In this final sermon regarding a missional life, Pastor Henry seeks to show believers exactly what it means to seek first God’s kingdom. Jesus makes it clear that we are not to be fearing the things that unbelievers fear. Rather, implied in this is that we ought to be fearing God. But the hard reality is that possessions, the pleasure that they bring, and the fear of losing them too often capture our minds to the point that we lose sight of God and His kingdom. The result? A loss of reward in eternity, a paralyzing effect in our lives now, and a lack of true worship toward our Lord.
Money and possessions are the great idols of America. But it is obvious from the words of Jesus that they are the idols of mankind as well. How do we view money? What are the purposes of possessions? When is enough, enough? So how do we answer these and other questions? Pastor Henry shows that the answer starts and ends with worship—you cannot serve both God and money for your treasure—what you worship—is where your heart is. This means it is a lot more than merely giving up on the pursuit of riches, or tithing more, or helping the poor. Rather, it speaks of the true motivation for that giving.
In this second part on unity Pastor Henry reminds his congregation what their responsibility before man and God is to be. Every Christian possesses the unity of the Spirt, but the unity of the faith is something that no church will ever fully attain this side of eternity. Nonetheless, it is something that our Lord expects us to strive after with every fiber of our being, How we pursue the unity of the faith is through gifted men who build up the church so that the people can do the Church’s work.
The unity of the Spirit is something that every church and every Christian must hold to jealously. Unity is a natural outcome of the gospel. Once disunity is tolerated, sin and shame is sure to follow. But what is it? And how do we go about maintaining it? These are explored in this message.
Pastor Henry shows how the gospel must be central in all that we do. From the foundation of the church to its building up, the gospel has to flow in and out of it. And to the degree the church stays faithful to that gospel, it will be healthy, holy, and missional. Paul gives us a clear pathway to follow in this manner; one that he walked, and one that he bids us to walk as well. May we all be faithful to ever and always be gospel-centered.
How does a Christian grow? While this may seem obvious too often the answer is anything but the gospel. But that is deadly to the life of each Christian and must be remedied. Pastor Henry seeks to help his congregation to see that the gospel is not something believed and then forgotten; rather it is to define and instruct in all our walk. And only through applying the gospel throughout our life shall we live with true, abiding gratitude that frees us to serve our Lord.
In the prior sermon we learned that the Church, starting with the Apostles, were sent out into the world as the Father sent Christ. However, though this is true and important to embrace, how this actually works itself out in our lives and in history is different for each person. We are uniquely saved and called into the ministry of the gospel. And therefore it is important that we not create too narrow of a lane in which we are calling the Church to walk and live. This sermon seeks to help clarify that very point.
Jesus did not save us for us to sit on our rear ends and relax. He saved us to send us, just and His Father sent Him into this dark world. But too often we as Christians fail to see this, or to take this responsibility seriously. That is sin and it must be repented of by God’s people. In this message Pastor Henry tries to begin to unlock the meaning of being missional. It is being sent out with the gospel to a dying world.
At the top of every sermon note is the mission statement for Missio Dei Fellowship. It is woven into every part of the day to day processes and actions of the church. But having a mission statement and owning that statement are two very different things. In these two sermons the people of Missio are exhorted to carefully consider the what, why and how of their mission statement.
