[0:00] There are some words that John Newton wrote a long time ago. He was a man who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace.! He said, I never want to cease to be amazed that a wretch such as myself was not only spared the wrath of God, but also reserved a place of honor in declaring the gospel that saved me.
[0:23] And I really want you to know that I treasure that. I'm really thankful to be here with you today. That God wouldn't only just save me and spare my soul, but He would give me the opportunity to declare the good news to other people.
[0:39] And so as Nathan stated, we've been taking a break off of Romans 10 and discussing local and global mission. And my task today is to discuss the global part.
[0:54] And so what I want to begin with first is, as we've discussed in previous weeks, there's a lot of definitions and misconceptions about what missions actually can be.
[1:07] Sometimes, usually in the church, you have images of people going overseas and going to different places in the world with people who speak different languages. And that's what tends to come to mind when you hear the word missions.
[1:21] And that certainly is a part of missions. But, however, like mission is not a biblical word like covenant or justification or gospel.
[1:32] And so we don't have necessarily like a clear definition in Scripture for what missions means. And in the church, that could be broadly interpreted. If you were to say, what is the mission of the church?
[1:44] You could say, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You could say a lot of different things about what is the mission of the church. So it depends on what we actually mean by the word mission.
[1:55] And it could be defined dozens of ways. But a simple, I mean, if you just want to break it down to the most simple way to define mission in the Latin, where we get the word from, it just means to, like, being sent or to send.
[2:11] And secondly, and they're not different definitions, being given a task, sent to do something. Sent to do something, but not everything. Going to do something specific in particular in where you go.
[2:24] So, but we are very, very clear that God has given a mission to the church to go and declare the gospel to all nations. So, I have three questions for us to look at today.
[2:40] And underneath these, there's going to be a lot of other little bullets and asides. But they're underneath these three questions. But the first one is, what is the message we bring in our mission?
[2:53] And what is the message we bring in our mission? So, the gospel, the word evangelion means, in Greek, it means good news, glad tithings.
[3:05] And it means a victory in a battle. And those of you who know, I really like ancient history a lot. And in ancient Greece, like when city-states, such as Corinth or Thebes or Sparta or Athens were at war with each other, they would then really ride horses at that point.
[3:26] So, they did everything by running. They had runners that took news everywhere. And the picture is like a city would be waiting to hear what happened at a battle. And it would all just be like on their, you know, just on the walls, on the towers of the city, just waiting for news to reach them as to what happened at the battle.
[3:47] And then they would see a guy, you know, running over the hill, you know, and he would get there. And they usually could tell by the expressions on his face, whether it was good news or bad news. But if he had a joyful look and his face was smiling and he was just beaming with joy, he would cry out, you know, evangelion, good news of victory.
[4:08] We all know where to get the word, you know, Nike from the shoe that was from Pheidippides. He ran, you know, from the Battle of Marathon. And he cried out, victory, and then he died when he got to Athens.
[4:20] And it's the same picture of what this has meant. So if that's what gospel is, good news, glad tithings of victory, what is the Christian gospel?
[4:32] And so throughout the ages, man has faced a greater foe than anything in the world has known. It's something much greater, and that is our own sin. And sin brings about suffering, agony of the soul, and eventually spiritual death.
[4:50] Internal separation from God. There's no greater enemy than our own sin. And the power of sin and death among the nations is very, very great.
[5:02] That only a sovereign God could conquer it. And so we ask ourselves, where is the Christian gospel? Turn through Isaiah 52.
[5:15] Isaiah 52, verse 7. So understand, over the centuries, people have waited in darkness and waited in bondage of sin.
[5:30] And it's very cool that Nathan read, refer back to our text in Romans 10, because Paul actually quotes from this passage in Isaiah. Around roughly 722 or so B.C., the prophet Isaiah foretold of a greater victory that was to come.
[5:50] And in verse 7 of chapter 52, he says, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns.
[6:12] The voice of your watchmen, they lift up their voice. Together they sing for joy. Waste places of Jerusalem. Together they will sing for joy.
[6:24] For eye to eye they have seen, see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has commanded his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.
[6:36] The Lord has barred his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. And so in this, we see the good news of the gospel prophesied about 700 years or so before Christ actually came on the scene.
[6:55] If you see some of the languages there, the feet upon the mountains that brings the good news, and the watchmen and everybody else, they're crying out for joy because news of victory has come.
[7:07] And he's saying, So what would be the response of the good news that was brought to those cities? It would be singing, it would be laughter, it would be joy. And he's saying that all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God and that this is for the nations.
[7:26] And so the apostle Paul actually was allowed to see this prophecy come to pass in the person of Christ who won the victory over sin, death, and Satan.
[7:37] And so we look at verse 10 in Isaiah 52, and we see that this good news is not just for Americans or for the West or for the Bible Belt.
[7:48] It's meant for the nations, all people groups, all the people scattered throughout the ends of the earth. Every language is meant for them. And Paul has many ways of describing the gospel or the good news.
[8:01] In Romans, he says, It's the good news of his son. Romans 15, the good news of God. 1 Corinthians 9, the good news of Christ.
[8:13] 2 Corinthians 4, the glorious good news. Ephesians 6, the good news of peace. Revelation 14, the everlasting gospel, or the everlasting good news.
[8:25] And we all know that before Jesus actually gave the Great Commission to his disciples, it says that they worshipped him. They fell down and they worshipped him.
[8:36] And it's almost, I want you to keep your hand there in Isaiah, but turn to Daniel 7 really fast. We'll look at another picture of a prophecy that Christ brought to pass.
[8:51] Daniel chapter 7, verse 13. Daniel is seeing these visions, and he has a picture of Christ, the Christ who was to come.
[9:10] Daniel 7, verse 13. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like the Son of Man.
[9:23] And he came to the Ancient of Days, and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.
[9:38] His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. It's as if Jesus could actually say to his disciples, rightly do you worship me.
[9:55] I am the one that Daniel spoke about, that came before the Ancient of Days, and was told that the nations would worship me and serve me. Awesome picture of who Christ is.
[10:08] He rightly deserves the worship and praise of the nations, because he is God. And a long time ago, David Livingston, a missionary to Africa from Scotland, he told his wife, I know that you wish, as ardently as I, that the whole world will be filled with the glory of God.
[10:27] And that's what, exactly the heartbeat of what Daniel actually saw here, was that all the nations would give glory to this king, who would have an everlasting dominion.
[10:39] So this is, that's the first question. The gospel, the good news of Christ, and how God himself has sought man out to reconcile him, in a way that, if we come to Christ, we may live a life that glorifies God once again, and have relationship with God once again.
[10:58] And so missions is about that. It's about declaring the good news, that God has come in Christ to save sinners, and to bring them back to himself. So this is, that's the first question.
[11:09] The second question, we're looking at, and it may sound a little bit strange, but the second question, am I being called to global mission?
[11:23] Am I being called to global mission? And, with the most respect I can say, I want to say that really, this is a no brain question for any follower of Christ.
[11:37] when people come to me, and they say, I have a heart for missions, I want to say, I certainly hope so. That's kind of, in my mind, kind of, duh, you know.
[11:52] And I think, again, that question comes, because, of misconceptions, of how we've portrayed missions, and missionaries. But we just do it to everything too.
[12:02] We do it to pastors, we do it to, awesome authors, that we look up to, we do it to everybody. So, it's not just, that term, missionaries. But, to be a follower of Christ, is to understand, that missions, is a part of the heartbeat, of God.
[12:18] It's not, it's not something, just for a few people, to take on. Very, one of my favorite, and shortest quotes, by John Piper, is if John Piper, has any short quotes.
[12:30] He says, in terms of missions, go, send, or disobey. So, we are, to be involved in the going, the sending, or both, at times, or, we're in disobedience, we're in utter sin.
[12:48] So, I've done my best, to really think this through. And, this will probably be, a little bit different, of a sermon, than you've heard, on missions. I want this a lot, mostly to be practical, help, and wisdom, for those who are evaluating, in what capacity, would God have me, be a part of his global cause?
[13:10] So, it's not, what, but, should I be a part of God's global cause, but how should I, be a part of God's global cause? So, underneath this same question, I'm being called, to global mission, I have several things, that, that I've seen as, in my own life, in, in the lives of others, what are wrong, motivations, in seeking global missions?
[13:35] What are wrong motivations, in seeking global missions? And, the first one is, seeking adventure. Seeking adventure. Many people, are kind of wired this way, I kind of am, to some degree.
[13:49] You're always looking for thrills, you're looking to, to do the difficult, what you want to challenge, in life, and, the thrill, the unknown, just excites you, and, you're attracted by, mysterious places in the world, and, strange peoples in the world, and you kind of want to go, and, and dive into that.
[14:06] So, you like to go on, like an exotic, adventurous vacation, and attach, attach the name, mission trip, to it, often. And, you're there more for the place, and for the thrill, than for the broken people, that are there.
[14:19] And, you're the kind of person, to say, I love trying new things, dangerous things, I want to be radical, I want to be sold out, I want people to, the, the, the recognition, comes from doing something, totally different, than what most people do.
[14:34] And, and often, if you're not careful, those people can think, God needs me, like, I'm the person for this job, I have this, together. And, if that's, in your heart at all, I pray this, I pray that you would, you would ask God, help me realize, that you don't need me, for anything, and that carrying the cross, leaves me nothing, to both sin.
[14:57] Help me to fall in love with you, and break my heart, for the lost people, and direct me where I am, to minister there. So, that is, that is one, false motivation, for seeking, global mission.
[15:10] A second one, following a movement, following a movement. And so, there's always dangers, of following a movement, rather than, the message of that movement.
[15:23] In our case, we're quick to dive, into a movement, and forget the man, of that movement, which is Christ. And, we, when we go to conferences, and we hear messages, and we read books, and, we hear testimonies, and there's all this excitement, and, and clamor, and energy, that's going on.
[15:42] It's very easy, just to kind of go, right into it, just dive, right into that. And, everyone, wants to belong, to something. They want to say, I was a part, of this thing, that took place.
[15:56] When I was growing up, I always thought, it would be awesome, to say, I took, when I heard, some of the men, the older men, in my shirt say, you know, I stormed, the beaches of Normandy, or I, I landed in Market Garden, in Holland, in the second world war, I thought, man, that must have been, an awesome, thing to be a part of.
[16:13] You know, I would, I would think that way. Everybody wants, to belong to something. And so, we always want to be a part, of something big, and new, and, awesome, that is out there.
[16:25] And for example, in the church, there's a resurgence, of, of Reformation theology, the way that, the reformers, looked at the scripture, about, how scripture is our only authority, and how all things are, by grace, through faith, in Christ alone, and all to the glory, of God alone.
[16:44] Those are really, really good things, but I know people, that are caught, in that movement, and they forget, the heart of what, is actually going on. The heart of what, scripture is trying to tell us, and they, begin to identify themselves, as I'm a part of this camp, or that camp, rather than, I just fully want to, belong to Christ, and Christ alone.
[17:04] And so, it's the same thing, with, with missions, quite often. And then, in the church, particularly, among the younger generations, it's becoming, the cool, popular, trendy thing to do.
[17:19] It's like, let's go on missions together. And, they, there's even, kind of like, to some degree, a generational arrogance, kind of like, we're the generation.
[17:31] We're the generation, God's going to use, to fix the problems, of the world. And we seek, to kind of, almost separate ourselves, from, the faithful people, who have, lived, and died, and served, in God's global cause, before us.
[17:46] People like, my grandmother, who have taught, ESOL, for, almost 30, 40 years. And, with the Georgia Baptist, going around the world, declaring the gospel, in the form of, teaching them English.
[17:58] You know? And, so we spit on, that generation, and we think that, we're the awesome generation, that God's going to use, to get this done. And, I was in that camp too, I was like, sign me up, I want to be a part of this, cool generation, years ago.
[18:14] But, this is not, the case. A lot of times, and you're a part of a movement, or you're going to do something that way, and you go, and you actually get to, some dark place in the world, reality, will set in.
[18:26] And, you'll be sitting there, dealing with silence, and depression, and hardship. When all the clamor is gone, you're just sitting there, dealing with actually, what's going on.
[18:36] All the, romantic glamour, will kind of fall off. And, so in a movement, we can be very careful, to forget the whole purpose, behind what we're doing. And, some of you have heard of, you know, the Taj Mahal, and India, it's a, a beautiful place, but the king that built that, a long time ago, built it, to honor his third wife, which was his favorite wife, who were born, I think, 13 children.
[19:04] And, he built this, awesome, beautiful, place for his wife, in honor of his wife. And, it took him almost, 20 something years, to build it.
[19:15] But, there was multiple times, where they actually like, lost her coffin. They didn't know where, her coffin went. Like, why are we doing this? And, so, they got so caught up, in what they were doing, they lost her, the whole point, of the thing.
[19:28] And, I know that, we can get caught up, in movements, when we do that. We forget, this is about Christ, not about me, not about other, people necessarily. Really, this is about, Christ and his glory, and about declaring his name, among the lost.
[19:43] So, I say that, if you're in that camp, I want you to pray, God, help me, not to be enamored, by the coolness, and glamour, of a movement.
[19:53] Rather, help me to fall in love, with you, and find who I am, and you alone. That's the focus, you should have. A third reason, third wrong motivation, is a distaste, for American culture.
[20:10] A distaste, for American culture. Many people, seek foreign missions, because they have, developed a contempt, almost a hatred, for the people, in America.
[20:21] The culture, the societal norms, the prosperity, and they make, harsh generalizations, like, Americans are rich, and stuck up, as if there's not, other people, in other nations, that are, that struggle with pride.
[20:34] Pride is at the heart, of all sin. No matter, where you go. Americans are so lazy, as if, there's not lazy people, in the world. And they characterize, just everything American, is sinful.
[20:46] And, if that's how Americans think, they just must be wrong. And, they develop, some sort of bitterness, in their heart, because of that. And often, those people, are seeking to find, their identity, in some other culture, some other nation.
[21:00] They, they like that, and they want to go there. And, but, a huge tragedy, in this camp, is that, people who, this is the kind of people, who talk about foreign mission, all the time, but they won't, go, and share the same Christ, with the people, at their workplace, in their neighborhood, at their school, they won't do it.
[21:24] They have, this is such a contempt, for Americans, but they're all about, going to share the gospel, with the lost, around the world. And, I say that, that's, a twisted heart, and a divided heart.
[21:35] If God truly, is burning in you, a desire for the nations, he will first burn, a desire for you, for the people, that you're surrounded with, right now. And people that I see, that I know, that are genuinely, supposed to be, a part of God's global purpose, they are pouring their lives, out here, like they're meeting with people, all the time, like praying for people, sharing the gospel, with the lost, discipling.
[21:59] I can say with confidence, that if they say, hey I'm, I think I might be, the Lord might be leading me, to this area of the world, I'm like, man, you know, sweet. But, that's sin, and there's bitterness in the heart, if you think that way.
[22:14] God loves the people, the lost and dying, in this world, or in our nation, just as much as anywhere else. Don't start to rank people, because, there's fewer Christians here, that God loves them more, and not the people here.
[22:29] So, we can't do that. So, we need to pray, God help me to love all people, including those, who are here in America, and break my heart for them. Help me be faithful, where I am, and glorify you, where I am first.
[22:42] That's what the focus should be. And, fourthly, I just had two more, fourth reason, fourth wrong motivation, for a global mission, running from sin.
[22:56] Running from sin, and I've done this myself. So, many people, who run to the nations, they're seeking escape, from some, sinful habit, that they struggle with.
[23:07] Or, some pain, or some fear they have, or some insecurity they have, here in America. I know, guys that have gone, and done, global mission, because they were struggling, with, with greed, or, materialism, or, sexual sin.
[23:25] And they think that, if they just go here, it won't follow them. And, they fail to recognize, that their enemy is within. It's not, something without, it's something that will follow them, no matter where they go.
[23:38] And, are the people, who are running from, from fear, or insecurity, or pain, that they've experienced, they've experienced, a broken heart, through, a broken relationship, with, family, or, the opposite sex.
[23:55] Are they seeking approval, at work, or a certain group of people, they want to be, accepted by. And they find themselves, going overseas, hoping that that's not going, to follow them, and they can find, somewhere else.
[24:07] But, all the time, usually, the vast majority, of people who do this, their sin, or their fears, their insecurities, only escalate, when they go, to places.
[24:18] It doesn't help. It usually makes things worse. Because they're not dealing, with the problem, first. And their, their enemy is within. It's a sinful, broken heart, not the environment, that they're in.
[24:31] So, I pray that you would see, that there's no physical, sanctuary, away from your sin, and your fear. Only in God's presence, alone is that found.
[24:42] And so, pray that, God help me, to see there's no, sanctuary for my sin, in place of healing, for my broken heart, other than in you. Your presence, alone, in your presence, alone, there's fullness, of joy, and peace.
[24:59] Steve, Colbert, who wrote the book, you know, When Helping Hurts, the book that I've, I borrowed, and read a lot, but I had to give back. He said, until we recognize, our mutual brokenness, our work with others, especially with those, who are materially poor, will do more harm, than good.
[25:19] We have to realize, how broken we are, first, and, and how much we need to save, before we go, and help others. So, so that's running from sin, or fear, wrong motivation.
[25:32] Fifth, this was, again, I've lived in this camp, and this is the last one, wrong motivation, guilt, and penitence. Guilt, and penitence.
[25:44] Those who feel, the weight of their sin, and their guilt, often can seek, to repay God, for his kindness to them. And I've done this, it's often called, the debtor's ethic.
[25:56] God did this for me, so I have to do this for him. I have to pay him back somehow. And I need to sell, everything I have, and I need to go to the hardest place, to live on the earth, and just give my life, just doing, missions, so he'll see how serious I am, and that he, made a good investment, when he saved me.
[26:13] You feel like, so unworthy, so broken, and you're motivated by guilt, and unworthiness, and not the love, and gratitude, that should come, from knowing Christ.
[26:26] So we seek to repay God, and all that he's done, in us. And I've lived in that camp, and so I pray that, if that's where you are, you pray God, help me to see, that you love me, and save me, not because, of what I could do for you, but simply because, you chose to.
[26:42] Help me to see, that I'm completely loved, and accepted by you, and help me to do all, out of love, thankfulness, and gratitude, and for all you've done for me. That's, that should be our focus.
[26:55] And so, those are some wrong motivations, that I've seen in myself, and the lives of others, for why they seek, to go and do global mission. So, moving on, I have a few reasons, for what are pure, and right motives, behind global mission.
[27:12] And, kind of starting here, like I said a second ago, the first one, is a deep love, and gratitude for God. You're aware, of your own sin, and you're aware, of the depths, that God has picked you out of, and that, it makes your heart joyful, and so, thankful, for what he's done, that you just want to know him, walk with him, live for him, and die for him.
[27:35] And you don't care how. You don't care, what he does. If he says, stay here, and do the most, back behind the scene task, or if he's like, go, and stand, and preach before, thousands of people, or he's like, go to this nation, and preach the gospel, you really don't care.
[27:51] You just want to know Christ, to walk with him, and to make him known. That's, kind of where you are. So, all that you've, are doing, is motivated, by the love, and gratitude, you have for God.
[28:02] You were, you recognize, that you were not with him, at one point, and he sought you, and he wrapped you, in his splendor, and he called you, his own. And, the result is, you just hunger, and thirst for God.
[28:17] Turn to Jeremiah 20, really fast. Jeremiah 20, verse 9. So, our hearts, should be so filled, with love, and gratitude, that, we naturally, talk about, what we love the most.
[28:36] It comes out of us. And, I want to declare, declare Christ. And so, our affections, compel us, to preach the gospel.
[28:47] Jeremiah 20, verse 9. If I say, I will not mention him, or speak any more, in his name, there is in my heart, as it were, a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I am weary, with holding it in, and I cannot.
[29:05] That is like, how you feel, if you truly, have encountered Christ. You must, talk about him. You must, declare him. It must come out of you. Like Peter and John, who stood before, the religious leaders, and they say, we cannot help, but speak of what we have seen, and heard.
[29:23] Or like, the demon possessed man, who was healed, and he told Jesus, I will follow you, and do whatever you want me to do. And he said, go, and declare what God has done for you. He joyfully went, and declared like, what God had done for him.
[29:35] And, and deep down, we say, as Paul did in 1 Corinthians, woe to me, if I do not, preach the gospel. It has to, it has to come out of us. So first of all, get to start there.
[29:47] If you have just such a, a love and gratitude, for what God has done in your own life. Secondly, a love for the lost world. And again, I've already kind of touched on this.
[29:59] Our hearts should break for the lost, all over the world, not just, a particular, certain people. Not just lost people. Not just in Asia, Africa, or Europe, but our neighborhoods, your schools, the people you encounter, your family, places of work, here in America.
[30:16] America. This is a very healthy indication that God could be expanding your vision to go and do something globally. You have to be faithful where you are first. That's a biblical principle.
[30:27] It's just, it's just there. You can't escape it. God wants to be faithful where you are. Then he will lead you further to where you are to go. And, we should go to whatever extreme necessary to reach the lost.
[30:42] And God has given us the privilege of being his messengers to rescue those who are being taken away to death and hold back those who are stumbling to slaughter. And then, thirdly, a holy desire for going to the nations.
[30:56] Many of you will find God as you're being faithful where you are, pulling you and directing your heart to a specific nation, people group, or region of the world.
[31:07] and you'll have no romantic ideas about it. You'll be like, I could go. I could suffer a lot while I'm there. I could experience loneliness. I could be persecuted.
[31:18] Not a lot could happen even if I go. Even if I go and live there, I might not even see anyone converted. You understand the realities of what's there. You have no romantic ideas about it. But God is nonetheless pulling you and developing a broken heart for a particular group.
[31:37] people in darkness, a dark spiritual condition. And you see God opening and closing doors as you begin to pray about and seek this out to see if this is something He would have you actually go and do.
[31:50] So, all this, I've just said, are wrong motivations and right motivations for global mission. And you might have just a mixture of a lot of those. I don't want you to section them all off.
[32:03] I've experienced most of those. And this is the third part and probably one of the largest parts. How can we as a church be active in God's global purpose?
[32:17] How can we as a body here be active in God's global purpose? And the first one is praying and counseling. Okay?
[32:28] We desire to help direct people to where God is leading them regardless of wherever that may be. And we understand that God has uniquely crafted you and gifted you for different things.
[32:43] Those of you who have children know that your goal is not to force your child into a mold that you want or just like yours, but recognize that God's going to have them as individuals.
[32:55] He's going to have them grow up to be unique in a lot of ways and that that's going to play into who they're going to be and what they'll be doing one day. And so we do the same.
[33:05] So our goal, most radicals in the church, they will make you feel weight and guiltiness that you need to do exactly what they're doing. I've seen pastors and missionaries over, foreign missionaries alike do this.
[33:21] They will come and they'll preach a message on local mission. They'll be like, don't you dare go anywhere else. You need to stay here and you need to do local mission. And then I've heard the opposite of guys say, you know, like, how dare you not go to the nations?
[33:37] And there's a sign-up sheet and everybody's name's on the sign-up sheet at the end, like sign me up, I'm going. And it's almost like they've been burdened or guilted into a certain direction. But we want to sit down with you and we want to listen, to pray, to discuss, to look at scripture and help draw out of you what God is doing inside of you and then direct you where we think that would be or where you think that would be.
[34:02] We recognize that about you. We want to aid you in encouraging you in seeking that out, whatever it is, whatever it is. And that includes going to the nations and that's awesome.
[34:14] We want to encourage that, not to convince you to be a goer or a sender, but to figure out where you should be and to walk through that journey with you. It's our privilege to do that. I'm so thankful for men and women who are in the nations now that I've had a chance to be friends with and to encourage and train and send out and that leads us to the next thing.
[34:35] Our church can be involved in training and discipleship. We desire, in general, to help people grow in their walks with Christ, to teach them to know God and to love God, to follow Him and obey Him.
[34:50] We want to give them a firm biblical, theological foundation for their life and what they do. Things that every believer should know. So you may think theology, scholarship, intellectualism, what does that have to do with mission?
[35:07] It has a lot to do with mission. Did you know that John Calvin's seminary in Geneva was called the School of Death? And you no doubt, I bet if you went there, you would get some hardcore theology while you were there, you would be learning out the wazoo, like information about what the Scripture says.
[35:26] But do you know that a huge majority of men that came there from all over Europe, they were so burdened by what they heard, they're like, we can't stay here.
[35:37] We have to go back to our people and teach them these things. And like, huge numbers of them were martyred as they went back to their home countries from this seminary to declare the truth of the Gospel to the people they heard and to translate the Scripture into their own languages.
[35:56] So we want that to be that. We want to be that. We want to train you in our knowledge of the truth so that you will go out and have a firm foundation. There was a girl who was a part of our congregation several years ago who's graduated and moved on.
[36:13] But while she was here, she took place in a short-term mission trip to Moldova. And there, she was actually attacked by some of the, kind of like the mob that's there in Moldova.
[36:27] Actually, and she came back and told us, you know, when she returned, your teachings that I've learned from you guys about how God is in control of all things that He is sovereign gave me such peace and joy while I was being threatened with death there.
[36:43] And like, that's what we want to have. We want to give you a firm biblical training and discipleship before you go anywhere. We want you to feel this burden and go.
[36:56] So, also, we want to be able to serve long-term goers, long-term people who are being called to foreign mission.
[37:08] We want to aid them in any way we can. and we want to have, like even groups of people in our congregation adopt certain people that are out there to pray for them constantly, to fund them financially, to stay in touch with them and to encourage them and to report on what they're doing here.
[37:29] We want to see that happen. And we're in the works of trying to do a lot of stuff like that now. and we want to be connected to these long-term people who are there and to inform you here what's going on in their areas of the world.
[37:49] That's important. We need to be doing that. And then, also, I try to be very careful when I'm thinking through this. Also, be involved as a church in wise, short-term missions.
[38:03] missions. And we do desire to engage in some short-term missions as a congregation, but we don't want to betray a short, exciting, exotic vacation that you can attach mission trip onto.
[38:18] We never want that to be the focus. Not so you can just go and experience different peoples and cultures, and we want to carefully examine like cultural values, economic situations, and the broken relationships of people in those places that we're actually thinking about.
[38:37] And I want to be wise in the planning, the implementing, and the evaluation of what we do. Scripture is very clear that the only way to wage war is to do it wisely.
[38:50] It says in Proverbs 15, without counsel, plans fail. But with many advisors, they succeed. In Proverbs 20, plans are established by counsel.
[39:02] By wise guidance, wage war. So we want to be careful about where we send money and who we send to go and do specific things in different places of the world.
[39:14] In the book, Helping Hurts, Steve Carbert said, by definition, short-term missions have only a short time in which to show a profit, to achieve, predefined goals.
[39:27] And this can attack our American idols of speed, of comparatualization, that's a big word, money, achievement, and success.
[39:39] Projects become more important than people. That's often how we can be in America. We don't want to put in something so we can get a quick response or a quick profit back. We've got to be prepared to deal with the long haul in certain things.
[39:55] So there's a few principles here as to how we can help make the most out of short-term missions. And one is engage with the locals and long-term people that are in certain countries and ask them to be a part of the planning and the implementing and the evaluation of what's going on.
[40:16] And we want to do what they think is best for the communities that they're ministering in and not what we want to do or what we think is best. Because at the end of the day it's not about us, it's about the loss and reaching the loss.
[40:32] So if that means like the money that we would use to actually spend to get to the location would be more beneficial just to give to the people that are there long-term so they can use it and spend it which way they think best, we'll do that.
[40:47] But if they say hey we really could use some help, we could use some faithful people to come and help us for this period of time and doing this and teaching English or training or there's multiple things, serving, building, we want to be able to be a part of that.
[41:05] And we want to even help train and prepare people before they go on these trips. And so also in this book I recommend this book by the way when helping hurts.
[41:17] I haven't read the whole thing but it's been very good practically in learning how to apply missions but he has three things I think would be helpful for you to write down.
[41:29] General principles for helping without hurting and there's three kinds of things out there. One is relief. Okay, we want there's a crisis in the world and we go and we provide relief.
[41:44] And that means there's an urgent need and we need to go now and stop the bleeding of whatever is going on. That's relief. The second one rehabilitation and that starts when the bleeding stops and you help people get back to a pre-crisis condition.
[42:03] And then thirdly development which is an ongoing effort to help people and come into a right relationship with God and help establish them where they are.
[42:14] So that's the things we wanted to see but in the book he says one of the biggest mistakes is that North American churches make by far is in applying relief in situations in which rehabilitation or development is appropriate.
[42:28] So we're quick to kind of go and provide the wrong kind of help when this is more needed than what we're trying to give them. So we want to be very careful thought out prayerful seek out wisdom from those who are in those countries and the long term missionaries that are there and ask them how best can we help and Nathan and I or Wes and Chris run the process of putting together you know people that are in different continents different nations that we know and we have connections with we want to be able to love and support them in any way that we can.
[43:06] But at the end of the day this is all about declaring the gospel and the glory of God to the ends of the earth. So in closing turn to Acts chapter 26. Acts 26 and go down to verse 17.
[43:31] Paul he declares that this was the mission that God sent him to do and he says go to the Gentiles to who I'm sending you verse 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are being sanctified by faith in me.
[44:07] This is our aim. This is our mission, our goal. We want people to be set free from sin so they can know the God that created them and walk with them in a way that will honor him and glorify him.
[44:21] And at the end of all things, one day a lot of us in here who know Christ and have him in our lives will be standing before the throne of God in eternity, praising him, giving him glory, worshiping the lamb who was slain.
[44:38] I watched the opening ceremonies in the Olympics, like probably a lot of us did, and such a beautiful, cool picture of what eternity could be.
[44:51] All the nations coming together for a particular purpose and coming in with their flags and their languages and all of that, as beautiful as that is, you know, there's one day we're all going to come together and we're going to lay down those flags and we're all going to take on a new identity, have a new name.
[45:09] There won't be any barrier of race or culture or any kind of hatred between us at all. Christ will be our all in all and we'll worship him for all eternity.
[45:22] This is the goal, this is what we focus on, this is global mission and I hope that some of this has been helpful, challenging, convicting, encouraging. If you agree, disagree, it's alright, you can come and talk to me about it.
[45:38] We just want to glorify Christ and that includes local and global mission. So let's just turn to the Lord in prayer and ask him to help us.
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