And everybody else, let's turn in our Bibles to the Book of Matthew as we continue our sermon series on the Book of Matthew. It's the very last chapter today, Matthew chapter 28. And you're going to be turning in the Bibles underneath the chairs to page 989 if you don't have a Bible with you, 989. By the way, if you don't own a Bible, we would love to give you a Bible today. We have a lot of them out by the Welcome Desk and really believe it's important for you to own your own Bible and read it. So please pick up a Bible at the Welcome Desk as you leave. Matthew, chapter 28 is our passage, the very last chapter of this gospel. Matthew 28, I'll begin at verse 1 and read through the rest of the chapter. Listen carefully, this is God's Word. After the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothes bite a snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you're looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen just as he said. The women see the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I've told you. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them, greetings he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him, and then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. Here they will see me. While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests, everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, you were to say that his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. This story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. 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 the Son and 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. This is the word of the Lord. His name was Luigi Tarisio. He was found dead in his small Italian home in the year 1854. Inside his home, friends made another startling discovery. Hidden away throughout Luigi's home were 246 violins. Some of the violins he had stuffed in his attic, others in the drawers of his dresser. Some violins were under his bed, others were stored in his closets. You see, Luigi Tarisio had a fascination for violins. He was called the violin hunter. He went all over Europe, buying up the world's finest violins. One of the violins was a 1716 strativarius. It had never ever been played. That violin was Luigi's treasured possession. He called it the Messiah. You see, Luigi Tarisio loved violins. He knew violins better than anybody of his generation. Perhaps even better than anyone who has ever lived. The problem is by keeping those violins to himself, Luigi Tarisio robbed the world of beautiful music. You and I love the gospel. We understand the gospel. I trust that you do anyway. We know the Messiah. If you believe in Jesus, you've experienced what the gospel, the good news is all about. The forgiveness of sins, peace of conscience, a home with Jesus forever. But is it possible that we can do to the gospel what Luigi did to violins? Is it possible to know the gospel and love the gospel and yet rob the world of the beautiful music of the gospel? Not if we will obey the Great Commission. The Great Commission. That's the subject of the latter part of this text that I read a few moments ago. The words Great Commission are not in that passage, but that's the name that it has acquired over the years. Jesus's last command to his followers before he ascended into heaven. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. What it means is don't hoard the gospel, right? Don't keep it to yourself. Don't hide it. Don't rob the world of the beautiful music of the love of Jesus Christ. You know this. I know this. We've probably heard this message many times before. But something keeps getting in the way, doesn't it? For a lot of us, I think, would admit to it that we are a little too much like Luigi hoarding the gospel, keeping it to ourselves. Why is that? Well, it's called fear. It's called fear. This sermon series that we've been having this fall has been called Living Missionally Everyday. And I dare say that the thing that has hindered us most in our living out the gospel, living missionally everyday. You remember the very first message on this series that I said that we're to live life as though it were a mission trip. Always eyes open, ears open, hands and hearts and mouths open, ready to give to others the good news about Jesus Christ by word and by deed, living missionally. That's what that is. But what gets in the way, what hinders us so often is fear. So my question about our text this morning is this. Does Jesus say anything here in this passage that would alleviate us of fear, that would so reassure us and so help us overcome our fears that we would live missionally with great confidence and with great courage? And the answer is yes. He indeed says at least four things that will help us overcome fear and live missionally. Let me tell you what those four words are and then we're going to look at them carefully. First, he will give us today a truth that will ground you. He'll talk about a community that will help you. He'll give us a cause that will inspire you and finally a promise that will empower you. So a truth, a community, a cause and a promise. Let's dive into the truth. I believe that in this passage of scripture, Jesus Christ gives you a truth that will ground you so well, if we believe it, if we take it by faith, it will ground you and I so well that we will live with confidence. What is that truth? We'll look in verse 18. The truth is Jesus says all authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. Jesus Christ has all authority. I said earlier today on the Christian calendar is the feast of Christ, the king. And that's what Jesus is claiming here, king ship, absolute sovereignty and dominion over the world. When I was a pastor in Ocala before moving to Orlando, we had in our church a U.S. congressman, a representative, Cliff Sterns. He represented Marion County and other parts of North Florida. And one day, Cliff invited my wife and me to go with him to D.C. And it was a great experience. We walked through the halls of the Capitol building into the innermost chambers of the U.S. House of Representatives. I got to meet Gingrich, who was the speaker of the House at the time, the chaplain of the House of Representatives. I've got to pray on the floor of the chamber of the House of Representatives. It wasn't really that amazing because there were only about five people sitting out in the chamber at that time. But nevertheless, I got to do all those things. Why? Because I had with me a man with credentials. And his credentials allowed me, gave me the right and the authority and the permission to go to this place that no one else could go to do these things, to see these things and to meet these people, because of whom I was representing. The person who was accompanying me, and you get the illustration, you're an ambassador of Jesus Christ. You've been sent here, you've been commissioned here with his authority, his credentials. And so you can have confidence that his authority is transferred over to you. Jesus is in charge. And when you know that, when you know that he's sovereign, it gives you an overcoming attitude over fear to know this place that I'm at, I'm here by his appointment, by his design. I have him, his spirit is within me. I have his dominion over the earth, empowering me and giving me strength and confidence for my task. I love the story about John Wesley. You've know about him. He was a Methodist preacher back in the 1700s. He was kicked out of the Anglican Church for preaching the gospel. One of the things that Wesley said was to these Anglicans, he said, you may shut me up, but you may shut me out, but you can't shut me up. I will continue to speak about Christ. And so what Wesley did was, he went out and preached in the fields. He preached at coal mines. He attracted thousands of people. And one day a bishop, Anglican bishop said to him, hey, Wesley, you can't do that. This isn't your parish. And Wesley's retort was, the world is my parish. Timber Creek High School is your parish. University high school is your parish. University of Central Florida is your parish. Lockheed Martin is your parish. Why? Because you have the King's permission to be where you are, the permission that you need, the confidence you need to open your mouth, to open your hands and be the representative of Jesus Christ. Walt Disney World is your parish. Waterford Lakes is your parish. Tallahassee is your parish. Hollywood, believe it or not, is your parish. Wherever you go, you go as a representative of Jesus, who has all authority. Abraham Kuiper was the prime minister of the Netherlands in the early 1900s. And one of the things he famously said was, there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare that is mine. He looks at every square inch of the universe and says, that is mine. That is mine. That is mine. You occupy his territory. Oral Hirschheiser was a believer, is a believer, it was a famous and terrific baseball player back in the 80s and 90s. He was the Saiyung award-winning pitcher for the Dodgers and later for the Yankees. In 1988, the Dodgers that he was pitching for played the Mets in the National League Playoffs. Some of you might remember that series. In one of the games, TV cameras zoomed in on Oral Hirschheiser in the dugout. And it was evident that he was singing to himself. Well the Dodgers went on to win the series against the Mets that year. And a few days later, Oral Hirschheiser was a guest on Johnny Carson's, not Jay Leno's, but Johnny Carson's tonight show. And Johnny Carson said to Oral, he said, what song were you singing? What song were you singing? He actually played the tape. And then right after that, Johnny said, what song were you singing? What was it? Will you sing it for us? And somewhat sheepishly and with a little bit of embarrassment, Oral Hirschheiser sang the song. He sang the dugout, praise God from whom all blessings flow. He sang the doxology on nationwide TV. His nation-wide TV is Jesus' parish. He knew that. He sang that song as an illustration of the fact that wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever our occupation, whoever we're with, our mouths can simply be a mouthpiece for the praise of God who owns every square inch, every dugout in this universe. The whole world is your parish because the whole world belongs to Jesus. He's got the credentials. You don't need them. You just be his representative. So the first thing you need to know to overcome your fear is that you have a truth that will ground you, and that's it. But let's go on and talk about a community that will help you. If you are hindered by fear in terms of living out your faith missionally, you have a community that will help you, and I'm talking about the church. Look with me at verses 19 and 20 of this text. Jesus says, go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. Now please notice with me two things about those two verses. Two things. Number one, all of the verbs in those two verses are plural. They're not singular. Jesus is not just saying to you as an isolated individual to go make disciples of all nations. He's talking to us. Literally, Jesus is really being a southerner. He's saying, y'all go make disciples of all nations. He's saying y'all baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Y'all teach them everything that I've commanded y'all. Sounds a lot like who's the chef, the woman that does the show on TV? Paula Dean. Sounds like Paula Dean. Y'all go make disciples, y'all. That's exactly the sense in which Jesus was speaking. What's the significance of this? The significance of it is that the great commission is something we do together. We make disciples of all nations in community. We make disciples here at UPC, for example, in our life groups or in our D groups. We make disciples in our Sunday school classes and in all other ways. But we need to be figuring out ways that we can band together in twos and threes and fives and tins and so on and make disciples of the world. So first thing is it's a group project. One thing to notice in this passage is what Jesus has given us in order to build disciples. Two things, word and sacrament. Word and sacrament are the tools with which the church makes disciples, baptism and teaching he is referring to here. Baptism being the right of initiation into the local church and teaching being the ministry of the Word of God. Where does teaching take place? It takes place in the home. Of course, first, that's primary, but it also secondarily takes place in the church and we teach and preach the Word of God. We equip the saints so that they go out into the world and share the Word of God with others. Let me take a moment to review with you what our mission is here at UPC because I want you to make sure that we as a church family get this. Here's a diagram that I've shown you before. It shows, first of all, what our mission as a church is, which is knowing God, growing together and serving others. But that's not enough. You need to know what are we aiming at specifically? And we have identified five things that we're aiming at accomplishing within the walls of UPC. Let me show you what these are. First of all, we want to equip believers with biblical and theological literacy. Secondly, to engage the whole church family in genuine corporate worship. We want to disciple one another to spiritual maturity. We want to help believers experience the transforming power of the gospel and free them from the bondages of sin and idolatry. And finally, we want to build our children and our youth to know and love and serve God. So if you're a part of our family, those are the things that we hope by God's grace to accomplish within our walls. But then it's not enough to just do stuff within our walls. We exist to go out. Our goal is to equip our church to make disciples locally and globally by focusing particularly on three things. UPC, U stands for UCF. We want to reach the University of Central Florida with the gospel. We want those students and faculty and staff to find a place of a home here at our church. The letter P stands for promoting and building strong kingdom advancing families. And the letter C stands for caring for the poor and the marginalized in our community. The reason I want you to see this and be reviewed on this is that UPC is a place we both go to and go from. You go to church in order to get those things inside the circle. But that's not where you stop. You go from church to represent your King Jesus in our community in at least these three ways. These are our focuses and there are many, many other ways to do it. But these are the three things that we specifically are aiming at here. In short, what we see here at UPC is that the church is a discipleship center. It's the place you go to to get equipped and go from to represent Christ in the world. Let me just say one more thing to those of you who have yet to really settle in a local church. Some of you have visited here. It's fantastic. I encourage you to do that. But please don't play hopscotch with church. We want you to find a church whether it's UPC or another Bible believing church somewhere in the area and settle in and become part of that community because the great commission is not meant to be alone, Ranger Enterprise. We need you on board and you need other believers around you if you're going to be faithful to the King. Listen to this. You need someone in front of you to lead the way and show you the path. You need somebody behind you to watch your back and catch you when you fall and you need somebody beside you to strengthen you and to work with you in this great commission. If you don't have those three at least a family, a church, to belong to, you're hurting. You're going to live through life and so we urge you to be a part of a community where the great commission is really highly valued. So to overcome your fears and live missionally, you've got a truth to stand on. You've got a community to help you. And thirdly, I want you to see that in the great commission is a cause, a cause, a C-A-U-S-E that will inspire you. Look at verse 19 once again where Jesus says, therefore go and make disciples of all nations. Friends, that is a cause that can inspire you. Think about it. Jesus' vision is global. It's all inclusive, multicultural, multicolored. He's calling us to make disciples, not just converts, but people who find Jesus and then grow with Jesus to maturity. And I notice with you the word go. See that Lord, go, go? You might have heard that it in the Greek grammar language that the New Testament was written in is a participle. So it's literally going, but I've got a problem with that a little bit. Because sometimes when we talk about as you are going, make disciples, sometimes we can turn that into an excuse to stay in our little corner and not actually go anywhere. And the sense of the grammar in this sentence is not just as you're going. As you happen to think about it, make disciples, teach you a little grammar. The word go is a participle, but in Greek grammar when a participle like go is so closely linked to an imperative like make disciples, it takes on imperative emphasis. So this is actually a good translation. Therefore go. You know why that's important? It's because we can easily excuse ourselves to stay where we are in our comfort zones, in our little comfort areas, in the places that we feel good about ourselves. And Jesus says, no, go. He says, get out, get out of your church, get out of your neighborhood, get out of your home, and represent me anywhere that I happen to want to send you. And we're to respond to Jesus. Here I am, Lord, send me. The emphasis is go, go, go. As the Father has sent me, said Jesus, I am sending you. What does that look like? Well, on a basic level, it looks like being intentional with building relationships with folks who are yet outside Jesus. Being intentional about getting to know folks who need to know the love of Christ. You might know that I along with three or four or five of us play racquetball at LA Fitness pretty regularly. And one of the things that we have been very open to and excited about is whenever somebody else who's not a part of our church can join our little tribe and play racquetball with us. And recently we've picked up a new guy who beats us every time. He humbled me the other day. He beat me 15 to nothing. And he's older than me. I don't get that. But anyway, after the game was over, he and I, the rest of the guys had left. He and I had a conversation. And the conversation led one thing to another and I got to share the gospel with him. And at the end of that, he said, perhaps one day, you and I can go have breakfast together at Paner. See, there's a bridge. There's an open door. And that's what we must all always be on the lookout for. Jesus, how can I represent? How can I know someone today that you're bringing my way? How can I go? Folks, we've got a breakout of our Christian subculture and find places of intelligent and gracious discourse with people in industry, education, politics, business, technology, science. And other avenues of endeavor. That's where we belong. Let me tell you that there are at least three reasons why every Christian here this morning ought to be passionately committed to and personally engaged in the Great Commission. Three reasons. Take note of these very quickly. The first one is it's something that everybody can do. Everybody can do what we're talking about today. It doesn't require extraordinary abilities or talents. These 11 disciples whom Jesus was talking to here were ordinary men. They didn't, at best they had a high school education. They were fishermen, tax collectors, craftsmen, husbands, fathers. And yet they started a movement that has captured the globe. The only thing that will disqualify you for making disciples is thinking you're qualified. Second thing to notice is that there's no way you can fail. There's no way you can fail in this endeavor. You will not fail because God has promised that his kingdom will never stop growing. The prophet Habakkuk said it this way. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. There is no doubt about that. Jesus said in Matthew 16, I will build my church in the gates of Hades will not overcome it. So what are we waiting on? What more encouragement can there be than those promises from the scriptures that God will use as one of our songs earlier today? God will use the weakest of us to lead the strong. And the third thing to notice is that people are searching for what you have. People out there in the world, they want what you and I have. They just don't know where to look. You know, don't you, that every human heart has a longing in it. That's aching to be satisfied with the person and work of Jesus Christ. We know what that longing is. It's a God-shaped vacuum. We have what they need. GK Chesterton put it well when he said that every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God. Your coworkers are looking for God. Your fellow students, they're looking for God. It might not look that way. It probably looks like they're looking anywhere but God. But that longing is aching to be filled with Jesus. Do you want some inspiration? We're talking about a cause that inspires. I want to show you a video that will inspire you. And it goes along with a little insert this in your worship guide today. This insert right here that's talking about being an online missionary. Take a look at that real quick. After the service today, you're going to, there's going to be a table outside. And there will be people who would love to talk to you. If you would like to be an online missionary and share the gospel with people all over the world, that's an opportunity that you have. But this video is a testimony about this. And if you've ever thought that you're not able to be a witness for Christ, just watch. Sarah was born in April of 1976. At first, it wasn't obvious that she had disabilities. But we found out when she was about a year old that she had cerebral palsy. As a disabled person, I don't get out of the house much. So my opportunities to share my faith are very limited. When I heard about global media outreach at my church, I wanted to be a part of it. I knew that this would be a good opportunity for me. I've wanted to go on mission trips and things, but I feel like that's pretty impossible. And thus, I felt unable to do part of what the Lord told us to do. For me, it's a quiet marble. When we hear the Lord say, go into the world. And we want with all of our hearts to do that. But we realize that I can't do that. That he says, I have a way. I make a way. Working with global media outreach allows me to share the knowledge and experience I have as a Christian. It also allows me to pray for different people all over the world. I hear from someone who has either just gotten saved or has rededicated his life to the Lord most every day. I've started writing someone lately who seems very interested in knowing more. By that, I think he's pretty hungry for the Lord. Getting a chance to see Sarah work as an online missionary was probably one of the most exciting and humbling experiences I've ever had. Things that she has to go through just to answer one email, it's amazing to me. But to see that she does it with such a willing spirit and desire to reach the lost, she's doing what every Christian on the face of the earth should be doing. And that's sharing the good news of the gospel. She's being a witness for Jesus. She's taken what God's given her and said, let me use that to glorify you. So here she is, someone who can't even feed herself, giving out the bread of life to so many thousands of people. Through my work with GMO, I have seen that God can use me and anyone else he wants to further his kingdom. And I like being useful. As disabled as I am, sometimes it feels like all I do is have others do for me. I don't feel like I give much back. GMO is definitely a place I can give back to the Lord. It's awesome to me that he has called her and with the calling provided her, they, they, the work. Using a computer is something most people can do. Email is kind of an equalizer for me. Working with GMO allows me to be in touch with new believers from every part of the world. My life is very limited because of my disability, but through global media outreach I can touch the world. See what I mean? It's a cause that will inspire. And God can use you. God can use me. He can use us. In any way, we're willing to be used. What we've seen then is that in the Great Commission is a truth that will ground you, a community that will help you, a cause that will inspire you, and let me leave you with a promise that will empower you. Verse 20 says, and surely I am with you always. This is Jesus speaking. Surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age. When we use the word commission, don't miss it. It's co mission. Jesus is your partner. He's your senior partner and you're joining him in his work. He's still seeking and saving the lost and he desires to use you in his mission on this earth. How do you know that he will never leave you or forsake you? How do you know he'll be with you to the very end of the age? Well, it's because he died on the cross. He took our sins upon himself. He absorbed the wrath of the Father in himself. He gave us forgiveness of sins. He was counted as our curse that we might be set free and have eternal life. If he did that, he will never ever abandon you. He will help you. So I'm calling on us at UPC to not do what Luigi Turisio did to violence. Don't hoard the gospel. Don't hide it away. But share it by word and by deed with those that God brings to our path. Let's let the world hear the beautiful music of the love of Christ through each of us individually and collectively. Lord Jesus, thank you that you're our king, that you have all authority and heaven and earth. Thank you for the church that you have given us this community that we are one part of. Thank you for this amazing cause that would even inspire someone with cerebral palsy to dedicate her energies to being a part of it. And thank you for this wonderful promise, Lord, that you will never leave us. That you'll always be with us. No matter our failures, no matter our shortcomings, because we know that you've loved us with an everlasting love. So here we are, Lord, send us and use us in your endeavor to redeem this world. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.