20-11-22 AM, On Mission With God: What's It Going To Take?(WIGTAKE), Mt. 24:14
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The Mission of God is the God’s master plan of redemption in response to the fall of man.
The Father is the source of the Missio Dei.
The Son is the embodiment of the Missio Dei.
The Holy Spirit empowers and directs the the Missio Dei.
The culmination of the Missio Dei is the New Creation, where every saved man, woman, boy, and girl from every tribe and tongue will be in the presence of God and totally fulfilled in worshipping the glory of God.
The present part of the plan is the time for people all over the world to hear the gospel, repent, and then join the work of telling lost people about Jesus.
Missions and evangelism is the Church’s part in the Mission of God. It is our part of the Mission of God.
Jesus said,
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Last week, we saw ourselves in a couple parables of Jesus, both dealing with sowing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Each of us are sowers who spread the Word of God, the gospel of the kingdom, in faith that it will result in the salvation of those who hear.
God wants every person in this church trained to share his/her witness and doing so. The divine expectation is that everyone of us is sharing the gospel with lost people on a daily basis. The Great Commission is Jesus’ command that we win people to Christ “as we are going.” This is why we evangelize.
Not only are we sowers, but we are also harvesters in that we lead people into the kingdom through faith and disciple them immediately.
New believers carry on the Christian habits of their first 3 months for the rest of their lives.
We need to be about this faithfully so the New Creation is complete with the redeemed. In Mt. 24:14, we learn that the gospel will go out to all the world, and then this age will come to a close.
If you recall from last week, one of the main reasons why Christ has not returned is that all that will be saved have not yet been saved.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
So, it seems that we know our job.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
and that the Lord is patient for us to fulfill our work.
So, WIGTake, What is it going to take for the world to hear and respond to the gospel and be discipled?
One thing we do know, Existing local churches are going to have recommit to the mission and revamp their evangelism and discipleship.
In our best year of evangelism in the last eight years, we saw 40 people saved and baptized. Last year was one of our lowest years.
Southern Baptists last year saw their lowest number of baptisms in 30 years (246k). We’ve dropped to 14.8M. Meanwhile, America has grown to 330M.
Thousands Christian churches close their doors every year.
Only 1/4 of Americans are practicing Christians, down by half from 2000.
There are 3000+ unreached, unengaged people groups who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. 4 + billion of people still do not call Jesus Savior and Lord- most of whom have never heard the gospel.
Last year, the work of our International Mission Board saw 48k baptisms wordwide, while 4.6 billion people on this planet do not call Christ Lord.
We need are different plan than what we’ve been doing.What is it going to take?
It’s going to take each one of us learning to share effectively the gospel and to do so gospel daily. More of us. The path of kingdom growth goes only through the faithful and obedient proclamation of the gospel.
It’s going to take each one of us training the people we reach to go and reach others with the gospel and train them too.
It’s going to take us praying for the lost way more than we currently do.
If we are faithful in this, we are going to see existing local churches built up.
We are going to need to start many more small groups which are intent on training believers to be obedient. There are going to be so many of these groups that they are going to have to meet on different days and times in different places, many in homes.
It’s going to take starting new evangelistic churches which reach under-reached communities and unreached people groups both in America and around the world.
E.g. places that are out of our church’s reach (or another church’s reach).
This means that we need to be prepared and proud to send out people from this church to help new works to get started.
But first things first.
Let’s learn to be obedient to Christ ourselves. When you look back at that Great Commission, there are three things we need to remember.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Go, not come- we must go where the lost people are. This means we need to de-emphasize “come and hear” methods of evangelism and exchange them for ones in which we “go and tell”. I will say it now, everyone can do this with God’s help. When you do this, it will feel so much like the Book of Acts that you will know it is what you are supposed to be doing.
2. Everybody, not just some- share with every one because you never know whom God will choose.
3. Make trainers, not just church members- train every believer to obey what he learns AND pass it on (be a trainer).
With these three adjustments , God’s Spirit will empower us to see results far beyond what we have previously experienced.
Most people do not share the gospel faithfully. There are three typical reasons why...
They don’t know WHY? My friend, God has called you to be a fisher of men. He will turn you into this if you will let Him.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
The first step is to say “yes.” Won’t it feel so good when you move from being someone who knows he should be sharing but doesn’t to being someone with the joy of obedience? God can do this in your life.
They don’t know with WHOM?
Interestingly, Jesus instructs His disciples to work through one’s household.
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
The goal of Luke 10 was to find houses and men of peace.
The family has always been the target of God. Noah, Lot, Rahab.
13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
“Those who had accepted the message of peace were rooted in communities in which churches began. The churches of Caesarea, Philippi, and Corinth are clear examples of this method. In this way the gospel began to spread among trusted insiders capable of reaching the existing community structures…As God prepared men and women of influence to receive the message of peace, peace was unhindered as it flowed through the population.
God wants us to share with those who make up our Oikos.
Do me a favor and take out the insert with 25 blanks...
Organize them into 5 groups of 5. Start praying for the first group of 5.
The last thing is that they are unsure of HOW to share?
You need a bridge story or two...
Your testimony
-Your life before Christ
-How you met Christ.
-What is your life like in Christ now that your saved?
Then follow up with a very simple and reproducible gospel presentation, just four verses. Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 5:8; Romans 10:9
They you ask them if they want to follow Ask Jesus to forgive their sins and be their Savior and Lord.
Then you ask them to share that with 5 people this next week and start meeting with them weekly to train them as obedient disciples.
So, FBC Harrah, we have a choice to make, continue living in the pattern of church decline by being a membership that is for the most part quiet regarding the gospel, or make a decision to join the ranks of those who are committed and trained to be witnesses of the gospel daily and to train those you win to be faithful witnesses as well.
Make the commitment that you are going to be an obedient Sower. If you want me to train you to do it, fill out a Communication Card and note it on the back, or catch me after service and I will start a training group with you.
Put together your Oikos list and group the people into groups of 5.
Go ahead and remember & write down 1-3 God stories you can think of which are moving and capture the goodness of God. No more than one page. Bring that to the training I start up.
Memorize the very simple evangelism method.
Share the gospel with 5 people this week.
You can do it!
Bless Every Home?