Sent LIKE Jesus

INTRODUCTION

I want to invite you to open your copy of God’s Word and join me in John chapter 20…and when you’ve found John chapter 20, I want to ask you just to bow your head and close your eyes with me for a few moments.

If you were here last week, you’ll remember that we saw in our passage in John 20 that the disciples were locked inside the room of FEAR. They were stuck in their fear. They were paralyzed and sidelined.

Jesus saved you to live SENT. Satan wants you to live STUCK. Christian, how did you live this week?

>>PRAY<<

LAST WEEK: Living "sent" means that I belong to Jesus, I've been changed by Jesus, and empowered by the Spirit, I bear witness about Jesus.

John 20:19–23 “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.””

This morning, as we continue our series and our 2026 theme, “Live Sent,” I want us to focus in on Jesus’s words, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Let’s start with the first half of that statement—“As the Father has sent me…”

One of the characteristics of John’s Gospel is that he picks up on Jesus’ repeated claim that he is the “sent One” from the Father.

John 17:18, John 4:34, John 10:36, John 5:30, John 6:38, John 7:29, John 17:3

(SEVEN REFERENCES!)

So, we can clearly see that this is foundational to Jesus’s life and ministry. He did not come of his own accord to accomplish his own agenda. He was sent by the Father to do the Father’s will.

Now, underneath this is a MAJOR theological foundation—one that shapes who we believe God to be. And this aspect of who we believe God to be works in perfect conjunction with all of His other attributes.

The Bible reveals to us that God is a SENDING God. Another way of saying that is that God—the TRIUNE GOD—is a MISSIONAL GOD.

In the book of Genesis, we see God choose a man named Abraham and then send him to be the father of many nations whose descendants would be a blessing to all nations.

In the book of Exodus and in Joshua we see God deliver His people out of slavery in Egypt and then send them to the Promised Land to be a light of salvation to the nations.

In the Old Testament, God sent the prophets to His people, Israel, with His word calling them to repentance and to be the light of salvation to the nations.

Then, we get to the New Testament. God so loved the world that He gave—He sent—His only begotten Son to take away the sins of the world and to give life.

So, why was Jesus sent?

He came to reveal the Father (to make God knowable).

John 17:6 ““I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.”

He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10)

He came to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)

He came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:36)

He came to proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom (Luke 4:18-19)

He came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8)

He came to…Mark 2:17 “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

He came on a rescue mission from heaven. And, now, he says…

“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Jesus—sent by the Father—sends the Church.

He sends his disciples out to live belonging to Him, live changed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and to live lives that bear witness about him.

And, here’s the deal. Here’s what’s so important about this—the key to living sent—Jesus isn’t sending his disciples on a new mission. And…he’s not sending them out on some kind of experiment.

There’s something beautiful in the grammar of John 20:21. When Jesus says, ‘As the Father has sent Me,’ He uses a word that means a finished sending with ongoing authority. Jesus is still the Sent One of the Father—even after the resurrection.

But when He says, ‘So I am sending you,’ He switches verbs and tense. It means right now, I am actively sending you out.

In other words, Jesus’ mission is complete and secure—and our mission flows out of it. He remains the Savior. We are sent as His witnesses.

Bruce Milne puts it this way, “the one mission of God has two phases: the first that of the Son in his incarnate life; the second that of the Son in his risen life through his people.”

He is sending the disciples ON THE SAME MISSION AND IN THE SAME WAY that HE was sent by God the Father.

And, for us, today living in the year 2026…does this sending in John 20 apply to us? Or, is it something that just happened for these 12? Listen…LIVING SENT is not just a task for 12 individuals…it is the IDENTITY of the CHURCH—the people of God.

Bottom Line: Living sent is living like Jesus.

I want to give you three ways…

1. We live sent like Jesus by LIVING OBEDIENTLY. Every single day of Jesus’s 33 years of life and ministry on this earth was lived in perfect obedience to the Father. Jesus lived His life surrendered to the Father’s will.

John 4:34 “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

Remember the first part of our definition of living sent—I belong to Jesus. I said this last week and I think it’s important to say again…we cannot divorce salvation from Lordship.

IS YOUR “YES” ON THE TABLE?

2. We live sent like Jesus by LIVING INTENTIONALLY. Jesus was laser-focused on the mission. We even see this in him at a young age. Do you remember the story in Luke chapter two when Mary & Joseph accidentally leave him in Jerusalem? They find him in the temple and, at 12 years old, he tells them, “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”

Jesus’s earthly ministry only lasted for 3.5 years and for that entire time he lived intentionally. He didn’t wait for people to show up. He WENT to the lost. He went into the homes and sat at the dinner tables of sinners. He redirected his travel route in John 4 so He could meet a woman at a well.

Intentional gospel conversations…St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary use words.” Now, that sounds great and I would agree that, in part, this statement is true. We must be living at all times to preach the gospel. Our lives must reflect the gospel, be shaped by the gospel, and bear witness to the gospel in every area. HOWEVER…I think it’s also used as a copout for many people for not sharing the gospel. People aren’t saved by watching you. They’re saved when they HEAR and they BELIEVE.

It means recognizing where God has already positioned you. The missiologist Lesslie Newbigin observes that “the primary action of the church in the world is the action of its members in their daily work.” You spend 60-70% of your waking hours in workplaces, neighborhoods, and relationships.

If we are sent as He was sent, then we cannot settle for aimless Christianity. Not a Christianity of good intentions but no gospel conversations. Not a Christianity that believes truth but never speaks it. Not a Christianity that attends church but never enters the world for Christ.

CLOCK vs. COMPASS

3. We live sent like Jesus by LIVING INCARNATIONALLY. 

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

We enter people’s lives, cultures, and spaces with the character, presence, and love of God—because Jesus entered ours.

Embodying the life of God

We live changed lives that reveal God’s own character as we are shaped into the image of Jesus.

Embodying the love of God

Embodying the presence of God

We are the temple of the Holy Spirit—God’s presence dwelling in us!

The fragrance of life everywhere we go.

HANDS & FEET OF JESUS

APPLICATION

1. Are you bringing people into your life to share the love of God? 

2. Who’s your one? Your commitment card. 

3. PRAY, GO, GIVE 

4. Give of your time; maybe give of your home; give of your resources 

5. Going—incarnational…LEAVE THE ROOM. 

6. Are you inviting people to church or to your home?

7. How do we make space in our lives/our schedules for living sent?

8. What if hospitality was our MO? 

**COVID** really screwed this up//crushed this.  

Texas mission trip // serve as a family // show your kids the example.

Where has God already placed you on purpose?

Who are the specific people God has put in your path?

When is the last time you had a gospel conversation on purpose?

What would change in your life if you lived sent instead of merely saved?