His Commission, Takin' It To The Streets Series

His Commission

Takin To The Streets

Back To Christmas (2)

Video – Who Will Reach Them (3:52)

16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." - Matthew 28:16-20

Prayer…

TODAY – is our second week in our Sermon Series “Back To Christmas…” FOR – the next several weeks we are going to look seven major events in the life of Christ that both shaped and defined who He was. SEVEN EVENTS – that God intends shape and define our lives today.

LAST WEEK – week the event we looked at was His Return, in a message called, “There’s No Place Like Home.” LAST SUNDAY – we let there heaven fill our thoughts. OUR – future home is going to be INCREDIBLE! Because of what is not going to be there…

And what is going to be there…

AND – this soon coming reality is intended to shape and define. What we do. How we live. What we value? How we respond to difficulty. How we spend out time, talents and treasure. What we live for and chase after. Where we put our hope. HOLD ON – to your fork because for those who are in Christ, the best is yet to come!

THE EVENT – that we are going to look at this morning is ‘His Commission.” AND – the way I want to attack our time of study today… IS – by talking about 3 things.

 The Ultimate Reality

 The Incredible Invitation and

 The Primary Mission

The Ultimate Reality – Is His Story

In Revelation chapter 4 a door is opened and John is given a vision of the throne room of heaven… It is a VERY powerful scene… God is sitting on his throne… Lightening is flashing, sounds of thunder echo… ABOVE - the throne is a rainbow the color of emerald… BEFORE - the throne is what looks like a sea glass, clear like crystal… SURROUNDING - the throne are 4 living creatures (they have 6 wings… 2 wings - covered their faces, 2 wings covered their feet and with 2 wings the flew…) AND – day and night they NEVER stop saying… I MEAN – they are in the presence of God at this very moment (11/18 – 11:___ am); flying and saying these words…

“Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come” – Rev 4:8

UNDERSTAND – the ultimate reality is that God was, God is and God is to come… GOD – is the centerpiece of history… HE – is before all things. HE – is over (He is sovereign) over all things… HE – holds all things together… THIS IS – our Father’s world… THEREFORE – all of history is HIS STORY!

WHAT – I want to do now, is to give you the cliff notes of HIS Story… THERE – are 6 chapters to HIS story. A story that we could call God’s passionate pursuit of a prodigal people.

Chapter One – Created In His Image – In this chapter, God speaks a word and out of nothing creates all that we see… (talk about power)… THEN – God formed man out of the dust of the ground and He breathed life into him and man became a living being created in the very image of God. AND – called man, to rule and multiply and spread that image over all of the earth… UNDERSTAND – God created man because he was so in love with community that He wanted someone to share it with. LISTEN – the garden was not only a physical paradise, it was also a relational paradise. ADAM & EVE – had unhindered intimacy with each other and with God.

Chapter Two – The Prodigal Is Born… AGAIN - God was so in love with community that he wanted a world full of people to share it with… AND – what an awesome world He created for them… I love how one writer describes it…

“God begins our courtship with a surprise. Taking the blindfold off, he turns around and reveals his handmade wedding present. ‘Here,’ he says ‘It’s yours enjoy yourselves. Do you like it? take it for a spin.’

A lavish gift indeed. What’s he up to? Flowers, chocolates, exotic vacations, dinners at the finest restaurants – any person would feel pursued. But what are His intentions? Surprisingly we see the first glimpse of God’s wildness, the goodness of His heart – he gives us our freedom. YOU SEE – in order for true love to occur, we have to free to reject Him…”