3 - gracepsl.orggracepsl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/02... · Web viewOct 02, 2018 · But you...

WHY?Why Pray, Send & GoLesson 2 Matthew 28:18-20102118

1 As a church we value many things. We value our children, teenagers and young adults and seniors. We value discipleship, prayer, evangelism and ministry to the poor. We value the truth of God and the grace of God.

2 But central to all of those values and many more, there are five “core” values. Core values are the fundamental ideals that shape the culture of our church. And understanding them helps answer the question, “why do we do what we do?” And that is the name of this series … WHYa Why do we spend 40-50% of our gathering to worship God

expressively?b Why do we encourage people to belong to a small group?c Why do we receive offerings each Sunday and why do we give food

away to the under-resourced on Saturdays? d Why are we always encouraging folks to serve one another?

3 So what I hope to do in this WHY? series is to answer the question “why we do what we do.” Last week the question was “why worship?” This week our question will be “why missions.” And the tile of the message is “Why pray, send and go? because scripture teaches that it is the calling of every believer to engage in God’s mission by praying, sending others or going … OR mobilizing or welcoming. a Why do we spend time learning about missions? b Why do we have special services and gatherings throughout the calendar

year to promote world missions? c Why do we give up our vacation time to go on a short-term trips? d Why do we urge you to pray for the missions efforts of this church? e Why are we trying to evangelize two difficult to reach people groups of

the world, the MP of Central Asia and the Mariners of SE Asia? f Why is it a huge success for us when someone among us is called by

God to long-term missions? Why missions? (7 Reasons)[1] Because Jesus commands us to go into all the world and proclaim the

gospel.

WHY? / Why Pray, Send Go / Lesson 2 / Matthew 28:18-20 1

1 There are many other motives for obeying Christ’s commands not the least of which is pure and simple obedience. Because He commands, we go. And commanded us to go a lot. a During Jesus’ final 40 days, between his resurrection and ascension, he

gave the disciples and us five commands concerning the mission of spreading the gospel around the world.

b These five encounters are found in the final chapters of each Gospel and in the first chapter of Acts and together they have come to be known as the “Great Commission.”

2 Without question these five statements of Jesus are the Magna Carta of the Church. They are fundamental to what Biblical Christianity is. Intrinsic within Christianity is the mission. a On the afternoon of the resurrection Jesus first revealed himself to the

two disciples on the road to Emmaus who were despondent over Jesus death.46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:45-47

b Later that evening he appeared to the eleven and shared the most basic part of the great commission and that was they were being sent out.Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21

c Eight days later Jesus said in Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Mark 16:15

d Jesus clarifies that several weeks later just prior to Jesus ascension in Jerusalem.But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

e But probably the most well-known among great commission passages is Matthew 28. On a mountain in Galilee, Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go 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 I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”Matthew 28:18-20

3 Great Commission Observationsa The great commission is the main mission.

Unquestionably the overall goal and highest stated priority of Jesus is to get the gospel to the whole world.

That implies that every other activity or ministry in/through the local church falls underneath this ultimate “main mission.” But pastor what about other ministries within the church? What about children’s ministry, ministry to the poor, recovery ministry, youth ministry, etc.

We are to do all of those things and more but what is clear from the great commission passages is that those ministries are not the ultimate mission. --The ultimate goal of children’s ministry is not Christian kids. It’s Christian kids who will grow up and go into all the world by praying, sending and going. --The ultimate goal of all youth ministry is not to keep the world out of our teens but to empower our teens to go into all the world by praying, sending or going.--The ultimate goal of recovery ministry is not freedom from addiction but freedom to obey the great commission by praying, sending and going.

Everything else that we do is not an end in itself but a means to the end of accomplishing the great commission to the glory of God.

The church has many responsibilities but only one mission, and that is the evangelization and discipling of all nations.

b The great commission is a cross-cultural mission. It is not just a command to evangelize people in our world but

specifically a command to evangelize peoples in other parts of the world.

Go into all the world. Be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. Make disciple of all nations. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations.

There was a time when I did not see this truth. And when it came to world missions my pat answer was why should we use our resources to evangelize people in other parts of the world when there are plenty


of people that need Jesus right here on the Treasure Coast. I was ignorant and God was patient.

Sharing the gospel with someone in our own culture is certainly part of being a disciple of Jesus but it is not all that there is. The great commission is primarily aimed at getting the gospel to people outside of our own culture who have little or no access to the gospel.

c The great commission is God’s mission and therefore a finish-able mission. The Great Commission is not primarily our mission.

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven …Acts 1:1-2a

It is God’s mission and he has invited us to join Him on His mission. Since it is God’s mission it will be finished.

Near the end of Jesus earthly ministry, the disciples asked him what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:3)? Jesus answered by saying …And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14

God will finish it because He is sovereign God. And yet, by God’s decree, it will not be finished without our obedience to pray, send & go.

It’s like the relationship between God and a farmer. There are certain things that only God can do … cause the sun to shine, rain to fall and seed to come forth. Likewise, there are certain things that the farmer must do that God won’t do for him like plant the seed, water the plant and harvest the crop. And therefore …

d The great commission is also my mission. When Jesus gave the great commission, it did not come with exception

clauses. And yet that is the way many people perceived his words today. They think to themselves that the great commission is only for those Christians who really have it together, super Christians.

I don’t know how many times someone has said to me, “Pastor, I can’t go on a mission trip. I have all I can do just to keep my life on track.” Ok then, let’s get your life on track so you can go on a mission trip.

And someone else says, “Who am I? How could God use my feeble efforts?”


And here is the temptation: I’ve got outer drama, inner issues or self-perceived limitations and therefore I am excused from the mission. Missions is for” got it all together-super Christians.” Not so.

Look if we wait till everything is smooth sailing in our lives or all our issues are resolved all our hurts are healed … none of us will ever be involved in the Great Commission.

As it turns out God gets more glory by choosing the weak things of the world … so that no one may boast before him. 1 Corinthians 1:27, 29Nobody has it all together but everybody can be a part of the great commission by praying and sending as well as going. Not everybody is called to long-term missionary work. Not everybody is able to go on a short-term trip. But everyone can pray, send and welcome.

So the first answer to “why missions” is Jesus command, the Great Commission. And the GC is the main mission, a cross-cultural mission, God’s mission and my mission.

[2] Because the gospel is yet unheard among many people groups of the world.

1 When Jesus told his followers in Matthew 24 to go and preach the gospel in all “nations” and Matthew 28 to go and make disciples of all “nations” he was not referring to geographical nations he was referring to people groups.

2 The Greek word translated nations is ta ethne = all ethnic groups or people

groups. A people group is basically a group of people who have a common history, language, beliefs and identity. So, Jesus says go outside your own ethne with the gospel.

3 According to Joshua Project, within the 196 nations of the world there are approx. 16,000 people groups or ethnic nations.


a Some of these people groups are very large numbering in the millions but most are very small number in the 1000’s. But they all are distinct people groups with the own culture and language.

b For example, in the geographical nation of Tajikistan there are 41 people groups or ethnic nations.

c So when Jesus said And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in

the whole world as a testimony to all nations, he was speaking not of Tajikistan but of the 41 ethnic nations within Tajikistan.

4 About 7000 of the 16,000 people groups are Unreached People Groups (2 billion). a A group is considered unreached if less than 2% of their population is

evangelical Christian. It has too few true believers to evangelize and disciple the rest of the people group.

b Furthermore, 3000 of the 7000 unreached people groups are unengaged unreached people groups. They have no believers, no churches, no missionaries and no one evangelizing them.

5 95% of the 7000 unreached people groups live a part of the world between 10 degrees north latitude and 40 degrees north latitude stretching from northwest Africa to Southeast Asia.

a Only 10% of all missionary’s work among UPG’s. Only 1% of all giving is given towards mission work among UPG’s, less than Americans spend on their Halloween costumes … for their pets.


b The heartbreaking disparity was first recognized years ago by missionary Oswald J. Smith who asked a soul searching question, “Why should anyone hear the gospel twice until everyone has heard it once?”

c Someone else said it like this: If you were feeding a group of hungry people with bread and there were those who had not eaten that day and those who had not eaten all week … who would you give the bread to first?

d While it is true that millions in America have little or no idea of who Jesus is or what He has done through the cross, America is one of the most reached nations in the world. You have to willfully surf past Christian television stations, intentionally drive past evangelical churches and turn a deaf ear to thousands of Christian radio stations to remain uninformed of the gospel.

e This kind of access to the gospel is unknown in the most of the world. Thank God for it but it is for a reason. Like Abraham, we are blessed to be a blessing. Nearly 2 billion have no access at all to the gospel. We go because there are so many who have yet to hear and cannot hear unless we go.

6 This is the thinking that is central to our Global Life Strategy. It’s kind of a spin-off on the “Salt Life” movement.

a You’ve seen the bumper stickers which basically say “I am passionate

about anything related to the ocean like boating, fishing, diving, surfing or just being a beach bum. But over time Salt Life has morphed from a love of ocean activities into a laid-back way of thinking and living that governs how a person lives their life, how they spend their time and how they use their resources.

b In a similar way Global Life is a way of thinking that affects how we live our lives, spend our time and use our resources. We do all of those things, not with the ocean in mind, but with the Great Commission in mind because we are passionate about what Christ is passionate about … getting His gospel to all people groups.


c This is why we have staff missionaries and support other missionaries. This is why we have a mission director and do short term trips. It’s why we pray for our adopted people groups, the Mariners of SE Asia & the Mountain people of Central Asia. It’s why we hold Global Life Celebrations like the one tonight at 5 pm. We’re gathering to thank God for what he did through our four short-

term trips this year, hear four inspiring testimonies and have some good fellowship.

If you didn’t get a chance to sign up just show up with a side dish or salad.

d The Global Life Strategy permeates the way we think about living out the Christian life ... even when it comes down to what kind of Christmas giving project we do every year. If you have been around GFC very long you are familiar with Operation Christmas Child. {Video}

So the answer to why missions is [1] Because we are commanded to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel. [2] Because the gospel is yet unheard among many people groups of the world.

[3] Because people are perishing in their sin. a And this is where it gets really personal. It’s not just faceless people

groups … it’s moms and dads and children and grandparents that are perishing. The most famous verse in the Bible summarizes it so well. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

b Those who put their faith in Jesus Christ have everlasting life. Those who do not, will perish. There is no more important issue in life. Eternity is at stake.

c There is a judgment day for those who reject the gospel. There is a heaven and there is a hell. And hell will be full of evil, unrepentant people. But it will also be filled with humanly good but unrepentant people. People who spurn the cross in favor of their own goodness.

d We go because people (evil and good people) are perishing in their sin and need to hear and believe the gospel. We have the vaccine to sin, the gospel. Someone gave it to us and it would not be right for us to keep it to ourselves. Freely we have received, freely we give. Why missions? Because people are perishing.


[4] Because God desires that none should perish. a Ever since mankind's fall in the Garden of Eden, God the Father has

been drawing sinful humanity back to Himself.b The Bible says that God loves us and is He is patient with us, not

wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

c To that end he He “demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8) … so that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom 10:13)

d But to call on the name of the Lord they need to hear the gospel. And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” Romans 10:14b-15

d Why missions? Because God desires that none should perish. [5] Because we will give an account.

a The Bible reminds us that believers in Christ must ultimately give Him an account of our post-conversion lives. How did we spend the time God allotted us? How did we steward the gifts God gave to us? How did we invest the resources God provided for us? Did we get on mission with God?

b All this will come up for review at the judgment seat of Christ and we will either be rewarded or suffer the loss of reward.For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body … 2 Corinthians 5:10

c Why missions? Because we will give an account. [6] Because the harvest is ripe and time is short

Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. John 4:35a It was not uncommon for Jesus to use an agricultural metaphor to

describe the work of God in the earth. People reconciled to God through believing the gospel are seen as a

harvest being gathered in at harvesttime. Since harvesttime is seasonal it implies that today's opportunities for

global missions are not open-ended. It will not always be harvesttime. The time to reap is now! Jesus said,


As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. John 9:4

b Christians have been reading these two verses for nearly 2,000 years. But if there ever was a group of Christians who should read these passages and shout, “He's talking about us!” it is Christians today.

c By God’s sovereign grace it has fallen on our generation to have within our grasp what other generations of Christians have prayed, dreamed and died for: the completion of the Great Commission. Remember, the great commission is not witnessing to every person but getting the gospel into every people group.

[7] Because Jesus Christ is worthy of worship from every people group. a Jesus is worthy to be known, obeyed and lavishly worshiped by all

peoples of the earth. Scripture tells us that is exactly what is going to happen. One of the great songs of heaven is found in Revelation 5 and it says of Christ, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Rev 5:9

b Revelation 7 tells us that an uncountable multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language will stand before the throne and worship Jesus.

c This is all nation, “all people group worship vision” is what compelled the early church and those who have gone before us to obey the Great Commission. They were motivated by that vision. Finally, Jesus will receive the

glory that is due to Him. And because of that 1 John 3 says that the early Christian disciples “went forth for His name's sake” (3 John 7, NKJV).

Missions isn't first about a cause; it's about Christ. We go “for the sake of His name.”

d We go because there are parts of this world where the praise due his glorious Name have yet to be spoken. Therefore, missions exists because worship does not.

e This was what compelled one of the early mission movements in the 18th

century. It began with a Austrian man by the name of Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. [BAND]


Zinzendorf was born into a wealthy family of Austrian nobility in 1700. His father died early in his youth. When his mother remarried he was sent to live with some Christian relatives. At the age of 10 Nikolaus committed himself to “love the whole human family and to spread the gospel”. With five other boys he formed the Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed. The six friends bound themselves together in prayer to spread the gospel throughout other lands. Years later, while still a young man, Nikolaus was touring an art gallery. He was captivated by a painting called “Behold the Man” by Domenico Feti.

It was a painting of Christ and his suffering. The Latin inscription read, “All this I did for you. What are you doing for me?” This moment spurred him on to follow through on the commitment he had made in his youth. He purchased an estate in 1722 and started a Christian community which eventually became known as the Moravians. And they did more to reach the world with the gospel than any other group of Christians in the 18th century.

It all took off one night during a communion service when the power of God fell and everyone in the room was baptized in the Holy Spirit. The prayer meeting that began that night continued for 100 years around the clock. John Wesley, Dwight Moody, Charles Spurgeon all credit the influence of the Moravians in their decision to serve Christ’s cause. The Moravians weren’t only committed prayers, they were tremendous missionaries. Every ten Moravians supported one Moravian missionary. They tithed their people to the mission field. Many of them died within one year of being on the field because of disease and hostile environments. But within twenty years this small community of believers in Northeastern Germany sent out 2500 missionaries to the West Indies, Surinam, North America, Greenland, South Africa, China, Middle East, Ethiopia and Labrador.


The first two young men that were sent out gave the battle cry to the whole Moravian mission movement. The circumstances that led up to it involved a slave had escaped from a sugarcane plantation in the Caribbean and traveled to Denmark where he shared his story about his island, the brutal plantation owners and rampant disease and the great need for his countrymen to hear about Jesus Christ. Zinzendorf heard the story and relayed it to the Moravian community. Subsequently, in 1732, two young men said, “we will go.” The only problem was that to get access to the island they would have to sell themselves into slavery. They knew that the commitment to go might very well cost them their lives but felt it was worth it to get the gospel there. It turns out they didn’t have to become slaves but were allowed to use their trades to sustain a living in order to share the gospel. Neither did they die although many other Moravians that followed did die. In fact, so many that every Moravian who was called to work in the Caribbean had to bring their own headstone from Europe.

As they were standing on the ship leaving the port, their families pleading with them not to go … they put their arm around each other’s shoulder, looked heavenward and said “We are going so that the Lamb that was slain would receive the just reward for the things that he suffered.” In other words, we go so that Jesus will receive from this people group the praise he is deserving for dying for their sins. It became the battle cry for the most committed mission movement in the 18th century. We go so that the Lamb will get everything he paid for. Why missions? Because Jesus is worthy of praise from all nations, all ethne, every people group, from every tribe and tongue.

Discussion Questions1 If God called you to be a long-term missionary what part of the world

interests you the most?2 What misconceptions about global missions did today’s sermon reveal? 3 How do these misconceptions hinder the completion of the great

commission? 4 Which aspect of GFC’s Global Life Strategy resonates with your heart the

most?

Learn – Pray – Send – Go – Mobilize - Welcome


3 - gracepsl.orggracepsl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/02... · Web viewOct 02, 2018 · But you...

Documents

Transcript of 3 - gracepsl.orggracepsl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/02... · Web viewOct 02, 2018 · But you...