Week 1 Back to The Basics

Pastoral Welcome

Call to Worship

Jesus we worship you,

And sometimes we doubt.

Yet we know all authority is yours.

So you call us to go:

to all nations,

to make disciples,

to continue your mission.

You call us to announce your Kingdom:

to heal the sick,

to raise the dead,

to cast out demons.

You call us to baptise in your name:

you are Father,

you are Son,

you are Holy Spirit.

We will follow, we will obey and teach all you have commanded

Pastoral Prayer

Almighty God: from the beginning to the end you have chosen       to love us,      to redeem us,      to shape us as your people. Though you were strong you became weak      so you could confront      to come face to face with our sin and our death Spirit of God, resting upon us: may your power enflame us      with your unity; may your peace touch us       with your grace; may your grace fill us       with your hope; may your hope lead us into your Kingdom.

Lord in your mercy. Hear Our Prayer.

Lord pour your spirit out of to the leaders in our lives. To the mentors, guides, counselors and church leaders in our own life. Pour out your spirit on the leaders of our denomination, of our state, and of our national government structures. God may they be led by a spirit of compassion and grace.

Lord in your mercy. Hear Our Prayer.

God, we pray for ourselves—members of Your Body here on earth.

Break down the barriers that divide us from one another.

Unite us in our common allegiance to You as Lord and Saviour.

Grant us compassion and humility in our relationships.

Release the gifts You have given to each one,

so that in us and through us,

Your kingdom might come and Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

We offer in this moment of silence all of those things to your care.

Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer

Lord God we pray for our own habits.

We pray for the paths that you are forming in us

We lift up to you the communities that shape us

For the spaces that encourage us

In the midst of all of these things Lord God we seek your path and your way

Help us to find you, guide our steps and our paths for your kingdoms sake.

Lord in your mercy. Hear Our Prayer.

As we seek to be a confessing and repenting church

We confess before you this morning:

We have been unworthy servants.

We have misused and abused the creation.

We have wounded one another by divisions everywhere.

We have often failed to take decisive action

against environmental destruction, poverty, racism,

caste-ism, war and genocide.

We are not only victims but also perpetrators of violence.

In all this, we have fallen short as disciples of Jesus Christ

who in his incarnation came to save us and teach us how to love.

Forgive us, God, and teach us to forgive one another.

Lord in your mercy. Hear Our Prayer.

Oh God some prayers we don’t know how speak out loud yet, or we don’t know the right words that we would use if we tried. So instead of more word we offer you our silence. In this moment of silence we offer ourselves to you....

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen.

Announcements/Celebration/Intro to Offering

Announcements - Sermon series small group immediately afterwards in the basement

Celebration Malawi Africa

Student wanted to be a teacher participants of the trip covered his fees

This whole thing is really built on relationships

Madisi - the borehole is used 24 hours a day

Respond - Offering - going on an adventure

Members of our church are going to share their testimonies as well through devotionals

Sermon

Back to the Basics Description

Mission

The mission of the church remains the same, but the realities around us change

The mission answers the “why” we do what we do not the “how” we do what we do

John Wesley and the Early Church movement

The world is my Parrish - John Wesley

John Wesley found himself dissatisfied with the institution of the church not because it didn’t do worship well, but because it did not lead to life change.

Let’s back up even farther to find out what the church really is about.

Scripture

Matthew 28:16–20 NRSV

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Discipleship is about knowing and doing the will of god

the authority of Christ continues through the work of the disciples

Mission of God is different than the mission of the church

God’s mission will still be here long after you and I are no longer roaming the earth

The mission will continue until the end of the age - meaning that we will never get to a point o

Discipleship involves knowing but also doing the will of God

If there was a fire in this building and I pointed at you and said your name and I said go get a fire extinguisher.

And you came back 5 minutes later and said hey I did some study on what you said. I learned all about the history of fire extinguishers. I had a fire extinguisher study where some friends at the church and I got together and we learned about fire extinguishers, isn’t that great.

We are called to be disciples and to make disciples

Unclear Greek

Be disciples

make disciples

to disciple

It is like in Math class where you one of the best ways to learn something is to teach someone else

This is about life-change

John Wesley wasn’t dissatisfied with worship quality, in fact he actually encouraged his follower to continue to worship in the Anglican church

John Wesley was dissatisfied with the amount of life-change that he saw in the church

This is the solution to people who are burnt out on religion but still love Jesus

Our mission is for the people that might be skeptical about the church, or who have maybe even been harmed by the church in the past

• They worshiped – doubted

◦ They are monotheistic Jewish

◦ Having it all figured out isn’t a command

first step – tell people what you know

These disciples are not the brightest crayons in the box

They are not eloquent speakers

They are fisherman probably uneducated and ordinary by every sense of the word

We don’t make disciples because are put together or we have the right answers

We never would be able to

The church is only able to make disciples by telling our stories

By being real and authentic

By sharing honestly about our struggles and our joys

The mission of God is to know, follow, and share Jesus

some doubted - the greek implies hesitation rather than unbelief

Some doubted that this would be possible

• Perhaps there is a play here on New Years Resolutions as well – not to make a traditional resolution

◦ Therefore be it resolved the church is about making disciples of Jesus

Our mission is not to gather many people

Our mission is not to do worship well

Our mission is not to have the largest numbers

Our mission IS TO INSPIRE LIFE CHANGING DISCIPLES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO A WORLD CHANGING CHURCH

Do not be afraid

For Christ is with you as you do that

Benediction

As Jesus stood on mountain and told his disciples to go fourth. To Go. To go far and wide to the end of the earth to make disciples. So I tell you as you prepare to leave to go from this place to make disciples. But Christ also said to know that he will be with you. So go, knowing that the pressence of God goes with you, that the peace of God surrounds you so go in peace to love and to serve.