The Mission of God

Lifegroup Leader Summit

Thank everyone for coming

A special thanks to Heather Holler for setting everything up.

The Purpose of LifeGroups

Connect Belong Grow

The Mission of God as Life

Jesus’ life, from beginning to end, was all about mission.

John 1:9–14 NASB95

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Notice the last verse. “The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory” - Jesus literally came into the world to open up blind eyes.

John 1:4 NASB95

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

John 1:4–5 NASB95

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Mission of Christ as shown by the Gospel writer John is that Jesus came to open blind eyes. He came so we who were separated from God, blinded by our sin, could see the glory of our creator God.

Jesus’ mission was to bring life back to mankind. we were living in darkness and needed the lights turned on.

What does this Mission look like?

The Word became Flesh.

Humanity was in a state of death. We had wondered away from grace and moved to a place of rebellion.

What does the Mission of God look like?

It looks like the immutable, immaterial, outside of space and time, the maximally great being who has the power to speak a word and create entire galaxies without breaking a sweat, taking on a weak, broken body. It looks like a being who is by definition of good; who is patient and kind and understanding and loving; a being who’s very nature is joy and celebration, a being who’s very nature produces life, now enters death. he enters into a world where even those he belongs to will reject him.

Mission looks like someone who has everything, coming and giving to those who have nothing.

The Mission of God enters the darkness and gets involved in the muck and sludge of human existence.

For Jesus it wasn’t about cute social programs and fancy clubs. It wasn’t about the big houses and the successful careers. For Jesus is was about death and life. It was about blindness and sight.

Jesus came into the world so men might see.

Jesus was not blind.

Living on mission means you are aware of your surroundings.

You are aware of the brokenness that surrounds you.

You’re aware of those who are hurting

You are looking for ways into situations where you can serve, where you can be a missionary.

You are aware of your neighbors hurts and

We have an honest tendency to become self-focused.

THIS IS UNDERSTANDABLE, this is not a rebuke.

I have two kids, my life is often times focused on them and my wife. But the question still must be asked, “Am I looking outward, towards those who do not have the gospel?”

This might mean you focus in on one or two people who are in your neighborhood or at work. You may not be able to feasibly reach out to ten people, but you can one or two. This is discipleship! Let them live along side of you.

Jesus was Committed

Jesus gave his life to these broken, dirty people.

A relationship that turns into discipleship takes time.

If we want the seeds of the gospel to take root and produce life we must be willing to give the work and time it takes to see it through.

Garden Analogy

My wife and I have a garden this year that is doing much better this year than it did last year, and thats due to several important factors.

We put our garden in the position to get better sun.

I went to a friends house and got horse maneur

I spread the horse manure over the ground and then rototilled it into the earth.

I then took the ashes from the fireplace and spread those over the ground and rototilled it.

I ended up rototilling my garden 4 times to break the soil loose and prepare the garden for seeds

I put in a lot of work just to prepare the ground!

Finally it was ready for seeds.

After the plant everything in my garden took off and did very well.

It takes time and work to prepare someone for the seeds of the gospel.

It takes sacrifice, it takes work, it takes

Jesus Got Dirty

Mission is dirty work. It means getting involved in people’s lives and seeing the muck and grunge that comes with it.

Mary Magdalene

She was demon possessed. tells us she had 7 demons in her but they had been excorcised by Jesus.

She was considered to be a sinful woman

Jesus brought her in and even accepted her as a disciple of his.

She traveled with Jesus and followed his teachings.

She was even at the cross when Jesus died.

Her relationship with Jesus literally brought her to the foot of the cross, where she watched him die.

Nicodemus

He was a religious leader, the exact opposite of Mary!

He was the righteous Pharisee, who had the power and authority.

He came to Jesus at night asking questions. He had a relationship with Jesus.

- Nicodemus actually stands up for Jesus.

The relationship Jesus had with Nicodemus caused Nicodemus to go against the flow of his counterparts who unjustly murdered Jesus.

His relationship with Jesus brought him to the foot of the cross.

Mission means you actively pursue people so you might lead them to the cross.

This can be hard for us because we like to live in our comfortable boxes with our little problems and focus on our futures and our plans.

Mission smashes our box. Mission throws a stick of dynamite in plans and blows them to smitherines.

Mission means your focus changes, it means your attention moves to those that are dirty as well as your family and your friends. It means incorporating one or two people into your life, you wouldn’t normally.

The goal of mission isn’t to help them become people like us. Mission is to help people see their need for Jesus and bring them to the foot of the cross, where they can experience his death and what it means for us.

Jesus brought both a Pharisee and a sinner to repentance but his resurrection gave them new life.

Nicodemus anoints Jesus dead body with the anointing of a King, showing his abandonment of his old system and taking on the life of Jesus.

Mary Magdalene was the first evangelist of Jesus’ resurrection. She came and found the empty tomb and thought they had taken Jesus, she is mourning and Jesus appears to her. She is the first to see the resurrected Christ. She is the first to share this good news of new life with the disciples.

Jesus showed us that Mission is life. he showed us that our eyes needed to be opened to those around us. He showed us that being missional means we have to be committed to those he has given us for mission and lastly we have to be ready to get dirty so we might lead some to the cross of cHrist and into New Life.

What does this look like for us?

It means changing the way we think and the way we disciple.

It means we each must take on the responsibility of discipling and multiplication.

It’s not just on the pastors and the leadership to multiply, it’s on you! You are called, you are given the task of making disciples and multiplying.

Show diagrams

We have two breakout sessions, each are meant to dive into deeper waters with what we just went over.

We will be learning what it looks like to have a missional community where we are not doing just a Bible study but Bible action.

Rodney will be leading a session for raising up and developing leaders within your own LifeGroup.