The Glory of God and the Good of Dunn (Matthew 28:16-20)
This sermon was preached on August 24th, 2025.
When I first moved back to Dunn in 2019, I started reaching out to people to grab lunch or coffee, to share about our dream for a new gospel-centered church in town and invite them to consider joining with us.
I had a lot of conversations. But almost every single person asked me one question: why? Why a new church in Dunn? It wasn’t just from people who lived here. We had some friends come visit and I remember my buddy saying “hey Tim, you know there’s a lot of churches here already right?”
Yes, I do know. And I don’t want to in any way discount the important ways that God has worked and is at work in people here long before Christ Church Dunn was even an idea.
But I also know this: Harnett County is a place where, when people are asked what their religion is, 66% of people say “none.” That’s a higher percentage than places like New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. There are scores of people here living surrounded by church buildings, who are convinced that whoever Jesus is and whatever he’s about, it isn’t really for them.
But that’s not just stats. I know that because I talk to those people often. I spend the majority of my time with people who are not part of any church and have no interest in it. I’ve grown to have deep, deep friendships with them and 100% of them have something in common—church hurt.
Church hurt is one of the quickest ways I’ve found to relate to people. It’s better than any ice-breaker or get-to-know-you conversation starter. If you have a friend or loved one who has no interest in Jesus or church, the best way to get an idea of why is not to ask “what do you believe?” Or “so you’re an agnostic or atheist, huh?” It’s to ask them this: “How have you been hurt by Christians?”
They’re not alone though. It’s not just people who have turned away from church that have church hurt. More than likely, you do too. I do, and I’m a pastor. Some of the most damaging and tender parts of my history, things that still feel so raw and can bring up anger and sadness, have to do with how I’ve been hurt by Christians, by pastors, by church leaders. Church hurt.
I remember hearing words from Paul David Tripp, a pastor and counselor who has written many great books and has become a counselor who helps churches who are going through conflicts. He said these words: “I've accepted the fact that I'm going to be a sad man for the rest of my life because I get calls all the time of the saddest things that are happening in the church.” I get it.
Maybe this doesn’t make sense to many, but part of my heart as a pastor and part of the foundation of this church’s story is a deep desire to be a part of building something else. For despite the church hurt, I remain a prisoner of hope.
I’ve been captured by the reality of Jesus Christ. He who loved me and gave his life for me. He who died and rose from the dead, then came to his disciples to give them a mission purpose for their lives. A mission that spills to me, to us. A mission that can be transformative for this city and this area.
This morning I want to talk about this mission, which I think we can summarize in one sentence as this: for the glory of God and the good of Dunn.
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The People of Jesus’ Mission
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for the disciples. They had followed Jesus for years, his friends and helpers as Jesus has ministered—teaching, healing people, performing miracles they cannot explain. They had seen Jesus go from the celebrated king to a rejected and failed leader, crucified when he didn’t meet the expectations of how he should save them. The disciples had fled for their lives. As the body of Jesus was placed in the tomb, it all seemed over.
But three days later the impossible had happened. Jesus had risen from the dead, beyond the power of death to hold, beyond the power of Rome to destroy and stop. He was alive. Then Jesus spent weeks with his disciples, instructing them on what was next. That’s part of what our passage is this morning. Jesus appearing to his disciples to give them the mission that will continue his work.
We learn a number of things from this passage.The first one is in verse 17 where we learn this: being on mission with Jesus is not just for the perfect or the people who have it all figured out. Notice it says “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”
I’m so glad this is here. It tells us that we can worship even when we don’t have everything figured out. We can be on mission with Jesus when we don’t have everything figured out. God is not afraid of our doubts or our questions—which means we don’t have to be either. Bring your doubts and questions with you and jump in. This mission is not for the perfect or the put-together.
In v18 Jesus starts to give them their mission, and he begins by first telling them about himself. And that’s where we learn a second thing about the people who are on mission with Jesus: it is rooted in who Jesus is and what He has done. The first thing we should think of when we think of “mission” is not us, but him. He is the great Person of this mission: the one whose life, death, and resurrection make it possible and good. And the one whose presence with us makes it worth it.
Jesus begins the great commission and ends it by reminding them of this, because the presence of Jesus with isn’t just our starting point. It’s the A, it’s the Z, and it’s all the letters in between. Look at v20: “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” As people in this mission, we are not on mission for Jesus. We are on mission with Jesus.
Which means all this isn’t just our best ideas. It isn’t us trying to come up with our best stuff and hope he likes it. It is us with him and him with and within us. Which is why we doubting, sinful, imperfect people can gather together in hope—because he carries us, he guides us, he blesses us.
So this mission isn’t for people who have it altogether and it’s rooted in who Jesus is and what He has done, following him in mission. But what is the mission? That’s where we’ll turn next in verse 19.
The Places of the Mission
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…The idea here is as you are going. Wherever you will find yourselves down the road in life—whichever twists and turns you will take—be about the making of disciples.
This commission isn’t just for the handful of people there that Jesus is speaking to. It was included here in Scripture for us—and not just pastors or church leaders. This is a mission for all of us, with our different gifts and in the different stages of life we might ourselves. There are no insignificant people in the kingdom of God, and this is meant to be reflected in our local churches.
So much of our church culture gets this completely backwards. We make heroes and idols out of pastors or teachers or influencers or musicians. These are the varsity, the A-team. But that’s simply not true. And that means that this mission that Jesus gives is for all of us—so that wherever you are, wherever you are, and whoever you are—we are to be about the making of disciples.
For us, here in this place in this time, it means that our mission is to be about the glory of God and the good of Dunn, North Carolina. To make disciples here. The places of mission are across the world, but we do not exist and live across the world. We exist and live here. That’s the place of our mission.
And should the next steps of your life take you somewhere else, then that is the place of your mission. But wherever you go, go into that world and be about the making of disciples for Jesus. About people experiencing and discovering the love of God in Christ.
The Community of Mission.
But what does it mean to “make disciples?” How would the disciples have understood this when Jesus said it?
They would have understood it by their experience of living with Jesus. In the ancient world teachers would find and take the best of the best as disciples. The idea was they’d pour into this exceptionally talented person for a number of years, teaching them how to live, and then those disciples would turn around and take disciples themselves.
But Jesus searched out, seemingly on purpose, people that had been overlooked by rabbis. In fact, the only disciple that would have been the age of a ‘normal’ disciple was the apostle John. Everyone else had been passed over. Not wanted. This taught the disciples that being a disciple of Jesus isn’t a talent contest. It’s not trying to find the flawless best and brightest. The lesson was to pursue who God brings to you.
Discipleship doesn’t happen in a classroom. It involves teaching and knowledge, of course. But discipleship is not just gaining more facts. Discipleship is God re-forming all of who we are, and it happens in the reality of everyday life.
Discipleship happens in life. Jesus lived with his disciples. They dwelt together. They saw Jesus in his day-in, day-out existence. They ate together. Shared their lives with each other. Not just something that happened on Sundays or just when Jesus was teaching. It happened in community.
Not first in programs, like ’we’re doing discipleship on Thursday night at 7pm.’ It happens when we open our lives to one another. Not our best presentation, but in real friendship. And it happens equals. We are not disciples of one another, but we are discipling one another to be disciples of Jesus.
You are not a disciple of Tim Inman or any pastor. I am not your Savior. I am not your guru. I am a flawed man that has found a grace that gives me renewal and hope and purpose. And as we seek to be a gospel-centered church, that will always be true. Not just of me, but any future leader or pastor this church has. Do not put your hope in anyone else other than Jesus. And let’s walk, as flawed and sinful people, together in being transformed by God’s grace to walk in goodness and holiness. To be disciples of Jesus.
The Habits of Mission.
Jesus states two very specific things that discipleship involves—the habits that will mark people as disciples of Jesus: baptism and teaching to obey all that Jesus has commanded.
1) He commands to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism is when God washes us with water—when we are claimed by Him. Baptism is a pledge that God will do what He says he will do. He will cleanse us and make us new. This becomes the foundation who we are. To belong to God is to know that we are loved, period. Baptism is the beginning of the Christian life. If you’re here today and you’ve never been baptized, I’d love to talk to you about what that can mean—how it can serve as a moment of God pledging to you his faithfulness.
2) teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has taught. To walk in the way that he has laid down. What is that? To love God and love others. That’s the essence of Jesus commands to us. It all starts from that and goes back to that.
Coming back to, time and time again, who Jesus is and how he lived, so that the path will be laid in front of us to walk in our lives like that. Not to copy his literal footsteps, but to do what Jesus would do if he were us. In fact, that’s what Dallas Willard defined discipleship as: the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.
That’s our mission as a church. To be here for the glory of God and the good of Dunn, for this is the place on this earth that right now we have in common. We are meant to be here as a community of people that know our worthiness is only Jesus, that know we are loved, and are mission with Jesus. As I often say, a community of beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.
The next five weeks were going to look at our core values as a church…ways that we’ve identified to help us stay on this mission—of valuing what Jesus values. Transformational Worship, Lifelong Discipleship, Authentic Community, Compassionate Outreach, Unity in Diversity.
But as we walk into those topics, may we never forget this: it’s entirely founded, in every way, in the mission that Jesus is on. A mission that 1) isn’t for people who have it all figured out. A mission that 2) is rooted in Jesus and what he’s done. A Mission that 3) is about the making of disciples—the sharing of life together, something that 4) only ever happens in community with one another.
For the glory of God and the good of Dunn.