Sermon Discussion Questions:
TEXT: Matthew 28:18–20
The following outline and discussion questions have been prepared to accompany the sermon from 12/09/2018, All Nations: The Unfinished Task. These questions can be used for discussion in small groups, family devotions, or for personal reflection. (PDF Link w/ 2018 Missions Statistics)
Main Idea: The Great Commission demands that we intentionally pursue those who have no gospel witness.
Outline:
I. The Scope of the Task (Matt 28:19–20)
II. The Status of the Task
III. Embracing Our Part of the Task
A. Embrace your responsibility to share the gospel with people God puts in your life
B. We need to make a concerted effort as a church to prioritize missions efforts among the unreached.
C. Pray that God would raise up an army of full-time, long-term, cross-cultural missionaries.
Discussion Questions:
1. Read Matthew 28:18–20. In the sermon, pastor Mark broke this text into three sections: The Warrant, The Commission, and The Guarantee.Identify the verses and central concepts that comprise each of these three sections.
- How should “The Warrant” impact the way we think about and pursue the Commission?
- How should “The Guarantee” encourage our personal participation in and pursuit of the Great Commission?
2. Read Galatians 3:6–8.
- How God’s promise to Abram, “in you shall all the nations (panta ta ethne) of the earth be blessed” (Gal 3:8; Cf. Gen 18:18; 22:18; 26:6) a gospel promise? In what way do Gentile Christians become, in fact, “children of Abraham?”
- In your own words, explain how the Abrahamic Covenant is a gospel promise.
3. How does God’s first promise to Abram (Gen 12:1–3 and the table of nations Gen 10:32) help us understand that the task of missions is to pursue ethno-linguistic people groups not political nations?
- How does the concept of “people groups” help us measure our success in foreign missions?
- How can the concept of “people groups help us focus our efforts in foreign missions.
4. Take some time as a group to share how this message and the 2018 missions figures have impacted your thoughts about foreign missions. What has it changed? What questions has it raised?
5. Spend some time as a group praying:
- That God will open up opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the 8–15 people in your life that need Jesus.
- That God will help us, as a church, prioritize ministry and missions efforts.
- That God will raise up the full-time, long-term, language learning, cross-cultural missionaries that we need to reach all peoples for Jesus Christ. And that by his grace, he would be begin by raising up these missionaries from our church.