Mission 21 Sunday
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NOTES:
Mission 21 helps Gateway members find their real purpose by giving them opportunities to love others in our community thereby showing them the Hope of Jesus. We spread this love and Hope by defending life, caring for the poor and needy, advocating for the marginalized and promoting a biblical worldview.
It isn’t enough to do good things. We need to be doing them for the right reason. We need to make sure that we are doing things that have real purpose and promote God’s Kingdom.
When we are in tune with God, our hearts want what He wants. His image in us desires His will.
“When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.” Genesis 5:1(b)
“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)
Created in His image—context for missions:
God consistently reaches out to man with unconditional love;
God calls his believers to share in His work, to be His co-workers;
God sent and continues to send men and women out into the world as his representatives, His ambassadors.
God transforms us and gets glory through our outreach.
We are created for outreach to a hurting world because we are created in His image, and he reaches out; it’s part of our real purpose!
The first time the Word shows God reaching out to man is when man has made the worst choice ever and by human standards may be judged unworthy of God’s mercy.
But God in His Great Unconditional Love reaches out to Adam and he reaches out when Adam doesn’t deserve it.
God loved Adam and Eve in spite of their disobedience and he reached out to them when they had made a bad decision and didn’t deserve mercy.
With the story of the Flood, God adds a new dynamic God again reaches out to sinful man but this time God calls Noah to be a co-worker. It is God’s idea, but Noah does the work.
Jesus has given the Church a mission in which we are called to be Co-workers. And as co-workers, we’re called to reach out as God did with unconditional love.
The LORD said to Abram: Go forth* from your land, your relatives, and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. * I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:1-2)
Abraham is told to “go.” So, the progression is that God reaches out to man; then God calls Noah to join him in reaching out and finally he sends Abraham.
Finally, the most amazing outreach of all--God sends Jesus!
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” (John 1:14, The Message)
And Jesus kept reaching out in places no one would have expected him to go, reaching out to people no one would have expected him to reach out to and he did it knowing that some were going to reject him and even kill him.
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28)
30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:30-37)
Jesus not only reaches out to us; He calls us to “Go and do likewise” and then sends us out as his co-workers to reach a broken world at what could be great personal cost. This is our mission!
The “why” question is answered in the heart of God.
We are called to reach out to others because God consistently reaches out to man with unconditional love and we are created in His image,
God calls us to share in His work by being Co-Workers; so, we need to watch and align ourselves in places where he’s working
God sent and continues to send men and women out into the world as his representatives.
As we reach, work, and go, He is glorified and we are transformed, becoming more like Jesus,
God is reaching out to you today, calling you to be his co-worker, and sending you to bring hope to a world that desperately needs it.