It happens slowly. You rarely notice when the first lights begin to flicker. A bulb gives up in the back hallway. One more goes dark in the kitchen. The living room dims a little, but you don’t think much about it. You just squint more. You buy a cheaper lamp. You hold your phone screen a little closer.
Then suddenly you realize one night…
the power’s out.
Everything around you is dark.
There are churches where the lights have been dimming for a long time. Not the bulbs in the ceiling. The light inside the people. The fire has cooled. The thrill has quieted. The story that once kept them awake at night now barely keeps them awake during the sermon.
There’s no hostility. Just yawns at glory.
Nothing will extinguish a mission faster than bored Christians.
Years ago, the great missionary Adoniram Judson returned to America after serving in Burma. A church invited him to speak. They expected exotic stories, the kind that give you goosebumps without costing you anything.
Judson stood up and simply preached Jesus.
The cross.
The resurrection.
The gospel.
Afterward the pastor tried to be polite.
“Dr. Judson, our people appreciated your message, but… many hoped you would tell us more about Burma.”
Judson answered,
“I did. I told you the most thrilling story on earth.”
Somewhere, somehow, the American church had already begun to dim its lights.
Maybe we’ve heard the gospel so many times that we’ve domesticated it. We’ve sanded off the miracle until it feels like ordinary wood. We’ve turned resurrection into ritual. We’ve turned the Great Commission into the Great Suggestion.
Many believers have forgotten that the gospel is a rescue, not a religious hobby.
When we cease to be thrilled by Jesus, we cease to shine for Him.
That’s why the Lord’s final words in Matthew 28 were not delivered as a gentle footnote. They were delivered like a captain sending soldiers into a rescue mission. The world is dark. People are lost. Heaven is invading. And Jesus is guaranteeing the victory.
He didn’t say,
“If you get around to it…”
He didn’t say,
“Those with outgoing personalities…”
He said: Go. Make disciples. Baptize. Teach. I am with you.
If the gospel is the most thrilling story there is, shouldn’t its messengers be the most alive people in the room?
Let’s revisit those final marching orders.
Not as something old… but as something urgent.
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1. Jesus Gives Us Real Authority
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go…” (Matthew 28:18-19)
Heaven has already signed off on our mission.
Jesus hands the keys to His followers and says: Drive.
The problem is, our world no longer trusts authority. To be fair, the world has endured a parade of leaders who promised brilliance and delivered disaster. We’ve seen “non-explosive fuels” explode. We’ve seen “you-can’t-lose investments” collapse. We’ve seen “authentic influencers” become walking billboards for whatever pays.
Once, a business magazine boldly proclaimed its mission to help people become financially secure. It shut down bankrupt—millions in debt.
Authorities who can’t deliver damage trust.
And the world expects Christians to be the same:
“Big words, little proof.”
People aren’t resisting the message of Jesus.
They’re resisting Christians who don’t look like Jesus.
Douglas Steere once asked a young man who was furious at Christianity:
“Do you disagree with the message?”
“No,” he said. “What bothers me is that Christians aren’t Christian enough.”
Ouch.
We say Jesus is the Light of the world,
but if we walk around as if we’re barely surviving,
the world assumes our bulbs burned out long ago.
A woman once hired a houseboy in Kenya named Katow. After three months he asked for a letter of recommendation to work for a Muslim leader. Surprised, she asked why he wanted to leave. He explained he wanted to decide whether to become Christian or Muslim. He came to her house first to observe Christians. Next he would observe Muslims. Then he’d choose.
She swallowed hard.
Because she knew what he had seen.
Imagine someone studying your life for three months to decide whether Jesus is worth following.
Not your preaching.
Not your Sabbath-keeping.
Your life.
Authority is not something we claim.
Authority is something we confirm by how we live.
When the world sees a Christian shining with joy, courage, kindness, forgiveness, holiness, resilience, integrity… people notice. The lights come on.
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2. Jesus Gives Us a Job: Go
Not a suggestion.
A command.
A direction: outward.
It’s the simplest action of the Christian life:
Go to someone who needs Jesus.
We’re good at “come.”
Come to our building.
Come to our program.
Come to our special weekend revival with the shiny graphics.
Jesus flipped it:
Go.
Go to your neighbors.
Go to the difficult coworker.
Go to the people no one invites.
Go to the friend who once knew God but hasn’t prayed in years.
We sometimes think Jesus meant:
“Go to the people who are a lot like you so you won’t feel awkward.”
The original disciples heard:
Jerusalem (home), Judea (next door), Samaria (uncomfortable), the ends of the earth (impossible).
Our version:
Your home. Your work. The store. The forgotten corners. Everywhere.
Every Christian is a missionary.
The only question is whether we are good ones or bad ones.
People are watching—whether we want them to or not.
God wired your daily life with divine appointments.
The question is not whether you are sent.
The question is whether you see the sending.
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3. Make Disciples
Jesus did not say,
“Go and make fans.”
“Go and make admirers.”
“Go and make cultural Christians.”
He said:
Make disciples.
A disciple is not someone who simply believes Jesus exists.
A disciple is someone who reorients their entire life around Him.
Discipleship is the daily, consistent way of saying:
“If Jesus is going that direction… so am I.”
Yet too many people think becoming Christian is like joining a gym. You buy a membership. You keep the card in your wallet. You don’t actually show up. And as long as the card exists, technically, you’re “in shape.”
Discipleship is not a membership card.
It is apprenticeship to the Master.
Disciple-making means inviting people into a life shaped by Jesus. It requires proximity, patience, and persistence.
Encourage the discouraged.
Pray with the terrified.
Walk with someone who is stumbling.
Lift someone the world has judged as unworthy.
Discipleship isn’t glamorous.
It is sacred.
And here is the twist the church sometimes forgets:
When you help another person follow Jesus, your own light burns brighter.
The thrill grows. The gospel becomes electric again.
If your faith feels dim, invest in someone else’s flame.
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4. Baptize Them
Baptism is not a photo op.
It is burial and resurrection.
It is an act of allegiance.
It says:
“I belong to Jesus.
I am not who I was.
My life is His.”
When a church stops seeing baptisms,
the lights begin to flicker.
Not because baptism is a magical ritual…
but because it means lives are being changed.
You want a church that shines?
Fill the tank again.
Surround new believers with mentors and love and prayer.
Let tears fall freely when someone comes home.
Let the congregation cheer louder than the angels already are.
The thrill returns when grace collides with real people.
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5. Teach Them to Obey
Jesus did not tell us to simply teach information.
He told us to teach obedience.
The Pharisees had plenty of Bible knowledge.
Not much light.
Transformation happens when truth moves from head to heart to hands.
Our world is drowning in content.
It is starving for lived hope.
When people see a Christian who forgives the unforgivable,
who shows kindness to the cruel,
who gives generously without applause,
who honors God even when they walk through fire…
Suddenly the light seems unbelievably bright.
Christian teaching isn’t about acing a theology exam.
It’s about showing the world what Jesus actually does in a person.
People are not waiting for a better argument.
They are waiting for a better example.
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6. I Am With You Always
Jesus ends His command with a promise:
“I will be with you.
Always.
To the end of the age.”
We do not carry flashlights into darkness.
We carry the Fire of God.
Christ within you.
Christ before you.
Christ behind you.
Christ beneath you.
Christ beside you.
Christ above you.
Christ alive in you.
His presence is the power source for every act of witness.
There will be moments when you feel alone on mission.
But you are never shining independently.
You are plugged into an eternal, uninterruptible current.
And when fear whispers,
“What if they reject me?”
the presence of Jesus whispers back,
“What if they don’t?”
Jesus did not die and rise again
to produce a half-lit church.
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When the Lights Go Out
Let me speak plainly.
Your neighbors need you.
Your coworkers need you.
Your children and grandchildren need you.
Your waiter at lunch needs you.
The person who irritates you the most… needs you.
They need more than a friendly Christian.
They need a living witness of Jesus.
You and I live in a time when there are entire communities
where the church has grown silent.
Lights have gone out.
Darkness has settled in like fog.
But God has placed you exactly where you are
to turn the lights back on.
This is not the moment to yawn at the gospel.
This is the moment to burn.
Not recklessly.
Not arrogantly.
With love.
With courage.
With joy.
The most thrilling story on earth is still the most thrilling story.
The cross still saves.
The tomb is still empty.
Heaven still rejoices over one sinner who comes home.
Jesus is still Lord of all.
Do you feel that spark?
That tug?
That old familiar thrill?
Let God breathe on it.
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A Story Close to Home
Let me tell you something personal.
Years ago, in a place far from here,
I felt faith flickering in me.
The power had gone out in my own heart.
I still preached. I still prayed.
But the thrill was low.
Then God brought someone across my path who needed Jesus desperately.
I didn’t feel ready.
I didn’t feel qualified.
I didn’t feel bright enough to shine.
But God nudged me:
“Go. Give what little light you have.”
So I did.
I listened.
I prayed.
I shared what Jesus had done for me.
And I watched a miracle unfold.
That person stepped into faith.
Into joy.
Into the light.
And at the very same moment…
my own light blazed back to life.
Witnessing didn’t drain me.
It revived me.
That is the miracle of mission.
When you share the light…
you shine brighter.
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The Appeal
Somewhere in your life, there is someone sitting in the dark.
God has already arranged the appointment.
God has already prepared the soil.
God has already decided to show up with you.
The question is not:
Will God use you?
The question is:
Will you go?
Will you let the thrill come back?
Will you open your mouth?
Will you let your life shine?
Because when the gospel becomes thrilling again…
the lights come on.
Let us pray.
Spirit of the Living God,
Call us out of comfort into your mission.
Shake us awake where we have grown numb.
Light us up again with Your grace and Your fire.
Give us eyes to see the one person today who needs Jesus.
Make us bold. Make us kind. Make us ready.
Let our lives blaze with Your glory
so that when the world sees us…
they see You.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen.
