Are You Missing the Missio Dei?

Introduction

My very first mission trip that I went on was back in 1998 and it was about 6 years before I was a believer - in fact, I would have considered myself an atheist, but when you’re 17 and an atheist in a church-going family, you are a church-going atheist.

That summer of 1998, my entire family went on our church mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico where we worked with a little church to put on a VBS for the kids in a deeply impoverished area and do various projects around the church.

It was a good time, but remember, I was not a Christ-follower.

Nor was I a person of upstanding moral character.

I was however well adept at making bad decisions - which is why I decided with another guy my age, to get completely wasted the night before our last day there.

I endured a world of hurt form that one - both from my parents and from the hard work duty that my buddy and I earned the next day.

Fast forward to 2009, and I am now a Christ-follower and leading a college ministry at a large church outside of Houston.

The missions pastor of the church approaches me and asks me if I would be interested in leading a team of college and High school students to Mozambique in Africa where we would be conducting a Bible camp to tell Mozambican students about Jesus.

He also said that after the camp we would be going on a safari in Krueger National Park in South Africa.

My recruitment tool for the trip was not the gospel-centered ministry that we were going to get to do…

It wasn’t the relationships that would be formed on the trip, both with others on our team and with students in country.

I recruited people by emphasizing the safari.

Come to Mozambique with me - there’s gonna be lions!

Why do I tell you these stories?

Three reasons…

First: To illustrate my own ignorance that I walked in as it related to the Great Commission.

I was more excited about traveling the world and seeing God’s creation than I was about seeing divine image bearers saved from eternal separation from Christ.

Second: To illustrate that the Lord overcomes ignorance and unbelief to set people on a path of purpose, intentionality, and passion for the Great Commission.

I haven’t been drunk on a mission trip in 23 years - which is nice.

I no longer use safaris as my recruitment tool to missions.

Now, I work full time with WorldVenture, a missions agency where I help guide people along their journey to become cross-cultural missionaries.

Third: Today is world mission Sunday - where churches around the world come together to talk about the Missio Dei - which is Latin for “The Sending of God” or the “Mission of God”

The Missio Dei is not our mission - it’s God’s mission and He is inviting us to join Him on that mission.

Missiologist David Bosch said it like this: “It is not so much that God has a mission for his church as that God has a church for his mission”

the distinction is important because God doesn’t have something for us to do… He is doing something and invites us along With Him.

The Problem Is huge...

There are people on this earth who have never heard the name of Jesus…

there are people groups who are considered unreached, meaning that less than 2% of the population is Christian.

there are people groups who are considered unengaged, meaning that there is no church planting strategy - no Christian mission movement happening among them.

There are roughly 4.7 billion people that fall into this category.

4.7 Billion people who have virtually no way to even hear that Jesus loves them and died so that they could be saved.

4.7 Billion people who will slip into a Christ-less eternity having never heard this gospel message that we walk so freely in.

Why is this the case in our world today?

I think that a large part of it is that Christians are either ignorant, poorly equipped, or flat out disobedient to God’s call to GO and make disciples.If we want

If we want to honor the Lord, we must move beyond these things

We must remedy our ignorance

we must figure out how to get equipped

we must do away with disobedience and ask the Lord to have His way with us!

Prayer

Pray for yourself - that the Lord would speak directly to YOU. Ask Him right now - Lord, what is MY role in the Great Commission? Then, ask Him for the fortitude to be able to step into that role, empowered by the Spirit of God.

Pray for me - that the Lord would use me as His mouthpiece and that what I say would not be my own words alone, but His. Ask the Lord to get me out of the way so that we can all see HIM clearly.

Diving into the passage

Before we jump in, I want to say two things:

First, this passage has a very wide base of application.

This is not an explicitly missions oriented passage.

Second, this sermon is not going to be a verse by verse exegetical sermon.

My hope for today is to draw out some big ideas and examine the temptations that we may encounter.

As we walk through these verses, I want you to be asking yourself:

“What are the temptations that I am entertaining that keep me from embracing God’s Great Commission? ?

Let’s look at Matthew 4:1-4

Stones into Bread

Matthew 4:1–4 ESV

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Jesus has not eaten anything in 40 days, and the first thing that Satan does is talk about bread!

If I miss a meal, I get hangry

If you start talking about tacos when I didn’t have lunch, I am going to get rowdy

Why? Because it is a need that I am keenly aware of in that moment, and when I am in a time of need, desperation can begin to drive my decision making and my impulses take over.

The result is that nothing else matters, I must get to Fuego

Satan targets us in our areas of weakness

Satan approached Jesus with a pressing physical need and a way to meet that need - and he will do the same to us

he will identify areas of need or weakness in hopes of getting us to meet our own needs rather than trust God to meet them for us.

Jesus was undoubtedly hungry - and the first thing that Satan throws at him is a meal of freshly manifested bread.

Manifesting bread is not a sin, we know because Jesus will do that two different times to feed multitudes of people.

What is the REAL temptation?

Don’t be misled here… The temptation is not to turn the stones into bread…

The temptation is to believe that The Father doesn’t know or doesn’t care about His basic needs

The temptation is to meet a need on His own - apart from the Father’s provision for Him.

If Satan can get Jesus to focus on meeting His basic needs, then He will ignore the provision of the Father and miss the mission.

First Point: Salvation is greater than sustenance (vv. 1-4)

How does this relate to missions?

You just heard the truth that 4.7 Billion people don’t know Jesus and have virtually zero access to the gospel, and do you know the thoughts that might come to mind

You would make a lot more money doing something else

can you even afford to feed yourself doing that?

Raising my own funds would be impossible!

Satan wanted Jesus to doubt God’s provision for Him and to look for ways to provide for Himself.

The temptation to meet our own needs has some really messy ramifications.

When we do this, we tell the Lord that we don’t trust Him to meet our needs

When we do this, we elevate our needs over the salvation of those who don’t know Him.

When asked the question, why didn’t you engage in making disciples to the ends of the earth, “tacos” is not a good answer.

How do we respond to this temptation?

Jesus said it best here...

Matthew 4:4 ESV

4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

The first thing that He did (and what He did with every temptation) was utilize God’s word, God’s truth to combat a lie.

He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, which illustrated powerfully where sustaining power truly comes from.

Spoiler alert, it is from the Lord and not from food.

The gospel truth here is three fold

One, food and basic needs are important, but not exclusively important - and perhaps not even of primary importance

A life sustained by food only, and not the very words of God, is a poorly sustained life.

Two, food is important and the Lord will provide what we need

Just as the Lord provided Manna for Israel in the desert, He will care for us, providing what we need to fulfill His call on our life.

Three, the salvation of others is of greater importance than sustenance.

If you care more about the food in your belly than you do the salvation of your neighbor, then you don’t understand the grace and love of God.

The application point for us is this: The Lord will care for our sustenance while we go about the business of the missio dei.

The mentality that we need to have is this: “If I have been called to devote my life to carrying the gospel to those who don’t know, then God will take care of what I need.”

If you have any doubt about this, then go read and memorize Matthew 6:25-34…

Matthew 6:25–26 ESV

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Just a few verses later in Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us this:

Matthew 6:33 ESV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Part of the reason that we worry about the needs that we have is that we are more concerned with our kingdom than the Kingdom of God.

Seek the Lord’s Kingdom first

Seek the Missio Dei first

The Lord will take care of the rest.

Salvation is greater than sustenance!

Let’s look at the next trick that the devil tries to play… look at v. 5

Jump from the temple

Matthew 4:5–7 ESV

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

To reject the first temptation, Jesus appealed to God’s Word, to Truth, and in that, God’s goodness and care for His children.

The devil then pulls a page from Jesus’ book and quotes scripture back to him…

He quotes Psalm 91:11-12...

If you are who you say you are, then not even one of your feet will hit the ground… The angels will catch you!

He tries to use Jesus’ trust in the Lord as a means of forsaking God.

If you really trust God’s Word, then let’s see you prove that you trust His word!

Scripture says that you won’t get hurt in the slightest, show us!

Satan targets our trust in the Lord and twists God’s Word

If he cannot get you to simply distrust the Lord, then he will manipulate the trust that you have in God And twist His words.

Understand this about the enemy:

He knows God’s Word - better than you do.

He doesn’t understand it like we can, because we have the Holy Spirit who opens our hearts and minds to comprehend, but he definitely knows it.

He will do anything to use God’s word against you and make you doubt God.

If he can twist it or make you believe that it says something that it doesn’t, he will…

Like before, what is the actual temptation here?

I do not believe that the temptation was to actually jump…

The temptation is to begin to ask the question - did God really mean it when He said_______________?

Will God preserve my life if it comes down to that?

How do I know that He will protect me - I know it says so in the Bible, but how do I know???

The temptation is to elevate personal safety as the highest value - and to test the Lord to prove it.

If Satan can make Jesus more concerned about His personal safety than the mission, then he slows or even stops the mission.

For sure, the cross doesn’t happen…

Second Point: Safety isn’t a prerequisite for mission (vv. 5-7)

This is one of the largest barriers for people who would step into missions - particularly cross-cultural missions.

Several years ago, I spent every summer leading a group of 40-50 students to the Rio Grande valley to minister in the colonias there.

These were little border towns, just a few miles from the border, were filled primarily with Mexican immigrants who just barely made it into the US and settled.

They were unbelievably poor - and the community looked more like a 3rd-world country rather than the United States.

Each year, we would have parents that inevitably had the same question: “Is it really safe to go down there?”

Some parents didn’t even allow their children to go with us because of the fear of what might happen to them.

I am not saying that the desire for safety is bad, in fact quite the opposite.

This is why we don’t let our children play with knives… it isn’t safe.

We need to be wise in our daily lives...

Which is why you should look both ways before you cross the street and refrain from climbing into the lion’s cage at the zoo.

However, An unhealthy desire for safety will stop us from answering God’s call to GO, whether that is a short term trip or going to live cross-culturally.

Those people are dangerous

That place is filled with disease

The country is hostile to Christians

There is no adequate medical care there

And the list goes on!

I know this isn’t going to be well received by many people, but your safety is not of primary concern to the Lord when it comes to accomplishing His mission to save those who don’t know Him.

There have been countless Christ-followers who have endured torture, persecution and even death for the cause of Christ.

One such man was Jim Elliott who went to Ecuador and died violently at the hands of the people he was trying to share Jesus with.

This is the same man who famously wrote “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Jim refused to elevate safety over the call to bring the hope of the gospel to the lost.

How do we respond to this temptation?

Once again, Jesus uses God’s Word to combat the temptation

Quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, he says this:

Matthew 4:7 (ESV)

7 ...“Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

Application

First, Don’t put the Lord to the test…

Believe what God has already said - and trust that.

Second, don’t prioritize safety over God’s call

Trust that the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished and He will sustain you for what He has you to do!

Third, understand that the Lord has appointed a day and time for all of us, when we will be called home.

You will not go home before that time and you will not live past that time.

Safety is NOT a prerequisite for mission!

Let’s look at v. 8

Bow down and worship Satan

Matthew 4:8–11 ESV

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

To me, this last temptation is the most brazen.

Satan attempts to reverse the natural order of things - having the Creator bow down to the created

He is also offering him something that he cannot deliver and that he doesn’t have final authority over.

It would be like someone coming into my house and saying, “if you will pay me the highest honors, you can have this house - all yours!”

Dude - it’s already mine!

Satan is pushing Jesus towards self-glory - apart from the Father

If we look at what Satan was offering Jesus, it looked good on paper - ultimate rule, and this from the Son of God.

But at what cost.

Jesus would have to bow down to Satan

This would be an embracing of Satan’s ways - which yields the ultimate rule to Satan.

Jesus would have to compromise Himself to take hold of this.

FV Filson said it this way: “Serve the devil and rule the world. In modern terms, be practical, realistic, ready to compromise; The end justifies the means. To help people you must get position and power.”

Which, sadly, many Christians, including myself have given into from time to time.

But Jesus wasn’t all about it.

What is the temptation?

Just as the first temptation was not about food and the second temptation wasn’t to jump from the temple, and this temptation isn’t to bow down to Satan or even to have such great authority and power..

The temptation is to elevate personal agenda over the Lord’s agenda.

The temptation is to abandon the Lord’s plan, because something else looks more appealing.

The temptation is to embrace self-glory instead of the Lord’s glory

Third Point: Significance isn’t found in self-glory (vv. 8-11)

What does this look like and how does this hinder our involvement in the Missio Dei?

We spend more time thinking about the plans we have for our own life rather than the plans that the Lord has for us.

When I was at the cross roads of deciding if I would go into ministry, I was offered a pretty good job with the company I was working for at the time.

I would have been making several times the amount of money that I was going to make with the ministry job I was considering

I remember thinking - if I take this job, I can work for several years and save up a bunch of money and THEN I will go back to seminary and go into the church world.

It made worldly sense… ministry money is not good money, and this would be a way to do both, right?

You see how this temptation ties in with the first?

I wanted to provide for my own needs rather than let the Lord provide for them.

The problem was that I would have gotten accustomed to a certain standard of living, and downshifting from that is exceptionally difficult.

Don’t hear what I am not saying…

It is NOT sinful to work hard and to get a good job.

In fact, many of you are going to be called into the marketplace to represent Jesus there.

You will make a lot of money and the Lord intends to use you to fund missions and ministry.

I am saying that if you are looking for your identity, significance, and meaning through that job or through your position, then you are missing the point.

I am saying that we cannot elevate success and our own significance over the mission of God.

How do we respond to this temptation?

Matthew 4:10 ESV

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

He simply says “Go away...”

He doesn’t entertain the possibilities

He doesn’t give the devil a chance to explain

He says “get outta here.”

Then He quotes Deuteronomy 6:13 and 1 Samuel 7:3

In summary - He says, God’s glory is the only glory that matters.

Application

First - be more passionate about the Lord’s glory than anything else, especially your own glory

Second - find out how to leverage your whole life in service to Him.

Whether you are going to be a missionary or a businessman or woman - how will you leverage your life to make His name known?

Significance is not found in self-glory

Closing: The action steps

What do we do with this?

Stated very simply, prepare yourself and answer the call!

FIRST: Pray!

Pray for our focus areas that the Lord has put on the heart of our church

Kenya

France

Indonesia

Discover more about the people groups and places where we are investing ourselves and ask the Lord to break your heart for them.

You can find out more about these places and about Unreached and Unengaged People Groups on joshuaproject.net

If you have specific questions about the teams that we work with and the exact locations in each of these places, you can connect with me or Matt Ullrich directly.

If you want to pray with someone about this today, then come forward during the response time and pray with someone - either a pastor or our staff.

SECOND: Prepare!

Educate yourself and find the tools necessary to make strategic decisions for the Kingdom of God.

Take Perspectives

It starts on January 17th and is happening at Grace Bible Church.

Join an Xplore group - hosted by the Center for Mission Mobilization

This is a 7-week study that will help give you the tools to become a globally minded Christian and show you on-ramps to the Great Commission, no matter where you are.

We love the CMM and are actually partnering with them to launch RCB Xplore groups soon

If you are interested in that, Scan the QR code on your bulletin and let us know you’re interested.

We will get you signed up!

THIRD: Give!

Begin leveraging your finances for missions.

You can give to missions at RCB or you can support those who are going.

We will have those who are called to go who will need financial support to do so, and you can be a part of the team that helps get them there.

In fact, today, we will be commissioning and sending an RCB family, the Schroeders, who will be heading to the mission field in the next few weeks.

They still have a little bit left to raise, so if you are interested in supporting them, you can either catch me after service and I will connect you, or Scan the QR code and let us know that you are interested in supporting the Schroeders.

Fourth: GO!!

Some of you have been called to go, and if that is the case and you’re a member of RCB, then we have been to send you.

Maybe this is part of a short term team that we will send out, Lord-willing, this summer

We are hoping to go to:

Kenya in May

Indo sometime in June or July

France in June or July

You could also spend a summer or even a gap year overseas with one of our ministry partners, like Sam Stone and Daniel Evans are currently doing

This would help you determine if this is something that you need to be doing long-term.

For others, this is a life-long call, and you know it!

You have been called to become a missionary - and we want to send you out.

We will partner with a missions agency like WorldVenture and ensure that you are sent well and equipped for ministry long-term.

Lastly - if you have any more questions or want to talk about what this might look like for you to engage with missions, let us know and we would love to talk with you.

Again, you can scan that QR Code and say that you would like to talk to someone or you can catch me or Matt after service and we would be happy to set up a time to connect.

Invitation

For anyone in this room who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus - He is not your Lord.

I would simply say “Come to Jesus!”

He died the death that you deserve and raised from the dead three days later effectively conquering the death that you could not.

He offers you the gift of eternal life and He offers you the opportunity to have a life here on this earth that is filled with meaning and significance.

If that is you, then I want you to come and pray with me or Pastor Jonathan and Pastor Kevin during the response time - it would be our honor and privilege to lead you into relationship with Christ and walk with you as you start your journey of faith.

Closing Prayer