SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 11/9/25

God has saved us and called us to engage in His eternal purposes of redeeming other sinners and building His church. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: The I Am Sayings of Jesus
TEXT: Matthew 28:16-20
TITLE: A Church Planting Missiology
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
I. Our Mission
II. Our Strategy for the Mission
III. Our Confidence in the Mission

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

“This morning marks the beginning of a four-part series that we are calling 'Plant'. As Christians, we are on a mission. By mission, I mean: God has saved us and called us to engage in His eternal purposes of redeeming other sinners and building His church.”

“We believe this mission is fulfilled primarily through church planting. On our church website, you will find seven biblical values that define us as a local church and unite us with our family of churches, SGC. If you don’t know them, I encourage you to take the time to get to know them. They are:

1. WE ARE REFORMED
2. WE ARE GOSPEL-CENTERED
3. WE ARE CONTINUATIONIST
4. WE ARE COMPLEMENTARIAN
5. WE ARE PASTOR LED
6. WE ARE INTERDEPENDENT
7. WE ARE MISSIONAL”

“What does that mean—We Are Missional? Our gospel-centrality entails not only treasuring the gospel personally but sharing it passionately. The risen Christ commissioned His church to make disciples of all nations. We believe that commission falls to us and to all believers and that it is fulfilled in a primary way through church planting, whereby the gospel is proclaimed and converts are formed into communities of disciples. We are eager to pursue this mission, relying fully on the Holy Spirit, to see the gospel proclaimed and churches planted throughout the world, that God may be glorified among every tribe, language, people, and nation.”

“As we continue to explore planting a church on the east side, our prayer is that over the next four weeks, God will use the Plant series to strengthen our faith by igniting a greater passion for God’s purposes as we give ourselves to the extraordinary work of advancing the gospel for the glory of our ever-faithful God.”

“After the gospels, the NT is an account of advancing God’s kingdom through the planting of local churches. We see this particularly in Acts, which focuses on Peter and the church in Jerusalem in the first twelve chapters, but then shifts to Paul and church planting in the latter part of the book. The great church planting movement we see in Acts is ultimately an outworking of the Great Commission in Matthew 28.”

“The pattern and purpose of our mission are found in three key verbs that make up the Great Commission—Go, Baptize, and Teach.”

“GO and Baptize—read 19. Every believer is called to GO to the lost. The mission is not—Be ready when the lost comes to you. The mission is to GO to the lost with the good news of Jesus. Too often, we equate gospel mission with traveling to a foreign country. That may be God’s will for some, but for most, the call to GO is a call to GO with the gospel to where you already GO every day. GO to your neighbor. GO to your co-worker. GO to your unbelieving spouse. GO to your atheist uncle. GO to the fellow team parent. GO to your classmates. GO to your children. GO to your lost sibling. GO and be my witness (Acts 1:8). GO and be my ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20). GO and tell others about Jesus. This is why we emphasize and equip for personal evangelism. Jesus commands us—GO with the gospel.”

“Now, when those we GO to with Jesus, believe in Jesus, 19 commands us to BAPTIZE (second verb of the Great Commission) them with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Scripture is clear—baptism is symbolic, not salvific. It doesn’t save anyone, but it is a precious sacrament of the church that symbolizes an inward spiritual conversion. The phrase "Go and baptize" simply represents the conversion of those we witness to.”

“TEACH—read 20a

The mission doesn’t end with conversion. It’s just getting started. If we just GO and BAPTIZE, we have new BIRTH but no GROWTH, and that’s an ABORTED mission. A fully orbed mission, according to the Great Commission, includes teaching disciples how to be disciples. Through the gospel, God has made us new creations. How do we live as the new people in Christ that we are? We have to be taught. Go. Baptize. Teach. That is the Great Commission given to us by the risen Christ. So what is our strategy?”

“I once heard someone say—The Great Commission NECESSITATES the local church in our missiology. A missiology that truly flows from the Great Commission demands the centrality of the local church. He’s right. He’s right because the local church is where disciples grow through:
- Sunday Morning Preaching
- Community Group
- Opportunities to serve and give
- Youth
- Men’s and Women’s Ministries
- Pastoral Counseling
- Other teaching and equipping ministries of the church”

“They all grow us as disciples of Jesus. If you’re wondering what does discipleship looks like around here? It looks like everything I just mentioned because it all teaches us how to love and live for Jesus in joy and obedience, which is what a disciple is and what a disciple does. These things happen, first and foremost, in the local church.”

“This is evident in Paul’s letters to the churches, where he repeatedly exhorts and encourages them to build their lives on the Word of God and the gospel within the context of the corporate body. The writer of Hebrews boldly charges the Christians in Hebrews 10—Do not forsake the gathering. Ephesians 3 declares it is the church that reveals the manifold wisdom of God. We could keep going.”

“This is why we have such a robust doctrine of the local church. The centrality of the local church is not a SG thing—It’s a God thing. God has made the local church central to the Great Commission.”

“We need to keep this before us. The truth is, Christian history is littered with people of great faith, vision, a tremendous sense of sacrifice, and an overwhelming personal burden to take the gospel to the world. David Livingston in Africa, Jim Elliot in South America, Hudson Taylor in China, and Amy Carmichael in India are just a few.”

“However, what has happened over the years—not taking anything away from how God has used the people and organizations like those I just mentioned—is that the church, in many ways, has given away the Great Commission to individual personalities and non-church organizations. Too often, mission is something done outside of the church, disconnected from the local church, while the local church sticks to the churchy stuff. Mission has become about my personal calling instead of our corporate calling. As a result, the formula for missions has become something like: The Gospel + The Believer + The Individual Call = Missions”

“The effect of that formula is that individuals or missionary societies enter the mission field with God’s Gospel, but do not establish God’s community. According to Matthew 28, that is an incomplete mission. But a correct understanding of Matthew 28 forces us to think more like this: The Gospel + The Believer + The Local Church = Missions”

ILLUSTRATION: An Ambassador (individual) and their Embassy (local church)

“This is how we see the Great Commission being applied in Acts and beyond. Christians (ambassadors) go into their personal worlds with the gospel, disciples are made and added to the local church (embassy) where they are taught to live for Jesus, and then churches are planted to duplicate it all over again. But when we remove the local church from the equation, it’s like an Ambassador without an Embassy.”

“The east side is filled with people who need the message of the gospel. But we will be much more effective if we have an embassy on the east side. That’s what we’re doing—building a gospel embassy for our current and future East Side ambassadors.”

“This is our missiology strategy—Church Planting.”

“Here’s some good news—we are not in this alone. This is just one reason we love being in partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches—they are passionate about and committed to advancing the Great Commission through church planting. SG launched four church plants in September.”

“We share the vision and mission with these church plants and their sending churches. Like in their cities, East Tucson is filled with lost and hurting souls. Church planting is both exhilarating and daunting. So, where is our confidence for the mission?”

“Jesus bookends the Great Commission with one great hope—a gospel guarantee. In his death and resurrection, Jesus stands highly exalted with all authority over all of creation. ALL authority over Satan and his schemes. ALL authority over every government, king, president, and legislative body. ALL authority over every neighbor and co-worker, and family member who is indifferent to or is hostile toward your faith. I like to call this the GOSPEL GUARANTEE.”

“In the call to mission, He promises to be with us in ALL authority. He is with us in power and purpose. This is his mission. The church belongs to him. He came for his church. He died for his church. He was raised for his church. He is interceding for his church. He will return for his church. And right now he is building his church through his people with his people.”

“He is with us in power and purpose. This guarantees the success of our gospel mission. Not our size. Not our prospects. Not our affiliations. Not our creativity. Not our missional resolve. It’s the unwavering resolve of Christ to transform sinners into disciples, build his church, and return for his bride—with all authority—ensuring our gospel mission is unstoppable. This is God’s mission. He is the Great Evangelist. He is the Great Church Planter.”

APPLICATION:
Allow this series to do three things:
1. Shape your prayers - for your personal evangelism and for our church plant!
2. Challenge your comfort zones - we will all play a part!
3. Consider your participation - for the sake of the great commission!

QUOTES:
George Peters - “The primary historical significance of the Great Commission lies in the fact that it gives to the church the pattern and purpose of missions. It defines and delineates the missionary task. We have in the Great Commission a compass, a charter, and a plan.”

Dave Harvey - “Church planting is the New Testament method for proclaiming and applying the gospel. Armed with the good news, the disciples would penetrate new regions with a goal of both communicating God’s word and creating God’s community. In contrast to traditional missionary enterprises which often centers primarily upon proclamation, church planting establishes a mission base for proclamation, integration and expansion.”

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Before The Throne Of God Above
All I Have Is Christ
Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me
All Glory Be To Christ
Let Your Kingdom Come

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Nehemiah 1-2 - Passion for God's Purposes

THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER: