Authority, Presence, and the Mandate to Make Disciples

• Campus Ministry Update [00:43:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker shares an update on the growth of his campus ministry at North Carolina Central University, noting an increase in student influence from 30-40 to 75-80 students.
• Resurrection and Discipleship [00:45:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker begins analyzing Matthew 28, discussing the resurrection, the disciples' doubt, and Jesus' declaration of authority.
• The Great Commission and Obedience [00:47:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that because Jesus has all authority, believers must obey the command to 'go' and trust His direction, citing Matthew 28 and Ephesians 1.
• Discipleship vs. Mere Conversion [00:54:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between initial conversion and the lifelong process of making disciples, emphasizing mentorship, modeling, and spiritual growth within the church community.
• Baptism as a Sign and Seal [00:56:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > Baptism is described not as having salvific power, but as a 'means of grace' and a public representation of being 'signed, sealed, and delivered' into Christ's new covenant.
• Teaching and Replication [00:58:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > True discipleship involves growing in scripture and then replicating that growth by teaching others the ordinances of Christ, avoiding spiritual selfishness.
• Countering False Narratives [00:52:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights the urgency of the mission by contrasting the gospel truth with the 'false narratives' spread by the world and religious leaders, referencing the guards at the tomb.
• Disciple Making and Teaching [00:59:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines the church's role as growing, modeling, living, and teaching the ordinances of Jesus Christ to others, emphasizing that this is a lifelong process for all believers, not just clergy.
• Scriptural Authority and Sufficiency [01:00:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Deuteronomy to argue that God's word is complete; believers should not add to or take from it, but trust it as the foundational truth for teaching the next generation.
• Divine Presence and Assurance [01:02:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes the command to trust in Christ because He promises to never leave or forsake His people, providing assurance against loneliness and weakness.
• Biblical Examples of God's Presence [01:03:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Abraham, Joshua, the Psalms, and Isaiah to demonstrate that God's promise of presence ('Emmanuel') is consistent throughout scripture, assuring believers in times of transition and fear.
• Empowerment by the Holy Spirit [01:05:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that believers are empowered to teach and spread the gospel not by their own merit, but through the Holy Spirit who brings things to remembrance and works through their weakness.

• Sermon Illustration [00:46:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker recounts the narrative of Matthew 28, describing the disciples' reaction to seeing the resurrected Jesus in Galilee, characterizing their doubt not as disbelief but as confusion and awe ('wow is this really happening').
• Sermon Illustration [00:48:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of a traffic light at an intersection to illustrate Jesus' absolute authority. Just as a driver must obey the traffic light to avoid chaos and accidents, believers must submit to Jesus' authority to avoid spiritual confusion. He also shares a personal anecdote about his physical size ('big guy') and how it helped him get a college scholarship, using it to argue against 'spiritual obesity'—growing in faith not just for oneself, but to replicate and teach others.
• Sermon Illustration [01:02:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his marriage and raising children, noting that while he loves his wife and children, they cannot be with him always; he raises his children to eventually leave and start their own families, contrasting this human limitation with Jesus' constant presence.

• Pastoral Charge [00:50:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > Trust Jesus and obey His command to go.
• Pastoral Charge [00:53:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > Go out and share the truth of the gospel to counter false narratives.
• Pastoral Charge [00:55:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > Commit to the long-term process of making disciples, not just securing conversions.
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Make a conscious decision to trust in Christ.
• Pastoral Charge [01:07:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > Go to the nations, preach the gospel, live it out, make disciples, bring people to baptism, and continue teaching.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:06:27] Good morning church. It's a blessing to be in the house of the Lord this morning. As we get ready to be called into worship by scripture, I'd ask all of you to stand. We are going to be taking the call to worship from Psalm 139. And as we recite this together, I'll read the leader portion. You can all join me by reading the bolded all.
[00:07:01] you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my paths in my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all together.
[00:07:16] Where shall I go from your spirit, or where shall I flee from your presence?
[00:07:22] If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed and shield, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. Even there your hand shall lead
[00:07:36] me and your right hand shall hold me. Let's worship him together in song.

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:08:33] As we continue our worship this morning, we'll be doing that on page six of the bulletin

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:14:10] by reciting the Nicene Creed together, which is a little bit longer than we typically do a confession of faith.
[00:14:16] But what I love about confessions of faith that we do in general, and this one in particular, is it is an overview of the gospel that gives us an opportunity to align and to remember
[00:14:25] what it is that we believe, what it is that is true about the God that we serve and how he interacts with us. So let's read this together. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
[00:14:38] maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father,
[00:15:02] by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was made incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified
[00:15:17] also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father.
[00:15:32] And he shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father
[00:15:46] and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look forward to the erection of the dead
[00:16:06] and the life of the world to come. Amen. So as we continue with our worship, we'll be using this time to collect our tithes and offerings. So I can ask the deacons who'll be receiving to come forward. If you are a guest, just welcome. We are glad that you are here.
[00:16:22] This is not a time where we want you to feel a compulsion to give to our church. This is for our members, our regular attenders, to be giving back to the Lord what he has given to us.
[00:16:30] So whether you give in the plate today or give online, let's use this time, the song of thanksgiving, to reflect on all that he has given to us.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:16:37] you're the god of this city you're the god of this city you're the king of these people

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:17:13] you're the lord of this nation you are the light in this darkness you're the hope to the hopeless you are the peace to the restless you are there's no one let's do that again you're the god of this
[00:17:53] It's fifth Sunday, so the children are remaining in our service today, but this is an opportunity

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:22:10] to meet and greet those around you, so take a moment to do that. Thank you. If everybody can take a seat at this time, thank you. All right, if everybody can take a seat. So welcome to Midtown
[00:25:46] Community Church. My name is Lindsay Williams, one of the pastors here. Glad you could join us this morning for worship. A couple of announcements before I introduce somebody who's going to come share a missions moment. First of all, the pastors are recommending a book club this summer. I've got
[00:26:06] a couple copies out front, but you can get this on Kindle, iTunes, or physical copies on Amazon.
[00:26:12] The book is called The Life We're Looking For, Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World by Andy Crouch. So we're just encouraging, as you're kind of coming and going, doing vacation this summer, if you're looking for a good summer read, we encourage you to check this out. We're
[00:26:30] going to be reading it this summer as pastors. We'd love for you to join us in that. And again, there's a couple copies out front. You're welcome to take all, but just leave the last one so we can
[00:26:38] keep it out there for people to see throughout the summer. But otherwise, you can purchase it again on Amazon. So we'd encourage you to do that. And then next on the podium in the foyer
[00:26:50] is the prayer calendar. And so for the month of June, we're encouraging the church to take a calendar, put it on your fridge, put it right there in the middle of your dinner table. And as you
[00:27:03] are sort of praying before a meal, an opportunity is afforded every day to pray for some aspect of the church. I'd really encourage you to pick it up today because if you pick it up today and you
[00:27:16] start your prayer journal tomorrow, you get to pray for me. So that would be awesome. So again, pick one of these up, take it home. Next announcement. I didn't tell him I was going to do this, but I want to bring Eric Major up. So Eric has been serving as our youth pastoral
[00:27:38] intern the past five years for our church. And he is stepping down from his residency. He's completed that, moving on to some other things. But in the midst of that, I just wanted to take
[00:27:51] a moment to thank Eric for the work he's done the past five years. Matthew 25, Jesus gives the parable of the sheep and the goats. And he says, whatever you've done to the least of these, you've
[00:28:05] done to me. And he's been working with youth ministry, but that isn't the least of these, as far as I'm concerned with Eric's ministry. A lot of the least of these has really taken the
[00:28:16] form of Eric getting involved in tons of other ministry opportunities that were never part of his job description. He, over the past few years, has led our communicants class. We'll have another huge group of kids who will be joining as community members here in a couple weeks.
[00:28:34] Our new app, the Planning Center, he was instrumental in helping Matt to get off the ground.
[00:28:40] He's also just been a great friend of people sitting around campfires and fire pits and just becoming a good friend when they're in places of need.
[00:28:49] And so he's served in a lot of ways that were not in his job description, but were incredibly faithful.
[00:28:55] And just to sort of reiterate, whatever Eric has done for the least of these, he's done not just for Midtown Church, but he's done for Jesus.
[00:29:03] We're super thankful for his ministry among us over the past five years.
[00:29:06] So here's a small gift from the church.
[00:29:09] But thank you for your service, and make sure you give Eric a hug at some point.
[00:29:15] All right, let's give him a hand.
[00:29:27] All right, with that said, we are going to be in the process of looking for another youth director, pastoral intern over the summer.
[00:29:36] So please just be in prayer for that process as we look to see who God's going to raise up to serve our youth this fall. All right, that's it for our announcements. I want to introduce
[00:29:50] the guy who's going to come and speak for us here about one of our missions organizations that we partner with. So all right, whenever you put money in the offering plate or you do your e-giving or
[00:30:02] whatever the process is for giving money towards the church, you are actually supporting not just the ministry of Midtown Church, but you are supporting gospel ministry locally and all over the world. One example of that is preaching for us today is Chris Cooper, who's sort of been a
[00:30:19] regular in our pulpit, and he does a Reform University fellowship at North Carolina Central.
[00:30:25] So he is one of our ministry partners that we support, and so we're happy to have him back in the pulpit bringing the God's Word this morning. Another one of the ministries that we started
[00:30:34] supporting a few years ago is Damaris House, which is led by the Petro family. And so they are located in Athens, Greece, and their ministry is focused on ministering to women and children who were victimized by the trafficking industry. And so this is a huge human rights need, and we've had
[00:30:56] a great privilege over the past few years to have Damaris House as one of the ministries that we support. I got to know Argyris back in 2018 when our family went to Greece. He took us on a tour
[00:31:09] of ancient Corinth, and so I got to know him there. But I'm really excited about not just the ministry they have, but we have him coming all the way over from Athens, Greece to spend some time with us
[00:31:22] this morning. And so Argyris, if you want to come forward, he's going to share a little bit about what God is doing in Athens, Greece through Damaris. So the floor is yours.

[00:31:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:34] Dear brothers and sisters, it's a great joy to be with you this morning.
[00:31:39] I was looking forward for that.
[00:31:40] This is the first time I have an opportunity to be with you.
[00:31:44] I have been here before three years ago, but just visiting the pastor's family, that I have the privilege to know them.
[00:31:51] And thank you.
[00:31:52] Thank you for supporting us.
[00:31:54] Thank you for supporting our mission.
[00:31:56] I was a pastor before.
[00:31:58] Now I teach the Greek Bible College people who train to preach and teach.
[00:32:03] So this is the homiletics, it's my area of teaching.
[00:32:07] And with my wife, we had the privilege to raise three boys, now men.
[00:32:14] And the amazing thing, this is the latest news, all of them, they are in different ministries.
[00:32:19] Although they had different callings, and I said, whatever you will do, do it for the Christ's glory.
[00:32:26] Nevertheless, the Lord called them, they are in different ministries.
[00:32:30] So Mark, the elder, is serving the Roma kids, the gypsy kids, in a very unprivileged part of our city, the poor kids there, sharing Christ with them and helping them.
[00:32:43] And Eric is a church planter with the Mother Church downtown, among second-generation Albanian immigrants.
[00:32:51] And now the latest is Erastos, who is a musician.
[00:32:55] and the Lord called him not only to be a musician in another church plant but also to work with the refugees crisis in Greece he's a new missionary we just print his card I will leave some
[00:33:08] of them in next to the prayer calendar that you should pick please if you don't have a missions prayer card in your Bible to know where you left the previous time studying put that card there and at some point
[00:33:22] please pray for this young man as the Lord is calling him We celebrated 10 years of my wife's ministry.
[00:33:29] This is the ministry that you are supporting, you are part, and we hope someday the ladies of this church will come to serve in this community house, Damaris.
[00:33:38] On Thursday, we had a great meeting with some of your ladies, and I explained to them what this means.
[00:33:45] This is my wife, 20 years ago, started witnessing at the Red Light District, speaking to the girls among customers, between customers.
[00:33:55] And that was a very hard experience, a lot of disappointments that led to the vision for a new house.
[00:34:02] So we take these girls in now, the victims of sex trafficking, we take them for two years, and this is not only housing, but there's a recovery program, a Christian recovery program, and when they leave, they are in a much better position.
[00:34:16] They come very traumatized, very wounded, and they live in a different place spiritually and physically.
[00:34:22] They can support themselves.
[00:34:24] And this is an amazing ministry we do for God's glory.
[00:34:27] This is the ministry you're supporting.
[00:34:29] There are many needs.
[00:34:29] There are babies involved.
[00:34:31] These ladies are coming.
[00:34:32] Most of them are pregnant with us and stay with us.
[00:34:35] And we have seen huge blessings.
[00:34:36] So three Saturdays, actually a month ago, we celebrated 10 years of this ministry.
[00:34:43] And it was amazing to see.
[00:34:45] We had a celebration on the Mother Church in the center of Athens.
[00:34:48] And many of these girls came and gave amazing witnessing, saying that I came here, I don't have a family, I didn't have love, I didn't have anybody, and I found here a family, I found here, and finally they said, I found here faith, I found here Christ.
[00:35:03] It was an amazing blessing for us.
[00:35:06] So I am full of joy of meeting you.
[00:35:10] May the Lord bless you.
[00:35:11] May the Lord strengthen this part and pray for us more.
[00:35:15] And if you visit Greece or you come as a church, it's a short-term mission trip.
[00:35:19] We'd love to have you and serve with us.
[00:35:21] May the Lord bless you and thank you.
[00:35:24] Thank you for providing for all the physical needs of these babies and these mothers, for the training, for the livelihood.
[00:35:33] Your generosity is a huge blessing to us and for these little ones also.
[00:35:38] May the Lord bless you. Thank you.

[00:35:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:35:40] So as Joseph gets ready to come up and pray, if you want to hear any more about the Petro family and their ministry in Athens, Greece, I know we're going to be going out to lunch with them after church. And so if you want to join us
[00:36:02] for that, just come get me after the service. We're going to grab lunch and get to catch up with him. And you can hear more at that point. And if you've got any more interest about this
[00:36:11] idea of, could I do like a one week missions trip in Athens, Greece, I'd encourage you, you could speak with myself or Elizabeth Adams right there or Elizabeth Oliver in the back.
[00:36:24] You could talk to them as we explore the possibility of whether or not an overseas missions trip might be in the cards for us in the near future. So Joseph, you can pray.

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:36:40] Amen. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we gather here this morning to give you all of our praise. How special it is we get to be here, singing to you, celebrating what you've done for us, hearing from your word to us. We don't just get to do all these things individually,
[00:36:56] as if we were sitting by ourselves at a desk with an open Bible. We're not solely here as a collection of individuals who happen to be in the same building, but we get to do all this
[00:37:05] together in our community. This community that you have set apart for the holy purpose of worshiping you is fully and unhindered as we can. We can look around and see that Midtown Community Church is
[00:37:15] good, your global universal church is good, but only because of who you have pronounced her to be.
[00:37:22] What a wonderful task and purpose you've given us, to love you publicly, to celebrate all that you are, to declare to the watching world around us that yes, this creation is good, but the creator
[00:37:32] is better. God, you're the only one worthy of this celebration. In your wisdom, you created this world and filled it with beauty. You made the grass and the trees in this warm summer breeze. You made
[00:37:44] songbirds and kittens and puppies. You made the oceans and the mountains and the rivers.
[00:37:49] You gave all of them a voice to sing of your glory. And then you created us. You gave us your breath.
[00:37:56] You gave us each other. You've arranged for families that feel like friendships and friendships that feel like family. And for a reason I don't usually comprehend, you placed us in charge of that whole beautiful creation, even knowing all of our shortcomings and failings. And those
[00:38:12] shortcomings and failings have had impacts on us, on your creation, and on our relationships with each other. We confess this morning some of those shortcomings. We haven't taken care of ourselves as well as we should. We often forget that we are the crown of your creation, the jewel that reflects
[00:38:28] your character and substance more clearly than any other single part of your creation. Instead of rejoicing in your work by loving and caring for ourselves, we filled our bodies with all kinds of substances and trash that don't belong there. We filled our minds with thoughts and lusts and
[00:38:43] mindless content that blur the image of God we're supposed to be carrying to the world.
[00:38:48] We've used our hands for tearing down and destroying your creation, including one another, rather than building it up and amplifying the beauty you've placed all around us.
[00:38:57] Our actions often indicate we don't deserve, or maybe we don't even want to be the crowning jewel of your very good creation, but God, you bring good news each day. You knew of all these failings
[00:39:09] before they happened. You knew of everything we were going to do that falls short of your will as soon as we leave church this morning. You knew these things and you gave us that path to
[00:39:19] forgiveness. You sent your son to pay the price of all the dumb and malicious things we'll ever do so that you can somehow call your church the righteousness of God. So God, we give you thanks
[00:39:30] for that forgiveness today. We could never repay it, so this morning we just give you the most earnest thank you we can muster. And by your grace, you've given us more than just forgiveness for our wrongs. You somehow delight in blessing us while we stumble around like children.
[00:39:45] We thank you for the things that make us smile, both big and small. For the warmth of summer, the change of pace it brings to our schedules. We thank you for pools and beaches and boats and
[00:39:54] swim teams. We thank you for this building that you provided for us to worship in. We thank you for the birth of children in this congregation, especially for baby Sarah Shore, born just last week, for her parents and their family that are a blessing to all of us. We thank you for providing
[00:40:10] employment to those in the congregation who have been seeking it, including myself, and the blessings of work and provision. We thank you for the stories of health and healing in our church, of grim diagnoses and scary conversations in the doctor's office that, by your wisdom and
[00:40:24] all-powerful hand, have become stories of your faithfulness. Yet we acknowledge, God, that even in giving thanks, many of our minds drift to things that we've been praying for that you haven't yet answered in the way we wanted. We pray with and for those in our congregation who desire a child
[00:40:39] but haven't yet been given one. We pray for those who are unemployed or underemployed. Pray that those seeking work here would find it quickly. Give them grace in their interviews, favor with prospective employers, bring them good offer letters and quick start dates. We also lift those
[00:40:55] up struggling through difficult health concerns. Some are visible that we've been praying for for a long time, cancer, long COVID, and heart disease. Some are invisible, and you may be the only other one here who knows about that suffering. Anxiety, depression, migraines, addiction, chronic pain.
[00:41:12] No matter the problem, you are the great physician, and we ask you for healing in our bodies.
[00:41:17] We lift up the kingdom work that you're doing through our members and the organizations we partner with, particularly our year's Damaris House. We ask that you continue to bless the work of his hands, his organization's hands, deliver those victims that pass through his house
[00:41:30] and bring them healing and justice to their worlds. As we turn now to your word, bless our worship this morning, the reading and preaching of your word, the fellowship we have with one another. Thank you especially for Reverend Cooper making the trip out here to teach us today
[00:41:44] and bless his words in preparation. Open our hearts to meet you in this place.

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:41:49] Jesus name we pray. Amen. Our scripture reading this morning comes from the book of Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 through 20. Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.
[00:42:24] And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
[00:42:30] 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,
[00:42:43] I am with you always to the end of the age. This is the word of the Lord.

[00:43:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:43:04] Good morning. Good morning. Super grateful to be here this morning. Again, my name is Reverend Christopher Cooper, and I am the campus minister at North Carolina Central University.
[00:43:17] just finishing my ninth year of being on campus and Midtown has supported me for the last nine years going into my 10th. And before I get into the sermon and what I'm going to do is just kind
[00:43:29] of give you an update, pray, and then get right into the text. Okay. Is that fine? Cool. Just wanted to let you know, man, this year on campus, we went from meeting and really influencing about
[00:43:43] 30 to 40 students to about 75 to 80. God has been super faithful in allowing RUF to establish itself at Central, building a culture that is geared around people feeling accepted, loved, and as our students told us within our end of year survey, biblical teachings that bring so
[00:44:10] much understanding that they never had. So I just want to tell you that God is doing a great work and doing amazing things, um, on campus. Um, and if you want to hear more about it, I do have some
[00:44:23] cards here. Just come to me after service. Um, I would just love to share the mighty things that God is doing. Amen. Amen. So now let us prepare our hearts and let us pray and we'll get right
[00:44:35] into the text. Father God, super grateful, super grateful that you allowed us to come here today, Father God, and that you allow to come to worship your holy name, Father God. We're asking today that as we're in this place, Holy Spirit, do the work that you do. Lead us and guide us into all
[00:44:55] truth, Father God, because so much media, so much information many times can lead us off the beaten path uh keep us on the straight and narrow with you father god uh be a lamp unto our feet and a
[00:45:08] light unto our pathway father god uh let us not get confused of the darkness that is going around soften our hearts father and let the word of god its seed form uh may it be truly rooted in our
[00:45:22] hearts producing a fruitfulness, Father God, of your glory and not our own. Father God, put Chris Cooper behind the cross and allow your glory to show forth. We love you and we need you. In Jesus'
[00:45:39] name, I pray. Amen. Amen. As we look at this text found in St. Matthew 28, 16 through 20, we come to this particular chapter and we see that Jesus has rose from the dead he has already died on the
[00:45:58] cross and we see the heavenly angels come down and they roll the stone away and he is resurrected and we see where Mary's and they'll come and they see a savior and then they go run to the disciples
[00:46:11] and they tell them hey Jesus has arisen and they are instructed to tell the disciples to go to this place in Galilee wait for a savior where he will be there and he will instruct you and as they get
[00:46:28] to this place in Galilee they come worshiping in with a little doubt right not the type of doubt where they do not believe but the type of doubt that you know they are kind of confused wow is
[00:46:41] this really happening like what is going on Jesus is right here in front of us I don't I don't know about you, but I'd probably be like, thank you, Lord, but oh my gosh, is this really happening?
[00:46:54] Right? So I feel like they are taking the human approach, the right way of looking at things, and then the first thing we see Jesus say to them is, all authority in heaven and on earth
[00:47:11] has been given to me. Go therefore. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, an earthen, right? And go therefore. See, the first thing we see in the text that he wants us
[00:47:27] to kind of get is we got to say yes to the go, right? Why do we go? He gives us the reason because Jesus has all authority, right? When he died and rose again, he is in charge of all
[00:47:42] things. He knows where to direct us, where to lead us, where to command us, where we actually need to head. So we must say yes to the go given to us within the great commission. Ephesians 1,
[00:47:56] 2022 really puts this down and it says that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and he seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority,
[00:48:11] power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come, and he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.
[00:48:25] We see here it establishes that Jesus is above all. Nobody can be above him. Nobody can go underneath him. He is. He's the one with all authority, and there is no greater illustration to point out about that than the traffic light. See, when I was riding here, right, I go to an
[00:48:46] intersection. And within that intersection, we see traffic light, right? And the traffic light crazily has all the authority in the situation. I don't. So if it gives me a red, what am I supposed to do? Stop, right? And then it's usually giving a green to another person going another
[00:49:09] direction so that they can go and they have the authority to what to go and then it switches right it's crazy that I am a fully thinking human being who can make wise decisions that I have to
[00:49:25] give all of my attention to a traffic light in this situation but here's the crazy thing If the traffic light gives me the red to stop and I decide in my human nature to outthink the traffic light and say, you know what?
[00:49:43] I'm just going to go no matter what the traffic light is telling me, what eventually is going to happen?
[00:49:51] Probably an accident.
[00:49:53] Now there's an accident.
[00:49:54] There's all type of confusion.
[00:49:56] People are disoriented.
[00:49:58] Someone may be hurt.
[00:49:59] hurt but if I just actually yielded myself to the authority of the traffic light then guess what everything would be okay look baby Jesus Christ is way more than a traffic light but what I'm
[00:50:15] saying at this particular moment he is telling us to say yes to the go because he's the one with all the authority he's the one who's saying go ahead and go I have empowered you to go that direction
[00:50:28] to teach the nations to do what you need to do and I will lead you and I will guide you and I will make sure you're okay and guess what I will stop you when you need
[00:50:38] to stop I'll put you in a different direction when you need to go but guess what just say yes just do it just trust me why because there's no chaos and there's no crashes that's going to happen
[00:50:52] matter of fact what's going to happen is my purpose for you just go he's just telling us to go and we just have to be obedient to the fact that he knows what he is talking about.
[00:51:08] So you may feel a little doubt.
[00:51:10] You may feel a little disoriented while worshiping him like, Father, I don't want to go there.
[00:51:15] But guess what?
[00:51:15] You can trust in a savior who has all authority and knows exactly what he needs from you and he empowers you to go there.
[00:51:26] Here's the question.
[00:51:28] There is a reason for us to go and be obedient.
[00:51:32] See, what we did not read is as you get into St. Matthew 28th chapter, I love this little section, 11th through the 15th verse.
[00:51:41] The guards who were guarding the stone, the soldiers, right?
[00:51:45] When the angels came, they was disoriented, knocked out, but they knew what they saw.
[00:51:51] They knew nobody stole the body.
[00:51:54] They knew Jesus had arisen from the dead, right?
[00:51:57] They knew, hey, man, this is, I don't know, this is crazy.
[00:52:03] He said he was going to do what he was going to do.
[00:52:05] But we see that the leaders of that time are paying them to give a false narrative about Jesus.
[00:52:12] We see that they want them to go spread not the gospel truth, but they want them to spread something that completely disregards the gospel.
[00:52:24] And they're paying them to do it.
[00:52:25] I don't know about you, but we live in a world that willingly spreads false information and narratives about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:52:38] And if we don't have people, right, beautiful are the feet of those who give the gospel.
[00:52:43] If we don't have individuals who say yes to the goal that God has commanded us, then guess what?
[00:52:50] Who's going to make sure those false narratives are shut down?
[00:52:54] So he is commanding us and giving us a reason to go because the world is always trying to put people in the dark, blind them, make them feel like Jesus is not the one true answer.
[00:53:09] But don't you know, when we're sent to go, all we got to do is cite John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life by grace through faith.
[00:53:23] baby the cross is the answer he needs us to go because we need to bring the truth and who is the way the truth and the life it is Jesus Christ no matter how much the world tries to spread false
[00:53:41] narrative information less than the gospel we know it to be the truth and we know he has all authority and we know through him people will be saved and loved in a way that nothing else can bring love
[00:53:56] towards them so we say yes to the go because he authorized us to go he empowered us to go and he gives us the reason because guess what baby people need the real truth and he uses us to give
[00:54:13] it but not only does he empower us to go but he also goes in to say it says he says guess what and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son
[00:54:30] and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded.
[00:54:38] So we say yes to the goal, but then we make a commitment to make.
[00:54:45] We make a commitment to make.
[00:54:48] See, one thing I've learned about being on campus is a lot of people are concerned with conversions.
[00:54:55] Right?
[00:54:55] And it's nothing wrong.
[00:54:56] We want conversions.
[00:54:57] We want people to profess their faith in Christ, come from the dark to the light.
[00:55:04] But don't you know, after the conversion, people have to be disciples.
[00:55:09] They have to become lifelong learners of Jesus Christ through the scripture, through faithful men, through faithful mentors, through the church and their spiritual foundation so that they can continue to grow where they can go from spiritual meat to having a full-grown dinner
[00:55:28] and be founded and trusted upon on Christ, the solid rock.
[00:55:33] We have to be committed to not only getting conversions but making disciples.
[00:55:41] We have to be committed to not only to being in people's lives just for a time and moment to celebrate the fact that they have come to Christ, but also get in the mud, walk with them like Jesus did,
[00:55:54] have meals with them, forgive them, encourage them, keep them when times are hard.
[00:56:01] Why?
[00:56:02] Because we are supposed to make disciples in all nations.
[00:56:11] It is work to be done.
[00:56:14] We don't just leave people out there.
[00:56:17] But as Paul in Thessalonians, when he said, not only did you hear these words from me, but you also saw, guess what?
[00:56:25] You are supposed to model those things to others, not just by what we say, but how we live and how we do things.
[00:56:37] That is a part of making disciples.
[00:56:41] And after we see, you know, in making disciples lifelong learners.
[00:56:46] And then guess what?
[00:56:47] He says, baptize those.
[00:56:50] We see this as a means of grace, a means of grace.
[00:56:54] This is a sign and a seal of being in Jesus.
[00:56:59] Regenerated, walking in the newness of life.
[00:57:02] It doesn't have any salvatic power, but it's just like me being a representation of RUF.
[00:57:09] Once I become a part of them, they give me their logo on shirts, And I go around and be a billboard for them to tell of how good this company is.
[00:57:19] And I live within the structure of how they are governed and the benefits that they bring to me.
[00:57:26] And I am a representation of that.
[00:57:28] And I kind of walk within that, within the business, right?
[00:57:32] And when we are of Christ and we are baptized, right, raised to life, right, signed, sealed, and delivered, you are Christ.
[00:57:40] You've already been through the profession.
[00:57:42] But guess what? You live within his new covenant, within a newness of life.
[00:57:47] There is a brightness, a joy. There is something about you.
[00:57:50] And because of that, guess what? You are constantly building disciples because you are one of his.
[00:57:58] And as we baptize, then it says, look, we don't stop there, but we go teach.
[00:58:06] We go teach all the ordinances of Christ.
[00:58:11] If you are a disciple, making disciples, if you are a lifelong learner and also walking in Christ, developing who you are in him and getting stronger in him, then guess what you're naturally going to do?
[00:58:27] You're naturally going to teach others.
[00:58:32] You're just not going, I'm a big guy, right?
[00:58:36] I ain't afraid to say it.
[00:58:38] I'm okay with it.
[00:58:40] It got me a college scholarship.
[00:58:41] It wouldn't be offensive guards or offensive tackles.
[00:58:45] if it wasn't for big people.
[00:58:46] And we wouldn't enjoy watching it, right?
[00:58:55] But in Christ, I don't just get spiritually obese where I consume everything and not give it to others.
[00:59:03] My job is to grow, to continually be in the scripture, to continue to offer devotion and those things, to come into the church and be encouraged by my pastor and do those things necessary for me
[00:59:22] to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and live it out.
[00:59:27] But I don't do those things so that I can just take it off for myself, but I do those things so that I can go out there and replicate that to others and give to them.
[00:59:41] That makes me a disciple making other disciples, teaching them in the ordinances of Jesus Christ, of the scripture.
[00:59:54] That's what we do.
[00:59:55] We grow, we model, we live, we teach.
[01:00:01] That's what the church is.
[01:00:04] From the one who is in the pulpit to the lay leader who is in the back, that's what we do.
[01:00:15] And it's funny, this message has been around.
[01:00:17] within the scripture the whole time in Deuteronomy, he said, look, everything I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it. Look, God's people, I need you to understand that it is in the scripture. It's within the scripture. It's my
[01:00:38] word. You need to take it as it is, trusting it, growing it. Don't add to it. Don't lessen it, But just know the more you do it, the more you become grounded in it, the more, you know, as a lifelong learner and your foundational truth is found there, you'll teach it, you'll guide it, because he also instructs us, teach it to the next generation.
[01:00:59] It continues to go.
[01:01:02] And all of this is done through Jesus and nobody else.
[01:01:11] So there it is, right?
[01:01:12] We say yes to the go.
[01:01:14] Go, therefore, to the nations.
[01:01:16] Why? False narratives, lack of truth, man.
[01:01:18] They need the gospel truth.
[01:01:20] You have been empowered and authorized to do it by the one who has great authority.
[01:01:24] Now that you're a lifelong learner, make disciples.
[01:01:27] Disciples, we constantly grow.
[01:01:29] You have been baptized, signed, sealed, and delivered, and you teach in the ordinances.
[01:01:34] Why? Because you're a learner.
[01:01:36] Your life is growing.
[01:01:37] You're teaching others.
[01:01:39] It gives us something else to do.
[01:01:43] and it says and behold I am with you always I am with you always to the end of the age you say yes to go you make a commitment to make disciples and teach and the next thing you do is
[01:02:05] you have to make a decision to trust you got to decide that you're just going to trust in Christ Why? Because he completely said in the text, you need to be assured of this.
[01:02:19] You need to know that I will never leave you nor forsake you.
[01:02:23] And he says, behold, you can do this thing.
[01:02:27] You can go to the nations.
[01:02:28] You can be obedient to what I'm telling you.
[01:02:32] Why? Because I am with you always.
[01:02:38] Now, I'm a married individual.
[01:02:41] Love my wife.
[01:02:42] And I wish she was with me always, but she's not.
[01:02:47] My kids will not be with me always.
[01:02:49] They bring great joy, but guess what?
[01:02:51] I raise kids to leave, right?
[01:02:55] You don't raise them to stay in your house.
[01:02:57] You raise them to eventually have their own families and to eventually to go on and understand the responsibilities of what they need to do so they can come back to you and say, Dad, you was right, right?
[01:03:13] But many times we can feel lonely, no matter if people are in the household or even if we have a job to go to or have families living around.
[01:03:23] It is just great to know that somebody is always with us, who loves us, who cares for us deeply, who died for us and our sins, who saved us.
[01:03:35] We can be assured to know that Jesus is right there.
[01:03:40] in every situation where God has directed somebody in the scripture to leave, whether it's Abraham where he says, get out of this nation.
[01:03:53] I'm making a covenant with you that you're going to get land.
[01:03:56] You're going to have a people.
[01:03:57] He assures them, I'm right there with you.
[01:04:00] Even when Joshua is going to the promised land, Joshua 1.9, he says, have I commanded you to be strong and courageous?
[01:04:08] Do not be frightened.
[01:04:09] Do not be dismayed.
[01:04:11] For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
[01:04:15] He assures them that I am what?
[01:04:18] With you.
[01:04:21] You look throughout the Psalms.
[01:04:23] The Lord our God is with us.
[01:04:24] He is our fortress and our shield.
[01:04:27] He is affirming to his people, I am with you.
[01:04:33] Isaiah, Emmanuel, God what?
[01:04:37] With us.
[01:04:38] He's assuring us that throughout life, I am with you.
[01:04:45] He is saying, I know your weakness.
[01:04:48] I know your doubts.
[01:04:50] I know your faults.
[01:04:52] I know your uneasiness.
[01:04:54] I know your struggles.
[01:04:55] I know what's happening.
[01:04:57] I know that sometimes we don't want to listen.
[01:05:01] The Bible says stiff-necked people.
[01:05:02] I think that's a crazy word, stiff-necked.
[01:05:04] Like, but in all of that, through me, I am with you.
[01:05:11] You can go and you can make.
[01:05:17] Why?
[01:05:18] Because I have ultimate authority.
[01:05:22] It was Jesus who died on the cross for us.
[01:05:26] It was by his grace our hearts was pricked to acknowledge him as the one and true savior.
[01:05:31] Through faith, he saved us.
[01:05:34] It was him.
[01:05:34] he's the one who authorizes and empowers us to go spread the good news of the gospel and it is by him that we are baptized and through him we actually have the ability when we don't feel
[01:05:49] like it or we don't feel like we're good enough to teach others and open up the scripture and know that by his spirit he will bring things in remembrance that will help others grow it is
[01:06:03] because of him that we can trust the work that he assigned to us, because we know it is him that is going to do it from this age until the age to come, from the past, present, to the future. God's
[01:06:20] redemptive will cannot be stopped, and his kingdom will forever grow until we leave this earth, and still we are with him in the end in his presence why because i am always with you i am always with
[01:06:41] you and because i am with you you will be okay and because i am with you not by my strength or by my might, but by Jesus Christ.
[01:07:00] So I end today saying, because Christ is with you, say yes to go.
[01:07:09] Go, therefore, to all the nations.
[01:07:11] Preach the gospel truth.
[01:07:13] Live it out.
[01:07:14] Yeah.
[01:07:16] Make a commitment to go make.
[01:07:18] Make disciples.
[01:07:20] Bring people into the body, the church community, to be baptized by those ordained to do.
[01:07:26] Right?
[01:07:27] And then continue to teach, no matter if you got 100 theological degrees or not, and you're just learning from a good biblical teacher up there teaching you and modeling the way it's supposed to work, you can teach also those who are babes.
[01:07:42] Go ahead and do it.
[01:07:43] Why?
[01:07:44] Because just trust that God is what?
[01:07:48] God is with you, and he has finished the work.
[01:07:54] Amen?
[01:07:56] Let us pray.
[01:08:00] Father God, thank you for your word.
[01:08:03] Thank you for allowing it, Father God, to encourage us today to know, Father God, that you gave this great commission to us, not leaving us helpless, Father God, but to empower us.
[01:08:14] By your spirit, we can do this work, Father God.
[01:08:16] We know that while we go out there and we preach the gospel wherever we may be, Father God, and we help to model and make disciples, Father God, And as we walk with people and see the kingdom forever growing, that you are right there and you will always be with us.
[01:08:35] So let us trust in you and know, Father God, that you are going to do the work.
[01:08:40] We love you.
[01:08:41] We need you.
[01:08:42] In Jesus' name, amen.

[01:08:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:08:45] Amen.
[01:08:45] Why don't we stand and sing to Jesus together.

[01:08:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:08:47] His doubts befall, trust Him when to simply trust Him seems the hardest thing of all.
[01:10:02] Trust Him when my strength is small, for I know the shield of Jesus is the safest of all.
[01:10:15] I love the picture that Chris gave us

[01:15:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:15:00] for really what the benediction is about.
[01:15:04] It's God's way of giving us a green light every Sunday.
[01:15:08] So our calling is to say yes to the God.
[01:15:12] So with that said, Matthew 28, go.
[01:15:15] Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
[01:15:21] and behold, Jesus is with you always to the very end of the age.
[01:15:25] Amen. Go in peace.