Share With Your City

The direction of the great commission church is not to come but to go. Everywhere the Great Commission is issued in scripture, the direction is the same; it is Go--not Come. The church must be going to the people who need the gospel. The Bible never anticipates and Jesus never commands the unbelieving world to come to the church, but commands the church to go to the unbelieving world. This means we must always be taking the church to the people.

Note: I believe there has been a subtle reversal of the Great Commission in the life of the church.  

Matthew 28:19-20    ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We expend energy and resources trying to figure out how to persuade non-Christians to come to us rather than figuring out how we can most effectively reach out to them. In my lifetime the church has spent more time and energy doing marketing rather than doing ministry. Marketing is our attempt to get the world to come to us. Ministry and Evangelism is the biblical way of getting the church into the world. The expectation of Christ for His church is that we should always be exploring ways to take the church to where the people are. This was a mistake the early church made and we can track it in the book of Acts.

The early church exploded on the scene on the Day of Pentecost with 3,000 people being saved and added to the church in one day. The early church had a contagious atmosphere of love and fellowship-- "The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

The church grew comfortable with the fellowship and growth that it was experiencing in Jerusalem, so much so, that the Apostles seemed to have lost sight of one of the last things Jesus told them, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the End of the earth.” Acts 1:8
The early church seemed to have gotten so comfortable with life in Jerusalem that no intentional attempt was being made to expand the kingdom perimeters beyond Jerusalem.
That is why in Acts 8 we are introduced to a vicious enemy of the Church named Saul who was committed to destroying the church.  Saul sponsored a campaign of persecution in the Jerusalem area that got so intense, the disciples had to flee for their lives as refugees.

Vs. 1 says, "At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem . . ."

You have to stop here and ask the question, "What are all you guys still doing in Jerusalem?  Didn't Jesus tell you to also be witnesses in all Judea, Samaria and to the utter most regions of the entire world?

The verse continues, "and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria . . ." Acts 8:1  And then Acts 8:4 tells us what these displaced disciples did, "Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word." It seems like God used persecution in Acts 8:1 to make the church do what it had been told to do in Acts 1:8!!

The point is, we must guard against getting all huddled up in our comfortable Christian enclaves, and neglect doing the hard, sacrificial work of taking the church to the world.
The Demand of the Great Commission is to Proclaim not Produce 
It is good to remember that we are simply to go and tell, but it is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit to produce the converts. It is not our responsibility to grow the church. It Christ's responsibility to grow His church.
Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build My church." (Matthew 18:18)
Paul said, "I planted, Apollos watered, but GOD gave the increase." (1 Corinthians 3:6)
It is not your or my responsibility to Win anyone to Christ. It is our responsibility to Witness.  The Holy Spirit will do all the Winning. It is not your or my responsibility to Grow the church. It is our responsibility to Go--God will do the Growing.  
The Design of the Great Commission is to Produce disciples not just Decisions
Jesus said, "Go and make disciples..." (Matthew 28:19) He did NOT say, "Go and try to manipulate people into making mere decisions."

Being a Christian is more than making a mere decision. It is receiving the very life of Christ into our being and His life producing in us, an ongoing commitment to maturity as disciple of Jesus Christ.

I am adamant about Church Planting and coming to church because disciples are best produced in the context of thriving, living, Spirit-filled, churches.
Any evangelism plan that does not include plugging people in to the local church is an inadequate plan. That is why we are so strongly committed to starting new churches and reproducing ourselves as a church here at NSC.
The Destination of the Great Commission is Global not Local
The Great Commission is a Global Enterprise not just a Local Enterprise.

**There are no Racial boundaries to the Great Commission.  Jesus said, "Make disciples of all NATIONS." (Matthew 28:19)  (Nations = ethnos, from which we get our word ethnic)

**There are no Regional boundaries to the Great Commission. Jesus said, "Go into all the World..."

(World = cosmos, the entire Globe is our responsibility)
This means that we cannot allow ourselves to become  n arrow minded in our vision and ministry.  We must

keep all the communities outside our church in sight as we pray and plan and do ministry. This is exactly the mistake the early church was making in the early chapters of the book of Acts.  They had become entirely narrow minded and had not expanded beyond Jerusalem in their mission or ministry.  The entire world is our responsibility.

Each of us has a responsibility to participate.  I believe the mandate of the Great Commission requires,  1) Total Penetration2) Total Participation
Think Kingdom growth, not just Church growth.  We must be a "kingdom minded" church.  We must not be selfish in our ministry.  We must avoid the trap of turning inward and focusing exclusively on our own growth. We must be intentional about sharing our  resources and partnering with other Great Commission ministries. We must  be intentional about building the kingdom of God as opposed to building our own kingdom. Think Meta-church, not just Mega-church. The term "mega" means "large,"  The term "meta" means "change."    
A church that changes the way it thinks about doing ministry. A church that refuses to limit its ministry to one campus, one location.
Think Catalytically  not just Institutionally.  When a body of believers "institutionalize" it won't be long until they "fossilize."  When a body of believers become "institutionalized"  The institution becomes and "end in itself" rather than a "means to an end."  When a body of believers becomes institutionalized, it loses the focus of its purpose for existing.  Protecting, maintaining and guarding the institution become the purpose for existing.
As this relates to the local church, a local church can subtly lose its Great Commission vision and begin to exist for the sole purpose of protecting its institutions, programs, organizations, fellowship groups, and systems.
This is why 80 to 90% of all Evangelical Churches in America have stopped growing and have either reached a plateau or are in decline.  If we are going to remain effective and productive in our Great Commission mandate, we have to be radically committed to change.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a "guardian of an institution," I want to be a catalyst for productive ministries.  I don't want to live my life to be comfortable. I want to live my life to be effective and productive and fruitful.
What Does God Demand of us Today?
These three statements  define the needs of our church. They define what it is going to mean to be an active, participating, contributing member of  this body of believers.  They capture the essence of our mission and our ministry.

1. Great Commission Love Demands Commitment.  Every member of this body, getting committed and involved. We need Laborers  who are committed to the harvest. 

We need  Teachers, small group leaders, Greeters,  Parking Lot, Ushers, Children's Workers,  Student Ministry Workers,  Prayer Warriors, Musicians.  If you have been a member of this church for six months or more, what are you doing to Labor in the harvest? What do you think it means to be a member of this church?  Do you think it entitles you to all the benefits and the ministries of this church, with no obligation to participate or give?

We are going to have to be willing to get out of our comfort zones, get our focus off ourselves and our needs, roll up our sleeves and go to work.

2.  Great Commission Love Demands Communication. 

Everyone of us becoming intentional, bold, vibrant, loving witnesses for Jesus Christ. There is a vast army of people in this room right  now, who claim to know Christ, but have never shared your faith with anyone.

Evangelism is a spiritual responsibility. The window of opportunity for us to be witnesses may be as open as it has ever been for our generation. The terrorists' attacks on America, and the frightening world events have opened people's hearts to their need for God. People who have never thought about praying before are sure thinking about it now.

 3. Great Commission Love Demands Community.  We have to be committed to radical love for one another.

 It is our passionate love for each other, our unity of hearts, and our commitment to each other that is our greatest platform for witness to our culture. John 13:35

When we commit to being in growing, intimate, loving relationships with each other, we are contributing to the work of the Great Commission.