Move Us
8 Values that Move Us
We keep the gospel central.
We will persevere in prayer
Discipling is everyone’s responsibility.
We hope for the best in one another.
We exhibit selfless obedience.
We will stay focused on the mission.
We say no so that we can say yes.
We give generously to support the mission.
III. The church has a sure future.
III. The church has a sure future.
The church is not man made. It is Jesus who builds His church.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Ed Stetzer talking about how gates are not offensive weapons…
Ephesians 2:21-22
Ephesians 4:11–13 “11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,”
- The job of the pastor is to equip the saints for ministry. It was never the intention that the pastor was the one who visited everyone, shared with everyone, counseled with everyone, and discipled everyone in a local church. IF you are a follower of Christ you are a minister. Not a pastor/elder but a minister meaning you have the call to make disciples. You have a personal ministry. Some of you may be hearing this for the first time but you are called to do ministry. No, that doesn’t mean be on staff at a church, though for some of you it might mean that someday. We have to ask ourselves if we are going to take the commands of God seriously, not just in word but in deed… in our daily, exhausting, nose to the grindstone lives… are we going to trust God’s rule and reign and command and throw ourselves into the work or will we let ourselves just fade into the background.
Specific challenges:
Gather, Grow, Go —> Buy in.
Challenges:
Gather Together
Make the gathering a priority for your Sunday morning.
If you are a member, stay for the quick budget vote. In voting to approve a budget, you are committing to give to support that budget.
Grow Deeper
Commit to joining one of our other groups or studies this year.
Disciple someone and be discipled by someone.
Commit to unity in the body around the gospel and not allowing tertiary matters to divide us.
Go Wider
Pray for one specific person to know Christ.
We are a smaller church and we simply cannot do everything. We need to be choosy about which ministry or two are our main avenues for going to the lost. When we present those for your involvement you need to buy in by showing up and taking part.
