-Intro> I had just turned nine years old on that cold January morning in 1961, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was young, but I knew something truly significant was happening. Up until that day all the Presidents I was aware of had been my grandfather’s age. But in January of ’61, John F. Kennedy stood and took the oath of office, becoming the thirty-fifth President of the United States, and, having been raised in a politically-minded family, I was watching his speech. It was amazing, it was historic, it was challenging. Standing and looking at the crowd below and into the television cameras, speaking to all the citizens of the USA and the world, he declared: “Let the word go forth, from this day forward, to friends and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation!” He then proceeded to challenge how we thought about our country, ourselves, and our mission in life. “Ask not,” he said, “what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Revolutionary! It was a new direction, and we accepted the challenge, because the torch had been passed to us.
--On a much bigger stage, and with a much more important mission in mind, eleven disciples of Jesus and a crowd of other followers with them that day heard Jesus issue to them (and to us) a “torch message.” The torch was being passed from Jesus to His followers, and the followers had to decide (as we must decide today)...whether they would (will we) accept the responsibility.
--I invite you to open a Bible and turn again to Acts, chapter one.
--Last week, in the first message in this series of “Taking the First Steps,” we recognized that in order to get started right in 2008 we need to hear His command, see the need, and answer His call. Today I want us to understand how Jesus has equipped us to accomplish His mission once we’ve accepted the responsibility.
--Make no mistake about it, Jesus’ ascension into heaven and His torch-passing message had been planned even before the earth’s foundation.
---It didn’t happen before everything Jesus was sent to do had been finished...and the mission was now ready to move into a new chapter, a new era, a new direction, the church age.
<>LOOK AT WHAT JESUS DID IN EQUIPPING US FOR THE TASK HE HAS NOW ENTRUSTED TO US...
1) HE PRESENTED US WITH HIS EXAMPLE.
--Heb.4:15 -- “...(Jesus was) tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
--QUOTE: Gregory of Nazianzus, in A.D. 381, wrote these words: “He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life. He ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water. He was weary, yet He is our rest. He was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons. He wept, yet He wipes away our tears. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd. He died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.”
-->He clearly was the Son of God...but He was and is also the Son of Man...God who lived as one of us.
--ILL>A few years ago a popular song asked, “What if God was one of us?” Well, God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ.
--ILL>Another song, one we sing around here a lot, explains it well, “He came from heaven to earth to show the way...”
--ILL>And we’ve all seen, and many of us have worn, bracelets with the initials, W.W.J.D. on them, meaning, “What Would Jesus Do?” It’s a great question, and an important question, because His example helps us know what He would have us to do.
--<>His life is our model, our pattern to follow.
---No true leader worth following will ever ask you to do something he/she is not willing to do himself/herself.
---->I’ll never ask you to come early and help unload the trailer, set up chairs and equipment, etc., if I’m not willing to do it also. Leave at 5:00 a.m. to go to Nogales on a mission trip?...Make Wednesday night “LIFE” Groups a part of your regular schedule?...Work with or drive a car in support of the Children’s Ministry?...Give 10% as a tithe?...Tell others about Jesus?...Invite people to come to church?...Give to missions?...I challenge you to do these things because I TOO am willing to do them. They are a part of my own commitment to the Lord, and what I believe He would have us to do.
--<>Jesus also never asks us to do anything He didn’t already model for us in His own life on earth.
--<>HE IS OUR EXAMPLE...
---a) In Humility.
-----Ph.2:7 -- “---(Jesus) emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
--->There simply is not example of humility greater than Jesus’ leaving heaven’s throne and coming to earth as flesh and blood.
---b) In Priority.
-----Mt.26:39 -- “...(Jesus) fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’”
-----Mt.6:33 -- “But seek first His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”
-----Jn.5:19 -- “Therefore Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.’”
---c) In Purity.
-----Heb.4:15 -- “---(Jesus was) tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
--->Jesus’ purity enabled Him to be the sinless, spotless, Lamb of God, Lamb of Sacrifice, for us.
---d) In Service.
-----Mk.10:45 -- “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
---e) In Sacrifice.
-----Ph.2:8 -- “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
--->He laid down His life for others.
---f) In Leadership.
-----Lk.22:26 -- “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.”
--->We’ll examine this topic in all its exciting aspects on Wednesday nights in our LIFE Groups, in our study called, “Unleashed Influence.”
---ILL>When the wife of missionary Adoniram Judson told him a newspaper article likened him to some of the apostles, Judson replied, “I do not want to like a Paul...or any mere man. I want to be like Christ. I want to follow Him only, copy His teachings, drink in His Spirit, and place my feet in His footprints. Oh, to be more like Jesus!
2) HE PROMISES US HIS PRESENCE.
--Mt.28:20 -- “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
--Heb.13:5 -- “...I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
--<>Notice the absolutes: I’ll be with you ALWAYS....I will NEVER leave you, nor forsake you.
--<>He doesn’t send us out to accomplish His mission on our own...He goes with us every step of the way.
---ILL> Years ago, when I was a youth minister, we offered a free trip to youth camp to any teenager who could decipher the new name of the Youth Newsletter: The W.E.E.L.Y.D.O.T.L.I.S.T. -- We got all kinds of guesses, but out of several hundred teenagers who tried, no one figured it out. Sure enough, on our first night at camp, one of the first things the teenagers wanted to find out about was what the real meaning was. I explained that the name was put together to always remember a very important truth: When Everyone Else Lets You Down, Only The Lord Is Still True. ... W.E.E.L.Y.D.O.T.L.I.S.T.
3) HE PASSED THE BATON / TRANSFERRED THE TASK.
--Ac.1:8 -- “...you shall be My witnesses...”
--<>The work, the mission of God is the same, but it has changed in its expression:
--In the first century, it was about Jesus coming to earth “in person.”
----But now the baton has been passed to us, and God’s mission is about us impacting the world “in power.”
--In the first century it was about the Word Who became a man.
----Now the baton has been passed to us, and God’s mission is about us becoming His witnesses to proclaim His message.
--In the first century, it was about Jesus being raised as a Nazarene.
----Now the baton has been passed to us, and God’s mission is about us being sent to the nations.
--In the first century, it was about Jesus dying on a cross to save others.
----Now the baton has been passed to us, and God’s mission is about us dying to self and telling others how they can be saved.
4) HE PROVIDES US WITH HIS POWER.
--Mt.28:18-19 -- “All authority (power) has been given to Me in heaven and earth. Go, therefore...”
--Act.1:8 -- “but you shall receive power from the Holy Spirit, and (then) you shall be My witnesses...”
--<>Notice: The power comes first, then the command.
----Mt.28:18-19 -- “All authority (power) has been given to Me in heaven and earth. Go, therefore...”
----APP>We’re never given a command by God that we are incapable of accomplishing.
--------Through His power we can do all things He has commanded us.
--<>Notice: The power comes first, then the ability to accomplish the mission He’s sent us on.
----Act.1:8 -- “but you shall receive power from the Holy Spirit, and (then) you shall be My witnesses...”
----APP>Nothing done simply in our own human power can ever achieve spiritually beneficial results.
----->Remember, as we discussed last week, it’s His ministry, not ours...His mission, not ours...so only His power can accomplish it.
--->We’ll talk more next week about His power and what can be accomplished through us, but the important thing to remember is that He has provided us with all the power we need to accomplish the miraculous.
-----The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive within every believer.
5) HE PREPARED US A HEAVENLY HOME.
--Jn.14:2 -- “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.”
---Quote>There are a lot of things about heaven we don’t know, but probably the best description of it was penned by my favorite theologian, Anonymous: “Heaven is an unknown region with a well-known inhabitant.”
---Quote>Richard Baxter said it well: “My knowledge of that life is small, the eye of faith is dim, but it’s enough that Christ knows all, and I shall be with Him.”
--<>For the time being He has transferred the responsibility to us, but there is coming a day when we’ll be with Him forever.
---And it’s a great neighborhood! -- The streets are paved with gold!
--APP>Our task is down here, but our sights are to be on that which is has eternal value.
6) HE PROMISES HE WILL RETURN.
--Ac.1:11 -- “They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This (same) Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
--Jn.14:3 -- “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
--<>The Good News: We have the assurance of eternity with Him in heaven...He’s going to bring us home!
--<>The Grim News: However, we don’t have forever to accomplish the mission He’s transferred to us down here.
----Our time is limited. We are to redeem the time, make the most of our time down here.
----We need to immediately get on with the task that He’s transferred to us.
----The mission is too important to delay.
BRINGING IT HOME...
--Later this year we’ll be watching the Olympics. Imagine what you would think if you were watching our U.S. Olympic relay team: The first runner runs fast, then hands the baton to the second runner. The second runner accepts the baton and begins running hard, and the race is close. Then he hands of the baton to the third runner, who accepts it and streaks down the track, pulling ahead of the other teams, then hands the baton to the final runner. The “anchor,” the final runner on the team, accepts the baton, but then he just stands there. He doesn’t run with the baton! Instead, he just stands and watch the other teams go right past him!
--What would you think?
--<>Well, you ARE the last runner in the race. Jesus has handed you the baton. What are you going to do with it?
--->Will you accept the responsibility?
--->Will you follow His example?
--->Will you realize His presence is with you and His power is within you?
--->Will you take the baton and run in His power...all the way to the finish line?
<>The choice is yours.
