1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,600 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm Podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located in 2 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:17,120 beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship Ministries 3 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,800 with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, discipleship 4 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:28,160 and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church and other sermons 5 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,480 from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your host for this 6 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:37,040 podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing to you and 7 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:49,920 bring you closer to God. Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm Podcast. I am 8 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:55,200 the pastor here in Salmon Arm. My name is David Bickford. Today I have something new and it is 9 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,520 Mitchell Mondays. This is going to be a collection of sermons from our founding pastor, the late 10 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:05,040 Wayman Mitchell and our current head pastor, his son, Greg Mitchell based out of Prescott, Arizona. 11 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,680 These are powerful messages from our fellowship leaders and I hope that these messages add to 12 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:19,680 your week. God bless. Praise God. That is very exciting. I was having flashbacks there and I 13 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:30,080 remember 27 years ago in February, just gone, that Lisa and I stood in a farewell service like this 14 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:36,880 and went out into the adventure of a lifetime. So I am very excited what God is doing. Turn in 15 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:45,920 your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 26. The book of Acts chapter 26, 1930, England's King 16 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:54,640 George V. He was going to give a speech that was supposed to be broadcast by radio all around the 17 00:01:54,640 --> 00:02:02,480 world just before he was due to speak. Someone tripped over one of the electrical wires and 18 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:09,680 actually it snapped in two and this would have the result that that wire was the one that was 19 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:17,200 going to be transmitting to the entire American audience. A man named Harold Vidian, chief control 20 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:26,640 operator, he grabbed the two ends of the wires and he held on to the bare wire and completed the 21 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:35,680 circuit. Electricity was shocking him but by holding on it meant that the King's speech could 22 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:43,040 be transmitted and he held on until he was finished. And so think about that. He became the connection 23 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:50,240 that enabled the message of the King to go out. In the scripture that we are going to read, Paul 24 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:58,000 is now an old man. He's been in the ministry for many, many years. He's been arrested and his life 25 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:06,160 now is going to be winding down in ministry in many ways. And he is telling King Agrippa here 26 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:12,880 after all the things that have happened, he goes back to the beginning and he tells him about a 27 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:22,160 heavenly vision that he had and Paul is describing how he became the connection for the message 28 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:30,240 of the King. This is true for disciples. This is true for churches and very, very important what 29 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:37,600 we're doing tonight in sending out these workers, this is these two couples, this will be the fourth 30 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:44,320 couple this year from our congregation that we're sending out because there is a vision that has 31 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:51,920 been imparted and I believe it would do us well as we're doing this. It does us well like we're 32 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:57,360 doing it well like Paul obviously he would refresh in his memory, why am I doing this? 33 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:05,120 That would do us well tonight on a launching night of these two couples that we would be 34 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:10,240 reminded again of the heavenly vision. I want to preach about the heavenly vision connection. 35 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:17,120 26, we'll just read two verses. You can read all of the vision that he describes in your own time 36 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:24,880 in chapter 26 but chapter 26 verse 19 of the book of Acts it says, Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not 37 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:34,560 disobedient to the heavenly vision, but I declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and 38 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:41,760 throughout all of the region of Judea, then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God 39 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:49,440 and do works fitting of repentance. The heavenly vision connection. I want to begin, I want to talk 40 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:59,120 about observing the vision. The scripture that we read just a portion of gives us a Bible pattern 41 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:06,640 and Paul speaks about the power of vision. Think about this. It has three parts in Paul's mind. 42 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:14,000 Number one, God has plans for our life. Verse 16, he says that God told him, I've appeared to you 43 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:22,240 for this purpose to make you a minister and a witness. That word make, make you a minister. 44 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:32,800 The word make means to grab in advance. And here is the idea that Paul said, God interrupted my life. 45 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:39,760 Ian said it was not his plan to preach the gospel. That was Paul, wasn't even his plan to be a follower 46 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:48,720 of God, but God interrupted to grab in advance that God has the right to make choices for our lives. 47 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:56,640 That is absolutely foundational in serving God and doing anything for God. He has the right to choose 48 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:04,720 things for us. This has to do with purpose, place and timing. Pastor Mitchell's preached many times, 49 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:09,920 the will of God is certain people in certain places, doing certain things at certain times. 50 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:18,160 So he says, I had a vision and God showed me he has plans for our lives. Number two, he says, 51 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:27,920 the second part of this is that God saves us for a purpose. And when he saves us, it is his intention 52 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:36,400 that we make impact on other people. And this is what God revealed to Paul. Verse 16 says, 53 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:45,040 to make you a minister and a witness, to serve people and declare God to other people. Verse 18 says, 54 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:53,600 to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light. And so here it is, this is the second 55 00:06:53,600 --> 00:07:01,680 part of the vision as Paul sees it, is that God not only chooses or has the right to make choices, 56 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:10,240 but in our lives, he saves us for a purpose. He intends for you to make impact on somebody else 57 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:18,240 in life. And the third part of this in the vision, he says, is that the vision is meant to expand 58 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:25,840 wherever we are right now in the gospel. We are meant to expand God's influence in this verse. 59 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:33,440 In verse 20, he says, so therefore, when he obeyed this, I preached first in Damascus, 60 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:41,760 then Jerusalem, throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles. This is the will of God, 61 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:49,760 is that God's purpose not just be localized in one place, but that it expand. Jesus said in Mark 1, 62 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:56,960 38, that we should go to other towns so that I can preach there too. That is the reason that I came. 63 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:04,880 This is what an ordination service or a launching of couples in a service like this is all about, 64 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:12,960 is that we believe that God has made a choice in our lives and made a choice in their lives, 65 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:19,760 that God saved them to touch somebody else. He wants us to touch somebody else. And we are going 66 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:28,720 to obey the heavenly vision by expanding into other places beyond Prescott, Arizona. And so Paul talks 67 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:35,840 about this heavenly vision that God gave him. But if you read in the book of Acts, there is a pattern 68 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:44,240 that's formed about vision. God gives individual visions. I preached four weeks or so ago about 69 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:52,960 that, that God may speak to you individually. But something is shown in the Bible that individual 70 00:08:52,960 --> 00:09:02,480 visions have corporate impact. In Acts chapter 16 and verse 9, Paul gets a vision of a Macedonian 71 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:09,680 man saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. And verse 10, Luke, whose writing says, 72 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:17,680 and we concluded that God called us to preach there. That is the Bible pattern. God often will 73 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:27,200 give a vision to someone, but from that vision, other people join in the vision given to them. 74 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:34,800 And it makes impact on other people's lives. Our fellowship was founded by our pastor, 75 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:42,560 Wayman Mitchell. And there were things that God did in and through him that he intends for us to 76 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:48,800 be a part of. And we're going to go back to the beginning tonight. I want you to think about this. 77 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:56,720 Pastor Mitchell, my father was saved in 1954. And sometime later, he was powerfully filled with the 78 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:03,040 Holy Spirit. I spoke about that in conference. But one of the things that happens, listen, 79 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:11,920 if you genuinely have the Holy Spirit at work, it is more than just a tingle or a vibe or an emotion. 80 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:20,560 A desire is birthed to do something for God. That is how you know that the Holy Ghost is at work, 81 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:26,560 because there's a desire to be useful for God's purposes. Pastor Mitchell, when he got saved, 82 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:34,000 that he had a desire to pray. There were no morning prayer meetings. He would in Phoenix, Arizona, 83 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:41,040 would get in a shed in the backyard in the heat and would pray before going to work. And he was 84 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:49,120 praying for God to use his life. There was a desire to witness. God involved him in street 85 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:57,840 preaching in Glendale Park, in Phoenix, and in a Skid Row Mission in downtown Phoenix in witnessing 86 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:05,760 to people there. There came a desire to preach. He said one morning that he was praying before 87 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:12,080 work. It was alone in the house. And he said an overwhelming feeling came over him that I feel 88 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:17,680 what I should do is to preach the gospel. And finally, there was a desire to be a missionary. 89 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:22,880 They would have visiting missionaries come and speak in the church, and he would be moved by 90 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:29,520 the stories that they told. He began to read books and saw some films by T.L. Osborne and began to 91 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:36,640 have a desire that maybe someday I could be a missionary. When he went to his pastors, in those 92 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:41,360 days, the only options if you wanted to be a pastor was to go to Bible college. And so they 93 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:48,480 recommended. He ultimately did this, went to Life Bible College in Los Angeles. But that was overall 94 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:54,560 a disillusioning experience because he's going to school with people who weren't called to the 95 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:59,680 ministry. Their parents were trying to keep them out of trouble. Many of them weren't saved. Then 96 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:05,040 he had professors who didn't believe the Bible. Or if they had a curriculum they were teaching, 97 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:11,840 they didn't teach it. They didn't believe it or it was impractical. And Bible school separated you 98 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:18,080 from from people in real ministry. Ultimately, he became a pastor in the Foursquare organization. 99 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:25,040 And that became disillusioning because he had been it had been rammed into him in Bible college that 100 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:30,480 children's ministry Sunday school is that's how you reach the world. And he began to discover he 101 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:35,200 could get kids to come and you'd offer games and candy bars. But it didn't mean that the parents 102 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:43,440 would get saved. He saw politics in an organization instead of life change. And he ultimately quit the 103 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:49,200 ministry for a time, just worked a job, then went back in the ministry and ultimately came in 104 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:56,480 disillusionment again. He quit for the second time, called up and quit the church that he was 105 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:01,600 pastoring in Carson, California, was going to leave the ministry altogether. This brings us to 106 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:08,160 opening the vision. I preached some time back and I spoke about the five parts of our vision. I'm 107 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:13,600 not going to give all of that, but I want you to think about this opening the vision. Listen to me, 108 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:18,880 God is in charge of life. This is what this scripture says when he talks about going back 109 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:26,240 to the beginning. He learned something. God is in charge. God interrupted. God is able to direct 110 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:33,840 people who keep their hearts right. God spoke to Saul and told him where to go and who is going 111 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:40,880 to speak to him. A man named Ananias is going to speak to you. Psalm 37 23 says, the steps of a 112 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:48,960 good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way. When Pastor Mitchell called his 113 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:53,840 supervisor and announced that he had quit, they said, no, don't quit. Think of, no, I did quit. 114 00:13:53,840 --> 00:14:00,240 I'm done. I did. It's over. And they said, all right, well, maybe before you quit altogether, 115 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:05,600 you want to go look. There's a church that's come open in Prescott, Arizona. This was no prize. It 116 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:13,280 was because of a moral failure. And this became opened. And you know, I've told the story on 117 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:19,680 numbers of occasions. He and my mom discussed, they said there are two younger families in 118 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:26,000 particular that are in the church. And if they will stay, this is Bob and Sharon Allen and Dale 119 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,200 and Barb Copeland. We're going to talk to them. If they will stay in the church, then we'll take it. 120 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:36,240 They came and spoke to them and they agreed that they would stick with the church if my parents 121 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:44,320 came. And so the very first service in January of 1970, they had 29 people and seven of those were 122 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:52,160 our family. And so this is where it begins. I want you to think about this. God began to reveal 123 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:58,880 his vision in stages. This was not a master plan that he arrived in Prescott with a blueprint, 124 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:05,280 but God revealed, I want you to think about three of those that are very important for us as we're 125 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:13,360 launching couples out. Number one, the first part is that evangelism is our purpose. This is what we 126 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:22,000 were birthed in a church that was 29 people, but God began to save people. And two young couples 127 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:30,960 came in and got saved. And one of them was a member of a rock band called Eden. And they began to tell 128 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:38,160 Pastor Mitchell, you know, with his lime green suit and orange socks that that rock and roll music, 129 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:45,520 their young people would come out. He had no clue what all was involved, but hired the boys club 130 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:55,520 downtown in downtown Prescott. We, Mimi Grant ran off a few hand-drawn flyers and at the very first 131 00:15:55,520 --> 00:16:04,400 concert outside the four walls, 250 young people came out and over 50 people got saved. Kathy 132 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:14,880 Garfield got saved that night. She's still saved today. Thank God. And this is what God, 133 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:21,920 listen, he leads people who keeps their heart right. As we stumbled into that, that was better 134 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:31,520 than giving away chocolate bars to kiddies. Sinners came in and we began to minister. In fact, 135 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:38,480 this is what we exist for is for the laws. Our church is built around being a witness. 136 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:46,640 That is what this scripture says. I will make you a witness. And we aim for decisions. One thing I 137 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:55,200 can guarantee in our church, I don't care what the service is. We had a funeral up on the Saturday 138 00:16:55,200 --> 00:17:01,760 and you knew there would be an altar call. The gospel would be declared. We have weddings and 139 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:09,280 the gospel is declared. I don't care what it is. We have the altar calls around here because that 140 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:17,600 is what we are about. We take the gospel outside the four walls. Our motto is find a crowd or 141 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:27,120 create a crowd so that we can preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1970, we began having concert 142 00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:34,080 ministry and we started after that initial success in the boys club. Ultimately, we rented a building 143 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:41,200 on Granite Street and we began a concert ministry and we've not stopped doing that for 43 years. 144 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:46,560 You heard the report on Sunday morning on our concert ministry that now is on Gurley Street 145 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:51,520 downtown. Oh, it's got a few more bells and whistles, a few more lights, and now it's got video 146 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:58,240 and little fancier. But listen, you heard on the weekend, eight people were saved and four of those 147 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:05,440 were in church the next morning because that is our purpose. We're sending Ian and Priscilla, 148 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:11,840 we're sending Paul and Amy and we expect that in Fountain, Colorado and Marion, Illinois, 149 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:20,160 you are there to evangelize. You are there to find sinners and declare the gospel because that is 150 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:29,600 our vision. Second part of the vision is making disciples. Making disciples is our purpose. 151 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:35,200 From the beginning of our church, Pastor Vichal had young men, he ran the outreach ministry. 152 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:43,840 When we had the concert, he refused, he would not do the altar call. He would not, you know, 153 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:51,680 he kept out the, you know, the crazies and all the kinds of different things, but he insisted 154 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:59,600 that young men, you will run the outreach ministry. And part of that was that they could relate, 155 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:06,720 but part of that is that is the only way that you develop is you have to hands-on, 156 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:15,440 you have to wrestle through problems and develop. This is what happens. And so he began to see that 157 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:23,280 the same desires that he had as he preached under anointing, he had young men desire was birthed in 158 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:31,680 their heart, just like him. I want to do something for God. And initially the same advice, all he 159 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:37,520 knew was go to Bible school. We had two young men go to Bible school and almost completely ruined 160 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:45,600 them. They came back ruined, they had lost the fire and now they believe some strange things by 161 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:51,760 going to Bible school. And he began to see that is not going to work. We cannot have good young men 162 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,000 that are on fire and then send them with funky professors who's going to kill everything good 163 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:02,000 in them. That's not going to work. And he began to see that the Bible method is discipleship. 164 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:12,000 That is hands-on instruction in relationship to a man of God, imitation of a godly example, 165 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:18,800 emphasis on the heart and character more than book learning, and thirdly involvement in real ministry. 166 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:26,320 These two young men as they were were testifying, I'm thinking back when they first began to express 167 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:34,240 a desire in ministry in both of these couples that I have spoken to them and they were wrestling, 168 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:39,360 working with new converts and the frustration pastor these people got saved but they're doing 169 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:45,600 stupid things and they're not making good decision. What do you do? That is ministry. 170 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:53,120 Learning how to pray people through and learn how to not strangle some people. That's a very good 171 00:20:53,120 --> 00:21:02,960 lesson. You would not learn that if I just gave them a test on people skills. But there is something 172 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:07,760 making disciples is our... Listen, what we're doing, these are the fourth couple that we've had 173 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:12,720 actually in the last six months that we're sending out tonight because that is who we are. 174 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:21,360 Disciples raising up young couples to send out in the ministry. The third part that we look at 175 00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:28,320 of the vision is that the local church is the key. The local church is something powerful. See, 176 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:32,480 most Christians they don't believe that. They don't believe the local church is enough. You 177 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:38,720 have to go outside the church. Send them away to Bible school. Get a para church organization 178 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:44,400 to come help you. Whether that's to raise money or whatever it might be. They don't believe the local 179 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:50,480 church is enough to carry out the will of God. But Pastor Mitchell began to get the revelation 180 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:57,680 God's plan is the local church. That is his whole purpose. Ephesians 1 22 and 23 says, 181 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:03,920 God placed all things under his feet appointed him to be head over everything for the church. 182 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:12,880 The church is his body. The fullness, that means completeness of him who fills everything in every 183 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:20,960 way. That means everything that God wants to do in the earth comes through the church. That is 184 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:27,840 God's plan and that is the power. And so what that means folks is that what God wants to do, 185 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:37,040 this is not about two young men or even two couples or two families that somehow that 186 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:44,640 they have arrived in their calling. But rather this is something that God chooses for a church. 187 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:51,920 In Acts chapter 13 listen to this verse one through three. Now in the church at Antioch there were 188 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:57,280 certain prophets and teachers as they ministered to the Lord and fasted the Holy Spirit said, 189 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:04,400 now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I've called them to. And then having 190 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:10,640 fasted and prayed and having hands laid on them they sent them away. Right there is the Bible 191 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:19,680 pattern. It was in the church that God got a hold of young men and revealed his will and God said, 192 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:30,000 you the church send them to do the what I've called them to do. That is God's purpose is the 193 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:36,640 local church. Pastor Mitchell saw as we began to do outreaches for other churches that we're going 194 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:42,800 to have to have men in these cities. If we're going to outreach in other cities we better have 195 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:48,560 somebody there who has our spirit and believes like us or else we're wasting our time. No point 196 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:53,360 in us evangelizing getting a bunch of people saved and then turning them over to some cold 197 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:58,400 dead funky church so they become cold dead and funky or else they're not going to love them at 198 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:08,160 all. He said that's not going to work and so in 1973 here was the great experiment never been done 199 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:18,320 by us before is we had a worker who had not gone to Bible school but we found a city close by the 200 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:29,200 metropolis of Wickenburg Arizona and we sent a couple like all the way down the hill and we 201 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:34,720 sent them to give them that vision that you're going to evangelize it and you're going to replicate 202 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:42,720 what you've seen here and in six months that church was self-supporting. That it worked that 203 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:49,520 what we had done in Prescott it actually worked in another city that later on in short order just 204 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:56,400 not long later we sent it the second couple Harold and Mona Warner we sent it to Tucson Arizona and 205 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:04,800 that church began to take off it worked just like it did in Prescott. 1975 we sent the first worker 206 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:15,600 to a foreign nation all the way across the fence into Nogales Mexico. 1977 in Holland a couple that 207 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:23,600 Pastor Mitchell had met we released them and they began to put in place in Holland and in 1978 in 208 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:29,760 Australia for the first time we had in a conference we had a couple stand up and we raised money we 209 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:35,280 said we're going to send them on the other side of the world to Perth West Australia. You know that 210 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:41,200 in time Pastor Mitchell that desire to become a missionary that God had put on his heart was 211 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:48,640 fulfilled. He did go to Australia on three different occasions to fulfill that. It was in 212 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:54,720 Australia where I went. God got a hold of me. It was in Perth West Australia where I was 213 00:25:54,720 --> 00:26:02,560 discipled and trained in much of what I know about ministry. I learned in a local church 214 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:10,560 in Perth West Australia and I even use that here to this day. It is a local church that will provide 215 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:19,440 the finances and the opportunities for evangelism to learn the training of workers the sending of 216 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:26,720 workers. Our vision is the local church. Let's look at one final thing. Let's talk about obeying the 217 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:36,240 vision. See this scripture that Paul he reflects back on the vision he says vision requires response. 218 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:44,640 It's all well and good for us to say the Lord spoke to me or God show me or I saw this or I see that 219 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:51,600 but you have to choose to obey. Verse 19 he says I was not disobedient to the heavenly 220 00:26:52,480 --> 00:27:01,360 vision. Disciples have to obey their own heavenly vision. God will speak individually. 221 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:10,000 Ian was saying about here he wasn't expecting what that meant is he told me actually wrote it out 222 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:16,320 and found in Colorado he gave me demographics and look at that and I agreed I said that's 223 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:21,840 tremendous called him in and said okay and let's do it. He said I was thinking like five years from now 224 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:32,880 has a vision that's tied to the larger vision. So what has to happen when God begins to put his 225 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:38,400 finger on his life every disciple has to decide does God have the right to make a choice about 226 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:45,920 your life. He said I wasn't expecting to preach but does God have a right to make a choice for 227 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:51,920 your life. Colossians 1 1 Paul says I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. 228 00:27:53,360 --> 00:28:00,560 Second question for disciples is does God have something larger for your life. Matthew 4 19 229 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:08,720 follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. So I said while I was listening to these young men I 230 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:15,520 remember I'm looking at how skinny Ian is I remember being a skinny little 12 year old. 231 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:23,920 No I was not quite I looked like it but I remember standing and and and this thought here God had a 232 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:31,440 specific city think about that when I was young God knew that I was going to go and pioneer in a 233 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:38,320 place called Launceston Tasmania on the island of Tasmania in Australia. God knew this God knew that 234 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:45,280 Paul and Amy were going to go to Marion Illinois. He knew that he knew that in Priscilla we're going 235 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:51,120 to go to fountain Colorado right next to Fort Carson he was speaking specific cities listen 236 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:59,520 disciple does God have a specific city for you because that was what captured me is I I had no 237 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,720 intention of preaching the gospel that I began to hear people talking about cities and and I 238 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:10,000 went I want to see a church there and something began to be birthed on the inside I'm watching 239 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:16,000 Pastor Mitchell put pins or marks on a map and I'm thinking does he have a city for me 240 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:25,200 does he have a city for me a specific church maybe Paul and Amy are going to a specific 241 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:34,640 church to take over specific people you saw Darrell Elliott preach this morning that he is 242 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:43,280 the product of one of our granddaughter churches we planted that first couple 1978 in Perth West 243 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:55,680 Australia 19 late 1980 they sent a worker into Geraldton West Australia and and here this is 244 00:29:55,680 --> 00:30:02,800 not just names and numbers and pins on a map Darrell Elliott and Jillian were saved in one 245 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:10,320 of our granddaughter churches and here 27 years later he's preaching in this church because of 246 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:19,280 heavenly vision listen to me God has specific people for disciples to reach but if that's true 247 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:25,200 Paul says I was not disobedient you have to aim your entire life at calling this will take your 248 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:32,000 time this will dominate your finances your lifestyle your job choices career choices 249 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:38,320 Mark 1 verse 20 he called them and immediately they left their father Zebedee in the boat with 250 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:48,320 a hired man and he they went with Jesus but the other part of this is that churches have to be 251 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:54,720 obedient to the heavenly vision oh I pray that God would put this in your spirit this is not just 252 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:59,360 yeah it's the disciple thing that they come they do their bid yeah and they they get to go no no 253 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:06,880 this is what we do as a church that churches have to be obedient to the heavenly vision listen 254 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:12,800 does God have the right to choose things for your life you might not be called to preach 255 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:22,080 but the pattern that I told you in the beginning God makes choices does he have the right to ask 256 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:32,000 you to be part of something larger than yourself in Antioch I read in Acts chapter 13 there was an 257 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:41,520 atmosphere created in that church where young men could hear the call of God they could they they 258 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:49,280 could God could make choices in a church and the church could send them listen we have a part in 259 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:55,520 this and I I was thinking about that this is the fourth couple this year that we've sent just from 260 00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:00,960 our church that's not the international churches all the others and and you know I think we're now 261 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:06,080 I think we're now supporting 30 missionaries right now I'm not even talking about any of that 262 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:14,480 four young couples from our church just this year alone an atmosphere that allows workers to be 263 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:20,880 developed that we let them there are some of you here I thank God for you get what we're doing 264 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:27,120 some of you've been involved in concert ministry for many many years and you know and we get these 265 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:33,280 young kids and we let them be in charge and run things but you get what this is about this is not 266 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:41,120 about whether or not they're going to be perfect you get we are doing something bigger than running 267 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:46,160 a concert on one night is we are training workers that are going to reach the world 268 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:55,520 and we have a part in that an atmosphere we're going to provide the finances we handed Paul and 269 00:32:55,520 --> 00:33:03,920 Amy a check I think if I remember right to the sister Allen gave them a check two days ago for 270 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:11,200 nine thousand two hundred and forty nine dollars and that is just to get them there and to support 271 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:18,640 them for one month this is not cheap you're looking for a cheap church the potter's house 272 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:26,640 is not for you it's not a cheap church and we make a commitment it's going to take big money 273 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:32,720 to plant when the clients get there we're going to rent building that's not even talking about 274 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:39,680 the equipment that we give and all what we do is incredibly expensive and God needs people who say 275 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:48,560 listen my finances are available to God and his purposes and most of all that there be spiritual 276 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:53,600 support it's not merely that we clap and say hey pat him on the back good on your bro that's good 277 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:59,920 to see you and have fun and go listen to me they're there these people they they have no 278 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:09,600 idea what they're getting themselves into don't tell them I'm riding in the car yesterday 279 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:14,960 and one of our workers that stood right there and he looked so free he called me and I said 280 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:21,680 I said you got scrambled egg brains again don't you the demons of hell are assaulting in 281 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:27,760 mind and is confident and listen what these couples need to know is that when they're there 282 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:32,080 they're going to take on the forces of hell but they're not going to do that alone that they're 283 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:36,720 going to be people who are going to come to morning prayer are going to call out by name 284 00:34:36,720 --> 00:34:44,080 whether that's going to be alphabetical or not I don't know but that we are going to stand because 285 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:51,600 we are doing this together this vision is not just pastor Mitchell's vision it's not just Paul's or 286 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:59,120 Ian's vision this is something that God has given us as a church listen we are taking the world you 287 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:05,760 understand that it's not that we're talking about it we are doing this we have a commitment to 288 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:11,200 reach the world and we have a reward that we can share in Philippians 4 verse 17 not because I 289 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:19,600 desire a gift but I desire fruit that will abound or multiply to your account I preached I think 290 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:28,400 four years ago an expanded version of this on the heavenly vision when I'm preached that at the end 291 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:35,680 of the sermon I told you that we had at that point in time 430 churches in the U.S. 930 churches in 292 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:45,600 350 internationally at that time we had 1380 churches in 97 nations of the earth but right now 293 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:59,680 I'm declaring to you on July 17th 2013 we now have 539 churches in the U.S. 1498 internationally 294 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:06,800 we have 2028 churches in 112 nations of the earth praise God 295 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:17,920 and we have that together we have did you see Gordon Porter 296 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:25,760 Tessie Gordon Porter come on he's one of our own he's a Prescott boy he's from Baghdad isn't he 297 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:34,320 Gordon Porter is in Kathmandu Nepal can you believe that he sends photos I'm like that's Gordon 298 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:42,240 is there is there a photo on the bulletin board of Gordon Porter in Nepal 299 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:47,760 preaching the God I'll never forget I brought him in the office and told him this we got an 300 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,560 opportunity you want to go to Nepal I thought he was going to pass out 301 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:57,920 but listen the vision works the vision works I've passed it in two different nations besides America 302 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:05,520 it works it works that's the heavenly vision and we are connected to that 303 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:11,840 praise God that was another powerful message by one of our leaders in the fellowship I just want 304 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:16,320 to take this opportunity to quickly you know give you an invitation to Christ if this message 305 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:21,040 impacted you in some way and you want to you know give your life to Christ you want to know 306 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:27,040 how to do that it's pretty simple all you have to do is say a quick prayer something simple and 307 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:32,800 short just like this dear Lord God I know that I'm a sinner and I know that you sent your son Jesus 308 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:40,800 Christ to set me free from my sin he came to earth to die for our sins and he rose again 309 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:46,960 so that we might be saved I repent of my sin I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and 310 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:52,080 I thank you for your salvation for the salvation you give us through grace in Jesus name we pray 311 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:56,800 amen thank you for listening today and I can't wait for you to come back next time 312 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:05,440 thank you for listening to the PHA Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast be sure to follow us on 313 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:10,240 Instagram at potter's house underscore salmon arm to keep up to date on what we are doing 314 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:36,480 join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ can revolutionize your life