Global Impact Disciples

We have, as a church, been spending this month on mission,

and we will end this month with that great missionary text,

Matthew 28, 16 to 20.

This passage of the Bible has moved generations of men,

women, and children to sacrifice their all,

their homes, their careers, their lives,

to take the gospel to the edge of the world and beyond.

And I pray that this passage will do that for us today.

I want to make three simple points from the passage.

The first point is the reason for global mission.

And I want to draw your attention to verse 18.

The reason for global mission.

Jesus came to them, that is the 11,

and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

It has been said that mission is beggars telling other beggars where to find food.

That is true.

The world is full of needy people, blind people,

destroying themselves.

They are like sheep without a shepherd.

And we ought to have compassion on them.

But the reason for mission given in this passage here

is not simply the needs of the world.

Nor is it simply a command of Jesus.

Since William Carey,

Christians have treated Matthew 28 as the 11th commandment.

Yes, it is true that Jesus gave a commandment to his 11.

But again, the reason for global mission given here by Jesus is very different.

Please have a look again at verse 28.

Jesus says,

All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me.

The reason for the disciples of Jesus going into the world to proclaim the gospel

is that Jesus is Lord.

The Old Testament has promised that God will one day send his special king to establish his kingdom.

He is the son of David.

In Daniel 7, we see a picture painted of this coming king.

When he comes, all authority on heaven and on earth will be given to him.

And at the resurrection of Jesus, this has now happened.

The greatest missionary passage in the Bible is ultimately not about mission.

Or church.

Or money.

Ultimately, the greatest missionary passage in the Bible is about Jesus.

Jesus is the reason for global mission.

For he is worthy of all our glory and honour and power.

If global mission were about the needs of our neighbours,

we can always find a greater need than theirs.

The church in Cheswood is shrinking.

But the church in Africa is growing.

Logically, why would we give to Africa when we can give here?

When the need seems to be greater.

But, if our focus is on the honour of Jesus,

then we will not find one worthier of our glory, honour, or our money, or our lives.

I have told a story of Helen Roosevelt before,

but her testimony is so great and worthy that we should hear it again.

Roosevelt was a doctor working in the Congo in the 1950s.

She worked with orphans.

She started a camp for orphans with leprosy.

A godly, gracious, compassionate woman

with a quiet, gentle spirit.

A woman of God.

In the 1960s, there was political unrest.

A revolution.

Most Western missionaries left.

But Helen Roosevelt stayed, along with a few others.

She couldn't leave the people behind,

and trusting herself to God.

In that period, at least 27 missionaries were killed.

Helen Roosevelt herself was captured by the rebels.

She was beaten, kicked, and brutally raped.

Finally, she was rescued by mercenary soldiers

and returned to Britain for recovery.

She was asked a tough question by a TV interviewer.

And that was the question,

Was it worth it?

The suffering and all that you went through,

was it worth it?

And she replied,

The question is not whether it is worth it.

The question is,

Is God worthy?

And the answer is yes.

He is worthy.

A hundred percent worthy.

He is worthy of all that we can offer up and more.

After 14 months of treatment in England,

she returned to the Congo to help rebuild the nation.

What is worthy to give up your life for?

To sacrifice everything for?

The reason for mission.

Secondly, the content of global mission.

Verses 19 to 20.

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,

and teaching them to obey everything

I have commanded you.

The content of mission.

Because Jesus is Lord,

what are his disciples to do?

They are,

verses 19 to 20,

they are to make disciples of the nations.

Global mission is discipleship.

Well, how do we make disciples?

Two things are highlighted.

Firstly,

baptism,

which is what we'll be doing later on.

But strictly speaking,

the baptism here is not the baptism

that we will be doing with water later on today.

What we will do later with the water

is a symbol of what Jesus is talking about here.

Here,

to baptize,

I believe,

means to bring into relationship

with someone

under the authority of.

And what,

this is why,

sorry,

this is why the nations are to be baptized into.

So the proposition is into.

To bring into a relationship.

Into what relationship?

Into who?

To have relationship.

The nations are to be brought into a relationship

with God who is Father,

Son,

and Spirit.

It is a reminder to us that

the God of the Bible

is not the force,

but personal.

He is Father.

God is also Son.

God is a reminder to us

that we cannot save ourselves from our sins.

We need someone else

to save us from our sins.

It's also a reminder

that God is Spirit.

That you cannot be in a relationship with this God

by trying harder

to be a better person.

You need to be born again.

Our friends today

will be baptized by water later.

The ceremony symbolizes

that they have entered

into a relationship

or under the authority

of this God.

Secondly,

discipleship involves

teaching

and by implication,

learning.

It is, first of all,

an intellectual exercise.

Discipleship involves

the changing of the mind.

In Matthew,

if you read through the Gospel,

you will see that Jesus

has spoken a great deal

about discipleship.

So, Sermon on the Mount.

Christian disciples

have a righteousness

greater than the hypocrites.

Christian disciples

do not do religion

for show.

We are faithful

in our marriage.

We are people

of our word.

We love

even our enemies.

Like Helen Roosevelt.

We are not preoccupied

by the worries

and anxieties

of this life.

Our greatest ambition

is Jesus

and his kingdom.

If you go to Matthew 16,

24 to 26,

this is what Jesus says.

If I can tap that,

16.

Jesus said to his disciples,

discipleship,

if anyone would come

after me,

he must deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me.

For whoever wants

to save his life

will lose it.

But whoever loses

his life for me

will find it.

What good will it be

for a man

if he gains

the whole world

yet forfeits his soul?

Or what can a man

give in exchange

for his soul?

Discipleship

involves

Jesus.

This is a disciple

of Jesus.

Jesus is everything

to this disciple.

Global mission

is discipleship.

You cannot disciple

the nations

unless, of course,

you yourself

are a disciple

of Jesus.

You cannot call

other people

to give up

everything for Jesus

if you yourself

are not doing it.

The reason for mission,

the content of mission,

and lastly,

the promise of mission.

Verse 20.

Jesus says,

go into the world

to make disciples

and surely

I am with you

always

to the very end

of the age.

The promise

is the presence

of Jesus.

We need to remember

that global mission

is Jesus' mission.

It has always been

and it will always be.

Jesus continues

to be at work

in the world today,

saving it.

The reason for mission,

the content for mission,

and the promise

of mission.

When I started,

I invited you

to consider,

to think about

what would be

the content

of your final letter

or your final tweet.

I wonder

what you wrote

or if you didn't write

what you had in mind.

I think that

what you write

tells a lot

about what's

important to you,

who you are

as a person,

and what you want

the people

after you

to remember you by.

I want to tell you

about Karen Watson.

She was an

international board

missionary.

On 15th of March,

2004,

she was killed

in Iraq.

Karen was 38.

She had been

a Christian

for only

eight years.

She loved

the word of God

and the work of God

with a great passion.

This is what

she wrote

as her last letter.

Dear Pastor,

you should only

be opening

this letter

in the event

of my death.

When God calls,

there are no regrets.

I try to share

my heart with you

as much as possible.

My heart

for donations.

I wasn't

called to a place.

I was called

to Him.

To obey

was my objective.

To suffer

was expected.

His glory

my reward.

The missionary

heart

cares more

than some

think is wise,

risks more

than some

think is safe,

dreams more

than some

think is practical,

expects more

than some

think is possible.

I was

called

not to comfort

or to success,

but to obedience.

There is no joy

outside of knowing

Jesus

and serving

Him.

I love you

and my church

family.

In His care,

salaam,

Karen.

What you wrote,

what you intend

to write

in your last letter

says a lot

about you.

What is important

to you?

What you would hold

of the greatest value?

I wonder

what you wrote.

C.T.

Stutt wrote,

Nail the colors

to the mask.

That is the right

thing to do

and therefore

that is what

we must do

and do it now.

The evangelization

of all

that are

un-evangelized.

Christ

wants not

nibblers

of the possible,

but grabbers

of the impossible.

Is there

a war

in our path?

By our

God

we will

leap over it.

Are there

lions

and scorpions

in our way?

We will

trample them

under our feet.

Does a mountain

bar our

progress?

saying,

Be thou

cast

into the sea.

We will

march on,

soldiers

of Jesus.

Never

surrender.

Nail the

colors

to the

mask.

We have

been talking

about

global

mission.

Sorry,

this isn't

translated.

It's easy

to talk.

If you

are a

follower

of Jesus,

then you

have been

called

to be

part of

this

mission.

And

rather than

just

talk,

I want

to invite

you,

if you

are a

follower

of Jesus,

to nail

your

color to

the

mask.

So again,

this is

very

confronting.

But if

you're not

prepared to

do it

here today,

then perhaps

you're not

prepared to

do it at

all.

I'm going

to invite

you to

nail

the

color

of,

sorry,

your

color

to the

mask,

not in

the

safety

of your

privacy,

but to

do it

in

public.

What I

want to

do is

Jesus

has issued

you a

call to

follow him,

to deny

yourself,

to give

your life.

To be

part of

this

global

mission.

If you

are prepared

to follow

him,

I want

to invite

you to

nail

your

color

to

the

mask.

That is

to stand

with me,

to ask

God to

take you

and to

use you

to send

you wherever

he may.

Right?

If you

prepare to

do that,

I want

to invite

you to

stand now

and as

you stand,

I'm going

to invite

you to

pray with

me a

prayer.

So if

you are a

follower of

Jesus and

you're ready

to take

on the

world,

with me.

I'm going

to invite

you to

say this

prayer in

your heart.

If you

prepare to

do this,

the prayer

should be

projected.

Don't pray

it lightly

because God

might answer

you.

All right?

Let us

pray.

Dear Lord

Jesus,

I give

myself to

you,

whatever the

cost may

be.

Take every

aspect of

my life

and use

me for

your kingdom

to glorify

your name.

I desire

to become

a person

who understands

and lives

and reverent

free all

of you.

I'll do

anything that

you want me

to do,

go anywhere

that you want

me to go,

and say

anything you

want me to

say.

I trust

you,

Lord,

to do that

which I

cannot do

for myself.

Teach me,

guide me,

and empower

me to

feed your

name.

For the

sake of

your name,

I pray.

Amen.