World Wide Witness: The Mission Of The Church

But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had travelled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem.

They are now his witnesses to our people.

We tell you the good news.

What God promised our fathers, he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.

As it is written in the second psalm,

You are my son, today I have become your father.

The fact that God raised him from the dead never to decay, it is stated in these words,

I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.

So it is stated elsewhere, you will not let your holy ones see decay.

For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.

He was buried with his fathers, and his body decayed.

But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you.

Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas,

who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

Thanks very much, Jonathan.

There is at the back an A4 sheet, which you may find helpful in understanding the big plan.

This one here is entitled Progression of God's Mission.

So the big sweep of Acts, and it helps you understand what's going on and some of the big themes.

So there's copies of those at the back.

You might want to take them to read at home.

Well, keep your Bibles open at Acts 13.

We're going to dip into Luke as well, just very briefly.

But we're going to pray first and ask for God's help in this.

Father, we thank you for this great book of Acts, this history of the early church,

its beginnings, its growth, and its spread across the entire world.

But more than that, we thank you for the person of Jesus to whom it points to and tells us about.

And we pray that what we read and what we look at together would shape us, not as individuals,

but it would shape us and transform us as a church and the way that we should be.

So please help us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, I want to start by asking what is a very contentious but critical question.

And if you come along on Wednesday nights, I'm sure this question will be debated at large.

Here's the question. It's the title of the talk.

What is the mission of the church?

You might think that's straightforward.

What is the mission of the church?

What would you answer to that question?

Well, let me give you some possible answers.

The mission of the church is to grow God's kingdom,

love God and love your neighbour.

Is it to tell the gospel?

Or is it to serve the community?

The mission of the church is to plant churches?

Or feed the poor and fight injustice?

Or obey God's commands?

What is the mission of the church?

Well, before we try and answer that, let's define what we mean by mission.

Surprisingly, mission as a noun, as in what is the mission,

it doesn't appear in the Bible.

But it does mean, when we talk about mission,

it means being sent with a task.

So we could define it like this.

I think it's on the screen there.

Mission is the specific task or purpose

the church is sent to accomplish.

That's our working definition for mission.

So what is the task?

What is the purpose for the church?

Well, you might think of a missionary who goes overseas

or you might think of a group of people

who go on a short-term missions trip.

And when people do that,

it could mean anything from teaching in a Bible school

to personal evangelism,

or it might mean going to a country where you're digging a well

or starting a health clinic.

You see, there is a very popular view in the church today

that the mission of the church is to feed the poor,

fight injustice,

and free the enslaved.

Now, I want you to hear me clearly on this.

While I say yes to all of these things

and encourage and support those things,

it is not the mission of the church.

They may help to facilitate the mission of the church.

They may be in some ways a partner,

but it is not the mission.

Mission is not everything the church does or can do,

but what the church is sent in the world to do.

So, have a flick back to Luke's Gospel, chapter 24.

Luke's Gospel, you remember, is the prequel to Acts.

It was the first one that Luke wrote,

and it's introducing us to who Jesus is,

why he came,

and after his resurrection,

Luke records the last and final words

that he gives to his followers.

Luke 24, verse 46.

Luke 24:46

Jesus told them,

this is what is written,

that Christ will suffer

and rise from the dead on the third day,

and repentance and forgiveness of sins

will be preached in his name to all nations,

beginning at Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things.

Now, there's three things there.

It says,

the Christ will suffer,

he will rise from the dead.

Both of those have been fulfilled.

Both of those things have happened,

but there's one outstanding thing

that hasn't yet finished,

and that is in verse 47,

that repentance and forgiveness of sins

will be preached in his name to all nations,

beginning at Jerusalem

and working out from there.

An author, Kevin DeYoung,

puts it like this.

He says,

mission is not everything we do

in Jesus' name,

nor is it everything we do

in obedience to Jesus.

Mission is the task we are given to fulfil.

It's what Jesus sends us

into the world to do.

So the mission of the church

is not to sponsor a child.

It is not to work for famine relief.

It is not to care for the environment.

It is to witness about Jesus,

his death,

his resurrection,

and our response to him.

Of course, that doesn't mean

we don't do those things.

We do, and as a church,

we encourage those things.

However, by themselves,

as we will see,

they do not fulfil the mission

that God has given.

Now, when we get to Acts,

so you can go back to Acts again,

when we get to Acts,

we see those final words of Jesus

being fulfilled

through the book of Acts,

being worked out.

In fact, the whole book of Acts

is all about his people

preaching the good news of Christ.

And of course,

as we go through Acts,

there are examples,

you'll know in chapter 2

and chapter 4,

there's these great examples

of social care and concern

as the church sell their possessions,

they sell their fields,

they sell their other homes,

and they give to those

who are in need.

So there is a social care.

But the primary underlying theme

working its way through

the whole book is this.

The priority for the church

until Jesus returns,

a mission of which

the community must never lose sight

is to witness to Jesus

to the ends of the earth.

And that's what we find happening

when we get to this church in Antioch

that we were introduced to last week

in Acts chapter 13.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

Look what we see happening in verse 2.

Here they were,

they were worshipping the Lord

and fasting,

and the Holy Spirit said,

Set apart from me Barnabas and Saul

for the work to which I've called them.

So after they had fasted and prayed,

they placed their hands on them

and sent them off.

So what are they sending them off to do?

What's the work?

What's the mission?

Well, verse 5,

when they arrived at Salamis,

they proclaimed the word of God.

They are simply fulfilling

the mission of the church.

So what we want to do

as we look at chapter 13,

the verses that Jonathan read,

is to look and see

how we can keep the mission of God,

the mission of the church.

And we do this in two ways.

Firstly,

we keep the message of Jesus central.

Keep the message of Jesus central

in all the work

that we seek to do as a church.

So verse 13,

from Pathos,

so you remember that they'd gone down

to the island of Cyprus.

So we're told from Pathos,

Paul and his companions

sailed to Perga in Pamphylia,

which was just on the edge of Turkey,

back onto the mainland again,

where John left them

to return to Jerusalem.

From Perga,

they went on their way

to Pisidian Antioch,

which was about 100 miles inland,

across mountains,

beautiful scenery,

to this place of Antioch,

Pisidian Antioch.

Now this isn't a tour,

a holiday guide

of where they went

in the Mediterranean and Turkey.

No,

what this is telling us

is that as they went

from town to town,

they were witnessing to Christ,

as the text tells us.

Look at the rest of verse 14.

So on the Sabbath,

they entered the synagogue,

like the local church,

if you like,

there and they sat down.

And after reading

from the law and the prophets,

the synagogue rulers

sent word to them,

rumour had obviously spread

about what they were doing,

saying,

Brothers,

if you have a message

of encouragement

for the people,

please speak.

So this word of encouragement

that we read

from verses 16 through to 41

is like the sermon

that was going on.

It was the exhortation,

it was the message,

it was an opportunity

for them to open up

the scriptures,

the Bible,

which they would have had

the Old Testament,

and from that

they would have talked

about Jesus,

which is exactly

what Paul goes on to do.

The message of Jesus

was central.

Now not everybody liked

what he had to say.

Look down at verse 44,

we didn't read this,

but let's read it together,

verse 44.

So on the next Sabbath,

a week later,

almost the whole city

had gathered to hear

the word of the Lord.

It's quite incredible,

isn't it,

that this rumour had spread,

these people were talking

about this Jesus,

and they've all come to hear.

But when the Jews

saw the crowd,

they were filled

with jealousy

and talked abusively

against what Paul was saying.

So not everybody liked

what he had to say.

But that was his mission.

Verse 46,

Then Paul and Barnabas

answered them boldly,

We had to speak

the word of God

to you first.

And since you reject it

and do not consider yourselves

worthy of eternal life,

we now turn to the Gentiles,

to all the other nations,

people who are not Jews.

For this is what the Lord

has commanded us.

I have made you a light

for the Gentiles

that you may bring salvation

to the ends of the earth.

God's mission,

his work,

his purpose,

his plan

is that the salvation of Christ

would go to every people group,

to every language group.

And so Paul

and the church

from which he was sent

is driven

by that same mission.

Now increasingly,

I'm discovering

as I read articles

and read different blogs

on the internet

that the definition of mission

is beginning to expand,

it's broadening.

For some churches

and mission organisations,

the mission is

about social justice,

releasing people from poverty,

increasing the opportunities

of the weak.

and as I've said,

that is all good stuff.

We can support it,

we should support it,

we can be involved in it,

but you know what,

it doesn't enable people

to receive salvation,

it's not the message.

Let me put it bluntly,

and I want to be very careful

as I say this,

but to make the point,

a child with a full belly

does not make them

a child of God.

And a father released

from slavery

does not rescue them

from hell.

You see,

when the opposition

came to Paul and Barnabas

that we read

in verse 46,

they could have kind of

gone back to square one

and redefined their mission.

Let's go do something else.

But that's not going

to save people.

That's not going

to rescue people.

Tim Keller put it like this

when he was talking about

the primacy

or the centrality

of preaching the gospel.

The gospel is central,

he says,

quote,

not because the spiritual

is better

than the physical,

but because the eternal

is more important

than the temporal.

We must be crystal clear

on what the mission

of the church is.

So first,

we are to keep

the message

of Jesus central.

Second,

we are to keep Jesus

the centre

of our message.

Keep Jesus

the centre

of our message.

As Barnabas

and Paul

speak to these people,

it's very clear

that they're talking

about Jesus.

Now,

as I was reading

through that,

and I hope it's the same

for you,

that's a real challenge.

Because I find myself

actually talking about

a lot of other things.

It's not wrong

to talk about other things,

but let me give you

an example.

One of the questions

when you meet new people

after they get to know

what your name is,

they usually ask you,

what do you do?

And I'm always asked,

what do you do?

And usually it ends

the conversation

pretty quick

or people want to

go talk a bit more.

But often when people

ask me that,

it develops into

a conversation

about the church

or the kind of work

that I do

in the church.

In other words,

I tell people

about church life,

but I'm not actually

talking to them

about Jesus.

Or perhaps

in the conversation,

if it develops

a bit more,

I talk about the Bible,

I say, well,

one of the things

I do is to help

people understand

the Bible

and what it's about.

And I maybe talk

about how reliable

it is in that

the Gospels

that we read

are actually

trustworthy.

They're true

eyewitness accounts

and they're not

just made up.

And I can talk

all this wonderful

information,

but it's actually

not talking about

Jesus.

We need to talk

about Jesus.

And Paul does

this in many ways

here,

but I've summarised

it into three

simple ways

and I hope

this is a helpful

way of just

recounting the

whole message

of Christ.

First,

Jesus is the

promised Saviour.

Look at verse 16.

Or sorry,

verse 17.

It seems like

as he starts

into his spiel,

this is just a big

history lesson

as he talks about

the beginning

of Israel.

So in verse 17,

he says,

the God of the

people of Israel

chose our fathers,

he made the people

prosper during their

stay in Egypt,

and with mighty

power he led them

out of the country.

Verse 20.

All of this took

about 450 years.

And then he begins

to talk about a

succession of great

leaders and kings.

So continue on in

verse 20.

After this,

God gave them

judges until the

time of Samuel the

prophet.

Then the people

asked for a king

and he gave them

Saul.

Verse 22.

After removing

Saul, he made

David their king.

So what is this?

Just history?

What's going on?

Well, no, there's a

purpose to all of

this.

His purpose is to

get to Jesus.

Consistently, God

had promised through

the nation of Israel

and through all their

great leaders like

Moses and Samuel

and David and Saul

that Jesus would

come.

It's all part of

his plan.

So when we get to

verse 23, what does

he say?

From this man, once

he gets to David,

from this man's

descendants, God

has brought to

Israel the saviour,

Jesus, as he

promised.

Now most people

today, while they

don't know a lot

about him, are

still familiar with

Jesus.

At best they may

see him as a good

moral teacher.

He arrived on

earth for a few

years and, well, he

died an unfortunate

death.

But it's so much

bigger and greater

than that.

We must show

people that Jesus

is God's promised

saviour from

eternity past, who

has come into

this world to

renew broken

lives and restore

this broken world.

And he does it all

through his death

on the cross.

Jesus didn't just

appear out of

nowhere.

Jesus is God's

planned solution

to the devastation

and destruction

that we see all

around us in the

world and in

people's lives.

He is a promised

saviour, a

rescuer, the one

that everybody

longs for and

wants.

So we need to

talk about Jesus.

The second thing

we could sum up

like this is that

we talk about

Jesus as the

risen king.

Verse 26.

No, verse 20,

well, hang on.

Yeah, 26 to 37.

Most people, again,

when we talk about

Jesus, they accept

that he lived on

earth, that he came

to earth for a

while.

They maybe

recognise that he

died, but where

people have a real

problem is that he

rose again, that he's

actually still alive.

But we need to make

sure that people

understand that that's

true, and Paul is

concerned that people

know that this is

true.

So look at verse 29.

When they carried

out all that was

written about him,

they took him down

from the tree, that's

the cross, and they

laid him in a tomb.

But God raised him

from the dead, and

for many days he

was seen by those

who travelled with

him from Galilee to

Jerusalem.

They are now his

witnesses to our

people.

You couldn't have

made this up.

People saw him,

touched him, heard

him.

They ate with the

risen Jesus.

Hundreds of people

saw him.

So you can't make

it up.

And without the

resurrection of

Jesus, everything

that he said in

his life would

prove to be

empty.

It would just

be a lot of

hot air.

But if Jesus

is risen from

the dead, if he

actually is alive,

then his promise

of renewal and

restoration is

true.

Verse 32.

We tell you the

good news, what

God promised our

fathers.

He has fulfilled

for us their

children by raising

up Jesus.

Verse 36.

David was a

great king, a

great leader.

We can read about

him.

But he ended up

a dead, smelling,

rotting corpse.

Jesus, however,

defeated death.

Therefore, he

has power and

authority over

death.

The resurrection

proves, it

guarantees the

promise of

eternal life.

Everybody fears

death.

Nobody likes the

thought of one

day having to

die.

Where do we

go?

What will

happen?

It's our

enemy.

But the

resurrection

guarantees the

promise of

eternal life.

And if Jesus

has risen,

well then we

can trust him

with our

life.

We can

trust him

with our

future.

So we need

to talk about

Jesus.

Talking about

the church,

talking about

the Bible,

is not going

to help

people.

Third, we

could sum it

up like this.

He talks about

Jesus, the

forgiving judge.

And look at

how Paul just

keeps Jesus

central the

whole way

through his

talk.

Verse 38.

Therefore,

my brothers,

I want you

to know

that through

Jesus, the

forgiveness of

sins is

proclaimed to

you.

Through him,

everyone who

believes is

justified from

everything you

could not be

justified from

by the law

of Moses.

Now we

know we

experience life

every day.

You know

the mess that

people get

themselves into,

all because of

our rebellion

against God.

God.

But Jesus

is full of

grace and

mercy and

compassion and

he's making it

clear to us and

to all people that

he offers

forgiveness.

He provides a

way for us,

look at verse

39, to be

justified.

That is to be

declared right

before God.

Not only to be

declared right,

but actually to be

treated as right,

to be treated

like his own

son.

this is what

he does for

us.

Remember the

nursery rhyme

about Humpty

Dumpty?

Well,

we're all a

little bit like

Humpty Dumpty.

We've all had a

great big fall.

And all our

efforts and all

our energies

can never fix

us.

We can never be

put back together

again by our

own efforts and

trying our own

different ways in

life.

But Jesus is

the one who

has come to

forgive, to

put us back

together, to

make us a new

creation, alive

again in Christ.

But what if we

refuse his

forgiveness?

Well, he makes

it clear we face

him as judge,

verse 40.

take care that

what the prophets

have said

does not

happen to

you.

Look, you

scoffers,

wonder and

perish, for I

am going to do

something in

your days that

you would never

believe, even if

someone told you.

This is a quote

from the prophet

Habakkuk.

And he's

talking there

about the

people in the

past and

their refusal

to repent and

turn back to

God.

And God

said, because

of your

continued refusal,

my judgment

is going to

come.

And it's

going to

come via the

nation of the

Babylonians.

And they're

going to move

into your land,

they're going

to destroy you,

they're going

to take you

into captivity.

captivity.

That's what's

going to happen

and it did

happen.

And what he's

saying here is,

he's making this

as an example,

he says, if you

refuse this Jesus

who has come to

bring forgiveness,

he says, well,

Jesus one day is

coming as

judge.

But that

judgment will be

eternal.

It won't be

through another

nation, it will

be through his

son, and it

will be hell.

So you see, we

need to talk

about Jesus,

don't we?

That's the

reality of it.

It's so easy

for us to talk

about something

else or

someone else.

And we need

to be careful

that we do not

lose the

centre of our

message.

And as I've

said, increasingly

many churches

and organisations,

well, they're

kind of sidelining

the message of

Jesus because,

well, it's not

very PC today.

Social justice

and human rights,

well, people get

that, they

understand that,

so let's do

that and let's

talk about that.

And while

they're all good

things, ultimately,

when we're

speaking of

eternity, it

will help no

one.

Is God

concerned about

the poor?

Is he concerned

about justice?

Absolutely.

The Bible is

full of God's

concern for the

poor.

But it's not

the mission

of the church.

One church

that is involved

in a social

justice issue

that I was

reading about

has got it

right.

They're involved

in healing

and rescuing

those,

particularly young

girls who are

caught up in

sexual exploitation

and human

trafficking of

young children.

And here's a

quote from one

of their leaders

which highlights

what is central.

Now bear in

mind they do

an awful lot

of work of

rescuing, of

taking them

out of these

places, literally

physically rescuing

them out of it.

But listen to his

quote and where

the emphasis is put.

This is what he

says, we

recognise that

if we rescued

everyone involved

in sexual

exploitation

today, millions

and millions

and millions

would be there

to take their

place tomorrow.

Because at the

root of sexual

exploitation

is the demand

for sex

from the sinful

desires of

people.

I know we

need awareness

campaigns and

justice and

better laws to

prosecute, but

none of them

will change

people permanently.

The desires of

people's hearts

need to change.

What we need is

the gospel of

Jesus Christ.

The reality that

Jesus died for

our sins so that

we can be alive

with God.

It's Jesus who

has and who

will continue to

change the hearts

of people.

It's Jesus who

changes abusers

into protectors,

addicts into

free people,

traffickers into

rescuers.

To really change

exploitation, we

need more than

governments and

policy.

We need Jesus to

change hearts.

For when the

gospel changes the

hearts of people,

that changes

everything.

We need to keep

the message of

Jesus central.

And when we

keep the message

of Jesus central,

and when Jesus

is the centre of

our message,

lives are changed

and hearts are

transformed.

Look at verse

48.

When the Gentiles

heard this,

they were glad

and honoured the

word of the Lord,

and all who were

appointed for

eternal life

believed.

And the word of

the Lord spread

through the whole

region.

You see, if we

make God's mission

the mission of the

church,

we will begin to

see an end of

poverty and

injustice and

slavery, because

attitudes will be

changed.

And if we grasp

that ultimately

we're sent into

the world with

the good news of

the gospel, then

we will see an

end to

exploitation and

trafficking and

sweatshops.

In their place,

we will see new

communities of

people, churches,

people who love

Jesus and who

love others, all

living under the

rule of Christ,

living God's way

in his world.

May God give us

together as a

church his grace

to live out his

mission in this

church and in the

world today.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Father, we thank

you for Jesus.

We thank you that

he is our promised

saviour, that he is

our risen king, our

forgiving judge.

Thank you for all

that we have because

of him, the work he

has done in our

lives.

God, we pray that

we would be people

who keep Jesus

central to our

lives, to our

families, to our

marriages, to our

church and the

mission that we are

involved in.

And as we go around

this world, as we

meet people, help us

to talk about Jesus.

Jesus.

And we ask for your

help in doing this, for

his honour, for his

glory, for the saving

of many, many people.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

So we're going to sing a

song that I hope reflects

some of what we've been

thinking through.

Could you flick on to the

next slide there?

I think that's...

No, one more.

There we are.

By faith the church...

This is the second verse

down.

By faith the church was

called to go in the

power of the spirit to

the lost, to deliver

captives and to preach

good news in every

corner of the earth.

Let's stand together as we

encourage one another in

our calling.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.