Christian Essentials: Go

Christian Essentials: Go Matthew 28:18-20 January 24`, 2021 LOVE GOD AND PEOPLE GROW IN CHRIST-LIKENESS SERVE CHRIST GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES Key Verse: 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in 29 Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Colossians 1:28–29 (ESV) HOW DOES IT ALL FIT TOGETHER? God loves you so much that He gave His Son Jesus so you could be forgiven and restored to a relationship with the God who created you. He calls us to love Him with all we are and to love people as we love ourselves. That is just the beginning of the life you’re called to – He expects you to grow – to experience a life transformed by the work of Christ as you spend time in God’s Word, pray, give, and live in relationship to other disciples. Transformed people will have servant-hearts, just like Jesus. All true service flows from understanding we are serving Christ as we serve others. Finally, followers of Jesus are going people. As we love God and people, serve God and people, and daily grow in our relationship with God, we will be passionate about going into the world making disciples The Big Idea: Because God first loved us and now we love Him, we commit to doing what He asked of us. He commands us to go into the world with the Gospel, making disciples of all who are willing. His promise is that He will always be with us as we go. 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 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) 18 Key Understandings about “GO”: The call to GO and make disciples is based on the authority Jesus has. “Go” is best understood as an assumption that this is happening both in the daily routines of life and in intentional decisions to journey to another place – “As you are going …” The purpose of our going to “make disciples” – this is the primary command. TWO MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP è è I am not ready to disciple anyone. I’ve been a Christian for a while and don’t need to be discipled. “Disciple” – learner, pupil, follower, adherent. THE GOSPEL: Be sure and tell the whole story! Creation The Fall The Rescue Restoration Accept the GO Challenge: 1. Work this week on verbalizing the Gospel. Using all 4 “chapters” of God’s Story, start with a 4-minute explanation. 2. Begin thinking about how you would add a personal testimony to a conversation that includes: “My life before I understood what God had done for me”; “How I came to repent and trust in Jesus”; and, “How Jesus is changing my life.” 3. Start praying each day that the Lord would give you a “Gospel Opportunity” to share Jesus with someone. 4. Daily pray by name for missionaries who have gone to places you will likely never go to.