In What Ways Is The Force Mobilized? Series

Dakota Community Church

July 5, 2009

In What Ways is the Force Mobilized?

The Field & the Force 3

So far we have looked at:

1. When the Church is the field

When the church is the field it is seen as the place people come to do the work of God.

2. When the Church is the (labor) force

When the church becomes the force – the world becomes the field.

3. When and where is the gospel to be proclaimed?

The gospel is to be proclaimed everywhere and in every way!

4. In what ways is the force mobilized?

a) The force works in the field by taking the gospel everywhere. (ears)

Learn to preach the good news effectively.

Matthew 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Mark 16:15-16

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Sharing the gospel is more effective than sharing your personal testimony!

Changing the world is not our goal!

John 16:8-11

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Why do bad things happen to good people if God is all powerful and all loving?

We should be asking “If there is an all knowing God, why am I still alive; knowing what I did, said, and thought yesterday?”

b) The force works in the field by glorifying God with compassionate works. (hands)

This type of field work is very popular right now because it is seen as being more socially and culturally acceptable.

Matthew 25:31-36

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

• Feeding the hungry

• Giving drink to the thirsty

• Welcoming the stranger

• Clothing the naked

• Ministering to the sick

• Visiting the incarcerated

The sheep do these things naturally; they don’t know what He is talking about when He lists their good works.

It is a matter of motivation, earning favor vs. responding to favor freely given.

Romans 12:20

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Acts 6:1-4

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."

James 1:26-27

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

1Timothy 5:1-8

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.