WORSHIP NOTES
Volume 20, No. 12 (December 2025)
Here is the third of the three keynote Bible lessons I gave at the conference.
COMMISSION
Introduction
Jesus said to them again,
“Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)We are the sent ones!
God proclaims through Christ to us—we are sent to proclaim.Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Tell of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous works among all the peoples! (1 Chronicles 16:23-24)
1. God is a sending God
a. Abraham: 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.” (Genesis 12:1)
b. Moses: “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10)
c. May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make His face to shine upon us,
that Your way may be known on earth,
Your saving power among all nations. (Psalm 67:1-2)
d. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)
2. God sent His Son
a. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18)
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. (John 4:34)
“I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 5:30)
b. Jesus speaks of God sending Him forty times in John’s gospel!
3. Jesus send us
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)
Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony. (John 4:39)
“As you sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18)
a. Jesus sends us as DISCIPLEMAKERS (with His authority and His presence)
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
b. Jesus send us as WITNESSES
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
c. Jesus sends us as AMBASSADORS
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
d. Jesus sends us as TESTIFIERS
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. (1 Peter 3:15)
e. Jesus sends us to minister FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11)
4. Great Commission and Great Commandment
The culmination of the disciple-making process is “teaching them to obey all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:20)—and Jesus Himself said that the most important thing He commanded them was to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37): which is worship. And worshiping disciples will themselves turn to make disciples. So the Great Commission leads to the Great Commandment, which in turn will lead back to the Great Commission.
Or as John Piper has said: Worship is the goal of missions, and the fuel of missions.
5. Conclusion
a. Commission
We go with Christ’s authority (Matthew 28:18) and the Holy Spirit’s empowering (Acts 1:8).
b. Proclamation
We speak God’s message about Christ through Christ, as an invitation to worship and celebration.
c. Celebration
Our response, through Christ, to the glory of the Father.
Sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Tell of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous works among all the peoples!
(1 Chronicles 16:23-24)
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, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 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, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 7:9-12)