WEBVTT 00:00:03.669 --> 00:00:06.509 Thanks, Sheree. Well, our newspapers have been 00:00:06.509 --> 00:00:09.550 telling us that the economic signs are going 00:00:09.550 --> 00:00:13.230 this way, up and down, depending upon what you 00:00:13.230 --> 00:00:18.730 read. The unemployment rate is going down. That's 00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:23.629 good news. Rate of inflation is remaining stable 00:00:23.629 --> 00:00:27.250 or perhaps even declining a bit. That's good 00:00:27.250 --> 00:00:32.460 news. Interest rates are at record levels and 00:00:32.460 --> 00:00:34.700 seem to be heading lower. That's good news and 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:37.140 bad news depending upon which side of that equation 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:42.020 you're on. Recently we've heard another statistic 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:45.259 that relates more to us as a body of believers 00:00:45.259 --> 00:00:48.719 and that is that for the first time in history 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.640 the number of missionaries from North America 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:58.100 declined. Now that is good news and bad news. 00:00:58.959 --> 00:01:01.719 It's bad news in the sense that it seems to be 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:04.760 saying that there's less of an interest in missions 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:09.060 in North America Now we shouldn't understand 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:11.420 that to be the same as saying that the kingdom 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:16.120 of God is in crisis Because some of the other 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:18.680 nations and areas of the world are sending out 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:21.840 missionaries at record numbers We're talking 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:27.969 about missionaries from North America Missions 00:01:27.969 --> 00:01:32.750 in North America is in crisis. That's not all 00:01:32.750 --> 00:01:37.870 bad. Because it is time for mission agencies, 00:01:38.189 --> 00:01:43.810 missionaries, churches and congregations to rethink 00:01:43.810 --> 00:01:48.530 this whole idea of missions. This time of crisis 00:01:48.530 --> 00:01:53.450 is really an opportunity for us to evaluate what's 00:01:53.450 --> 00:01:58.519 going on in the world. and how the methods that 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:01.439 we have used for the last couple of hundred years 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:05.000 may not be working anymore. And we need to create 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:12.379 some new paradigms or models for missions. Because 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:15.259 of that, I thought that I wanted to include in 00:02:15.259 --> 00:02:19.719 this series of messages that end today on SOS 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:24.180 something about missions. I've tried to make 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:28.219 the SOS series this summer focus on urgent messages 00:02:28.219 --> 00:02:30.979 that all of us need to capture in our hearts. 00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:34.740 This morning we want to talk about sending out 00:02:34.740 --> 00:02:38.120 servants. I invite you to open your Bible to 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:42.479 Acts chapter 13 as we do that. It is imperative 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.219 for churches to take a fresh look at missions 00:02:45.219 --> 00:02:50.870 and to be willing to make changes. who are necessary 00:02:50.870 --> 00:02:54.370 in order to fulfill the great commission of our 00:02:54.370 --> 00:03:00.509 Lord Jesus. And the place that we start always 00:03:00.509 --> 00:03:03.710 is by taking a new look at the Word. What does 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:07.610 the Word of God say about this whole matter of 00:03:07.610 --> 00:03:12.289 missions? This is Labor Day weekend. We need 00:03:12.289 --> 00:03:15.030 to talk about the labor force of the Church of 00:03:15.030 --> 00:03:20.500 the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Acts chapter 13 says, 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:24.960 there were at Antioch, in the church that was 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:30.280 there, prophets and teachers. Now the way that 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:33.819 the subtleties of the language that Luke wrote 00:03:33.819 --> 00:03:37.319 in work, it seems as though the prophets were 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:42.039 Barnabas and Simeon, who was called Niger, and 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:47.759 Lucius of Cyrene. And the teachers were Manaan, 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:50.860 who had been brought up with Herod, the Tetrarch, 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:56.120 and Saul. And while they were ministering to 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.780 the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:02.900 apart for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work 00:04:02.900 --> 00:04:06.680 to which I have called them. Then, when they 00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:09.379 had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:16.600 them, they sent them away. We have here in this 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:21.639 brief passage the genesis of the missionary movement. 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:25.620 The missions has been the heart of God from the 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:29.439 very beginning. There are elements of missions 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.500 even in the covenant with Israel of the Old Testament. 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:36.620 But that was an element that Israel by and large 00:04:36.620 --> 00:04:42.579 neglected. And certainly as the church began 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:45.579 on the day of Pentecost there was missions in 00:04:45.579 --> 00:04:49.759 the heart of it. The Holy Spirit will come. You 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:52.300 shall receive power and you shall be witnesses 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:55.220 unto me in all parts of the earth, Jesus said. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:00.879 But years went by and not much happened. At least 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:05.860 beyond the immediate area of Palestine. We see 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:09.139 here in this text that some of the People had 00:05:09.139 --> 00:05:11.839 left Jerusalem and had traveled northward along 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:15.920 the coast to the capital city of ancient Syria 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:21.220 called Antioch. Antioch was a cosmopolitan city. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:25.060 It was a place to be. It was sort of like the 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:28.759 New York City of that day. It was a port city. 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:32.680 Although it was located a few miles from the 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:36.699 sea itself, it had a port city that it was connected 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:42.480 to. It was on a river of commerce. A half a million 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:46.300 people lived in the city of Antioch. So we're 00:05:46.300 --> 00:05:49.259 not talking about some dusty Palestinian village. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:53.120 We're talking about a major city in the world 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:57.680 of that day. And there in that city there was 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.399 a church that had begun because some people from 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:04.899 Jerusalem who were Christians had migrated northward. 00:06:05.230 --> 00:06:08.110 And there had started the work. In fact, if you'll 00:06:08.110 --> 00:06:11.329 turn back a page or so to chapter 11, you'll 00:06:11.329 --> 00:06:13.069 see a little bit of the history of this church. 00:06:13.250 --> 00:06:17.129 Verse 19 says, So then they that were scattered 00:06:17.129 --> 00:06:19.730 because of the persecution that arose in connection 00:06:19.730 --> 00:06:22.470 with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and 00:06:22.470 --> 00:06:26.970 Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one 00:06:26.970 --> 00:06:31.649 except to Jews alone. But there were some of 00:06:31.649 --> 00:06:36.040 them Men of Cyprus and Cyrene who came to Antioch 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:39.819 and began speaking to the Greeks, also preaching 00:06:39.819 --> 00:06:43.600 the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:46.160 with them, and a large number who believed turned 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:49.399 to the Lord. So this is a thriving church. This 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:51.899 is not a church in a storefront somewhere with 00:06:51.899 --> 00:06:54.620 ten or twelve people who are part of it. We're 00:06:54.620 --> 00:06:57.319 talking about a church with hundreds, maybe thousands 00:06:57.319 --> 00:06:59.500 of people who were a part of this fellowship. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:03.639 And the news about them reached the ears of the 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:08.259 Church of Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas off 00:07:08.259 --> 00:07:11.420 to Antioch. Now Barnabas was a wonderfully gifted 00:07:11.420 --> 00:07:16.259 man. He had been born in Cyprus, well respected, 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:18.920 a man who loved to encourage others and already 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:24.779 by this time Barnabas has met Saul, the former 00:07:24.779 --> 00:07:29.209 persecutor of the Church. and has befriended 00:07:29.209 --> 00:07:32.089 him, has introduced him really to the apostles 00:07:32.089 --> 00:07:35.949 and the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. And 00:07:35.949 --> 00:07:39.730 after a time there, Saul left and went back home 00:07:39.730 --> 00:07:42.209 to Tarsus where he has been now for several years 00:07:42.209 --> 00:07:45.769 at this point in the book of Acts. Now it's this 00:07:45.769 --> 00:07:49.209 same Barnabas who is there in Jerusalem who is 00:07:49.209 --> 00:07:53.129 sent off to Antioch And it says, then when he 00:07:53.129 --> 00:07:56.750 had come and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced 00:07:56.750 --> 00:07:59.509 and began to encourage them all with resolute 00:07:59.509 --> 00:08:03.209 heart to remain true to the Lord. He was a good 00:08:03.209 --> 00:08:08.089 man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. Those 00:08:08.089 --> 00:08:12.149 are high marks, great compliments that the Spirit 00:08:12.149 --> 00:08:15.550 of God pays to Barnabas. We would all do well 00:08:15.550 --> 00:08:19.029 to emulate him, wouldn't we? And considerable 00:08:19.029 --> 00:08:22.279 numbers were brought to the Lord. And he left 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:26.560 for Tarsus to look for Saul. Isn't it interesting? 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:30.139 He said, I've got to have help. God is doing 00:08:30.139 --> 00:08:32.440 such an amazing thing here. I've got to have 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:34.779 somebody to help me. Now who in my file here 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:36.379 could help me? He goes back through the cards. 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:41.620 Here's S. Saul of Tarsus. Oh yes, there was Saul. 00:08:42.820 --> 00:08:46.019 He's been up there for several years now in Tarsus. 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:48.480 I'll bet he's ready for something like this. 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:52.860 And so he traveled a few 100 miles north again 00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:56.440 to the city of Tarsus. When he had found him 00:08:56.440 --> 00:09:00.179 he brought him to Antioch and it came about that 00:09:00.179 --> 00:09:03.600 for an entire year they met with the church and 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:05.820 taught considerable numbers and the disciples 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:12.539 were first called Christians in Antioch. Now 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:15.480 then things began to change. Things got tough 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:19.509 in Jerusalem. And it says that at this time some 00:09:19.509 --> 00:09:21.950 prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch 00:09:21.950 --> 00:09:24.070 and one of them named Agabus stood up and began 00:09:24.070 --> 00:09:26.669 to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly 00:09:26.669 --> 00:09:29.590 be great famine all over the world and this took 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:31.990 place in the reign of Claudius and in the proportion 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:34.210 that any of the disciples had means, each of 00:09:34.210 --> 00:09:37.110 them determined to send a contribution for the 00:09:37.110 --> 00:09:40.009 relief of the brethren living in Judea, where 00:09:40.009 --> 00:09:42.870 Jerusalem was. And this they did, sending it 00:09:42.870 --> 00:09:47.029 in charge of Barnabas and Saul. to the elders. 00:09:48.129 --> 00:09:51.549 So Barnabas and Saul as a team represented the 00:09:51.549 --> 00:09:54.950 church at Antioch, brought this sum of money 00:09:54.950 --> 00:09:58.269 to the church in Jerusalem for the relief of 00:09:58.269 --> 00:10:02.909 the saints living in that region. Now chapter 00:10:02.909 --> 00:10:05.149 12 tells us about some things that happened in 00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:07.129 Jerusalem. If you go on to the end of that chapter 00:10:07.129 --> 00:10:10.149 it says that the word of the Lord continued to 00:10:10.149 --> 00:10:13.529 grow to be multiplied and Barnabas and Saul returned 00:10:13.529 --> 00:10:16.830 from Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled their 00:10:16.830 --> 00:10:20.330 mission taking along with them John who was also 00:10:20.330 --> 00:10:23.009 called Mark now that comes in play a little later 00:10:23.009 --> 00:10:26.889 Here in the book of Acts But notice now they 00:10:26.889 --> 00:10:30.330 have returned back home To the city of Antioch 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:32.690 and they continued their ministry there and it's 00:10:32.690 --> 00:10:36.190 in that context that Luke goes back to Antioch 00:10:36.190 --> 00:10:39.950 in his narrative and Begins to lay out for us 00:10:39.950 --> 00:10:44.340 the genesis of the missionary movement In the 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:46.320 text that we've read this morning, we discover 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:51.480 several principles that I believe will outline 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:56.500 for us the place and the practice of missions 00:10:56.500 --> 00:11:02.159 in the local church. Now, when we go to the book 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:04.220 of Acts and we look for principles like this, 00:11:04.220 --> 00:11:08.460 we have to be a little cautious in that we aren't 00:11:08.460 --> 00:11:12.840 exactly like society and the culture was in that 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:16.850 day. Things are a lot more complex these days 00:11:16.850 --> 00:11:20.509 than they were then. It's a little bit like comparing 00:11:20.509 --> 00:11:23.470 apples to oranges, and yet they're both fruits. 00:11:25.509 --> 00:11:29.370 And so as we compare our situation today in missions 00:11:29.370 --> 00:11:32.590 to what it was like then, we're in the same category, 00:11:32.610 --> 00:11:35.110 but it's a little different. And yet we would 00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:38.610 expect to find in a text like this some principles. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.779 that would guide us regarding missions. And that's 00:11:41.779 --> 00:11:44.379 what we're really looking for as we look at these 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:48.080 three verses. The first principle I see is this, 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:52.539 that missions, or sending out servants, got to 00:11:52.539 --> 00:11:57.700 get my SOS in there. Sending out servants begins 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:02.940 with the heart of God. Missions is God's idea. 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.639 It did not originate with the apostles in Jerusalem. 00:12:07.740 --> 00:12:10.519 It did not originate with Barnabas and Saul. 00:12:12.259 --> 00:12:15.779 The elders of the church in Antioch did not go 00:12:15.779 --> 00:12:18.500 and retreat and come up with this great idea 00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:20.860 in their brainstorming session. Let's send out 00:12:20.860 --> 00:12:26.059 missionaries. That is not how it happened. It 00:12:26.059 --> 00:12:32.470 began with the heart of God. So, if we want to 00:12:32.470 --> 00:12:38.090 model God's heart, which I hope we do, we also 00:12:38.090 --> 00:12:41.690 want outreach to new peoples and cultures to 00:12:41.690 --> 00:12:45.570 be an essential part of our ministry. Because 00:12:45.570 --> 00:12:48.330 missions is not the idea of the church. Missions 00:12:48.330 --> 00:12:52.509 is God's idea. Somebody said God only has one 00:12:52.509 --> 00:12:57.690 Son, and He made Him a missionary. The Father 00:12:57.690 --> 00:13:00.980 sent the Son. to be the Savior of the world. 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:06.259 God delights in saving lost people. It exposes 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:11.399 His mercy and His grace. It exalts His Son and 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:14.000 the work of His cross for the redemption of the 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:17.340 world. God delights in saving people and God 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:21.580 desires that the whole world know the story of 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:25.399 redemption. I repeat, that is not the church's 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:30.230 idea. It's God's idea. We see clearly in the 00:13:30.230 --> 00:13:34.129 text that it is the Holy Spirit who is the instigator 00:13:34.129 --> 00:13:40.529 of the action. It is the Holy Spirit of God who 00:13:40.529 --> 00:13:45.090 gave birth to missions in this text. The Holy 00:13:45.090 --> 00:13:51.470 Spirit said, separate for me Barnabas and Saul. 00:13:52.990 --> 00:13:55.870 I wish Luke had included a few more details. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:59.519 It would be interesting to know how the Holy 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:04.419 Spirit said that. Probably He said it through 00:14:04.419 --> 00:14:08.539 one of these men, some of whom were prophets. 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:12.320 Now prophets here in this part of the New Testament 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:18.259 were fourth tellers as much as four tellers, 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:22.360 perhaps even more so. But the fact is that the 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:26.450 gift of prophecy in the context of these times 00:14:26.450 --> 00:14:32.549 included bits of information or revelation that 00:14:32.549 --> 00:14:36.490 God gave directly to them for the church. Now 00:14:36.490 --> 00:14:39.909 these bits of information were always tested 00:14:39.909 --> 00:14:42.970 by the church. Just because somebody said this 00:14:42.970 --> 00:14:45.990 is a prophecy didn't mean the church accepted 00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:51.250 it. The prophets compared with each other what 00:14:51.250 --> 00:14:54.200 the messages were. and certainly they compared 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.759 it with what they knew of Jesus' teaching and 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:00.539 their scriptures, the Old Testament that they 00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:07.360 had. But probably one of the prophets spoke on 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:11.759 behalf of the Holy Spirit, making this announcement 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:16.860 to the church. However it came, there was no 00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:20.440 uncertainty or doubt about it. God was doing 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:24.480 something very special. My application here is 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:26.659 simply this, that we are never closer to the 00:15:26.659 --> 00:15:29.779 heart of God than when we are involved in missions. 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:34.080 When we are reaching out to those who are without 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:37.100 Christ, we have said before that we see ourselves 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:42.679 as a mission center, as a local church. We see 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:45.419 ourselves as missionaries and so as we are going 00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:49.440 about our work as people in Grace Church Roseville, 00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:52.169 if we're really on target with our mission, we 00:15:52.169 --> 00:15:55.809 are close to the heart of God because missions 00:15:55.809 --> 00:16:01.250 begins with his heart. That's why I'm glad that 00:16:01.250 --> 00:16:06.529 we have selected that imagery to talk about our 00:16:06.529 --> 00:16:10.690 mission, our purpose as a church, because I think 00:16:10.690 --> 00:16:14.889 it's so thoroughly biblical that we see ourselves 00:16:14.889 --> 00:16:19.809 as a mission center or a mission station in the 00:16:19.809 --> 00:16:24.049 world. There's a second principle that I see 00:16:24.049 --> 00:16:26.370 in our text and that is the sending out servants 00:16:26.370 --> 00:16:30.129 or missions follows the establishment of a church. 00:16:31.629 --> 00:16:35.950 Now from the very beginning of a group of people 00:16:35.950 --> 00:16:39.710 meeting together there can be and really needs 00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:43.129 to be outreach. That's part of God's plan for 00:16:43.129 --> 00:16:48.509 us. But it really is the established church that 00:16:48.509 --> 00:16:52.429 becomes the seedbed of missions. One that is 00:16:52.429 --> 00:16:57.529 established. It was in this Society of Saints, 00:16:57.970 --> 00:17:00.750 to use the term that we used last week, in this 00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:04.250 congregation in Antioch, in this local church, 00:17:05.089 --> 00:17:08.569 that the Holy Spirit kicked off the work of missions. 00:17:10.210 --> 00:17:14.990 That's not accidental. The Holy Spirit didn't 00:17:14.990 --> 00:17:18.009 move on Saul's heart up there in Tarsus apart 00:17:18.009 --> 00:17:25.630 from a church to be a missionary. He didn't catch 00:17:25.630 --> 00:17:29.069 Barnabas in between Jerusalem and Antioch somewhere 00:17:29.069 --> 00:17:34.109 and say, you're to be a missionary. He spoke 00:17:34.109 --> 00:17:38.450 to them in the context of a local church. A local 00:17:38.450 --> 00:17:41.390 church that is, well it's kind of hard to tell, 00:17:41.490 --> 00:17:44.109 but maybe three to five years old. So this is 00:17:44.109 --> 00:17:48.990 not an old church. But it is an established church. 00:17:49.049 --> 00:17:51.230 We see that from the fact that it's organized. 00:17:51.529 --> 00:17:54.509 By the way, any church has to be organized. It 00:17:54.509 --> 00:17:59.549 has to be an organization. And depending upon 00:17:59.549 --> 00:18:01.730 a lot of factors, it's either very simple or 00:18:01.730 --> 00:18:04.410 very complex. Usually, the more simple it is, 00:18:04.470 --> 00:18:07.910 the better it's able to get its work done. I 00:18:07.910 --> 00:18:10.970 have a pastor friend who began to pastor a large 00:18:10.970 --> 00:18:13.690 established church in Chicago, and there were, 00:18:13.950 --> 00:18:16.990 I forget now, a bit of 70 -some committees in 00:18:16.990 --> 00:18:20.299 the church. Can you imagine trying to get anything 00:18:20.299 --> 00:18:24.619 done with 70 committees? And in the seven years 00:18:24.619 --> 00:18:26.420 he was there, one of the great accomplishments 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:31.059 was to cut that down by about half. 35 committees 00:18:31.059 --> 00:18:35.960 still boggles my mind. Some churches are very 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:38.240 complex, some are simple, but they all have to 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:42.980 be organized. And here we see five men who are 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:46.099 named. And these are gifted men. They have been 00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:48.819 given the place. of leadership in the church. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:52.279 They've been called of God. They've risen to 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:56.579 the point in their giftedness and in their maturity 00:18:56.579 --> 00:19:01.059 that God has appointed them to be the shepherds 00:19:01.059 --> 00:19:05.599 of the church. And so here we have an established 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:10.460 church. God doesn't intend for any church to 00:19:10.460 --> 00:19:16.720 become a depot. We are rather a deployment center. 00:19:18.129 --> 00:19:20.890 We're not a place just to come and mill around 00:19:20.890 --> 00:19:23.269 and wait for the kingdom of God expressed to 00:19:23.269 --> 00:19:27.470 come by. We are a deployment center. We're to 00:19:27.470 --> 00:19:29.910 come here and then to be deployed out to the 00:19:29.910 --> 00:19:33.329 places where God assigns us in our vocations 00:19:33.329 --> 00:19:36.250 and our neighborhoods. We're a deployment center. 00:19:37.450 --> 00:19:40.250 We're not a collecting point for Christians on 00:19:40.250 --> 00:19:42.390 their way to heaven. We're a command center. 00:19:42.990 --> 00:19:45.829 where God's servants get their orders and get 00:19:45.829 --> 00:19:49.569 equipped and then get going on their assignments. 00:19:51.269 --> 00:19:53.970 Now, this established church that we're talking 00:19:53.970 --> 00:19:59.690 about is the place where the Spirit of God made 00:19:59.690 --> 00:20:04.789 His announcement that missions must begin. These 00:20:04.789 --> 00:20:08.460 Spirit -filled leaders were ministering to the 00:20:08.460 --> 00:20:11.519 Lord. Now that's an interesting phrase. It's 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:14.559 not real easy to understand all that it means, 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:17.640 but the word minister means to serve the Lord 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:21.839 in liturgical service. The word here is the word 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:25.420 that we use for liturgy. And we usually think 00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:30.039 of liturgy as... getting down on your knees at 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:31.839 a certain point in the service and then getting 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:34.160 back up again and reading certain things and 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:36.359 closing the books and putting them away. It's 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:38.059 kind of the outward thing, but that's not the 00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:41.440 idea of the New Testament. It meant to be involved 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:46.059 in serving the Lord with worship, ministering 00:20:46.059 --> 00:20:53.099 to Him in worship. And they were fasting. Now 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:55.460 you want to talk about something foreign to the 00:20:55.460 --> 00:21:00.779 church. we could talk about fasting. Fasting 00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:03.579 didn't mean that they were trying to prove themselves 00:21:03.579 --> 00:21:06.480 to God, that they were trying to be more spiritual 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:10.900 than the others by refraining from food for a 00:21:10.900 --> 00:21:13.059 time, but it simply meant that they were seeking 00:21:13.059 --> 00:21:16.599 to really focus on spiritual things. That's the 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:20.019 idea in fasting. It's not some meritorious thing 00:21:20.019 --> 00:21:24.640 that we do to impress God, to make God hear us. 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:28.250 That's not the idea. But it allows our hearts, 00:21:28.470 --> 00:21:31.250 our minds, our spirits to focus on spiritual 00:21:31.250 --> 00:21:34.430 things once your stomach stops growling. You've 00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:37.029 got to get past that point. Then you can focus 00:21:37.029 --> 00:21:39.009 on spiritual things. Now that's what these guys 00:21:39.009 --> 00:21:44.289 were doing. They were ministering to God, worshipping 00:21:44.289 --> 00:21:46.730 Him, they were fasting, they knew what their 00:21:46.730 --> 00:21:50.470 priorities were as leaders. And it's in that 00:21:50.470 --> 00:21:56.069 context that God spoke to them. And they in turn 00:21:56.069 --> 00:22:01.210 led the body according to what they heard. God 00:22:01.210 --> 00:22:05.210 uses spiritual leaders like this to make His 00:22:05.210 --> 00:22:10.049 will known to the assembly of the saints. There 00:22:10.049 --> 00:22:12.910 is no democratic process in the New Testament. 00:22:13.710 --> 00:22:16.809 That seems foreign and counter to our American 00:22:16.809 --> 00:22:20.710 thinking. But the local church described in the 00:22:20.710 --> 00:22:25.180 New Testament is not a democracy. We do see the 00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:28.700 local church, it would seem, lifting their hands, 00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:32.240 as the verb says, to choose their leaders, to 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.039 be appointed their leaders. From that point on, 00:22:34.140 --> 00:22:36.400 they submit to the leaders that God has placed 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:41.539 over them. It's no accident that Jesus and the 00:22:41.539 --> 00:22:45.319 apostles used the shepherds and the sheep as 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:51.029 a picture of how a church is to function. not 00:22:51.029 --> 00:22:55.910 in who's important or that there's some division 00:22:55.910 --> 00:23:01.509 between pastors and laity, or that there is somehow 00:23:01.509 --> 00:23:03.930 some people who are more spiritual than others, 00:23:04.890 --> 00:23:06.970 for all on the same ground at the cross. But 00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:10.450 in terms of functioning and getting things done, 00:23:10.569 --> 00:23:15.829 he says, shepherds and sheep, elders and congregation. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:19.660 And here it is to the elders that the Holy Spirit 00:23:19.660 --> 00:23:23.180 speaks. But we understand the whole church to 00:23:23.180 --> 00:23:25.500 be involved in this process. It's not just the 00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:30.160 elders doing their thing over here. And the congregation 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.180 over here uninvolved. Because it's to the whole 00:23:33.180 --> 00:23:36.980 church that Barnabas and Saul come back eventually 00:23:36.980 --> 00:23:39.720 to give their missionary report after having 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:44.309 been gone for this year or year and a half. It's 00:23:44.309 --> 00:23:46.589 to the whole church. And so there was some sense 00:23:46.589 --> 00:23:50.829 that the whole church participated in this wonderful 00:23:50.829 --> 00:23:55.430 event. But it was to the leadership that God 00:23:55.430 --> 00:23:59.369 exposed His will. And the church participated 00:23:59.369 --> 00:24:02.329 in that. It was an established church where missions 00:24:02.329 --> 00:24:07.890 went forth. The third principle that I see is 00:24:07.890 --> 00:24:10.750 that missions or sending out of servants is the 00:24:10.750 --> 00:24:16.329 sovereign work of the Spirit. Notice the Holy 00:24:16.329 --> 00:24:19.470 Spirit says, separate or set apart for me Barnabas 00:24:19.470 --> 00:24:24.230 and Saul for the work to which I have called 00:24:24.230 --> 00:24:28.789 them. Now the tense of this verb is not that 00:24:28.789 --> 00:24:31.210 the Holy Spirit had called them at that moment 00:24:31.210 --> 00:24:35.009 but in the past had extended that call to them 00:24:35.009 --> 00:24:37.789 and this was part of the process of it being 00:24:37.789 --> 00:24:44.880 carried out. Barnabas and Saul knew something 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:50.140 was up is the implication here. And now the Holy 00:24:50.140 --> 00:24:54.299 Spirit confirms that he sovereignly has called 00:24:54.299 --> 00:24:58.359 these two men to take the gospel to other parts 00:24:58.359 --> 00:25:04.440 of the world. Who did he call? Well, notice that 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:09.579 he called leaders. Men with proven character. 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:13.240 Men with proven service for the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:18.700 Men who knew what it was to worship God and out 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:21.500 of that worship to work for God. You can never 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:25.619 separate those two by the way. That's why part 00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:29.220 of our mission statement says that we worship 00:25:29.220 --> 00:25:34.079 the Lord Jesus Christ. We are a community of 00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:36.359 believers whose purpose is to worship the Lord 00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:40.619 Jesus Christ and to prepare ourselves through 00:25:40.619 --> 00:25:42.859 biblical instruction, service, and fellowship 00:25:42.859 --> 00:25:48.039 in order to evangelize the world. Worship precedes 00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:52.619 work. It must always be that way or our work 00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:55.980 becomes drudgery and meaningless. It loses focus 00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:59.210 and direction. On the other hand, if all we do 00:25:59.210 --> 00:26:01.789 is worship and we don't work, our worship becomes 00:26:01.789 --> 00:26:05.569 mere sentiment and it doesn't accomplish much. 00:26:05.809 --> 00:26:08.710 And so worship and work go hand in hand. These 00:26:08.710 --> 00:26:11.490 men understood that. The sovereign Holy Spirit 00:26:11.490 --> 00:26:15.329 called these men to their task out of their worship 00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:20.150 and service. Everything about their past had 00:26:20.150 --> 00:26:23.869 prepared them for this moment. I'm not sure I 00:26:23.869 --> 00:26:26.130 fully understand that, I'd like to study it more 00:26:26.130 --> 00:26:29.009 in fact, as to how what Barnabas and Saul did 00:26:29.009 --> 00:26:32.250 before this, and even what they did together 00:26:32.250 --> 00:26:35.910 before this, prepared them for this momentous 00:26:35.910 --> 00:26:38.329 time when the Holy Spirit would send them out. 00:26:39.789 --> 00:26:42.730 I want you to notice that Barnabas and Saul did 00:26:42.730 --> 00:26:48.809 not volunteer for this. The church did not select 00:26:48.809 --> 00:26:53.450 them for this. The leaders did not take a vote 00:26:53.450 --> 00:26:57.910 and say, well, we need to send these two. No, 00:26:57.990 --> 00:27:00.789 as much as we can tell, it was the voice of God 00:27:00.789 --> 00:27:06.289 sovereignly calling out these two. And I think 00:27:06.289 --> 00:27:10.369 that there is some sense in which every person 00:27:10.369 --> 00:27:14.630 who goes into special service for God, by that 00:27:14.630 --> 00:27:17.009 I mean some kind of full -time service, needs 00:27:17.009 --> 00:27:22.400 to have that call of God upon his life. If I 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.700 had gone into the pastorate because somebody 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:28.660 in my church had told me that I should do that 00:27:28.660 --> 00:27:34.859 when I got big, or because my mama felt I should 00:27:34.859 --> 00:27:41.339 be a pastor, which she didn't, early on, then 00:27:41.339 --> 00:27:46.059 I wouldn't have lasted 20 -some years. The thing 00:27:46.059 --> 00:27:48.259 that has kept me going is that I know God has 00:27:48.259 --> 00:27:51.279 called me to do this, and woe is me if I don't. 00:27:54.029 --> 00:27:57.809 And the thing that will keep you going in special 00:27:57.809 --> 00:28:00.650 service for God is the thing that I'm talking 00:28:00.650 --> 00:28:04.529 about, that God has called you to do this. Now 00:28:04.529 --> 00:28:09.809 is it always a lifetime calling? It wouldn't 00:28:09.809 --> 00:28:14.470 seem so. I see no problem with the Holy Spirit 00:28:14.470 --> 00:28:17.470 setting aside people for periods of time in their 00:28:17.470 --> 00:28:20.250 lives. for special service. There are some of 00:28:20.250 --> 00:28:22.170 you that are near retirement and you're saying, 00:28:22.529 --> 00:28:27.670 oh boy, Florida, here I come. And God may say, 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:35.349 do you like the tropics? Try Africa. Try South 00:28:35.349 --> 00:28:37.269 America. Do you like tropics? Do you want warm 00:28:37.269 --> 00:28:41.309 weather? Do you like mountains? Try Quito. Beautiful 00:28:41.309 --> 00:28:45.650 mountains there, so I hear. It may be that God 00:28:45.650 --> 00:28:50.059 is going to call you for this. retirement time 00:28:50.059 --> 00:28:53.799 of your life to some sort of special service. 00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:00.960 Some of you may be involved in being sent out 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:04.039 from this church in a branch church one day. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:09.920 And in that sense, sent out to special service. 00:29:09.960 --> 00:29:12.660 That's a little different category than what 00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:15.099 I've been talking about but that's something 00:29:15.099 --> 00:29:18.809 I want to mention. The Holy Spirit is the one 00:29:18.809 --> 00:29:21.269 who chooses. The Holy Spirit is the one who calls. 00:29:23.210 --> 00:29:26.730 Today we have another pattern that seems to be 00:29:26.730 --> 00:29:29.069 more common and that is that a young person goes 00:29:29.069 --> 00:29:32.410 off to a missions conference somewhere, comes 00:29:32.410 --> 00:29:34.890 back and announces to the church, I've been called 00:29:34.890 --> 00:29:39.470 to missions. And I'm not saying the Holy Spirit 00:29:39.470 --> 00:29:42.230 can't do that or hasn't done that because I think 00:29:42.230 --> 00:29:47.630 He has. But we as a congregation at that point 00:29:47.630 --> 00:29:51.250 need to ask a couple of questions number one 00:29:51.250 --> 00:29:55.789 how Have you heard the voice of God? What makes 00:29:55.789 --> 00:29:59.289 you think this? Number two what have you been 00:29:59.289 --> 00:30:02.470 doing in our church to prepare you to go to missions? 00:30:03.589 --> 00:30:05.990 Have you proven your character and proven your 00:30:05.990 --> 00:30:11.009 service here in our congregation? Because you 00:30:11.009 --> 00:30:14.720 see that's part of it One doesn't become a missionary 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:17.180 by going somewhere and changing his address. 00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:23.019 One who is called of the Holy Spirit to be a 00:30:23.019 --> 00:30:25.819 missionary, I believe, is one who has already 00:30:25.819 --> 00:30:29.480 proven himself in some sense in the local church 00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:34.079 where he plugs in. It seems to me that call to 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:36.700 special service must always be in conjunction 00:30:36.700 --> 00:30:41.680 with a local church. There have been one or two 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:47.539 people who have actually been on their way to 00:30:47.539 --> 00:30:49.940 some mission field assignment, usually short 00:30:49.940 --> 00:30:53.920 -term, and have almost written back to tell us, 00:30:54.019 --> 00:31:00.519 bye, we've gone. My, how out of focus that is 00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:03.960 with what the New Testament teaches. that any 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:07.619 kind of being sent out needs to be in conjunction 00:31:07.619 --> 00:31:11.539 with the local church, with its approval, and 00:31:11.539 --> 00:31:14.619 with a sense of accountability back to that congregation 00:31:14.619 --> 00:31:18.200 out of which one has been called. A sense of 00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:21.519 responsibility to the Lord, but also to His church. 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:26.880 One cannot separate the church from missions. 00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:31.500 And the fourth principle that I want to point 00:31:31.500 --> 00:31:36.519 out is that The sending out of servants or missions 00:31:36.519 --> 00:31:40.680 is the obedient response of the church. Here 00:31:40.680 --> 00:31:44.680 we see the leaders and I think also the congregation 00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:48.339 cooperating with the Holy Spirit in the genesis 00:31:48.339 --> 00:31:51.559 of missions. G. Campbell Morgan says, there is 00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:56.700 one body and one spirit. The spirit is the life 00:31:56.700 --> 00:31:59.539 of the body. The body is the instrument of the 00:31:59.539 --> 00:32:04.160 spirit. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit of God. 00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:07.940 The body is the assembly of the saints. The Spirit 00:32:07.940 --> 00:32:10.500 works through the assembly, but the assembly 00:32:10.500 --> 00:32:14.500 has no power to move save under the inspiration 00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:18.420 and impulse of the Spirit. There is one body 00:32:18.420 --> 00:32:22.119 and the body must cooperate with the Spirit in 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:24.980 separating its members for particular service. 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:29.720 And that's what this body did. It says that they 00:32:29.720 --> 00:32:34.869 prayed. And they fasted. And then they officially 00:32:34.869 --> 00:32:37.130 sent them apart to service. Notice what they 00:32:37.130 --> 00:32:41.630 did. They laid their hands on them. There's the 00:32:41.630 --> 00:32:47.410 old joke about the ordination of pastors. That 00:32:47.410 --> 00:32:49.769 it's usually the placing of empty hands on empty 00:32:49.769 --> 00:32:55.450 heads. What does it mean to place the hands on 00:32:55.450 --> 00:32:59.599 the head? Well, it's a symbolic act, of course. 00:32:59.700 --> 00:33:02.720 There is nothing that's imparted in that sense, 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:05.799 spiritually. But it is an important symbolic 00:33:05.799 --> 00:33:09.279 act because it means that this body of people 00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:15.140 officially recognize the appointment of these 00:33:15.140 --> 00:33:21.619 two men. There is a bond between them. And this 00:33:21.619 --> 00:33:24.839 body is now delegating these men to go out to 00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:29.380 a specific assignment. This body is identifying 00:33:29.380 --> 00:33:32.299 with these people. It is promising to pray for 00:33:32.299 --> 00:33:34.779 them. I believe the people of Antioch prayed 00:33:34.779 --> 00:33:37.559 for Barnabas and Saul. They probably got very 00:33:37.559 --> 00:33:42.119 few missionary letters. But they prayed for these 00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:44.299 men while they were gone and rejoiced when they 00:33:44.299 --> 00:33:50.099 came back bringing their report. When they lay 00:33:50.099 --> 00:33:52.900 their hands on them, they are giving them authority 00:33:52.900 --> 00:33:59.119 from the church to serve. And it says they released 00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:02.660 them, they let them go. It means that they released 00:34:02.660 --> 00:34:05.619 Barnabas and Saul from whatever responsibilities 00:34:05.619 --> 00:34:08.199 they had in the church. One of the prophets, 00:34:08.500 --> 00:34:11.420 one of the teachers, now teamed together, they 00:34:11.420 --> 00:34:14.320 are released from the church to go to the work 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:17.619 that God has called them to. And they have authority 00:34:17.619 --> 00:34:20.579 from that church to do it as representatives 00:34:20.579 --> 00:34:24.860 of the congregation. Great commission, by the 00:34:24.860 --> 00:34:28.969 way. is given primarily to the church and not 00:34:28.969 --> 00:34:34.650 just to individuals. When Jesus said, go into 00:34:34.650 --> 00:34:37.769 all the world, He was speaking to us as a body 00:34:37.769 --> 00:34:43.690 of people. Now again, with our autonomous culture 00:34:43.690 --> 00:34:47.090 forcing a certain context on us, when we hear 00:34:47.090 --> 00:34:50.289 that we think, I am to go into all the world. 00:34:51.170 --> 00:34:53.670 And there is a sense in which we accept that 00:34:53.670 --> 00:34:56.730 as being true. And yet when Jesus said he was 00:34:56.730 --> 00:35:00.710 saying it to his group, and when he says, go 00:35:00.710 --> 00:35:02.650 into all the world to us today, he's saying it 00:35:02.650 --> 00:35:05.349 to us as a body of people. And all of us are 00:35:05.349 --> 00:35:07.809 not going into all the world, but we all are 00:35:07.809 --> 00:35:10.449 going through those that we lay our hands on. 00:35:11.409 --> 00:35:15.150 We're sending them out. And so the sum of the 00:35:15.150 --> 00:35:17.769 principles that I see here is that missions begins 00:35:17.769 --> 00:35:22.090 with God. It takes place in the context of an 00:35:22.090 --> 00:35:27.090 established church. It is the sovereign work 00:35:27.090 --> 00:35:30.150 of the Holy Spirit and it is the church's obedient 00:35:30.150 --> 00:35:35.309 response which sends them out. Now, there are 00:35:35.309 --> 00:35:39.070 implications to what I am saying today. It means 00:35:39.070 --> 00:35:40.929 that just because you get a prayer letter from 00:35:40.929 --> 00:35:43.110 a friend of yours in college who says, God's 00:35:43.110 --> 00:35:47.289 called me to do this, that somehow you ought 00:35:47.289 --> 00:35:49.429 to feel guilty if you don't send them five bucks. 00:35:50.690 --> 00:35:53.090 You know what I'm talking about, don't you? We 00:35:53.090 --> 00:35:59.190 get those kinds of letters. because missions 00:35:59.190 --> 00:36:01.909 takes place in the context of a local church. 00:36:03.070 --> 00:36:04.650 And if you have a friend like that, what you 00:36:04.650 --> 00:36:06.690 need to do is to write back and say, well, what 00:36:06.690 --> 00:36:10.150 church has laid its hands on you and sent you 00:36:10.150 --> 00:36:13.949 forth? Since we were in college together, how 00:36:13.949 --> 00:36:16.829 has your service to the Lord been proven? What 00:36:16.829 --> 00:36:20.250 is your character? What is your relationship 00:36:20.250 --> 00:36:23.869 to your church? Are you coming back to give an 00:36:23.869 --> 00:36:26.409 account to your church because you see missions 00:36:26.760 --> 00:36:29.159 and the local church are hand in hand. You can't 00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:32.480 separate the two. It always needs to be in conjunction, 00:36:32.539 --> 00:36:37.599 the one with the other. George Peters says, world 00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:41.000 evangelism is the imperative of the New Testament. 00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:44.960 The gospel must first be proclaimed or heralded 00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:49.619 among all nations, Mark 1320. He continues, the 00:36:49.619 --> 00:36:52.519 paraclete to accomplish the task is the Holy 00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:56.610 Spirit while the divinely chosen agency for the 00:36:56.610 --> 00:36:59.869 proclamation is the Church of Jesus Christ. These 00:36:59.869 --> 00:37:04.550 are sobering and scriptural assertions. The sending 00:37:04.550 --> 00:37:07.130 out of servants is as natural to a church as 00:37:07.130 --> 00:37:12.269 bearing apples would be to an apple tree. It's 00:37:12.269 --> 00:37:15.690 part of the fruit of being an established church 00:37:15.690 --> 00:37:19.730 under the blessing of God. And we as a church 00:37:19.730 --> 00:37:22.150 have a responsibility for those people we send 00:37:22.150 --> 00:37:25.579 out. Our first responsibility is to make sure 00:37:25.579 --> 00:37:29.500 that God has called them. We're not very good 00:37:29.500 --> 00:37:32.179 at that. We depend upon mission agencies to do 00:37:32.179 --> 00:37:35.039 that. Mission agencies, by the way, are pretty 00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:38.460 hard to locate in the New Testament. Now that 00:37:38.460 --> 00:37:41.539 doesn't mean they're wrong, necessarily. Our 00:37:41.539 --> 00:37:44.719 world today is a lot more complex than the world 00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:47.699 was then. I think mission agencies have a role, 00:37:47.780 --> 00:37:50.719 but folks, mission agencies are not the sending 00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:56.719 agency. They have a role to play but the church 00:37:56.719 --> 00:38:01.480 is the sending agency. And the church needs to 00:38:01.480 --> 00:38:03.800 be sure that the people it supports or is going 00:38:03.800 --> 00:38:06.719 to support are prepared to go, are called of 00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:10.260 God, are doing their work while they're there. 00:38:11.619 --> 00:38:14.219 And then come back to share the good news of 00:38:14.219 --> 00:38:17.179 what God has done. And the church comes together 00:38:17.179 --> 00:38:20.300 to hear because the church has been a part of 00:38:20.300 --> 00:38:28.019 this. Why is it when we know a missionary is 00:38:28.019 --> 00:38:33.000 going to speak, we find other things to do that 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:38.760 night? Because missions is what we're about. 00:38:39.019 --> 00:38:41.800 We need to understand that these people who are 00:38:41.800 --> 00:38:44.800 coming back to tell us what God has done are 00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:47.159 sharing with us not only their lives, but our 00:38:47.159 --> 00:38:52.940 lives. Because we're part and parcel of them. 00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:58.969 Sending out of servants is big business. It's 00:38:58.969 --> 00:39:04.289 hundreds of millions of dollars being invested 00:39:04.289 --> 00:39:09.309 around the world. And it's part of our responsibility 00:39:09.309 --> 00:39:11.449 as a church to make sure that at least those 00:39:11.449 --> 00:39:14.809 that we're supporting are good investments. That 00:39:14.809 --> 00:39:17.190 the money is well invested, their lives are being 00:39:17.190 --> 00:39:19.750 well invested, our prayers are being well invested. 00:39:20.329 --> 00:39:22.710 And when they come back to tell us, That's when 00:39:22.710 --> 00:39:24.989 we get the bottom line, that's when we hear the 00:39:24.989 --> 00:39:30.090 report. Ascending out of servants, on this Labor 00:39:30.090 --> 00:39:32.230 Day weekend, let's remember the labor force. 00:39:32.349 --> 00:39:34.570 In one very real sense, all of us are part of 00:39:34.570 --> 00:39:37.269 that force because we're all missionaries, but 00:39:37.269 --> 00:39:41.710 some among us, the Holy Spirit, is going to say, 00:39:41.710 --> 00:39:45.130 separate me, these people. And we as a church 00:39:45.130 --> 00:39:47.769 will have the joy of laying our hands on them 00:39:47.769 --> 00:39:51.280 and releasing them to go. to the work that God 00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:54.699 has called them to do. What a high privilege. 00:39:56.079 --> 00:40:02.599 Let's pray. Lord Jesus, you have sent out your 00:40:02.599 --> 00:40:07.599 servants. We are your servants. And you've sent 00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:10.619 us to our neighborhoods, to our workplaces, to 00:40:10.619 --> 00:40:16.179 our networks, to represent you there, to proclaim 00:40:16.179 --> 00:40:23.369 the cross. May we be faithful missionaries. We 00:40:23.369 --> 00:40:25.369 pray that you will see that your work in our 00:40:25.369 --> 00:40:30.969 lives has been a good investment. Help us also 00:40:30.969 --> 00:40:33.349 to apply what we've learned this morning in this 00:40:33.349 --> 00:40:38.269 text to the work of missions in our church. May 00:40:38.269 --> 00:40:41.730 we see that as your heart and know that we are 00:40:41.730 --> 00:40:44.570 close to your heart when we are involved in this 00:40:44.570 --> 00:40:49.599 work. of laying our hands on those servants that 00:40:49.599 --> 00:40:57.380 you call sovereignly to special service. In Jesus' 00:40:58.039 --> 00:40:59.039 name, amen.