Sermons - Matt Chandler - The Authority of Christ

hi guys pastor Matt Chandler here pray that this sermon this resource be used by God in conjunction with you belonging to a local church to grow you and sanctify you in your faith if these resources bless you would you consider giving back to us here at TBC you can do that either through the app or you can go online to TBC resources and give their again pray that this blesses you and grows you and your love for Jesus Christ [Music] well a good afternoon if you have your Bibles go ahead and grab those Matthew chapter 28 we are moving from the Great Commandment now on into the Great Commission this is a week six of a series we've just called the greater story and and building on the last 17 years here we've begun to kind of consider and look what might be in our future as we think about the next decade or so of life here at TVC and so what we wanted to do is we wanted to simplify some things and point in a clearer direction and then invite you to come along and so the the mission statement that we rolled out six weeks ago it's fairly simple it's it's what I want you thinking about when you're wondering what we're trying to do right and so the mission statement is we exist the reason the village church exists what we're doing organizationally is we're seeking to love God love people and make disciples of Jesus Christ and so we rolled that out six weeks ago now we just say water look like for us to be a community that embraced that like we went all-in like we just ordered our lives around I want to love God I want to love people I want to spend my life making disciples of Jesus Christ and and then over a period of time we begin to actually embody that like the thing that was most visible in our lives is that we were people that loved Jesus it wouldn't be a moral position it wouldn't be a political position it would just be like would it whatever like bill from accountings weird do but he loves gee like I just he loves God loves Jesus what would it be like for us to be known as Jesus people right and so then we dove into where we got that we didn't get that just by being creative that's actually it's a mash-up if you will of the great commandment and the Great Commission that you would love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and strength right there love God love people now and that you love your neighbor as yourself and then the Great Commission which is where we're moving today so really the last three weeks we've just taken phrase phrase by phrase through the great commandment taught it like knowledge and love of God what is that knowledge and love of self what is that loving your neighbor like you love yourself what is that and now we're moving into the where we got the other half of our mission statement the Great Commission and so with that said let's look at this Matthew 28 in verse 16 now the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them and when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted and Jesus came and said to them and I'm gonna stop this is this is free stuff not even in my notes all right you you get bonus material in the 12:30 that's not true I use this and all the other ones too now like there's something fascinating going on here that I think you're going to need as we move forward I'm going to be lovingly aggressive today and so it's important that we put the right lenses on so here's here's what I want you to see happen here these are the 11 disciples remember what we read and the eleven decide these are not fringe followers of Jesus these are the eleven men that have spent immersed in the presence of Jesus they watched him rebuke a storm they watched him walk on the water they watched him bring the dead back to life they watched him they watched his power just unleashed and then they watched him die and then they saw him resurrected and they walked around spent time there for like forty days and now he's got him up on that he's about to ascend to the right hand of the Father and the passage just said they worshiped but somewhat doubted so so despite all the miraculous fire work what was that terrifying Jesus stuff they're still like ah and it seems from this passage that both worship and doubt can coexist but what I want to draw your attention to is the fact that the passage says Jesus turned and moved towards them right so that I think what you and I and and I think I know where it comes from well we just got like if we're just not absolutely perfect God is disappointed and I'm just been trying to preach my guts out to you for nearly twenty years that no no lot like he knows who you are and he continues to move towards you so that even though they've seen things that are beyond most of our imagination right that they've experienced things like face-to-face hanging out with Jesus physically eating a meal not communion which we'll do at the end of this service like literally breaking bread hanging out with Jesus watching Jesus go you can't be dead stop that wind and rain right get up go out like all this Authority and power and they're worshiping but their sin that worship just this smidge of like oh right like he's about to ascend like you don't have a cousin that can do that right like you don't know a guy right that has ascended into heaven and yet there it is I love Luther's definition of faith which is faith is the wrestle with doubt and now you're gonna need that all right you're gonna need that for we're gonna sue you just pop put those lenses on God faith is a wrestle with doubt so we can move forward now I'm only gonna spend time in one sentence here's the sentence let's look back in 18 and Jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me period that's all we're covering today right we'll get to the rest of it in the next two weeks but this is a huge sentence and it's a sentence that if we don't get we're gonna be in a lot of trouble okay so here's here's his claim here all authority and so if you if you know Greek or you do the Greek word that all just means all means everything it means all of it 100% and so Jesus in a very real way has just deemed himself CEO the chief executive officer of the universe right he's like all authority is mine and this isn't just this isn't just due to his resurrected glory this has been the most common descriptor of his entire life he taught as one with authority He healed disease as one with authority he cast out demons as one with authority he forgave sins as one with authority authority marks his life as the most common descriptor and so what we have here is Jesus now resurrected saying all of it in heaven and on earth it's all mine so at this one we're gonna dive into what that means heaven and earth but at this point it doesn't matter what he says next you're tracking with me on that like if all authority is mine Jesus says then if he's like jump off a building and fly we should jump because all authority says heaven and on earth so what does he mean in heaven and on earth so there was some American propaganda and no Americans we don't do that as a government we always tell the truth but let's hide but just go with me hypothetically when we were racing the Russians to space I don't know if you realize this we actually lost that Yuri was the first Russian cosmonaut to breach the atmosphere and get into space and the propaganda that came out of the United States was that when Yuri got up there he said I have made it to heaven and there is no God here right now here's what's crazy he didn't say that but if you tell Americans he said that oh oh you you gonna you gonna call out our God are we going to the moon we gonna build a city on the moon then Russia USSR right I mean this was how many of you were around for that like the tension of the Cold War I mean something like Oh Cold War why would they call it that no time today now so so in the middle of this that was actually spoken by an information director in the USSR Yuri never said it it would come out years later but most people still tell that story as though Yuri breached the atmosphere and there's no God here but but what the what the lie was meant to convey was that this this country that had outlawed religion and therefore was toppled by the very religion it outlawed more on that later I'm getting ahead of myself like said hey we reached heaven and there's no God here now here's the reality you and I lack the means to reach heaven and if we had all the authority and power we could muster on this earth and we had all the technological advances if we could go forward 2,000 years I mean think about what's changed in the last decade right like last decade like Audrey 17 now there when an iPhone there wasn't a smartphone until she was eight sold right so so that's how fast is that like all the information in the universe is now in the palm of your hand that's new and probably not helpful right we're Dumber for it but another certainly another they preach it from an iPad you're fine ultimately here if you had all of that you cannot you had a spaceship to take you to the far reaches of space and you popped into ways heaven you can't get in right you are locked out you cannot get there and so when Jesus is saying all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me he is saying I'm going to open a door you cannot open I am going to prove I'm gonna get you to a place you could never get and having not just being post-death but heaven now in our souls via the Holy Spirit you with me let me show you this this is Matthew 19 Matthew 19 rich young ruler rich very wealthy very attractive young man comes to Jesus and is like hey how do i inherit eternal life how do I get the kingdom of God and Jesus as well you know the law obey the law said I've obeyed the law since I was young he said well okay then sell all you have give it to the poor and follow me and the Bible says he goes away sad because he had great wealth and then Jesus turns to the disciples and says to them it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven and so we'll pick it up in verse 25 and when the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished saying who then can be saved but Jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible and so Jesus by saying all authority in heaven has been given to me saying hey I can unlock some things that nobody else can unlock because I don't just have earthly authority I have heavenly authority in fact a passage that we actually sing all the time I don't know if you like that song that we sing is he worthy by Andrew Peterson it's one of my favorites well actually sing it at the end of service today but it's literally just pulling from Revelation 5 the authority of Jesus in heaven let me read this to you hopefully one day I can preach a serious dude revelation how would I'd be geeked up about that and one of the things about being at a single church for 40 years is you just run out of stuff and you finally just got to do Revelation so let's look at this revelation 5 starting verse 2 that's not true don't email me let's pick it up in verse 2 and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals for no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it and I this is John began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it and one of the elders said to me weep no more behold the Lion of Judah the root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and at seven seals and between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into the earth and he went and he took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne and when he had taken the scroll the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb each holding a harp and golden bowls filled with incense which are the prayers of the saints anybody got any questions there anybody got any okay what's up of the seven eyes and seven horns I've seen lambs been around lambs never seen one that looked quite like that okay so there's a lot going on here here's what I want to highlight for the purposes today - two things one when we're talking about this scroll this scroll scroll is the the scroll of judgment and salvation right like what is God gonna do with rebellion against his name and how will God save his people and nobody can get that thing open no heavenly creature can no earthly creature can't nothing under the earth can nobody can get the thing open and so John's like what are we gonna do who can save us how will this play out and and the the passage says that that John who's caught up in the heavenlies in this moment in this kind of epic brakes and he starts to weep and I want to highlight this one of the elder says to him again when we do revelation I'll explain some of this but one of the elder says hey weep no more for the lion and he ties it to the Old Testament the Lion of the root of David right he tied it in the Davidic covenant which is tied to the Abrahamic covenant which creates unity and our scriptures from the Old Testament New Testament writes not like the Old Testament God's like angry and cranky but New Testament Jesus is warm and friendly that's not what's happening here and here's what's also fascinating about this passage like when John looks up to see the line what does he see the lamb slain since the foundation of the world so that Jesus is both lion and lamb but what I'm trying to highlight is the authority that Jesus alone possesses so you've got these creatures in the heavenlies you've got these ark angels you've got these demonic principalities and powers and nobody can get this thing open and Jesus just strolls in and when he grabs the scroll everybody hits the deck looking great and everybody falls down and there's these golden bowls filled with the prayers of the Saints and they get dumped out and they're these men with harps and I mean it's just this epic kind of every it's like it grabs it and it's like an earthquake happens in the heavenlies and he opens the scroll then the rest of Revelation is those scrolls being lavished upon the earth boast in judgment or in salvation this is Jesus having all authority in heaven this also means that there is no spirit in the heavenlies or under the earth that we have to fear because all authority in heaven belongs to Jesus so I've often tried to highlight to you the fact that Jesus never gets in an argument with the demonized person I don't know if you've noticed that if you've read through I know we like to blow past those passages because that doesn't exist anymore except in Africa and Asia in those places it doesn't exist there's no demonic spirits here you know there's just struggle but but I want to highlight just in case you're ever somewhere else where these things might be you don't know randomly you find yourself in the wilderness somewhere of some third-world country we're too smart for these things to our own peril like we just don't have anything to fear because all Authority has been given to him like he just never argues with someone who's demonized the the demon never says back you're gonna have to do better than that or anything like that they they just do exactly what he says when he says and in fact one of my favorite instances that this demonized man sees Jesus and the demon begins to speak to the man and says we know who you are the Holy One of God have you come to destroy us before the appointed time righty basically like hey Jesus you're early you're a little early here I got a little clock left right and and so we don't have anything to fear from principalities and powers which is by the way our real enemy not flesh and blood and and if all authority in heaven has been given to Jesus then what do we have to fear so we see that he alone has the authority to bring heaven to earth and he alone stands supreme as the CEO of heaven and earth and no one can stay his hand but but he makes a point of emphasis that it's not just heaven it is also earth and here's here's what I want to highlight the powers that seem to be powers on earth are no longer so imposing for those who believe in Jesus as king of kings and Lord of lords they have been overrun they have been maybe outbid under this announcement of Jesus having all authority in heaven and earth Christians must fear no human powers at all because we are in league with the king of kings and Lord of lords this is fascinating if you ever spend some time studying Christian history this is both amazing and scary where nations have set their face to destroy us we have exploded numerically and where governments and powers have left us alone we have shriveled into a shell of what we're meant to be let me give some illustrations in the 2nd and 3rd century the Roman Empire grew weary of us we were monotheistic they were not monotheistic we were breaking down social barriers and and and really kind of addressing things that were very taboo we were our sexual ethic was different the way we spent our money was different the way we interacted with other people were different the Roman Empire some people were just named a number because of who they belonged to and what order they like so it wasn't uncommon for somebody have like the the name number 8 because he was the eighth slave in this household and Christianity was having a whole like a whole moral revolution on the Roman Empire and it was really deteriorating the powers that were and so they just were like we got to eradicate these people and and so there are verified historical stories they're not in our Bible but you can find this out where they would bind Christians to LUT giant poles and they would catch him on fire to light parties that the Roman elite would gather under they fed us to Lions they prisoned and tortured and and it wasn't but 350 ad that Christianity had grown to 51% of the Roman Empire like Constantine I pray he was genuinely converted but I can tell you this if you're Caesar and you see something spreading through your empire like there's not like another election coming up if you're Caesar right you just get stabbed in the shower by your best friend and 40 others and so that that's a e tu brute a never mind let's just keep going I tried I don't know what you read I'm still trying to figure it out and so ultimately but like he says oh my gosh Christ is king over the Roman Empire and then all the power that was present seemed to leave the building as Christendom was ushered in protected by the government encouraged by the government pushed out by the government what happened we grew comfortable and lost our month when the Cultural Revolution hit in China that kicked out all the Western missionaries the the rate of the Christian belief in China exploded so that no one on earth sends more missionaries into the Middle East than China and Korea what happens even to this day their hard press their oppressed their press their jailed their beaten they're like you can't kill us so even as worldly powers seek to squelch and crush the name of Jesus they only end up serving the purposes of God you want Christian people to pray let them suffer you want Christian people to want the power of the Holy Spirit let them suffer you want them to cry out desperately for a move of God let them feel like their fringe marginalized and and crushed by the force of law now do we want that absolutely not praise God for the protection we have in the Bill of Rights I'm not looking forward to what I think is coming at all that middles gonna vanish and they're gonna blow through new laws before we having a chance to think about it so we're that means we're gonna need to be ready for that right but where government sets have sought to destroy us we've always grown it's fascinating and so when we think about these kind of earthly powers here's what Paul would say in Romans chapter 8 and I I want to do a series eventually just on the questions that are in Romans 8 that would be an epic series here's here's what it says this starting verse 31 what then shall we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things who shall bring a charge against God's elect it is God who justifies who is it to condemn Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written for your sake we are being killed all the day long we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered that's a quote from Psalms no in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for I am sure that neither death nor life nor Angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord that comes from a man who's saying all authority in heaven and on earth belong to him and I've tried to highlight this sometimes I'm I'm trying to make light of it like because it it is really funny but a life who understands the full authority of Jesus like the Apostle Paul is an untouchable human being by earthly powers right Paul you better hush up about this Jesus so we're gonna kill you great to dies game you know what never mind we'll let you live great to live as Christ okay well then we'll torture you well man I'm not gonna enjoy that but here's what I'll say I don't count these mutton you know these slight momentary pains as being worthy to compare to future glory so go ahead do your worst you know what never mind we're just gonna lock you in prison and throw away the key well great here's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna worship more than likely an Angels gonna set me free but even if he doesn't I'm gonna convert all your guards and then they're gonna go out and do the work that I wish I was doing for me so let's go now what is that like when all the prophetic words around Paul was if you go to Jerusalem you're going to die and he says I know the spirits told me the same thing pray for me and heads into it like what is that like right it's like really gifted prophetic people were like hey man I know man I know you're heading to such-and-such on vacation but man I pray because the Spirit told me that if you go there chances are you're you're not coming home like I'm just guessing I'm canceling the vacation but but Paul confirms it like he's like yeah the Spirit told me the same thing pray for me and heads to Jerusalem heads to Rome right this is like this is what it means to put human earthly powers in the right place yeah I see you but what can you do to me if to die is gain what can you do to me if there's an eternal reward in the presence of Jesus that makes this whatever you would do to me and my family seem paltry and insignificant in eternity the this is the authority of Jesus and this is why sin matters so so we have this like for whatever reason I it's this weird time that we live in we've got these kind of things that we would consider like like safe sins you know there's like not that big of a deal but when you're talking about this kind of Authority it's a really big deal all sentence so maybe this illustration would help let's say you caught me in the four year before I came in and you're like hey Chandler what did you do last night and and I said nothing just hung out at the house now that's not true that's not did something but maybe I just want to talk to you right now maybe I want to get in the back and drink some water to make sure my third man maybe I'm just not feeling social right so I'm just like yeah I didn't do anything and then I come back and I come out and preach my sermon chances are you unless you follow my wife on Instagram probably have no idea that I just lied to you there's not a lot of repercussions for that but let's say I'm in the foyer and a detective walks up to me with a warrant he puts it in my hand he says what do you do what'd you do last night now let's say oh you know I didn't do anything I just chilled at the house now that that could be obstruction that could be now what changed the level of authority changed and so if just you and me pastor lay person moves with a detective now asking me the same question imagine what happens if you go all the way to the apex of authority in the person and work of Jesus Christ you see how even a line now matters in a way that most of us just kind of throw away don't think it does this is the authority we're talking about here Bruner says it this way all spiritual metaphysical philosophical and religious power in heaven but also all social physical political and economic power on earth are in his hands he is in charge around here the world experiences and he would say experienced a massive divestment here what does that mean that at the coming of Christ in the enthronement of Christ the divestment of power is absolute which means everyone serves ultimately the authority of Jesus so what does that mean what should we do what is the application in light of this power well two things neither are popular right so I'm gonna prove today that I love you one in light of this power we must respond with unconditional surrender and number two obedience to the Word of God unconditional surrender and obedience to the Word of God let's let's chat neither popular ideas Philippians chapter 2 verse 9 says this therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God our Father now look right at me Christians are not people that just believe some things you track it with me we're not just people that believe some things we are people that have unconditionally surrendered to the call of Christ to come into the life of Christ that I have died and the life I live now I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave himself up for me that's Galatians 2:20 what is painful to watch and it's a very modern error is partial surrender being defined as Christianity God doesn't make deals like what do you have to offer him and what happens if so many of us actually think we're believers when we never actually unconditionally surrender we've said hey I'll surrender I don't really want to go to hell my parents are really church folk and I'd like them to love me so I'm gonna say this to them and then but I'm keeping this sexual ethic and and I'm keeping this and I'm not giving this and it's like we're trying to make this deal with the one who has all the power that is and then define that as Christianity and it's not the terms are this unconditional surrender that's the terms and that is not to take things from you it's an invitation into the life of Jesus that's what an unconditional surrender will feel like death to us because in a sense it is but it's the death that ultimately leads to life listen I don't know if you're old enough to be tired of yourself yet you'll get there I just wonder like how much pain and regret will be between the two moments of final full surrender and kind of half-hearted surrender that we like to do where you know we go to church we're try right no no this is the demand all of it and if you're offering well here's part of me like he's like no that's not I'm not asking for that it doesn't work with part so this command not offer command of unconditional surrender is the invitation into the life of Jesus which by the way Christ has said the thief comes to kill steal and destroy but I have come that you might have life and have it to the full how do you get that fullness of life unconditional surrender so the sheer volume of men and women that feel like Christianity doesn't work almost always is tied back to partial surrender versus unconditional surrender just like they want to add these caveats on their lifestyle and it's just not gonna work that way which leads me kind of to the second point it's not just unconditional surrender but then it's obedience like I don't think you can over preach or preach enough the grace of God but grace does not make sense safe grace does not make sense safe well if you're like well he's so kind and forgiving I'm just gonna give my he'll eventually forgive me listen that is dangerous ground the Apostle Paul says shall we sin all the more so that grace may abound may it never be and literally translate you're damned if you do it means you're not a Christian if you say he's my lure he's my Savior but he's not my lord that's heresy that's not biblical Christianity Christianity says if you love me you'll obey my Commandments and the sheer volume of evangelicals that say he's my Savior but I'm not gonna follow him is staggering and it's why it's why were so anemic that's why we're so anemic like listen you getting baptized when you were seven and and there being no evidence of surrender and obedience should let you know that you're actually not a believer I know these are hard things and and I'm trying to show you right now that if I were trying to build a mega church this this would be different wouldn't it like this didn't how like you you know like man come here for this I've had a tough week you edify me brother I'm trying to edify you I'm trying to show you that full unconditional surrender is the path to life and the more you try to hold on to this area of your life or this area of your life or this area of your life the more you doom yourself to disappointment and God help you that you'll start blaming God for your disappointment like you're like I'm gonna partially surrender and then you'll taste some of the fruit of that part that you hung on which is called sin it's not called a struggle it's not it's called sin rebellion against the greatest authority in the universe you'll feel that you like he just doesn't work he just betrayed me he hasn't given me what I right it's your failure to surrender not his abandoning you unconditional surrender and then obedience I'm not talking unless --n we can walk through dark night of the soul we can be in the desert he's with us in the wilderness so obedience is gonna look for many of us like we just can be obedient to what we know and what we can understand and that rolls out progressively right like here when I became a Christian don't cuss quit getting drunk and quit chasing the ladies maybe stop throwing hands maybe that was it that was my list okay so that was it stop looking for a fight stop finding girls with daddy issues stop getting drunk right and and try to watch your mouth I thought if I could do that I'd be like the Apostle Paul just stunning and all my righteousness like I had no idea the Lord's like mm-hmm and then there's I said no idea so literally I'm when I am like born again like radically I'm all in Jesus that was all I was trying to do like not gonna punch anybody in the face today I'm just gonna get no throat shots today all right just get through the day I'm not going to this party and if I go to I'm just gonna drive them and then I'll Drive him home but I'm not gonna that was all I was trying to man up my steps of obedience those four things and then those four things kind of came in line there was just whole other set of issues I wouldn't even aware of there was actually under those things and then Here I am forty five twenty something years later and the Lord's like hey I'm gonna need you to lay this one down right here lay that what doubt that's not a thing that's not a thing but it is a thing if he's ultimate authority there's a thing if he's ultimate authority now I want to say this delayed obedience is disobedience so here let me share with you one of the places my heart can really 8/4 Inge they're never gonna share with anybody that happened to them or that they participated in and they've just made a covenant no one's I'm gonna take this to the grave with me I think is one of those things that Rob's you more than you can fathom of the life that Jesus wants to bring you but I also know that the obedience required to confess and repent of that could be unbelievably costly so what I want you to hear me say is I understand the anxiety about stepping out and obedience around confession and repentance which is the ongoing ethic of the Christian life right like I understand that like if I'm obedience here there might be great cost and I would say yeah there might be great cost what I hope to convince you of is that it's worth it on the backside it's worth I'm not you walk in the light you walk in obedience there will be a cost I'm just telling you the cost is worth it how can I be so sure because all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him but the volume of our capacity to rationalize and justify disobedience by just saying I will eventually yeah I think Rob's you it robs you of what's rightfully yours as a son or daughter of God it steals from you and and isn't this what we celebrate when we baptize like kind of one of our marks kind of our like this thing that we do that so odd we're gonna do it here and a little bit somebody's gonna get in the water and they're gonna share this testimony of unconditional surrender and a commitment to obedience moving forward and were as a community were going to celebrate that we're gonna walk alongside them and say we're with you in this and and what they're celebrating right is we put them under water right and and what we're doing in that moment is saying hey dead with Christ and our sins but we don't stop right we don't leave don't even matter what their background is we don't like hold for a little bit longer or anything like that it's just like hey we're dead with guys we died with Christ and now what we're raised to walk in the newness of life what what is that unconditional surrender dying to self raised and dwelt with the Spirit who empowers obedience now I'm gonna walk in obedience and I'm gonna ask the body to hold me accountable as I pursue full obedience to Jesus Christ as he's reveal himself in the word and if you're wondering why we could be so bold as to come up with this vision statement for the next ten years of our life that says we are a welcoming home to over 8,000 people seeking Jesus Christ and growing in the grace of the gospel with all our efforts wholly dependent on God we make disciples across all ages every stage of life has a portion in the church we celebrate 300 baptisms every year we are a safe place for the broken and the suffering to come and receive hope and care we demonstrate the Ministry of presence as we rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn we send disciples into their home's into neighborhoods into our cities and into the nation's we have planted and revitalized 30 churches and have a hundred missionary units on the field among 10 unreached people groups we have seen more than 50 thousand disciples raised from our campuses Church plants revitalization efforts and missionaries we have generously resourced millions of people across the globe as we share the gifts that God has entrusted to us every day in all spaces through each season of life we are building beyond ourselves living the greater story and create a kingdom legacy for generations to come like all of that hinges on what the authority of Jesus we can't pull that off gosh I know in our heyday the last 17 years which has been stunning you know we grew by a thousand a year for the first ten years like that was incredible like for this for this the the Spirit of God and the authority of Christ are gonna have to be on full display so I want to show you a quick two-minute video and then we've got a baptism they're gonna sing that song is he worthy together all right when we pray for his father thank you for these men and women I do thank you that unconditional surrender is an invitation into the life of Jesus and so many of us yeah we've just never really done it and so I pray that by your grace men those who maybe have been in church their whole life would actually become Christians today maybe for the first time ever full surrender unconditional surrender would occur when I pray where there's delayed obedience or just outright disobedient that thing that we just can't imagine doing Spirit of God that you would encourage us and embolden us to say yes and take that step of faith help us we need you just pray in your mercy that as we sing this song something would break loose in us that something when move in our hearts it would stir up in our spirits so that we might in a very real way be changed that we could come in this room and leave different than we walked in and so I ask you to do this because you're kind and because you're able it's for your beautiful name I pray amen hey were the greens my name is Andy this is Karen we've been going to the village for 10 years and over the last 15 18 months the Lord has really stirred up in us just a heart for our town in the beautiful part he's really started to birth some really cool stories about how we can love our name I went on a mission trip a couple years ago and we found ourselves in the streets of the city ministering to neighbors just walking up and meeting people as we were going and just it dawning on at me that I don't need to go 6,000 miles away to do that when I can do that right here in my own neighborhood from there a year ago and feeling the feeling of participating and what the Lord has for us I mean we're out sharing the gospel which could change their lives right so we make cookies we go to the door we knock we just want to say hi and get to know our neighbors and we want to find out if there's a way that we can be praying specifically for you and we have had we have been asked in too many homes as a result of that and then we pray in boldness for whatever that is going on in their life and it's amazing how many people have actually shared prayer requests how many times we've spent over an hour in somebody's home a year ago it scared me to death now I can't wait and it's awkward if I don't do it you're out for a walk you see it's it's actually just a matter of opening your mouth and saying hi and then trusting that the Lord will give you the next words after that if I don't participate in that I'm just missing out on a chance to be to experience joy and be a part of God's story when you actually get a chance to do it for yourself you realize what you were missing and what you get a chance to get a chance to participate in you recognize that you're a part of a greater story [Music]

Channel: The Village Church Resources

Views: 26,402

Rating: 4.897912 out of 5

Keywords: Matt Chandler, The Village Church, Christ, Authority, Love, Neighbor, Surrender, Obedience, Proclaim, Share, Soul, Commission, Great Commission, Life

Id: U0TlW0E57xA

Length: 42min 16sec (2536 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 24 2020