When I was a freshman at Clemson, I was pretty heavy into the party scene. Being away from home gave me the freedom to engage in questionable behavior and not get caught. Oh, I know I was a Christian because I had given my heart to Jesus when I was ten years old. I guess my lifestyle matched that of most Christians I knew-God-fearer and church attender on Sundays, party goer and not so godly during the week. To be quite frank with you, my life was on the fast track headed toward nowhere. I had no clue what career to pursue and very little motivation to get my life in order. My roommate Charles' story was similar to mine, but the main difference was that he majored in architecture and had a family business awaiting him after college.

During the fall semester of my sophomore year my life took a drastic turn. A lifelong friend had gotten turned on to Jesus and invited Charles and me to attend a Bible study called a discovery group. It was connected to a ministry called Campus Crusade for Christ. Before long we saw God begin to change the direction of our lives. In fact, I guess you could say that for the very first time, I began to understand that God had a plan for my life.

Later that fall, Charles and I attended a weekend retreat on Lake Greenwood where I met a freshman coed named Anita. God was putting her life in order just like He was ours. Man, she was cute. I had my eyes on her the whole weekend. But I soon realized I had a major obstacle to overcome. Anita had her eyes on Charles and not me. In fact, he dated her before I did. Long story short-I conquered. I dated, got engaged, and 30 years ago married that girl I met on the retreat. She's still my sweetheart.

It was during my college experience of fully committing my life to Christ that I heard about a passage in the Bible called the Great Commission. The passage talked about Jesus' command for us to go everywhere and win as many people to Christ as possible. I vividly remember hearing the late Bill Bright from Campus Crusade share his vision about giving every person in the world an opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus. And the goal was to accomplish that vision in our generation.

As a part of our Campus Crusade strategy we had a goal of knocking on every door in our dorm (huge Johnston Hall) and tell every student about Jesus. Many doors were shut on us, many chose to continue their Sunday only Christianity, but many accepted Christ. Some of those who accepted Christ, I had the privilege of discipling. Some of them God called into full-time Christian ministry.

The Great Commission had become my mission. Through my years of seminary training and pastoring churches, I have sought to maintain that same philosophy-Great Commission, my mission. I must confess, however, that I have struggled to keep the Great Commission at the same level of passion that I had in my college days. There were so many seminary classes, so many homework assignments, and so many work responsibilities. And now as a pastor, there are so many other responsibilities-sermons to write and preach, classes to teach, hospitals to visit, and meetings to conduct. It's very easy to allow the busyness of ministry to eat away at passion for the lost.

Over the last year or so God has been convicting me in this area. He's been reminding me that our community is filled with people who will spend an eternity without God unless someone tells them about Jesus. He doesn't just want me to believe that the Great Commission is my mission. He wants me to act on this belief by doing all that I can to lead others to Christ and to lead our church to adopt the Great Commission as our mission.

It is not just my struggle. It is our struggle. That's why you've been hearing me a whole lot lately talking about getting outside the walls of the church. That's why we're doing the 40 Days of Outreach. When we engage in ministry, we are rubbing shoulders with a lost world. We are doing deeds of kindness with no strings attached in the name Jesus Christ. The 40 Days is one way of making the Great Commission our mission.

Today we're celebrating all that God has done over the last 40 days. What you have done in the name of our Lord has far surpassed my hopes and desires. This video will give you a glimpse of our 40 Day journey. [VIDEO]

Chuck Middlebrooks has compiled data from the reports that have been submitted. Our goal was to do at least 40 projects during the 40 day period. To date, we have recorded 41 projects. Our goal was to engage at least 300 of our members in projects. Recorded so far, we have engaged 270 members. Our goal was to have at least 1,000 man hours of service invested in various projects. Total man hours so far are 1100.

Another goal was that the 40 Days journey would create a renewed spiritual unity in our congregation. I believe God has done that. It was thrilling to see children working with adults and teenagers working with senior adults. It was also our goal and prayer that the 40 Days would generate a buzz in the community. That goal is hard to measure; however, I sense that indeed we have made a difference in the Chapin area. We want people to see us a congregation that thrives on community outreach. We have a lot to celebrate today.

What now? The 40 Days of Outreach concludes today. How do we keep the spirit of outreach alive? Great question. Let's see what God says about it. We've talked about the Great Commission. What exactly does it say? Read along with me Matthew 28:16-20. Final words carry a lot of weight and significance. In Matthew's gospel these were the last recorded words of Jesus. And they are words of instruction, actually, a mandate. Without question Jesus meant these words for every believer, including you and me, and not just for those who audibly heard Him speak that day.

Keep in mind the context. For three years Jesus had been preparing His followers to keep His vision alive after He was gone. What was His vision? To build a church, one that would be so filled with the power of God, the gates of hell would not be able to stand against it. These final words helped His followers understand what they needed to do to keep expanding the kingdom. Go…make disciples…baptize…teach.

Imagine. Jesus is about to leave earth and ascend into heaven. Here is the gist of what He said. "Before I go, I commission you to go and win the lost. Baptize those who make decisions so that they will publicly identify themselves as followers. Build them up in the faith. Teach them all that I taught and demonstrated to you." In other words, Jesus was saying, "The Great Commission must be your mission."

If the spirit of the 40 Days of Outreach is to remain and if building bridges to the community is to become the norm of our culture at Chapin Baptist, then the Great Commission must become your mission. You must begin to see our community as one that is filled with people who need Jesus. You must personalize Jesus' words and admit that He was talking to you when He gave the Great Commission.

I think most believers here this morning agree that reaching the lost needs to be a priority in our lives. I know you've heard this preached over and over. But could it be that somehow this morning things are going to be different? Could it be that God will motivate many of you into action to share the love of Jesus? God, grant it. Let things be different. Let the Holy Spirit fall upon our lives and make us so contagious that we can't help but tell others about Jesus.

Great Commission-my mission. Say it with me. Great Commission-my mission. Turn to your neighbor and say, "Great Commission-your mission."

You may be wondering, "What do I do? I want to make the Great Commission my mission. But how? I'm going to give you some very specific ways you can vitally engage in Great Commission activity. But first, how many of you engaged in at least one 40 Days project? As you rendered your deeds of service, you were actually engaging in Great Commission activity. You may not have thought about it in those terms. But through your deeds many spiritual seeds were planted. Some had the privilege of leading others to make a spiritual decision for Christ. That's the Great Commission. And it wasn't hard, was it? It was fulfilling, wasn't it?

Take out the commitment cards you received when you entered the worship center. I want to walk through this card with you. Every single believer in this room needs to accept the Great Commission as his/her mission. Say it with me again-Great Commission-my mission.

This might be the first time in your life that someone has challenged you to accept the Great Commission as your mission and actually gave you some practical ways to put the biblical truth in your life. I want you to join me this morning in making a Great Commission commitment. There are five practical ways you can be involved. I hope you will check all five. But that's between you and God.

First, I will pray regularly for the growth of my church. It doesn't matter how old or young you are or how much money you have, this is something every one of us can do.

Second, I will pray regularly for the lost to be saved. On the back side of this commitment card is a reminder of things you can pray for each day. The last reminder has a couple of blanks for you to fill in. Write the names of two people who do not know Jesus. Start praying for them. Last Sunday night in the Ignite service, our students were challenged to bring their lost friends to tonight's service. I can pretty well guarantee you that tonight some students will accept Jesus into their hearts. Pray for that service.

Third, I will engage in three hands-on ministry projects outside the walls of the church in the next 12 months. Some of you did three projects in the last 40 days. This commitment is easily doable. I hope you Sunday School and small group leaders will organize ways for your classes to engage in hands-on ministry. There are so many needs out there.

Fourth, I will participate in at least one short-term mission trip in the next two years. This might require a greater step of faith on your part. We heard from Dot/Brenton earlier about Moldova/Brazil. Some have expressed interest taking a trip to Louisiana to do disaster relief. There is some interest now in ministering to the poor in West Virginia. In the past we have partnered with FBC, Newberry in a week-long summer church construction project in a pioneer area of our country. Some have expressed interest in AIDS relief in Africa. Why do I make a big deal about short-term mission projects? Because I know they are Great Commission-focused and life-changing.

Fifth, I will bring at least one unchurched family to Chapin Baptist Church in the next twelve months. To do this requires that you build relationships with those who don't attend church. And it requires that you take a bold step and invite those folks to attend church with you.

How has God spoken to you during the 40 Days of Outreach? Are you willing to make the Great Commission your mission? Before I close I want you to notice a couple of very important truths in the Matthew 28 passage. I want you to notice the two bookends that support the Great Commission mandate. On one end is the authority of God. Verse 18 says, "All authority has been given to Me." God gave Jesus authority. And now Jesus passes that authority to you and me. Because Jesus has given you authority, you don't have to be afraid. When you pray for the lost, you're praying with the authority Jesus has given you. When you take a short-term mission trip, you're traveling to a different place under the authority of Jesus Christ.

Notice the other bookend in verse 20. "I am with you always to the very end of the age." What an awesome promise. When you make the Great Commission your mission, Jesus will walk alongside you each step of the way. We have no excuse for not making the Great Commission our mission because we go in the authority of the Son of God with complete faith that He goes with us.