Bible Message/Preaching : Our Mission
24"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Act 20:24)
What is mission?
From the latin word meaning "to send".
Something that has been assigned or needs to be accomplished.
What is mission in Biblical context?
- sending or being God's messenger! Eze 3:16-21 16Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 "When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19"Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
- Our mission is continuation of that of Jesus' on earth - Jesus mentioned this several occassion In His prayer: Jn 17:18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
- Its a privilege and has eternal significance - on the other hand it is also a command for all of us Mk 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. If we know a danger is coming upon someone we know/love and if we didn't tell and they face tragedy, we'll be responsible (at least morally). Like wise we need to tell others about the eternal consequence of not being saved. Mk 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
20"Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21"Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul."
What do we understand from the above passage?
Then to his disciples: 21So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. (Jn 20:21-22)
But we should do it with love (& not out of compulsion/ or other feelings) - for the ones who are being lost
What keeps one from sharing the good news with others?
- Rejection: feeling of being rejected is one of the hardest that we can experience
- lack of knowledge
- Scriptural
- Cultural/ current situation
- how to handle a situation
- Gambling/ Abortion/ Sexual morality etc. are issues of the past now in many societies!
- Homosexuality - societies are currently working to normalise it, used to be in the list of psychological diseases!
- Later it could be murder! 15/20 year ago you could not "kill" any human being in a video/computer game, now you can!
- Weaknesses/ Guilt feelings
- Pride
How can we perform our mission?
- By Sharing - the good news of Jesus Rom 10:13-15 13For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." 14How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
- By being a Witness - sharing our experiences/ testifying Act 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Jn 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." Who is more believable? A professional salesman or a satisfied customer?!
- By Serving - helping others (Giving time and money) Jas 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
More than anything else, God is sending us out to serve Christ in our everyday life!
Counting the Costs!
What does it cost for our mission?
-It costs us our whole life! We need to lay down our life!
Is it worth the price?
Are we willing to pay its price?
In short our life's mission is Worshiping - Ministring - Evangelising - Fellowshiping - Discipleship.
Love the Lord with all your heart & love the neighbour as yourself.
Go into all the world and baptising them and to teach them to do all things that Jesus commanded.
It is so simple yet complex!
To Meditate:
- What fears kept me from fulfilling God's mission?
- Think about some whom you can share this week
- How can we help every member of our group to accomplish God's mission
(to be continued...)
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