Here I Am, Lord: Go and Make Disciples

Jesus stands in Matthew 28 with all authority in heaven and on earth, and his risen lordship turns into a commission. Jesus does not call for casual believers who nod at truth and move on. Jesus commands disciples to be made, baptized, and taught to obey everything he commanded. The Great Commission becomes the work sitting right in front of ordinary people, even people without the gift of evangelism, teaching, or crowd gathering.

God gives gifts to every believer, and God means for those gifts to get used. Ephesians 2:10 says God’s people are his workmanship, even his masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared beforehand. The marble image says it plainly: God keeps cutting away the parts that do not look like the horse. Some cuts feel welcome, some feel invasive, but God will win, and surrender is way easier.

Jesus chooses his people to bear fruit that remains. God saves “king sinner,” wipes the rap sheet clean, pours out the Holy Spirit, surrounds another sinner with willing people, brings repentance, and then rewards the willing servants like they did the whole thing. God plans it, executes it, fulfills it, and still says, “good job.” The only real offering required is a surrendered life that says it is no longer its own.

Isaiah’s vision gives the right posture. A sinful man stands before a holy God, receives cleansing from the coal, and answers, “Here I am, Lord, send me.” Jesus gives the same urgency when he says the fields are white for harvest. Lost sheep are all around, and at the very least the Lord of the harvest should be asked to send workers.

Hebrews 12 calls God’s people to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares. David shows the danger of being on the roof when he should have been on the battlefield. God has set a race before each believer, in a real place, among real neighbors, in houses full of souls for whom Jesus died.

Paul’s identity in Romans 1 is clear: slave of Jesus Christ, called, separated to the gospel of God. Paul’s life shows that the kingdom gives a whole new set of priorities. Village Missions and the small rural church in Happy Jack become one concrete example of this same call. Empty pulpits, forgotten communities, school kids on long bus rides, and neighbors in Tartesso all become places where God’s prepared works may be waiting.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God prepared real works beforehand God’s call is not vague religious busyness. Ephesians 2:10 gives weight to ordinary obedience because God has already placed good works in the path of his people. A can of yams, a ride in the heat, a prayer at a doorstep, or a hard conversation may be part of a larger eternal design that only God can see. [45:03]
• 2. Discipleship is more than belief Jesus did not merely command the making of people who agree with true statements. The Great Commission presses toward disciplined lives that learn to obey Christ, and that difference matters. Belief can sit still, but discipleship starts moving under the authority of the risen Lord. [40:40]
• 3. Surrender is the real offering God does not need human strength to make his kingdom move, but he does claim surrendered hearts. The strange grace is that God plans, empowers, and completes the work, then rewards his servants as though the fruit belonged to them. A life no longer owned by itself becomes free enough to be useful. [47:18]
• 4. Sin belongs off the racecourse Hebrews names sin as something that “so easily ensnares,” and that honesty matters. David’s fall warns that temptation often finds a person away from the place of obedience, not merely in a moment of weakness. The race set before a believer requires both endurance and the courage to leave pet sins behind. [54:42]
• 5. The mission field starts nearby The harvest is not only somewhere far away or attached to a famous platform. The mission field may be the street passed on the way to church, the neighbor who only knows a wave, or the small town with an empty pulpit. God’s love for those souls makes ordinary proximity spiritually serious. [57:33]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [31:20] - Opening and Kids Dismissed
• [32:32] - Prayer for God to Work
• [34:24] - Jesus Gives the Great Commission
• [37:24] - What Has Been Done for the Gospel?
• [41:18] - God’s Workmanship and Prepared Works
• [45:37] - Fruit That Remains
• [49:36] - Isaiah Says, “Send Me”
• [53:42] - Lay Aside Entangling Sin
• [57:33] - Neighbors as the Mission Field
• [62:16] - Paul’s Identity as Christ’s Servant
• [66:49] - Village Missions and Rural Churches
• [70:05] - Happy Jack and Future Ministry
• [73:44] - Use Your Gifts for the Gospel
• [77:23] - Closing Prayer and Commission

Bible Reading

Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'” [34:42] [35:40]

Ephesians 2:10
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” [41:49] [42:11]

Hebrews 12:1
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” [53:46] [54:42]

Isaiah 6:8
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here I am! Send me.'”

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 28, what are the specific things Jesus tells his disciples to do, and what promise does he give them at the end? [35:40]
2. In Ephesians 2:10, what does the verse say believers are, what are they created for, and what has God prepared beforehand? [42:11]
3. What pictures are used to describe God’s work in a believer’s life: a sculptor cutting marble and a runner laying aside weight to run a race? What details stand out in those pictures? [43:23]
4. What examples are given of ordinary ways a believer might walk in good works prepared by God? [44:13]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus commands the making of disciples, not just believers. What difference is being highlighted between simply agreeing with truth and actually becoming a disciple who learns obedience? [41:01]
2. Ephesians 2:10 says God prepared good works beforehand. How does that shape the way a person sees ordinary acts of service, interruptions, and daily conversations? [45:03]
3. Hebrews 12:1 speaks about sin that easily ensnares, and David’s fall shows the danger of being in the wrong place. Why do sin and misplaced priorities often go together? [56:21]
4. Isaiah responds to cleansing with, “Here I am! Send me.” Why does a clear view of God’s holiness and mercy often lead to willingness instead of reluctance? [50:16]

Application questions

1. God has prepared real works beforehand. What is sitting right in front of each person this week that might actually be one of those works: a neighbor to talk with, a need to meet, a ride to give, a prayer to offer, or a hard conversation to have? [45:19]
2. The mission field may be the houses passed on the way home, filled with souls for whom Jesus died. Who are the actual people nearby that come to mind right now, and what would be a simple first step toward them? [57:39]
3. A surrendered life says, “My life is no longer my own.” In what area is surrender hardest right now: time, comfort, money, plans, reputation, or something else? What makes that area hard to hand over? [47:50]
4. Hebrews says to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares. What recurring sin or weight tends to trip a person up most easily, and what would it look like to get off the roof and back to the battlefield in that area? [54:48]
5. Jesus says the fields are white for harvest, and at the very least his people should pray for workers. How often does prayer for lost people show up in real daily life, and how could that become more intentional this week? [52:14]
6. God gives gifts to every believer and means for those gifts to be used. What gift, strength, or burden has God already put in someone’s life that could be used more intentionally for the gospel? [01:13:54]
7. Paul’s identity was clear: a servant of Jesus Christ, separated to the gospel of God. If someone looked at a person’s schedule, spending, and conversations, what would they say that person is really devoted to? [01:02:39]