WEBVTT 00:00:00.110 --> 00:00:04.669 Good morning. It is a joy and an honor to be 00:00:04.669 --> 00:00:08.669 here with you this morning. My name is Jeffrey 00:00:08.669 --> 00:00:14.310 Woods. I grew up not far from here. Manchester, 00:00:14.330 --> 00:00:17.010 Connecticut is where I called home till I left 00:00:17.010 --> 00:00:20.649 to go overseas. My wife and I and our kiddos, 00:00:20.649 --> 00:00:23.929 we live in Africa in a country called Kenya. 00:00:25.170 --> 00:00:28.670 But it is always nice to come back home. And 00:00:28.670 --> 00:00:31.410 I bring you greetings from my wife. Not so much 00:00:31.410 --> 00:00:33.390 my kids. They didn't send any greetings, but 00:00:33.390 --> 00:00:37.250 I think they meant it. They're little, and so 00:00:37.250 --> 00:00:39.890 they're in Mombasa, Kenya right now. So Kenya 00:00:39.890 --> 00:00:44.570 is the east coast of Africa. It is known for 00:00:44.570 --> 00:00:48.770 animals. They've got great safaris. But it's 00:00:48.770 --> 00:00:50.350 a place my wife and I have called home for the 00:00:50.350 --> 00:00:53.109 last couple years. My wife and I have lived, 00:00:53.469 --> 00:00:57.219 I actually went to Africa as a single guy. I 00:00:57.219 --> 00:00:59.719 went to college in Pennsylvania. I came back, 00:00:59.799 --> 00:01:01.640 lived in Manchester for a couple of years, and 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:03.920 then I moved overseas because I felt like the 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.579 Lord was calling me into missions or asking me 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:09.680 to go into missions. And so I went single. I 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:12.219 went to a little country called the Comoros Islands, 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:14.299 and I was there for a couple of years. And then 00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:16.599 I went up to a much bigger country called Sudan, 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:19.599 which used to be the largest country in Africa 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:22.620 until it split into two. So I lived in Khartoum, 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:25.159 Sudan, and that's where I met my wife Stephanie. 00:01:25.290 --> 00:01:30.090 And so my wife is from West Texas, a little itty 00:01:30.090 --> 00:01:33.769 -bitty town in the north of West Texas, and we 00:01:33.769 --> 00:01:37.879 met there. We got married after... a little while, 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:41.439 and then we went back to Comoros where we have 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:43.819 three beautiful kids. All of them were born overseas. 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:48.439 Titus is 13, Nathan is 10, and then our youngest, 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:51.700 Hannah, is 8. And so I apologize, they couldn't 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:56.599 be with me this morning, but they're doing well 00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:58.939 overseas. And I fly back, Lord willing, tomorrow. 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:02.760 I fly back to Kenya, and I'll be with them early, 00:02:02.819 --> 00:02:07.280 early Wednesday morning, if all goes well. My 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:12.020 wife and I, we love missions and we love that 00:02:12.020 --> 00:02:16.620 we get to serve a missionary God. A God who is 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:19.860 excited about all peoples. He's excited about 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:22.080 you and he's excited about me and he's excited 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:24.520 about people who look like us and who speak the 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:27.240 same language as us and he's excited about people 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:30.900 who don't look like us and who don't share the 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:33.729 same language. My wife and I have spent our entire 00:02:33.729 --> 00:02:36.430 missions career focused on one thing, and that 00:02:36.430 --> 00:02:38.810 one thing is people groups who have no access 00:02:38.810 --> 00:02:42.669 to the gospel. So again, in Connecticut, my wife's 00:02:42.669 --> 00:02:44.629 from Texas, so like again, there's a massive 00:02:44.629 --> 00:02:47.210 difference between Connecticut and Texas. Texas, 00:02:47.789 --> 00:02:50.669 there are churches literally everywhere. Connecticut, 00:02:51.009 --> 00:02:53.909 there are churches, maybe not as common as in 00:02:53.909 --> 00:02:56.669 Texas, but we love to serve amongst people where 00:02:56.669 --> 00:02:59.210 there are no churches. Where there's no Bible, 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:02.909 and where there's no Christians. And you're like, 00:03:02.930 --> 00:03:04.530 well, how did you end up in Kenya? Kenya is a 00:03:04.530 --> 00:03:06.229 bit of a Christian nation, and I'll explain that 00:03:06.229 --> 00:03:08.469 in a minute. But first, we ended up in Comoros. 00:03:08.650 --> 00:03:11.770 And Comoros is one of these places. It's 99 .99 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:15.810 % Muslim. Nobody knows about Jesus as in the 00:03:15.810 --> 00:03:18.289 true Jesus. They have an idea about Jesus in 00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:20.930 the Islamic tradition as a prophet, as a good 00:03:20.930 --> 00:03:23.069 person, as someone they really love. But they 00:03:23.069 --> 00:03:26.849 completely deny the essence of who Jesus is as 00:03:26.849 --> 00:03:32.169 the son of God. And God just put something in 00:03:32.169 --> 00:03:35.289 my wife's and my heart that said it is totally 00:03:35.289 --> 00:03:40.650 unfair that so many people are born, live, and 00:03:40.650 --> 00:03:43.189 die without ever having the chance to hear the 00:03:43.189 --> 00:03:46.580 good news. And so we felt like the Lord is asking 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:48.520 us to do something about that and so we went 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:51.120 overseas and we've served on a church planting 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:54.000 team where our whole goal has been to establish 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:55.900 a church amongst a people group that doesn't 00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:59.060 know him, a place where it's illegal to be missionaries. 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:02.639 And so we set up a business and we did some different 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.979 things there, but we always aligned ourselves 00:04:04.979 --> 00:04:07.840 with Jesus, with the Bible, and with the church. 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:12.740 And we wanted no one, no one, to be confused 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:16.379 as to who we are. That we are people of the Bible. 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.279 That we're people who love Jesus. And we're people 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:22.360 who represent and are part of his church globally. 00:04:23.019 --> 00:04:26.120 We are, you guys, we're just you guys overseas. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:31.040 And there's this vast body. of the church that 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.920 it's just a privilege to be part of. And so after 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.660 about 15 years in Comoros, we moved from there 00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:39.699 to Kenya. And I'll share a little bit about what 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:41.620 Comoros was like. But we moved from there to 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:43.319 Kenya. And Kenya, right now, we've got a beautiful 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.879 house. It's a somewhat Christian nation. It's 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:49.920 like 50 % Christian. But if you sit on my back 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.339 porch, which all of you should do, it's gorgeous. 00:04:52.339 --> 00:04:55.779 You are welcome to come visit. My mom is here 00:04:55.779 --> 00:05:00.149 today. She'll bring you with her. It's great, 00:05:00.170 --> 00:05:03.050 but when you sit on that porch, it's green, there's 00:05:03.050 --> 00:05:05.550 monkeys that play in the yard, but here's what 00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:08.170 you see and hear, or here's what you maybe don't 00:05:08.170 --> 00:05:12.569 see. About 200, 300 yards across this little 00:05:12.569 --> 00:05:15.170 quarry, five times a day you hear this massive 00:05:15.170 --> 00:05:17.870 call to prayer going off, because there's a huge 00:05:17.870 --> 00:05:19.610 mosque from the Middle East that's right there. 00:05:19.870 --> 00:05:22.769 If you go out our gate, you will find two Hindu 00:05:22.769 --> 00:05:26.850 temples right across the road. If you go another... 00:05:26.889 --> 00:05:31.170 20 yards, you will find a witch doctor training 00:05:31.170 --> 00:05:34.069 school. And then eventually, you're going to 00:05:34.069 --> 00:05:36.629 get to a church. So we live in a place where 00:05:36.629 --> 00:05:40.170 there's all sorts of need. And we've built our 00:05:40.170 --> 00:05:41.850 career just trying to reach Muslims with the 00:05:41.850 --> 00:05:43.730 gospel, trying to have good conversation, trying 00:05:43.730 --> 00:05:45.629 to build a good reputation, but trying to be 00:05:45.629 --> 00:05:48.769 very clear about who Jesus is and why we love 00:05:48.769 --> 00:05:53.370 him so much and what he has to offer. And so 00:05:53.370 --> 00:05:55.750 we live in Kenya right now. And now, if you're 00:05:55.750 --> 00:05:57.970 coming with our organization, you want to work 00:05:57.970 --> 00:06:00.029 amongst unreached peoples or people with no access 00:06:00.029 --> 00:06:02.009 to the gospel. You're going to come through Mombasa. 00:06:02.069 --> 00:06:03.970 You're going to stay with us for a year. We're 00:06:03.970 --> 00:06:06.209 going to train you in all sorts of things. In 00:06:06.209 --> 00:06:08.089 the classroom, we're going to train you in missiology 00:06:08.089 --> 00:06:10.610 and theology and all of these things, the study 00:06:10.610 --> 00:06:12.269 of missions. Then we're going to go out in the 00:06:12.269 --> 00:06:13.430 streets, and we're going to train you there. 00:06:13.810 --> 00:06:15.410 And we're going to show, here's how you share 00:06:15.410 --> 00:06:18.600 the gospel with someone who is... Nothing like 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:21.560 you and their worldview is nothing like you and 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:22.980 we're gonna teach you how to learn a language 00:06:22.980 --> 00:06:25.120 because We find that a lot of times anyway, if 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.019 you're coming from the US, you know English somebody 00:06:28.019 --> 00:06:30.360 taught you Spanish or French back in in high 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:33.379 school But you don't remember any of it And then 00:06:33.379 --> 00:06:35.319 we're gonna teach you how to learn a new language 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:36.939 And so we spend a year with people then we launch 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:39.620 them all over so we've we launched them to any 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:41.779 Basically any country you can think of in Africa 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:44.420 that has Muslim peoples we send people there 00:06:44.420 --> 00:06:47.240 and we do leadership with that as well But this 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:49.980 morning I want to introduce you to a passage 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:52.100 of scripture which I'm sure is familiar for most 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:54.600 of you. And this passage of scripture is extremely 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:57.980 important to me because this passage of scripture 00:06:57.980 --> 00:07:01.180 I firmly believe God used to completely save 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:03.740 my faith. And you're like, what does that mean? 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.100 He didn't use it to get me into the faith. He 00:07:07.100 --> 00:07:10.259 used it to keep my faith. And you know, the Lord 00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:13.040 is really good about revealing himself to us. 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:15.300 And he does it in all sorts of ways. But we know 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:17.259 that one of the primary ways he does it is through 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:19.899 his word. And so I want to read a scripture. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:25.480 It's from Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. And 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:28.560 it's a story about John the Baptist. And we're 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:29.980 going to talk a little bit more about John the 00:07:29.980 --> 00:07:33.060 Baptist. But God used this passage at a time 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:36.540 where I desperately needed something from Jesus. 00:07:38.100 --> 00:07:41.259 What he gave me So we'll look a little bit more 00:07:41.259 --> 00:07:44.100 at this story, but I want to read these five 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:48.879 or six verses Luke chapter 7 beginning in verse 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:52.660 18 Alright, so Luke chapter 7 beginning in verse 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:55.199 18 and it says the disciples of John that's John 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:57.899 the Baptist reported all these things to him 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:00.800 and John Calling two of his disciples to him 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:02.779 sent them to the Lord saying are you the one 00:08:02.779 --> 00:08:05.959 who is to come? Or shall we look for another? 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.779 and when the men had come to him they said John 00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:11.540 the Baptist has sent you to us saying are you 00:08:11.540 --> 00:08:14.959 the one who is to come or shall we look for another 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:18.379 in that hour he healed many people of diseases 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:21.699 and plagues and evil spirits and many who were 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:25.579 blind he bestowed sight and he answered them 00:08:25.579 --> 00:08:29.600 go and tell John what you have seen and heard 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:33.620 the blind receive sight the lame walk the lepers 00:08:33.620 --> 00:08:36.980 are cleansed and the deaf hear The dead are raised 00:08:36.980 --> 00:08:39.679 up and the poor have good news preached to them. 00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:44.100 And blessed is the one who is not offended by 00:08:44.100 --> 00:08:47.279 me. And I want to talk a little bit more about 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:51.080 this thought of blessed is the one who is not 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:54.600 offended by me. The NIV says blessed is anyone 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.759 who doesn't stumble on account of me. The NLT 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:00.240 says blessed, God blesses those who don't fall 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:04.000 away because of me. And so what does that mean? 00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:07.000 What is Jesus saying to John's disciples and, 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:11.840 in essence, to John? Blessed is the one who doesn't 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:16.500 fall away on account of me. And I want to weave 00:09:16.500 --> 00:09:19.100 three stories together. I want to weave the story 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:20.399 of John the Baptist, which we're going to look 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:22.620 at from Luke 7 and a little bit elsewhere. I 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:24.139 want to tell you a little bit about my story, 00:09:24.340 --> 00:09:27.039 specifically my story in Africa. And then I want 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:30.200 to just throw out some questions for you and 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:34.039 your story. Because we all have stories. We're 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:38.620 all living a life orchestrated, written, authored, 00:09:38.860 --> 00:09:41.879 ordained by God. So let's start with John the 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:46.080 Baptist. So in Luke 1, verse 5, we read that 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.080 John had a miraculous conception. Zechariah and 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:51.019 Elizabeth couldn't have a kid, then all of a 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:53.000 sudden an angel comes, Elizabeth gets pregnant, 00:09:53.259 --> 00:09:54.960 there's a story about what they should name him, 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:58.179 things like that, but it was a miracle. Then 00:09:58.179 --> 00:09:59.710 a little while we get... A little while later 00:09:59.710 --> 00:10:02.629 we get the story of Jesus' conception and Mary 00:10:02.629 --> 00:10:05.009 and Joseph. But then we get this wonderful story 00:10:05.009 --> 00:10:09.509 where Mary visits Elizabeth, both have babies 00:10:09.509 --> 00:10:14.269 in their womb, and somehow the babies recognize 00:10:14.269 --> 00:10:17.129 each other. Something's going on there, right? 00:10:17.169 --> 00:10:21.610 And it says that the baby leapt inside Elizabeth's 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:23.529 womb. So we're talking about John. John leapt 00:10:23.529 --> 00:10:26.490 in Elizabeth's womb when Mary pregnant with Jesus. 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:29.600 came in. So there's something going on there. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:33.379 In Luke 1 to 80, and then also in Matthew 3 -4, 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:36.500 we learn that John the Baptist, he lived an aesthetic 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:39.820 life. He lived out by himself, but not totally 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:41.940 alone. He had his disciples with him, but he 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:47.720 forsook the town. He forsook the normal way of 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:51.440 living, and he became a little bit more By himself 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.200 with his disciples and he for it for sook some 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:56.580 of the finer things that life had to offer Said 00:10:56.580 --> 00:10:58.480 he had that clothes that were made of camel hair 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.539 and and he ate honey and locusts and things like 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:07.000 that then in John chapter 1 John the Baptist 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.639 is with his disciples and Jesus comes by and 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:12.059 John says something very interesting. He says 00:11:12.059 --> 00:11:17.100 look The Lamb of God who takes the way the sin 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:21.080 of the world and he's talking about Jesus John 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:26.000 knew Jesus. John knew something from the womb 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:30.399 about Jesus. And then in life after the womb, 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:33.519 as they were ministering and going about, John 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:37.200 recognized, look, Jesus, that guy over there 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:39.840 to his disciples, he's the one who takes away 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.240 the sin of the world, the lamb of God going back 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.360 to the Old Testament. John even gives up some 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:47.700 of his disciples and says, go follow that guy. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:54.519 And they do. Matthew 3, we get the story of Jesus' 00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:56.960 baptism, which John is the one who baptizes. 00:11:57.320 --> 00:11:59.899 And as Jesus is baptized, you get this image 00:11:59.899 --> 00:12:01.820 of a dove coming and you get the voice of the 00:12:01.820 --> 00:12:04.639 father who says, this is my son, listen to him. 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:12.460 John had wonderful experiences with Jesus. And 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:15.039 all of that happens before we get this passage 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:18.019 where John is in prison and he tells his disciples 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:21.809 and says, disciples, go ask Jesus. Is he the 00:12:21.809 --> 00:12:24.629 one we should expect or is there another? So 00:12:24.629 --> 00:12:29.090 what's going on in John's mind? And I think if 00:12:29.090 --> 00:12:30.870 you've been following Jesus for a little while, 00:12:31.409 --> 00:12:34.269 you probably understand what's going on in John's 00:12:34.269 --> 00:12:38.070 mind. Because all of us, again, we have stories. 00:12:38.529 --> 00:12:41.230 You have stories that would make us cry. You 00:12:41.230 --> 00:12:43.730 have stories that would make us laugh. You have 00:12:43.730 --> 00:12:46.309 stories that would make us joyful. You have stories 00:12:46.309 --> 00:12:48.509 that would make us confused. But they're your 00:12:48.509 --> 00:12:51.149 stories. It's your life lived. It's what God 00:12:51.149 --> 00:12:54.789 has done with you and in you and through you. 00:12:55.450 --> 00:12:58.970 And there are days where we know Jesus is so 00:12:58.970 --> 00:13:01.730 real. And then there are days where, if we're 00:13:01.730 --> 00:13:04.070 honest, I think sometimes we can't find Jesus. 00:13:06.789 --> 00:13:10.009 And so, in our own lives, we recognize this. 00:13:10.919 --> 00:13:14.559 People will often ask me, how on earth did you 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:19.080 go from Manchester, Connecticut to East Africa, 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:24.340 to Sudan, to Comoros, to Kenya? How did that 00:13:24.340 --> 00:13:28.299 happen? And I'll say, Jesus just kept speaking 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:33.340 to me. And I just kept asking, God, give me ears 00:13:33.340 --> 00:13:35.850 to hear whatever you're saying. and give me the 00:13:35.850 --> 00:13:38.370 courage to follow whatever you say. And as I 00:13:38.370 --> 00:13:41.110 read scripture, as I listened to sermons, as 00:13:41.110 --> 00:13:43.710 I talked with people, I realized there was a 00:13:43.710 --> 00:13:47.509 world out there that didn't know about him. And 00:13:47.509 --> 00:13:50.309 I realized from scripture that the entire church 00:13:50.309 --> 00:13:55.730 is responsible for the entire world. And I realized 00:13:55.730 --> 00:13:58.309 Jesus was asking me to do something very specific 00:13:58.309 --> 00:14:02.090 about it. He was asking me to pray. He was asking 00:14:02.090 --> 00:14:06.230 me to give. He but he was asking me to go and 00:14:06.230 --> 00:14:09.049 he was asking me to leave and forsake the comforts 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:12.429 of life here Which some of you are like, oh, 00:14:12.429 --> 00:14:17.429 it's not so comfortable but Leave and say, okay, 00:14:17.629 --> 00:14:19.970 I'll give up everything familiar I'll give up 00:14:19.970 --> 00:14:23.870 family friends the language I speak all of these 00:14:23.870 --> 00:14:26.230 things and go follow him somewhere else and it 00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:30.169 was a slow journey of simple yeses Because at 00:14:30.169 --> 00:14:32.070 first I felt like God was calling me into ministry. 00:14:32.090 --> 00:14:34.610 So I said yes But I didn't know. I was hoping 00:14:34.610 --> 00:14:37.049 it was youth. I was really hoping it was camping, 00:14:37.230 --> 00:14:39.850 because that sounded really fun. But both of 00:14:39.850 --> 00:14:41.990 those doors closed, and it became, God is calling 00:14:41.990 --> 00:14:43.850 me into missions. And then it became, God is 00:14:43.850 --> 00:14:46.690 calling me to Africa. And then it became, not 00:14:46.690 --> 00:14:48.950 just to work with a church in Africa, to work 00:14:48.950 --> 00:14:51.470 with people where there was no church. And once 00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:54.169 that door opened and I walked through it, I said 00:14:54.169 --> 00:14:56.129 to Jesus, I will never do anything else again. 00:14:56.730 --> 00:14:59.590 I love this. And it's an honor and a privilege 00:14:59.590 --> 00:15:03.009 to do it. But again, it was rooted in the Bible, 00:15:03.350 --> 00:15:05.549 in this command that God gives us to make disciples 00:15:05.549 --> 00:15:09.529 of all nations. And that a biblical view of heaven 00:15:09.529 --> 00:15:13.830 is a view of all nations worshipping Jesus. One 00:15:13.830 --> 00:15:16.090 of the most painful experiences I've had in missions 00:15:16.090 --> 00:15:18.570 was talking with an Islamic leader. And again, 00:15:18.649 --> 00:15:22.039 I don't think he represented... mainstream Islam 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:24.019 but he was sitting there he was teaching our 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:26.240 group of missionaries and he said one of the 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:27.820 great things about heaven is we're gonna get 00:15:27.820 --> 00:15:30.919 there and it's gonna be a non -stop fun and party 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:34.419 and all of this and so we asked where's God in 00:15:34.419 --> 00:15:36.480 all this he's like oh God leaves he's not with 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:40.639 us and the idea that heaven without the Lord 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.179 is no heaven I want to be part of but at the 00:15:44.179 --> 00:15:46.460 same time heaven without the nations is an incomplete 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:49.679 it's incomplete because there has to be people 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.159 from every tribe, every tongue, and every people 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.500 group. I love the work the Lord called me to 00:15:56.500 --> 00:16:00.360 do. And my wife does. And one of the things I 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:02.480 love about meeting my wife overseas is if one 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.980 of us wants to leave, we're going to have to 00:16:03.980 --> 00:16:05.840 convince the other one that Jesus is really telling 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:08.539 us to leave. Because we both went in on it together, 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:11.740 in on it separate. And so now we are in together. 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:15.919 So let's go back to John the Baptist. So if you 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:18.299 look earlier, I want to read an earlier scripture 00:16:18.299 --> 00:16:21.580 in Luke chapter seven, because I just read verses 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:26.000 18 through 23, which is a snippet. But every 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.480 snippet comes from context, right? There's context 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:31.600 around it. So if you look at verse 18, it says, 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:33.840 the disciples reported all these things to John, 00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:37.720 or to him. What did he report? We'll look back 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:41.759 on chapter seven. Verse one through 10, we get 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:45.620 this story about a Roman centurion who had a 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:48.740 sick servant. And so they go and they say, Jesus, 00:16:48.899 --> 00:16:52.480 come and heal him. And so they go, but the servants 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.480 go and they get Jesus. But Jesus doesn't make 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:57.200 it in time. And so the servant dies or whatever. 00:16:57.500 --> 00:17:02.679 And Jesus, go. Just go. No, the centurion doesn't 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:06.130 say that. He says, I understand authority. as 00:17:06.130 --> 00:17:08.369 I am a man under authority and I have authority. 00:17:08.930 --> 00:17:12.430 Jesus, all you have to do is say it. Just say 00:17:12.430 --> 00:17:15.390 the word and let my servant be healed. And you 00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:18.170 know what Jesus does? He says the word. That's 00:17:18.170 --> 00:17:22.589 the Jesus we serve. His word is so powerful that 00:17:22.589 --> 00:17:27.230 when he says it, nothing is impossible. Then 00:17:27.230 --> 00:17:29.650 let's look at verse 11. I want to read this one 00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:33.269 because there's a detail in this I missed. I 00:17:33.269 --> 00:17:35.410 mean, maybe I saw it, but it stuck out to me 00:17:35.410 --> 00:17:37.430 in a new way as I was prepping for this morning. 00:17:37.930 --> 00:17:40.710 So it says, verse 11, chapter seven, soon afterward 00:17:40.710 --> 00:17:42.869 he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples 00:17:42.869 --> 00:17:45.049 and a great crowd went with him. And as he drew 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:47.890 near the gate of the town, behold, a man had 00:17:47.890 --> 00:17:49.930 died and was being carried out, the only son 00:17:49.930 --> 00:17:53.329 of his mother. And she was a widow, and a considerable 00:17:53.329 --> 00:17:56.250 crowd from the town was with her. And when the 00:17:56.250 --> 00:17:58.470 Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and he 00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:01.029 said, do not weep. Then he came up and he touched 00:18:01.029 --> 00:18:04.599 the... He touched the buyer, and the bearer stood 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:07.240 still, and he said, Young man, I say to you arise. 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:09.880 And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.200 Jesus gave him to his mother. And fear seized 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:14.640 them all. And they glorified God, saying, A great 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:17.660 prophet has risen among us, and God has visited 00:18:17.660 --> 00:18:20.779 his people. And this report about him spread 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:23.059 through the whole of Judea and the surrounding 00:18:23.059 --> 00:18:29.500 country. Both of these people, the Roman centurion 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:33.099 and the widow, had very difficult circumstances, 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:37.079 and God spoke in through Jesus, and their situation 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:39.700 was totally reversed. And then you get John the 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:42.880 Baptist, this person who knew Jesus from the 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:46.880 womb, who followed Jesus, who baptized Jesus, 00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:48.839 and he was in prison, and we're gonna find out 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:50.759 why he was in prison in a minute, if you don't 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:55.000 know already. And John is like, Jesus, where's 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:57.390 my miracle? Are you the one we're to expect? 00:18:57.490 --> 00:19:00.390 What's going on? The widow got her miracle. And 00:19:00.390 --> 00:19:04.269 the Roman centurion, not a Jew, got his miracle. 00:19:04.789 --> 00:19:06.710 And John the Baptist, this wonderful prophet, 00:19:06.789 --> 00:19:14.089 is like, what about me? What about me? As I look 00:19:14.089 --> 00:19:16.809 back on my missions career, my first two years 00:19:16.809 --> 00:19:20.829 were brutally difficult. I went to Comoros. I 00:19:20.829 --> 00:19:26.289 was 24 years old. I knew so much and yet I knew 00:19:26.289 --> 00:19:29.589 absolutely nothing. I got off the plane and there 00:19:29.589 --> 00:19:31.910 was a red carpet and there was a band and that's 00:19:31.910 --> 00:19:33.769 when I realized the president was on the plane. 00:19:34.269 --> 00:19:37.289 That red carpet was not for me and the band was 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:39.289 not for me. The president got off, he had his 00:19:39.289 --> 00:19:41.829 wonderful fanfare, the plane moved 50 yards this 00:19:41.829 --> 00:19:46.450 way, we got off to nothing. We went to this nasty 00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:48.609 little motel where we stayed for the first week 00:19:48.609 --> 00:19:51.170 and we learned some language and we figured out 00:19:51.170 --> 00:19:53.210 how to live. We went in January, which was the 00:19:53.210 --> 00:19:55.569 hottest time of year. After we survived that 00:19:55.569 --> 00:19:58.750 week, we got rewarded with a homestay where they 00:19:58.750 --> 00:20:01.910 put us with a local family for one week. I know 00:20:01.910 --> 00:20:04.230 how to say basically, hello, my name is Jeff, 00:20:04.569 --> 00:20:06.970 I'm learning your language, I don't speak your 00:20:06.970 --> 00:20:09.150 language. That's basically all I knew. I didn't 00:20:09.150 --> 00:20:10.930 know how to say, where's the bathroom? I didn't 00:20:10.930 --> 00:20:12.650 know how to say, I don't like that. I didn't 00:20:12.650 --> 00:20:14.750 know how to say, what are we doing today? And 00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:17.369 so I end up in this little island village for 00:20:17.369 --> 00:20:22.190 one week. And it was so hard. It was so hard. 00:20:22.470 --> 00:20:24.630 Then I got finished that week, and I got rewarded 00:20:24.630 --> 00:20:28.210 with two more years of difficulty. I had malaria 00:20:28.210 --> 00:20:31.049 at least eight times. I couldn't get rid of it. 00:20:31.170 --> 00:20:34.769 It just kept coming back. I lost weight. I was 00:20:34.769 --> 00:20:36.609 sick over and over again. When you're sick over 00:20:36.609 --> 00:20:38.690 and over again, language learning is brutally 00:20:38.690 --> 00:20:41.890 hard. It's this temperature every day of the 00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:44.250 year, and we had electricity a couple hours a 00:20:44.250 --> 00:20:48.130 day. Life was challenging. That house had great 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:50.150 running water, but then when I got married, that 00:20:50.150 --> 00:20:52.589 house had no running water. I would tell my wife, 00:20:52.910 --> 00:20:55.230 listen, I've given you the most beautiful house 00:20:55.230 --> 00:20:57.509 in the entire island. We could see dolphins in 00:20:57.509 --> 00:21:00.059 the ocean. outside of our window. And she would 00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:01.500 look down and there would be rats running on 00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:03.559 the ground. And she would say, yeah, but we have 00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:07.559 rats. And I said, but we have dolphins. We agreed 00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:11.359 to disagree on that house. But my first two years 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:13.940 were hard. Physically, I was sick all the time. 00:21:14.619 --> 00:21:16.960 Mentally, I realized something about missions. 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:20.160 I was not good at it. I wasn't good at language 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:22.480 learning. And I wasn't good at sharing the gospel 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:26.000 with strangers. And I wasn't good at just persevering. 00:21:28.899 --> 00:21:31.039 And relationally, it was really hard. I've got 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.700 a twin brother. So again, we talk about John 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:36.319 the Baptist in the womb. I had someone in the 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.019 womb with me. Then I had someone in my room with 00:21:39.019 --> 00:21:41.480 me. And then I go overseas. I've got no one. 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:46.440 And I was lonely every single day. And those 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:48.700 three things were OK. But then the hard part 00:21:48.700 --> 00:21:51.779 was they were the most difficult years spiritually 00:21:51.779 --> 00:21:54.359 of my life. Because I would read this same Bible. 00:21:54.910 --> 00:21:58.049 And I would read Acts, or like this passage in 00:21:58.049 --> 00:22:00.529 Luke. And I would see miracle after miracle. 00:22:00.690 --> 00:22:03.009 And then I would go out and I would do it. And 00:22:03.009 --> 00:22:06.829 I saw no miracle. And I just kept saying, God, 00:22:06.869 --> 00:22:10.109 where are you in this? And that's when I found 00:22:10.109 --> 00:22:12.769 this passage about John the Baptist. And it just 00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:16.869 jumped off the page to me of, do not be offended 00:22:16.869 --> 00:22:19.549 by me. And the Lord, through his spirit, just 00:22:19.549 --> 00:22:22.490 spoke, Jeffrey, you are choosing to be offended 00:22:22.490 --> 00:22:26.140 by what Jesus does. Or in my case, maybe what 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:31.099 Jesus is not doing. And so then I credit Jesus 00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:33.599 through this passage of John the Baptist just 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:36.940 saving my faith. I'll often tell people I've 00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:39.319 never been closer to leaving my faith than when 00:22:39.319 --> 00:22:41.480 I became a missionary, which sounds terrible. 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:45.079 And it is terrible. But it was the honest truth. 00:22:45.140 --> 00:22:48.660 So many things seemed stacked against me. And 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:52.759 yet Jesus is so good. If you were going to design 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:56.470 the most formative transformative years of your 00:22:56.470 --> 00:23:01.890 life. How would you design it? Often it's the 00:23:01.890 --> 00:23:05.970 hardest seasons that God uses to bring the most 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:08.190 change and the most transformation and the most 00:23:08.190 --> 00:23:10.829 blessing into our lives and then through us to 00:23:10.829 --> 00:23:13.009 others. I would never have designed my first 00:23:13.009 --> 00:23:15.769 two years in mission so difficult and yet I wouldn't 00:23:15.769 --> 00:23:17.769 change it for anything. The reason I'm still 00:23:17.769 --> 00:23:20.329 here 20 years later is because God was so good 00:23:20.329 --> 00:23:22.950 to me in those two years by taking all these 00:23:22.950 --> 00:23:25.880 things away. by allowing it to be so much more 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:27.740 difficult than I thought it should have been. 00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:30.940 Because I could identify with John and say, whoa, 00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:34.140 where's my miracle? I'm reading it in the scripture, 00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:37.799 but I don't see the scripture in my life. But 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:39.940 it's another important part of following Jesus, 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:44.200 when our experience can't be the lens, the most 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:47.619 important lens through which we view faith. God's 00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:52.299 word is a rock. It never changes. If my experience 00:23:52.299 --> 00:23:55.059 says Jesus has abandoned me, I know by scripture 00:23:55.059 --> 00:23:57.940 it's not true. If my experience says I don't 00:23:57.940 --> 00:24:01.000 see the goodness of God, I know God is good because 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:04.680 I anchor in his word. So we go back to John the 00:24:04.680 --> 00:24:09.460 Baptist. In Matthew chapter 14, we read how John 00:24:09.460 --> 00:24:12.640 the Baptist died. And Herod the Tetrarch, he 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:15.509 hosts a party. And they have a lot to eat and 00:24:15.509 --> 00:24:18.309 they have a lot to drink. An important note to 00:24:18.309 --> 00:24:20.930 know about him, he's living in sin. He's currently 00:24:20.930 --> 00:24:23.250 taking his brother's wife as his own, or at least 00:24:23.250 --> 00:24:25.950 he's sleeping with his brother's wife. And so 00:24:25.950 --> 00:24:29.609 this young lady comes out and she dances and 00:24:29.609 --> 00:24:31.329 she does a wonderful job for the dinner party. 00:24:32.150 --> 00:24:33.789 And Herod the Tetrarch is so pleased, he says, 00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:36.029 I'll give you whatever you want. And so she goes 00:24:36.029 --> 00:24:38.109 back, talks to her mother, Herodias, and they 00:24:38.109 --> 00:24:40.309 say, we want the head of John the Baptist on 00:24:40.309 --> 00:24:43.589 a platter. You know, it seems like Herod wasn't 00:24:43.589 --> 00:24:45.210 super excited about that, but because he made 00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:48.529 a promise, he couldn't be ashamed in front of 00:24:48.529 --> 00:24:51.650 all his friends. So he goes and he has John the 00:24:51.650 --> 00:24:55.869 Baptist killed. Imagine being John the Baptist. 00:24:56.710 --> 00:25:00.970 You are faithful every second of your life. You 00:25:00.970 --> 00:25:04.589 are an amazing prophet. You forsook the niceties 00:25:04.589 --> 00:25:07.230 of life in Israel. You lived in the desert. You 00:25:07.230 --> 00:25:12.539 baptized Jesus. You knew Jesus. Jesus, just say 00:25:12.539 --> 00:25:15.740 the word and I'll be set free. And we read throughout 00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:17.660 scripture, God was pretty good at getting people 00:25:17.660 --> 00:25:20.160 out of prison, Old Testament and New Testament. 00:25:20.619 --> 00:25:26.200 And yet John the Baptist didn't get that. Instead, 00:25:27.380 --> 00:25:29.640 this dinner party went wrong and John the Baptist 00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:35.839 lost his head. Where is God in that? But I'd 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:38.480 like to suggest God is as much in that as he 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:42.230 is in the miracle. the miracle release, the miracle 00:25:42.230 --> 00:25:46.650 salvation, the miracle whatever. But John the 00:25:46.650 --> 00:25:51.089 Baptist had a difficult calling. When I finished 00:25:51.089 --> 00:25:53.390 my two and a half years in Comoros, I made a 00:25:53.390 --> 00:25:56.809 very simple decision, which shocked most people 00:25:56.809 --> 00:26:00.910 around me. And my decision was this. I'm going 00:26:00.910 --> 00:26:04.789 back. Most people thought I would be done. I 00:26:04.789 --> 00:26:07.569 remember standing up in front of, with our pastor 00:26:07.569 --> 00:26:10.509 at our church in Manchester, and I remember sitting 00:26:10.509 --> 00:26:12.130 there, standing there in front of the congregation, 00:26:12.390 --> 00:26:14.630 and the pastor says, we never thought you'd make 00:26:14.630 --> 00:26:18.089 it. And I remember, again, like, I'm not gonna 00:26:18.089 --> 00:26:19.930 say anything about him. I remember looking at 00:26:19.930 --> 00:26:21.390 him and being like, I didn't know quitting was 00:26:21.390 --> 00:26:24.170 an option. Like, it never occurred to me. And 00:26:24.170 --> 00:26:26.410 then, it never occurred to me not to go back. 00:26:26.750 --> 00:26:29.460 Because if the Lord is asking me to do it, He 00:26:29.460 --> 00:26:31.859 was with me through every difficulty. Had I not 00:26:31.859 --> 00:26:33.680 gone back, I never would have met my wife, we 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:35.539 never would have had our kids, and we never would 00:26:35.539 --> 00:26:38.059 have been having the impact that we are amongst 00:26:38.059 --> 00:26:39.960 people groups who have never heard about Jesus. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:45.359 I love what God has called us to do. People often 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.000 say, wow, you've sacrificed so much to live in 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:51.279 Africa. And I say, oh no, it has been no sacrifice. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:55.180 It has been a complete privilege. To live over 00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:57.160 there when you get to sit down with somebody 00:26:57.160 --> 00:26:59.660 and share the gospel with somebody who has never 00:26:59.660 --> 00:27:04.319 heard it ever You sit there and you say Jesus 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:06.220 why on earth did you give me this privilege? 00:27:07.140 --> 00:27:11.319 How could you let me be part of that? So before 00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:13.740 I close I want to just look at a couple of lessons 00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:16.279 lesson number one from this this story of John 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:20.079 the Baptist I Tried to make a point to emphasize 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:24.000 John lived out in the wilderness But the Bible's 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:26.400 very careful to tell us he didn't live alone. 00:27:26.980 --> 00:27:29.539 He had his disciples. Friends, as people who 00:27:29.539 --> 00:27:31.680 followed Jesus, were not called to be alone. 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:35.160 It's why I'm absolutely in love with God's church. 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:37.440 And it's a privilege to be part of it overseas. 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:39.319 And it's why I want to see it planted amongst 00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:41.759 people groups that don't have it. Because we're 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:45.420 supposed to live in community together. Another 00:27:45.420 --> 00:27:48.140 lesson we take away is authority. I think as 00:27:48.140 --> 00:27:50.779 Americans, in our view of the material world 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:53.819 versus spiritual world, we underestimate the 00:27:53.819 --> 00:27:57.599 authority that God has just by his word. It's 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:00.859 why I ask you to pray with us for the work overseas, 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:03.839 because I think you guys can do more in your 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:06.119 prayers than you will ever know this side of 00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:08.579 eternity. Most Muslims come to faith because 00:28:08.579 --> 00:28:11.579 of dreams. I think that's firmly tied to people 00:28:11.579 --> 00:28:15.390 around the world praying for them. Again. We 00:28:15.390 --> 00:28:17.109 can pull back that curtain when we get to heaven, 00:28:17.210 --> 00:28:19.410 and God shows us some amazing picture of how 00:28:19.410 --> 00:28:21.329 he was orchestrating all these things. But don't 00:28:21.329 --> 00:28:23.990 doubt for one minute your ability to influence 00:28:23.990 --> 00:28:26.849 the nations from here. So please keep praying. 00:28:28.490 --> 00:28:31.910 Another lesson, which I bring out just slightly, 00:28:31.970 --> 00:28:34.430 but I think we get this wrong so much as believers, 00:28:35.750 --> 00:28:39.849 I reference Jesus' baptism with John. When John 00:28:39.849 --> 00:28:41.650 baptized Jesus, God could have come and said 00:28:41.650 --> 00:28:44.609 anything. But he emphasized his delight over 00:28:44.609 --> 00:28:53.150 Jesus. This is my son Whom I love Friends Jesus 00:28:53.150 --> 00:28:57.190 the father the spirit their disposition towards 00:28:57.190 --> 00:29:00.509 us is delight and the enemy would love us to 00:29:00.509 --> 00:29:03.470 to have shame and to say we're not good enough 00:29:03.470 --> 00:29:07.049 or God must be so Displeased with me because 00:29:07.049 --> 00:29:10.230 I should do better or this but God just delights 00:29:10.230 --> 00:29:15.720 in his people He just delights in us. Another 00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:19.279 lesson. We've talked about so many people. The 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:24.460 widow, the centurion, the widow's son, the centurion's 00:29:24.460 --> 00:29:27.640 servant, John the Baptist, the disciples, Jesus, 00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:32.039 Herod, all of these people. I'd like to encourage 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:35.119 you, whatever role God gives you, be willing 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:38.980 to embrace that role. If the role is one of suffering, 00:29:39.539 --> 00:29:42.859 Somebody in the story had to die. And I'm not 00:29:42.859 --> 00:29:45.240 talking about Jesus had to die. But no one gets 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:49.339 raised from the dead if the son of the widow 00:29:49.339 --> 00:29:53.920 of Nain doesn't die. The widow had to lose her 00:29:53.920 --> 00:30:00.640 only son. Those are tough roles. John passed 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:05.819 away. The Roman centurion servant was sick. But 00:30:05.819 --> 00:30:08.539 so often we don't want any of those roles. We 00:30:08.539 --> 00:30:10.980 want the role of Jesus. We want the one with 00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:14.599 the power or the authority. And yet Jesus says, 00:30:14.900 --> 00:30:19.119 will you trust me in life or in death? Will you 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:22.220 trust me in sickness or in health? Will you trust, 00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:24.079 that sounds like a marriage ceremony, will you 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:26.559 trust me no matter what I'm doing, even if you 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:31.259 can't see what I'm doing? Friends, as a church, 00:30:31.339 --> 00:30:35.059 our answer should be yes. But then the primary 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:37.140 lesson I want to pull out is where we started. 00:30:37.859 --> 00:30:42.000 Don't be offended by Jesus. Don't be offended 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:44.400 by what you see him doing. Don't be offended 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:48.299 by what you see him don't doing. If you hang 00:30:48.299 --> 00:30:50.480 your hope on a miracle, you hang your hope on 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:53.579 the wrong thing. If you hang your hope on Jesus, 00:30:53.619 --> 00:30:57.480 you hang your hope on the right person. If you 00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:59.119 hang your hope on a certain answer to prayer, 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:01.500 you hang your hope on the wrong thing. If you 00:31:01.500 --> 00:31:03.200 hang your hope on Jesus, the one who answers 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:05.660 all prayers, you hang your hope on the right 00:31:05.660 --> 00:31:15.730 person. What do you expect of Jesus? His word 00:31:15.730 --> 00:31:17.849 tells us so many wonderful things. We don't doubt 00:31:17.849 --> 00:31:22.269 his goodness. He's more than enough, always. 00:31:24.650 --> 00:31:26.970 Pastor Jared prayed it earlier today. We have 00:31:26.970 --> 00:31:28.950 all these blessings and things are wonderful, 00:31:29.029 --> 00:31:31.829 but if we had none of it, if we just had Jesus, 00:31:32.630 --> 00:31:36.829 that's enough. That was maybe the most important 00:31:36.829 --> 00:31:39.569 little... missions lesson I learned in my first 00:31:39.569 --> 00:31:43.750 two years was all I need is Jesus. And if I have 00:31:43.750 --> 00:31:47.750 Jesus, if my hope is set on Jesus, if my vision 00:31:47.750 --> 00:31:50.529 is set on Jesus, if my desire is anchored to 00:31:50.529 --> 00:31:56.009 Jesus, I will never be disappointed. And I could 00:31:56.009 --> 00:31:58.009 have set my desire on good things like the church 00:31:58.009 --> 00:32:01.210 being planted, or physical health being well, 00:32:01.730 --> 00:32:04.960 or avoiding malaria. or the water turning on, 00:32:05.079 --> 00:32:07.279 or the electricity staying on, or things like 00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:11.640 that, those things will always disappoint. But 00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:14.339 if my highest hope was just simply knowing Jesus, 00:32:14.859 --> 00:32:17.539 and being with Jesus, and wanting whatever Jesus 00:32:17.539 --> 00:32:20.339 wanted, I learned I'll never be disappointed. 00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:23.019 So if you look back over your life, I'm guessing 00:32:23.019 --> 00:32:27.259 it's the same as if I look back over mine. My 00:32:27.259 --> 00:32:31.799 biggest moments of disappointment are where Jesus, 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:35.539 where my... my desires didn't align with Jesus', 00:32:35.539 --> 00:32:39.140 even if I thought they did. And as I look back 00:32:39.140 --> 00:32:42.680 over my life, I've suffered different defeats, 00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:48.400 heartaches, and disappointments. But when I spend 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:50.519 time with Jesus, I realize he's never disappointed 00:32:50.519 --> 00:32:55.759 me, not once, despite the difficulty and despite 00:32:55.759 --> 00:32:58.900 the pain. Walking with Jesus is not a pain -free 00:32:58.900 --> 00:33:03.140 life, but I love we sang the hymn, about he leadeth 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:09.099 us. Always. Everywhere. We say even death isn't 00:33:09.099 --> 00:33:12.400 to be avoided. That whatever our lot is, we're 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:16.380 fine with it. Those two years in Comoros shaped 00:33:16.380 --> 00:33:19.480 the rest of my life. They were painful, they 00:33:19.480 --> 00:33:22.799 were difficult. The last 18 have been nothing 00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:25.980 like that. But if the next two years are exactly 00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:28.619 like the first two, I want to be someone who 00:33:28.619 --> 00:33:32.819 just says, Jesus, thank you. Let me end with 00:33:32.819 --> 00:33:34.759 a real life example of what I'm talking about. 00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:42.839 In Comoros, we labored for 15 years to see a 00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:46.599 church planted. And at about the 13 year mark, 00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:49.759 we saw a whole bunch of fruit. People started 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:52.160 coming to the Lord. A family came to the Lord. 00:33:52.660 --> 00:33:54.940 Singles came to the Lord. They started winning 00:33:54.940 --> 00:33:58.660 people to the Lord. It was beautiful. This family 00:33:58.660 --> 00:34:00.700 that came to the Lord the Easter before we left 00:34:00.700 --> 00:34:03.539 so we left in summer of 2024 to move to Kenya 00:34:03.539 --> 00:34:06.740 But so Easter so that would have been April 2024 00:34:06.740 --> 00:34:09.599 we sat in our living room with our missionary 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:13.960 team and with these local believers and We had 00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:16.780 kids we had old people. We had young people and 00:34:16.780 --> 00:34:19.449 we just sat and we just walked through the Easter 00:34:19.449 --> 00:34:22.210 story. We sat on the floor. We ate dinner out 00:34:22.210 --> 00:34:24.710 of platters together. It was a very cultural 00:34:24.710 --> 00:34:26.670 experience and a very biblical experience, and 00:34:26.670 --> 00:34:29.070 it was beautiful. And as I looked, I'm like, 00:34:29.090 --> 00:34:31.849 God, I'm saying goodbye to this because our time 00:34:31.849 --> 00:34:33.929 here is finished, but man, you are capable to 00:34:33.929 --> 00:34:36.230 keep this thing going. And so it kept going, 00:34:36.250 --> 00:34:39.110 and a new person came to faith, this middle -aged 00:34:39.110 --> 00:34:41.550 lady who in our society doesn't have a lot of 00:34:41.550 --> 00:34:45.329 status, and yet she's on fire for Jesus. And 00:34:45.329 --> 00:34:47.699 she's... seeing wonderful things happen in her 00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:51.760 community. This week, today's Sunday, on Wednesday, 00:34:52.059 --> 00:34:53.780 I get a message from the team that is still on 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:56.139 the island. And this is what the message said. 00:34:57.320 --> 00:35:00.400 It's with heavy heart I pass on this news. The 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:03.579 father in that family with six kids has passed 00:35:03.579 --> 00:35:08.320 away. He's got six small kids. He loves Jesus. 00:35:09.219 --> 00:35:13.219 And he died from an infection that in America 00:35:13.219 --> 00:35:16.670 you could have dealt with easily. But he didn't 00:35:16.670 --> 00:35:18.809 have access to good medical care, and he passes 00:35:18.809 --> 00:35:22.349 away. And I just look back to the heavens and 00:35:22.349 --> 00:35:25.429 I say, Jesus, I don't know what you're doing. 00:35:25.909 --> 00:35:28.250 Because if I was thinking of how to build a church 00:35:28.250 --> 00:35:31.010 in this place without one, I would keep these 00:35:31.010 --> 00:35:36.510 people alive. But I just say, Jesus, you're good. 00:35:36.929 --> 00:35:40.429 And I'm mourning the passing of this guy. But 00:35:40.429 --> 00:35:44.150 my hope was not hung on this person. My hope 00:35:44.150 --> 00:35:49.699 is in Jesus. The widow of Nain's story. Did you 00:35:49.699 --> 00:35:53.159 guys catch the widow of Nain? The son she lost 00:35:53.159 --> 00:35:57.320 was her only son. Well, who was John the Baptist? 00:35:59.340 --> 00:36:02.380 John the Baptist was the miracle baby of Zechariah 00:36:02.380 --> 00:36:05.380 and Elizabeth. He had every right to claim that 00:36:05.380 --> 00:36:08.679 small detail. He had every right for Jesus to 00:36:08.679 --> 00:36:12.059 look on him with the same compassion and the 00:36:12.059 --> 00:36:15.719 same grace. And yet the widow of Nain's son gets 00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:18.940 raised. and John the Baptist passes away. And 00:36:18.940 --> 00:36:22.820 either way, Jesus is glorified. And as we work 00:36:22.820 --> 00:36:25.039 to see God's church planted amongst the nations, 00:36:25.579 --> 00:36:28.380 no matter how it goes, if we are faithful, he 00:36:28.380 --> 00:36:31.840 will be worshiped and he will be glorified. And 00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:33.900 that's the same in your lives. No matter what 00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:36.579 you face today or tomorrow, whatever you brought 00:36:36.579 --> 00:36:39.480 into church with you this morning, if you stay 00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:42.969 true to Jesus, If you say, Jesus, I don't understand, 00:36:43.090 --> 00:36:45.309 and I would sure love to understand, but I'm 00:36:45.309 --> 00:36:47.269 okay with not understanding because I know you 00:36:47.269 --> 00:36:49.869 are good and I trust you, then Jesus gets the 00:36:49.869 --> 00:36:53.449 glory, which is what we want. Let me pray for 00:36:53.449 --> 00:36:56.630 you. Father God, I thank you and I pray this 00:36:56.630 --> 00:36:58.969 morning that you would be glorified here in this 00:36:58.969 --> 00:37:03.909 church as a spiritual community and as individuals. 00:37:04.829 --> 00:37:07.230 Lord may our trust and our hope be in you may 00:37:07.230 --> 00:37:09.610 you continue to amaze us may you continue to 00:37:09.610 --> 00:37:12.090 wow us may you continue to do things we just 00:37:12.090 --> 00:37:16.829 didn't see coming and Lord help us help each 00:37:16.829 --> 00:37:18.409 and every one of us to walk through difficult 00:37:18.409 --> 00:37:21.050 seasons and may our response be instead of running 00:37:21.050 --> 00:37:23.829 from you may our response be to just anchor into 00:37:23.829 --> 00:37:27.050 you and say I don't understand but I trust and 00:37:27.050 --> 00:37:29.630 I don't know what's gonna happen, but I know 00:37:29.630 --> 00:37:33.409 you Jesus, and I know you are good Jesus, we 00:37:33.409 --> 00:37:37.230 thank you that the same one who is king here 00:37:37.230 --> 00:37:40.829 is king everywhere and that your kingdom is coming 00:37:40.829 --> 00:37:45.650 and that your will will be done on earth as it 00:37:45.650 --> 00:37:48.590 is in heaven and that one day we will worship 00:37:48.590 --> 00:37:53.769 you forever with people from all nations. In 00:37:53.769 --> 00:37:57.250 that name, in your name, in the name of Jesus 00:37:57.250 --> 00:37:58.449 we pray. Amen.