The Mission: Multiply

Good morning Harmony!

It’s official now I think - winter is here. There’s snow, finally, and while I love snow and how pretty it makes everything and how much fun I can have in the right place with the vehicles, the down side to snow is that it has an adverse affect on my desire to get out and drive on the roads - I’ll go do donuts or something all day long in the snow, but I have no desire to drive on the actual roads when it’s like this.

So if you have chosen to stay at home to worship today, I understand. If you chose to brave the roads and come in today, I understand that too, I mean if you went to work Wednesday through Friday this week you already drove on the worst part of it I think, so that’s great.

Today we’re going to be looking at our last message in our series on the updated mission statement, which is

Our mission is to develop authentic believers who strive to connect people to Jesus, teaching them to engage in discipleship, and who desire to multiply the Kingdom in the process.

So today we’re going to look at that multiply the Kingdom in the process part. That is a major part of the Great Commission that is our supporting Scripture, right?

Matthew 28:19–20 CSB

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, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Go, make disciples.

And our vision statement for this is this:

We desire to multiply the Kingdom in our community, state, country, and world.

Whether it be at Harmony, another church in our community, or somewhere outside the local community, every effort we make will be for the purpose of expanding the Kingdom.

and our supporting Scripture in addition to our mission statment Scripture is Acts 1:8 -

Acts 1:8 CSB

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

And we see that really manifest itself later on in chapter 2, as the apostles are proclaiming the message and many come to hear and believe the truth:

Acts 2:41–47 CSB

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Now a part of that power that we receive that it is talking about there in Acts 1:8 is our Spiritual Gifts, like we touched on last week. We kinda see that touched upon here in 2: 41-47, because they are all acting as one body - they were using those gifts to expand the Kingdom. We looked at 1 Corinthians and Romans last week to learn about those spiritual gifts, but look at Ephesians and how it describes spiritual gifts here - Ephesians 4:8-16 -

Ephesians 4:8–16 CSB

For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people. But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

Now we’re going to look at three things that we difinitively do with the information found in these verses. And the first thing we’re going to see is

1. WHAT WE MUST DO: CONNECT

“Go, make disciples” and “be My witnesses”

Remember when we were talking about connect, and the woman at the well in John 4, and how Jesus was connecting to each person He cam into contact with. He made the interaction personal.

We’re all to go and make disciples, and so here’s the first thing I want us to understand - we are all commanded in these verses to make disciples.

I heard an interesting twist on this a couple of weeks ago -

Mike Whitney of the Navigators gives this thought process to consider -

Let’s say you tell your child to clean their room. The child goes and looks up the definition and brings that to you. Did they obey? The child brings you their favorite toy, did they obey? They go and clean their sibling’s room, did they obey?

No, they didn’t.

We’re to lead people into a relationship with Jesus. We absolutely have to do that, it’s in our spiritual DNA because Christ has given us power - immesurable power - to do just that.

If we are in that relationship with Jesus, then we must obey - but here’s the thing -

it’s not of our own doing. It cannot be forced. We’re connected to God’s power through that relationship with Him.

But Jeremy the past three or so weeks and even just now you’ve been telling us that we have to tell others about Jesus, and that sounds kind of forced to me. You even said if I’m not doing some things that I need to check my relationship with Jesus.

Yes I did. And if that sounded forced it wasn’t meant to. It wasn’t even meant to make you feel guilty. It’s mearly meant to get us to wrap our heads around just Who it is that we are in a relationship with and the power that He provides.

So, we all have to connect people to Jesus, because that is a part of the power that God has given to us - and here’s the thing - we’re not all going to connect people to Jesus in the same way. A couple of weeks ago I told you to take that method that you have been taught of how to lead people to Jesus and set it aside - let’s do that again, take that way that you have been taught and set it aside.

Because I’m pretty sure each one of us have been through that sermon on how to be witnesses and how to lead people to Jesus and they include your story or your testimony, or use this wording, or use this pamphlet, because they are tried and true and they worked for me, so they’ll work for you. Soul winning 101 so to speak.

And some of you are called to do that, to be evangelists, and that’s how you’re going to lead people to Jesus. That’s what Jesus gave to you as your gift.

He gave some to be evangelists - and that by definition is someone who announces information that is worthy of celebration to lead people to salvation. he gave some - there are only three instances of the word evangel in the entire New Testament, and that is the only way that the word is used - evangelist. The first one is here in Acts 4, the next one is in Acts 21:8

Acts 21:8 CSB

The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.

And the last one is found in 2 Timothy 4:5

2 Timothy 4:5 CSB

But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

So the first time the word is used is to tell us that some recieved the gift, the second time is talking about really more of a title for Philip, and the last time was specifically to Timothy and not to any of the churches that Paul wrote to.

Now before anyone starts saying that I am promoting Calvinism, I’m not, but I also don’t really like the title “Evangelical Christian” either, because we aren’t called to evangelize the world, we’re called to make disciples. And while some of us have the gift of evangelism, the rest of us don’t.

My top four Spiritual Gifts - Faith, Leadership, Administration, and Encouragement. I say top four because second place was a three way tie.

Evangelism? 9th place.

Why am I telling you this?

Because God didn’t call me to be an evangelist. It doesn’t mean that I don’t tell people about Jesus or that I can’t do that, it just means that God has gifted me differently to tell others about Jesus. And for some or even most here He hasn’t called you to be an evangelist. He didn’t give you that gift. And that’s OK. You’re meant to tell people about Jesus in the way that God has gifted you.

What Christ did call us all to be is disciple makers - listen

If Christ is the head, and He is, then we all have to be what God has called us to be - that’s why that spiritual gifts survey is out there, that’s why I’m asking you all to complete those, because that gift is an idea of what God has called you to - assuming you fill them out honestly.

Multiplication then, cannot be identified by everyone as just winning new believers to Jesus. Should the church be reaching the lost with the Gospel? Yes, but that doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone, and multiplying disciples is so much more than just winning souls.

And that’s what we’re called to multiply, disciples.

So use the gifts God has given you to multiply disciples.

When we start to look at being obedient to God and the calling and gifts that God had given each of us then we start to be able to see the Great Commission as less what we have to do and more

2. WHAT WE GET TO DO: ENGAGE

We get to engage in the ministry in the way that God has for each of us. Being connected and listening to God’s calling leads us to use those gifts and talents that God has given to each of us to make disciples.

It’s like when we were younger, we often felt like we had to go to church, and as kids that may have been the case, because your parents would make you go, but as you got older and became more mature as Christians hopefully you were able to make that transition from I have to go to church to I get to go to church. If not hopefully you’ll be able to make that transition today, or at least see a different train of thought.

You see an immature believer often times has to go to church - because they don’t really know any better. they have to go because they aren’t disciplined yet and they are still figuring out their spiritual gifts.

A mature believer gets to go to church to use their gifts and to be able to share those gifts with the body of believers. As a matter of fact they want to. They get to experience the gifts of fellow believers and use their gifts to bless fellow believers, and in doing so they use their collective gifts to make more disciples - so multiplication happens in the process of the whole body using their gifts together collectively - verse 12 of Ephesians 4 -

Ephesians 4:12 CSB

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,

What is the work of ministry?

To make disciples

Ephesians 4:13–16 CSB

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

So instead of follwing someone else’s gift for the ministry, we’re gifted and called to use those gifts to lead people to Christ and turn them into disciples. And we get to use the power that God has gifted us with through the blood of Jesus to do just that!

By engaging in ministry in intentional discipleship, we connect more people to Jesus and that creates a ripple affect that causes multiplication.

And a lot of people have claimed to have the right way for that to happen is for us to do evangelism this way or that way. And for some of us again, those ways work - because that actually is the gift that God has given to you. And for the past I don’t know how many years we’ve all been told that we have to be evangelists - we have to go and tell people the good news in a specific way to lead people to Jesus.

Stop trying to be cookie cutter Christians! Be the part of the body that God has called you to be and gifted you to be!

And I’m open to listen to anyone that can show me where in the Bible that it says we have to go and do it this way. Because I don’t see a do it this way anywhere in the Bible that is directed toward all.

Does that release us from leading people to Jesus? No.

What that does is free us up to understand that we get to make disciples the way that God has called us to. And when we realize that, we get to a place where we understand that -

3. ALL WE HAVE TO DO: BE AUTHENTIC

All we have to do is be authentic in our relationship with Jesus. All we have to do is be connected to Jesus in that relationship, and all we have to do is be engaged in the ministry that He has called us to. What happens when we do that church?

The who we are outside the church walls conforms to who we are inside the church walls.

We begin to connect others to Jesus because we begin to experience the freedom thet Christ gives, and that draws others in - it becomes clear that you are real in your faith.

We develop our spiritual gifts through learning and then teaching from the unchanging Word of God using what God has given us in His power, and then we see

The multiplication in the process, because we’re less concerned with winning souls and more concerned with being obedient to who God has called us to be.

We’re not doing it for titles. We’re not doing it to say that we’ve won another soul for Jesus. We’re not doing it for the crowns that we know we’ll receive. We’re doing it because we want to be obedient to the calling that Jesus gives us, and because that is how God has purposed us.

So how does it work? How do we make this car of disciple making move?

Number one, repeat after me - I cannot do this alone.

We can’t. I need each one of you using your gifts, and you all need each other using your gifts, and me using my gifts - otherwise we’re not going to be able to do efficient going.

In the Navy we have a special qualification that all enlisted have to do when we’re on a ship - ESWS, or Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist. The Officers have their qualification too - and there are others for aviation, and submarines, basically anyone attached to a deployable unit.

In this qualification, we all have to know basic knowledge of what everyone else does within the unit. How the radars work, how the gears work in the engineering spaces, damage control stuff, etc. Everyone has a job to do, and when everything is working in harmony to the mission of the ship or unit, all of these people are doing the exact job they are trained to do. And through this qualification, we know a basic understanding of what everyone does.

And theoretically in a pinch one of us that are qualified as ESWS could do these other jobs, but it isn’t going to be efficient. Basically we get this qualification for 2 reasons, one to know how to do it in a pinch, which most likely wouldn’t happen, but more importantly, so that we have enough basic understanding of how things work and who does what.

And on my first ship it took over 350 people to just take Marines from one place to another. That was the mission of the ship - to transport Marines and their gear. And the manning rule of the Navy because of sleep requirements and rotations and all of that was that as long as you had 80% you could get underway. You had to have 90% to deploy.

So just to get underway, we had to have at least 280 personnel onboard. To deply we had to have at least 325 onboard. Because we weren’t going to be capable of doing the mission and filling all of the workstations for a sustained period of time with less than those numbers. Each member, doing their job, to fulfil the mission.

How does that relate to us?

To be efficient, we have to be doing our part in the body, our part of the mission in the Great Commission. it’s what we get to do. We need to know what others do, sure, so that we can know who to go to when we have questions or if we have someone in our life that needs something that another member of the body is efficient in.

And we’re going to do that relationally. We don’t have titles when we’re doing that, we don’t have a motive of being important in doing that, our only motive is to be obedient to what God has called us to and to see God working in their life as well as our life.

And we cannot do that with just a few people. The ship needed engineers being engineers, operators being operators, flight deck doing flight deck - we all knew what was happening during evolutions, and it was a well oiled machine.

We need this body of Christ doing what it is called to do - hands being hands, feet being feet, ligaments being ligaments.

Ephesians 4:16 CSB

From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

Every person that is drawn to Harmony is here because God has done so. He promotes the discipleship, He draws people into Himself - and He knit the team together.

The growth of the body, in every aspect, is done by the proper working of each individual part.

How will we know we are authentic? We’ll be engaged in doing ministry, because we’re connected to Jesus, and we’ll be multiplying through that.

How do we know we’re connected? We’ll be able to be authentic with other people, our desire will be engagement through discipleship, and we’ll be multiplying disciples.

How will we know if we’re engaged? We’ll be authentic, connected disciples that are multiplying.

How will we know we’re multiplying? The simple answer is we will be authentically connected and engaged disciple makers. There is no one-size-fits-all method to making disciples.

Will all of this take time? Yes. How much time do I have to give? That depends.

How much time do you give to the love of your life?

Because if we are going to approach following Jesus in any way less than that, we’re missing the point.

Should we be seeing souls saved? Yes, because we can’t make new disciples without doing that, but that isn’t where we stop, and that isn’t the metric we use to multiply.

We’re multiplying disciples.

Our mission statement is not four serparate things to do - it’s four things that happen because to do any one of these things, we must be doing the other three.

You can’t do even one of these things without the other three. You aren’t going to be authentic if you aren’t connected, engaging, and doing your part in multiplying. You aren’t connected if you aren’t authentic, engaging, and multiplying. You aren’t engaging, or multiplying, without the other three, it’s just not possible.

It’s what we must do, because it’s interwoven in our DNA if we are followers of Jesus.

And when we realize what part of the mission we have, we know what we get to do to take part in the mission. If we’re listening to what God has called us to do as a body then each one of us is doing what it is we are meant to do as a part of the body.

Father, as we come before you today, may we be the authentic connected engaging believers that you have called us to be. May we be multiplying disciples, carrying out your mission that you have called to and doing our part as individual members of one body. Help each one of us to be totally committed followers that desire to do what we must do, which is what we get to do, and all we have to do to be faithful to you.

As we close out today’s service, maybe you’re here and you just, you know what, you just know you’re not in a relationship with Jesus. You’ve been trying to fool everyone around you, you’ve been playing the game, so to speak, you’ve been going to church and you can use all of the Christianese you want, but there’s something still missing. You haven’t been made a new creation, and you have been going to church because that’s what you think good religious people do.

God is speaking to you today, and He’s saying come, follow me. Come, find rest. Come, and I can set you free. You have to be reconciled with God, it was earlier in the message. How do you reconcile things with God?

First you have to be willing to admit you were wrong. You admit that you are a sinner, because everyone of us is one. Second, you have to be willing to trust, so we place our trust in the belief that Jesus did exactly what He said He was here to do - He lived a sinless life, He died without sin, and three days later He rose from the grave defeating death hell and the grave for you to live and be free. He died the death He didn’t deserve to save us from the eternity we did deserve. And then third, you have to choose to follow Him. You confess that Jesus is Lord and you choose to follow Him. That’s it - you don’t have to give money, you don’t have to physically DO anything because that’s not what he wants - He just wants the relationship with you.

To start that relationship is as simple as having a conversation in your own words with God that goes something like this:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior.

And the you just add at the end of that personal conversation, in Jesus name, amen.

As the music continues softly for just a moment longer, as the Spirit moves you, right where you are or here up front at the altar, give it all to Jesus -

Father, thank you for Your message today, help us to live our lives for You, walk with us as we desire to be true to you and your mission you have given to us.