We live in a day when missionaries are not highly valued. Jesus, on the other hand, assigned great value to their work. He gives five reasons in today's passage for the sending of missionaries

Synopsis: Jesus began his ministry with a warning about hell (Matt. 7:21-23) and here he ends his teaching ministry with the same topic. Where the church has held firmly to the biblical doctrine of hell, faithfulness to the mission of the church has remained strong.

Synopsis: The question we seek to answer in this sermon concerns the place justice efforts should have in the mission of the church. We look today at one of the most well-known Old Testament passages on this topic, Micah 6:8. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Synopsis: There is one aspect of the mission of the church that people don’t like to talk about, and that’s the call to suffer. In today’s passage, Paul states very clearly that we are called not only to be glorified with Christ, but also to suffer with him.

Synopsis: The parable of the weeds helps us understand our current age and the job Jesus has for us in this age. Specifically, it tells us that our age will be marked by the coexistence of good and evil. Evil will not be removed until Jesus does so on Judgment Day. Until then, we must concentrate on being faithful to the good news that weeds can be transformed into wheat.

The gospel of Luke has been called ‘the gospel of the underdog.’ Luke is careful to highlight the fact that the gospel message is for all – for the ones we would expect and the ones we would least expect – the poor, the sinful, and the seemingly insignificant. In this encounter with ten lepers, Jesus healed all ten, but only one turned back. As the story unfolds, would you expect the one who turns back?

Synopsis: In our series on the mission of the church, we are considering today the flip side of this question. What is not the mission of the church? Specifically, we want to understand the relevance of the cultural mandate to us today.

Synopsis: Isaiah 9 is an Old Testament prophecy of the coming Messiah, who is God’s great light shining in the darkness.

Synopsis of sermon: Today’s passage contains John’s version of the Great Commission, in which Jesus tells his people that we are sent by him just as the Father has sent Jesus.

Synopsis: Today’s text contains Luke’s version of the Great Commission. These texts contain the clearest instruction in the Bible to answer our central question in this series: “What is the mission of the Church.” In today’s text, the answer given to that question is that we are to be Spirit-filled witnesses to Jesus and his work.

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus in the midst of an Advent season marked by sickness, strife, discord, and seeming chaos, we find a great challenge and great hope in Colossians 3:1-17. We are reminded of our place before the Lord as those redeemed in Christ and the beautiful result as we live from our identity in Jesus.

Summary: Jesus will bring about his kingdom, but he has an assignment to give to his church. We are to make disciples, which includes the three components of going, baptizing and teaching.

Synopsis: We are beginning our series on the mission of the church today by looking at the Bible’s big story. That story is best seen by turning to the end of the book to see how it all ends. Revelation 22 portrays heaven as a restored and enhanced Garden of Eden, complete with a river, the tree of life, the presence of God and of his people.

Main Idea: Many books conclude with a “happily-ever-after” ending. Nehemiah is not one of those books. The very matters that seemed to have been settled by Israel’s covenant renewal back in chapter 10 have once again become problems. The matters Nehemiah confronts here are the same ones, broadly considered, that we still fight.

Main thought: Twice in Nehemiah 11, Jerusalem is referred to as the “holy city.” The walls have been rebuilt, but few people want to live there. This is all the more tragic because of the principle resident of the city, God. That’s what is meant by calling this city a holy city. So Jerusalem is a picture of heaven, and this passage provides us with much insight about the place that is the final destination of all God’s people.

David, the soon-to-be king of Israel, faces a test. How will he respond when his and his men's wives and children are kidnapped and their homes and livestock are raided? David's leadership helps us to see the fruit of honesty and action. But more than that, David points us to Jesus, and to His victory for the sake of His church, for the sake of all humanity.

Nehemiah 9-10 describes a service of covenant renewal, which outlines how God's people make a fresh start with God following a breach in that relationship. We will consider today what this might look like in our own day.

The walls of Jerusalem are now complete, and it is time to turn to the building of God’s people. It is the Word of God that builds up the people of God, and today’s passage highlights the two ways that happens: through the faithful preaching and the sincere receiving of God’s Word.