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Here I Am Send Someone Else
Contributed by Richard White on Sep 25, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: We are in the Lord’s army, are we ready for the call to duty?
Here I am, Send Someone Else
Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8
ISA 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
ISA 6:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
ISA 6:5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
ISA 6:6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
ISA 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Illustration:
There was a clever young guy named Somebody Else
There was nothing this can’t do
He is busy from morning till late at night
Substituting for you
You’re asked to do this or do that
And what is your ready reply
Get Somebody Else to do that job
He’ll do it much better than I
SO much to do in this weary old world
So much to do and workers so few
And Somebody Else, all weary and worn
Is still substituting for you
The next time you’re asked to do something worthwhile
Just give this ready reply
If Someone Else can give the time
My goodness, so can I.
Isaiah heard the call; the call was to fill a need:
The World need is for Missionaries:
1. Support missions both home and abroad
a. Go and Grow or Stay and pay
b. Realize the mission field starts right here.
1. KYOHWVA evangelistic association
2. George and the Parkersburg work
c. Raise up “Timothy’s” who will help us bring the message to the World
1. Encourage our young people to go in ministry
2. Encourage people to use their faith wherever they are.
3. We need Christians in every walk of life
But there is not only the World need, there is
The Local Need:
1. Visitors for shut-ins
2. Host homes and teachers for In Home Bible Studies
a. If you want to teach, volunteer. If you need training to teach, come.
b. If you want to use your home, call. You need teachers, ask.
3. The community needs to know that we exist, not just for Sunday go meeting place, but to help the community grow in faith.
Then there is OUR NEED:
The call is not just for the “glory” positions. Ruth Calkin wrote once;
“You know Lord how I serve you with great emotional fervor in the limelight
You know how eagerly I speak for you at the clubs, you know how I glow when I promote a fellowship group, and you know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study.
But how I would react I wonder, if you pointed me to a wash basin and asked me to wash the calloused feet of a bent and wrinkled person, day after day, month after month, in a room where nobody saw and nobody knew.”
The call is not just for the mission field, preaching or other spotlight positions; it is for the service positions, the lowly positions as well. I once heard “There are no small parts, only small actors.” Well there are no small or lowly positions of service in the Kingdom, only small-minded servants.
1. Nursery workers:
Men and women, teenagers who are willing to take care of infants and toddlers during services.
2. We need equipment in those rooms for sound, and for care.
3. We need Children’s Church workers to prepare lessons and activities
4. We need materials for activities that aren’t busywork, but learning tools.
5. We need financial support for these projects.
6. WE NEED YOU
God wants to prepare us for a work
Just like Isaiah, God wants to cleanse us Just like Isaiah; God has his angels watching over us. Just like Isaiah, God is asking; “Who shall I send, who will go for us?”
When Isaiah heard the call, he leaped at the opportunity and said, “Here I am, Send ME!”
How will we respond? Today will you take that opportunity to be obedient to His Voice and say “Lord Send Me