Our Church Mission!
July 29, 2012
Mark 16:20
Introduction
- Last week we looked at the church in the sense that there is one church, not many
- The church is not a building, but is composed of many members, Jesus being the head of the body
- But why did Jesus start a church?
- If he came to die for our sins so we could go to heaven and be with him forever, why did he say he was going to build his church?
- What is the purpose for a church?
- Today we will look at the mission the church as a whole has, and perhaps hint a little more particularly at what Grace Fellowship’s role could be here in Susanville
Jesus sends out the disciples
- John 20:21 – As the Father has sent me, I am sending you
- This harks back to the place where Jesus outlines his mission statement
- Let’s read it – Luke 4:18
- In order to accomplish his mission, Jeus had to be anointed with the Holy Spirit
- When a person is anointed, we ask the Holy Spirit to empower the person to do the task to which they have been called
- Here in John 20, the disciples have been given their mission, to do the same things that Jesus did
- But then in Acts 1:8 they are told to wait till they are empowered by the Holy Spirit so they can accomplish the task they have been given
- Don’t go out unprepared
- God calls, prepares, empowers and then works through us
- The mission field to which the disciples have been called is everywhere around us
- Matt 28:19-20
- This is known as the Great Commission
- The disciples are sent out to make disciples of all nations
What does it mean to make a disciple?
- A disciple is a student, one who learns at the feet of the master
- Jesus here is setting the example
- He is a teacher, a rabbi, who is teaching students, the disciples
- But these disciples were not just here to learn Bible knowledge
- They were here because Jesus was different, and they wanted to be like him
- In the days of Jesus, rabbis would select young men to follow them and learn from them
- They would be learning how the rabbi thinks, how he acts
- The expression they had was to walk in the dust of the rabbi
- “A talmid or disciple, did not follow a rabbi as a student. They desired to gain the rabbi's knowledge, but for a greater goal-they wanted to become like the rabbi himself.
- A talmid followed the rabbi everywhere-every day, and every hour of the day-often without knowing or asking where the rabbi was going.
- The talmidim rarely left his rabbi's side for fear that he would miss a teachable moment.
- He watched the rabbi's every move, noting how he acted and thought about a variety of situations.
- Talmidim or disciples, trusted their rabbi completely.
- They were eager to hear the rabbi's teachings and they worked passionately to incorporate the rabbi's actions and words into their lives.
- The disciple's deepest desire was to follow his rabbi so closely that he would start to think and act like the rabbi himself." -Ray VanderLaan- http://www.followtherabbi.com/
- A disciple is one who follows so closely behind Jesus, that he is covered by the dust of the rabbi
- This goes way beyond just leading someone into the Sinner’s prayer
- Our goal in missions, is to reach people with the gospel message, but them lead them into a relationship with the Shepherd of our souls
- Jesus example is that he taught his disciples
- This took time, 3 ½ years in fact
- But at the time he left, they were ready
- And so he sent them out to continue his work
- John14:12 – anyone who has faith in me will do the things I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
- All they needed now was the anointing, the empowering to do the task to which they had been called.
So what is our mission as Grace Fellowship?
- Next week we look at this in more detail, but our task is to reach the community around us
- That is the commission we have been given
- But just as the disciples were prepared before being sent out, the church is a place where people are prepared for their place in the great commission
- We don’t have Jesus walking and teaching us in the same way that the disciples did, following in the dust of the rabbi
- But we have the words of Jesus, in this Book, the Bible
- And Jesus still teaches us through people whom the Holy Spirit has anointed for that purpose
- Remember, God calls, prepares, empowers and then works through us
- The purpose of this church is to prepare the saints for works of service (Eph 4:12)
- What greater service can we give, than to lead someone out of the kingdom of darkness, into Jesus glorious light!
- And be God’s instruments to grow and prepare that person so they can now go back and rescue others from hell!
- Next week we will flesh this out more and get down into some ideas as to how we can reach our community
Conclusion
- So what is our mission as a church?
- We are here to be prepared by Jesus to continue the work that he started, and then to be instruments in preparing these people so they can be workers in the same harvest!
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