“The Church’s Mission”
Acts 1:4-8
Sermon Series: “The Church”
Introduction: Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He also said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:12-13). He also said, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).
Main Idea: Jesus is accomplishing His mission of saving the world through the church being empowered by the Spirit to be His witnesses.
1. Jesus’s Mission Of Saving The World Through The Church
- It is all about Jesus (“witnesses unto Jesus”).
- His mission is not earthly kingdom building or sky gazing but telling the world about Jesus.
- The church was birthed to carry out the mission that God already had of the world meeting Jesus. The gospel is only good news if it is heard in time (Colossians 1:24).
- Every Christian is a witness of Jesus because we have personally experienced Him (Acts 8:1-8). I have taught this wrongly in the past because it is not really a command but a statement or prediction. Being a witness is an identity that produces an activity. We are full-time missionaries as Christians. We are even called to fulfill our mission through our vocation. We cannot just tack Jesus onto our lives because He is our life.
- When Jesus’s mission is being fulfilled; it produces salvation, healing, disciple making, and church planting that results in changed lives, changed cities, and a changed world.
- Applications: Have you met Jesus? Are you fulfilling His mission? Is our church fulfilling Jesus’s mission?
2. The Spirit’s Power In The Church To Accomplish The Mission
- The Spirit empowers us to do what we could never do. Jesus accomplished His mission by being filled with the Holy Spirit and so can we.
- Being missional is the overflow of being filled with the Spirit.
- We can try to work without power or have power but not witness but neither one works.
- We do not have to pray for the Spirit’s power. We already have the Spirit’s power, but we experience it through obedience.
- We do not need to ask for the Holy Spirit to come, but we walk in the Holy Spirit who already indwells us.
- The disciples were pretty incompetent, but they saw Jesus alive and were filled with the Holy Spirit and then they were empowered to change the world. The same thing can happen with God using us mightily through His Spirit even if we feel or are incompetent.
Conclusion: The world desperately needs Jesus. Jesus made complete provision for their salvation. They have to hear the gospel to be saved though. God birthed the church to proclaim the gospel to the world and fulfill His mission in the world. Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you on mission with Jesus? It is a contradiction if we say we are following Jesus but are not fulfilling His mission.
