Mission Possible

What the mission impossible series and subsequent movies always started with an assignment which at first seemed impossible, but they always managed to accomplish it.

As a believer you to have been given a mission

and its not just found in the Bible once, but actually several times, and is the culmination of the reason why Jesus came to earth to save mankind

Mark 16:15–16 NASB95

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Luke 14:23 NASB95

“And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Your mission, should you accept it. Is to preach the Gospel to all creation

Making disciples of every person you have opportunity for.

As a Church our focus is to Love God, Love People, and Make Disciples

Now if I was to ask you,

How Long have you been a believer?

In the time that you have believed, How many disciples have you made?

You see, I believe that is a question Jesus will ask every believer when we get to heaven,

so its beneficial we prepare our answer now

Now to be transparent, I know I need to focus more on making disciples

I had a season when I first came to pastor in this Church. In 3 years I lead over 200 people to Christ.

I remember one night alone leading 5 people to Christ.

To my regret I can’t tell you how many of those people are still in right relationship with the father.

You see, my focus was on sharing the gospel…not making disciples

Its not enough to get someone to say the sinners prayer.

Billy Graham

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen.

the model I used was the ABC

Acknowledge your a sinner

Believe Jesus provided a way to be saved

Confess Jesus as your Lord

Now to be clear, there is nothing wrong with a prayer like this,

However when the prayer is done your mission is not complete.

~Unless your an evangelist.

In fact your mission is just getting started

Your mission is to help them to get to know the God who Loves them with an everlasting love

Acknowledge your a sinner

Believe Jesus provided a way to be saved

Confess Jesus as your Lord

Your mission is to help them to get to know the God who Loves them with an everlasting love

to walk with them day by day for as long as God has put you on the same path.

Jesus spent 3 years pretty mush 24/7 making His first disciples before leaving them

And He was the best teacher to ever walk the earth

It probably will take us a little longer.

But how long it takes is meaningless

the most important part is that each and everyone of you is actively involved in making disciples.

Now for the most part, If I research How to make a disciple,

most people suggest practical ideas of how to build relationship and transfer information.

Transformation NOT transferring information

but discipleship is not simple about transferring information, its actually about transformation

Changing who that person is, into the person God made them to be

You see the modern church has become great at giving out information

Our sermons are focused around giving information

You can go to a conference or online and hear some of the greatest teachers of Bible themes that have every lived.

However when they do studies on Discipleship they measure such things as church attendance and Bible studies, or Sunday school or home groups.

But do those things actually measure Spiritual growth?

I mean going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, any more that going to Macdonald’s make you a hamburger.

too much?

how about going to a hockey game makes you a professional athlete?

To define a disciple is actually very simple.

Discipleship is the process of becoming like Jesus

So a disciple is someone who is becoming like Jesus

No they are not perfect,

Yes their sins are forgiven, but the process of becoming like Christ has just begun

That means we are required to display grace

That means we need to display grace

But everyone needs help along that journey of becoming like Christ

yes to share information, but more importantly to be a part of the transformation

to get back on point

You have a mission, to help people become like Jesus

But you’re not alone in this.

Not only do you have the body of believers, you have the Holy Spirit to aid you in your mission

Acts 1:1-

The disciples had just asked Jesus when all these things he promised would take place

Acts 1:1–9 NASB95

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 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.” And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

Acts 1:7–8 NASB95

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 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.”

So as Jesus is leaving He give His final commission to His disciples

Now this is where I believe a large portion of the modern church has missed the mark

We realize the need to share the gospel and make disciples.

But God never intended to leave us to our own devices

Its not like he said....OK I did my part…now you’re on your own, go do your part

No. God’s plan from the very beginning was for the Holy Spirit to come and equip the church to do what God called them to do.

unfortunately, many churches see discipleship simply as passing on information and they can do that quite well without the Holy Spirit

The disciples had just asked Jesus when all these things he promised would take place

They come up with plans and strategies, and see some moderate results

But how did God’s plan work in the very beginning of the Church?

Acts 2:1–4 NASB95

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Act 2:7

Acts 2:7–8 NASB95

They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?

Peter then preaches a simple message. then

Acts 2:41 NASB95

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

Acts 2:

the church grew from 120 to over 3000 in 1 day

Why? because the apostles knew enough to allow the Holy Spirit to work through them.

Tongues of fire above their heads

and tongues of other nations coming out of their mouths

Tongues

Its interesting to note that one of the most controversial subjects in the Church is Speaking in tongues

We have had people leave our church because we not only allow people to speak in tongues we encourage it

many christians believe tongues is a work of the devil instead of the Holy Spirit

and yet

God used speaking in tongues as a sign of the infilling of the Holy Spirit and subsequent birth of His church.

3000 people in 1 day because they heard God’s praises in their own language

Why do so many christians fear speaking in tongues?

I really only have 1 answer to that. only 1 possible explanation.

The devil does not want Christians speaking in tongues

I remember a conversation I had with a man a little while ago.

He came to me to complain that someone was speaking in tongues in the service and it bothered him.

He said “speaking in tongues is disruptive and unorderly” and quoted

1 Corinthians 14:40 NASB95

But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.

He wanted me to put a stop to people speaking in tongues during our service.

As He believed that was out of order

I politely asked him if he had read the context of that verse.

You see verse right before verse 40 is verse 39 and it says

You see

1 Corinthians 14:39 NASB95

Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues.

1 cor 14:39

So after I told him, I would not forbid someone to speak in tongues he left to find a non tongue speaking church.

I tell you this so we can get an understanding that you will find opposition when you cooperate with the Holy Spirit.

Its God plan that every believer learns how to operate in their spiritual gifting so they can be more effective in making disciples

You see I believe as a Church we need to increase our focus on discipleship.

Not just by getting and giving more information

but by reaching out in power and authority through the Holy Spirit

I believe the way to measure our success is

not by our attendance, or by the amount in the offering plate

but the success of Kingdom Way is measured by how many people we disciple.

If we make no disciples, we cannot say we are accomplishing our misssion

If our Church has to go to 2 services, and we have a huge surplus in the bank account, but we are not making disciples

we cannot say we are fulfilling our mission

Only when we as a Church focus our attention on what the Holy Spirit wants to do through us, and the result is more disciples in His Kingdom

then and only then can we say we are a success

Although many churches will focus on programs and outreach events, I desire to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8QTPbl4f44

Although many churches will focus on programs and outreach events, I desire to focus on the one Jesus sent to empower us to carry out the will of the father.