Sermon Outline:
1. In Creation (v. 3)
2. In Generation (v. 4)
3. In Illumination (v. 5)
Sermon Text:
John 1:3-5
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, [1] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Sermon Notes
Being Missional in Palm City
-aliens, strangers, ambassadors – His sent ones
Our God is the Lord of all creation, the giver of life, and the Light of the world. But, at the heart of God, He is a saving God.
Our God is a saving God; a missional God; a sending God. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost and has done so by God the Father sending Him for us as our redemption. The Prophet Isaiah declares this of our Lord, “I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no Savior” (Is. 43:11). He alone is our salvation! Paul the Apostle echoes those words when he proclaims, ”and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” (2 Tim. 1:10).
In the gospel of John, we read over forty times Jesus saying, “the Father has sent Me”; “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me”; “and believes Him who sent me has eternal life”; “the Father consecrated and sent into the world”. But then we read in John 20:21 these profound words: “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” This is what it means to be missional in our everyday lives: to be sent by God, through Jesus Christ, to go into His world, to proclaim and live His gospel, for His praise and glory alone.
While Jesus is the one who builds His church (Matthew 16:18), He has also given us responsibility in His mission of redeeming people to Himself. Expressing ownership in the ministry of the Church, the Apostle Paul says, “I laid a foundation as an expert builder” (I Corinthians 2:10).
The Scripture paints the picture that we are God’s ambassadors in this culture (II Corinthians 5:20). Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20) and we belong to His kingdom, yet He has sent us into this world to represent Him. Peter describes us as aliens in this culture. “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us” (I Peter 2:11-12).
We are His missionaries – His sent ones to Palm City, Stuart, Port St. Lucie. May we go boldly in grace, for our God is an awesome God!
