REMEMBER AND RESPOND
Compelled By The Love Of Christ
2 Corinthians 5:14,15
The goal of the cross of Christ is not that we remember his love and remain the same, but that we respond to the cross and as a result are never the same again. As we remember the Lord and his love so powerfully demonstrated on the cross, let us respond to that love.
1. REMEMBER THE LORD'S KINGDOM - AND MAKE IT A PRIORITY
Matthew 6:33 God's kingdom (i.e. his church) and his righteousness should be our number one priority.
Matthew 13:44-46 The kingdom is a treasure, more valuable than the sum of all you own or earn.
Acts 1:3 In his last forty days with the disciples Jesus wanted them to understand clearly about the kingdom. The kingdom was his main focus during those forty days.
The kingdom is the church - the people, the family of disciples. We need to make it our priority and one of the greatest ways in which to do that is to be there for each other within the kingdom - to help, serve and encourage one another.
Q. What have you done this past week to encourage disciples around you?
Q. What have you done to help meet the physical, spiritual and/or emotional needs of the disciples around you?
There are too many people in the kingdom and too many needs amongst ourselves for us to remain idle, so let us remember the Lord's kingdom and make it a priority.
2. REMEMBER THE LORD'S MISSION - AND TAKE IT PERSONALLY
This is probably very obvious to many of us, and yet it is an area, like all others, in which we need reminding from time to time. Even the great apostles needed reminding in this area.
Matthew 28:16-20
If they had been zealously making disciples all along, Jesus would probably not have had to remind them to do so. But he did remind them. Let us see how, after Jesus' death, the disciples abandoned their mission:
Luke 24:9-12 The disciples doubted.
John 21:3 Some apostles went back to fishing (for fish).
So when Jesus calls them to go make disciples, it was not only a commission, but a reminder. We too often let all manner of issues and events discourage and distract us from the mission of helping people to have a relationship with God.
Q. What have you allowed of late to distract you? Don't forget, but instead be focused.
John 4:34
Jesus tells the discipls that it was his food to do God's work. He doesn't say "our food" although it was indeed the work of all of them. Jesus took the work and his responsibility personally.
Mark 1:17
Jesus says "I will make you fishers of men," i.e. I will teach you, I will train you, I will serve you, I will equip you, etc. He wasn't waiting for them to be great fishers so they could all do it together. Instead, he took the mission personally, and ultimately his faith and life were a spark that ignited a revolution.
One reason that Jesus was so effective was because he took his mission personally.
Q. Have you been actively involved and engaged in helping people become disciples or have you lost your way? Have you forgotten your mission?
The singular most important thing in life always has been and still is this: that men and women come to know God as Father, to know submit to Jesus as Lord, and get to heaven. It is to this end that we have been called. So let us remember the Lord's mission and take it personally.
3. REMEMBER THE LORD'S VISION - AND MAKE IT A REALITY
This is to encourage those who are in the process of becoming disciples or of being restored to discipleship.
John 14:2
Jesus is preparing a place for you, as much as he was/is for those who are already disciples. This shows that he knows you can make it and that he expects you to make it. This is the Lord's vision for you.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
God knows that you can make it. You don't have to be the strongest, the smartest or the most scripturally-informed. God is calling you in your weakness because he is the one who will make you strong.
Sometimes you may think to yourself, "I can't make it, the changes required are beyond me, I cannot change and be restored in my faith to who I once was, I don't have what it takes to become a disciple." As long as you remember Jesus' vision for you, you have what it takes!
Acts 8:29-39
Here is a wealthy man. But he realized and understood that God had a greater vision for him that mere political or social prominence. God had a vision of spiritual greatness for him. God knew he could repent and get his life right with Him.
It is the message of the cross that changed the eunuch (that is what he was reading which Philip explained to him). Remember the cross, remember God's love for you, and remember God's vision for your life. then live it out. Make it a reality.