Take Home Study Guide May 20, 2013

Ready: Read: Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:45; John 20:21; Acts 1:8 Meditate & Memorize: And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 28:18-20 ESV) Receive: Why Did Jesus Come to Earth? o The most important question that any individual Christian can answer and any church can keep clear in its vision is why Jesus came. o According to Luke 19:10, I Timothy 1:15, John 3:16, and Romans 15:89, Jesus came to earth to give his life in order to save sinner from every tribe and tongue and nation so that they would glorify him for his mercy. o At least two things are implicit here: That the primary purpose for existing/the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. That all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are all natural born children of Adam: lost, sinful, fallen, and in need of his mercy and grace. o In Let the Nations be Glad, John Piper said, Missions exists because worship doesnt. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more (p. 15). o Discuss the relationship between worship and missions. Has Christs Purpose for Coming to Earth Been Completed? o No. Jesus atoning purpose has been competed but Jesus did not take the gospel to all nations. o Jesus target audience, during his earthy ministry, was the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mat 15:24) and this was the focus of his disciples before the resurrection but after the resurrection Jesus enlarged their understanding of the mission by giving the disciples the great commission. Confirmation of this can be found in the book of Acts and the rest of the NT. o Read Mathew 24:14 and Revelation 5:9 and discuss o Three observations: Christ died for people from every tribe and tongue and nation. The gospel will be preached to every tribe and tongue and nation.

At the end of time people from every tribe and tongue and nation will have heard the gospel and believed and will gather around Jesus and sing Worthy is the Lamb. How has Christ Planned to Complete His Mission? o Christ plans to complete the mission that he began through the body of Christ, the church. o The purpose of the body of Christ is to extend the mission of Christ in the world that people from every tribe and tongue and nation for whom Christ died would glorify God for his mercy also. o Read Romans 10:14-15, How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! o John 20:21 says, As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. o What did it mean for Jesus to be sent by the Father? o What does it mean for us to be sent by Jesus? o Read Luke 14:25-35 and Matthew 19:16-30 o How does Jesus define the cost and the reward of following him?

Reflect: God has placed us in a very exciting time in human history. No other generation has possessed the knowledge and the resources that we have in our arsenal for completing the mission. And, no other generation has been as close as we are to seeing the gospel spread to every, tribe, and tongue and nation. We are so close that if God wills that we could literally accomplish this in our own lifetimes. Go to www.peoplegroups.org and/or www.joshuaproject.net and explore! According to peoplegroups.org there are 11,301 people groups across the globe. Out of those 11,301 groups, 6,936 are still considered unreached and 3,041 are still unengaged. An unreached people group is a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group. The criteria here is less than 2% Evangelical Christian and less than 5% Christian Adherents. An unengaged people group is one which has no active church planting underway. Discuss the possibility of reaching every tribe and tongue and nation in our lifetime. Respond: Presently, God has opened the door for our church to be part of extending the gospel in word and deed in Africa. We will be sending our next group in June.

Every disciple of Jesus is a sender or a goer! Here is how you can get involved right now in what God is doing through NS: o Pray Prayer is vital to accomplishing the mission that God has given us. Sign-up over the next few weeks leading up to our June trip for our 24hr prayer chain. o Give Our trip in June will be for the purpose of converting an old building into a mission station where groups who go in the future will have a base to work from. Consider giving toward the $3000 needed to make this mission station a reality. o Go Everyone is called to pray and give and some are called to go. We will probably be taking at least one more trip this year in the fall and if things progress like we hope they will there will be short-term and long-term opportunities beginning in the Spring of 2014. If God has called you to go and you would like more information, email: Michael Perdue at m.perdue@me.com. Pray this week: o That God would open your eyes to the global purpose for which he sent his Son and has sent you. o That he would send more laborers into the harvest. o That he would provide the means for taking the gospel to every, tribe, and tongue, and nation. o That he would make Northside Baptist Church a lighthouse to the world from our neighborhoods to the nations. o That the Holy Spirit would go before us in power in order to tear down spiritual strongholds among the nations equip us spiritually to set the oppressed free.