Welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church, where we worship God, walk with others, and win people to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm Pastor Steve, and our congregation is pleased to share this message with you today, and we pray it'll be a blessing and an encouragement to you. Blessings as you listen or watch. Expectations are high for pastors, missionaries, and full-time Christian workers. The uncertainty, the isolation, and trying to go it alone have devastating effects on the spiritual leaders. They're weary of the disunity and criticism. They're discouraged about losing members. They face exhaustion, failed expectations, depression, and burnout. Everyone gets discouraged. The problem comes when they stay there. or otherwise we feel stuck there. But this is exactly what many pastors, ministry leaders, and missionaries are experiencing on a daily basis. So little opportunity to step away from meeting the demands of others, to get the help they themselves so desperately need. If our shepherds are discouraged and if they stay that way, can they truly encourage their flock effectively? There's no doubt that the attrition of pastors leaving their flocks and missionaries leaving their fields is having incredibly destructive effects on the body of Christ around the world. Something needs to change. My name is Chris Phillips and I'm the founder of Sela International Counseling Ministries. We're a bilingual, preventative and crisis counseling ministry, assisting God's servants with personal and ministerial counseling needs. My wife and I have served on the foreign mission field, been involved in church planting, pastoring, the local counseling, as well as school and church administration. By God's grace, we've been honored to establish two indigenous church plants, one in the Dominican Republic and another in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2015, our Charleston church was chosen to pilot the Spanish lay counseling course for the Biblical Counseling Center of Chicago. 22 of our members graduated after two years of study, and the transformation we saw in the lives of these first-generation Christians, as well as the impact of biblical counseling in our own family, convinced my wife and I to pursue certification through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. A large portion of our ministry over the past 30 years has been to come alongside other missionaries, pastors, and Christian workers, and encourage them in the Lord. Hebrews 12 encapsulates our greatest joy, to see the weak hands and feeble knees strengthened, and the limbs that are out of joint healed. Our mission at Selah International is fourfold. First, to provide certified biblical counsel, We're committed to offering counseling that is credible, not based on what we might say, but convictionally on what God has said. Second, we offer confidential care and coaching for ministry leaders. This promotes accountability and avoids the isolation that is so common in our circles today. Third, we also provide care for missionaries on the field or on furlough. Missionaries face unique challenges and intense spiritual warfare, a reality which often leaves the missionary feeling trapped, alone, and even forgotten. Finally, we offer consultation for challenging cases within the local church. We come alongside pastors and assist them with evaluations, initial crisis counseling, and when needed, we offer a formal recommendation plan for going forward. Now, how will we accomplish this? First, through conferences and workshops in local churches. These intensives are essentially spiritual health checkups. We'd love to travel to your church and provide training in areas such as unity in marriage, parenting by faith, abounding in hope, the spiritual cure for anxiety, or biblical unity in conflict. Shouldn't we be doing more to help our families build biblical boundaries within their personal lives and homes and within our own local church family to lessen the need for other crisis programs? Why do we have to wait for marriages to fail or relationships to break? Well, these workshops are designed to strengthen local churches and local believers by drawing attention to weak areas that need confrontation and care before they escalate into a crisis. Second, SELA personal counseling and care. Sometimes the needs are deeper and merit a separation from distractions for a few days of urgent attention. We see this often with issues such as grief, depression, family conflict, or marital crises. While we prayerfully wait for God to provide a designated home base for Selah International, we're grateful for the ministry partnerships we have formed in multiple states to offer affordable and private lodging in quiet settings for those needing this level of counseling. We truly believe that God will provide for Selah International Counseling Ministries just as he has for us over the past 23 years of missions. Selah will be funded by faith to further help us maintain biblical integrity and limit influences outside the body of Christ. We need passionate individuals in churches to come alongside and partner with us financially and in fervent prayer. We hope that will include you. Would you prayerfully consider taking an active part in helping Selah Ministries be that safe place for God's servants and their families so they can find hope, care, and renewal? Our heart is to keep pastors in their pulpits, missionaries on their fields, and members faithful in their local churches for the furtherance of the gospel and the glory of God. Hopefully the video shares a little bit of our heart. As I said we have been in missions for 23 years and experience life as a missionary, as a pastor, church planner and I can tell you that when you as a church member have a problem, have a need, when you are confused, when you are experiencing doubt, who do you go to? You go to your spiritual leaders here at your church. But as a pastor as a missionary when you are experiencing those things and we do where do you go? Where do they go to receive that help? We were not created to be isolated either as church members and we full well know that after the last two years don't we? nor will we be created to do that as church leaders and as pastors and missionaries. We need each other and there are times when we need to have truth spoken into our lives as well. Well this is our heart. Our heart is to come alongside those pastors, missionaries, in their weaknesses and also in their struggles and also when they have blown it. When they've made some unwise decisions and they feel like God is through with them. All of those people need care and concern. So that's what God has called my wife and I to do. According to Barna research, just came out last November, After the pandemic there are 38% of pastors that have considered quitting full-time ministry within just the past year. Now a deeper analysis shows that among pastors who are under the age of 45 almost 50% of them have seriously considered quitting and leaving the ministry. What would happen if that came to pass? Half of our pastors, young pastors and their families left the ministry. Can you imagine the void that would leave on the spiritual front when we need it the most here in the United States? Statistics aren't out yet on missionaries but I can tell you the statistics are higher for missionaries. Sailor International is now a little over one year old in fact it is about 15 months. We turned over our last Hispanic church plant a little over a year ago and over the last year it has been our joy to come alongside pastors, their wives, their children, missionaries their wives their children Christian school teachers anyone that's in full-time Christian ministry it's been our joy to come alongside them and encourage them to help them stay strong for the Lord. In fact just this January just last couple of months ago January the 4th we started getting requests in addition to the request we had last year and starting in January we began counseling missionaries and pastors from Taiwan, Oregon, California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Argentina, Columbia, Poland, Burkina Faso Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa. That was all in January. And that's when we began counseling them. Typically, you may not be familiar with biblical counseling, but typically what we do is, if a missionary and his wife, or a pastor and his wife are having deep struggles in whatever area, they'll typically travel to Charleston, where we are currently located, and we'll spend up to a week with them. Meeting with them twice a day, going over the struggles, and bringing scripture to bear upon their deep needs. We also do virtual counseling which is a wonderful tool to be able to use that now. So we would ask that you would continue to pray that we would have wisdom, stamina, and the ability to discern the true needs of God's servants. We are praying this year to be able to hire another full-time couple that has the same heart and that can help us with the counseling load and continue to grow and expand this ministry. It's coming out people the pandemic has brought out things that we thought we could handle on our own But now we know there is no way whether you're a church member or whether you're a church leader or a pastor missionary There's no way that we can successfully accomplish his mission Apart from each other and that biblical counseling and that scripture We must be real Go somewhere, a safe place where we can let our needs be known and then have someone come alongside and help us. The humility that that brings, as James 4.10 says, will be what lifts you up in God's timing. So you stay strong for the Lord. That is what our mission is all about. It says in Hebrews 12 to see the weak knees strengthened and the feeble hands made strengthened again. So would you please pray for Saleh International we surely would appreciate that. I would be glad to answer any questions after the service I will be by the table so please come by I would love to meet you. Take your Bibles turn to the book of Matthew and we will be looking at Matthew chapter 28. Once again Pastor Harness thank you so much for allowing me to come and your great hospitality. Everyone that has chipped in and given toward meeting the needs while we are here. I'm just excited to see what the Lord is going to do in the coming years through Wilton Baptist in the community here as well as overseas and around the world. I remember when we were preparing to go to the mission field back in 1997. we had to sell our home and we had to scale down quite a bit and all of us had to go through our belongings and we had to choose the things that were going to be most important to us to take with us. For me it was computer of course maybe a few tools to take overseas I had no idea what you might have to fix. For my wife well she had a lot that was indispensable. So I remember that I won't go into details there. My oldest daughter Abby it was her violin she loved music and so she had to take her violin and she is a clean freak so she had to take Febreze everywhere she went. April our second daughter she just loved Wizard of Oz so she took all her Wizard of Oz stuff she had that packed up. Zach my son he had all his UNC Tar Heel fan stuff. By the way, they did beat Duke last night. Also, Allie, our youngest, she took her Bambi stuffed animal deer. So as you look at people, whenever they must scale down and take what they feel is the most important, you can tell a lot about that person. You can really tell a lot about what they value. I also remember about three weeks after the pandemic hit and the shutdown happened, March two years ago, Three weeks after the shutdown my wife and I began to venture out just to see what was going on and our first stop was the Publix supermarket and we saw some interesting sights. This was one of them and I have no idea why he had to have his eyes covered but I had to snap that picture while I was in the checkout line. but we were just so afraid we had no idea what to expect but there was something interesting that I saw when we walked in we would go down the meat and potatoes out the meat aisle there was no meat we would go by and the potatoes there was no potatoes we would go by and there were no Clorox wipes none there was no paper towels and of course there was no toilet paper I never will figure that out I have no idea why there was a run on toilet paper But one aisle we went down, it looked like it had not been touched. That was the candy aisle. You know, in a crisis, vegetables, meat, and potatoes are indispensable. They're vital. Chocolate? No, some ladies may disagree with me. But Hershey's dark chocolate is not indispensable when you're in a crisis. what things are most important become very very clear when you are suffering. On an even deeper level pastors and church leaders have been forced over the last couple of years to really take a moment to reevaluate their programs, reevaluate where they are going as a church, reevaluate if it is really truly being effective. and I surely appreciate Pastor Harness the conversations I have with him. He is really really open to change and I believe it has worked here at Wilton to see how you have been flexible in being willing to change. However, what is vital must stay in place. Would you agree with that? Scripture, preaching the word of God is vital, essential. Gathering together we can see is also essential. It is not a bad thing to reevaluate in fact it can be a great thing. In Acts chapter 2 we are not going there but we can see the core values that Jesus Christ left for his believers that must be accomplished. We are here in an admissions conference. So during a missions conference and over the next few weeks I want to challenge you each one of you to really take a step back and evaluate if you as an individual and as a church body truly believe that missions is indispensable. Missions is vital or is it something that when things get tough that's just a program that we can cut off and cut back on. Now I realize there are many factors that go into your mission support and there are many different factors that are out of your control that may cause you to lower that support. That's not really what I'm talking about. I'm talking about as your prayer, as your focus, as getting to know your missionaries, keeping in touch with them. Is that something that is indispensable for you? This morning I can tell you from experience over the last year or two that it is possible. that missions may not be considered by many Bible-believing Christians to be meat and potatoes, but candy. Nice to have occasionally, but in a pinch, in a crisis, it is not indispensable. It might be helpful to define what indispensable means. In our culture today, you may say one word, and it may mean totally something different to someone else. Indispensable means this, something that is absolutely necessary, not subject to being set aside or neglected. So this morning for just a few minutes, I want us to consider the question, is missions indispensable? Matthew chapter 28 verses 16 through 20. Word of God says, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Father, for the next few moments, as we look into this passage, as we talk about what missions actually is, Lord, as we talk about our involvement in that, I pray your Holy Spirit would settle in upon our hearts. I pray your Word would go forth clearly. Lord, I pray that whatever stage those that are hearing my voice are this morning, Lord, I pray that you would convict them and also draw them through the Holy Spirit's kind, sweet voice. whether they're Christian, whether they're unsaved, Father. May we hear this morning about your love. May we understand about how you gave everything for us and help us to respond accordingly. In Jesus' name, amen. First of all, I believe missions is indispensable because it is a compelling command. It is a compelling command according to this passage. Now, Matthew's account of the Great Commission, which is what we call this passage, doesn't include a lot of the other activities that were going on. Matthew jumps directly from the resurrection to the Great Commission. And he doesn't tell us about how that Jesus met with 10 other disciples later on that day after his resurrection. or the appearance eight days later to the 11 disciples, but he did record an appearance occurring sometime later in Galilee where he promised that he would meet them at a mountain. So Matthew 28, 16 through 20, is the meeting on the mountain. So Matthew's emphasis here fits perfectly with the theme of his book. See, Matthew views Jesus as the glorious conquering king, King Jesus. He did establish a kingdom when he was on this earth, did he not? He did accomplish the mission that God had given him to accomplish. In King Jesus' last recorded words in Matthew, here, echo the command of the king to the servants he leaves in his possessions. The most important things to Jesus, the indispensable things to Jesus, were recorded here for us in verse 18. He says, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore. We have to obey that command. It's compelling. First of all, it's authoritative. It's an authoritative command. Some scholars believe that on this meeting there were 500 present when they saw the risen Christ. It says here that most of them worshiped him. The word for worship here is the word proscuneo, which means they fell prostrate on the floor, on the ground, before him. They fell on their faces. He had just risen from the dead, for goodness sake, and here he is in person, alive. So that's their natural response. They're going to fall on their face, and they're going to worship him. Then it says that some of them doubted. Now, it probably is not that they were doubting that he rose again. He's right there in front of them. What I believe is that they were probably doubting that if it was worth the risk to follow him. They already knew the threatenings of those that were following Christ. They had killed Jesus. So they were doubting if, were they all in on this? Was it worth the risk to follow Christ? Well, Jesus spoke directly to that fear when he said this. I hope your Bibles are still open. He says, all power is given unto me. Now that he rose from the dead, all power was in his hands. The word power there means authority. He has now The keys to death and the keys to hell. So he has authority in heaven and in earth. And so the Great Commission is, therefore, go ye. It's not a suggestion. It's an authoritative command, the authority of King Jesus. You see, Jesus fulfilled his father's mission. to come to the earth, to live as a servant, to give himself, to shed his blood for mankind. After he did that, three days later, he rose from the dead triumphantly, and now he sits on the throne waiting to draw all those people that call his name to come to him one day. Jesus fulfilled his mission. Now he is asking us to fulfill our mission. David Livingston said this, if a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a heavenly king be considered a sacrifice? So whatever he's calling you to do, whether that is this morning, give yourself to him. If you've never received him as your Savior, King Jesus has authority to save your soul, heal you, raise you up, forgive your sin, and give you a new hope on life. King Jesus has that authority and he has that power to do that. If you receive Christ, you know him. You've known him for years. He also has authority over your life. He deserves that. Offer it to him today. Whatever he chooses, be willing and be open to obey King Jesus. Not only is it a compelling command, an authoritative command, it's a reassuring command. See, Jesus knows who we are and what we're made of. Jesus spoke with authority, but his command also reassured those who were doubting. Is it worth the risk? I can be honest with you. It's a challenge today, young people. It's a challenge to not be gripped by fear to take a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ in your faith. You'll be called a hater. You'll be called intolerant. You'll be called all kinds of things. But Jesus reminds us that this is his kingdom. And when he commands us to go and make disciples like he does here, he assures us that his presence will be with us. Look down in verse number 20. He says, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. The word here for always, now that's an interesting word. We think it should be always, right? Be honest. Have you ever thought that? Should be always. They made a mistake, right? No, they didn't. The word always is only used here in this passage in the entire New Testament. And it means the whole of every day. Specifically, I'll be with you the whole of every day from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed at night. I am with you. In other words, if I choose to follow and obey King Jesus, then I am promised I will have his protection. I'm promised I will have his guidance. I'm promised I will have his comfort, his consolation, and I will enjoy his ongoing work of grace in my heart. And he'll even give me a crown one day for following him. How can you beat that? I am with you always. Everything is included in this promise. Take your time. Taking steps of faith are challenging, but it's important that we understand who is calling us to obey Him. If you feel God's tug on your heart this morning to receive Christ as your Savior, don't delay. We're not guaranteed of another day. If you're feeling the tug of God on your heart to serve Him, possibly in full-time missions, don't delay. It's worth it. Christ has promised he will be with you. It's a compelling command. It's authoritative. I obey my king, but it's also reassuring. My king is with me. John Stott said it this way, his authority on earth always allows us to dare to go to all the nations. His authority in heaven gives us our only hope of success, and his presence with us leaves us no other choice. No excuses. He's promised to be with you and he has all authority. So let's go. Amen? Let's go with confidence. Second reason this morning I believe that missions is indispensable is because it has a precise purpose. It's got a precise purpose. When I say that, I want to ask you this question. Have you ever evaluated your missions program to see are we really accomplishing anything? How do you measure how good you're doing at missions? Is it by the number of people that's saved every year? Is it by the number of sick people that are healed or taking medicine? Is it by the number of hungry children that are fed? All of those things are important, but They're not all of missions. How do you measure that? Well, just like we know that meat and potatoes and vegetables are essential foods, we also must know that missions has a precise purpose. It's not vague. We can actually measure it. The precise purpose of missions is to make disciples. I know that's the heart of your pastor. We've talked about it. Making disciples. Verse number 19 says, this is interesting. Go ye therefore and teach. The Greek word there is mathuteo. Can you say that? Okay, good. All nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Then you see the same word again, teaching, but it's a different Greek word. It's there didasko. teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Now isn't that interesting? What does that mean? Well, the word teach in the first part, Mathuteo, means to make disciples. Literally, it means to make disciples. What is involved in making disciples? Is it just evangelism? Well, that's part of it. But evangelism is the easy part. Making disciples is the hard, arduous part, long-term part. Missions is not the same as evangelism. Missions is not the same as evangelism. Evangelism is sharing the gospel with any unbeliever at the gas station or in Tanzania. That will never be done. until Jesus comes back. There will always be the next person to be able to lead to Christ and to share the gospel with them. Evangelism will not be completed until we see Jesus again. Missions, on the other hand, is measurable. You can see how many disciples have been made. It's specifically and systematically laid out in Scripture. Disciples, this is important, are not spontaneously created at conversion. You understand that? You don't just automatically become a disciple because you receive Christ. They are a product of a process that involves the whole group of the local church. And the making of disciples is the power of the spreading of Christianity. If all we do is see baby's birth through evangelism, and disciples are not made, Christianity will not spread. But if we take the time to invest in the lives of these believers who received Christ, see them grow and become strong in their faith, then you will see Christianity spread just like it did in the first century. A disciple is not just a supporter of a cause by sending his check every month. A disciple is a student. a lifelong learner, a devoted follower. And we are trained devoted followers to rise up and follow King Jesus. How good are you at doing that? Have you ever done that with someone? Now, as a church, absolutely, I know you're doing that. But what about you as an individual? Have you ever led someone to Christ and then walked with them and seen them grow to become a devoted follower of Christ? That's what this passage is calling you to do, make disciples. So the precise purpose of missions is to make disciples. Second thing among that is to establish local churches within all people groups. So it's more than just evangelism. We've got to make a disciple, and then we've got to establish a church. That's what's called church planting. Verse 19 says this, Go ye therefore and teach, didasko, all nations. The term nation comes from Greek word ethnos, which is where we get the word ethnic or ethnicity. So, if that is the case, when we read the word nations, it's not like we are in 2022. That is the year we're in, right? 2022. 2022. And we see all the political nations that are around the world. There are around 200 political nations around the world. That's not what this is talking about. This is talking about establishing a group, a local church for every people group around the world. Right now, according to the Joshua Project online, There are around 17,000 people groups. Okay, y'all following me? I know I'm throwing out a lot of numbers. 200 countries right now in the world, more or less. But there are 17,000 people groups. Of those 17,000 people groups, most of them have an established Bible-believing local church in their area that can reach those people for the Lord. but there are still around 6,000 to 7,000 that do not have a local church strong enough to evangelize their people group. Missionaries right now have engaged about half of those. There's still a lot of church there, but they've engaged those people, and they're working on establishing a group. They're evangelizing. They're beginning to disciple, but a church has not been established yet. There are around 3,000 people groups that still do not have Any form of gospel that has reached them yet. They're called unreached. 3,000. Now those that have an analytical mind, are you thinking with me here? If there's only 3,000, you know what? If our churches got on the ball, as many churches as we have in the United States, we can make that happen. Amen? Yeah, we could. So therefore, that's measurable. We can know ground level, grassroots, if we're making disciples. If we are building God's church through that process and obeying his command. But also, if we were to get on ball and begin to invest and pray, we could see every single people group reached in a relatively short amount of time. Yeah, there's challenges. A lot of different challenges. But it is measurable and it is reachable. For example, right here we have Nigeria. It's one country. But in Nigeria, there are 544 nations. In other words, ethnic groups. Of those 544 nations, about 80% have been reached. But that still leaves that 20% that do not have a local church strong enough to evangelize their group. All I'm trying to get you to see is that we can do this, folks. We can if we got serious about it and if we truly believe that missions is indispensable. It is important. So exactly what is missions? Just to bring it all together here. Missions is crossing a culture, learning a language, implanting the church through preaching the gospel among people groups that have no churches strong enough to evangelize their group. That's missions. Okay, we do evangelism, they do evangelism overseas, but the difference between evangelism missions is this. Now you can cross a culture right here. That's why we have Korean churches in the States. That's why we have Hispanic churches in the States. That's why we have, well, I heard one guy, guess what his people group is? It's called the gaming community. Now those that look like me, you have no clue what that is. But the younger people, I guarantee you they know what that is. What he has done, he's a strong Christian, and so he has a day job, okay? But when he's not working, he will enter into these gaming groups, play with them, beat them. But then, I don't know how he does it, but somehow he'll make connections with them, invite them to come meet him for coffee, and he has seen seven or eight get saved through that people group. That's missions, learning the language of gaming. All right, I can already see smiling these teenagers here. They're saying, okay, I'm gonna tell my mom and dad that I'm evangelizing here. No, they can see right through that. But I'm telling you, use whatever God has given you the ability to do and use it for him. That's missions. That's missions. God's calling all of us. That's why you support missionaries. That's why you support us at Salem International. Our job is to encourage and keep those missionaries strong and on the field. Keep those pastors and their families encouraged and in their pulpits. And that's why you must be involved in this process. Making disciples is a compelling command. It's authoritative. It's indispensable. It has a precise purpose. That's my favorite. It's a precise purpose. But notice that I changed it. It's not missions anymore. It's making disciples. Making disciples is indispensable because it's a compelling command. Making disciples is indispensable because it has a precise purpose. And making disciples is indispensable because it is for a worthy Savior. Can you say that last one with me, please? Making disciples is indispensable because it is for a worthy Savior. When I was growing up, I used to love to go to my grandpa's house in North Carolina for several reasons. I got to go there, and I could basically be free, run around the farm. Another reason is I didn't have to take a bath except once a week. I'm not joking. I'm serious. On Saturday, my grandma and grandpa would say, okay, Chris, time to take a bath, whether I needed it or not. It's once a week. But I also loved to get on the tractor with him and ride with him. I just felt like it was the greatest thing in the world. And the day he allowed me to actually take the wheel and drive that tractor, it was awesome. Then he began to teach me something about plowing a field. He said, Chris, if you want to plow a field, the best way is to pick a point way off in the distance on the other side of the field, and then keep your eye on that point, and you keep going after it. If you turn to the side, then you're going to start plowing a field like an S, and that will not be good. So you got to make a straight line, pick a spot, that's your marker, and that's where you hit the plow field. Anybody ever done that before? Okay, then you know what I'm talking about. That's good advice. It's also good advice for us as churches and for us as believers. Our marker, our marker for Christians and for our churches is found in Revelation chapter 7, 9, and 10. After this, I beheld and lo a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, ethnos. and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." That's where we're headed. That's our marker. the ultimate glory of King Jesus. So everything in our lives must be arranged around that moment in the future. Every single thing we do. We talked about Friday, about having compassion, our heart moved with those that do not know the Lord. They're not an annoyance. They're needy people. We talked last night about how that our love for God And our neighbor as ourself should be the absolute heart that we have and develop every single day that we live. Loving God and loving others. Today, I want to challenge you to begin to make making disciples an integral part of your daily life. It will involve coming to church on Sunday. Amen. We get to gather. Praise the Lord. But it also involves Sunday afternoon When someone you're trying to lead to the Lord has a need and have to go to the hospital, have no way to get there, I'll be there for you. It'll involve being involved in your scatter group faithfully every single week. It'll involve everything that you do must center around making disciples for the glory of our King Jesus. Is it not a compelling command? Is it not authoritative? And is it not for a worthy Savior? In closing, this is the motto of the great Moravian missionary movement. They left back into the 1700s, their homes, gave up everything to go into the world to plant churches and make disciples. They said, we exist to win for the lamb that was slain, the reward for his sufferings. Could we say that this morning? I exist. Oh, yeah, I'm a plumber. I'm a mechanic. I'm a missionary. I'm a pastor. But I exist to win for the lamb that was slain the reward of his suffering. Brothers and sisters, I can't think of anything more indispensable than that. May the Lord help us. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, this morning, I pray that your word has been explained clearly. I pray that the Holy Spirit is now working. So, Father, in the quiet of this moment, before we're all dismissed, I pray, Father, that you would speak to us clearly, specifically, distinctly. What must change? Maybe we're involved in this. Maybe we just need to renew our love and our fervor again, continue doing what we're doing. But I would say that most of us here could do better. Could do better. With everybody's head bowed, your eyes are closed, just in the quietness at this moment, just a couple of questions. First of all, if you're here and you know that you have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and you're saved, you've been born again and you know that. Has the Lord spoken to you this morning about arranging everything that you do around his mission? If he has, would you just make that known just by lifted hand? Chris, pray for me that I'll arrange my life around that one goal. Thank you. Let me put them down. In this moment, would you pray and then come up with a plan of how you're going to do that this week? If you're here this morning and you do not know for sure that if you were to somehow die in an accident on your way home this morning, that you would wake up in heaven in the presence of Jesus. I would also love to pray with you. I'm not going to call you out, I don't know who you are, but I surely would love to pray for you. Is anyone here like that? Chris, just pray for me. I'm not sure about my eternal destiny. I would like to know more about that. Would you raise your hand and just let me pray for you just for a moment? Anyone at all? Very quietly raise your hand and put it down. Jesus, the next few moments are yours. Father, I just pray that decisions will be made right now that will impact eternity. In Jesus' name, Pastor Harness. Let's take a moment with our heads bowed and just continue to pray and to consider our participation in this message and missions. And like you said, are we doing all we can? Can we do more? Think just for a moment about that. Keep thinking about that plan. Go ahead and make a plan. Who can I share the gospel with? What part could I play? What can I do? Father, we thank you for this powerful message, a challenge to every heart. And there is so many that need to hear the gospel for the first time. Others who need that follow-up and discipleship. evangelism and mission. Lord, we thank you for this distinction that we now understand. and we pray that each of us would find our part honoring and serving King Jesus. We thank you for what we heard and how we can apply this now in our lives, in our mission, in our faith promise, and we pray that you'll bless as we go from here, as we then come back and see what you're doing and see what you'll do in and through us. We pray you'll bless the Phillips and his wife and family, needed counseling ministry. And so, Lord, we rejoice. We give you thanks. We pray for anyone that doesn't yet know Christ, that today they'd come and talk with someone and know for certain their forgiveness of sins, too. And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.