On Mission Together (Defining Church #2)

Let me start with an imaginary scenario. If you have children this will be easy. If you don’t, you’ll have to pretend — and you’ll need at least two of them. Pretend you have nine if you like. Make them as cute as you want.

They’re in the house with you but somewhere else — the living room, a back bedroom, down in the basement. And what you hear is laughter. Pure, unrestrained joy. They’re having a blast. You can hear the giggling roll one into the next.

What is your heart doing in that moment? It’s music to your ears. It’s wonderful.

Now let me add one detail. The reason they’re down in the basement is that you gave them a job to do. So you sneak down the stairs, peek around the corner — and the toys are still strewn everywhere. Not one has been picked up. The laundry is still sitting in the basket, despite you having told them three times to put it away.

They’re having a ball. And they haven’t done a thing.

How do you feel now?

For me it would be mixed. There’s genuinely a part of me that enjoys the moment — it’s a real joy to see my children love each other and get along. My wife and I have looked at each other and smiled so many times watching our kids simply enjoy being together.

But I’ll confess there’d also be a frustrated part. I asked you to do one simple thing. Pick up the toys. And nothing has happened.

The Church Is Acting a Little Like Those Kids

In Acts 2, the church is acting somewhat like your children. They’re having an absolute blast together — and they aren’t doing everything they were asked to do.

Don’t mishear me. Part of that joy is God’s design for them, and we’ll see today that it genuinely is part of the mission he gave them. But it wasn’t all of it. Today we’re going to discover how the early church missed part of its mission, and what God did to bring them back to it.

Last week we saw the first part of our definition: the church is the redeemed people of God. This week I’ll give you the next phrase up front — those redeemed people are living on mission together.

The Commission

This mission runs all through Scripture, but it’s clearest in Matthew 28:18–20 — the Great Commission.

Jesus comes to them and says that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Therefore: go 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 everything he commanded — and behold, he is with them always, to the end of the age.

Notice they’re really given one task: make disciples. And the way they do it is threefold — go, baptize, and teach.

So the question becomes: is the church in Acts 2 actually doing that?

Grading the Early Church

Look at Acts 2:41. Last week we saw Peter preaching the gospel, and verse 41 tells us those who received his word were baptized, and about three thousand souls were added that day. So they’re baptizing. Check.

Verse 42 says those three thousand devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. So they’re teaching people to observe what Jesus commanded. Check.

One of the things Jesus commanded was to love one another — and in verses 44–46 we watch them do exactly that, giving and providing for each other. Check.

And the biggest thing, making disciples? Verse 47 ends with the Lord adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Check.

So they’re doing what Jesus told them to do.

Or are they?

Where Were They Supposed to Go?

Remember, Jesus said to go to all nations. And in Acts 1:8 he expands on exactly what he means: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

So for Jesus, “all nations” means four concentric circles.

Jerusalem is where they lived and worked — where they were standing at that moment. Judea is essentially their state; ours would be Iowa. Samaria was a region just north, where the people were only half Jewish — racially and culturally different — and Jesus is saying the gospel is for them too. And then the ends of the earth, which is everywhere else, because it’s for everyone else.

In Acts 2, where do we find the church? Jerusalem. And that’s fine — that’s where Jesus told them to start.

But then you get to chapter 3. Still Jerusalem. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Still Jerusalem.

Plenty is happening. In chapter 3, Jewish leaders arrest Peter and John and put them through a trial. In chapter 5, an internal crisis erupts with Ananias and Sapphira. In chapter 6, a dispute breaks out over the distribution of food to widows, with certain people being discriminated against. External problems and internal problems.

All of it in one location.

We don’t read about a single person heading out to Judea. We don’t read about anyone coming to Christ in Samaria. Nobody is sending word around the globe. The church is sort of doing what God called them to do — they’re loving one another, some disciples are being made — but not at the level Jesus described.

The Missing Sentence

Go to Acts 4:32. I suspect it will sound familiar.

The full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. (There it is — the church having a wonderful time together.) No one claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; they had everything in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, because those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds, and laid them at the apostles’ feet to be distributed to anyone in need.

That sounds almost identical to Acts 2, doesn’t it?

Except one thing is missing. There’s no equivalent of Acts 2:47 — and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Now, I’ll confess I’m walking on thin ice here. It’s risky to build an argument on silence. Just because something isn’t mentioned doesn’t prove it wasn’t happening.

But Jesus told them to make disciples in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We’re told disciples are being made in chapter 2. And it’s conspicuously absent in chapter 4. It makes me wonder whether they weren’t seeing the same kind of fruit precisely because they weren’t doing everything Jesus called them to.

And sadly, it took something tragic to get the church back on mission.

A Deacon Named Stephen

In chapter 6 we read about that conflict inside the church. There were widows with no husband to provide for them, so the church stepped in — which is exactly what many of you do. When something happens in this church family, people show up with meals almost immediately. That instinct is right there in Acts 2 and Acts 4.

But in Acts 6, some of these widows were being overlooked. The complaint comes to the apostles, who essentially say: we’re leading a brand-new megachurch and we can’t stop teaching and praying to go wait tables. So they establish the first deacon board — and one of those first deacons is a man named Stephen.

The Scriptures describe Stephen as remarkable. Honestly, I sometimes read about him and wonder why he wasn’t one of the apostles or elders. A man of integrity. Able to explain the gospel. And God was using him to perform miracles — which, up to that point, is almost exclusively something the apostles do.

Stephen is out and about in Jerusalem, and he slowly accumulates enemies — people opposed to Christianity who can’t actually refute what he’s saying. So they invent charges, and he’s arrested.

In Acts 7 he stands before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court, expected to give a defense. It’s a long chapter, and he essentially recounts the entire history of Israel. You might wonder why — those men already knew that history cold. But he’s establishing something: I am also a Jewish man. I believe these things. I know these things.

And then he pivots to Jesus. To Stephen the evidence is overwhelming: Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. You killed him on a cross, and he rose from the dead. God has presented him. Repent of your sins and give your life to Christ.

But that council was about power. They didn’t believe him, they became enraged, they dragged him outside, and they stoned him to death — the first Christian martyr.

What Satan Meant to Squelch

Which brings us to chapter 8. Standing at that stoning is a man named Saul — whom we know as the apostle Paul. Acts 8:1 opens by noting that Saul approved of the execution.

And then the next phrase: there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.

Have you ever considered what a persecution like that actually looks like? And I don’t mean the sort of thing some American Christians describe — a store clerk saying “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas.” That is not what we’re talking about.

I mean persecution where they don’t hurl insults, they hurl bullets. Where they aren’t trying to cancel you, they’re trying to kill you.

If you follow Jesus, you have brothers and sisters in Christ living right now in countries where attempting what we’re doing this morning could cost them their lives. Police would break down the door. The pastor would likely be made an example of and probably killed. Many would be imprisoned, starved, beaten, and pressured to recant.

Remember that back in chapter 2 the early church had the favor of all the people. Onlookers were amazed by this new movement — to them it wasn’t a separate religion but a movement within Judaism, Jewish people declaring Jesus to be the Messiah. Six chapters later, that favor is gone. Now they are hated.

If we experienced persecution like that it would be awful. I genuinely don’t want to lose any of you. I don’t want you arrested. I don’t want you killed for believing in Jesus.

Many would call that spiritual warfare, and I’d agree. Paul says in Ephesians 6 that we don’t wrestle merely against flesh and blood but against powers and dominions in the spiritual realm. Which means this persecution isn’t only Jewish leaders opposing a new movement. This is the enemy attacking a church that has just been born out of the gospel and empowered by the Spirit.

And God Unleashed It Instead

And at that horrific moment — the moment intended to crush the church — God unleashes it.

Look at the rest of Acts 8:1: and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

The apostles stayed in Jerusalem to keep leading the church and moving the gospel forward. But the disciples scattered — into Judea and Samaria, exactly where Jesus said to go.

And if you keep reading Acts, you watch this message about Jesus travel further and further until it reaches the ends of the earth.

If you doubt it, look around. We are the evidence. Consider how far we are from Jerusalem geographically. Consider how far we are in time. And here we sit, discussing events that happened more than two thousand years ago, most of us convinced they’re true.

It worked. And it began where the enemy tried to squelch the church and God unleashed it.

The Mission Came First

Now I want to make something very clear. God did not create the church and then hand it a mission. It’s the reverse: God had a mission, and he created a church for it.

Think it through. Jesus, God the Son, is in heaven with the Father and the Spirit. He descends to earth — the incarnation — and takes on human flesh. And what does he do while he’s here? He preaches the kingdom of God and makes disciples. And as he makes disciples, he’s training them to make other disciples.

Consider Luke’s Gospel. Luke also wrote Acts, so his Gospel is essentially volume one and Acts is volume two — one long work in two parts.

In Luke 4, Jesus begins his public ministry. He’s baptized, goes into the wilderness to be tempted, returns, and starts preaching about the kingdom of God. The Jewish historian Josephus records roughly 204 villages and cities in Israel at that time. So you have one man traveling around trying to reach 204 communities. One missionary. A ratio of one to 204.

In Luke 5 Jesus calls some disciples — but through chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 they don’t really do anything. It’s Jesus doing the teaching and the miracles while the twelve watch and listen and learn.

Then in chapter 9, Jesus sends the twelve out in pairs. Suddenly instead of one man there are six teams, and the ratio drops to about one to thirty-four.

Apparently it works, because by chapter 10 there are far more people following Jesus — so many that he sends out seventy-two, again in pairs. That’s thirty-six teams covering 204 villages. The ratio drops below one to six. (It’s one to 5.666 repeating. I did that for the math nerds in my family.)

But remember, Luke is volume one. Volume two opens with Jesus saying: you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Suddenly it isn’t 204 villages. It’s everyone. And you will not reach everyone with seventy-two disciples in thirty-six teams. You need vastly more.

Which is exactly why Acts 2:41 records God creating three thousand more disciples — three thousand more missionaries — in a single day.

God had a mission all along. He loves humanity. He created us and placed his image in us. Sin separated us from him, and he wants this life-changing message to reach us — and by his own design, he has chosen to use humans to reach other humans. Because he had a mission, he created a church.

So: Are You Making Disciples?

If you follow Jesus, you’re part of the church. So the question is simple: are you making disciples?

Some people hear that and immediately think overseas missions. Jesus said all nations, the ends of the earth — so I’d have to pack up and move to China or Mozambique.

And if God is calling you overseas, I want to help you get there. I’ll be honest, I’ll be sad to see you go. I love you and I’d keep you as long as I could. But this mission is far bigger than my wants. It’s bigger than this church. This is about God’s kingdom, and if he’s calling you, we’ll do whatever we can to send you.

This is honestly one of the few times I wish we were a wealthy church — not so we could build ourselves a monument or make a name, but so we’d have the resources to send you to the ends of the earth, or into Samaria, or further into Judea.

But remember: Jesus said you’ll be his witnesses in Jerusalem — right where you already are. This isn’t only an ends-of-the-earth thing. It begins now, where you stand.

Filling In Our Judea

Let me be transparent about something. Every year our budget includes money designated for giving away. We give locally into our own community — that’s our Jerusalem. We support a church planter working in north Minneapolis, which we’ve treated as our Samaria. We’re working on connections for overseas missions, our ends of the earth.

But we weren’t doing anything in Judea.

Recently I reconnected with a friend I hadn’t spoken with in years — I officiated his wedding about twelve years ago. He’d come to college as a football player, became a follower of Jesus, grew absolutely passionate about him, and ended up on staff at a church. But what he really wanted was to reach athletes. Even back when I officiated his wedding, he wanted to work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Now he does — he’s the local director for our region.

Catching up with him, I learned what they’re doing at our local college, at our local high school, and in other communities across northeast Iowa. And I realized: I want to help this.

So I brought it to our elder team. We noticed that almost every year we don’t spend all of our designated giving dollars, and what’s left over — usually around five hundred dollars — gets folded into our annual Christmas impact gift. That’s fine and good; I want it used. But our elders decided that going forward we’d direct that toward this ministry instead, because they’re getting into our local college and high schools in ways we simply cannot. They are reaching our Judea.

A Zoom Bible Study and a Timely Text

With that relationship rekindled, my friend told me he’d been leading a Bible study with college students over Zoom all summer, and he wanted me to join — so those students would know a local pastor and know there’s a local church behind them and for them.

So last Monday night I joined. They usually have five or six leaders; that night there were two, so there were four of us total. They’d been working through Colossians, and they had reached chapter 4.

And as we read verses 5 and 6, I realized this was precisely what I’d be talking about this Sunday.

Paul writes: walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

That passage stands out for two reasons.

First, Paul is in prison. Look up at verses 2 through 4 and you find him writing from confinement — and the reason he’s there is that he was sharing the gospel. And what does he ask them to pray for? That he’d have more opportunities to share the gospel.

Normally when something lands you in prison, you stop doing that thing. Not Paul. His attitude is essentially: yes, the gospel put me here, and I’m going to keep preaching it, because Jesus is so extraordinary and changed my life so completely that I can’t help telling everyone. If there’s a guard outside my door, I’m telling him about Jesus. If someone visits me under house arrest, I’m telling them about Jesus. If I can write a letter, I’m writing about Jesus.

Second, he doesn’t stop with himself. This mission isn’t reserved for apostles or professional Christians or pastors. What he writes there is addressed to anyone who follows Jesus.

So if you follow Jesus, Paul is writing to you. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders — those who aren’t yet part of the redeemed people of God. Let your speech be gracious, kind, filled with love, seasoned with salt, so that the relationship is preserved and made good. Make the most of the time, so that they have every possible opportunity to give their life to Christ.

Start Where You Already Are

So I ask again: if you follow Jesus, are you making disciples? And don’t wait for the ends of the earth. Don’t wait until you get to a Samaria. Start here, now.

If you’re a parent, your role isn’t merely to raise kind, productive citizens. You’re to do everything in your power to give your children every opportunity to find and follow Jesus. You can’t make them — please don’t try. But you can make it available and keep it open. Let them see the gospel at work in your imperfect life, and make sure they know the gospel itself. Make disciples.

If you’re a student, you’re not at school only to get an education and pile up extracurriculars. You’re also there to make disciples. So walk with wisdom among your peers and classmates, and let your speech be seasoned with grace and salt.

If you have a job, you’re not there only for the income or to help your company hit its numbers. You’re there to make disciples — walking wisely, making the most of the time. You will not be at that job forever. How can you use that window to be the greatest blessing those people have ever experienced, so that they notice Jesus at work in your imperfect life?

If you have neighbors, extended family, or old friends from high school or college you’re still in touch with, and you know they haven’t given their life to Jesus — how can you walk in wisdom with them? How can your speech be seasoned with grace? How can you make the most of that relationship so they have every opportunity to hear this life-changing message?

Paul thought this so important that a prison couldn’t stop him. What’s our excuse?

Don’t Forget the Fun — But Don’t Stop There

Now, don’t forget that a genuine part of the mission Jesus gave us is to love one another. So by all means, as the redeemed people of God, let’s have fun right here. But we cannot let our fun keep us from the larger mission. There’s a hurting world that needs Christ, and he wants to use this joyful fellowship of people to go be that blessing and invite others to find and follow him.

And notice the last word in our definition: the redeemed people of God living on mission together.

Yes, you can make disciples on your own. But it’s far more enjoyable and far more effective alongside others.

As someone who parachuted into a community with just his family, I can tell you it’s hard doing it alone. I sometimes wonder how much further along we’d be if even one other family had joined us at the very beginning. God wrote this story and this was his leading, so I’m not looking back with regret — but I do wonder. It’s why, when we one day help plant a church, I hope and pray God lets us send at least two families. Or three. Or four. Not one alone.

Look at the pattern. When Jesus sent the twelve, he sent them in pairs. When he sent the seventy-two, he sent them in pairs. And when you follow Paul’s life through Acts after his conversion, he is almost always with a team.

We’re meant to do this together.

So join a growth group — for the fun of it, for the relationships, for the encouragement, and to accomplish that part of the mission. But also because that’s a group who can pray with you and help you. And who knows: you might bring someone into those relationships, they make a connection, and that becomes part of how God draws them to Christ. You don’t have to do this alone. Embed yourself with others, so that when you get the joy of watching someone give their life to Christ, we all celebrate with you.

Let us be the redeemed people of God. Let us have an absolute blast loving one another. And let us be a people on mission together — because the world out there needs it, and God created us for it.

Father, don’t let these be words I merely said or words on a page. Let them live in our hearts and come out in our lives. Jesus, you’ve called us to something great. Your mission was always there, and you created the church to accomplish it. I’m reminded that this church wasn’t started to compete with other churches — you started it to help complete the mission you’ve given every church. All of us are to be about making disciples. We’re grateful you started this collection of people. In your name, amen.