Going Global
2 Corinthians 10:15-16
Rev. Brian Bill
4/27/08
Introduction: “Think of Me” video
I want to propose this morning that if we’re serious about growing in grace we’ll care about the same things that Jesus does. And since God is a global God, as we grow, we’ll go global. We’ve established in this series that spiritual growth is intentional, not automatic. Two weeks ago we learned that if we want to grow in our relationship with God we must grow in our relationship with God’s Word. Last week we were challenged with this truth: How we manage our minutes and money reveals who our Master is.
One of the reasons I chose this topic today is because we can all stand to grow in our commitment to the cause of Christ around the world. I’m greatly encouraged by this church’s desire to be challenged to grow and to take the next steps and I can’t wait to see how you’re going to respond today.
The Bad News
But before we go much further we need to state the obvious: most of us don’t care much about what’s going on around the globe. According to The Ministry Area Profile Compass Report, only 6% of Americans believe that the church should be involved in global missions. Within a ten-mile radius of Pontiac Bible Church, this same report reveals that only 5% of people in our community think the church should focus on global concerns.
This percentage is confirmed by the Reveal Spiritual Life Survey which found that of the 14 activities you want your senior pastor to be involved with, ranking dead last with only 5% is this statement: “involved in issues of global significance” (Page 49). Still not convinced? In an informal survey done in January by our missions committee among our small groups, while there are some in our church family who are missions-minded, most PBC people don’t know who our missionaries are and they find that missions is frankly “boring.” One person said, “Missions doesn’t mean anything to me.”
And so I have a real challenge today since 95% don’t want me to speak on issues of global significance. On top of that, because many of you find this topic boring, I’m going to have to work extra hard to hold your attention. This might be even harder to speak on than money matters! Actually, what I want to do this morning is share with you God’s heart for the globe. When we glimpse God’s heart I know that we’ll grow and our commitment will go global as well. Incidentally, one of the suggested ideas for us to grow in our commitment to missions is for me to preach a sermon to change and correct some perceptions. That’s quite a challenge. I hope I can do that today.
The World is Flat
With the advent of the Internet and the pervasiveness of cable news, we are not only more connected to the world than ever before, our economy is internationally intertwined as well. I don’t have to tell you what increasing demand and the falling dollar is doing to our oil prices. Skyrocketing rice prices have caused some rationing in stores like Sam’s Club but even more concerning is that people in some countries can no longer even afford their staples. According to the Chicago Tribune, worldwide food prices have soared 45% over the past year. The World Bank has stated that 33 countries around the world are at risk of social upheaval as a result of acute increases in food and energy prices (Chicago Tribune, 4/13/08). Violent protests have already taken down the government of Haiti and the U.N. on Friday called this a “global crisis.”
The needs are overwhelming, aren’t they? But we must do something because as we grow, we’ll go global.
Agents of the Good News
While my regular custom is to exegete one main passage of Scripture; this morning we’re going to take a survey of some significant verses from both the Old and New Testaments in order to catch a glimpse of God’s global concern.
Genesis 12:1-3: “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” The principle is this: God blesses His people so they can bless others. God’s original intent has always been to bless all people through one people.
Exodus 9:16: (Referring to Pharaoh). “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” God’s name is to be proclaimed in the whole world and is made known even through people we might not expect.
Numbers 14:21: “… as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth.” God’s glory is not limited to one group of people like Israel in the Old Testament or just for residents of Livingston County today. God’s glory goes global.
Deuteronomy 10:19: “And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.” God’s heart is for immigrants and minorities and the disenfranchised. And as such, as God’s people we must love the least, the little and the lost all around us.
1 Kings 8:60: “So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.” God’s heart is for everyone everywhere to know Him.
Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” The word “nations” here refers to people groups, not just geographical boundaries. The gospel must penetrate these groups before Jesus will return. According to the Joshua Project, there are over 16,000 different people groups in the world and there are still 6,800 that have not yet been reached with the gospel (see www.joshuaproject.net). Our job is unfinished until all the unreached are reached.
Matthew 28:19-20: “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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This has been called the Great Commission; but unfortunately it should more accurately be called the Great Omission in many churches today. The command in this commission is for us to “make disciples,” which is why part of PBC’s mission is to “equip people to be growing and faithful followers.” This extends not only to our community but to “all nations.” This missions mandate is mandatory which means each and every one of us needs to be involved at some level in connecting and equipping, of reaching out and building up. Incidentally, the REVEAL survey identified personal evangelism as a weak area for most of us.
Acts 1:8 tell us to make sure we are first Holy Spirit-empowered and then gives us a description of the places we are to be making disciples: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Book of Acts is a missionary book as we see how growing believers took the gospel to the ends of the earth, starting in their own neighborhood and then to the globe. We’ve fleshed this out as a church this way: We must reach our community, our county, our country and the continents. We can’t pick and choose. God’s already made the choice and set the parameters – now we must obey.
Romans 10:14-15: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” It is not an option for us to send out missionaries – if people are going to hear people must be sent to them. They need to hear before they will believe. They won’t hear unless believers go. And they won’t go unless they are sent.
Revelation 5:9: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” This is great news because one day the task of missions will be complete!
Turn with me now to 2 Corinthians 10:15-16: “Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you.” Writing to a church with a lot of internal problems and to believers who were frankly bored and spiritually stalled, Paul linked their spiritual growth to the global expansion of the gospel. As we grow, we’ll go global. I see two dimensions of our discipleship.
* Be here. Each one of us has field to be faithful in: “among you.”
* Go there. Everyone must also be involved in “regions beyond.”
I went back and reread the first chapter of a book called “From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya” this week. This book was one of my textbooks during seminary. Quoting John Foxe, who wrote the classic Book of Martyrs, Ruth Tucker writes: “In that age every Christian was a missionary. The soldier tried to win recruits for the heavenly host; the prisoner sought to bring his jailer to Christ; the slave girl whispered the gospel in the ears of her mistress; the young wife begged her husband…everyone who had experienced the joys of believing tried to bring others to the faith…The New Testament statement of the Great Commission did not so much inspire missionary outreach as it described the automatic outreach of a vital dynamic faith.” J. Herbert Kane adds: “What began as a Jewish sect in A.D. 30 had grown into a world religion by A.D. 60.”
Getting to Know Those Who Go
Part of our trouble is that it’s hard to go global when we don’t know people. I want to make sure you are aware of our summer missionaries. Our first team to Mexico will be serving in June: Willard Baker, Donna Hackett, Randall Schwartz, Pastor Jeff, Pastor Dick, Rachael Stevenson, Marshall Schwartz, Michael Fry, Sarah Schwerin, Tim Thomas and Shiann Poshard. Our second Mexico team will be serving in July: Pastor Brian and Beth Bill, Jeanne Moore, Wes Stalter, Lydia Bill, Michelle Anderson, Stephanie Edens, David Grimes and Gideon Yaeger. Our five-day-club missionaries are Michelle Anderson, Lydia Bill and Devyn Woodburn; Katie Vietti is going to South Korea and China; Kathy Marley and Sue Shavers are headed to Kenya; Emily Bill will be in the Dominican Republic for seven weeks, and thirty students will be ministering in Nashville.
Did you know that today is Internet Evangelism Day? Our own website is a tool for the global proclamation of the gospel. In this last quarter we had 8,696 new visitors to pontiacbible.org from 108 different countries. I received an email this week from Patsy Curtiss who now lives in Hawaii. Here’s what she wrote: “I crossed the ocean to be a part of my grandchild’s life. Fortunately, I am still able to feel connected with PBC and feel its impact via this wonderful site.”
Someone else sent me an email: “PBC’s web presence makes it easy keep an eternal perspective. To have a daily blog to turn to, and the ability to access hundreds of relevant messages with the click of a mouse, it is easy to bring God’s perspective on life’s issues into view, and too keep them on hand as I go about my day…I find encouragement, insight, food for thought, and at times even a dose of wholesome humor to keep me energized as I make my way down this rough and winding path of life toward a glorious eternity. Thanks for all that you as a church do to find relevant ways to share the gospel both here at home, and abroad. We have a global God what a privilege it is to serve Him on a global scale.”
PBC partners with 20 different missionaries and mission organizations. I think we sometimes forget that our missionaries really need us.
* Listen to the words of Rebecca Cox, our missionary in Spain: “But thank you especially if you heard the Holy Spirit nudging you to pray for me these last two months. I needed your prayers. There has been sickness, depression and obstacles. But God has brought me through.”
* Don Estep, our AWANA missionary, writes: “In 1992 I was a part of a ministry team…that went to Ukraine to help start the first 7 AWANA clubs. Now there are approximately 250 clubs in that country.”
* Gary Varner and Carol Varner, who minister in Russia, write about a Russian Orthodox priest who is now an evangelical pastor and is being used greatly.
* A couple that I can’t name writes this: “A young man that we’ll call “Frank” recently began coming to our group…led by our Body’s leadership, he made the biggest decision of his life. It was very exciting for us to witness our Father drawing Frank to Himself.”
* Paul and Grace Becker, who along with Beth Hanna minister in Mexico (our teams will be working with them this summer), give glory to God for the website www.obrerofiel.com which is reaching Hispanics around the world. Incidentally, a couple of our sermons have been translated into Spanish and are posted on this site. Paul also mentions that some Mexican missionaries are in the process of raising support to go to Turkey.
* Mike and Robin Wahls invited a Muslim to their home for Easter dinner and are praying about starting a Bible study with him. Mike wrote me on Friday: “An over arching theme for our lives is God’s bigness. We are so small and we can do NOTHING ourselves…we can’t even protect ourselves from danger without God’s hand upon us. God has to protect us and he uses us for his glory…God wants every tongue, tribe and nation to not only hear but to understand his saving grace for his own glory. So because God is a jealous God and a sovereign God he is going to prompt Mike and I to invite Mohammad over for dinner at the same time. He will protect us from scorpion stings and bring us to the clinic to pray over a motorcycle accident victim and ultimately go and weep with the Muslims…The people of Pontiac Bible might not have “wild” stories like this to talk about everyday because life can feel mundane and average but we want to encourage everyone that God has called every one of us to missions…God has called us all to go and tell the good news whether that is to your children, at your workplace, to your parents, to your relatives or even to distant lands. Matthew 28:19 says to go. Go in prayer. Go in financial giving. Go physically. But God has called us ALL to go.”
* Keith and Jeannette Shubert, who minister at a seminary in the Philippines, write about the commencement speech given to the 2008 graduates: “Many speakers focus on optimistic opportunities ahead…but Dr. Tom Roxas captured the realities of ministry in this part of the world: ‘Some of you are going to closed countries and will face persecution. There may be times you face this and like Paul said, ‘for I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die…for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ Make a difference for God and His glory.”
* Arthur and Marita Mikesell minister in Mexico and are thrilled that Alberto came to faith recently and are now praying for his unsaved wife.
* Another couple I can’t name from the Middle East is still waiting for the court to decide about some issues related to their school. By the way, they just became grandparents this week!
* Dan and Lorraine Wilson, with Next Worldwide, take trips all over the world. Dan will be leading a trip this summer to Kenya – Kathy Marley and Sue Shavers will be joining him. Listen to the compassion in this man: “I…met Mary, who was one of only a couple people that survived the burning…where 30+ people were locked in a church and burned alive because of their tribe. Mary was burned over 70% of her body and had just been released from the hospital…As I lightly held Mary’s skin-grafted gnarled fingers at her insistence; I started to pray for her and those that were affected by the unnecessary violence. Then I lost it as I truly felt as I was holding the hand of Christ. I sobbed as I asked the Lord to heal her body as well as her spirit. Thank you for allowing me to be your ambassador on Christ’s behalf and to have the incredible privilege of holding the hand of Jesus in Kenya.”
* Darletta Graham from the Caring Pregnancy Center in Pontiac writes about a young Hispanic woman who came two years ago: “We guided this sweet couple through a series of Bible readings along with providing needed items for her upcoming delivery…she has delivered a beautiful…baby boy, married her boyfriend and accepted Christ as her personal Savior.” I’m going to let her tell her story.
--> Maria Testimony
--> Video: “Scattered Strangers”
WWJHYD?
Do you remember the bracelets that said WWJD – What would Jesus do? We know Jesus ministered to the poor and proclaimed good news to the captives. I’d like to suggest that a better question to ask is WWJHMD – What would Jesus have me do? As we’ve been learning in this series, if we’re going to grow, and if we’re going to go global, we’ll have to be intentional about it. This is not just for “missions people,” it’s for all of us. Missions matter to the master; do they matter to you? As we grow, we will go global.
1. Be involved both here and there. Use the minutes and money God has given you to go global, both here and there. Collect food for the Livingston Food Pantry, volunteer at the CPC, support an orphan overseas, or help hand out water at the Red Carpet Corridor Festival next weekend so you can point people to the Living Water. Contact Linda Carley if you’d like to help with this.
2. Pick one missionary and correspond with them. Mike and Robin added a P.S. to an email they sent me on Friday: “Only about a handful of PBC members are on our e-mail and or snail mail list so for the majority of your congregation our stories will be new.” If you send me an email at brian@pontiacbible.org I’ll pass your email address on to our missionaries and ask that they add you to their update lists.
3. Understand that the costs for missionaries have gone up. The declining dollar is really affecting our missionaries so we might want to consider how we can come alongside them. Pontiac Christian School is one of our missions as well – PBC will be giving the school $40,000 this year. I’ve heard that they are in need of some additional support to make up a significant shortfall.
4. Practice crossing cultures in this county. According to one count, the gospels record 132 contacts that Jesus had with people. Six were in the Temple, four in the synagogues, and 122 were out with the people in the mainstream of life. How can you cross from your comfort zone into the world of those who are really hurting?
5. Get ready for our October Missions Festival. As part of our 40th Anniversary Celebration this year we’re not only sending out two teams to Mexico, we’re also going to celebrate what God is doing in our missionaries October 19-22. This is going to be a celebration of stories where we’ve invited four of our sent-ones to celebrate God’s work in the world – The Bruehl’s, the Shubert’s, the Wahl’s, and the Wilson’s. You’ll be receiving more information soon, including a booklet to help you prepare.
The key is whether or not we’re going to be faithful and to take the responsibility to grow. For when we do, we will go global.
--> Closing Song: “Faithful Ones”
