Mission Sunday 9/29/24
Memory Verse:
'Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ' Ephesians 4:15
Sermon Sentence:
'Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ' Ephesians 4:15
Sermon Sentence:
Day 1
Read Acts 8:26-40
Does it even really matter? Think about where you are going today, where you will be. You have plans and agendas that matter, and surely you are not ending up anywhere pointless, but in the grand scheme of things, does it matter? I love the reality that is presented in that small phrase that the author thought was worth writing down in this story: “This is a desert place.” There was nothing here. You couldn’t even say anything like “Go to the Wal-Mart in …..” There was nothing. Just an intersection of two roads that lead somewhere. When Philip got there, the nowhere was somewhere because there was someone there. You see, Acts is telling the story of how the gospel is being spread all over the known world through the work of especially, Peter and Paul. Paul will travel to many many locations starting churches. He would have been thought of as a word traveler that has been everywhere. But he never went to Ethiopia. He probably could not have had time to do that. But the Holy Spirit had a plan to reach down into Ethiopia. He just needed one person to go to nowhere and tell someone there the Good News so they could take it back. It would be even better if this person was influential and had a position that would allow for the message to be spread even more.
Will you be led to seemingly nowhere today? What if that one person is the person that God has intended for you to see in the place that doesn’t seem to matter? Missional thinking and living in obedience to God’s will involves us listening for and yielding to His call to even the places and times that don’t seem to matter.
When you take the time this morning to ask God where He wants you to be, what do you seem to sense He may be urging you to pay attention to?
How have you seen God’s will revealed to you in the places that haven’t seemed to matter?
Do you sense God drawing you to someone like the Ethiopian eunuch that seems to be looking for an answer?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Does it even really matter? Think about where you are going today, where you will be. You have plans and agendas that matter, and surely you are not ending up anywhere pointless, but in the grand scheme of things, does it matter? I love the reality that is presented in that small phrase that the author thought was worth writing down in this story: “This is a desert place.” There was nothing here. You couldn’t even say anything like “Go to the Wal-Mart in …..” There was nothing. Just an intersection of two roads that lead somewhere. When Philip got there, the nowhere was somewhere because there was someone there. You see, Acts is telling the story of how the gospel is being spread all over the known world through the work of especially, Peter and Paul. Paul will travel to many many locations starting churches. He would have been thought of as a word traveler that has been everywhere. But he never went to Ethiopia. He probably could not have had time to do that. But the Holy Spirit had a plan to reach down into Ethiopia. He just needed one person to go to nowhere and tell someone there the Good News so they could take it back. It would be even better if this person was influential and had a position that would allow for the message to be spread even more.
Will you be led to seemingly nowhere today? What if that one person is the person that God has intended for you to see in the place that doesn’t seem to matter? Missional thinking and living in obedience to God’s will involves us listening for and yielding to His call to even the places and times that don’t seem to matter.
When you take the time this morning to ask God where He wants you to be, what do you seem to sense He may be urging you to pay attention to?
How have you seen God’s will revealed to you in the places that haven’t seemed to matter?
Do you sense God drawing you to someone like the Ethiopian eunuch that seems to be looking for an answer?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Luke 7:1-17
I assume a whole lot about what I am reading in the Bible, like that timelines and experiences happen like I experience them in my life. I can go a few cities west of me in a day and be back before lunch is over. I have gone through 4 states in one afternoon and home by dark. That is not how the Bible should be read. Do you have any idea where Capernaum is? What about Nain? When you are reading these, that seems like a pretty minor detail and not that important. But I noticed something here. Capernaum to Nain is over 30 miles uphill. LIke way uphill too. So it would not be a leisurely stroll, it would be a significant one to two day journey.
Why did Jesus go there? The best we can gather from the information we have, he went there for this one widow and her son. In that 30 mile walk, I wonder how many widows and funerals he would have passed? I wonder what the large crowd following him were asking about why he was going where he was going and how the disciples fielded all of those questions. But he had compassion. Compassion enough to walk a full day, with a crowd in tow, to lay hands on one poor child that had died.
Seeing Jesus dedication to the compassion in his heart, what do you notice about your concern for those around you?
Do you remember a time you made a great sacrifice of time and energy to minister to someone?
What do you think the crowd learned about Jesus on this day?
How does today’s devotion inform your prayers?
I assume a whole lot about what I am reading in the Bible, like that timelines and experiences happen like I experience them in my life. I can go a few cities west of me in a day and be back before lunch is over. I have gone through 4 states in one afternoon and home by dark. That is not how the Bible should be read. Do you have any idea where Capernaum is? What about Nain? When you are reading these, that seems like a pretty minor detail and not that important. But I noticed something here. Capernaum to Nain is over 30 miles uphill. LIke way uphill too. So it would not be a leisurely stroll, it would be a significant one to two day journey.
Why did Jesus go there? The best we can gather from the information we have, he went there for this one widow and her son. In that 30 mile walk, I wonder how many widows and funerals he would have passed? I wonder what the large crowd following him were asking about why he was going where he was going and how the disciples fielded all of those questions. But he had compassion. Compassion enough to walk a full day, with a crowd in tow, to lay hands on one poor child that had died.
Seeing Jesus dedication to the compassion in his heart, what do you notice about your concern for those around you?
Do you remember a time you made a great sacrifice of time and energy to minister to someone?
What do you think the crowd learned about Jesus on this day?
How does today’s devotion inform your prayers?
Day 3
Read Matthew 25:31-46
What I say I believe is not as valid as what I show I believe. Actions speak louder than words, is how the old saying states it. This seems to be a passage that would follow that logic. Notice how all of the nations are gathered before him and then they are divided. They are not divided by nationalities, but rather by sheeps and goats. The sheep are represented as the people that acted on their belief and served others, because that is the heart of the King. The goats are represented as those that did not do that, only asking when it was they even had such a chance to do that. The answer that is given to them is that when they had the chance to do it to one of the least of these, it was to the King.
The very heart of faith’s substance is the actions expressed to those that are less fortunate. That is the heart of God and faith is saying we are aligning with God, thus His will becomes ours. That is why the faith and actions have to be so closely related. That is why it is pretty impossible to talk about being a disciple without also talking about being a servant to others.
When you read this passage, what does it make you realize about your life?
How do you have these types of opportunities this week?
What are the times that you see Jesus live this out in the gospels?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
What I say I believe is not as valid as what I show I believe. Actions speak louder than words, is how the old saying states it. This seems to be a passage that would follow that logic. Notice how all of the nations are gathered before him and then they are divided. They are not divided by nationalities, but rather by sheeps and goats. The sheep are represented as the people that acted on their belief and served others, because that is the heart of the King. The goats are represented as those that did not do that, only asking when it was they even had such a chance to do that. The answer that is given to them is that when they had the chance to do it to one of the least of these, it was to the King.
The very heart of faith’s substance is the actions expressed to those that are less fortunate. That is the heart of God and faith is saying we are aligning with God, thus His will becomes ours. That is why the faith and actions have to be so closely related. That is why it is pretty impossible to talk about being a disciple without also talking about being a servant to others.
When you read this passage, what does it make you realize about your life?
How do you have these types of opportunities this week?
What are the times that you see Jesus live this out in the gospels?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Matthew 28
Matthew 28 is the conclusion to the gospel account. It is the story that sets up the rest of everything that we understand Jesus work to be. He didn’t just rise to Heaven and that was it, but rather gave us the very marching orders that we needed to know the answer to the question: “Now what?” I don’t know if you have noticed the repeated theme of this week’s devotions, but the answer to that question for us is “Go.” Go where? Go to obedience. We can’t just stay here and feel good and hope to keep getting more and more of what we need. That is not what we are called to do. We are told we will get more and more of what we are needing, but it is while we are going to God’s will.
We should be going toward the work of making disciples. That work will come by the many different ways of teaching the words that God has given us, the Bible. The result will not be just people that believe like we do, but people that act like we do, acting like we have been called. Disciples make more disciples through ministry, or serving.
What are you doing in the work of making disciples?
What could you be doing in the work of making disciples?
How would you explain to someone that is not familiar with the BIble, what a disciple is?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Matthew 28 is the conclusion to the gospel account. It is the story that sets up the rest of everything that we understand Jesus work to be. He didn’t just rise to Heaven and that was it, but rather gave us the very marching orders that we needed to know the answer to the question: “Now what?” I don’t know if you have noticed the repeated theme of this week’s devotions, but the answer to that question for us is “Go.” Go where? Go to obedience. We can’t just stay here and feel good and hope to keep getting more and more of what we need. That is not what we are called to do. We are told we will get more and more of what we are needing, but it is while we are going to God’s will.
We should be going toward the work of making disciples. That work will come by the many different ways of teaching the words that God has given us, the Bible. The result will not be just people that believe like we do, but people that act like we do, acting like we have been called. Disciples make more disciples through ministry, or serving.
What are you doing in the work of making disciples?
What could you be doing in the work of making disciples?
How would you explain to someone that is not familiar with the BIble, what a disciple is?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read John 4:1-30
If you have a point or an idea to share, the best way to do that is to post on social media, put it as a sticker on the back of your car, or make a t-shirt with it on it. At least that is what seems to be the popular idea. Jesus engaged this woman in a place that felt normal for her and she quickly wanted to engage in all of the hot topic controversies of her day. Jesus took it in stride and rather than go down the hole of endless debates, he used the gospel to meet her right where she was in life.
Many times, the repeated arguments to win a debate are actually hiding in a person that is trying to mask insecurities that they battle. The basic human reality is that we are all not ok the way that we are, and no one really believes they are. We long for help and long for something bigger than us. When the person sharing the gospel keeps this in mind, it disarms the endless arguments that could come against us and gives us confidence to find an on ramp to their lives with this incredible story we believe in. For me personally, this story is a Masterclass in sharing the gospel with people we encounter every day. I can learn so much from how Jesus does this.
What do you think was the part when Jesus really captured this woman’s attention?
Why do you think she was not offended when Jesus spoke about her marriage struggles?
What can you learn about how to walk with people while looking for a change to share the gospel with them?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
If you have a point or an idea to share, the best way to do that is to post on social media, put it as a sticker on the back of your car, or make a t-shirt with it on it. At least that is what seems to be the popular idea. Jesus engaged this woman in a place that felt normal for her and she quickly wanted to engage in all of the hot topic controversies of her day. Jesus took it in stride and rather than go down the hole of endless debates, he used the gospel to meet her right where she was in life.
Many times, the repeated arguments to win a debate are actually hiding in a person that is trying to mask insecurities that they battle. The basic human reality is that we are all not ok the way that we are, and no one really believes they are. We long for help and long for something bigger than us. When the person sharing the gospel keeps this in mind, it disarms the endless arguments that could come against us and gives us confidence to find an on ramp to their lives with this incredible story we believe in. For me personally, this story is a Masterclass in sharing the gospel with people we encounter every day. I can learn so much from how Jesus does this.
What do you think was the part when Jesus really captured this woman’s attention?
Why do you think she was not offended when Jesus spoke about her marriage struggles?
What can you learn about how to walk with people while looking for a change to share the gospel with them?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
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