BACK TO SQUARE ONE #1:
REDISCOVERING THE MISSION OF JESUS THE SAVIOUR
INTRO TO TOPIC: Why do we exist as a church? Why is it that after we became Christians, God didn’t take us to Heaven right away? What is it He has left us on the Earth to do?
CHALLENGE: Woke up at 5 am with a sense of urgency of God’s call to wake up! (dream)
“14 And where your light shines, it will expose their evil deeds. This is why it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light." 15 So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days.” (Eph. 5:14-16, NLT).
• QUOTE: “One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.” (John Piper). – Explain.
• David Plett said, “When we rise up as the church of Jesus Christ and give ourselves urgently, sacrificially, and radically to taking the gospel of the kingdom to all those people groups, we can expect to be met with the might of hell. There will be divisions within us, distractions around us, diversions in front of us, deceptions tempting us, and disease and death threatening us. It will not be easy.” (Radical Together).
• The enemy is trying to divide us, distract us, and keep us from our mission.
OPENING TEXT: (Luke 19:10, NKJV).
Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
• Preach the awesome love of Jesus who gave up everything to seek and save the lost!
THE BIG IDEA: God is calling us back to square one: rediscovering the mission of Jesus the Saviour, who came to seek and save the lost. This is our mission!
• Foursquare Gospel: Jesus the Saviour, Healer, Baptiser in the Holy Spirit, Coming King.
• BCC Mission Statement: “We exist to REACH people with the love of God, to CONNECT them in loving relationships with other Christians, to help them to GROW in their faith through God’s Word, to challenge them to DISCOVER their gifts, and to GLORIFY God with their lives.” First - reach people with the love of God = evangelism.
QUOTE: “We as individual Christians and collective churches need to recalibrate our sights on the target God has gen us: spiritually lost people. If people matter to God, then they’d better matter to us, too... Deep in every true Christian, there is an awareness that we are on this planet for purposes greater than having a career, paying the bills, loving our families, and fulfilling our role as upstanding citizens... God wants us to become contagious Christians - His agents, who will first catch His love and then urgently and infectiously offer it to all who are willing to consider it.” (Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels).
BIBLE STORY:
“1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such despicable people -- even eating with them! 3 So Jesus used this illustration: 4 "If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? 5 And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. 6 When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found. 7 In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” (Luke 15:1-7, NLT).
• This story is a beautiful picture of Jesus the good shepherd who looks for lost sheep!
• Are you lost, hurting and broken today? Jesus is looking for YOU. Jesus loves YOU!
• When one sinner is saved, there is GREAT JOY in Heaven!
8 "Or suppose a woman has ten valuable silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and look in every corner of the house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her because she has found her lost coin. 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (Luke 15:8-10, NLT).
• Light a Lamp: It will cost you resources to look for the lost. Oil was a precious asset.
• Sweep the House: It also cost you time to look for the lost.
• Search Carefully: Looking for the lost will cost thoroughness.
• The reason to invest the time and resources in the lost is because they are valuable!
WHY MISSIONS?
• “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:14, NKJV).
• This is one of the reasons we are involved in missions in Costa Rica.
• QUOTE: “People who do not know the Lord ask why we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget they too are expending their lives, and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.” (Nate Saint).
THE MATTHEW STORY:
“9 As Jesus was going down the road, he saw Matthew sitting at his tax-collection booth. “Come, be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. 10 That night Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to be his dinner guests, along with his fellow tax collectors and many other notorious sinners. 11 The Pharisees were indignant. "Why does your teacher eat with such scum?" they asked his disciples. 12 When he heard this, Jesus replied, "Healthy people don’t need a doctor -- sick people do." 13 Then he added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ’I want you to be merciful; I don’t want your sacrifices.’ For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough.” (Matt. 9:9-13, NLT).
• Matthew invited friends, and neighbors to his house for a meal and to learn about Jesus.
• We can do the same thing today to introduce people to Jesus.
FOUR GREAT LESSONS FROM MATTHEW’S STORY:
• No one is too sinful for God to forgive: God forgave Matthew a thief and a cheater.
• People will be interested in the Gospel when they see how it will change their lives.
• You don’t need formal training to lead people to Jesus. Look at what Matthew did!
• Matthew was so joyful he threw a party, invited everyone he knew & people were saved.
MY HOPE VIDEO CLIP: My Hope Explained.
THE PLAN:
• LOOK AROUND and identify your friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow students and family who do not know Jesus as Savior. Write their names on the Matthew brochure.
• LOOK UP and pray every day for each person you have listed.
• LOOK OUT for opportunities to build your relationship with these people.
• LOOK FORWARD to the My Hope event: Invite every person on your list.
• LOOK AFTER those who gave their lives to Jesus and help them grow in their faith.
CHALLENGE: God is calling us back to square one: rediscovering the mission of Jesus the Saviour, who came to seek and save the lost. This is our mission!
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://pastorchrisjordan.wordpress.com/
