Mission: This Is For Everybody Series

“MISSION: THIS IS FOR EVERYBODY”

I Timothy 2:3-6

S: Four Marks of Church: Mission

Th: A Place for Grace

Pr: We have a message of grace.

?: What?

KW: Qualities of God

TS: We will find in our study of I Timothy 2:3-6, three qualities of God that point us to this message of grace.

The _____ quality of God that point us to this message of grace is He is a…

I. PERSUADER

II. PEACEMAKER

III. PAYER

RMBC 4/9/00 AM

INTRODUCTION:

1. Do you ever wonder about your life’s purpose?

ILL Notebook: Purpose (gas in desert)

On a road trip through a desolate region of New Mexico, Robin Wheeler and her cousin found themselves 60 miles from town with a nearly empty gas tank. Praying and hoping, they drove on until they reached a small farmhouse standing alone in a vast field. The farmer filled their tank and reluctantly accepted the twenty dollars they offered. Grateful, Robin said, "Without your help, two young women might have been stranded tonight. God put you in this spot for a reason." "Well," replied the farmer, shaking his head and rubbing his neck, "it mighta been a-purpose, but he was mad at me when He done it."

Well, perhaps if we were this old man, we might have felt the same way.

And we need to admit this…

2. Sometimes, it is hard to see how we fit into the larger picture.

Do we really have a purpose?

Is our life really going a direction?

The context of this question in our discussion today is set around the church.

Do we, as a church, have a purpose?

Do we, as individuals, have a direction that we are going?

TRANSITION:

This is the last study in a four-part series on the four marks of the church.

The four marks are what we call the essentials of the church.

When a church is accomplishing these essentials, it is very much accomplishing its purpose.

So…

1. If we are to be a place of grace, we need to fulfill the four marks of the church.

By definition, the church is to be one, holy, apostolic and catholic church.

So let me review what we have already studied.

1.1 One: Love one another

The church is to display unity.

And the best way we establish this unity is when we love one another.

If we are truly caring for one another, we are achieving the oneness to which we are called.

1.2 Holy: Worship God

The church is to worship God.

We are to understand that we are creature and that He is Creator, and that as Creator, He is totally set apart from us.

With this perspective in mind, we get a realistic view of ourselves and how we fit into this world.

1.3 Apostolic: Grow in grace

The church is to reflect and repeat the teachings of the apostles.

This makes us apostolic.

And they teach us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

We are not to remain babies in the faith.

We are to mature.

1.4 Catholic: Go to all nations

Finally, we are to be catholic, that is, we are to be universal.

We are to go to all nations.

This is the emphasis of our study today.

For the church has a mission.

Our mission is to reach all peoples, all over the world.

The gospel is inclusive, not exclusive.

All nations are to have the opportunity to hear and respond to the message of grace.

2. We have a responsibility to communicate the gospel to all the nations (Matthew 28:19-20).

This is the meaning of the verses known as the Great Commission:

(19) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The command of this verse is to make disciples.

We are given the instruction to do what we can to make committed followers of Jesus.

And we are told where we are to do it.

We are to make disciples of all nations.

Now the question is…are we taking these verses as seriously as they merit?

Or are we smiling and saying, “that’s nice”?

My goal for you this morning, is to take this so seriously that you will do something with it.

We have a great message.

3. WE HAVE A MESSAGE OF GRACE.

We have a message of generosity and love.

But the truth is, we don’t always communicate it gracefully:

Take for instance…

ILL (ten) eight ways

The Top Eight Ways Not To Share Jesus With Others

8. Leave a Four Spiritual Laws booklet in lieu of a $4 tip.