Completing the Great Commission Will Require the Mobilization of Every Fully Devoted Disciple

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Helping to meet the needs of people allows us to build relationships. Through relationships we have the opportunity to introduce people to Christ Jesus. By introducing people to Christ Jesus we can fulfill the Great Commission. Completing the Great Commission requires disciples who are fully devoted the Christ Jesus.

Today there are three important points in this core value for us to consider. The first is the Great Commission itself.

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This was basically the last command that Jesus gave to His disciples. We call it the Great Commission because preaching the gospel and making disciples will save people from eternal darkness and to raise them up in Christ Jesus.

There are three things to remember about this command.

The first is Go. This is a day by day as you go about your day idea. Go doesn’t necessarily mean that we are supposed to go to the ends of the earth, but that we should do what we can every day where we are to help others find Jesus.

The second is make disciples. There are two ideas here, one is to make converts - to lead people to Christ so that they would be willing and able to make a decision to accept and follow Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. Now we can say that we make converts but we can’t change peoples hearts. This is actually the work of Christ Jesus. John 12:32 says:

John 12:32 NASB95

32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

His work - He will build His church - we just have to help make it happen.

The second part of making a disciple is to walk along side this new disciple of Christ and help them grow in their faith. To help this new disciple become a disciple that makes disciples - in other words make a disciple who is willing to make disciples.

The third idea is to teach them. There are a lot of things to learn when we accept Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior. These things will help us live in peace and harmony with our new brothers and sisters in the church. They will also help us to make disciples. These things are the commands that Jesus gave to the first disciples that they have passed down through the Bible. As we learn these things they will help mobilize us as we become fully devoted disciples of Christ Jesus.

Well now that leads us to the rest of the core value and the other two points of this message.

The second point is Mobilization. But what exactly does mobilization mean. Well it means Mobilization - to prepare and organize troops for active service.

If you are talking about military troops they would be getting ready to deploy to a combat area. Back in 2003 when I prepared to deploy to Iraq we had to do a lot of stuff in a short period of time. We spent time retraining to ensure we knew what to do. We went through medical exams to make sure we were physically fit and that we had all the shots we were supposed to have. Part of that process was receiving some extra vaccinations that were considered necessary. Then we had to go through all of our equipment to make sure it was in working order and replace equipment that wasn’t working properly. This included new uniforms because the ones we had were designed for jungle fighting not desert fighting. After weeks of preparing we finally left for Iraq. That was the mobilization of an Army unit to deploy to a combat zone.

But what does the mobilization of God’s Army look like?

Well if God’s Army is all those who disciples of Christ Jesus. So, The same thing would have to happen as what happens with an Army unit. There has to be a time of preparation - time to learn and grow and become somewhat proficient with preaching the gospel to the lost. This doesn’t mean that we need some kind of degree or something to tell people about Jesus. We can all do that as soon as we accept Him and receive the Holy Spirit. But sometimes we need to overcome fears and anxiety about talking to others. The greatest thing is that we don’t need to know everything. Last week I talked about knowing God’s word and obeying it. If you only know one thing and you obey that one thing then you are doing what you know how to do. The idea is to get into the game. If the church is having an outreach event then participate. There is always a way to help and we all have gifts to use for God’s glory.

Now there is one last point to make. Fully devoted disciples! Exactly what is a fully devoted disciple. Well to be Devoted - means that you are loving or loyal to someone or something. In this particular instance it should be God. Mark 12:30 says:

Mark 12:30 NASB95

30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

There are a lot of commandments that point to us loving God more than anything in this world. If we are fully devoted we will act in a way that points to Jesus in all that we do. The reason why the Great Commission will take every fully devoted disciple is because fewer numbers mean fewer people are reached. I don’t know the people you know. I don’t know the people that others here know. I can reach the people in my circle of influence. So you need to reach the people in your circle of influence. And then together we work to reach the people that are not in anyone's sphere of influence. That is where outreach comes in to play. That is where we come up with ways to meet and build relationships with those we don’t know. We do things like yesterdays rummage sale, the valley family fun day next week and the movie night the next week. I know it causes busyness but unless we come up with another way to reach out to the community we have to try something.

Sometimes helping just means using what is in our hands. The group in the video at the beginning of the message had chainsaws. Other groups might have something else to use. We have a gym - anyone want to play basketball or volley ball? What do you have in your hand. Let’s watch a video about someone who had something in her hand.

Ice Cream Money video.

What do you say - do you want to get into the game? I have a challenge for everyone but this is specifically good for these youth here today. I challenge you to invite and bring a friend or two to Sunday School and Church next week. Fill the class up next week. And then keep asking them back again. If they don’t come - keep asking.