In the last decade there has been a growing fascination with YouTube and its creative content.  Whether it is a father and daughter singing together, or the hilarious videos by Dude Perfect, or simply watching a clip of a movie from your childhood, YouTube has found a way into the hearts of people all over the world. Binge watching did not start with Netflix, it started with YouTube.

For me personally, the type of video that I am constantly drawn to on YouTube is a “word on the street” video. I love to see every day people being asked questions and see how they respond in the moment. It made me think what would I get if I did a “word on the street” video about what a church is. As I was thinking about that, I realized that most people would tell me what a church does, where a church is, or when the church services are. The problem with that is that the Church God thought of was never meant to be a what, where or when. The Church was always meant to be a who: Jesus!

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US TODAY?

If we are truly acting like Christ’s Church, then we must do what He is calling us to do and be the Church that He is calling us to be. Jesus’ design for the Church from its inception was to be missionaries on God’s mission. In other words, we are called to LIVE SENT!

John 20:21-22 [NIV] – “²¹ Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.’ ²² And with that He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

I love this passage in John! Jesus shares with His followers three keys that He never wanted them to forget: 

• God’s peace flows from a relationship with Jesus
• God’s mission inspires us to live sent
• God results only come through the work of the Holy Spirit

If we are to live sent in our culture today, we must never forget that our identity in Christ must be the foundation for anything that we do for Christ. We must always remember that God is calling us to the same mission that Christ lived out on the earth. Lastly, we cannot do what God is calling us to do without the supernatural empowerment of His Spirit. When we understand those three things, living sent will not be a burden, but a blessing. It will be a life filled with adventure and highlighted by powerful stories of God’s faithfulness.  

HOW CAN WE PARTNER WITH GOD ON HIS MISSION?

Maybe some of you are like me. I always lean toward thinking practically and wonder how we can do that. What God has led our church to is a simple three-pronged approach to living sent: 

• PRAYER – believe that God can speak through you by praying for those around you
• CARE – practically care for those around you and show them the love of God in a tangible way
• SHARE – have courage to share the Gospel and your own God story with others

Remember that you can’t score a basket if you never take a shot and you cannot score a touchdown if you never cross the goal line with the football. In order to see people come to Christ, we have to have the courage to step outside of our “holy huddle” and connect with those who do not know Jesus. Why? Because we are called to live sent and be light in darkness. My heart is to follow the prophet Isaiah’s leading in his response to God’s call.

Isaiah 6:8 [NLT] – “Then I heard the Lord asking, ‘Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?’ I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’”

WHAT DO WE NEED TO OVERCOME TO LIVE SENT?

Author Jason Dukes in his book “Live Sent” spoke powerfully about the concept that we are all a letter and that our life is more than just a story being written. We were created to receive and send a message intentionally to people around us from God. But for us to be successful on this mission of living sent, we must remember some things that we must overcome. First, you are not junk mail! God loves you, period! God wants to use your story as a powerful testimony of the goodness and grace of God. Live like you are not junk!

Second, trust your God-given value! If you do not see yourself the way Jesus sees you, you will constantly live a crippled life struggling for value and affirmation in all the wrong places. What Jesus did for your is enough! Let the image of Jesus on the cross remind you of how much you are loved and valued in the Kingdom of God.

Lastly, living sent means living beyond ourselves! God has never asked us to simply do church. God is calling us to be the Church. God is calling us to pick up the baton passed to us by Jesus Himself and live on mission as missionaries to our neighbourhoods. You are called for such a time as this!  

Ed Stetzer – “The moment we are in does not pause the mission we are on!”