Our Mission

This week we are following right on the heels of our remembrance of Good Friday and our celebration of Easter last week. We went through Luke 24 and just took the opportunity to appreciate the fact that Christ Jesus is Risen from the dead and what that means for us. And along with that, last week was of course our first Sunday Service together at Base Church and it’s awesome what God is starting here. And also, what better place to start as a church then with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for sinners like us. We didn’t deserve any of that, BUT GOD, with incredible grace and incredible mercy paved the way to salvation for us in Jesus. We don’t have to be separated from God any longer, we don’t have to stay in our sin, we can turn from it and follow Jesus, because He made that possible through all that He did for us. The importance of that truth should resonate through every part of our lives and every day that we live. And it will still be resonating through the things that we are going to be talking about this morning.

You see, as we look forward from here, the plan is to go into a book of the Bible and begin studying all the way through it together on Sunday’s, but I wanted to hold off for probably just one week and take a little time to lay some bible foundations for our mission here, for the purpose of Base Church.  And maybe you aren’t familiar with our mission statement, so let me share it with you so that we are all on the same page:

Our mission at Base Church is to broadcast Jesus, make disciples, and see lives transformed by His power.

 

So, we have this mission statement, but why do we have a mission statement? I mean I believe pretty much every church in this day and age has a mission statement of some sort. But what’s the point? And why this statement for us? Let’s go to our first passage of scripture for this morning, which is Matthew 28:16-20.

 

 

This passage is what is known as the great commission. And what’s a commission? The word commission means a command or like a job given to somebody or to a group of people. In this case it is Jesus giving a job to His followers. And why is it the GREAT commission? Because this is a really important job that He is giving us. And what does He say there?

 

He says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. The book of Revelation says that Jesus at the end of times will ride in on a white horse and on His robe and on His leg will be written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When Jesus says that He has all authority in Heaven and on Earth, He is talking from His role as God, and King, and Lord of all. We should never see Him as any less than He actually is. And so, our King is talking, our King is giving us a job to do. And what is the job that is given there? He says:

 

“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 things that I have commanded you.”

 

The job that our King has given us is to make disciples of all nations, to baptize those disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and then continue teaching these disciples what Jesus has told us to do. That’s the job description. And I wanted to put this passage out there first, because the Great commission is the very heart of our mission here. And I’ve used the words job and mission and mission statement, and I just asked the question before we read in Matthew of: “What’s the point of it all?”. What’s the point of having a mission? And I mean the obvious answer should be “Well Jesus told us to” and that should be enough, that should be plenty to get us going. But you know I have heard a statement made many times and I think it’s a wise statement that says, “If you aim for nothing, you’ll hit it every single time.” And so, as individuals and as a church, I don’t want to be aiming for nothing, because what’s the point of that? So instead of aiming for nothing, we have this mission statement, because it gives us a target to shoot for. It acts as kind of a check and balance as we do different things to see if the things that we are doing are helping us in the mission or not. We keep it in front of us so that we aren’t just shooting everywhere randomly, but instead it gives us something to rally around together, to focus on together. So hopefully we understand that having a mission in front of us serves an important purpose. And so, I want to take this morning to kind of break down our mission statement and see how the Bible backs up this mission.

 

The first part of our mission statement is to BROADCAST JESUS. And I guess that could sound kind of odd at first. I mean usually broadcast is a word that we think about in TV terms with networks like NBC, ABC, etc, which are TV stations that are broadcast over the airwaves and can be picked up with an antenna. I mean NBC literally stands for National Broadcasting Company. And even that use of broadcast is relatable to our mission, but there is another definition of broadcast that is more specific to our purpose here and that definition is: “to tell (something) to many people; or make something widely known.” And maybe that makes more sense in terms of broadcasting Jesus. If we add Jesus to that broadcast definition, then we would be telling many people about Jesus and making Him widely known. That sounds like a good goal and that is obviously completely biblical. But let’s connect this to scripture. Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 5.

 

 

 

 

 

So, when we talk about broadcasting Jesus here, then at an individual level it is taking those opportunities to share Christ, to share His Gospel, and to share personal testimony and praise of what He has done in our lives because as read a few minutes ago we are Ambassadors for the cause. And if we’re each an ambassador then that would make the church our embassy. An embassy of Heaven on Earth and from this embassy we’re going to be broadcasting Jesus Christ.

 

And I specifically love the word broadcast here, because a broadcast doesn’t discriminate. A broadcast is just sent out as far as the signal strength allows and everyone in that whole area has the opportunity to tune into the broadcast. Our broadcast of the message of Jesus Christ isn’t just for a select group of people and the church definitely shouldn’t be some exclusive social club either. THIS BROADCAST IS FOR EVERYONE.

 

And this broadcast really leads right into the next step of our mission statement which is to make disciples. Our mission is to broadcast Jesus and then MAKE DISCIPLES. And isn’t that exactly what Jesus called us to do when we started with the Great Commission? He said I have all the authority in Heaven and Earth and I’m sending you on this mission to go and make disciples. And I think sometimes we are familiar with these words, but maybe we don’t get what it means in real life, or we don’t know what it looks like to actually practice this. The simple definition of the word disciple just means to be a follower or learner from someone.  But maybe the simple definition seems a little too simple for all that it means to follow Jesus. That simple definition doesn’t convey the dramatic transformation of a person that seeks to live like Jesus Christ. For us, as we seek to follow Jesus, I want to gain as the Bible speaks about the mind and heart of Christ. I want to think like He thinks, I want to feel how He feels about things. I want to see how He treats people, how He talks with people, I want to know His love, His care, His compassion, His empathy and so many of His other characteristics and really walk like that. This makes me think of John 13 when Jesus washes His disciples’ feet. Let’s check out this passage together.

 

 

Jesus just finished washing all of these men’s feet. This is at a time when there wasn’t really a sewage system so we can use our imagination in that regard, when animals were the primary means of hauling goods and they obviously wouldn’t use a sewage system anyways, when almost all of the roads and walkways were dirt and covered in who knows what else. From all of that these men came to the upper room and the one who we identified earlier as the King of Heaven and Earth takes it upon Himself to get down and wash these dirty feet. And now the point of what Jesus is doing is not the feet washing, it’s the lesson that He brings along with it. He says essentially “You call me Teacher and Lord and I am that” and if I your LORD can serve like this, then you should do the same. Verse 15 says that He has given us an example and we should follow that example, because as verse 16 says that we are not greater than He is.

 

And even in His greatness, scripture tells us that He came as a servant which He shows us so perfectly right here. A disciple of Jesus Christ has to first see the magnitude of Who He is. He is God and there is nobody else worthy of our attention like He is. Our broadcast is going to help get that message out there. But once we know this, and once we have turned from our sins to follow Lord Jesus then by His example we must learn to see, speak, act, and serve like Him. Discipleship starts with understanding, but it has to become practice, it has to become action in each of our lives. What good does it do for the cause of Christ, or for anyone else for that matter, if this just stays as information in our heads and not actions directed outwardly for God’s glory? I mean that’s how Jesus ends this lesson in John 13 too. In verse 17, He says “If you know these things, blessed are you if you DO THEM”. He doesn’t just say blessed are you who know these things. No, He says blessed are you if you know these things and actually do something about it. And that’s a message that is carried consistently throughout scripture. The book of James says that faith without works (or without action) is dead. Jesus in Matthew 7 says that the wise man who built his house on the rock is the man who hears Jesus’ words and DOES THEM.

 

So, for our mission so far, we want to get the message of Jesus Christ out as far and as wide as we possibly can to everyone that we possibly can. And then beyond the spreading of the message we must take on the responsibility of discipleship, of making disciples. To really and truly help each other to walk and talk like Jesus. And this isn’t just my job, this is for all of us. We’re all in this together. We all have a different mix of spiritual gifts, of life experience, and perspectives, and we take those things, and we filter them through scripture and through Jesus’ example as we challenge and we encourage each other to follow Jesus for real. To be disciples that don’t JUST KNOW (we do need to know), but more importantly to DO with what we know, because there is so much to be done and that is what we have been called to.

 

And please understand that the goal here is not to make “disciples of Base Church” or “disciples of David”. Not at all, that is not the point here. The only goal of discipleship here, for all of us, is FOLLOW JESUS. And let’s work on that together. I’m here to help in any way that I am able, but at the end of the day I’m just another one of His servants trying to help others follow Him more effectively. And that really leads us to the last part of our mission statement, “and see lives transformed by His power”.

 

This part of our statement is there because it is encouraging to see God work. It is His power and His power alone that we rely on as we seek Him for transformation as individuals, as families, as a church, and hopefully into our community and far beyond.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

 

I have watched that happen. I’ve seen the transformation in others, but I have also seen and experienced it in myself. I can testify that it is real, and I know definitively that am not at all the person that I once was. I am not perfect by any means, God is still working on me, and I know that He will be until the day that He decides to take me home.  But it is so exciting to see God’s hand at work. So, this part of our mission is there to keep us encouraged in the cause, because I believe if we regularly acknowledge His hand at work, that it will motivate us to push harder, to go further, to follow Him everywhere that He calls us to. But while this part of our mission statement is there to encourage us, it is also there to keep us humble and remind us Who gets the glory here. While we have the incredible opportunity and privilege to join in on His work, that’s what He has called us to, at the end of the day, every day, He needs to get the glory and not us. I want us to go to one more passage this morning. Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 3.

 

 

These guys get it. Paul and Apollos were both big time leaders in the early church. I’m sure they had all types of people that would have just followed them if that was what they were trying to accomplish. I’m sure plenty of people would have been happy to give them all the credit if they were wanting to take it. But these men acknowledged their role while giving God all the glory, because He is the only one that deserves it. It says Paul planted some seeds, Apollos watered some seeds, BUT GOD GAVE THE INCREASE. GOD BROUGHT THE GROWTH. These guys brought seeds and water; GOD BROUGHT LIFE. When we witness transformation by His power, let’s be encouraged by it and hopefully motivated all the more to broadcast Jesus and make disciples, but let us never forget who gets the credit here. This is God’s house, if we’re saved by Jesus then we are God’s people, we gather to talk about God’s word, and real transformation will only happen by God’s power. So, who gets the credit here? God and God alone gets the glory in this place and absolutely rightly so and I for one can’t wait to see what all He wants to do here at Base Church.

 

And talking about the name Base Church. This passage that we are in right now contains one of the verses behind the name. The middle of this chapter talks about Paul and Apollos building on the right foundation and it warns against the wrong foundations even beyond where we read. It says don’t build on silver, or gold, or precious stones, or wood, or hay, or straw. A church can’t be built on material things, Christians can’t be built up on material things, but what does verse 11 say there. It says:

 

For there is no other foundation that anyone can lay than that which is already laid, WHICH IS JESUS CHRIST.

 

The base or foundation of Base Church is Jesus Christ and His word, and we don’t need any other foundation then that. If we try to build on anything else, then that would just be people trying to build people things on top of shaky worldly things and that’s never going to get us where we want to go. I want to get where God wants us to go, and we’ll only get there standing on the firm foundation of Christ and His word and God will build us up together on that base. But there’s also a second way that I view our name and that’s as a Base of operations for the Kingdom of God. One of the passages we read earlier called us ambassadors of Christ and then that would make this our embassy or our Base. And as a Base I pray to see this church be a place of shelter, a place of help, a place to get supplied and trained for the mission, a place of family and comradery, a place of support, and ultimately a place of movement for the Gospel, for growth, for worship, and for God’s glory.

 

So, it’s a base of Kingdom operations built only on the base or foundation of Jesus Christ and His word. And here at this base our mission is to broadcast Jesus, make disciples, and see lives transformed by His power.