Today we reviewed the lessons so far, wrapping up the section on our purpose: the Great Commission.
This gospel message is for all peoples, nations, tribes and tongues. Acts 1:8 gives us a little direction, that our mission involved being his witnesses locally and globally. Last time I covered the SCOPE and RECIPIENTS.
The FUEL for the Great Commission is worship, meaning God is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). John Piper makes a great statement in his book, Let the Nations Be Glad, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” The Great Commission is given in order that people stop giving glory (that belongs to God alone) not be given to any created thing. We have an innate sense of worship, the question always comes up, what will be the object of our worship? God is seeking true worshipers. Once all people are worshiping the Creator of heaven and earth, there will be no need for missions. That will not happen until we make it to heaven, where it is full of people who have chosen to worship God because he deserves it and it is the right thing to do. The goal of our mission is to see all peoples worshiping God around his throne (Revelation 7:9)
The DURATION is until the end of the age. These commands do not have a shelf life, they never become outdated. We must keep the main thing the main thing until the end of time. The local church exists to make disciples who in turn are able to make other disciples. The purpose of the church as an institution is to equip the saints for the work of service in order to fulfill the Great Commission. God works through everyday, ordinary people.
Then we moved toward our passion, what drives us to minister in the name of Christ? The Great Commandment in Matthew 22:34-40 helps us to focus on two essential directions: God and Others.
At KGBC, we break this down into four ministry areas. Consider what it means to Love God and Love Others, and what activities of the local church help this become a reality?
- The Great Commission (Mark 12:28-31)
- Loving God is demonstrated through individual and corporate worship
- Loving Others is demonstrated through ministry
- The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)
- Go, and Make Disciples is a ministry of evangelism
- Teaching them to observe and obey is called discipleship
Stephen Covey tells us in his book, The 7 Habit of Highly Effective People, that “we must begin with the end in mind.” There are likely many definitions of what a disciple is, but for the most part, a fully devoted disciple is quite ambiguous; we don’t understand what a disciple LOOKS LIKE. At the very least, let’s look at the basics of what a disciple looks like. Next week we will look at specific on how that is done practically.
- Romans 8:29 – tells us specifically that we are to conform to the image of his Son. We are to look like Jesus. If Jesus does it, that should be our goal as well. When people see us, they should also recognize Jesus who lives through us.
- Galatians 4:19 – Paul tells us that his goal in all his labor is that Christ is formed in us.
- Ephesians 4:11-13 – Wow, this passage is full of information…
- We are to be equipped for the work of service, active in living out our faith.
- We are to be built up, representing the body of Christ.
- We are to have unity in our faith, no factions or divisions.
- We are to grow into the full measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
The bottom line: we are to become imitators of Christ; his attitudes and action, how he lived, how he spoke, how he loved, how he related to the Father, how he carried out his mission…
Our Product: Fully Devoted Disciples
We begin with the end in mind…
- Romans 8:29
- Galatians 4:19
- Ephesians 4:11-13
[Based on my classes with Richard D. Leineweber, Jr. c. 2000]