Today at Crosswinds International

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Today at Crosswinds International

•  I Can...I will
• The Great Commission

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Todays Text

• "You did not choose me, but I chose you and
  appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that
  will last..." John 1516.

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All ministry is based upon the fact that we have
been sent by Jesus

• John 2021 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace
  be unto you as my Father hath sent me, even
  so send I you.
• We have been commissioned by Him to fulfill the
  purpose of God in our generation. It is this
  commission that determines the parameters for our
  ministry.

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Matthew 2818-20

• "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority
  in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
  baptizing them...and teaching them to obey
  everything I have commanded you. And surely I am
  with you always, to the very end of the age.
• This is our charter for ministry at Crosswinds.
  So important is this commission that the timing
  of the return of the Lord Jesus depends upon its
  fulfillment.

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Matthew 2414

• "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached
  in the whole world as a testimony to all nations,
  and then the end will come"
• 2Pe 311-12 Seeing then that all these things
  shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought
  ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the
  day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire
  shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt
  with fervent heat?

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The Strategy of the Gospel

• The Great Commission is not just about us doing
  something for God. It is about joining with God
  in His purposes on the earth. These purposes are
  laid out clearly in the Gospel. The focus of the
  Great Commission is the Gospel.There is a clear
  two-part strategy to the Gospel

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A Come Strategy

• "'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make
  you fishers of men'" Matthew 419.The first
  part of the Gospel strategy is to come

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Come near to God

• Jam 48 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh
  to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners and
  purify your hearts, ye double minded.
• Rev 320 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock
  if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
  will come in to him, and will sup with him, and
  he with me.
• Mar 631 And he said unto them, Come ye
  yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a
  while for there were many coming and going, and
  they had no leisure so much as to eat.

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Come to the spring of living water

• Rev 2217 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
  And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him
  that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him
  take the water of life freely.
• Jer 213 For my people have committed two evils
  they have forsaken me the fountain of living
  waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
  cisterns, that can hold no water.

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Come and follow Jesus

• Jhn 1226 If any man serve me, let him follow me
  and where I am, there shall also my servant be
  if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.
• Mar 116 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee,
  he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net
  into the sea for they were fishers.
• Mar 117 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after
  me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
  
• Mar 118 And straightway they forsook their nets,
  and followed him.

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Come and be trained

• Luke 640 The disciple is not above his master
  but every one that is perfect shall be as his
  master.
• Mat 1128 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
  heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
• Mat 1129 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me
  for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall
  find rest unto your souls.
• Mat 1130 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
  light.

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Come together in fellowship

• Mat 1820 For where two or three are gathered
  together in my name, there am I in the midst of
  them.
• 1Cr 1426 How is it then, brethren? when ye come
  together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a
  doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath
  an interpretation. Let all things be done unto
  edifying.

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The purpose of this "come strategy" is to equip
the believer for ministry

• Eph 412 For the perfecting of the saints, for
  the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
  body of Christ
• Eph 415 But speaking the truth in love, may grow
  up into him in all things, which is the head,
  even Christ
• Eph 416 From whom the whole body fitly joined
  together and compacted by that which every joint
  supplieth, according to the effectual working in
  the measure of every part, maketh increase of the
  body unto the edifying of itself in love.

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• As we come together regularly, the Holy Spirit
  works to cause the Gospel to become an integrated
  part of the believer's life.

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A Go Strategy

• Rom.1013-15 "...'Everyone who calls on the name
  of the Lord will be saved.' How, then, can they
  call on the one they have not believed in? And
  how can they believe in the one of whom they have
  not heard? And how can they hear without someone
  preaching to them? And how can they preach unless
  they are sent?...
• John 1718 As thou hast sent me into the world,
  even so have I also sent them into the world.

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The second part of the Gospel strategy is to go

• Go out as workers in the harvest field
• Luke 101 After these things the Lord appointed
  other seventy also, and sent them two and two
  before his face into every city and place,
  whither he himself would come.
• Luke 102 Therefore said he unto them, The
  harvest truly is great, but the laborers are
  few pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
  that he would send forth laborers into his
  harvest.
• Luke 103 Go your ways behold, I send you forth
  as lambs among wolves.

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Go into the highways and byways

• Luke 1421 So that servant came, and showed his
  lord these things. Then the master of the house
  being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly
  into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring
  in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt,
  and the blind.
• Luke 1422 And the servant said, Lord, it is done
  as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
• Luke 1423 And the lord said unto the servant, Go
  out into the highways and hedges, and compel
  them to come in, that my house may be filled.

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Go into all the world

• Mar 1615 And he said unto them, Go ye into all
  the world, and preach the gospel to every
  creature.
• Act 18 But ye shall receive power, after that
  the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be
  witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all
  Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
  part of the earth.
• Rom 1520 Yea, so have I strived to preach the
  gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should
  build upon another man's foundation

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• The "go strategy" involves the taking of the
  Gospel out to where the people are - not waiting
  for them to come to you.It is important for us
  to see these two parts of the Gospel strategy
  clearly. If we do not, we might get the come-go
  strategy reversed.

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The Cart before the Horse

• We end up having a come strategy for evangelism
  ("Come to church and be saved!") and a go
  strategy for training ("Go to that place to be
  trained!").
• The Biblical pattern is to have a come strategy
  for training and fellowship and a go strategy for
  evangelism.
• "Now to him who is able to establish you by my
  gospel...so that all nations might believe and
  obey him" Romans 1625-26

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One part of the strategy will not work without
the other

• In coming, God establishes us in His Gospel.
• In going, we take that Gospel out to other lives.
  
• Under Authority"...All authority in heaven and
  on earth has been given to me. Therefore go..."
  Matthew 2818-19.

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• The Great Commission is backed by the full
  authority of God's Throne. But to be effective in
  that commission, we need to come under the
  authority of God. This means obedience - going,
  coming and doing as we are commanded.
• "For I myself am a man under authority, with
  soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he
  goes and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say
  to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it" Matthew
  89.
• We need to be coming to Him, going where He sends
  us, and doing the things He commands - not just
  for big decisions, but on an every day basis.

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The Message of the Gospel

• "...Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good
  news of God. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The
  kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the
  good news!'" Mark 114-15
• Mat 417 From that time Jesus began to preach,
  and to say, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is
  at hand.

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The Gospel is described in many ways throughout
the Bible -

• The Gospel of grace
• Act 2024 But none of these things move me,
  neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that
  I might finish my course with joy, and the
  ministry, which I have received of the Lord
  Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

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The Gospel of salvation

• Eph 413 Till we all come in the unity of the
  faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
  unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
  stature of the fullness of Christ

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The Gospel of peace

• Eph 615 And your feet shod with the preparation
  of the gospel of peace

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The Gospel of the glory of Christ

• 2Cr 44 In whom the god of this world hath
  blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
  the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who
  is the image of God, should shine unto them.
• And finally the Gospel of the Kingdom.
• The word "gospel" means "good news." The good
  news of God's Kingdom is based upon three solid
  facts Satan has been defeated (Matt.1224-29
  Col.215).

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• God's judgment has been satisfied on the Cross
  (Eph.17).
• A new life - now and in eternity - has been
  opened up in Christ (2 Corinthians 517 1 Peter
  118-19 225).
• "...I am sending you to them to open their eyes
  and turn them from darkness to light, and from
  the power of Satan to God, so that they may
  receive forgiveness of sins and a place among
  those who are sanctified by faith in me" Acts
  2617-18 (see also Colossians 113).

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Separated for the Gospel

• Paul summed up his whole ministry as being "set
  apart for the gospel of God" (Rom.11).
• To be "set apart" means to be "dedicated for
  special use" (Acts 132). As we respond to the
  Great Commission, our lives are set apart for the
  purposes of God.
• "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me,
  if only I may finish the race and complete the
  task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of
  testifying to the gospel of God's grace" Acts
  2024.

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Conclusion

• We were created for this purpose and one question
  remains in the lips of our Creator
• Isa 68 Also I heard the voice of the Lord,
  saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for
  us? Then said I, Here am I send me.
• I tell you Church I canand I will!