Mark 8:31-33

Mark 8:31-33

They Way of the Kingdom

 

As we move from the review of our vision and DNA/Values into the season of the resurrection, we want to look forward into 2016 by looking into and knowing the values of God’s kingdom.

 

The “third race” is language given by some to the community of the kingdom. What makes all nations able to be in fellowship is not cultures giving up their distinctives to adopt the distinctives of the majority, but all nations/races living in the common values of the kingdom that are shared by Spirit-filled disciples of Jesus living the values of his kingdom.

 

We want to be that “third race” kind of people, a kingdom people.

 

We will learn this by knowing and obeying the Manual.

 

Mark 8:31-33

“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

 

The Way To Life Is Through Death 8:31

Father takes the curse of the fall and makes it the vehicle by which he grows his kingdom. This happens because Jesus tastes death for all, so that all through what Jesus turns for our good may taste life.

 

John 12:24-26

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

 

God’s Word is Clear 8:32a

It’s not as though the Scriptures are unclear. They are not unclear.

 

“When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die.” – Bonhoeffer

It’s Part Of Our Fallen Normal Response To Argue With God’s Way 8:32b

The kingdom of God will conflict with the kingdom of darkness.

 

Our job is to NOT give in to the kingdom of darkness.

 

Our job IS to plunder the kingdom of darkness by rescuing souls and domains of society from it’s clutches with the powerful gospel of the kingdom.

 

Jesus Is Graciously Stern 8:33a

We have to learn to live beyond our normal human inclinations because they are broken. We have to live according to the values of God’s kingdom.

 

Jesus Identifies The Two Ways Of Thinking 8:33b

There are in fact 2 kingdoms in conflict.

 

1. The things of God / Kingdom of light

 

2. The things of man – Satanic lies believed by men / Kingdom of darkness

 

 

The best way to recognize lies is to know the truth well.

 

So, what are some values of God’s kingdom that can help us live and do the vision well in 2016?

 

God is a sending God

John 20:21

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’”

 

44 times Jesus is referred to as “sent” by the Father.

 

Here, Jesus, in like fashion to what the Father has done on missionwith the Son, Jesus sends us on his mission.

 

“Churches that want to ‘prevail against the gates of hell’ must learn to see themselves like aircraft carriers, not like battleships and certainly not like cruise liners. Members need to learn to share the gospel, without the help of the pastor, in the community, and start ministries and bible studies – even churches – in places without them. Churches must become discipleship factories, ‘sending’ agencies that equip their members to take the battle to the enemy.”[1]

 

Application: What does it look like for you to live “sent”?

– Go away and ask this question to yourself and your family.

– Consider if you would allow us to interview you about what your “sent” looks like and how the Lord is at work in and through you to encourage others to action and to glorify the Lord for his work.

 

Some helpful questions from Gabe Lyons regarding living “missional” or “sent”:

Question 1: What is wrong?

What are the things that we, in the name of Christ, need to confront? Where is the world struggling, and what does it look like for us to follow Christ in his mission to heal and restore? What does it mean to be a people of compassion, working for a better world with the energy and grace God gives to us, by confronting evils that threaten human dignity: poverty and neglect, injustice and abuse, racism and classism, hurting neighborhoods and failing schools, illness and addiction, hypocrisy and loneliness?

 

Question 2: What is confused?

What will it look like for us to follow Christ in his mission to clarify and compel? What does it look like to be a truth-telling people, inviting our neighbors to consider the truth and beauty of God, to see and experience Jesus as the answer to humanity’s longing for forgiveness, hope, community, and meaning?

 

Question 3: What is good?

What will it look like for us to follow Christ in his mission to celebrate and cultivate? As an affirming people, what does it look like to resist cynicism, and instead to applaud, participate in, and enjoy the things that are right and good with the world—things that support and advance the common good for all of our neighbors?

 

Question 4: What is missing?

What will it look like for us to follow Christ in his mission to share and create? As a life-giving people, what does it look like to live well and love well, so that all of our neighbors, whether they share our beliefs or not, are glad that we are here? Whether at church, in our neighborhoods, at work or at play, what will it look like for us to be advocates more than adversaries, contributors more than consumers, givers more than receivers?[2]

 

We live by dying / multiply by sacrificing

John 12:24-26 (Matthew 10:39; 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; 17:33)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

 

We trust the Lord in death for the cause.

Revelation 6:11 “Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”

 

We give people to the mission.

 

We give finances to the cause regardless of what we get in return.

 

We trust that Father will multiply the investment in kingdom fruit of right, peace and salvation.

 

We love the glory of God in Christ

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker

“What your organization does best grows out of what it loves most.”[3]

 

We won’t take our domains for the kingdom by giving you instructions on doing so.

 

We won’t bring the transforming work of the gospel to bear by organizing you into nice Radical Life Groups.

 

You’ll do both of those when you are captivated by the glory of God in Christ. When you are wrecked by the gospel there will be no stopping you.

 

Every vocation is vital

“There is a widespread myth in the church that ‘calling into ministry’ is a secondary experience that happens to only a few, privileged Christians.”[4]

 

1 Peter 2:9-11 and Ephesians 4:11-13 make it clear we are all gifted and priests to be laborers in the kingdom work of the harvest of domains and souls.

 

2 Questions to ask:

Question 1:

What skill has God given me by which I can bless the world?

Question 2:

Where and how can I do it most strategically to advance the mission of God?

 

“The church is not a group of people gathered around a leader, but a leadership factory”[5]

 

John 14:12 “Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”

 

You all are capable of greater earthly ministry than the Lord Jesus when he was physically present because he has given you his Spirit and promised you that your ministry can be greater.

 

Rather than hold you, we must release you to go and lead movements!

 

We make disciples

The most basic function we can undertake and the most effective is to make disciples.

 

“To make disciples you simply bring people along in your spiritual journey. It’s more about intentionality than technique.”[6]

 

We worship

Psalm 147:1 “Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”

[1] J. D. Greear, Gaining by Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches That Send, pg. 28.

 

[2] http://scottsauls.com/2014/05/02/missional-four-helpful-questions/?platform=hootsuite

[3] Ibid., p. 58

[4] Ibid., p. 69

[5] Ibid., p. 101

[6] Ibid., p. 137