valuable - the mission
Water cooler conversation:
What was your biggest win this week? What was your biggest challenge?
What’s the boldest thing you’ve ever said or done?
Unpack the Message:
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus lays out the Great Commission for His followers - go make disciples. At Expectation Church, we have placed the Great Commission at the heart of our mission statement:
Expectation Church exists SO THAT PEOPLE FAR FROM GOD WILL EXPERIENCE FAITH IN CHRIST.
For us to accomplish our high calling, it is imperative we remember what it is to be far from God. No matter your family history, whether you grew up in blessing or in trauma, if you’ve lived a good life or a wicked one, apart from a personal relationship with Jesus, you are far from God.
So, when Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he’s speaking to two groups of believers. One, newly saved Jewish believers, are learning to reconcile living under grace rather than under Old Testament law. The second group, Gentiles, would have been unfamiliar with Jewish culture and tradition. Both groups are adopting new identities—that of Christ-followers. In Ephesians 2:12, Paul reminds them that both Gentile and Jew were once “foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” Without that personal relationship made possible through Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary, we are all far from God and without hope.
But once we have accepted Christ, we need to know what it means to experience faith in Christ. Ephesians 2:13-20 teaches that as we are reconciled to God through Christ, we are reconciled to one another. Finding a greater identity in Christ means that the issues that divide us within the body of Christ should be seen for what they are - inconsequential in the light of eternity. Scripture reminds us in Romans 3:23-24 that without exception, every one of us has sinned, and the only way to be reconciled to a holy and perfect God is to through the redemptive work of Christ at Calvary.
As followers of Christ, it’s important to understand that His why must be our why. In Ephesians 2:20, Paul reminds us that Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, the foundation upon which everything that comes after depends. Ephesians 2:21-22 says, “In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” God wants Expectation Church to grow in numbers as we reach people far from God, but He desires that individuals within the church grow more and more like Him, strengthening the body.
That’s why His why must be our why - why do we actively engage in ministry and pursue our mission to draw the lost to new life in Christ? Because that was Jesus’ mission here on earth and it is the heartbeat of the Great Commission - the mantle Jesus laid on His followers that still stands for us as believers today.
Expectation Church exists SO THAT PEOPLE FAR FROM GOD WILL EXPERIENCE FAITH IN CHRIST.
What is your testimony of coming to faith in Christ?
Why do churches sometimes get into trouble when they take disciples from other churches instead of making disciples?
Why is it critical that we understand that we are the church—the church is not a physical building where we go?
Ephesians 2:11-12 and Ephesians 2:15 tell us there was a division between the Jews and Gentiles rooted in Old Testament Law. The Jews used the Law to make themselves feel privileged and look down upon the Gentile Christians (Ephesians 2:11). What are some ways we use the Law: to create privilege, division, or animosity with other Christians?
Our new identity is in Christ. How should this truth begin to heal all division in the church?
Discuss why numbers are significant yet not a full measure of the health or growth of a church.
Make a Move:
How are you engaging with the mission of Expectation Church? Are you serving on Sunday? Part of an eGroup? Involved in your community, looking for opportunities to share the gospel with people far from God? Check out ecnow.info or contact us at info@expectation.church to find out how you can live out our mission.
Prayer Prompt:
Lord, we thank the gift of salvation through Your Son, Jesus. Thank you for the reconciliation to You and the promise of the power of the Holy Spirit. I ask that You show me how I can live out the Great Commission each and every day of my life. Place people in my path that are far from You and give me the courage to speak boldly yet with compassion, understanding they are broken souls in need of a Savior. Amen