Sermon Notes 08 February 2026
SERMON NOTES 08 FEBRUARY 2026
VISION 2030 SERMON 3 – WHY WE ARE SENT: From Learners to Those Sent to Bring Heaven to Earth
Pastor Ryan Perry Sermon 08 February 2026
SERMON THESIS
From the beginning, God’s purpose has been to dwell with humanity and extend His rule on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus forms disciples by correcting their understanding of reality and training them to live under God’s reign.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, those disciples are then sent not to escape the world, but to carry God’s life, truth, and rule into it. Evangelism is participation in God’s work of bringing heaven to earth.
Many people assume the goal of faith is to get people out of earth and into heaven, but Scripture tells a very different story.
GOD’S ORIGINAL PURPOSE – Heaven + Earth Together (Gen 1–2)
From the beginning, God’s purpose has been to bring heaven and earth together.
HUMANITY AS GOD’S IMAGE BEARERS – Reflect God’s Character – Extend God’s Rule – Carry God’s Presence
Genesis 1:26–28 - Humanity was created as God’s image-bearers, living representatives entrusted to reflect His rule on earth.
“Be fruitful and multiply” was never just about population growth. It was about filling the earth with people who lived under God’s authority and reflected His character.
Heaven’s rule was meant to be expressed on earth through humanity.
SIN FRACTURES THE MISSION (Gen 3–11)
The problem of sin was never that the earth existed. The problem was that humanity sought life and authority apart from God, fracturing the harmony between heaven and earth.
Genesis 9:1, 7 - Yet even after judgment, God does not abandon His purpose. After the flood, God speaks again to Noah: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Judgment resets the world, but it does not cancel God’s mission.
GOD RESTARTS THE MISSION – Israel as the “Image-Bearing” People of God. Biological Growth + Covenant Inclusion (Exod 12; Num 15; Deut 29)
God’s purpose to fill the earth with His image-bearers continues.
In Israel’s story, we see the mandate to be fruitful and multiply expanded.
Exodus 1:7 - Israel multiplies biologically
Exodus 12:48–49; Numbers 15:14–16 - But Israel also multiplies covenantally. Sojourners are welcomed into worship, into the law, and into shared life.
Deuteronomy 29:10–13 – God’s plan has always included growth through inclusion. This foreshadows a greater kind of fruitfulness, spiritual multiplication.
JESUS THE TRUE IMAGE – Forms disciples → Trains them → Sends them (John 17:18)
John 17:15–18 – When Jesus begins His ministry, He does not preach escape. Jesus announces arrival.
Matthew 4:17 – The kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom is not far away. It is near. It is breaking into the world.
Matthew 6:9–10 – Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
This prayer defines the mission: Disciples are formed to live under God’s reign now, so God’s will may be expressed on earth.
THE DISCIPLESHIP PIPELINE – (How Heaven Spreads Across the Earth)
Jesus brings the original mandate to its fullness not by abolishing it, but by redefining fruitfulness.
Matthew 28:18–20 – Fruitfulness is now spiritual reproduction through disciple-making.
┌────────────────────────────────────────
1. LEARNERS – Identity as Image-Bearers Restored
└────────────────────────────────────────
Matthew 4:19 - Jesus calls disciples first as learners. “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
John 15:1–8 – We are commanded to abide and bear much fruit.
John 15:16 - And we are called directly and personally by Jesus.
Following comes before sending.
┌────────────────────────────────────────
2. TRAINED DISCIPLES - Character Formation – Obedience – Spiritual Fruit
└────────────────────────────────────────
Luke 6:40 – When fully trained, a disciple will be like his teacher. Disciples learn how Jesus sees the world, trusts the Father, and lives under God’s reign.
Mark 3:14 – He appointed twelve so that they might be with Him and He might send them out. They are with Him so that they may be sent.
Discipleship is training for mission, not permanent study.
┌────────────────────────────────────────
3. SENT OUT ONES – “Little-a apostles” (apo + stello = sent)
└────────────────────────────────────────
The apostles, especially Paul, reinforce this vision.
1 Corinthians 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:7–12 – Ministry is described as spiritual parenthood
Romans 1:13; Philippians 1:11; Galatians 5:22–23 – Ministry is described as spiritual fruitfulness
2 Timothy 2:2 - Ministry is described as generational multiplication
1 Corinthians 7:7–8; 1 Corinthians 7:32–35; 1 Corinthians 7:38 – Paul even teaches that singleness can serve the mission by allowing undivided devotion to the Lord
Psalm 127:3–5; 1 Timothy 5:14; Ephesians 6:1–4 – Scripture still affirms marriage and children as good gifts.
GLOBAL MULTIPLICATION – Evangelists + Parents + Church → Renewed Image-Bearers. Bearing Fruit – Increasing – Filling the Earth (Col 1:6)
Spiritual multiplication forming renewed image-bearers in Christ has become the primary way God fills the earth with His glory, whether through the faithful formation of children in the home or through disciple-making among the nations.
Let’s look at these two categories Scripturally.
I. Global, Eschatological Fruitfulness
II. Household discipleship and parental responsibilities of evangelism.
John 17:18 – Jesus makes this explicit. Jesus was sent into the world, not away from it.
John 20:21 – This is not about changing locations. It is about extending God’s reign.
Luke 6:13 – Scripture shows the transition clearly, “He chose from them twelve, whom He named apostles.”
Apostles are not a higher class. They are disciples who are sent.
The word apostolos (ἀπόστολος) comes from two Greek parts: apo (ἀπό) – “from” and stellō (στέλλω) – “to send” or “to dispatch.”
Put together, the word literally means: One who is sent out with a commission. It always carries the idea of being sent on behalf of someone else, carrying that person’s authority, representing the sender’s message and mission, functioning as an authorized envoy.
In the first century, apostolos was not a religious title. It was a common cultural term used in the Roman world. Apostolic envoys represented: generals, governors, kings, and political powers. They delivered messages with the authority of the one who sent them.
In Jewish communities, the term shaliach (שליח) is the Hebrew equivalent of apostolos, meaning an authorized representative carried the authority of the sender. A man’s shaliach is as the man himself.
The apostolos carried the sender’s message, the sender’s authority, the sender’s mission, and the sender’s identity. This was common legal, cultural, and diplomatic language.
Luke 6:13 – When Jesus chooses the Twelve, He is not creating spiritual elites. He is identifying which disciples will be commissioned as His official representatives.
In other words: A disciple learns Christ’s life. An apostle carries Christ’s life outward.
Or more simply: All apostles are disciples, but not all disciples are apostles.
A disciple is someone learning the way of Jesus His character, His mission, His priorities, and His way of life.
An apostle is a disciple who has been prepared and sent out to represent Jesus.
God is the One who calls and empowers, but the church and its elders help discern when a disciple is ready to be sent.
All apostles start as disciples, and every disciple is growing toward the point where Jesus can send them.
The church helps form, confirm, and release people into the work God is calling them to do.
John 20:21 – So when Jesus says this, He means we are His authorized representatives. We carry His message, His mission, and His authority. We are sent to bring His reign into the world.
HABAKKUK 2:14 FULFILLED – “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Acts 1:4–5 – Jesus tells them to wait. Wait for the promise of the Father…
Acts 1:8 - “You will receive power… and you will be My witnesses.” The Spirit does not remove believers from the world. The Spirit indwells them.
Just as God breathed life into Adam (Genesis 2:7), God now breathes His Spirit into His people (Acts 2:2–4).
1 Corinthians 3:16 – Where God’s Spirit dwells, heaven touches earth.
Jesus does not say, “You will escape someday.” He says, “You will be My witnesses.” A witness is living evidence that God’s reign is real.
Acts 8:4 – Acts does not describe escape. It describes movement. Ordinary believers carry God’s life into ordinary places.
Evangelism is not recruiting people for heaven later. It is inviting them into God’s reign now.
Bringing heaven to earth.
Revelation 7:9–10 – This mission culminates in a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language worshiping before the throne and the Lamb.
Vision 2030 assumes this biblical mission: not waiting for heaven, but living heaven’s life on earth
That is why we prioritize: children and youth, families and parents, schools and neighborhoods, visible presence and service.
We are not spectators waiting for rescue.
We are disciples being formed and apostles being sent.
ALTAR CALL
The question is not whether God is sending His people.
Scripture is clear: He is. The real question today is this:
Am I willing to be formed as a disciple so that God can send me as a witness of His life into the world?
God is not looking for the most gifted.
He is not looking for the most experienced.
He is looking for the willing.
He is looking for those who will say, “Lord, shape me… teach me… prepare me… and send me.”
Disciples learn to live under God’s reign.
Apostles are those disciples who are ready and sent to carry heaven’s life into the world.
Every disciple is invited into that journey, and it begins with surrender.
So here is the invitation:
This is not about perfection. This is about willingness.
This is about availability. This is about obedience.
As you come, pray this in your heart:
Lord, here I am. Form me. Teach me. Fill me.
Prepare me. And when You are ready, send me.
God is moving!
God is forming!
God is sending!
Next week, we will turn to worship not as music alone, but as a life lived in God’s presence, where heaven and earth meet every single day.
But today, Today is a day to step forward to present yourself to God and to say, “Here I am, Lord. Make me Your disciple… and send me where You will.”
The altar is open.
Come.
SERMON THESIS
From the beginning, God’s purpose has been to dwell with humanity and extend His rule on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus forms disciples by correcting their understanding of reality and training them to live under God’s reign.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, those disciples are then sent not to escape the world, but to carry God’s life, truth, and rule into it. Evangelism is participation in God’s work of bringing heaven to earth.
Many people assume the goal of faith is to get people out of earth and into heaven, but Scripture tells a very different story.
GOD’S ORIGINAL PURPOSE – Heaven + Earth Together (Gen 1–2)
From the beginning, God’s purpose has been to bring heaven and earth together.
HUMANITY AS GOD’S IMAGE BEARERS – Reflect God’s Character – Extend God’s Rule – Carry God’s Presence
Genesis 1:26–28 - Humanity was created as God’s image-bearers, living representatives entrusted to reflect His rule on earth.
“Be fruitful and multiply” was never just about population growth. It was about filling the earth with people who lived under God’s authority and reflected His character.
Heaven’s rule was meant to be expressed on earth through humanity.
SIN FRACTURES THE MISSION (Gen 3–11)
The problem of sin was never that the earth existed. The problem was that humanity sought life and authority apart from God, fracturing the harmony between heaven and earth.
Genesis 9:1, 7 - Yet even after judgment, God does not abandon His purpose. After the flood, God speaks again to Noah: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Judgment resets the world, but it does not cancel God’s mission.
GOD RESTARTS THE MISSION – Israel as the “Image-Bearing” People of God. Biological Growth + Covenant Inclusion (Exod 12; Num 15; Deut 29)
God’s purpose to fill the earth with His image-bearers continues.
In Israel’s story, we see the mandate to be fruitful and multiply expanded.
Exodus 1:7 - Israel multiplies biologically
Exodus 12:48–49; Numbers 15:14–16 - But Israel also multiplies covenantally. Sojourners are welcomed into worship, into the law, and into shared life.
Deuteronomy 29:10–13 – God’s plan has always included growth through inclusion. This foreshadows a greater kind of fruitfulness, spiritual multiplication.
JESUS THE TRUE IMAGE – Forms disciples → Trains them → Sends them (John 17:18)
John 17:15–18 – When Jesus begins His ministry, He does not preach escape. Jesus announces arrival.
Matthew 4:17 – The kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom is not far away. It is near. It is breaking into the world.
Matthew 6:9–10 – Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
This prayer defines the mission: Disciples are formed to live under God’s reign now, so God’s will may be expressed on earth.
THE DISCIPLESHIP PIPELINE – (How Heaven Spreads Across the Earth)
Jesus brings the original mandate to its fullness not by abolishing it, but by redefining fruitfulness.
Matthew 28:18–20 – Fruitfulness is now spiritual reproduction through disciple-making.
┌────────────────────────────────────────
1. LEARNERS – Identity as Image-Bearers Restored
└────────────────────────────────────────
Matthew 4:19 - Jesus calls disciples first as learners. “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
John 15:1–8 – We are commanded to abide and bear much fruit.
John 15:16 - And we are called directly and personally by Jesus.
Following comes before sending.
┌────────────────────────────────────────
2. TRAINED DISCIPLES - Character Formation – Obedience – Spiritual Fruit
└────────────────────────────────────────
Luke 6:40 – When fully trained, a disciple will be like his teacher. Disciples learn how Jesus sees the world, trusts the Father, and lives under God’s reign.
Mark 3:14 – He appointed twelve so that they might be with Him and He might send them out. They are with Him so that they may be sent.
Discipleship is training for mission, not permanent study.
┌────────────────────────────────────────
3. SENT OUT ONES – “Little-a apostles” (apo + stello = sent)
└────────────────────────────────────────
The apostles, especially Paul, reinforce this vision.
1 Corinthians 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:7–12 – Ministry is described as spiritual parenthood
Romans 1:13; Philippians 1:11; Galatians 5:22–23 – Ministry is described as spiritual fruitfulness
2 Timothy 2:2 - Ministry is described as generational multiplication
1 Corinthians 7:7–8; 1 Corinthians 7:32–35; 1 Corinthians 7:38 – Paul even teaches that singleness can serve the mission by allowing undivided devotion to the Lord
Psalm 127:3–5; 1 Timothy 5:14; Ephesians 6:1–4 – Scripture still affirms marriage and children as good gifts.
GLOBAL MULTIPLICATION – Evangelists + Parents + Church → Renewed Image-Bearers. Bearing Fruit – Increasing – Filling the Earth (Col 1:6)
Spiritual multiplication forming renewed image-bearers in Christ has become the primary way God fills the earth with His glory, whether through the faithful formation of children in the home or through disciple-making among the nations.
Let’s look at these two categories Scripturally.
I. Global, Eschatological Fruitfulness
- Isaiah 54:1 – Meaning: the barren woman (symbolizing Zion) will have MORE children, a prophecy of gospel expansion.
- Galatians 4:26–28 - Meaning: Paul explicitly applies Isaiah 54 to spiritual offspring, those born through the gospel.
- Colossians 1:6 – Meaning: the gospel itself is the new-covenant agent of fruitfulness and global increase.
- Habakkuk 2:14 – Meaning: God’s glory fills the earth not by biological multiplication but through global transformation and knowledge of the Lord.
II. Household discipleship and parental responsibilities of evangelism.
- Deuteronomy 6:6–7 - Meaning: the home is the first evangelism and discipleship environment; parents shape faith through daily formation.
- Proverbs 22:6 – Meaning: parents guide children in covenant wisdom, forming them toward faithful adulthood.
- Ephesians 6:4 – Meaning: Christian parents intentionally disciple their children; parenting is a spiritual calling.
John 17:18 – Jesus makes this explicit. Jesus was sent into the world, not away from it.
John 20:21 – This is not about changing locations. It is about extending God’s reign.
Luke 6:13 – Scripture shows the transition clearly, “He chose from them twelve, whom He named apostles.”
Apostles are not a higher class. They are disciples who are sent.
The word apostolos (ἀπόστολος) comes from two Greek parts: apo (ἀπό) – “from” and stellō (στέλλω) – “to send” or “to dispatch.”
Put together, the word literally means: One who is sent out with a commission. It always carries the idea of being sent on behalf of someone else, carrying that person’s authority, representing the sender’s message and mission, functioning as an authorized envoy.
In the first century, apostolos was not a religious title. It was a common cultural term used in the Roman world. Apostolic envoys represented: generals, governors, kings, and political powers. They delivered messages with the authority of the one who sent them.
In Jewish communities, the term shaliach (שליח) is the Hebrew equivalent of apostolos, meaning an authorized representative carried the authority of the sender. A man’s shaliach is as the man himself.
The apostolos carried the sender’s message, the sender’s authority, the sender’s mission, and the sender’s identity. This was common legal, cultural, and diplomatic language.
Luke 6:13 – When Jesus chooses the Twelve, He is not creating spiritual elites. He is identifying which disciples will be commissioned as His official representatives.
In other words: A disciple learns Christ’s life. An apostle carries Christ’s life outward.
Or more simply: All apostles are disciples, but not all disciples are apostles.
A disciple is someone learning the way of Jesus His character, His mission, His priorities, and His way of life.
An apostle is a disciple who has been prepared and sent out to represent Jesus.
God is the One who calls and empowers, but the church and its elders help discern when a disciple is ready to be sent.
All apostles start as disciples, and every disciple is growing toward the point where Jesus can send them.
The church helps form, confirm, and release people into the work God is calling them to do.
John 20:21 – So when Jesus says this, He means we are His authorized representatives. We carry His message, His mission, and His authority. We are sent to bring His reign into the world.
HABAKKUK 2:14 FULFILLED – “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Acts 1:4–5 – Jesus tells them to wait. Wait for the promise of the Father…
Acts 1:8 - “You will receive power… and you will be My witnesses.” The Spirit does not remove believers from the world. The Spirit indwells them.
Just as God breathed life into Adam (Genesis 2:7), God now breathes His Spirit into His people (Acts 2:2–4).
1 Corinthians 3:16 – Where God’s Spirit dwells, heaven touches earth.
Jesus does not say, “You will escape someday.” He says, “You will be My witnesses.” A witness is living evidence that God’s reign is real.
Acts 8:4 – Acts does not describe escape. It describes movement. Ordinary believers carry God’s life into ordinary places.
Evangelism is not recruiting people for heaven later. It is inviting them into God’s reign now.
Bringing heaven to earth.
Revelation 7:9–10 – This mission culminates in a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language worshiping before the throne and the Lamb.
Vision 2030 assumes this biblical mission: not waiting for heaven, but living heaven’s life on earth
That is why we prioritize: children and youth, families and parents, schools and neighborhoods, visible presence and service.
We are not spectators waiting for rescue.
We are disciples being formed and apostles being sent.
ALTAR CALL
The question is not whether God is sending His people.
Scripture is clear: He is. The real question today is this:
Am I willing to be formed as a disciple so that God can send me as a witness of His life into the world?
God is not looking for the most gifted.
He is not looking for the most experienced.
He is looking for the willing.
He is looking for those who will say, “Lord, shape me… teach me… prepare me… and send me.”
Disciples learn to live under God’s reign.
Apostles are those disciples who are ready and sent to carry heaven’s life into the world.
Every disciple is invited into that journey, and it begins with surrender.
So here is the invitation:
- If you want to be formed, shaped, and made ready for whatever God wants to do through you, I want you to come.
- If you want to step out of spectatorship and into discipleship, come.
- If you want God to use your life at home, at school, at work, in your neighborhood, come.
- If you want to say, “Lord, make me a disciple, You can send,” come.
This is not about perfection. This is about willingness.
This is about availability. This is about obedience.
As you come, pray this in your heart:
Lord, here I am. Form me. Teach me. Fill me.
Prepare me. And when You are ready, send me.
God is moving!
God is forming!
God is sending!
Next week, we will turn to worship not as music alone, but as a life lived in God’s presence, where heaven and earth meet every single day.
But today, Today is a day to step forward to present yourself to God and to say, “Here I am, Lord. Make me Your disciple… and send me where You will.”
The altar is open.
Come.
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