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We apologize for the poor audio on this week's talk. Technical difficulties... :) See Mark's notes for this talk below:SERMON SERIES: MOVE: Reprise (Talk #1)\u201cBIG IDEA\u201d: Explanation & Implications from the Mission of Making Disciples.Primary Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8.Date: 9/7/14MOVE (Acts 29) Video.READ Matthew 28:18-20 / Acts 1:8 Here\u2019s where we\u2019re going this morning....we begin today a 3 message series called MOVE. For those fairly new to our journey as Living Church MOVE is a teaching series we revisit a couple times a year simply to remind us of our purpose as a church, to answer the questions of mission and vision, why we\u2019re here and how we accomplish what Jesus has called us to as His disciples. In this series we seek to answer questions for the church like: \u201cHow we got here, why we\u2019re here, what we\u2019re about and how we get the job done\u201d. Side Bar for Those Who are Here and not yet Christians: Our desire is for you to know Christ. We want you to know Him like we know Him. This is why we exist as a church, this is why we are so glad you\u2019re here, this is why you were invited. Our heart\u2019s desire is for you to recognize your need for Jesus, acknowledge your sin against Him, repent of your sin, and receive His invitation of forgiveness through His death and blood shed on the cross, and receive His new life through His resurrection. This is what we want for you. We\u2019re thrilled you\u2019re here. We want to get to know you, love you, and our hope is that as you share life with us you\u2019ll see Jesus. We just want to be upfront with you about who we are and what we\u2019re about. We don\u2019t want to surprise you, or try to sneak Jesus on you. This is who we are, and He is who we\u2019re about. So, with that being said...Side Bar for Those Who are Here and Christians, Disciples of Jesus, the Church: My desire is for you to know exactly what our mission and vision is as the church, as disciples of Jesus, specifically for us as Living Church here in Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. The plan this morning is to show you the FOUNDATION for our mission and vision showing you where it comes from, and like a coach diagraming it for you so you can visually grasp what it looks like and where we\u2019re headed as a church. Then I want us to look at some IMPLICATIONS for us as we move out and live this mission. THE FOUNDATION FOR THE MISSION TO MAKE DISCIPLES...ON SCREEN: The mission of Living Church is to make disciples who know Christ, live Christ, and make Christ known through the vision of multiplying living communities locally, nationally, and globally.\u201cMovement begins with mission\u201d. Every movement has a mission. The church is no different. THE MISSION OF LIVING CHURCH IS: To be made disciples moving out making new disciples who know Christ, live Christ, and make Christ known...WHERE DOES THIS MISSION COME FROM? It comes from Jesus.Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus said to His made disciples, \u201c...Go...Move...make disciples\u201d. Make followers of Me, baptize them, teach them to obey Me - know Christ, live Christ, make Christ known. Acts 1:8. Jesus also said to His made disciples, \u201c...be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea & Samara, and to the ends of the earth\u201d. Tell the truth about Me locally, nationally, and globally. \u201cI\u2019m going to empower you with my Spirit and you\u2019re going to move out making new disciples of me locally, nationally, and globally.\u201dThe mission comes from Jesus Himself. Jesus lived it and modeled it. The Father SENDS Jesus. Jesus MOVES OUT as a missionary into our world. He comes to us. He shares His life with us. He MAKES DISCIPLES. Then passes on to those MADE DISCIPLES the mission of making NEW DISCIPLES. He SENDS them. sends us to carry His name and message. THE VISION OF LIVING CHURCH IS: To be made disciples moving out making new disciples forming multiplying church communities (living communities) locally, nationally, globally. The result of making disciples locally, nationally, globally are the forming of new church communities. Acts 2:46, 5:42, Romans 16:3-5 / Priscilla & Aquila, Colossians 4:15 / Nympha. Church primarily met in homes in the early centuries. (foundation for our LC living communities)We then see these church communities multiplying: Church launches rom Jerusalem (Acts 2) then moves on to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8), then on to Antioch in Turkey (Acts 11), then on to Lystra to Iconium to Philippi to Thessalonica in Greece (Act 13-17), and so on...all the way to Cincinnati, Ohio. We are here today because some made disciples moved out making new disciples who kept forming multiplying church communities ultimately leading to you coming to Christ and you landing here in NKY/Cincinnati...leading to the start of Living Church.Made disciples of Christ moving out making new disciples who know Christ, live Christ, and make Christ known forming multiplying church communities is what God has used to spread the gospel transforming lives globally since the first coming of Christ. It\u2019s no different today. It\u2019s our time. It\u2019s our turn.So why share all this with you? Why lay this FOUNDATION for the mission and vision of church, and for us as Living Church? Yes, because it\u2019s important for you to know what we\u2019re about and where we\u2019re going and what you can expect if you share life and mission with Living Church. But there\u2019s more. There\u2019s another reason this is important for us as the church. There are some IMPLICATIONS for us from this mission when you arrange your life around making disciples who know Christ, live Christ, and make Christ known. FRANCIS CHAN QUOTE: \u201cIf we are not careful we can spend the rest of our lives justifying why God\u2019s power is not seen in our lives.\u201d JEFF IORG QUOTE: \u2026inside you is a longing to live more intentionally connected to God\u2019s mission to get the gospel to as many people as possible. A missionary heart beats within you\u2026FRANCIS CHAN QUOTE: \u201cIf you want to see the big stuff that God has, you\u2019ve got to take some risk and trust only in the Gospel.\u201dThere is a PROBLEM in the church today. It\u2019s a problem many of us experience as disciples of Christ. Many who follow Christ want to experience the presence of Christ, witness the power of His Spirit, and see the transformation of lives by the Gospel. We read about the amazing stories of the first century disciples and how their lives were filled with adventure, risk, the supernatural, God showing up in a prayer meeting and shaking the place, God revealing Himself to terrorists who then came to know Jesus. Man, we read this and to be honest there\u2019s something inside us that longs to be a part of that, right? We want to see God move like that in our lives, right? I mean, we want that kind of story. But, if we\u2019re honest we\u2019d like it without the risk, the suffering. So although we want it, we don\u2019t make the move or moves, or take the risk to get it. We want the amazing Jesus story, but without the amazing risk. Amazing Jesus stories like we read about in the first century involve Jesus showing up, but if you live in a way where you don\u2019t need Him to show up, why would He? We many times settle for this and yet still wonder why we don\u2019t experience Christ\u2019s presence like we want, witness the power of His Spirit like we want, or see the transformation of lives by the Gospel we want. We want to see God move, but often times we\u2019re not moving our lives in a way to see Him move.But there is a solution...there is a move we can make, a way to experiencing the presence of Christ, witness the power of His Spirit, and see the transformation of lives by the Gospel. The solution, the move is - to make disciples. IMPLICATIONS FROM LIVING THIS MISSION OF MAKING DISCIPLES...Read Matthew 28:18-20 (v.20) - THE PROMISE OF CHRIST\u2019S PRESENCE. \u201cbehold\u201d ... \u201csurely\u201d ... \u201clo\u201d - LOOK! TAKE NOTICE OF THIS! BE SURE OF THIS! \u201cI AM is with you\u201d - This is the Great I Am that is with us as we move, go, make disciples. \u201calways to the end of the age\u201d - the consummation of all things, the completion. He is with us until the mission is complete.INDIVIDUALLY: When you are moving out by yourself at work, on your street, living Christ\u2019s mission seeking to make disciples of Jesus, He is with you. He promised. COLLECTIVELY: When you are moving out with your living community, or with a collection of the church telling people about Jesus, Jesus is with you.We don\u2019t see or experience the presence of Christ in our lives many times because we\u2019re not taking the risk of moving out with Christ to talk about Christ with those who need Christ. Stephen / Martyr / Acts 7 / Suffering in living the Mission / Experienced Christ\u2019s PresenceILLUST: Kids wanting Daddy to catch them in the pool / Daddy\u2019s promised he\u2019ll be there when they jump / But \u2018to be safe\u2019 child puts on swimmies,floaties, life jacket, inflatable turtle, noodle / Even though Daddy is there child never experiences Daddy\u2019s presence b/c he never really needed him to be there...WE ARE LIKE THIS...IMPLICATION:If you want to experience and notice the presence of Christ in your life then you need to arrange life in a way to where you are making disciples of Christ.If we want to experience and notice the presence of Christ as a church then we need to arrange our church life in a way where we are making disciples of Christ together. Jesus\u2019 promise to be with us always is in the context of made disciples moving out making new disciples of Him all over the world. If you want to experience the presence of Christ in your life then make disciples.Read Acts 1:8 - THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT\u2019S POWER. \u201cpower\u201d - Our word for dynamite. Refers to strength, power, ability. Power is what the Spirit exerts or puts forth. Days earlier Jesus had told them to wait to launch this disciple making mission until His Spirit came upon them. Once they had His Spirit in them, then they could cut loose and move and make disciples. Their mission was to make much of Jesus, & that\u2019s exactly what the Spirit\u2019s job is - to glorify Jesus.Jesus said, \u201cHe, the Spirit, will bring glory to ME. He will testify about Me.\u201d (Jn. 15:26,16:13-14)Jesus promises His Spirit will show up and empower us as we move out telling the world the truth about who Jesus is and what He has done. We don\u2019t see or experience the explosion of the power of the Spirit in our lives many times because we\u2019re not taking the risk of talking about Christ with those who need Christ. We don\u2019t need the Spirit to show up if we\u2019re not doing what the Spirit was sent to do - talk about Christ, make disciples of Christ. CONVERSATION WITH JOY AT MONKEY BREW COFFEE.IMPLICATION:If you want to experience an explosion of the power of the Spirit in your life then you need to arrange life in a way to where you are making disciples of Christ, talking about Jesus. If we want to experience they dynamite of the Spirit\u2019s power as a church then we need to arrange our church life in a way where we are making disciples of Christ together. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to be the power in and through us as we move and make disciples of Him all over the world. If you want to experience the power of the Spirit in your life then make disciples.Read Romans 1:16,17 - THE PROMISE OF GOD\u2019S POWER IN THE GOSPEL. \u201cthe gospel...it is the power of God\u201d - Paul says that the dynamite of God is the gospel itself. The message of the gospel is that there is a righteousness from God available to us that we cannot earn, but can receive. It is this righteousness that rescues us from the judgment of hell, makes us forgiven and right with God forever, and brings us into relationship with God. It is received by faith in Christ\u2019s death and resurrection on our behalf. THIS IS THE GOSPEL. Paul says that the gospel IS the power of God. Paul saw the power of God all the time because He was constantly sharing the Gospel. It\u2019s no different for us. The gospel is the DYNAMITE of God that blows us up & makes us new, all at the same time. \u201cIf anyone be IN CHRIST he is a new creation...\u201d How? The Gospel. The power of God. If we want to see people become new creations, our cities redeemed, people\u2019s lives changed, families transformed by Jesus, then it\u2019s going to take the power of God to do it, which means you and me sharing Gospel with those who need it, who need Christ. We don\u2019t see or experience the power of God in the gospel many times because we\u2019re not taking the risk of talking about it with those who need it. We want to see a divine explosion that changes hearts, lives, cities, and restores them to the way they were meant to be, right? God has given us the dynamite that explodes and recreates and makes all things new. It\u2019s the Gospel. It\u2019s there for us. We just need to share it. IMPLICATION:If you want to experience the power of God in your life then you need to arrange life in a way to where you are sharing the Gospel making disciples of Christ. If we want to experience the power of God as a church then we need to arrange our church life in a way where we are sharing the Gospel making disciples of Christ together. We have been given the power of God in the gospel. We hold the dynamite in our hands. If we want to see an explosion of God\u2019s power in our lives then we must move out sharing the Gospel of Jesus making disciples of Jesus all over the world. If you want to experience the power of God in your life then make disciples.Read 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, 3:7-9 - THE PROMISE OF JOY IN CHRIST\u2019S PRESENCE.\u201cour hope...our JOY...our crown...is it not you?\u201d - Paul says that his joy in the presence of Christ is knowing that he will see these disciples of Jesus with him there. Paul said the same thing about the Philippian disciples - that they are his joy (Phil. 4:1)Paul\u2019s joy came from knowing these people he had suffered to get the message of the gospel to were growing in knowing Christ, were living Christ, and making Christ known. Their faith in Christ was strong and bearing fruit. This brought him great joy because it brought great glory to Christ. Paul saw that his greatest reward from Christ was enjoying the presence of Christ with disciples he had the privilege of making for the glory of Christ. IT\u2019S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE. \u201cALL WE CAN SHOW GOD ONE DAY IS PEOPLE!\u201d - Jim CymbalaPARENTS GIVING CHILDREN CHRISTMAS MONEY TO BUY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. The money came from the parents. Child gets joy in giving parents gift even though money to get gift came from the parent. Parent receives joy in receiving the gift the child gives \u2018back\u2019 to them. What brings you joy? Do you have any spiritual kids? Any new disciples of Jesus bringing you joy? IMPLICATION:If you want to maximize your joy in the presence of Christ when He returns then arrange your life in a way to where you you making disciples to present to Him when He comes again.If we want to maximize joy for us as a church then we need to arrange our church life in a way where we are seeing disciples of Christ growing in their love for Christ, they\u2019re living Christ, and making Christ known. If we want to maximize joy for our lives then we must move out making disciples of Jesus all over the world. If you want to maximize joy in your life then make disciples.Jesus said His presence is with us as we go and make disciples. He said His Spirit empowers us as we make disciples. He said the dynamite power of God in the gospel is seen when we make disciples. He said that joy in His presence is ours from having made disciples. FRANCIS CHAN QUOTE: \u201cIf you want to experience God, go and make disciples.\u201d (sums it all up)If you want to look like Jesus, do what Jesus did - make disciples because that\u2019s what He did.The IMPLICATIONS from our MISSION being a church moving out making disciples who know Christ, live Christ, and make Christ known forming multiplying church communities are huge! If you and I want to see the big stuff God has for our joy and His glory then we must be about making disciples. You see...it takes the presence of Christ, the power of His Spirit, and the power of the Gospel to make a disciple. So if you want to experience the presence of Christ, the power of His Spirit, and see the power of the Gospel at work in our city, on your street, on your campus, in your home then be about making disciples. Making disciples demands Jesus show up because we can\u2019t do this apart from Him. (John 15:5). It requires Him. It\u2019s His work, so it demands His presence, His Spirit, His Gospel. If you want the amazing God-story, you must be willing to take the risk where God has to show up, and that risk involves making disciples. When you risk and live to make disciples of Jesus then He shows up. He has to show up then because you can\u2019t make a disciple of Him without Him.Our mission as disciples of Jesus today is the same mission we read of from the first century church -make disciples who know Christ, live Christ, and make Christ known. This is our mission as Living Church. It\u2019s what we\u2019re about. It\u2019s what the first century disciples we\u2019re about. It\u2019s what Jesus was and is about. It\u2019s simply our turn now. It\u2019s our move. Do you long to experience the presence of Christ in your life? Do you want to see the power of the Spirit of God explode through your life? Do you desire to see lives transformed by the gospel of Christ? Do you ache for a lasting joy that comes from being in the presence of Christ? If so, GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES. For those here without Christ - Repent & Receive the Gospel. For those here who are disciples of Christ - Know the Gospel. Live the Gospel. Share the Gospel. Make Disciples with the Gospel. As you move out making disciples you will experience the presence of Christ, witness the power of His Spirit, see the transformation of lives by the Gospel, and share in the joy of Christ from those who receive the Gospel. Jesus said so. So, move. It\u2019s our turn. It\u2019s our mission. It\u2019s our joy. It\u2019s our move. What moves can you make this week to arrange your life around making disciples? What\u2019s your next move? (Give Examples: Pray for opportunities. Pray for someone. Talk to someone. Show an act of kindness, Spend time with Jesus, tell your kids about Jesus, etc.)It\u2019s our turn. It\u2019s our mission. It\u2019s our joy. The implications are huge. It\u2019s our move. \u201cChurch, if you want to experience God, then move. Make disciples.\u201d