THE MISSION OF DISCIPLESHIP
Matthew 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, \”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.\”
LESSON INTRODUCTION
Before Jesus ascended by into heaven He gave this final command to His disciples.
This is the mission of the Church.
Every group or organization in the Church ought to have a mission. The mission
can\’t be just to come to meetings. The mission can\’t be Christians talking to other
Christians. The mission can\’t be the sale of chicken dinners of fish sandwiches.
All these are helpful to support the mission, but they are not the mission.
Outreach is the mission.
God measures the success of the Church by it out reach programs.
A Church without an active outreach program is not fulfilling the
mission of Christ.
Acts 1:10-11 is a picture of the young Church not moving.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciple were standing still gazing into
heaven. It two angels to get them moving. Why are you standing here? Jesus
will come again just as you saw Him leave.
The young church stagnated again in Jerusalem after gaining many disciples.
God allow the persecution of the church to scattered the disciple to other areas
so that Gospel could be preached. Acts 8:4
Jesus is not coming back until the last Christian is saved. John 6:39-40
We are part of God\’s plan of preaching the Gospel to the lost.
We have the authority to preach the Gospel to everyone we meet. (Verse 18).
We have the commission from Jesus to teach the congregation how to witness
for Christ outside these four walls.
How do you get men involved and committed to serve God?
I. TEACH THE IMPORTANT OF DISCIPLESHIP
A. You have to teach God\’s commands to witness out side the Church
B. You have to teach God\’s definition of discipleship.
C. You have put God\’s command for discipleship into action.
D. You have to seek opportunities to witness in different places around the city.
II. Verse 19 says GO.
A. The verse didn\’t say sit down and talk about it. It said GO.
GO does not include waiting around for some lost person to show up at
Church door steps.
B. The next verb in verse 19 is MAKE.
1. We have to make disciples.
2. How do you MAKE disciples?
a. You have to spend time teaching and preaching.
b. You have to go out witnessing and encouraging others to come
to your Church.
c. You may have to entice people to come to your Church.
d. If people have a need, maybe you find programs to supply
those needs while teaching the Word.
C. In doing this, you make opportunities for your members to be involved in mission
work.
1. We can\’t men interested if we don\’t have any program for them to be
committed to.
2. We can talk about what need to be done, but if there is no evidence of doing
something, then interest can\’t develop.
III. The next verb in verse 19 is BAPTIZE.
A. If you don\’t make any new disciples, you want have anyone to Baptize.
B. May be you can put out a sign, \”FREE HOMES IN HEAVEN\”, come
sign up for yours.
C. May be you can put out a sign, \”FREE BAPTISM NEXT MONTH\” come
sign up to be baptized.
D. May be you can put up a sign, FREE BABY DEDICATIONS\”, come sign
up to get you baby dedicated to the Lord.
IV. Verse 20 CHURCH TEACHING MINISTRY
A. The first thing we need to do is to teach our current members to obey
God\’s commands.
1. One of the thing we need to do is to teach classes on personal finance.
2. We need to teach our members how to tune their finances to God\’s
commands for investment.
3. This is one area where a commitment to trust God that will reap immediate
benefits.
B. We cannot teach new members God\’s Word if the current members are
not obedient to the Word.
1. The current members are the role models for the outside world to see.
C. Pastors can\’t worry about upsetting the members by teaching the Word
that they don\’t want to hear.
1. Jesus said He would be with you always.
2. You are going to upset some members and lose some members when
teach ALL the WORD according to Jesus commands.
3. The Apostle Paul was no stranger to rebuking his churches with the
Word when he saw disobedience.
4. Preaching and teaching ought to make people feel uncomfortable in
their sins.
V. DISCIPLESHIP IS A COMMITMENT TO FOLLOW GOD\’S COMMANDS
A. God has a vested interest in us.
1. Philippians 1:6 states, \” Being confident of this, that he who began a good work
in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. \”
2. We have a vested interest in Heaven.
3. We should be storing up treasures in heaven with our good works.
B. The Church has to be taught that there is a value in serving God.
1. The church has to be taught that not being committed to serve
loses many blessings.
2. The Lord says if man don\’t work he should not eat.
Rev M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
5510 West Sam Houston Parkway
Houston, Texas
For a complete list of my lessons visit my blog
\”goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com\”
