A GREAT MESSAGE

By Rev Michael Jarrett

 

The Great Commandment: Matt 22:34-40

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart &  with all your soul and with all your mind.'   38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'   40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

·       love God with all.. all of you, all that you have, all that you are.

This kind of love is based on WHO GOD IS and OUR REDEMPTION. He is the King, we His subjects, He is the Creator and we the Created. His Kingdom is worth living for, dying for and everything in between.

This kind of love is about

§        DOING,

§        BEING,

§        GOING, GIVING,

§        LAYING DOWN WHATS OURS FOR WHAT IS HIS…

·       Love people like you love yourself.

§        This kind of love means we won’t let people perish without telling them about Jesus.

§        This kind of love means that people are worth sowing, sacrificing, laying down our lives for.. those near us and those afar.

§         This kind of love is about GOING, DOING, BEING, GIVING, DYING.. not feeling.

 

The GREAT Commission…matt 28:18

The Great Commission comes out of the Great Commandment.

We DO the MISSION because Jesus has saved us to see others saved. He has redeemed us that we could be a part of His redeeming others. We love Him and DO what He asks.

The Commission is much higher than a commandment.

When a person is commissioned it means that he is entrusted with a duty, a responsibility by someone higher than himself/herself. We are given the role, respsonsibility, the right to be AMBASSADORS of the Living God!. We are entrusted, vested with a responsibility to share the Good News with everyone and anyone. WOW! Can you believe it? This makes Christianity so much more than just a religion! God Himself will come and live in us.. that where we go, He goes!

 

That we see His Kingdom being a Kingdom not an option.

 That we believe that when the war is over…Jesus will be ruler of Heaven and Earth and we choose now to fight on His side.

 Take, bring, the Glad Tidings of Great Joy… the GOSPEL to ALL the World.

 

The GREAT Day of the LORD:  Zeph 1:14-18

14 "The great day of the LORD is near- near and coming quickly.

Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter,

the shouting of the warrior there.

15 That day will be a day of wrath,  a day of distress and anguish,   a day of trouble and ruin,

a day of darkness and gloom,   a day of clouds and blackness,   16 a day of trumpet and battle cry

against the fortified cities  and against the corner towers.

17 I will bring distress on the people …and they will walk like blind men,

because they have sinned against the LORD. …Their blood will be poured out like dust..and their entrails like filth.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them …on the day of the LORD's wrath.

In the fire of his jealousy …the whole world will be consumed,

for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth."

 

Luke 17:26-27

26 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Deception:

2 Tim 4:1-5

4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Be ware of Christianity that promises no pressure, problems or persecutions… a Gospel without sacrifice or cost is not the Gospel.

 

 

The Great Distraction(s):

Satan tries to confuse the situation and cause us to concentrate on that which is not the Gospel.. understand that I don’t mean that there aren’t important issues.. but for us the main issue most be preaching the Gospel

Religion is dangerous because it soothes the conscience without saving the soul…

Spirituality that embraces unity but rejects holiness is a dangerous distraction!

The time may come when the church will be more focused

o      on global warming than eternal warming..

o      and on conservation of the planet instead of consecration of the heart..

 

I will not preach GREEN but RED! The blood of the Lamb alone is the solution for sinful man!

The Gospel of the Cross..

Christ crucified,

resurrected and His RETURN

is what we must concentrate on!

 

REMEMBER!:  

 

1.    DO THE MISSION! our mission is His mission…. He has loved us and so we can love Him.. out of this love for Him we are motivated to do all that He desires…obedience to please Him… we give all for Him as He has given all for us!

He has given us a great commission.. an honor to be used by Him.. where He goes we go!  This is the greatest news He saved us.. He sends us as ambassadors!

2.    Don’t be Deceived.. God is calling us to lay down what is ours for what is His! The Gospel is costly.. but the rewards are eternal!

3.    Don’t get Distracted!  Keep the main point the main point.. mankind is lost and without hope.. the only solution is Jesus! Men everywhere should repent and call on Him who will forgive and give them a new life, abundant life and eternal life.. this message is good enough! Might not be politically correct but its enough.