Missions: Get Thanksgiving!

Introduction:

Download Barnabas’ Sermon Slides - PDF

Thanksgiving:

1. History of Thanksgiving (Gen 1:9-13)
2. No setting law period on eating food (Gen 4:10, 9:4)
   1. Ten generation from Adam to Noah (Gen 5)
   2. Ten generations from Noah to Abraham (Gen 11)
   3. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph (Gen 24-50)
   4. 430 years in Egypt (Ex 12:40)
3. Giving laws on food (Ex 22:29, 23:19 34:26 Le 23:9-22 Nu 28:1,2 Dt 26)
4. Promise-reminder laws carring for 40 years (Jos 5:6, Dt 8:4)
5. God's promise is fulfilled & Israel in the promised land (Ik 6:1)

   480 + 970 - 568 = 844

6. New Testament first-fruits indicate messiah & christians (Rom 16:5, 1 Cor 16:15)

Thanksgiving for Today:

1. Israel's thanksgiving is physical . (Pr 23:9-10, Ex 23:17)
2. Christian's thanksgiving is both physical & spritual . (1 Cor 15:20, 22-23, Ex 23:15, Dt 16:16)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  01:04-01:05

  Thank you very much.

  01:07-01:07

  Good morning.

  01:08-01:08

  Good morning.

  01:11-01:16

  I'm honored to be here and I would like to say thank you everybody.

  01:17-01:24

  Actually, I didn't plan it, I didn't expect it, but God brought me back here to see you this time.

  01:25-01:31

  And in 1996, Mr. Jeff came to Thailand.

  01:33-01:42

  He's like a human lion, because the very long hair, and the hair is much bigger than the head.

  01:45-01:55

  During that time, I was thinking, how can this man visit to the mission field with this kind of hair.

  01:56-01:57

  It's a hippie style.

  02:00-02:06

  So he baptized a small village.

  02:06-02:07

  There was a creek.

  02:08-02:11

  And the name of the village is Maemu.

  02:12-02:14

  Maemu is mother's pig.

  02:16-02:19

  So he was baptized over there.

  02:20-02:34

  Now he came home and went to Bible school and helped Mr. Bob Huber for a while, and then he established Church Harvest Bible Chapel, Pittsburgh North.

  02:34-02:35

  This is very wonderful.

  02:36-02:42

  I come back over here to see his growing church.

  02:43-02:52

  You all walk together with him, and you all together worship God with him.

  02:53-02:56

  It's so proud of you.

  02:56-03:02

  Like this morning, my wife Martha also came with me here.

  03:09-03:15

  So, let's, I would like to introduce with my harmonica.

  04:00-04:01

  Thank you, thank you.

  04:04-04:10

  I would like to introduce my really friend's wife, Katie Huber.

  04:10-04:14

  Will you please stand up for a while?

  04:15-04:15

  Okay.

  04:19-04:28

  Mr. Bob Huber, we met at the Cincinnati Bible Seminary at the summer course in a short time.

  04:28-04:32

  So Mr. Bob introduced himself to me.

  04:32-04:36

  It is not usually people introduce one another.

  04:37-04:41

  A little bit, how to say, different.

  04:41-04:50

  But he introduced himself to me and said, "We have a plan to support a missionary to Thailand.

  04:51-05:04

  During that time, I don't have the support to go home." So Mr. Bob is God-send helper in the ministry.

  05:07-05:18

  So this morning we will talk about Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving is coming closer.

  05:22-05:24

  Thanksgiving is three Thanksgiving.

  05:26-05:41

  Moses time before they left, during the time they were on the desert, traveling for 40 years, Moses give them instruction of the Thanksgiving.

  05:43-05:48

  After that, they celebrate Thanksgiving in the Holy Land.

  05:51-05:54

  Now it's our time to celebrate Thanksgiving.

  05:56-06:11

  Like Israel, like God's promise that this Thanksgiving is the reminder of God's promise for the saved ones in heaven.

  06:12-06:15

  That is for each one of us.

  06:17-06:27

  So for the sake of the time, let's go a little bit faster.

  06:32-06:34

  Okay, let's go to see Thanksgiving.

  06:36-06:39

  The first step, history, background of the Thanksgiving.

  06:40-06:47

  But we look back to the book of Genesis chapter 1 as a creation order.

  06:50-06:52

  But Thanksgiving concern with the food.

  06:54-07:01

  Chapter 1 verse 9 to 13 talk about food on the third day of the creation order.

  07:02-07:15

  In the creation order we have only six days, so Thanksgiving is on the third day of the creation order.

  07:17-07:22

  In other religions in my home country, they said no creator.

  07:26-07:31

  All these things come to exist by naturally, they believe that way.

  07:33-07:39

  And then if we have a problem when we pray, who is going to hear our prayer?

  07:40-07:47

  There's no person, just prayer, prayer, no people can hear their prayer.

  07:49-07:56

  Some other religion, they have a creation order that is not orderly, back and forth work.

  07:57-08:01

  We cannot compare with the creation order that we have.

  08:02-08:04

  So it's really wonderful.

  08:07-08:13

  The second step, no setting law on period, setting law period on eating food.

  08:15-08:24

  God created, you can eat as much as you want. You can eat the way you want. There's no law.

  08:25-09:25

  So without the law, from Adam to Noah is ten generations. No law. You can eat as much as want. And second is from Noah to Abraham, another 10 generations no laws on eating food. And Abraham, his son Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, it's 23 generations God created the food for us but no laws on it. More than that, the time that they were in the time that they were in Egypt slavery is 430 years. So totally 23 generation and 430 years without giving any laws on eating food. Okay next step.

  09:28-10:19

  giving love. So after 23 generations and 430 years later, the Lord speak to Moses on the Mount of Sinai. Moses he went to the top of the mountain for with God for 40 days and 40 nights without having food or drinks. So God told Moses, "Write it down." Unless God told Moses, how can Moses know the creation orderly? Like it was before him 23 generations and 430 years before he was born.

  10:20-10:31

  So God is the one who created, and how God created at the beginning, he told Moses, so Moses write it down in detail.

  10:31-10:41

  So we should say, thanks Moses, since the beginning when he wrote it, the letters are still for us, good for us.

  10:42-10:51

  So the first thing that God told Moses, bring the first fruit.

  10:52-10:54

  The first one, bring the first fruit.

  10:55-10:58

  We don't know why we have to bring the first fruit.

  10:58-11:06

  But God told the Israelite people, this is only information, not to practice yet.

  11:07-11:16

  Bring the first of the first fruit, like from your soil to the law.

  11:16-11:22

  So this is God's only information.

  11:22-11:27

  You don't need to practice yet because you're on the way going to Canaan.

  11:28-11:31

  And the second point is like celebration.

  11:33-11:41

  When you give the first fruit to the Lord, You have to celebrate, a worship celebration.

  11:42-11:46

  Not only celebration, worship celebration.

  11:46-11:54

  And also on the third point is, third thing that God said, bring them on Sunday.

  11:56-11:57

  It's not on Sabbath.

  11:59-12:09

  So from Sabbath to change it Sunday is, not we do, not any other organization, any other denomination do that way.

  12:09-12:21

  The Bible said that, like, the first fruit must be offered to the Lord on the first day of the week, not on Sabbath.

  12:23-12:26

  So God changed from Sabbath to Sunday.

  12:29-12:32

  Like the four points, it is a form of worship.

  12:33-12:42

  When we bring the first fruit before the law, there's a bow down before the law, worship, a form of worship.

  12:44-12:53

  So first fruit must be like, don't give it, you cannot eat before you give to the law.

  12:54-12:58

  You cannot cook it or do whatever, you cannot do anything.

  12:58-13:01

  You have to honor God in the first place.

  13:02-13:04

  So give the first fruit to the Lord first.

  13:05-13:11

  In our Lisu culture, many years ago, we don't have rice.

  13:12-13:17

  Maybe, we don't know what kind of a situation they are in.

  13:17-13:34

  One day, there's a man, took his two dogs, walking from place to another, and when the dog came home, there was a patty stick on the dog's bushy tail.

  13:35-13:38

  About two, three piece of patty stick on there.

  13:39-13:49

  So they use that patty grow again, then become slowly, slowly, the Lisu people can grow rice.

  13:52-14:15

  So on the Thanksgiving, for the traditional Lisu dance giving days, when you cook the first part of the rice, the first meal, even though the kids are hungry, give me rice, even the parents said, oh, I want to, I'm hungry, no.

  14:17-14:20

  The first part of rice have to give to the dog.

  14:23-14:24

  Dog first.

  14:26-14:28

  That's a little traditional.

  14:29-14:35

  But right now we become Christians and we give the first fruit to God, our creator.

  14:36-14:39

  Not giving to the dog anymore.

  14:41-14:44

  And then fifth day, it's Pentecost.

  14:45-14:48

  Pentecost means seven weeks.

  14:49-14:55

  And when they counted seven weeks, it's also on Sunday, not Sabbath day.

  14:56-15:01

  First fruit also worship, give to the Lord on the first day of the week.

  15:02-15:09

  Also Pentecost, also on Sunday, first day of the week, not Sabbath.

  15:10-15:18

  So this, like in, during they were on journey from Egypt to Canaan.

  15:19-15:21

  Information give them already.

  15:22-15:22

  Okay.

  15:24-15:28

  So the seven price of that, I drive for festival.

  15:29-15:35

  Like Thanksgiving, only my family eat not that way.

  15:36-15:48

  So the whole village come together and you bring your food this year and put together and worship to the Lord.

  15:49-15:58

  So singing, dancing, preaching, everything is just a form of worship like that, rejoicing for festival.

  15:58-15:59

  Okay, next one.

  16:03-16:10

  When we have Thanksgiving, God's guest or God is the real host.

  16:11-16:21

  When we give to the Lord, I should be the host, but we allow God to be the host.

  16:22-16:25

  If God is the host, then he can bless us.

  16:26-16:29

  If I'm not the host, I cannot bless by myself.

  16:30-16:36

  So the reason is, God invite the guest.

  16:37-16:38

  The first thing, stranger.

  16:39-16:41

  Second thing, orphans.

  16:43-16:47

  The third thing, like the priest.

  16:47-16:50

  The fourth thing, widows.

  16:52-16:53

  God will invite the guest.

  16:55-16:59

  We offer to God and God's the host, invite the guest.

  17:01-17:03

  And God will bless.

  17:03-17:11

  What sort of God allow us to do, he is going, he has a plan to bless us.

  17:12-17:16

  So like God is the real host.

  17:17-17:24

  And we give him and he will bless us and also the guests.

  17:25-17:37

  So four kinds of guests, priests, strangers, orphans, and widows that God wants to bring them.

  17:37-17:42

  I don't like this person, I'm not allowing him to join our Thanksgiving.

  17:42-17:45

  You don't have the right to say that one.

  17:46-17:49

  God is the host, okay, that day.

  17:49-17:53

  That meal is we share the Lord with him.

  17:53-17:58

  It's a very, how do you say, honoured meal.

  17:59-18:00

  So I like it.

  18:00-18:01

  Okay, the next one.

  18:02-18:03

  Blessing from God.

  18:05-18:10

  So after they finish this one, God from heaven blessed us.

  18:11-18:13

  And the Bible says bless us.

  18:14-18:22

  When God told us to do something, God prepared it to bless us already.

  18:23-18:26

  The tenth is precisely timing.

  18:27-18:35

  Oh, in those days, I will hold my Thanksgiving, whatever I want, not that way.

  18:35-18:37

  You have to limit time.

  18:38-18:44

  Oh, I'm not so, I'm so busy, I will do it later.

  18:44-18:45

  Not that way.

  18:45-18:48

  The Lord said on precise time.

  18:48-18:49

  Don't hesitate.

  18:50-18:56

  Maybe something you don't want to give and try to make excuse a little bit later, later, not that way.

  18:56-19:00

  So God doesn't want the Israel people to do that way.

  19:01-19:02

  40 years journey.

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  When they write this one, they carry this only information.

  19:09-19:12

  They do not enter the Holy Land yet.

  19:12-19:19

  So they carry these laws for 40 years, all the way.

  19:19-19:22

  This school must be very big.

  19:23-19:27

  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

  19:27-19:33

  Five books will be very big because rain on the animals' skin.

  19:34-19:36

  Maybe one book is that big.

  19:36-19:39

  I think more than 10 people have to carry for 40 years.

  19:40-19:48

  Okay, and then, number 12 is like a you have to come.

  19:52-20:07

  At the festival, you have to come and when you come, you cannot come with empty handed because God bless you already this whole year.

  20:09-20:12

  If God not bless you, how can you live?

  20:13-20:15

  So once a year we give thanks God.

  20:16-20:21

  So you have to leave what God has given to you.

  20:21-20:33

  So bring something, not all of them, mostly at your bum, but only a few, bring before the Lord.

  20:34-20:38

  So you have to bring something, one pumpkin, okay.

  20:41-20:44

  10 ears of the corn will be okay.

  20:45-20:51

  Maybe coconut, apples, you have a lot like that.

  20:52-20:59

  So like, you have to bring something because your substitute, your example.

  21:02-21:08

  So on the fourth place, like they carry, they carry for 40 years.

  21:09-21:20

  That's a promise that unless you have a chance to enter the Holy Land, you don't need to obey this law.

  21:21-21:28

  So promise that you carry until you enter the land of the Holy Land.

  21:29-21:36

  So before they reach to the, with hope they carry, they want to have their own country.

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  They want to have their own king.

  21:40-21:42

  They want to have their own land.

  21:42-21:44

  They want to have their own house.

  21:45-21:49

  In Egypt, no land, sleep, like.

  21:50-21:53

  Over there, you will be the owner of the country.

  21:54-21:55

  So they carry this one.

  21:56-21:57

  I think they are not getting higher.

  21:58-22:00

  a great hope over here.

  22:01-22:07

  This is like a promise that take you to holy land.

  22:08-22:14

  By the time you arrive to the holy land, you can practice thanksgiving.

  22:15-22:19

  If you don't have that land, how can we celebrate thanksgiving?

  22:20-22:23

  Because we don't have land to cultivate.

  22:24-23:05

  Okay, number five is that God's promise is fulfilled in Israel in the promised land. So like finally when Moses handed over to Joshua, Joshua lead them across the Jordan and then enter the Holy Land. And celebrate Thanksgiving because no matter raining down from heaven, now this is your land.

  23:05-23:13

  You can grow, you can cut up, how to say, vegetables for your own family.

  23:13-23:32

  So like when we see Proverbs chapter 3, verse 9 of that 9 is during the time they live in the Holy Land, they celebrate, they teach the people to hold Thanksgiving.

  23:34-24:11

  So how many years do they hold Thanksgiving? See, 480 years until the king of Solomon. So Solomon is before Christ about seven and nine hundred and seventy years. Totally about a thousand and four hundred years they celebrate Thanksgiving. So this is a Israel people they hold out Thanksgiving.

  24:11-24:16

  after that Jesus came. Okay next page please.

  24:18-25:00

  The New Testament fruit indicates Messiah and Christian. So when we see Romans chapter 16 verse 5 and 1st Corinthians 16 verse 15 talk about new convert. But Greek translation it said first fruit. New convert in Greek form they use first fruit. But nowadays so many Bible translations. Some of the books you don't see as a first fruit. You will see them as new converts.

  25:00-25:11

  Actually, according to the etymology from Genesis until Revelation, the first fruit we found.

  25:12-25:13

  First fruit.

  25:13-25:22

  But when you read these two passages, some translations, you don't see them as a first fruit.

  25:22-25:26

  You will see them as new converts like that.

  25:28-25:36

  Christ is the first fruit. 1st Corinthians 15 20 says Jesus Christ is the first fruit.

  25:38-25:58

  During the time of Israel, they don't know what is the first fruit. But in New Testament, Paul said Jesus Christ is the first fruit. So the first fruit in the ultimate and is the foreshadow of Christ. You see, God planned it already.

  25:59-27:59

  The first fruit in the Israel history is the foreshadow of Christ. God intentionally do this one. Okay and like what happened to New Testament Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. What happened to the New Testament? Every gospel, every four gospel books, every book is set on the first day of the week Christ rose from the dead. On the first day of the week, every, we found this one, every gospel books. So like Jesus Christ is the first fruit, the first fruit who raised from the dead and then later on who accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior will be raised again. That is in the John chapter 6 verse 37 to 40. In the last day I will raise you up. Christ promised it. Christ promised it, sealed it by his own life. So like you see from Sabbath to Sunday, Sunday Jesus Christ rise from from the dead and we all who believe in Jesus Christ will rise again according to God's promise. It is not our work, it's God's promise. Whether you believe or not, it's your work. Whether it happens or not, it's God's work.

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  And Christ resurrected on the first day of the week, it's Sunday.

  28:07-28:41

  Christian will be resurrected as the first fruit after Christ. So Christian also the first thing Christ said again if we believe in Jesus Christ right now Christian will be resurrected again because Christ's power and that was how can we be we can involve that one. John chapter 1 verse 12 is the key word for the all new testament, open the heavenly gate.

  28:42-28:51

  When Messiah incarnated to this world as Emmanuel, he bring down the gate of heaven.

  28:53-29:09

  If we accept him as our personal savior, we open, it's open the heavenly gates.

  29:10-29:17

  Since when we accepted Jesus Christ, he will accept us.

  29:18-29:25

  And his promise that we will never be forsaken, he will take us to heaven.

  29:26-29:30

  This is Christ's promise.

  29:31-29:38

  So Christ will be risen, when he has the power to rise us again.

  29:38-29:39

  Okay, number...

  29:42-29:46

  Yeah, new converts, first fruit in the...

  29:46-29:47

  ...we'll talk about.

  29:51-29:57

  Yeah, number five is safe ones in heaven, also called first fruit.

  29:57-30:06

  So first fruit, the first one is Christ and those who believe in Jesus Christ, also Christians, also call first fruit.

  30:06-30:23

  But right now in Revelation chapter 14 verse 4, there will be safe one in heaven, 144,000 safety ones when we read the book of Revelation.

  30:24-30:27

  There is one word they say, it's first fruit.

  30:28-30:36

  So first fruit is the first Christ, second Christian, third, like those who saved in heaven.

  30:37-30:39

  So first fruit is very important.

  30:40-30:48

  The whole Bible use the first fruit that God will bring us to heaven.

  30:48-30:50

  Okay, next one.

  30:54-30:58

  that is in front of my house.

  30:58-31:02

  I was preaching over there, concerning on the Thanksgiving.

  31:03-31:08

  You see over there, we bring, everybody bring something.

  31:10-31:12

  According to the Bible, you have to come.

  31:14-31:19

  When you come, you cannot appear before the Lord with empty handed.

  31:20-31:21

  Bring something.

  31:22-31:30

  Like say, you can bring one pumpkin or squash or corn, you can bring whatsoever.

  31:31-31:34

  This is our celebration of Thanksgiving.

  31:35-31:36

  Every year, every year.

  31:37-31:40

  A big celebration.

  31:43-31:52

  19, I remember when Jeff and Bob and Katie came to Thailand, We have a big, big Thanksgiving that day.

  31:53-31:58

  So more than 600, 700 people came that day.

  31:58-32:01

  And Pastor Bob shared the message that day.

  32:02-32:08

  So everybody in a village, one village has only one Thanksgiving.

  32:10-32:15

  Sometimes three, four, five village want to make a fellowship.

  32:15-32:20

  So five villages came together and celebrate one Thanksgiving.

  32:21-32:31

  But there will be so many programs, singing, dancing, witnessing, preaching, so many.

  32:33-32:35

  It will take sometimes four hours to finish.

  32:38-32:40

  So like a Thanksgiving for today.

  32:42-32:45

  I don't know in America, how do you pray for Thanksgiving?

  32:46-32:50

  The first Thanksgiving is Israel's Thanksgiving is physical.

  32:51-32:55

  Physical means they said God created for us.

  32:57-33:02

  It's what we can see, the vegetable that we can see.

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  It's Israel.

  33:04-33:08

  But Israel did not understand that.

  33:10-33:40

  food is the foreshadow of Christians. So the second one is that Christian Thanksgiving is both physical and spiritual. Yeah, God created the food so we remember we are thankful to God he created for us. The second thing, what's the role you bring before the Lord is the foreshadow of the safe one before in heaven.

  33:41-33:50

  So what you bring before, before to the Lord is whether expensive or cheaper, we count on the meaning.

  33:50-33:54

  This will be the shadow of safe one in heaven.

  33:55-33:59

  So we teach the kids this way.

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  So can you, okay.

  34:10-34:33

  So like Israel, Thanksgiving is giving thanks for God's provision. We see that Thanksgiving in Israel is the foreshadow of Christ and Christian. Christian is the foreshadow of of safe one in heaven.

  34:34-34:46

  So like we have God allow us to practice at Thanksgiving, it's a reminder of God's promise for the safe one in heaven.

  34:48-34:49

  Okay, next one.

  34:55-35:06

  The sense of giving is to reveal God's promise, like baptism, like the Lord's Supper.

  35:08-35:12

  Baptism also, maybe, how to explain?

  35:12-35:22

  Baptism is, the name in baptism, we all die in this earth, and God will raise us in heaven.

  35:23-35:28

  So when you go into the water, sooner or later you will die on this earth.

  35:29-35:34

  And when you come out from the water, God will raise you up in heaven.

  35:35-35:43

  So baptism is the reminder of God's promise that he will raise us up in heaven.

  35:49-35:51

  How about the Lord's Supper?

  35:52-35:56

  The Lord's Supper is also God's promise.

  35:58-36:11

  And the Lord's Supper is God's reminder of God's promise that those who believe in Him never be forsaken.

  36:13-36:15

  We can count on Him.

  36:16-36:17

  We can trust Him.

  36:18-36:22

  So this is the meaning of the Lord's Supper.

  36:23-36:31

  So sometimes a lot of people don't explain the meaning of the Lord's Supper.

  36:31-36:39

  So grace and love looks like very light that way.

  36:39-36:43

  Actually, grace and love is the most important thing.

  36:47-37:00

  So like Thanksgiving for us is like the first step is we think about God's creation, so we're thankful to God.

  37:01-37:06

  Second thing is like Christ rose from the dead.

  37:07-37:13

  Also God's promise one day we will be raised up again in heaven.

  37:14-37:19

  This is the foreshadow of those who save one in heaven.

  37:20-37:30

  So Thanksgiving is the reminder of God's promise for the saved ones in heaven.

  37:31-37:40

  So when we study this way, Thanksgiving pointed out all the beginning of the Genesis.

  37:42-37:47

  So you will be saved in heaven, pointing us to heaven.

  37:49-37:52

  So thanksgiving is from the beginning to heaven.

  37:54-37:59

  Remind us that God will prepare a place for us.

  38:00-38:04

  So this is God want us to understand.

  38:05-38:09

  His promise, what we're doing is not in vain.

  38:11-38:18

  Let us do something that we can and God will bless us according to his will.

  38:18-38:32

  So it's worthy to hold Thanksgiving and worthy to worship him and worthy to be Christian because we are in his promise.

  38:35-38:42

  Or like now, there are so many people outside, they never come to the church.

  38:43-38:52

  You are safe once, the foreshadow of like the first fruit that will bring before the Lord.

  38:53-38:58

  So as you come to the church, one day you will be in heaven.

  38:58-39:00

  So this God's promised it.

  39:03-39:08

  Jesus Christ allow us to do one thing, but he promised to do four thing.

  39:09-39:13

  The first thing, accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior.

  39:14-39:15

  It's very easy.

  39:16-39:18

  Today, I am Barnabas.

  39:18-39:23

  I decided to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior.

  39:25-39:28

  This is only one passage, very easy.

  39:29-39:29

  Why?

  39:30-39:31

  It's a grace and it's love.

  39:32-39:35

  And the rest four things, God will do it.

  39:36-39:39

  The first thing, forgive our sins.

  39:40-39:44

  Second thing, give us the right to become children of God.

  39:45-39:48

  The third thing, He promised that He will not let us down to heaven.

  39:49-39:52

  The fourth thing is, He will take us to heaven.

  39:53-39:58

  You just do very easy one, and the four things that you cannot do, God will do for you.

  39:59-40:04

  So this is really worthy to worship God.

  40:04-40:10

  So we are like the sheep from the farm.

  40:11-40:14

  So please let us stand and sing a song.

  40:14-40:15

  Bringing in the sheep.

  40:24-40:26

  Maybe everybody can sing because we are the sheep.

  40:28-40:29

  Bringing in the sheep.

  40:33-40:51

  Bringing in the sheep, we shall come rejoicing. Bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep, we shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheep. Let us pray.

  40:51-41:04

  Heavenly Father, we do come before you this hour. All our prayer, We glorify your name. Bless each of us according to your will.

  41:06-41:10

  This church has been supporting the ministry for many years.

  41:13-41:15

  When they give the money, their purse will be empty.

  41:16-41:24

  Their pockets will be empty. Their bank account will be left less.

  41:25-41:39

  Lord, according to Matthew chapter 19 verse 29, anyone who is involved in preaching the gospel, you have a promise to bless them 30 times, 60 times, even 100 times.

  41:40-41:44

  Lord, this promise be rest on brother and sister in this church.

  41:44-41:47

  I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.

  41:47-41:48

  Amen.

  41:48-42:00

  Amen, Amen, Amen.

  42:02-42:05

  Thank you. Be seated. God bless you.

Small Group Discussion

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Reflect upon Barnabas’ mission field. How can you apply His enthusiasm to spread the gospel on the other side of the globe in your area of influence here?

Breakout
Pray for one another, for the leaders and new elder of our church, Justin Cady. Pray for the missionaries that we support such as Martha and Barnabas in Thailand.

Pray that we would seek to be a church that goes, gives, and prays.

Missions: Get Moving!

Introduction:

Getting on Mission: What Should I Do If I Care? (Romans 15:22-33)

1. I should joyfully Go to Serve Those in Need . (Rom 15:22-25)

   1 Corinthians 11:1 - Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

2. I should generously Give to Provide for Those in Need . (Rom 15:26-29)

   2 Corinthians 8:2-4 - For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saint.

   John 4:22 - "For salvation is from the Jews."

   2 Corinthians 9:7 - Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

   2 Corinthians 9:11-12 - You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

3. I should passionately Pray for Fellow Ministers of Those in Need . (Rom 15:30-33)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:59-01:03

  All right, you can turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 15.

  01:04-01:08

  And I know it's hot in here today, but that's still no excuse to fall asleep during the sermon.

  01:08-01:11

  So you fall asleep, I'll just kind of, no, I won't do that.

  01:12-01:15

  Anyways, you turn to Romans 15, I wanna ask you a question.

  01:16-01:22

  Do you remember when you started to care what the opposite gender thought about you?

  01:23-01:24

  Do you remember that?

  01:25-01:28

  For girls, it was probably much sooner than the guys in the room.

  01:29-01:31

  For years, girls weren't even on my radar.

  01:32-01:38

  Way into sixth grade, the guys sit with the guys at the lunch table and the girls sit with the girls.

  01:39-01:45

  But I really remember this one moment in a sixth grade history class I had an epiphany.

  01:47-01:48

  Do you wanna know what that epiphany was?

  01:50-01:51

  I stink.

  01:52-01:53

  (congregation laughing)

  01:54-02:01

  And I don't mean that I thought that I metaphorically stunk as a human being, but no, I realized my body literally smells.

  02:02-02:05

  My nose finally caught up with my BO.

  02:08-02:11

  Then my next thought was, I hope none of the girls in the class notice.

  02:12-02:20

  Then the floodgates opened, I realized I really liked girls and I really wanted them to think that I was cool and that I smelled good.

  02:21-02:29

  And this realization that I cared It didn't just stay in my mind, but it affected my behavior, it affected how I lived from then on.

  02:29-02:32

  I began to actually wear deodorant.

  02:32-02:35

  I began to douse myself with the much-dreaded Axe body spray.

  02:36-02:38

  I actually took a shower every day.

  02:39-02:42

  And some moms in this room are like praying that for their sons right now.

  02:42-02:44

  Please let him take a shower every single day.

  02:45-02:48

  I started to watch what I said around girls.

  02:48-03:19

  I tried to put my best foot forward, even though this meant that I often put my foot mouth. But the effort was there. My inner desire to impress girls changed how I thought, changed how I spoke, changed how I acted, and I reacted. Once I began to care, I began to change. Last week, Pastor Jeff kicked off our latest series by by calling you to answer an important question.

  03:20-03:23

  Do I care about lost people?

  03:24-03:26

  Do I care about missions?

  03:27-03:33

  Do I care about making an impact in my neighborhood, in my city, in my country, in my world?

  03:34-03:37

  Do I care about missions?

  03:38-03:41

  I hope your answer to this question is yes.

  03:43-03:50

  But it's not enough to just say that you care about missions to spread the good news of Jesus, you actually have to do something about it.

  03:51-03:54

  Once you get motivated, you have to get moving.

  03:55-03:57

  Once you care, you have to change.

  03:58-04:11

  Similar to me in sixth grade, your thoughts, your actions, your reactions, and your words must begin to change, your behaviors and habits must begin to change and line up with the word of God.

  04:13-04:24

  This morning we're gonna focus on Romans chapter 15, verses 22 through 33, and find three important answers to this one important question.

  04:25-04:28

  What do I do if I care about missions?

  04:29-04:33

  What do I do if I care about missions?

  04:35-04:53

  And I believe that if we truly submit ourselves to this text and apply Paul's teachings to our lives, There is no telling how the Lord will be able to use our church to make an eternal impact in countless lives across the face of this planet.

  04:55-05:02

  So before we turn to God's holy word, let's go to him and ask for open eyes, ears, and hearts.

  05:05-05:15

  Father, we thank you for this time yet again we gather together as your people to worship together, to fellowship together, Lord, to sit under the preaching of your word.

  05:16-05:21

  I pray that every single word from my mouth would be from you and not from me.

  05:22-05:26

  I pray that your spirit would challenge us, he would convict us, he would encourage us.

  05:27-05:30

  Lord, we thank you in advance for what you're going to teach us.

  05:30-05:32

  In Jesus' name, amen.

  05:34-05:38

  All right, so getting on mission, what should I do if I care?

  05:39-05:43

  Firstly, I should joyfully go to serve those in need.

  05:43-05:47

  I should joyfully go to serve those in need.

  05:49-05:55

  To understand the passage we're about to read, we first need to understand the context of this letter.

  05:56-06:05

  Paul wrote to the Roman church to strengthen their faith by giving them a lengthy explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it should affect their lives.

  06:06-06:15

  He begins with orthodoxy, which is right and biblical thinking, and shows them how it should affect their orthopraxy, which is right and biblical living.

  06:16-06:21

  Romans is the highest peak of theology in the New Testament.

  06:21-06:30

  And if you're willing to put in the mental effort to make that climb with Paul, you are amazed by the mountain of God's glorious grace.

  06:32-06:41

  In the last two chapters of this book, Paul peels back the curtain and gives us a glimpse into his future ministry plans, and he gives some final words of encouragement.

  06:42-06:48

  So with that background in mind, let's read chapter 15, verses 22 through 25.

  06:49-06:50

  Paul writes this.

  06:51-07:09

  This is the reason why I've so often been hindered from coming to you, but now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I've enjoyed your company for a while.

  07:10-07:16

  At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the saints.

  07:17-07:21

  It's important to understand that Paul didn't plant the Roman church.

  07:21-07:25

  He hadn't even visited them yet during any of his missionary journeys.

  07:25-07:32

  He had been hard at work preaching the gospel to people who had never heard about Jesus.

  07:33-07:35

  Paul deeply cared about missions.

  07:35-07:37

  He loved to blaze new trails.

  07:37-07:42

  He loved to reach unreached people with the good news of Jesus.

  07:44-07:49

  And this ambition hindered him from going to see the Roman church until now.

  07:50-07:56

  But he clearly states it's on his bucket list to visit the Roman church on his way to Spain someday.

  07:57-08:07

  But until then, he had to travel well over 1,000 miles in the opposite direction from Rome to Jerusalem to bring a financial gift to the believers there.

  08:09-08:15

  We'll get into the details of this financial offering a bit later, but I don't want us to lose sight of Paul's crazy travel schedule.

  08:16-08:22

  He was bouncing everywhere like a pinball machine from country to country and city to city.

  08:22-08:29

  Scholars believe that Paul traveled over 10,000 miles over the course of his missionary journeys.

  08:30-08:32

  And for those of you who are frequent flyers, you're like, that's nothing.

  08:32-08:36

  I've traveled hundreds of thousands of miles over the course of my life.

  08:37-08:39

  Have you walked hundreds of thousands of miles?

  08:39-08:40

  I don't think so.

  08:40-08:46

  Paul traveled the old-fashioned way, putting one foot in front of the other or hopping on a ship.

  08:46-08:48

  These journeys took time.

  08:48-08:50

  They took blood, sweat, and tears.

  08:51-09:05

  Paul lays out all the things that he had to experience, frequent beatings, being thrown to prison, Being mocked, Paul sacrificed his safety, his comfort, and his preferences to go to those who were in need.

  09:06-09:18

  And Paul commands us in 1 Corinthians 11, verse one, "To be imitators of me as I am of Christ." What's he saying there?

  09:19-09:25

  He's saying, if you want to be more like Jesus, follow my example and do what I do.

  09:26-09:30

  So we should imitate Paul's heart for the lost.

  09:30-09:35

  We should imitate his desire to go to those who are in need.

  09:37-09:40

  Now you may be thinking, Taylor, that's really easy to say, but it's really hard to do.

  09:41-09:42

  Paul lived 2,000 years ago.

  09:43-09:45

  He didn't have a family like I do.

  09:45-09:48

  How can I possibly do what he did?

  09:50-09:59

  Well, I'm not saying you have to quit your job, sell your house, and move overseas to become a full-time missionary, even though God may be calling some of you to do that.

  10:00-10:04

  What I am saying is that you need to get up and go in some way.

  10:05-10:07

  This is gonna look different for all of us.

  10:08-10:12

  Maybe this looks like you volunteer with a local outreach on a consistent basis.

  10:14-10:16

  Maybe you have a heart for kids.

  10:17-10:19

  You can volunteer at the Mars Home for Youth.

  10:19-10:23

  You can sign up to tutor inner-city kids on the north side with Urban Impact.

  10:23-10:31

  Your small group can sign up to provide meals for their kids' choir and build relationships with these kids who need Jesus.

  10:33-10:39

  Speaking of food, you can volunteer at the Light of Life Rescue Mission to prepare and serve meals.

  10:39-10:42

  It's really easy to sign up for a slot online.

  10:42-10:46

  This would be perfect for you as an individual, for your family, and for your small group.

  10:47-10:49

  Others of you have a passion for the unborn.

  10:49-10:52

  One of our members, Alicia Thompson, works at Choices Pregnancy Services.

  10:53-10:55

  If you want to get involved and plugged in, talk to her.

  10:55-10:57

  She would love to help you.

  10:58-11:16

  I could go on and on and on with dozens of other examples, but to make it a little bit easier for you to save some time, I put together a service opportunity packet that has over 14 different opportunities in our area for you to serve as an individual with your family or with your small group.

  11:16-11:19

  And these packets are back by the AV booth on the table back there.

  11:20-11:27

  This packet lists all these different organizations, what they do, and how you can get into contact with them.

  11:28-11:31

  And there's so many other opportunities that aren't even on that list.

  11:32-11:34

  And if you need help, please contact me.

  11:34-11:39

  I would love to help you figure out how God is calling you to serve.

  11:40-11:44

  Or maybe the Lord's calling you to go on a stateside or international mission trip.

  11:45-11:53

  You can go with Vision Appalachia to West Virginia to build tiny homes, to put on kids programs, to organize food pantries.

  11:53-12:06

  You can go with Russ Howes and James Murphy to India next summer or next year to preach the gospel in a place that is dominated by Hinduism and Islam.

  12:07-12:15

  I don't know exactly how God is calling you to serve, but I do definitively know that he is calling you to serve.

  12:16-12:22

  I do know that he is calling you to go and be witnesses to specific individuals in your life.

  12:23-12:32

  Every single one of us in this room knows people who are dead in their sins and need to be brought to life by Jesus Christ.

  12:33-12:41

  You may not be able to travel thousands of miles away right now, but you can travel a few steps outside of your door to engage your non-Christian neighbor.

  12:42-12:52

  You may not have the ability to engage in a building project, but you can build up meaningful relationships at work and shine the light of Christ with your godly example.

  12:54-13:04

  You may not be able to stand in front of a crowd and preach a message, but you have the calling and ability to share the gospel one-on-one with someone else.

  13:06-13:10

  And you may be thinking, Taylor, I know I need to do that, but I don't know where to start.

  13:10-13:11

  I don't know what to do.

  13:12-13:14

  Well, I have the perfect next step for you.

  13:15-13:25

  Our next Harvest Workshop is on November 4th, And Pastor Jeff and I will be training anyone in attendance how to effectively share your faith.

  13:25-13:33

  We'll teach you what should be included in a gospel presentation and how you can effectively present that message to someone else.

  13:35-13:37

  You can sign up for that in the back on your way out today.

  13:38-13:44

  Because as Pastor Jeff told us last week, we are commanded to be witnesses for Christ.

  13:44-13:47

  This is what is expected of us.

  13:47-13:55

  The New Testament has no category for a Christian who has no desire to evangelize the lost and make disciples.

  13:56-14:03

  This would be like saying that you're a barber or a hairstylist, but you've never once picked up a pair of scissors to cut someone's hair.

  14:04-14:10

  Or saying that you're an avid skier, but you've never once gotten out of the lodge and actually got on the slopes.

  14:11-14:19

  How can we claim to be followers of Christ but have no desire to get up and go to serve those in need.

  14:21-14:26

  How can we claim to love Jesus when we don't point other people to the love of Jesus?

  14:30-14:58

  Again, how this exactly will play out will look different for all of us, but we should have the same goal in mind, to glorify the Lord by being faithful to the mission that has been entrusted to us, by recruiting worshipers for a God who is infinitely worthy, by sacrificing our time to point lost and broken sinners to a Savior whose arms are open wide to embrace those who accept Him by faith.

  14:59-15:06

  We can't control the results of our going, but we most certainly can control the action of our going.

  15:09-15:11

  All right, getting on mission, what should I do if I care?

  15:12-15:16

  Secondly, I should generously give to provide for those in need.

  15:17-15:21

  I should generously give to provide for those in need.

  15:26-15:30

  Let's return to talking about the financial gifts that Paul mentioned earlier.

  15:31-15:33

  Check out verses 26 through 29.

  15:35-15:41

  For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.

  15:41-15:46

  For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them.

  15:46-15:53

  For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

  15:55-16:00

  When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you.

  16:01-16:07

  I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessings of Jesus Christ.

  16:10-16:15

  So at this time in history, there was a horrible famine all across Palestine.

  16:15-16:20

  And there were Jewish believers who were persecuted for their faith.

  16:20-16:21

  They were blackballed from work.

  16:21-16:23

  They were thrown into prison.

  16:24-16:31

  These Jewish Christians were struggling to feed their families and to even survive.

  16:32-16:37

  So to provide for their needs, Paul turns to the Gentiles in other churches.

  16:39-16:51

  He focuses on Macedonia and Achaia in this passage, but we know from other parts of the New Testament that churches in places such as Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth also contributed to this offering.

  16:53-16:59

  But it's clear from the text that the believers in Macedonia and Achaia didn't roll their eyes and sigh when Paul made this plea.

  17:00-17:03

  They weren't like my four-year-old when I tell him to share a toy with his sister.

  17:06-17:08

  They actually wanted to do this.

  17:08-17:14

  They weren't pulling crumpled ones out of their wallet or going under the couch cushions for spare change.

  17:15-17:20

  It was a joyful no-brainer for them to provide for their needs.

  17:21-17:25

  And the Macedonians weren't exactly rolling in fat stacks of cash.

  17:26-17:28

  We're told that they were poor as well.

  17:29-17:31

  Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8.

  17:32-17:43

  In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part, for they gave according to their means.

  17:45-17:55

  As I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.

  17:57-18:00

  Begging earnestly to be a part of this.

  18:02-18:09

  Despite their difficult circumstances, the Macedonians were beside themselves with excitement to help.

  18:10-18:14

  It's like they viewed their giving as a gift they were getting.

  18:16-18:23

  In Romans 15, 27, Paul explains even further why they were pleased to give.

  18:23-18:28

  Indeed, they owe it to them, for the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings.

  18:29-18:32

  They ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

  18:33-18:34

  What is Paul talking about here?

  18:35-18:40

  Why would the Gentile Christians owe anything special to the Jewish Christians?

  18:43-18:50

  Because they deeply understood what Jesus said in John 4:22, salvation is from the Jews.

  18:51-18:57

  Jesus himself was a Jew by birth, and he was the descendant of men, such as Abraham, Isaac, and David.

  18:59-19:03

  He was the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies.

  19:04-19:10

  All the apostles, Peter, James, John, Paul, and the others were Jewish men.

  19:12-19:20

  This message of salvation wouldn't have reached the Gentiles without these Jewish evangelists, preachers, and teachers.

  19:22-19:26

  The Gentiles wouldn't be a part of the family of God without the Jews.

  19:28-19:29

  Imagine it with me this way.

  19:29-19:33

  Imagine on the way home today, you get in a really serious car accident.

  19:34-19:39

  Out of nowhere, a good Samaritan comes and pulls you from your burning car to safety.

  19:40-19:47

  You thank them profusely, you actually exchange information, and you learn you actually have some mutual friends in common.

  19:48-19:58

  And several months later, you hear through the grapevine, through these mutual friends, that this guy who saved your life, "No fault of his own has lost his job.

  19:59-20:09

  "And he's about to be put out on the street, "have his house foreclosed upon." Now when you hear that, would you think, ah, well, that's a shame, and just go about your day?

  20:10-20:18

  No, you would call this guy and offer any help that you could because you were indebted to him for saving your life.

  20:20-20:24

  It's the same with the relationship between the Jewish and Gentile Christians.

  20:25-20:34

  According to Paul's logic, the Gentile Christians are indebted to the Jews for their invitation to the party of salvation.

  20:34-20:44

  The very least they can do, since they're sharing in these spiritual blessings of God, is to offer their material blessings in return.

  20:45-20:50

  And thankfully, the Macedonians and the Chaeans agree with this logic, and they were happy to give.

  20:52-20:55

  Paul says twice, they were pleased to make this contribution.

  20:56-21:02

  This really made me search my own heart this week and ask some really difficult yet important questions.

  21:04-21:05

  Does this describe me?

  21:06-21:08

  Is this true of me?

  21:09-21:12

  Am I pleased to bless others financially?

  21:12-21:16

  Am I pleased to give to my church and to those who are struggling?

  21:17-21:20

  Or am I clinging too tightly to the things of this world?

  21:21-21:26

  Am I giving the bare minimum to check it off the list so I can feel better about myself?

  21:27-21:35

  Am I fooling myself into believing that the money in my bank account belongs to me instead of the one who gave it to me?

  21:37-21:41

  And I want every single Christian in this room to struggle with those questions as well.

  21:43-21:46

  Does it please you to sacrificially give?

  21:47-21:53

  Does it please you to honor the Lord and help others with how you arrange your finances.

  21:55-21:59

  I know some of you may be thinking at this point, oh great, another pastor talking about giving.

  22:00-22:06

  What's next, he's gonna slap a big thermometer diagram on the wall, he's gonna blast up the heat even more until the offering's at a certain point.

  22:09-22:10

  I'm not gonna do that.

  22:11-22:16

  Because that's not what this text is after and that's not what God is after either.

  22:18-22:21

  Paul speaks more to this Jerusalem gift in 2 Corinthians 9.

  22:22-22:24

  Listen to what he has to say in verse seven.

  22:24-22:41

  "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, "not reluctantly or under compulsion, "for God loves a cheerful giver." God wants your giving to be a joy and not a chore.

  22:43-22:49

  Paul didn't guilt trip the Macedonians and the Chaons, I'm not interested in guilt tripping you either.

  22:50-23:00

  I'm not the cashier at the pizza place who spins around the iPad to twist your arm and to give me a 20% tip when you didn't have your pizza delivered so that you wouldn't have to give a tip.

  23:01-23:08

  I'm not the cashier at CVS who asks you to round up a dollar to give to the Boy Scouts of America and you feel terrible to say no.

  23:10-23:16

  I'm a simple preacher with a simple message from God about how your finances should be stewarded.

  23:17-23:20

  God doesn't need your money.

  23:21-23:23

  Do you realize what God's net worth is?

  23:24-23:24

  Everything.

  23:26-23:28

  God doesn't need anything from you.

  23:28-23:31

  He calls you to give for your sake.

  23:31-23:34

  He calls you to give for the sake of others.

  23:34-23:42

  He's calling you to partner with him in the greatest mission imaginable, which is pointing lost sinners to Jesus.

  23:44-23:48

  Spreading the gospel to every tongue, tribe, and nation.

  23:50-23:57

  As we learned earlier, this partnership includes going, but it also includes giving.

  23:58-24:10

  This involves giving to your church on a consistent basis that the pastors and staff will be able to focus their undivided attention upon the work of the ministry that you can be equipped for ministry.

  24:11-24:15

  Over 10% of the money that comes in at Harvest goes to fund missions.

  24:16-24:21

  It goes to fund Thailand and Barnabas and those church networks that we support there.

  24:22-24:28

  It goes to support LifeWise, which seeks to spread the truth of God's word in public schools such as Pine Richland.

  24:29-24:34

  It goes to support Brie Schwartz with Athletes in Action who disciples college students.

  24:36-24:41

  And there are a lot of other organizations that you can and should contribute to.

  24:42-24:49

  But as we see in this text, the Jerusalem offering happened in the context of the church.

  24:50-24:54

  The church should be your primary avenue of financial giving.

  24:55-25:06

  The Lord invites you to invest in the greatest, most profitable and long-lasting entity in existence, His kingdom, His church.

  25:07-25:14

  The church is plan A for evangelizing and making disciples and there is no plan B or C in sight.

  25:15-25:15

  We're it.

  25:19-25:40

  Paul goes on in 2 Corinthians chapter nine verses 11 through 12 to say, "You will be enriched in every way "to be generous in every way, "which through us will produce thanksgiving to God, "for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but it's also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

  25:43-25:52

  In other words, this gift to the Jerusalem believers didn't just meet their needs, but it glorified the one who ultimately met those needs.

  25:53-25:56

  It led to the glory and honor of our great God.

  25:58-26:06

  When you only invest in the things of this world, you will only reap temporal dividends that will not last beyond this life.

  26:07-26:16

  When you invest in the things of God, you will reap eternal rewards and blessings that will never, ever be taken away from you.

  26:16-26:17

  I mean, just think about it.

  26:17-26:20

  You can invest in the preaching of the word.

  26:21-26:24

  You can invest in the salvation of souls.

  26:24-26:30

  You can invest in ministry that leads to the never-ending praise of our great God.

  26:30-26:35

  This is a golden opportunity that we should jump on instead of be put off by.

  26:36-26:41

  This is an amazing joy, privilege, and responsibility.

  26:44-26:47

  But again, this is between you and God.

  26:48-26:54

  I can honestly say that Pastor Jeff and I have no idea what any of you give or don't give.

  26:54-26:56

  We're not tracking you as you go to the offering box.

  26:57-27:07

  We're not peeking into your window to see if you're using the online giving tab at home, you have to decide in your own heart what you are willing to sacrifice.

  27:09-27:12

  And I'm gonna say something you may never have heard in church before.

  27:13-27:17

  If you do not want to give, go ahead and don't give.

  27:18-27:19

  See how that works out for you.

  27:20-27:25

  See how that shrinks your heart and turns you inward instead of outward.

  27:27-27:36

  If you truly care about the lost, you will open up your wallet and your bank account to provide for those in need and to fund the work of the ministry.

  27:37-27:45

  If you truly care about missions, you will joyfully spend and be spent for the advancement of God's kingdom.

  27:47-27:50

  So getting on mission, what should I do if I care?

  27:50-27:55

  Finally, I should passionately pray for fellow ministers of those in need.

  27:59-28:04

  I should passionately pray for fellow ministers of those in need.

  28:07-28:11

  So Paul closes out this section by asking the Roman Christians for prayer.

  28:12-28:14

  Let's read what he says in verses 30 through 33.

  28:15-28:38

  I appeal to you brothers by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to strive together with me your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

  28:39-28:42

  May the God of peace be with you all.

  28:44-28:54

  Even the Apostle Paul, the superstar of the early church, and the greatest Christian to ever walk the face needed prayer.

  28:56-29:05

  He begs them by Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit to struggle with me in prayer.

  29:06-29:07

  Strive with me.

  29:09-29:12

  This Greek word for strive is agonizomai.

  29:14-29:15

  What do you think that literally means?

  29:16-29:17

  To agonize.

  29:18-29:21

  He says agonize with me in prayer.

  29:22-29:25

  struggle with me, fight on my behalf in prayer.

  29:26-29:33

  Paul understood that ministry is a battle and prayer is one of the greatest weapons of the Christian soldier.

  29:35-29:39

  As Paul heads out to Jerusalem, he brings three requests to the Roman believers.

  29:40-29:45

  That he would be kept safe from the unbelieving Jews who hated his guts and wanted him dead.

  29:47-30:00

  That his sacrificial offering that he's bringing to the Jewish Christians would be acceptable helpful to them, and that if it be God's will, he would reach Rome and be re-energized and refreshed by their fellowship.

  30:02-30:07

  Paul knew that he couldn't do any of this in his own strength and his own power.

  30:08-30:12

  Paul knew that God works through the prayers of his people.

  30:14-30:18

  Prayer is powerful because we pray to a powerful God.

  30:19-30:24

  And if you believe that, you will agonize in prayer on others' behalf.

  30:25-30:32

  So let me ask you, do you agonize in prayer over the mission that has been entrusted to you?

  30:33-30:40

  Do you fight and struggle on behalf of fellow Christians who are ministering to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of others?

  30:42-30:45

  Are you praying for the missionaries that our church supports?

  30:45-30:47

  Are you praying for Thailand?

  30:47-30:50

  Are you praying for Barnabas and his network of pastors?

  30:50-30:59

  Are you praying that we could give even more financially, that other churches in our area, when Barnabas comes, would feel that pull to give to him as well?

  31:01-31:08

  I have a feeling like our prayers for that ministry will really skyrocket next week after hearing him bring the word.

  31:09-31:12

  Are you praying for your pastors and elders?

  31:13-31:23

  Are you praying for Pastor Jeff, myself, Dan Thompson, Rich Sprunk, and now Justin Cady, that we would faithfully love you and lead you well.

  31:24-31:28

  Are you praying that God would gift us with wisdom, strength, and discernment?

  31:30-31:36

  I can honestly say that none of us take this responsibility lightly, and we need your prayers.

  31:37-31:44

  I don't feel bad asking you for prayer because the Apostle Paul asked for prayer, and if he needed it, I most certainly do.

  31:46-31:53

  Nothing encourages me more than one of you pulling me aside after service or calling me throughout the week to tell me, I've been praying for you.

  31:55-31:57

  You have no idea how much that blesses and sustains me.

  31:58-32:04

  I probably wouldn't be in ministry anymore apart from the prayers of a long list of faithful saints.

  32:06-32:08

  Are you praying for our church staff?

  32:08-32:10

  Are you praying for our ministry leaders?

  32:10-32:19

  Are you praying that as they continually pour themselves out week after week after week, that they would be continually replenished by the Holy Spirit.

  32:20-32:23

  Are you praying for the other believers in this room?

  32:24-32:32

  Are you praying that this church would be a sending base for compassionate and faithful witnesses for Christ?

  32:34-32:36

  Are you struggling for other believers in prayer consistently?

  32:37-32:39

  Or are you just focusing on yourself?

  32:41-32:50

  When you get home, I encourage you to make a list in all the Christian servants and ministry endeavors that you need to be praying for on a regular basis.

  32:51-32:55

  This list can include people that you know and love as well as people that you've never even met before.

  32:56-33:01

  Keep this list in your Bible and pray for these individuals every single day this week.

  33:02-33:08

  I guarantee you that your prayer life will receive a strong shot in the arm if you commit yourself to this habit.

  33:11-33:18

  This call to prayer in Romans 15 is so encouraging because we know that God answered all these requests with a yes.

  33:19-33:26

  We know that Paul made it to Jerusalem with a financial offering, that they were pleased by his arrival.

  33:27-33:32

  God protected Paul from death in Jerusalem even though he was beaten and imprisoned.

  33:33-33:42

  We know from the book of Acts that Paul made it to Rome even though it took a long journey by ship and a shipwreck to get there, and when he got there, he was placed under house arrest.

  33:44-33:54

  Ministry probably didn't work out the way Paul was hoping and expecting, but it worked out the exact way his God intended.

  33:55-34:00

  In verse 32, Paul prays according to the will of God.

  34:01-34:04

  His eyes were continually fixed upon that.

  34:05-34:10

  Paul prayed expectantly because he knew that God can make the impossible possible.

  34:10-34:15

  He knew that God can make a way in the face of dead ends and roadblocks.

  34:17-34:34

  But he also prayed submissively, knowing that God's plans were far greater than his own, that the accomplishment of the will of his heavenly Lord and Master must be his supreme focus and desire, and that must be our supreme focus and desire.

  34:35-34:36

  The will of the Lord.

  34:37-34:44

  Let's fix our eyes on that as we pray for his work, as we pray for his people.

  34:47-34:55

  So at the end of this message, you may feel overwhelmed by all that you've been called to do if you care about missions.

  34:57-35:01

  You may be thinking, Taylor, I know I need to do all this, but I'm just stretched so thin.

  35:01-35:02

  I don't think it's possible.

  35:02-35:04

  How can I do this?

  35:07-35:13

  Let me encourage you with the same words of blessing that Paul gave to the Roman church at the end of this passage.

  35:14-35:18

  May the God of peace be with you all, amen.

  35:20-35:23

  Never forget that you are never alone.

  35:24-35:29

  God hasn't left you stranded and defenseless behind enemy lines to carry out this mission by yourself.

  35:30-35:38

  Not only do you have brothers and sisters in Christ around you, but you have a heavenly Father who will never leave you or forsake you.

  35:39-35:43

  Paul describes him as the God of peace.

  35:45-35:50

  Listen, you don't have to worry about what's gonna happen if you choose to get up and go for the gospel.

  35:51-35:56

  You don't need to live in fear over what people will say and do.

  35:56-36:01

  You don't need to stress out about the results of your going, your giving, and your praying.

  36:02-36:11

  All you must do is take a simple step of faith today and trust that the God of peace will direct every single step of obedience after that.

  36:12-36:13

  Let's pray.

  36:18-36:25

  Father, we come to you and we thank you for this awesome mission that you have gifted to us.

  36:26-36:28

  Lord, we so often view it as a burden.

  36:29-36:34

  We so often view it as a list of chores that we have to complete before we can do what we really want to do.

  36:35-36:38

  Lord, I pray that we would realize that this mission is why we're here.

  36:39-36:45

  This mission is what gives us life, it's what gives us joy, that we are here for a reason.

  36:45-36:49

  So many people in this world have no reason for living, they have no reason for being.

  36:49-36:54

  We have the supreme reason to glorify you by making disciples, Lord.

  36:54-36:59

  I pray that we would get motivated, we would get moving.

  37:00-37:14

  we would faithfully serve this community, that we'd faithfully give to fund the work of the ministry, and that we'd be in prayer for one another and for other faithful servants of Christ.

  37:16-37:23

  Or may our church be known as a body that cares about missions and does something about it.

  37:24-37:25

  In Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Romans 15:22-33

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. How is the Lord calling you to get up and go right now?
   How can we serve together as a small group?
   What are the next steps to make this happen?
   

3. What holds people back from generously giving to the church, charitable organizations, and those in need?
   

4. Read 2 Corinthians 9:7 - What does it look like to be a cheerful giver?
   Does this describe you?
   

5. Who in particular is the Lord calling you to “strive together with in prayer” on a regular basis? E.g. a missionary, a pastor, a ministry leader, a fellow believer at work or at church.

Breakout
Pray for one another, for the leaders of our church, the members of our church, and the missionaries that we support.

Pray that we would seek to be a church that goes, gives, and prays.

Missions: Get Motivated!

Introduction:

Getting On Mission: Why Should I Care? (Matthew 9:35-38)

1. I care because people are Hurting . (Matt 9:36)

   Exodus 32:32 - But now, if you will forgive their sin--but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.

   Romans 9:3 - For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

   Luke 19:41-42 - And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes."

   2 Corinthians 5:14 - For the love of Christ controls us...

2. I care because of where people are Heading . (Matt 9:37)
3. I care because God Does . (Matt 9:37b-38)

   John 17:9 - I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me...

   Ephesians 6:18-19 - praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel...

   Colossians 4:2-4 - Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison--that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

   Romans 10:14, 17 - How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? ...So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:58-01:08

  The first Sunday in October kicks off our ministry year, and our theme this year is get intentional.

  01:09-01:18

  All right, so I want you to get intentional right now and grab your Bibles and open them up to Matthew 9.

  01:20-01:22

  And while you're doing that, let's just bow our heads.

  01:22-01:33

  I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's word, and I will pray for you, to have a heart open to receive it.

  01:34-01:34

  Let's pray.

  01:37-01:42

  Father, just now, please, open our hearts up for your word.

  01:47-01:50

  It's not about my thoughts or opinions.

  01:54-02:02

  It's not about trying to be culturally relevant or scratch itching ears.

  02:05-02:26

  Above all things right now, Father, it is about receiving your word for what it is, for what you intended, not just being hearers of the Word, but being doers of the Word.

  02:26-02:37

  Father, I pray that today is the first day of a new and exciting chapter in the life of this church.

  02:40-02:44

  Father, glorify your name, we pray in Jesus' name.

  02:44-02:48

  And all of God's people said, amen.

  02:49-02:56

  Have you ever seen online those memes that say you had one job?

  02:57-02:58

  How many of you have seen those memes?

  02:58-02:59

  You had one job.

  03:00-03:00

  Some of you have.

  03:01-03:05

  Well, I'm gonna show you some, okay, which I researched just for this sermon.

  03:06-03:19

  But these memes that show somebody obviously had a very simple job to do, but somehow they managed to get the whole thing wrong.

  03:21-03:24

  And the response is, "Well, how did you mess that up so badly?

  03:24-03:26

  Because you only had one thing to do.

  03:26-03:30

  You had one job." All right, let's look at some of those.

  03:31-03:32

  These kind of crack me up.

  03:32-03:33

  How about this one?

  03:34-03:44

  "You had one job." Now, if the person sitting next to you doesn't get why this is funny, Don't ride home with them.

  03:45-03:47

  All right, let's look at the next one.

  03:48-03:49

  Another road, when this would crack me up.

  03:52-03:54

  You had one job.

  03:57-04:03

  You're like, yeah, I did have one job and I'm not moving the possum to do it, right?

  04:04-04:07

  And I love whoever made this one has to have the commentary on their poor thing.

  04:08-04:09

  All right, next one.

  04:12-04:12

  You had one job.

  04:13-04:33

  I don't know if you can see it, it's kind of small, but the prices you can trust and right above the 78 cents a pound, it says, "Long yellow things." Like, is there really somebody that's never seen a banana before?

  04:34-04:34

  Right?

  04:34-04:35

  You had one job.

  04:36-04:36

  Okay, what's the next one?

  04:37-04:39

  I love that.

  04:39-04:40

  (audience laughing)

  04:43-04:45

  Just walking down the stairs.

  04:46-04:48

  Okay, well, I think we have one more, right?

  04:49-04:50

  This might be my favorite.

  04:50-04:58

  Not the fact that a dentist was assaulted, but like, hey, make sure that you put the first name and last name underneath the guy.

  04:59-05:00

  And they're like, okay, there he is.

  05:00-05:04

  First name, last name, be on the lookout for that guy.

  05:04-05:06

  And we could go on and on.

  05:06-05:07

  There's a million of them.

  05:09-05:10

  And they're kind of funny.

  05:12-05:18

  But you know, it's not so funny when these kinds of things happen in God's church.

  05:18-05:31

  And sometimes I just, I just imagine that Jesus is looking down from heaven on the church and seeing all of these goofy things that churches are doing.

  05:32-05:48

  Things that have nothing to do with God's word, nothing to do with the mission, all these gimmicky, crowd-attracting, you know, Christmas series packaged around secular music, and we're dropping things out of helicopters, and all these goofy things that churches are doing.

  05:48-05:54

  And I just imagine Jesus is like, "You had one job, right?

  05:57-05:58

  "What is that one job?

  05:58-06:00

  "Well, we saw it in the video.

  06:01-06:02

  "It's the Great Commission.

  06:03-06:04

  "That's our one job.

  06:06-06:09

  And I'm not really worried about what other churches are doing.

  06:09-06:10

  I'm worried about what this church is doing.

  06:12-06:17

  What I don't want is for Jesus to be looking down on us saying, "Harvest Bible chapter, what are you doing?

  06:17-06:25

  You have one job." Collectively, church, we have one job.

  06:26-06:29

  Individually, as a Christian, you have one job.

  06:30-06:31

  It's the Great Commission.

  06:33-06:35

  I think our theme this year is get intentional.

  06:36-06:48

  And there is no better place to start than the mission of the church, especially coming off of a month where we focused on prayer.

  06:50-06:53

  So let's be honest with ourselves, okay?

  06:53-06:55

  With ourselves, we're focusing here.

  06:58-07:00

  We become lazy when it comes to evangelism.

  07:03-07:12

  We've lost our passion, and I think, church, we choose not to think about the condition of the lost.

  07:14-07:15

  We don't want to think about that.

  07:19-07:24

  And I have to ask you this morning one question, and you're the only one that can answer this question.

  07:25-07:26

  Do you care?

  07:28-07:29

  Do you care?

  07:31-07:31

  about lost people.

  07:37-07:51

  Church, we have become content as Christians in the United States, dare I say this church, we've become content to maintain the status quo.

  07:54-08:05

  We want to enjoy our religion, as long, I mean, as long as it's convenient for us, And we don't want anything to stretch us or take us out of our comfort zone.

  08:07-08:16

  This is just the club where we show up once a week and we have some music and listen to a TED Talk.

  08:21-08:24

  Do you care about the lost?

  08:26-08:28

  Maybe I should ask it this way.

  08:29-08:32

  Do you want to play church?

  08:35-08:37

  Or do you wanna be the church?

  08:39-08:39

  Which one?

  08:42-08:49

  Jesus' last command should be our absolute first priority.

  08:51-08:58

  And we have to have the heart and the mind of Jesus Christ to do that one job.

  09:01-09:02

  And that's what we're going to see here.

  09:03-09:04

  Matthew chapter nine, are you there?

  09:05-09:06

  Look at verse 35.

  09:06-09:30

  It says, "And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction." I just need you to note here that Jesus was both giving the message and meeting needs.

  09:31-09:31

  Notice that.

  09:32-09:34

  He was giving the message and he was meeting needs.

  09:35-09:36

  You're like, what's the point?

  09:36-09:37

  Here's the point.

  09:39-09:44

  Churches think that we're meeting the requirements of the Great Commission by doing one or the other.

  09:45-09:53

  And some churches can say, well, as long as we're preaching the right message and you're just focused on the message, but you're doing nothing for the community.

  09:53-09:55

  You're doing nothing to get out there and meet people's needs.

  09:58-10:00

  And guess what, you're doing half the job.

  10:02-10:03

  But some churches do the other.

  10:04-10:11

  They're like, "Well, we're just gonna get out there "and we're gonna feed people "and we're gonna give them coats." And they never talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

  10:12-10:14

  They never talk about the cross.

  10:14-10:16

  They never talk about the empty tomb.

  10:16-10:22

  It's just, "Let's just go love people "and let's just go let them know that we care." And we never tell them why we do.

  10:26-10:31

  But you know, when it comes to preaching, I can teach you how to do that.

  10:33-10:40

  And when it comes to getting out into the community and giving people coats and feeding them, I can teach you how to do that.

  10:43-10:45

  But there's something that I can't teach you.

  10:50-10:51

  And that's to care.

  10:52-10:54

  That's to have a passion for the lost.

  10:57-10:59

  We're going to see here that this is what motivated Jesus.

  11:01-11:04

  This is what drove Him to do what He did.

  11:07-11:08

  It has to drive us, church.

  11:10-11:13

  And it's time we take an honest assessment of our compassion.

  11:15-11:15

  Do you care?

  11:17-11:18

  Do you care about the lost?

  11:22-11:26

  And look, if you're right now saying, "Look, the answer is no." Okay, well let's be honest about that.

  11:30-11:34

  Because we have healing from His Word here on your outline.

  11:34-11:35

  I want you to write these things down.

  11:36-11:38

  Getting on mission, why should I care?

  11:39-11:40

  Why should I care?

  11:44-11:55

  I'm hoping that after a few minutes, the word of God and the spirit of God gets us caring about the lost.

  11:57-11:58

  Number one, write this down.

  11:58-11:59

  I care because people are hurting.

  12:01-12:03

  Look at verse 36.

  12:05-12:06

  Look at this very closely.

  12:07-12:28

  It says, "When Jesus, when he saw the crowds, He had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

  12:31-12:35

  The word compassion literally means to suffer with.

  12:36-12:42

  It's a word that was used to describe Jesus over and over and over and over in the Gospels.

  12:42-12:46

  He was known as a person with compassion.

  12:46-12:50

  He was constantly suffering with people.

  12:51-13:02

  The interesting thing in the Hebrews is compassion is tied into the bowels or the guts.

  13:03-13:13

  You know, in the Hebrew mind, they would use bowels, that term, they would use that concept in the way that we use heart, right?

  13:15-13:19

  And I could say to my wife, you know, I love you with all my bowels.

  13:21-13:23

  And you're like, well, Pastor Jeff, don't say that.

  13:24-13:27

  But that's, that reflects the Hebrew mindset.

  13:32-13:35

  In the Hebrew mindset, heart, and this is important, we're going somewhere with this.

  13:36-13:39

  Heart is the root of action.

  13:39-13:41

  Heart is the root of thought.

  13:42-13:44

  Heart is the root of my will.

  13:45-13:49

  But in the Greek, I'm sorry, the Hebrew mindset, bowels, that's the responder.

  13:50-13:52

  That's the thing that reacts.

  13:54-13:56

  And we get that, right?

  13:57-13:59

  When you're nervous, where do you feel it?

  14:01-14:03

  We say we get butterflies in our what?

  14:06-14:07

  I'm starting over.

  14:10-14:16

  Look, I do love you with all my bowels, but I'm going to need you to be a little more interactive.

  14:18-14:23

  When we're nervous, we say, I have butterflies in my stomach, right?

  14:24-14:25

  In my guts, right?

  14:26-14:26

  In my stomach.

  14:27-14:28

  When you're in love, have you ever been in love?

  14:29-14:30

  Where do you feel that?

  14:30-14:32

  Oh, you feel it in your tummy, don't you?

  14:33-14:40

  If you're driving down the road and you see an accident, you just, you get wrenched in your gut.

  14:42-14:45

  It's the feeling that responds.

  14:46-14:47

  And like, here's the point here.

  14:48-14:53

  What the text is saying is when Jesus saw the crowds, he was wrenched in his gut.

  14:54-14:56

  He wasn't like, well, I got an obligation to do this.

  14:57-14:58

  I am the son of God after all.

  14:58-14:59

  He felt something.

  15:00-15:02

  He's like, "Oh, he heard for them.

  15:04-15:07

  "He deeply felt." Do you feel anything?

  15:11-15:13

  Why, why Jesus?

  15:13-15:16

  Why did you feel that in your gut, Jesus?

  15:17-15:28

  Well, it says, "Because they were harassed and helpless." That could also be translated exhausted and tossed aside.

  15:28-15:58

  that. People were treated like garbage, disregarded. Further clarifying, a great word picture here, they were like sheep without a shepherd. What happens when a sheep or a flock of sheep, herd of sheep, group of sheep, I should have studied this. What happens when a bunch of sheep, that's the word. What happens when a bunch of sheep don't have a shepherd?

  16:01-16:09

  There's no guidance. They're unprotected. They're left to fend for themselves.

  16:09-16:18

  They're defenseless. And they can get lost, and they don't even know that but they're lost.

  16:21-16:23

  Do you see people the way Jesus saw people?

  16:30-16:41

  And if we're being honest today, so many times we are just quick to make excuses to not help someone, right?

  16:43-16:45

  We make excuses to not help someone.

  16:47-16:50

  Like, yeah, yeah, I see that they're having a hard time, but you know what, he's hopeless.

  16:51-16:52

  He's hopeless.

  16:52-16:58

  Even if I gave him some money or gave him a coat or whatever, it's not really gonna help.

  17:00-17:03

  Or we say, you know, even if I helped that person, they're not gonna appreciate it.

  17:04-17:07

  I'm just gonna have to help them again.

  17:08-17:10

  And we just make excuses.

  17:13-17:16

  And church, listen, people are not the enemy.

  17:18-17:21

  They're the victims of the enemy.

  17:23-17:24

  They're dead.

  17:24-17:29

  The Bible says apart from Christ, we are dead, right?

  17:30-17:32

  And if you're like, well, you know what?

  17:32-17:34

  I hear what you're saying, but they're just hurting themselves.

  17:34-17:36

  I don't feel bad for them 'cause they're just hurting themselves.

  17:37-17:39

  And I gotta tell you, that makes me feel worse for people.

  17:40-17:44

  You're destroying yourself and you don't even realize it.

  17:45-17:46

  I think that's a worst tragedy.

  17:51-17:53

  You know, we think we know people, right?

  17:53-18:02

  We're the armchair psychologists and sociologists and we have all the reasons why we shouldn't help people because we know, we know their hearts.

  18:02-18:03

  We know, we know.

  18:03-18:07

  Well, Jesus knew people perfectly.

  18:10-18:12

  And he was still moved with compassion.

  18:16-18:17

  So what churns your gut?

  18:19-18:22

  For Jesus, it was seeing these lost people.

  18:25-18:26

  He had a reaction to that.

  18:29-18:33

  If I were to ask you, what is it that gets a physical reaction like that from you?

  18:33-18:38

  If we're being honest today, There's probably something embarrassing, right?

  18:39-18:43

  Like, I feel that when my sports team loses.

  18:45-18:54

  Or, you know, I watched this singing show and my favorite person got voted off and oh, it just made me so mad.

  18:57-19:00

  I went to Pantera Bread and they didn't toast my bagel.

  19:01-19:05

  And we react to just the dumbest things.

  19:05-19:08

  But what about somebody destroying themselves?

  19:08-19:10

  Does that get a reaction from you?

  19:12-19:17

  What about somebody who's lost and they don't even know they're lost?

  19:17-19:18

  Do you feel that?

  19:20-19:21

  What about somebody heading to hell?

  19:24-19:24

  Do you care?

  19:28-19:33

  You know, I look at scripture and I see Moses from Exodus.

  19:35-19:38

  This is what Moses said about rebellious Israel.

  19:39-19:44

  But now if you will forgive their sin, but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.

  19:46-19:50

  Moses had that kind of compassion for his people.

  19:51-19:55

  And then we flip over a few pages, we see Paul, right, in Romans 9.

  19:56-20:05

  He says, "I wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh." And I'm like, man, do I care about people like that?

  20:06-20:08

  And then we see Jesus, right?

  20:08-20:15

  We flip back to Luke chapter 19, when Jesus was going to Jerusalem, the Bible says he wept over it.

  20:18-20:27

  When was the last time we cared about the lost the way these did?

  20:30-20:33

  If you're like, you know what, I hear what you're saying, Jeff.

  20:33-20:36

  I hear what you're saying and it's in my head, but it's not in my heart.

  20:36-20:38

  How do I get motivated?

  20:39-20:45

  Well, it's not going to come from a guilt trip from a message.

  20:45-20:47

  That's not my goal here at all.

  20:48-20:49

  I could guilt trip you.

  20:49-20:51

  I'm not trying to do that at all.

  20:51-20:55

  I'm trying to have us look at the word of God and say, how are we doing, church?

  20:55-20:56

  Are we going after this?

  20:57-20:59

  Because if I guilt trip you, Do you know how long that'll last?

  21:00-21:01

  91 minutes.

  21:02-21:03

  That's how long it'll last.

  21:04-21:07

  You'll go home and you'll get lunch and you'll turn on a football game.

  21:10-21:12

  So where does the motivation come from?

  21:12-21:13

  Here it is.

  21:14-21:19

  The motivation to care can only come from one place.

  21:20-21:22

  And that's our love for Jesus Christ.

  21:23-21:24

  That's where.

  21:25-21:35

  Our motive has to come from our love for Jesus Christ, which starts with his love for us.

  21:37-21:42

  'Cause you know, Jesus said, "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments." You know, evangelism is a commandment, right?

  21:42-21:44

  The great commission, it's a commandment.

  21:44-21:46

  If you love Jesus, you keep his commandments.

  21:47-21:51

  And we have to be moved by the love of Jesus.

  21:56-22:03

  Actually, the Bible says it's the love of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5.14, that controls us.

  22:04-22:05

  I love that picture.

  22:06-22:07

  The love of Christ controls us.

  22:07-22:08

  You know what that means?

  22:10-22:11

  It's like this.

  22:16-22:18

  If I squeeze this water bottle, what's going to happen?

  22:21-22:21

  You don't know?

  22:24-22:26

  Come up real close.

  22:27-22:29

  What happens if I squeeze this?

  22:31-22:31

  Right?

  22:32-22:33

  Oh, you were right.

  22:36-22:39

  And you see, that's the picture here in 2 Corinthians 5.

  22:40-22:42

  The love of Christ is the squeeze.

  22:43-22:46

  And the squeeze absolutely causes a reaction.

  22:47-22:50

  That water coming out was a result of the squeeze.

  22:50-22:51

  That's the picture.

  22:51-22:53

  The squeeze makes the effect.

  22:53-22:58

  Then you see when you're in the love of Christ, that's the effect that he has on you.

  23:00-23:06

  He squeezes that compassion out when you know him and you love him.

  23:09-23:22

  So listen, if I'm talking about missions and evangelism and caring for the lost, and you're like, you're like, "Hefei, this ain't landing at all with me." I have to ask, well, how's your walk with Christ?

  23:25-23:28

  Because when the love of Christ controls you, it has that effect.

  23:32-23:36

  And another incentive, this is secondary, I want to encourage you.

  23:37-23:44

  If you're like, man, I hear what you're saying, I'm just not feeling it, I'm just in a season of life that I really, quite honestly, don't care about anybody but myself right now.

  23:45-23:48

  I would say, I appreciate your honesty, but I also want to encourage you to recall your testimony.

  23:50-23:52

  Recall your testimony.

  23:53-23:54

  You can say, "Ah, they don't wanna hear it.

  23:55-23:59

  "Ah, they don't wanna hear it." You know, once upon a time, I didn't wanna hear it.

  24:00-24:00

  I didn't.

  24:04-24:08

  I was dead in my sin, as they are.

  24:10-24:14

  But somebody cared that I was lost and hurting.

  24:18-24:22

  And now I must care about people who are hurting.

  24:24-24:25

  Do you care?

  24:26-24:28

  I care because people are hurting.

  24:31-24:33

  Number two, write this down.

  24:33-24:35

  I care because of where people are heading.

  24:36-24:37

  Look at verse 37.

  24:38-24:48

  Jesus said, then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful." The harvest is plentiful.

  24:48-24:50

  That's a very interesting way to phrase that.

  24:50-24:54

  Jesus didn't say, hey, there's a lot of unsaved people out there.

  24:54-24:59

  The way he words this, and not even there's a lot of hurting people out there.

  25:00-25:02

  He uses harvest terminology.

  25:05-25:09

  And when you see harvest in the Bible, that has to deal with judgment, right?

  25:09-25:14

  Read Isaiah 17, Joel 3, Matthew 13, Revelation 14.

  25:15-25:17

  Harvest has to do with judgment.

  25:19-25:25

  And the point here is a plentiful harvest means that our evangelism has to have urgency.

  25:29-25:30

  Because people are heading to judgment.

  25:31-25:32

  That's the point.

  25:33-25:34

  People are heading to judgment.

  25:35-25:36

  Say, hey, we gotta get moving.

  25:39-25:40

  We can't wait.

  25:45-25:51

  Imagine if you were driving home from church, you pull into your driveway and your neighbor's house was on fire.

  25:54-26:01

  And you look over at your neighbor's house and you can see in their picture window, your neighbor is sleeping on the recliner.

  26:03-26:06

  He has no idea that his house is burning down around him.

  26:07-26:07

  What do you do?

  26:11-26:19

  You put the car in park and you get out and you say, You know what, I should do something, but you know, I don't wanna force my beliefs on him.

  26:20-26:27

  My beliefs about fire and the destructiveness of fire and smoke inhalation, I don't wanna push my beliefs on him.

  26:32-26:35

  I'm just gonna live and let live.

  26:37-26:40

  You would be an absolute monster if you did that, wouldn't you?

  26:41-26:47

  Instead, you would be screaming and you would be throwing things through the picture window.

  26:47-26:51

  You'd be kicking the door down and dragging him out.

  26:56-27:06

  And lost people are in a much worse predicament than even somebody sitting with their house on fire.

  27:08-27:09

  Do you care?

  27:11-27:14

  You see, Jesus saw people, that's the point here.

  27:14-27:16

  He saw people with eternity in view.

  27:19-27:23

  Hell is real and real people are really going there.

  27:24-27:27

  Do you care at all?

  27:30-27:38

  General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once said, "I love this.

  27:39-27:52

  This always stuck with me." that he once said that he would like to send all of his candidates for officership to hell for 24 hours as the chief part of their training.

  27:56-28:00

  If that were possible, do you imagine?

  28:02-28:06

  Could you imagine if you went to hell for just one day?

  28:09-28:24

  Would it make you more urgent to tell people, the lost people that you know, the lost people in your life, in your family, in your workplace, how to avoid going to this horrible place for eternity?

  28:27-28:28

  See, I care because of where people are headed.

  28:30-28:35

  And then finally, write this down.

  28:36-28:37

  I care because God does.

  28:40-28:46

  Look at verse 37 again, it says, then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

  28:51-28:58

  Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

  29:02-29:03

  He says the laborers are few.

  29:05-29:05

  That's a problem.

  29:09-29:12

  See, it's a problem that the need is so great.

  29:17-29:20

  But the problem that comes with that is the laborers are just so few.

  29:22-29:24

  There's just not enough people to meet the need.

  29:27-29:36

  You know, every time I read this passage and I think about this passage, which is a lot, I've thought about this so many times, I'm like, "Why are the laborers few?

  29:38-29:53

  Why is that?" Like, just take a drive through the area and look at all the churches, including this one, just look at all the churches.

  29:54-30:05

  I'm like, "Where are all these people that receive the grace of God and they're just silent about it.

  30:09-30:10

  Why are there so few laborers?

  30:13-30:17

  Like I told you before, I really don't care about these churches, I care about this church.

  30:18-30:20

  And I have to ask is what kind of church are we?

  30:24-30:26

  Do we care about the thing that God cares about?

  30:28-30:31

  Are we moved by what moved Jesus?

  30:31-30:34

  because here's the reality, God loves the world.

  30:36-30:41

  And do you know how he has chosen to show that?

  30:44-30:44

  Through you.

  30:47-30:51

  He demonstrated his love through Jesus on the cross.

  30:51-30:55

  Yes, today, right now, how is God showing his love to the world?

  30:55-30:56

  That's on you.

  30:57-31:01

  He wants to show his love through you.

  31:05-31:06

  So what do we do?

  31:07-31:09

  Jesus says we have this huge harvest, we have few laborers.

  31:09-31:10

  So what do we do?

  31:11-31:12

  Let's get a program together.

  31:13-31:20

  You know, let's get all eye of the tiger and rally the troops and come on, let's get out there and make some noise.

  31:20-31:21

  Is that what he said?

  31:22-31:23

  Look at this.

  31:24-31:32

  Because of this huge issue, verse 38, he says, "Therefore, pray." Pray earnestly.

  31:35-31:36

  Like pray earnestly for what?

  31:37-31:39

  Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.

  31:45-31:53

  By the way, this is the pattern of praying for the lost in the New Testament.

  31:56-31:57

  Now I want you to tune in here.

  32:00-32:12

  When you study your New Testament, the pattern of prayer, evangelistic prayer, is not praying for unbelievers to receive Christ.

  32:16-32:21

  But it's praying for believers to be witnesses for Christ.

  32:22-32:24

  That is how we should pray.

  32:24-32:32

  Now listen, I've preached this before, and I always get pushback, but I want you to hear what I'm saying.

  32:32-32:36

  I'm not saying that it's wrong to pray for your lost neighbor.

  32:36-32:39

  I'm not saying that that's a sinful thing.

  32:39-32:41

  I'm just saying that's not really a biblical thing.

  32:45-32:58

  What I am saying is this, biblically, when we pray for the lost, prayers to God are directed for the people that God's going to use to reach the lost.

  33:03-33:07

  Like look at how Jesus, this is actually Jesus praying, John 17.

  33:07-33:09

  We covered this a while back.

  33:10-33:15

  Jesus says in John 17, nine, "I'm praying for them," meaning his disciples.

  33:16-33:18

  Look at what he says explicitly.

  33:19-33:25

  "I'm not praying for the world." Like, why not?

  33:27-33:35

  He says, "But for those whom you have given me." Jesus' prayer focus was on his people to reach the world.

  33:36-33:39

  You're like, "Really?" Yes, really, look at Ephesians 6.

  33:40-33:41

  This is Paul.

  33:41-33:45

  He says, "Praying at all times in the spirit, "with all prayer and supplication.

  33:46-33:51

  "To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, Making supplication for who?

  33:54-33:55

  Making supplication for who?

  33:57-33:58

  All the saints.

  34:02-34:03

  And also for me.

  34:06-34:08

  This is an evangelistic prayer.

  34:08-34:13

  Look, that words may be given to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.

  34:14-34:16

  Notice he doesn't say, "Hey, there's lots of lost people out there.

  34:16-34:19

  Pray for the lost." Who did you say to pray for?

  34:19-34:20

  Pray for the saints.

  34:22-34:29

  Pray for me to have a mouth, open boldly to proclaim the gospel.

  34:30-34:33

  That's how I need prayers to go up.

  34:33-34:44

  He says something similar in Colossians 4, "Continue steadfastly in prayer, "being watchful in it with thanksgiving at the same time, "pray also for," who?

  34:47-34:51

  Wow, come on, sound it out.

  34:52-34:53

  (laughing)

  34:54-34:56

  Us, pray also for us.

  34:58-35:05

  This is an evangelistic prayer that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ.

  35:07-35:07

  He goes on.

  35:09-35:12

  You don't see pray for the lost.

  35:14-35:18

  You see, pray for us to reach the lost.

  35:23-35:25

  And then we get here to Matthew chapter nine.

  35:26-35:27

  Jesus says, pray for what?

  35:30-35:31

  For the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers.

  35:34-35:38

  Jesus didn't see the crowds and, hey, disciples, real quick, let's pray for the crowd.

  35:40-35:41

  What did he say?

  35:41-35:45

  Pray for the Lord of the harvest to raise up more people.

  35:47-35:52

  'Cause we know the Lord of the harvest wants the grain harvested.

  35:53-36:04

  If you think about it, to pray that God would save a particular friend or relative, that almost implies that we don't believe that he's been trying.

  36:07-36:15

  I mean, let's just think about when we say, "Hey, I want you to pray for this unsaved co-worker of mine.

  36:15-36:19

  I want you to pray for him." What do we think is happening when we pray there?

  36:22-36:26

  Do we think that when we pray that we're giving God a little push?

  36:27-36:41

  Like, "God, I have this co-worker that's unsaved, and God, what I'm asking is that you would start to take his salvation seriously." God already cares for that coworker more than anyone.

  36:46-36:56

  Well, some people say, well, no, Pastor Jeff, when you pray for the lost, what you need to do is pray that they recognize their lost condition.

  36:57-36:58

  That's what we're praying for.

  36:58-37:01

  Pray that they recognize that they're lost.

  37:02-37:06

  And I would say, how does somebody recognize that they're lost?

  37:06-37:07

  How does that happen?

  37:08-37:09

  How does that happen?

  37:12-37:14

  The Bible tells us how that happens, right?

  37:14-37:15

  Romans 10.

  37:17-37:19

  How then will they call on him whom they've not believed?

  37:19-37:22

  And how are they to believe in him of whom they've never heard?

  37:22-37:25

  And how are they here without someone preaching?

  37:25-37:27

  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

  37:29-37:32

  How does somebody recognize their lost condition?

  37:33-37:35

  A sent person takes the word of God to them.

  37:37-37:50

  And then he says, verse 17, "Faith comes by hearing, "and hearing through the word of Christ." So what's our responsibility in evangelistic prayers when we look at the New Testament?

  37:50-37:56

  Okay, if we're just looking at the New Testament, here is how we pray for the lost.

  37:58-38:00

  We pray for ourselves.

  38:02-38:13

  We pray for other Christians that we will have opportunity to witness and declare the gospel of Jesus Christ clearly, simply, and urgently.

  38:14-38:17

  Those are evangelistic prayers if we're just using the New Testament.

  38:23-38:25

  You know, you go through Christ's analogies.

  38:25-38:34

  He compares the lost to grain, to a lost coin, to shepherdless sheep, to weeds, to the ill.

  38:36-38:48

  And all of Christ's analogies imply that our task is to pray not for the lost themselves, but to pray for those who can help the lost.

  38:50-38:55

  If a sheep escapes from the pasture, we don't say, oh, you know what, thoughts and prayers.

  38:57-38:58

  Thoughts and prayers, lost sheep.

  38:58-39:00

  I'm sending positive vibes for the lost sheep.

  39:00-39:01

  What do we do?

  39:01-39:05

  If an actual sheep escaped from an actual pasture, what would we do?

  39:06-39:11

  We'd go tell the shepherd and say, "How can I help you get that sheep back?" Right?

  39:12-39:13

  That's how we pray for the lost.

  39:16-39:22

  Like, "Man, Pastor Jeff, "I pray that my neighbor gets saved." How does somebody get saved?

  39:23-39:31

  You realize every single person who's ever been saved in the history of the gospel has gotten saved in the exact same way.

  39:34-39:40

  They've heard the Word of God concerning his son, and they've believed it.

  39:43-39:46

  So you pray that God send someone.

  39:48-39:49

  And then you know what happens?

  39:50-39:58

  After you spend time praying that God would send someone to reach this lost person, after for a while you realize that someone's probably you.

  40:01-40:02

  So you gotta know.

  40:02-40:11

  Look, I get the prayer requests every week and I love praying over those requests, but I gotta tell you something.

  40:12-40:26

  When you're praying for this lost coworker or this lost adult child or this other lost family member that you have, when you ask for prayer for them, I'm praying for you.

  40:27-40:34

  I am praying that God gives you opportunity to share the gospel with that lost person.

  40:35-40:36

  I'm praying that God equips you.

  40:37-40:43

  I'm praying that God, by His Spirit, gives you compassion to go after them.

  40:46-40:52

  You're not gonna care for the lost until you make that your prayer.

  40:53-41:36

  And then, the more you pray for the lost, the more you will care. So we're gonna pray. We're not gonna get into groups. I'm just gonna ask you right now to bow your heads. As our worship team makes their way forward, we're gonna pray for three things. We're gonna do one at a time, and I'll start, and then I just want I want you to have this time before the Lord.

  41:44-41:55

  But first of all, let's pray that God would restore in us compassion for lost people.

  41:59-42:00

  Pray that.

  42:06-42:09

  Yes, we can say us as a church, but let's make it individual.

  42:11-42:15

  Pray for yourself that God would restore compassion for the lost.

  42:22-42:42

  Father, I confess before you, in front of my brothers and sisters, that it's so easy for me to get so focused on my own problems, or my own work, or my own projects, that I just don't think about the lost sometimes.

  42:46-42:56

  Father, I'm asking by the power of Your Spirit, through the wisdom of Your Word, the example of Jesus Christ that we see.

  42:56-43:00

  I pray, Father, You would restore a passion for the lost in my heart.

  43:06-43:07

  Now pray.

  43:09-43:10

  Pray for our workers here.

  43:11-43:15

  We have a lot of people that work so hard in so many ways.

  43:18-43:25

  Take a moment and pray for the people here who are serving Christ.

  43:29-43:33

  Father in heaven, I lift up the workers in this church.

  43:35-43:37

  There are so many who work so hard.

  43:42-43:46

  We do it knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.

  43:47-44:02

  But I pray, Father, for a renewed strength A reminder of the vision, a reminder of the mission, a reminder of why we do what we do, Father.

  44:03-44:04

  Pray for our workers.

  44:06-44:10

  And now, church, as our Lord commanded, let's pray for God to raise up more.

  44:15-44:19

  We're not finding the workload to decrease by any stretch.

  44:21-44:28

  We're seeing more and new opportunities in this neighborhood and beyond.

  44:30-44:40

  So right now, church, please, let's pray earnestly for God to raise up more people to carry out the work of the ministry.

  44:45-44:47

  Father in heaven, we are doing as our Lord commanded.

  44:52-44:54

  God, you see what's before us.

  44:57-45:02

  There are so many hurting and lost people in this community.

  45:05-45:09

  And I ask you, Father, please to raise up workers.

  45:12-45:27

  whether it's people that are sitting here right now, or will be sitting here at the next service, or watching the stream from home, or watching this message later, whoever, Father, we reach, I pray that you would raise up more workers.

  45:28-45:33

  Maybe it's people that we don't even know yet, people that we haven't even encountered yet.

  45:33-45:46

  Father, raise up people, please, God, we ask you, to raise up the right people, the rightly motivated people, people who love you and who care about the lost.

  45:48-45:55

  Raise up more and give us wisdom as more people are raised up to work.

  45:55-45:59

  Give us wisdom and how to go after this mission that you have called us to.

  46:00-46:04

  And Father, bring us back to the place where we're motivated by the love of Christ.

  46:05-46:10

  Father, you know, we're not trying for some kind of a guilt trip here.

  46:11-46:20

  But sometimes, God, we need a wake-up call because we're so easily distracted like sheep.

  46:24-46:35

  Get us back to the place where we love you above all things, and that is manifest in everything that we do.

  46:40-46:53

  Father, I thank you for what's ahead of us, and we're trusting you to equip us with everything we need, to provide us with everything that we need.

  46:55-46:57

  Father, keep us rightly motivated.

  46:58-47:01

  We ask in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 9:35-38

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Why do you think many churches have drifted away from the Great Commission?
   How can we prevent Harvest Bible Chapel from drifting away from the Great Commission?
   

3. When was the last time you shared the Gospel with an unbeliever? What happened?

   When was the last time you invited someone to be your guest at HBC? What happened?
   

4. What do you think would cause you personally to witness to people more often?

Breakout
Pray for one another, and HBC, to grow in compassion for the lost.

Pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.