SENT
The Gospel According to Luke • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsIt is the calling of a disciple to share the gospel
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Transcript
The Sermon title today is SENT
Part of Jesus’ earthly ministry was training his disciples to take His place.
He spent a great amount of time with them
They spent all their time with Him
He taught them
He trained them
He prepared them to go
And He taught them how to carry out His work
In ch 9 of the gospel of Luke the apostles are SENT to do what they were trained to do
They had been the mystery of the kingdom of God
And Jesus sant them into the fields.
Part of begin a disciple is the “being” part
And we as people of God have not been a faithful disciple until we have put the rubber to the road.
They have seen enough
Gives them some advice
I don’t want to stand before Jesus on that glorious day and have a head full of knowledge and empty hands.
And its time to get to work
And then SENDS them out to do what He called them to do
If we are going to be a successful church, we are
I have been asked on more than one occasion what is it we need to be doing?
I have yet to be able to give a clear answer to that question
Fulfilling the Great Commission!
Sharing your faith!
Serving the Lord!
Living a godly life!
Yes, BUT WHAT ARE WE TO BE DOING??
This year God has spoken to me more about the direction of this ministry than He ever has
To those who ask, “what are we to be doing?” I have an answer.
And to entire church
We have a mission
And if we want to be the people of God and good stewards of what God has given us then WE HAVE TO GET TO WORK.
And if you are a member of New Palestine Baptist church it is
We are going to take the gospel to every house within 7 miles of this church
We are setting goals:
500 gospel conversations
1500 church invites
God willing: 25 additions to the church
After Jesus had trained His men, he sent them out to do what He had called them to do
Turn with me to :1
We Are Empowered By Our Gathering Together
We Are Empowered By Our Gathering Together
“And He called the 12 together”
The disciples were not with him at this time.
They had responsibilities just like us
They had families
They had day to day duties just like we do
And Jesus had to call them back together
The power of God is given when saints come together
Ministry happens when we come together
“Where two or three are gathered together in My name there I will be in the midst of them”
When you come to church, you are receiving what you need to be effective through the week
Your empowerment is not with feelings
Jesus didn’t have a prep rally before He sent them into the world
They had the personal witness of Jesus
They had instruction
They had their personal witness
They had knowledge of the kingdom of God “Preach the kingdom of God”
Then they were sent
They had their instructions “GO!”
When you come to church the plan is to be empowered
This church model Jesus has designed will never cease to exist!
The church model will never pass away
No matter where you go in the world, the same model is used
The gathering together of the saints
The Dominican
Korea
Even in China they are gathering online chats to be prepared for personal ministry because of the corona virus
Even in China right now, the Saints are gathering together through online chats to be prepared for personal ministry
Listen if you don’t like church maybe you are looking at it all wrong
Maybe we should be gin to see it for what Jesus designed it to be
When we come together for worship it is not just for that moment
We come to get equipped!!
The church model will never pass away
No matter where you go in the world, the same model is used
And just like a family spends time together so do we
The gathering together of the saints
And it will not end until Jesus comes and takes us home
Even in China right now, the Saints are gathering together
The saints are equipped when they gather together
The Christian who thinks he does not need church will be
Ministry happens by the
Today should not be the highlight of your spiritual week
“Where two or three are gathered together in My name there I will be in the midst of them”
Yes, we come to worship
Today should be your equipping for all that you are going to do this week
We come to hear the Word preached
But WE COME TO GET PREPARED TO GO OUT AND DO GOD”S WORK
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry”
Who are the saints?
If God has redeemed you by His precious blood then YOU ARE A SAINT!
Who is to do the work of the ministry?
Who is to do the work of the ministry?
The Saints!!
That means you!
This was not just Paul’s idea but its Jesus’ model for ministry
This church will never be what Jesus created it to be unless the saints get to work
It does not matter hoiw many different tactics we try, none of them will work unless we do it God’s way
The design of the church is to gather so we can be prepared to work all week
Another man put it like this: “We gather to scatter”
Your spiritual walk only begins on Sunday!!
Sunday is the first day of the week not the last day!!
This is the day we get ready for a week of ministry!
If you end with Sunday you’ve got it all backwards...
Its like getting the boat ready to fish but never hooking it up to the truck!
It’s like getting ready to go eat but never leaving the driveway..
Its like learning all about the faith, but never putting it into practice...
This building may pass away
The structure may leave
New Palestine may not exist in 20 years
BUT THE GATHERING OF THE SAINTS WILL NEVER END UNTIL CHRIST COMES TO TAKE US HOME
Christians will never stop gathering together
When we come togther
The life of this church is sitting in the pews today.
Jesus created the church
The church will always be here!
Its not going anywhere
It has a purpose
The future of this church is sitting here today
A few things God will not bless:
Laziness
Self centeredness
Unwillingness
What are you going to do about it
Procrastination
A few things God will bless:
Obedience
Willingness
Perseverance
Motivation
I have never been more convinced that if we would just do what God is telling us to do then we would see things we have never seen
I know this church has had some good days, but there is always
It is God who controls the traffic in and out of that door
“Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase”
If this church survives another 10 years will be dependent upon what YOU do.
It has a misssion
We are gathered to be empowered to do the work of the ministry
The only thing that is going to bring people in is doing things the Lord’s way
Verses 2-3
It will never stop existing until Christ comes again!
Their calling was to come together for the work of the ministry
They needed only ONE thing: The Gospel Message
They needed only ONE thing: The Gospel Message
“He sent them to preach the Kingdom of God....”
He didn’t say take them advertisements
He didn’t say take them peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches
He didn’t say offer them free pictures
Or raffle tickets
Or prizes
Or games
HE SAID TAKE THE KINGDOM OF GOD
I have been doing it wrong since I have been here
I have been going door to door and ONLY asking them to come to church
There is nothing wrong with that in itself
But this is not what Jesus said to do....
He told them to take the gospel message and proclaim it to them!!
Do you see a difference?
He didn’t ask the disciples to bring them back to Jesus
He said take Jesus to the people
Where do we get the Gospel message?
FROM CHURCH!!
It helps if you pay attention!
It helps if you follow along in your Bible
It helps if you come rested and ready to get empowered
Because what you get from here, is what you take to the field
When we leave the gospel message at church, we GO WITHOUT POWER!!
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
The correct way to evangelize people is to take the gospel to them!!
We undermine its power and think its not good enough
We think we need to give them something or sway them with words
The power of your witness is in the message of the CROSS
I was advertising for New Palestine when I should’ve been advertising for eternal life!
What makes people church people is the cross!!
What brings people to church is the cross!!
The greatest weapon you have is the CROSS!!!
“Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money and do not have two tunics apiece...”
Why would Jesus tell them to take nothing for their journey?
These are dangerous times
A man might need some snacks
He might need a staff in case he encounters a robber
What about his tunic? What if the weather gets bad?
Because He wanted them to be totally dependent upon Him to provide
See this type of journey is also a faith journey
It take faith to share your faith\
It takes dependence upon God to share your faith
It takes trust to go into the unknown!
We are called to trust Him and do things His way
You trust Him for His Words
You trust Him for the courage
You trust Him to make the provisions you need to get the task done!!
You trust Him to bring the increase
“Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase”
The only thing that is going to bring people in is doing things the Lord’s way
Jesus has already given you everything you need
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Your inner witness of the Holy Spirit is all you need
If you’ve got the Spirit, then you have all you need!!
Their mission was to preach and minister
Their mission was to preach and minister
TRUST HIM AND GO!!
Our biggest mistake in door to door evangelism was that we missed the purpose.
Verse 4-5
We had the right strategy, but we had the wrong ammunition.
Jesus said go out and proclaim!
People don’t need invited into our building, they need to know about the kingdom
They need to hear about the saving faith we possess
They need to know about the blood atonement
They need to know about the redemption we experienced
They need to know about the price Christ paid
They need the gospel!
And Jesus sent his disciples to fulfill this mission.
The Strategy: House to House
The Strategy: House to House
Isn’t that amazing…2,000 years later and God is calling us to do the same thing
Jesus should call this: The Blue Print to Win Souls
Where on earth did the preacher get this method from??
He got it from Jesus!!
If you wanted to know how to have better eyesight where would you go? Pat Shaffer
If you wanted to know how to grow hemp where would you go? Kendal Clark
If you wanted to know how to build a house? Jim Johnson
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO WIN SOULS WHERE WOULD YOU GO?
To the Lord Jesus
If Jesus says this is the way, and He is laying on my heart it is the way, then we can be sure it is the way!!
To tell Him how to win a soul would be like me telling Pat how to correct my eyes
Or to tell John how to farm cows!!
The Biblical method Jesus taught was door to door
The method Jesus has laid on your pastors heart is door to door
I think the most effective method we can do is door to door!!
“And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them”
In other words don’t waste your time with people who aren’t interested
The gospel is freely given but never forced
A man must want it to have it
“Shake off the very dust from your feet”
That dust from your shoes will be held against them on the Day of the Lord
When they stand before the King and say God you never gave me a chance!! He will show them the dust from your shoes
One day in the near future, there will be a day when the entire world will see Jesus.
No man has ever seen God, but one day all men will see God.
Don’t waste your time on the same person over an over
Why should one person hear the gospel 50 times before 50 people hear it one time
IF you are witnessing to the same person MOVE ON!!
Give it to someone who wants to hear it
“Do not cast your pearls before the swine or they will trample them under their feet”
If they don’t want it then MOVE ON
Those men will stand their in amazement at the splendor and glory of the Lord Jesus
Verse 6
When you stand before them and tell them the gospel and they say not interested, you simply say ok and have a nice day
And when the dead are standing before Jesus, He will take that dust out and hold it as a testimony to them that his servants offered them hope
The dust will be a testimony that no man may say I never had a chance
We are setting goals this year so we have something to work towards
I have been asked several times what we need to be doing.
That was convicting to me because honestly I didn’t really have a good answer for that.
God has shown me what we need to do
And we are doing this once a month now so we as a body of Christ can come together and do it
There has never been an easier time to become a witness of Christ
That number seven simply means completeness
Our goal for this year is to take the gospel to every house within 7 miles of this church
We also want to set a goal to have 500 gospel centered conversations this year
We also have a goal to have 1500 church invites
And we are going to track these to see how we are doing
Don’t write this off as someone else’s responsibility
It is as much my responsibility as it is your responsibility
500 gospel conversations
1500 church invites
25 additions to the church
Maybe God is calling you today to become a covenant member of this house of faith
Don’t delay, you come today
Their Response was Immediate Obedience
Their Response was Immediate Obedience
As soon as Jesus gave the instructions they immediately went out.
They didn’t make up excuses
They didn’t say its not their job
They didn’t even go back to tie up loose ends where Jesus had called them from
They were sent and they went
Adrain Rogers said this: “A faith that isn’t worth sharing is a faith not worth having”
What you do with your faith is between you and the Lord
BUT I can tell you if you don’t share your faith, you will never become all God intended for you
And I hold a personal conviction that we are not right with God if we are not telling people about the saving grace of Jesus Christ
If we as the people of God do not share what God has done in us then we have failed as a church!
Everything we do should revolve around sharing the gospel
The church was established to multiply!
At the top of our list should be evangelism
If the thought of telling someone about Jesus terrifies you then YOUR NOT ALONE!!
It can be a scary thing, but it is our mission
We go and depend on Him to take care of us
We don’t need theological words, or Bible knowledge
All we need is the Spirit of God
There has never been an easier time to learn how to do this
We are meeting here today at 2:00
This will be our evening service
We are going to go out in groups of two or three
We have Bible tracts to guide us
And the Spirit to empower us
And the more that show today will give us better results
Some will be staying here and praying
Others who are able will be going and doing
GOALS FOR 2020
That was convicting to me because honestly I didn’t really have a good answer for that.
God has shown me what we need to do
Take the gospel to every house within 7 miles of this church before the end of the year
And we are doing this once a month now so we as a body of Christ can come together and do it
500 gospel centered conversations
There has never been an easier time to become a witness of Christ
1500 church invites
25 additions to the church
This whole message has been centered around being a witness for Jesus
We also want to set a goal to have 500 gospel centered conversations this year
That word witness means: One who testifies
Who testifies in court?
One who has seen or heard
One who knows the info because they experienced it
We also have a goal to have 1500 church invites
It is easy to tell of something that you have been a part of
Its impossible to be a witness of something you only know of
And we are going to track these to see how we are doing
Which side of the line do you stand on?
Salvation is so easy even a child could do it, and everyone needs it
Don’t write this off as someone else’s responsibility
DO YOU KNOW JESUS ENOUGH TO TESTIFY FOR HIM
It is as much my responsibility as it is your responsibility
If He is calling you come up front and give your heart to Jesus.
~PRAYER~
500 gospel conversations
1500 church invites
25 additions to the church
Maybe God is calling you today to become a covenant member of this house of faith