★ MY SERMON NOTES
@ Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN)
Area 1, Garki - Abuja, Nigeria
12th July, 2015
NEW LIFE FOR ALL WEEK
☆ SERMON
* Speaker: Evangelist Nuhu Bakwa
* Topic: As my Father sent me, even so I send you
* Theme: Growing Up in Christ
* Sub-Theme: Growing in Love
* Service Leader: Elder Boniface Katlong
* Text: John 20:19-23
* God has given every child of God authority to preach the Gospel
☆ Important terms to note from the passage (John 20:19-23):
* "Just as" (verse 21): this means "in like manner"
* "Whosoever" (verse 23): this relates to choice.
* "Father" (verse 21): this refers to the Almighty God. Every other god apart from the One living God is useless!
* "Send": this means to cause or ask someone to go and do something
* NOTE: All of us have been sent by Christ to preach the Gospel (Matthew 28:19)
* Before you go (to preach the Gospel), you must ensure that you have a relationship with God
* Having a relationship with God starts by being born again; accepting Jesus as your Lord and personal Savior (John 3:3)
* Jesus cannot trust a sinner or an unbeliever with the Gospel of salvation!
→ You must be known by Him in order to work for Him acceptably
* Jesus has not lowered or changed His standards of loyalty and holiness after these many years
☆ Hebrews 13:8 →"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
* HOW HAS THE FATHER SENT JESUS?
1. As a Savior into the World
* Jesus came to save those who are in darkness (see: Matthew 1:21)
→ He is sending you also to go and preach the gospel of salvation because the world is reeling in sin
2. As Christ the Lord
* The word 'Christ' means 'the anointed one.'
* When God sent Jesus, He was full of anointing
* The Holy Spirit empowered Him to do what God sent Him to do
* Without the Holy Spirit, you are spiritually impotent & powerless
* It is impossible to serve God using human ability and wisdom: You need divine endowment that is available through the Holy Spirit
3. As God into the World
* Jesus came as God, that we might worship Him and that He may subdue other gods on in the World under His supreme authority
☆ Exodus 7:1 →"And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet."
→ As a child of God, you are sent to the world as God's own representative everywhere you go
* No other god is supposed to reign over you anywhere you are
→ See: Daniel 3:28-29 and 4:34-35
4. As the Redeemer
* To redeem means to recover ownership of something by buying it back or to liberate by payment of a ransom
→ Jesus bought us back (to Himself) after being previously sold out to sin
★ 1st Corinthians 6:20 → "for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."
* The price for your redemption is the blood of Jesus
* NOTE: You are sent by Jesus into the world as a 'trader' to facilitate the exchange of the sins of people with Jesus Christ
5. As a Man of Sorrows
☆ John 15:18 → "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you."
→ You are to preach the gospel of salvation regardless of any pain or suffering you encounter in the process
→ The greatest suffering Jesus experienced was rejection by God His Father when He bore the sins of the world on the cross
(see: Matthew 27:46)
* A minute without Christ is not worth living
☆ Acts 17:28a →‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being...’
* NOTE: You have been called to go and suffer in like manner
6. As a good Shepherd
* A Shepherd is a person who is responsible for taking care of and nurturing others (the flock)
* You have been called also to go and take care of others
* You have been sent by God to bring the message of peace to the world
→ As a Christian, you have an obligation to minister comfort to those around you and 'gather the flock' together for Christ
7. As a Teacher
* Jesus went everywhere to preach the Gospel, even when the conditions were not right or perfect
☆ Acts 10:38 → "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."
☆ Matthew 28:19 → "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
* Today, ungodly and perverted teachings (of God's Word) are prevalent everywhere (even in some Churches)
* NOTE: Your life is a message. People are observing and learning something from your life.
→ What are you teaching with your life as a Christian?
* You are sent by Jesus everywhere for the primary purpose of teaching God's Word
→ Are you fulfilling that responsibility?
8. As a Prophet
* Everything Jesus prophesied came to pass
* As a child of God, you are supposed to know everything in advance
☆ Amos 3:7→ "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets."
→ However, when you get revelations from God (through dreams, visions, word of knowledge, etc.), do not hoard them. TeIl it to the Church
9. As a miracle worker
☆ Acts 10:38 →"even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."
10. As a Son of Man
→ He took the body of sin and came into the world
→ ln spite of His divine nature, Jesus humbled himself and became just like one of us
☆ Philippians 2:5-8 →"Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross."
11. As God's own child
☆ John 1:10 →"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not."
* Jesus was sent to the world with a message from His Father
→ Being also a child of God through faith in Jesus, you are to go and tell the world about your Father in heaven and the salvation He offers them
→ If you are truly a child of God, you will definitely know the secrets of the Kingdom of your Father, and you will be confident to speak about it everywhere you go
12. As a Servant
* He came serving us in humility
☆ This was clearly demonstrated when He washed the feet of His disciples in John 13:1-5
* Pride hinders people from rendering service to God and to other people (without expecting anything in return)
* NOTE: Regardless of your position In life, without Christ, you are nothing!
* It takes humility to be a servant
* Servants are generally looked down upon in the society as unimportant people
* As a servant, Jesus bore all manner of humiliation
14. As a Mediator
☆ 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 → "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation."
☆ Hebrews 7:24-25 →" But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, because he always lives to intercede for them, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him. We need such a high priest—one who is holy, innocent, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need to offer sacrifices every day like high priests do, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he sacrificed himself."
* Just like Christ, you are called to be an intercessor
* Instead of gossiping or rejoicing that someone has fallen into sin, pray for such a person
15. As the Way
☆ John 14:6 → "Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
→ Any one that rejects Jesus as his Lord and savior cannot make heaven
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