Made For Mission: What's My Mission?

We're in week two of our Made for Mission series.

Last week, we said that every person is called by God for a mission.

And you're not an accident or a fluke, but instead, God's masterpiece created

for a purpose, Eastwood.

And with this mission, you've got some options. We went over it last week.

Now, did I have any helpers this morning? Did any of my helpers decide they

were going to help me or are we going to know? Okay, no takers? All right.

Well, we had some options from last week, right?

Anybody remember, y'all help me review. This is our mission.

What could we do? What's some things we could do with it?

One, we could probably walk right beside it and just ignore it,

right? And then sometimes we might casually bump into it a little bit, right?

Sometimes we might even consider it a little bit, you know, and then move on.

But who remembers what we need to do to actually be on mission?

What? We got to stand on it. We got to be on mission, right?

Be on mission. for God. That's the key.

Every once in a while, sometimes we can accidentally live out part of our purpose

for a short period of time, you

know, but life gets busy and we fall back into the daily grind of life.

And some people actively, you know, purpose the mission God made for them.

They find it because God's not hiding it, is he, from us.

He's more excited sometimes, I believe, most of the time, probably all the time,

than we are in seeing us use our gifts and live out the reasons he made us in the first place, right?

So that's the goal of these six weeks that we're going to focus on being made

for mission, that we would literally live our lives on the mission that we were made for. Amen?

And so our big point last week is we are all called.

Now, pop quiz, how many of us are called to the mission?

All of us. Ministry is not for a select few, as you remember,

but for all Jesus followers.

Now, you just got to answer this in your heart today. Are you a follower of Jesus?

Are you a disciple of Christ?

So this is you, okay? This is you for all God's followers.

If that's the case, then the obvious next question should be, so what am I called to?

Or what is my mission?

What is my mission, right? And that's what we're going to talk about today.

If you have a Bible, you can turn to Luke chapter 9, if you will.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

We're going to start with verse 51 of Luke chapter 9.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

And as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,

Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

Let's just stop there a minute. Y'all, Jesus was a man on a mission.

He resolutely, according to this scripture, set out to lay down his life for

the sake of other salvation.

With great intentionality and courage, he knew where he was going and his life

was bigger than himself.

And earlier in this chapter, he shared point blank what following him actually meant.

Look back at verse 23 there in Luke chapter 9.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

Luke 9, 23. Then he said to them all, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny

themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Now look at this next slide because Jesus made it clear the mission of those

who follow him was the same as his, Eastwood.

Followers must lay down their lives on a daily basis for the sake of others being saved.

This isn't just a one-time event, right? This is the mission of our lives on

a daily basis from now till Jesus returns.

Our mission is way bigger than ourselves. Way bigger, right?

Or even the people that we serve, get this, is what is part of a worldwide movement Jesus started.

And for those of you maybe who are brand new to this God, church,

Jesus thing, and maybe you're just checking it out, you might be thinking this, all right?

You might be thinking, well, that might be your mission, but that's sure not mine, okay?

Well, let me just say, if that's you, that means you don't know the Lord yet.

That's totally cool. I get where you're at.

Today is still huge for you because if you're trying to figure out all this

God stuff out, mission is a huge part of it.

God's not just inviting us, not just inviting you to come to church on Sundays

and to give part of your hard-earned paycheck to him each week.

You know what? He's actually inviting you and me, all of us,

to join him in his massive mission where he is already church at work all over the world.

Are you ready? Are you ready to live on mission?

You see, if you've been following Jesus for a while and maybe would consider

yourself a Christian, you might be nodding your head thinking,

God's mission is my mission.

Got it. What's next? Right?

But if you're anything like me, this is much easier to nod along with,

but much harder to live it out.

Right? You may intentionally or intellectually believe your primary mission

is to join God in what he's up to, but practically your life would say something totally different.

Let me warn you today, it could get a bit uncomfortable, but just remember, I didn't start it.

Jesus did. Okay. Just remember that.

Okay, church, you ready for this ride today? I think one of Satan's most powerful

tools to get Jesus's followers off mission is the weapon of distraction.

Distraction. All right. How many of you have a cell phone here today?

Especially a smartphone. Okay. A cell phone. If you have, I want you all,

this is probably the first time you'll ever hear me say this in the last,

all pull out your smartphones right now.

All right. I want you to look at it for a minute while I'm speaking to you.

The average person checks their cell phone 110 times a day.

That works out, if you want to do the math, to nine times an hour, okay?

And I want to, this is interesting because 84% of worldwide cell users report

not being able to go a single day without their phone in hand.

50% of teens admit to being addicted to their cell phones is simply something

they can't live without.

Can we all agree as we look at this next slide, we live in a distracted culture, right?

If Satan can't make you bad, he'll make you busy.

I want y'all to hear that today. If Satan can't make you bad, he will make you busy.

I'm talking to you out here who know Christ. He'll make you busy.

Busy, whether it's living out the American dream, whether it's,

they may be good things, probably will be, right?

But he's going to make you busy to distract you from the mission that God has

called you to, because everything we do in this life should be leveraged for the mission of God.

He'll do anything to distract you, church, from your mission.

And some of you today, when I shared that, some of you know, hey, I'm busy.

I'm busy. In fact, you're so busy, you ain't got time for the mission of God.

You see, in a recent survey at Lifeway, 80% of churchgoers actually said that

they believe that they have a personal responsibility in sharing their faith,

but 61% say that they haven't shared their faith in the past six months at all.

So the majority of us know what the mission is, don't we, and the importance

of it, but somehow it doesn't impact the way that we live.

That's why we're going to talk about this. That's why we're here.

That's why we're looking at this today. Look at verses 57 through 62.

You can put your cell phone back up unless you got the Bible popping up on it.

But look chapter nine, verses 57 to 62.

Look at this. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him,

I will follow you wherever you go.

Jesus replied, foxes have dens

and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head.

He said to another man, follow me.

But he replied, Lord, first, let me go and bury my father.

And Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

Still another said, I will follow you, Lord. But first, let me go back and say goodbye to my family?

Jesus replied, no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for

service in the kingdom of God.

You know, from this passage, I'm sure to get this today. Hang with me.

From this passage right here, Jesus identifies and he calls out three distraction

missions that will put you away from the mission that Jesus has made for you.

Look at this next slide as we look at them and talk about them.

Three distracting missions.

Number one, see if you relate, the mission of comfort.

The mission of comfort. A man walks up here, as we see in this passage,

ready to follow, and Jesus said that this mission here may lead to homelessness.

We don't hear how this person responds, but it's heavily implied in the text

that that was a deal breaker for him. He was interested in following Jesus as

long as it didn't take him out of his comfort zone.

I want y'all to stop for a minute. Just think for a moment about all the things

Jesus had his disciples do for a second.

He sent them out, Brother Ronnie, weeks at a time with no cash,

no extra clothes, or a fallback plan.

Ultimately, Jesus would actually model this comfort zone-less life by dying

on the cross through six hours of excruciating pain and torture.

But before you know many of our family trips

that we take and some of i'm sure most of y'all

probably do this but we'll pray right we'll pray before we head out and probably

the most popular prayer is lord keep us safe right lord keep us safe on the

road you know bring us back safe all those type things everybody anybody ever

done that before before you head out on a trip or whatever right?

I think that's probably a good prayer, but I have to ask us this today, all of us.

But what if Jesus is more concerned about making us dangerous followers of him

and less about keeping us safe all the time?

Remember I said the other week that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will?

You know, a lot of times we tend to just gravitate towards comfort.

It has to be in our comfort zone. I can't go there because it'll make me uncomfortable, right?

I can't do this because it'll make me uncomfortable.

What if God wants you to be uncomfortable?

What if he wants you to be uncomfortable to the point that you depend upon him

to not be concerned about your personal comforts, right?

I told you this might not be pleasant today.

Haven't you found in your own life, that the times that you grow the most are

when you're uncomfortable and you need to trust Jesus?

I'll be honest with you. The times I've grown the most spiritually in my life

was that I was at the end of my rope. I didn't have anywhere to look but up.

Our world, Eastwood, is obsessed with safety and comfort. Did you know that?

Check out some popular items if you hadn't had a chance. You can search them on the web, right?

Or you can go to Walmart and probably see some of them. See how many,

I'll give you an assignment in a minute, but here's just a few examples.

A hoodie that inflates into a pillow.

Somebody's saying, what's a hoodie? An alarm clock that actually makes coffee.

Talking about comfort, right? Here's your assignment. Go to Walmart today,

tomorrow, sometime this week, and see how many items that you can find that

simply exist to make your life more comfortable.

You see, what happens when the mission of comfort, Eastwood,

comes in conflict with the mission of Jesus?

What happens when comfort becomes a bigger deal in your life than Christ is?

We learn here in this passage that Jesus said it would be better to count the

cost before following him.

Well, here, that's the first one. The mission of comfort can distract us.

Number two, are you ready? The mission of commitments.

Commitments. You know, Jesus turns here in this passage to another person and

initiates the conversation. What does Jesus say? Two words, you remember?

Follow me, right? But the man replied what? He said, Lord, but first let me go and bury my father.

Jesus said back to him, what? Let the dead bury their own dead,

but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

And at first, as you look at this, it seems kind of like a harsh,

a pretty harsh response, right, from Jesus.

Because you probably, just tell me truthfully, didn't you picture the first

time you read this probably, a dad on his deathbed, and Jesus tells the son

to leave him there and just follow him and let him die without him being there?

By the deathbed. Who would say that to someone?

Well, think about this for a moment, though. If his father had already died,

this man would have been occupied with a burial already.

But evidently, he wanted to wait until after his father's death,

which might have been years away, church, years away.

And Jesus clearly conveys that there is what? There is an urgency to the mission

that he's called us to. Amen?

It's not something we pick up when our schedule finally comes with some breathing room in it.

Because I can tell you, your calendar, your schedule, my calendar,

my schedule is never going to jive with the mission of God.

Never going to work out easy. Never.

But instead, it becomes our first priority immediately is what he's saying.

You know, look at this for a second. The man says two words and they make all

the difference. Lord first, let me.

There wasn't anything wrong with wanting to take care of his father,

was there? The problem was putting this as priority over following Jesus.

Y'all, there's nothing wrong with wanting to save for retirement,

but are you putting that as priority over following Jesus?

There's nothing wrong with wanting to better your family or maybe make provisions

this way or that way, or are you putting that before following Jesus, though?

You see, what he needed to say instead was, first, Lord, instead of Lord first.

He should have said first, Lord, whatever you're calling me to do,

Jesus, I'll do that first.

I'll do that first. This is not just for the sake of being obedient,

Eastwood. It's also for our own blessing, right?

And think about the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says the famous words that will be familiar to you.

Seek first what? His kingdom and his righteousness.

And what did he say? All these things will be given to you as well.

We just got to trust him, right? We got to trust him. Jesus promises that if

we place his kingdom where?

First, right? First in our lives,

that he will take care of all the other things we love to stress about.

That doesn't mean we need to be foolish in our living. That means we're wise

and we do what God's called us to do in his word, but we let him work out the details.

He'll take care of the rest in other words my focus

my primary mission is what god has called me to as his his disciple right so

are there any things that you have told jesus think about it for a minute yes

but first like lord i'll serve you but first let me get through this busy season

in my life lord i'm just so busy you don't know what all i'm doing yeah he does.

I'll serve you first, but let me get through this promotion.

Until I get my promotion, then I'll give more.

Or I'll share my faith, but first let me get more comfortable in my own walk with you.

I'll spend more time reading the

Bible, but first let me push the snooze button on the alarm a few times.

Look, while many of the commitments that you made, I make, may be really good

and honorable, Jesus still tells us in his word that his mission comes first. Amen?

And then we come to number three, the third distracting mission that can set

us away and apart from where we're called. That's the mission of competition.

As Jesus continues to walk, another man approaches in this passage. You saw it.

I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.

Jesus turns to him. What does he say?

No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is what fit for service in

the kingdom of God. Once again, a seemingly harsh response from Jesus, right?

I can't imagine dropping everything to go on a mission trip with a man I just

met without at least letting my family know.

That sure seems like it would be incredibly irresponsible, right?

This was a world, though, before cell phones or social media, right?

So he can't text. He can't even post from the road.

But notice once again that this man has some of the same disorganized words, doesn't he?

Lord, but first.

Absolutely nothing wrong with telling your family where you're going.

But notice in the same sentence there that he's informing Jesus that he will

follow him, but he's also giving Jesus a command.

Jesus, you let me go do this or I won't follow you. What if this was simply,

church, just a matter of humility? comedy.

Of him being humble before God? What if he responded, Jesus, I will follow you.

Would it be all right if I went and said goodbye to my family and told them where I was going?

Instead, he tries to make a deal with Jesus. You ever done that before?

And he places a condition on his willingness to follow him when he should have

just said, Lord, I'll follow you.

I've heard that the word but completely impacts whatever was just said before it. You ever heard that?

Think about it. I'm pregnant, but I love you, but I'm all in,

but I'll follow you, but the mission God calls us to, church,

must be seen as a reward and not a regret.

He wants you and I to step forward into his calling, his confidence, his joy, right?

No looking back in uncertainty and anxiety. In fact, at one point,

Paul is speaking to the church in Philippi.

Look at Philippians 3, verses 13 and 14, if you'd like. I'll read it. He says this, listen.

Philippians 3:13

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what

is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of which God has called

me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Many things, Eastwood, in our lives, compete with God's mission,

like making money, appearing successful in the world's eyes,

having everything you want, staying healthy, having your kids turn out perfectly.

Many of those things are great, but do they ever compete with what God's mission

of resolutely walking with him, no matter the cost?

Do they ever compete with it? Think about that for a moment this morning.

How big is your butt? Check this out.

What do you think? Last week, we learned that if you're a follower of Jesus,

you're called by him, right?

That doesn't necessarily mean you're actually living out your calling, though, does it?

Just like Jesus resolutely walked towards Jerusalem, even though he knew what

lay ahead there, we too must intentionally and resolutely follow Jesus and his mission above all else.

You know, because as you see on the slide here, Jesus is not about creating a following, is he?

What is he interested in? He's about making followers.

Simply saying that you will follow him is not enough. The primary characteristic

that he's looking for in his followers is humility.

Will I lay down my own comforts, other commitments, things that compete for

my time, treasure and talents to resolutely follow Jesus?

Will I do that? I want to close today by simply giving you some silence.

I want you to bow your heads for a moment. Close your eyes for a moment.

And I want you to ask yourself this question. We'll see it on the next slide

here too. You can look at it later, but just listen.

God, do I have any distracting missions in my life that need to die today?

God, do I have any distracting missions in my life that need to die today?

Are there any comforts that you've made more important than Christ?

Are there any other commitments that you've been saying, but first,

before you can fully follow Christ's call on your life?

Are there any competing missions that might be good, but have become more important

than your calling to know Christ and to make him known?

Let me just say today, let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart.

Think about these things for a moment.

Lord, I pray right now as we come before you, Lord, we will honestly let your

spirit examine our hearts.

God, I pray that, Lord, if we need to repent or if we need to let you readjust

where we're standing, what we're doing, I pray that we'd surrender to that today, Lord.

Give us the strength to obey you, Lord, to stand and live on mission. In Jesus' name.

I want you to all stand, if you would, for a moment. You can have your heads

bowed, eyes closed if you'd like, or you can look up here.

It doesn't matter. because this is the question that's on the screen.

God, do I have any distracting missions in my life that need to die today?

You see, church, your mission, should you choose to accept it, starts now.

One step at a time, right? One person at a time, you can join God in his work

of transforming the world. And I just got to ask that question today. Are you ready?

Are you ready to be living on mission?

To be a part of that transformation of somebody else's life?

Heads bowed, eyes closed. I want you to be thinking between you and God.

Are you ready to be on mission?

Or do you just come to church and just nod your head and say, hallelujah, amen?

You kind of kick it around, the idea around. You kind of lean on it a little

bit and say, nah, that sounds pretty good. I probably should consider it.

Or are you going to die to yourself? Are you going to say, God,

forgive me of all this stuff I've let take number one in my life instead of you, Lord?

I've been saying, but, but, but, instead of saying, yes, Lord.

Lord, first I'll follow you. I'll follow you.

See, that's between you and God. But are you going to live on mission?

Are you going to live on mission? That's the question.