To Take Part in God's Story (Mission)

Whatever you set your mind to, you can do it.

You can change the world.

And so you have this desire to be able to change the world.

If, however, you're a parent of a millennial,

most likely you're a baby boomer or something like that,

your big desire right now is to leave a legacy.

That's all you're thinking about, death.

And what's my mark on the world?

And you're starting to get kind of depressed and everything like about it.

But on the whole, most of us have to come to grips with

that is that our individual actions are a bit like stones

tossed into a very large lake.

The reality is we are remembered by just a few.

And our contribution to humanity is remembered by even less.

Most of us have to face the fact that we will drop the little pebble of our lives

into the turbulent ocean of world events.

And in no time at all, the surface will bear no trace of our passing.

That's kind of depressing, especially if you're a millennial

and you're kind of positive right now.

But it is this sense of purposelessness

that is one of the chief anxieties of life.

What is the purpose of life?

Big, big anxiety.

Big, big anxiety.

Big, big anxiety.

So if you've just tuned in today,

then you've arrived at Vision Sunday.

And it's the climax of our Vision series.

And this year we've been discovering or rediscovering

or aligning ourselves to God's purpose.

We've called this whole series,

His Purpose, Our Purpose, My Purpose.

In week one, we asked the question,

what's the purpose of life?

And we saw that God created all things

and that He saved us for His glory.

And we used the word magnification to summarize that purpose.

In week two, we narrowed it down.

What's the purpose of the church,

the people that He saved?

And we saw that God has gathered us together

as a new people, a new humanity for His glory.

We do it together.

And we used the word membership to describe that.

Week three, we investigated what is God's purpose for us

as He's gathered people.

And we discovered it was to transform us

into the image of His true Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,

because God desires to have children in His own image.

And we used the word maturity to summarize all that.

So God has created us.

He saved us.

He's gathered us.

He's growing us.

And last week, we saw that He's not just growing us,

but He's giving us a job to do.

And that job is to serve Him in the world.

And we used the word ministry to summarize all of that.

Today, we're looking at what is the work

that God has called us to do in His world.

And we're summarizing this with our final M,

and that's mission.

So I'm up to point number one, what is God's mission?

See, one of the ways we discover what is God's mission

is to, that is, what is the work that God's doing in the world,

is to look at the end of history as God describes it.

Well, you know, therefore the goal of all things.

And we can learn our purpose for being

just by looking at what is God's goal in all time and eternity.

And what we discover, it's kind of like a finish line

that we're running towards.

But before we go to the end of all things,

let's go back to the beginning of what God's work is in this world.

This is God's story.

It's His mission, His work in His world.

God's storyline has four main chapters to it.

Creation, new creation,

for redemption and new creation.

So let's look at those four things really quickly.

This is time and eternity, history, everything,

as God sees it.

So creation, Genesis 1,

is the God who stands outside of all that's created.

The God who always existed from everlasting to everlasting,

created all things by speaking them into existence.

You see that in Genesis 1 and 2.

He made the first people, Adam and Eve,

in His image.

All people from Adam and Eve also bear the image of God.

We saw that earlier on in this series.

The great American theologian, Jonathan Edwards,

wrote a booklet, a paper called

A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World.

That's the shortened version.

He's much longer versions in terms of the titles.

And he says there that the only reason

that God would have created us

was not to get the cosmic love and joy for relationship.

That is, God wasn't hungering for relationship

as some people hunger to be loved by someone

so they go and have a baby.

It's not that kind of an idea.

But the only reason

is to share the cosmic love and joy

that He already had

within Himself in the Trinity,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And so the storyline of the Bible

contains the only storyline in history

where there is a divine creator

who creates everything motivated by love.

God's design is to have children in His own image

sharing in His perfect relationship.

sharing in His perfect love.

So that's creation.

Fall.

There is solidarity in the image of God.

All people bear the image of God,

but there's also solidarity in sin.

Genesis 3, Adam and Eve reject God.

They decide, well, we want to do things our way.

All people have followed suit

since Adam and Eve living life

with no consideration for God.

We assume right from the very beginning

that God hasn't got love as His main motive.

That God is not actually ultimately loving.

That He's actually holding back on us in some way.

He's not giving us everything that we should have.

He's put constraints around us

and we don't like constraints.

And because of our special dignity

as people made in the image of God,

image bearers,

God holds us especially accountable

in a way that He doesn't hold

the rest of the universe accountable.

And we see Him handing His people over for judgment.

Judgment in Genesis 3,

sorry, Genesis 11,

as it is in Genesis 4,

is He scatters people from His presence.

Right throughout the Bible,

God's judgment is to scatter them

away from relationship with Him.

So in Genesis 11,

He scatters people across the earth.

He confuses all of their language

so they would not work together

and certainly not work together

in order to depose God.

So relationship with God

and relationship with each other

and in fact the created order

is deeply fractured

because of the fall.

Then we've got redemption.

Chapter number 3.

But God doesn't just act in judgment.

He also has the plan to reverse everything.

In Genesis chapter 12,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

to understand your Bible,

you've got 11 chapters

and then you've got Genesis chapter 12.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

And Genesis chapter 12

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

is where the hinge of the Bible,

it's where everything hinges here.

This is the beginning

of the chapter of redemption.

This is the turning point of the Bible.

It's the beginning of God's plan of redemption

that began with a promise to Abraham

that all peoples on earth

would be blessed through Abraham.

God's intention is to reverse judgment.

It's a plan that's worked out through history,

finds its culmination

in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And this is how Galatians 3 puts it

in the New Testament.

You are all sons of God

through faith in Christ Jesus.

There is neither Jew nor Greek,

slave nor free,

male nor female,

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

If you belong to Christ,

then you are Abraham's seed.

You're someone who's inherited his promise

and heirs according to the promise.

So Jesus takes the judgment of God

for our sin upon himself.

He dies the death that we should have died,

but he rises victorious over sin

so that everyone who puts their trust in Jesus

is now gathered back into relationship with God

and to each other.

Jesus forms a new community,

a new humanity,

a new people for God,

new sons and daughters

made in the image of God,

not just in a physical sense

or relational sense,

but in a deeply connected sense,

doing what our Father wants us to do.

He calls it the church.

So all the former divining walls of hostility

between God have been broken down

as they have also with God.

And as a result of Jesus' work of reconciliation,

calling people back to each other

and back to God,

Jesus calls his church

to take this good news of reconciliation

through the Lord Jesus

to the ends of the earth,

making disciples of every nation,

people and language.

That is how we take part in God's work,

his story,

his mission in the world.

And if you're sitting here right now,

you are currently in chapter three.

We're all in chapter three.

But there's a chapter four.

And chapter four of God's story

is not the end of it.

It's actually the beginning of a new story.

As C.S. Lewis wrote,

and I'm going off the top of my head here,

C.S. Lewis wrote in his booklet,

The Last Battle Cry,

he said the final chapter is in fact

the actual story.

It's like everything to open

the final chapter of the book,

your whole lives have been waiting

for the final chapter to open,

and it is a chapter that never closes.

Everything is preparation for chapter four.

It's a chapter where God reigns forever.

There's no more evil.

There's no more sin, carnage.

There's no more death.

There's no more mourning.

There's no more tears.

In Revelation five,

we get a glimpse of how

Jesus brings history to its final goal.

In verse nine,

John tells us why Jesus is worthy to open,

the book of the end of history,

so that things unfold according to the plan of God.

It says,

Jesus is worthy because of how his death

relates to all peoples of earth.

You are worthy to take the scroll,

to open its seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men for God

from every tribe and language

and people and nation.

You have made them to be

a kingdom of priests

to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth.

You see,

the reason Jesus has the right

to open the book of history

is that by his death,

he has ransomed people for God,

for the glory of God

and the worship of God

from every tribe and language

and people and nation.

It was God's design

in the death of Jesus

to ransom some

from every kind of race

and language

and make them into

one people,

a new kingdom,

his much-loved children.

And his much-loved children

will have one king over them,

that is,

they would live with Jesus

as their supreme treasure

and Lord.

Jesus is the one

who unites them.

Jesus is the one

to whom they live for.

And they will all be priests.

They will be full-time,

this is what we saw last week,

they'll be full-time worshippers

and servants of Jesus.

Jesus died to ransom

subjects for the king

and worshippers for the king

from every people group

in history.

All the scattered ones,

all the ones once separated

from God

and from each other

are now brought together

under the reign of Jesus

in finding God's blessing

as promised to Abraham.

And so God's big story,

his mission,

his work in the world

through all time and space

is for people to come

under the authority of Jesus

to turn to him

in repentance and faith

and receive forgiveness of sins

and eternal life

and live for the honour

of Jesus forever.

That's God's big plan.

God's purpose for all things,

as revealed in the biblical storyline,

is the reason why

this church has a purpose statement

that says

we exist to,

we're treasuring Jesus

for God's glory

and the joy of all peoples.

And this vision series

over these five weeks

is an attempt

to get greater clarity

and alignment

between,

alignment behind

God's vision

in the world

as it's worked out

in this church.

How we do it.

Okay.

That's point one.

That's God's mission.

That's how he's designed

time and eternity.

That's his purposes.

Point two

is

what does it look like

to be captured

by God's work

in the world?

So if you've got

someone beside you

who's going to sleep

right now,

give them a

loving,

gentle,

but firm

elbow

in the ribs.

If you're distracted

by Facebook

or by something else,

have your moment,

turn it off

and listen to this.

This is so,

so important

that you get this.

What does it look like

to live

with God's mission

as the driving

force

of your life?

When his first

disciples,

Jesus walks along,

says,

hey you,

come follow me.

And he calls

his first disciples

and they drop

their nets on the beach

and they left

their taxation tables.

to follow Jesus.

He wasn't asking

them to come

with him

on a gap year

of travel

around the Holy Land.

It wasn't a

three year sabbatical.

It wasn't a gap year

before you head off

to university

in Jerusalem

and study

a master's

in shepherding

or whatever it is

they did back

in those days.

They signed

up for Jesus

to reign over

the course

of their lives.

And we see

that

clearly

with the disciples

and we see it

with the Apostle Paul

who I want to

take to now.

So Acts 20

which was just

read out to us

it's in your service

sheet in front of you.

In Acts 20

the Apostle Paul

gathers the Ephesian

elders,

the elders from the

church at Ephesus

together,

have a chat with them.

So these verses

are first and foremost

primarily directed

to the leaders

of the church

but on the whole

they're applicable

to every disciple.

And we see the

importance of this

chat when you look

at verse 25

where it says

now I know

that none of you

among whom I have

gone about preaching

the kingdom

will ever see me

again.

So this is Paul's

if you like

final

final chat.

This is the end

of his missionary

journeys in fact.

And as with any

final farewells

it is the perfect

opportunity to talk

about what matters

actually matter most.

In 2010

a dear friend of mine

and Natalie's

was near death.

I went to visit her

in hospital

for the last time.

I knew it was going

to be the last time

I knew she had

literally hours

if you know

maybe days to live.

when I went

and visited her

she was slipping

in and out

of consciousness

and I had

10 to 15 minutes

you know

with her.

We didn't talk

about the weather.

We didn't talk

about house prices.

We didn't talk

what was on the

front page

of the City Morning

Herald.

We didn't talk

trivia at all.

It was straight

down to business.

I read the Bible

to her.

That was the most

important thing

or walked

straight in

said Yvonne

love you

let me open

the Bible

and read

before you

lose consciousness.

Read the Bible

with her.

We talked

about hope

in Christ.

We talked

about the

resurrection

of the body

and when

the opportunity

came I talked

about what

she meant

to me

and what

she meant

to my family

and vice versa.

We then

very quickly

planned her

funeral

and her

instructions

to me

were very

very clear.

Put Christ

on display.

don't you

dare tell

people

that I

was a

good

person.

I said

no fear

of that.

She left

me with

some parting

advice.

We cried

and kissed

her,

walked away

never to

see her

again

in this

life.

So

this is

this moment

for Paul.

What

matters

most to

him

is key.

Now

there is

so much

more that

could be

gleaned

from this

passage than

what I'm

going to

look at

tonight

but I

want to

focus on

something

important.

What

Paul wants

for these

Ephesian

elders

is for

them

to

emulate

his

life.

That's

what he

says.

I want

you

to

emulate

my

God's

mission

shaped

life.

God's

storyline

shaped

life.

God's

work in

the

world

shaped

life.

I

want

you

to

emulate

that.

And

it's

not

unusual

because

he

said

it

before

1

Corinthians

11

1

he

says

follow

me

as

I

follow

Christ.

You

want

to

know

what

it

looks

like

to

have

your

life

captured

by

God's

mission

in

the

world

then

you

look

at

me

and

you

watch

my

life.

In

verse

24

we

see

his

vision

for

his

life.

This

is

what's

happened

to him

ever

since

he

met

Jesus.

I

consider

my

life

worth

nothing

to

me

if

only

I

may

finish

the

race

and

complete

the

task

the

Lord

Jesus

has

given

me.

And

what's

the

task?

I

might

do

the

ministry

that

God

has

given

me.

What's

this

ministry?

The

task

of

testifying

to

the

gospel

of

God's

grace.

That's

the

mission.

My

mission

in

life

is

to

do

God's

mission

in

life.

The

gospel

of

God's

grace

is

what

turned

Paul's

life

upside

down

and

inside

out.

This

is

the

guy

who

once

described

himself

as

the

chief

of

sinners,

a

blasphemer,

a

persecutor

of the

Lord

Jesus

and

his

church.

He

consented

to

the

murder

and

the

beatings

and

the

false

imprisonments.

Jesus

rescued

him

from

all of

that

miraculously,

from all

the guilt

and the

condemnation

that went

with that

life of

wickedness.

He was

forgiven.

His debt

was wiped

clean.

He was set

free.

He's made

right with

God.

He's been

gathered back

into relationship

with God.

He's been

given eternal

life all

by grace.

God's

favor rested

on him.

God's

sin.

How's

that

possible?

Verse 28,

the

church

of God

which he

bought

with the

blood

of his

own.

The

Lord

Jesus

shed

his

blood

for the

sins

of the

world.

And

it is

the

act

that

changes

the

course

of

history

and

that

changed

the

course

of

Paul's

life.

Paul

was

included

in

God's

mission

of

redemption.

And

being

captured

by

God's

mission

he

was

able

to

say

I

consider

my

life

worth

nothing

to

me.

If

only

I

may

finish

the

race

and

complete

the

task

the

Lord

has

given

me.

You

see

the

pattern

of

Paul's

life

ever

since

becoming

a

Christian

was

commitment

to

Christ

that

superseded

self

interest.

He

had a

job

to

do.

He's

preoccupied

with

something

better

than life

itself

in the

Lord

Jesus.

He's

not

being

reckless.

He's

not

being

irresponsible.

He's

not

being

suicidal

when

he

says

that

he

considers

his

life

worth

nothing.

He

is

simply

saying

that

Jesus

is

greater

than

my

career,

than

my

ministry,

than

my

success,

than

my

money,

my

possessions,

my

holidays,

my

children,

my

body,

my

significance,

my

fulfillment,

my

preservation,

my

life.

The

same

commitment

was

beautifully

evident

in the

life of

one

Iranian

pastor

who

was

imprisoned

on

charges

of

apostasy

in

1984.

He

was

on

death

row

for

nine

years

before

he

finally

got

his

day

in

court.

On

the

3rd

December

1993

he

wrote

a

defense

to

the

Sari

Court

of

Justice

and

this

is

part

of

what

he

wrote.

He

summarized

his

life

with

these

words.

I'm

a

Christian.

As

a

sinner

I

believe

Jesus

has

died

for

my

sins

on

the

cross

and

by

his

resurrection

and

victory

over

death

has

made

me

righteous

in

the

presence

of

the

holy

God.

In

response

to

this

kindness

he

has

asked

me

to

deny

myself

and

be

his

fully

surrendered

follower

and

not

to

fear

people

even

if

they

should

kill

my

body.

Life

for

me

is

an

opportunity

to

serve

him

and

death

is

a

better

opportunity

to

be

with

Christ

therefore

I'm

not

only

satisfied

to be

in

prison

for

the

honor

of

his

holy

name

but

I'm

ready

to

give

my

life

for

the

sake

of

Jesus

my

Lord

and

enter

his

kingdom

sooner

the

place

where

the

elect

of

God

enter

everlasting

life.

Finally

the

charges

of

apostasy

were

removed

he

was

released

from

prison

in

1994

but

what

was

not

removed

was

the

death

sentence.

Three

days

after being

released

from

prison

he

was

abducted

murdered

and

his

body

was

thrown

in

a

park.

See

Paul's

vision

shaped

life

is

on

full

display

he's

saying

by

my

life

I'm

showing

you

that

my

life

is

caught

up

in

God's

story

the

story

of

my

life

is

caught

up

in

God's

story

of

the

world

he

says

in

verse

18

you

know

how

I

lived

the

whole

time

I

was

with

you

I

served

the

Lord

with

great

humility

and

with

tears

although

I

was

severely

tested

by

the

plots

of

the

Jews

and

then

down

in

verse

things

humility

humility

honesty

honesty

industry

hard

work

meeting

needs

generosity

characterized

his

life

and

verse

20

is

the

work

that

he

especially

labored

hard

in

again

you

know

again

guys

look

at

me

you

know

that

I

have

not

hesitated

to

preach

anything

that

would

be

helpful

to

you

but

have

taught

you

publicly

and from house to house, I have declared to both Jews and Greeks,

in other words, everyone, that they must turn to God in repentance

and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

And so Paul's mission-shaped life

meant he discharged his duty to make the good news of God's grace

in Jesus Christ be known to all.

In fact, so thoroughly was his discharging of this duty

that he says in verse 26,

In other words, I have not failed to discharge that duty.

See, in the gospel of the Lord Jesus, Paul discovered a greater treasure than himself.

And it resulted in a gospel-shaped life,

both in its authenticity and in its attention to focus

on proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ

from a heart of love and acts of service.

And so, having said that, the apostle Paul left the Ephesian elders.

He sailed off to keep giving his life to God's mission.

He was arrested in Jerusalem, as he knew he would be.

And by the providence of God, he ended up being transferred to Rome under God.

He's like, he's gone to head office now.

And the final two verses of the Acts of the Apostles says this.

You know, like, now that he's arrested, has he lost his focus?

Here's the final two verses.

For two whole years, Paul stayed there in his own rented house

and welcomed all who came to see him.

Boldly and without hindrance,

he preached the kingdom of God

and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Right to the very end.

Although he's bound by house arrest,

what this is saying here is that the word of God wasn't.

This servant of the gospel of the Lord Jesus

will soon lose his life,

but the gospel will keep on advancing to the ends of the earth.

Paul will be dead,

but Jesus is still alive.

And when we commit ourselves to the Lord Jesus and his gospel,

we are committing to God's unstoppable, eternal purposes.

The ripple effects of God's mission

will only grow in magnitude for all of eternity.

Who would have thought that 2,000 years later,

we would be talking about the apostle Paul

in a country that he never knew existed.

You want impact for your life?

There's impact.

You want to leave a legacy?

There's a legacy.

In the past couple of weeks,

you've potentially seen in the media

about a young American missionary,

26 years of age,

went to North Centauri Islands

in the Indian Ocean

and was killed.

Just nod your head if you've seen that.

I have seen secular media just cane this guy.

What an idiot throwing his life away like that.

I've seen Christians saying exactly the same thing.

What a waste of life.

Is it?

We Christians have got a tendency to say the same thing

as the world.

And we don't learn from history.

In the 1800s,

two men went to a place called New Hebrides,

which is now called Vanuatu.

John Williams and James Harris.

First two missionaries

out of the London Missionary Society

got on a boat,

went to the New Hebrides,

walked on a beach,

and within 10 minutes of walking on the beach,

both of them were clubbed to death.

They were cooked and eaten

before the ship had pulled anchor and left.

You go back to the church in Scotland

where they came from

and they said,

what a wasted life.

Two young men,

lives are gone.

What a wasted life.

Within 15 years,

a man named John Patton said,

I'll be the next.

John Patton goes down there

and the church in Scotland said,

don't do it,

don't do it,

they'll eat you.

Patton walked onto the beach

and after 30 odd years of ministry,

the whole island of Inewa

was converted.

And today,

60% of Vanuatu

declares itself to be Christian.

And John Patton says,

the way was opened by God

through the blood of two men.

And I've just mentioned

John Williams

and James Harris

who are still known in the history books,

who still leave a lasting legacy

even though their lives were cut short.

Who knows what God is going to do

in the North Sentinelese Islands

as he by his Holy Spirit

could convict people

for the atrocity they've committed

against another human being.

We don't know.

And the only reason you would say

that life's a wasted life

is because you've been captured

by a different story.

See, God's story,

his mission in the world

is what I've just said.

But there's another story

that's arisen

in the last couple of hundred years

and it's taken up residence

in the soul of the Western world.

And it's becoming

more and more dominant

and it's very dominant now.

It's become the purpose of life

for much of the Western world

and the technical term for it

is philosophical naturalism.

That's a fancy name

for materialism.

And it's worth comparing

the story of philosophical naturalism

which is in our lifeblood

in this society

to God's story.

This is a three-chapter story.

Philosophical naturalism,

materialism is a three-chapter story.

It goes like this.

Big bang, evolution, nothing.

In the big bang,

there's no supernatural

or spiritual power.

There's no creator.

There's nothing that rules

the physical universe.

Everything that can be seen

and measured

is a,

which is the only thing that exists,

only things that can be seen

and measured

is a result of an explosion

that appeared out of nothing

billions of years ago.

That's chapter one.

Random.

Boom.

Boom.

Chapter two.

Is that this earth,

which is a result of that boom,

is in exactly the right place,

revolving around the sun

at exactly the right speed

in order for life to evolve.

Against all the odds,

humanity has evolved

from prehistoric soup

to be the dominant species

on the earth

for the time being.

And despite what people might think,

despite what they might feel,

there is no such thing

as absolute right or wrong.

If you happen to feel

that there is an absolute right or wrong,

it's because there's a chemical reaction

in your brain

as a result of evolution.

But you've just got to ignore that

because it's just not true.

Because everything is an accident

and it's random,

then there is no absolute purpose in life.

You can create purpose for life.

You can create your own purpose

if you want to,

but that's something

that you have created

as a finite being.

And that's what you'd need

in order to exist in life,

then that's fine,

but it's not real.

And so,

that means that this life

is all you have,

make the most of it,

and the goal of this life

is for you to be as happy

as you possibly can be.

And to be as happy

as you possibly can be,

you must consume experiences

and accumulate things.

And the reason you must do that

is because chapter three is there.

And it could happen at any time.

The sun is just going to burn up.

We're going to slip our axis

and spin off into the Netherlands.

Humanity will become extinct.

There's no form of afterlife.

There's no survival of the conscience.

The story of materialism

is that this life is it.

Which is why when a 26-year-old

throws his life away,

we go,

what an idiot.

We call that a wasted life.

Where materialism says

everything is random,

there's no good or evil,

there's nothing to hope for,

the biblical storyline

is that we have a loving creator

who has triumphed over evil

at great cost to himself

to love you dearly.

And we look forward to a day

when everything that's wrong

is going to be made right.

And we will live with him

in blissful joy

for all of eternity.

I've got to tell you,

the biblical storyline

just seems so much more compelling.

And it's not just compelling.

If you're not convinced by it,

it is true

and I can show you how it's true.

I can tell you

that it is more reasonable

than every other

of the grand narratives

that are out there.

And if you're not a Christian,

I'd invite you to jump on board

with this

and start investigating

the claims of Jesus

and his worldview today.

But here's the thing.

Philosophical naturalism

or God's biblical storyline,

whichever one you choose,

it will require

demand of you,

your time,

your talents,

and your treasures.

Whichever one you serve,

you're serving it.

And that's why I'm calling you today

to serve the biblical.

Don't keep a foot

in both worlds.

I'm calling you

to jump on board

with God's storyline.

One of the things

we're doing practically tonight

is pledging.

We do this every year.

One of the things

that I do

is I declare

what Natalie and I

and the kids

are giving

to this mission

in this church.

And staff

and parish council

follow me.

I get this from

1 Chronicles 29.

I've written about this

a number of times.

Staff and parish council

follow me

and then I invite

the rest of you

to follow.

For next year,

Natalie and I

are giving

$350 a week

to God's mission

in St. Paul's.

Our giving to poor

and mission

is on top of that.

Staff and parish council

have in this week

followed suit

and they have pledged

$3,823 per week

between them.

That's 40%,

almost 40%

of our target

that we're hoping

to reach

just from staff

and parish council.

They've also contributed

$16,170

to our 50,000

project

for our local

mission project

for our next gen ministries.

That's 30%

that's been raised

from parish council

and staff

and they have

contributed

$2,450

towards the

Ropes Crossing

Global Mission Project.

Staff and parish council

have put 50%

towards that one

already.

What I'm calling you

to do

is to play your part

in God's mission

and to do it

on purpose here.

God's mission

is to overthrow

Satan

gathering people

to himself

through the Lord Jesus

so that they

might live forever

in his presence

as his much-loved

children.

God's plan

is to gather

children to himself

to be in the likeness

of his true son

the Lord Jesus

remember he tribe,

language, nation

and people.

How do you purposely

play your part

in God's mission

in this world?

Very simply

by surrendering

your time,

your talents

and your treasures

to the cause of Christ

in such a way

that it makes

Jesus look magnificent.

It makes your life

look like

it is out of step

with philosophical

naturalism.

We don't live for that.

We live for this.

And it means

things like

as we pull in

the whole series

together,

we grow up in the

character of the Lord

Jesus so that

our motive to see

God glorified

is love

and our actions

are service of others.

We pray that God

will open the eyes

and transform hearts

that people might see

the beauty

and the glory

and the worth

of Christ.

We proclaim

the good news

that Jesus died

for sins.

He's risen triumphant

over all evil

and reign supreme

as Lord of all.

And we do it together

as his people.

We do it by supporting

what God has been doing

and is doing

at the moment

around the world.

We do it

wherever God

has placed us

as his ambassadors

in societies.

We heard from

Coe earlier

about being at school.

I want to ask you

as we come

to the end

of this series,

how have you been

going with your

My Purpose

Health Checkup?

What is the next step?

Don't just sit here

and absorb

and absorb

and absorb

but don't do anything.

What is the next step

you need to take?

I plead with you

not just sit

comfortable.

Is it a crawl?

Is it a walk?

Is it a run?

Do you need to take

the first step

in fact

and start following

Jesus tonight?

Do you need to

increase the regularity

that you have at church?

Do you need to prepare

your heart

for corporate worship

so that you don't

just turn up

when the music starts

but you're actually

ready to engage

to sing,

to pray,

to listen to God,

to engage with others?

Do you need to

join a community group?

Do it.

Sign up at the table

tonight.

Do you need to

start serving

and join a ministry team?

Sign up at the table

tonight.

Do you need to

take further steps

towards radical

generosity with your

resources?

Do that tonight.

Do you need to

start praying for

someone to know

the truth and for

opportunities for you

to speak the truth?

Do you need,

first of all,

just to learn what

the truth is and

how to speak it well?

What is the next

step?

That your life

might be on

purpose,

aligned

to God's

purpose,

to God's

story?

What do you

need to do

to take the

next step

to jump into

God's storyline

and find

real impact,

real legacy?