The Mission of Jesus and the people of God

We're reading from Acts chapter 1, verses 1 to 11.

Acts 1:1–11

And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said,

You heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.

So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority,

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said,

Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

This Jesus who has taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thank you, Margo.

So let me pray for us briefly, and then we're going to look at the scripture together.

Heavenly Father, your word is so wonderful and alive and speaks to us.

It's amazing that 2,000 years after it's written, in a very different context and culture,

your word still speaks to every human heart.

We pray, God, that you will speak to us.

God, we want to know what is your mind?

What is the will of the Lord?

What do you want to say to us in this passage?

And so help me to explain it, but help us to hear and receive and, Lord, to be challenged where we need to be,

but to be encouraged where we need to be as well.

God, call us to be aligned with you and to align our lives with your will.

I pray this in your great and wonderful name.

Amen.

Amen.

If you are new to Watermark, my name is Kevin, and it's great to have you with us.

If I haven't met you, please do come and say hi afterwards.

I'd love to meet you and get to know you, but it's great to have you with us today.

And I'm glad to see so many people still in Hong Kong, despite the long weekend.

Sometimes on long weekends, there's like nobody here, just the staff that have to be here.

It's their job, but it's great to see so many people with us this morning.

We have recently celebrated Easter.

And if you don't know, Easter is the high point in the Christian calendar.

It's the biggest weekend of the Christian year, Jesus' death and resurrection.

And at Easter, every year, we are reminded that Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross

and his subsequent resurrection changes everything.

It changes the plot line and the storyline of the whole world.

This world is full of brokenness and pain and sadness and agony.

And Jesus' resurrection tells us that that's not the final story.

It inverts all of those things.

And in the words of Sam from Lord of the Rings, everything sad and broken and wrong and unjust with this world is becoming untrue.

Jesus' resurrection tells us that salvation and forgiveness of sins really is possible.

Jesus' resurrection tells us that he really is the Lord, the King that he proclaimed to be.

Jesus' resurrection tells us that hope is not just a fantasy or a wild idea.

It really is real and we can bank our lives on it.

In two weeks' time, we are going to be having a bunch of baptisms here at Watermark.

And baptisms is the most exciting thing.

It's a visible picture of an invisible spiritual truth.

And the picture is that when you put your faith in Christ, you are united with Christ.

You're united in his death.

In other words, our old life dies with him.

Our old life that is constrained by sin and death is put to death.

And we are raised to new life with Christ.

Just as Jesus rose again on Easter weekend, our lives were raised with him to a whole new life.

And one day we'll be raised in glory with him.

And so we're going to be celebrating that in two weeks' time.

But the question remains, if you become a follower of Jesus, you've died, you've been raised, you've been baptized, now what?

So what?

What should we do?

What does this mean for our lives?

Does this actually change anything?

If Christianity changes the storyline of the world, does it in any way change the storyline of your life?

Or is it that you become a Christian, follow of Jesus, and life just continues with no difference?

Maybe for those of us that are not yet Christians this morning, if you were to become a follower of Jesus,

what difference would it make in your life?

One of the things that I love about Watermark is that this church is full of people that have come to faith in Watermark Church.

All sorts of people, whether through friends or explore course or colleagues, many, many of us have become followers of Jesus in Watermark.

It's the only church you've ever known.

And of course, there are a number of us that became Christians maybe elsewhere.

Maybe growing up in another city or another church or another country.

And maybe through your parents or a friend or a colleague, you became a follower of Jesus.

But however you became a follower of Jesus, now that you are one, what do we do?

What does the next 1, 10, or 30 years of following Jesus look like?

And that's a very important question because sometimes we can think the goal of Christianity is just get as many people into doors as possible.

Just shove them in.

However, it doesn't matter how.

And once they're inside, well then, I don't know, just kind of hold on and hope for the best.

First, friends, here's a question.

Is the goal of your Christian life just to try not mess up, try not sin too badly, and just hold on and hope that you get to heaven one day?

And if, by the way, you do sin, just don't tell anyone.

Just put on a brave face and pretend that everything's fine.

Okay, don't do that.

That's not a good idea.

Is the overarching goal of our Christian life to maybe do more and more Christian things, get more and more involved in church, serve in more and more ways,

and kind of ascend the ranks of Christian leadership.

So you become a deacon, then a small group leader, and then maybe an elder.

And then if you're really amazing, a pastor, and if you're super amazing, you can become a missionary somewhere.

Is that the goal?

Okay, no, that's not the goal.

Friends, if you're a Christian, hopefully you know what Jesus saved you from, but do you know what he saved you for?

What does the next 5, 10, 30 years look like?

And maybe the same is true for us as a church.

Is the goal for Watermark just to become a bigger, more influential, well-known church in Hong Kong?

That we could draw everybody here and say, look how amazing Watermark is?

Or is the goal of Watermark just to remain small and intimate?

We all kind of know each other, and it's just a cute family.

And we don't grow too big because we all know each other one by one.

Friends, is the purpose of our church to be a nice community that gives nice talks and does nice things,

like handing out food to the poor and the marginalized?

What is it that Christ calls us to?

Well, for the last nine weeks, we've been going through John's Gospel.

And we've been looking at John's biography of the person in the ministry of Jesus.

And today we're going to be taking a pause on John's Gospel, and we start in the book of Acts.

And for the next two months, we're going to be working through the first six chapters of the book of Acts.

And we'll be starting today in chapter 1, verses 1 to 11, as Margo read to us.

And the book of Acts is all about what happens in the life of followers of Jesus and the early church,

and what it is that God calls us to.

And so in this passage today, we're going to see two very simple things, okay?

Very, very easy to start off.

Just going to start off nice and slow.

Jesus' mission and our mission.

Jesus' mission and our mission, okay?

So let's dive in and start.

Jesus' mission.

Let's just look at the book of Acts.

What is the book of Acts?

The name Acts is shorthand for the longer title, the Acts of the Apostles.

And the book of Acts is the second volume out of a two-volume historical record written by a guy called Luke, okay?

Luke's first historical record is the Gospel of Luke.

Remember Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the third Gospel in the New Testament.

So Luke wrote these two historical documents.

One is the Gospel of Luke, and the second one is the book of the Acts of the Apostles, or what we know as the Book of Acts.

And when you read these two books in the Bible, there's a lot of overlap, written by the same author for a similar intention.

And you would expect that, and that's what we see.

And so both Luke and Acts start off with an introduction that tells us why Luke is writing these historical documents.

Look at how he starts off his Gospel.

He says this in Luke 1, verse 1 to 4.

Luke 1:1–4

He says,

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile the narrative of the things that have been accomplished,

it seems good to me also, having followed things closely for some time,

to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught.

Okay, so here's this high-ranking Roman official.

His name's Theophilus, and it sounds like he has commissioned Luke,

who we later find out is a physician, a medical doctor,

someone who's very good at diagnoses and investigation.

Theophilus seems to commission Luke to do research on this person of Jesus of Nazareth that he's heard about,

and to write a historical record whether the things that he's heard is actually true.

And Luke does this research, and he finds out it is true.

And he writes this historical record for Theophilus, saying,

I want you to know these things that you can have certainty about the things that you've heard,

and believe them to be true.

Well, look at how he starts his Volume 2, the Book of Acts.

He says something similar.

Verse 1.

In my first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,

until the day that he was taken up, that's into heaven,

after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles that he had chosen.

He presented himself alive to them after his sufferings, by many proofs,

appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Okay?

So, here Luke is saying, I've written about Jesus and his early ministry,

but now Theophilus has the second account that I want you to know,

and it's the Book of Acts.

And look at how he describes it.

And he says,

In our first volume, in the first book of Theophilus,

I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,

until he ascended into heaven.

So, in Luke's Gospel, he tells all about Jesus' life and work and ministry,

but now what is he going to do?

In his second volume, which we call Acts,

he's going to deal with all that Jesus continued to do,

his life and work and ministry.

In Jesus, in the first volume, in Luke,

Luke tells us all that Jesus did himself in his bodily form.

Here he's going to tell us all that Jesus continued to do through his church.

And so Luke's point is that Jesus' life and ministry and work and mission

didn't end with his death and resurrection and ascension.

It continued, but now continues through the church.

Now, these two stages are going to look a little bit different.

In the first one, Jesus does it in his body.

In the second one, he does it through his church.

In the first part of Jesus' ministry,

it's initiated by baptism of John.

That's what he says in verse 3, I think, or verse 5.

In the second one, it's initiated by baptism of the Spirit.

And yet, both of these, the difference is not that big.

In both of these, Jesus is what Jesus began his work and ministry in the Gospels.

He's now continuing to do through his church.

So the book of Acts is actually the continuation of Jesus' mission

and his ministry here on earth.

When Jesus died and rose again and ascended into heaven,

that wasn't the end.

That continues through his church.

Well, then the question is, what is his work?

And Luke tells us.

He tells us both in Luke and in the book of Luke.

Look what he says here at the end of chapter 4.

Jesus one day is preaching, and the people are astounded.

And everyone says, okay, Jesus, come to stay with us for a minute.

Don't go anywhere else.

And look at what Jesus says.

Luke 4, verse 43 says,

Luke 4:43

No, I must go and preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns as well,

for I was sent for this very purpose.

So what was Jesus' work and ministry?

Coming to preach the good news of the kingdom of God.

What is the kingdom of God?

It's the fact that there is a king, and he rules and he reigns,

and there's a rebellion in the world.

That's why the world is not as it ought to be.

But this good king is putting everything right in the world again.

This king has come to his rebellious kingdom,

and he's helping to put things right and put things in order.

It's the good news of the kingdom of God.

That does sound like good news.

If your life is anything like my life,

there's a lot that's not right with this world.

And Jesus, the king, has said,

I've come to put things right,

first by his death and resurrection,

and secondly, when he comes again.

Jesus came to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.

But look what he says here in the book of Acts.

Look at your, if you've got your Bible, your bulletin,

look at what he says in verse 3.

Jesus presented himself alive to the apostles after his sufferings

through many proofs,

appearing to them during 40 days,

speaking to them about the kingdom of God.

So throughout Jesus' three years of earthly ministry,

he's proclaiming in word and deed,

both his teaching and his actions,

word and deed,

the good news of the gospel of the kingdom.

The king has come.

And the king is squashing the rebellion

and putting all things right again.

And then in the book of Acts,

the kingdom of God is going to continue,

not through Jesus' ministry,

or not through his bodily ministry,

through the body of his church.

The kingdom of God is going to advance

through word and deed.

So when Jesus gathers with his disciples

for these 40 days after his resurrection,

this wasn't just the boys, you know,

sitting in the bar with a beer,

kind of laughing about,

ha, did you see the resurrection?

Did you see the look on those guys' faces

when they saw the empty tomb?

Ha, it's amazing.

Well, that was fun.

Boys, it's time that I leave.

I'm going to go to heaven.

Best of luck now.

Jesus wasn't just gathering the boys,

reminiscing about the good old days

and his final farewell.

Jesus is teaching them

and then sending them out and saying,

my mission to bring the good news of the kingdom

is going to continue.

But now it's going to continue

through you,

through the disciples.

Jesus' mission isn't finished.

It is continuing.

And that's what Luke wants us to see,

that the story of Jesus doesn't end

with his death and resurrection.

It continues.

It continued through the homes

and the streets of Jerusalem.

It continued through the synagogues

and the marketplaces of Judea and Samaria.

Jerusalem, sorry, Judea and Israel.

It spread into the villages

and the towns of Samaria.

That's the province next door to Judea.

And ultimately,

it spread to the ends of the earth.

And so within one generation,

the gospel is spread west to Rome.

Within another generation,

it spread east to India.

And it continues on and on and on

until the 6th century.

It reaches Xi'an province in China.

And then it reaches Japan and Korea.

And ultimately,

to the ends of the earth,

just as Jesus said.

Jesus' mission continues

and continues still to this day.

God's mission is not simply

to offer comfort and relief

for the terrible and uncomfortable things

that happen in life.

Jesus is not just a friend

or a buddy or a comforter

to help us get through life.

What is his mission?

His mission is the good news

of the kingdom of God.

And we see this,

and that's what Jesus is doing.

That's what Luke wants us to see.

That just as Jesus' mission

to Jerusalem and Judea

spread throughout his lifetime,

so it continues through the church.

But what is Jesus' work?

Well, look at what Paul tells us

in the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Paul tells us this,

that this is God's great plan for the world.

He says,

God has made known to us

the mystery of His will

and His purposes,

His plan for the fullness of time.

So at the end of time,

this is God's plan for all the world.

At the end of time,

to unite all things together

under Christ or in Christ,

things in heaven and on earth.

So Jesus' message is going out,

as we said,

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,

the ends of the earth here in Hong Kong.

And what is His message?

His message is that

at the end of time,

Christ is going to unite all things

under the rule and the reign of Jesus

for the praise of His glory.

That's God's great, big, cosmic plan,

is to reverse the disastrous effects

of the sin of Adam and Eve

and to bring all things

under His gracious and His pleasing rule.

One day, Jesus, His king,

is going to rule over everything

and those who refuse His rule

will be separated forever

and those who receive His rule

will joyfully and gladly

live under His dominion

and His throne room forever and ever.

And that mission started

way back in the Garden of Eden

when God says to Adam and Eve,

I will send a snake crusher

who will reverse the effects of sin

and Satan and death

and bring an end to it.

And then it continued

through God's promise to Abraham

and to Israel and to David.

And it continued through Jesus

and His coming and His teaching

and His preaching.

And ultimately, the high point was

this death and resurrection on the cross

where He did defeat sin

and Satan and death.

But after Jesus' resurrection,

as we said,

Jesus didn't just gather His friends

and say,

oh, that was fun.

Okay, well, best of luck.

Jesus then says,

this mission to take

the good news of the kingdom

to the ends of the earth

continues.

But it continues through you.

And that leads to our second point.

Jesus' mission,

the good news of the kingdom,

and our mission,

our mission is to continue

Jesus' mission.

Jesus tells His followers

that neither the story of the world

nor the mission of God is over.

In fact, it's just getting started.

But the disciples,

they are a little confused.

Because they see that Jesus

has risen from the dead.

They know He's obviously the Messiah.

Neither the Romans

nor the Jews

nor death could stop Him.

Jesus died and rose again.

Obviously, He's the Messiah.

And so,

for the disciples,

this means

that the kingdom of God

is now going to come.

But in their thinking,

they're still thinking

politically,

nationalistically.

For them,

the fact that the Messiah comes,

the kingdom of God comes,

means a great king like David

is going to ascend to the throne.

And it means that Israel

is now going to be politically

and religiously powerful

and great again.

And this Messiah is going to

restore Israel's political

and religious fortunes.

And this Messiah is going to

make Israel great.

And so,

look at what they say

in verse 6.

It says,

when they'd come together,

the disciples say to Jesus,

Lord,

will you at this time

restore the kingdom

to Israel?

This is what we've been waiting for.

Jesus is risen.

This is now our time.

Our time to shine.

We're going to destroy the Romans.

Israel's going to be made great again.

Except Jesus says,

no,

no,

look at verse 7.

No,

it's not for you

to know the times

or the season.

The Father is fixed

by His own authority.

Jesus says,

no,

that's not how it's going to work.

Actually,

my kingdom is going to go forward,

but it's not how you think.

It's not going to happen

through political power

or institutional power

or financial power.

How's the kingdom

going to go forward?

How's God's cosmic plan

to renew all things

and to bring all things

under Jesus?

How's that going to happen?

It's not through politics.

It's not through institutions.

It's not through

financial power.

It happens one life

at a time

that changes

as God's kingdom

gets into our hearts

and God brings us

into His kingdom.

Look what He says,

verse 8.

You will receive power

when the Holy Spirit

comes upon you.

You will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem

and Judea

and Samaria

and to the ends of the earth.

Jesus has this great

big cosmic plan

to unite all things

under Him.

At the end of time,

all creation,

things in heaven

and on earth

are going to be united

under Christ

in the new creation

and how's that going to happen?

One life at a time.

As His people

take His mission

and His message

of the kingship

and the lordship of Jesus

into their cities

and their workplaces

and the marketplaces

and the gospel advances

one life at a time

through the witnesses

of His disciples.

Jesus is bringing

His disciples

into His global mission

so that Jesus' mission

now becomes

our mission.

Jesus' mission

and our mission.

I think we see this clearly

in verses 9 to 11.

I don't know if you remember

when Margo read at the end

there's this story

about Jesus says this,

you know,

you'll be my witnesses,

Jerusalem,

Judea,

Samaria,

the ends of the earth.

and said when He said

these things

as they were looking on Him

He was lifted up

and a cloud took Him

out of their sight.

And you think

that's a bit weird.

What's going on here, right?

Well, there's a story

in the Old Testament.

There's a great prophet

in the Old Testament.

His name is Elijah.

Elijah is the greatest prophet

in the Old Testament.

Speaks God's word.

But there comes a time

towards the end

of Elijah's life

where he needs

to hand over

his mission,

his mantle,

his calling

to his kind of disciple,

the next guy.

His name is Elisha.

I know they sound similar

but they're two different people.

And so Elijah

takes Elisha

into the wilderness

and there he says

you are going to

carry on my mission.

You're going to

advance my mission.

And Elijah

then disappears

kind of

goes into clouds,

into skies

and he disappears

and nobody sees him

ever again.

And Elisha

now continues

his work

and his ministry.

I think Jesus

is saying

the same thing

is happening here.

As I go

you are taking over

my mission

and my responsibility.

The things

that I have

that I have been doing

I'm now asking

you to do.

Just as Elisha

handed over

his ministry

just as Elijah

handed over

to Elisha

so am I handing over

my ministry

to you.

Friends

all of history

the entire storyline

of the Bible

is moving

in a very clear

and defined trajectory.

I know at the moment

things feel very volatile

and uncertain

in the world.

You read the newspaper

and you think

what on earth is going on?

It's all melting

and falling apart.

No it's not.

The whole of the history

of the world

is moving

in a very very clear

and defined end.

And this is the end.

Hundreds of billions

of people

from every culture

every country

every language

every ethnicity

every people group

gathered around

the throne

of Jesus

worshipping

and declaring

that he is king

in the new heavens

and the new earth

and us living out

under the rule

and the reign

of King Jesus.

As Alan read to us

in the call to worship

Colossians 1

says all things

were made by him

and through him

and for him

and between now

and then

that day

Jesus

who is very much

alive and well

and his mission

is very much alive

and well

Jesus is working

to bring about

his master plan.

But how is he doing it?

through the church

through you

and I.

Jesus' mission

becomes

our mission.

Friends

for those of us

that are followers

of Jesus

what is Jesus

calling you to do

now with your life

now that you've

decided to follow him?

What are the next

5,

10

or 30 years

look like?

Is the overarching

goal of your life

just to try

and not sin

not mess up

too much

and if you do

don't tell anybody

about it

just try and hold

on and get to heaven

one day?

Is the overarching

goal of your

Christian life

just to try

and do more

and more stuff

to serve more

and more

here and there

and everywhere

and ascend the ranks

of the church

leadership

so that one day

you become a deacon

and a small group

leader and an elder

and maybe if you're

a super spiritual

person you can

become a leader?

Is that the goal

of your Christian life?

Friends

what is God

calling us to

as a church?

Is our goal

just to become

big and fancy

and popular

so that everyone

comes to Watermark

and whew

okay we did it.

Friends

it's our goal

to move to a fancy

building on the

south side

that looks so nice

and we get in there

and okay

we've achieved our

mission

we're in.

What a sad

and miserable

mission.

What a small

and pathetic

mission.

Friends

the goal

of your life

if you're a follower

of Jesus

is nothing less

than to join

his cosmic

grand

eternal

mission

to make

him known

to the ends

of the earth

and maybe that

starts with just

your family

maybe starts with

just your

block of flats

but for the gospel

the good news

of the kingdom

the good news

that the brokenness

of this world

is not the final

story

all that's wrong

with this world

is not how the story

ends

the story ends

with God

putting all things

right

and that all

people can be

included in that

story and reconciled

to this God

and made known

and have hope

in this world

and in the world

to come

our mission

our plan

our calling

in life

is to be part

of that cosmic

plan

that is going

to last way

beyond your

three score

in ten years

or maybe

eighty if you're

lucky.

Friends I wonder

how many of us

if we're honest

after becoming

Christians

and growing

in our basic

knowledge of God

in the Bible

how many of us

would describe

our Christian life

as a little sterile

a little boring

a little anemic

and if we're honest

our workplaces

and our jobs

are far more exciting

and exhilarating

and got more

of a challenge

because we think

the goal of the

Christian life

is just be good

and don't mess up

and if you do mess up

don't tell anyone

about it

just pretend

that you're doing

the good thing

and hold on

to the end

but Jesus

is calling you

and I

to something

far bigger

and grander

than that

you will be

my witnesses

my ambassadors

not just to the

UN or

to another nation

to cosmic powers

and forces

for all eternity

Jesus calling us

to nothing less

than joining God

in his cosmic plan

to bring all things

under the rule

and the reign of Jesus

and that doesn't mean

you need to be a pastor

or a missionary

you get to do that

just the way that you love

and serve

and engage your neighbors

or your colleagues

or your friends

you get to do that

in the way that you

parent your children

or the way that you

are a parent

to your children

or the way that you

are a child

to your parents

friends

whether you are

a university student

just trying to study

for exams

or a mom

with a two month old baby

that spends all day

feeding and changing diapers

or whether you're

the CEO of a bank

or managing director

or whether you're

a foreign domestic worker

or whatever you are

Christ has got

a cosmic calling

on your life

the vision God

wants us to grasp

is nothing less

than his cosmic plan

and Jesus says here

in verse 8

you will be my witnesses

Jerusalem, Judea

that Jerusalem

was the place

where they lived

Judea was the province

Samaria is the province

next door

and ultimately

to the ends of the earth

I don't know

if you've ever

gone on Google Earth

I know Google Earth

was like a long time ago

but once upon a time

when Google Earth

was still cool

I don't know if you ever

went to Google Earth

right

and what do we all do

on Google Earth

you all look for

your own apartment

right

so you search

where do I live

okay you find

your own apartment

and then you zoom out

and you zoom out

and you find your street

and then your suburb

and then your district

and then Hong Kong

or maybe if you lived

somewhere else

back in the day

your country

and then your continent

and finally you zoom out

as far as Google Earth

will go

that's something

of the plan

that God wants us

to see

this cosmic plan

for the whole world

to make his name known

in Watermark

there are two songs

that we sometimes sing

that always cause

a lump in my throat

and kind of get my eyes

a little bit moist

and I feel a little bit emotional

there are actually many songs

but two in particular

the one is this

there's a line that says

all the earth

will shout your praise

our hearts will cry

these bones will sing

great are you Lord

and the reason

the song gets me emotional

I first heard the song

first started singing it

when I was back

in our old church

in Cape Town

South Africa

and at that time

we were thinking

of moving to Hong Kong

and we were processing

God's call for us

to move and join Watermark

and I remember sitting

in Cape Town

the bottom of Africa

right

and thinking

about Hong Kong

the greatest city

in the world

and singing this line

all the earth

all the earth

from the bottom

of Africa

where we speak

Zulu

and Nosa

and other things

like that

to Hong Kong

where you speak

Cantonese

and Mandarin

and Tagalog

and Nepali

all the earth

and everywhere

in between

will cry out

great are you Lord

that's the vision

I want to give my life to

here's another song

that always moves me

Psalm 150

the chorus is

praise the Lord

raise your voice

you heighten

all your depths

from furthest east

to furthest west

pray

let everything

that has breath

praise the Lord

friends are you a Christian

this morning

that's the mission

God's called you to

and that's the mission

that Jesus

sends his disciples on

and Luke is introducing

the book of Acts

the book of Acts

is an amazing story

of how the gospel

spread to the furthest

corners of the

known world

and Jesus says

my mission

is your mission

are you up for it

he's sending

his disciples out

now

as we come to close

I want us to consider

one question

why is it

that this is so hard

and why is it

that we

don't really do this

why is it that

the global

cosmic

plan of God

that all things

are made by him

and through him

and for him

so seldom

grips our lives

and I think

there's many answers

but I want us

just to consider

two potential answers

this morning

why is it that

we find this so hard

and don't do this

I think the first answer

we've got to

reckon with

and wrestle with

is the possibility

that we just don't care

that if we're really

honest with ourselves

we actually

just

don't

care

and that in our list

of a hundred priorities

Christ and his kingdom

is kind of like

a hundred and ten

and that almost

anything else

in life

is actually

more important

to us

and friends

this I think

is maybe not true

for many of us

but if that

is true

I think we need

to grapple

with the possibility

that just maybe

we're actually

not even Christians

and we're actually

not even saved

and we're not born again

and we're not

Jesus followers

and we're not part

of his kingdom

and that we are

actually still dead

in our sins

and there's a

particular danger

with that

and this is a

very insidious

kind of danger

and the danger

with that

is that

the problem

with that

is that

this kind of sin

is a religious

kind of sin

which makes it

particularly dangerous

Jesus once

in his ministry

he says to some

Pharisees

he says you're blind

but the problem

is that you're blind

to your blindness

you can't even see

that you're blind

if you could see

that you were in trouble

and you came to me

and said

Jesus we're in trouble

help us

well then I could help you

but the problem

is you keep on telling me

no don't worry

we're fine

we're not blind

we can see

and the fact

that you are blind

the fact that you're blind

means that you're going

to die in your blindness

and friends

the problem

with religious blindness

is that we think

we are fine

but actually

we're dead

in our sins

and one day

we will not be part

of God's cosmic kingdom

we will be separated

forever

and ever

Jesus said

that in every church

there are true converts

and true disciples

and there are those

that think

there are disciples

and converts

and at the end

of the age

he will reveal

to us

what is true

and so

we must

reckon

with the possibility

that maybe

actually

we just don't care

because we're actually

not even saved

and that is

very very sad

and friends

if that is you

I encourage you

come to him

ask him

to change you

but I think

there's another

possibility

and there's another

reason why

we just find

this so hard

and I think

that for most

of us

for maybe

99% of us

the reason

why we

we don't engage

in God's

cosmic global

mission plan

to bring all

things under

the rule

and reign of

Christ

is that it

is impossibly

difficult

it's actually

just so

impossibly

difficult

you know

I've been a

pastor for about

15 years

which means

that for

Prince

the last

15 years

almost

every waking

hour

of my life

I have been

grappling with

this question

how do I

follow Jesus

and help other

people to follow

Jesus more

I mean that's

the question

that pervades

every moment

I'm awake

for the last

15 years

or so

and friends

as a pastor

this is my

full-time job

I find this

hard

and I suck

at this

I get

distracted

by a million

other things

and sometimes

if I'm honest

I love to get

distracted by

other things

I get

distracted by

almost anything

I love

sport

and so I

will find

myself

spending hours

scrolling my

phone

following sport

you know

sports scores

and as I said

to somebody

the other day

I'll start

at the cricket

and then the

rugby

and then the

football

and then the

golf

and then the

formula one

and I'll work

my way down

to ping pong

or whatever

there is

I mean twiddly

you know

flying chess

or Chinese

checkers

anything

sometimes

to distract

me

from having

to read

my Bible

okay I know

that's a bad

confession

I'm sorry

my point is

it's hard

it's hard

if you are

a follower

of Jesus

hopefully

there's

something

in our

hearts

that says

I want

to follow

Jesus

but there

are a thousand

other things

that seem

more appealing

and if you

try and do

this on your

own

you will

fail

and what

Luke wants

to tell us

here in the

book of

Acts

is that

Jesus'

mission

is so

important

but it's

so big

and it's

so vast

and so

expansive

and it

demands

so much

of your

life

that you'll

never

do it

on your

own

never

unless

you're

empowered

by God

himself

unless

God

himself

comes

and works

in your

heart

and helps

you

and gives

you the

power

that you

can't do

on your

own

and so

look at

how

Luke

tells us

this

look at

verse 4

Jesus says

to his

disciples

he's going

to send

them out

on this

global

mission

okay

but he

says

before you

do anything

while staying

with them

Jesus

ordered them

not to

depart

from Jerusalem

but to

wait for

the promise

of the

father

that means

the

holy

spirit

which

he said

you heard

from me

for John

baptized

with water

but you

will be

baptized

with the

holy

spirit

not many

days

from now

Jesus

is about

to send

these

uneducated

unsophisticated

fishermen

and tax

collectors

on this

worldwide

mission

as his

kingdom

ambassadors

and

representatives

to speak

to governors

and emperors

and kings

and rulers

and authorities

the Jews

and the

Gentiles

the rich

and the

poor

everyone

but what

did he

say

you

can't

do it

but I

can do

it

through

you

so

wait

for the

holy

spirit

and when

god's

spirit

empowers

you

to do

it

then

you'll

be

my

ambassadors

god

gives

us

himself

to accomplish

the task

that he's

called us

to do

to take

the good

news

of the

kingdom

the

resurrection

of

Jesus

into our

homes

and our

neighborhoods

and our

workplaces

and our

city

and ultimately

to the

ends

of the

earth

and so

Jesus

says

you

will

receive

power

when

when the

holy

spirit

comes

upon

you

and

then

you'll

be

my

witnesses

in

Jerusalem

Judea

Samaria

and to

the

ends

of the

earth

friends

you can't

do it

on your

own

none

of us

can

none

of us

is smart

enough

educated

enough

powerful

enough

rich

enough

brilliant

enough

clever

enough

none

of us

can

do it

but

he

can

and so

what

God

asks

us

to

do

is

to

actually

get

on

our

knees

and

humble

ourselves

and say

Jesus

I hear

you

your

mission

is

my

mission

we

need

you

God

give

us

your

spirit

give

us

your

power

and

send

us

out

friends

Jesus

is so

gracious

and so

kind

he

never

leads

us

or

sends

us

anywhere

without

giving

us

himself

and

his

spirit

so

as

we

come

to

a

close

I

want

to

leave

us

with

four

very

simple

questions

many

of us

have

to

come

to

believe

and

experience

in

the

reality

of

Jesus

and

his

death

and

his

resurrection

but

now

what

what

does

that

mean

for

our

lives

does

anything

change

is

the

goal

of

your

life

just

to

try

and

hold

on

and

make

it

to

heaven

no

friends

Jesus

has

this

cosmic

mission

this

plan

and

he's

calling

you

to

be

part

of

it

and

Jesus

mission

is

now

your

mission

and

he's

sending

you

out

he's

empowering

you

to

call

all

things

under

the

rule

and

the

reign

of

Jesus

but

as

we

close

let's

think

about

these

questions

friends

are

you

part

of

God's

kingdom

are

you

truly

saved

are

you

born

again

is

there

even

a

remote

!

are

you

giving

yourself

to

Christ

and

his

kingdom

are

you

living

for

his

glory

or

is

Jesus

something

you

just

pay lip

service

to

and

you

live

for

your

own

glory

is

Christ's

cosmic

plan

even

interesting

to

us

friends

are

you

convinced

of

the

message

of

the

gospel

is

it

good

news

to

your

heart

is

it

good

news

enough

to

actually

tell

somebody

else

that

Jesus

has

come

that

forgiveness

of sins

spirit

and

living

dependently

upon

him

are

you

resting

in

him

have

you

come

to

the

end

of

yourself

and

friends

are

you

saying

Jesus

I

need

you

come

and

do

for

me

what

only

you

can

do

but

what

I

so

desperately

need

let's

take

a minute

to

think

and

ponder

on

this

and

then

I'll

pray

and

then

we'll

close

in a

song

let's

take

some

time

together

let's

pray

together

well

and

so

is

your

mission

and

God

one

day

your

mission

will

end

with

the

fullness

of

time

all

things

all

of

us