The Church's Mission

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. Our text for tonight for our meditation this third

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Wednesday of Advent is taken from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 28 verses 16 through 20.

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Now the eleven disciples they went to Galilee to the mountain to which

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Jesus had directed them and when they saw him they worshipped him but some doubted and Jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the

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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold

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I am with you always even to the end of the age. This is the gospel of the Lord.

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In the name of Jesus what a day. So when

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I was a kid when I was a kid in fact I'll even admit it when I was an adult

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I loved to go to Disneyland of all places. Now I remember even as a kid there's this amazing thing that happens when you go to Disneyland first you have to pay a hundred dollars per person

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I think now but once you get past that initial shock then you what happens is you go through the turnstiles and there you can see a very large floral depiction of Mickey Mouse you can see the train you know that that circles around Main Street USA and on into Fantasyland and around the park but there's a bridge that goes under one of the goes into the track and it's the entrance into the park itself and it's that entrance where once you cross that threshold you are really in Disneyland and right above the arch of this train bridge it says this here you leave today here you leave today and you enter the world of yesterday tomorrow and fantasy and as a kid oh man you'd read those words and goosebumps would get going and you would be so excited the adrenaline would start pumping it would just be amazing now this

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Adventide we've been looking at what is the church what is the church how is it made with last week we talked about the marks of the

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Christian Church we've noted already in our little study that the church well it's not the building the building is named after the people the people the congregation that meets there and so this

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Kongsvinger Lutheran Church building is named after the fact that there's a church that meets here and then we talked about the marks of the church that word sacrament the gospel preached the word the sacraments administered according to the gospel and now today we're going to talk a little bit about the mission of the church and talk about a good way to think about well church buildings think about church buildings

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I always remember those espionage films where there's a US agent on enemy territory or in Europe or something like that and the bad guys are trying to get him and all he's trying to do is reach the embassy because once he gets to the embassy and crosses the threshold he is no longer on foreign soil he's on well

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US territory that is that's the good way to think about it so think of these words from 2nd

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Corinthians chapter 5 Paul writes therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the oldest passed away behold the new has already come now all of this is from God who through Christ has reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation and you'll notice the

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US there Paul isn't saying the Lord gave me the ministry of reconciliation he only gave this ministry to pastors no no no no this is all of us this is a this is a epistle written to a congregation right he has given all of us the ministry of reconciliation so that that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation so therefore we are ambassadors ambassadors for Christ that's a big deal every time you know this new president in place they're talking about who's going to be the ambassador to this place in that place getting an ambassadorship is a big deal and all of y 'all we together we are ambassadors so Ambassador Miles Ambassador Maryland Ambassador Barb Ambassador Lane Terry all of you today

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I would argue that well if you're ambassadors and this word says that we are that when we gather together once we cross the threshold take the coats off if you would hang them on the hook get the snow and the dust and the rocks off of our boots and step across the threshold into the church that we are no longer on US territory this is an embassy of the kingdom of God King Jesus reigning presently now all authority already haven't been given to him you see this is one of the reasons why don't tell on me

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I'm not a big fan of the flags because that doesn't make any sense if we're gonna think of embassy the flags belong just as you're leaving to come into here to say this is where the u .s.

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ends and this is where Christ's kingdom meets it's kind of an interesting idea when you're thinking territorial like that and if we're ambassadors ambassadors always are on a mission ambassadors have mission they have kingdom business to do or in our case the business of the

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Republic of the United States but ambassadors in an embassy we have a mission and listen to this you see

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God is making his appeal through us to the world around us to our neighbors are friends family

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God is making his appeal through us God works through means and so therefore we implore you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God and here's the great news you see for our sake

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God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God that is really really kind of mind -blowingly important ambassadors and this is exactly kind of the point of what

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Jesus was saying to the disciples the church is on a mission and when he sent his first emissaries the

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Apostles out into the world and we continue that mission he said to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the

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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and he's promised that I am with you always even to the end of the age kind of by saying that then he's saying that the church's mission the embassy the ambassadors don't get to change the mission the mission stays the same until that hour that day when the trumpets sound and Christ ascends from the clouds to judge the living and the dead and establish his visible kingdom and reign in a world without end until that time he's building that kingdom

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God is making his appeal through his ambassadors to be reconciled to God and so we are to teach preach baptize all that he is commanded nothing else nothing more nothing less you'll know you would be a bad ambassador if you got off mission in fact you'd probably lose your ambassadorship or an ambassador who makes policy decides to insert his own ideas into the messages that the king is sending that would be a bad ambassador and see this is exactly how

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Luke describes this this same sending out the same mission for us it says this about the disciples he opened their minds in Luke 24 to understand the scriptures and he said it said thus it is written that the

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Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and then here's our charge that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem and we see this exact message this message of reconciliation in one of the very first most famous ambassadors of the kingdom of Christ the great apostle

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Peter in his brilliant sermon to the house of Cornelius he says this truly

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I understand that God shows no partiality instead in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him as for the word that he sent

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Israel preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ after all he is the Lord of all you yourselves know what happened throughout all

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Judea beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the

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Holy Spirit and with power and he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him and we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the

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Jews and in Jerusalem and they put him to death by hanging him on a tree but see God raised him on the third day made him to appear not to all the people but to us who have been chosen by God as witnesses who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead and that to him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives the forgiveness of sins through his name and so the same

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Jesus who in his earthly sojourning went about doing good and releasing those who were oppressed by the devil he is continuing that work today he's doing it through his mighty word that he has given us to speak remember his word is living and active ours are not and he has made us ambassadors going and proclaiming reconciliation to let a sinful fallen world know that they are bled for they are died for that what the angels said that God has sent to us

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Savior who is Christ the Lord we have good news to preach to everybody and to bear witness that he is the one appointed by God he is the one to whom the prophets testify and we who are once under the dominion of darkness have been set free because of his great mercy and grace and so we are now ambassadors reconciled ambassadors and God is making his appeal to us to continue to reconcile people to himself preaching of this gospel let us always remember that the church's mission is to preach

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Christ baptize teach wash rinse repeat nothing sexy about it kind of humble we have a word found in a book we have some tap water and some bread and wine that's what the world sees but here in this embassy we recognize that that word is living and active that water has been united with Christ's blood and through it he unites people to himself and washes away sins and that what looks like to the world is only bread and wine is in fact his very body and blood given shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins so what is the church the church is the community of those who have been forgiven raised to life and they're on a mission mission to spread the good news of Jesus will be hated persecuted crushed beaten down and we shouldn't be surprised at the fiery trials when they come our way such as the lot of ambassadors but that's okay because there is a day coming when the king himself will appear and the church having done its work there will be

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Christians on the earth when Jesus returns not because the church is so great because it's not he who plants are he who waters is anything but the one who gives the increase in the one who gives the increase is

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Christ the very living word of God so there you have it this is what we are this is what we're to do this is how you can tell what

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God's church is whether it is there many different ideas run around the landscape today many different things jockeying for attention within what's called the church and so much of it is just a distraction think of Vince Lombardi having to tell his football players again that this is a football go back to the basics this is what the church is this is who we are this is what we are to do and we deviate from it to our own expense in the name of Jesus if you would like to support the teaching ministry of comes very

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Lutheran Church you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to comes very Lutheran Church 15950 470th

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Avenue Northwest Oslo Minnesota 56744 and again that address is comes very

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Lutheran Church 15950 470th