A Missions Challenge

[00:00:00] This morning something that is on my heart. Is that up, John? There we go. Okay, you might want to turn off the lights up here. I want to share this this morning and I want you to understand if it sounds like I'm coming across being critical, that's not what I mean at all. I don't intend that. The Lord has laid some things on my heart. I want to challenge us. I see so many good things happening here in our congregation, but there's more we can do. [00:00:45] And so I want us to be challenged in this this morning, to not just be content with where we are. It's so easy, and I think I see this in my own life, the older we get, the easier it is to be content with where things are, to be satisfied. And I had to think, I shared from the book of Joshua, winning more ground for the Lord and winning battles for the Lord and I was challenged with Caleb. Here Caleb was at 85 years old. He had come into the land, he had gotten an inheritance and he wasn't satisfied. [00:01:29] He said, I want that mountain, the one where all the giants are, with those great big walled cities, I want that. At 85 years of age, and it was a challenge to me to think about, you know, here he had been successful as a spy, he had gone out in faith, in confidence in God, he had maintained that faith, he had worked with Joshua, And here he was, he could have sat down and said, man, it's been a good life. Now I'm going to sit back and enjoy it. But he didn't do that. He said, I want that mountain. And he went out and took that mountain from those giants, claimed that for God. [00:02:12] And so I'd just like to challenge, it's been a challenge to me. As I go over there and I see the commitment of these people to take the gospel, it's a challenge, a big challenge. One young man told me, he said, I can live with one set of clothes for months. I can live with very little food. I can live just physically getting by to carry the gospel to many others. [00:02:49] And I had to think, would I be satisfied to do that? Or would I say, no, I've got to have a real fine place to live and lots of good food and then I can go. And so the challenge this morning that I share with you is not a challenge of criticism. It's a challenge for me as well. It's something that the Lord is speaking to me about. And so I want to share that with you and I challenge you. [00:03:21] The background picture there is the city of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. And I only focus on that because that's where I just was. There are cities like this all over the world. Here's a city of around a million people. Hindu. Most of them have no knowledge of the gospel. So, in 2007, when we were over, Luke and I, we sat beside some Gideons on the plane that were going to Kathmandu to set up some more Gideon camps. [00:03:59] There's already camps there, and at that time they were hoping to establish about ten more, each of them, two men. One was an eye doctor from Toledo area and they were hoping to establish about 20 more Gideon camps in the city of Kathmandu. But you look at that and it's almost like a drop in the bucket. It's almost like there's so much. As we were around, and when I share about Nepal later on, you'll see some of this, but you fly over and there's just village after village after village after village continuously across those mountains. [00:04:37] We walked back into the mountains for church and there was just villages. Everywhere you looked there were more villages. And one of the days, Raymond went for a motorbike ride, and then he and I went up in the same area a little later, but he stopped in a village up there. It was within sight of our hotel, the city of Pecara, where there's quite a number of churches and Christians in that city. But he stopped and he talked to a man that had really good English, and he asked him if he knew anything about Jesus. He said he'd never heard. Never heard. [00:05:15] The name of Jesus. He didn't know who it was. And so, we can't be content. We can't be satisfied. Even in our own city of Sturgis, there's people that don't know the name of Jesus. And so I want to challenge us this morning. I want us to think about some things. Do we know how short our time is? I'm not just talking about our life. We don't know when our life will end. But do we know how short our time is as an opportunity? [00:05:58] We see some things happening and they're happening pretty fast here in the last six months. Then we wonder, in fact I read an article this week that was written from a Russian writer And he said it's unbelievable how fast America is heading toward Marxism Incredible We don't know God has given us opportunities Tremendous opportunities [00:06:29] Are we using our time for Him? How can we maximize our opportunities? Are we taking the opportunities that have been given us and using them to our best advantage, to the best advantage for Jesus Christ? What value, what priority do we place on spreading the gospel? Is it something that grips our heart and it consumes our thoughts and our time, our mind? [00:07:03] Or is it something that we just do as a byproduct? Something that we just do as a leftover? Something that we just do when we don't have something else to do or when we have some special project or program? And that comes in two areas. What about right here at home? You know, it's great to go to the other side of the world and to have opportunity to work there and to see the needs there. It's awesome. But we've got both places. [00:07:38] Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel, but he also said, go to Jerusalem, go to Samaria, go to Judea, go everywhere. Do we understand the final words of Christ? I'd like us to just think about this. Jesus' last words in Mark chapter 16, verse 15. He said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And I think a question that begs an answer from this is, is that me? [00:08:16] Was Jesus talking to me? Was He talking to us? Or was He just saying something that sounded really good? Was it something that was on His heart? Was it something that he was sharing with us because it's important? His last words before he left this earth. I think it's something we need to think about. Now, I want us to look at three scriptures this morning. Over in Matthew chapter 9, verses 36 through 38, [00:08:50] and you'll see these three scriptures are very much related. There's multitudes of sheep without a shepherd. And this is what Jesus was seeing here in Matthew chapter 9. I want to read this. When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors are few. [00:09:21] Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labors into his harvest. You know, there's a lot of crops grown there in Nepal. They do all their work by hand. They plow with oxen, but all the rest of their work is done by hand. They carry everything on their backs and so on. And I had to think how much effort it takes for them to produce a crop. And Jesus said there's so much crop out there that needs to be harvested. [00:09:59] I don't know how it would feel to be a farmer and have thousands and thousands of acres of crop, a wonderful crop, in the field and not be able to get anybody to help you run machinery or help you get the harvest in. It would be very frustrating to watch that crop deteriorate and go to nothing because no one wanted to work. And that's what Jesus is saying here. Jesus looked out across the multitudes. He saw them like sheep without a shepherd. [00:10:33] They just were wandering here and there. They weren't finding the green pastures and the still waters that He longed to have for them. He says, look, pray the Lord of the harvest that He'll send forth labors into His harvest. The second one that I want us to look at is over in Luke chapter 10. And you'll notice that these are very similar statements that Jesus gives, but they're in different settings. [00:11:06] And so I think it's important for us to pay attention to what He's doing here. Jesus said here in verse 1, He said, After those things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come. Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labors are few. Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labors into His harvest. [00:11:36] He had 70 that he was sending out here. They were preparing the way for him. He said, you go out and you go to where I'm going to come. You prepare the way for me. In a real sense, that's what God is calling us to do. He says, you go and prepare the way so that Jesus can come into this area and do his work. Is this something that Jesus has just for a select few? [00:12:12] Or is this something that applies to every one of us? Are we sent by Jesus Christ to prepare the way for Him? To bring the message of salvation, to bring the Gospel story into the hearts and lives of people so that Jesus Himself can come there and do His work? When we see the multitudes of sheep without a shepherd, we have to ask ourselves, do I see? Do I care? [00:12:45] When we see the responsibility of preparing the way for Christ, we have to ask ourselves, just like these 70, am I sent? And we need to be sensitive to the voice of God in this. We need to understand the heart of God in doing the will and work of God. John chapter 4, this was right after Jesus met, or when he met the woman at the well. John chapter 4, verses 34 to 38. [00:13:20] Jesus saith unto them, the disciples wondered because Jesus said he wasn't hungry, he had meat to eat that they didn't know of, and they thought somebody must have brought him something to eat. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. [00:13:51] And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together And herein is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor Other men labored, and ye are entered then into their labors I think we have to ask ourselves this question, where is my place? The harvest is large. Jesus says there's work for everyone. There's no excuses. There's something for all to do. [00:14:29] And it's important for us to discover and to be concerned about what is my place in this work. He says some plant, some harvest, some water, but God gives the increase. Paul talks about that as well. And I think it's important for us to ask ourselves and to ask the Lord continually, Lord, what do you have for me to do? You know, John and Peter had this little thing with Jesus one day. [00:15:02] And Jesus said, here's what I want you to do. And Peter said, well, what do you want this man to do? He's talking about John. Remember, Jesus had told Peter, you feed my sheep. Feed my sheep, feed my sheep. And Peter was getting a little frustrated with what Jesus was talking to him. And he said, what do you want this man to do, John? And Jesus said, if I want him to sit here until I come, what's that to you? You do what I've got for you to do. [00:15:34] And so I think it's important for us. It's easy to look at someone else and say, well, what are they doing? No, no, no, no, no. Am I doing what I've been sent to do? Am I doing the part, you know what, if I do the part that God has called me to do, God can take care of the part that He's called somebody else to do. He can take care of that. He's well able. And so I think the challenge is for us this morning, do I see and care? [00:16:06] Is my heart moved when I look out and I see The barrenness in the land and in the world where the gospel is not gone, where the name of Jesus Christ is not known, where it's not understood, where it's not proclaimed. Do I care? Or am I content because I've got money and I've got things and I've got a good place and things are just pretty nice? Am I sent? Has Jesus given me a responsibility in this work? [00:16:42] And then the question is, what is my place? What does God want me to do? Now I have some things I think we should consider. I give thanks to Raymond. I was listening to part of his class and I was challenged with this. Over in Acts 13, the church at Antioch, when they were ready to send, they sent their best leaders, Saul and Barnabas. [00:17:16] Now, what do we normally think of when we think about church? We think we've got to keep the best here so that church keeps happening the way it's happening, right? Isn't that typically how we think? But you know what happens when the best are sent? God raises up other leaders. God brings more. And so I think there's a challenge here. And the question we've got to ask ourselves is, [00:17:49] is everything about our church? Or is it about the gospel? Is it about what happens here? Or is it about what happens in all the world? We've got to be thinking. We've got to ask ourselves some questions that might challenge how we do things. It might ask us to make some changes. It might cause us to reconsider some things. The second one that I want us to think about is, [00:18:22] how much will I sacrifice for the cause of Christ? What are you going to do? Give up an ice cream cone? Come on. What am I willing to sacrifice? Am I willing to lay down my life for the gospel? And I was challenged again and again with young people, teenagers, early twenties, just ready to lay down their whole life to take the gospel to these villages, to carry the message of salvation. [00:18:59] You know, we talk about sacrifice so loosely, but what am I willing, really willing to give up so that the cause of the gospel can be promoted and increased? Would I be willing to live with one pair of clothes for months so that the gospel could go out if that's what it took? I'm not trying to point fingers. [00:19:30] I'm thinking these are things that are pointing at me. Things that I think about as I look at this. How much will I sacrifice? I've got a lot of things I want. Am I willing to give up my wants and even what I consider my needs so that the gospel can go forth? There's a lot of young people in Asia, young Christians, and we see them, and Raymond will share this with you as he comes. [00:20:07] Everywhere they go to teach, there's a group of young people that are really waiting and ready and working, going forth already, and there's many more that are ready to go. If we can share with them and help them to be able to go I think there's something that we need to think about Maybe we need to rethink Maybe it's something that we need to work at [00:20:41] I had to think Here's what Paul said in Romans chapter 15 verse 20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel Not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation. I had to think, what would change in our world if we as Christians would live this way? If we would adopt this same principle that the Apostle Paul adopted, [00:21:14] I am working to go and reach those that haven't heard. Word. You know, we spend a lot of time, I remember my father often asking this question. It was one that burdened him. He said, why do we spend so much time working in areas where people seemingly don't even care to hear, when there's so many parts of our world that haven't heard and want to hear? And it's, you know, I'm not saying we all need to get up and move and leave [00:21:47] That's not what I'm necessarily saying But I want us to think about how can we focus Is there a way that my life, that our congregation can focus on reaching toward those that haven't heard And I think Kids Club is one way where that's happening in a good way in our congregation And I'm thankful for what's happening there I encourage you, I know it's not easy, I know it gets old and gets trying and so on, but I'd just like to challenge us, these are some things that I think we can think about, and I appreciate our missions committee and the work that they do and the thought that they put into some of these things. [00:22:29] I think we should work, in our mission work, toward an indigenous church. I've been challenged with this lately as I've thought about some things. An indigenous church is a self-governing, self-propagating, self-supporting church. And as I look at what's happening in the world in missions, Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 9, 14 [00:23:02] Even so hath the Lord ordained, this is God's plan, that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel He goes on and he says, I didn't do that because I didn't want to take advantage of anything But he says, that's a challenge And I think that in this whole process of an indigenous church, that's something that needs to be considered. As a group, as a denomination, we've often spoken against a supported ministry. [00:23:39] But you know what? Paul says it there in that verse just as plain as it can be. He doesn't say how it's to be done, but he said those that preach the gospel should live of the gospel. And we do that with missionaries, but it's just a challenge to us, something to think about. And I'm relating it specifically into working toward an indigenous church. I believe we need to avoid dependency. One of the things that happens as we go with the gospel is we tend to take a lot of things with us. [00:24:14] The churches there in Nepal, where I've been, they have a pretty simple building. In fact, the church I was in last week was probably about from these corners here, and a little bit wider than the steps, the wall to the steps. There were about 40 people in there, maybe closer to 50. Some were actually on the outside. It was a three-sided storefront. The door was up. They all sat on the floor for the whole service. [00:24:50] Now, if I go there and I teach them that they've got to have benches in their church and they start building churches that work for me then pretty soon they're not able to reproduce those churches in the villages around them and that becomes dependency and I can tell you I've read a number of things lately, I've heard different stories and dependency is something that's very gratifying and it happens without effort. [00:25:26] It's nice to go and see a church that looks very similar to ours. But is it something that they can do with their own resources? Is it something that they're able to reproduce in their own countries, in their own villages? And I think that's something that we are working toward in our mission activities And I think it's something that we need to continue to think about and work toward [00:25:58] These are just some things that I've been thinking about The last thing that I want us to think about this morning is Am I blessed or cursed? This is challenging to me Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 16 Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of For necessity is laid on me Yea, woe is unto me, a curse is on me [00:26:31] If I preach not the gospel We often look at blessings and relate them to material goods, possessions. But Paul says blessing is to be able to share the gospel. And he says if we're not sharing the gospel, there's a curse on us. There's a woe from God. [00:27:04] And I think that's a challenge. I think that's something that we need to stop and consider. There's so many things to think about as it relates to sharing the gospel with our world. So, do I care? Am I sent? Where does God want me to be in serving Him? And I challenge us, I challenge myself, I challenge each of us this morning to go before the Lord and open our hearts to the Lord and say, [00:27:44] Lord, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? How can I share? Who can I share with? And it doesn't mean that God is automatically going to ask you to move or go into some mission work somewhere. Maybe He just wants you to learn to share the message of Jesus Christ with those right around that haven't heard. But let's listen to the voice of God And hear what He wants us to do Let's stand together for prayer [00:28:27] I'd just like to ask you this morning If the Lord has especially spoken to you this morning You have no doubt that the Lord has spoken to you And you just want his wisdom, his direction, his courage as you go forth that you can follow him, that you can understand where he's sending you. If you sensed that this morning and you want me to especially remember you in prayer as we close, just slip up your hand. Lord bless you. [00:28:57] Father, we thank you this morning. Lord, you've given us a great work to do. A tremendous work. Lord, as we look at our world, we see the harvest is just great. There's so much opportunity, so many things that need to be done, so many people that need to be reached, so many villages, Lord, that have not heard, so many people groups that don't even know the name of Jesus. [00:29:31] And Lord, I believe you have a place for everyone here this morning, for each one of us. You have something for us all to do. And I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit speak to our hearts. Lord, open our eyes, open our understanding to the needs of our world, to the needs of our community, to the needs of our nation. And to the needs of our enemies, oh God, help us to see clearly. [00:30:08] Help us to have a heart that cares. Fill us with your compassion. Fill us with your longing, those words you've left us with, that we might go and take the gospel to the whole world. I pray, Father, that you help us to see that you have called each one of us. That you have a special work, a special place that we need to fill. And I pray, God, that you help each one of us to be willing to sacrifice, to give up whatever it is that we might want, that we might desire, that we might long for, that we might even count as a need. [00:30:53] Speak to our hearts, Lord, in whatever you have. Father, that we might be a people that would glorify your name in the nations. That we might see clearly the place that you have for us as individuals and as a congregation. I thank you, Lord, for this opportunity that you've given me and the challenges that you've placed on my own heart. And I pray, Father, that we might work together for the good of your kingdom and for the spread of the gospel. [00:31:27] I just pray for each one that raised their hand this morning, dear Father, that especially wanted prayer. You've spoken to them in a specific way. And Father, I pray that you give them strength and courage and wisdom, understanding, Lord, to follow what you've spoken to them with all of their heart. We thank you, we praise you, in Jesus' name. Amen.