Key Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 5: 18-20, Mark 5:24-29, Mark 6:53-56
2 Corinthians 5: 18-20,All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Mark 5:24-29, A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she kept saying, “If only I touch his garments, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
Mark 6:53-56, When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
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Lesson One: Sharing your testimony is the greatest way to love your neighbor.
• The gift of Jesus is the greatest way that God has demonstrated his love for us
• Your testimony gives others the hope and inspiration to have the faith and the courage to believe
Matthew 22:34-40, Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Romans 5:8, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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Lesson Two: Making disciples is our mission.
• This is the mission of the Church. This is what we go into all the world to do. This is what we preach to every creature. This is the content of the great commission.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19, All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Matthew 28:18-20, Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
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Lesson Three: We are Christ’s Ambassadors.
• Ambassador—an authorized representative or messenger
• We stand as representatives of God and his kingdom—and by the Holy Spirit—he speaks through us
2 Corinthians 5:20, We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
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Lesson Four: We must have a sense of urgency.
• God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance
2 Corinthians 5:20, We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.