Sunday: “Did you follow me or did you do your own thing?”

“Did you follow me, or did you do your own thing?”
God’s eternal purpose is to bring people into and under the protective, saving Lordship of Jesus.
The purpose of a church that is fulfilling God’s purpose is to be involved in saving people and keeping people saved. When we have succeeded in the treasure hunt, we join the rescue mission.
Loving God means loving what God loves. Christians are passionate about souls because God is passionate about souls. Christians pray about souls. When Christians make a “blessing list” or a “most wanted” list, they show they are looking at people and are aware that that those people have souls.
We go out to bring them in. We send others to bring them in. The question is always the same, “How is the harvest going?” When Jesus taught about the harvest, he spoke of the need for more harvesters. The church has a lot of workers who are not harvesters.
Disciples of Jesus make more disciples.
We go out to bring disciples in. We are present where they are to bring them into Jesus. We proclaim him to bring them in.
We go to teach people how to become disciples.
When disciples do not know how to make disciples, we teach them how to make disciples.
When disciples struggle with following, we seek to strengthen them and teach them how to follow more closely.
Look at the ministry of the church. Look at the mission work of the church. God is going to ask one thing. “Did you do my work or did you do your own thing?”