Matthew 28:18-20
Main Idea: We are called to help others to follow Jesus, be changed by Jesus, and to be on mission for Jesus.
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Mark 16:15-16
What is a disciple?
A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, is being changed by Jesus, and is on mission for Jesus.
Mark 1:17 “Follow me (Follow), and I will make you become (change) fishers of men (mission).”
Principles for evangelism and discipleship
Principle 1: Be motivated by love.
Mark 12:30-31 “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Principle 2: Care for our neighbors’ temporal earthly circumstances
James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Principle 3: Keep first things first
1 Corinthians15:3-4 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins inaccordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…
2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Principle 4: Attack the root not the fruit
Colossians 2:21-23 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle”…these things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Principle 5: Love calls one to costly discipleship
Mark 10:21 “Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Rosaria Butterfield: “I am grateful that when I heard the Lord’s call in my life and I wanted to hedge my bets, keep my girlfriend and add a little God to my life, I had a pastor and friends in the Lord who asked nothing less of me than that I die to myself. Biblical orthodoxy can offer real compassion because in our struggles against sin we cannot undermine God’s power to change lives.”
Samuel Sey: “One of the most prevailing myths in evangelicalism is that worldliness is a
distinctly leftist trait. Worldliness is any personal, cultural, or political thing that makes us stray from the narrow road of Christ, from the Left or the Right. The Right side exit off the narrow road is just as worldly and deadly as the left side.”
Principle 6: Be patient according to God’s timing
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
Principle 7: We follow Jesus, others follow our example
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Principle 8: Jesus gives some a gift for evangelism and equipping us to be active in it
Ephesians 4:11-12
“And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,”
Principle 9: We are called to be obedient and trust God to change hearts and lives
2 Corinthians 4:6-7
For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great
treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
How should we respond?
1) Ask God what he wants you to do. Ask God what he wants us to do.
2) Use resources to walk with others to seek answers to their questions
3) Invite others to join in what you are already doing
4) Breathe…Give grace to yourself and trust God to work in his timing