All posts tagged Great Commission

Be Defined or Exposed.

by Ryan Marcum on August 6, 2011 in Blog, Ministry Helps, Sermon Outline with No comments

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Sermon Notes from July 31:

This morning we will be looking at two passages that will either define us or expose who we really are.

I have said in the past that this is what we will focus on and I believe that it is what God has called all believers to do.

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Continue reading →

Missional Church Simple

by Ryan Marcum on May 31, 2011 in Blog, Missional Church with 1 Comment

There is a lot of “buzz” around the term “Missional” and there are a lot of different perspectives on the term as it pertains to the church. Ed Stetzer is a leader who is paving the way for such discussion, here is his take on the issue.  We, Covington Baptist Church have begun the discussion of what it would look like to become a missional church. Here is some of the discussion we have had.

Continue reading →

Love God Love People & GO

by Ryan Marcum on April 14, 2010 in Blog, Ministry Helps, Sermon Outline with No comments

READ

Matthew 22:37-40 (GREAT COMMANDMENT)

37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

THINK

Consider the “most important” command that Jesus links to all of God’s law.

-          Why, do you think it is the most important command?

-          Why is it a command?

-          Why do you think that the second command is like it?

  • For Ideas SEE = Genesis 1:26-28
    • = James 3:9-10

-          Reflect on the verse and how it matches up to your life. Dig deeper into what makes motivates you to love God and others.

  • Check out. Ephesians 5:1-2,     1st John 4:7-10, 20-21

 

 

 

PRAY

Spend time praying to God, ask Him for guidance and for help to love others more completely.

LIVE

Practice living this life of love toward other people.

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GO!

 

READ

Matthew 28:18-20 (GREAT COMMISSION)

18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

THINK

Think about 2 Timothy 3:16,…

-          Examine why we follow the Great commission, and get to know this part of God’s heart.

-          Appreciate these words for what they are: words from His mouth!

-          Think about what these words might look like “alive” in your life.

  • Other scriptures to look at:
    • Matthew 5:13-16
    • Acts 1:8
    • Philippians 1:27-30
    • 1 Peter 3:13-18
    • 2 Peter 3:9

PRAY

Listen to God speaks to your heart about His words here. Allow Him to transform you and lead you toward more of His best.  If he brings specific people to mind that He’s wanting you to speak to about Him. If you are lacking in this command…ask for forgiveness.

Then focus on His promise: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

LIVE

When we focus on God’s commands  no matter how difficult or scary, we grab onto real life!

Culture and the Gospel

by Ryan Marcum on April 7, 2010 in Blog, Culture with 2 Comments

Here are some of my tweets today:

  1. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 about 9 hours ago via Echofon
  2. Question: do you influence the culture around you or does the culture influence you? Share the Gospel. Make an impact. Rinse and Repeat. about 7 hours ago via Echofon
  3. When the culture influences you more than the Gospel, it then becomes an idol. (see previous culture tweet) about 5 hours ago via Echofon
  4. CULTURE: If the church influenced culture, instead of culture influencing the church, would it look any different? about 5 hours ago via Echofon

Needless to say, I have been thinking about the culture in which I live, and how do I interact with it as a follower of Jesus Christ. To begin, let us decide what culture IS. In an article about culture, resurgence, defines culture as; Culture is the shared beliefs, behaviors, and artifacts of a particular group of people who share a common language. The article goes on to say that everything is culture. Everything we do (activity) and make (artifact) is culture. The way we dress, talk, where we live, everything is a part of the culture in which we find ourselves.

The question I am posing is; What is the church doing amidst its particular culture. I am talking about the church as a whole (the movement of Jesus Christ) and the church around the corner (faith community, making disciples and reaching the world with the Gospel). I often hear stories of the “good ol’ days” in which everything shut down on Sundays and now the church shuts down to follow a school calendar or summer vacations. We hear reasons like, “It gives families the opportunity to spend time together” or “Church attendance will be low, and the tithe won’t be as much, so we will save money by not meeting.” What happened to the church! What happened to the influence? Have we replaced God for comfort? Have we replaced God for a school Calendar?

This post is by no means a slam on churches who shut down for spring break, or for summer time this is simply about how churches engage the culture around them? In John 17, Jesus prays for the disciples and future believers. In His prayer Jesus pleads for the Father to protect them, the disciples who are in the world. We have all heard the term “in the world but not of it”, right? If we are honest, we are all impacted by the culture around us. I really enjoy all types of media, anything from music to movies to books to smart phones and gadgets of all sorts, and at times they consume me. The culture in which I live says, “get that new phone, or gadget” because without it you wont feel like your ahead of the information game. I REALLY enjoy the TV show LOST! If I miss the latest episode, that’s OK because I have a DVR so I can watch it later. The technology of western culture is awesome, yet it comes with a price. I like most, spend so much time living within the culture, I forget about Jesus and His prayer, that though I am in the world, I am not to be of the world. I am an alien in a foreign land and yet this foreign land has become a place in which I get lost in the shuffle of culture. I, at times forget the Gospel. So what are we as Christian supposed to do? Are we to be separatists? Are believers supposed to be invisible in our cultures? NO, on the contrary, Scripture gives us a mandate to interact with culture but not to be consumed by it.

Colossians 2:16-17: Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Paul here, is warning the church of the Colossians about trading their freedom in Christ for a set of man-made rules and rituals. This was the culture in which they found themselves in, passed down through the Old Testamental times to then. Yet, their reality is only found in Christ! Nothing has changed for us today, our reality is not in the culture in which we find ourselves, no, our reality is ONLY found in the One who gave His life as a sacrifice so that we can have freedom in HIM!

3 things for believers:

1. Understand and recognize that we all live in a particular culture where we are. (Where we live, work, etc.)
2. We are mandated to Share The Gospel, and make disciples in our culture.(Matthew 28:16-20)
3. Our efforts are to bring Glory to God and not ourselves, so that no man can boast (Ephesians 2:8-10)