Vision + Provision | Message 3

Vision + Provision | Message Three

This new series is called “Vision and Provision.”

By ‘vision’ we mean the big spiritual questions of life:

❔ Why are we here?

❔ What is our dream for our life, and what is God’s dream for our life?

By ‘provision’ we mean the practical resources God provides to make dreams a reality: time, money, effort, energy, etc.

Scriptures | Matthew 28:16-20 | Perhaps the greatest spiritual vision ever given by Jesus was the Great Commission.  

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped 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.” ~ Matthew 28:16-20

Question 1 | You don’t have to have heard the sermon from Sunday, but if you were in church, watched online, or listened to the podcast, what stuck with you?

Question 2 | “Go” is a little word that is a big deal in the Bible.  The Bible says “go” over 1500 times!  In this scripture, Jesus commands his disciples (and us) to “go” and do the things he commanded.  There are many ways that we can “go”, here are a few examples: We can go on a short-term mission trip, go a long-term mission trip, we can serve people on the other side of the world by serving refugees (through Circle or through some other refugee ministry) who are now our neighbors in America. 

❔ Can you briefly name one way that you have “gone” in the past? 

❔ And can you identify one way that you might “go” in the present or in the immediate future?  

Follow up question!  Jeremy suggested that sometime this week, when we walk into a room (any room with people in it) we should look around the room and ask God to identify someone in the room we should “go” to – and then simply to approach the person with kindness and hospitality. 

❔ Did you try this?  If not, would you be willing to try it and report back next week?

Question 3 | An essential part of the Great Commission is to “make disciples” of Jesus Christ.  

We can begin by recognizing that we are formed, shaped, and influenced by all kinds of things: our community, our culture, our experiences.  A person who lived through the Great Depression or 9/11 was shaped by that experience.  A person who has good (or bad!) role models was shaped by that experience as well.  In this sense, we can be “discipled” (formed, shaped, deeply influenced) by anything.  Gang members, political extremists, and conspiracy theorists aren’t making Christian disciples, but they are “making disciples” in the general sense.

Take a moment and reflect on this question: 

❔ What has formed or shaped you? 

❔ What is forming or shaping you now?  

Important follow up question: How can you do more of what makes you more like Jesus, and less of what makes you less like Jesus?  And how can you offer this to others?