Jump Start # 1872

Mark 16:15 “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Our verse today, called the Great Commission, is one of the final things that Jesus said to the apostles. It was Heaven’s desire that this small band of believers would spread out, spread the message and cover the planet. Acts 1 shows the expanding circle that God intended. They were to be witnesses first in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth.

This message meant that the apostles were going to move. For most of them, their Galilean world consisted of a few trips to Jerusalem every year. By the end of their lives they would go to places that they probably never heard of before. They would preach and preach and preach God’s saving message. Congregations were formed as listeners became obedient believers. These apostles would move on. New places. New faces. Others would follow who would help strengthen these young churches.

For those apostles long ago, going into all the world was long and hard. There was no hopping on a jet and a few hours later you are there. Long boat rides that were often dangerous and not very comfortable. The spread of the gospel was the need. It wasn’t about their safety or comfort. Jesus needed them to go. The world needed to be saved. Like ancient soldiers marching off to battle, these disciples of Jesus were out to conquer hearts for the Lord. Where all they went and what all they did is mostly left to legends or forgotten. Luke shows us the travels of one, Paul. His journeys, trials, troubles and triumphs were not much different than the others. Different places, yet, doing virtually the same things. They were making disciples of Jesus.

Today, that need of spreading the Gospel into all the world is still vital and necessary. It falls upon Christians and individual congregations to do what they can. The means of travel are much faster and easier than ever before, yet the needs remain just as great. The spread of Islam and atheism continues to cover the planet. The misery of lives broken by sin continues to swell.

There was a time when “going into all the world” predominately meant the neighborhoods surrounding the church building. A special meeting would be planned and a few on a Saturday would pass out flyers in the neighborhood or put stamps on a few hundred cards and they would be mailed out. The results were few. And the world that the church tried to reach was limited to a few blocks in the neighborhood.

Times have changed. People are the same, yet they are not. They still need Jesus. Their lives are still marred by sin. They remain confused as to why they are here and what’s this all about. But today, reaching people, communication and relationships have changed. People would rather be on social media than talk face to face. Today, fewer and fewer people read. Did you know that close to 60% of college grads never open up a book the rest of their lives? Did you know that 80% of American families have not been in a bookstore in the past five years? Newspapers are dying all across the country. Time Magazine is reduced to just a few pages every month. It’s all videos, internet and TV today. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter have replaced the old methods of sharing news. Is God’s congregations keeping up? Or are we hoping for results using old methods and outdated ideas that barely worked a generation ago? Do we continue to print and print things which no one will read?

My wife and I are planning a trip later this summer. She’s the one who does all the booking. Everything is done on line. Before we reserved a hotel, she checked it out. Looked at reviews. Looked at pictures. Compared prices. This is the way Americans operate today. They do the same with churches. Before folks come, they want to check it out. They want to listen to messages. They want to see a video. The first place they will look is the website.

Tons of congregations do not even have a website. Too many brethren do not see the value. Some are even proclaiming that it’s a waste of the Lord’s money, yet every spring and every fall they will print hundreds of flyers to put in mailboxes that will be instantly thrown away.

Too many congregations do not have a Facebook page. It’s more than just posting pictures. Let me share with you one amazing story that happened this week. We had our VBS this week. We invited a guest preacher who spoke on Sunday to kick things off. The guest preacher, just happened to be my favorite preacher, my son. Sunday evening he preached an amazing lesson on Social Media. The crowd numbered around 230. He preached. We listened. And for most places today, that’s as far as the message goes. It stays in the building. We live stream our sermons. On top of that, our brilliant media team took that sermon and pushed it out on Facebook. Within four days, 11,000 people had VIEWED that sermon. Did you see that number? 11,000. That, all within a few days. We couldn’t get 11,000 into our building. The right topic, the right speaker and some savvy media tools and the word can be spread.

Our jobs is to get the message out. We are now looking at other methods and other ways. Jump Starts is just another tool that helps get the word out. These are but bridges that will hopefully allow us to have more connections to help people find the Lord.

Simply having two Gospel meetings a year and a few flyers sitting on the back pew with the hopes that we will reach the lost doesn’t work today. Find the right preacher. Get a message that people are concerned about. Get on social media. Satan is using these tools. Why isn’t God’s people?

It’s time to get with it brethren. Open up the check book and spend some of that money to help get the message out. We are not in the banking business. Can you imagine more than 11,000 people listening to a sermon that was preached just four days ago? Isn’t it time we got with the times and found the best ways to spread the message.

Go into all the world—for those apostles that meant a boat. For preachers a couple of generations ago, that meant getting on a train. For us, it’s more than airplanes—its’ riding technology as far as it will take us. You don’t have someone in the congregation that knows social media? Talk to folks in other congregations. Hire what you need done. Quit making flyers that no one will read. Quit printing in black and white. It’s time for some color. It’s time to get with the times. Being first century Christians does not mean we use first century technology.

Go into all the world…today’s church can easily become global. To whom much is given, much is required. We have been put in a generation in which all of this at our hands. What will we do with it?

Oh, by the way, I just checked. The number of people that have viewed Sunday’s sermon is now 12,000. The number isn’t leveling off. It’s time to start these discussions. It’s time to get with it. It’s time to “Go.”

Roger