I met a new hero yesterday—Pastor Mark from Texas—his
faithful church of 25-30 people collected 5,400 shoeboxes. I’m thankful for his
work and the work of y’all.
My original hero is Billy Graham. In 197? I was watching on
TV and during the invitation thinking “I’m glad I’m not there or I’d have to
walk down in front of all those people.”
Then Dr. Graham turned and said, “If you’re watching by television” and
I knew I had to respond.
This morning I want to talk again about our mission. You’re on mission for God. Matthew 28:18-20 is our mission.
A few years ago I was in Spokane, WA and saw a sign for
Southwest Airlines that said, “Buckle up, you’re going on an adventure,” and I
thought that should be the motto for every Christian. God’s mission is the greatest adventure on earth. It’s something that is missing from too
many Christian lives.
That’s how Paul began his journey. He asked, “What do you
want me to do, Lord?” and that’s how he began. George Muller cared for thousands of orphans and educated
over 120,000 children— said “90% of life’s difficulties are overcome when our
hearts are ready to do the will of God, whatever it may be.”
Yesterday we talked about why our mission is global and
today we’ll talk about how it is possible. Our mission is not impossible. How can it be possible? You mentioned yesterday how many unbelievers there are in
the world and that sounds impossible.
It is possible when three things happen.
--When followers
become fishers – Jesus gave a command to GO based on His absolute
authority. Jesus has authority to
command his followers to be fishers simply because he died for the fish. Everything you need God has made sure
you have. John 14:12 –“He who
believes in me the works that I do he will do also and greater works than
these…” Does that mean we’ll do
greater miracles? No, I believe He
is speaking of spiritual healing. Jesus’ ministry was confined to the nation of
Israel. But within 30 years of Jesus’ death the gospel spread around the known
world. Greater works were being
done. More people were saved in
the first 3 months after Jesus ascended than in His own ministry. On Pentecost alone 3,000 souls were
added. The key is in Acts 1:1 –
Jesus continue His work in us.
--When followers
become focused – This conference refocuses what we’re to be about. In Acts 1:9-11 they saw Jesus taken up
into heaven but were promises He would return in the same manner. Disciples are looking up but they
angels told them to look AROUND. A
few verses back Jesus tells them He will fill them with His Spirit. As soon as Jesus says that, the
disciples ask if He’d restore the Kingdom to Israel. They get distracted.
Satan loves to distract us from the task at hand – “spiritual spam”. The American work force wastes
millions of hours deleting spam.
The most paramount issue is how can a sinner be made right with a holy
God and enter into eternal heaven.
That’s the only important issue.
Like Christian in “Pilgrim’s Progress” we need to plug our ears and run
straight ahead calling, “Life, Life, Eternal Life.”
--When followers
become filled – Acts 1:8 promises the Holy Spirit. This task we’re called to is a
spiritual endeavor. How did these
simple disciples make a dent at all in the Pagan world? When Jesus tells them to GO He first
tells them to WAIT until them are filled with power from on high. You need the right equipment to do the
task. That is the filling of the
Holy Spirit. Best chain saw – most
expensive – came back exhausted the next day complaining and the clerk turned
it on! Every day believers are
trying to do the work of God in the energy of the flesh. There was once a brave captain
whose sword was dreaded by all his enemies. The king demanded to see the sword
and couldn’t see anything unusual in it.
The captain said, “You have only examined the sword not the arm who
holds it.” It’s a mystery when we
see God using so many people. We
can’t figure it out. But there’s a
great, mighty Hand behind those God uses.
Your mission is the Great Commission and it’s possible. Coca Cola has a goal – for all 7.5 billion
people in the world to taste their product. 97% of the world has heard, 72% has seen a can, and 51% of
everyone on earth has tasted Coca Cola and they’ve only been around 100
years. Thing go better with Coke
but things go a lot better with Jesus Christ.
Parable: A
group existed that called themselves fishermen. There were many fish and they were hungry. The fishermen met in meetings and
talked about the abundance of fish and how to fish. They talked about how everyone should fish and they
organized a board and hired staff to define fishing, to defend fishing. But no one fished. Expensive training centers were built
to teach fishing. Many graduated and were given fishing licenses and were sent
to do full-time fishing. BUT like
the fishermen back home they never fished. After one meeting on the necessity of meeting one man left
the meeting and went fishing. He
was honored for his catch and scheduled to attend meetings to tell of his
experience. So he stopped
fishing. Many survived the
ridicule of those who criticized their clubs. Imagine how hurt some of the fishermen were when someone
suggested those who did not catch fish really weren’t fishermen. Is a person a fisherman if he never
catches a fish? Is one following
if he is not fishing?
The mission we have is global and it’s possible. We are hearing stories of the work
being multiplied globally and it encourages us to say “Send me” and “What’s
next?”
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