Courageous: session 3

Spofford Men's Retreat

Courageous men stay on mission with God
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19, 20 ESV)
- there is no mission without a relationship

He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 ESV)

1. There is no mission without a relationship. Micah 6:8
2. There is one mission, many commissions!
A. There is one mission - the Great Commission. Matt 28
B. Each has part of the mission. Call it a Commission.
- Ep 4:11-16 every person has a part to play
3. How will you know what your commission is?
Rom 12, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4

Spiritual gifts - how to discover your gift:
a) Look up all the spiritual gifts
b) Look for the ministries in which you feel the most fulfilled
c) Look for ministries in which you seem most effective
d) Look for ministries in which others affirm your abilities
e) Look for a place to feel involved. As you try different things you will gravitate to your spiritual best fit spot - don't give up, don't settle.

4. So when will you courageously serve?
a) I must share with those in my Jerusalem (neighborhood, community)
- John 4: woman at the well; Mark 5: the Demoniac
b) I must share with those near me but "other".
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22 ESV)
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27 ESV)
Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29, 30 ESV)
c) I must share with those in my world.
And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. (Mark 16:15 ESV)
i. Prayer
ii. Giving - giving our resources is the closest thing to being like God. The part that we give away is the part that lasts forever.
The most dangerous prayer you can pray is "God use me."

- Stay in fellowship with God!
- Accept my ministry? Following Jesus' example of ministry.
- Be givers - of your talent and monies.


Lionel