WATCH CHAPEL VIA LIVESTREAM 10 A.M. EACH WEEKDAY Facebook.com/Cedarville/live YouTube.com/CedarvilleUniversity cedarville.edu/chapellive Watch the entirety of the GO Conference or any of these chapel messages at cedarville.edu/chapelarchive. THE GREAT COMMISSION The following is an excerpt from a January 10, 2023, chapel presentation by Zane Pratt from the annual Global Outreach (GO) Conference. Listen to his full message at cedarville.edu/PrattJan23. Matthew 28:16–20 is the most famous passage on missions — the Great Commission. A secular society today regards missions as one of the most arrogant things we could possibly do. Who do we think we are to believe that we have truth that other people must believe or they would spend eternity separated from God? Generally, there are four things that people mean when they talk about missions. Many stick with the traditional understanding that it's evangelism and church planting. Along with that, people have understood that missionaries do good things like medical care or feeding the hungry. People also talk about social justice as something that the Church should pursue. You also hear about the necessity of Christians to reclaim culture. So how do we know what God means for us to do in missions? There are two questions: How do we have the right to do it? And what is it anyway? We learn the authority for missions lies in the universal lordship of Jesus. Jesus said, “All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This not only gives us the authority to do it. It also gives us the obligation to do it. But then, what is it? There is in this text one imperative — to make disciples. But what's a disciple? The closest analogy is student. A disciple attached themselves to the teacher. They were with the teacher 24/7. A disciple spends so much time with Jesus that not only do they thoroughly know what Jesus taught, but their lives are conformed to His image. To be a disciple means to be converted by the power of the Holy Spirit to be born again. But then that begins a process of ongoing teaching. Proclamation of the Gospel is a critical part of what it means to be engaged in mission. It also involves church. You cannot fulfill the Great Commission without planting churches where there are none. The scope is every tribe, tongue, people, and nation on earth. Today there are over three billion people with absolutely no access to the Gospel — there are no believers, no churches, no missionaries trying to reach them. Odds are good they will be born, grow up, die, and enter eternity separated from God without ever having an opportunity to hear and believe. Your confidence must be in Jesus alone Who is with you in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what enables you to do it. The Great Commission is under the lordship of Jesus. Give yourselves wholeheartedly to your studies, but never allow it to just stay in your head. Let it change your life. That is what will qualify you for any form of ministry. Zane Pratt is Vice President for Assessment/ Deployment and Training with the International Mission Board. Cedarville Magazine | 25 CHAPEL NOTES
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