Amen. This is what we're called to do, to take
Him to the nations, to proclaim forgiveness in
His name, to turn from those who live in darkness,
to turn into the great light that's in Christ.
And so this morning, I would ask that you pray
in prayer for Chris and for Paola, their son
Liam, who's in the nursery even now, that you
pray that God will bless them and say, go back
to that South American nation, that the Lord
would use them in a mighty way that many people
might be brought to a saving knowledge of Christ.
Chris, if you would come at this time. Alright,
did I do that right? Sweet. Thank you Pastor
Ryan so much for this opportunity and thank you
Mamrie Baptist Church for welcoming us so warmly
today. As Pastor Ryan said, my name is Chris
and we are delighted to be with you here today.
We will be looking together at Acts 16. But before
we dive into the scripture, Pastor Ryan has given
us the opportunity to share a bit with you about
our ministry in Lima, Peru. I believe that we
have a video that explains a bit about what we
do. So I'll let Jared take it from here. Hi,
I'm Chris Fry. And I'm Paula. Paula and I both
grew up in Lima, Peru. I was a missionary kid
and Paula was a pastor's kid. We got married
in 2018, and on the day of 2022, God blessed
us with our son, Liam. Hi, I'm Liam. As a family,
we've loved serving God together in Lima since
2016. Lima is the capital city of Peru with a
population of over 11 million people. While we
both previously served Christ in school settings,
God has... open the door for a new type of ministry
we can now see how it has been preparing us for
this new ministry we are returning to career
as field mobilizers with via for via nations
our desire is to develop and deploy the next
generation of caribbean missionaries to reach
the nations did you know that today there are
three billion people that know Also, while in
Lima, we serve at Iglesia Navidad Lima New Life
Community Church. We serve on the leadership
team helping lead in discipleship. ministry,
children's church, and preaching and teaching
the world. Before he ascended, Christ told his
followers in Mark 16, 15 to go into all the world
and preach the gospel to all creation. This command
still stands for every believer today, but for
us specifically, we feel called to do that in
Peru. We're eager to return to Peru, but we can't
do it. without the help of churches and families
like you. Right now, we are building the spiritual
and financial support team we need in order to
do this ministry well. Your partnership helps
us continue to equip and deploy the next generation
of Peruvian cross -cultural missionaries to bring
the gospel to places that have not heard of Jesus
yet. To learn more or to give, please visit prizecrew
.com. God bless and thank you for your time.
So at Via or Via Nations, as missionaries, we
want to help every Christian thrive in his or
her unique role. in the Great Commission. And
so part of how we are doing that is with three
different areas in Peru. One will be leadership
and discipleship with our church, Iglesia Nueva
Vida, or New Life Church there in Lima. We will
also be supporting with administration work with
Via Nations. Probably a lot of that for me will
be translating things back and forth between
the headquarters in Arkansas and the team in
Peru, as well as being part of the field mobilization
and discipleship towards missions in Peru. As
mentioned in the video, we are looking for churches
and individuals who feel called to partner with
us in perhaps three specific ways. One, and by
far the most important and powerful, would be
dedicated prayer. Also, we live in a real world,
and that world operates on finances. And we are
also looking for the financial or annual... support.
And then also one -time gifts towards our launching
fund that the mission agency is asking us to
raise as well. So please keep that in your prayers.
Our goal would be to be back in Peru by October
or at the very least by the end of the fall.
Now, please turn with me to Acts I've titled
this message, A Church for All Nations. As we
see throughout the book of Acts, the Lord moving
and working in different ways to expand this
small little segment of Judaism, which in and
of itself was a relatively small religion in
the ancient world, to be the predominant religion
throughout the world. A religion that has founded
orphanages and hospitals throughout its centuries.
The religion that essentially developed what
we call today adoption, as we know it today.
The only religion that has the truth of how to
get a soul right with God. Now, as we're jumping
into Acts 16, skipping over 15 chapters. So I
would like to do a quick little previously on
to kind of get us all caught up to speed. So
before Netflix, before Hulu, you know, I remember
all the cartoons, you know, the Spider -Man cartoon
from the early 90s. It would always have this
like previously on Spider -Man, the animated
series. So I have a little one like that for
us today. Previously in the Book of Acts. After
splitting with his longtime co -worker Barnabas
in chapter 15, Paul rallies a new missions team
made up of himself, Silas, Timothy, and Luke.
They're excited to start. They're all packed
up. They have the cities circled on their maps.
However, the Holy Spirit throws those plans into
the bin and tells them to wait. And this is where
we pick up in Acts 16, verse 9. Paul and his
team, they're young, they're restless, they're
excited to go. The only problem is, God has told
them to hold the horses, to wait. And that they're
not going to Asia Minor like they thought. Finally,
late one night, we read that Paul has a dream.
A vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man
of Macedonia was standing there, urging him saying,
come over to Macedonia and help us. And when
Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought
to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had
called us to preach the gospel to them. Now,
this raises the question, Where's Macedonia?
I don't remember Macedonia from 10th grade geography.
Let's be honest, probably most of us, except
for the 10th graders here, don't really remember
our geography anyways. So Macedonia is what we
would consider modern day Greece. And we have
the ruins of Philippi. And they are circled.
there on the map. And we can see the architectural
ruins of the city Philippi. It was a Roman colony
of its time. And this is perhaps the first purposeful
attempt to bring the gospel to a new continent.
That continent being Europe. It's estimated that
this trip happened in 49 AD. So just under 50
years from everything that we read in the Gospels.
And this is probably Paul's first time on the
continent Europe. He's known about Macedonia.
He knows about Philippi. It was a relatively
well -known city. It was important for all sorts
of trades and other things like that. And so
Paul hears this call. essentially in the exact
opposite direction from where they were planning
to go. And if we jump down to verse 14, we meet
Paul's first convert in Philippi. One who heard
us was a woman named Lydia from the city Thyatira,
a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper
of God. The Lord opened her heart. To pay attention
to what was being said by Paul. And after she
was baptized. And her household as well. She
urged us saying. If you have judged me to be
faithful in the Lord. Come to my house and stay.
And I believe that the Holy Spirit and Paul.
Or rather the author of Acts was Luke. So the
Holy Spirit and Luke. Have given us so much.
insight into how to live a life that believes
that the church is truly for all nations in just
these four verses. Paul's first European convert,
her name was Lydia. She's originally from a different
city called Thyatira, but for whatever reason,
perhaps work, perhaps marriage, she finds herself
in a new city there in Philippi. And because
of how it is worded, we're pretty confident in
assuming that she herself is not a Jewish lady.
Rather, at some point in her life, she had heard
of the God of what we would call the Old Testament.
She had heard of the God of the Hebrew Scriptures.
And she wanted to worship the one true God and
the small... Jewish community found there in
Philippi. However, at this point in Philippi,
there was not a large Jewish community. There
wasn't enough people there to have a full on
synagogue like you would see in Israel. So instead,
they met, in the previous verse, tells us that
they met down by the river for a time of worship
and mutual meditation and prayer on the goodness
of Yahweh. So while she was not Jewish herself,
she already had previous knowledge of the God
of Israel. However, at this point, she still
hadn't heard of Christ. And maybe that is like
a lot of us here today or we have friends and
family that are like this as well. They know
of God. They're able to answer some Bible school
questions, right? They might confuse who parted
the Red Sea with Noah or Moses. They got a 50
-50 % chance on that one, right? They know that
Jesus died on the cross and they call themselves
Christian because, well, they're not atheist
or Buddhist or Muslim. but they really haven't
encountered Christ in a real way. While it's
not a one -for -one for the same scenario that
we see with Lydia here, it is very similar. It
is very applicable to what I think a lot of us
have seen in our friends, family, co -workers.
Or perhaps hearing this said today, you realized,
I might fall into this camp too. And so what
happens? The Lord opened her ears to hear what
Paul said about Jesus. And she accepts Christ
as Lord and Savior. And this is, again, Paul's
first recorded European convert. Now, Christianity
has gone global. three different continents.
Africa, Asia, and Europe. And the rest of the
2 ,000 years catching us all the way up to Ironton,
Ohio, is all about it getting even further and
more global. But right here, within 50 years,
we see this small little segment that was essentially
12 young men and a handful of ladies go into
three different continents. It's exploding like
nothing else we have ever seen in history. Anyways,
as a missionary, that really gets me excited.
But let's talk about Lydia some more. Because
I believe there are three specific things that
we see happen in Lydia's life upon her salvation.
And I believe that it is the expectation of...
this to happen in every Christian. What did Lydia's
salvation lead to? Well, the first thing we see
is Lydia's salvation led to multiplication. Lydia's
salvation led to multiplication. She did not
keep this new knowledge about the beauty of Jesus
Christ hidden under a bushel. No. She told her
family and her family got baptized. She went
out and she shared the word first with those
closest to her. To confess to you guys, sometimes
as a missionary, it is a lot easier to tell the
random people the Lord brings in the park or
at the coffee shop than my actual family. But
what do we see here? First, I believe the big
principle is salvation should lead to multiplication.
Secondly, Family. We need to be bold and courageous
in helping our family truly understand the beauty
that is solely found in King Jesus. There are
two other things that we see. Not only did her
salvation basically immediately lead to her multiplication,
it also led to generosity and hospitality. We
read one of the very few things that we know
about Lydia is that she is a seller of purple.
We mean purple dye. And at the time, and really
throughout most of human history, the color purple
was one of the hardest colors to make. It came
from exclusive product, and it was a very hard
product to deal with. And so basic economics,
principle of supply and demand, meant that purple...
fabric, purple clothes, purple blankets was incredibly
costly. So this probably means that she is economically
well off. She's economically comfortable. And
what does she do with that money? Well, she immediately
begins to invest it back into the mission. We
see that because she says, if you believe me
to be faithful, Let me help you. And so she helps
these four men that she really doesn't know.
She buys them food, water, shelter. Not only
that, but if you look at the table of contents
in your Bible, you will see that there's a book
called Philippians. Spoiler alert, this is that
book, right? This is the church of Philippi that
Philippians was written to. Jumping forward in
the table of contents, in Philippians 4, 15 through
17, we can read Paul writing a letter back to
this church that we're seeing started here in
chapter 16 of Acts, saying, thank you for your
support, your financial and prayer support of
my ministry. And if you look at Philippians 4,
15 through 17, there's something very interesting
that Paul says. He essentially says, I'm so glad
that you guys jumped on board in the way that
you did by helping with a very physical and practical
means because the work that I am now doing, that
credit, God will now credit to you. Paul knew
that God would provide. what he needed one way
or the other. He had experienced miracle after
miracle. His faith in God by the time he writes
Philippians is pretty rooted and sure. But he
is excited for the Philippian church that they
get to participate in what he is doing as a missionary
in a very real, tangible way. The Philippian
church reminds me of what the famous missionary,
William Carey once said, William Carey, famous
missionary to India, one of the first modern
missionaries to India. His friend was a pastor,
and right before he was shipped off to India,
his pastor friend invited him to speak. And he
said, I will go down into the pit if you will
hold the rope. And we see Paul. Saying something
like that 2 ,000 years ago. The Philippian church
was holding the rope for Paul to go further in
and further out. Paul had two big things on his
bucket list. Preach in Rome, get to modern day
Spain. And the way that the Lord helped move
those things was through people like Lydia at
the church of Philippi. which again we see being
birthed right here in Acts 16. Notice how it
wasn't just generosity, it was also hospitality.
She invited Paul and his mission team to stay
with her. Which, can I just brag on your pastor
for a moment? As he has been a modern day Lydia
to us. this weekend, inviting us over to his
house, setting up a room for us to crash in,
making us feel warmed and welcomed and comfortable,
taking us out to some amazing tacos last night.
That is very Lydian, if you will. And you guys,
as a church, this has been one of the friendliest,
most... warming, welcoming churches that we have
been to. And thank you for your hospitality.
Thank you for your warmth. And I believe that
we see in Lydia, and I have experienced from
y 'all today, that when we are hospitable to
those serving God, we are serving Jesus through
our hospitality. Today we are focusing on how
we can do that for those who are spreading the
gospel. But let me just put a quick little thing
in here. This is a great, great evangelistic
tool. I would argue if you are trying to reach
an unsaved neighbor or friend or someone who
is backslidden, invite them over to dinner before
you invite them to church. Hospitality. When
we are hospitable for... We are serving Jesus
through our hospitality. So we see that the church
is now on three continents. And if we jump to
2 ,000 years to present time, the church is on
all, well, six continents, right? Maybe there's
a Christian scientist in Antarctica right now.
I don't know. I should have checked that. Probably
would have been an easy Google search. Anyways.
We see that the church is in Asia, Africa, and
Europe. However, even though it is on all six
inhabitable continents, our work is not done.
Go back to the words of Jesus in Matthew 28,
19, where he gives the final marching orders
to his squad of 12 young men. What did he say?
Go therefore and make disciples to all nations.
When Jesus uses that word nations, he doesn't
mean the 190 sovereign states that we think of
as nations like the United States, Canada, Peru,
Mexico, Iraq. You get it, right? He doesn't mean
the UN recognized nations. He means ethno -cultural
types. Different ethnic groups all around the
world with languages and dialects that separate
them from other communities who might be living
in close geography to them. It is estimated that
we still have 7 ,400 nations to reach with the
good news of Jesus. The job that Christ gave
us is still far from being completed. And it
has been going on for 2 ,000 years, and we don't
know how much more time we have. 7 ,400 different
people groups are considered unreached. To put
that in a different way, there are 3 billion
people who have no access to the gospel. Now
please listen, my dear brothers and sisters,
to what I just said. I didn't say that there
are 3 billion unsaved people. That number is
sadly much bigger. There are 3 billion people
who have no access to the gospel. That because
of their governments, their internet is blocked,
their libraries have banned Christian books,
the Bible is considered outlawed in the very
few editions that are in. are cut through like
Swiss cheese. That a country like Japan, who
has resisted the gospel for nearly 2 ,000 years,
modern day Japan, you can go and start a church
tomorrow. The paperwork is as annoying, but not
more annoying than any other kind of paperwork.
However, it's the cultural weight of leaving
a mentality of atheism. but also denying and
bringing the shame of leaving the Shinto and
Buddhist practices that your family has done
for eons. It means that Japan is one of the hardest
nations to reach. China. Christianity is still
essentially outlawed. Again, you're allowed one
version of the Bible, and it's basically a Swiss
cheese version. All the political things against
the Communist Party have been cut out, leaving
major, major holes. However, how good is our
God? Because it's estimated that because of the
sheer size of China, there are more... Chinese
believers number -wise in China than in most
other countries, if not all other countries.
But it's all through a secret home group church.
Three billion people do not have access to the
gospel. Perhaps the two major countries doing
the most missions work today. are the United
States and South Korea. Our Christian populations
in those two countries and the countries across
Europe that do it are not enough to tackle this
three billion size issue. We, my wife and I,
what we are going back to do in Peru is to be
a bit more strategic perhaps. In this new stage
that Peru has found itself in. And yes, we are
going to go to make more disciples. To make new
disciples. But we want to go specifically to
help train disciples. Train Jesus followers to
be mission minded and missionaries themselves.
I was just talking to a man who was a missionary
in Bosnia for about 17 years until Bosnia kicked
him and his wife out. And he said some of the
best missionaries to Bosnia were the few Peruvian
missionaries that he met. Just the cultural similarities,
the plates, the food, even like the grammar structure
of the two very different languages was so similar.
A lot of, in the late 2000s, In the late 2010,
so 2018, 2019, 2020, the Venezuelan socialist
system began to collapse. And so a lot of Venezuelans
migrated to Peru, Ecuador, all across South America,
and even up to North America. What we found out
is that Venezuela has great relationships with
Iran. And so we can go back to Peru and we can
train Venezuelans living in Peru to be missionaries
to Iran because they essentially have very little
visa paperwork to do. And so that is what we
want to do. We want to help mobilize the Christian
church wherever it is to reach the unreached.
And so how will the lost be reached? Whether
that is the three billion people across Asia
and the Middle East, or that one co -worker at
home, sorry, or that one co -worker at your work,
or that one family member, maybe teenage college
-age son or daughter at home. The lost will be
reached by, I believe, three basic principles
that we see. In this passage today. Now granted
throughout the entire book of Acts. And the New
Testament. There are a lot of other principles.
But in this passage from today. By modern day
Lydia's. Who draw their households to Christ.
And men. We are called in this sense. To be a
modern day Lydia as well. The statistic that
I recently read. When something like. If the
husband or the father. starts being apathetic
or leaves his religion, there's about a 30 %
chance that the children will continue with their
mother. However, if it's switched, if the mother
stops going to church, being a practicing Christian,
but the father continues, it jumps from 30 %
to 80%. Isn't that interesting? The important
role that both parents have in the spiritual
growth of the children. By modern day Lydia's
who give of their time, talent, and treasure
to the expansion of the church. Time. It takes
time to devote time in prayer. To pray well for
the large board of missionaries that we have
right around this corner. It takes time out of
your day to listen to a one -minute podcast to
learn about a new tribal group in Thailand. And
talent. It takes talent. It takes what you alone
are capable of doing and the unique way that
you are able to do that. Whether that is because
of your charming personality or the unique skill
set that you can bring on a one -week missions
trip. By modern day Lydia's and modern day churches
of Philippi. Who partner with and send out missionaries.
Who are called to reach and mobilize across geographic
and cultural borders. And by looking at that
large map that you guys have around the corner.
I would say Mapri Baptist Church. You are in
many ways a modern day Philippi. Doing your part.
But how is God calling you to be a Lydia today?
Do you feel a pull to double down in one of these
areas? To draw in your household as the Holy
Spirit allows. To maybe step it up with how you
can reach the nations using your unique time.
talent, and treasure? Or maybe as a church, thinking
about this, can we do even more? Or can we start
planning to do more in the next few years? Thank
you guys so much. We love being here. We love
the opportunity and the stage that we are in
and our missions work. We're able to visit beautiful
churches filled with beautiful Christian brothers
and sisters like you. And we greatly appreciate
it. Thank you. Thank you, Chris. You know, one
of the things that was so interesting to me is
when I get calls from missionaries, I usually
like to know where they're from. So when we bring
someone in, it's usually not a cold call. I don't
say it happens occasionally, but not always.
And the actual, the mutual contact we had was
a man named Eric Alfre. Some of you may know
Eric in here. And Eric grew up in Ironton, Ohio.
And he was the one that was my youth pastor when
I was in seventh grade. He took an interest in
me, invested his time in me. He's the first one
that ever taught me to do devotions out of the
Book of Proverbs as a seventh grader. He'd take
me on calls to visit people. And then he ended
up leaving. And then he actually was in pastoral
ministry for a while. And then he went into education
and he served in China. in the Network of International
Christian Schools. And he was in China for about
a decade, is that correct? And his daughter learned
Mandarin there, and he and Martha were there.
And then, as the pandemic came, Lee left China,
and then, as God and his providence have him,
took him to Lima, Peru, where he became the director
of the Network of International Christian Schools
in Lima, which is a school that I had considered
working in right out of college. There was a
position open for my school set. And so when
Chris had called me, it was through Eric, who
an Ironton guy, served in China, went to Peru.
Now he's in South Carolina back in pastoral ministry.
But this is the way that our God works. But this
is what we want to do. I really pray that you
all, my prayer this morning is that you catch
a vision of what you can do. We sometimes, we
might have a defeatist mindset. We're just here
in Larry County, right? That's what we call it.
Old Lawrence County. What are we going to do?
No, we can, there's so many ways that God uses
small things to accomplish great purposes. And
this is what I want you to see. I love what they're
getting ready to do, and I hope you understood
that. It's not just to go back and reach Peruvians,
yes, but Peru's about 10 % evangelical Christianity
right now. That's growing. That's really encouraging
for South America. But it's not just to reach
Peruvians, but because Peruvians lack culture,
they want to mobilize them to go reach some Middle
Eastern countries that share a very same culture.
That a lot of times you can't get in as an American
because of diplomatic ties. They're disbarred.
But Peru doesn't have those same diplomatic barriers.
That's fantastic. And you and I get to be part
of that, taking Jesus to the nations. Some of
us can go. Some of us can. We can all pray and
give. And I don't want to just keep preaching.
I'm tempted to, but I'm not. Open up your house
and dads, reach your homes. My goodness, you
know why Christianity is failing in the West?
We're not doing our job. We have to disciple
our children. It's a must. You will stand before
God. Dads, you are responsible. Lead your family.
That's the way you're going to grow the kingdom
of God. I've told you this before, and I say
it again. My prayer is that my greatest contribution
to the kingdom of God will not be through a pulpit,
but will be through the four children that Sandy
and I raised together that will go out and serve
Christ. That's my greatest desire, and I pray
that's your greatest desire as well. As we're
going to prepare for the table, I want to think
about this for just a moment. You know, we look
at these different nations, different language
groups, you know, different cultures, and we
think they're so foreign, right? It just seems
so different from American way. But there's something
that makes us all one. There's a common meal
that Christians around the globe on this Lord's
Day share that makes us one. The many become
one. And that's at the communion table. It'll
be done in a different language. It'll be done
in a different culture. It'll be done in a different
setting. And it's certainly a different type
of building. But there'll be a meal that's shared
by the people of God where we come together and
we remember the access into God was through the
flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. We remember his
broken body and his shed blood. And that Peruvian
Christian, that's our brother. That Persian or
Iranian Christian, that's our brother. That North
Korean, some of these are maybe political enemies,
but they're our brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is what's so fantastic about the Christian
faith. All around the world, God has his people
that he has purchased with the blood of his son.
And we remember that and we commune koinonia,
participation in the body and blood of Christ,
with the risen Christ this morning in the meal
that he has prescribed. So let's prepare our
hearts. Let's just take a moment and pray. Would
you bow your heads? Let's just pray as we get
ready to go to the table and ask God to prepare
your heart. Father, before we ever come to the
table, Lord, we want to bow and we recognize,
Lord, your sovereign authority. We are here because
of your grace. Lord, you sent a Jewish man into
Europe, into Greece, where the gospel spread.
And it continued to spread throughout Europe.
And you made some unsettled pilgrims decide to
leave that continent and come to North America.
And, Lord, where the gospel would find a route
here. And where it would spread. And you raised
up believers out of this. particular country
to go into other ethnic groups and preach the
gospel. And the gospel continues to spread. The
kingdom continues to grow. And so much so that,
Lord, what started out as just a little seed
is a full tree today in flourishing blossoms.
And we thank you for that, Lord. And we have
been brought in. Lord, we were those pagans,
Lord, those Gentiles without hope and without
Christ. And Lord God, you brought the gospel
to us. And just as you did with Lydia, Lord,
you had to open our heart. You opened our heart
to believe these things. Lord, you gave us faith,
and we thank you for that. Lord, we praise you
for your grace. Lord God, we are a blessed people.
And Lord, now as we head to the communion table,
not only do we give you thanks, Father, but we
remember the broken body of Christ, the shed
blood of Christ that makes us one. Lord, I believe,
Lord, today is a true communion. We commune with
him. We spiritually... Feast upon Christ, his
body and his blood, Lord, that's given to us
and we're reminded of the way that we came into
the fold. Lord, thank you so very much for your
grace. Lord, would you help us, Lord, as Mamre
Baptist Church to catch a vision of what you
would have us to do, Lord. Those who are not
giving or, Lord, are apathetic or perhaps aren't
even thinking about ways they can use their life,
Lord, would you stir in them, do a stirring by
your spirit to cause them want to participate
in some fashion, some form, in international
missions of taking Jesus to the nations. And,
Lord, we pray this in the name of the one who
died and rose again. It's in the name of Jesus
we pray. Amen. Moessa Deacons, if you would come.
distribute the elements at this time, please.