READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary l The verses on the Great Commission are well known. The fields are ripe for harvest. Jesus commanded his disciples to make more disciples, preach the Gospel, baptise and teach. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to bring glory to God by sharing God’s love and bringing the gospel to reach the nations for Christ.
1. The Great Commission
God’s love in us allows us to, in turn, love the least, the last and the lost. We can begin by praying for workers in the harvest fields. Our prayers make a world of difference. We can also pray for the pre-believing foreigners, all around us, that we know. Secondly, we can give generously to support missions and the extension of God’s kingdom. Thirdly, we can go and be God’s workers in the fields.
At Wesley missions, there are different mission fields in Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia etc.
There is an upcoming Missions Workshop om 31 Aug, where you can learn more about missions and get prepared to be part of a missions team. During mission trips, we share the gospel, give testimonies and disciple the nations. Activities include reaching out to children and youths, equipping leaders in the churches, strengthening family life.
We teach English and provide life skills training. Our teams also provide medical and dental services, community outreach and home visitation. We also pray for and bless these families by helping to meet their daily necessities in life.
2. The Great Counsellor
When Jesus gave us the Great Commission, he also promised to be with us always to the very “end of the age”. Jesus is with us as we serve in the ministry. He also asked the Father to send us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things and to remind us of everything that Jesus had told us. (Jn 14:16, 26) What a wonderful privilege it is to have the Great Counsellor with us. We have received power from the Holy Spirit to be God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
At Pentecost, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter who was once fearful and who had denied Jesus, became courageous and Spirit-filled. He was anointed and empowered to preach the gospel leading to 3,000 people being saved and the birth of the church.
We are not alone for the Holy Spirit empowers us to be God’s witnesses. To reach the nations for Christ, we cannot depend on our own natural abilities, but on the anointing and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
As we work towards completing worldwide evangelization, we can look forward to the second coming of Christ. There will be the Great Celebration in heaven, where the redeemed from every nation will worship before the lamb of God. (Rev 7:9-10)
3. The Great Celebration
Truly the harvest is plentiful, and God is looking for labourers to go into the harvest field. Can we imagine being at this glorious Great Celebration in heaven? All the people that we have reached with the Gospel will be there, and declaring that “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.”
We look forward with hope to the Great Celebration.
Jesus commands us to fulfil and obey the Great Commission. We do it because of God’s love for us; and out of our love for God and for the least, the last and the lost. Jesus has promised to be with us forever and the Holy Spirit empowers and teaches us how to minister to the nations. Will you pray, give and go as part of God’s harvest force to reach the nations for Jesus?
(Sermon notes by Denis Koh)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- What speaks to you when you read Matthew 28:18-20?
- What is your understanding of the Great Commission given by Jesus?
- How have you been fulfilling the Great Commission as a disciple of Christ? What challenges do you face in fulfilling it? How can these challenges be overcome?
- How can you be more intentional to fulfill the Great Commission and to reach the nations for Christ?
- Have you been on a mission trip before? If Yes, would you go again? If No, would you prayerfully consider joining a mission trip by the end of 2025?
