You've Been Commissioned!
Joe Alain
John 20:21-23
"Again Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.' And with that He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.'"
Introduction: These verses speak to the foundation on which our fellowship was founded. Many people have come and gone, we've worshiped in different buildings, we've seen dramatic changes in our culture and the way we do ministry, but through all the years the foundations have not changed. We stand in the line of those who have come before us. And as believers before us, we seek to live out the faith in our day that is both consistent with biblical faith and relevant to a changing world. And so on one hand we "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3). And yet as Paul said, "we become all things to all men so that by all possible means" we will "save some" (1 Cor. 9:22). And we "do all this for the sake of the gospel" (v.23).
Today, I want us to revisit our mission in light of what Jesus said to His first disciples. Jesus took this fearful, disillusioned and defeated group of disciples and he gave them a mission, a reason for living beyond their wildest imagination. In the Upper Room occurred a "Groundbreaking" event that would change our lives forever. Jesus commissioned and empowered his disciples to share His joyful message of reconciliation, a message that would take them to the ends of the earth and a message that would change the world.
Life Application: You have been sent and empowered to share the joyful message of reconciliation which results in forgiveness. And that message still has the power to change our world. What is the answer to the violence and the ungodliness that we see in our communities and in our world? What is the answer to the destruction of our families? The decay of morals? What ...
Joe Alain
John 20:21-23
"Again Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.' And with that He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.'"
Introduction: These verses speak to the foundation on which our fellowship was founded. Many people have come and gone, we've worshiped in different buildings, we've seen dramatic changes in our culture and the way we do ministry, but through all the years the foundations have not changed. We stand in the line of those who have come before us. And as believers before us, we seek to live out the faith in our day that is both consistent with biblical faith and relevant to a changing world. And so on one hand we "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3). And yet as Paul said, "we become all things to all men so that by all possible means" we will "save some" (1 Cor. 9:22). And we "do all this for the sake of the gospel" (v.23).
Today, I want us to revisit our mission in light of what Jesus said to His first disciples. Jesus took this fearful, disillusioned and defeated group of disciples and he gave them a mission, a reason for living beyond their wildest imagination. In the Upper Room occurred a "Groundbreaking" event that would change our lives forever. Jesus commissioned and empowered his disciples to share His joyful message of reconciliation, a message that would take them to the ends of the earth and a message that would change the world.
Life Application: You have been sent and empowered to share the joyful message of reconciliation which results in forgiveness. And that message still has the power to change our world. What is the answer to the violence and the ungodliness that we see in our communities and in our world? What is the answer to the destruction of our families? The decay of morals? What ...
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