Sermon Brief
Date Written: April 25, 2013
Date Preached: April 28, 2013
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: The Five Functions of the Church
Sermon Title: What Does True Mission/Ministry Look Like?
Sermon Text: Hebrews 12:1-2 [NLT]
Introduction:
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
This morning I am going to continue this sermon series on the FIVE (5) functions of the church: So far, Ben and I have brought the 1st 3 functions to you over the past 3 weeks…
3 weeks ago we looked at TRUE worship & what it looks like & we learned that TRUE WORSHIP is a direct reflection of our personal and corporate response to Jesus & that is fleshed out by living a godly life!
In other words, our True Worship of God is a direct reflection of the way we live our lives from Mon-Sat…
It is NOT about just coming to our service on Sunday! We should come together on Sunday to express thanks & gratitude to God for what He has done for us…
Then 2 weeks ago we learned about the 2nd function of the church…and it is discipleship! Discipleship is the act of believers learning & growing in the teachings of Jesus! In other words, discipleship is US as believers maturing in their faith!
What we learned was that discipleship is NOT focused on what we can learn, but its function IS about what God can do THRU us when we learn…
We learned that True Discipleship is about knowing our Enemy, Satan!
We learned that True Discipleship is about ‘equipping ourselves for spiritual warfare… for those spiritual battles we WILL face!
Finally, True Discipleship is about knowing and USING THE power source at our disposal - Jesus Christ!
Then last week Ben preached to you out of John 4 & the story of the woman at the well. Ben did a great job in laying out the story of the woman at the well & how Jesus was the picture of True Evangelism in the story!
In True Evangelism we must first look past the darkness in the lives of those God places in our path! We must see them thru the eyes of Jesus!
Secondly, True Evangelism is when we focus on reconciliation and forgiveness, NOT judgment or condemnation!
Finally, True Evangelism is about obedience! Jesus called us ALL to evangelize and make disciples! This is exactly the life Jesus led, a life of making disciples! What are we doing to make more disciples in the Kingdom?
Today we are going to learn about True Mission/Ministry! What is the function of Missions/ Ministry within the context of the church? What is True Evangelism?
Well let’s look at BOTH words this morning: First there is the word, missions which is where we tell others about Jesus, where we tell others about the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It is where we can TALK the TALK!
But when we look at the word ministry it is MORE than words… it is actions! To DO ministry for Christ you must start by showing the love of God to those in your life and those you come into contact with…
In other words, this is where the rubber meets the road (so to speak) this is where believers are called to SHOW the love of Christ (not just tell it) == this means a life lived in service to Him!
BOTH aspects of this are part of the equation. We must talk the talk by telling others about Jesus! But we must also walk the walk through showing others the love of Jesus that has rescued us!
Both sides of the coin are vital, both are important, both are DEFINITELY necessary, but what MOST of us overlook here is that BOTH are required actions on behalf of the believers!
In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “…[b]ut you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus calls His followers to be witnesses OF Him and His teachings! The general definition of a witness is someone who can give evidence (either formally OR informally) regarding a particular matter after they see or hear something.
The Christian perspective for this term ‘witness’ would be referred as someone who has publicly stated or made known their Christian beliefs. OR in other words, a person who give evidence of or about Jesus…
This would mean that this is a person who publicly proclaims this evidence of Jesus and the Gospel! This is what Jesus meant in Acts 1:8 when Jesus called them to become His WITNESSES!
So… just what does it mean to ‘give evidence’ of what we know or believe about Jesus? Well what is important is just what evidence ARE you showing the world?
It should be that you are showing evidence of what you have heard… YOU were witnessed to at one time or another (even if it was your family) But you had to ‘hear’ the word… someone came to you and gave you strong evidence of Christ through THEIR testimony!
It should also be that you show strong evidence of what you have read. The Bible is an ancient document, but it is a document that is just as relative today as it was 2000 yrs ago… We must trust Scripture and begin to read the word faithfully.
We should also bear witness through what we have experienced! Things like, ‘what has change in your life since Jesus saved you?
What were you like before Jesus? After Jesus? Where is God leading you now? Or in other words… How has your life changed since your encounter with Jesus and His salvation?
In Acts 1:8 Jesus calls ALL of His disciples to become witnesses of Him! This means we must live lives that give evidence about Him… our ‘mission’ in this world is to give evidence about Jesus Christ to a world that does NOT know Him!
This ‘mission’ is set forward by the words of Jesus in the Great Commission when He commands us to ‘go forth and make disciples and teach about Him!’
But we can also see where Jesus sets forward our mission by His LIVING example for us…
John 5:19 tells us that Jesus said: “…I say to you, the Son [Jesus] can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son [Jesus] does likewise…”
First we need to see the example of Jesus’ humility and submission to the authority of the Father! Jesus came and was fully committed to doing ONLY what the Father sent Him to do…He did not have His own agenda! God’s plan WAS Jesus’ plan!
Second we see that Jesus held to this conviction even when what God asked of Him was difficult! Look at Mark 14:36 when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. “…and He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.”
In other words Jesus says, “Father I know YOU can do what you want to do with this situation so I know you can change it and I want it changed… however, it is not about what I want, but it IS ALL about what You want…
Jesus was submissive to God’s plan… even when that plan was hard and dangerous for Jesus! But the final part of Jesus’ example for us is found in our passage this morning… Jesus did the will of the Father joyfully!
In Heb 12:2 we read: “…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God…”
We have a great example in Jesus about what our MISSION is… we are to BE His witnesses! Just as Christ was a witness of the Father here in this world… we are to be a witness and bear evidence of Jesus in our lives!
How many here would say that Jesus was a ‘faithful’ witness of God and the mission of God in this world? I know I would say He was the BEST!
We are called… the writer of Hebrews shares that we have MANY witnesses around us to look to… and we need to look to those great witnesses – who have given evidence of Christ to the world around them… they have done it faithfully, in humility and even when it was NOT convenient or if it was dangerous!
These great witnesses surround our lives… In this church I can think of many who we have known! One that comes to mind for me was Jim Atkinson. Many of you knew Jim and many of you did NOT know Jim!
If there was ONE thing Jim was good at it was being a witness of Christ! Always reading his Bible and telling others about Jesus… Jim faithfully taught the Bible for years and was NEVER shy about giving evidence of His savior to the world around him!
But in our passage it points us toward the GREATEST witness… and that is Jesus, who is the One we must witness about! Our MISSION… is to tell the world about Jesus!
NOW, I want to make a distinction between what I am saying today about MISSION/MINISTRY and what Ben was saying last week about EVANGELISM!
Mission/Ministry is about sharing Christ through our words and our deeds… it is about meeting needs physically and spiritually… Where as evangelism is about sharing your testimony and seeking to see someone come to Christ in salvation!
BOTH have the same goal in mind and that is SALVATION, but evangelism is far more focused in that area! Mission/Ministry is about LIVING OUT our faith and fleshing out the love of God in the world around us!
Good missions and ministry will lead us TO effective and successful evangelism!
So we have seen how our mission (talking the talk) is about giving evidence of Jesus in our words! And that our ministry (walking the walk) is about giving evidence of Jesus in our actions…
Where does that leave us this morning? How can we take what we have learned today and apply it to our lives?
The FIRST application is that we become witnesses… in other words that we actually begin to give evidence of Jesus in our lives! That we actually begin to tell others and live our lives in such a manner that others can SEE what God has done…
This is a matter of the heart! We can ‘say’ we are his witnesses ALL we want, BUT until we actually begin to BE a witness for Him…our good intentions are nothing more than disobedience!
The 2nd application for us is to become intentional about being a witness… about giving evidence about Jesus! How?
First we must KNOW Jesus, in an intimate manner to share Him with others! We cannot share Jesus with others if Jesus is a stranger to our hearts and minds. We must READ the Bible and know Scripture. We must meditate on that scripture and live a life of prayer to know the will of God!
2nd we must LOOK for the opportunities and NOT look away from them… YOU KNOW what I am talking about! YOU feel it when the HS urges you to share and give evidence of Jesus… YOU KNOW IT… and YET you refuse to do it! You look the other way! We must be intentional about seeking OUT opportunities to give evidence of Jesus…
3rd we must understand that God is going to call us to give evidence of Jesus in difficult situations and we must remain FAITHFUL to His calling! People this is where intimacy with Christ thru Bible study and prayer come into play… this is where KNOWING Christ well is all the power and encouragement we NEED to share and be the witness God desires!
There are MANY areas of life where we can give evidence of Jesus in our lives! Areas of missions, is when you set aside a time to GO and tell… Areas of ministries are when you set aside a task to GO and DO… Where does GOD want YOU to serve? What does God want YOU to do? What is God calling you to do in His kingdom?
Do you remember the story of the women at the well? This is a GREAT illustration of what we are called to do as believers!
First Jesus was submissive to the Spirit and calling of God… Scripture tells us that Jesus HAD to go thru Samaria – God had called Him to go thru there! It was NOT easy and it was NOT convenient and it was NOT comfortable… but Jesus was intentional about doing what God called Him to do!
Second, Jesus was intentional in his discussions with the woman… He did NOT waste the opportunity to give witness of God! He did NOT look the other way…He shared the truth and she reacted to that truth!
Now her reaction was positive, and she ran back into town and basically a revival of sorts broke out in that small town… all because Jesus was intentional and submitted to doing what God called Him to do…
But not all reactions will be positive… we see the story of the Rich Young Ruler where Jesus was submissive to God’s calling to speak with this young man… Jesus gave evidence of God and the young man went away rejecting the message…EVEN Jesus was rejected!
But the point of this sermon and how it ties into last week is that we are called to be ‘on mission’ for Jesus! To bear witness of Him… to give evidence FOR Him!
What would we think of a person who ‘witnessed’ an accident, but refused to tell the authorities what happened? We would grumble and complain about how they should be involved… about how selfish they are for NOT getting involved! [share story about lunch visit with Ben on Friday]
Ben and I COULD have just kept on driving… but what would you have thought about us if we would have?
People, the very same thing holds true for our spiritual journey! We have ‘witnessed’ those who are dying in this world… they NEED our help and assistance to come to Jesus… but are we willing to take the time out of our day to share with them?
I believe MUCH of the church today has become like a support group for bad behavior! We gather every Sunday and pat each other on the back and we tell each other its ok that we did not share… that we did not bring someone to church… that we did not even SPEAK of our Savior… We have become a social club of bad spiritual behavior!
How do you think God views this type of behavior? I believe we have become more and more argumentative than seeking to reconcile the world to God!
We get mad at those people who deny the existence of Hell! But to tell you the truth, we don’t act as if we even care that people are headed there…
We will argue harder with others about the existence of hell than we will try to keep people OUT of it… We love to prove it exists, but we don’t have ANY desire to limit its population!
Where are you today? Are you on ‘mission’ for God, are you TELLING others about Jesus? Are you in ‘ministry’ for God, are you LIVING OUT your life and DOING the ministry of God in the world around you?
Today we have learned that the ‘mission/ministry’ of the church is to be a witness of Christ… in our words AND in our deeds! Talk the talk AND walk the walk! Where are you today?
GIVE EVANGELISTIC INVITATION…
