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Today's scripture is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 16 through 20.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Wow, that was awesome, Joan.
I gotta get you to read my books on Audible.
We love you.
Good morning, everyone.
My name's Andrew.
I'm one of the pastors here.
It's a little bit longer of a sermon today.
I'm sorry I didn't have time to cut it down as much as I normally do.
It's been a rough week for me.
Our kitchen faucet sink broke.
I was involved in a hit and run.
I didn't hit them.
I got hit.
They ran.
And then the Warriors lost last night, so I'm not feeling it.
But I'm glad to bring God's Word to you.
We're closing out our series in the Gospel of Matthew.
But before we do that, let's go ahead and come to the Lord in prayer.
Father, we want to hear from you.
We want to be filled with this resurrection life.
And we so want to be the church that you've called us to be, filled with this resurrection spirit.
Would you make that happen, God?
The preaching of your Word and the fellowship that's here, the prayers and the singing.
When we meet you at the table, would you nourish us, fill us, and make us what you want us to be?
For our sake and for your glory, we pray.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, you know, as a pastor, I often get asked for, like, life advice and counsel.
It's kind of crazy, but that's what happens.
It comes with the territory.
And, I mean, just this week I was walking with someone and they asked me, you know,
I just started dating, but how do I know when we're ready to take the next step?
You know, I ask these kinds of questions all the time.
And I'm super honored that people come to me with these kinds of questions and I try
to respond like a calm and collected, confident, you know, unflappable, super wise sage.
But if I'm honest, when some of you ask me, you know, should I take this job or that one?
Should I move here or there?
Should I date or marry this person or that?
What is God's will for my life?
And how do I know for sure?
Like, honestly, I pretty much never really know.
All right?
Like, how each and every one of you ought to live your lives in the specific details
and decisions that confront you.
Most of the time, I don't know any more than you do.
I can't tell you to pursue, you know, academia with your PhD versus a job in the industry.
I can't tell you whether or not you should buy that house there or when you should buy it.
But what I can tell you and what I will always try to tell you is what God's revealed will
is for all of us and what God's commanded us.
So, for example, I was just walking with, like, a newly engaged bachelor just a couple months ago.
He's trying to consider, discern a new career path.
And I couldn't definitively, like, tell him, though, to leave his job in education
and to pursue tech or healthcare or something like that.
But while I couldn't tell him to pursue this or that career, thus saith the Lord,
what I could remind him of is what the Lord has said, right?
The greatest commandment.
What does Jesus say?
The greatest commandment.
To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
And to love our neighbors as ourselves.
And so, while I couldn't say, you know, be a teacher, not a tech bro, thus saith the Lord, no.
My counsel to this bachelor was, on which path do you think you could better love God
and better love your neighbors?
See, I try to remind people of the clear commands of God that should orient all of our life decisions.
And we're going to look at one of those big commandments that ought to orient our entire life today.
This Sunday after Easter, we're closing out, again, our sermon series in the Gospel account of Matthew.
We're looking at this huge command from the risen Christ, what many call the Great Commission.
The Great Commission here at the end of Matthew's Gospel account.
It's what the risen Christ tells to the New Covenant church.
His last words to them before He ascends to the Father.
Verse 18,
Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
and teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you.
Again, the Great Commission is this mission, this specific task that Jesus commanded and set His church to fulfill.
To go and make disciples of all the nations.
That's what the church is here to do.
The church is here to make disciples.
And you know, we can go and serve the poor, but we can also serve the poor without making disciples.
The thing is, we cannot make disciples without going to serve the poor.
Do you understand that distinction?
The church is here to make disciples of nations.
That is our primary task.
And the simple question for all of us here who claim to be Christians,
who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ is,
how are we going to do this?
Both individually and collectively,
how are we going to fulfill Jesus' Great Commission commandment?
And how are we going to make disciples of all the nations?
And what is each and every one of our roles in this massive undertaking?
That's the question for the Christians in the room.
But you know, even before we ask that question,
maybe you're here today and you haven't decided to follow Jesus.
Maybe you're here and you're skeptical of His claim in verse 18
that all authority in heaven and on earth have been given unto Him.
And I have a question for you too.
Because like, sure, you don't have to be a disciple of Jesus if you don't want to.
And you certainly don't have to make disciples of Jesus among the nations
as He commanded His church to do.
But my question for you is then,
who or what are you following?
And if not making disciples of Jesus,
what have you given your life to making?
You see, if we're all honest with ourselves,
we're actually all disciples of someone or something.
And even in our you-do-you-I-won't-judge culture,
we are actually all far more engaged in making disciples than I think we realize.
And maybe you're like, what are you talking about?
I'm no disciple and I'm certainly not making disciples.
I'm just doing me.
I'm just living my life.
And I have no interest in telling other people how they ought to live.
No interest in imposing my way of life on others.
But don't you see?
Even that way of thinking, even that way of living,
actually demonstrates who you are a disciple of.
You're a disciple of the Western school of self-expressive individualism.
You're a product of the European Enlightenment,
a student of Western liberal thought.
You are a disciple.
No matter what you think, we're all disciples.
And I mean, even your supposedly unimposing, you know,
you-do-you approach to others,
don't you see that that too is a form of discipling others?
Think about it.
You-do-you, it's still a command.
It's a way of life that you're commending to others.
Come and follow me, you say, right?
Come follow me as I do me and you-do-you.
That's still discipleship.
Because see, really, a disciple is simply a follower.
A follower, a learner, an adherent,
someone who follows a teacher or follows an influencer, if you like.
Someone who follows someone and their way of life.
I mean, just show me your Twitter feeds, right?
Show me your Instagram.
Show me your TikTok.
And tell me with a straight face that you are not a follower,
that you are not a disciple.
Following, you know, that fitness influencer,
that mommy influencer, that mental health influencer,
maybe your favorite journalist or podcaster.
And then maybe for those of you who are not millennials
and are not social media followers,
who do you follow in the New York Times
or in the Wall Street Journal?
Who's your favorite columnist?
Maybe you're a disciple of Nike or Anthropology or The Gap
or Lululemon or Ikea or Costco.
That's probably me, right?
And your lifestyle, your consumer habits
are way more determined for you than by you.
Honestly, none of us is as original as we like to think.
We all need to be real with that.
We all need to accept that.
And we all need to be more conscious
of who and what we're following and why.
Because you see, being a follower, being a disciple
isn't necessarily a bad thing.
We were made to be disciples, followers, learners, adherents.
That's how the Creator made His creatures.
God made us to be and to make disciples
in His image and not in our own image.
When He said, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth,
He wanted us to multiply disciples.
He wanted us to multiply the image of God
across all the earth.
So another way we could put the question of
who is it that's discipling us is
whose image are we seeking to be formed
and conformed unto?
What image are we aspiring to live up to
and look like?
Is it the image of God?
Or is it the image of something else?
And if it's something else,
is it actually a better image?
A better image than the image
of the invisible God, Jesus Christ.
And maybe you're like,
heck yeah, it's better.
I don't want to be in the image of Jesus Christ,
the crucified Christ.
But what I would say to that is,
you know, you can avoid following a crucified Christ,
but you cannot avoid the eventual death,
judgment, and shame of His cross.
And no one you follow
can ultimately deliver you from that
but the crucified and risen Christ.
So you can avoid discipleship
under the crucified Christ,
but what other discipleship tracks
lead to resurrection life?
CrossFit and orange theory is discipleship.
And that discipleship might prolong your life,
but it cannot save your life.
Lifestyle, influencer, Instagram, discipleship
might beautify your life,
but it cannot save your life.
Positive psychology, therapeutic, mental health,
discipleship might comfort your life,
but it cannot save your life.
So again, none of us can escape it.
We are all disciples of something or someone.
We're all following some way of life.
And Jesus would remind us today
that He alone is the way.
He alone is the truth.
And He alone is the life,
the way to live and pattern our lifestyles
after the truth to trust,
the true image of God to conform our lives to.
And He's the very life Himself,
the conqueror of death,
and His tomb is empty.
So now with this second part of the sermon,
what I want to do is I want to pay closer attention
to our text here,
and here's the big idea.
Jonathan St. Clair style, right?
The risen Messiah leaves His faltering followers
with a commission and a comfort.
The risen Messiah leaves His faltering followers
with a commission and a comfort.
So let's start with the risen Messiah
and His faltering followers.
I should have chosen a better word.
So remember the context.
The context for this passage is that
the tomb is empty,
Christ is risen,
and He's told His disciples
to meet back up with Him in Galilee
where they had so many of their adventures, right?
All the memories in Galilee.
So verse 16 says,
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
And then look what it says in verse 17,
and I love how Joan Benton accented this part.
When they saw Him,
they worshipped Him,
but some doubted.
Right, Joan?
But some doubted.
And that's an interesting response, right?
It's a very interesting response.
And the first thing I want to say about this
is that, you know,
just like the women being the first eyewitnesses
of the resurrection,
this is another example
from these historical gospel accounts
where if it didn't actually happen,
the writers would not have made this up.
Like, why would you record
how the very disciples Christ commanded
to found His very church,
why would you mention their doubt?
Why not just mention their worship?
The only reason would be
that this is simply what happened.
The scriptures, the scriptures, Christianity,
we keep it real, all right?
And you know,
the more conservative commentators
I read this week,
they tried to suggest
that the some who doubted
were actually not the eleven,
but maybe some people
in Jesus' wider entourage of disciples
perhaps still traumatized
from the emotional rollercoaster
of seeing, you know,
their Messiah arrested and beaten
and bruised and crucified and buried.
And you know, perhaps,
that is a plausible interpretation,
but I'm not quite sure
that I'm convinced of that interpretation,
if I'm honest with you.
See, to the conservative commentators,
they just think you cannot both worship and doubt.
They think that like,
worship and doubt,
or like faith and doubt,
are completely incompatible and at odds.
And I want to be careful here
because I think there's some truth to this.
Like, worship and unbelief,
or faith and unbelief,
are definitely incompatible.
And I think there's a kind of
progressive Christianity
that overly celebrates doubt
and skepticism to the detriment of the church.
But if you look at the Greek word here
for doubt,
it's not so much an active
or an aggressive rejection of Christ
or a staunch refusal to believe
against all evidence.
It could also be translated,
but some wavered,
but some hesitated.
I think that's what the scriptures talk about
when they talk about, you know,
the conviction of faith
versus the certainty of sight.
And so what I think is happening here
is that yes,
the disciples are worshiping,
but they're also wavering.
And that's real stuff, right?
And maybe this strikes you at first
as uninspiring or discouraging,
but can I just ask,
is this not also how most of us Christians
worship the risen Christ as well?
Are we not also wavering worshipers?
Some days believing the good news
more than other days,
often hesitant in the ways
that we follow and worship Christ.
And maybe this isn't ideal for worship,
but it surely is real, isn't it?
It is for me.
You know, by its very nature,
faith, even the conviction
and certainty of faith,
it isn't about arriving
at some kind of scientific,
empirical certainty
that would satisfy the likes of,
you know, Descartes
and modern Western philosophy.
No, our faith is not yet sight.
Our faith implies our hesitations
and our waverings
and the doubts that flood our minds.
This is part of the Christian experience,
having faith in the midst of our doubts,
trusting and hoping in what is unseen,
in what is yet to come.
You know, if you are a lifelong,
perpetual doubter,
God's word to you today
is that you're still invited.
You're still invited to come to Jesus,
just as his eleven were.
God's word to you is that
your doubt and your wavering
and your hesitation
need not be at odds with your worship,
nor do your doubts preclude you
from participating in God's good plans
for the world.
Again, the risen Messiah
leaves his faltering followers
with a commission and a comfort.
He commissions even those who doubt
to fulfill the most important mission
God's ever given to humanity.
And he says,
go and make disciples
even as your doubters.
And if that speaks to you this morning,
like, we are super glad that you're here.
And we believe that this is a church for you.
We'd love to get to know you more.
We hope you'll come to our
Ask Me Anything lunch
to bring your doubts.
We hope you'll bring your doubts
and find that you can still belong here
at Christ Church,
even with your doubts,
even with your hesitations.
So that's point number one.
Now, let's talk about the commission
to go and make disciples
of all the nations, right?
That's the commission,
to go and make disciples
of all the nations.
You know, basically,
this is Jesus' elaboration
on the creation mandate,
the cultural mandate.
Jesus' command here in verse 19
to go and make disciples
of the nations,
to go and make more followers
of him in all the world,
to spread his image
and likeness among the nations.
This is basically
a more specific
new covenant commandment
to be fruitful
and to multiply
and to fill the earth
in spite of the fallenness
and brokenness of creation.
He's saying,
go and represent me
to the world.
Bear witness about me
from Jerusalem
to Judea,
to Samaria,
to the ends of the earth
and multiply the message.
Multiply the witnesses.
The goal is still the same.
The glorious image of God
reflected across the face
of the earth.
Especially now,
through the incarnation
of Christ,
the image of God
has become clearer, right?
It is no longer
the image of the invisible God,
but the image
of the invisible God
made visible
in the crucified
and risen Christ,
like in the flesh.
This is Jesus' last command.
More disciples,
more image of God,
more image of me
in all the nations.
Jesus is making explicit
that his kingdom
is a cosmic kingdom.
It's a universal kingdom.
His authority is universal.
But also notice
that he doesn't say,
go and make soldiers.
Go and make armies
of all nations.
Go and make slaves
and servants.
No, Jesus isn't
that kind of a king.
He says,
go and make disciples
of all nations.
Like the kinds of people
he loved to spend time with
and teach
and eat with
and walk with every day.
The kinds of people
he called his own family.
Disciples whose filthy feet
he washed, right?
Disciples whom
he would forgive.
Disciples whom
he would die for.
That's what he's saying here.
You know,
I think a lot of people,
you know,
we get uncomfortable
around this idea
of the Great Commission
and evangelism
and missions
and proselytation, right?
Because of the history
of colonialism.
It's no good.
And I'll be the first
to say that
so much evil
has been done
in the name of Christ, right?
The Portuguese,
the British,
the French,
the Crusaders
wielding Christ's authority
with what?
Guns and swords.
But that was never
the way of Jesus.
That was never the way
Jesus or his apostles
made disciples.
Never through coercion,
never through force,
but always through love
and self-sacrifice
with joy
and compassion
and the spirit
of inclusion.
I mean,
notice how Jesus says
to make disciples
in verse 19.
And see,
I don't have time
to give a sermon
on baptism
or the Trinity today,
but what Jesus is saying
is that you go
and make disciples
not by forcing them
into the family,
but by winning them
into the family,
winning them back
into the eternal love,
joy,
and fellowship
of the triune God.
That's what making disciples
is about.
It's not about
racking up numbers
like a salesperson.
It's about inviting people
back into fellowship
and inclusion
with the maker
of their souls.
It's about inviting people
into the joy
that they're searching
for everywhere else,
but that they can only
experience
in the one true
triune God.
I love how
Pastor John Piper
puts it.
He says,
missions exist
because worship doesn't.
Missions exist
because worship doesn't.
You know,
last Sunday
at Easter Sunday,
didn't you enjoy
that worship?
Being in the presence
of God.
Didn't you enjoy that?
Don't you want that
for others?
Missions exist
because worship doesn't.
Some people don't get
to experience that
because they don't know
Jesus.
And see,
the impulse
of the Great Commission,
it isn't mere duty.
No,
it's passion
for the worship of God
and compassion
for those who are
worshiping other gods,
these other gods
that cannot save them,
that do not love them,
that will not die for them.
The impulse
of the Great Commission
is a desire
for the nations
to know the joy
of worshiping the Father,
the Son,
and the Spirit.
Just as the psalmists
cry out,
let the nations be glad,
that is the heartbeat
of missions.
Let the nations
be glad.
So he says
to go and make disciples,
right,
of all the nations
by baptizing them
into the fellowship
of the church
and into the fellowship
of the triune God,
right?
But what else
does he say?
He says,
You know,
as a pastor
and a preacher,
when I first started,
my simple goal
was for at least
one person to say,
hey, nice sermon,
or good job,
or hey,
I liked what you said today.
And I'd be like,
oh, sweet,
at least one person
listened and appreciated it.
Mission accomplished.
But you know,
like,
as I've continued
to develop
as a preacher,
as a pastor,
God's been doing
something in me
where honestly,
I'm starting to care less
whether or not
you like my preaching.
I'm realizing
that the measure
that I should use
as a preacher
shouldn't be
how many compliments
I get on a Sunday
or how many people
like listening to me.
Honestly,
you don't have to like me
as a preacher.
You don't have to like
what I say.
But the real question is,
are the people
that God's entrusted to me
am I just teaching them
or am I teaching them
to obey everything
that Jesus commanded?
Like,
it's dawned on me
that I could become
this famous preacher
to millions.
I probably couldn't,
but if I did
and receive like mailboxes
full of praise
for the way I preach
and invitations
to preach here
and there
all over the world,
if not a single
one of those listeners
actually became
a disciple
who actually obeyed
everything that Jesus
commanded them
with regard to their money,
with regard to their time
and their bodies
and their sex lives
and how they loved
their neighbors
and cared for the poor
and the parentless,
then I have failed
as a preacher.
Then I have failed
as a pastor
and as a disciple maker.
See,
when it comes to this
last command of Jesus
before he ascended
into heaven,
this call to make disciples,
teaching isn't enough.
It's not enough
to get this stuff
into your heads
without getting it
into your hearts
and through your hands.
Teaching is one thing,
but teaching to obey
is another.
And this is what we're after
here at Christ Church.
And can you imagine
a world full of disciples
of Jesus,
disciples who aren't just taught,
but who are taught
to obey?
Can you imagine
if that happened?
If people living
into their identity
as disciples
and followers of Jesus,
living after the image
and pattern
of Jesus Christ,
filled this earth,
can you imagine?
I mean,
history has borne witness
to this movement
and this reality, right?
For ever since
the resurrection,
whenever and wherever
disciples of Jesus
have lived
like their master
and conformed
to his image,
abundant life
has flowed,
sins forgiven,
wrecked relationships,
reconciled,
unity and diversity
equally upheld,
healings and hospitals,
the poor uplifted,
women seen as equals,
unwanted children
welcomed into families
and the marginalized
of society
have found belonging
when the people of God
pursue the image of God.
Don't you want to be
a part of that?
Don't you want to make
disciples of the nations
for the good
of the nations?
If you're looking
for a place to start,
you know,
we'd love to talk to you
about that,
set you up with
someone to disciple you
or maybe set someone else
up to be discipled
by you.
And we're always looking
for community group leaders
here at Christ Church.
They fill up so fast,
let's talk.
But maybe you're here today
and you think of your faith
as just something
you do on Sundays
or what you lean on
in hard times
and that's the extent
of your discipleship
under Jesus Christ.
Maybe you feel
like you don't have time
to sit at Jesus' feet
to listen to him
and to live in communion
with him daily
and you're especially
uninterested in like going
and making disciples,
right?
But again,
in those places
in your life
where you feel like
that's not under
the discipleship of Jesus,
please don't fool yourself.
You are a disciple
to something
and you are making disciples,
even if that just means
passively making disciples
of the Bay Area status quo.
Jesus' great commission
has to animate
every square inch
of our lives
in our homes,
in our schools,
in our workplaces,
in our leisure,
not just within
the walls of the church.
Like if relationship building
and investing in people,
drawing people
into deeper relationships
with Christ,
seeing them baptized
into closer communion
with the triune God,
if living for the joy
of others
and the fellowship
of others
and for the belonging
and inclusion
and all the benefits
of union with Christ
for others
is not what we're living for.
If seeing people
live the way
that Jesus commanded,
if seeing a whole world
of people,
the nations,
living the way
Jesus did,
if this isn't
what we're living for,
if disciples
are not what we're
aiming to make,
then what are we
living for?
What are we doing?
And is it really better?
Is it the hope
of the world?
Now maybe for you
this morning,
you've heard this commission,
you've heard this command
from Jesus
to make disciples,
but you're afraid
of failure
and I get that.
And you're afraid
maybe of what it might
cost you,
because it is costly.
You're afraid of
sharing the gospel
with your family,
your friend,
your coworkers,
your neighbors,
because you're afraid
of the questions
or of seeming foolish
or naive
or judgmental.
Or maybe you're afraid
to let go of this
or that truly good
commitment in your life
in order to make
more room to invest
in making disciples
of the nations.
Well, could I just close
by reminding you
that this risen Messiah
left us not only
with a commission,
but also with a comfort?
To those of us
who are afraid
to be disciple-making
disciples of Jesus,
thinking like,
what if we fail?
And what authority
do I have
to call people
to follow me
as I follow Christ?
Could I just remind you
today that Jesus says,
all authority
in heaven
and on earth
have been given
to him.
It's been given
to me, he says,
therefore go
and make disciples
of the nations.
And this is the gospel.
It's not about
your authority.
It's not about
your power,
but it's about his.
It's all his.
All the authority
is his in heaven
and on earth.
Your job is simply
to point to his authority,
his gentle authority,
the authority
that he won,
not by bowing down
to the tempter
in the wilderness,
but by bowing down
to his Father
and rising again
by the Spirit.
We need not go out
into the world
to make disciples
of the nations
in our own authority,
but we go
with Christ's authority.
And success is sure,
fully empowered
by his Spirit
to be fruitful
and to multiply
and to fill the earth
with his power,
with his presence,
ruling and reigning
with him
as royal priesthood
he calls us.
And man,
that's power.
That's real power.
All right?
Authority over
every sickness,
every sadness,
every oppression,
authority to break
every chain of injustice.
It all belongs to him.
And he's called us
to go in his name
just like his disciples.
And not only does he
comfort us with his authority,
but also with his presence.
Verse 20,
this is my favorite part
of the Great Commission.
And surely,
I am with you
always.
We need not go about
making disciples
on our own.
We can't.
But God with us can.
And he invites us
to participate
in his work
in the world.
It's like bring your children
to work day
only like it's
actually productive
and life-giving
and affirming
for your vocation.
He wants us to come
alongside of him
as his apprentices,
as his disciples.
He says,
surely I am with you
always,
to the very end,
or in the Greek,
to the very fullness,
to the very completion,
to the very perfection
of this age.
Like all the way
to the happy ending,
he says.
All the way
to the happy ending.
His presence is with us
all the way
to the perfect,
beautiful,
glorious,
satisfying ending
of the story
that all of our hearts
long for.
So how could we fail
if he's with us?
And what shall we fear?
Imagine how differently
we might live
if we all believed
in the authority
of Jesus
and in the presence
of Jesus
to go and make
disciples of the nations.
What liberation
and hope
and joy
might be ours
if we realized
that the success
of the church
in her mission
and the consummation
of God's very kingdom purposes
have less to do
with his faltering followers
and everything to do
with the authority
and the presence
of Jesus Christ
with us
all the way
to the happy ending.
See,
this gospel account
of Matthew
started with Emmanuel,
right?
God with us
and in the same way
it ends
with God with us
always.
Perhaps the most
foundational,
profound truth
of the gospel
that God
would be with us
forever.
Like,
no matter the cost,
God with us.
It's incredible.
You know,
this week,
one of our staff members,
Maria Francis,
she's our assistant director
of ministry,
she was sharing about
how she was gonna have dinner
with an old friend.
Her and Pastor Mike,
her husband,
are from Florida.
So this friend from Florida
was in the bay
and she was gonna have dinner
with them,
but the thing was,
this friend
hadn't seen Mike
since before his accident
and his traumatic brain injury
and his,
you know,
devastating memory loss.
And so Maria was
kind of fretting about,
like,
oh,
how's this dinner gonna go?
How's this friend
gonna experience
this guy
who was her former pastor
that she looked up to
but who was a new Mike,
no longer the person
that he once was.
So as a staff,
we prayed for Maria
about that dinner
and I wanna tell you
what happened.
So Maria said
they had a great time.
They had dumplings
and ice cream.
Sounded wonderful.
And then as they were leaving
to say goodbye,
good old Pastor Mike,
who probably couldn't remember
this girl's name,
right?
He did remember something,
though.
Something at the core
of who he is
and something he wanted
this girl to remember
as they were saying goodbye.
And what he said to her
was this.
He said,
remember who you belong to,
the God who promised
never to leave you
nor forsake you.
And these words
from her former pastor,
like,
made this girl
burst into tears.
And when I heard this,
I was like,
man,
thank you, God.
And man,
Pastor Mike still got it.
Still making disciples,
still fulfilling
the great commission.
And if Pastor Mike
can't remember
anything else
but that surely
the I am
is with him
always
and with us
always,
even to the end
of the age.
If the truth
of God with us
can be so
indelibly
etched
into his heart
and his very being
that even after
he's lost
so much else,
he can still be
leading people
into deeper
relationships
with Christ.
like,
what reason
do we have
not to join
Pastor Mike
in this
great news
commission
to make disciples
of the nations
as the commandment
of God
for his people?
That's the church
he wants us to be.
Let's pray.
Surely you are
with us
always
even to the end
of the age.
What good news
is that,
Lord?
What amazing
good news.
We who have
no business
being in your presence
you've drawn
near to us
in Christ.
You made your dwelling
amongst us
you died
for our sins
you buried them
you've risen
to new life
and you raise us
up with you
you seat us
on your lap
in the heavenly
places
with the angels
and archangels
next to the
Father on high
so how can we
not obey you?
How can we not
want this
for other people?
Oh Lord,
would the heartbeat
of this church
of Christ Church
East Bay
would it be
let the nations
be glad
let the nations
be glad
in you
let the nations
be glad
in their maker
and in their
redeemer
let the nations
be glad
in Christ
the only kind
of God
who loves us
so much
that he would
die for us
so make this
the heartbeat
of our church
Lord God
and start with me
let the nations
be glad
and would you
make disciples
of the nations
through this
body of faith
we pray
starting with
this city
and beyond
in the name
of Jesus
Amen
the nossa