The Great Commission - Neighbors to Nations - Matthew S8E1
In Matthew 28:16–20, Jesus gives His followers a clear command: go and make disciples of all nations. The Great Commission is not just a calling for pastors or missionaries. It is the mission of every follower of Jesus Christ.
As we conclude the Gospel of Matthew, Pastor Joby Martin challenges us to examine whether we are truly followers of Jesus or simply fans of Him. Being a disciple means more than knowing Scripture or attending church. It requires surrendering to the authority of Jesus, walking in obedience and making disciples who make disciples.
Through Neighbors to Nations, a two-year discipleship journey at The Church of Eleven22, we are reminded that God has blessed us to be a blessing to others. Whether in our neighborhoods or across the world, we all have a role to play in making Jesus known.
We cannot do everything, but everyone is called to do something.
(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Hey, welcome to the church of London to meet you. Thanks for sitting us. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Hey, welcome to the church of 1122. My name is McKenna. This is my friend, Jay. - Hey, guys. - And we're so glad that you're here. Whether you're joining us from Canada Mop City, New York City, Oklahoma City, can't forget Kansas City. Just move there. Chief, we're doing pretty good. - Oh, there you go. - I'll leave in Jacksonville, not saying anything.
- Whether you're joining us from any of those places or anywhere in between, we are so glad that you are here. Here's the church of 11th and 2. We're a movement for all people to discover and do some relationships with Jesus Christ. And not all people includes you. You're a part of our family. So wherever you're joining from, would you let us know in the chat right now? We want to know you. - That's right. We're family. We're at our church. And so don't be a stranger. You are not here by accident. So in the chat, let us know what you're joining from. What country you're joining us from. We have some incredible service staff that would love to connect with you and get to know you. So go on and let us know who you are in the chat. And it's going to be a great weekend. But before we talk about this weekend, we got to celebrate. Last weekend, what happened? - That's right. We had an incredible weekend last weekend. We got to celebrate the resurrection together. - Yeah, we did. - Have Easter in October. - Easter in October. - And we celebrated 276 people.
- Let's go. - To the Sabbath declaring Jesus their Lord and Savior through battle. - Incredible. - Today, we get to kick off season eight of Matthew, our final season through this year. - It's already here. - It's already here. - It's crazy. - And with that, we're kicking off neighbors to nations, a two-year discipleship journey that we get to go on as a church centered all around the Great Commission without a Matthew 28. - That's right. We all get to play a part in the Great Commission. - Exactly. - We have to ask ourselves that question. What part are we going to play when it comes to creating disciples? And so what I want you to recognize is I love that our church, we are all over the world. And we all get to play a part and it starts with us. And so I'm so excited to see what God's going to do. - That's right. And we have some resources for you, our neighbor's nation discipleship guide that we want you to have. It has some questions and resources that you're going to want throughout the series. So you can get that through an online score or the link that our serve team is going to drop in the chat right now.
And you are not going to want to miss a single moment of the next five weeks of neighbor's nations. - That's right. We say it all the time. We're not praying for revival. We are in the midst of it. We think about what God wants to do through our two-year discipleship journey neighbors to nations. We think about all that we are asking God to do. It starts with our families, our neighborhoods. And we're believing the same for the nations. And so right now though we're getting ready to worship. And so go on and grab a Bible. And let's worship together. - We're worshiped together. (dramatic music) ♪ Good morning church family ♪ ♪ It's an honor to be in the house ♪ ♪ And in the presence of King Jesus with you this morning ♪ ♪ We're gonna start off this morning strong ♪ ♪ We're gonna enter in his presence of things ♪ ♪ Giving in our hearts ♪ ♪ Singing about everything we've seen in the omen ♪ ♪ Come on y'all testify with me this morning ♪ ♪ Listen ♪ ♪ When I was lost in all alone ♪ ♪ Your presence was where I found him ♪ ♪ You were there and you were here right ♪ ♪ Now thank you for your presence Jesus ♪ ♪ In every high, in every low ♪
♪ You never left me without him ♪ ♪ You were good and you're good right now ♪ ♪ Come on up here sing, sing ♪ ♪ I've witnessed your faith always ♪ ♪ And I've seen you be the life we've been so high ♪ ♪ Oh round my praise again, Lord ♪ ♪ Lord we are born ♪ ♪ Your promises never fade ♪ ♪ I've got stories I live today ♪ ♪ So high, oh round my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, so worthy of all ♪ ♪ Oh you're worthy Jesus ♪ ♪ You let the throne be chosen cross ♪ ♪ Lay down your life to rescue us ♪ ♪ The Savior there, you're the Savior ♪ ♪ Right here and now ♪ ♪ But in the dead was not the end ♪ ♪ You can't put it on, so I could ♪ ♪ Resurrecting death is a victory ♪ Come on if you've got press in your lungs, you've got a reason to sleep. ♪ Resurrecting death is a miracle ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ All the witness should fade for this ♪ ♪ I see people who like who we are ♪ ♪ So high, oh round my praise again ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ But you're worthy of all ♪ ♪ The promise is never fade ♪ ♪ I've got stories I live today ♪
♪ So high, oh round my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, you're worthy of all of me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ And I'm confident ♪ ♪ Come on, I'll seat again ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you've been healing this room ♪ ♪ God, you're healing ♪ ♪ I'm a little nasty ♪ ♪ You're saving all with me ♪ ♪ Spare and I'm confident ♪ ♪ Come on, we the Red team ♪ ♪ Sing it out ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ I'm a little nasty ♪ ♪ You are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ Oh, you are me ♪ ♪ You're calling out with me ♪ ♪ Spare and I'm confident ♪ ♪ I'll see it again and again ♪
♪ You know that I'm a little nasty ♪ ♪ You're healing all with me ♪ ♪ Spare and I'm confident ♪ ♪ You're saving all with me ♪ ♪ Spare and I'm confident ♪ ♪ I'll see it again and again ♪ ♪ I'll witness your painfulness ♪ ♪ I'll save you, but you're like breathing ♪ ♪ So I'll call out my praise ♪ ♪ So I'll call out my praise ♪ ♪ So I'll call out your praise ♪ ♪ And your promise is ever made ♪ ♪ I'll call out your praise ♪ ♪ I'll call out your praise ♪ ♪ So I'll call out my praise ♪ ♪ You're worthy ♪ ♪ You're worthy ♪ ♪ You're worthy ♪ ♪ To the world ♪ ♪ And I'll win ♪ ♪ To the world ♪ ♪ And I'll witness it ♪ ♪ To the lost ♪ ♪ I'll witness it ♪ 'Til I'm tellin' what I'm livin' 'Til I'm livin' everything 'Til I'm livin' everything 'Til I'm livin' everything 'Til I'm livin' everything 'Til I'm livin' everything
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♪ It's your breath ♪ ♪ In our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ To your only ♪ ♪ To your only life ♪ ♪ To your only ♪ There will be no other gods before you. You are our God. And forever we will serve you, Lord. Remove the idols of our heart this morning as we sing forth your high praise. Resenter our hearts on the rock of our salvation that is Christ Jesus. Remind us from all the different walks of life that we come into this room representing. That is not by works that we are saved. We don't have to come into this room trying to earn it, trying to deserve it. We have a God who is self-sufficient, who doesn't need us. You are sufficient in your character, in your nature. Yet you are all sufficient to us that you made yourself flesh and you dwelled among us and you gave your life for us. And more than for us, instead of us, you died our death so that we could have everlasting life with you forever and ever. And we thank you for your all-sufficiency in our life. Your power that is made perfect in our weakness as Second Corinthians says.
So, Lord, today, this is our heart of worship. This is our act of worship to come to you and just to say thank you. What an understatement that is, but we thank you for what you've done for us, Lord. We thank you for the freedom we have in your name. We give you all the glorates in Jesus' name we said. Amen, and amen, y'all can take a seat. Amen, church, how are we doing? So good to worship together today. If it's your first time here, you picked a great weekend to come to the church of 1122 'cause we are in our final season of our Matthew series. So, all year since January, we have been studying the gospel according to Matthew. All for this moment, leading up to season eight neighbors to nations. And neighbors to nations is not just gonna be the last season of Matthew, it is gonna be a two-year discipleship journey that we are gonna go on as a church rooted in Matthew 28, the Great Commission. We're gonna be asking ourselves this question, Lord, what is my role in your Great Commission? And so, right now, our team is coming around to hand you a book, "The Neighbors to Nations" "Discipleship Guide." Not only is it beautiful, I wanna put this on my coffee table, but it also is gonna have all the information you need about the ministry we are embarking on
over the next two years. How many of you were at neighborhood nights over the past couple months? Okay, so you got to hear Pastor Joby cast the vision of where we're heading. This book is gonna help with that. This teaching series is gonna help get you into the vision of where we are headed. And if you're joining us online, there is a digital version that you can download as well. So with this book, I want you to keep it, get to know it, read it, write in it. It's gonna have the information about the ministry of neighbors to nations and there's room towards the end for you to use as sermon notes. So each week of this five week series, there's space in the back where you can take notes, why? Not only so, you can be intentional about how God is shaping your heart, what he is telling you to do in this series, but so that over the next two years and beyond, you can look back like a stone of remembrance at what God did at the beginning of neighbors to nations. It's gonna be an incredible journey. Another thing we wanna invite you to be a part of as we launch this neighbors to nations, it's for you to get in a group. One of the best first steps that you can take in answering that question, what is my role in your great commission,
is to get around some people and start to flesh that question out. So we have something called discover groups that's gonna start tomorrow night for the next four Mondays. And you can meet other people at this campus, it's gonna be right here at San Pablo, deepen your relationship with Jesus and start to unpack what his neighbors to nations and look like for you, and there are free appetizers and childcare. So I mean, what else do you need? Jesus, apps, childcare. So if you wanna know more about neighbors to nations or you wanna sign up for discover groups, you can text next to 44/11/22. For now, we're gonna continue in worship. Like we always do, so you can grab that discipleship guide, go ahead and open up to page 49. That's where our sermon notes will be for today. And we're gonna watch a video like we do, but this one's a little longer than normal, okay? So don't get nervous, just settle in. And this is not only inspirational, it is also informational. It's gonna unpack a lot of what's in this book, what the ministry coming up in the life of our churches. And I want you to view this video not just as a bystander, but as a pastor. thing be and that's the ones I want you to look through it so check that check out this video go go make disciples of all nations because all authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you this is the great commission before he ascended Jesus gathered his disciples and he gave us a clear command go and make disciples of all nations not some but all this is not a calling for a few it is the mission of every follower of Jesus Christ the kingdom of God is not standing still and neither are we this next season it's not about us it's about joining him and what he is doing from our neighbors to the nations who is my neighbor my neighbor is the person who is close to me of course my boyfriend my girlfriend roommate husband wife mother father person next door your professor your friends everyone is our neighbor that lives on this little planet Jacksonville is 840 square miles and this area is one of the fastest growing regions in the country one hundred new residents move in every single day many people here are surrounded by homes but they don't have a community we are demographically moving closer and closer to each other and we've become a neighborhood without becoming a brother when is the last time that you shared your life with another person or someone of another race in 2012 51% of young Americans regularly interacted with their neighbors in 2026 that number dropped into 25% people are more connected digitally than ever before yet increasingly disconnected from the people living right next door you to love the people of Africa you to love the people of China you to love the people of Latin America you to love the people of Europe you to love all of those people the rich nations the poor nations the rich people and the poor people they're currently 8.3 billion people living on earth and 3.6 billion of those people live among unreached people groups the greatest concentration of those people live in the 1040 window which is a region that spans North Africa the Middle East and Asia between the 10 and 40 degrees North Latitude going to mission is part of the command we are given in Matthew it is a duty to the command that you should go and keep expanding the kingdom of God
neighbors the nations is a two-year discipleship journey based in the Great Commission where we are all asking God to reveal to us what true obedience looks like as we prepare for what is next as God shapes our obedience he also is going to reshape what we value and how we live we are believing that through us God will accomplish three gospel centered initiatives over these next two years initiative one one name one name means that we will continue to be a church that remains steadfast in glorifying God in worship and word by declaring the gospel and making disciples that make disciples I realize that Jesus suffered and died of death that he did not need to do in that that counted to take the place of my sins that was a pivotal moment in my life and I got sober in 2020 and I've seen my addictions bow for Jesus we will simply continue to seek out and disciple those in need create space and invest in environments where people can be cared for fight for the next generation and ensure that all people have the opportunity to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ God will transform lives through salvation and baptism we will expand service times to make room for one more we will continue to disciple and care for people in every season of life and invest more deeply in discipleship through conferences we have an enemy who is seeking to take out the new generation but not on our watch we will ensure that future generations are We will build dedicated students' faces. We will expand student camps, quit parents with ongoing family discipleship resources, and by building consistent disciple groups. Initiative two, neighbors. As we are on the go, we will take the gospel into our communities by caring for, loving, and meeting people right where they are
while pointing them to Jesus Christ. We have all come together to make sure that this movement is for all people. Our discipleship group is a group of real materials. It's not just our neighborhood, and that's what's cool. We have people from all over Orange Park. The baptism that we had at the house, two of our one moors got baptized. CT Studs said the light that shines far, the shines brightest nearest home. Spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth starts in our own neighborhoods. In this two-year discipleship journey, we will grow our disciple groups from 900 to 2,500 with the goal of having a disciple group in every neighborhood. We will take marriage mentoring to the next level and provide new resources for pastoral care. We will also support local public schools and prayer walk our neighborhoods, and launch campuses in Jacksonville and beyond. Initiative three, nations. To make the name of Jesus Christ known to every tribe, every tongue and every nation, we will partner to plant 200 additional local, autonomous, indigenously led churches with a focus on unreached people groups and we will deploy 15 additional long-term missionaries while continuing to send short-term missionaries
to join God's work around the world. We will also continue partnering with Compassion International and invest in our 1122 online community, care for our military families, and offer care for displaced people groups, as well as support disaster relief, invest in Bible translation, and leverage digital tools to communicate the gospel. Jesus has given us a clear command to go and make disciples of all nations, and he has invited each of us to play a part in that mission. This two-year discipleship journey will stretch us. It will challenge what is comfortable and what is familiar. It will require every single one of us to live with greater intentionality, but this is where we experience the true power of God at work through us. Now, our primary goal is that every single one of us that consider 1122 to be our church, that we would ask God and we would ask ourselves what is my role in the Great Commission through my giving, my growing, and my going, and that we would also be committed to leveraging all that God has entrusted to us to accomplish our part in this God-glorifying mission. God has entrusted each of us with influence, with relationships, with resources, and with opportunities. He is asking us all to leverage all of it for His glory. So I'm asking you to join us as we follow Jesus to do what He tells us in the Great Commission
by making disciples and make disciples and make disciples from every neighborhood to every nation. Amen, and amen, and amen. Hey, if you've got your journal, hold it up right here. All right, this is going to be very, very important. We have finally made it to the end of the Gospel of Matthew. We're going to study the last five or six verses or so. We have been doing this for 42 weeks, and this journal is going to be very, very important to you. I would highly encourage you to open it up to the front there where it says Table of Contents and write your name and your number and your email address just in case you happen to misplace it, so we don't have to give out 30,000 more of these. And you never know what may happen. We have single people. Make sure you definitely write in your name and number there. It could work out to your advantage, okay? We need you to bring this back. Every single week, that video was long, and it tells you an overview of all the things that we're stepping into over the next bunch of years. And if you want more details on it, I think it's page 9 to 42 can give you more, no, 9 to 45, gives you more details. And the support of the reason that you have this is as we step into this neighbor's nation journey and we unpack the Great Commission today, the goal is that every single one of us that are part of 11, 22
would ask God this fundamental question in our life. God, what is my place in your Great Commission in regards to my giving, my growing and my going? And the growing and the going is going to be answered by this. And so you should start reading through this. You should start praying over this. that you see in here like you might see that we're taking care of military families and that stirs your affections and then you might see that we serve long-term missionaries and it scares you to death and you say all right lord what are you calling me to do it's probably going to be the scary to death thing that that's my story but whatever it is that's what we're doing none of us can do it all and every single one of us are called to be a part of the great commission that's why we are studying this text today if you remember back on Christmas Eve I know you remember every word that I say thank you and you remember back on Christmas Eve I said I want to give you a challenge and I've heard dozens and dozens and dozens of people especially over neighborhood nights over the past several months come up to me and said I took the challenge I challenged you give me one year you just show up for one year be here on the weekends joining the disciple group serve you go all in for one year because it might change your life it might change your family it might change your legacy forever I have talked to dozens of people that said it only took about two months and my whole life has been changed I got a very similar challenge this series neighbors the nations it's just five weeks long I want you to give me five weeks to be here every week over the next five weeks praying like crazy say all right god what is my role in your great commission am I giving my growing and my going and trust me you have no idea what hangs in the balance now from the day that we started studying the gospel of Matthew which was we have spent 244 preaching hours so far in this gospel and all of that was just a setup to this message probably the number one question I get as a pastor is this pastor how do I know God's plan for my life how do I know God's purpose for my life how do I know God's will for my life I got really good news it's right here in Matthew chapter 28 it's not confusing it's right here in in written down on the page and here's what's great man I've heard it said you know the two greatest days of your life is the day that you're born and the day you figure out why there's one more day this little bit better it's the day that you're born today that you were reborn in Jesus Christ on purpose and then the day that you figure out
why on earth and he put you here you're about to find that out today this is such a big deal and if you remember and I know you remember everything we've been studying Matthew 42 weeks and remember Matthew Matthew has a point when he's writing his gospel Matthew was born an insider he was a Jewish guy he chooses to be an outsider he works for the Roman government exacts taxes from his own people to give to the government to terrorize his own people it's not good and then Jesus comes along and Jesus doesn't call him Levi his given name he calls him Matthew because it ain't over till Jesus says this over and Matthew drops everything against the following follows Jesus and he sees Jesus fulfill every promise and prophecy of the old covenant he sees his life his death his resurrection and his ascension and then later Matthew is carried along by the spirit of God to write what we know as the gospel of Matthew and Matthew is writing to a particular people Matthew is a Jewish guy writing to a Jewish audience and one of the things that Pastor Oneh taught us is that Matthew is like a he's like a lawyer putting together a case and the case that he is putting together is that Jesus is the greater Israel that all the way back in Genesis chapter 12 God blesses Abraham and then by the time Jesus shows them on the scene they missed the blessing Genesis chapter 12 here's what the Bible says now the Lord said to Abram go that's going to sound very familiar because when we get to the Great Commission it's going to say therefore go the Lord said to Abram go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that say so that that's pretty loud good job so that there you go you will be a blessing by the time Jesus shows up on the scene the Israelites are like we're chosen to be chosen we're blessed to be blessed and Jesus is like you dummies if there's a so that the point is not to be a coldest sack of the blessing of God but a conduit of it and no special about you God placed his favor on you so that you would be a city on hill light of the world the whole world could come and worship the one true God and so the case that Matthew's making is that Jesus is the greater Israel that Jesus is the blessing that you see in verse three I will bless those who bless him and dishonor you those who dishonor you I will curse and through you all the Matthew is saying, and here is the blessing, his name is Jesus. He is gonna be the one that blesses all the world. This is the whole point of the gospel of Matthew.
And so when you get to verse 16, we're only gonna do a few verses. It says this, now the 11 disciples went to Galilee. Until this week, I always thought that the Great Commission happened at the Ascension. It doesn't. This happens probably, it's like eight to 11 days after the resurrection. And then Jesus is going to appear to over 500 people for 40 days in Galilee, and on the seashore, and at the temple, and at the empty tomb, and on the road to Emmaus, and then eventually, he's gonna make his way back to the Jerusalem area. It's a little town called Bethany across the Kidron Valley. And he's going to ascend to the right hand of God. But before he does this in Galilee, if you remember last week, Dr. Carter was teaching us, and he said, he appeared to the women, and the women went and told the dudes, hey boys, the boss said meet us in Galilee, and so they packed up their stuff, and they went to Galilee. So now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain, to which Jesus had directed them, 'cause in the Book of Matthew, a bunch of cool stuff happens on mountains. And then Jesus is going to give them the Great Commission. Before he, eventually, 40 days later, ascends to the right hand of God the Father.
This is a really, really big deal. And the ascension of Christ, what you say before, like after you've been resurrected and before you ascend, this is the most important thing. For all of you, I would hedge in here. Remember Elvis? Remember when Elvis would be at a concert? Kid, you don't even understand what it was like, bro. When Elvis was kicking it, man. People when Elvis would show up, even fat Elvis, not even cool Elvis, fat, sweaty Elvis. Would be in Vegas, just, I mean, just getting after it, bro. And the crowds would lose their mind so much. There had to be a curtain call. When Elvis left the building, what happened? An announcer would come on and say, "Elvis has left the building." This is the, "Jesus has left the building situation here." This is the announcement of all announcements. So they go to Galilee, they're up on a mountain and there's the resurrected Christ. Get that through your head for a second. The resurrected Christ. He was dead, buried. Now the stone has been rolled away. The tomb is empty. They're up in Galilee. Jesus is physically, bodily resurrected, standing there on a mountain.
Look at this next verse. And when they saw him, they worshiped him. As they should, this is Jesus. This is the resurrected Christ. By the way, just a one-off. There's about a million people online right now. They're dumb. That's where all the dumb people live is online. And they'll say things like, "Well, Jesus never claimed to be God." You, oh my gosh, we've pointed this out. So many times in the book of Matthew. Jesus receives the worship of people. You know why he receives the worship of people? 'Cause he is to be worship because he is God. If you remember everything I say, 'cause I know you do, if you go back to when Jesus was being tempted by the devil, the devil said bow down to me and worship me. And Jesus says, "Oh no, contrary," that Deuteronomy says, "You shall worship the Lord "and the Lord alone." Get out of here, devil and devil's gotta leave. But now when people are worshiping him, he does not rebuke them, he receives it, why? Because Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, co-eternal with God the Father forever and ever, and he is worthy to be worship. And people worship him as they should. Look at the next part of this verse, but some doubted.
What? Well, you in Galilee, and there's Jesus, all scarred up head, holding his hands, holding his side, he's standing there. How much more evidence do you need? And some people fall on their face and they're like, "Oh, Lord Jesus." And the next guy's like, "Man, I don't know, "I think that's AI, I don't know." Here's the thing, man. Evidence will never be enough to convince you. Remember what Dr. Carter taught last week, Pastor Matt taught last week? That the chief priests believe that Jesus resurrected from the grave. And they were like, "We can't let anybody know." The women believe that Jesus resurrected from the grave and they bow down on their face and worship him. Evidence will never be enough. If I can argue into the kingdom of God, somebody else can argue you out. And I am pro-apologetics. Apologetics means that you just have a reason to defend your faith. I'm obsessed with it. Every night, before I go to bed, I get sucked into the vortex of watching these apologists just rip people a new one. My favorite one is a dude named God Logic. You should watch God Logic.
I'm gonna bring him here. And he just eviscerates Muslims and Jehovah's Witness and Mormons and makes him a dumb. And I love it so much. However, even though everything God logic says is true, I've still yet to hear the person, hear the argument, but you know what you're right? I'm switching teams. The resurrected Christ is standing on the mountain. And some people are going, "Praise him." And some people are going, "Huh, maybe." For one, it makes me feel a lot better about my preaching. Ha, 'cause sometimes I'm up here just slinging it. Some of you are like, "Yes." And then this guy's on Facebook. I'm like, "Okay." If I, if the resurrected Christ can't get 100% participation, then who do I think I am? Now, here's the reality, man. Until your heart is seized by a greater affection, you'll never worship him. Until your need exceeds your ego, you'll never bend your knee to him. I wish I could talk you into it. I try so hard every week, every single week. I try, I try to use the right word and tell the right stories and be funny. So all you men that are like, "I don't know, I'll get you to laugh. You'll do like this." And then I try to get your heart real quick, okay?
I try, and I can't talk you into anything. It's not until the Spirit of God woo's you unto the Son of God that you will surrender your life to him. So they worshiped him, and some doubted. Now let's get personal. Anybody ever doubt Jesus' stuff? I do, that might make you nervous. Follow me. Sometimes I doubt. I do, man. I got questions. I got an answer to questions. God, well, would you love that to happen? I can't understand this. I doubt. And so if you doubt, here's some really good news. You can make a great disciple. These are the 11. They don't doubt forever. They're going to get over it. They're going to become the apostles. They're going to add one more guy, and they're going to turn the world upside down. So if you've got some doubts, cool. You could be a great disciple, see the disciples. And you know what, they doubted the resurrection of Christ. It's the whole, you can't even be a Christian without it. And so if you doubt, you're in some really, really good company because the opposite of faith does not doubt. The opposite of faith is fear. Because you think your circumstances are in control and not God.
The opposite of faith is ego because you think you're in control. The opposite of faith is, I got this. The opposite of faith is control. So you can have all kind of unanswered questions. God's okay with that. Do you know why? Because you know what God wants from you? You. A relationship with you. Not just begrudging mental ascent to theological realities, though doctrine matters like crazy. What He wants is you. And in order for you to receive the love of God and reflect the love of God, you've got to trust God. And so what do you do when you've got doubts and unanswered questions? Here's what the Bible says today. You just pick them up and you follow after Jesus. That's what these boys are doing. They're in Galilee. Why? Because that's where Jesus said go. And they're not even sure if that's Him or not. But you see what they're doing. They just pick up their doubts and they do what Jesus said to do. You do that long enough. One day your doubts, your faith, become sight and you see Him. In John chapter 6, this is my favorite place to see this. In John chapter 6, we talked about it several weeks ago. Jesus just feeds to 5,000. And there's big crowds following Jesus. Not because they want their heart full of Jesus.
They want their abilities full of more miracles. And so Jesus begins to preach what, in my business, we call a space maker. You ain't got room, you preach this one one time. And Jesus says, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part with me." And people are like, "Wait, what? I'm just here for some leftovers." And I mean, listen, man, we're Jewish. We can't eat the prophet, we can't even eat pork. What are we talking about here? And everybody starts to leave it. And then Jesus walks up to Peter. And Jesus does not ask random questions. He goes, "Yo, Pete, you want to leave, too?" And Peter's thinking, "Sorta." I mean, dude, I left this lucrative fishing business with my dad. And now you talk about feasting on your flesh. What the heck? And Jesus doesn't explain anything. He could have explained it in about three seconds. He said, "Proll, I'm talking about communion. The body and the bread is actually about the gospel, apart from the gospel you have no plate. Just hang on, after the resurrection and all that makes sense. He explains nothing." And so Peter's standing there with all these unanswered questions, and his question is what put steel in my spine to follow Jesus.
Peter looks around and he goes, "To whom shall we go? So what do you do when you doubt? First of all, welcome to humanity. You just pick up your doubts, you pick up your answer questions, and you follow after Jesus. And that's called faith or trust. The Greek word is pastua. Years ago, about 10 years ago, I was leading a mission trip in Africa. And I was flying home, and we had a layover in Amsterdam, 'cause there's a long ways over there. It's like two, 10 or 12 hour flights. And we're boarding the plane, and I'm tired at all the things, and I'm praying for the person that is sitting next to me on this 10 hour flight. But I'm not praying with him in the spiritual way you think I would pray for him. I'm actually praying against certain type of people that God would put next to me, and he did not answer my prayer. And so, the person God chose to sit next to me with this really chatty 25 year old girl that I did not want to spend 12 hours with on an airplane, but God wanted me to. And so we sit down and I think, "Oh, no, here we go." And she's super chatty,
"Hey, what are you doing?" And I was like, "All right, I'm a pastor." And she was like, "Ah!" (congregation laughs) And so this is what I do, okay? When I sit on a plane, I always have to write a sermon, so I just get my Bible out. And I'm like, you wanna talk about this for a little while? And one of two things happens, 'cause salvation is of the Lord, and if God wants me to have a conversation and their instrument, praise be, and if God don't want to save him at this time, I'm like, "Well, sweet, maybe he'll save you another time. "I'm gonna work on my sermon or watch my movie. "Win, win." Okay, so I open my Bible and she looks at me and goes, "You actually believe that, do you?" And I go, "Oh, yeah." Well, let's talk about this for a little while. And I began to share the gospel with this girl. And I didn't start at the reality that every single one of us are sinners, but I started with the reason that God made us, that out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, he created image-bears and you're made by God and for God. And you were created to be in a right relationship with him. This is why the temporary things of this world will just never scratch that itch,
no matter how hard you try. And then sin separates us from a holy and just God. And she began to tear up, and part of the reason she began to tear up is that she had been on a vacation to Amsterdam as a 25-year-old single girl, and I didn't get into it too deep with her, but she had been doing things with her body that God did not intend to do. And she was broken and she knew it. And so I began to tell her about God's soul loved you that his sin has only been gotten son, and there's more grace in Jesus that's sin in you. And the sovereign king of all of the universe that holds the stars in the sky, worked it all out and used Delta that I would be sitting right next to you because he heard your prayer and he came for me to tell you that he loves you and he wants you to surrender his life to him. And she starts crying, she starts crying. And you know, if you're done this a lot and I've done this a lot, dude, you get 'em crying? Bingo, we about to close the deal. So I'm about to Billy Graham this thing and get her to pray and do the whole thing right there at the end. And then what happened though, Spirit of God is wooing her to himself and then you can tell, boom, here comes the questions
and the doubts and the breaks come on. 'Cause she realized this, if I follow Jesus, this doesn't change my whole life. And she goes in through tears and I'm like, you wanna surrender your life to Christ right now? He'll forgive you right now. She goes, "Well, hold on, let me ask you a question." But what about gay people? It's God not like gay people. And what about if there's a man on an island that's never heard of Jesus, does he go to hell? And what about the dinosaurs? How do you explain the dinosaurs? And I was like, all right, I hear you. There's answers to all this, but can I just ask you? First of all, God loves everybody. So let's clear that up. Secondly, are you gay? She's like, no, okay. And you're obviously not deserted on an island. You're with me here, right? Do you happen to be a paleontologist? (congregation laughing) So can you let me on the smokescreen? And let's just talk about what's actually going on here. That's what you do when you have doubts and then there's questions. You just pick up your doubts and you follow after him. They stand on the mountain, they see the resurrected Christ, some worship him and some doubt it.
Don't freak out when you have doubts. Just pick up your doubts, follow after Jesus. And then, verse 18, and Jesus came and he said to them, oh, I love this one. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. How much authority? All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. If Jesus has all the authority, how much authority you got? None, he has all the authority. And here's what's crazy. He says all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. It's been given to him by right and by resume. It's been given to him by right because Jesus Christ is God the Son, second person of the Trinity, co-eternal with the Father who spoke everything into existence and everything that has been made visible and invisible was made by him for him. in the entire cosmos of this planet and everything beyond that Jesus does not rightly declare. Mine, he has all authority by right. And resume, because he's fresh out of the grave. He lived the perfect life. He chose the Father's will over the way of this world every single time. He went to the cross and God made him who was without sin to be sinned for us. And yet he had no sin, so when he was laid in the grave, the wages of sin is death, but he has no sin, so death could not hold him.
And so he snatches the keys of death out of the hands of Satan, he rolls that stone away and he walks victorious out of the tomb, putting death to death. And so not only is all authority his because he is God, but he also went and took it back and all authority in heaven and on earth is his. This is what he is saying. Now this is what this means, man. All authority, that means he has authority over your body. Think about that for a little bit. In your bedroom, in your bank account, in all of your activities and the angels and demons in life and death and even all of eternity. And Americans don't like this. 'Cause the world that we were raised in was, you don't tell me what to do. He does 'cause he's got all authority. Everybody likes the 23rd Psalm till you get to this part. The Lord is my shepherd. We'll let him, look at my shepherd. He makes me lie down. And if you go, well, he don't make me do nothing, then he ain't your shepherd. No, you might believe in Jesus, you've just never surrendered your life to the lordship of Jesus. In the beginning of the sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek. "Blessed are you when you turn the reins over "of your life to his."
And you say, "I ain't the boss of me. "You're the boss of me." And I do what you say, especially when I don't like it. Look dude, it ain't submission until you don't like it. If your boss is like, "I command you to take a vacation." You're like, "I submit." No, dummy. So all authority in all heaven and earth is given unto him. So the next thing he says is gonna be the most important thing you've ever heard in your life. So he says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Baptizing them as the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. This is what he says in Galilee. Later, he's gonna go to Bethany before he ascends to the right hand of God the Father. The Gospel, the writer of the Gospel of Luke, Dr. Luke, he's gonna record these words, which are the same kind of command, just some different words. He says, "And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses." You're either gonna be a good one or a bad one, but you're gonna be one. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. That's your neighborhood. In Judea, that's like the county you live in.
In Samaria, those are those people that your grandma said, "You can't supposed to trust. You don't even like those people." For me, that'd be like, "Gangable." And welcome our UF Outposts. We love you so much, okay? You're part of the family. And to the very ends of the earth, this is the great commission. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. It's Matthew 28, 19. Now, maybe you hear 28, 19, and you're like, "Where have I heard that before?" And maybe it's because you know of my friend, Philip Anthony Mitchell's church up in Atlanta, and God has his hand on my boy, Philip. And he's doing a mighty work at 28, 19, okay? Praise God. And so the only reason I bring them up, he'll be here next year to do a men's conference with us. And the only reason I bring him up is this, we need to be praying for 28, 19 church. And here's why. They are experiencing what we have experienced where like the facilities cannot facilitate the ministry God wants to do. They're full, full, full, full, full. And our experience in Jacksonville and every county we've been in, if we've had unbelievable favor and grace with like the city and county people
that are in charge of stuff, that is not their experience right now in Atlanta. So would we join me throughout this next few weeks, praying for the advancement of the gospel through 28, 19, and Philip Anthony Mitchell? And here's why, let me tell you why. We are not the kind of church that is jealous of or critical of other churches. Anybody that's a Bible gospel teaching church is on team Jesus, and we pray that the spirit of God has poured out on every one of those churches. (congregation applauding) So you get, this is it. Jesus is saying, here's the point of your life. Therefore, that's how he starts. Well, what's the therefore, the therefore? One, because he just said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, I don't take votes. We're not doing an online poll. I'm not gonna make suggestions. Hey man, if you feel like it, do you mind maybe making a disciple somewhere if it doesn't? No, he's the king and the king gives orders, therefore. The second reason therefore is there is because therefore and so that mean the same thing. And Abraham withed on it. The people that followed Abraham withed on it. I'm gonna bless you so that you'll be a blessing.
Jesus just said, I came and lived the perfect life, died in your place, resurrected from the grave. All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, I did not just save you to be saved. I saved you to be sent. The moment you get rescued, you are part of the rescue team. Therefore, go. Now here's the thing. If you know Greek grammar, Koine Greek first century grammar, which I'm sure the front row right here, you guys are fully familiar with this, but you could explain to everybody else that the only imperative in that sentence is make disciples, that that word go is more, is probably better translated like as you are on the go or wherever you go. You see, because during neighbor's donations, some of you are gonna go as full-time missionaries to the Congo. And some of you are gonna go as full-time missionaries to the car line. Both are very dangerous. (congregation laughing) Car line is infinitely more dangerous. So wherever you go, as you're on the go, here's the imperative, make disciples. This is the purpose of your life. What's God's plan for your life, mate, disciples? Where, wherever you go?
That's the purpose of your life. Yeah, but I run an electrical company. Okay, cool. Make disciples of electricians. That's fine. All right, turn lights on the churches. That'll help, whatever, but I'm a football coach. Oh, neat, guess who made this disciple? A football coach. How about do that? Wherever you go, wherever you go, wherever you're on the go, make disciples. So here's the thing, man, not just converts, not make believers, not build crowds, but make disciples, followers of Jesus. Well, first and foremost, you've got to be one, to make one. And when we use the word disciple in America, we don't know what it means, that's compared to the first century. 'Cause oftentimes we'll translate the word rabbi as teacher. It's not untrue, it's just not the whole truth. You see, in the West, we think a teacher's job is to pass along information. I'm gonna teach you what I know. And if you do that, you're a good teacher. But in the first century, a rabbi was not simply, let me teach you what I know, but you are gonna become who I am. Think about what Jesus said to the first boys.
Hey man, drop your nets and follow me. And I will make you fishers of men. He didn't say I'm gonna teach you theological realities and doctrines of the Bible. No, no, no, I'm gonna make you fishers of men. In fact, the phrase that they would use in the first century, when you began to follow a rabbi, is they would say may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, that wherever he went, you went. And Jesus said, "Follow me." So what it means to be a disciple is that we are just continuously taking our next step of obedience. And if you quit taking steps by definition, you ain't following. And we ain't got no standard arounders of Jesus. We're called followers of Jesus. This whole neighbors and nations thing is about you and me saying, God, what's my next step of obedience? What's my role in your great commission in regards to my giving, my growing and my going? And here's the thing, man. I'm afraid we got a lot of spectators. I'm afraid in the American church, we got a lot of fans and not a lot of followers. And here's what I mean. I'm a huge, huge football fan. Die hard, ridiculous fan. I have a college team and I have a pro team. And I love them so much.
And I get into it a lot. And two weeks ago, I had the greatest regular season football weekend of my entire life. It was so great. The Gators lost to South Carolina, how embarrassing. I loved it. I watched every minute of it. I cheered. I loved it. Then Georgia beat Alabama. And God blinded the referee so they couldn't see that egregious past interference. I don't care. I don't know fair, I just want to win. I don't care. They've been cheating for years. And then the next day, the jags are in London. We've got the ball with eight seconds to go and run right up to the very point you can run. And then make like a million yard field goal. And we walk off the Eagles, praise God from whom all blessings flow, man. Cloud, not. And then one week later. The Gators beat Texas, what? Georgia loses to Auburn. That's a basketball school. I don't, what are we doing? And then the jags get walked off with the Texans because we had to play them and the zebras that hate us and we lost. Now here's the thing, I'm a huge fan, I'm a dow hard fan.
And I get into it while the game's going on and I watch them by myself for the sake of my own witness. I don't let anybody watch it with me. But other than the emotional investment that I make during the game, do you know how much the wins or the losses affected my life? None. Didn't change me as a husband, didn't change me as a friend, didn't change me as a dad. Didn't affect the next morning when I woke up and read my Bible, it didn't affect my spending habits, it didn't affect any, nothing in my life other than being entertained by it during the game and disappointed about it during the game. It affected nothing in my life. Here's what scares me to death about the American church. I think there's a bunch of fans and you're into it. You go to the game, you know the chance, you feel the feels, just doesn't change anything in your life. And Jesus says that's not what a disciple is. He says therefore make disciples, you've got to be one before you make one and then the next question, listen dude, so who are you discipling? Can you be like, yep, there's one I made right there. Because if this is the Great Commission, if this is the most important thing, then can you really be one if you've never made one or are you just trusting that I'll do it for you? Yeah, every single one of us are calling to make disciples, it's like, how am I going to do that? Well man, I mean we've said all kinds of ways for you to do it, you know. Go through a growth track. We'll help you. You can serve in kids, you can serve in, you can be a disciple group leader, you can be a caregiver, I mean there's a bunch of ways but if you look back over your shoulder and you can't say what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, 1, follow me as I follow Christ and you
are out of step with the Great Commission. If you're a parent, it of course starts with your kids, man, you're the primary discipler in their life. But this is what we are all about at home, at work, at school, whatever it is, man. He says therefore go and make disciples of all nations. You know what that word is, in Greek, ethnos, sound familiar, it's where we get the word ethnicity. Therefore go and make disciples of all the peoples like all, regardless of what people look like and sound like, where they're from and who the mom and daddy is and what their heritage is, this is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. You see because the body of Christ is unified but it's not uniform. We don't all look the same but we're all unified in Christ that we may be distinct but we're not divided. We may have different heritages but we have the same Father and that's what brings us together. And here's why. Here's what we're aiming at by the way, Revelation chapter 7, beginning of verse 9, this describes what it's going to look like in heaven. John the revelator says, "And after this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. That this gospel is for all people, every image bearer of God you've ever come eyeball to eyeball with is a trophy of the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ." That's why this thing is a moment for all people now. The liberal theologians, also known as lost people, they will say, "Well yeah everybody's going to heaven but Jesus isn't the only way." The problem with that is the words of Jesus.
Jesus says, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." there are some cults out there like the The Bible says this thing is for every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. And then there's even, I hate all the categories, but there's this people that would call themselves conservative as this weird little group of people that you shouldn't listen to. And they do think that Jesus is the only way for all people, but until we get to Heaven we should all be separated here on Earth. That is not what Jesus taught. Some of you, you've got to hat with it on. This is the theme of our year. Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Well, what does it look like in Heaven? Every tribe, every tongue, every nation. And Jesus, when the disciples are like, "Hey, boss, teach us to pray." He's like, "Alright, when you're praying, make sure you say this, on Earth as it is in Heaven." So if anything on the planet ought to look like Heaven with every tribe, tongue, and nation it ought to be the church, the people of God. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations next part, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. We've been baptizing some people. Have you noticed? Some thought, one guy asked anything, "Oh, really into baptism." It's in the Great Commission there, Lee Roy. What are you talking about? Last week we did Easter in October and baptized 276 people. Praise God. A month ago it saturated, we baptized 911 people. During Beech baptism we baptized 2,552 people in one day. So far in 2026 we have baptized 5,390 people this year. Praise God.
Now, let me tell you what the haters say. I don't know if you know we got haters. Have you found out yet? Yeah, they're there. And here's what they'll say. It's just all about the numbers. What? Alright, if you were baptized this year through the ministry of 1122, this year, 2026, so as you raise your hand as high as you can and just keep it up, raise them up high. Let's go. Is it Jerry? Jerry, would you stand up? You ain't supposed to out-dress the preacher, Jerry, but don't worry about it. Can you stand up? I know you what would have came. This is Jerry. Jerry, you've been through it, man, because I pray for you all the time. I want to thank you. And I pray for you all the time and we get to hang out and talk and you're a beautiful family. Here's what I want you to know, Mr. Jerry. Over the last 14 years, this church has spent tens of millions of dollars building buildings so that the church, because the church isn't a building, building building so that churches could gather that we could preach the Word and glorify God in worship. We have sent out a hundred full-time missionaries, thousand short-term missionaries. We've sponsored kids, we've cared for the elderly, we've cared for our first responders, we've got Bible studies all over the city, and we've done all of this for one reason to therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And it's been tens of millions of dollars. And what I want you to know while everybody listening, if the only fruit we could see from that was you, Mr. Jerry, going public with your faith in Jesus, it would be worth every penny. Church of 11, 22,
would you celebrate the baptism of my friend Jerry? Thank you, brother. Thank you. Now here's the thing, there's 5,289 stories like this with Mr. Jerry. That's why we celebrate, because Jesus said that it was a big deal. He said therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And then he says, "And teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you." Like I said, man, we won't followers, not fans. We're not trying to make converts. We're making disciples. That's why we teach the full counsel to every part of our life. This is not pick and choose what you want. This is I'm following Jesus. And then right on the end of this, right on the break into the Great Commission. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And then you get this promise. And don't miss the promise, man. The King James says it this way, "And lo, I will be with you." That's what you were created for, is to be in right relationship with God. All the way back in the very beginning, when God created the very first person out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, he decides unto his own glory to create image bearers. And he gathers together the dust of the ground, the word in dust, in Hebrew, is "autama," it's where we get the name Adam. And the Bible says, "But he's not yet a living creature." And the Bible makes it very clear that he gets nostril to nostril face to face with the very first man Adam and breathes the rule of life. And then he opens his eyes and he's alive. And the very first person is face to face with his creators, his Heavenly Father. And that's what every single one of us were made for. And Jesus came to make a way for us to be reconnected with our Heavenly Father.
And then he says, "And when your own mission with me, I'm going to be with you, not just in the general omnipresent Psalm 139, where can I go from your presence kind of with you, but I'm going to be with you in a different kind of way." Now you may look at that and you think, "Well, okay, so I'm supposed to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into any of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that He has commanded us." Yep. And you go, "Well, that seems like a lot. It is a lot." And you think, "Well, how am I going to do this?" Well, I got really good news, neighbors of the nations. Yeah, this is it. This is how we're going to do this as a church. And none of us can do it all, me included. You can't do it all. Nobody can do everything, and every single one of us are called to do something. And what I'm asking you to do, here's our number one goal for neighbors of the nations, is that over the next five weeks you would be praying your faces off. You know the difference between saying your prayers and praying? You know the difference? You know how like a disabled group, when like Jerry shares a prayer request, he's like, "I'll pray for you." And then you don't. And then you see him at church and they're like, "Uh-oh, they're going to be with Jerry." "Hey, man, I've been praying for you." That anyone I'm talking about, you can keep that one. I'm talking about on your face before the God of the universe going, "God, we learned in John 10 that you're the good shepherd and your sheep hear your voice. I want to hear your voice. What is my role in your great commission?
In my giving and my growing and my going? This journal is going to help you with the growing and going. For some of you, you're going to jump into our military care and take care of families. For some of you, you're going to partner with the fellowship of Christian athletes and take the gospel into our schools. For some of you, you're going to start disciple groups. You're going to serve in our student ministry. It may be taking the gospel to the nations and you're going to be a full-time missionary or be a part of our disaster relief. You may head up the neighborhood prayer walk in your neighborhood. I don't know what you're going to do, but the spirit of God does, He's not surprised. And our number one goal is that every single one of us would go before the Lord and say, "Lord, what is my role in your great commission in my giving and my growing and my going?" And then there for sure is also a giving part of this. If you open up this to the back, there is this commitment card. And just breathe, we're not doing anything with it today except praying about it. One of the things I've learned in 34 years of ministry is simply this. I don't know how to get people to fully follow Jesus without going after what Jesus said, the number one competitor for the human heart is, okay? And Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters, no one can serve both God and money." And we are not legalists around here, but the Bible clearly teaches that we are to bring our first and best, not because of any kind of Old Testament Levitical rule. This actually predates, this is like Cain and Abel and Abraham and Melchizedek. And this is just from the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible that God has entrusted us with everything we have. And because God is first and God loves first, we cheerfully bring back to Him our first and our best as an act of worship. And Jesus says where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. And so all the details of the resources needed to accomplish everything that we believe God has called us to accomplish are in this thing.
And I just need you as an individual or a family to begin to- What are you calling me to do? And I just want you to do whatever it is that He tells you to do. One of the things I'm excited about, there will be thousands of people through 1,122 that for the very first time in their life, they're gonna trust Jesus in the area of their finances. And what at first feels like sacrifice, what they're gonna actually experience is the financial freedom they didn't realize was available. Anybody else with me on that one? I mean, that's my testimony, okay? And then there's some of you, God bless you, and you have been tithing since you were in Sunday school with Methuselah. Well, God bless you. And it's grown real comfortable, and God's just go stretch that. And then there's a bunch of us included, and we got a bunch of stuff, and then in doing anybody ending good, especially the kingdom. And we're not just gonna look at what God's gonna trust us with over the next two years, but we're gonna look at the whole thing, and we're gonna read the words of Jesus that says, why would you store it for yourselves treasures on earth? Why not store it up in heaven? The only thing you can take to heaven
with you is people in praises. So why don't we invest this thing into eternity? And then we have a thing called advanced commitment night on November 6th and 7th. And if you wanna go first, if you wanna go first, I wanna invite you that you can either come to St. John's on November 6th, or we have two services, November 7th at San Pablo, and you can go first, and you can feel this thing out. We'll talk about it for a couple of weeks before then. And you can say, this is what it looks like for me and my family to say, God, this is our part, and you're a great commission in regards to my giving. And then you'll take steps of obedience in regards to your going and your growing. And then commitment weekend will be November 19th and 1122 in the Neat. And we will all gather as a church, and we'll say, all right, Lord, this is what it looks like, 'cause you have called us to go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that you have commanded. And here's the thing, church. I get asked this all the time, what's the number one threat to 1122? And I think a lot of people assume it would be outside
threats, listen man, we're under attack right now, but you know the church has always done really well with external threats. You know where the fastest growing church in the world is right now? It's the underground church in Iran. And in fact, we'll be partnering with them as we try to make disciples of all nations. In fact, think about the early church, how did it start? The Roman Empire is trying to stamp out the church with external threat, and they didn't bury them, they planted them, and then what sprouted was a worldwide movement where people all over the world know the name of Jesus. So the church always handles the external threats pretty well, the greatest threat, in my opinion, is complacency, 'cause it's going so good, it's been going so good for so long. And the moment we, as the people of God, with the great commission of God, take our eyes off of what he has told us to do, and we begin to look around like man, there's a lot of people here, somebody else can serve a military family, and somebody else can go on a mission trip, and somebody else can be generous, and somebody else can disciple a teenager, then the moment complacency sets in, it's only a matter of time before Jesus walks up,
you should check the warning to the churches in the book of Revelation, and Jesus says here, I'll take my lamp, stand back. The moment the rear view gets bigger than the windshield, it's over for a church. And so what God is calling us to do is every single one of us, no matter how old you are, how long you've been in church, how long you've been following Jesus, and every single one of us would be like, all right Lord, my answer is yes. Now what's my role in your great commission? Am I giving, am I growing, am I going? And then here's the promise. The ESV says, behold, I am with you always. And last week, Pastor Matt told us about the word behold. First time I ever learned this, I didn't know this. Behold's not a word that we use a lot, I think we should bring it back, show up at work tomorrow and be like behold. (congregation laughing) Jesus, Pastor Matt said almost every time in the New Testament where the word behold happens, there's almost always a miracle associated with it. So is your praying about you're part in the great commission and you're giving, you're going and you're going? Jesus is right there on the edge going, behold. Get ready for the miracle. Get ready for the miracle on the inside of you. Get ready on the miracle that happens to you.
Get ready for the miracle that happens through you. Why? And will you just trust me on this one? I've been doing this a minute, 34 years. My own testimony on behalf of me and Gretchen, you have no idea what hangs in the balance with your simple yes. When we felt like God was told in telling us to get together with our buddies and playing at this church, we had no idea. You have no idea that one teenager that you disciple, they may grow up to lead the next great awakening. You have no idea that your little piece of generosity God uses it to plant a church that sparks a revival in the Middle East. You have no idea that your son or your daughter that you pour into to make a disciple of. That God might not just change your life and your kids life, but the legacy of your family name until Jesus returns. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that He has commanded us and be whole church. He will be with us always to the very ends of the age. Would you please stand, let me pray for us. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father God, as we step into the biggest thing you have ever called us to, neighbors and nations. Lord, I pray that every single one of us, regardless of who we are,
watch it in a correctional facility right now, at an outpost online at any of the campuses. God that every single one of us would go before you with just humility and spiritful courage to say, all right Lord, my answer is yes. Now my question is, what's my role in your great commission? Am I giving, my growing, and my going? God, I thank you for the promise that you are not gonna leave us alone in this, but behold, we should get ready for a miracle because you are with us. We pray it in the good strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen. In church, we're gonna respond the way we respond, man. We're gonna sing the song called "Let it Echo." It starts out this way, we've only scratched the surface. I mean, what if we've only seen the beginning of what God wants to do innocent through us and to us? And then it gets to a part where it says, "Hey, God, how 'bout let this thing echo "from this city to the nations? "So why not us and why not now and why not here?" And then, so we're gonna sing and we're gonna bring no special offering, we don't even take up an offering. We're gonna bring our ties and our offerings because it's a declaration that God, you first love me, and so I bring my first and best back to you. And we're gonna pray, and every single one of us, we don't have room, but every single one of us, should get down on our face and say,
"All right, God, what are you calling me to do?" In regards to your great commission, am I giving, my growing, my going? So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond. ♪ We've only scratched the surface ♪ ♪ And only had just one ♪ ♪ We've tasted of your glory ♪ ♪ But there's so much more ♪ ♪ We're standing on our eyes ♪ ♪ The earth collides with heaven ♪ ♪ You're longing for your children ♪ ♪ To cry out for more ♪ ♪ This is our prayer ♪ ♪ We cry out for more ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Let it go ♪ ♪ We'll listen to the nations ♪ ♪ The sound of praise ♪ ♪ And let the windows ♪ ♪ Of the headwinds ♪ ♪ Of the mighty head ♪ ♪ Let it rain ♪ ♪ Here is such a grace ♪ ♪ Surround me ♪ ♪ Surrounding by speed ♪ ♪ Where the sun is wide but desperate ♪ ♪ For even more of you ♪ ♪ Even more of you ♪ [MUSIC]
[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Church, this is big. And how many of you know we serve a big God? And we will not stop until all of our neighbors and all of the nations know the truth of the name of who Jesus is, amen? We have some homework to do. We do. We have, we need to be a praying people. And so in your booklets, on page 51, there are some prayer prompts and some scripture that you can work through this week. As you begin to wrestle out the question, what is, Lord, what is my role in your great condition? Am I giving? Am I growing?
Am I going? I can't wait to see what God does through neighbors and nations. Church, we love you. We are praying for you. We'll see you next week. Be brave. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
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