NJ - FROM VICTORY TO MISSION
Victory / Missions • Sermon • Submitted
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· 10 viewsToday we will look at our journey From Victory to Mission and what is requires from us to walk this journey. We will look at the importance of keeping our hearts right as we move into Mission.
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Transcript
INTRODUCTION
Good morning! Over the past month we have heard from different speakers on the theme of “V for Victory - Living Victorious”. This month we are on the theme “Mission Posible”.
Over this month we will hear from serveral guest speakers and have some exciting things planned.
Today we will look at our journey From Victory to Mission and what is requires from us to walk this journey. We will look at the importance of keeping our hearts right as we move into Mission.
LETS PRAY
When I say the word mission, what is the first thought that comes to mind?
For most of us it is probably the idea of going to some foreign land to preach the Gospel.
There are many different missions that we can be a part of.
For those in the military, mission invokes the thought of some field training exercise.
Then there are the missions that we fell unqualified for. We need to step out in faith in what God has called us all to.
I looked up the word mission on the Webster Online dictionary and listen to what the word mission means according to Webster:
1. The act of the instance of sending.
2. A ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work.
3. A body of persons sent to perform a perform a service or carry on an activity.
4. A specific task with which a person or a group is charged.
Last week I mentioned that we are all in ministry, it just looks a bit different for each of us.
Jesus told His disciple’s to go an preach.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
As children of God, that message, has been left for us as well. Just before ascending into heaven.
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.
1. RUNNING OUR RACE
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So in our race we need Jesus, we need His wisdom and understanding. We have Holy Spirit who is our helper (Just before Jesus ascended to heavan, He said he would send Holy Spirit to help us)
2. KEEP YOUR HEART HUMBLED
For us to live in victory we need to keep our hearts right. Keeping short accounts with God, humbling ourselves and God lifts us up.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2. OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART THE MOUTH SPEAKS
34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
A: Don’t look back
B: Honour
C: Know who you are working for: GOD
D: Make the choice TO KEEP YOUR HEART RIGHT
1. The Mission’s Purpose.
A. They were sent to preach the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Think of what the disciples could have spent their time preaching out against.
You know the same is true of us. We are told to preach.
There are so many different things in which we could preach out against in our world today.
I think that we would be best to concentrate on the one message that we should preach.
And that message is Jesus Christ.
You see, they preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was near. For us, the Kingdom is here and it is our job to preach that fact.
To learn some valuable lessons about this fact, all we have to do is to look at the life of Paul. Whenever Paul got a chance to preach, what did He preach? Jesus Christ crucified! Jesus Christ Buried! Jesus Christ Risen From The Dead.
Paul said this in Romans 1:16:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
I wonder what would happen if God’s people everywhere would take this task seriously. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that there is never a time in which we should not speak out against a certain issue. However, I do believe that our main message should always be the gospel message; because in the Gospel Message there is power to save.
The mission to preach belongs to every single one of us.
There is not one person in the room who has given their lives to Jesus Christ that does not have this responsibility to preach.
The Bible never makes a distinction between professional ministers and “ordinary Christians”. Instead, everyone is a minister, each having different gifts and abilities.
Local Missions -
National Missions -
International Missions -
People expect the preacher to preach, but when we all begin to preach Christ we will indeed change the world for the Gospel Message.
Our salvation should be enough of a motivation for us to go out and make a difference.
Freely you have received, freely give.
2. The Mission’s Problems.
The disciples were given the mission, but they were told about the problems that they were going to encounter.
A. People would not listen.
The disciples were told that there was going to be people who would not listen to the message that they had to preach.
The same is true for us today. There are people who won’t want to hear what we have to preach. That doesn’t mean that we are supposed to give up preaching. All that means is that we have to preach somewhere else.
Listen again to what verse 14 says. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that town or home.
I know that it can be frustrating to do your best to reach someone for Jesus Christ, and for them to show no interest. There is something that we should all remember though.
If people rejected:
- God in the Old Testament
- Jesus in the New Testament
- The Apostles who were men full of the Holy Spirit and power
- Then people will reject us.
Not only will there be people who don’t want to listen to our message:
B. People will be combative.
From our text we see that the disciples were in danger because of the message they were going out to preach.
Listen again to what Matthew 10:17 – 20 says: Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Jesus told them that they were going to encounter danger. And He promised them that they were going to be helped by the Spirit.
We may not face the same type of persecution that the disciples had to face, be we do face people who are combative to the message of Jesus Christ.
Do you want to know what would happen if all of us in this room took the mission of preaching Christ seriously? First of all, people would be won to Christ. Secondly, we will encounter opposition.
Why is that? Because Satan knows that there is power in the Gospel message. And when we preach lives are changed. When lives are changed there should be more people preaching.
Even though we may not face the daily dangers that the early Christians faced, the chance does exist.
We never know when someone is going to place a gun in our face and ask the question that was asked at Columbine High School.
No, we should not fear persecution.
C. Jesus told us what we should fear.
Look again at verses 28-30
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
You see, God will protect us. No, that doesn’t mean that He will not let anything bad happen to us here on earth. What it means is that we are protected for eternity as we trust in Him.
We should not fear to persecutor. Persecution may leave its mark on us while we are here on earth. However, if we fail to accomplish our mission because we were afraid the consequences will last for eternity.
A few centuries before Christ, Alexander the Great conquered almost all of the known world with his military strength, cleverness, and diplomacy. One day Alexander and a small company of soldiers approached a strongly defended, walled city. Alexander, standing outside the walls, raised his voice, demanding to see the king. The king, approaching the battlements above the invading army, agreed to hear Alexander’s demands.
“Surrender to me immediately,” commanded Alexander.
The king laughed. “Why should I surrender to you?” he called down. “We have you far outnumbered. You are no threat to us!”
Alexander was ready to answer the challenge. “Allow me to demonstrate why you should surrender,” he replied. Alexander ordered his men to line up single file and start marching. He marched them straight toward a sheer cliff that dropped hundreds of feet to rocks below.
The king and his soldiers watched in shocked disbelief as, one by one, Alexander’s soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths. After ten soldiers had died, Alexander ordered the rest of his men to stop and to return to his side.
The king and his soldiers surrendered on the spot to Alexander the Great.
That is the type of obedience and resolve that we must have. We will face problems in the mission field.
But what is the worst thing that can happen to us? We can lose this earthly life. What is the most likely thing that can happen to us? People may not listen or may try to stop us from preaching.
Preach and, well that leads us to our final point for the morning.
3. The Mission’s Promises!
Jesus gave them a mission, told them that they were going to face problems, and then He went on to give them some promises.
Listen again to 32-39 of our text:
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn " `a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
A. If we preach Christ, Christ will acknowledge us before God.
B. The opposite of that is true.
C. The Message Will Cause Division.
D. The Dedication Will Not Go Unrewarded.
Invitation