SENT - WEEK TWO Our Unfinished Business

SERMON MOVEMENT  We Answer to the King. We Accept His Assignment. We Advance With His Presence.

0:00-4:00 | Someone Is Still Missing

Open standing beside the table, but do not immediately explain everything. Begin speaking to the congregation normally. Then gradually acknowledge the table:

“Most of us understand what it means to prepare a table. You decide who is coming. You make room for them. You place everything where it belongs. And before anyone ever arrives, you prepare with someone specific in mind.”

As you say this, straighten a plate, place the silverware, or adjust the empty chair. Keep it natural and restrained.

Then say:

“You do not set a table for ‘somebody.’ You set it for someone. There is a name attached to that empty seat.”

Pause and look at the chair.

“And when Jesus sends us into the world, He is not sending us toward a faceless crowd. He is sending us toward people. People with names. People we know. People He loves. People who may be one invitation, one conversation, or one clear explanation of the Gospel away from hearing about Jesus.”

Then step away from the table and move into the sermon:

“So today, I want us to think about the person God may be placing at our table, and what it means for us to be sent to reach them.”

[Begin seated at the table. Look across at the empty chair and allow five seconds of silence.]

There is something different about a table when someone is missing. The table may be prepared. The place may be set. The chair may be ready. There may be plenty of room. But the seat is still empty.

This chair may represent someone in your family, on your street, at your workplace, or someone God has not yet brought into your life. That person may be close to us relationally but still far from God spiritually.

Last week, in Renewing Our Focus, we learned that it is possible to become occupied with something important while neglecting what is most important. But focus is only valuable when it is fixed upon the right assignment.

What deserves our renewed focus? What did Jesus leave His church here to accomplish?

We do not have to invent the answer, take a vote, or follow the latest trend. The risen Jesus gave His church its assignment.

HINGE — The empty chair does not merely represent someone who needs a place in a building. It represents someone who needs to hear the gospel, follow Jesus, and become a disciple.

Matthew 28:16–20 NKJV

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came 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 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Read the passage slowly from the NKJV. Emphasize “all authority,” “make disciples,” “all nations,” and “I am with you always.”

Jesus has the authority. Jesus has given the assignment. Jesus has promised His presence.

The mission is clear. The need is great. The assignment is not finished.

1. We Answer to the King

Only eleven disciples came to the mountain. They had experienced fear, failure, confusion, and grief. They worshiped, but some still doubted. They were imperfect people standing before a perfect Savior.

Jesus did not begin by discussing their limitations. He declared His authority: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Before He told them what to do, He reminded them who He is.

· No nation is outside His authority.

· No community is beyond His reach.

· No generation is beyond His power to redeem.

· No human life is beyond His power to transform.

Because Jesus possesses all authority, He has the right to determine the mission of His church. Preferences, traditions, programs, comfort, and culture may influence our methods, but they cannot redefine the mission.

KEY LINE — We do not determine the mission of the church; we receive it from the King.

The disciples worshiped Jesus. But worship cannot end with a song. Worship must become surrender, and surrender must become obedience.

KEY LINE — Before we can be sent by Jesus, we must be surrendered to Jesus.

Because He is the King, His next words are not a suggestion. They are the defining assignment of His church.

2. We Accept His Assignment

The central command is “make disciples.” Jesus did not command the church merely to attract attenders, organize activity, maintain buildings, or preserve an institution. He commanded us to make disciples.

A disciple has responded to the gospel, belongs to Jesus, follows Jesus, learns from Jesus, and increasingly brings every area of life under His leadership.

We Must Go

The mission requires movement. We gather so we can grow, and we grow so we can go. Going may mean crossing an ocean, but it often means crossing a street, initiating a conversation, rebuilding a relationship, or telling a friend what Jesus has done.

[Move beside the empty chair.]

The person represented by this chair may never enter our building simply because we opened the doors. Someone must go. Someone must care. Someone must listen. Someone must speak. Someone must extend the invitation.

KEY LINE — The Great Commission does not begin with “Come and hear.” It begins with “Go and tell.”

We Must Share the Gospel

Making disciples necessarily includes evangelism because no one becomes a disciple without hearing and responding to the gospel. We cannot baptize someone who has never believed or teach someone to obey Jesus as Lord who has never trusted Jesus as Savior.

· God is holy.

· Humanity has sinned.

· Sin separates us from God.

· We cannot rescue ourselves.

· Jesus died in our place, was buried, and rose again.

· Everyone who repents and believes can be forgiven and receive eternal life.

Use Romans 10:14 to establish that people cannot believe a gospel they have never heard. Evangelism is not the entire process, but it is where disciple-making begins.

KEY LINE — We share the gospel so people can become disciples, and we teach believers so they can mature as disciples.

No evangelism means no new disciples. No discipleship means no mature disciples. The Great Commission requires both.

The mission is clear. The need is great. The assignment is not finished.

17:30-20:00 | The Baton Cannot Stop With Us

Describe a relay runner who runs a great lap but refuses to release the baton in the exchange zone. His individual performance may be impressive, but the team cannot finish because the baton was never meant to stop with him.

Someone carried the gospel to us. Someone preached, taught, prayed, invited, opened the Scriptures, and told us Jesus saves. The gospel reached our hands, but it was never intended to stop with us.

Use 2 Timothy 2:2: Paul invested in Timothy; Timothy was to invest in faithful people; those people would teach others. This is multiplication.

KEY LINE — Every disciple is meant to participate in making disciples.

We should be grateful that the gospel reached us. But is it reaching anyone else through us?

20:00-24:00 | Baptizing and Teaching

Baptism publicly identifies a believer with Jesus and His people. We are not merely seeking momentary decisions; we are calling people to repent, believe, identify with Christ, and begin a new life with Him.

Jesus says to teach disciples to observe—to obey—everything He commanded. The goal is not merely information; the goal is transformation. A disciple learns to obey Jesus in relationships, priorities, finances, forgiveness, integrity, service, witness, and everyday decisions.

KEY LINE — We are not called merely to fill chairs; we are called to form disciples.

State the process clearly: We go. We share the gospel. People believe. Believers are baptized. Disciples are taught to obey. Maturing disciples are sent to help others follow Jesus. Then the process begins again.

3. We Advance With His Presence

Jesus does not merely give His church an assignment; He gives us Himself. The One who says, “All authority belongs to Me,” also says, “I am with you always.”

We may feel unprepared, fear saying the wrong thing, or wonder whether we can help someone grow. The first disciples also had weaknesses and questions. Their confidence was not in their ability but in Christ’s authority and presence.

KEY LINE — The mission does not depend upon our adequacy. It depends upon His authority and His presence.

The mission may take us beyond our comfort, but it will never take us beyond His presence. Cultures, methods, and generations change. The mission remains because Jesus remains.

FOUNDATION — His authority gives us confidence. His assignment gives us direction. His presence gives us courage.

[Look toward the table, repeat the refrain, return, and sit.]

Where Are Disciples Being Developed?

The empty chair reminds us that someone still needs to hear the gospel. But the Great Commission does not end when the chair becomes occupied. We are not merely called to fill a chair; we are called to form a disciple.

Where are disciples being developed in our church?

Where are people learning to follow Jesus, obey His Word, grow in faith, and help someone else do the same? We cannot answer merely by naming a program, class, or member of the pastoral staff.

The question must become personal: Who are you discipling?

[Allow several seconds of silence.]

Who are you praying with? Who are you opening Scripture with? Who are you encouraging to obey Jesus? Who are you preparing to help someone else follow Him?

Connect to SENT: buildings, programs, methods, and preferences are temporal. They may serve the mission, but they must never become the mission. Serve the Eternal, Not the Temporal.

Appeal and Closing Rally

[Close the Bible. Stand, leave the table, and move downstage.]

Invite those who know about Jesus but have never repented, believed, and surrendered to Him to begin following Christ. Give clear instructions for the altar response.

Challenge believers who have a name on their heart: begin praying, listening, investing, speaking, sharing the gospel, and helping that person take a step toward Jesus.

Closing Rally

Church, our focus has been renewed. Now we know where that focus belongs.

We answer to the King. We have received His assignment. We have been promised His presence.

The mission is clear. The need is great. The assignment is not finished.

We will not become so occupied with doing church that we neglect the mission of the church.

We will go. We will pray. We will love. We will listen. We will speak. We will baptize. We will teach. We will make disciples.

The gospel reached us. It will not stop with us.

Everyone needs the gospel. Everyone who calls upon Jesus can be saved. Everyone who belongs to Jesus has been sent.

The assignment is unfinished. The baton is in our hands. We are SENT.

Time Protection

· Shorten the baptism explanation if necessary.

· Return to the table no later than 26:30.

· Preserve both discipleship questions.

· Protect at least 90 seconds for the appeal and closing rally.