The Mission of the Church
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I Am with You Always
Matthew ends his Gospel account with a breathtaking promise from Christ to His disciples: "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." This promise of...
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Living Under Christ's Lordship
Discipleship is a life of learning to observe all that Christ commanded. Christ is the Lord of heaven and earth and...
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All That Christ Commanded
The command to "make disciples" requires teaching all that Christ commanded. Nothing is...
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Lifelong Discipleship
The Great Commission is about making disciples of Jesus from every nation by baptizing them into the name of the Triune God and...
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Baptism and Circumcision
Baptism and circumcision are both signs and a seals of the covenant. They both mark entrance into the covenant and, as Paul's comments reveal in...
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Baptized Into Christ
The Great Commission is to make disciples by proclaiming the Gospel of Christ (the historical Christ of the Bible). This is essential because...
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Baptized Into Covenant
The Great Commission is a charge to declare the terms of God's Covenant of Grace in the preaching of the Gospel. The Covenant of...
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Baptism: A Sign and Seal
Baptism, like the preaching of the Word and the Lord's Table, is a means of grace. The blessings and realities of...
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Discipleship and Baptism
While the church battles over the mode of baptism (sprinkling, pouring or immersion), the significance of baptism for discipleship is often...
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The Name of the Triune God
The baptismal formula in the Great Commission is clearly trinitarian. The significance of baptism into the name of...
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Discipleship and the Name
In Matthew 28:19, the command of the Great Commission is to make disciples. The salvation Christ came to provide is not a mere escape from judgment. Jesus frees...
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Hearing Jesus in the Word Preached
Among today's evangelicals, preaching has suffered at the hands of innovation. Some preachers have replaced Gospel proclamation with personal stories and entertaining anecdotes. Others have...
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Following His Word or Feelings?
The individualistic, experiential society of today has had a negative impact on the church. For many, feelings, emotions and intuition have displaced the Scriptures as...
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Discipleship: How We Know Him
Discipleship is about knowing Christ. In our age of subjectivity, knowing Jesus is often considered a matter of personal experience. However, one...
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Discipleship: How We Hear Him
Among today's evangelicals, preaching has suffered at the hands of innovation. Some preachers have replaced Gospel proclamation with personal stories and entertaining anecdotes. Others have...
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Discipleship: Hearing His Voice
Discipleship is about knowing the Lord. As disciples of Jesus, we have been entrusted with the Gospel. We are ...
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Disciples Attain Righteousness
The point of discipleship is to mend our sin fractured relationship with God. Discipleship is based on the covenant of redemption established by Him. The objective is...
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Discipleship: To Know and Trust
Rabbis typically taught their disciples the intricacies of the Law and stressed the diligent performance in keeping the Law that they might be found acceptable before God. Jesus spoke...
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Discipleship: He Knows Us First
Christian discipleship is first and foremost about knowing Christ. To know Him as Redeemer and Lord is to love Him. And to love Him is to keep His commandments. This is...
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Discipleship: Knowing God
Discipleship is first and foremost concerned with learning who Christ is and what He has done for His people. In John 17:3, in the context of Christ's...
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Discipleship: Learn of Jesus
Christ's call to discipleship is not about learning rules, regulations or even theology, but primarily learning who Jesus is...
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Discipleship: Relinquishing Control
Being Christ's disciple requires denying self and taking up one's cross. This involves dying to our own self-interests and agendas...
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Discipleship: The Joy of Self-Denial
Being a disciple of Jesus is paradoxical on many levels. While Christ's commands are much deeper and weightier than the legalistic regulations of...
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The True Cost of Discipleship
Jesus challenged fair-weather followers to count the cost of being His disciples. The cost might seem...
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The Disciple's Supreme Loyalty
In Christ's call to discipleship (Mt 11:28-30), Jesus declares that His...
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Is Christ's Yoke Truly Easy?
Jesus contrasts His yoke of discipleship with the heavy burden imposed by the scribes and Pharisees. In Christ's call of...
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Christ's Yoke of Discipleship Pt 2
At the end of Matthew 11, Jesus gives a call to discipleship. The context leading up that call sets the tone for His declaration. Despite the...
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Christ's Yoke of Discipleship Pt 1
Jesus warned of the stern and arrogant Pharisees whose yoke of discipleship was a heavy burden which...
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The Yoke of Discipleship
The yoke is a common symbol in Scripture. It was used to represent discipleship by the Rabbis, a...
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Discipleship is Comprehensive
While the word "disciple" means learner or pupil, the biblical notion of discipleship is much different than...
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Made for Discipleship
The imperative of the Great Commission is to make disciples of all nations. This command reveals how God's redemptive purpose is to...
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Disciples of Our Lord
The command of the Great Commission is to make disciples. In biblical times, one was a disciple of another person, not a school of thought. To be a disciple one...
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Who Must Go?
While the command of the Great Commission is not to "go" but to "make disciples," the fact that such disciples are...
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Go, Therefore
The Great Commission is recorded in at least five of Christ's post-resurrection appearances. They all, either...
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The Gospel or Felt Needs
Despite the popularity of attempting to reach people by appealing to their felt needs as a means of opening the door to the Gospel, it is unbiblical and...
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The Foolishness of Preaching
Christ's instructions in the Great Commission are clear. Under His absolute authority we are to proclaim His redemptive work and command that...
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The Gospel or Methods of Men?
In the 19th century, the Great Commission was redefined in light of American cultural ideologies. Under Pelagian assumptions, pragmatism became...
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Christ Builds His Church
The Great Commission is based upon Christ's astounding, absolute authority. We are not building Christ's church, He is...
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The Gospel Confronts Culture
Christ has commissioned His church to proclaim the exclusive Gospel of Christ to the world. While becoming Christ's disciple will...
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Remember the Divine Plot Line
The individualistic, experiential society of today has had a negative impact on the church. For many, feelings, emotions and intuition have displaced the Scriptures as...
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Keeping the Gospel Pure
The church's emphasis of experience over doctrine and lack of spiritual discernment have combined with fallen humanity's penchant for pelagianism to weaken her...
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The Objective Reality of the Gospel
The way was paved for the new evangelical inclusivism (which asserts that, while Christ is the only Savior, one need not have explicit faith in Him to be saved) when...
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The Certain Call of the Gospel
We live in an age when the Gospel is being reshaped and redefined to appeal to the present culture. In an effort to...
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The Radical Gospel of Christ
The Great Commission was a radical proposition in the first century and remains so even today. The Jews would...
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The Exclusive Gospel
Is the Gospel inclusive or exclusive? It depends on who you ask. However, according to Scripture, the Gospel is both. From the perspective of...
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Authority Over Unseen Powers
In His humanity, Jesus not only won authority over all the earth but also defeated the unseen forces of evil (principalities and powers). When the Gospel is...
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The Kingdom Comes in Power
The features of the Great Commission were prophesied by Daniel in the Old Testament. The Son of Man is pictured as ascending into...
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The Mystery Revealed
When Jesus charged the disciples with the Great Commission He was uncovering the mystery of the Gospel. The redemptive purpose...
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Dominion Over All the Earth
When Jesus delivered the Great Commission to His disciples, He declared that, since He has been given all authority in ...
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The Authority to Grant Repentance
Christ absolute authority guarantees the success of the Great Commission for, by the Holy Spirit, He quickens...
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The Faith God Grants
Faith is the gift of God but there is a difference between the faith many claim to have and the biblical, saving faith that...
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The Authority to Grant Faith
When Jesus delivered the Great Commission to His disciples, He declared that, since He has been given all authority in ...
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Power to Save the Worst Sinner
Christ's absolute authority is the assurance that the Great Commission will succeed. As the Gospel is preached, the Spirit works sovereignly...
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The Authority to Give Life
The disciples were commissioned to make disciples of all nations. But they were being sent into a spiritual graveyard to preach to those...
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The Authority of Jesus' Name
As Christ's ambassadors, He sends us forth into the world in His name. However, few in our day understand...
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The Authority Christ Delegates
When Jesus commissioned His disciples, He authorized them to proclaim the Gospel and bring the nations into a relationship with the Triune God. However, despite...
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Authority to Make Us Competent
The absolute authority of Jesus that stands behind the Great Commission provides God's people with the confidence that He will qualify...
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Authority for Humility
Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, stands behind the Great Commission. However, He has not chosen to...
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Christ's Authority on Display
Christ's ultimate authority stands behind the Great Commission, guaranteeing the success of the Gospel. Because of that...
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The Authority to Succeed
Jesus sends forth His disciples with the Great Commission resting on His absolute authority. However, Jesus doesn't...
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On Christ's Authority
Before ascending into heaven, Jesus sends his disciples forth on a monumental mission. All things being equal, there is...
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Cosmic Authority for Tiny Earth?
In modern times we have been able to determine the incomprehensible immensity of the heavens. This new found perspective has caused...
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Christ's Overwhelming Authority
We should find Christ's claim to "all authority in heaven and on earth," overwhelming. Jesus' words reflect...
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Christ's Unqualified Authority
When Christ gave His disciples the Great Commission, He first proclaimed that He has all authority in heaven and on earth. This would be offensive to...
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The Greatest Authority
When the post-ressurection Jesus appeared to His disciples in Galilee to give them the Great Commission, he prefaced His...
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Jesus is the One
The end of Matthew's account is very selective. He only records one post-resurrection appearance of Christ to His disciples. However...
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Understanding Through Worship
Before Jesus died, He spoke to His disciples plainly about the cross and resurrection. However, they could not...
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Christ is in Control
Despite Christ's preparations, the disciples didn't expect the cross. When Jesus was apprehended and put to death, His disciples experienced a profound crisis of faith. They believed...
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But Some Doubted
At the time Jesus gave the Great Commission the disciples were still reeling from their crisis of faith. Despite the fact...
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Our Worshipful Purpose
The Great Commission spells out the church's mission. But that mission is giving in the context of God's purpose which...
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The Mission of the Church
The Great Commission is often considered only in terms of foreign missions. There is one mission of...
Speaker
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Stan McGehee, Jr.