Rhythms Rule - Week 4: “We Go into the World

Aug 23, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Breathing In Worship, Breathing Out Mission

The Christian life thrives on rhythm – inhaling God’s presence through worship and exhaling His love through mission. Just as lungs collapse without both movements, faith suffocates when reduced to private spirituality or empty activism. Jesus designed disciples to be filled by His Word and fueled by His commission, carrying His authority into workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. This sacred respiration transforms ordinary moments into eternal opportunities. [41:27]

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.”
(Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)

Reflection: Where does your spiritual “breathing” feel unbalanced – are you gasping for air through overactivity, or stagnating through lack of outward focus? What one step could restore rhythm this week?

Day 2: Unlocking Faith Trapped in Church Walls

A stairwell becomes a parable when faith gets locked inside religious routines. Jesus didn’t resurrect to fill buildings but to unleash redeemed people into grocery stores, gyms, and group chats as walking sanctuaries. The early church exploded not through programs but through ordinary believers radiating Christ in their domains. True worship overflows into sidewalk conversations and coffee-shop kindness. [35:39]

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
(Acts 1:8, ESV)

Reflection: What familiar space or routine has become your “locked stairwell” where faith feels contained? How might you carry Christ’s presence into one unexpected place this week?

Day 3: Multiplying Joy Through Spiritual Generations

Grandparents know secrets about joy that parents miss – multiplication beats addition. Just as holding a grandchild surpasses holding your own child, introducing someone to Jesus outshines personal spiritual achievements. Discipleship isn’t duty but the delight of seeing Christ’s life ripple through others. Every believer carries this generational potential, turning workplaces and friend groups into disciple-making workshops. [56:06]

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
(2 Timothy 2:2, ESV)

Reflection: Who first “held you spiritually” as a new believer? What person in your orbit needs you to initiate intentional spiritual investment today?

Day 4: Arm Around the Shoulder Discipleship

Disciple-making isn’t a program but proximity – walking beside others through doubts and questions. Like Jesus on the Emmaus Road, it’s sharing life while unpacking Scripture. This relational rhythm transforms coffee breaks into holy ground and gym sessions into ministry labs. Effective witness often looks less like preaching and more like patiently embodying Christ’s presence in someone’s story. [50:32]

So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
(1 Thessalonians 2:8, ESV)

Reflection: Whose spiritual journey could benefit from your consistent presence this month? What shared activity could become a doorway for gospel conversations?

Day 5: Sent People Carry the Sender’s Presence

The Great Commission’s power lies not in human effort but in the resurrected Christ’s enduring presence. Like first responders carrying authority beyond their abilities, believers enter broken situations armed with the Commander’s promise: “I AM WITH YOU.” This reality turns timid hearts into bold witnesses, transforming ordinary interactions into divine appointments. [01:08:13]

And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
(Luke 24:49, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you hesitated to speak Christ’s name due to self-reliance? How might embracing His abiding presence change your interactions today?

Sermon Summary

Matthew 28 brings the church right to the hill in Galilee, the same place where Jesus first called his disciples. The place of calling becomes the place of sending. Jesus’ last words become the church’s first priority: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”

Jesus grounds the whole mission in his own authority. All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to him, so the sent life does not rest on human confidence, personality, skill, or church programming. The Christian life is a sent life because God calls people to himself and then sends them back into the world to invite others home. God calls and God sends. God never calls without sending, and God does not send those he has not first called.

The gospel cannot be reduced to something strictly between “God and me.” Jesus framed the good news as something between God and the world, and he invites his people to get in on that. God so loved the world, and Jesus sends his followers into all the world. The tragedy of consumer Christianity is that the good news gets turned inward and locked in the church, when Jesus means for it to flow outward into homes, workplaces, schools, tables, fields, and everyday life.

The image of breathing helps the rhythm make sense. God breathes into his people through worship and the word, and God breathes out through them through work and witness. Breathing in without breathing out leads to suffocation. Breathing out without breathing in leads to collapse. The healthy life of God’s people needs both.

Disciple making means entering intentional relationships to help others trust and follow Jesus. It is not mass produced. It is custom. Disciples are made one at a time, with an arm around somebody’s shoulder, in the real places where life already happens. Disciple making happens at home, in moments, and through commitments.

Jesus names the pattern: going, baptizing, and teaching. Going means mission happens where life happens. Baptizing marks profession, identification, and inclusion into God’s family and mission. Teaching means learning to observe all Jesus commanded, including the command to make disciples.

Acts 1 adds the promise of power. The Holy Spirit fills Christ followers to send them out as witnesses. Jesus does not send spiritual superheroes. He sends flawed followers, like Peter and Thomas, and promises, “I am with you always.”

Key Takeaways

1. Faith cannot stay locked inside. A relationship with God was never meant to be trapped inside a weekend gathering or an hour in a room. The locked-in image presses on the places where worship, Scripture, service, and witness never make it into ordinary life. A faith that cannot get out has forgotten that Jesus sends his people into the very world he loves. [35:39]
2. The gospel moves outward. The good news is not merely a private arrangement between God and an individual soul. Jesus frames the gospel as God’s love for the world, and that makes every believer part of something bigger than personal comfort or religious consumption. The sent life begins when salvation becomes participation in God’s mission. [38:21]
3. Disciples are made one by one. Disciple making is not a factory line, a program to copy, or a performance for unusually gifted Christians. It looks like intentional relationship, an arm around another person’s shoulder, and a life close enough to help somebody trust and follow Jesus. The custom shape of obedience gives freedom, but it does not remove responsibility. [49:38]
4. Mission happens where life happens. Jesus’ command to go does not point only to distant places, but to the everyday world of home, work, school, meals, errands, and relationships. The Sunday gathering feeds the other 167 hours, where faith becomes visible and love takes flesh. Ordinary places become holy ground when God’s people develop spiritual situational awareness. [58:29]
5. The Spirit empowers flawed witnesses. Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses,” to people who failed, doubted, denied, and ran. The weight of witness does not rest on flawless disciples, but on the Holy Spirit who fills and sends them. The promise of Jesus’ presence becomes most vivid when his people become conduits of his life to others. [69:44]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:55] - One Short Life That Matters
[30:47] - Matthew 28 And The Great Commission
[33:17] - Locked In The Church
[37:14] - Sent To Show And Share Jesus
[39:02] - The Christian Life Is Sent
[41:27] - Breathing In And Breathing Out
[42:57] - Go And Make Disciples
[46:30] - All Authority Belongs To Jesus
[49:38] - Disciple Making Through Relationships
[54:56] - Multiplying As Disciples
[58:29] - Going Into Everyday Life
[62:18] - Baptizing Into Family And Mission
[64:20] - Teaching Obedient Lives
[68:58] - Spirit Empowered Witnesses

Bible Study Guide

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.’” [30:47]

Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [01:09:24]

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” [38:58]

Observation questions

In Matthew 28:18-20, what are the main actions Jesus names when he gives his disciples their mission?
What does Jesus say about his authority before he tells his people to go, and what promise does he give at the end of the passage? [46:23]
What picture is used to describe the rhythm of the Christian life, and what happens when breathing in and breathing out get separated? [41:27]
What were some everyday places named where disciple-making and witness can happen? [36:42]

Interpretation questions

Jesus connects the command to go with the statement that all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to him. How does his authority change the way a believer should think about fear, inadequacy, or lack of qualifications? [46:37]
John 3:16 says God loved the world, and Matthew 28 sends disciples into all nations. What does that suggest about the gospel being bigger than a private “God and me” faith? [38:38]
Disciple-making is described as entering intentional relationships to help others trust and follow Jesus. Why does that definition push against the idea that disciple-making is only a church program or only for especially gifted people? [49:38]
Acts 1:8 was spoken to people who had failed, doubted, and run away. What does that reveal about the kind of people Jesus uses as his witnesses, and what part does the Holy Spirit play in that? [01:11:28]

Application questions

Faith was never meant to stay locked inside a church gathering. Where is it easiest right now for faith to stay “locked in” for you—home, work, school, friendships, or somewhere else? What would it look like for it to get out into ordinary life this week? [35:47]
Mission happens where life happens. Who is already in your everyday world that may need someone to show and share the love of Jesus—at home, at work, in the neighborhood, at school, or around the table? [58:46]
Disciples are usually made one at a time, through intentional relationships. Is there a person right now you can picture with your arm around their shoulder, so to speak? What might be one simple next step toward helping that person trust and follow Jesus? [50:14]
Breathing in and breathing out belong together. Which side feels weaker right now—receiving from God through worship and the word, or being poured out for others through witness and service? What might help restore a healthier rhythm? [41:37]
Baptism marks identification with Jesus and inclusion in his family and mission. If someone in the group has not been baptized after trusting Christ, what has made that step feel delayed or difficult? If someone has been baptized, how has that shaped their sense of belonging and purpose? [01:02:55]
Jesus promises, “I am with you always,” and Acts 1:8 promises the power of the Holy Spirit. Where does someone in the group most need to rely on Christ’s presence and the Spirit’s power instead of personal confidence? [01:08:03]
The Spirit empowers flawed followers, not spiritual superheroes. What past failure, fear, or weakness most tempts someone to hold back from being a witness? How might this truth free that person to take one step of obedience anyway? [01:09:53]

Sermon Clips

60s

#AlwaysWithJesus

“Friends, this Jesus mission does not rest on a command. It rests on a promise. The promise is, I am with you always. I will be with you always. Now listen, Jesus promised the supernatural experience of his presence as you put your arm around other people intentionally to help these people wherever you might find them to trust and follow Jesus. In other words, the moment you begin to give yourself to being a disciple maker, Jesus will never be closer to you. And for many of you, you're praying for revival, revive this, and you will experience the presence of Jesus like you have not in a long time. In being a conduit of his new life to others, we awaken the new life of the spirit in our own lives.”

59s

#CalledAndSent

“God calls and God sends. God never calls without sending, and God doesn't send those he hasn't first called. It's a big part of the rhythm of the bible. Listen, friends. This is the great adventure that you were meant for. This is where your deepest joy is found. This cannot be contained in a building or locked or limited to an hour on a weekend. So friends, listen. There are only two things you cannot do in eternity that you can only do in this life right now. Two. is sin. Ain't no sinning in eternity with Jesus. Two, the second one is to share Jesus with those who don't know him yet. So let me ask you, which of those two do you think is the reason Jesus left you right where you are right here right now? For some sinning you gotta do or is it to show and share his love to those who are in your everyday world?”

62s

#SentLife

“In other words, some have reduced the good news of Jesus as something that's strictly between God and me. But listen, Jesus framed the good news, the gospel, not as something that's strictly between God and me, but it's between God and the world. And he's inviting me to get in on that. It was Jesus who said, God so loved the world. And he told his followers to go into all the world. That's so much bigger than me. We are invited into something so much bigger than just me. So according to scripture, friends, listen, the Christian life is a sent life. Sent life. What do you mean by that? Well, here's the definition. Just write this down. A sent life. It's the biblical pattern. We see this play all throughout the bible. It's a biblical pattern of God calling people to himself, then sending them back out into the world to invite others to himself. Do you see the rhythm here?”

43s

#FaithBeyondWalls

“could it be that there are some of you, your relationship with God is locked in the church and can't get out. It only really happens when we're here. Or could it be that some of you, your worship of God is locked in the church. It really only happens here. It doesn't really get out. Some of you, could it be that your time in God's word is locked in a church? It doesn't get out. Maybe for many of you, your service, your ministry to God only happens here. It could be for many of us, our faith is locked in a church and can't get out.”

65s

#DiscipleLifeEveryday

“We're talking about living a sent life as we've been describing. Look at verse 19. In verse 19, Jesus said, go therefore and make disciples. The word go is an imperative mood, so it is a command, and it speaks to the purpose. Go do what? Well, here's what you go do. Go and make disciples of Jesus. Oh, okay. Where am I supposed to go? The answer is, go into your everyday world. Go into the everyday world that you live in. So here's a little news flash. The life of a disciple is not measured strictly by what I'm doing for one hour on a Sunday morning. The life of a disciple is measured in terms of how that one hour feeds those a hundred and sixty seven other hours away from this place. In other words, the truest reflection of my faith isn't Sunday morning, it's Monday through Saturday as being shaped and driven by what I am doing on Sunday morning. See how these fit together? But in our culture, we separate them.”

51s

#OrdinaryWitnesses

“Now remember, who's in that group? Peter's in that group. Peter denied Jesus three times after promising he wouldn't. Thomas is in that group. Thomas doubted Jesus more than once. In fact, everyone in the group deserted Jesus when he needed the most except for one. In other words, these are not spiritual superheroes. These are flawed followers of Jesus just like you and just like me. And Jesus said to them, you will be my witnesses. How will they be his witnesses? Well, not because they had the power, because the Holy Spirit will empower them because that's what he does.”

46s

#OneAtATimeDiscipleship

“And so I just wanna offer you a guilt relieving statement as we consider what this disciple making thing can look like. This is not a one size fits all thing. So often in disciple making worlds, it's like, this is what we do. You do it this way or you're wrong. And here's what wanna say. Making disciples is not mass produced. This is custom. Disciples are made one at a time, and it looks like your life, your relationships, and you figuring out how God wants to use you to do this with others. It looks like you, not what others are telling you it ought to look like. However, you can have intentional relationships to help people trust and follow Jesus. That looks like you. Feel the permission. Feel the freedom.”

39s

#SavedAndSent

“Truth is, the moment you receive Christ into your life, you have a new father in God. You have a new family in God's family, and guess what? You have a new life purpose in God's mission in this world. And guess what, friends? Those are a package deal. You cannot separate those from one another. Here's one of the tragedies of cultural Christianity or consumer Christianity that we talk so much about. Many have actually turned the good news of Jesus inward rather than allowing it to also flow outward.”

43s

#BreatheInBreatheOut

“And then because we are his witnesses, we are to go into the world. What do we do in the world? We invite others on this same life giving journey because this journey is a life giving journey. God breathes into our lives through worship and word, and God breathes out through us to others through work and through witness. In other words, he breathes life into us so that he can breathe his life through us. Turn to your neighbor and say, gotta breathe in. Turn to your other neighbor and say, you gotta breathe out. If you only breathe in and don't breathe out, you will suffocate. But if you only breathe out and never breathe in, you'll pass out.”

54s

#AllNationsMission

“And so this week on the podcast, again, we're gonna dig in a little bit more and get into what it is. But basically, here's where it all starts. It all starts right here with a heart that's open with the love of God to put your arm around other people. That's where it all starts. So this Jesus mission of making disciples of others, listen, this is the biggest thing the world has ever known. This is the biggest thing the world will ever know. In fact, if you look at verse 19, notice Jesus says, make disciples of all nations. The scale and the scope of this Jesus mission of making disciples of others, it'll outlast the country we live in. It'll outlast every empire that came before. It'll outlast every single human endeavor. This is the one that you were created for. This is what we were designed to do. This is where our deepest joy comes from.”

52s

#GreatCommissionPriority

“The last chapter Matthew where we're gonna be, chapter 28, very famous passage. Many of you are familiar with it. It's known as the Great Commission. In this passage, the resurrected Jesus gathers his apostles on a hill in in Galilee, and he gives to them his final words. Now here's what you need to know. In this passage, we didn't read the verse 16, but it specifies that that the gathering point was Galilee. This is so incredibly important. It was in Galilee, that exact place where Jesus first called them to be his disciples. So wouldn't it be appropriate full circle from the place that he called them to be the place that he sent them? That's exactly what we're seeing here. And so in Matthew 28, Jesus' last words are intended to be our first priority.”

46s

#GospelMeansGo

“And sometimes, the unstoppable force of God's mission runs into the immovable object called the Christian, and we just don't go. Because we'd never realized you're supposed to go. In fact, friends, let me just say this. You cannot spell the word gospel without the word go. Somebody has to go. Am I going? You can't spell the words good news without the word go. Am I a good news person in the places I live, work, and play? You can't spell the word god without the word go. Somebody has to recognize and join what god is doing in the lives of the people that he put around you.”

45s

#SpreadTheGoodNews

“In fact, I want you to think about this for a second. Acts chapter one, this verse is in Jerusalem. Acts 28, the end of the book, is thirty years later. It ends in Rome. That's 1,400 miles away. What's your longest walk? How did the good news get from Jerusalem to Rome in thirty years? The followers of Jesus would not settle for any form of following him that did not involve doing what he said, going out into their everyday world to do our own part and collectively our part, to show and to share his love.”

42s

#BaptismAndMission

“Notice the family terms there, father, son, holy spirit. Here's a little news flash. God himself is a family on a mission. And he calls his church, every one of them, to be a reflection, a family on a mission. So our baptism, it signifies your inclusion into the family and on the mission. Not one without the other, but both. So baptism is our profession of faith in Jesus. It's our identification with Jesus, and it's our incorporation into the family and the mission of Jesus.”

34s

#YourEverydayMission

“Reality is friends, your everyday world where you spend your time everyday is full of people who have doubts. Doubts about themselves, doubts about life, doubts about God. Your world is already filled with people who have questions about God, about what's true, what's real. Your world is filled with people who have a loneliness that God wants to address, get this, through you. That's why he allowed you to be there.”

Ask a question about this sermon

vaughnforest This sermon · AI assistant

How does Jesus define disciple making?

What two actions are only possible now?

Why is baptism integral to discipleship?