The Mission of God - Audio

Big Idea - What is the main goal of being a follower of Jesus? Up to this point in Matthew we have seen Jesus carrying out His mission from God - demonstrating His authority to heal, to cast out demons, and to command nature. We have learned about His teaching - life in His Kingdom. And, we have learned that those who would live in the Kingdom must become dedicated followers of Jesus. But now Jesus makes the startling revelation that He expects His disciples to join Him in carrying out the mission of God. The end goal of being a true follower is not simply to be close to Jesus, or to be a spectator of His ministry, although these are certainly of great importance. The final goal of discipleship is to actually join Jesus as a co-laborer in carrying out the mission of God. In this second “teaching discourse” Jesus instructs the twelve about their role as laborers for the Gospel. The mission of the twelve is unique to the ministry of Jesus in Galilee before the cross, but it contains principles that shape the mission of God beyond the cross and beyond the nation of Israel. In this section, we learn of the heart of the mission and some practical instructions about how to carry out the mission.