His Lasting Challenge

1. If you were on your deathbed, what do you think your final words would be?




Read Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8

2. In Matthew 28:18-20, what was Christ’s challenge to the disciples? What were they to do?





3. In Acts 1:8, what was the strategy Christ gave them to share his message?





4. Why do you think these final words from Christ were important for his followers to hear?




Additional Thoughts & Application:

As part of his final words recorded by Matthew, Christ gives his disciples a clear challenge – go and make disciples. And, that is exactly what they did. They went and made disciples for Christ outlined extensively in the book of Acts. Because of their faithfulness and commitment to Christ and his challenge, you and I are believers! Think about it, what are the chances you and I would have even heard more than 2 sentences over 2000 years later about Christ, if it were not for those faithful and committed to accomplishing Christ’s challenge? Not very likely.

After the challenge, Christ gave them a strategy. What good is a challenge without helping provide a little strategy to accomplishing that challenge? If you look on a map, Jerusalem was the closest location to where the disciples were at that moment. So, the 1st place Christ told them to share his message was to the people closest to them. Then, he told them to go to Judea. That was a little bit further out as they would have to share Christ to people they did not know. Finally, he told them to stretch his message to the ends of the earth.

This strategy can be easily duplicated by us. First, who are those closest to us that we can share Christ to (Jerusalem)? Then, who are those people that you know a little bit, but not really that you can share Christ to (Judea and Samaria)? Finally, where are places you could go and share the love of Christ with?

Christ’s challenge did not end with the disciples. This is a challenge to all of us. Are you making disciples for Christ? Are you being strategic in reaching others for Him? 

This week, the challenge is to identify your Jerusalem friends, the people you may or may not know in Judea and Samaria and plan to go to the ends of the earth (maybe a mission trip to another state or country). Take a minute, pray and think through who God is laying on your heart to share the love of Christ with.

Then, write their names down under the 3 Columns: Jerusalem, Judea, Ends of the Earth.  Who has Christ put on your heart?  Finally, pray that God will give you the opportunity to share with them the love of Christ.

Pray