{"id":23553,"date":"2019-07-04T23:58:16","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T23:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/?p=5280"},"modified":"2023-08-29T11:24:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:24:10","slug":"all-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/","title":{"rendered":"All In!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Any short list of the Bible\u2019s great texts should include the creation account in Genesis 1, the Twenty-Third Psalm, John 3:16, and the Love Chapter of 1\u202fCorinthians 13. Expanding our list to the five or ten greatest texts, would we add Christ\u2019s Beatitudes and the Lord\u2019s Prayer? Probably. His great commandments to love God and love others? For sure!<\/p>\n<p>How about His Great Commission? I would, and here\u2019s why: It is Jesus\u2019 supreme saying after His death and resurrection, His pinnacle prescription just before returning to heaven. In these last earthly words, our Savior and Lord assigned all His followers our corporate mission in the world He came to save. Let\u2019s unpack it here together, as if for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Five forms<\/h2>\n<p>This huge commission appears in five different forms in five books: Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15, 16; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21-23; and Acts 1:7, 8. Each of these texts gives essentially the same commission. Note the similarities in their core elements.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>All five versions of the Great Commission speak of Jesus\u2019 disciples going, being sent, or becoming witnesses to all nations of the world, to all peoples.<\/li>\n<li>Matthew identifies the commission\u2019s central activity as making disciples; baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and teaching them to observe all of Jesus\u2019 commands.<\/li>\n<li>Mark describes the commission as preaching the gospel that gives salvation to all who believe and are baptized.<\/li>\n<li>Luke describes it as preaching repentance and remission of sins.<\/li>\n<li>John links Jesus\u2019 sending His disciples with others being forgiven of sins.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The differences in the five forms of this worldwide commission is seen in their introductions and conclusions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Matthew begins it with Christ\u2019s claim to universal authority given by His Father (28:18). He ends with Jesus\u2019 promise of His never-ending presence (v.\u202f20b).<\/li>\n<li>Mark begins the Great Commission with Christ\u2019s rebuke of the disciples\u2019 lack of faith (16:14) and ends it with the promise of signs and wonders to follow (vv. 17, 18).<\/li>\n<li>Luke\u2019s Gospel begins the commission with Christ\u2019s teaching about His death and resurrection (24:46) and ends it with instructions for the first disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the promised power from above was received (v. 49).<\/li>\n<li>John begins it with Christ\u2019s greeting of peace (20:21) and concludes it by Christ breathing His Spirit on the disciples (20:21).<\/li>\n<li>In Acts, Luke begins the commission with Jesus saying that His disciples\u2019 knowledge of prophetic times and seasons was much less important than their obedience to His commission (1:7). The promised Holy Spirit was poured out shortly thereafter (2:1ff).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Impossible command?<\/h2>\n<p>Reading and hearing Jesus\u2019 words in the Great Commission is the place to start. The next step is even more important. What will we <em>do<\/em> now that we know His climactic instructions for all His disciples? The question is hugely personal.<\/p>\n<p>What do you think of Christ\u2019s Great Commission? Do you see it as another one of Christ\u2019s impossible commands, like being perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect is impossible (Matthew 5:48)?<\/p>\n<p>Yes, the Great Commission is beyond our reach, for sure \u2014 personally, congregationally, and denominationally. The answer to this dilemma of impossibility is that God, for whom nothing is impossible, has already promised, when He blessed Abraham, that this \u201cimpossible command\u201d would be completed. His promise was \u201cIn you [and in your seed] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed .\u202f.\u202f.\u201d (Genesis 12:1-3; 22:18).<\/p>\n<p>Do you feel that your contribution to the Great Commission is insignificant? After all, what can just one person do to reach so many unreached people?<\/p>\n<p>Imagine a dozen or a hundred folks in a group \u2014 a local church. Imagine that each one in the group is thinking silently, <em>What can one person do?<\/em> Imagine that each one in the group chose one or two mission-supporting actions and started doing them faithfully. Imagine if each one agreed to merge their mission efforts with all the others in the group. Now imagine if people in a hundred or a thousand other groups agreed to pray or give or serve together in a dozen or more projects like the ones above, and then all those groups formed a network with fifty thousand other groups of like mind and action. The gospel good that could be done around the world by such \u201cco-oper-action\u201d is not imaginary; it is real.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Invitation<\/h2>\n<p>Can you see the Great Commission as an invitation to join Christ in loving people everywhere, starting with the folks next door? Most of us can\u2019t take the gospel around the world, but we could take it around the corner, if we would. To love the world is no big chore. Our problem is the people closest to us. To take the love of Jesus next door is an essential piece of taking it to the whole world.<\/p>\n<p>Can you think of the complex Great Commission as the natural extension of a simple invitation to a Christ-centered and others-serving lifestyle?<\/p>\n<p>Can you see the Great Commission as Christ\u2019s invitation to join Him in what He has done and is doing: sharing His love and mercy, His grace and truth with people wherever they are in the world? Tell God now that you want to be <em>all in<\/em> for Jesus. Then follow up with fresh action and prayer that prove it.<\/p>\n<p>Think of the Great Com-mission as an invitation to love, trust, and obey the One who has all authority, ability, and intent to complete the job alone, if necessary. He has not only commanded that it be done but already promised it will be done. What He has promised, He will do.<\/p>\n<p>God\u2019s will is to accomplish this work through people like us. With each of us doing our part, all congregations working together, and God\u2019s Spirit harnessing, harmonizing, and energizing the efforts of faithful people in every age, the gospel <em>will<\/em> be preached as a witness to bless every nation, ethnicity, language, and people group on earth \u2014 before the end of this age (Matthew 24:14).<\/p>\n<p>Then Christ will return to put down every foe and complete the missionary task, until the glory of the Lord covers the whole earth like the waters now cover the sea.<\/p>\n<p>Why wouldn\u2019t we join God in a worldwide cause of truth and beauty that He has said <em>will<\/em> ultimately succeed?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Any short list of the Bible\u2019s great texts should include the creation account in Genesis 1, the Twenty-Third Psalm, John 3:16, and the Love Chapter of 1\u202fCorinthians 13. Expanding our list to the five or ten greatest texts, would we add Christ\u2019s Beatitudes and the Lord\u2019s Prayer? Probably. His great commandments to love God and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":287,"featured_media":23586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,695],"tags":[384,1117,1116,582,738,131,653],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>All In! - Bible Advocate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With each of us doing our part, the gospel will be preached as a witness to bless every nation, ethnicity, language, and people on earth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"All In! - Bible Advocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With each of us doing our part, the gospel will be preached as a witness to bless every nation, ethnicity, language, and people on earth.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bible Advocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-04T23:58:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-29T17:24:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"384\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Calvin Burrell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Calvin Burrell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Calvin Burrell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/209adc765ed0eddca25c136ad106ac2c\"},\"headline\":\"All In!\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-04T23:58:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-29T17:24:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/\"},\"wordCount\":1055,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Christ\",\"God's Spirit\",\"God's will\",\"great commission\",\"Holy Spirit\",\"Jesus\",\"mission\"],\"articleSection\":[\"BA\",\"July August 2019\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/\",\"name\":\"All In! - Bible Advocate\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-04T23:58:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-29T17:24:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"With each of us doing our part, the gospel will be preached as a witness to bless every nation, ethnicity, language, and people on earth.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg\",\"width\":576,\"height\":384},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"All In!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/\",\"name\":\"Bible Advocate\",\"description\":\"Advocating the Bible, representing the Church, and glorifying the God of grace and truth\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bible Advocate\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":80,\"caption\":\"Bible Advocate\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/209adc765ed0eddca25c136ad106ac2c\",\"name\":\"Calvin Burrell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a710b25b932d486604e13b8ff07aab5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a710b25b932d486604e13b8ff07aab5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Calvin Burrell\"},\"description\":\"Calvin Burrell is former editor of the\u00a0Bible Advocate\u00a0and former director of G. C. Missions. He retired in 2015 and lives with his wife, Barb, in Stayton, OR. They attend church in Marion, OR.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/author\/calvinburrell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"All In! - Bible Advocate","description":"With each of us doing our part, the gospel will be preached as a witness to bless every nation, ethnicity, language, and people on earth.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"All In! - Bible Advocate","og_description":"With each of us doing our part, the gospel will be preached as a witness to bless every nation, ethnicity, language, and people on earth.","og_url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/","og_site_name":"Bible Advocate","article_published_time":"2019-07-04T23:58:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-29T17:24:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":576,"height":384,"url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Calvin Burrell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Calvin Burrell","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/"},"author":{"name":"Calvin Burrell","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/209adc765ed0eddca25c136ad106ac2c"},"headline":"All In!","datePublished":"2019-07-04T23:58:16+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-29T17:24:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/"},"wordCount":1055,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg","keywords":["Christ","God's Spirit","God's will","great commission","Holy Spirit","Jesus","mission"],"articleSection":["BA","July August 2019"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/","name":"All In! - Bible Advocate","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-04T23:58:16+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-29T17:24:10+00:00","description":"With each of us doing our part, the gospel will be preached as a witness to bless every nation, ethnicity, language, and people on earth.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2019\/07\/19-4-legs-1031653.jpg","width":576,"height":384},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/all-in\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"All In!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/","name":"Bible Advocate","description":"Advocating the Bible, representing the Church, and glorifying the God of grace and truth","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#organization","name":"Bible Advocate","url":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/cropped-BA-Online-Logo-1-3.jpg","width":380,"height":80,"caption":"Bible Advocate"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/209adc765ed0eddca25c136ad106ac2c","name":"Calvin Burrell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baonline.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a710b25b932d486604e13b8ff07aab5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a710b25b932d486604e13b8ff07aab5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Calvin Burrell"},"description":"Calvin Burrell is former editor of the\u00a0Bible Advocate\u00a0and former director of G. C. Missions. He retired in 2015 and lives with his wife, Barb, in Stayton, OR. They attend church in Marion, OR.","url":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/author\/calvinburrell\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/287"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23588,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23553\/revisions\/23588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}