Progressing on the Mission of Jesus Run With Horses

24_06_01 Run With Horses Podcast - Progressing on the Mission of JesusI hope to return to looking at our definition of church soon but as I am traveling and don't have access to my notes at the moment, I am going to take a parallel path that should lead into the next topic, and Today, that topic is the mission of Jesus.Welcome to Run With Horses! My name is Norman and my goal is to help you thrive a a follower of Jesus. It may be a long road but it shouldn't be a lonely road because we get to travel it together with the body of Christ, His beautiful church! Thanks for letting me be part of your journey.
 
MY WORKING DEFINITION OF CHURCH
A CHURCH is a group of followers of Jesus who worship Him in spirit and truth, humbly offering their lives as living sacrifices, together living out the mission of Jesus as His witnesses to the world, by sharing the gospel and making disciples through teaching obedience to His commands as they edify and equip others to join them on His mission.The next official part of the definition of church that we will look at is the mission of Jesus. It may be jumping the gun a little but I want to spend some time today going over some simple steps that you can take to grow in your direct involvement in the mission of Jesus.I think 2 Corinthians 5: 17-20 and Matthew 28:18-20 give a good summary of the mission for now.First 2 Corinthians 5:17-20Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.Matthew 28:18-20And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.Throw in Ephesians 4: 11-16 and you have a good idea of the mission of Jesus and the work of the ministry that Jesus called us to.And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.But practically what are the things that you can do to directly grow in your involvement in the mission?0. Pray!For your spiritual growth, for your personal ministry, for gospel workers, for your church, for the lost in your sphere of influence.1. Remember your testimony.Go through again what Jesus did on your behalf on the Cross and the changes that He worked in your life. Not the point of today's show but a quick partial reminder: forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with God, adoption into God's family, eternal life, received the righteousness of Jesus, etc, etc. Be encouraged! This is what Jesus did for you!2. Remember the Gospel that secured those benefits for you.Jesus did it through His pe