Sunday morning: we catch up with our friends, have a coffee after the service, sing some lively songs, send the kids to Kids' Church, and even listen to a motivating sermon.
But what's the link to the other six days of the week?
- focus you on Jesus?
- refresh your spirit?
- help you "rest" in God?
- equip you for the other six days?
- energise you for the rest of the week?
- encourage you to "go"?
Hopefully, it's a resounding "Yes!" But why aren't we going? In the western church, we are not doing so well in the "going" part.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matt. 28:19-20 NASBCan we do better? Again, it's a resounding "Yes!"
Look carefully at the start of the Great Commission:
Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me... (Mt. 28:17)It is in the authority of Jesus that we go out into the world, not in our own strength or self-imposed authority.
Paul listened to the Holy Spirit and allowed the Spirit to guide his feelings:
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. Acts 17:16So he sought out meeting and gathering places, first with those who had a relationship with God, then others from day to day who were interested in discussing spiritual matters:
... he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities," - because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.Paul's credibility and message brought him privileges:
And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean."Paul's famous Areopagos or Mars Hill speech followed in vv. 22-31, and we are told that many believed.
We have our own "go" situations: neighbours, school car parks, university, lunch room, work mates, boardroom, , changeroom (yes, really - I have lots of conversations in the changeroom!), train, bus, sports groups, and ... (insert yours here)
Some of the advantages of linking Sunday to the other six days:
- You will feel more encouraged to use your spiritual gifts
- Jesus will be all of your life, not in the "Sunday box"
- You will be reaching others for the gospel
- You will embrace the "community" of your local church as you share stories, failures, successes, fears and prayer points together!
- You will naturally begin to disciple others
- You will develop meaningful relationships
- The true church will grow spiritually and numerically, a biblical mandate
Not convinced? Try it.
Feel alone? You won't be:
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."