The Great Commission...Making A Difference...

Well, for the past few months I’ve began such an amazing journey of recording all the sermons at church, on top of my usual reflections. Just as many of the sermons really spoke to me and were always so relevant to the situations I face in my life when the sermons were being delivered each time. Today’s sermon was no exception, in fact it was pretty amazing. Before I go into it, I just also wanna say that really, going to church really allows one to feel the closeness with God, not that it can’t be felt where ever we are, of course no matter where we are we can feel the closeness to God, but going to church is something so different, I mean just the sheer fact that when we gather as a church (emphasising here, that it’s not about the place but the people), it is being gathered in house of the Lord and we are just before God. I could almost feel, so many times, that all I want to do is just forever be before God just worshipping Him. It really just strengthens my faith each time I step into church. And, it’s not like I’m being this “super religious guy”, but seriously, as a kid it used to be such a dread to go to church, now though, it’s really a joy, and completely trusting in God, and praying to God, I think I’ve finally truly have a desire for glorifying God…somehow, there’s now nowhere else I’d rather be than in the presence of God. The worship today, was just an awesome prelude to the wonderful message today, as we all just worshipped the Lord in spirit and in truth.

However, what better and most appropriate way to start this post with the hymn of response that we sang at the end of the message today. Well, ok it’s quite strange that I’m starting this post with the closing song at the service and to think I actually just said it’s an appropriate way to begin my post. But, I say that it is appropriate because, my blog title is actually, “One Life, Make A Difference”, which seems to run in tandem with the song that we sang today to end the service, called, “Making A Difference”. Here is the lyrics of this amazing song:

Won’t you Lord
Take a look at our hands
Everything we have
Use it for your plan
Won’t you Lord
Take a look at our hearts
Mould it, refine it
As you set us apart

We want to run to the altar
And catch the fire
To stand in the gap
Between the living and the dead
Give us a heart of compassion
For a world without vision
We will make a difference
Bringing hope to our land

We will answer the call
To build this church without walls
Let your glory be shown
Bring salvation to the lost
To the lost

Well, and even more amazing is that in my last post which I ended with a video which I was emailed, it was entitled, “Who I am makes a difference”. In the email, it talked about how we as Christians can make a difference, by being a shinning light for Jesus Christ, which was linked back to the moon cake festival, where just as lanterns light up the dark we are to be the light unto the world. This song truly just echoes that truth. In recent times, God has somehow put recurring messages in my life, and it seems by coincidence that the recurring message to me has been about making a difference as you can see above but I know that it is not pure coincidence, it must only be a way that God is speaking to me. This talks about how we need God to truly make us a people that are pleasing, holy and glorifying. And, God will use our lives and our efforts to accomplish His plan if we allow ourselves to be used by Him. We can then, truly by the holy spirit reach out to the world that is in darkness, and make a difference to peoples lives and show them the hope that we have in Christ Jesus, and truly save the lost. And, make disciples of the nations, such that the whole world we see God and bow before Him and bring glory to God.

Now, just as this song is about making a difference and making disciples of the nations, it brings me nicely to the message at church today, which as the title of the blog post suggests that is THE GREAT COMMISSION. An excerpt of the scripture reading for the sermon this morning:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
Baptising them in the name of the Father and
Of the son and of the holy spirit…
(Matthew 28: 19-20)

To begin, it was highlighted in the introduction that the great commission is indeed as the name suggests is truly a great commission. It is tremendous task and mission that God has given unto us, and it is not an easy thing to accomplish, just as Jesus Himself was sent by the Father to do the work of God, that is to spread the word of God, the Lord also commands us to do this huge task too. Jesus tells His disciples that, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”. God has the power over everything in this world and in heaven, He is in control of the universe and beyond. Jesus here is trying to say that God is so powerful and that in His name we are go out and do the work that is the great commission, and nothing will stand in the way. God has power over nature, man and even spiritual forces. We can confidently go out and make disciples, for with have the God of all with us. We are to go out based on this knowledge that God who is in power and in control over everything, and play our part in the great commission, as we know it is the will of God who is in authority. The pastor shared a lot of examples of how He has experienced God’s authority over situations but I’ll leave that.

So anw, God also tells us to GO OUT and make disciples, literally we are to go out and make disciples and share the word of God. The pastor used the example of fishing, if we learn how to fish but do not go out to sea to fish we won’t catch any fish. So, we need to mix with people to reach out to people and to share the good news with them. We cannot stick to ourselves and expect people to come to us. We need to make the first steps to reach out to people around us. And this point, made me think about my whole friendship thing, and perhaps if I truly hope to make an impact in the lives of others, I must really not let myself just be so far away and not to allow myself to be alone and expect other people to come to me. I need to truly go and be with people and share God’s word, if I’m to live life the way God wants me to and to obey God and His commands and to bring glory to Him. And, even though its out of my character I know that if God wants to use me He will give me the strength to and set in my heart to do what He wants me to do. So again, I’ll just trust in God that He will lead me in whatever He wants me to do and to truly be a shinning light for the people around me.

Next, we are told to make disciples of nations, to baptise them in God’s name and to teach them to obey everything God has commanded us to do. We can make disciples in two ways which are inseparable, and they are to use our mouths to speak and proclaim God’s word and the other is to live a life that exemplifies who we are in Christ, as people with the fruits of the spirit. And, by this we can show the world how real and loving is our true God that we worship. We can give them a taste of God by the joy and strength that is in us by God. This will bring people to God just as putting salt in the mouth of a horse or cow for that matter to will cause the animal to drink water when it wouldn’t. So, we are to be salt and light to the world. And, when we are told to baptise them, the act does not save us but our faith in God but it is to proclaim to the world that we believe in Jesus and is a symbol of our new birth in Christ Jesus. Finally, to teach them means, when we bring the nations to Christ, we also teach them the way the God wants us to live by the Bible and we are also to teach them to continue this work of the great commission to share God’s word with everyone. And, in all that we do, in this case for the great commission, we are also told that God is always with us, we may feel that we can’t do it or it’s too difficult but God who is so powerful is with us and He will use us by His power to bring people to Christ. One of the many examples of God working in a person to bring people to Christ, is none other than the example of the pastor himself who shared about how as shy as he was, one day when He walked past a strangers house, after walking past the house twice, seeing that the person was outside the house at the garden just beyond the gate, by God’s power, he struck up a conversation with the person and after many, many meetings prior to that, the stranger became a Christian. So, therefore, now that we know that God is with us and commands us to share His word, we cannot but sit here and do nothing but, we must truly pray to God and go out and truly make disciples of the nations. And, this way we can make a difference for God who commands us to be a light unto this world.

After the message truly, not that it was the most brilliant sermon in the world but God speaking to me through the pastor’s message that really made me again have a passion for doing the work of God. God is truly so amazing and I really hope to do what God wants me to do and to touch the lives of people around me and be a shinning light for God and bring others to Christ…for I know there are so many people that I know I can by God’s grace bring to Christ. The great commission is one of our main purposes that we were put on this earth for, for God could’ve just taken all of us to heaven but He chose not to, so that we could save the lost. Really, so let it be our desire to glorify God by making disciples in Christ.

To end, I’ll just want to also share another verse, not relating to this but well worth sharing. And, that is today as I typed this, on my facebook account, the Bible verse today, was exactly the verse that I was looking for in regards to taking the much feared, ‘A’ Level exams. So here is the verse:

Do not be anxious about anything,
But in everything,
By prayer and petition with thanksgiving,
Present your requests to God.
Philippians 4: 6

To fellow students who are just roughly 7 weeks away from the ‘A’ Levels, do not worry about the exams coming up but pray and ask God to give you strength to do well in the exams for His glory.

That’s about it, just really trusting in God and going to give my best for the Lord in all I do be it for my exams or the great commission…but ultimately all I do I’m going to give my all for God’s glory, to live fully the way He wants me to. So, I’m just really thankful to God for all He’s done and all praise be to God…yepp…