This
week we are asking and answering the question “What is the mission of an
ambassador?” from an event from history that is recorded for us in an account
of Jesus life in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. Yesterday we looked
on as Matthew brought us into this event from history by providing for us the
context in which this event from history took place.
After
being raised from the dead, Jesus provided instructions for the disciples to
travel to Galilee to meet up with Him there. The disciples, following Jesus
instructions, traveled to Galilee, where they met up with Jesus. Matthew tells
us that when they saw Jesus, they worshipped Him, but some were doubtful.
The
disciples doubt flowed from two fundamental questions. The first question was
“What now? What are we supposed to do now?” And the second question was this
“How are you going to be present with us? If you are in Heaven, and we are here
on earth, how is your presence going to be present in our lives?” The disciples
doubted how God’s presence could be present with them as they moved forward on
earth while Jesus was in Heaven.
In
the midst of this scene of the worship of Jesus as “God in a bod” and the doubt
that the disciples were feeling as to what they were to do with their future
and with whether or not Jesus presence would be present, Matthew tells us that Jesus
took the initiative. Jesus did not wait for the disciples. Instead, Jesus
approached the disciples and explained that “all authority has been to Me in
heaven and on earth”.
In
other words, Jesus declared to His disciples, and to His followers throughout
history, that He is large and in charge of everything. God the Father has
formally given Jesus the right to exercise command and control over all of
creation. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He was Lord and Leader
and was the one whom God had granted the power to exercise control over the
universe and to guide God’s kingdom mission.
And
because of the universal authority that Jesus possess; because Jesus is large
and in charge of all of creation; Jesus has the right to give His followers
Divine direction when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” And as Jesus continued to
take the initiative with the disciples, He proceeded to give His disciples and
followers of Jesus throughout history a divine directive that answered that
very question. So let's look at that directive together in Matthew 28:19-20a:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;
Now whether you regularly
attend church or whether this is your first Sunday in church; whether or not
you regularly read the Bible, you are probably at least somewhat familiar with
what Jesus says here. You are probably familiar with Jesus words here because
this is one of the two sayings of Jesus that are described with the adjective
great. This statement is often referred to as the “Great Commission”.
Jesus here is giving His
followers a mission; and that mission is to make disciples of all nations. The
phrase “go and make disciples of all nations” in the language that this letter
was originally written in, literally reads “as you are going, make disciples of
all nations”. Jesus is not commanding His followers throughout history to go. Jesus
is commanding His followers throughout history to make disciples as they go.
In other words, as
followers of Jesus, we are to strive to make disciples, or followers of Jesus,
as we are living our day to day lives in the areas of influence that we have
been given by Jesus. Now a natural question that arises here is “well how are
we supposed to make disciples? And how do we know that we are actually being
successful in making disciples?”
First, we are to make
disciples by going to those who are far from God. Whether at home, at school,
at work, or in our relationships; in whatever area of influence we have; we are
commanded to live our lives as missionaries that are engaging, investing, and
inviting those who are far from God to become followers of Jesus. We do not
need to go to a foreign country to be a missionary. As followers of Jesus, we
are called to be missionaries wherever we are. And in our day to day lives, God
has already positioned us in areas of influence where we can be a missionary to
those who are far from God.
Second, Jesus explained
that His followers throughout history are to make disciples by baptizing them in
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now a natural question
that could arise here is “What does baptism have to do with making disciples?”
You see, when we see baptisms occurring in the letters that make up the Bible,
we discover that baptism is an outward act that serves to publicly identify one
as being a follower of Jesus. A person
who is being baptized is publicly proclaiming “I am a follower of Jesus who
desires to be a part of a community of believers who will encourage me and hold
me accountable”.
So a major part of discipleship
is to be used by God to bring those who are far from God to a place where they
place their confident trust in God’s transformational activity through Jesus
and publicly identify themselves as partner in the community of faith that is
investing their time, talent, and treasure in the kingdom mission we have been
given by Jesus.
You see, evangelism is
not a separate activity from discipleship. Evangelism is the first step of
discipleship, where a person responds to what God has done for them through
Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus
as Lord and Leader. And baptism is a step of identification with Jesus as His
follower and with the kingdom mission that He has given us as His followers.
Third, Jesus explained
that His followers throughout history are to make disciples by “teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you”. Now the word observe, in the language
that this letter was originally written in, literally means to persist in
obedience. In other words, a disciple of Jesus will naturally grow in their
faithfulness and obedience to Jesus over time. While there may be occasions
where a follower of Jesus acts out of selfishness and rebellion to commit sin,
a follower of Jesus, over time, will live a life that is becoming more like Jesus
in their character and conduct.
And as followers of Jesus
and as a church, we are called to create environments where people are able to
understand and embrace the message and teachings of Jesus in a way that results
in their spiritual growth and spiritual good. That is why we are such huge
proponents of community groups here at City Bible Church. That is why we create
environments such as Kids Konnection, AWANA as part of Element children’s
ministry, along with Fusion student ministries. We desire to create
environments where followers of Jesus can explore faith, grow in their faith,
and experience and become a part of a genuine and authentic community of
followers of Jesus.
That is why, as we talked
about two weeks ago, we have three strategic goals for everyone who attends City
Bible Church. And the reason why we have these three strategic goals is because
we believe that these three goals accomplish Jesus command to make disciples in
a way that fulfills the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus as
ambassadors of Jesus. As a church, we do
not ask for more than these three and we do not ask for less than these three,
because we believe that these are the three things that Jesus asks us to invest
in as a part of His great commission and His Great Commandment to love Him with
our total being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
First, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City
Bible Church would be investing their time, in addition to consistently
attending a Sunday worship gathering, as part of a community group. Community
groups meet throughout the week throughout the community and are smaller
environments that are designed to foster supportive and encouraging
relationships that help you take that next step when it comes to a relationship
with Jesus.
This strategic goal
matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because the circles of community
groups create transformational environments where people can develop loving and
supportive relationships that challenge us to take that next step when it comes
to our relationship with Jesus.
Second, we have as a strategic goal that everyone who attends City
Bible Church would be investing their talents serving God by serving others
on a ministry team. Regardless of your age or stage of life, and regardless of
the gifts, talents, and abilities you have been given by God, there are
opportunities to reveal and reflect Jesus by serving in a ministry.
This strategic goal
matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because we believe, and we
have repeatedly seen, that transformational spiritual growth occurs when we are
leveraging the spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given us in
a selfless way that serves others.
Third, we have as a
strategic goal that everyone who attends City Bible Church would be investing
their treasure as an act of worship through weekly and proportional giving. This
strategic goal matters when it comes to the question “What is the mission of an ambassador?” because
we believe, and we have repeatedly seen, that transformational spiritual growth
occurs when followers of Jesus display an open-handed generous attitude toward
the treasure that they have here on earth. As followers of Jesus, when we are
generous, we reflect the generosity of God, who demonstrated His generosity by
giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away.
And the investment of your treasure enables us as a
church to create environments where people can explore faith, grow in their
faith, and experience authentic community in a way that fulfills Jesus command
to make disciples. As a church, we
believe that the Jesus teaches us that making disciples that are growing and
maturing in their relationship with Him requires that we invest our time in a
community group, our talents in a ministry, and our treasure through giving.
And so often, most
sermons on this event from history end tend to end here. But that is not where
this event from history ends. Jesus still has more to say. And in what Jesus
says next, we see Jesus make an amazing statement that helps answer the
question as to whether or not God’s presence is present.
Friday we will discover
what Jesus says next…
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