Multiplying Workers

Fulfilling the Great Commission: Multiplying Workers

Welcome! Today is our final message in this series entitled “Fulfilling the Great Commission.” Today’s message is entitled “Multiplying Workers.” As I have mentioned throughout this series, this series is based in part on the book “What Jesus Started” by Steve Addison.

I want to start today with a review of where we’ve been, and to also specifically ask the question, “Is this really what Jesus started?”

Gathering Communities

Fulfilling the Great Commission: Gathering Communities

Welcome! Today we continue our series on “Fulfilling the Great Commission.” Today’s message is entitled “Gathering Communities.” I want to start with a pretty provocative quote by Richard Halverson, a former chaplain to the US senate:

“In the beginning the Church was a fellowship of men and women who centered their lives on the living Christ. They had a personal and vital relationship to the Lord. It transformed them and the world around them. Then the Church moved to Greece, and it became a philosophy. Later it moved to Rome, and it became an institution. Next it moved to Europe and it became a culture. Finally, it moved to America, and it became an enterprise. We’ve got far too many churches and so few fellowships.”

I think there is unfortunately a lot of truth to this quote. There have always been exceptions, but the church in Greece, and then in Rome, and then in Europe, and then in America, has had its struggles. In each of these setting, the trouble begins because people try to “do” church without first and foremost submitting their lives to Christ, living in submission to Him day by day, depending on the Holy Spirit to convict, teach, and guide them. Apart from Christ, the church starts to look like the institutions of the world. Although I think the illustrations of Jesus’ first disciples and the early church in Scripture are more descriptive than proscriptive in terms of the organizational details, from looking at the letters to the churches in Revelations, as well as Paul’s letters, it is clear that individual relationships with Christ must always be the foundational bedrock of “church.”

Training Disciples

Fulfilling the Great Commission: Training Disciples

 

Welcome! Today we continue our series on “Fulfilling the Great Commission.” A starting point of our series has been the idea that disciples are people who make disciples. Today’s message is entitled “Training Disciples.” As I have mentioned throughout this series, these messages are based in part on the book “What Jesus Started” by Steve Addison.

Today, I want you to imagine that you are one of the people who lived at the time of Paul and the early church. I am basing this on a real person. This person is male, and I apologize if this makes this exercise somewhat less relatable if you are female. You are Greek, not a Jew, and while a young adult, you come into contact with the gospel, believe, and are saved. You are either taught directly by Paul or in a circle of people that were taught by Paul. Because you are faithful and earnest in the work of sharing the gospel and helping to disciple believers, your reputation leads Paul himself to want to take you along with him and use you as needed to further the work of growing churches. However, there is the question of circumcision. There were leaders of the church in Jerusalem who thought that being an “upper tier” leader required that one be circumcised. In the case of Timothy, Paul had gone along with this, perhaps because Timothy had a Jewish mother. But in your case, not having any Jewish connection at all, Paul feels it is entirely inappropriate. He feels it is important to establish that in Christ, circumcision is nothing and is certainly not meant for any Gentile believers in Christ.

Sharing the Gospel

Fulfilling the Great Commission: Sharing the Gospel

Welcome! Today we continue our series on “Fulfilling the Great Commission.” As I have mentioned in the past two messages, this series is loosely based on a book called “What Jesus Started” by Steve Addison. Two weeks ago, we looked at God’s heart towards the lost, how He loves them and wants them to turn to Him in faith. Last week, we talked about connecting with people. Jesus taught His disciples by example, showing them that compassion was for everyone, including those whose lives were quite a mess. One such example was the Samaritan woman at the well, who was in many ways the absolutely last person Jews might otherwise talk to. She was a Samaritan, whose religious beliefs were a toxic hodgepodge of half-truths and cultish traditions. She was a woman, and Jewish men did not talk in public with women at all. And she had lived a very immoral life and was likely shunned by even her own village. Yet Jesus chose her to talk to, she was very receptive to Him, and the disciples learned to seek out the lost, no matter what “package” they came in. Jesus also spoke to a demon-possessed seemingly crazy and dangerous man in the Gerasenes. Jesus cast out the demons and the man was then very receptive to Jesus and His message. We likewise see all kinds of people coming to faith in Christ in the Book of Acts, from the non-Jewish centurion named Cornelius, to the woman of Thyatira named Lydia. Brought to faith were everything from the wealthy and influential to the poor and anonymous.

Connecting with People

Fulfilling the Great Commission: Connecting with People

Welcome! Today we continue our series on “Fulfilling the Great Commission.” As I mentioned last week, this series is loosely based on a book called “What Jesus Started” by Steve Addison. Today’s message is entitled “Connecting with People”. Last week we considered God’s heart towards the lost – He loves the lost and has great compassion for them, and as Christ followers we too should have great compassion for the lost. We looked at the Great Commission in Matthew 28, and how disciples are by definition people who make disciples, and thus, as Christ followers, we too should reach out to the lost with the gospel, and as they come to faith in Christ, we should continue to help them grow and become people who themselves can help others come to faith and grow. In this way, the effects of the gospel multiply like wildfire, and this is what we see in the gospels, in Acts, and in the New Testament letters. We also talked about the “Satanic lullaby” in America that encourages believers to “sleep” spiritually and not be about the work of the Great Commission. Shockingly, an Iranian Christian woman living for a short time in the United States wanted to go back to Iran facing potentially severe persecution and possibly even death, because she preferred these threats to the sleepiness she felt in America. How do you feel today? I pray that we are not spiritually sleepy.

Seeing the End

Fulfilling the Great Commission: Seeing the End

 Welcome! Today we begin a new series entitled “Fulfilling the Great Commission”. This series is loosely based on a book called “What Jesus Started” by Steve Addison. I want to start this series with a well-known passage from Matthew 9:

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” – Matt. 9:35-38

Lessons from Paul's Personal Greetings

Romans 16:1-27

As World War II was coming to a close, American soldiers began to wonder about the sacrifices that were made to fight the war.  They had gone through many sleepless nights in battle, many weeks of being hungry and many fellow soldiers had fallen at their side.  They had left home to fight for what?  They had left wives, children or girlfriends to fight an enemy on the other side of the ocean...but why? 

In the movie series, Band of Brothers, you see a portrayal of what the army soldiers went through.  The documentary was about E(Easy) Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.  They were a part of the 101st Airborne Division. 

A discontentment was growing among the soldiers as to their involvement in this war.  And then, they saw it.  As Easy Company was travelling through Germany they saw what was unexplainable.  It was an image I’m sure they would never get out of their mind until the day they died.  In just a few brief moments the anguish of the war made sense.  They finally saw what they were fighting for.

Paul's Example

Romans 15:14-33 

Praise God for his indescribable gift!  It is too easy to overlook the blessings we have in Christ.  I know we all face challenges and even trials of many kinds.  And yet, in Christ, we have something which the world simply does not have.

Friday night around the campfire we were talking briefly about our inability as individuals to serve others and accomplish worldly achievements.  In particular, we were talking about not being able to pursue achievements which would be to our own advantage and I don’t even mean selfish advantage.  Arguably, these advantages to pursue now would allow the chance to have more freedom to do good in the future.

So, there is room for people to go in either direction.  I don’t think working hard now to have a future opportunity is wrong.  Nor do I think that serving others now to the point where an opportunity is lost is wrong.  What I am saying is how we concluded the discussion Friday night … in Christ.

Psalm 37:8 “Do not fret—it leads only to evil.” and I Peter 3:6 (ESV) “Do not fear anything that is frightening.”  The world can be a confusing and complex, difficult and sometimes scary place.  Why then shouldn’t we fret or fear?

Because the Lord says, “Do not be afraid for I am with you,” throughout scripture.  Twice in Genesis (26:24 and 28:15) including the exhortations “I will bless you, and I will watch over you wherever you go.”  Twice in Isaiah (41:10 and 43:5), including the familiar verse Isaiah 41:10, “Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Then, in Jeremiah where times were bleak for the Jewish people, we see God’s promise five times!  (1:8, 1:19, 15:20, 30:11, 42:11, 46:28)  These verses also include the promises, “I will rescue you; the enemy will not overcome you; I will save you; I will deliver you.”  Twice in Haggai, the LORD Almighty declares, “I am with you.”  And then Jesus says to us in Matthew 28:20, “And surely I am with you always.”

Accept One Another Like Christ Accepts You

Romans 15:1-13

Have you ever been in a situation where another person was driving you crazy, and you wanted to put them in their place? Or maybe you just wanted to give up because you were tired of putting up with them. How about relating to someone struggling with a sinful habit or attitude that just isn’t a temptation for you, and you wonder why it’s such a big deal for them all the time? How should you react? Do we have to put up with other people regardless? How does Jesus want us as his disciples to behave with people that we just don’t understand or get along with? Well, there’s a clue in our title for today: Accept One Another Like Christ Accepts You. This is a very important part of our Christian walk and can make a big difference in all our relationships. Let’s pray as we begin.

Do Not Destroy the Work of God

Romans 14:1-23

Good morning!  We are closing in on the end of our series on the book of Romans.  In fact, the series will conclude on the last Sunday of this month.

Last week’s message talked about submission (always a popular topic) and clothing ourselves with Christ.  This week’s message is going to carry that thought forward giving us additional things to think about in how we relate to one another especially in the areas of personal conviction and conscience.

I realize that for me that is a pretty short introduction, but we have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s pray and jump right in to Romans chapter 14.

Father God, we need Your insight continually.  Please help us to see our conduct rightly.  Please fill our hearts and minds with Your Holy Spirit as we look into Your Word.  Show us what You have for each of us.  We pray in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.