Listened to a great talk at Church on Sunday.
The great commandment
Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV)Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. [17] When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. [18] Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] 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, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
At that stage of Matthew's Gospel the Disciples were really confused:-
Is Jesus dead?
Is He alive?
Has He risen?
These are the last words of Jesus.
Matthew 28:16 (NIV)
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
The people who were not sure about what was happening did what they thought Jesus wanted them to do.
Matthew's Gospel ends with another Mountain top experience. But if you go up a mountain you have to come back down. We don't do the front line stuff at the top of a mountain but in the plains when we get back down.
Our worship is important.
Matthew 28:17 (NIV)
When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
Worship helps us get in perspective who He is and who we are. We are designed to be in relationship with God and therefore we are not alone. We are not alone when we are our on front line.
Jesus gives the Disciples a purpose.
Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] 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, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Our mission from God is to take on the role of making Disciples.
When God commands He always enables, firstly through each other and secondly two promises.
Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
........ And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
God promises that He will be with us until the end of the age.
Matthew 28:18-19 (NIV)
........."All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go .....
Jesus also says that His authority goes with us.
God communicates by getting involved and the way God communicates through us is by getting involved. We can live in our culture and our time and at the right time we can speak about the Kingdom.
The passage takes just after the resurrection and the power we have comes from the same power that raised Jesus.
God has put us where we are and went there before us. Jesus is already there and wants us to join Him there.
When things go wrong and are tough we know that God is there and is with us.
We should ask God what He is doing and what we can do to join Him there.
we should ...
Be encouraged
Be aware
Be open
Be praying
Be supporting
Who do we encounter each day? Who are the people on our front line?
No comments:
Post a Comment