In this bible talk by Ryan Dehnert we see that Jesus was sent by the Father to make God known through the cross, so people might know God and live. And Jesus has now sent us on a mission to show people Jesus, so they can know God. The primary focus in this talk is the need not only to send missionaries to other parts of the world, but to be missionaries to the people of our own country. In seeking to bring the good news of Jesus to Australians, we need to show them Jesus on the cross with our lives, shaped by the cross of Jesus into cross shaped lives.
Key Verse
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’
Bible Reading: John 12:44-50
Outline:
Intro: australian story
1. the mission
2. the same
3. …but different
conclusion: adorned with the cross
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Thanks Ryan for the talk.
We really do get caught in that” holy huddle” as christian holding our conversations of Christ amongst ourselves.
Thanks for the reminder that we need to be missionaries to those in our own country that the message of salvation needs to be shared to the world( even our neighbors) not hidden amongst the church.
Ryan – what a joy to come home and listen to this this talk on my morning walk. So faithful to the Word, so clear, so focussed on Jesus, so saturated with the cross, and so sincerely spoken from your heart to the hearts of our church family. I was personally challenged in many ways by the message. I pray that your encouragement will be far beyond words like these of mine, however, but in the joy that will come as we all respond to the conviction of the Word, living cross-shaped lives to the honour of Jesus. May he use us in the great harvest all around us.
challenging talk. Thankyou Ryan. Just a question for clarification: you said that Jesus does not make our lives happy and fulfilled. What did you mean by this? Surely ultimate fulfillment and happiness comes from a relationship with Jesus.
thanks
Guy
Hi Guy.
Thanks for your feedback and question. It might seem strange, the idea that Jesus doesn’t make us happy and fulfilled! Of course I believe that real joy and fulfilment is found in a relationship with Jesus. But in my talk I also mentioned that we need to be living as if we’re just passing through to something better. What I was getting at was that believing in Jesus doesn’t make life in the here and now better, or easier, or even happier necessarily. We have an insurpassable joy, but this is found in hope in being with Jesus in the next life, and in this life we have the joy of seeing the first fruits of that in the Spirit’s work in making us more like Jesus.
I was simply facing the fact that until we’re with Jesus face to face when he returns, we live with a sense of loss and longing for that day that can’t be filled with anything in this world. Although we have times of feeling close to God, there are many times all of us struggle as well. If you’ve been listening to the recent 1 Corinthians talks, Steve has been talking about whatever circumstances a person is in, there are struggles. This isn’t meant to be depressing. But a very damaging thing churches can do is promote the idea that knowing Jesus should make everything OK and take away any feeling of loneliness or pain. When that expectation is put on us, people can be left feeling guilty about their struggles or disillusioned with Jesus, and often we end up chasing fulfilment and happiness in worldly things, which may or may not be bad in themselves, but either way can become idols. But when we have joy in the hope of being with Jesus and realise our lives are actually about glorifying God, we can bear up in whatever circumstances we have and be free from the endless search our world lives by.