Speaker 1: 0:13

Well, I cannot believe it. We are here Today. We are wrapping up the book of Matthew, the gospel according to Matthew, and we have been walking through this thing verse by verse. I don't know if you know this, but the gospel according to Matthew has 1,071 verses. Congratulations, verses, congratulations. We have spent 150 weekends teaching this, giving 150 messages over three and a half years. We have I went back and looked at it 90 hours we spent on this, which equates to 3.75 days that you have listened to and journeyed through the gospel. Just to note, matthew would have been read out loud back when it was Matthew. Just to note, matthew would have been read out loud back when it was given. A lot of people wouldn't have been able to read it. It would take about two hours, so you guys really leaned in from two to 90. Get this.

Speaker 1: 1:08

We started this journey August 22nd of 2021. Yeah, I mean, some of you in here weren't even alive then. It's amazing. It is incredible the life that you have gone through and I'm going to tell you I know for some of you, this has been a gift, as you jumped in and experienced something maybe some of you have never experienced and seen it through, or even if you're newer with us and just began that journey but just the depth in which we have discovered together and me personally, this has been a gift. I've talked to so many people about like how's it with the church and I'm like I don't know, but for me, I have grown immensely walking through this and trying to teach through this and discovering and I know that a lot of things have happened as far as depth goes. Get this. So since just doing Matthew, we have baptized more people during the season and more people have made a first-time decision for Jesus to be a part of the kingdom of heaven in our time during Matthew than the previous 10 years combined before Matthew. Like that's what's taking place. So congratulations, we are here, we're doing it and today, yeah, cool.

Speaker 1: 2:20

So today we're going to hit this text, we're going to end with this text this is how he's ending it With what's been called throughout church history as the Great Commission, and we're going to talk about the reason for the church and as we come into this passage of Matthew. If we don't understand this text, I'm not sure we've really understood the book of Matthew as a whole and what he's actually been trying to do Like this is the quintessential text. This is everything that he's been doing, from chapter one actually leads up to this point. It's all been about who Jesus is and then who we are. And now we find him standing on this mountain and he commissions his church and his people to actually go out and do what they're called to do in the world. And really this is answering the question of, like, why we exist. Like, why are you here? If you're a follower of Jesus, why do you continue to actually exist in the world? And also, if I were to ask you what is the point and the purpose of the church? Like, what's the goal, what's the reason that the church exists? What would you say? I can tell you that some people might come up with a whole bunch of different answers.

Speaker 1: 3:28

Like, if I sat you down, some of you might say I think the purpose of the church and the goal of the church is fellowship, that we would gather together, like Acts 2 says that we would get to know one another and we would build community and kind of be there for each other and exhort one another and serve one another. And like, do church discipline and lead each other into godliness, and so on. Some of you might say, well, no, I actually think the point of the church, the reason the church exists, is actually for teaching that we would, you know, teach the word, that you've got to have true doctrine, you've got to think properly about God and the world and salvation and we need to be teaching and understanding theology. And others of you might say no, I think the purpose of the church is praise Like. We need to actually praise God, as Ephesians 1 talks about, like praise God to his glory. That that's the point of our whole life. And you know, if the angels are already doing as Revelation talks about, if they're already praising God, why don't we just start joining with them right now and do what they do in the present? We should live lives that just praise God and glorify God, and so on and so forth. And I'm going to tell you right now all of those things are really really good things and we do those things. They're really good, but the reality is they're not the thing, not the main point, and not the main point, especially when it comes to the church and what the point of the church is. So the reality, if that's not the case, you've got to start asking like then why do we exist? Why are we here? That why question is a really great one Simon Sinek.

Speaker 1: 4:57

He wrote a book called Start With why. It's a great read and it's really about every organization. Every person should wake up in the morning and say like, why do we exist? What am I actually doing here? So not the what, not the how, but the why. And so when we start to unpack that, we would start to okay, well, the point of my life was fellowship and God. Maybe then at the minute, if that was the sole purpose, was fellowship, then why not at the minute that you became a follower of him? Why didn't he just take you on up to heaven? Because there'd be pure fellowship Like that's where you're going to experience the pureness of it, where there's all reconciliation, there's no dissension, no disagreement, there's nothing but pure and beautiful fellowship.

Speaker 1: 5:41

The New Testament, as we've discovered much of it, and this passage specifically, actually tells us our why, what our why is, and then what it looks like. It says your why isn't your teaching? Your why is not fellowship? Your why isn't even praise? All of those things actually are a part of something else. And your why, what it is, is the mission your why is to reach the people for the cause of Christ and to spend your entire lifetime, energy, money given to the sole purpose, which is seeking and saving the lost period. That's why we exist as a church. That's why this faith community actually exists up here on this hill to seek and save the lost, just as Jesus did.

Speaker 1: 6:32

And the reality is is when we start to think about our own priorities in life and we begin to say like, yeah, but I thought the point was just like, glorify God. Here's what the New Testament says about that. Nothing glorifies God more than a sinner being redeemed and found by him. That's much of what Romans, the book of Romans, is all about. So I might manifest my glory when a person comes to know Jesus. God is most glorified in the moment. In that moment, because the mission of the church actually is being accomplished. Forget just the mission of, like, the corporate church for a second. Like I'll talk about that in a moment, but it's your mission. Like it's my mission personally, individually, like are you in coffee shops and workplaces, actually going and reaching out? When was the last time you actually participated and walked someone through the journey and shared your own journey and won them to Christ.

Speaker 1: 7:27

Because here's the mistake that we can make. We can come to church and what are the things that we do? We have teaching, we have praise, we just experienced that, we have fellowship, and then we think that those are the end goal. But the Apostle Paul uses this analogy in four of his letters that he wrote to the church, where he says that we're actually supposed to be like running a race and then hopefully getting the reward that comes here, that after we run this race, we participate in this race, that we get the reward. But I'm going to tell you, you guys know this, if you guys have ever run a race, there's a difference between training for it and then actually doing it right, especially those of you like me. You know we're ultra marathon runners, we're high-level athletes. Right, you can't just go out there and do it I know you probably think I could You're like just go for a run. No, you have to like prepare yourself and you have to train to get ready to compete.

Speaker 1: 8:22

And what we're doing at church, as we gather together in fellowship and we teach doctrine and we understand what God's called us to be and to do, and we praise him and we worship him and we keep each other accountable and we do communion and all of those things. This is the moment of training for you. This is not the competition itself, like as we gather here. This is where we come collectively together, being the church, gathering as a church in a moment of training. Think of it like this, you know when you were in high school, or if you've a pep rally, right, that's not the actual competition, that's just getting everybody fired up, Like here we go, we're going to go get this thing done, and then you got to go out and you got to actually win the game. You got to run the race. And what we do here is, of course we're going to teach, of course we're going to praise, of course we're going to have fellowship, but all of that is actually building up to the game. It's end in itself, and some of you, some of us, honestly, frankly, can kind of get caught sitting in the stands sometimes and just afraid to actually go out and get in the game to tell people about Jesus, actually win someone to Christ. But that's actually why we exist.

Speaker 1: 9:30

So what are some of the essentials, if you will, for running the race? Well, first, I think here's the thing. Let's go on the other side and talk about the non-essentials. And here's the thing with non-essentials when non-essentials begin to characterize or define a church or a church brand or a denomination or an expression of Christianity, what happens when that happens is honest, thoughtful people eventually step away from that church, from that denomination, from that church expression. And they step away not because they quit believing in God and not because they quit honoring the Bible or the scriptures. They step away not because they don't believe what they believed about Jesus. They step away because something about their faith, tradition, the non-essentials, this expression of faith, the Christian faith, that just starts to not seem right. And in some cases what happens and maybe this is you you begin to deconstruct your faith, which basically means they step out of organized religion and kind of sort out what are the essentials versus the non-essentials, to figure out what's actually fundamental, what truly represents first century Christianity. And, like I said, this may actually be your story.

Speaker 1: 10:51

Maybe you've experienced this and maybe you were de-churched or anti-churched because of an experience or someone else's tradition and a non-essential, where you just kind of hit pause on all things organized religion and you still have faith. You still have the faith in God, the God that you grew up with. You still believe Jesus is who he claimed to be. But there's, like your faith tradition whether it was your church or denomination, whatever it might be that you just began to like sense that something was just a little bit off in the tone, in the posture, in the approach that they took to the Christian faith. It began to feel to you in a way un-Christ-like, like as if the leaders and the people kind of led you in that tradition, in that church, like they knew the Bible and they wanted to kind of use it to beat you up a little bit and you wondered sometimes if they actually knew the Jesus of the Bible.

Speaker 1: 11:45

And this is a really big deal. And the reason, one of the main reasons, that this is a big deal is because, practically speaking, non-essentials eventually become obstacles. Non-essentials that get woven into certain streams of Christianity. They eventually, for somebody, become obstacles of faith and then it becomes unattainable, unlivable and for some people it actually no longer becomes good news, it becomes a problem. So those are the non-essentials.

Speaker 1: 12:19

But what are some of the main essentials and fundamentals of the gospel of Matthew that we've actually covered and discovered over our time going through this. Well, let me just highlight six main themes, and today we'll unpack the seventh and final one. First is the thing that we discovered is Jesus as the Messiah, the King, as an essential. Matthew emphasizes Jesus' lineage right off the bat, tracing back to Abraham and David to establish him as the promised Messiah. We discover that another essential is Jesus as the new Moses, and you can go unpack that. We've touched on it many times as we've gone through this over the last couple of years, but Matthew portrays Jesus as this new authoritative teacher, similar to Moses, who delivers God's law to the people. A huge theme and essential throughout the gospel, according to Matthew, was the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is this central theme referring to God's reign and his new age that's actually ushered in in this time, here and now, then and now, by Jesus.

Speaker 1: 13:26

Matthew's big focus also was on the fulfillment of prophecy. It's one of the reasons we picked Matthew to go through, because it's going to point back and connect where Matthew highlights how Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy, demonstrating his authenticity as the Messiah. Another essential is righteous living and discipleship. Matthew emphasizes the importance of living according to God's will, including following his teachings, the teachings of Jesus and then being his disciple, and then, over the last couple of weeks, we discovered the death and the resurrection of Jesus. Then the gospel culminates in the death and the resurrection of Jesus, highlighting his victory over death and sin.

Speaker 1: 14:11

Now for today, as we wrap this all up, we get to uncover and unpack Jesus' final command, an essential fundamental in the gospel according to Matthew. In some ways, this is really like his farewell address. It explains why we're even here and for those of you who grew up in church, it's very familiar, which actually means it's essential. And it's essential if we're going to follow him. And it must be taken seriously because it's actually from him. And here's what we're going to dig down into a little bit today is that it also must be taken personally. So here we go.

Speaker 1: 14:45

So, following the resurrection we talked about last week, jesus appeared to his apostles and women who had been following him and he told them that he wanted actually them to go on ahead into Galilee, which is like 90 miles north of where he was. He appeared to them outside of Jerusalem and Judea. He says hey, I want you to spend a couple of days, go all the way back up to Galilee, where most of his followers originated from. This is where Jesus did the mass of his ministry and he was going to go up there, and there's a couple of reasons why Galilee was safer. Matthew was also in Galilee, and so he documented then what happens next. And so here's what he said, hopping into verse 16. Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee Now, many of you guys know there was 12 when they came down this way, but Judas is missing. You know that story and they go to. They went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

Speaker 1: 15:39

Now this is kind of the setup for what happens next and what happens next. Oftentimes, I think we read right by and we shouldn't, because this actually brings us back to the very beginning. What comes next actually brings us back to the first fundamental or essential that Jesus claimed about himself that Jesus, he is the Messiah and the King. And so then, do you see what they do next? They do what everybody eventually will do Verse 17,. When they saw him, they worshiped him.

Speaker 1: 16:11

Now just think about this for a second Jewish men and women worshiping a human being, as if this human being is a God or is God, was so unlikely, likely, like it was actually so offensive. In fact, worshiping a human being as if this human being is a God was offensive not just to the Jewish people, but to the Romans, the Greeks and certainly Hebrew sensibilities. And according to Matthew, according to people who were actually there, jesus didn't resist it. He didn't say like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's okay, right. And then I love this. And Matthew does this all through his gospel. He tells us all the things. He's so honest with this. I love how honest he is.

Speaker 1: 16:53

And next the text says but I got to be honest, some doubted, like I just, you know, when you read that you think like people saw Matthew was writing, maybe he was having some friends edit this thing, or he's like hey, this is kind of writing out the story, you want to check this out. And when they realized he was going to write this in there or put it in, they're like Matthew, do you have to include that? That's a horrible sales pitch. Like just end with and they worshiped him. Don't put that whole doubt thing in there, right, it makes us look bad, to which Matthew would have said hey guys, we've looked bad the entire time. Like every twist and turn we have silly questions. We responded incorrectly. And don't you remember when they arrested our rabbi? Do you remember what we did? Yeah, we abandoned him. Like I don't think we need to worry about looking bad. We've been, we already look bad.

Speaker 1: 17:42

But the question is, when he puts this in here, like, why would they doubt? Who was doubting? Was it some of the 11? Was there more? And when you like, unpack that the reason is is because they saw him die, like they saw him, him die and dead people don't come back to life. Now, on a side note, just real quickly, I think the people who are gathered here on the mountain even though the text hones in on the 11, I think historically the church is right that there's probably around 500 people men, women and kids at this moment of the Great Commission and where I get that just parenthetically is from 1 Corinthians 15, where the apostle Paul talks about that after the resurrection he actually appeared to 500 brethren all at once. So I think that it was actually here. So this Great Commission, he's had the 11 come there. But all of these followers are around and they're experiencing this moment and some of them were like he was dead and so they doubted. They're trying to figure this out.

Speaker 1: 18:43

Then Jesus says to them, and what follows is perhaps potentially the most overlooked verse and statement of the entire Bible. I mean, if the church had, and if the church would actually embrace what Jesus says next, it would change things almost instantaneously. In fact, if you would embrace this completely and wholly, if I would embrace what Jesus says next, we would change. Listen to what he said. And Jesus came to them and said came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. That would be everything everywhere. Like all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. To which they thought, oh so, like that Messiah thing, like that God's final king thing, like that's for real. To which Jesus would have said yeah, like all authority rests on me.

Speaker 1: 19:49

Now Jewish men and women that were listening to Jesus, let me tell you what they would have heard that we don't really hear because we're not first century Judeans. Here's the implication of what he just said. He sits back and says ladies and gentlemen, moses was your guy, torah was your text, but the king has arrived. And they would think so you're the king. You're the king with all authority in heaven and earth. In other words, you hold the keys to heaven and earth and like we're your guys, we're your posse, we're your people, to which Jesus would have said you are indeed.

Speaker 1: 20:30

And with that association of them being together comes extraordinary accountability. If you're going to continue to be my people, do you realize that, everywhere you go, everything you do reflects on me? If you're going to associate yourself with me, if you're going to continue to use my name and you're going to leverage my name, do you realize how accountable that actually makes you? To which, in that moment, of course, in front of the resurrected king, they're going to be like oh, absolutely, we do, right, and don't we do the same thing sometimes? Right, like, oh, yeah, no, I'm going to be very accountable because I'm associated with you, and then we go and do on our drive home, we lose it like immediately, right, my wife works at American Canyon High School. She's worked there since it opened and one of the things I love about going there I have kids there. I love going there and volunteering and for sports or other things.

Speaker 1: 21:33

I love that nobody knows me, right? I don't like wearing name tag. I don't wear like little collar thing. I'm not really known. I get to just come and I get to be a parent and somebody in the community that's helping out.

Speaker 1: 21:44

And I want to tell you that I have a consistent awkward moment there, and the consistent awkward moment is something I call the double handshake. So what happens is I go there and oftentimes I get to meet new people and I get introduced to somebody and they're like, oh hey, this is Lawrence. They're like, oh hey, bob. I get introduced to somebody and they're like, oh hey, this is Lawrence. They're like, oh hey, blah, blah, blah. I get to oh, my name's Lawrence. I get to shake their hand. They're like, oh yeah, nice to meet you.

Speaker 1: 22:04

And then someone else goes like, oh yeah, this is actually Michelle Davis's husband. And then they go what you go with, michelle? And then they give me another handshake. Right, it's like we just did this. Like why are we doing the double handshake right now? Right, the first one, I think, was just for politeness. The next one, what is it for? It's actually for the association. Like no way, oh my gosh, she's great. Oh, she does this. Oh my goodness, right.

Speaker 1: 22:32

And this is because of a shared name. And that shared name and that association actually comes pre-packaged with an element of what Accountability? Because I'm accountable now, now that they know who I go with for protecting my wife's reputation. So I have to think what am I wearing right now, right? Or what am I saying? Or what comments do I have about things and stuff, right? So I'm aware that she has a reputation and now, because of that, part of my responsibility is actually to help protect that and to represent it and to represent her, while everywhere I go, because my behavior is actually a reflection on her. Those of you who have kids, you're like preach. I try to tell my kids that all the time I get it right. So not only because of the association now do I try to tell my kids that all the time I get it right. So not only because of the association now do I become accountable for my actions, but even more, what it does is it makes me responsible for it, like I have a responsibility with this Now.

Speaker 1: 23:34

So Jesus is now saying this on this mountain and if I was here's what I would have thought during this moment. Hey, I mean, this is awesome. Since you conquered death, does this mean, like, we get to conquer something now? Like because we're associated with you? Like since you conquered death. We get to conquer some people because we've been waiting to conquer the Romans for quite some time. We actually thought that's why you were coming and then, all of a sudden, you died. It was like what's happening? And now you're back and we're like let's go, right, do we finally get to call down fire on our enemies, like we tried to do months ago? And you told us no, right, do we finally get to? Is this what is about to happen? Is this what we're about to do? To which I think Jesus would have smiled and said like well, as you're about to discover, and they're like yes. And then he says, no, I've got way bigger plans for you actually than Jerusalem and the Romans. I have way bigger plans for you than Judea. I actually have bigger plans for you than this territory of Galilee, which most of these people that's all they knew we're. He's looking at this. He's like guys, get this. We're about to launch something for the entire world. You, ladies and gentlemen, have no idea how big the world actually is, but you're not going to conquer anything. Actually, you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to send you out with an invitation. I'm going to send you out to extend the same invitation that I extended to you when we first met. Therefore, therefore, go make disciples.

Speaker 1: 25:16

Now, this phrase and the one that follows, there's several part of the souls in the Greek text and some of you are like it's been way too long since I've been in English class. What is an adjective, a verb, a noun which one talks to, which right? So let me just give you an example of this statement and how this is done in the text in Greek. So you have water. The sentence would be the running water splashed on the rocks. Well, what describes the water Running? The water's running. So in this there's only in the statement here.

Speaker 1: 25:50

And what follows there's only one imperatives. So that means that there's only one command, and the only command is make disciples. This is the command he gives make disciples. Then he uses this parable to explain like, what does that look like? Oh, it's going, it's baptizing, it's teaching, it's obeying, it's all these pieces. But the specific command he gives us here is make disciples.

Speaker 1: 26:15

And so the implication now of what that looks like is as you go that word go, or as you are going, as you are living, as you are doing life, whatever you do in life, wherever you travel, that your responsibility, if you're going to associate yourself with me, is to actually make sure that you're engaged in some form of fashion, making more Jesus followers. In other words, jesus would say if I show back up in a year from now, I expect there to be more of you. Or he'd say you know, if I show back up in 10 years, I expect there to be a lot more of you For the rest of your life. Part of your responsibility, as you go, as you raise your kids, as you do life, as you age, part of your responsibility if you're going to associate yourself with me, is to take on the mantle of responsibility, living your life in such a way, engaging with people in such a way that you actually multiply yourself, replicate yourself that there would be more of us because of you than there was before. As you go, multiply.

Speaker 1: 27:23

And then he says this, and I think actually this is where they tap the brakes a little bit they're like whoa, whoa, whoa, like this all sounds okay, cool, cool, more of us. He says, therefore, go make disciples of all nations, of like all people, groups to which immediately they thought wait, like Gentiles, like Gentile Parthians, like, wait, romans. Are you telling us that you want us to go make disciples Jesus, followers of every Rome, like even Rome, like I mean we've been. Are you kidding? Wait, does that mean Samaritans? Like, does this include the Samaritans to which they already knew? It included the Samaritans. Of course it includes them, because he's already dealt with that. Like he made a Samaritan a hero in one of his famous parables he was called the Good Samaritan, anyways. And then and then get this.

Speaker 1: 28:13

And then he says, baptizing them. I mean this part was shocking for them. Why, this is like covenant language, like this means full inclusion, that there is no distinction. Now, and once again they're thinking Gentiles, like we don't even cross their threshold, they don't cross ours, like there's like dietary stuff, there's moral stuff. I mean like wait a minute, you're telling us that you want full inclusion of non-Hebrew, non-torah-believing people. Like no distinction. I'm telling you, friends, what they felt in this moment I don't even think we can begin to comprehend. And then he says yeah, yeah. And when you baptize them in this part, I mean this is so offensive, unless he was actually who he claimed to be. He says, do this baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and once again this is crazy he includes himself in a list where no mere mortals belong, equating himself to deity, equating himself to the Father.

Speaker 1: 29:19

And then, maybe the most important part of this, he says teaching them. Yeah, teach them to obey everything that I've commanded you. Like, there's this teaching element of this, like teach him to obey, not just to believe, not just to believe to which you could say, well, obey who, obey what? What do you say? Everything, everything I've commanded you. I don't know if you've ever thought about it. Have you ever thought about the implication of the statement that I want you to teach them, that I want you to take what you've actually been taught and then I want you to replicate it, I want you to live it out, and then I want you to teach others.

Speaker 1: 30:13

You know where he would say like, hey, you guys remember that Sermon on the Mount thing? We did Remember when we went up in there and we did this whole sermon. I want you to actually live that out. I want you to go teach that to others. Remember that thing about the log and the speck and the eye. I want you to teach that. Remember that whole, like golden extra mile thing. Yeah, I want you to teach that. Remember I told you that you got to fix it with them before you can fix it with him, that you can't fix it with him until you fix it with them.

Speaker 1: 30:39

Yeah, I want you to teach people about forgiveness, regardless. I want you to teach people to be the Samaritan in the parable, not the older brother in those other parables. I want you to teach them to do unto other people as they want done unto themselves, but wait, I I want you to teach them to do unto other people as they want done unto themselves, but wait, I actually want you to take it up a notch. I want you to teach people to actually love one another the way I loved you. I want you to teach them to love their enemies the way I loved you after you betrayed me, after you abandoned me and after you quit believing in me. You know what I want you to do. I want you to teach people to wash other people's feet like I washed your feet. I want you to teach them everything that I commanded you. I want you to do that. Just pause, friends. Let's be doing that Like, let that be our focus.

Speaker 1: 31:33

Let that be our focus of our teaching, our preaching, our discipling, our discussing what if? What if obeying, not simply believing, like I believe that's good stuff, what if actually doing it, obeying what if obeying what Jesus taught had been at the epicenter of our preaching and our teaching all these years, for generations? I mean, think about this for generations. I think the world might be in a better place. I think the church, too, would be in a healthier place.

Speaker 1: 32:08

And then, if that's not enough, jesus ends with a promise. A promise, and this is so important and this is really at the epicenter of everything we are and we believe as followers. Here's the promise he makes. He says, and surely he says don't worry. And I think he says don't worry because I can imagine right now. I mean, they're just like what is happening. This is the things you're saying to us.

Speaker 1: 32:31

Wait, I'm still just stuck on this. You want us to go in the whole world. Like what does that even look like? Like our world is so small, we don't know how to do this. You want us to go to Gentiles I don't even know a Gentile. Like I don't even know someone like that. You want us. We hate the Samaritans, the Samaritans hate us. Like. This is too much. Rome is our enemy. This is way too much for us.

Speaker 1: 32:55

Like, your little conversation you're having right now is very overwhelming, jesus. And I think that Jesus right now appreciates the fact that they're so overwhelmed. You know, this is like a little fainter oh, little fainter. Frankly, I think it's overwhelming for us to think about. What does that look like? I think it's overwhelming for us to think about what does that look like? He says but I'll make you a promise If you do this, surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Speaker 1: 33:32

So the question is well, who's you? When you say, if you do this, who's the you? We're talking about Friends. I'll tell you, you is the believers who belief actually has feet to it. You is the believers who understand that you're not just believing, but you're actually partnering with our King. You is not someone who just believes, but you are disciple makers. You're doing, and I wonder, do you do? We want Jesus to be with you and we? Well then, you and we actually have to choose to be with him. So that's ultimately the question Are you with him on this?

Speaker 1: 34:18

To make it more specific is any of your time, is any of your resources already ahead of time, allocated like part of your rhythm of life, prededicated and carved out? Is any of your time, any resources allocated to actually making more followers of Jesus? Does any of your money or your time intersect systematically with endeavors, with a local church or organization somewhere to actually make more disciples? In other words, do your resources and your time, does it intersect systematically with the mission of our king? Are you engaged, am I engaged in our king's business or are we just too caught up minding our own business? Here's what I do know and frankly, friends, I'll just tell you this, this thrills me that even right now, as I, this very moment, as I am speaking, there are teenagers and adults over in the nursery and over in all of the other buildings around the campus, right now, this very moment, making disciples of the next generation. And if you're a part of that group, if you serve in that space, I just want to thank you for that investment.

Speaker 1: 35:38

In our local church, there are hundreds of you that meet in homes on campus or on campus every single week, or to sit in circles and literally to ask questions like how do we do this? Like how do we actually live this out? Like how do I live this out in my difficult marriage? How do I live this out in my difficult marriage? How do I live this out with my difficult boss? Or while I'm unemployed? Or as a parent? How do I do this as a parent? Or as a student, a young adult? What does it look like to follow Jesus? Pray for me, hold me accountable. I want to get this right.

Speaker 1: 36:09

And then what happens is they share their stories and people hear their stories and they're encouraged then to follow Jesus, inspired to follow Jesus, because people have put feet on their faith. And then dozens, dozens of you show up to serve on Sundays to assure that the local church experience here is hitting on all cylinders and it's fabulous. And dozens of people during the week show up here in other places around the community to serve other people and students and the hungry and unhoused and the unclothed and so much more, in Jesus's name, because you understand that when you meet a person's physical need in the name of Jesus, you're just opening the door up to them to becoming a follower of Jesus, because they're like. That's not normal. I need more of that. That was a light and a dark space in my life and for those of you who are already doing that. Thank you. I can make this promise without any hesitation your Savior is with you because you are with him. That's what he says. This is parting words. These were Jesus's final instructions, and that makes them essential. That makes them fundamental.

Speaker 1: 37:32

And so number seven, the final one of the gospel according to Matthew, is simply this Jesus followers are multipliers. Jesus followers are not just believers. Jesus followers are multipliers, and this is something you have to believe, whether you ever do it or not, because this is what Jesus said about his followers that Jesus' followers are multipliers, individually and collectively. Now, this is so important. When the church starts to substitute belief for obedience like oh yeah, we're just going to believe that thing, it's really great, we're going to rally behind that when they begin to substitute belief for obedience to what Jesus taught, when the church substitutes belief statements, when the church substitutes belief for following, like actually obeying, participating, doing what Jesus taught I'm gonna tell you this People always get hurt, but worse and maybe some of you experienced this they get hurt in the name of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 38:45

They will use the authority and leverage of Jesus's name to shame and to beat up or to push up, and again. Maybe some of you. That's your story. You experience it through someone else's experience at church. Maybe you experienced it personally. That's what happens when we just substitute belief and belief statements for actually doing what he taught, everything that he taught. So teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you.

Speaker 1: 39:14

Let's just do this, like, let's just do that. Or, to be honest and fair, let's keep doing that. And if you're not playing a part, no problem. But you got to find your part. You got to get in the game, you got to be about the king's business.

Speaker 1: 39:34

This isn't an add-on, this isn't for professionals.

Speaker 1: 39:37

This is for everyone.

Speaker 1: 39:38

This is fundamental. This is essential. Jesus followers, friends, are multipliers, so figure out a way to be a multiplier. It's literally how the world changed and someone did it for you. So figure out a way to be a multiplier. It's literally how the world changed and someone did it for you. So let's do for others what others did for us, and if we do, this is the best part of the promise. He will be with us, because we have decided to be with him and his work where he abides.

Speaker 1: 40:06

So here's the deal let's go all in. This is what it looks like, to go all in. That's actually what we're gonna talk about for the next several weeks. What does that look like? If this is what he commanded us to do and this was his final farewell message of like this is what it looks like Go make, teach, baptize, obey. What does that look like? I think it looks like something that can change a lot of things. Next week we're gonna hop into that. It's gonna be what I'm gonna say is really a vision Sunday, where I'm gonna talk about what we really believe, like God is up to once we go all in together. What's gonna happen in this place and through this place for the next two to four years. The opportunities we have, the impacts that we're going to be called to. What it looks like to go and to make and to teach and to baptize the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and to obey everything that he has commanded Spirit and to obey everything that he has commanded. So I don't want you to miss that. I'm so encouraged. This has been such an experience for me and so for today, as we kind of put a closing mark on this chapter.

Speaker 1: 41:22

As we wrap up, matthew, there's actually something you can participate in today. You can get involved. If you're not playing a part yet, there's parts for you. So out in the lobby as you leave today we're going to give like a little extra space and time. You can hang out there. There's a change maker fair, which is like really just. It's all the different things we offer and we do and ways you can participate in ministry. That happens not here just like on a Sunday, but during the week and then in the in the like neighborhoods, then in the nation and then in the neighborhoods, then in the nation and then all around the world, and you can go and see how you can participate in those things. You can sign up for something. You can be encouraged by it. You also can be in communities. Today and I will say this we're having a picnic today and I know the weather is not so hot, so no shame if you're like I'm not gonna sit outside in this, but we still have bounce houses and some other fun stuff, so that's going on. You can hang out for that. So no shame. Either way, that was just a way to celebrate and the weather wasn't participating today, but go out there and then next week let's rally and come all back to this pep rally and talk about what it looks like to be all in.

Speaker 1: 42:28

If you came here today, you're like I just need somebody to pray for me. This is great. You're finishing, matthew, I need help, like I am. I'm going through it. We would love that we have prayer walls in the back of the room as you leave, right in front of you, or on that next steps card. You can put that drop in one.

Speaker 1: 42:42

Also, if you came here and you're ready for Jesus to be with you, he's ready for that too, and it changes everything. In fact. He talks about in the gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 10,. He says look at, the enemy came to kill, steal and destroy, and some of you are experiencing that or have experienced that. But he says but and this is thesis statement I have come to give life, and life abundantly, in the fullest, and it's something that we actually get to experience in the here and now and begin to participate, not in just some future tense. And so, if you're ready to do that we had a couple of people last service do that and they've screwed a light bulb in the cross over. There you go. This changes everything. We blew a bugle. We all screamed. It was fun. Don't let overwhelm you, it's going to be awesome.

Speaker 1: 43:25

We also have a little journal for you that just talks about hey, this is what the kingdom looks like, this is what participating in this new thing looks like as a gift, and let me just send you off with a blessing. I'll ask you all to stand up. We have this posture of giving up and receiving. May you have been blessed, as I have been blessed, just slowly meditating and chewing on scripture throughout the book of Matthew and today. May the Lord bless you and encourage you and equip you and convict you to obey everything that he's commanded you to do as we go and we multiply and represent him well, and represent, then to those in need around us, because someone did it for you. Friends, this has been a gift. Love you, I'll see you next week.