Last we looked at our Wake-up call #1 is “We are the Church”
Today I want to look at Wake-up Call #2- We have a Mission!
When Hudson Taylor was director of the China Inland Mission, he often interviewed candidates for the mission field. On one occasion, he met with a group of applicants to determine their motivations for service. He asked them one question. "And why do you wish to go as a foreign missionary?"
One replied "I want to go because Christ has commanded us to go into all the world..."
Another said, "I want to go because millions are perishing without Christ."
Still others gave different answers.
Then Hudson Taylor said, "All of these motives, however good, will fail you in times of testings, trials, tribulations, and possible death. There is but one motive that will sustain you in trial and testing; namely, the love of Christ."
That is the only thing that will continually motivate any of us…
We will not stay the course for any other reason than the love of Christ.
You and I are not here to sit, soak and sour. We are here to serve God and bring others to Jesus NOT because we are told we must but because Jesus loved us enough to die for each of us and we must love Him enough to care and to serve.
The love of Christ must compel us to seek out those who are dangerously close to hell and rescue them before it is too late.
Let’s look again at I Corinthians 15:58 where Paul says, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Here is the plain and simple truth: people are dying and ending up in hell, every day and hell is forever. There is no do-over, no get out of hell free card. This is not a game of monopoly, this is real and once you are in you are in for good.
In John 3:3 “Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’”
Hell is a real place and it is total separation from God.
We, the church, have a mission from God to warn people against it.
I want to show you three things today about our mission.
a. We Have a God-Given Mission: It’s not a pastor given mission…
Look at verse 58. How often did Paul say, in this verse, we were to give ourselves to the work? ALWAYS. “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord…”
There is no vacation or when we get around to it… we are believers 24/7 or not at all…
In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus said, “…"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”
We are to make disciples who will make disciples… who make disciples...
Do you remember what we talked about last week? If twenty people prayed for and brought just three people to Jesus this year those twenty would become sixty. If those sixty bring just three in a year we would not be able to seat everyone, in just two years…
We have a God given mission and:
b. We Have a Consuming Mission:
How much did Paul say, in verse 58 that we are to commit to the work?
EVERYTHING. “Always give yourselves fully…” DON’T HOLD BACK… IT’S ALL IN OR NONE…
We are to give our all for the expansion of the Kingdom.
Paul says in I Corinthians 9:16 says, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
SHAME ON ME IF I DON’T SERVE HIM, ALWAYS AND WITH ALL I AM… You cannot be a part time Christian…!
But the word “woe” goes much deeper than simply saying “shame on me.”
It denotes deep anguish/grief. Paul serious about serving God… are you?
We have a God given mission. We have a consuming mission and:
c. We Have a Victorious Mission: WE CANNOT LOSE…
Look at the verse. “…because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” What IS in vain is the work that we do outside of His will… all the stuff we gain, if it’s not used for kingdom purpose, is useless…
Maybe it’s time to stop worrying about what so and so is doing and get busy looking for those who need Jesus.
When Jesus told Peter to feed the sheep Peter wanted to know what John was going to be doing…
Jesus said that John is none of your business. You need to stop worrying about what someone else is doing, how someone else is living and focus on your walk and the mission in front of you…
Do you remember what I shared with you last week? Ed Setzer said that about half of any given church will only invite people and normally only on a special occasion.
In other words, when there’s food. It’s ok if they bust hell wide open as long as they don’t go on an empty stomach.
I am going to out on a limb here and just say it. If you only invite people to come for a free meal or when someone is singing you are not being obedient to the Lord.
Most are good at inviting people to a meal but fail to invite them to the FINAL banquet!
I have seen that, sometimes, in small churches like ours very little being done.
I think we can sometimes wonder if we really matter very much to God’s Kingdom.
What we need to understand is that no matter how big or small we are or how much or little our community responds we are guaranteed that our work is not fruitless.
We are guaranteed success! BUT
Success will never come to those who sit on their back pews and do nothing…
INSTEAD OF GIVING UP WE OUGHT TO BE GETTING UP…
We need to be reminded that…
God Equips Us for Our Mission…
God Empowers Us for Our Mission… and
God Protects Us in Our Mission…
BUT ONLY WHEN WE ARE UP… ONLY WHEN WE GET MOVING.
We need no power. We need no authority. We need no provision when we’re sitting on the sidelines watching the world go to hell on a slide greased with pig lard…
It is time for the church to wake up and realize who we are.
We are a powerful force connected to the power of Almighty God with the ability to forever change lives!
We are not weak unless we choose to be.
Today you need, more than ever before to make a choice.
Give up or get up…
Live in weakness or live in the power that belongs to you, as a child of God.
HELP BUILD THIS BODY OR GIVE UP SIT BACK AND WATCH IT DIE.
Let’s pray
