The Mission of the Church

Announcements:

Business meeting after service

Evangelism Report

A Jew

A new age Mormon

A pagan

And one lady who was blessed by our witness

INTRODUCTION

We are continuing our sermon series today about God’s Mission. And this message today is the most important message from this series because it tells us what our mission is as a church. God did not plant New Beginnings just to have a place to meet once a week. He planted this church because there is a mission, a task, an assignment that we must carry out.

There is no greater calling, no greater priority, no greater need within this church than to make this mission our purpose for existing! If anyone wants to know what we should be doing as a church body this is it! And this mission is not just for the pastor but for the church as a whole.

This missional mandate is for the disciples

Matt 28:16-17

Matthew 28:16–17 NASB95

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.

It was given to the disciples! What is a disciple? It is someone who follows Jesus. But they do not just follow Jesus in their minds or in their hearts, they follow Him physically! And in this command to go to all the nations, it will require physical obedience!

Notice the word “but” used at the beginning of verse 16? Matthew is contrasting His disciples with the Jews in the previous section. The Jews paid the soldiers to silence the message of the crucifixion. The Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah because it was a threat to their lifestyle!

Which category do you fall under? Are you a disciple for Jesus? If you are then this Great Commission is your mission and these instructions are your instructions.

Matt 28:18

Matthew 28:18 NASB95

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Jesus has ALL authority in heaven and on earth

Notice the first thing that Jesus tells His disciples, he says I have been given all the authority in heaven and on earth. In other words, Jesus is sovereign over everything! Sovereign means that He is the supreme ruler! There is no higher power! And it is this basis of power that Jesus is able to give the marching orders to His disciples!

Imagine walking with Jesus, living with Jesus for three years, seeing Jesus do miracles, seeing Jesus heal the blind, seeing Jesus cleanse lepers and diseases, hearing Jesus say people’s sins are forgiven, never experiencing anything like Jesus, and then watching this Jesus die on a cross! And the disciples must have been so distraught, confused, wondering why and how this has happened. But on the third day they see him bodily, physically, risen from the dead! Can you imagine the what they must have thought? Thomas said to the risen Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”

Because of the resurrection, Jesus has proved that He is the Son of God! Jesus has shown them that He is in a position to give any commands. And He has shown them that the message that He has been preaching over the last three years is the most important message that will ever be proclaimed!

Jesus has all authority over the church. Col 1:18 “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

Jesus has authority over all the kings of the earth, over every disease, over every spirit, over sin and death, and over Satan himself!

Why does Jesus have the right to tell the church what to do? Because He own the church! Because it does not belong to us but to Jesus Christ! You want to know who the CEO is of New Beginnings Baptist Church? It is Jesus Christ and the standing orders for this church are to go and make disciples.

If one day you leave this church, and join another church, and this is not that churches mission leave that church. Any church that does not believe this is their assignment is not a healthy church.

And being at a church that does not practice the Great Commission does not get us off the hook of carrying it our in our own lives. This is an individual mandate as well as a corporate mandate.

The Assignment given to the disciples by Jesus

“Go, therefore and make disciples”

They were called to make disciples

Why does it matter if a church is making disciples? Why does it really matter if we are actively fulfilling this mission?

Because without this mission, there is not hope for a lost and dying world? The hope for your children, your wife, your neighbor is not to have a better life but to have NEW LIFE IN CHRIST! There is nothing more important that we can be doing than this!

The principle of multiplication was Jesus’ plan from the beginning of the church. It was the disciples who were called to make disciples who go out and make disciples.

If you were to witness for six months and reach one person, and then disciple him/her for the next six months, at the end of the first year there would be two of you.

Then if both of you reached one person each and discipled them, at the end of year two there would be four growing, reproducing Christians. If the four of you each prayerfully continued this lifestyle of witness and follow-up, you could impact the world for Christ in one brief lifetime!

Year People reached and trained

First year = 2

2 years = 4

4 years = 16

6 years = 64

8 years = 256

10 years = 1024

12 years = 4,096

13 years = 8,192

20 years = 1,048,576

30 years = 1,073,741,824

32 years = 4,294,967,296

33 years = 8,589,934,592

This is more than the current world population!

They were called to go to ALL nations

They were called to go to all of the nations of the earth. This assignment is not complete unless we understand that our mission is not just local but global. The future of this church must be focused on making disciples overseas as well as making disciples locally.

We currently do this through our cooperative program. A portion of our money goes to support the IMB who send missionaries into foreign countries to make disciples and plant indigenous churches.

It is my dream that this church will personally send and sponsor missionaries who will go overseas to fulfill this mission.

We must understand that this mission is not just about this church, but about using everything that God has given us to fulfil it. If we have an abundance of money then we need to use that for this mission however God leads us.

How are we to make disciples?

There are two things that Jesus tells us that we must do to make a disciple.

The first thing is to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

From Scripture we know that baptism follows a profession of faith. We see this with Philip the evangelist, “But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.” Also with the eunuch, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” The message of the risen Savior is what causes people to believe.

When someone professes faith in Christ, we then follow that faith by baptism. And I want you to notice that baptism does not follow a period of teaching, but begins it. The imperative here begins with the command to baptize and then to teach them.

Baptism is also the first act of obedience. When someone makes a profession of faith we need to tell them that the next step is baptism. And to begin a life of obedience, this must come next.

Baptism does not save anyone. It is a symbol that we have been saved. It is testimony to the world that we have died to our way of life and are beginning new life in Christ.

Rom 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

They were called to teach them how to obey Jesus

Making disciples does not end with the telling of the message, or baptizing new believers, but must include teaching people how to obey Jesus Christ. This is a vital component of the Great Commission and must not be neglected by the church! And this is far more than just coming to Sunday morning services, it requires one of one teaching. Remember this is a mandate to every disciple, not the church as a whole.

Discipleship is a lifetime of learning. It never ends because none of us will ever be fully mature. We must each strive individually to grow in our faith so that we may pour into others.

There are three stages of a disciples. When he is a baby in Christ he must be spoon fed the word. As he grows in Christ he can begin to feed himself the word. As he becomes mature, he can feed others the Word. This is the goal of making disciples. We want mature believers who can feed others who will in turn feed others.

FAT

I want to give you a principle that I learned and I want to pass on to you.

FAT: faithful, available, teachable

it is my conviction if someone does not possess these qualities, then they will not grow in their faith

Application

Sharing the gospel may not be your gifting, but it is your calling

This was not a command to Peter and John

It was a command to the disciples

And it is a command to every one of us who have eternal life

Jesus was very mission focused

He came for a purpose and he accomplished that purpose

And he expects the church to be mission focused as well

He is not planting a church to give us a place to go every Sunday

He is planting a church to have a big bank account

He is not planting a church to build a big building

He IS planting a church to make disciples

If we do not stay mission focused we will drift

We will become inwardly focused

We will walk by comfort instead of by faith

We will become a dying church

A church without mission is a church without faith, and a church without faith is not a church at all

The Assistance promised by Jesus

Jesus will be with them forever

Imagine walking with Jesus and experiencing what the disciples experienced: miracles, healings, casting our demons, wisdom that silenced any Bible scholar..

And then He says I’m leaving, and you must carry on this task!

Would you feel insignificant?

Would you say, hold on Jesus…I CAN’T DO THIS!!

So He gives you this promise, “and lo, I am with you always”

This is not a conditional statement!

This is a solid promise that the disciples would never be alone!

How would Jesus always be with them, if He was going to heaven?

This “presence” would be through the Holy Spirit of God

Because in Acts 2 Jesus sends the Spirit to indwell His disciples

And by this indwelling of the Spirit, the disciples have God with them at all times

CONCLUSION

How many in here have won someone to Christ?

How many have shared the gospel with someone who was lost?

How many have discipled someone and taught them how to follow Jesus?

These are things we must all be engaging in

How can you become faithful in this area?

Come to church on Wednesdays

And in November come back at 2:00 on Sunday afternoons and we will teach you

We will equip you

We will train you

And we walk with you

And you will be shocked at what the Lord will do through you

~PRAYER~

Business Meeting

Opening Prayer

Reading of last months minutes

Any Questions?

Vote to approve last months minutes

Treasurers Report

Any Questions?

Vote to approve the treasurers report

Unfinished Business?

New Business

Adopt roles of congregation and pastor

Discuss budget committee

Any other new business?

Meeting adjourned

Clarifying the Roles of the Congregation and the Pastor

Delegated Congregational Leadership

The Congregation

The congregation determines the doctrine of the church.

Ours is included in our bylaws and cannot be changed by the pastor.

The congregation selects the pastors and elders.

Only the church has the authority to call or dismiss a pastor.

The church adopts the budget.

A team or committee puts together a budget to be adopted by the church. The team is outlined in the Bylaws.

The church determines any expenditures outside of the budget

Things outside the budget must be voted on by the church.

The church approves any legal agreements

The church votes on buying and selling property.

The Pastor

Every other decision is to be delegated to the pastor This allows our church to be ruled by the congregation, while allowing the pastor to lead.

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.”

Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

1 Thess 5:12 “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction”

1 Tim 5:17 “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.