WEEK 4: Mission of the Church (Pentecost)
DATE: May 24th
MAIN IDEA: The harvest is carried by the Church. The Spirit empowers the Church to go into the world and gather the harvest.
KEY SCRIPTURES: Acts 1:8; Acts 8:1-4; Acts 13:2-3
SERMON IDEAS:
1) Commission, power leads us to be witnesses
--- Acts 1:8, "You will receive power… and you will be my witnesses"
--- Power is not the goal. Witness and evangelism is the goal.
--- The Spirit is given so that the Church would go, not stay
--- Jesus said go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth This is not just geography. This is expansion. Concentric circles of mission momentum.
2) Movement, the Church is sent out
--- Acts 8:1–4, the Church is scattered
--- What looks like disruption for the church is actually God’s multiplication power
--- Persecution becomes propagation
--- The gospel spreads because the Church moves even in trial and hardship, it keeps going in search of the harvest
--- The harvest requires movement
3) Mission, the Spirit sends
--- Acts 13:2–3, the Spirit sets apart and sends
--- Mission is not self-initiated. It is Spirit-directed.
--- The Church does not create mission. The Church joins God’s mission.
--- We do not own the mission, it is God’s mission, and we get the privilege to participate in His harvest work
--- We go from afraid to empowered, We go from local to global, we go from comfort to calling
4) The plan of the Father is the Harvest
5) The vision of the Son is to see the Harvest
6) The power of the Spirit is for the Harvest
7) The church is sent into the Harvest
8) It all fits together, even more as a we are a Pentecostal church, we must get ready for the harvest today, it is our part in this grand story of the harvest
ADDITIONAL CROSS REFERENCE:
- Matthew 28:18–20, Great Commission
- Romans 10:14–15, how will they hear?
- 2 Corinthians 5:20, ambassadors for Christ
- Isaiah 49:6, light to the nations
APPLICATION:
- Identify your field. Your home, workplace, school, city.
- Take one step. Initiate a conversation, pray for someone, invite someone.
- Engage in mission. Here or abroad. Pray, give, go.
- Embrace discomfort. The harvest is not reached from a place of comfort.
- Be abundant. The resources for the harvest are in the harvest itself.
