The new year for me is always a time of self examination. Am I doing my job well? Am I okay financially? Am I a better person, am I growing wiser as I grow older? Or am I just growing older? Am I accomplishing the tasks God has for me? Am I growing deeper in knowledge of God? I think these translate over to some questions for us as a body of believers.

How are we accomplishing the goals we have set out for ourselves? Do we even know what they are? How are we using the gifts God has given us together, how are we building disciples, have we been reaching out to people? How are we being educated to serve God? How are we serving, effectively or not? Is there a place for everyone in the congregation who wants one? Could we be doing a better job in particular areas? How might we think about doing those things? Is there a place for you in the church?
We’ll take a look at our mission statement, in concert with some ideas I got from a friend about growing churches. These are changing times, and are we meeting the challenges of ministering in new and different times than the ones we grew up with? Are we headed in the right direction or do we need to modify some things? Those are the questions I want us to be thinking about this morning. Is the church as good as it could be? And if not, how do we get there?
Let’s take a look at our text for today, the last verses in Matthew, the last words of Jesus recorded in Matthew giving His ministry of bringing people to God over to the disciples who were left when He was taken up. This is just after the resurrection in Matthew. Listen to the Great Commission, as it is commonly called.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 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.”

Let’s pray.

On the screen you will/should notice the mission statement of our church, of God’s Presbyterian church here in Islip. The Great Commission is the underlying motive for everything that goes on in this church, for everything that this mission statement seeks to shape and define. So we’ll take a good look at the mission statement today, how we are doing collectively, and how we are doing individually. We’ll take a look at the images and really, see how we measure up.

We, The Presbyterian Church of Islip, are called to continue nurturing a viable, growing faith community; to maintain a strong lighthouse in support of God’s will in this world.
What that means is that we are working with God; that we seek to do His will, rather than the reverse. We are to grow, we are to stand strong against the whims of culture, like a lighthouse stands against the storms, guiding ships to port. What a great image, especially for around here. We tend to think of lighthouses as passive, but they aren’t. Part of being a lighthouse is shining the light into a dark world. Part of being a Christian Church is proclaiming the truth about Jesus in our worship, in our teaching, in our discipling, in our individual lives, in our living together. At the same time, the staff at light houses would send rescue vessels into the sea, into the dangerous stormy Atlantic in order to rescue folks. That is also what we are to be doing, together and individually. We are to be proclaiming the truth, but we are also to be rescuing people; going out into the dangerous world to find people and bring them to shore where they are safe. We bring them to Christ, we bring them to safety.

We need to think strategically about who we are, what our gifts are and where we are. Different lighthouses have different waters around them; different people they are protecting. Some protect shipping, some passenger vessels. So they are built differently; all with the same basic premise, but with some differences. Just like us. We are Christians; seeking to glorify God with our lives; and yet that looks different for different people. Some folks are focused on missions, some on serving people in need, some on discipling others and educating children, some on worshipping well as a body; all these are important tasks. They all work together to form a complete church. Even where we are is strategic; both in your neighborhoods and in your jobs during the week.

One of my previous churches had lots of recent college grads in it, and they were able to pick and choose what neighborhoods and streets around the church they would live on. They were strategic about where they were. I want us to think the same way. Most of us don’t have that kind of mobility; those college grads had basically a tv, a bed and a couch as all their worldly possessions. I think that God places us into neighborhoods even when we don’t know it, and God places us into jobs where we are strategically spread the good news of His love in Jesus. Think about that, and think about what it might look like for you to systematically evangelize your neighbors and co-workers. There are people around you that only you can reach for Christ. I want us all to see ourselves as strategically placed in order to reach certain folks with the gospel.

So how do you think you are doing? How are you doing personally within and outside the church context to accomplish this goal of being a lighthouse, leading people to a place of safety? How do you think we’re doing together? I think we’re getting there, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. I’m not sure we are desperate enough for our friends and family yet. I’m not convinced we pray everyday for those we know aren’t Christians. I would guess we are still timid about inviting people to services or to fellowship times. None of us has to be perfect at inviting people, we just have to be open to the Spirit prompting us to invite, prompting us to tell someone the truth. Be open to the Spirit’s leading. God is calling people to Himself, and sometimes we are the vessel He uses for that.

As we seek to discern God’s plan for our lives in His Kingdom, we provide a Christian climate for growth in Spirit and love.

God is moving in Islip. We know this to be true, because God is moving all over the world, in all sorts of cultures. There is no reason for God to move elsewhere but not here. Now the key to our church has to be finding what God is blessing and do that, as opposed to asking God to bless what we are doing. It is possible that if we are doing church the way we are comfortable, maybe the way it was done when we were kids, then we are asking God to bless what we are doing. And that is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. We should be figuring out how God is moving in Islip, praying to discern it, and then doing that. Don’t ask God to bless what you’re doing; do what God is blessing. We want to be God centered, not us-centered. If we ask God to bless what we’re doing, then that isn’t being God centered, its being us centered.

A Christian climate for growth in Spirit and love. I think we do this rather well. This is a warm and friendly church, one that welcomes people and brings them in. Our fellowship opportunities during the year are designed to bring the church together and have fun, and they are also for inviting folks to join us. People will see how we interact and love one another and will be attracted to that. People are attracted to genuine love, people want that in our society that has the tendency to devalue love. I think we are a place where the Spirit grows in us as well. Growing in the Spirit isn’t just about gaining more knowledge, but it is putting our knowledge to use to further God’s Kingdom. One church I am familiar with is extremely well educated in Bible ins and outs, but they never put all that knowledge to use. They don’t love people, they are haughty and prideful. So the church is suffering and dying because their knowledge has led them away from living the Christian message. Their knowledge is all head knowledge, rather than heart knowledge. Knowing how Holy God is and how sinful we are shouldn’t lead us to be prideful, but rather deeply grateful and desiring to bring new folks into God’s love.

But we don’t want to just stop at a surface knowledge of people, we really want to know each other, to be able to pray for each other, to be a support for one another. We’ve gotten some small groups going in the church. Small groups can be places where we can all study scripture, but also share our lives with one another. The Christian life was never meant to be lived alone, but rather in community with others. Paul talks in Corinthians frequently about how we need each other in the church, how our different gifts make us into a complete whole community. We all should be involved in a small group. There are enough of them during the week that we are without an excuse about days and available times.

We live to further God’s Kingdom in this world and fulfill the Great Commission.
That’s exactly right. Our lives are not about us, but lived to God’s glory, to praise Him with our whole lives. Its not about us. It is all about God, and who we are in Him, rather than who He is in us. The Great Commission is the text for today, to go into all the world and make disciples, to baptize them into the community of God, in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit, and to teach them about God and what He commands. I think we’re making progress, but there is still a lot of room to grow. I especially would like to see this church grow in the area of discipleship this year-I’d like everyone to be a part of a small group of one sort or another. Could be Sunday School, could be the Alpha Program when we run that next, Men’s Bible breakfast, but we need, we all need to be studying Scripture together, investigating God’s call on our lives together.

The Great Commission is the underlying motivation for everything at this church. From me preaching, to the Sunday School teachers teaching to the CIA improving the grounds and the AYLI maintaining babysitting in the nursery to the deacons serving others and session wisely leading, the choir and praise band helping us to worship, everyone is focused on the goal of fulfilling the Great Commission. Be bold. New members don’t just show up anymore. They used to in America, but not anymore. This is no longer a Christian dominated society; know that we Christians are a minority in this culture and have been since the early 60’s. When new people are convinced by God, and God does use us in that process, they will come and find Him there. We have been given a great privilege; to work on God’s behalf. It is an honor and a calling we have.

This isn’t just for special people, this message is for everyone. We are all to go into the world, every week, to do God’s work, to reach the lost, to proclaim the good news of the gospel. Notice that the disciples were sent out before this sending at the end of Matthew, in chapter 10 of Matthew. But that first time they were just sent to Israel, with the message that the kingdom of God is near. This time, in Matthew 28, the Great Commission, the disciples are sent out knowing the entire story of Jesus life, His death, and His resurrection. It is the resurrected Jesus that tells them to go to all the nations, as you are going to all the nations. The message of the resurrected Jesus is for all peoples. It is our joy to take that message, to work as a part of the church to accomplish our task. That is our purpose, bottom line. Our purpose isn’t to maintain the past, it isn’t to please ourselves or maintain our level of comfort with the service or the grounds, but rather our purpose is to proclaim the resurrected Jesus to a lost world. In Him alone is found true joy, true love, true forgiveness. That is a message not just for specialize missionaries, but for all of us, every week.

We believe our mission includes members sharing the love of God in Christ by: Actively witnessing to our neighbors, colleagues, families and friends by word and deed. Building faith in God among the same. Supporting God’s Kingdom throughout the world.
Rick Warren puts it like this. We all have a mission in life. We are all to declare God’s deeds, to declare His character and what a difference having Him in our lives means. We are to witness to the truth. Everyone has that mission, to further the Kingdom of God. Our mission is how we interact with the outside world. We are all to carry out the mission of the church. We all have a mission, at the same time, we all have a ministry.
Our ministry is how we minister to others within the church. Our ministry depends on several different aspects of who we are, from the gifts God has given us, to our experiences in life, both good and bad, to our interests and passions. If someone doesn’t have a ministry very often they feel disconnected from the church, they feel frustrated because their gifts are not being used. That frustrated feeling is good, because it will move us to find the place in the church where our gifts can be used, where we fit. One of the joys I have found in working in churches is when someone finds where they fit. There is great joy there, that the way God created them actually fits somewhere in the church, and that’s a good thing.

There is a way to figure out where we all fit in the church. We have to pray that God would use us, and then we have to listen, and we have to act. Sometimes the leading of God will come from someone else in the congregation, saying, you are good at this, do you want to help out here? Sometimes its going to be internal, a desire to do something, or use a gift you have. Sometimes it might be just what we’re good at, and using that talent within the church to proclaim Christ. If you don’t have a ministry, talk to me. We need to put your talents, your experience, you to work serving in the house of God. We all have the same mission. But we each have different ministries. I can’t highlight all the ministries I’d like to as an example. But so much of this church happens because faithful people use their talents to serve God through serving others in the church. We are blessed by each other. If you aren’t involved, don’t stay on the sidelines. Get active within the church.
We dedicate ourselves to making our vision and mission a reality with God’s help.

Philippians 4:13 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It says this, “I can do all things through Him(Christ) who strengthens me.” All this is for God, but it must be done with His help, otherwise we are just spinning our wheels. If we are doing the wrong thing with the right motive, its still the wrong thing. So we depend on God to lead us. He leads us through His words in Scripture, He leads as we seek to know His specific will in prayer, He leads us, and I know this sounds odd, as we seek His will together in the various committees within the church.

This is our commission, this is our mission. We are a lighthouse, seeking through our individual and collective actions to show the way to safety, the way to God. We are sent out to proclaim the truth of the living, resurrected Jesus, that in Him, and in Him alone there is life everlasting, there is new life, there is joy and peace. We are like the disciples that were sent out right before Jesus left to go to Heaven, to his throne that was waiting for Him. We are like the disciples throughout history, who have proclaimed the truth of the gospel year after year, decade after decade, century after century. The truth never changes. Methods of proclaiming the truth, methods of being a better lighthouse can change, but the light we proclaim never changes.

These are our marching orders. It is what we are called to do, who we are called to be. If you don’t yet know exactly where you fit, talk to me. We’ll figure it out. Know that we are doing something sacred. Being the church, witnessing to the risen Christ is always sacred. That is because God is with us. God has been with us, God is with us, and God will be with us always, until the end of time.

Amen, Let’s pray.