WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:00.880 Amen. 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:02.399 Well, good morning, good morning. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:03.680 You can have a seat for me. 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:05.440 It's good to be with you today. 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.360 If you don't know who I am, I'm Pastor Patrick. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:09.439 I'm the lead pastor here on staff. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:14.640 And if this is your first time joining us, I really do want to say we're so glad that you've chosen to be here today. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.719 One of the things that we know is we know finding a church home is hard, it's difficult. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:25.679 Um so hopefully you felt welcome from the moment you walked, and hopefully you found yourself at home, and hopefully you had a good cup uh cup of coffee. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:26.960 How was the coffee today? 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:27.679 Was it good? 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:29.359 Alright, good, good, good. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:37.600 That was my project the last couple weeks was to improve our coffee, and I had three cups, so you're in for a good one uh today. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:42.320 Um I also want to remind you, next Sunday is Back to Church Sunday. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:43.920 It's gonna be an awesome day here. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:48.320 We're starting a brand new series on the book of Daniel about how to have unshaken faith. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:55.280 The world throws us a lot of curveballs, throws us a lot of things, but Daniel teaches us how we can have unshaken faith in the midst of all of it. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.479 We're also gonna have some snowy snow cones after church. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.240 I know you all are so excited about that. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:01.359 I am, at least. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:08.799 Your kids will be excited about it, but it's the perfect Sunday to invite a friend, have them come, and have them enjoy our new coffee that we all loved today. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:12.239 So uh we'd love for you uh to be back next week for that. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:15.680 Um has anyone in here ever seen the show America's Got Talent? 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:17.280 Have you seen America's Got Talent? 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:26.719 Alright, if you don't know what America's Got Talent is, it's this TV show um and it's this talent competition where people will come and they will compete in order to win the grand prize. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:30.079 I don't even know what the grand prize is uh these days, but they compete. 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:36.159 And you get people with all different kinds of gifts and talents that come to perform and to compete against others. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.319 Uh you get people who come up and they sing. 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.120 Uh you have others that do dancing routines. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:47.359 Uh some of them just, you know, they do random stuff, but my favorite is when there's a possibility of death involved. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:50.400 Like there's a chance that they might die from the act that they're gonna do. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:52.879 That's what really gets my attention. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:02:00.480 And I remember watching one time, and there was somebody who said what they were gonna do is they were gonna jump from a hundred-foot platform into a kiddie pool. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.439 They were gonna dive, and all the judges had to get up and they had to go outside. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:05.359 I went, okay, I wanna see this. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:07.439 Like, this is something that I've gotta see. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:14.400 Or I love it when you they like someone comes on, they got dirt bikes, and they're riding dirt bikes across the stage and doing flips and stuff and they're crossing. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:15.439 I'm like, I like that. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:16.639 There's a chance they could die. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.120 I I wanna see that, right? 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:26.240 Um, or maybe you have a magician, and a magician gets up there and you know, brings one of the judges up, and they're gonna saw them in half. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.280 And I'm like, well, this could go really bad if this doesn't go right. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:30.240 I gotta watch that. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:37.840 And then he takes out a sword and he's like, just, you know, just for you know, laughs, I'm going to eat this sword, you know, like that kind of stuff. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.759 Like, that's what gets me excited from these shows. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:49.599 Um, and you know it's gonna be a good act when the person gets up there and they start to explain what it is that they're gonna do, and you're like, Yeah, I doubt that. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:51.919 Like, I doubt you're gonna be able to pull that off. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.240 That's what I think really gets my attention. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:00.800 So I was thinking today, what is a stunt that I could do for you that could get you to go, yeah, I doubt that you could do that. 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:05.759 I thought maybe could I if I jumped over a chair, do you think I could jump over a chair for you all? 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:07.840 Deb said, no. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:09.520 No, she said, please don't. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:12.400 Now, okay, some of you said, would you sit in the chair? 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:14.639 Who would sit in the chair as I tried to jump over it? 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:16.319 Okay, Connor would, good. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:18.479 All right, we got a couple daredevils out there. 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:20.560 Now, so some of you are starting to doubt. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:26.080 What if I said, let's get the two tallest people and have them stand right next to each other and I'm gonna jump over them? 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:27.520 Do you think I could do it? 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:28.639 No. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:31.360 Okay, so you'd have some doubts about that. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.840 You know, we have some doubts about a lot of things in our lives. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.680 I mean, we we we have doubts when someone claims that they could jump over two people, or for Deb's case, just a chair. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:45.520 Man, I I really gotta get more athletic if you think I can't jump over a chair. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:45.919 You know what? 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:46.879 Get a chair down here. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:49.680 I'm gonna jump just for No, no, I'm kidding. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:50.319 Right? 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:58.080 Or maybe you have some doubts when someone tells you a story about something they experienced during the week, and you're like, yeah, that story's a little bit too out there. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:00.240 You have some doubts about it. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:04.879 Or maybe a salesman comes to your door and says, This is the sale of a lifetime. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:09.360 This deal's never gonna come around again, and you think, yeah, I doubt that. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.560 You see, doubt's actually just a part of life. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:21.120 I think what we all want is we all want certainty when it comes to the decisions that we have to make, the actions that we're going to take, and the purchases we're gonna make. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:28.399 But the truth is, even when something is as clear as can be, we can still have our doubts about it. 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:37.360 The truth is, in order for us to move forward in life, if all we needed was 100% certainty to make a decision, we actually would never make any decision. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:39.120 We would never do anything. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:44.160 Even in the most certain of situations, you can still have some doubt. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:49.519 Part of life is learning to look at your doubts and choosing to move forward, anyways. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:05:00.079 But for some reason, when it comes to following Jesus, I feel like we have a higher level of certainty and clarity that we need from him before we make the move. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:10.079 Like, I'll serve when I know enough, when I know that they really need me, when it's the perfect spot for my gifts and talents, and I have no other things going on in my life. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:12.160 Doesn't really happen, does it? 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:23.439 I'll share my faith with my neighbor when I feel like I have all the answers to the questions that he might ask, uh, when he explicitly asks those questions to me, and when I'm not in a rush out the door when I see him. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:26.639 Or I'll disciple somebody when my life is together. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:37.199 You see, our search for certainty and clarity puts us in a state of paralysis where we don't do anything because we don't have all the certainty and clarity that we need. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:40.319 We allow our doubts to keep us where we're at. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:47.040 We are postponing the obedience that God's calling us to because we're waiting for absolute certainty. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:53.199 The problem is there is no other decision that we make in our lives that we hold to this standard. 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:58.000 For example, you got in your car today and you drove to church safely. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:00.399 Anyone get in an accident today? 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:01.360 No, good. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:03.439 You all made it here safely. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:10.160 But did you know that it was not 100% certain that you would make it to this place today when you got in your car? 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:17.279 There was a chance that something could happen, and yet you still got in your car and you drove anyways. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:24.319 Having our doubts is not the problem when it comes to following Jesus, it's allowing our doubts to control us. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:32.800 Or if we're being honest, using our doubts as the excuse for why we're not obeying what we know Jesus has called us to do. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.519 That's where the real problem lies. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:49.920 And let me tell you, if Jesus' expectation of you and I was that we would have absolute certainty and clarity before we did everything, he wouldn't have chosen anybody to follow him because we all have our doubts. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:56.879 And this morning we're gonna take a look at the great commission that he issued for us to go and make disciples. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:04.959 And what you need to know is that if Jesus only used people who didn't have any doubts, he would have never given this great commission to us today. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.480 So if you got your Bible this morning, open it up to Matthew 28. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.519 We're gonna be in verses 16 through 20 in just a moment. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:16.800 If you don't have your Bible, no worries, all of our scripture texts will be up on the screen for you to follow along. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:23.680 But today we're gonna be wrapping up our follow me series where we've been looking at what discipleship really means. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:30.079 You see, discipleship is not the classes we take, it's not the programs we're a part of, it's not the ministries of the church. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:39.360 Discipleship is responding to Jesus' invitation to follow him so that he can transform you and send you to help others follow him. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:54.240 And as I think back over the past five weeks of this series, the thing that continues to be revealed is the trap that we fall into, that discipleship is a place or a destination that we one day will get to, where we will arrive. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:59.199 When it's actually a relationship with Jesus that changes everything that we do. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.120 It's a journey that we go on. 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:06.800 And we started with Jesus telling us to come get out of our boat and to follow me. 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:09.040 We talked about the cost of following him. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:13.759 We talked about how we need one another in order to do this life of following Jesus. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.879 We talked about being sent and empowered by the Spirit. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:22.399 And last week we talked about how Jesus' sanctifying grace transforms us from the inside out. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:28.160 But today, we discover what all where all of this is ultimately headed to. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.440 You see, discipleship is more than classes, programs, and ministries. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:37.600 As we follow Jesus, our relationship with him changes everything. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.759 He calls us out of our old life and in makes us new. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.759 In the journey of discipleship, it's like it's like a highway, really. 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:57.600 As we drive further and further down this highway, uh we look back and we see all the ways that God has worked in our lives, all the differ distance that He's taken us on this journey with Him. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:02.000 But discipleship isn't like driving I-75 down to the beach. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.279 No, I-75 has a destination at the end. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:13.279 When you drive it to go on vacation, you drive down I-75 and eventually you reach your destination where you're on vacation and your feet hit the sand. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:17.759 Whereas discipleship is really more like a circular highway. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:24.399 You see, discipleship first calls you out, but then God's mission sends you right back in. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:37.919 Jesus changes you from the inside out, he delivers you from your sin, but then he sends you back often to the same place that he delivered you from in order to help others on that same journey that he took you on. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:43.120 And that's what Jesus is about to do with his disciples here in Matthew 28. 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:47.360 So if you could stand with me out of respect for the reading of God's word, I'd really appreciate it. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:51.279 We're gonna read Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20 this morning. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:58.879 It says this Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.879 When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:10.240 Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:24.000 Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:28.799 And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:30.799 This is the word of God for the people of God. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:32.720 You may be seated this morning. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:41.600 So the passage that we just read right there, those are the last words in the book of Matthew. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:51.279 This means that Matthew concludes his gospel, the place in which, right in the same place in which this journey of discipleship began. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:11:03.600 You see, in Matthew chapter 4, we see Jesus as he's walking along the Sea of Galilee, and he sees these fishermen out at shore on their boat, and he says, Get out of your boat and come and follow me. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:11.039 Now, here in Matthew 28, Jesus gives his final commands in the same place in which he told them to get out of their boat. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.840 We're back in Galilee again. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:19.679 You see, Jesus, he didn't gather to the disciples for his very last instruction in Jerusalem. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:23.120 He doesn't gather them together at the foot of the cross. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.720 He doesn't gather them together at the empty tomb. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:30.960 No, for three years, these men they had left their livelihood behind. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.360 They left their family, they left everything they knew in order to follow Jesus. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:41.279 And now three day three years later, they're back in the town that they were called to leave. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:44.080 Yesterday I drove back to Indianapolis. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:51.919 I got to play golf with some of my friends, but while I was driving, I drove all of the same roads that I used to drive for the six years that I lived there. 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:55.440 Um I drove past my old house that I used to live in. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:12:00.000 I even went to the coffee shop that I would go to weekly while I was there. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:06.480 And it's amazing how, in just a couple of years, the place that you once lived can feel so foreign from your home. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:09.440 Like I used to feel so comfortable driving down those streets. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:11.759 I used to feel like that was where I was meant to be. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:16.159 And now just a couple years later, I'm like, oh, this doesn't feel like home anymore. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.159 This feels like I'm a tourist in a new spot back over again. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:24.240 And I wonder if that's how the disciples felt here in this moment. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:31.840 The disciples, they had gone from their past life to following Jesus and they had no expectations of returning. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:36.480 They must have felt this uncomfortable sensation that they were out of place. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:42.480 But it's the exact place that Jesus invites them into the next part of his story. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:49.279 The past reminds us of our failures, our baggage, our struggles, the pain we've experienced. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.360 And when we follow Jesus, what he does is he invites us to get out of our boat. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:58.240 He takes us out, he delivers us from that past life and he makes us new. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.159 But we also should never forget where Jesus has brought us out of. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:11.360 And it's here on this mountain in Galilee that although the disciples may have felt out of place, that Jesus is reminding them all of what he's done in their life. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:18.159 He's reminding them of all of that they have experienced together and all of the transformation that they have been a part of. 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:23.759 Jesus brings you back to the place and people where you came from with a new purpose. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:26.159 And that's what he does with the disciples here. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:35.440 It's only when we remember the place that Jesus has brought us out of that we can begin to share the same love that we experienced with others around us. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:46.720 You might think that your past is what disqualifies you, but Jesus sees your past as the opportunity for restoration to begin in your life and with others around you. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:57.360 What you have experienced, what you have gone through, maybe the exact story that someone needs to hear to find hope that there's a God out there who loves them and cares about them. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:03.440 Your story, when a part of God's story, is where purpose and meaning is found in your life. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:11.679 We should never forget where Jesus has called us out of because it's the exact place that God may use you to impact others. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:19.200 He goes on in verse 17 and says, When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:34.080 So in Matthew's gospel, the way he tells the resurrection of Jesus is the women, they they go to the tomb where Jesus' body was buried, and when they get there, they they are trying to take care of his body, but the stone has been rolled away. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:42.799 And then they encounter the risen Jesus, who tells the women to go tell their brothers and the disciples to meet him in Galilee. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:47.519 So the women are the ones who first hear the good news of Jesus and go share it. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:51.679 Jesus entrusted the first announcement of the resurrection to the women. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:56.399 I'm not going to get into a women in ministry uh sermon here, but I want to I want to make that very clear. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:00.320 Who does God use at the very first time to share the gospel is women. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:01.759 All right, we'll move on from there. 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:09.039 But so when the disciples, when they go to Galilee after these women had told them to go, they meet Jesus on the mountain. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:19.600 And when they get to the mountain and they see him, Jesus says that they they saw, Matthew says that they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.399 Kind of a weird thing to add in there. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:23.600 Doubted? 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:25.440 What are they doubting? 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:30.720 They're standing face to face with the risen Jesus on this mountain in Galilee. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:35.120 Are they not convinced that this guy in his flesh is alive? 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.039 What is it that they are doubting? 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.200 These disciples in this moment should have had total certainty. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:45.519 You and I would dream to have this moment. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:52.639 Like if we could just stand face to face with Jesus for just a minute, we would probably say that we would never have a doubt again. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:58.240 We'd do anything that he called us to do because then we would have seen him with our own eyes. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.519 But what was it that they were doubting here? 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:04.320 Were they doubting that it was really Jesus? 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:05.279 Probably. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:06.159 Maybe. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:10.159 Were they doubting themselves and if Jesus was willing to forgive them? 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:11.519 Probably. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:17.440 Did they have doubts about how they should respond to all of this taking place and what was to come in the future? 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:18.879 Probably. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:22.399 We don't know exactly what their doubts were. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:26.399 And to be honest, they probably all had many different doubts. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:30.480 They probably all had different questions and different things that they didn't have answers to. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:33.120 It was all individualized to each of them. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:43.440 But Matthew feels it's important enough for us to know that the disciples, even when standing face to face with the risen Jesus, had their doubts. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:46.240 But here's the part I find so interesting. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.120 It's not so much that Matthew mentions that they have doubts. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:51.440 It doesn't surprise me that they had doubts. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.440 But what surprises me is Jesus never addresses them. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.519 Questions aren't answered. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:01.039 Nobody even shares them here in this passage. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:06.000 Instead, Jesus doesn't answer their doubts, he gives them a mission. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:11.599 And here's the truth you don't have to have all the answers to be a part of God's story. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:19.279 In the face of their doubts, Jesus doesn't even address them, and he still sees them as worthy of his mission. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:24.079 Having questions, having your doubts is not disqualifying. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:26.640 It's actually what makes you human. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:33.680 Every single one of us in this room have our doubts about a variety of things every single day. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.440 Nobody has absolute certainty about everything. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:40.079 We all have our doubts in one way or another. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:46.880 Whether it's in God's desire to use us or in our ability to actually live out the mission that Jesus has called us to. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:05.039 That as we continue to walk with Jesus and allow our story to be a part of his story, he restores us just like he does the disciples here on this mountain in Galilee. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:13.759 And then in verse 18, it goes on to say, Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:20.720 You see, oftentimes when we talk about the Great Commission, we really only focus on verses 19 through 20. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:25.440 We speak and teach as if that's like the whole Great Commission. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:26.960 We just start it right there. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:33.279 And I'll tell you what, if next week I get up here and I start my message with, therefore, you'd be like, Therefore, what? 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:35.440 Like you didn't say anything before. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:44.559 It's when Jesus says he says, therefore, go and make disciples, there is something that comes before it that is super important, and it's here in verse 18. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:48.000 It's the hinge point of all of his command that he's going to give. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:52.880 And Jesus says, All authority has been given to me. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:19:04.319 All authority, which means that Jesus has authority over death, over sin, over hell, over forgiveness, over the nations, over your past, your future, everything. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.400 He is over it all. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:16.799 And that means that when Jesus goes on to say, therefore go and make disciples, Jesus isn't just giving them an encouraging word here. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.519 This isn't just something for you to hang on your walls. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.640 This isn't just a passage to highlight in your Bible. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.759 No, this is not a suggestion. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:39.759 Jesus, with all of his authority in heaven and on earth over everything, is making a royal decree and command that we are to follow. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:44.400 You see, we we talked about how there is a cost to discipleship. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:53.279 The cost is our loyalties are not now to our families, to our friends, to our workplaces, to our careers, to our preferences. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:20:01.759 No, our loyalties as followers of Jesus, as true disciples, are to him, to the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:10.480 So when the King speaks, we listen, and Jesus is saying to us that this commission comes with the backing of all of his authority. 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:15.599 Jesus takes making disciples seriously, and so should we. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:33.519 And then he goes on in verse 19 and gives us one of the most famous passages in the whole Bible, where he says, Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:38.240 And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:48.720 So now, out of all of Jesus' authority, from heaven and on earth, he commands his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:53.920 And this is Jesus' final instruction to his followers. 00:20:54.160 --> 00:21:02.079 You see, the final instructions that are given are oftentimes the most important and the most urgent for those listening to remember. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:05.119 Think about the final instructions that people give. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:17.680 Like if you were to take your kid to college and you were to drop them off there and you had five minutes left before you left, would you take the time to tell them all of the things that you've ever taught them over their whole lifetime? 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:18.640 No. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:22.799 You would tell them the final and the most important thing that they need to remember. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:24.000 Be careful. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:25.119 I love you. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.000 Call me if you need anything. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:33.839 Or think about a coach who calls a timeout during a game, brings the whole team over. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.400 Is he gonna teach them the entire playbook? 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:39.759 He's gonna teach them all of the techniques that they've gone over in practice. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:47.039 No, he's gonna give them the one final instruction that they need to remember before they get back on the field to play. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:56.319 You see, the final instructions are important because they are the instructions that you're supposed to carry when the person who's giving them is no longer beside you. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.759 And Jesus has spent three years teaching, doing life. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.559 And mentoring these disciples, but now these are his final instructions. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:07.680 He's saying, There's gonna be a time when I'm not next to you. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:15.039 And if there's one thing that you need to remember about your purpose, your mission, and everything that I've taught you, it is this right here. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:19.039 And he says, Go and make disciples. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:30.319 As followers of Jesus, his final instructions and the words that continue to be played in the back of our minds as we go throughout our daily lives should be these words right here. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:35.920 Go and make disciples, because that's where our purpose is truly found. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:38.240 But how do we do this? 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.119 How do we actually make disciples? 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:46.640 What is it that he is actually calling us to do with our lives? 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:50.480 The first is to make disciples means to go. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:52.000 It means to go. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:59.839 In order for us to share what Jesus has done for us with others, it means that we have to go to places where people actually are. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:04.240 Did you know that disciples aren't only made in churches? 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:08.720 Disciples are actually made in all kinds of relationships. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:16.799 They're made around dinner tables, they're made in workplaces, they're made at ball fields and soccer games, they're made everywhere that we go. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:23.599 Wherever disciples are, we can be making disciples as we share what Jesus has done in our life with others. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:27.359 Making disciples happens outside of these four walls. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:31.519 Guess who doesn't know what's preached here at Generations Today? 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:33.759 Everyone who's not here. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:35.759 They have no idea what's preached. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:42.240 The only way that the message that's shared here can be shared out there is if you go and take it to them. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:55.039 You are to be sent back into your community to be the people that God has called you to be, to share what Jesus has taught you and doing in your life with those that you rub shoulders with every day. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:05.200 Making disciples means going towards people, getting messy with people, doing life with people, and it happens when we choose to go. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:10.000 Second, to make disciples means to bring people into belonging. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:12.799 And Jesus describes this as baptism here. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:19.920 You see, Jesus says to go and then says that we are to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:26.559 Do you know what's actually happening in baptism when someone gets dunked under our hot tub on a Sunday morning? 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.240 What's actually taking place there? 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:34.799 You see, baptism is not merely a statement for somebody to say, yeah, I agree with all the things that the church teaches. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:41.359 No, baptism symbolizes us dying to ourselves and being raised to new life in Jesus. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:48.400 It means that we no longer belong to ourselves, but actually our loyalties and our belonging belong to Him. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:51.519 It's the public declaration of the inward change. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:54.960 We are telling people that I belong to Jesus. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:04.559 And what we're called to do as disciple makers is not just to fill churches, it's actually to bring people into belonging with Jesus. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:11.279 That they would come to know that there is a God out there who loves them, who cares about them, and has a plan and purpose for their life. 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:15.599 That there's a God who wants a relationship personally with them. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:26.640 And when we give our lives to Jesus, we are called to be baptized, to publicly profess to the world that our lives are no longer our own. 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:33.519 We are dying to our old ways and we're being raised to new life in Jesus, that we belong to Him. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:40.640 So through sharing what Jesus has done in your life, what you're actually doing is you're inviting others to do the same. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.559 You are inviting them into belonging in Christ. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:49.759 Baptism is just the public profession of that decision. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:54.400 Third, to make disciples means to help others to obey. 00:25:54.720 --> 00:26:00.559 Is there anything worse than finding out that you broke a rule that you didn't even know was a rule? 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:06.720 Like, is there anything worse than being told that you messed up when you thought you were doing the right thing all along? 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:12.240 Like if you get pulled over by a cop and they tell you a traffic violation, you're like, I thought that's just how everyone drives. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:14.559 What do you mean I had to stop at stop signs? 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:15.599 I didn't know that. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:18.079 Should have told me that before I got in the car. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.119 It's really hard to obey what you don't know. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:26.480 To follow Jesus is difficult if we don't know what it is that he taught us to do. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:37.039 And Jesus says that making disciples is not just belonging, it's not just accepting, but actually, it means obeying his commands. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:47.279 So as disciple makers, we are to teach, to share, to open God's word with others, and to share truth about what following Jesus is actually supposed to look like. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:51.200 We're supposed to share what Jesus taught us to do with one another. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:54.640 And it's not enough to just see people come to faith in Jesus. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:27:01.200 But the process of making disciples continues as we teach all that Jesus has commanded. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:03.519 And can I be honest with you? 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:07.119 I don't know everything that Jesus has commanded. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.480 I don't know everything that it is that he's taught. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:16.880 Every day I am learning more and more about who Jesus is and who it is that he's called me to be. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:19.599 So does that mean that I'm unqualified? 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:23.119 I don't know everything, so I can't tell you anything. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:24.079 No. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:33.599 It means that the same way that I constantly should be seeking to grow and to learn, it means that disciple making doesn't end with a class or a certificate. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:37.039 You don't just get titled a pastor, and now you're like, I know everything. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:37.920 Guess what? 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:39.599 We don't know that much. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:41.680 I wish I knew more. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:43.839 You don't know everything. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:45.039 And that's okay. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:46.319 None of us do. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:58.000 Every day we should be waking up, we should be opening up God's word, we should be seeking to see what it is that he's taught so that we can learn all that we can about him, so that we can live out our purpose to be who he's created us to be. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:01.680 And then what we should do is we should share it with others around us. 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:08.640 That means that disciple making isn't you brain dumping everything Jesus has taught you on somebody and saying, All right, you're good. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:09.920 Yeah, I'm done. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:22.000 I did my work, but it's this constant relationship that we have with one another, that as Jesus reveals more about who he is and who he's called us to be, I go and I share it with somebody and say, Hey, this is what Jesus is teaching me, this is what he's telling me. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:23.200 I think this is what we should do. 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:28.160 Let's pray together, let's talk about it, and then we go back to God's word and we do it, and then someone comes and shares with me. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:30.000 Okay, I this is what God is teaching me. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:36.960 And it's this relationship as us doing life with one another, as we seek the word of God, that we share what Jesus is doing. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:45.519 When Jesus says, teach them everything that I have taught you, he's not saying go teach a class for two weeks and brain dump everything you know. 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:57.680 He's saying walk alongside one another and to share as I continue to reveal to you more and more about who I am so that you can grow in your relationship with him and with one another together. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:05.920 Disciple making is a lifelong journey and relationship that we have with those that we share Jesus with. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:11.680 We continue to walk and share what Jesus is teaching us as others do the same. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:20.480 So as we get ready to close and the band comes on up, I want to remind you about these words that are that are on our back wall and they're highlighted in blue for us today. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:23.680 It says Vision 141 back there. 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:33.200 And back in March, we committed as a church to being a church that was for the 141,000 people in northern Kentucky who do not know Jesus. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:44.880 That our focus was not going to be about the preferences of those people who are in this room, but we were gonna do everything that we possibly can to share the good news of Jesus with those who are outside of the four walls. 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:53.599 And we are committing to seeing 141 people, 0.1% of our community, come to faith in Jesus and be baptized. 00:29:53.839 --> 00:30:00.400 That vision for our church is rooted right here in Matthew 28 in his Great Commission. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:12.400 We believe that what has happened in this room is to be the fuel for us as the body of believers to go back out into the world to share what Jesus has done with us with others. 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:16.880 There is no class that this church can offer that will reach the lost. 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:21.920 There is no program that will change hearts, there is no ministry that will attract people. 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:39.440 The only way for people to come to know who Jesus is is if those who choose to follow him, you and me, would be willing to get outside of our boat and to go point them back to him to share what Jesus has done in our lives with others around us. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:44.480 And on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus, he was walking and he saw four fishermen. 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:50.160 And he called them and he said, Get out of your boat and follow me. 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:53.200 They had no plan, no qualification. 00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:56.720 They smelled, smelled really bad. 00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:01.519 And yet Jesus said that they would he would make them into fishers of men. 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:07.359 He called them with the intention of always sending them back out into the world. 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:14.400 If Jesus has done something in your life, whether big or small, it was never meant for you to keep it to yourself. 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:28.079 Jesus always intended it to be shared with others, and you may be the exact right person at the exact right time in the exact right place to share your story with somebody else, and it could radically change the course of their life. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:39.200 Your story, your baggage, your mistakes, your imperfect speech may be the exact right person to deliver the message that Jesus loves them. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:52.720 In John 4, there's a story of this Samaritan woman, and she goes to the well in the middle of the day, it's the hottest part of the day, no one else is there, and she does it on purpose because she doesn't want to see anybody. 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:57.519 She wants to avoid everyone, but she encounters Jesus there. 00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:06.960 And instead of Jesus seeing her with shameful eyes that she experiences everywhere else she goes in her life, Jesus sees her in a way that no one else ever had. 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:16.720 Everybody else had seen for her for what she had done, while Jesus saw her, calls her out of her sin and into a new life. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:21.519 This encounter with Jesus changes everything for this Samaritan woman. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:25.839 And she calls Jesus the Messiah in that passage. 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:32.720 Then the woman who went to the well at the hottest part of the day because she wanted to avoid everybody, you know what she does? 00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:42.720 She runs back into town and she tells everyone what this man had done for her, that the Messiah Jesus was there, that there is a savior that they had been waiting for. 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:49.279 The woman was too ashamed to even go to the well at the risk of running into somebody. 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:54.079 But guess what happens when she goes and shares her story with everyone in town? 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:59.839 John writes that many come to believe in Jesus because of her testimony. 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:11.200 Like the woman at the well, Jesus is commanding you to go with your imperfect story of what Jesus has done in your life and to share it with others. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:11.839 Go. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:19.279 Invite them into belonging with Jesus and teach them everything that He has taught you up to this point. 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:22.160 So here's the question for you today. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:28.559 Who's the person that God has placed in your life that needs to hear your story? 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:35.759 Who needs to know that Jesus sees them, loves them, forgives them, and wants to give them a new life? 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:39.599 And maybe you've been waiting until you've had the perfect words. 00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:42.160 Maybe you've been waiting until you have fewer doubts. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:46.880 Maybe you've been waiting until your story is just a little bit less messy than it is right now. 00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:50.640 But Jesus didn't wait for perfect disciples before he sent them. 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:52.319 He said, Go. 00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:57.759 So, Generations Church, let's get out of our boat. 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:00.480 Let's go and make disciples. 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:05.119 Let's go after the 141,000 people who do not know Jesus. 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:08.639 That's the mission he's given to every one of us in this room. 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:16.880 Let's invite them into belonging with Jesus to become like Jesus and then to join his mission. 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:22.159 So as we go, I want to remind you that we don't go alone from this place. 00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:26.719 Jesus doesn't send you on this solo mission to go figure it out. 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:37.599 Because the same Jesus who called those fishermen, who restored the woman at the well and commissioned those 12 doubting disciples, is the Jesus who's sending you today. 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:44.000 So I want to read you the end of what Jesus says in the Great Commission, because it can get lost in it all. 00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:47.039 Jesus says this at the end of verse 20. 00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:54.159 He says, And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. 00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:07.760 He goes before you, he goes with you, he empowers you to use your imperfect story to share his love with others around you.