16 Sep Mission Unstoppable

Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

How would you define success in the church? Or, let me go more personal. How would you define success in your life as a Christian? What is our measure of success as Christians and as a church? We need to know the answer because I am convinced that today there are many successful church according to the world’s standard but they fall short of how God defines success. So if the church has her own 1000 seating facility, is that church successful? What about producing their own worship album? What about having their own seminary, hospital, childcare, school etc? Can we call that church a successful church? Now, I am not saying they are bad. In fact, they are good. But here is what I am saying. Is that how Jesus would measure success? I do not see anywhere in the Bible that Jesus commanded us to build hospitals, seminaries etc. Here is my concern. Sometime church can excel in many good things except the one thing that Jesus told us to do. And if that’s what happen, then we have missed the point. What is the one thing that Jesus told us to do?

Let me give you the context first. Few weeks earlier, the disciples saw Jesus crucified. They saw the death of their Master with their own eyes. But then three days later, Jesus decided that he had too much nap and he raised from the dead. And for the next few weeks, Jesus appeared to some of the disciples. But now Jesus was about to leave. His time was up and he needed to return to his kingdom and rule at the right hand of God. He told his disciples to come to Galilee where they will see Jesus for one last time. Matthew 28:16-17 – ¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. Now, we do not know who doubted. Some said it was some of the eleven, some said that there were other disciples there who were not part of the eleven. Why eleven? Because Judas committed suicide already by this time. And the word doubted is actually a Greek word for hesitated. So, it’s not that some of the disciples disbelieved the resurrected Jesus intellectually, but they were having a hard time to come to term with the fact that the Master that they saw crucified with their own eyes was standing in front of them alive and well. Don’t be quick to judge the disciples. If you see me being killed with your own eyes tonight and then you see me eating at Lestari on Thursday, you would hesitate as well. This is what happened. And to these disciples, Jesus told them to do one thing. Just one thing. And this one thing becomes the measure of success for us as a church and disciples of Christ. Are you ready? It is the Great Commission. We are called to make disciples of Christ. Every other thing that we do as a church must serve this purpose. The success of a church and our lives as Christians is measured by whether or not we make disciples of Christ. The difference between a living church and a dead church is often determined by their obedient to the Great Commission. The last command of Jesus must be the first priority of the church.

Three things that Jesus emphasis on the Great Commission. The authority; the plan; the assurance.

The authority

Matthew 28:18 – ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

So Jesus begins the great commission not by telling his disciples what to do, but by reminding them who he is. This is very important. Jesus knows exactly what he is about to tell his disciples to do. This is Jesus’ mission in life. And he is about to trust his disciples with his mission. And the first thing he said was, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The word all in Greek means all. God the Father has given Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth. It does not mean that Jesus does not have authority before he was resurrected. Jesus was fully God and fully man at the same time. What is different is not the extent of his authority but the sphere of his authority. While Jesus was still in human’s form, the sphere of his authority was limited to Israel. But now that he is resurrected, the sphere of his authority includes all heaven and earth. Which means, there is not a single space in the universe that is outside of Christ’s authority. And the great commission, the command to make disciples of all nations, hinge on the authority of Christ. So, what sort of authority does Christ have? I’m glad you asked. Let’s do a quick survey from the book of Matthew.

• Authority to call sinner. Jesus was walking and he saw Peter and Simon fishing and he called them. Matthew 4:19-20 – ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
• Authority to heal the sick. One day a leper came to see Jesus, asking Jesus to heal him. The law is that if you are touched by the leper, you become unclean. So what did Jesus do? Matthew 8:3 – ³ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
• Authority over nature. Jesus was sleeping on the boat and a great storm hit the boat. The people in the boat were afraid and wake Jesus up. Matthew 8:26-27 – ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
• Authority to forgive sin. A paralytic man was brought to Jesus, lying on a bed. Jesus told him that his sin is forgiven. The scribes thinks Jesus is blaspheming, but then Jesus responded. Matthew 9:5-8 – ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he rose and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
• Authority to give life. Jairus came and asked Jesus to lay hand on his sick daughter. When Jesus came to Jairus’ house, the daughter was already dead. Matthew 9:25 – ²⁵ But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.
• Authority to provide. Jesus had compassion on the crowd who followed him. There were about 5000 men and Jesus told his disciples to feed them. But all they had was 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Matthew 14:19-20 – ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
• Authority over the future. Jesus told Peter that he is going to deny him three times. Peter said he will not but Jesus knows better. Matthew 26:75 – ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
• Authority over life and death. When all hope was lost, Jesus overcame death and was resurrected. Some women went to seek Jesus at his tomb and they met an angel. Matthew 28:5-6 – ⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he
• Authority over the church. The same Jesus also said that he will build his church. Matthew 16:18 – ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

If this all powerful Christ is the one who build his church, who can stop him? Jesus declares that he has all authority over heaven and earth. Isaiah 46:9-10 – remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰ declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’ Did you get that? There is absolutely nothing in the universe that is outside of his authority. The same authority that Jesus exercised throughout his life as a man is now exercised over all heaven and earth. There is not a single space in the universe that is outside of his authority.

We just read tons of verses to see how powerful Jesus is. But now let’s bring it down to us. What does it mean for us and the great commission? Two things. First, if Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, it means that Jesus has authority over our lives. I hope that’s obvious. It should be obvious. Jesus does not need your permission to be your Lord. He is, whether you want him or not. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. They don’t get to choose. The question is not whether he is Lord or not, the question is whether we submit to his Lordship or not? To submit to his Lordship means that we surrender our right to determine the direction of our lives. If Jesus is our Lord, we no longer call the shots in our lives. So as you think about your future, where you should work, where you should live, who you should marry, it is not up to you. It is not in your hands. It is in Christ’s hands. We are not saying “Jesus takes the wheel.” We are saying, “Jesus has the wheel.”

Second, if Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, it means that the mission is a guaranteed success. The mission cannot fail. Are you with me? If Jesus has all the authority, then it does not matter what he says next. He got it. Now, I want to show you something really cool. Stick with me. We are living in Matthew 28 era where Jesus is giving us the great commission. But the success of the mission was foretold all the way back in the Old Testament and by the time we reach the end of the New Testament, the mission is already fulfilled.

Daniel 7:13-14 – ¹³ “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. ¹⁴ And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. So, hundreds of years before Matthew, Daniel already foresaw the day that Jesus will have all the authority and that all people from all nations are going to worship him.

Now fast forward to the book of revelation. We are to going to get a glimpse of what will happen in the eternity future. All of history is heading this way without fail. Revelation 7:9-12 – ⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” This is the same vision that Daniel saw. All of history is moving toward this scene where every people from every nations will worship the Lamb of God that was slain. Jesus has all authority. His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

So here is what it means. The mission of God is unstoppable. Nothing can stop him. The end of the story has already been written. Jesus is not sitting down in heaven, worrying, thinking how he would accomplish his mission. No. He will accomplish his mission. He has all the power and authority to do it. It is a guaranteed success. All of history is heading this way. It will happen whether you want it or not. But the question is, are you going to take part in accomplishing God’s mission? Don’t give too much credit to yourself. God does not need you. He can accomplish his mission on his own. He will accomplish it with or without you. But he graciously invites us to play, to take part in mission unstoppable. RSI, we have been invited to play in a game that we cannot lose. Do not waste this opportunity.

Here is what it means for us as a church. On March 2018, we said yes to God’s invitation to take part in his mission and we started RSI. This is our mission statement. “RSI exists for the glory of God by fulfilling mission of Christ.” This is why RSI exists. RSI does not exist simply because we need an English Service in an English-speaking country. RSI exists because we have been invited to take part in declaring the glory of God by fulfilling the mission of Christ. How do we fulfil the mission of Christ? I’m glad you asked.

The plan

Matthew 28:19-20 – ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

So now we know that Christ has all the authority. We know that whatever he says next, it is a guaranteed success. We know that the end has been written. Christ is victorious. People from every tribe, nation and tongue will bow down and worship him. That’s the end of the mission. Now, the question is, what is the plan? How do we do accomplish this mission? And the good news is that we do not need to second guess God’s plan. He does not tell us the goal and leave it to us to figure out the plan for ourselves. No, he gives us the plan. He makes it crystal clear what is his plan to accomplish his mission. But here is the funny thing. Hear me out clearly. The church is on board with Christ’s mission. But what is funny is that the church does not think that God’s plan is good enough. Today, the church almost excel in everything but the one thing that Jesus told them to do.

So, this is what the church do. We know the end goal. We want people all over the world to worship Jesus. But then we start to make our own plan on how to make it happen. The leaders in the church gather together and have meeting on how to win the world for Christ. “What should we do to accomplish Christ’s mission? Oh, I know. We need a charismatic pastor. A pastor who can attract crowds. And not only that, but he also need to be a good communicator. So we need a pastor who is charismatic and a good communicator. That way, people would love to listen to him and that will attract crowd. We also need someone who can sing well and play music. Let’s not go for organ, it a bit too oldish. Let’s go for a worship leader who can play acoustic guitar. And let’s get a decent band to back up the worship leader. Maybe we can add a bit of lighting and smoke during the praise and worship to make it more attractive. What else? Oh, I think it would be nice for us to have a coffee shop in the foyer. So people can drink their latte while they wait for the service to start. That means we need a building big enough to have a coffee shop in the foyer. We can attract crowd with these. But then we also need to think of a way to keep the crowd. We need good programs. We need to create an excellent program for the kids, young adults, singles, marriages, that group, this group etc. That means we need to hire professionals to run all these programs. We need to have kids program that say, “Don’t worry parents. You can leave your kid to us and we’ll make sure they look more like Jesus when they come home tonight.” We also need to create small communities based on age group or similar hobbies to attract more crowds.”

Now, can you see what happen? Is all of those things wrong? Of course they are not. They are things that are nice to have. But hear me on this. As cool as those things are, they are not the plan God gives the church to accomplish his mission. I have nothing against programs but programs is not how we will accomplish the great commission. Because God’s plan is not program but people. I love the way David Platt puts it. “The people are God’s method for winning the world to himself.” People, not program. The plan of God is for the people of God to accomplish the mission of God by the Spirit of God for the glory of God. This is God’s plan. He wants to use you and me to accomplish his mission. How? It is simple. Are you ready? Jesus’ plan to fulfil the great commission is for every disciple of Christ to make disciples of Christ. That’s it. That’s the plan. No need to spend millions of dollars to make first-class church facilities and programs. Jesus’ plan to turn the world upside down is through you and me making disciples.

This is the gist of the great commission. You can’t see it in English, but in Greek, there is only one command in these verses. The command is not “go, baptise, teach” but rather “make disciples.” This is the singular command of the great commission. Going, baptising and teaching are participles. Which mean, we make disciples by going, baptising and teaching. Are you with me? So, the plan is to make disciples of Christ and we do it by going, baptising and teaching. Let me show you what it means. I like the way David Platt explains it.

First, making disciples by going means that wherever you go, you have a purpose to share the gospel. It does not mean that you pack your bag and go to Africa. It could mean that. But the everyday meaning of it is that wherever you go, you go to make disciples. It means that we are called to share the gospel wherever we are. When you go to University, you not only go to there to study but also to share the gospel. When you go to work, you not only go there to make money but also to share the gospel. When you go on holiday, you not only go there to have fun but also to share the gospel. Wherever you go, you make disciples. Therefore, making disciples is not another program that you need to add on top of your daily routine, but it is something that you do as you live out your daily routine. Making disciples is not a program; it is a lifestyle. We make disciples by sharing the gospel.

Second, making disciples by baptising means that you not only share the gospel but you also show the gospel. Your life is the reflection of the gospel. You share your life with other people. What is baptism? Baptism is not getting wet in the pool for 3 seconds. Baptism is a public declaration that I am one with Christ. When I am dunked in the water, it is a symbol that the old sinful nature of Yosi is dead together with Christ, and when I am lifted up from the water, it is a symbol that I am now alive to Christ. I am a new creation in Christ and my life belongs to him. I am making a public declaration to the world that my life is not my own but it is Christ’s. So baptising others does not only mean getting them wet but it also means sharing our lives with them. We show them what it means to live in the gospel. We make disciples by showing the gospel.

Third, making disciples by teaching means we teach them the gospel. We teach them to observe everything that Jesus commanded us to do. I mention this couple of weeks ago but it’s worth mentioning again. Every Christian has the responsibility to teach the truth of the Bible to others. The responsibility to teach the Bible belong to every disciple of Christ. Not all of us are called to preach but all of us are called to teach the Bible to others. So, here is what it means. When you hear me preach, you don’t just listen to the sermon for the sake of listening. You don’t listen and then quickly forget the sermon few hours later. You listen to a sermon in such a way that enable you to teach others the same truth. You listen to a sermon with every intention to reproduce the sermon to others. You are not a passive listener but an active listener. We make disciples by teaching the gospel.

Now, let’s put the three together. We make disciples of Christ by sharing, showing and teaching the gospel. Let’s say you meet Bob. Bob is an atheist at your work. And here comes you, the disciple maker. You heard a sermon on Mission Unstoppable and you want to play part in the mission of God. You want to make Bob the disciple of Christ. So, you begin to share the gospel to Bob for 2 months. At first, Bob thinks you are weird for sharing the gospel with him consistently. But he sees something different about your life that attracts him. He sees how you treat him and your annoying boss and he likes what he sees. Finally after months of sharing the gospel, Bob put his trust in Jesus and becomes a Christian. Now, most people stop here. They think that their job is done. But no it is not. At this time, you have yet to make a disciple. Right now, Bob is not a disciple yet. He is a convert. It is not enough simply to share the gospel with Bob. Now you need to show the gospel to Bob. Now, just think about it. Bob is a new Christian. He is clueless. He does not know how to pray. He does not know how to study the Bible. He has lots of question. What is the best way for him to grow as a disciple? You can buy him a book at Koorong on how to pray. That might work. Or you can tell him to watch all RSI sermon on YouTube. That might work as well. But do you know what is the best way for Bob to grow as a disciple of Christ? You. You invite Bob into your life. You begin to share your life with Bob. You begin to walk Christian life with Bob. You show Bob how to pray. Which lead to third thing. You not only share and show the gospel to Bob, but you also teach the gospel to Bob. So after you invite Bob into your life, you begin to pray together with Bob. You begin to read the Bible together with Bob. You teach Bob how to read and understand the Bible. And when you do that, you disciple Bob to become a disciple of Christ. You are making disciples.

But that’s not the end. There is another cool thing that is happening in this process. In order for you to be able to teach Bob how to pray, you first must know how to pray. In order to teach Bob how to read and understand the Bible, you first must need to know how to read and understand the Bible. At this time, you can’t help but think, God has the whole system rigged. In order for you to disciple Bob, you first need to grow as a disciple of Christ. Huh? Who would have thought of that? Here is where I am going with that. Don’t miss it. God has set a system where we grow as disciples as we make disciples. How brilliant is that? And the reason many of us are not growing as disciples of Christ, the reason why we are stagnant in our walk with Christ, the reason we are bored in our Christian journey, is because we do not make disciples. You grow as disciples of Christ by making disciples of Christ.

Two things I want to say on what it means for RSI before we jump into the assurance from Christ. First, we can trust the plan of Christ. God’s plan to turn the world upside down with the gospel is not through program but through the people of God making disciples. For RSI, it looks like this. “ONE person ONE disciple ONE year.” Let’s consider two different scenarios. First scenario. Right now there are about 60 of us. Let’s say that all of us work hard together to create a program that attracts a lot of crowds and enable us to win 1 person to Christ each day. So that means in a year, we will have 365 new Christians. By this time next year, there will more than 400 of us. That’s amazing. Right? I’ll be super excited. We’ll be the new mini Hillsong or something. Imagine we continue to grow at that pace consistently. So we have 365 new Christians every year for the next 30 years. Why 30 years? Because I plan to be your pastor for the next 30 years if God willing. Now, do the math. By the end of 30 year, we will have 11,000 people coming to faith in Christ. That’s super exciting. We won’t be a mini Hillsong at that time. We’ll be the new Hillsong. But we won’t call ourselves that. We will be the Valleysong Church.

But imagine another scenario with me. Imagine that in the next one year, instead of leading one person to Christ each day, just imagine that there is one person in RSI that make one disciple of Christ. Just one. Just Bob. So by this time next year, there will still be 60 of us plus Bob. Not exciting, I know. But let’s say that this one person really takes Jesus’ words seriously. He not only make Bob a convert but he makes Bob a disciple. This person share the gospel, show the gospel and teach the gospel to Bob. So Bob is now a disciple of Christ. And do you know what a disciple do? A disciple makes disciple. So, the next year, this person and Bob go out and make other disciples of Christ. By the end of the second year, we will have, not 64, but 63 people in RSI. Correct? Now, here is what’s interesting. You can do the Math at home if you do not believe me. But in the same 30 years frame, do you know how many people will come to faith in Christ? We have more than 536 million people come to faith in Christ. Did you get that? You think 11,000 is awesome? Maybe Jesus’ plan is the best plan after all. So if our dream as a church is to fill this building with people, our dream is way too small. God wants to use this church to lead millions of people to faith in Christ.

And guess what? This is exactly how Jesus turns the world upside down in the early church. For the three years of his ministry, Jesus disciple twelve men. And one of them ended up betraying Jesus and hanged himself. Leaving Jesus with 11 disciples. And can we agree that these 11 disciples, well, let’s just say that Jesus could have chosen better people for the job. They were not impressive at all. They were just ordinary fishermen and tax collectors. If they are alive today and they enter a competition, “So you think you are disciple”, they would be eliminated in the first round. But in less than 30 years, they turned the Roman Empire and the whole world upside down for Christ. And that is the reason why we are Christians today. Those 11 men disciple other people and we are the fruits of it. Maybe Jesus knew what he was talking about. We can trust the plan of Christ. Which lead me to the second thing.

Right now we have 7.6 billion people in the world. That is a lot of people. And God has a mission to lead many of them to worship Jesus. How will he do it? You. Me. Us. Here is what I am saying. Second thing that I want you to know is that you and I are God’s plan to accomplish God’s mission. Every disciple of Christ is called to make disciples. No exception. God graciously invites us to play part in his unstoppable mission. It is a guaranteed success. The reason many of us are bored as Christians is because we do not join the game. We are too busy cheering on the sidelines while God invites us to play the game.

And I understand the objection. “Yos, I just don’t think I have what it takes to make disciples.” And I’ll say, “Of course you don’t.” That’s the point. Making disciples force you to grow as disciples. And that’s how we grow. I know this is cliché but it’s worth saying. God is not looking at your ability. He wants your availability. He does not need you be awesome. He wants you to know that he is awesome. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. God does not need someone who can, he wants someone who goes.

Here is my encouragement. All of us are uniquely wired by God with different gifts and passion. And all of us are uniquely placed by God in different area. You are not where you are by accident. You are where you are because God has a purpose for you there. God has given you the talents that you have and the passion that you have for a purpose. All of us have different gifts. Some of you love numbers and accounting. I don’t understand why you love accounting but you do. So go ahead and pursue your love in accounting. Be the best accountant you can be. Be the best stay home mom you can be. Be the best Food Scientist you can be. But that is not your purpose. All of us have different gifts and spheres of influence but we all have the same purpose. Our purpose is that wherever we are, we are called to make disciples of Christ. Be the best accountant you can be and make disciples of Christ as you count all those numbers. Stop living small and start living big. You are part of God’s plan to accomplish his worldwide mission. God has given you a big purpose in your everyday lives. So don’t live small; live big. You have been invited to play in Christ’s mission unstoppable.

The assurance

Matthew 28:20 – “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is one of the most comforting assurance in the whole Bible. Jesus knows exactly that the process of making disciples is not easy at all. If you work in the Customer Service then you would know. Dealing with people is a hard work. People can be crazy sometime. And making disciple requires you to spend lots of your time, effort and energy with that person. It is a long process. As if your life is not hard enough by itself, now you also need to care for other peoples. You are having a hard time already raising your kid. You are extremely busy with pressure from your boss to meet the deadline at work. You spent countless hours studying at library for exams. You work hard every day to pay for your tuition fee. And now you hear me saying that I also want you to disciple Bob. You know this is Jesus’ mission for you and you want to do it but you don’t know if you have what it takes to do it. Jesus understands you. And I want you to hear his word tonight.

“I am with you” – Who is this I am? Who is this person that makes this staggering statement to us? It is no other than the one who has all authority in heaven and earth. You don’t see it in English but in Greek, this is empathic I am. It literally says, “I, myself, am with you.” Jesus wants us to really know who it is that is with us. It is the one true God himself that is speaking to us. This Jesus who holds every authority in heaven and earth promises to be with us!

“Always” – The literal translation from Greek is, “all the days.” There will not be a single day where Jesus is not with you. He is with you on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He is even with you on Christmas and Passover. He does not take a break because it is his birthday or because it is funeral. Nonstop; without break; 52 weeks a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes a hour, 60 second a minute; The all-powerful Jesus does not take a break from his promise to be with you always. Not for one millisecond he will forsake us. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is with us always.

“To the end of age” – Not only there is no break in his promise to be with us, there is no end to this promise. As long as the world exists, Jesus is with us. What an encouragement to all of us. The king of heaven and earth is with us continually without break to the end of age!

This is the assurance for you and me as we make disciples. Christ, himself, is with us. It does not mean that he is not with us at other times. God is always with us. But there is a special presence of Christ that you will only experience as you go and make disciples. There is a special kind of knowing and intimacy with Christ that you will not experience unless you take part in his mission. There is a huge difference between enjoying the game from the sideline and enjoying the game by playing the game. I remember few weeks ago Josh was saying to me, “Bro, it feels so good to see the people in my KM started to love the Bible and grow in the Lord. It gives me a special kind of joy that is different from everyday joy.” And that is exactly what God has in store for all of us. There is an invitation from Christ today for us to play the game. There is an invitation from Christ to witness firsthand how lives are being transformed by the gospel, the sick received healing, the oppressed set free, the lost are saved. It is exciting. And you only get to experience this if you play your part in the mission of God. And with this, the book of Matthew ends abruptly. There is not a perfect ending. Why? Because the mission is still ongoing. The mission that was entrusted to the original disciples is now entrusted to us.

Jesus wants the world to hear the good news of the gospel. He wants the world to know that there is forgiveness available for them. There is an eternal life for whoever believed in his name. God wants 7.6 billion people to hear the gospel. And he has determine that people from every nation, tribe and tongue will bow down and worship Christ as their Lord and Saviour. This mission is unstoppable. And to accomplish this mission, he invites you and me. Will you take part?

Discussion

1. What is the measure of success for us as a church and as a Christian?
2. Explain the difference between Jesus’ authority while he was living on earth and after the resurrection.
3. Jesus has authority over our lives. What does it mean for you personally?
4. The mission of God is unstoppable. Explain.
5. The plan of God is for every disciple to make disciple. Explain the three participles (go, baptise, teach) involves in making disciples.
6. What hinders you from playing your part in the mission of God?
7. How does the assurance Jesus gives us in Matthew 28:20 comforts you?
8. ONE person ONE disciple ONE year. What is your plan to participate in the mission of God through RSI?