Baptism of Andrew & Amy
Sermon Notes
Mission to the Neighborhood.
Does God have a “mission”? What is God’s mission?
“Mission is the divine activity of sending intermediaries, whether supernatural or human, to speak or do God’s will so that his purposes for judgment or redemption are furthered.” Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology
-I don’t believe based on what I see in scripture that Judgement is God’s Mission. It is however, a product of him being just therefore judgment ensues… Whether reward or punishment.
- -“well done good and faithful servant, receive your reward.”
- -“I Never knew you, Depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.”
- -It’s inevitable, based on his character, but it’s not his “Mission”.
“Fundamentally our mission means our committed participation as God’s people, at God’s invitation and command, in God’s own mission within the history of God’s world for the redemption of God’s creation.” Christopher J.H. Wright, “The Mission of God”
God’s Mission is REDEMPTION… and that’s our mission too.
Is “redemption” just salvation? A ticket into heaven?
“Redemption is much more than simply saving souls. It will ultimately entail the complete healing of creation, including social justice, the reunification of all humanity, and the end of physical decay and death (Isa. 11:1-10). But even now it means bringing the health and coherence of Christ’s lordship back into every aspect of human life. The Christian church is to be a new society in which the world can see exhibited what family, business practices, race relations, and all of life can be under the kingship of Jesus Christ.” Tim Keller
Mission: Sent to Speak & Respond to God’s Work of Redemption.
Where?
SLIDE– But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
- Jerusalem, MISSION TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD / Acts 3-7
- Judea & Samaria, MISSION TO THE 805 / Acts 8-12
- MISSION TO THE END / Acts 9-28
MISSION TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
- -Asking the question while we walk through Acts,
- -How can I be on Mission in my local context? Which is exactly what we see as the church becomes the church!
Read Acts 2:41-47. Giving a summary of where we are at in the story.
- -Holy Spirit JUST fell on the disciples, Peter’s sermon,
- As soon as the church begins to walk/crawl, it’s on MISSION.
- Mission to the NeighborHood
- “what I do have I give to you”
- Vs. 1- Peter & John
- -Unlikely pair.
- -Pray, 9th hr. -Starts at sunrise. average time the sun rises? 6am
- Tradition is prayer at the 3rd, 6th and 9th hours of the day. Ton of people since it was not only prayer but also the sacrifice.
- Vs. 2-3 Introduced to the man who was healed. We don’t know his name but we know he was crippled (lame) from birth and he was 40yrs. old.
For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old. Acts 4:22
-Just got there, and though it seems strange he was there for the evening and last time of prayer, the guy has been doing it for 40yrs. so there’s a good chance he knew what he was doing.
“The rabbis taught that there were three pillars for the Jewish faith—the Torah, worship, and the showing of kindness, or charity. Almsgiving was one of the main ways to show kindness and was thus considered a major expression of one’s devotion to God.” Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 126). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Barely settled, he sees Peter & John, filled with the Spirit and thinks, here we go… but he could not imagine what was to happen next.
vs. 4-5 And then the gaze… They had new eyes, a new perspective on human suffering. A new “mission of redemption”, to be apart of God healing his creation. They were a new humanity, and things would never be the same…
–If we all could experience this gaze. This new perspective.
See with the eyes of God. See what he see, see how he sees it. WHat a prayer! God, let me see how and what you see!
- -We would no longer need a law to tell us who to care for and how, we just do.
- -No one would have to say, “bear one another burdens”
- -Homeless, “Lord have mercy”, The crazy guy, “Lord have mercy”, The religious guy, the rebellious guy. “Lord have mercy”
- He looks back at Peter and John and expects $. Maybe a lot based on this stare. But what he got NO ONE would expect.
- Read 4-6 “But what I do have I give to you.”
- -The filling of the Spirit for OTHERS. The church, it’s for others. We have a mission.
- -Make no mistake, God is precise in his word. As soon as the church began to crawl, it was on Mission. It’s not a coincidence that the very first story we read after the church was established is God redeeming an outcast person through his at one time outcasted people.
- “What I do have, I give to you.”
“I don’t have all the answers, but what i do have I give to you.”
“I can’t take all your problems away, but what I do have…
“I can’t bring her back, but what I do have…
“I don’t know why God hasn’t healed you yet, but what I do…
We have a message, we have a mission, “What I do have, I give to you”
I like how Lloyd Ogilvie says it.
SLIDE- “The Power of Pentecost is for people. The Holy Spirit… is for the healing of people in this present age. The excitement and enthusiasm of the infilling of the Spirit and the birth of the Church was to create a people through whom the Lord could continue his ministry of reconciliation and healing.” Lloyd John Ogilvie, Drumbeat of Love
Read vs. 7— The hand he raised to receive Peter grabs, lifts, and redeems.
Read 8-10 – GOSPEL , Redemption is something to celebrate.
Invite Band up
Worship is simple, “I don’t anything to give, but what I do have, I give to you.”
Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise His name I’m fixed upon it
Name of God’s redeeming love
Please stand and worship
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