Power to Reach Our One

“Power to Reach our One”

(Matthew 28:18-20)

Series: WhosYour1 (2/5)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

Take your Bibles and open them to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 28.

We are in our second Sunday of our special emphasis WhosYour1. Last week we joined a movement among Southern Baptists in our nation to commit to doing something very simple and very biblical: we said, “God give me one—one person for whom I can pray and with whom I will seek opportunities to share the gospel.” Each one reaching one.

We have more 30-Day Prayer Guides today. Let’s be sure everyone gets one. You’ll need one of these for the series. So if you missed last Sunday or you were here and didn’t get one just raise your hand and one of our ushers will get you one of these Prayer Guides. Maybe you got one but someone else picked it up or your misplaced it. No problem, we have plenty. Just hold your hand up. We want to be sure everyone has one. Great!

There are a lot of people who don’t know Jesus, a lot of lost people. The numbers are staggering, but if we’ll each focus on one we can make a huge difference. Last week we watched a short video clip of JD Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Let’s check out another clip, this time from one of my heroes, Johnny Hunt. Johnny is former pastor of First Baptist Woodstock in Atlanta. Many of our men have been to the Johnny Hunt Men’s Conference. Johnny is now the evangelism guru of the North American Mission Board. Check it out:

Johnny Hunt Video Clip [1:00]

Who’s your one?! You all responded wonderfully last week. In each of our worship services, several of you wrote down the first name on this bookmark and came forward and placed the first name of your one on the altar here. It was your way of saying, “I’m committed to praying for my one over the next 30 days, praying daily through the prayer guide and asking God for opportunities to talk to my one about the Lord. Over 200 of you responded this way. And we’ll take time to do this again today at the end of our service. So be thinking of a name you can write down—someone far away from God, someone who is lost, needs to be saved—someone at your school, or workplace, or a neighbor, or family member. Think of a first name you can write down.

We posted a picture of the results and uploaded it to Instagram and Facebook. Here’s the picture: (pic 1). 215 cards! After the last worship service, some of our volunteers were over here and we just laid hands on these names and prayed for them.

By the way, posting whosyour1 stuff on social media is a great way to keep the focus on prayer & evangelism in our church. You encourage others to follow through on praying daily and sharing with their one. And you can also encourage others who are part of this movement. When you post on social media use the hashtag: #whosyour1 and others all over the state and country can see what’s going on and also be encouraged.

For example, Johnny Hunt liked our instagram post and our new Executive Director of Kentucky Baptists, Todd Gray, also liked and commented on our commitments. So it’s a great encouragement to your church family and others.

Now we took all these names and created a “Selfie Wall” at our Connection Center. Check it out (pic 2). All of our ones on the wall. And we’ll add more as you turn them in. You go by the selfie wall and you’ll find a couple dry-erase signs you can write on and hold up and take a picture and post it on Instagram or Facebook. Here are a few pictures of our folks doing this (pics 3-7); “I’m praying for…visiting…this week”

Remember to use the hashtag #WhosYour1. What does that look like? Just look at your bracelet. #WhosYour1. Alright, ready to study the Word?

•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

Very last words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, very last things Jesus says to His followers. How many of you are His followers? I’m raising my hand with you.

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Pray: “Oh, God, make our church consistently a witnessing church, an evangelistic church, a church who prays for our one every day, a church who seeks to share with our one, making disciples, baptizing, teaching them to observe all things You have commanded us. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

I want to share this story with you. Several of you have already read it. But listen to what happened to one of our members after committing last Sunday to reaching her one. Here’s what she wrote:

“I have been praying for my one, a neighbor who is very ill. I decided to go over to visit her, praying the Lord would give me an opportunity to share a word of encouragement or an opening to sharing the gospel. She was tearful and allowed me to pray for her. She had made the statement, ‘I just don’t know’ and I told her that the Bible was written so we can know and asked her if she had a Bible. We prayed, she cried, and then I left. About 30 minutes later I got a call asking if she could borrow a Bible! I look forward to seeing how God continues working in my one!”

That is an example of Great Commission work. Too often we think of evangelism as some daunting task that only a few people are good at. Remember we said, “Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread (DT Niles).”

Listen: every time you share Jesus in some way, that is a success. Every prayer for a lost person is success. Every time you speak a good word about the Lord, that is success.

Let’s look at this passage again and I want to share with you three things we must remember as we pray and share with our ones. Here we go, number one:

**What We Must Remember as we Pray & Share…

Our Authority (18)

We begin by remembering that when we pray for others and share with others we do not act or speak in our own authority. To reach our “one” we act under the authority of the One, the Lord Jesus Christ, we always act and speak in the authority of the one who sent us, our Lord Jesus Christ. He says in verse 18:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Jesus has all authority. Before His death, burial, and resurrection we see glimpses of His authority during His earthly ministry, but now, having risen from the dead, we see clearly that He has all authority.

Now if you stop and think about why He says this and why He says this here, the context points us to the fact that Jesus speaks of His authority with a view toward commissioning His followers. It’s as though He were to say, “I have all power to tell you what to do and I have all power to make happen what I tell you to do.”

That’s why verse 19 begins with a “therefore.” Remember, ask: what’s the therefore there for? Well, it’s there because it follows what Jesus has just said in verse 18. I have the authority or power to tell you what to do and to make happen what I tell you to do. Go therefore and make disciples.

And this point about our authority being not our authority, but the authority of our Lord is very, very encouraging! It is impossible to make genuine progress in our being evangelistic if we go in our own authority. Genuine progress comes only when we remember that we are every day praying and going in the authority of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It is much the same idea in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 5:20, where Paul says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

An ambassador goes in the authority of another. The ambassador is merely the representative of the one who has the authority. The ambassador acts and speaks in the authority of the one he represents. God “pleads through” him.

So Christians don’t speak and act in their own authority, but in the authority of another, a higher authority, and authority over all heaven and earth, the authority of our Lord. So remember your authority.

Someone said, “A missional lifestyle is rooted in the knowledge that God is already on mission around you.” That’s a good word. A missional lifestyle is rooted in the knowledge that God is already on mission around you.

There is unusual, staggering, and fantastic freedom that comes to the Christian when he or she realizes that God’s power, God’s authority, is always at work through every prayer for your one, every Gospel tract given to your one, through every Bible verse read to your one, through every note card written, God’s authority rings in and through every text, every phone call, every smile, every kind word. You are not acting in your own authority, you are acting in the authority of our Lord Jesus. You are acting in the authority of the one who is already on mission around you. Authority. Second word:

Our Responsibility (19-20a)

So what specifically does Jesus want every Christian to do, every Christian. What is our responsibility? Verse 19:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;

Verses 19 and 20 teach the responsibility of every single Christian living on the planet. Every single Christian. This is our sacred responsibility. And the key verbal phrase is found in the imperative, “make disciples.” Imperatives carry the sense of an exclamation mark. It’s as though Jesus were to paint a huge sign in all caps and bold 50-point font, “MAKE DISCIPLES!!”

And the scope of our commission reaches to “all the nations,” of every single people group without exception. Every single people group. We must work together, doing our best to pray, give, and go to every single people group on the planet and go with the Gospel. We reach the 4Cs simultaneously—community, commonwealth, country, continents—not sequentially, but simultaneously through praying, giving, and going.

We’ll be talking this evening about our missional partnerships all over the world and hear some encouraging news about what God is doing among the nations.

And of course the greatest opportunity we have to be evangelistic is sharing the Gospel in our daily lives right here in the community of Henderson, sharing with our “ones.” So the main point of verse 19 is “making disciples.”

And making-disciples is something we are to be about every day. The first part of verse 19 is best translated, “Therefore as you go,” As you go. As you go about your daily life—praying for your one, looking for opportunities to talk to your one—as you go, make disciples. Making disciples is the major work of the church.

Disciple-making involves everything in verses 19 and 20, leading a person to faith in Christ, baptizing them correctly, and teaching them all things the Lord has commanded.

All the things taught in the Bible. All the great doctrines of the faith, the doctrines of grace, the doctrine of God, the doctrine of man, the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, the trinity, theology, ecclesiology, prayer, and providence, just to name a few. All things. Disciple-Making never ends. And this is our responsibility. That’s why we need the church. This is our responsibility.

We’ve said before that we should call our Sunday school class roll our “Responsibility List.” That’s a much more biblical term. Making disciples is our responsibility.

We have a responsibility, then, to pray for our “ones.” We must ask God to open their eyes and hearts to the Gospel.

Here’s something else that blesses us as we share the Gospel. It’s the third word. Authority. Responsibility. Third word: Security.

Our Security (20b)

As we go, Jesus goes with us. Jesus isn’t an aloof, pompous, earthly king who stays back at the camp and tells everyone else to go to the battlefield. You know like, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, therefore, you all go, get out of here. I’ll be back here. You go out there.” No, a good king goes with the troops into enemy territory. Jesus goes with us. Last part of verse 20:

and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Remember when you talk to your one that Jesus is with you and you will feel the blessing of security. You are secure in the Lord. He is with you. You are never alone.

When you get into that trying conversation and you’re afraid your words are going to come out sideways and backwards, remember Jesus Christ is with you, guiding your words, right there with you. And you will feel secure. It is remarkable security!

He sends us and He is with us. He both commissions us and comes along with us. Security.

In a moment we’re going to pray again for our ones. We studied last week in Luke 10 where Jesus says, “Pray to the Lord of the harvest” so we’re going to do that again in a moment. Before we do, I want to share with you briefly how I share the gospel.

Those of you who know me well know that I carry around these little tracts or booklets entitled “Steps to Peace with God” and on the inside of these little tracts is a helpful visual of how we are saved. I call it the “Bridge to Life.” And I’ll draw this illustration when I’m sharing the gospel with another person. Just draw it on a napkin or a piece of paper. Some of you who have come to know the Lord under my ministry have a sheet of paper onto which I drew this illustration and we put the date and time on it and you have it as a reminder.

When I don’t have the opportunity to draw out the illustration I’ll give a person one of these tracts and encourage them to read it. I’ll write my name and email on it so they can follow up.

I thought I’d share this with you so you might have at least one method or way of sharing with your one. These tracts are available at all the doors today and you can pick one up on your way out. So we have some slides here and let me just walk through this with you:

[Slides, Bridge to Life]

But it all begins with prayer. Remember, I’m asking you to pray daily for one person, just one person, one person for whom you are praying and with whom you are seeking to share the gospel. That’s the application of the message. Remember from last time that Jesus said, “Pray to the Lord of the harvest,” so let’s prepare to pray.

Those of you who got a prayer guide today, take that out. This is a great resource! 30 days of praying for your one. Each day a simple, guided prayer. On the next page a place for you to journal if you’d like. Just a few minutes a day. Remember you can also access this prayer guide on your phone or tablet through the YouVersion Bible app.

So write down the first name of someone for whom you will be praying. The name of a person at your school, or family, or at your job, or in your neighborhood who needs the Lord. You know that person by name. Go ahead right now and write their first name on the card. Just the first name. In a moment I’ll ask you to turn these in. So go ahead and write the first name of your one. You may need to share the pen in the pews there. We’re going to pray in a moment for our ones. “God, show me the one You want me to pray for and talk to in the coming weeks.”

Some of you may be a “one” who needs the Lord today. God has made a way for us to know Him and have life in Him. He has made a way for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be accepted in His sight on the basis of the work of His perfect Son Jesus Christ. We can avoid the hell we deserve and enter into heaven if we turn to Christ. Turn to Him. Confess your sin. Repent and trust in Christ. After the service, I’ll invite you to talk to a prayer volunteer in the Response Room right though these doors and up the stairs here to the left. Follow the sign and find a helpful volunteer to pray with you in the Response Room.

Okay, are we ready to turn-in our ones?

Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to pray for our ones and then—if you weren’t able to do this last week—come this week and simply place your one on the altar. It’s a way of acknowledging our commitment to pray, and that we leave the results to God. We can’t control the outcome, right? But we can commit to having one person for whom we are praying and with whom were are looking for opportunities to share about the Lord. After you place your one on the altar, pick up a wristband.

Our staff each has a “one.”

Alright, let’s pray for our ones and then we’ll bring our ones up, place them on the altar. Just place your card on the altar and then you can return to your place in the pew or stand nearby as we’ll close after our response hymn.

Let’s pray for our ones and then I’ll invite you to come forward. “Dear God, apart from You we know we can do nothing, but with You, empowered by You, we can do mighty things. We know You are the Lord of the harvest and there are a lot of ‘ones’ all around us. We pray right now for our one. We call his or her name to you right now. God, soften his heart, her heart, draw this soul to your side. We commit again to 30 days, 30 days of this great work. Give us grace to pray each day for our one. Show us opportunities we have to share with our ones, inviting them to church, having gospel conversations with them. Help us do this, Lord not by our might, nor by our power, but by Your Spirit—save many, many ones in Henderson. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.”

Alright, let’s stand for our hymn of Response and—as we sing—you come forward and place the name of your one on the altar. I’ll place mine down first. Let’s sing.

I have decided to follow Jesus;

No turning back, no turning back.

O come go with me, and we will follow;

No turning back, no turning back.

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