MARCHING WITH A MISSION
I. OBEY THE GREAT COMMISSION
MARK 61:15-16 "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. He who
believes not will be lost."
Its time to go across the street before we go across the world.
Its time to go to our neighborhoods before we go to other nations.
Its time we go to our own city before we go across the ocean
Whether its short term long term around the corner, around the block, its time to go! If we are going to be a church that marches with a
mission!
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
What are the first 2 letters of the gospel? GO!
Psalm 126:6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves
with him.
Nothing happens until we go!
Acts 5:20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
Jesus said it, and Jesus did it!
Mark 1:38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.
Mark 5:19 [Jesus cast demon out of man…]
Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
I heard about a football game being played on the home field. The home team was being smeared by the visiting squad. Someone on the sidelines kept yelling, "Give the ball to Calhoun! Give the ball to Calhoun!’’ They tried another play, and again the home team was smashed to the ground, losing valuable yardage. Again came the cry, "Give the ball to Calhoun!’’ After this happened two or three times more, the familiar cry rang out again, "Give the ball to Calhoun!’’ Then a tall man raised up from the pile of human bodies on the field after the next play and responded, "Calhoun don’t want the ball!’’ I am afraid this is true of many Christians today. They do not want to carry the ball of evangelism. They need to hear the cry of the crowd in heaven cheering them on…that great cloud of witnesses in the grandstands of glory urging us to run the race before we leave this earth. They need to hear the voice of the coach as He calls the plays…the coach is Jesus Christ—can you hear him:
II. BE VISIONARY
Proverbs 29:9 "Where there is no vision the people perish"
One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window, and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his Andover, Ohio, home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath a road and then emptied into the main culvert. Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the foundering child. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Blankenship surfaced and was able to grab the child’s arm. They tumbled end over end. Within about three feet of the yawning culvert, Ray’s free hand felt something--possibly a rock-- protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. "If I can just hang on until help comes," he thought. He did better than that. By the time fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock. On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the Coast Guard’s Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting, for this selfless person was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew. Ray Blankenship can’t swim.
When you have vision you look for ways to make it happen. When you are blind –you see the obstacles.
III.BE BALANCED
One says, be evangelistic
The others says, be doctrinely sound. Brethren, it is not optional, we must do both!
Romans 16:17 " Mark those that cause division contrary to the doctrine that you have
learned and avoid them"
IV. CAST OUT INTO THE DEEP
The problem is some people have become so used to doing things in their own strength, and wisdom, and ability and to get of the
bank and out into the sea!
We operate from the human point of view. It seems to be our nature to make excuses. We see from the human perspective, from the limited horizon, from the natural point of view; and so, like Simon, we presumptuously tell the Master just what the facts are.
Simon was saying, "Lord, we’ve been out there all night.
Illistrate: Abraham a Man of faith….offered up Issacc.Here was a Man that put his faith in the Lord and cast out into the deep. He did not sit on the shore, he got out in the deep and God blessed Abraham.
V. DON'T OVER REACT TO UNWARRANTED CRITICISM
It is easier to bark and complain pull than to pull your load." It is easier to be critical than to be correct. It is easier to hinder than to help. Easier to destroy reputation than to construct character. Faultfinding is as dangerous as it is easy. Anybody can grumble, criticize or censure like the Pharisees; but it takes a genuine Christian to go on working faithfully and lovingly, through trials and human failures, as the Lord Jesus did
Two taxidermists stopped in front of a window where an owl was on display. They immediately began to criticize the way it was mounted. Its eyes were not natural; its wings were not in proportion with its head; its feathers were not neatly arranged; and its feet could be improved. Just when they had finished with their criticism, the owl turned his head...and blinked.
It’s easier to be critical than correct.
Nehemiah….sanballet and Tobiah….He was too busy working for God
VI. DON'T BE SATISFIDE WITH STATIS QUO
This is the work of God, give it your very best.
VII. BELIEVE GOD WILL LEAD US TO VICTORY
Phillippians 4:13 still says, "I can do all things thru Christ who gives me strength.
VIII COUNT THE COST AND PAY AND PRAY THE PRICE
Any worth while cause was always met by a willingness to give it your all.
IX DON'T BE HELD BACK BY INPOSSIBLITY THINKERS
Phillippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strenghthens me"
