Great Commission (Baptism Sunday)

We've been praying for you all week that you would have a grace collision with

Jesus. So it is. It's great to be here. I want to

talk to you today. I don't even know what to title this. We're

just gonna call it the Great Commission. We're gonna tile it the Great Commission.

I want to I want to. I wanna talk to you because I

believe that the Lord has chosen the local church to be his evangelism mechanism on

the face of the earth. And um if you have if you have your

Bible, go to Matthew chapter twenty eight, Matthew chapter twenty eight. We're

gonna start reading in verse eighteen. Matthew twenty eight, verse eighteen. If

you're there, say amen, you're not, say oh my. Everybody else

and the old mis follow along on the screens, and Jesus came and spoke

to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and

on earth. I want you to just listen. I want you to take

that statement in for just a moment, just breathe that statement. In all

authority, not some authority. All authority has been given to me on heaven

and in earth. Jesus said, listen, I have what it takes to

get the job done. He runs it all, and he trusts you so

much that he didn't stop right there, but he kept delivering some words,

and he transferred some of that responsibility into our hands. And he has given

us the authority to do it. Come on, somebody, he said,

listen, all the authority is mine. Go therefore and make disciples of all

nations, baptizing them and they of the Father and of the Son and of

the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of

the age. Amen. Father, thank you for your word. Thought.

It's the only change agent on the face of the planet. And I pray

that right now, in these moments we have together, that the seeds of

life and energy would be planet at the very fabric of our soul, the

foundation of who we are, and that it would bring a harvest of life

the likes of which we've never experienced. That it would bloom in such a

way that people would look and say, I don't know what it is about

them, but I want to be more like it. Father, I pray

right now that you beat back every hindrance, Lord, of every interruption,

Lord, and that you allow us to devote our complete attention to you in

Jesus name. Amen, this is what we call the Great Commission. It's

it's the Lord's mandate for us to go into all the world preach and teach,

and disciple and baptize. And it was it was a command that He

has given to us. Now, if I knew everything the Lord knows,

which is everything, I may not have chosen us to do the most important

thing that can be done. Amen. I would probably just show up in

places when people were up to things that were no good. I would just

show up. I would just appear in their midst and say, it is

me, the Lord repent, and probably it would work. Come on,

somebody, I mean, you know, somebody just shows up appeers. But

he didn't do that. He chose people to carry out the most important thing

that we can do, and that has spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

But I think we read this passage of Scripture and it seems a little overwhelming

because he says to go into all the world, and that seems like such

a vast, expansive task that the world is so big and I'm just be

come on, somebody, I'm just I'm just Steve. And the world is

a big place, and I don't know if I can get there. I

don't know if I can go everywhere. I don't know if if I really

got what it takes to go into all the world and to reach everybody.

And we take this expansive task and we allow it to intimidate us to the

point where we don't really do anything a lot of times. But I want

to kind of frame this a little bit differently today because I believe, in

pursuit of the world, sometimes we miss our own home. Oh, let

me say that again. I think sometimes in the pursuit of the world,

we miss our own home. We miss our neighbors, we miss our children,

we miss our grandkids, we miss our nieces and our nephews. And

there's there's a responsibility even there. As a matter of fact, the closer

it is to us, the heavier the responsibility is. Let me let me

just um, let me pose this to you for a moment. I mean,

I think this math would be correct that if every single person reached their

home, If every single person reached their home, there wouldn't be no one

else to reach because we all reached our own homes. Amen. And there

is a there is a growing attack against the family unit. There is a

pervasive attack of the enemy that wants to um teach you, that wants to

convince you that parenting is not your responsibility. It's a matter of fact,

there's even there. There are even reports now that say that parents are not

quite hold on just second, that parents are not qualified to parent their children.

You pay for them, came on, somebody, You pay for them,

but it's not your job to parent them. It's not your job to

raise them. Let's turn them over to professionals to do all the raising.

Now, first of all, let me tell you something. Do not turn

your children over to Cornerstone Tabernacle for their spiritual development. It's not because we

couldn't. We probably could, but it's not the way the Lord designed things

to be done. The home is the central unit for discipleship, for formation,

for a vale, use, for everything. It is the home.

As a matter of fact, let me let me show you something that maybe

you've never thought about. Our faith, the Christian faith is the only faith

that your natural birth doesn't bring you into So in other words, let me

explain, in the Jewish faith, when a child is born to Jewish parents,

that child is Jewish. In a Muslim home, when a child is

born, that child is Muslim. In a Buddhist home, when that child

is born, that child is Buddhist. When a child is born and a

Christian home, that child is a sinner. Amen. So there is no

just natural genealogy that occurs that brings someone into our faith. It's our responsibility

to set that atmosphere for a evangelism to happen in that safe space of our

homes, so that they are not just born into a Christian home, but

they're born again into the Kingdom of God. But what is being taught now,

what is being pressed now, is that you should not have any input

in shaping the value system of your home. That you can't have any pressure,

and you can't do anything. You need to turn these children over to

someone else to be raised. And it is the prevailing thought. And here's

the scary thing for a generation that has also not done a great job of

parenting. Of course, I'm not talking anybody in this room. I'm not

talking. I'm not talking to y'all because I mean, I know y'all are

parents of the year, right. I'll let me just by a show of

hands, how many of you you ever feel like maybe you discipline your child

when you shouldn't have. How many of you think that maybe, um,

you should have disciplined your child and you didn't, that you said the wrong

thing at the wrong time, But you also said the right thing at the

right time. See, the reality is that the Lord entrusted you with those

under your roof, whether biological or whether adopted, or whether somebody just showed

up from the community. Amen. My heart really goes out to those that

they love and they parent those that just kind of show up from the community.

Amen. You know, like those cats that show up, you know.

And we have those children from the community that just show up, right,

and we helped parent those things through the value systems that we have on

the inside of us. In Deuteronomy, chapter six, in verse five,

it says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words that

I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently

to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,

and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down,

and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand,

and they shall be as frontless between your eyes. You shall write them

on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. He says, Listen,

your value should be visible in your home, and you should have conversations

with your children about what's happening in the world, so that they have an

understanding of your value system. Not just so it looks like we go to

church, but so we understand that we are the church and we show up

to celebrate together. The reality of parenting is that it is a twenty four

hour a day, seven day a week, three hundred and sixty five days

a year job, and it is ongoing in perpetuity of our lives. We

never stop parenting, we never start imparting. But listen to me. Now

we'll face to get real. Here. This is where the emails come.

But parenting is more than protecting. See, we think that we should protect

our children from everything in society that is contrary to what we believe. But

the reality is they're going to experience those things that are happening in the world.

They're going to encounter godlessness, They're going to encounter confusion, They're going

to encounter all of these different value systems, They're going to encounter all of

these different religions. And we have to more than just protect. We have

to teach through these moments. One of the big questions that I often get,

like when we do our town halls and and and those in the Grays

that we do every Tuesday night at eight on Facebook and YouTube and Twitch,

and if you don't know what in the Gray is, it's a time of

interactive discipleship where we teach live. You submit questions and we answer those questions.

Would love for you to be on with us this Tuesday evening. But

one of the questions that I get is, Hey, should I let my

children read this book? Or should I let my children play that video game?

Or should my children be able to watch this television show or watch that

movie or or And it's always a specific thing. Come on, somebody,

it's always a specific particular thing that we have chosen that we read about on

a blog somewhere. Come on somebody that Oh that's bad, that's bad,

that's bad, that's bad. And here's the reality is that you're the parent.

Parent through those things instead of saying no, explain why no, or

be involved in the process. Come on, somebody, be involved in the

process of that music or that movie or that television show or that book.

Read the book with your children and then coach them through that based on the

value system that you have in your home. So if we read something that

we know there's some come on rough stuff, coach through that. Be with

your children and say hey, this is why that's that. My oldest daughter

was into this. What was that little foot? What's the name of that

show? Land Before Time? It was this cartoon and it would always come

on and it would say millions of years ago, and I'd pause it and

I say, baby, listen, you know this is a cartoon. And

really, you know, the earth is not millions of years old. God

created the earth. We believe that God created the earth in seven literal days.

That that's all it took him that. I don't know why it took

him so long, but he chose to use right. God don't need a

million years. He could he could have said boom and it just happened.

I say, so, you know, this is just that's just a theory.

That they have and listen, and I'm just me all the time,

y'all, and I would say listen, and really, anybody that believes that

you know, million and milliers, they time to think like a cartoon.

I was just playing for a kid to understand. And we would talk through

those things because we believe in literal creation as part of our value system.

So instead of the first time we heard and said no, no more little

foot, because she loved little foot, So we would teach through that,

and then it would start coming on and I wouldn't say it, and it

would a millions of years ago, and Matte would say not really. So

we talked through that and we imparted value system through active parenting by being involved

in what she's being involved in. I want to go back and I want

to take just another look at that first passage of scripture, the Great Commission

that we looked at, and I want to kind of help you teach you

as you fulfill the Great Commission in your home, kind of what that looks

like. Can we do that? So let's go back to Matthew chapter twenty

eight. Starting in verse nineteen, it says, go therefore and make disciples

of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the

Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I

have commanded you. Now, what did Jesus command them? Because he's talking

about things that he's already taught his disciples. See, we want to we

want to really dig in and get way over into Pauline and theology, and

we want to get into into end time revelation. We want to set our

kids down and have a twenty seven week Bible study on why now is the

end? Jesus said, here's the key to the great commission. Teach the

things to others that I have already taught to you. At this point,

and when we look at all the things that Jesus taught, they don't look

like a lot of the stuff that we major on when we talk about Christianity.

He said, hey, here here's something. Make good financial decisions and

learn to give You know that Jesus taught about money more than he did any

other topic. Jesus had more to say about money than heaven, more to

say about money than love. Jesus talked about money because the love of money

is the root of all evil. Come on somebody, and he knew how

easy money grabbed people's hearts, especially young people. So have those conversations about

a value system that you have and how that looks in regards to your children's

finances. I just listen. We were talking to Lexie and she said,

listen, how how do I get where I want to be? She said,

how do I? How do I from a thousand air? That's what

she calls herself, My youngest R says, I'm a thousand air. She

has a thousand dollars in the bank, says how do I get from a

thousand air to a millionaire? So that's a great question, and we have

those conversations. But one thing that she understands completely already through the conversations is

that that ten percent of what she comes of what comes in goes to the

Lord. And we have those discussions and what does that teach? How does

that help me lead my children to the Lord? How does that help me

evangelize and fulfill the great commission? Well, they understand that if I'm giving

the Lord part of the thing that I want to gain, he must be

really important. There must be some value to him. If I'm placing value

in him, and we begin to teach a mind that there is something more

than just a figure in a book, but there is some actual connectivity to

our lives. Jesus taught integrity and sexual relationships. He taught what it meant

for husbands and wives to be together. He taught what it meant for there

to be a man and a woman. He taught the value and the integrity

and those relationships. Jesus taught those things, and we have those conversations that

we teach those things because it's part of our value system. He taught how

to treat other people. Jesus talked a lot about how to treat other people.

Treat others as I want to be treated. I see a lot of

I see a lot of Christian hate. And he says, listen, invest

value in other people and earn the right to speak into their lives. And

teach our children to invest value and others so that you can make a withdrawal

because nobody knows. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much

you care. Making investments through our lives the most important things we can do.

Have those open conversations that Jesus is the lord of everything, that if

we lost everything we have right now, it doesn't matter because it all belongs

to the Lord, and he can give it back, or he can keep

it, or he can do whatever he wants to do, because this already

his. Have those conversations, and those conversations lead to that grace collision with

Jesus. But we must, under all circumstances not neglect the great commission in

our own homes. Do not turn the value systems over to other people that

you do not know and you don't trust. Now, people say, Pastor,

I hate it when you get political. This is not political, it's

Bible. I'm just I'm teaching God's word to you. And if we don't

look what's happening out there, we don't know how to pastor through it.

We don't know how to lead through it. We don't know how to pare

it through it. And I want you to know that there is an attack

coming on your family. Now, listen, there's some good teachers. There's

some good teachers. Raise your hand if you're a teacher here. Most of

those that raise their hand are pretty good. I'm just kidding. I'm just

kidding. They're all good. Well, yep, yep, yep, yeah,

they are good people in government. There's good people in organizations that that

feel like they're imposing on us. But for the for us to live Christian

lives, we have to lead our homes and create the value system and our

children. In Matthew chapter twenty two, verse thirty six, we see this

phrase that's back in Deuteronomy when he talks about training our children and speaking to

our children and living out our value system. And he says, teacher,

which is the Great Commandment and the law. And he said to him,

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your

soul, and with all your mind. Since you gotta love the Lord with

everything. Everything that's in you has to love the Lord. There is no

negotiation, there's no halfway in, halfway out. I've got to be all

in and love the Lord with everything I've got. And I'm gonna go a

step further to say. If you can't do that, then you can't do

the next step. In the Great Commandment, he says, first of all,

you gotta fall completely in love with me. Not like him a lot,

not read about him every day. You got to love him. Let

me tell you what love is. It's been reduced to other things. But

love is my desire, say me. It's not based on somebody else,

is based on me. Listen. My love for my wife is not based

on how she makes me feel, although she does a really good job of

making me feel good, but it's not based on how she makes me feel.

My love is based on my desire to make her happy and complete.

So for me to love the Lord is not by default because he loved me

first. Love is not a reciprocation. It's a leading even on our relationship

with Jesus. So we live our lives in such a way that not that

the Lord makes me feel good and our reciprocator, I shine back to him.

I wake up every day and I know I'm in love with Jesus because

I want everything I do to please him and make him happy. It's okay,

it's hard to do. If you do, I may say okay one

expecting a whole lot of clapping, But that's how we know if we love

the Lord with everything that we are, and if we're gonna make an impact

in the world, we gotta get that part right now. I'm gonna take

a break right here and listen. If you're being baptized today. I'm gonna

ask you to go ahead and and get ready to be baptized. If you

need to change clothes or whatever you need to do, you can go and

change back here in the restrooms. And then we're gonna come over here on

this side of the stage. And if you guys will just line up right

there, Miss Diana'll come and get you guys in the right place. But

you're gonna but you're gonna line up right over here. The band can come

and get ready now, he says, Listen, love me, fall in

love with me. Let what I do be pleasing to the Lord. And

every step, every turn, every bend, every other. And if I

do that, then I can do the rest of this. You shall love

the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with

all your mind. This is the great and first commandment, and the second

is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself. See this is the

great This is This is what allows us to live great commission lives. Is

that we're so in love with Jesus that we look at other people the way

he looks at people. That his heartbeat is our heartbeat. And the things

that breaks his heart. It breaks our heart. The things that upset him

upset us. The things that motivate him motivates us. And humanity motivates Jesus.

Humanity and the brokenness and the needs of humanity is what moves the heart

of Jesus. Is that what moves your heart? And none of us are

there yet. I'm not there yet. Listen there, Thank goodness, my

softball coaching season is over. Because there were times where I didn't love umpires

the way that Jesus wanted me to love them. Come on, somebody,

and that sounds funny, but it's true. And I would think things about

those umpires. I didn't say it out loud, A whole lot this year,

a whole lot, but I would think to myself, that's the dumbest

person that's ever been born. And then the game would be over and we

would serve le up and one of the girls would be praying. I'd be

like, oh, man, that was just a ballgame, and that umpire's

soul was so much more important than that calleth played. None of us are

there yet, but we're getting there. That's what spiritual maturity, discipleship,

sanctification, whatever you want to call it. It's all the same thing.

That's the journey we're on. It's falling in love with Jesus more and more

each day. And maybe you're here today and you've never opened your heart to

the love of God. You've never said, Lord, here, I am

use me, Lord here, I am help me, Lord here I am

save me from my sin. But today something has moved you. Maybe it

was that beautiful baby being dedicated to the Lord. Maybe it was the drawing

of the Holy Spirit during one of those songs. I don't know what that

connection was for you, but something moved on the inside of you, and

you've realized that it's time for you to make your relationship with the Lord.

Right. We show you what love for him looks like. You love him

the way he loves you. And he looked into this room today, for

two thousand years earlier, and motivated by love. He was beaten beyond human

recognition, crown of thorns, beaten upon his head, He was mocked,

and he was spat upon. And he carried the instrument of his death on

his shoulders through those dusty streets of Jerusalem, up the incline of Calvary,

where he laid his life down and he surrendered it for you. That cross

was raised and dropped into a hole with a thud, and it shook every

nerve ending in his body. And even in that moment, he looked at

those that were causing him this pain and he said, Father, God,

forgive them, for they don't know what they do. He looked, lifted

his eyes towards heaven. He said, Lord, this is my people.

Into your hands, I commit my spirit. And he breathed his last and

he died. He didn't do that for the person sitting next to you.

He did it for you so that you could have a grace encounter with him

today where he could wash away your sins and make you brand new, a

new creation, not the same broken, hurt victim you walked in those doors

as but leaving here understanding that you're walking in his victory. Everybody's standing me

all over the building,