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Matthew 28:16-20
~ The 3 C’s Of A Healthy Christian Church~
Introduction Mr. Nose & Mr. Hand were sitting in the church pew talking to one
another on a Sunday morning. The morning service, led by Ear and
mouth had just come to a close and Hand was telling Nose that he and
his family had decided to look for another Church.
“Really?” Nose responded… “But Why?”
“Well… I don’t know…” hand said as he looked down toward the out of
date and overly worn-out carpet. “I guess because the Church doesn’t
have what Mrs. Hand and I are really looking for…”
“Well…what exactly are you looking for?” Replied Nose.
Hand had to think before he answered…
“I guess, we’re looking for a place where people are more like us… we
tried to spend time connecting with the legs but that didn’t really go down
too well; they just kept talking about style and mannerisms… and we
tried to join the small group for toes, but they just kept talking about
socks, and shoes, and bad odors, and that didn’t really interest us… and
we attended the Sunday school for all the facial features but everyone just
wanted to talk, and listen, and smell, and taste, and it just felt like no one
really wanted to get their hands dirty…
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Anyway… Mrs. Hand and I were thinking about checking out that new
Church over on the East Side… we hear they do a lot of clapping and
hand raising, which is closer to what we need right now…”
“Right….” Nose replied “I see what you mean brother… well we’d hate
to see you guys go, but if you really believe that that’s what you need
right now, then as sad as it is, we love you and we hope you can connect
over there…”
At that moment, Mrs. Hand, who had been caught up in another
conversation, turned back to join her husband and Mr. Nose… and truth
be told, Mrs. Hand (like her husband) wasn’t overly sad to be leaving…
In the recent years her husband had made just enough critical comments
about the church that her heart had now begun to reflect his:
The small groups were a little cliquish…
The music was a little out of date…
The programs did seem a little silly…
And so in the end, it was hard for the two of them to put their fingers on
it, but they finally decided that this church just wasn’t for them…
What about you? And so what about you sitting here this morning?
What, do you think should be in a Church?
What exactly are you looking for in a mature and healthy church context?
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Perhaps you haven’t thought about that question in a while… perhaps you
don’t really care at the moment because you’re really just here to find a
future wife (young brothers)… but take a moment now to ask yourself,
what does the ideal Church look like in your mind?
What should a church be about?
How should a church act, and feel, think, and do…?
Music, preaching, and people Maybe…you think that the music is the final deal breaker in a
church…you don’t want drums and guitars ruining your worship, you
want an organ and a choir…
Maybe the music is not as important as the preaching…You want
somewhere that has good sermons and faithful studies; meaningful; but
not heavy; biblical; but not boring, practical; but not picky…
Or perhaps you are seeking a Church where the people are the same as
you…you’re looking for a church that can meet your spiritual diet and
challenge you in all the right areas of life…
A Church that makes you feel welcome and warmed…Where your kids
instantly make friends, and your wife has a solid network of women to
make her feel at home…
Brothers and sisters what should a healthy Christian Church be
about?!?!
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What does Christ expect?
No matter who you are, or where you’re from we all have theories and
expectations that we look for in a healthy Church…
But what about Christ?
What does He expect from His people?
What does Christ think that the Church should be about?
What does Christ believe that His followers on earth should be
doing…for their good and for His glory?
Here in Matthew chapter 28 I simply wish to point out 3 things that we
see reflected in our passage that every true Christian church and every
true Christian believer in a true Christian Church should be thinking
and reflecting and doing week in and week out as they seek to glorify
God and enjoy Him forever…
Outline: 3 things I want us to be thinking about and focusing on here this morning
from Matthew chapter 28:
Our Commitment to Christ
Our Commission from Christ
Our Confidence in Christ
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Main Point And our main point for this morning is going to be this:
Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth to build and to be
with His people
Now just to be clear; these 3 C’s are NOT exhaustive! This is NOT the
only thing that a Christian Church is committed to doing on the earth!!!
But in a very real sense this is (somewhat) the very least of what a
healthy church should be about!
So it’s not exhaustive but it’s also not a bad start….
Context And so if you have your bibles Matthew 28, and let me just set the scene
for you here…
In Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 28 is the final chapter in the book… and
if you know anything about Matthew’s Gospel then you’ll know that
you’ve seen and experienced many events that have occurred up until this
point in redemptive history…
Matthew has taken us through the virgin birth of the Son of God so that in
the birth of Christ we see the reality of God with us!
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Matthew has taken us through the wilderness temptation of Jesus Christ
so that in the wilderness temptation we see that God can sympathise with
us…
Matthew has taken us through the proclamation of the glorious Good
News that the Kingdom of heaven is here in Christ!
Mathew has demonstrated that Jesus has the ability to heal many sick, to
cast out many demons, and to upset many religious leaders…
And so finally (right before our passage) Matthew takes us to the cross…
he describes the death of the Lord Jesus, the burial of the Lord Jesus, &
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead…
So now, all that is left to do in the last remaining verses of his Gospel, is
for Matthew to report Jesus’ Post-resurrection reunion with His weak
and waning disciples…
And that’s what we see here in Matthew chapter 28… The final address
that Christ gives to His Disciples!
Last Words/Events Now I don’t know if this has ever occurred to you, but generally, the last
words that are recorded of an individual are often seen to be the most
important words of an individual…
The last words of a person are like the finest piece of wisdom they have
before they leave from this world to go to the next!
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And so almost instantly Matthew pitches up the significance of the words
of Christ by immediately identifying these as the last words recorded in
his Gospel…
Now we know that Jesus said many other things outside of and after the
Great Commission here in Matthew 28…
But the point is, these are the last words that Matthew gives… and that’s
significant!
Jesus is about to say something very important and we as His disciples
must listen and obey!
So what are these last words (or last events) that are recorded for us by
Matthew in his Gospel?!?!
Well if you have your bibles please look with me at Matthew 28
beginning at verse 16:
No Judas
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which
Jesus had directed them.
Real quick! Matthew here wants to remind us about the tragic cost of
betraying Christ!
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He uses this phrase “the eleven disciples” so that we immediately
remember Judas and the tragic cost of a disciple who betrayed the Author
of life!
This is a sombre beginning to a spectacular task!
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which
Jesus had directed them.17 And when they saw him they worshiped
him, but some doubted.
#1 Worship Brothers and sisters wherever you find the Church of Jesus Christ, there
you will find her worshipping!
Our first commitment to Christ is a commitment devoted to
worshipping Him!
Where there is no worship to Christ, there is no church!
You and I have been created by, designed by, wired by God to be
worshipping Him for Who He truly is!
Where there is no worship to Christ, there is no true church!
There is something in the heart of all true believers, that when they see
Jesus for who He truly is… they will worship Him!
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Who is Jesus? Now this truth was reaffirmed to me in my own mind only a number of
weeks ago when I was chatting to Richard in the office a number of
weeks ago (Richard is one of our interns here at Grace)…and we were
talking about salvation, and conversion, and the true marks of a Christian
believer…
And we sort of asked the question:
How does one identify a true Christian believer from a false
Christian believer?
What are the marks, what are the evidences we need in order to identify
who is a true Christian believer rather than a false Christian believer?
And Richard very causally (in his serious English accent) said:
All I really need to know is what they think about Jesus?
What do they think about Jesus?
Do they love Jesus?
Do they worship Jesus?
Do they seek Jesus?
Do they honour Jesus?
Do they promote Jesus?
If you give me the answers to any of those questions, then I can tell
you whether or not I believe they’re a Christian!
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Brothers and sisters the Christian faith centers on Jesus!
It adores Jesus!
It worships Jesus!
It loves Jesus!
Worship exists because God exists, and God exists for the purpose of
worship!
Where you see the Church of Jesus Christ, there you will see her
worshipping!
But some doubted! But notice!
Notice that some doubted!
When they saw Him they worshipped Him but…some…doubted!
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There will always be present in the people of God; men and women
who are prone to fear; prone to weakness; and prone to doubt!
Now how do you see Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, and think to
yourself “I’m just not too sure about this?!?!”
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I have no idea! But some did!
They saw the resurrected Christ! They heard His voice; they witnessed
His appearance, and yet Matthew tells us that part of these men actually
doubted the physical appearance of Christ!
Now maybe this is like those women who had fear and great joy when
they saw Jesus raised from the dead… We don’t really know… but what
we do know is that even amongst those who worship God, there has
always been (and will always be) people who are weak in faith!
Mr. Butterton It reminds me of a story I once heard about the Archbishop of Canterbury
and a man named Mr. Butterton the actor.
The Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1675 was acquainted with Mr.
Butterton the actor…One day the Archbishop said to Butterton:
“Please, inform me Mr. Butterton, what is the reason you actors on
the stage can affect your congregations with speaking of things
imaginary, as if they were real, while we in the church can speak
of things real which our congregations only receive them as if they
were imaginary?”
To which Mr. Butteron replied:
“Well my Lord, the reason is very simple. We actors on the stage
speak of things imaginary, as if they were real; while you in the
pulpit speak of things real only as if they were imaginary…”
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Friends, there will always be present in the people of God; men and
women who are prone to fear; prone to weakness; and prone to doubt!
Prone to speaking of things real as though they were imaginary!
But see and take comfort brothers and sisters!!!
Although our faith may be weak, our doubts as numerous as the stars…
we will worship our great God and King!
Our doubts do NOT take away from the fact that we (as God’s people)
are committed to worshipping Christ!
Those who are baptized
And so…
Your first commitment in this world (as disciples of Christ) is first
and foremost to worship Him!
Before you are disciples, making disciples; you are first and foremost a
disciple planted on your knees in worship!
That is your greatest passion and your greatest privilege in this world!
Where the Church of Jesus Christ is gathered, there she will be
worshipping Him!
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Our commission by Christ Secondly, where the Church of Jesus Christ is gathered, there she will be
making disciples…
Point 2: Our Commission from Christ!
Have a look at verse 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 teaching them to observe all that I
have commanded you.
One Command Now let me just get the technical stuff out of the way so that we can see
the implications of what Jesus is saying here…
Jesus wants us to be disciples making disciples for Him!
His number one priority, His number one concern; and His number one
care in this verse is on discipleship!
Jesus wants disciples NOT just decisions!
Jesus wants commitment NOT just converts!
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See in the original language, the word Go is not a command. The
word Baptize is not a command. The word Teach is not a command.
Now they may look like commands in our bibles, but in the original
language, the only command here is the command to make disciples!
Jesus wants us to make disciples!
Because discipleship was at the very heart and center of all that Jesus’
said and taught!
Jesus loved making disciples and He loves churches that love making
disciples – Disciples that look like and act like Jesus!
And so when we talk disciples making disciples; we are talking about
teaching people to love and to follow Jesus!
That’s essential what a disciple is, and does – a disciple is one who looks
like Jesus, and one who teaches others to do the same…
How do we make disciples And so if the emphasis is on disciples making disciples; the question then
becomes:
Well how do we do this?
How do we make disciples for Christ?
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And I think that’s why these 3 verbs (going, baptizing, & teaching are
being used)… although they are not commands in the Greek… they are
just as important as the command itself!
Because without these verbs we would not have any idea on how to
make disciples for Christ in the first place! Without these verbs we
wouldn’t have any idea on what a disciple is or does!
And so these 3 activities: going, baptizing, and teaching qualify what it
means to make disciples!
These 3 activities explain the very process of disciple making itself!
So that you cannot make disciples unless you are going forth and telling
people about Jesus… you cannot make disciples unless you are going
forth and baptising people because of Jesus… and you cannot make
disciples unless you are going forth and teaching people to obey Jesus…
So I think a better way of understanding these verses here in Matthew 28
is to understand them like this:
As you’re going (wherever you are), make disciples. As you’re
teaching (wherever you are), make disciples. As you’re baptizing
(wherever you are), make disciples.
That’s the first thing!
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You don’t need to be a missionary to be obedient The second thing is why this even matters!
Why is it important to distinguish between the main command
(discipleship) and these 3 activities that follow?!?!
Why am I making such a big deal out the command, as opposed to the 3
verbs?!?!
Well, it’s important to say all of this because I want people to understand
that you don’t need to be a full time missionary in Asia in order to be
obedient to Christ!
You don’t need to go overseas to South America in order to obey the
Great Commission!
You don’t even need to be a local evangelist on the street telling people
to repent in order to obey the Great Commission!
You don’t need to go somewhere specific in order to be obedient to
Christ!
But rather as you go, wherever you go, whatever you do, whoever you
talk to; tell them about Christ! Tell them the Gospel!
That’s the command that Jesus gives!
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No limits And the reason why Jesus gives the command this way, is so that you and
I don’t limit the Great Commission to simply those who have given up
their life to go be a full time missionary!
Friends, in order to obey the Great Commission you don’t need to go
overseas and preach the Gospel… you simply need to tell others about
Jesus Christ in your everyday walk of life…
You don’t need to be a full-time missionary on the mission field… you
simply need to explain the Gospel!
No matter where you are!
That’s what it means to be obedient to this command!
Telling people the amazing news of the Gospel and being invested in
their everyday walk of life!
God may be calling you
Now God may be calling you to full time missions… He may be
calling you to the mission field right now!
And I want to say that’s fantastic! We need more missionaries to give
their life for the cause of Missions!
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But the majority of people sitting here today, are not being called to the
mission field proper… because God has called you where you are
currently to make disciples for Christ in your own walk of life!
Everyone is a disciple maker! Every single Christian (no matter what context God has placed you in) is
by virtue of your salvation in Christ; a disciple making Christian!
If you are a Christian here this morning then you are by virtue of your
salvation; a Christian who makes disciples!
Whether in the home
Whether at work
Whether in your neighbourhood
Whether overseas or just over the road
No matter where God has placed you, this is your first priority as a
Christian!
Someone once said that:
“The Great commission is big enough to fill the whole world, and
yet small enough for each and every single one of us to play a
part…”
And that’s what Jesus is saying here…
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The emphasis and the pinnacle of this passage, is on making disciples!
That is the heart of Jesus’ message and ministry, and that is the heart of
this passage here in the book of Matthew!
Baptism & Teaching And so… No matter where you are in your walk of life; every Christian
sitting here today is a disciple making disciple… and Jesus has given us 3
primary ways of doing this:
1. Going
2. Baptizing
3. Teaching
# Going So let’s look at the first one there; going…
Jesus does not expect the world to come to the church. He expects the
church to go to the world!
Jesus expects that because we have the only message of hope and
eternal life, that we would NOT withhold this message!!!
That we would be Christians furiously engaged in telling people the Good
News of Christ!
That we would go out into our workplace, into our neighbourhood, into
our communities, into the byways and highways in order to call people
away from sin and into the marvellous light of the Gospel!
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Redlands Easter Outreach Just last week I was at an outreach event in the Redland Bay area… and
this event is run every year by local churches… And there were a number
of people from Grace Bible Church present at this event telling people
about Jesus, and the Good News that He brings to the world… and
Dalton (one of our members here) puts him arm around me and says:
Yes bro! Do you want some motivation for preaching Jesus to
people…?!?!
I said:
Yes please!
He said:
Over 50% of these people out here don’t know God, and they
are going to hell when they die… and we are the ones that
God has chosen to snatch them from the burning building!
And he’s exactly right! X2
Friends, people cannot be Disciples of Christ unless they first come to
know and love the message of the cross… and we (brothers and sisters)
are the means by which God uses to accomplish this glorious task!
We make disciples by going and telling people about Christ!
The Gospel is the only message that saves souls!
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# Baptism Secondly, we make disciples by baptizing those who profess faith in
Christ!
When a Christian is committed to being baptised into the body of Christ
by the local Church, then that person has chosen to identity their life as
one of submission and obedience to the plans, purposes, and pleasures
of God!
So in the book of Romans chapter 6 Paul says some the clearest and most
profound statements on the meaning of Christian baptism and what it
represents…
This is Romans 6 verses 3 & 4, Paul writes this:
“Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we were buried
with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may
walk in newness of life…”
The earliest Christians practised baptism
So just a couple of things I simply wish to note here.
Number 1:
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This passage demonstrates that what Christ commanded, the early
Church did!
From the earliest conception of the Church, Christians have always
practiced baptising believers in Christ…
This was NOT just done by those who heard Christ give the Great
Commission on the mountain that day… this was likewise done by Paul
who we know was not physically present when Christ issued this Great
Commission on the mountain that day!
Even Paul assumed that these Christians in Rome (where Paul had never
visited before) were practicing baptism!
So that’s the first thing… the earliest Christian believers practised the
ordinance of baptism in the Church!
The Gospel displayed But secondly and more importantly Paul understood Christian baptism as
a visual representation (& declaration) of the glorious Good News of the
Gospel!
Paul wrote assuming that those participants in the baptism process were
themselves spiritually baptised into the death, the burial, and the
resurrection of Jesus Christ!
Easter
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So Just last week we celebrated Easter…Those two inseparable events
that changed the history of the world forever!
We celebrated the death of Jesus on Good Friday and the rising of Jesus
on Resurrection Sunday.
And here in Romans 6 Paul says that baptism points to the reality of both
of these days!
Baptism signifies that we have joined Christ in His death on the cross
But also
Joined Christ in His rising from the dead!
Baptism doesn’t save And so Jesus, & Paul, & Peter, & John, & James, & all the Disciples, and
(really) all of Christianity teach that Baptism doesn’t save a human
soul – baptism simply depicts an outward experience of an inward
reality!
Baptism doesn’t save a human being it simply affirms what has already
taken place on the inside!
Baptism is a visual representation of the glorious reality of the Gospel!
# Teaching Thirdly, we make disciples by teaching …
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Verse 20:
“Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you…”
Above all brothers… above all sisters, …above all Grace Bible Church...
what the Christian desires most (more than anything else in this world) is
to know God!
This is their greatest desire; and this is their greatest concern!
The difference between us and the world…
Between a Christian and a non-Christian
Between a person who loves Christ, and a person who doesn’t love
Christ… the main difference between these 2 people is knowing God!
As one preacher has said:
The cry of the Christian is the cry of the Apostle Paul in
Philippians - "That I might know Him."
The main difference between being of the world and being of Christ is
that the world does not know Him and the Christian has tasted and seen
that the Lord is good.
Listen! If you are not currently pursuing knowledge and obedience that
the gospel produces…then you are not currently pursuing the main thing
of being a Christian!
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The main thing about being a Christian is knowing God!
It’s everything for him!
It’s everything for her!
It’s everything that our hearts desire; knowing God!!!
Jesus assumed that every true believer of God would be intimately
focused on knowing Him and teaching others to know Him!
It’s the reason we sing, the reason we pray, the reason we baptize, the
reason we preach, the reason for Communion….
It’s the reason why we are all gathered here today!
It’s because we wanna know God!
The true disciple of Christ teaches, and is taught by Jesus Christ in His
Word!!!
2 Timothy 3:16 says:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
Discipleship is knowing AND OBEYING!!!
It is teaching AND OBSERVING!!!
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It is seeing AND BELIEVING ALL the words & commands of
Christ!
Being a disciple of Jesus means teaching and obeying everything that
Christ Himself has commanded us to teach and to obey!
3. Our confidence in Christ And this leads us into our third and final point here today:
Our Confidence in Christ
Listen! I am with you! Have a look at verse 18:
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to
me in heaven and on earth…”
This is perhaps… the single greatest Christological statement that Jesus
has made – and will ever make about Himself!
Bound up in this one verse is everything we need to know about our
confidence in Christ and His ability to fulfil this Great Commission!
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus by God The
Father so that we can know with absolute assurance that the task will be
accomplished!
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All authority in heaven and on earth!
All authority to forgive sin!
All authority to defeat death!
All authority to give life!
All authority over the wind and the sea!
All authority over sickness and disease!
This is Matthew’s Gospel! All of these authority statements and authority
claims that Jesus makes in this book it all points to this one statement
given here in verse 18: all authority in heaven and on earth!
Listen I will be with you! But now look back at verse 20, where Jesus says also says this:
“And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So the very One who has all authority in heaven is also the One Who is
with us every step of the way…
Now Matthew begins his Gospel with this very same idea…
Matthew chapter 1 verse 23 says:
“and behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they
shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us)…”
And now here in the very last verse, of the very last chapter, we have this
same promise; God with us!
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God with us So like one of my favourite pastors in the states has made this claim and I
think he’s absolutely right… that from Genesis to Revelation the entire
bible can be summed up with these 3 words: God with us!
That’s the story of the bible, and that’s the story we all know and love as
Christians!
Eden
So like the Garden of Eden was the place where God and man communed
in this loving and peaceful relationship by grace; God with us!
Exodus Think back to the children of Israel being rescued from the land of
slavery in the book of Exodus, and God brings them out and says: “I did
that; I rescued you”; God with us!
Tabernacle Think back to the wilderness and the people of God building the
tabernacle in the wilderness! The tabernacle is a representation of
what?!?! God with us!
Solomon’s temple Solomon building the temple; God with us!
Incarnation
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Christ coming, putting on flesh, and dwelling among us in the
incarnation; God with us!
Pentecost Pentecost! The coming of the Holy Spirit is about God with us…
Revelation The New Jerusalem that we read about in the book of Revelation where
God comes and dwells with His people; God with us!
This is the very means, the very meaning, and the very message of the
bible; God with us!
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, and so
remember this:
I am with you!!!
I am with you to the end of the age…
God with us!
That is our hope and that is our confidence in Christ!
Brothers and sisters do you know this real Jesus?!!? Do you know the
Man who is God with us!
The Gospel
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See the Good news of the Gospel has been sung, and seen, and heard, and
proclaimed in every aspect of the service today!
And it would be foolish of me to assume that every single person here has
met and is following the real Jesus we see here in Matthew 28…
This Jesus stands before you in Scripture today proclaiming the truth that
He has all authority in heaven and on earth to forgive your sins and to
cleanse you from all unrighteousness in the sight of God!
And the bible tells us that we have all broken His commands, we’ve all
fallen short of His Holy standards; He has given us the list of commands
and we have broken every single one of them… and God stands ready to
judge all those (here today) who continue to reject and rebel against Him!
But Jesus Christ (God’s Own Son); the 2nd Person of the Trinity; God in
the flesh has come into our world in order to live the life that you could
never live, and die the death that you should have died!
Taking the sin, punishment, and blame that we should have taken!
3 days later He rose victorious from the grave; conquering death,
conquering sin, and conquering Satan!
And one day we will all meet the real Jesus who rose from the dead and
came to those disciples on the mountain that day!
We will meet the Jesus who has all authority in heaven and on earth; you
will either meet Him in His grace and love because you have chosen to
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follow the One who gives eternal life; or you will meet Him in His wrath
and fury because you have chosen to reject and rebel against this
glorious Christ!
And the bible says that all those who trust in His life, death, and
resurrection to save them from their sin, they too can have eternal life
with God and be forgiven of all of their sin and made right with the One
who made their souls!
We were created for a purpose; we were created to know, love, obey, and
worship God!
And now He calls all people here this morning to repent (to turn from
your life of sin) and to trust in this One and only Saviour who loves you
enough to die for you!
Friends if you don’t know the real Jesus being presented before you here
today, let me just encourage you to talk to someone! Talk to your friend,
talk to your neighbor, talk to me or one of the pastor here today! But
don’t leave this service until you know that it is well with you and God!
Let’s pray.
Matthew 28:16-20 Discussion Questions
[Read Matthew 28:16-20]
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Main point: Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth to build
and to be with His people.
Q1. We all have ideas and assumptions about what we think the Church’s
mission is, according to these verses, what is the main mission of the
Church?
Q2. Is worship to Christ an important aspect to the life of a Christian
believer? What does this teach us about Christ’s nature?
Q3. Why did Matthew think it was significant to mention that some of the
disciples doubted? Does this teach us anything significant about brothers
and sisters in our local church body?
Q4. In the original language the word “Make disciples” is a command,
but the words “go, baptize, and teach” are qualifying verbs relating to the
main verb “making disciples”; why is it important to note this distinction?
Q5. What is discipleship? How does it happen?
Q6. Does one need to go somewhere in particular, or live a certain way,
or work a certain lifestyle (i.e. full time missions) in order to obey the
Great Commission? How would a full time mother obey the Great
Commission?
Q7. Is there only one right way in doing evangelism? What are some
other ways that you have found to be helpful in telling people about
Jesus?
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Q8. Why is baptism an important ordinance (decree) for the individual
Christian and for the Church body?
Q9. Why is teaching a person to observe the teaching and commands of
Christ an important aspect of Discipleship?
Q10. What comfort/ promises does Christ give to us here in the Great
Commission? How do these 2 promises/statements make you feel?
Q11. Think back how many disciples of Jesus were on that mountain that
day, and now think about how many professing Christians and faithful
bible churches there are around the world. What does this teach us about
Christ’s comforting promises?
Application Questions
Q1. What opportunities have you had to tell someone about Jesus this
week?
Q2. How do the promises of Christ’s authority and presence help you to
share your faith?
Q3. How do the promises of Christ’s authority and presence comfort you
when you feel like a failure in discipleship?
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Q4. Who is currently discipling you in the Church? Who are you
currently discipling yourself? What things have you found helpful in your
discipleship that you can share with the group?
Q5. As a Christian does your desire to know and obey God continue to
increase? If not, do you see that as a problem?
Q6. How often do you feel that Christ is powerfully with you in your
evangelism moments?
Q7. What are some ways of reminding yourself that God is with you in
those moments?
Q8. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being horrible; 10 being awesome) how
difficult is it to tell others about Jesus?
Q9. Is there a non-Christian neighbor/friend/family member that we can
be praying for?
EXTRA NOTES
How discipleship looks practically:
https://www.ligonier.org/blog/ordinary-christianity/
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John piper said that:
The goal of missions is the gladness of people, in the greatness
of God! X2
Our mission is to make people love Jesus!
Far too many Christians are simply bored with God… bored with the
Gospel, and bored with Jesus, because they don’t see Him for Who He
truly is!!!
But not His Disciples!!!… no no no His disciples worship Him! They
adore Jesus Christ!
Because their hearts are drawn to that which is all together lovely!
The state of the Church Why would Jesus begin the Great Commission in this way?!?!
Why would He seek to comfort them with the words All authority, and I
will be with you?!?!
Well… let’s think about the situation of the Church as it stands here in
Matthew 28… At this point in history (in Matthew 28) the Church
consists of about 11 guys… 11 people whom God has entrusted to
evangelise the entire world! There were 12 but one of them betrayed God
in the flesh!
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Now on top of this, they go a mountain where they see their risen Lord
and Saviour raised from the dead, conquering the grave, defeated Satan,
but at the same time some doubted!
What is a disciple? A person who is faithfully following Jesus and His teaching…
A disciple is simply a student (a follower of Christ)… a disciple is a
person committed to learning and following what a teacher says and
does!
And so typically (in the ancient world), a young man aspiring to be a
Rabbi would ask a practicing Rabbi to accept him as a disciple…The
disciple is expected not only to learn what the rabbi teaches, but also
expected to practice what the rabbi preaches…
And so when we say making disciples; we are talking about teaching
people to love and follow Jesus Christ!
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