Thanks to all of you who have hosted or participated in 40 Days of Purpose groups this fall. The final small group session of 40 Days is this coming week. We’re hoping and praying that all of the people who have been in a group during these 40 Days (about 1300) will stay in a small group. Ideas?
Your current host will keep on leading in their home.
Your leader will continue to lead but meet in someone else’s home.
Someone else would be open to facilitate.
You could merge with another group nearby.
We have some great materials for you to use. You will find sample copies at the 40 Days table. We’d like all hosts to turn in the card you received in the mail to let us know what you are going to do. Thanks, again!
These 40 days have gone fast… at least for me.
We’ve looked at the fact that life is preparation for eternity. We’ll do four things in heaven forever. And God wants us to practice these things here on the earth.
Worship – knowing and loving God.
Fellowship – learning to love each other.
Discipleship – learning to become like Jesus.
Ministry – learning to use my SHAPE to serve others
That brings us to the fifth purpose. It’s really the only purpose we can only do on earth. #7 We were made for a mission. Jesus once prayed:
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.
John 17:18 (Msg)
Notice the phrase “in the world.” Last week, we talked about how we are to have a ministry in the church. We also need a mission in the world. A ministry is to believers. A mission is to non-believers.
As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.
John 20:21 (NASB)
My mission is evangelism.
My fifth purpose is evangelism. Evangelism is simply sharing the good news about Jesus. And God says, “Once you understand the good news, I want you to pass it along to others. I want you to share the good news.”
When you see the phrase “good news” or the word “gospel” in the Bible it’s
translating a Greek word, “euaggelion.”
We get our word evangelism from this word. It’s good news.
Once I know the good news – that God loves me in spite of my sin, that Jesus died to pay for my sins, that I am forgiven when I turn form sin and trust Jesus, that Jesus sets us free, and that God has a purpose and plan for my life – then God wants me to pass it on.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim the good news (there’s our phrase) to the poor. (Now, just what is that good news?) He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives…
to set at liberty those who are oppressed…
Luke 4:18 (ESV)
Liberty. Freedom. God wants to set people free!
Where am I supposed to share the good news?
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.
Acts 1:8 (ESV)
Look at that word witnesses. God’s not looking for defense attorneys. You don’t have to defend God. And He’s not looking for salesmen. You don’t have to sell God. All He’s looking for are witnesses. A witness is someone who just says what he’s seen. “I saw this and I saw that. That’s all I know.” That’s all God is looking for. He says, “I just want you to tell people what’s happened to you. Tell people what I’ve done in your life. Tell ‘em about the difference I’ve made in your heart.”
Where? I start at home to the people close to me.
I go to people nearby who are culturally different.
And I go to those who everybody else.
Why does God want us to do this? Because people are bound. People are enslaved.
They are not free. And God is building a family of free people. He wants more and more people to be free to be His children – to love Him, to glorify Him, to spend eternity #23 with Him. He wants people to be set free from addictions, from past hurts, from sin and selfishness and Satan. That’s why Jesus came.
God has chosen you and He’s chosen me to complete the mission of Jesus. He’s saying, “I want you to finish it!”
Maybe you’ve heard the story about Jesus returning to heaven after dying on the cross and rising again. An angel comes to Jesus and says, “OK, now what? Who’s going to fulfill the mission now that you’re here?” Jesus says, “I left my followers to do to carry on the mission.” And the angel says, “Your followers? They are so unreliable. What if they don’t get it done? What’s plan B?” And Jesus says, “There is no plan B.”
We’re it. Being on mission to join with Jesus in setting captives free is the greatest privilege we’ve ever been given. We are in on making history.
Three places to be on mission:
1. I am made for a mission here... locally.
… you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem…
Acts 1:8 (ESV)
I must share with those in my world. Where does your mission start? Right at home.
Go back home and tell people how much God has done for you.
Luke 8:39
Why don’t we do this? We think that people aren’t interested in spiritual issues. But the polls and surveys say that Americans are more interested in spiritual things now than they were ten years ago.
Barna research group in a report released last year said,
85% of all adults say that their religious faith is very important in their life. The most popular topic of conversation is the content of movies or television programs. Two out of every three adults talk about TV or movies during a typical week. The next most popular items of conversation are money and sports.
But listen to this: 49% of adults spend time each week talking about morals and
42% spend time talking about spiritual issues.
An estimated 90 million adults talk about religious matters with family or friends in an average week.
People are interested. Let’s tell ‘em how much God has done for us.
There are thousands of ways you can witness. You can give away tapes or CDs. You can give away books like the Purpose Driven Life. We have a whole class on this called 401. It teaches you simple ways to share your faith.
Today we are going to teach you how to use a little tool called “Steps to Peace with God.” Would you pull that out? I like this little tool. I’ve used it for a long time for several reasons. It’s simple and to the point. You can carry it in your wallet or purse. All the verses are written out right there in the booklet. And it links you to a well-respected leader, Billy Graham since it’s produced by his association. It’s non-threatening. It helps you share your story when you say, “Here’s how I came to know a peace with God.”
I have a couple of volunteers who are going to model for us how to share this. You can watch them and follow along in your booklet.
(Drama)
Now, why in the world should I take the time to do that with somebody else? Here’s why. It’s the reason your heart is still beating.
Think with me. Why doesn’t God take us to heaven the moment we become believers? We can worship in heaven. We can fellowship in heaven. We will be like Jesus in heaven. We will have a ministry of serving God in heaven. But what we can’t do is tell people aren’t free how they can be free. What we can’t do is share the good news with people who don’t know it yet.
The only reason we are left on this earth after we have come to Christ is because God wants us to share the good news with people who haven’t heard.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
II Peter 3:9 (NIV)
Jesus Christ was stretched out on the cross dying a cruel death and He says, “This is how much I love you… and all the people you work with… and all your relatives who haven’t been set free yet… and all the people in your neighborhood. I love you this much!”
Every once in a while, people will say, “Rick, isn’t our church big enough?” And I think, “Well, part of me agrees with you because my job was a lot easier when we had 150 people coming here.” We don’t grow for our benefit. We grow because more people need to be set free. “Aren’t we too big?” Wrong question! How can we help more people meet Jesus, be forgiven, be set free, become passionate followers of Christ?” Right question! When we forget we were made for a mission – when we fail to evangelize – we are saying to the world, “Hey! I’m in. Best of luck to you. Hope you make it!” But that’s not the spirit of this church.
I thank you here at CVCC. Some people are coming here on Saturday nights to worship at 5:30 even though it doesn’t feel as much like church to you because you want to make room for people on Sunday mornings who still need to be set free. Thank you. Some people are getting up early on Sundays to come at 8:30 or coming late at 11:45 to make room for people at 10:00. Thank you. Over 1200 adults and teens and over 300 children are here on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings. People are being reached for Christ. And you have sacrificed money and personal preferences to make room for 1100 young adults who worship here each Sunday evening. Thank you. This is a church on mission.
We are working on developing more parking on the little hill by the interstate. Our goal is for that to happen next spring.
We are shuttling people over from Lawrence School to alleviate some of the parking lot congestion.
During the last quarter of this year, we will be fine tuning our site plan.
We’d like to cut a road through to Sprague to help with traffic flow issues.
We want to buy some more land if and when it becomes available.
Our goal is to plan and then build a bigger building adjacent to this one. We want to do that sooner rather than later.
And right now, we are exploring the possibility of finding an off-site location nearby to rent so we can keep on reaching new people for Christ.
Why do we do this? Aren’t we busy enough? We care because Jesus cares. We want to go to heaven and take as many people with us as we can.
I am made for a mission here… locally.
2. I am made for a mission there… regionally.
It’s not enough for us to care about the people who are around us. We must dare to reach beyond our own little world. Love demands that we move beyond our comfort zone to people with different backgrounds, different educations, different languages, different cultures.
… you will be My witnesses… in all Judea and Samaria…
Acts 1:8
Our mission has such eternal consequences - heaven and hell hang in the balance – that we must be willing to takes risks cross culturally to get the message out.
If you had the cure for AIDS, you’d be shouting it out. It would be criminal to keep it a secret. But we have something even more important than that… the way to eternal life.
I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
I Corinthians 9:22b (ESV)
I don’t just seek to reach people who are like me. We build bridges, not walls. We must dare to reach beyond our world. When you read about Jesus, it’s pretty clear that Jesus cared for the underdog – the people in his world that others wanted to ignore.
The powerless.
The poor.
The left behind.
The prisoners.
The orphans.
The widows.
The aged.
The mentally ill.
The social outcasts.
The sick.
The AIDS patients.
I can imagine that if Jesus was physically walking on this earth today, He’d be hanging out with people like AIDS patients – caring for people that most others turn their back on.
Now here at CVCC, we are fortunate because dozens and dozens of people are reaching beyond their own little world. They are not just telling their friends. They are reaching out to people who are different from themselves to show God’s love – to be Jesus with skin on to hurting and needy people.
Read through the list of ministries…
One ministry that we need to add to the list didn’t make the list is Love, Inc. led by Kim Stephens.
She’ll be in the missions fair along with all the other missions in Rooms 104-106 after the service so you can find out more information.
These are people in our church who said, “You know what? I’m going to break out of the suburban bubble where every lawn is manicured and I’m going to do something like Jesus would do. I’m going to reach beyond my world and reach out to those who are overlooked by other people.”
Sometimes, we just need a little push to get going. And here’s something that absolutely anybody can do. It’s just a little step for you to reach beyond yourself. This can get the momentum going for you if you’re stuck.
Next Sunday, you’ll be given a grocery bag. What we want you to do is to fill it up with non-perishable food items. Some of you may want to take more than one. Bring the bag full of food to church on October 30 or 31. Put the bags behind your car. We’ll pick the groceries up during the service.
We are going to distribute these groceries to South Hills Lend-a-Hand to help needy families in our own community, to the City Rescue Mission, to the near west-side food bank, to Teams to the Nations to take to needy people in West Virginia, and to build a food pantry here for needy people in our own church family. This is an incredible opportunity for absolutely anybody who participates. See, we’re going to let our community know that we care – that we are on mission.
By the way, our next project is going to be putting together some Christmas shoeboxes for soldiers in Iraq and for some needy kids in Cleveland. Stay tuned.
One day we are going to stand before God and He’s going to do an audit of our lives and He’s going to judge if we really learned to love or if it was all just talk. This Bible says that one day Jesus is going to separate people into two groups: sheep and goats. And he’s going to say:
I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
Matthew 25:35-36, 40 (NIV)
When you give a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty, when you give food to people who are hungry, when you give a shoe box of gifts, Jesus said, “It’s giving it to Me.”
Being a follower of Jesus means healing hurts and helping people. It’s love. I’m not going to kid you. If you start living out your mission in the world, it’s going to cost you. It will cost you time and energy and effort and money and maybe even your privacy. But it will break you out of your self-centeredness and earn you eternal rewards.
I am made for a mission here, there, and (you know what’s coming next, don’t you?)…
3. I am made for a mission everywhere… globally.
I dare to reach my world. I dare to reach beyond my world. A dare to reach the whole world. God cares about the whole world.
… you will be My witnesses… to the end of the earth.
Acts 1:8
Jesus once said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. If you’re not fishin’ you’re not followin’. He says to His followers, “Go everywhere because I want the whole world to hear the good news.”
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…
Matthew 28:19a (NASB)
Today, the world is smaller than it’s ever been. With ships and planes and internet and email, the world is smaller than ever. You can communicate to all the world from your home, from your den, from your bedroom.
Our 707 mission to young adults has streaming video of the Sunday evening services. And people in places like Argentina, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and Switzerland (among others) have been watching. We can literally go around the world from our own homes now. It has never been easier for us to seek to reach the whole world.
The truth is that you’re only just a few hours away from an international mission project. Let me read to you some of the countries where CVCC members went just this year. Ghana, Romania, El Salvador, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico. If you like to travel, you’re at the right church! Start traveling for a purpose!
I know this from first hand evidence because I’ve been to most of those places. People all around the world are hungry for the good news.
Next year, our Teams to the Nations short-term missions ministry is sending people to
Detroit, El Salvador, Romania, Russia, Ukraine,
Ghana, South Africa, and Thailand. You can get a brochure about these trips at the missions fair in rooms 104 and 106 today or out there in our foyer.
As Rick Warren says, “The Great Commission is your commission. One day the Great Commission will be the Great Completion.” So, join God in helping to set people free all around the world. I know that nothing will jump-start your spiritual life like experiencing a short-term missions project. I urge you to participate in a short-term missions project ASAP! You’ll get more joy, more vision, and more closeness to God. It could very well be one of the most significant events of your life.
If anyone wants to keep his life safe, he will lose it. If anyone gives up his life because of Me, he will save it.
Matthew 16:25 (NLV)
Fulfilling your mission is the secret of a fulfilled life. Let listen to our vocal team and look at just a few of the pictures of the places our people have been this past year – and look at a few of the faces of the people that God has set free because some CVCCers knew that they were made for a mission.
I am made for a mission here, there, and everywhere.
If we care we must share. Have you completed your mission? Not if you’re still alive. If you’re still alive, your mission is not completed. There is somebody here, there and everywhere for you to reach.
I love how Rick Warren puts it. You’ve got four possible responses.
Moses – “Who me?”
Jonah – “Not me.”
Habakkuk – “Why me?”
Isaiah – “Send me.”
You will never regret saying “Send me” to God. Because God will use you to set people free.
A point to ponder: My goal – to go to heaven and take as many people with me as possible.
A verse to remember: 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. Acts 1:8 (ESV)
A question to consider: What steps should I take to share my faith here, there, and everywhere?
Father, I do so much want to fulfill the purposes for which You made me. Today, I embrace that fifth purpose, my mission to tell others. I want You to use me – anytime, any place, any way – here, there, and everywhere. I want to bring others to You so You can set them free. I want to be a part of what you are doing in the world. I want to build my life around Your eternal purposes. In Jesus name, Amen.
Talk about the magnet…
