Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Statement Of Faith

The Church Part 4

Intro: Doug Nichols in Leadership Magazine tells the following story.  'While serving with Operation Mobilization in India in 1967, tuberculosis forced me into a sanitarium for several months. I did not yet speak the language, but I tried to give Christian literature written in their language to the patients, doctors, and nurses. Everyone politely refused. I sensed many weren't happy about a rich American (to them all Americans are rich) being in a free, government-run sanitarium. (They didn't know I was just as broke as they were!)
   The first few nights I woke around 2:00 A.M. coughing. One morning during my coughing spell, I noticed one of the older and sicker patients across the aisle trying to get out of bed. He would sit up on the edge of the bed and try to stand, but in weakness would fall back into bed. I didn't understand what he was trying to do. He finally fell back into bed exhausted. I heard him crying softly.
   The next morning I realized what the man had been trying to do. He had been trying to get up and walk to the bathroom! The stench in our ward was awful.  Other patients yelled insults at the man. Angry nurses moved him roughly from side to side as they cleaned up the mess. One nurse even slapped him. The old man curled into a ball and wept.  The next night I again woke up coughing. I noticed the man across the aisle sit up and again try to stand. Like the night before, he fell back whimpering.
   I don't like bad smells, and I didn't want to become involved, but I got out of bed and went over to him. When I touched his shoulder, his eyes opened wide with fear. I smiled, put my arms under him, and picked him up.  He was very light due to old age and advanced TB. I carried him to the washroom, which was just a filthy, small room with a hole in the floor. I stood behind him with my arms under his armpits as he took care of himself. After he finished, I picked him up, and carried him back to his bed. As I laid him down, he kissed me on the cheek, smiled, and said something I couldn't understand.
   The next morning another patient woke me and handed me a steaming cup of tea. He motioned with his hands that he wanted a tract.  As the sun rose, other patients approached and indicated they also wanted the booklets I had tried to distribute before. Throughout the day nurses, interns, and doctors asked for literature.
   Weeks later an evangelist who spoke the language visited me, and as he talked to others he discovered that several had put their trust in Christ as Savior as a result of reading the literature.  What did it take to reach these people with the gospel? It wasn't health, the ability to speak their language, or a persuasive talk. I simply took a trip to the bathroom.

EXP: Somehow, the modern church and many of those who attend, have come up with the idea that the mission of the church has to be some big, expensive, intricate plan.  That the mission of the church is ministry and program and the more ministry and programs you have the more successful your church will be. Remember Willow Creeks 6 page handout of all their ministries and programs? I wonder if we haven't complicated matters. The mission of the church can be as simple as helping someone to the bathroom or as Jason likes to do, bring me a glass of water when I am coughing. Or as big as a $10,000 missions budget.

Trans: Last week we looked at what it meant to worship God, this week and next I want to briefly examine the outreach mission of the local church.  I believe Scripture shows us two ways that we reach out to the unbelieving world around us:
1. Missions/evangelism and 2. Social Action.

 Over the next couple of weeks the question we must continually ask ourselves is, 'where do I fit in to the outreach ministry of this local church?' Open you bibles to Matthew 28:16 where we will first examine the local churches responsibility for mission and evangelism.

I. Missions and Evangelism  (Matt. 28:16-20)
Read: Matthew 28:16-20
    A. Worship and Mission
         Notice what happens in vs. 16-17. When Jesus appeared to the disciples, they didn't immediately ask him what they were to do or where they were to go. They fell down and worshipped Him. This ties into last weeks message that our first priority as individuals and as the local church is to worship our risen Lord, Jesus Christ. After worship, comes service. Jesus in vs 18-20 will commission his disciples and all believers as well, to the work of missions and evangelism.

         I want to take two passes over this text. First, I want to point out the use of the word ALL in vs 18-20. Then,  I want to examine the flow of the commission given here and how it relates to us as a local church.

    B. The fullness of God and His mission
1. ALL POWER
     The humble Jesus of Nazareth IS the mighty Son of God, resurrected from the dead, victor over death, sin and Satan. God the Father  has given all divine authority  over heaven and earth to God the Son, Jesus. Because of His authority, the Believe may go forth in mission in confidence that their Lord is in sovereign control of everything that happens in all of heaven and earth. That ought to bring us great peace and confidence.

2. ALL NATIONS
     This is the command to take the Gospel to the world. No longer is salvation just for the Jews, but for all the Gentile nations and people of the whole world, w/o distinction or prejudice. The saving grace of God will now be extended to everyone, everywhere.

3. ALL THINGS
     The whole counsel of God is to be taught to those who hear the Gospel and respond in faith. Jesus said to teach 'All things whatsoever I have commanded you'. The local church has the responsibility not just to make converts but to make disciples who know the whole of the Word of God.

4. ALWAYS
     Jesus started out by saying that All Authority has been given to me and he ends with ' I am with you always'. Missions and evangelism begins and ends with Jesus Christ. What a tremendous assurance that is. In Matt. 1:23 Jesus is called Immanuel, God with us. And here he reaffirms the truth and the practical application of His name. He will be with us, through His Spirit, in His Word, and by His providential care. This is the promise that carried Livingston into the heart of the darkest Africa and that encouraged and enabled him to be a messenger for Christ.

     What can we deduce from the multiple use of the word ALL in this text? That God does not do anything half heartedly, He does them fully and abundantly. All authority, All Nations, All Things, Always. That is the sovereignty of God in action. And it is our example to follow. When we serve God we serve Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

    C. The flow of Missions/Evangelism
         There are 6 major phrases in this text we need to look at.

1. All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth.
     Missions/evangelism does not begin with us. It begins when we are empowered by Christ Himself. When we attempt missions/evangelism on our own, we will fail. Our authority and power is not in the church, the pastor or the outreach committee, it is in Christ alone.
     So, What is the challenge to the local church? Are our missionary and evangelistic efforts here at CBC done in the authority and power of Christ?

2. Go, therefore
     We do not sit around and think up ways to serve God. We do not brainstorm for missionaries to support or evangelistic outreaches to promote. We pray and wait on the Lord to show us where He is already at work and we join Him there.  When He reveals His work to us, that is our invitation to go. And everyone goes...whether it be to New Guinea or the Oceanport Lions Fair or to give a gospel tract to your neighbor. No one is excluded from the commission to go.

     So, What is the challenge to the local church? Are we at CBC willing to go and minister where God is at work?

3.  Make Disciples of all nations.
     This really is key and is so often passed over. Many see the great commission as a soul winning ministry. Go to your family member, neighbor, coworker, even to the ends of the earth and get people saved. As if salvation was the end of the road for the new convert to Christ.

    But it is only the beginning. My heart is broken for those who have come to Christ and have never agreed to be discipled.
Understand that evangelism and missionary activity is not the commission here. Discipleship is. The command here is lead people to Christ, then bring them into the fellowship and community of the church, and then continue to build them up in the faith.

     If you are a believer and have never been discipled, never had someone personally teach you what the Christian life is all about, see me and either I or someone else here will be happy to walk with you on your journey to Christlikeness.

     So, What is the challenge to the local church? Are we at CBC willing to do what it takes to make and to be disciples of Jesus Christ?

4. Baptizing them
     The inclusion of baptism in the Great Commission ought to prove it's importance in the life of the Believer. You see, the response of the new Believer in Scripture is always immediate baptism. Let me put it another way. The NT does not show a picture of a follower of Jesus Christ who is not baptized. So whether we are speaking of a new believer here in Oceanport or in New Guinea, that believer should be baptized to show their connection with the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ and their association to the local church.

     So, What is the challenge to the local church? Are we at CBC willing not only to baptize others in accordance with the command of Jesus, but are we willing to be baptized ourselves in fulfillment of that command?

5. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
     The response to new life in Christ is not only baptism, it is instruction. Just as the NT does not picture a Believer who is not baptized, it does not picture one who is not continuing in instruction of the Word of God. The key here is not only on the instruction of the new believer but the obedience of what they have learned. True followers of Jesus Christ are not just filled with knowledge about Him, they are obedient to what they have learned.  They are not just hearers of the Word but doers also, as James puts it.

    So, What is the challenge to the local church? Are we at CBC willing to do what it takes to teach those who come to Christ by faith...and are we willing to continue learning and obeying ourselves the manifold truths of the Word of God?

6. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
     Folks, we don't go on this mission alone. We don't share our faith with an unbeliever alone. When we are on mission Christ is always with us.

     It is interesting that Jesus didn't foresee a time when any part of His commission: making disciples, baptizing and instructing  others would no longer be necessary, outdated or untrue. Everything He has commanded and commissioned us to do must be done until the end of the age..until He comes again.

     So, What is the challenge to the local church? Are we at CBC willing to continue on the mission, no matter how long it takes?

CONCLUSION
     It is interesting that in the text we are not told what we are to say to make disciples? Have you ever noticed that? It just says, Go and make disciples of all nations.  How are people made disciples? I believe the answer was so obvious to Jesus and to his disciples that there was no need to mention it. All during the earthly ministry of Christ his message was the gospel and his purpose in preaching it was to make disciples. In this text, Jesus has passed that responsibility on to us.

     What is the Gospel? It is the good news that there is a Savior and that He is Christ the Lord.

     Perhaps the best and most concise description of the Gospel is found in 1 Cor. 15:1-5. Turn there with me. Page 877 in the Sanctuary Bible.

Read: 1 Cor. 15:1-5

     The Gospel is Christ died for your sins, he was buried and raised from the dead, all according to Scripture...and in proof of his resurrection, he was seen by many.

     This is the Gospel that saves the soul and the eternal destinies of those headed for Hell because of their sin. This is the gospel that gives abundant and eternal life to those who believe. That is why it is called the Good News.

     The heart of the mission of the local church is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel lies at the root of all that the church does. If the church is to be faithful to its Lord and bring joy to His heart, it must be engaged in bringing the gospel to all people everywhere. You may not be called to serve on the foreign mission field but as a part of this local church, you are called to prayerfully and financially support the people who are called to go. You are, however, called by the great commission to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to your mission field...your home, neighborhood, and workplace. And any place your local church might go to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

     The question comes down to this....will you actively participate or quietly stand by and watch?

The mission of the local church needs your full and wholehearted participation. Join us as we join Christ in sharing the Gospel of Salvation to the world.