Well I m glad to be here tonight and I hope you are as well. I m excited because two things I m very passionate about is family and missions and that s exactly what I m teaching on tonight. Connecting family in missions. Tonight, rather than family and missions being separate entities, we re going to marry them together and we re going to talk about how God originally designed it that way and how we can join Jesus mission of making disciples within our families. Some of you are already thinking there s no way I m taking our family across the world to the mission field. We re fine right where we are. If you re thinking that, please don t tune me out. I m not suggesting that yet Tonight we re going to look at Matthew 28 and Deuteronomy 6 so if you have your bibles i d like to invite you to turn there. But before we dig in, I want to put the Missionary stereotype to bed. This is what many people think of when they think about missionaries. That missionaries are super Christians with a cape who God specifically calls in a damascus road type experience to quit their jobs, sell their homes and everything they own and move around the world to live in a mud hut in the bowels of the Asian jungles. They have the King James bible memorized have Jesus at the top of their favorites in their cell phone contacts, wear weird clothes and They only eat rice and beans. Now are some missionaries called to the ends of the earth? Yes. But here s the truth about missionaries Every. single. person. who is a follower of Jesus is a missionary. We often think missions is for missionaries, well you're right when you realize that according to Scripture, all Christians are meant to be missionaries. But the idea that we can just let the missionaries tell other people about Jesus while we live our lives is bogus. It s Not true and it s Not biblical. From the beginning of Christianity, the natural overflow of being a follower of Jesus has been to make disciples of Jesus. Missions is synonymous with being a Christ follower and is one of the non-negotiables of Christianity. Missions is to following Christ is what oxygen is to breathing. The first text we re going to look at tonight is widely known as the Great Commission and is one of the key texts regarding Missions. Let s take a look together at Matthew 28 beginning in verse 18. 1 of 6
18 Then Jesus came to them (the disciples) 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. So here we see Jesus telling His disciples to go and make more disciples. So, in its most basic sense, missions is making disciples and there are almost certainly thousands of lost people right here in the valley. We have to begin with the understanding that missions isn t a place, it s who you are. Once we fully grasp that truth, then we can begin to really understand the heart of missions. So where does Family fit into all this? We must understand that long before there was a tabernacle, synogogue, temple, church, there was family. The family was the first institution for which God designed to spread the gospel and to make disciples. An example of this is seen in Deuteronomy 6:1-9. 6:1-3 is the WHY we need to make disciples beginning at home These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 6:4-5 is WHAT He wants us to do Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. HOW we go about teaching them and making disciples 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 2 of 6
Here we see God s design for making disciples is through family. Teach these commands so that you, your children, and their children. The first mission field Jesus puts us in is our families. It is the people whom you spend the most time with and have the most influence. We re living in a very unique time in human history. The world seems to be spinning faster than ever before. Families are busier than ever and are connected to more than ever before. Be it school, sport, friends, dance lessons, piano lessons, or whatever, We re all connected to many different things, it s just a matter of what it is we re connected to. Before we can connect Family in missions, we have to know the answer to this question: Why does our family exist? You might say, to glorify God, to live in His will, to worship Him. All of which are spot on. Exactly right but we glorify God, live in His will and worship Him by making disciples. That was Jesus mission here on earth and that is His mission today and He has invited us to join Him. Many years ago, I had a big decision to make and I was at a crossroads. I sat down with my grandfather to ask for wisdom. My grandpa was a baptist pastor for over nearly 50 years. He had served the Lord faithfully and had dedicated his life to ministry. I sat down with him one morning and I said Grandpa, how do I figure out what God's will is for my life. What am I supposed to do? I want to be obedient and I want to serve God but I don't feel like I have any leads on what exactly he wants me to do. He said "Well Taylor, we don't always get a burning bush experience where God tells us exactly what He wants from us. He said an author named Henry Blackaby said "if you want to be in the center God's will, find where God is at work and go there." That was nearly 10 years ago and I haven't forgotten it. I share that's story to say this, God is at work all around us. If you want to be used by God for His mission, if you want to be in God's will, you must simply join in His work. That might be across the street, at the mall, on the cricket field, at your job, and even at church. So, Family on mission is simply this: Family joining Jesus in His work..wherever you live.work. and play We all have a sphere of influence. Our sphere of influence consists of three circles of life - Where we live. Where we work. and where we play. Our sphere of influence begins with where we live and who we live with. It includes those who we work with every day. And it includes those we often spend time with on 3 of 6
the weekends, or at the gym, or who we invite over for a Braai. That is our sphere of influence. It may be 5 people, it may be 15 people, but regardless of how old or young we are, we all have a sphere of influence. That is our mission field. When you get down to it, Missions isn t complicated. It s taking the Gospel to those whom you do life with. So now we know what Family on Mission looks like, but how do we go? What drives it? Where do we begin? Here are four steps to becoming a family on mission: 1. Understanding - Notice I didn't say knowing. Many people know, but theres often a gap between knowing and doing. Knowing the Gospel and Knowing the mission is important, but truly understanding the Gospel the key. Understanding God's mission to expand His kingdom. Understanding the Great commission. (Matthew 28:18-20 - Understanding then leads to conviction 2. Conviction - Conviction for the lost. Conviction for those in our sphere of influence who will spend eternity separated from Christ. Conviction to be obedient to God s call to all believers to spread the gospel (Matthew 22:34-40) Love and conviction for your neighbor. When we love the Lord with our heart, soul and your mind, loving your neighbor comes from the overflow of your love for Christ. Conviction then leads to commitment 3. Commitment - Commitment to the mission of Jesus. Commitment to the call to all believers to make disciples. Commitment to be a family that is a visible example of the love of Christ. Commitment to let your light shine so that others may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven. (Matt 5:14-16) Commitment leads to action 4. Action - When I was in school, I wasn t very good at English class but I do know what a subject, verb and predicate is. When we look at the Great Commission in Matthew 28, we can see 4 verbs. We know that verbs describe action. Going. Make Disciples. Baptize them. Teach them = Family being on mission. So when we understand the mission, when we are convicted for the lost, when we are committeed to the call, and when we act..we are a family on mission. 4 of 6
Not families being on mission FOR God, but families being on mission WITH God. Family on mission is how we stop thinking of missions as a task that we do and start living out missions as a way that we are. What are some ways our family can be on mission? 1. Make every day a mission trip. - Remember that missions isn t just around the world, Missions is around the corner. Leverage opportunities and relationships in our every day lives for the purpose of spreading the Gospel. 2. What is demonstrated is what is replicated. That was Jesus model. The key to connect your family in missions is to model it for your family. Parents, whether your kids are 4 or 14, they take their cues from watching you. 3. Pray that your family will be the hands and feet of Jesus where we live. work and play. That we will also have the eyes of Jesus to see the needs in front of us and to be genuinely burdened for the lost. Jesus said Go. All followers of Jesus Christ are missionaries. Every single one of us are called, the only difference is that God calls some of us to go a little further. He doesn t need the most educated, most put together, perfect christian to do His work and continue His mission. Remember, Jesus took 12 uneducated teenage boys who had nothing to offer but a willingness to follow Him wherever He would lead them. Jesus loved them and showed them how to love and serve others and turned them loose into the world to continue His mission. All Jesus needs is a willing heart and ready feet. To not go is to rob yourself of the blessing of joining in Jesus work and is robbing others of hearing the Gospel message. 5 of 6
Closing Challenge: Everyone in this room tonight who is a Christian, a disciple, a follower of Christ, I want to challenge all of you, to share your faith with 1 person in your sphere of influence this week. Just one person. Prayer - 6 of 6