Invest

Good morning church! I am excited to see all of you here in the worship center. Turn to 2 Cor 8. 2 Cor. 8. And thanks to those watching online this morning. We are in our 2nd week of mission month and Pastor Paul did a masterful job of leading us in week one, where he talked about the basis for ministry, the foundation of anything we do for God—and that is prayer. And we spent some time in prayer, right here in the worship center—together in small groups of 2 or 3, praying for our mission needs here, near and far. Thanks for stretching yourself in that way.

As I said, we are in week two of focusing on the mission of Jesus in our world. Pastor Paul reminded us that Jesus gave us one mission. Matthew 28:19 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That’s it. There is no plan ‘B’. So how do we do that right? I mean life is busy. I don’t want to be pushy in my faith. It should be authentic right? How do we reach our world for Christ? How do we make disciples? It can all seem a little overwhelming. I mean, I’m just a guy who works in an office. I’m just a lady who is retired. I’m just a teenager in high school. I’m not the pastor, for Pete’s sake.

The reality is that all of us are called to make disciples. And if we want to be truly obedient to Jesus, we need to take God’s word seriously. And God’s Word helps us. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” There is no formula. There is no plan B. We start with prayer. God, I don’t know how to do this well. I don’t even know where to begin, but I want to be obedient to you. God’s Word says, Great, you want to be obedient to the mission of God? Begin to pray. Pray.

And last week Pastor Paul told you that the progression to create mission momentum is this: Pray, Invest, Send, and Go. Say that with me: Pray, Invest, Send, and Go. So today, I want to talk about investing in the mission of God. What in the world does that mean, right? You’re like, I’ve got 5 extra bucks this week, and it has subway written all over it. How do I invest in the mission of God? What would that even look like, right?

Pastor Paul gave us a ‘handy dandy mission matrix’ last week that we ought to review. In Acts1, just before Jesus ascended back to the Father, He told his disciples to be his witnesses in Jerusalem (where they were at), Judea (the area around them), Samaria (far away and frankly a difficult place to reach spiritually) and to the ends of the earth. We have taken that and simplified the strategy with the words, Here, Near and Far and the hard places. Last Sunday we prayed through each of those areas together, didn’t we?

So, how do we invest in the mission? Especially if we don’t have much. How do we do what Jesus is asking us to do? Investing is taking something of value that we have, and putting it to work for a potential gain right? Taking something of value and putting it to work for potential gain. How do we invest for the mission of God? What do we invest? Let me suggest a few ways we can do that.

1. Invest time for the mission. When I said that, some of you just went, ugh. Time. I got not time dude!? I’m doing well to get to church on time. How do I invest time for the mission, right? Well, for a lot of people, they’d rather write a check than invest time. Time is one of our most prized commodities, truly. Some of you run from one thing to another. Your lives are filled with time consuming activities.

Some young families fill their schedules so full of their kids’ activities, even God and church are crowded out. And let me put in a warning here. If you allow your schedule to run you, if you allow the world to press you into its mold and every moment is taken up with the trivial, don’t be surprised when your kids don’t have time for God. Where we invest makes a difference.

Invest time for the mission. How do we do that? Here at Lakeport, we believe that God has called us to reach the world for Christ. While the world seems a big task, again, Jesus breaks it down for us in Acts 1, where he tells us to go and reach, Jerusalem (where the disciples were), Judea (the county and area around them), Samaria (far away and frankly a difficult place to minister, and the ends of the earth. So Our “Here, Near, and Far (and hard places to minister) model really works. That’s what we do. So, how should I invest my time for the mission?