Scripture:
Matthew 28.16-20; Acts 1.8
Translation: Matt. 28.16Then
the Eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain, about which Jesus
gave them orders. 17And when they saw Him, they worshipped, but they
doubted. 18And as He approached, Jesus spoke to them by saying, “All
authority in Heaven and on Earth was given to Me. 19So, go, make all
the ethnicities disciples, by baptizing them into the Name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20by teaching them to obey all
the things that I commanded you! And look, I am with you all the days until the
end of the age.”
Acts 1.8Instead, you will get power when
the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in
all Judea and Samaria and all the way to the last part of the earth
Intro:
1.
Do you ever wonder why
you’re still stuck here on earth and not with Jesus? Sometimes we feel like life
is so hard and so painful, it’s hard for us to understand why Jesus would leave
us here and would want us to stay here in the midst of the pain and suffering
and loss and confusion and evil?
2.
On top of that all of us
have wondered in the past or are still wondering now about what our life
purpose, our life calling is. we wonder what does God want us to do with our
lives. What is the mission that He has given us to accomplish here on earth?
3.
And sometimes when we think
about the Good News, we wonder what gives us the right to tell people what
their lives are supposed to be about? And let’s face it, sometimes they throw
that in our faces when we do tell them about Jesus.
4.
And then other times we
wonder how we will ever be able to get through this life in general, and get
through sharing the Good News with other people
5.
For the past weeks we have
been looking at different reasons and ways to share the Good News with others,
and today we will continue to think about that as we answer those questions
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Matt. 28.16-20
i.
Intro: the Eleven Disciples
went to the mountain in Galilee and met Jesus, worshipping and yet still
doubting
ii.
Jesus speaks:
1.
Basis for our mission:
Jesus’ authority
2.
Mission: make disciples
3.
Encouragement: Jesus will
always be with us
b.
Acts 1.8
i.
Intro: Acts 1.1-7: Stay and
get the Holy Spirit, and the disciples ask what happens now
ii.
1.8
1.
You will get power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you
2.
You will be My Witnesses
everywhere
2.
Themes
a.
Power/authority
b.
Jesus is leaving
c.
Mission/final instructions
d.
All ethnicities/all
places/outward focused
e.
Jesus will be with us/the
Spirit will be with us
f.
Make disciples
3.
Doctrines
a.
Jesus raised from the dead
b.
Jesus is Lord and God over
all
c.
Jesus has commissioned all
Christians to make disciples of all people in all places
d.
Jesus is always with
believers through the Person of God the Holy Spirit
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
Matt. 28.16-20
i.
What gives us the right to
fulfill our mission? Jesus’ authority, we are commissioned by Jesus, in a way
it is really Jesus Who is sharing the Gospel when we share it
ii.
What is our life-mission?
To make disciples of all nations/all ethnic groups
1.
This means going
a.
Where? Wherever God
calls/leads and wherever we have opportunity
b.
When? Now, everyday
2.
This means baptizing
a.
In the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, means that the Trinity is the bedrock of
our faith, no one can become a Christian without agreeing with and trusting in
the truth that there is One God Who lives forever as Three co-eternal, co-holy,
co-omnipotent Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
b.
This also means that people
have to truly change teams, they have to become a Christian, to have a
conversion, and to have some kind of initiation ritual that publically identifies
them with the believing community
3.
This means teaching
a.
What Jesus commanded us
i.
Of course this means we
have to know what He commanded us, which means praying and reading the Bible
and coming to church
b.
To do what Jesus commanded
us
i.
Of course this means that
also have to know how to do and have a track record of doing it.
iii.
What is our encouragement
on our mission
1.
Jesus is always with us,
even to the very end of time
a.
This means that we are
never alone, never, which means that even when feel alone, we are not
completely alone, and it is easy to feel alone, especially when you go to a
place or start a new chapter in your life
b.
Acts 1.8
i.
What gives us power to
share the Good News? The Holy Spirit
ii.
What is our missional-identity
as Spirit-filled Christians: We are witnesses to the whole world
c.
Synthesis
i.
All of us want to know what
our purpose is in life, we want to know why we are still here, why didn’t Jesus
just take us to be with Him as soon as we knew Him for real. The answer is that
Jesus left us here to accomplish This Mission of Telling All People From All
Places about the Good News and of bringing them in the Christian community
ii.
Look, a lot of you guys are
in high school and in college, and you are wondering what you are supposed to
do with your life. What is your ultimate life goals and purposes, what is your
calling from God? The answer, although not complete, is that a major part of
your life purpose, your calling, your mission in this world is to complete the mission
Jesus gave us of making disciples. You wonder who you are, what you are
supposed to be when you grow up, but I can tell you want you are supposed to be
right now and for the rest of your lives if you know and trust in Jesus as your
Lord and Savior: you are His witnesses, His living legal testimony in this
world
iii.
What gives us the right to
tell people stuff they may not want to hear? Jesus. Jesus is the King of the
Whole Universe, He is the Ultimate Authority, whatever He says, we do, and can
do
iv.
What gives us the
encouragement and the power to not just get through life when it’s hard, but to
reach people with the Gospel: Jesus is with us and His Holy Spirit lives in us
to encourage us and empower us to complete our mission and live for Him
v.
Who are we supposed to
reach? Everyone from everywhere, is this the universal church mission, yes, but
is it the local church mission yes, is it the personal mission of every
Christian yes! Our mission is really to make the universal church as
multi-cultural and multiethnic as possible, and while that will mean some
churches that reach mainly particular ethnic groups, we as ministry of people
from the same generation, a generation that embraces people from all places and
backgrounds, we should not confine ourselves to reaching people who are just
like us, in fact the Gospel is more about us reaching people different than us,
in addition to reaching the people like us
2.
Questions
a.
How does knowing what part
of your ultimate life mission is help you figure out other parts of your life
mission?
b.
Since all believers are
called to tell people about Jesus and help them grow as part of the Christian
family, what are you doing to make that happen in your life right now?
c.
When you feel alone and
powerless, do you think trusting that Jesus really is there and relying on the
Holy Spirit for power will help you? do you think it would help, but don’t know
how to do that? If so, what could you do? If you do know how, what do you do?
d.
What do you think our group
could look like if we really started to live out our mission from Jesus?
e.
We live in a very
multiethnic, multicultural society, and as Christians our mission is to reach
people from all peoples and places, so why do you think our group lacks the
diversity around us/the diversity of people we are called to reach?
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