Gtcotr/ss022722
Matthew 28
18 All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
20 Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
The Great Commission is a constant and continuing Mission of the Church …
The 3-Fold Mission of the Church
1. Evangelization
> Evangelization will require - Preaching
the gospel
* Not the social gospel …
* Not the political gospel …
* Not the woke gospel …
* But the Never-Ending, All-Powerful, Life-Changing, Soul-Saving, Eternal, Optimistic, demon-defeating, Unashamed, Blood-Bought Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
> Evangelization will require - Reaching
the lost
* We must be willing to go where they
are …
* We cannot be afraid of sinners or of the situations in which they live.
2. Discipleship
> Teaching the saints
> Training the soldiers
* The Apostle Paul said He:
(1) Crucified his flesh; lusts;
affections (Galatians 5:24)
(2) Transformed himself by
renewing his mind (Romans 12:2)
(2) He brought his body into subjection (1 Corinthians 9:27)
One of the biggest reasons why people fight and struggle with their own besetting sins for years after they are born-again is because they never experience the power of discipleship.
What a waste of time, life, and opportunity.
Born-Again Believers in Jesus Christ who have become children of the living God continue to struggle having skirmish after skirmish, battle after battle, with the temptations and elements of this world year after year. They spend all of their life trying to fix their own lives instead of living a victorious life.
The reason why so many people struggle with the same sins and failures over and over is because they have never had one sharp decisive battle won by the sheer faith in God and their unwillingness to be denied. Instead of destroying the enemies of their past they pacify their flesh and put up with those haunting enemies only to repeat the failure and fall prey to sin over and over again.
Once converted, a born-again soul must decide to gain victory at all costs and to separate themselves from those things which offend God.
Many have been redeemed but not all have gained the victory over their enemies in this life. Snares of the devil continue to trick, trap, and torture people who have never paid the cost of discipleship.
Salvation
is free however discipleship will cost. Discipleship will cost you your right
to be:
·
Selfish
·
Drunk
·
Divisive
·
Gossip
·
Murderous
·
Slanderous
·
Carnal
· Controlled by greed, envy, jealously, anger, bitterness, or strife.
Conversion without transformation leaves the born-again soul living in the shadows of the unsaved.
3. Church Planting
> Birthing and supporting local
congregations in every city we go to
> Jesus died for the Church and is coming
again for the Church
> The Church is the one lasting investment we can make on earth
The Church is only and always one generation away from extinction. An unwillingness or inability to reproduce as a Church seals the fate and signals the soon coming demise of a congregation.
Congregations who refuse to be evangelistic will soon become cannibalistic.
It may appear that nations and governments are in some chaotic control of the world, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The truth is God has a Master plan. He is pulling the strings behind the scenes, and nothing happens without his knowledge.
Evangelization
-
* The world does not need to be educated but regenerated.
Discipleship
*
One if the biggest problems people face is their besetting sins. They often
struggle with battle after battle, skirmish after skirmish,
*
What they are missing is discipleship. The committed journey that forms Christ
within us and makes us face that one sharp decisive battle of the soul for the
Lordship of a life.
*
We must teach holiness and demand change from ourselves and from others.
* The great commission instructs us to go and make disciples - not - go and be a disciple. That step was a given.
Church Planting
*
Everywhere the disciples went and everywhere the Apostle Paul went they
evangelized, discipled, and planted a church.
*
it is the church that carries on the gospel of Jesus Christ, not men.
* It’s the called out and called together Body of Christ that preserves the message and accomplishes the ministry of Jesus Christ.
I AM HERE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE CHURCH IS DOING A GREAT JOB BOTH IN THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD.
WE ARE STRONGER THAN EVER, DOING MORE THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME IN HISTORY, AND RIGHT ON COURSE WITH THE MASTER PLAN OF GOD.
REFUSE TO BELIEVE THE PROPAGANDA OF THE DEVIL AND THE PROPHETS OF THIS WORLD’S SYSTEM.
THE DEVIL IS MORE AFRAID THAN HE HAS EVER BEEN IN HIS ENTIRE EXISTENCE.
Revelation 12:12 “Therefore rejoice, O heavens and you. Who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the seal! For the devil has come down to you , having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
The Church is well armed and ready for the battle.
Last night I returned from a trip that included stopping in or staying in major cities in the US and around the world. From Nairobi to Cairo, from Athens, to Newark, from Istanbul to Houston, from Corinth to Nakuru, and several smaller cities around the world. In every city and I encountered people who are boldly born again and openly sharing their faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I talked with people from Canada, from Lebanon, from China, from Turkey, from Kenya, from Uganda, from Rwanda, from Ghana, from Egypt, from France, and from Texas, just to name a few, each one proud to be a Born-Again, Bible Believing, God fearing, faith-filled witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Things are not as presented by the world media and their prophets and prognosticators of doom and despair. All over the world Jesus is reaching the lost, winning souls, making disciples, and meeting needs, all done by a strong and healthy Church which is the grown-up Body of Jesus Christ.
Well done … now let’s take a breath and get ready for the greatest revival ever seen on planet earth. Jesus is alive and He is coming for a victorious Church. The Bridegroom is coming for His Bride … we are that Bride!
In
closing allow me to be direct:
·
Have
you been born-again?
·
Have
you experienced a life changing conversion experience?
·
Have
you been transformed by the Word of God?
·
Are
you still struggling with the same sins you struggled with before you were
saved?
·
Are
you ready to do something about it?
·
It
may not be easy …
·
You
will need the power of the Holy Spirit and a determination to win the war and
not just a temporary battle of desire.
·
It
will begin by surrendering your right to sin and failure.
· You can do all things through Christ who will strengthen you.
Hebrews 12
1 ¶
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Altar
call …
