The Church’s Marching Orders

Matthew 28:19

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.

Those who know me well – know that above most everything else – I would label myself an evangelical. As a Christian pastor – I believe that Jesus is Lord and that there is no other way to salvation except through Him. You could call me a John 14:6 kind of guy. In this passage Jesus tells us what is required to go to heaven. John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Having said that – the passage for today has a lot of meaning. Today’s passage is part of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28 – Matthew 28:19 – 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.

A number of pastors and church leaders as well as church members read my blog page each day. Our marching orders as pastors – as Christians – is The Great Commission. Because of the way some go about evangelism and the way that some have turned away from evangelism – in some circles – evangelism has become a dirty word. It is anything but!

Jesus Is The Only Way to Heaven

Matthew 28:19

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.

Those who know me well – know that above all else – I would label myself an evangelical. As a Christian pastor – I believe that Jesus is Lord and that there is no other way to salvation except through Him. You could call me a John 14:6 kind of guy. In this passage Jesus tells us what is required to go to heaven. John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Having said that – the passage for today has a lot of meaning. Today’s passage is part of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28 – Matthew 28:19 – 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.

A number of pastors and church leaders as well as church members read my blog page each day. Our marching orders as pastors – as Christians – is The Great Commission. Because of the way some go about evangelism and the way that some have turned away from evangelism – in some circles evangelism has become a dirty word. It is anything but!

Reaching the lost for Christ is the calling of the church and the calling of every Christian. Too many today avoid this essential part of who we are called to be. They think that the church is being judgmental when we say you must have Jesus to get to heaven. Well – this is not the church saying this – it is Jesus Himself.

He Bore Our Sins

Isaiah 53:12

For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

I talk and preach a lot about evangelism. We will begin a new sermon series soon – title What Would Jesus Do. We are going to talk about Jesus and our need for Him. Evangelism is sharing the Good News of Jesus and His free gift of Salvation. God fixed all people through Jesus’ shed blood – if they open their hearts and lives to Him. Fixing the broken is something that God desires to do.

Recently – I came to the conclusion that my home computer – a nearly 10 year old iMac – needed to be replaced. Some software wasn’t able to be loaded to the old model. The macOS couldn’t be updated. So – after saving my money and getting some gifts from my former church – I found myself in the Annapolis Mall at the Apple Store. I wanted to wait until the new iMac 27″ or larger unit came out. But – I needed my computer at home to work and so I decided to fix my old computer with a new one – the new iMac 24″. Fixing this issue was easy – it merely took some research and some funds.

Today’s passage is a prophecy concerning Jesus. It ends with a reminder that He bore our sins on the Cross of Calvary. He made intercession before the Father on our behalf. He took upon Himself all of our sins – and according to scripture – the sins of the world – for those who would receive His grace – paying the blood price we could never consider paying. Remember – there would be no Easter without Good Friday – no victory over the grave – had Jesus not died on the cross first. He bore our sins – we owe Him our everything! He can fix us!!

Texting and Evangelism

Matthew 28:19

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.

Those who know me well – know that above all else – I would label myself an evangelical. As a Christian pastor – I believe that Jesus is Lord and that there is no other way to salvation except through Him. You could call me a John 14:6 kind of guy. In this passage – Jesus tells us what is required to go to heaven. John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Having said that – the passage for today has a lot of meaning. Today’s passage is part of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28 – Matthew 28:19 – 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.

A number of pastors and church leaders as well as church members read my blog page each day. Our marching orders as pastors – as Christians – is The Great Commission. Because of the way some go about evangelism – and the way that some have turned away from evangelism – in some circles – evangelism has become a dirty word. It is anything but!

True Faith – Old Time Religion

Matthew 28:18–20

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”

Today’s presenting scripture has been called the Great Commission. It is often seen as the marching orders for the Christian church. It was a major part of a sermon series I preached on evangelism.

We are called to go and make disciples of or for Jesus Christ (whichever makes the most sense to you – lol). In the early years of the Methodist movement – making disciples – followers of Christ – seemed to be the main focus. Revivals and Camp Meetings were all the rage and altar calls were common place in Methodist worship – as pastors challenged parishioners to be transformed after the likeness of Christ. I typically have an altar call each week to challenge those in attendance to faith – or to a deeper faith – or simply to pray about something that has been a challenge for them. Even online – we challenge people at the end of our services.

Early Methodists were called to holiness – they were part of the holiness movement in the United States. We were taught to study the Word of God (the Bible) and to strive to live our lives after what it taught. We were even encouraged to avoid some of the ills of our society. The way it was explained to me (as a third generation Methodist pastor) – Methodists were encouraged to abstain from alcohol – from playing cards – from dancing – even from playing pool. The reason – again as it was explained to me – was because these social activities were often associated with bars and night clubs – with gambling and behavior and places that were not appropriate for folks striving to follow after Christ. We were encouraged to avoid even the appearance of evil or sin (we actually called behavior contrary to God’s will – sin in those days – and we didn’t get canceled for our views). We were encouraged to keep Sunday set aside for the Lord. In my home growing up – Sunday was a day for worship and Sunday School in the morning – a family lunch – a nap time – youth group – and worship in the evening. Sunday was a day set aside for being with God and with other Christians. We plan to start a Sunday evening service soon – stay tuned for more details.