The following is a manuscript of the sermon presented by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday, January 28, 2024 at our Crosspoint Church-Bellaire campus. To view the sermon in full, check out the link below.

As we begin week 2 in our study of the Great Commission, I want to share with you a great vision. It’s a compelling vision of people from every language, tribe, and tongue gathered

It’s the greatest vision ever pursued, the greatest effort that can be required of us, and the greatest calling we will ever receive. The vision Jesus gave us is to the nations and to the ends of the earth. We must grasp his vision for the nations. Look at these words in Revelation 7:9-12.

Revelation 7:9-12

⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

This is in heaven’s throne room. And those who are there are gathered from every nation, tribe, people, and language. And they are all before the throne, and the Lord Jesus and they are crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

The Great Commission is fulfilled. The final judgments are coming, and the wedding supper of the Lamb will be taking place soon.

When we talk about the Great Commission, we say,

“It’s the greatest vision ever cast, the greatest mission ever launched, and the greatest catalyst for growth for our lives if we will get in on it.”

The remainder of our time on earth is marked by it.

Notice these words in Matthew 24.

Matthew 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Do you see how time is marked by the movement of the gospel to all of the nations across the globe?

I typed in my google search of how many people groups are still unreached with the gospel of Jesus. The top return on that search took me to the JOSHUA PROJECT website. Here are some of the statistics from that site:

Estimates suggest that approximately 7,400 people groups are still considered unreached.

So how many of the approximately 17,400 ethnic people groups are considered unreached i.e. less than 2% Christ-follower and less than 5% Professing Christian?

The latest estimates suggest that approximately 7,400 people groups are considered unreached. That means over 40% of the world’s people groups have no indigenous community of believing Christians able to evangelize the rest of their people group. Over 42% of the world’s population live in these over 7,400 people groups.

Here are some sobering facts about just the 50 largest unreached people groups:

Joshua Project Statistics

• All 50 of these people groups have less than 2% Christ-followers
• Individuals in these groups may have very limited, if any, access to the Gospel.
• These 50 unreached people groups are comprised over 1.4 billion souls.
• One in six people on earth live in just these 50 unreached peoples.

Joshua Project Statistics

• Every group is larger than 12,000,000 in population.
• None have an indigenous church capable of taking the Gospel to the entire group.
• Primary religion: 26 are Muslim, 17 Hindu, 5 Buddhist, 1 Ethnic Religions, 1 non-Religious.
• All of these 50 largest unreached people groups are in the 10/40 Window, 46 are in sensitive countries.

We have the privilege of looking forward into the prophecy of the book of Revelation to see that all people groups will be reached. And we have the data that shows us that currently the job is not completed.

Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Life, stepped down from pastoring Saddleback Church, so that he could lead something called FTT.

FTT means Finish the Task. The goal of FTT is that there would be such a movement of God across the globe that by 2033, the 2,000^th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus, there would be a:

Finish the Task Goals – By 2033

• Bible translated into every language
• Believer for every 6 people on the globe
• Body of Believers for every 1,000 people in a population

As we study the Great Commission, we must realize that we have been entrusted to GO.

That’s what G in Great means. The G stands for GO.

GREAT

G – Go

Look at the Great Commission with me.

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The word I want to home in on this morning is the first word in verse 19. It is the word, “Go.”

Last week we talked about getting a burden. This week we talk about grasping the vision, and the vision God has for us is to GO!

The word GO is in the Bible 1372  times in the ESV bible.

The missio dei, the MISSION of GOD, always starts with the word GO.

Look at a few example with me when God says go:

I. When God Says Go

1. To Abraham

Genesis 12:1-3

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This was the initial call in the Scripture to Go. And the whole purpose was to create a nation with a land, laws, and a people, from which the Messiah would come and bless all of the nations.

Abraham was called to “Go” and he obeyed.

1. To Moses

Exodus 3:16-17

16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites…, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

This is God’s salvation story in the Old Testament. It’s foundational to our understanding of the entirety of the Scripture. It’s where the Passover happens on the final plague of the death of the firstborn. It’s where the people are redeemed, set free, and rescued. God called Moses to GO.

1. To Joshua

Joshua 1:2-3

“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.

1. To Shepherds

Luke 2:15

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

1. To the Disciples

Matthew 10:5-7

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

God is a sending God. God sends his messengers. God sends men and women who are willing to obey. God sends prophets and priests, and kings. And God sent his Son.

John 6:29

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Fundamental to God’s mission to redeem the world, to gather the nations to himself in worship, is the action of GOING.

God’s desire to rescue his people always involves the command for his followers to go!

• To go and serve.
• To go and tell.
• To go and share.
• To go and make disciples.
• To go and carry out the great commission.

It all starts with the word GO!

Are you willing to go?

HB = walk or move

GK= travel or journey

Here’s what the word GO implies:

• It implies movement.
• It implies a willingness.
• It implies an availability.
• It implies that you can’t stay where you are.
• It implies that things can’t stay the same as they are.
• It implies a catalyst.
• It implies a disruption of inertia.
• It implies relocation.
• It implies a destination.
• It implies sacrifice of time.
• It implies a sacrifice of energy.
• It implies a cost.
• It implies discomfort.
• It implies inconvenience.
• It implies an adventurous spirit.
• It implies putting your yes on the table!

When God says go, we have a choice to make … will we answer the call? It’s a matter of obedience because going is a command! Will we go? Or will we make excuses?

II. 3 Excuses that Keep us from Going

(Excuses- Moses and the burning bush passage.)

Moses is keeping sheep in Midian for his father-in-law, Jethro. He sees a bush burning, but it is not consumed. He goes over to look at it and it is what theologians call a “theophany,” an appearance of God in some form or another.

God calls Moses from this burning bush and here is their exchange.

Exodus 3:10-11

¹⁰ Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 

Now, in this exchange, Moses is going to make three excuses. The first one is

Slide: 3 excuses we often make when called to GO:

1. The “pick someone else” excuse.   (Ex. 3:10-11)

Lord, you’ve got the wrong guy.

But we know the story. He didn’t have the wrong guy. He had exactly the right guy…the guy who grew up in Pharoah’s palace. God knew exactly what He was doing with Moses and to whom He was sending him to.

Here’s the second excuse.

Look at Exodus 3:13 and 4:1.

Exodus 3:13

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

Exodus 4:1

Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”

This is the “What if…” excuse.

3 excuses we often make when called to GO:

1. The “pick someone else” excuse .   (Ex. 3:10-11)
2. The “what if…” excuse. (Ex. 3: 13, 4:1)

We think:

• What if I get the words wrong?
• What if I chicken out?
• What if my tongue just stops working?
• What if I’m late for work?
• What if my car has a flat tire?
• What if I the don’t like me or I get rejected?

There are so many What If excuses we throw up to keep us from going to those whom God has called us to.

Then there is my favorite excuse.

3 excuses we often make when called to GO:

1. The “pick someone else” excuse .   (Ex. 3:10-11)
2. The “what if…” excuse. (Ex. 3: 13, 4:1)
3. The “I’m not good enough” excuse. (Ex. 4:10)

I’m not good enough. I’m inadequate. Notice Moses’ words and his insecurities.

Exodus 4:10

But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 

Ma-Ma-Moses stuttered. He sta-stuttered…and his………speech……w-a-s….sa…la…oooooh.

I’m not good enough.

Friends, let me tell you something…I feel so inadequate to tell you how to live your life and lead the church. It’s just true. I’m just a guy. I’ve got problems and challenges and inadequacies just like you. All too often, I feel so inadequate.

But, if I don’t go, if I don’t preach, if I don’t seek to fulfill God’s call on my life, I know I’m not living to my best potential.

God’s not interested in our excuses. He wants our obedience. This is why the Great Commission is such a growth catalyst for our lives…because He calls us to discomfort. He calls us to change. He calls us to move forward and share his love.

And this call exposes our inadequacies. It exposes our selfish desires. It exposes our excuses and we have to deal with them.

So, you may ask, “Why does he want us to go?”

Let me give you two reasons:  His glory and our good.

III. Two Reasons to Go…His Glory and our Good.

1. His glory: God gets glory when the nations come to Him. Listen to the Psalmist declare this.

Psalm 67:3-4

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you!

⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you judge the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations upon earth. 

The second reason we are to go is that it is for our good.

1. Our good:

In the going is where we do the growing.

We get joy and satisfaction when we lead someone to Christ.

DPS and KEVIN – Driver’s License Renewal – Six months after the expiration

• Alief ISD Folder; Alief Taylor, Hastings, Elsik
• Me working – Monday morning processes
• Young man looked up at me and asked a question – How did you know you should go to college? – His name, Kevin. Recent high school graduate and Taco Bell Manager
• Engaged in conversation
• Told him my story – and said, “When I began to ask God what he wanted me to do, that’s when it got fun.”
• Pointed to Proverbs
• Talked about the way of the wise and the fool – friends pull you down.
• He shook head…I pressed in.
• He loves doing certain drugs – xanex, marijuana
• Me…Go to church? — big dude comes in to take a seat nearby…
• He uses religious language – I watch on tv…when I repent, it is good.
• Me back to my planner…”I will” statements – “I will share my faith!”
• Prompted and lead…I obeyed.

“Kevin, has anyone explained to you how to know that Jesus is your savior and how to have eternal life?”

No –

Me…bad news…sin

Good news…free gift – taco bell at world series, “Steal a base and get a free taco.”

Cars lined up…Jesus is the free gift…it’s the best deal going.

A…admit

B…believe

C…confess

Do you want to take Christ right here?

Yes!

Let’s pray…

I look up – she and he have their hands raised and they are praying with me as I lead Kevin to Jesus.

We had church right there at the DPS.

Me to Kevin…”Kevin, God had a divine appointment for us to meet today.”

When we GO, not only is God doing something among the nations, but He is also doing something IN us!  God works IN us while he works THRU us.

Now, this is important: Going does NOT just mean going overseas.  The call to go, as given in two of the great commission accounts, included the instruction to start right where you are.

Earlier, I mentioned putting your yes on the table. Will you do that?

As a church, we have all sorts of opportunities…promo Dinner and Deploy – tonight at the West U Sanctuary…will you put your yes on the table?

            Local and International Partners and Opportunities…

            Meet our partners

            Hear from some who have gone

Putting your yes on the table involves the willingness to go anywhere, but the commitment to start right here, right now.  Maybe God is calling you to go across the street!

Here I am, send me!