Get Going!

This past weekend I said in regards to John 10:16, "I can show you at the end of every gospel how Jesus sends us out. If you are listening to the good shepherd's voice you will be on the good shepherd's mission." I shared a bit about David Livingstone and his mission to Central Africa. On his gravestone is written John 10:16. It is important to see that not only is the missionary heart of God displayed at the end of each gospel, but it is also in the question He asked all the way back in Genesis 3:9, "But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" Notice that Adam, who is the man, wasn't looking for God, but God was looking for him. Below I placed each of the verses from the gospels that show Jesus sending us out on his mission (emphasis is mine). Take some time to think about them. How can you participate in the mission where you live, work, and play? How can you participate in the mission in a foreign land? In the next few weeks we will be starting a 4-week series to talk through this very thing. This will help you get a head start.

Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Mark 16:15
And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

Luke 24:45-47
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

John 20:21
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."