Vision Sunday, Sept 2024

Rodney Gehman – September 8, 2024

I'm calling this message, “The Mission of the Church.” Which is the question, why does River City Church exist?? Most companies and organizations answer that question with a mission statement. Here’s a few examples of how some companies have answered that question:

• [ 003 ] Microsoft exists: “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”
• [ 004 ] Here’s Airbnb: “To create a world where anyone can belong anywhere and we are focused on creating an end-to-end travel platform that will handle every part of your trip.”
• [ 005 ] Here’s Sony: “To fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity.” 
• Some aren’t quite that intelligent. [ 006 ] One mission statement I found said “We put the W in Qwality.” That one is pretty good. [ 007 ] My dad’s trucking company said “We specialize in speedy service no matter how long it takes.”

[ 009 ] So what about the mission of River City Church? Well that question assumes that we are autonomous. That we only belong to ourselves and answer to our Board of Directors. The reality is that we are just one tiny piece of a much larger organism, which is the Church of Jesus Christ – not only existing in 1000s of locations around the world today, but also covering the spread of the last 2000 years. So the much more important question to ask first is, what is the mission of the Church?” 

Shoot, back up even further –What even is the Church? I don’t have time to dig through all the helpful scriptures on this, so I’m going to just give you [ 010 ] Dr Gregg Allison’s definition and you’ll have to take his word for it: The Church is the people of God (I will add the people of God past, present, and future)  who have been saved through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and have been incorporated into his family through baptism with the Holy Spirit. 

This global Church is specifically expressed in local churches, led by pastors, pursuing unity, exercising church discipline, developing community with each other, celebrating the Lord’s Supper and baptism together. The local Church is equipped by the Holy Spirit with spiritual gifts for ministry, and gathers regularly to worship the triune God, proclaim his Word, engage non-Christians with the gospel, disciple members, care for people through prayer and giving, and stand both for and against the world. 

Now we could break all of that down for an entire sermon series at some point, but the point is: River City is a gathering of THE Church. So today, I want to dial things back and remember that we are miniscule part of a larger purpose and vision and mission that is at the heart of the global Church. 

So, why does THE Church exist? What is her mission? Here are three key ingredients: 

1. [ 011 ] The mission of the church is to glorify Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1 that those who put their hope in Christ are saved for the praise of his glory. You know the kingdom of heaven has advanced when someone who was an enemy of Christ now praises him, lives for him, worships him, glorifies him. Paul would go on to say that we are re-created in Christ, transformed, made new, for good works that God prepared ahead of time for us to do. Notice, we are not created in Christ BY good works, but FOR them. So belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ gives us purpose – glorify Christ, and step into the good works of giving, preaching, serving, singing, sharing the gospel, helping, etc, etc, that he has prepared for us to do so that WE and those who watch us from the outside, praise the name of Jesus.
2. [ 012 ] The mission of the church is to build up the saints. 

There is no such thing as a solo Christian. You belong to a family. If you have children and one of them starts disappearing into their room frequently, spending countless hours alone, skipping family meals, etc, a good parent goes to the door and says hey, you are not your own. You belong to us. Come out of your room and be part of the family. Same with Church. 

Or another illustration is how a building is put together. It is the sum of 100s and thousands of smaller parts. We have been talking about building our own space for River City, and sometime in the very near future, you will have some opportunities to give your input on what some of those smaller parts should be. The designer wants to hear from all of you about how you envision the church building to be – what it includes and doesn’t include. 

But just like a physical building is the sum of all of its parts, the Apostle Peter writes that each one of us who is filled with the Holy Spirit is a living stone, built together into a house of worship where Jesus is the foundation everything is built on. 

And part of the mission of the church is to build up the other members of the family. In fact, there are more than 50 places in the New Testament that speak of “one another.” Here are some of them: Love One Another, Honor One Another, Greet One Another, Show Hospitality to One Another, Agree With One Another, Forgive One Another, Have patience With One Another, Bear One Another’s Burdens, Comfort One Another, Confess Sins to One Another, Pray for One Another, Encourage One Another, Instruct One Another, Sing With One Another, Serve One Another, Submit to One Another, Speak the Truth to One Another, Do Not Envy One Another. 

Belonging to a Jesus family is not just about agreeing to believe the same things: it’s about being united to the other members of the household of God and building them up. 

1. [ 013 ] The mission of the church is to make disciples. Just before Jesus returned to heaven, He commissioned His disciples this way [ 014 ] : “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20). 
   1. The mission of the church is to make disciples, [ 015 ] which are simply followers or students of Jesus. 
      1. Those who know me know that I enjoy coffee. [ 016 ] I enjoy it so much that I purchased my own coffee roaster so I can roast it myself and enjoy fresh coffee every morning. In order to do that well, I had to become a student of coffee. I learned the science behind how coffee is roasted. I learned that the tap water at my house doesn’t make good coffee. I learned about the way the fruit is washed and dried, how it’s harvested… That picture on the left is the inside of a cupboard door – and I have ruined a lot of coffee beans in search of the best profile. In order to be good at making coffee, I had to become a student of the process. 
      2. [ 017 ] A disciple is simply someone who has become a student of Jesus. In Jesus’ day, a disciple was someone who followed a teacher in order to become like them. These students imitated their rabbi’s accent, his hand motions, the way he walked, his mannerisms and everything. In fact, you could see a student walking toward you on the sidewalk and know who their rabbi was simply by watching how that student carried themselves. And then, after the rabbi was pleased with the student, he would release them and say, now go make your own students. 
   2. That’s the word Jesus uses for the church – go and make students, teaching them to observe everything I taught you. 

What I find most fascinating about this is verse 18. Jesus said: Because All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Author John Piper explains what that statement means:

1. #1 [ 019 ] Hebrews 1 says Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power. All the electrons, everywhere in the universe, maintain their path and their speed by the will of Jesus Christ. We take that for granted 100% of the time. That means water stays water because he wants it to. Gravity stays gravity because he wants it to. That would change Olympic diving for sure, wouldn’t it? That would be quite a sport, if you weren’t sure what level of gravity you’d have, or if the water would suddenly become granite or air. Food nourishes your body because he wants it to. Light a fire and it warms the house because he wants it to. Everything visible and invisible exists and holds in place because Jesus wants them to and makes it so. 
2. #2 In Mark 1, [ 020 ] the people were amazed that Jesus “commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” They did and still do obey him. Satan cannot touch the children of God without permission (1 John 5:18).
3. #3 [ 021 ] Jesus rules and governs all the affairs of history. This is why John calls him King over all kings. And what this means practically is that no king, no president, no chief, no sheik, no premier, no prime minister, no governor, no mayor, no congressman takes office except that God through Jesus puts him there. 
   1. Our current President is in office because God put him there. You don’t have to like his policies, but you have to respect the fact that it was the God we sang to about a minute ago (and not Russia) that is ultimately responsible for who is in the Oval Office both now and next year this time. 
   2. The book of Daniel says “He removes kings and sets up kings; . . . The Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whom he will. . . . He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 2:21; 4:17, 35). And when the rulers are in place, Proverbs says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). The fact that God is sovereign over all things and ordained every leader doesn’t mean he approves of them or supports their agenda, but throughout scripture God clearly ordains and uses godless people to accomplish his purposes. We may need to come back to this one in another month or two. 
4. #4 [ 022 ] To say all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him means Jesus has been given authority over all sickness and disease. When Moses complained that he wasn’t a good public speaker, God said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” (Exodus 4:11). Jesus has not lost any of his power to heal since Acts 10 when “He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil…”. Therefore, diseases are present or not by his decree. Neither Satan, nor viruses, nor bacteria, nor broken chromosomes are sovereign in this world. Jesus is. God can lift any disease he pleases at any time he pleases, and James 5:14 encourages us to ask him to do so. No disease will stop his mission.
5. #5 [ 023 ] Jesus even has full authority over all sin. Back in Acts 4 we read, Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. All of those actions against Jesus were sinful – all of it. Yet God was over all of it. He is not intimidated by the sins of men. You don’t need to be intimidated either.
6. #6 [ 024 ] Jesus has authority over death. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35–37) Don’t be afraid of death. Don’t fear those who kill the body and can do no more!
7. #7 [ 025 ] And lastly, Jesus has absolute authority and power over the mission of the church, and it cannot fail. “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ is to be so empowered by Jesus’ authority over all things, so united to Jesus himself, so full of the Holy Spirit, so grafted into the family of God that not even a very real and active presence of evil here on this earth will stop the church from participating with Jesus in his mission of rescuing souls from hell with the gospel.

[ 026 ] Ephesians 1 points out that this is all because Jesus willingly submitted to the cross, and then rose from the dead where God…seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And Jesus said FOR THAT REASON, because Jesus has all authority, THEREFORE. Go and intentionally look to create students of Jesus who know him, love him, worship him, serve him, and put him on display in every arena of their lives . 

That’s why the global Church exists – and it’s why River City Church exists. Now, if we look at Acts 14 where we left off back in June, and what was read for us here a minute ago, you can see all of it played out right in front of us.[ 027 ]  21 After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples. 

There are two marks of the Church right there, starting with preaching the gospel. A preacher or teacher can say a lot of things that sound inspiring, that lift your spirits and get you fired up, that stir your emotions – and that’s great. But if that sermon or teaching isn’t about how Jesus brings good news to all kinds of people because of his life, his death, or his resurrection, then it’s not the gospel. The gospel always points us to the glory of Christ. 

So, moving into the future, this must be our first and foremost value at River City. The gospel of Jesus Christ. If you ever get the sense that we are drifting away from that, you should ask to meet with the elders and call us out. And if we don’t listen, you should leave and find another church that does faithfully preach Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as the only true gospel. 

[ 028 ] The second mark of the church in Acts is that they made many disciples, which we said earlier, are basically people who are students of Jesus. 

Making disciples is about evangelism. Making new students of Jesus. This is about talking to non-Christians about Jesus. You can always start by praying for someone, and telling them what Jesus has done in your own life. This isn’t about giving them facts to believe – it’s about pointing them to a Person who is alive right now, calling them to himself. Some of you are incredibly gifted at this. You would preach to a mannequin at the store if you had the chance. Listen to me – God has given you that passion as a gift to the body of Christ. Step into it. Fan it into flame. 

There are several stories I’m aware of where some of you have prayed with people, shared the gospel with your non-Christian family members, or invited people to church. Keep it up! That’s awesome! The outcome isn’t in your hands. We can’t save anyone, but as Romans 10 says, how will anyone hear the gospel and be saved if no one proclaims it to them? This is something we all can be doing as the Holy Spirit leads us into these opportunities. 

This is one area where I personally would like to grow over the next year. I don’t do very well in this. So, I’m daily asking the Holy Spirit, please fill us with a love for the lost, a love for our city, a love for people far from you – fill us with a deep love for you, so that we want to see people become students of Jesus. 

Back to Acts 14 – here’s the third mark of the church, in verse 21, when they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, [ 029 ]  22 strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” 

How do they strengthen them? By encouraging them to hang in there and continue in the faith, even through hardship and threats to their lives.

That tells me two things – 1) If someone needs encouragement to continue in the faith, it’s probably because we often feel tempted to not continue. To give up. To walk away. To doubt God’s presence, or at least doubt his goodness. That’s when it’s crucial to belong to a local community of believers, where people can know what you’re going through and encourage you to not give up. Stay the course. Keep trusting God. 

I ordered something on Amazon a few weeks back at dinnertime one night. 5:30 or so. One option I had for delivery was between 2-5am the next morning! It's so crazy that there is a stranger taking a picture of my front door at 3 in the morning, and that’s totally normal. But when we live in that kind of quick fix world, order something while you eat dinner and it’s at your door before you eat breakfast the next morning, this thing of discipleship and faith can feel like it’s quite a drag. That it’s not working. We want someone to give answers to our pain now. 

But that’s the second thing these disciples needed to be reminded of. 2) The road to the kingdom of God requires hardship. It’s not a mistake that Christians face hard times. It’s not a glitch in the system. Look at that verse – it is necessary – meaning, a crucial element of your faith being tested as real or fake is how you respond to hardship. And if hardships are necessary, so is the community that encourages us to not give up. 

At River City there are three ways we facilitate this kind of community. 

1. Large scale is Sunday morning. One thing guests of River City often comment on is how long people stand around after the service and talk to each other. I’ve seen you huddle up in groups and pray for each other. Love that!  
2. Medium scale are Community Groups. These are groups of 5-7 households that meet in homes 2x a month. We’re in the final stages of putting those together for this year, because 27 new people want into a Group, and 15 are looking to mix it up and try a new Group. That means I need to find a home for 40+ people, and to be honest, I’m scrambling a little bit. But God always provides, so I’m confident we’ll get everyone into a spot by the end of the month. But this year, Community Groups are mainly opportunities to share a meal, discuss a few questions or a short scripture, and spend time together praying – praying for our country, praying for our leaders, praying for our schools, our city, our students, etc. 
3. And then small scale is what we call Discipleship Groups. Right now, on average around 115 adults attend River City each week, and before the announcement this morning,  ~92 men and women are in these small Discipleship Groups, which is crazy amazing. But these groups are where we go deeper with each other. Confessing sin to each other. Praying for specifics. Encouraging each other to continue in the faith. Some are studying the word together.  

But it all comes down to this: If it’s truly discipleship that’s happening in those groups, if KidCity truly is equipping our children, if Sunday morning sermons are to be more than just me passing along information, if we really do care about our city, then the drive of everything we do should be to glorify Jesus, build each other up, and help those inside and outside these walls to become students of Jesus that are maturing more and more, becoming more like him all the time. Even if the progress is slow, it’s still progress.   

Back to Acts 14 – [ 030 ]  To make sure this encouragement and building up of the saints wouldn’t stop once Paul and Barnabas left, 23 they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 

And I love this because it shows the way that God intends to work with humans to bring healing and hope to the world – 

They appointed elders (human leadership) and committed them to God (divine leadership) through Prayer and fasting.

Right now, there are three pastors here at River City – Myself, Steve Hall, and Nate King. Nate and his wife Janene just returned from their Sabbatical, so let’s give them a warm welcome back! You’ll get a chance to hear from them _________. Back at our Spring Vision Sunday, we announced that we wanted to expand our elder team from the 3 of us to add two more men to help carry the load of leading a growing congregation. So we gave you the month of April to suggest names for that position, in June I approached those individuals about entering the process of determining a call to this, and gave them some time to pray, fast, think, talk it over. 

And so the two men that agreed to enter the process to pursue this call to be pastors/elders at River City are Bill Fiordelise and Nelson Yutzy. STAND UP. Sometime in the near future we will begin a monthly training process with these men that will work them toward discerning if God has called them to this and if so, what specific areas they are called to serve in. So this will not be an overnight process. You will start to see them working in elder capacities from time to time, but it will be a while before it’s official. Please pray for these men and their wives in the meantime, and encourage them as you see them around. 

[ 031 blank ] Here’s how Acts 14 finished out: 24 They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 After they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they spent a considerable time with the disciples.  

I love that idea that they had now completed the work they had been given to do, so they reported it all and then sat down for a considerable time of rest until the Lord gave them their next assignment. 

Now you can see, it’s the end of a mission but it’s not the end of the story for these guys. That’s how it looks for the Church of Jesus as well. One day, our days of passing through all the little towns of this earth doing the work he has assigned us to do will come to an end, and we will find the work we had been given to do on this earth is now completed. 

How can I be sure we won’t fail the mission? Shouldn’t this be a message that says, “come on, church, we have a lot to do – get busy!” How can I be so sure we will get the job done, that we will complete the task we’ve been put in Riverside to accomplish? Because Jesus has authority over the mission of the Church, and by his Holy Spirit in us, he will see to it that we do. We are not trying to accomplish this on our own strength – we are filled and empowered and strengthened and led by the very Spirit of Christ - the same Jesus who lived, died, and rose again.

And for those who are united to Jesus by faith, the Church, when their assignment on earth is complete, they will enter heaven to the sound of the words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant” because our teacher, our rabbi – the one we’ve been a student of – entered his Father’s glory the same way. And there we will celebrate the goodness of God with Jesus himself, and all of those who have gone before us, and spend considerable time with them (eternity to be exact), as we wait for the next assignment he has for us: ruling and reigning with Christ!

So let me encourage you today, River City. Continue in the faith. There are many hardships, I know. There are signs of the end being close. There are wars and rumors of wars. There are jostlings and rumblings around the world. Just like 2 Tim 3 said would happen in the last days, people around us today even in the Church are are lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. 

But don’t grow weary of doing good. Don’t be ashamed to be distinct from the world. Don’t be afraid to present and live the gospel. All authority belongs to Jesus, and he has promised to be with us all the way to the end. 

[ 032 ] We’re running out of time today, so please pray these things with me or with each other as we close – Stir our hearts to be students of Jesus; stir our hearts to love this city with the love of Jesus; help us live by the Spirit each and every day.