The second passage that we will look at today regarding why we are here is called the great commission and it is found in Matthew 28:18-20 on page 1550 as the last words of Jesus after His resurrection from the dead. Jesus leaves his disciples with these words:

The Great Commission: Then Jesus came to them and said,"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" Matthew 28:19-20

We are here to love God and to love others helping them to become disciples of Jesus by teaching His word and helping people become obedient to His teachings.

The vision of our church, which we wrote in 2002, is summarized in a single sentence based on these two key scriptures: Living for Jesus by surrendering to His will, serving in His kingdom, and sharing His message. Our next series will be looking at each part of this statement to see what it looks like as we mature and grow as individuals and as a group.

During the last part of the sermon today I want us to think of our personal reasons for being here. Why are you a part of this congregation? Why do you come here instead of the many other places that are open on a Sunday morning?

When we look through the gospels we see people following Jesus for different reasons and we see the same thing today. It seems to me that people come for good, better, and the best reason.

If you are here because someone invited you, because your family is here, it is convenient for you to come here verses another building, because of the friendly people here, because people here are kind to you, because you are curious about the church of Christ, or because this is the church of Christ and that is where you have always gone I would consider these "good reasons" but there are better reasons to be here today. These reasons are like the people who followed Jesus to have their needs met by his healing or feeding but when they were challenged by His teaching they left.

If you are here to learn God’s word, to be changed, to set your life in order, to have a life that is more focused on God than on self. If you here because of what is taught here and you find this to be a group that is trying to live like Jesus and we help you become more Christ focused then I would call these "better" reasons to be here. This is like the parts of the crowd that came to Jesus with spiritual questions and left their old way of life and followed Jesus even when things were uncomfortable.

The last category of why are you here is, to me, the best one because I see these reasons for connection in the life of Jesus. The best reasons for being here is because this is a place that helps and challenges you to love God and to love others. This is a place where you are committed to putting God’s love into action. This is the place where you know God’s word is presented and you are committed to become more like Jesus and to help others by God’s grace on the same journey. The people in the gospels that connected to Jesus for these reasons went all the way to the cross with him and some of them lost their physical lives because of that connection but they have a place with Jesus for eternity because of their devotion.

Today’s question is "Why are we here?" and I would challenge you to consider your answer honestly and carefully and to make the changes so that you are here for the best reasons and enjoying the benefits that these reasons bring.

Next week: What are we doing? What focus and opportunities do we have in place to help people connect to Christ for the best reasons?