Called and Sent (1 John 1:1-3)
Gary McManus, 10/11/2020Part of the DCC Basics series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
October 11, 2020 1 John 1:1-3 Pastor Appreciation Month!
Who is Pastor Gary McManus and what
is he doing here? Do you know?
Pastor Gary McManus—more about the title later.
. . .a minister of God’s Word, the Bible. (1 Peter 1:23,
1 John 1:1, Romans 10:17, 1 Corinthians 15:2,
1 Timothy 3:2)
Pastor administers the Word of God to you,
Jesus’ church. This is for the purpose of building up
the church—the body of Christ.
(2 Corinthians 13:12, Ephesians 4:29)
. . .to be a blessing in Jesus’ name to the world
(1 Corinthians 14:12, Ephesians 4:16, Ephesians 4:29,
1 Thessalonians 5:11).
Jesus and the Apostles are models for this part
of the work as a minister. (Mark 1:38, Mark 1:15)
Jesus was anointed. . .to proclaim good news (also John 20:21)
The word “Gospel” is an ancient news media word.
The angels announce good news! Luke 2:10.
GOOD NEWS of a GREAT JOY for ALL!
Then American preachers dropped the ball!
But the pattern of God’s communication concerning
this good news is outlined in the Bible,
Jesus sent the Apostles. . . .Matthew chapter 28:
Jesus’ final earthly words to the disciples: GO!
Jesus called the disciples, later Jesus sent the disciples
Those were Jesus final earthly instructions to the disciples. . .
(Jesus had sent the disciples out before: Matthew 10:16,
Mark 6:7, Luke 9:2, Luke 10:3, John 13:20)
And the book of Acts shows to us some of the sending. . .
Acts 5:18-20.
The Apostle Paul is called and sent.
(There are three reports in Acts of Paul’s experience
on the road to Damascus (Acts 9, Acts 22:6ff,
Acts 26:12ff., but Phillip is sent in Acts 8:26).
This calling and sending model would continue.
It got lost and then recovered during the Reformation.
(Romans 1:1, Romans 1:14-15)
Jesus called the Apostles, later Jesus sent the Apostles.
The church reformer, Martin Luther:
“the priesthood of ALL believers.”
Clergy are not special people.
Everyone in the church has received
the SAME Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:4,
1 Corinthians 12:8, 1 Corinthians 12:9,
1 Corinthians 12:12)
Christian Church tradition:
the preacher is only one Elder among the
Elders of the church, the preaching Elder.
The Pastor is only specialized by function
not by his spirituality, godliness, or Christlike
behavior.
So, DCC jumps into the 21st Century
with DCC’s website, sermon posting and
sermon downloads.
Pastor, don’t preach to/for the numbers
More preacher instructions:
2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 4:2
If we don’t celebrate numbers, then what?
We are celebrating our call and our sending.
The downloads don’t prove anything.
The downloads are solid evidence that we are
getting the Word out.
Not sure? What if the Pastor stood on the street
corner down here on Walnut and Daleville Road
and started preaching? Part of the job, right?
In the 21st Century, instead of going to the
street corner, Pastor goes to the church’s
website corner and preaches.
The downloads are evidence that this is not
something happening in the past, but today!
Daleville Christian Church continues to do
what Jesus wants us to do. PTL and
celebrate every victory. Amen.
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