iMISSION (Part 3)
“iGo”
TEXT: Multiple
INTRO: Good morning we are finishing our series called iMission. Why iMission? We know that the “I” in Mission is and individual mission, that Jesus has given all of us. We are to Pray, Give & Go.
In our first week we looked at iPray, and we looked at What Is Prayer, Why Pray, & How To Pray,…. Then last Sunday we looked at a few examples in scripture of What Is Giving, Why Give, & What Do We Give. Today I want to finish this series by looking at “iGo”
If you are a new Christ follower or if you have been in the faith for any amount of time you will know that we have been giving the great commission. To many times we treat the great commission as the great suggestion. So lets look at what it means to Go and what Jesus tells us about this part of the “iMission.”
I. WHAT IS iGO?
The “I” is for individual responsibility, but the word GO is an Action word meaning to move, to travel, to proceed. In other words when Jesus says to Go…. He means Go. Dont just wait and don't just stand there….. Move!
Jesus gave us the great commission
Matt 28: 19, 20 NLT
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Message Bible Reads:
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.
Again in Mark 16:15-20
And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” 19 When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 20 And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.
BOTTOM LINE: Jesus has already told us to GO. What are we waiting for? There is no invitation because he already said…. GO. Now Jesus would not just command us to GO without teaching us or modeling for us how to be apart of the iMission to GO…. Which brings me to point 2.
II. JESUS MODELD THE iMISSION
There are 4 keys that Christ has given to Equip us for the iMission of Going. (John 4:1-27)
(Modified from Ray Comfort)
1. RELATE John 4: 5-7
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
Jesus said, in VS. 7 “Give me a drink…”
- He was speak on the natural things of this life (i.e. weather, kids, music, movies.)
- Notice He didn’t speak in “religious” Jargon (i.e. have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb? Turn or burn!
- He Didn’t spend lengthy amounts of time relating (i.e. 30 minute conversation makes it hard to do step 2.)
- Remember the Soul is a personal issue for people (1 Corinthians 2:14) “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
A Key to Relating to others is to speak about the natural things of life before you speak on spiritual things.
“Relating is the first step to connecting with people;
we must learn to build bridges
[a natural connection with people] not walls.”
2. CREATE 4:10-14
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
“…He would have giving you Living Water…” (VS. 10)
- Jesus switched from the natural to the spiritual (i.e. have you ever had a Christian background? “A very non-offensive Question)
- The “Moment of Truth” to see if the heart is open (the hardest part) (i.e. like the Bumble Bee who goes from flower to flower looking for pollen. If you find an open heart dive in and begin to share”)
- If rejected by the person don’t become hurt or upset
(ILL) Matt working @ BWI Airport in 1995, Women got upset.)
TIP:
If you are rejected by a person don’t become hurt and take it to heart. Just go back to “Relate” and continue your conversation with the person. The problem is we as Christ Followers tend to get to this point and feel rejected and we think that we have failed. WRONG you did not fail. Chalk it up to practice, learn from it and move on. Its not your job to make the person listen to you talk about the Gospel. Your job is to GO…. find the open hearts and then share your faith with people.
Adopted this saying: Some will, some won’t, oh well somewhere else someone will.
The Key to “Create” is the necessity of creating an opportunity to witness, by deliberately swinging from the natural to the spiritual. This is our “moment of truth” when we find out if we have the ear of the person. If you don't have there ear, go back to relating…. Its OK, if they don't receive what you are trying to say.
3. CONVICT John 4:16-18
“Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
In vs. 18 Jesus says, “… You have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband …”
- Jesus used the Law to show her that she was guilty (i.e. one of the 10 commandments showed the woman her guilt. She was adulteress and she had been caught.) This also could be why she was coming to the well at noon. The hottest part of the day. She must have been shunned by the other women…. She would have been treated like an outcast for her sin.
- The law left her seeing her need for a savior. The Law (WORD) is a schoolmaster, a tutor, a teacher.
Galatians 3:24, 25
“…the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
- The Law shows the sinner that they are guilty before God.
- The Law brings them to a place of seeing their need for a savior.
Romans 3:19
“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
Psalms 19:7
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul…”
- Jesus used the Law to expose the condition of the heart (i.e exposing the condition of the heart was not to hurt her but to help her.)
James 4:6
“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
-The Law breaks the hard hearted = The Proud
-The Gospel heals the broken hearted = The Humbled
The Key to “Convict” is using the Law of God (10 Commandments) to show unsaved everyday people their need for a savior. Again People might get offensive at this point too…. Is OK… Again its not your job to bring conviction on someone, That is the work of the Spirit.
4. REVEAL
John 4:25, 26
“The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
-Jesus revealed to the woman that He was the Savior (i.e. He is the Living Water, the only one that can give eternal life
“…I who speak to you am He” (VS. 26
-We must reveal the finished works of the Cross.
-It is the message that Jesus came to die for humanity and to set mankind free from the bondage of sin and death.
-The finished works of the cross heals the broken hearted and it fills the God shaped void that people have in their heart. The message of Jesus is the cure to humanities disease of Sin.
The key to Revealing the finished works of Jesus Christ is by presenting the Gospel. The verdict was once guilty but now that Jesus has paid & shed His blood the Verdict from the Judge (God of the Universe) is not guilty but, innocent!
BOTTOM LINE: We know that Jesus has already told us to GO and that Jesus has modeled for us how we are to be apart of the iMission and to Go. So now we look at Point 3.
III. WHERE CAN I/WE/YOU GO?
You may have heard it said that There is NO invitation for us to go because the starting Gun was fired 2000 Yrs ago when Jesus commissioned the disciples and all who where to follow to be apart of the iMission & to GO. When Jesus said to the disciples Go into ALL the World, He meant ALL the World.
Our Schools, Our Work, Our neighbors, Our community, Our City & The Nations. All the World!!! I mean after all 2/3 of God’s Name is = GO and the other 1/3 is Duhhh it a no brainer.
So where can we go: Everywhere!!!
Home Missions + World Missions = Everywhere.
BOTTOMLINE: This is the iMission each one of us has been asked to embrace the. We are all able to contribute to the iMission by Praying, Giving, & Going.
CLOSING: VIDEO
This morning the video reminds us that our mission is to individuals, everyday people regardless of there race, backgrounds, financial status. We are responsible Yes, Corporately but more importantly as individuals to take the love of Jesus where it is most desperately needed and the hardest to fine.
COMMUNION: Move to the communion table…
I have asked you each week since we started this series: “If you would join me in living this iMission…. Will you commit to pray, to give, to Go? As we partake if communion will you reinforce this commitment by praying and letting God know of your discussion.
Lets PRAY...
