You Have A Mission

You Have a Mission (Acts 1:1-14) What was Our Lord’s mission? To reach out to and save the lost (Luke 19:10) What is our mission as a church? It is essentially the same mission. The “Great Commission” is found in several Bible verses (Acts 1:8; 13:47; Matt. 28:18- 20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:47-48) The Bottom Line Message of the Gospel (Good News) (Rom. 10:9) homologeo (Gk): thou shall confess (confess, profess, acknowledge, appreciate, agree with) Confess Him before men and He will confess you before God and the angels (Matt. 10:32, Luke 12:8) Your words can save or condemn you (Matt. 12:37) pisteuo (Gk): believe (commit to, trust in) 'whosoever believes will not perish but have everlasting life' (John 3:16, See also John 1:12, 5:24, Acts 8:37, Rom. 10:10) God’s grace (undeserved kindness) and compassion (caring), based upon his faithful love, are available to all (Ps. 86:15, 145:8-9, 14) Repentance is met by God’s forgiveness out of compassion (Deut.13:17, 30:3, 2 Chron. 30:9, Ps. 78:38, Luke 15:20) … heart faith, … is true confidence, and involves an earnest committal of one's self and interests, to the demands of the truth believed (Charles G. Finney, Evangelist) sozo (Gk): thou shall be saved (made whole, healed) euangelion (Gk): great good news euangelizo (Gk): proclaiming the great good news

The need/command to share the “Good News” (Rom. 10:14-15) Less than 7% of the world’s population profess to be “born-again” Christians. An estimated 235 million persons in North America (7 out of 10) are lost. There are still more than 3 billion people who are yet to hear the gospel for the very first time. More than 8,800 ethnic groups of the world’s 18,000 people groups of the world do not have access to a gospel speaking preacher of the gospel. Dr. D. James Kennedy, founder of Evangelism Explosion, stated that one of the saddest statistics of our day is that 95% of all church members have said that they never, to their knowledge, led anyone to Christ. It has been said, “We are content to be keepers of the aquarium, rather than to be fishers of men.” One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, there’s something about the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the world in His hand. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that’s true, honey." "But Mommy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus as our Savior. Is that true, too?" Again, the mother assured the little girl that what the pastor had said was true. With a puzzled look on her face the little girl then asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?" Go an make disciples (Matt. 28:19, Mark 16:15) No reason to fear sharing the “Good News” The number one reason Christians say that they don’t share the Gospel is that they feel they lack an adequate knowledge of Scripture to defend what they believe. “ For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all the adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist. (Luke 21:15) We receive power from His Holy Spirit to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8; 6:8; Luke 10:19; Phil 4:13) dunamis {doo'-nam-is}Gk. mighty, miraculous, strength, power and ability.

Witness = one who gives testimony by word as to what he/she has seen or heard Another related reason that many Christians say they don’t share the Gospel is fear of ostracism and ridicule (see John 12:42-43 & Isa. 28:16) The Lord will strengthen, protect & sustain you in preaching the gospel (Isa. 61:1, 2 Tim. 4:17) He is with you until the end (Matt 28:20) God’s Word has power (Prov. 18:20-21, Isa. 55:11, Heb. 4:12) We can find strength to persevere by being “ continually united in prayer” (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4; Luke 18:1; Eph. 6:18) How to share the “Good News” Be prepared (2 Tim. 4:2) How? Be cautious & innocent (Matt. 10:5-16) Paul's approach: Deep concern for the person themselves (Rom. 10:1) Concentrate on loving ministry and “soul-winning” will naturally follow Humble reliance on God instead of on self (Rom. 10:1) Deep understanding of position of people (Rom. 10:2) Be all things to all men (1 Cor. 9:22, Loyola & the Jesuits) Are we/you on mission?