Live Your Life on Mission

0 (0s): Good morning. Welcome to church. Will you stand as we begin to worship and good morning to everyone who's in our other locations and visiting us online or with the sunlight. 0 (8s): thank you. 0 (4m 34s): Jesus. We praise you. Worship your name this morning. 0 (4m 41s): Jesus. 0 (13m 41s): We thank you so much this morning. We lift your name. Amen. Thank you so much. 1 (13m 58s): Good morning. And you go ahead and have a seat. That would be great. My name is Ron and I will be your host today. Whatever that means. I just made that up by the way I needed up here. Thanks Dave. Hey, what we decided to do this year 2021 is on family Sunday. So today's family Sunday, the fourth, Sunday of each month, which we designate for a couple of things. One is we have communion together on family Sunday. So we're going to be enjoying convenient together today. In fact, if you didn't get the communion cup, when you came in, like to ask the greeters in each venue, sanctuary loft, and also in the patio to get and grab the, grab the tray and walk around and make sure everybody's got a communion cup. 1 (14m 45s): Cause we're going to be, as I said, having communion today as a, as a group, and then also what we do on communion Sunday, family Sunday is we encourage families to worship together. So we don't have our normal classes for first grade and up. We do have class available for those under first grade. So if you've got some kids that for whatever reason, you want to have them in class, you can take them there and that'd be fine. Or if you want to keep them with you, that'd be great. One of the things that, that we feel is sort of a, a symptom of a, a vibrant growing church is a sound of kids could be crying. Kids could be fussy kids. We love kids. 1 (15m 26s): And so, yeah, as long as they're not, you know, distracting me, that's fine. We love them. Also, what we've done this year is the mission. The missionaries that we support and we support about a dozen is we designate each, each family Sundays. We want to introduce you to a missionary that we are involved with. That could be financial, certainly prayerfully, and the couple of money to introduce you to in just a moment. We've actually been involved with them for a long, long time. And so I'll let them tell you their stories. I'd like to go ahead and invite chef Cheryl and land up to the front. So Sherrilyn Lynn, come on up. 1 (16m 7s): And Dave, where did you put your mic? It's oh, here it is. There it is. Okay, so let's give a warm welcome when you is this one. Here you go then. All right. Is that good height? Do you want it lowered? You good? All right. Okay. All right. 2 (16m 32s): I don't want it to fall over. Well, good morning, everybody. It's really a blessing for us to be here. I mean, you know, we're in Israel. Most of the time we have been, except for when this COVID hit. And I was in Israel when the COVID hit and I had to come back to the states when I was in Texas, I was in Israel and I had to first extend my stay in Israel. And then there were no flights. So I was waiting and waiting for a flight, but I didn't want to end up in one of those quarantines and New York and New Jersey where they fly you into. So I was just praying because I thought if I ended up in the hospital, I'll never get out. They'll find something wrong. So anyway, I had this window of time. 2 (17m 14s): I got the flight and June 18th of last year and I got back and lympic me up in Dallas. I didn't have to quarantine. Few days later, they started the quarantine again in New York, New Jersey. So God is good. Yeah. What's good about doing mission field or doing any ministry. And a lot of you're involved in ministry. You get to see the Lord working through you and working around you. You know, it's like watching them. I'm sure the apostles disciples were when they were following them. They'd probably wake them go, oh, I wonder what he's going to do today. And that's how we feel is like, what is he going to do today? And so many different surprises happen, you know, from attacks to people getting saved. The last two days were ministry days for us and they were long and we needed more sleep than we got. 2 (17m 58s): But you know, it was good. It was really good. We got to pray with our brothers and all kinds of good stuff happened. Okay. I'll stop talking. What I'd like to do is tell you that the ministry that we're involved in, that we do is called love without borders. And it started with a smiley who was a Muslim, became a Christian. And we worked together to go to these different Muslims, especially and tell them about the Lord. And they were coming in the kingdom like that. It was fun. You know, they would walk up to me and goes, I wonder to be baptized, you know, like, whoa, okay. You know, you go down, they believe you. They go down as a Muslim. They come up as a Christian. Not that that's their theology or whatever you want to call it. 2 (18m 39s): But they have to do that first after wash all that off and come up. And when they come up out of the water, they're just shining like crazy, you know, it's wonderful. So that's, you know, Jesus said, you know, not what food I have. You know, like when he was at the whale, when some area I have food over there and then knows this, you just get so invigorated, you forget about eating. You forget about sleeping and you just go and do the ministry. So anyways, a little bit, our borders doesn't just go to Muslims or go to arrows. But it also goes to the Jewish people. So we have a mixture. We were doing more Muslims and Jews. And now it's like mix secular Jews, ultra Orthodox Jews, regular Orthodox Jews, and just you name it all kinds. 2 (19m 21s): So it's a fun ministry. And the Lord just kind of puts us in their path. We don't go looking for them. They just come in our path and then we minister to them. So Len is going to share a little bit and while I rest. And so he's just got something to say to you, and then I will finish 3 (19m 38s): Up. Thank you. Okay, good morning. I'm going to start with something just a little off the ball. Since we moved to Texas from Israel by way of California. And when, when we first moved to Texas, I would hear people say y'all and I thought it meant y'all. But what y'all means in Texas is y'all one person y'all. So if I were to address everyone here, it's all y'all. And that was my reaction. 3 (20m 20s): So that gets me to relax a little bit. Thank you. So, as Cheryl said, it's and it's whoever the Lord brings in front of us, that's who we minister to. And, and so that's what we have to be open to wherever we're at in the United States, England, but in Israel. So I want to focus on the Jewish people in Israel now and the Jewish community. So what the Lord revealed to me a couple of years ago, a few years ago, was that the Jewish community ultra Orthodox, Orthodox Jews read scripture pretty obvious. 3 (21m 6s): But what was interesting to me is that they read portions of scripture every week around the world, the same portions. And so the Lord revealed to me in my little brain, why don't you read the same portions for a couple of reasons? One, I was blessed, but two, it gave me an opportunity to open a small door, to start speaking to the ultra Orthodox and Orthodox Jews, which in general, you feel like there's a little bit of a wall there. It broke open the wall. 3 (21m 47s): All I had to do was ask a question. What do you think of? And man, when you ask that question, the it's like a flood gate and they love to talk about scripture and argue. So, but yeah, it also gave us an opportunity to share the Lord. It's somewhat of a struggle. We do this a lot, but it's there. And it opens up that opportunity. And it just turns out that yesterday was the beginning of the next portion. I'll call it biblical portion. 3 (22m 26s): And they started reading Deuteronomy 3 23 through seven 11, and every Orthodox and ultra Orthodox Jews in the world is right now reading and studying with their families. The same scripture, the same. Yeah. All of them. Thank you. The same scripture. So that's what I started doing. And yesterday we started studying that scripture and buried in the scripture, not buried obvious to him, to me in the scripture is Jesus. 3 (23m 10s): So our prayer is that God uses his word to reveal Jesus to all of the Jewish people. That, especially those that are reading his word. Yeah. So if I were to ask everyone to, to pray for Israel, that's what I would first ask, pray into the word that God will reveal himself to the Jewish people. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Okay. That turned out really good 2 (23m 45s): Reinforcement. I need, we use each other a lot. It has been a real blessing. We got married in 2014 and well, I mean the relationship grows all the time. And I found out about his sense of humor when I was in Israel stuck and I got back and he's joking with all the neighbors and I'm just watching this going, oh my gosh, she's funny. And now we get to have a funny time. So it's great. Love it. Okay. So what we just want to say is that tour portion or the biblical portion that he's referring to, we have an update. We put out every month and in that update, we put the portions. So if anybody wants to follow along, they know what the Jews are reading that week around the world. 2 (24m 29s): And if you run across a Jew, even on an airplane or something, you can just sit down and go, Hey, what about that in book? You know, what do you think about that? And you're right there with them on the same scripture. And it does open those doors. So we're going to have a table out in the middle, somewhere up there and we'll have the, we'll have the, no, we won't have the Torah portions out there now. Okay. So we have stuff on the table. Things you can take and cards and you know, information. So just please do that. If you can't, oh, by the way, we do have a sign up sheet. So if you want those tour portions, we call them Torah portions in Israel. So it's what I'm used to. But anyways, our biblical Bible portions, if you want that, we put that in our update. 2 (25m 12s): You can come and sign your email address there, and you will get that every month now in the update is not just that, but it's about what God's doing, what guys doing in our lives, maybe a little personal section. And then I put paragraphs of news because our cover in Israel is we're journalists. You can't be a missionary in Israel. As a matter of fact, I talked to this massaged agent and I had no idea that he was in my computer because I was babysitting his kid two kids. And anyway, she went in my computer to see who I was, you know, and do a background check on me. And he told me in 2018 in front of land, what happened? We checked me out in 2005 or six, whatever it was. And he kept seeing the word mission and mission this and mesh it. 2 (25m 55s): And he said in Israel, that means operation. And so he thought we were doing an operation tourist operation. So don't write mission to me, don't get me in trouble. But anyways, it's really fun to be over there. And we have this cover as a journalist, but we really have to do the work. So I'm on the government press office list. I get all the emails, all the Presley releases that come out in a day. I get all the press releases that come out in from the white house every day also. So I get all this news what's really happening before it goes into the paper. And some of it doesn't even make the paper. It's amazing. What does not make the paper? So that's our cover. And we tell all the people we go to minister to, they say, what are you doing here? 2 (26m 35s): We can't say missionary. So we say, we're doing journalism. We have to turn in our work at the ministry of interior. So they can see that we're actually doing journalism. We have our credentials, our press credentials in both America and in Israel. So that's pretty cool to have that. And the Lord opened the doors so that we could get journalists fuses. We're not on journalists abuses now because when you go in and you get an automatic three months in Israel, we bought a house as Len said in Texas, because we couldn't afford one here. And I miss it here. Oh my gosh, I miss it. I love California. I was born in California, but we needed a place we can come to. And God knew that the COVID was going to hit because in 2019, we bought the house, went back to Israel and the COVID hit. 2 (27m 20s): And we would have had to stay in hotels or with friends or family here in America, because we didn't have anything before this. So now we have a home where we have all our things out of the storage units. What timing God is good. I see it all the time. So yeah, so we write articles. We do television, we do radio and we're traveling around well, this time we're traveling up and down California, but we speak in England and Canada and Australia, wherever we're invited. We go to these places and speak about Israel. What's happening there. Current affairs, biblical prophecies, and how the current affairs match what's in the Bible and you're going to go, oh my gosh, I get, we'll leave. They're getting so close. And wow. Yeah, there's a lot to tell you guys what's going on. 2 (28m 1s): And it takes longer than what we can do up here. So what we're going to do on Friday, the 30th is we're going to be in the loft in the evening. We're going to start at five 30. We're going to have snacks. People can come and do it like a meet and greet thing. And then at six o'clock, we're going to have music. One gentlemen is going to come and he's going to be singing in Hebrew. He's going to sing the national Anthem in Hebrew, the Israeli national Anthem. And he's got the words he's going to hand out. So you can see in English and in Hebrew, what it is. And then he's going to do Psalm 23 and Hebrew. And it's beautiful. It's beautiful. And then DJ will be coming and she's going to lead worship. And she's going to do Hebrew and English songs among some others. 2 (28m 42s): I think. So maybe Gary is going to join her. I don't know. She said something about Gary will be playing with her. So then we'll talk, we'll do a PowerPoint presentation so people can see pictures. What's going on. We're going to cover current affairs. And then we're going to do a question time and discussion because people want to know what's going on. How does America match with peers or what's going on? Since both, we have two new administrations, one in Israel, one here, and there's a lot going on and a lot festering up right now. And we're going to let you know what all those things are. So Friday you can go up. You're welcome to come. Anybody's welcome to come on that table. We have flyers. So you can come up and get a flyer. It has all the details, but I just gave them to you. 2 (29m 25s): It'll be a little off. We start at five 30 program starts at six. Please come. If you're interested in what's going on in Israel, you're more than welcome. And I think that's about it. I think I covered everything right. 3 (29m 37s): I think so. Okay. 2 (29m 38s): So yeah. So we're going to go ahead and sit down and enjoy the service ourselves for a change. And hopefully we'll see you on Friday, but we'll be out there at the table if you want to talk to us. Okay. Thank you. 1 (29m 55s): Thank you, Lynn. Thank you, Cheryl. Today is really sweet sweet day for, for me in particular. And here's why, so Amanda, who is leading worship this morning, I've known her parents, Jim and Kim Coles before she was born. She is their first born of seven. And so I've got to see Amanda since day one girl up and now she's, you know, loving the Lord, serving the Lord, leading us in worship, and that's really special for sure. And then, so Cheryl began attending a church that I was a part of pastoring and Avalon beach, the Applebee's Christian fellowship. She started, she gave her life to the Lord in 1989 and began coming to the church novela back then. 1 (30m 39s): And so we have a lot of history. We helped get her on the mission field. She came to me one day and said, you know, I really believe the Lord is asking me, calling me to move to Israel. And so we talked about that and what I encouraged her to do is just go on a, going a tourist trip, go to Israel and spend some time there and, and see if God, you know, confirms that. And I think she went maybe twice as, as a tourist. And then she sold everything and moved full time to Israel. And again, that was in the we, that was in the early nineties when she did that. And so it's really special for me to be a part of seeing what God is doing in, in the lives of, of, of people that are friends of mine. 1 (31m 26s): And, and so what I want to do this morning, again, a little background, oh, by the way, did everybody get a communion cup? Is there anybody that did not get one? Okay. If you didn't get one, raise your hand and Kay, Amanda, could you grab the communion tray right there and kind of wander around and, and in the other venues, if you need to get one, there is communion tray there as well. Because as I mentioned, we are going to be having communion this morning. So Cheryl gave you a little bit of her background. I came to know Len later because they got married a little bit later. And so we have a lot of history. Cheryl used to work at Diablo canyon and she's from California. She mentioned that both Lennon and Charlotte, both from California. 1 (32m 7s): And so th you know, this is their life. This is what they know, their, their history, their background. So here, here's my question. I'm going to be asking a few questions this morning. The first question is this, why would Cheryl and LAN leave the central coast of California to move to Israel? Okay. Many of you know, Daniel and Solvay kinda, so Daniel is from here. He was born and raised in Santa Maria. Central coast grew up here. Solvay actually is from Denmark. She was born in the Faroe islands, just off the coast of Denmark. So think about Daniel for a minute. 1 (32m 48s): So he, you know, again had good career here in California, and yet God put a call upon his life. Now his original call, if he was up for telling you was actually to go to Uganda and now why would God send Daniel? This is pre pre-sold by days. He sent Daniel to Uganda. And so Daniel spent about seven years in Uganda doing mission work there, and guess who he met in Uganda. He met Sylvia from Denmark and Uganda. So they got married there and then got a bigger work, a bigger calling for them. So the two of them together moved to green. And in fact, I have a few pictures. I want to show you just to kind of refresh your memory of Daniel and Solvay. 1 (33m 32s): So what do we have here? So this is Daniel. So VI, this is their home in the village of Casa yang wit I can say it, I cannot spell it. And then the next picture is this is the village that they live in, in Greenland, Casa yang wit, and jumped to the next one, where is Greenland. And so the lower circle is where we are California. And you go all the way, you see Canada above us, and then to the east, that's where Greenland is. And I circled the area where they live and then jump to the next slide. Okay. I talked to take that one down just for a moment. So on Friday, this last Friday, Daniel had told me that they were going to be taking a trip. 1 (34m 17s): You know, they own a boat together. Daniel, the self I do, and the purpose of the boat is to be able to get to the villages in Greenland to minister there. And so he, he told me that he had a couple of young men, that he was going to be baptizing. And then he was going to be taking a trip. He and Sova and two crew to another village to show the gospel there. And so a Friday. So just a few days ago, I was at home and I get a phone call and I see that Daniels. So I take the phone call. Now this is sort of just a side note. So here I am in California, erode grand Grandy, and he's seven miles off the coast in Greenland. In fact, go back to that map. He's he's on his journey on his boat going along the coast of Greenland. 1 (35m 0s): And here we are talking, it was though he was sitting like in the same room. Isn't that amazing? Truly amazing. So what he did first, so this is the journey in the Southern or the lower portion that sort of that's the V the village they live in cosying with, through that little inlet there, and they're going to a village up on the top, but for, they did that, show me the next picture. As I said, they did some baptizing. This is Ian. So that's Daniel baptizing, Ian in a lake near where they live. And then the next one is Ian coming up out of the water, new creation in Christ. Isn't that awesome. All right. Jump back now. Okay. That's the boat. The, yeah, jumped back to the boat. 1 (35m 41s): That'd be good. The common leak. So that means the light. All right. So here's, here's my question. You can take the picture down now. So why would Daniel and Daniel particular move from central California? Sell everything, pack up, move to Greenland. We're going to look at that question. Yeah. And answer that question this morning. Many of you met maybe for the first time, or you got to see Shane Coke come up front. Steve invited him up front. He's been fellowshipping here for a number of years. So the Lord has called him on a five month missions trip to Zimbabwe, whereas Zimbabwe. 1 (36m 27s): Okay. Here's a map of Africa and I circled Zimbabwe for you. So you could get, get an idea of where it is. Okay. So Shane he's from here, he's from the central coast of California. So for the next five months, he's going to be in some Bob way, Africa sharing the gospel there with Mike and Cindy, Madam, some of you know, Mike and Cindy. All right. So the answer to this question actually is found in the title of this morning's message. So why would someone Lennon Cheryl, Daniel and Solvay Shane move from where they were settled, where their roots, where their foundation and move to a distant, distant country. So the answer is actually the title of the messages live your life on mission. 1 (37m 13s): Now that's, that's actually the answer live your life on mission, but we want to unpack that just a little bit for you this morning and to do that, we need to look at a few scriptures. So before we get into the scripture, let's pray for a moment. Lord, we just look to you. Holy spirit. We're thankful that you are the teacher. And so as I speak, and as we look through the script, sure, Lord, we want our heart to be impacted by you. We want to be touched by you. We want to hear your voice and, and the calling that you have on us. Lord, there's a calling on you. Each of us, Lord, help us to discover that calling and help us to respond to that calling. And so Lord, our time together this morning to you in Jesus' name, we pray. 1 (37m 55s): Amen. So you remember this story in mark chapter one, beginning with verse 16, Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee. So this is in the Northern part of Israel. And he saw Simon, Andrew, his brother casting a net into the sea for, they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, follow me. And I will make you become fishers of men. So they immediately left their nets and followed him. So we see Simon and Andrew Simon, Peter. So we're talking about Peter here. Another verse in Matthew chapter nine, verse nine, Jesus was walking along and he saw a man named Matthew, sitting at his tax collector's booth. 1 (38m 39s): And he said, follow me and be my disciple. Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him, Simon, Peter, and Andrew. They were fishermen by trade fact, the story it shows that they were actually with, with their dad. I mean, it's a family business. Well-rooted in the Galilee area, fishermen by trade. And Matthew was a tax collector. When Jesus called them, they left their occupation. They left their situation and they followed him. Cheryl had a career. As I mentioned earlier, working at Diablo canyon. She had a pretty awesome position there if I have it right, Cheryl, I think I do. 1 (39m 22s): She was insecurity at Diablo canyon for many years. In fact, she actually got to carry a weapon. I mean, how cool is that? Right? Blonde, a blonde girl, like her carrying a weapon out of Debola canyon, Supreme, scary Daniel. On the other hand, he was in the aerospace industry doing very, very well here. Then something happened to them. Jesus calls them. And they said, yes. And then he gave them a new direction. He gave them a new purpose in life, a different, a different calling in their life. 1 (40m 3s): So Jesus was, he was with his disciples. You guys, you know the story it's just before his Ascension. So he had already been to the cross. He had been put in a tomb and he had been raised from the dead. And we're in that interim time before his Ascension into heaven. And so this is what he said to the disciples, as they were gathered together, be being assembled together, acts chapter one, verse four, Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait two, wait for the promise of the father, which he said, you have heard from me for John, truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy spirit, not many days from now. 1 (40m 49s): So he was looking ahead to the day of Pentecost when they would be gathered together in that upper room. And the holy spirit would be given. Now, this was a very unique experience because prior to this time of the giving of the holy spirit at Pentecost, the holy spirit would come upon people. But from the day of Pentecost forward, he would dwell, he would indwell and live within believers. So Jesus continues that conversation in verse eight, he said, you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea Samaria and to the end of the earth. 1 (41m 37s): So back to my original question, why would a person leave the comfort? It's comfortable here, central coast to California, it's comfortable. Why would a person leave their comfort in their current life and make that radical change and take a completely new direction in life. A new mission, a new mission in life. So there's really only one answer to that question. And here's, here's the answer. When a person makes the decision to believe in and to follow Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, the holy spirit begins a supernatural work in the life of that person. 1 (42m 25s): And it affects everything. Every area of life is touched by the work of the holy spirit. God gives us. Now I'm talking about us. Those of us who are followers and believers, Jesus Christ is our savior. And Lord God gives us a far greater purpose in life and eternal purpose. And as a result of that, that's a radical change. We tend to look at at life differently, but maybe more importantly, we see people differently. 1 (43m 5s): You see what happens when the holy spirit is in us. We now see people through God's eyes, the way God sees people. We discover we have a mission. We live our lives on mission. We discover our mission in life, beyond our occupation, beyond our current situation. If you are a follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ, you are on mission that there's, there's no, no question in that. You may or may not have realized it yet. 1 (43m 47s): Today's your day. You are in fact a missionary. Now, when we think of missionaries, we think of like the apostle Paul type of people that, you know, went on these fast campaigns and, and that may occur. It has occurred in Lennon. Cheryl's life, Daniel's life, Shane's life. Your, your mission field may be entirely different. So to be clear, you may not be called to move to a foreign country. And I know many of us, it's like one of the first things we think about as we become a Christian, like, oh Lord, don't call me to Africa. No, don't call me there. 1 (44m 34s): You may not be called to a foreign misfit mission field like Len and Cheryl and Daniels Solvay and, and Shane. But wherever you are are is your mission field, wherever you are, by the way, you don't, you, you may not have to leave your current job, your current situation to be on the mission field because you're on the mission field. So that the key is serve him right where you are. I love what Cheryl said about how God just brings people to her and Len, and then he, he opens those doors to speak about eternal things. I've found that's often what God will do. 1 (45m 15s): So the fear factor is alone. I, you know, I got, I can't talk to people and all that. And yeah, what God will do is he'll bring people to you, you know, open a door, a conversation. So you're just, you're just speaking into their lives words. Yeah. Of eternal life. So your current situation may not change. You serve them right where you are. What does that mean? So being on missions really means this, that you are an evangelist. What does an evangelist do? And evangelists, proclaims declares the things God has said about himself and about, about people. We share truth with people. 1 (45m 57s): So we're on mission, right? Where we are. We live on mission. So what does that mean? Well, it means evangelize your kids. It means evangelize your coworkers person. You're a student in elementary, junior, senior college evangelize your fellow students, your neighbors evangelize your parents. If they don't know the Lord evangelize your, your friends and, and your siblings, maybe your siblings don't don't know him, your extended family. So, and I want to say this as a word of encouragement, don't ever limit what God can do through you. 1 (46m 39s): God, God is an expert at using weak and broken people to accomplish his purposes. If there is a secret in all this, I think, I think the secret is this. When God calls you and he will call you, I promise you that he may lead you. The answer is always the same name. Yes, Lord. That's the answer. Now God knows human nature. We may struggle. We may resist him. We may fight him. I'm a bit, let him win. 1 (47m 19s): Let him win it. It's no, no greater life, no greater joy in life than to be on mission for the Lord, Jesus Christ. And to be able impact people for now and for eternity. You know, of course, there's a transformation that occurs when we see a person come to Christ and it's like, there's this amazing change that occurs, but they also get to go to heaven. And we've, we've played a part in that and how awesome that is. So one of the verses that I read a moment ago, it was act chapter one, verse eight, where Jesus, again is speaking. You shall receive power. When the holy spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea and Sumeria to the end of the earth. 1 (48m 4s): He was speaking to a crowd that lived there that was home base. Pentecost was in Jerusalem things saying, Hey, start local. I'm going to call many of you to be local, but I'm going to call some of you broader. So Jerusalem would be for us, maybe the five cities local Judea could be, I don't know, St. Louis county and beyond a bigger part of California. Samira could be all of California, maybe even, maybe even the entire west coast. And the ends of the earth is the ends of the earth. I mentioned that because we have to think in terms of what is God's heart, what is the desire of God's heart, his, his overall plan, and it's this to get as many people into his kingdom as possible before the end of the church hates. 1 (49m 3s): That's what we live. We live in a church, H there's gonna come a time where the church age is going to end. And depending on how you look at eschatology, it could be at the time of the rapture of the church. It's when the tribulation period begins. There's that seven year tribulation period. And then after that is the millennial kingdom, but we're, we live here. We're in the church age, God wants to use us to reach as many people as possible with a gospel of the Lord, Jesus Christ, so that we can take as many people as possible into his eternal kingdom. So wherever life takes you, wherever God leads. You just like the disciples you were born. You've been born for greater purpose than just, you know, the mundane status quo more than just working more than just surviving, more than just living for yourself. 1 (49m 58s): I know that's, that's a human dilemma. We're pretty selfish creatures. It's more than just living for ourselves. You may never leave the central coast as I mentioned, but don't, don't be close to the possibility that God might call you out. And wherever he calls you, it's going to be amazing. It's going to be great. It's for sure. Going to be an adventure of the lifetime, perhaps God is calling you to go. We don't know. I don't know. God will show you. God will speak you. I promise you that God has given each and every one of us, a mission field. And, and it's, it's it's here. It starts here. It's right before us, right where we are right now. 1 (50m 40s): So why, why would God call people like us imperfect, broken, messed up people. We're all the same. Really? Why does, why would God call people like us to be his evangelists, to be his missionaries going forth, to answer that question, we'll look at a scripture. It's in second Corinthians. Chapter five begins with verse 17. Here's what it says. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new. Now, all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 1 (51m 31s): And that is that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. And he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. What does that mean? Now? Then we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to God for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteous righteousness of God in him. 1 (52m 15s): So God calls his people on mission because people are dying without knowing him. And he's given us a word for them, a message for them before they die. God calls us on mission because people are dying without knowing him. People are dying without knowing what God has provided for them through Jesus Christ. Maybe they've never heard the gospel. Maybe you're the perfect person. You've got that relationship, that open door to share the gospel with them. They may not listen to anybody else, but they'll listen to you, which is why he's given each of us a ministry emission. 1 (52m 60s): So it's, it's it's what is the ministry? I mean, if you could define it it's it's this what I just read? It's the ministry of reconciliation. What does that even mean? Well, it really that, that ministry of reconciliation, it really, in essence, it is, it is the gospel here at harvest church. We try to talk a lot about the gospel, but more, we need to know what the gospel is. It's super important that if we are given the ministry of reconciliation and we are that we're able to, to both know the gospel and articulate it to another person, to communicate it to another person. 1 (53m 40s): I want to give you a homework assignment that is to use whatever resource you need to, or just go to the scripture and try to try to discover what the gospel is. And there's some key verses that really seemed to summarize it super well. And I'm going to leave you on your own, define what those scriptures are, but I think it's a really good idea to memorize those scriptures. Just make them part of, part of your mind, part of your heart so that when you have opportunity and you may not have your Bible with you, you can't, well, let me, let me, let me look that up, but it's, it's coming out of you and you can communicate the gospel, you know, at, at, at the drop of a hat, anytime, anywhere I can tell and what the gospel is. 1 (54m 26s): So that's your homework assignment, but I am going to give you a little bit of the gospel. Okay. There's more about them to give you some of, well, by definition, the gospel is good news, but that, that just seems so minor. Okay. Good news. All right. Well, what, what does that mean? Well, it's, it's, here's what it is. And it's back to the verse. I read a moment ago. It's second Corinthians 5 21. Again, this is just one place you can find. And the gospel for he, that he, there that's God, the father for he made him that him that's Jesus, the Messiah for the father, God, the father made Jesus. 1 (55m 6s): The son who knew no sin. So Jesus was a spotless sinless person. The lamb of God, God, the father made Jesus. The son who knew no sin to be sin for us. What does that even mean? We think about it on the cross. Jesus, some of the, the things that occurred on the cross when Jesus was nailed to the cross, it says that the sins of the world were placed upon him in effect. They were, they were nailed to him. Our sins were put upon him. 1 (55m 47s): And in effect, he became sin. He that knew no sin sin. Our sin was placed upon him on the cross. Why did he do that? Why did God do that to his son? Well, again, it tells us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him, in Jesus Christ. This is a, this is a wonderful, amazing thing. And yeah, as you unpack it, as you understand the gospel to a greater degree, you're going to realize not only this good news, I mean, this is the best news. The, yeah, that ever could be that literally the picture is this, that we were lost in sin and death. 1 (56m 35s): We had a curse, a death sentence upon us, no relationship with God, no place in his kingdom. And then Jesus came and he died on the cross for us. He was buried Nina rose again and that as we place our faith and hope and trust in him, that my sin was put upon him on the cross. The supernatural thing that happens is that we're now made spiritually alive. The curse has gone. It's been lifted. And now we have a place reserved in heaven by the power of God. That's undefiled that cannot be taken away. So the gospel is really all about this from God's perspective. 1 (57m 17s): I think it's all about this. It's it's the restoring of a broken relationship. God loves you so much. He loves people so much. He sent his son. It's not that he just allowed his son to go to the cross. He sent his son to the cross. That's why Jesus came to restore a broken relationship. Our relationship with God was broken because as of sin in Christ based and through Christ, our relationship with God has been restored. We're we're back with him. We're one with him. We're reconciled. That's what that word means. The ministry of reconciliation, the word of reconciliation. 1 (57m 60s): We're reconciled to God, the father through Jesus, the son by the work of the holy spirit, it in us. So I mentioned earlier that we're going to be having communion. So in a moment, we're going to have community together. So we often call it communion or the Lord's supper. And I'm gonna read a verse about that. Then we're going to in a moment, have communion together. So Matthew chapter, sorry, in mark chapter 14, beginning with verse 22, as they were eating. So they're gathered together. This would be like the last supper before Jesus was going to be taken into custody and tortured, and then ultimately put on the cross as they were eating. 1 (58m 46s): So they're having to go Passover together. Jesus took bread and he blessed it and he broke it and he gave it to them and said, take eat. This is my body. And then he took the cup. And when he'd given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he said to them, this is my blood, the new covenant, which is shed for many assuredly. I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. So communion, if we think about it, it's really meant to be an illustration. It's a picture. It's a picture of what God has provided for us through, through his son, Perry. 1 (59m 32s): I don't have a communion cup. Could you go grab one for me, please? Thank you very much. So it's a picture of what God has. Thank you. Perry has provided for us through, through Jesus Christ, his son. So I'm going to go ahead and take out the wafer. It's kind of tough to get to and be careful. Don't once you get the wafer out, don't spill the juice on your lap. Not good, no bueno, go ahead and open up the juice so that we're ready to go. 1 (1h 0m 18s): I long for the good old days, when we used to just pass the cumin and trays, right? We didn't have to do this. Maybe we'll go back to that someday. So the bread, that's what we have right now. The bread, it's a picture of Christ body. And the fact that his body was broken, what does that mean? Well, when he was taken captive in the garden of guests Semini he was beaten. He was, well, he has beard plucked out. He had a crown of thorns put upon his head. 1 (1h 1m 0s): He was whipped. He was scorched. They put a robe on him after they scourged him and mocked him. As you know, you call yourself the king of the Jews and look at you and then they rip the robo off. So he, his body was, the Bible, says his, his visage, his appearance was marred more than any man. He suffered deeply on the cross. And that's what this represents what he went through to purchase for us, our salvation. Why? Thank you. Thank you. As we, you know, we can't fully, fully comprehend what you did for us, but we know that you, you gladly went to the cross for the joy that was set before him. 1 (1h 1m 50s): He endured the cross. The solar was so thankful that you did that for us. So Lord, we, as we partake of what represents your body, your broken body, Lord help us to comprehend in a deeper way, understanding a deeper way, all that you did for us and purchasing for us, our salvation. We'll go ahead and take the away. So the juice represents shut the Passover feast. There were four cups of wine. When Jesus picked up the cup that he shared at communion, it was called the cup of redemption. 1 (1h 2m 35s): He was in the process of redeeming us, buying us back, literally from slavery, from bondage. The wine is a picture of the blood that he shed. So I'm sure, you know, not only the crown of thorns was a put upon his head, but as he was nailed to the cross, his side was pierced the sword. And it says that blood and water came out. So this picture is the blood that he shed for us. It's a picture of the sacrifice that he made as a spotless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 1 (1h 3m 15s): Lord, thank you that you were faithful unto death, even the death of the cross. Lord, help us to understand more fully, all that you did and provided for us by purchasing for us. Our salvation. Thank you Lord. So Jesus held up that cup. I'm going to just talk about it a little bit more. He said, this is my blood of the new covenant. So it's interesting. He brings up a term that many of us might not fully understand very well. This is my blood of the new covenant. What is a covenant? 1 (1h 3m 56s): A covenant covenant is a pledge. It is a promise that has been made. The covenant is a promise that God made. So if we go back and we look at some of the covenants that God made, there's a covenant that God made to Noah. And the promise that the pledge that he gave us this, I won't destroy the earth with a flood ever again. That was a covenant he made with Noah. God made a covenant with Abraham, and here's the promise he made to Ammar Abraham through your seed, Abraham, through your seed, your kids, all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed. 1 (1h 4m 37s): He's still in the process of fulfilling that God made a covenant with Moses that through Moses God gave the nation of Israel, the law, which was in effect that conditions that were necessary so that the people could approach him. So the covenant with Moses gave the people a way to have relationship with God, the father, but Jesus here, he says, I'm going, I'm, I'm fulfilling something profound, the new covenant and new, it's not new in the sense that it's, it's never been seen before done before. It's new in the fact that it's, it's the completion. 1 (1h 5m 17s): It's a completion of all the covenant that God has made. And when he went to the cross and shed his blood and died for us, the covenant was complete. It's been fully ratified and fulfilled. The promise has been complete. So all these covenants that I mentioned a moment ago, all these promises really were given directly to the people of Israel, not to people that aren't Jewish by birth. So what about us? What about us? Those of us that are not Jews by birth, as it turns out there is another covenant or maybe an addition to the covenant. 1 (1h 5m 58s): Another promise given in scripture, I want to, I want to share this one with when I found this one, it was like, my eyes just kind of opened my understanding Isaiah chapter 42, verse six, that God speaking. And here again, it's it's God the father speaking to Jesus, the son, he says, I, the Lord have called you. I got the father. The Lord have called you my son in righteousness. And I will hold your hand and I will keep you. And I will give you, he's talking about the cross. I will give you as a covenant to the people, not just the Jewish people. 1 (1h 6m 42s): It goes on as a light to the Gentiles, the Gentiles, or all the other people, non Jews. I'm going to give you Jesus, my son, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison. And those who sit in darkness from the prison house. It's like, I've come. The covenant is fulfilled. When Jesus held up that cup and said, this is the blood of the new covenant. This is what he was talking about. I've come to set the captive free and to open the prison doors to those who are bound up. 1 (1h 7m 22s): So this is why this is why Jesus came into the world. Not only for the Jewish people, but for everyone to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners, to deliver those who are in darkness to fulfill the covenant. The promise that God had previously given. Now, how did Jesus, the Messiah accomplished this? The fulfillment? So there's a few key verses in Isaiah chapter 53. I'm going to look at, we're going to be closing out just a couple of minutes, Isaiah chapter 53, verse five. When it says he he's talking about Jesus, the son, the Messiah, he was wounded for our transgressions. 1 (1h 8m 4s): He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes, we are healed talking about the whipping, the beating, the scorching, the torture by his stripes, by what he endured, we are healed. You know, I think a bit from God's perspective, why would God, the father asked his son to do this? You know, Jesus didn't have to go to the cross. He was obedient to go to the cross on our behalf. Why did God allow his son to endure such suffering while we're told why? 1 (1h 8m 46s): And Isaiah chapter 53, verse 10, it says it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased God to Bruce, his son. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul and offering for sin, he shall see his seed. I think he was talking about us. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. God, the father shall see the labor of his son. 1 (1h 9m 28s): He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. And by his knowledge, my righteous servant, Jesus shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. You see God sent his son into the world for the purpose of setting us free and restoring that broken relationship. So back to the verse in Matthew 14, for a moment, Jesus said to them, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many as surely I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day. He's talking about a specific day until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God, I think, I think he's talking about the marriage, supper of the lamb. 1 (1h 10m 17s): We shall see. But when I say what I want to say to you this morning, I want to say this was absolute certainty. Jesus is coming back again to bring us home, to take us to heaven, to assure you and I into his eternal kingdom. And this could happen at any time. It might happen at the day of your death because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We don't know when we're going to die. We may be feeling great today this morning. And we just don't know what a day is going to bring forth. 1 (1h 10m 60s): Could happen anytime at our day of our death, perhaps, or this could happen at the time of the rapture of the church. The point is this, are you ready? Are you ready to meet God? Are you ready to meet him face to face? Because we're going to stand before God saved and unsaved alike. We're going to stand before God. And we're going to give an account. The account that we give as believers in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Why should I let you into my kingdom? Because Jesus paid for my sin on the card. Cross of Calvary. That's the only reason why. So Jesus in John chapter one, it says he came to his own. 1 (1h 11m 42s): He came to the Jewish people, his own people in his own people didn't receive him. Some did, but most did not. But as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. I want to urge you this morning. If you've never believed in Jesus before, believe in him today, as many as received him. So then he gave the privilege the right to become children of God. Even to those who believe in his name, Romans chapter 10. This is one of those places where the gospel is quite clear. 1 (1h 12m 26s): Romans 10 verse nine. If you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is the Lord. And if you believe in your heart, that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved for it as well. I believing in your heart that you're made right with God. And it's by confessing with your mouth that you are saved in Romans 10, 13. You guys know it. Well, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So there's believing and there's confessing. Believing is like an internal thing. I don't fully understand. We never will, but I believe Jesus, that you did go to the cross. And I believe that my sin was placed upon you on the cross. 1 (1h 13m 6s): So I, I believe it with everything that I can muster it. I understand by faith, I believe this to be true. And then the confession is part is it's weak. First confessed to God, Lord, I, I need you. I ask you to come into my life to be my Lord and savior. We're confessing our belief to God. And then I think, I believe we confess it to others. It's a powerful thing. When we tell another person I gave my life to Jesus Christ and he is my Lord and savior. It's like, it's feels it seals. It seals the deal. And then the transformation begins and it's awesome. 1 (1h 13m 47s): It's great. You'll never regret it. I promise you that. So Jeremy mentioned earlier, invite the worship team to go ahead and come on up. Now that we have a baptism planned today and we've got some folks are going to be baptized right after this service, we're going to baptize some folks. And then at right after a second service, we're going to baptize some folks as well. Why am I mentioning this? So in the book of acts, the book of acts, it was common. The common thing was for those who made a decision to believe in and to follow Jesus Christ, they were baptized immediately. It wasn't like months later years later decades later, it was I believe, and I want to get baptized. 1 (1h 14m 30s): So baptism is really, it's a, it's a, it's a declaration. Maybe that's the confession part. I'm going to go in the water road represents I'm, I'm dead. I've died with Christ. And even as Christ raised from the dead, I'm, I'm rising again out of the water to new life. So if you've made this decision today to follow Jesus as your Lord and savior, and you've never been baptized, I would encourage you to do that today. Go up to the patio area. We're going to, we've got towels for you, shorts for you, shirt for you and a place to change all for you. Before you do that, though, you got to give your life to Jesus Christ. 1 (1h 15m 10s): And it's actually super simple. And I kind of modeled it a moment ago. Lord, I need you. I don't understand, but I know that Jesus went to the cross for me. And so I invite you into my life to give me new direction, to set me free in Jesus name. Amen Lord. Thank you. Thank you for all that. You did what? I pray for those here in the sanctuary, the loft and the patio and those online Lord, that many will call upon your name for the first time. 1 (1h 15m 52s): Many will be saved and the Lord we are on mission. Our life is on mission. Lord, confirm that calling in us, show 0 (1h 15m 59s): Us open, open up for us 1 (1h 16m 3s): And understanding of what our mission is and the mission field that is before us. Lord, thank you so much so we can impact lives both now and for eternity in Jesus name, we pray God's people said 0 (1h 16m 28s): thank you. 0 (1h 23m 11s): That you have made the way through Jesus by the blood of the cross, by his body. Given that and lunch today, Lord Jesus. Fill us with your spirit. Let us be on mission for you just for your glory. Bless you in Jesus name. Amen. And today, if you have made that decision to follow Christ, God has been speaking into your heart and you need to come to faith in Jesus. 0 (1h 23m 54s): We're going to have prayer teams up here. Ready for you. If you have other needs, maybe God's calling you to the mission field. Maybe there's something on your heart that God is working in you, and you want to respond to that. Do you want to, you want to let somebody know. Today is the day you come forward. You need healing. You need a touch from God, any reason at all that you have for healing, please come. If you don't need prayer right now, go up and celebrate the baptisms. I know there's at least three after this service. I don't know what about second service, but have a great time. And Lord bless you and we'll see you all next week. 0 (1h 24m 43s): .