THE PASTOR’S POINTS
sermon ministry of
CEDAR LODGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Thomasville, NC
December 28, 2003
What do you suppose is the most frequent resolution made by Americans? I’ll give you a hint – it has to do with the dreaded scale! A woman walked into her bathroom at home. As she did, she saw her husband weighing himself on the bathroom scales, sucking in his stomach. The woman thought to herself, "He thinks that he’s going to weigh less by sucking in his stomach." She sarcastically said, "You think sucking-in your stomach is going to help?" Her husband replied, “It’s the only way I can see the numbers."
Making the resolution is the easy part; remembering to follow-through is the more difficult assignment. Have you ever forgotten the resolution you made to lose some of that extra-around-the-middle you accumulated during all those holiday celebrations?
A man moved into a retirement community. It wasn’t long until he had made a number of friends among the other residents. There was one lady he was especially attracted to, and she was also attracted to him. They spent a lot of time together. Finally one evening he proposed, asking her to marry him.
The next morning he woke up remembering his proposal, but he couldn’t remember her answer. So he went to her and said, "I’m really embarrassed. I proposed to you last night but I can’t remember if you said `Yes’ or `No."’ "Oh, thank goodness!" she replied. "I remembered saying `Yes’ but I couldn’t remember who asked me." [1]
Next week we are beginning a new year, both on the calendar, and for church business. Now, church business applies to more than the finances or budget; it applies to our goals and plans for reaching people for Christ in the year. On the last Sunday before we begin this new year I want to call our attention to the fact that it is indeed RESOLUTION TIME.
Our resolution revolves around the Great Commission of Jesus to His church. The scene was a mountain-top, the resurrected Lord Jesus with his disciples gathered. And He gives them their [and our] marching orders:
Then Jesus came to them and 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
There is a command in this commission. It should lead us all to the place of resolution time. And the question most in view should be: Upon WHAT information should I base my resolution?
I’ll Base My Resolution on the Power of the Great Commission
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18 (NIV)
Authority is the power of the Great Commission. Authority “…signifies the divinely given power and authority of Jesus Christ as deriving from the Father.”[2]
If you’re going to live a lifetime based upon some convictions that run deep in your soul, that conviction ought to be founded upon something substantive.
The Bible says all things of this world are not substantive, but transitory.
7The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
The power of the Great Commission is found in the authority of Jesus Christ, the power that God has over every living thing and created being in the universe. God is in control of time, space and eternity. I’ll base my resolution on Him!
I’ll Base My Resolution on the Purpose of the Great Commission
19“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19 (NIV)
The Great Commission calls for us to get personally involved in winning others to Jesus. It is true that it is the Holy Spirit who wins people, but friends, like the Ethiopian Eunuch needed a Phillip to be an obedient witness to understand what God was speaking to his searching heart, there are billions in the world, and thousands right here in Thomasville who need our faithful witness.
The purpose is two-fold, reaching and teaching. We are to “go” and witness; this is our reaching. We are to make disciples; this is the teaching to obey. Our curriculum is ‘everything He commanded.”
Seinfield is the once-popular TV sitcom. Elaine is one of the regular characters. In one old episode she and her boyfriend are having a conversation about God.
Elaine asks, "Do you believe in God?"
"Yes," her boyfriend replies.
Elaine asks, "Is it a problem that I’m not religious?"
"Not for me," her boyfriend answers.
"How’s that?" she asks.
Her boyfriend says, "I’m not the one going to hell." [3]
There is a personal call, a challenge to be involved in winning souls for the Kingdom of God. There are only two responses for a child of God, obedience or disobedience. I will base my response in obedience to Jesus’ call to be faithful to the Great Commission to reach and teach others, and His authority, and...
I’ll Base My Resolution on the Promise of the Great Commission
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 20 (NIV)
God has a purpose, and has extended His power through Christ for the church to take the Gospel everywhere. That purpose and power have the added promise that whenever we attempt to be faithful to that calling, Christ Himself will be in the midst of our attempts. In my case, it is probably to watch over me and turn my halting, mistake-filled attempts at witnessing into His power and purpose.
Listen to this letter…
…written by a relatively new Christian to the person whose life had influenced hers so greatly. She actually lists about a dozen qualities she found contagious in the life of this older Christian….You know when we met; I began to discover a new vulnerability, a warmth, and a lack of pretense that impressed me. I saw in you a thriving spirit - no signs of internal stagnation anywhere. I could tell you were a growing person and I liked that. I saw you had strong self-esteem, not based on the fluff of self-help books, but on something a whole lot deeper. I saw that you lived by convictions and priorities and not just by convenience, selfish pleasure, and financial gain. And I had never met anyone like that before.
I felt a depth of love and concern as you listened to me and didn’t judge me. You tried to understand me, you sympathized and you celebrated with me, you demonstrated kindness and generosity - and not just to me, but to other people, as well.
And you stood for something. You were willing to go against the grain of society and follow what you believed to be true, no matter what people said, and no matter how much it cost you. And for those reasons and a whole host of others, I found myself really wanting what you had. Now that I’ve become a Christian, I wanted to write to tell you I’m grateful beyond words for how you lived out your Christian life in front of me. [4]
My friends, that is the description of a person
•living-out the purpose of the Great Commission
•living-in the power of the Great Commission, and
•trusting the promise of the Great Commission.
My Resolution in Response to the Call of the Great Commission
In my life I have made many resolutions; I have broken most of them, just like you. I hate that. But, most of my resolutions have been for my own sake, losing weight, practicing my golf swing, driving less than the speed limit. Those things were to benefit me.
The Great Commission of Jesus Christ calls you and me to take the benefit of our salvation and share it with others. That is the sum total of my resolution this year, I am committing myself to giving first priority to sharing Jesus Christ with everyone I meet in the coming year. I am going to do what D.L. Moody did, envisioning a big red “L” (for “lost”) on the forehead of everyone he met, until he shared the faith with that person.
I am asking you to also make that commitment, a resolution to make sharing Christ your first priority. I am asking that we set our sights – every one of us – upon praying for, and each reaching at least one soul for Christ next year.
Beloved, there are 132 active resident members in our fellowship. If we are faithful to respond to the call of His Great Commission, there could be 132 baptisms here this year.
Some would say, “Preacher, we haven’t baptized 132 in 10 years combined.” I know that! But I also know that most all of you want to be obedient to Christ.
•I am telling you that the power of Christ can reach 132 lost people through the obedient efforts of 132 saved people in the course of one year!
•I am telling you that the purpose of Christ intends to reach and teach 132 lost people through the efforts of 132 saved people of this congregation next year.
•And I am telling you that the promise of Christ is that He, Himself will be right in the midst of it,
•cleaning up our mistakes,
•giving us courage to overcome our timid ways,
•pushing the dead wood of negativism out of the way,
•closing the mouths of people who would rather gripe than share Christ.
Where did I get such an idea? From you! This past month you showed me that you are tired of the “same old, same old”. You showed me that we are ready for a new day. You showed me that we are ready to start being a Great Commission church. “Really? Did we do that, Preacher?” Oh, yes, my beloved…you did that!
For years this church had languished in the complacency of accepting the status quo.
For years we set our goal at $3,500.00 for our December international missions offering.
For years we had to plead and beg, sometimes into February just to get $2,000.00.
We had not met the goal in 10 years! Then, we went out on a limb with a strange thing called “Double Tithe-Double Blessing”. We said we were going to collect the entire goal in one day! Bring a double tithe for Lottie Moon; see the Lord bring a double blessing in your life!
Well, friends, the final numbers are in.
•In a year when the economy has bottomed-out, leaving many unemployed and many more under-employed;
•in a year when we stepped-out in faith, trying a new thing;
•in a year when we lost more members to death, moving and other causes;
•with a goal of $3,500.00, you brought a total of $4,280.50
You gave in one day – not because we begged for three months – but because you are ready for a new day, a new obedience, nearly $800 over the goal!
Now, listen, if God can do that with us in the area of giving money, something we can count and see…just think what He can do with us in the spiritual realm of reaching others with the Good News if we will just step out in faith! 132 baptisms may be much too low a goal, but I am willing to start there with an “Each one Reach one” goal.
Can we each reach one? In our Lottie Moon offering you were faithful to give that others might go. Now be it resolved among us to personally go in the purpose, power and promise of the Great Commission that others might live!
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Endnotes
[1] Aaron Burgess, A New Year’s Resolution To Keep, SermonCentral.com
[2] Holman Bible Dictionary
[3] John Fehlen, Stanwood, Washington, PreachingToday.com
[4] Jason Duncan, A Resolution to Keep, SermonCentral.com
