Pastor Dan introduces, what will be a new feature on the blog each week, as he encapsulates, and then reflects, on our Launch Sunday Message from Pastor Jon!
By Pastor Dan
This past Sunday, 24 February, RELOVUTIONARY began in the official sense to the glory of God!
It was a blessed time with all whom the Lord brought to join us for the Launch Day! This marks the starting point for all that the Lord will do in our midst and in how He will build His Church, for His own glory!
As a part of our weekly ministry unto the Lord and His body, we want to provide a weekly blog-reflection upon each of our Sermons. For the most part, this will consist of a drawing out a particular point from the message and presenting some further thought upon it in written form.
This is part of the intentional process we want to walk in as a church seeking to think deeply upon God’s Word together and especially upon what is taught from the RELOVUTIONARY pulpit. This will also include a weekly Home Group meeting which we will be starting in the coming weeks. We will provide more details as soon as they are willing.
But, you can be sure these Home Group meetings will be a time of fellowship, prayer, and seeking to go deeper into God’s Word preached from the pulpit each Sunday. This time will consist of specific directed questions related to Sunday’s sermon in order to facilitate depth of thinking-together regarding what has been shared each week. The aim is to seek to draw the most out of what has been taught each Sunday. We will also be intentional about providing the opportunity for people to ask any particular questions that may have arisen for them, in their own relating to what has been taught.
With all of this said, here is the first reflection from our Launch Sunday:
“What Jesus is saying here is pretty radical, is that: God, very God of God, is living within every person who’s born again, and empowering them to live a life that is not reflective of their own ‘physical limitations’, to live above and beyond!”
Date: 24 February 2019
Sermon Title: “Sent-Went” – Launch Message
Text: Genesis 12:1-10; Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 11:8 [Brief historical background Genesis 1-11]
Sermon Reflection: As we gathered this past Sunday, Pastor Jon brought the word which he entitled “Sent-Went”, with inspiration from Ali’s, “Me-Whee”.
This came forth particularly from the journey of Abram, later Abraham (Genesis 17:5), in which the LORD called Abram, a pagan worshipper, to “Go”, to leave everything he knew to instead follow Him (Genesis 12:1-9). The LORD’s call for Abram to “Go”, was followed by his immediate obedience, his immediate “going” (Genesis 12:4). Abram heeded the LORD’s call to Him. Abram didn’t dilly-dally. The text gives us no extended indication he went and thought about whether he should do it or not. It gives no precise indication that he talked about it with others. It tells us nothing beyond this bare fact that Abram ‘went’ after he had been ‘sent’ of the Lord.
Pastor Jon cautioned about how this “going” wasn’t foolproof, in the sense that it isn’t just about “going for going’s sake” as we saw in Genesis 12:10. Rather, it’s about going based upon the foundation of God’s revelation in His word. We got futher insight into Abram’s going when considering Hebrews 11:8 which tells us that:
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
We see Abram’s trust in the LORD evidenced through his obedience. He believed God! This is the key point that’s revealed in Abram’s going – he trusted the LORD! He trusted that the LORD would do what He had said He would do – and that He could (Romans 4:21). We later thought about our own ‘sent’ in the gospel, or more specifically from Matthew 28:18-20 where our Lord Jesus says:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We thought about this reality that as Christians we’ve all been called to “make disciples”. As we are going, as we are living our lives to the glory of God, we have this mandate to “make disciples”. Pastor Jon reminded us of this reality that “every follower of Jesus has been called to the mission.” Every Christian has been “sent”.
But the question remains as to what does the “went” part look like in our lives?
What does it look like in your life?
Pastor Dan’s Thoughts: What stood out to me was how this message fit in with Pastor Jon’s initial remarks about being like Caleb and Joshua, rather than the other 10 spies. For those who may have had a while between reads of this portion of Scripture: in Numbers 13, Moses sends out 12 spies to go throughout the land that the LORD has promised to give to His people, Israel, and to come back with a report about it.
They all go. They all return. 10 out of the 12 spies come back with a report about how amazing and fruitful the land is, however, they then go on to explain about the giants they saw in the land – they see the obstacles. They explain about how the cities are fortified and large, and that the people are strong! They see all of the challenges and they say: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (Number 13:31). Now, from a physical-reality standpoint, they were probably quite right. However, they were looking through the wrong lens. They were looking from the perspective of their own ability, from their own physical limitations, and thus they had their conclusion: “It ain’t happening!”
Yet, Caleb and Joshua came with a different conclusion. They saw the same giants in the land. They saw the same fortified and large cities. They saw all of the same physical realities, however, they viewed these things through the lens of God and His word. Sure, maybe the giants would crush them if it were up to them alone, but God is greater! And their God had spoken His word to them, that He would indeed give His people Israel the land (Numbers 13:1-2)! Thus Caleb responds: “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30).
All of the spies saw the same things with their physical eyes, but the lens through which they interpreted them was entirely different. One conclusion came as a result of interpreting the scenario through one’s own physical limitations and it was one of fear and retreat, the other came through interpreting the scenario through the greatness of God and His faithfulness to His word, and this resulted in faith and a bold entreaty to advance!
Ultimately, how we respond to similar scenarios in our own lives comes down to the way we answer a very simple question. Our answer to this question is revealed most clearly in the way we live our daily lives. The question is: ‘How big is our God?’
The Bible tells us that God is “a great King above all gods” (Psalm 95:3). The word of God tells us that “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). It tells us that no one and nothing can thwart His plans and purposes (Isaiah 14:27; Job 42:2). He is faithful to do all that He says He will do (1 Corinthians 1:9), because He is able (Romans 4:21)! Do we believe it? Do we actually trust God?
Do you actually trust the LORD?
God has said “Go!” He has “sent” us to “make disciples!” Are you obeying Him?
This is our call as the church. As individual believers; and as the corporate body of Christ. We were made to walk this journey together – in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit! This isn’t about some big event necessarily. It isn’t about what we often consider the big deals in our lives per se. It’s about our day to day walk with the Lord – which is the biggest deal of all. It’s about us having the diligence and discipline to walk by faith in the everyday practices that the Lord has commanded us, and that in community with one another. Being in His word. Communing with Him in prayer. Living in community with one another. Being His witnesses in this world. Being the church in this generation.
The gospel is our “went” because Jesus is our “sent”.
Because of what Christ has done for us, giving Himself up for us. Because of who we are now in Him as believers, thus we pour out our lives for His glory! Pastor Jon put it this way when reflecting upon all that Christ has done for us in the gospel: “Now, if Jesus did that for you where you need it most, surely you can and will respond with your own life each and every day.”
The gospel is the fuel which by the Spirit empowers us to pour out our lives in faith and obedience to our Lord! The Spirit-empowered Christian life leads us to walk in boldness like Caleb and Joshua, not because we are anything special in and of ourselves, but because we have a great and mighty God at work in and through us by His Holy Spirit. To quote Pastor Jon: “What Jesus is saying here is pretty radical, it’s that: God, very God of God, is living within every person who’s born again, and empowering them to live a life that is not reflective of their own “physical limitations”, to live above and beyond!”
I will conclude with three specific questions that Pastor Jon offered which I think bear our contemplation as we consider how we personally are living out the reality of our “sent” call to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20):
“What is stopping you from following Jesus as if this day is your last?”
“Are you living in such a way, with the intentionality and commitment, where you’re giving 100?”
“We’ve been sent! If you’re in Christ, you’ve been sent, you probably know that…[but] what does the ‘went’ part look like in your life?”
If we contemplate these realities before the Lord, in His strengthening I’m confident that we can grow more and more to become people who walk by faith and outwork this in bold obedience to God for His glory in our generation!