Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.
This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.
We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear
the latest message.
Thanks for listening.
Well, good morning and happy new year.
We are glad that you are here joining us, whether you're here with us on campus or whether
you're joining us online.
It's a new year, right?
And with new years, we're going to do something different.
We're going to do something new this morning.
I was talking to my family the other day, and we were mentioning about what we were grateful
for and what we were thankful for in 2020.
And I know 2020 has been a difficult year, but I'm fully convinced that God is still working
in the midst of all the things that are difficult.
And so we talked about things that we had done differently, things that had changed,
new traditions that we had started.
And so what I would like to do this morning, kind of in that mindset, is start off today
by starting a new tradition here at Willow Ridge Church.
And what I would like for us to do is to take this first Sunday of the year and to adopt this
and to embrace in the years as long as God gives me the privilege and the opportunity to be
the senior pastor here and to establish this Sunday as our Global Missions Sunday, where
we talk about all of the things that God has done, all of the things that God is doing, and
what we hope to be a part of in the future of what God's going to do, not only here in our
church, but all over the world.
And here's why I think this is so important.
We've all got important dates that we remember.
For me, a date that has been etched into my brain is March 15th.
And March 15th was the day where our governor got on TV and said that our state was going
to begin to observe the shutdown because of COVID-19.
And so March 15th was the last Sunday that we met together as one congregation, as our church
together.
And since then, right, we've just been adapting and changing from all of us worshiping at home
to some of us worshiping at home to some of us worshiping here to no kids ministry or
student kids ministry to an adapted model of student ministry.
But here's what I want us to look at.
Here's what I want us to remember.
Here's why I think today, as we start off 2021, is so important for us as a group of believers.
It's over this past year, so many things have stopped.
There was Christmas get-togethers that didn't take place.
Weddings that couldn't happen in the way that they hoped them to happen.
Jobs that ended.
A lot of things stopped.
Over 2020, a lot of things changed.
I would find it hard to believe that there's anyone who is sitting in this building or watching
at home and your life was not greatly changed over 2020.
From how you go to work, to how you interact with your family, to the recreation that you
do, to the mask or face coverings that we wear, so many things changed.
Things stopped.
Things changed.
Things stopped.
Things changed.
But here's what I want us to be reminded of.
Not one time in 2020 did God stop.
Not one time in 2020 did God change.
In spite of all that stopped, all that changed, God continued being who God is and continued
doing what God does.
And so to me, this Sunday is a reminder of that for us.
Of what God has been doing in the past.
Of what God is doing right now.
And while we do not know what God is going to do, we can cling to some promises that we
see from Scripture of what God is going to do.
And a lot of that for me culminates into this idea, this biblical concept that we have of global
missions, of seeing what God is going to continue to do and how we can continue to be a part of that.
Businesses shut down.
Churches shut down.
Airlines shut down.
Missions organizations shut down.
God did not.
And so today we want to celebrate that.
And so I want to do that by talking a little bit about our history as a church in missions.
Talk about who we currently are in missions.
And to share with you some new and exciting things of what we're going to be about as we move forward.
As we continue on to do what God has called us to do.
Willow Ridge is a church that is rooted in missions.
We're going to talk a lot about this over the course of this message this morning.
I want to highlight though two areas where a foundation was established of our church in missions.
About 10 to 12 years ago, this church took a step that many churches do not take.
As they didn't just partner with an organization, but they started a work that God called them to in Haiti.
As Alex's house orphanage was started.
The level of commitment that Willow Ridge Church put in the establishment of this was rooted not only in the financials and the people that they would send on short-term mission trips.
But as they released and cared for and provided for their senior pastor, Bill Howard, to go and to start Alex's house.
And what began as an orphanage has now grown into an organization that sees the gospel and community development happen all over Haiti based and rooted in Disciples Village.
This church also of a history of missions is found in our Hispanic congregation.
If you're visiting here and maybe you don't know that we have an Hispanic congregation, but just as we all are a part of Willow Ridge Church,
so too are our Hispanics who are a part of our Hispanic congregation led by Pastor Juan Hernandez.
They gather in here every Sunday just like we do.
They worship just like we do.
They hear a message just like we do, but they hear all of theirs in Spanish.
This congregation has been a part of our church for well over 15 years as God has continued to bless.
As the wisdom of the leadership of this church at the time saw that not only are we called to go to the nations,
but God was doing a miraculous thing as God brought the nations to our very doorstep.
And we've seen great works of God happen through this congregation.
I don't know if you realize this, but on any given Sunday you can walk into our Hispanic worship service
and what you will see before you is a representation of sometimes over nine different countries coming together to worship all under one language.
So we can celebrate that.
I do want to tell you I've had the privilege and the opportunity to attend several of those worship services,
many of those worship services over my seven years of being the pastor here.
And I want to tell you, all right, I took Spanish for three years in high school and for two semesters in college,
and I don't remember any of it, okay?
And so I come to these and I don't really know what's being said.
I don't know what's happening or take place, but here's what I can tell you.
You can feel and you can know the very presence and spirit of God as you engage within there in that service.
So if you've never been a part of that service, I want to encourage you.
One Sunday, maybe that's even, you don't come to this service, but you come to that service.
And you're able to see and hear and respond to what God is doing.
So stepping into this role as the senior pastor of this church who has a background and passions for missions,
it wasn't a difficult spot for me to step into because this is a church that has embraced that.
But about four years ago, about three years into my journey of being the senior pastor here,
we began to have the feeling, the calling from God of what's next.
We've got what's happening in Haiti.
We've got what's happening within our Hispanic worship service and in that congregation.
But God, what do you have next for us?
And so we were able to put together a leadership team known as the Global Missions Team.
And within this team, we've been, for the last four years, but very heavily early on for the first two years,
coming together to pray and just simply ask God, what's next?
We didn't have somewhere where we knew we were going.
We didn't have somebody that we knew we were partnering with.
Be honest with you, outside of a couple of us who myself not included in this, right?
We had one guy, Matt Evans, who had served on the international mission field,
and Tim Rice, who had served on the international mission field.
But the rest of us had been on mission trips and had taken classes on missions,
but had never been in that depth.
And we took about the first year.
And we didn't talk about places.
We just prayed and looked at Scripture and asked God,
God, not what do you have for other churches,
but God, very specifically, what do you have for us?
What are you calling us to?
And it was a wonderful, long process that we went through.
And what we felt like God was bringing out of this for us,
at first, was not a people.
Not even a place.
But what God was calling us to was a strategy.
And it was very important because this strategy would help us decide
where we go and what we do and who we partner with.
There are missionaries all over this world who are doing great and godly works.
There are missionaries that are doing wonderful things.
And there's no way in the world that we can partner with all of them.
So what this strategy does, it helps us figure out how to partner with some of them,
with where God is calling us.
And so we developed what we call the peace strategy.
And what I love about the peace strategy is each letter of peace is going to stand for something,
but it's the continual reminder, ultimately, of what we're here for.
We're not a good works organization.
We're not here just to make sure you've got a new roof on your house,
pat you on the back, and say, see you later.
We're here for a reason of the gospel.
And what we know and understand the gospel does is it brings peace between God and man
of what sin has created through the hope found in Christ.
And so the continual reminder, when we go on our mission trips,
we're carrying the peace of the gospel that takes us no matter where we go or what we do.
Whether it's a day mission trip in Lexington, South Carolina,
or whether it's hopping on a plane for 20 hours and going to Jaipur, India,
where everywhere we go, it's the exact same representation.
And so this morning, I want to share with you what the peace strategy is.
And for some of you, it may be a reminder.
For some of you, it may be the first time that you've heard it.
But then also what God is doing in each and every one of those,
what God has done and what we are looking forward to.
The first part of the peace strategy is the letter P.
And what we want to do within there is plant Great Commission churches.
And here's what's really important.
We don't want to just plant churches.
We want to plant Great Commission churches.
And that's very important for us that we understand that.
We're not just here to plant churches who can attract a crowd.
We're not just here to plant churches who can do a worship service really well.
That we're here to plant churches that understand what the Great Commission is
and that they want to work forward in continuing on in that strategy of what God has given us.
And so let's remind ourselves of the Great Commission.
Matthew 28.
And Jesus came and said to them,
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I'm with you always to the ends of the age.
And so Jesus gives this to his followers.
And it's to go and make disciples.
It's the very early calling of the early church.
You see, the church didn't exist here in Matthew.
The church was going to be formed in Acts.
And so Jesus has this group of ragtag followers who get it wrong more than they get it right.
And Jesus tells them,
But here's what you're to do.
You're to go.
And you're going to make something.
You're going to make disciples.
And you're going to baptize them.
And you're going to teach them.
And so that's what we do here.
That's our goal every single week.
Not to make you a greater fan of this church or a greater fan of a worship leader
or not a greater fan of a pastor,
but to make you a greater disciple to be used for the kingdom of God.
And that's the hope.
And that's what the Great Commission is all about.
And so that's who you want to partner with.
Now, church planting, there are some people that kind of hear this and say,
We need to start new churches, but hold on.
Aren't there already enough churches?
I mean, it's not hard.
You can leave here, take a deep breath in, and be at another church before you have to let it out, right?
Like, this is the world that we live in.
But that's what God has called us to do.
And the truth of the matter is, if you are in a church today, you are in a church plant.
Somebody planted every church that has ever existed going all the way back to Jerusalem
when Jesus mobilized the disciples to plant churches.
Our church, for instance, was planted in 1979, Agape Baptist Church.
We were actually out on Platte Springs Road at the time, and the church was planted in 1979, Agape Baptist.
And later on, it moved to this location and was renamed Willow Ridge Church, and it's where we find ourselves.
And while that story, I think, is remarkable, the story of what took place in 1979 and the story of what took place to bring us here,
I think the story that's even more remarkable that needs to be celebrated is the church that planted us was not another church from another state.
The church that planted us was not another church from Charleston or from Greenville,
but the church that planted Agape Baptist Church, who would become Willow Ridge Church, was Red Bank Baptist Church.
Now, I want to ask you a quick show of hands for those of you in the auditorium.
How many of you drove past Red Bank Baptist Church this morning on your way here?
It's a church that got it, that understood it.
They said it's not just about building our name and building our kingdom.
It's about helping other churches reach those who we could never reach.
And so that's what they did.
You see, what happened in that commitment of that church in 1979 was others who would never sit in these seats
thought that your salvation and growth was important enough to invest in a work,
even if that meant a work in their own town,
even if that meant that people from their church would leave and go to that church,
because that's what they were called to do.
And so for us, it's our call to not sit back and just enjoy what has been done,
but it's our call to continue the work that's been established in our very DNA.
And so looking back at what we've been able to do,
and I'll be honest with you,
I don't know all of the church plants that Willow Ridge Church has partnered with over the years,
but I do know several over the last several years that we've had the opportunity to come alongside
in our very own community, Mill City Church in West Columbia and Yahweh Sons and Daughters.
Now, I don't take the credit that we planted them because we didn't.
There were pastors who were called to those works and they came there,
but then what we had the opportunity to do to come alongside with them is support them
and encourage them specifically financially so that they could have the resource they needed
to renovate a space like Mill City did,
or they could have the resources given to them to be able to have a sound system,
to have worship like Yahweh Sons and Daughters did.
And so we were able to come alongside and do that.
Several years ago, we were able to come alongside Jamie Rogers
as he and his family moved from all places, Camden, South Carolina, to Long Island, New York, right?
You want to talk about a culture shock?
And what God was able to do in their lives through Crossroads, Long Island,
that while Jamie, as we helped him, is no longer serving there,
that that church is healthy under Pastor Elliott as he continues to lead there.
And so we're able to celebrate what God has done,
but we're also looking forward to what God is doing.
Just this past year, we found out that there was a church in Atlanta
that we're not in a long-term partnership with,
but their church, because of where they're positioned in downtown,
did I say it? Downtown Atlanta, I'm sorry.
They're in downtown Atlanta, and they needed some financial resources
because so many of their people were out of work,
and we were able to provide for them financially
so they could meet the needs of their people who couldn't pay their power bill.
So God helps us as we seek to do that.
And now what God has for us in the future
is an opportunity to partner with Pastor Dustin Stottman,
who's going to be planting, in August of 2021,
Hope Valley Church in West Jordan, Utah.
And we have the opportunity to come alongside him, his wife, and their children
as they seek to reach a city in West Jordan, Utah
that is almost completely void of the gospel.
West Jordan is one of the suburbs of Salt Lake City.
And to give you an understanding of the depth of lostness,
I know oftentimes we think of cities within the United States,
and we think, well, obviously, they know the gospel,
or they've got churches, they've got a lot of believers, right?
But 97% of Salt Lake City does not know the gospel.
97% is lost.
Provo, Utah, I shared this a few weeks ago.
Provo, Utah, which is just right down the road,
which is where BYU University is, Brigham Young University,
has a lower percentage of believers than Afghanistan, right?
And it's the opportunity of what God provides us.
In the area of West Jordan, Utah, there are 54 Mormon churches
and only one evangelical church sharing the true hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so what Dustin and his wife, what they've committed themselves to
under the calling of the Lord is to come alongside
and to plant there in West Jordan, Utah,
to raise their family in an area where many of the people,
while they are polite to them,
know the message that they bring,
and they do not want them anywhere near themselves or definitely their children.
But we've said we'll come alongside and we'll partner with you
and we'll help fund and we'll send people
so a church can be planted for the glory of God.
Because it all is going to begin in the spread of the gospel with planting churches.
The next letter that we're going to see in this likeness,
E, is that we're going to equip indigenous pastors and planters.
We're going to equip 2 Timothy 2.2.
Paul writes to Timothy and he says,
Not only did God entrust us with the proclamation of the gospel,
but God entrusted us with the pipeline of leadership development
to raise up others who will continue new works in other places.
And so as Paul writes this to Timothy,
he says,
It's very important what you've heard from me in the presence of many others
entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach and entrust others also.
I really started thinking about that word entrust.
You see, I could give you things.
I can give you things of value.
I can give you things of worth.
But what I entrust you with is those things that are most valuable and most important to me.
Paul didn't say just give them the gospel.
Just share the gospel.
Paul says entrust them with the gospel.
So that what you communicate to them,
they can embrace and process and understand and ask questions and dig deeper
so that they can come to an understanding of the gospel
so that they can do the same thing over and over again.
And what we have said for us is of value is to do this with pastors and planners,
but we've added a word to make sure that this is important for us,
that we want to equip not just pastors and planners,
but we want to equip indigenous pastors and planners,
which means this.
It's not just about finding people within our congregation
and then sending them to plant churches all over the world.
It's about going all over the world
and beginning in the process like Paul did with Timothy,
where we help raise up those who know the culture,
who know the language,
who have a heart for the people because they are their people
and to help them raise them up
so that an Indian pastor can share the gospel with an Indian congregation.
The important value of what's there.
And so that's what we have committed to do.
It's what God has given us multiple opportunities
over the last several years for me to have the opportunity to go to Haiti
and to do that and to teach at pastor's conferences.
We're pastors there.
Most of them, because the language that they speak
is not a language that's recorded,
because it's a language filled with poverty,
do not have the resources that we do.
So you watch these pastors and literally,
they're not looking for your point to jot down real quick.
As you're speaking, they're writing down as fast as they can
because every word is precious to them.
It's what we had the opportunity a couple of years ago to go to India and do,
where I had the opportunity to go and teach and preach at a Bible college.
Now, I want to tell you, like, I'm about to finish up my second master's degree
and have never felt more intimidated in my life
than knowing that I was heading to a Bible college to teach.
I was petrified, right?
Like, oh my goodness, they're going to know more than I know.
But God said, trust me and go and take these steps.
And so at first, I was like, I'm going to build a team that's going to go with me
of other pastors from other churches.
And we're going to go, we're going to do this together.
And God gave me one other pastor to go, my father-in-law.
And then God laid on my heart,
2 Timothy 2.2 is not about pastors going and just talking to pastors,
but it's about people of faith who know and understand the gospel.
And so two pastors and two lay leaders,
and those lay leaders, two who work for an airline company,
one who's a nurse, got on a plane and flew 20 hours to another side of the world
to a place that we had never been for many of us
and shared the gospel and taught.
And the most beautiful thing that happened and took place
was not when me and the other pastor, when we got up and we taught,
but it's seeing those men of faith who God does the great word
and work inside of them to get up and to hear them share.
So when we talk about equipping indigenous pastors and planners,
it's not just me and the staff that do this,
but it's each and every one of you who dive in and study God's word
and who know it and want to understand and know more.
And so as we move forward in this
and we're looking forward to going back and doing more of this,
I want to invite you to join me, to be a part,
and to be as we go forward with this.
The next that we see is to announce the gospel to UPGs.
Now I want to explain this a little bit, all right?
Really quickly before we explain what a UPG is.
It is important to share the gospel with everyone.
So the people that you encounter at the grocery store,
your neighbors, your friends, your family,
while there is a church almost everywhere that we turn in our community,
there is still lostness everywhere in our community.
In fact, the United States, the lostness is increasing,
and we can't just say, well, it's all good in the Bible Belt
and blame everybody else because lostness is increasing
in every state in the United States.
And in good old Lexington, South Carolina,
where we find ourselves today,
lostness has never been greater than it is right now.
So we need to share the gospel with everyone.
But specifically in our strategy,
we wanted to know who are we targeting?
Because we want to take the rifle approach
and not the shotgun approach to this.
And God laid on our hearts unreached people groups, UPGs.
And so an unreached people group is a group of people
defined by a language, a religion, a territory,
or a region in the world.
And a people group could be spread out all over the world.
You can find numerous people groups
right here in Lexington, South Carolina.
In fact, if you're traveling down St. Andrews Road
and you're heading off and you're heading toward Irmo
on St. Andrews Road right there off of I-26,
there's several apartment complexes
that are near the interstate.
And located within there are Syrian people groups
and Iraqi people groups who are refugees
who have been brought there.
So we are surrounded by unreached people groups.
And an unreached people group is defined as a people group
that has less than 2% of their people
have been reached with the gospel.
Less than 2%.
So based off of what I shared earlier at Salt Lake City,
it's trending toward that now.
Salt Lake City could be an unreached people group
within the next year or two.
So we want to share the gospel with an unreached people group.
Well, there are 17,439 different people groups in the world.
Of those people groups, 7,413 of them are considered unreached,
which means this, 42% of the world's population
is a part of an unreached people group.
42%.
That doesn't mean that 58% is saved.
That means that more than 2% of the 58% is saved.
Begin to see the staggering numbers.
Most of them are found in what is known as the 1040 window,
which is the area kind of surrounding the equator,
but located primarily in Asia near the equator and the Middle East.
Some of the most difficult people culturally,
some of the most difficult people in their religion
to embrace and to come alongside.
And it's where the depth of lostness is found.
And so several years ago, as we're praying through this,
trying to identify unreached people groups,
there was a moment in time that struck me.
And what struck me was,
I've shared the story with many of you before,
but my wife and I, we were laying in bed one night
and we were watching TV.
And we were watching a show called Stories by Light.
It's a documentary.
We love to watch documentaries.
And it's a documentary about photographers
who travel all over the world
and who tell the story of cultures and people
and history, but through photographs.
And so this particular one,
there was this British guy,
he's about six foot seven,
and this is important,
big, tall, white British guy.
And he was going to India
and was going to tell the story
of the Festival of Holly through photographs.
We don't have time to go into
what the Festival of Holly is,
but the closest thing in our culture
that can help explain it to you
to get some familiarity with it
is if you've ever done
one of those color runs, right,
or seen those,
where they take the powder
and they throw it up in the air
and so you've got like yellow
and purple and blue and green powders
and people are running through it
and their clothes change colors, right?
That is based in,
that came from the Festival of Holly
where they celebrate this Hindu God
through doing that
and this big, almost like Indian Mardi Gras
type party that happens and takes place.
And so this photographer is there
and now I was taller
than most of people in India
at six foot, right?
And he's walking through at six, seven
and he stands out a little bit
and he's walking through their temples
and he's snapping pictures.
This big, long camera lens.
And every time he snaps,
you can see the picture
that pops up on TV.
And he's taking pictures of men
and they got their arms around each other
and they're singing
and they're dancing.
He's taking pictures
of beautiful, ornate temples.
He's taking pictures of statues
that are idols to be worshipped.
And then he starts to take pictures
of more of the crowd.
And what got me
was as he's snapping the pictures,
he focuses in on this little girl.
She might have been somewhere
between four and six years old.
And he, she's like here
and he's up here
and he's snapping pictures.
And as he's taking pictures of her,
he's working his way down to his knees
and he gets down
and he's almost face to face with her.
And she reaches up
and she's got a handful
of yellow powder
and she just hits him on his cheeks.
Okay.
And at first I smiled
just like I did then.
How cute that was
in that moment.
And then it struck me.
And then it hit me.
The importance of the gospel.
Because unless someone goes
and shares,
unless someone goes
and tells that little girl,
her eternity is going to be found in hell.
And so we have to go.
Mark 16, 15 through 16 says,
and he being Jesus said to them,
go into all the world
and proclaim the gospel
to the whole creation.
Whoever believes
and is baptized
will be saved.
But there's not a period there,
there's a comma.
But whoever does not believe
will be condemned.
And as believers,
the truth of that statement
must be unacceptable to us.
It must not be okay with us
that there are people
all over this world
who are going to hell.
And they're not just going to hell
because there's a church down the road
and they refuse to stop by to hear.
They're not just going to hell
because their neighbor
has been sharing the gospel
with them for 10 years.
They're going to hell
because there's no church.
They're going to hell
because there's no pastor.
They're going to hell
because there's no believer.
Because they don't know
who Jesus is.
And right now,
in this very moment,
there are thousands,
millions of people
all over the world
and they cannot find about Jesus
right now
even if they wanted to.
And that has to be not okay with us.
And so yes,
we share the gospel with everyone
but our strategy,
what we focus in on
is sharing the gospel
with unreached people groups.
Because if not,
who will?
And it's why we've embraced
so many of the works
that God's given us
the opportunity
to be a part of.
Rick and Tina Nolan,
some of our own very family
from here
who moved to Athens, Greece
not to take in the history
or the architecture
but because Athens, Greece
is where Afghan refugees
are finding themselves
and who are desperate
to know the truth
of Jesus Christ
and they're there
to share it with them.
It's why we support
and we're not going to use
her real name
because we're online
but a woman
we refer to as Ashley
who is doing ministry
in North Africa
in a country
that at one point in time
was a hotbed
for the recruitment
of ISIS soldiers
who lives in a country
where women
can't speak in public
who went where women
can't ask questions
especially religious questions
and so she's there
as a safe place
and as a safe opportunity
for the many women
who live
under the abusive nature
of Islam
can find out the hope
of Jesus Christ.
That's why we partner
with the John family
in Jaipur, India
who every year
send out their graduates
from their Bible college
not to fill their churches
as associate pastors
but to go into villages
to plant churches
where there are no churches
to come alongside
men and women
who have never heard
and oftentimes
those pastors
don't pastor
one church
but two or three churches
in neighboring village
because there's
no one else to
that's why we partner
with Hans Ostrom
who finds himself
in Toronto, Canada
that as I went there
several years ago
it's the only time
that I've been outside
of the United States
and felt like I was still
inside the United States
at the exact same time
right?
But Hans is in Toronto, Canada
reaching
Unreached People Group
how so?
Because Toronto
is a hotbed
for refugees
from the Middle East
to come to
and so Hans
and his family
are there
providing opportunities
for families
to hear
specifically
Middle Eastern
Muslim families
to hear the gospel
we gotta announce
the gospel
to the Unreached
People Groups
the next
that we'll do
is see
we'll care for those
less fortunate
you see
in the book of Acts
there was a problem
that existed
and in Acts
very early on
within the church
it was just the disciples
and they were going out
and proclaiming the gospel
but what was taking place
was there was a lot
of needs of people
who were there
in their community
there was a lot of needs
of widows
and of orphans
and so they had come
to the church
and the church
having a long standing
in relationship with God
with caring for those
less fortunate
the apostles
didn't know what to do
because they were called
to do this
and so instead
of ignoring it
what they said
was we placed
so much value
on this
that we're going
to continue
to do this
but we're going
to call
from amongst us
those who are qualified
to be deacons
to go out
and to care
for those
who are less fortunate
with the hope
of sharing
the gospel
themselves
and it's part
of that basis
that we see
the church
in Jerusalem
begin to spread out
because people
are being cared for
because you know
what is easier
to do
to share hope
of eternity
with someone
that you've sat
down with
and given them
hope for tomorrow
and so it's what
we see happen
and take place
in the book of Acts
it's largely
what we are seeing
done with Daryl Cheeks
in the Philippines
as Daryl
while the Philippines
is largely
a country
that is saved
when you begin
to understand
the dynamic
of the Philippines
is most
of Christianity
exists
in the major cities
but the Philippines
being a nation
of many many islands
to get the gospel
out into those
smaller villages
where poverty reigns
is extremely difficult
and so Daryl goes in
and cares for those
less fortunate
to have the opportunity
to do that
it's what we've seen
happen
and take place
in Disciples Village
in Alex's house
as they're there
faced with the
worst poverty
of any country
in the world
and they're going in
and they're providing
hope through education
they're providing hope
through clean water
they're providing hope
through meals
and through that
being able to share
the hope of the gospel
and so what we want
to do as a church
what we want to do
as leadership
within this
is we want to
encourage missionaries
the last part
that we're going to
see through this
we want to encourage
missionaries
now I don't know
about you
but I think
the men and women
and often times
families
even their little
children
who say
I'm willing to
walk away
from everything
that I know
I'm willing to
walk away
from being near
to my elderly
parents
I'm being willing
to walk away
from my young
children
and their
grandchildren
I'm willing
to walk away
from my
retirement account
from my job
from all of
these things
that we are
building here
that we have
here
to go
and to go
onto the mission
field
and to provide
great sacrifice
like those
for me
are the hall
of famers
of our faith
that we're
experiencing today
so we want
to encourage them
and we see
that the bible
speaks highly
of them
in Romans
chapter 10
Paul writes
starting in verse 14
and he's talking
about the call
for missions
and the necessity
for missions
and he says
how then will they
call on him
in whom they have
not believed
and how are they
to believe in him
of whom they have
not heard
and how are they
to hear
without someone
preaching
and how are they
to preach
unless they are
sent
in verse 15
as it is written
how beautiful
are the feet
of those
who preach
the good news
how beautiful
are they
and so what you
and I
have the opportunity
to do here
this isn't
to beat us
all up
because we're
not all
in the mission
field
because God
will call
some
to go
and he will
call all
to send
that's what
Paul's writing
there
how can they
go
unless they
are sent
so they
can't go
unless there's
people like
us
who are
sending them
and so what
we want to do
as a church
is we want
to send
and we do
that three
different ways
here
we want to
encourage you
to join us
within there
number one
we sin
by praying
and that may
seem like
oh well
we pray
for a lot
of things
yes
but let me
tell you
God laid
on my heart
and there's
one missionary
that asked
me
can you
pray for
me
every day
I said
yeah I think
I can do
that
and she said
no no no
I'm not saying
can you pray
for me
every day
if you think
about it
I'm saying
every day
without failing
will you
commit
to pray
for me
that's why
I need to pray
about that
came back
and said
yeah
I think
I can do
that
and so
every day
we pray
every day
I pray
for her
and what
God is going
to do
and how
God is going
to use
her
we pray
for our
missionaries
we pray
when we
think about
them
when God
lays on our
heart
but we
build
the
regimen
and the
routine
into our
daily life
so they're
written
in our
journaling
bible
they're a
part
of a
sticky note
that's a
reminder
on our
computer
their faces
are put
on a
magnet
onto our
refrigerator
why
so that
when people
walk in
they can
look at
our
refrigerator
and go
oh
you support
missionaries
no
so that
when we
see them
we go
I need
to pray
for them
and I need
to pray
but we
also
commit
to
financially
partner
right
it takes
money
to do
ministry
and so
we commit
to
financially
partner
and we
do that
here for
our
church
we
provide
for our
missionaries
out on
the field
this past
year
God
was very
gracious
to our
church
through
your
generosity
in
giving
and
we'll
talk more
about that
later
but
it's
our
responsibility
not to
just
sit
back
on
that
but
to
continue
to
bless
and
go
forward
with
it
and so
we
fulfilled
all of
our
financial
obligations
of what
we
said
we
were
going
to
do
for
our
missionaries
but
then
there
was
other
opportunities
that
came
available
and
because
we
couldn't
go
anywhere
this
year
what
we
did
was
you
got
this
opportunity
then
we'll
send
you
this
check
you
got
this
opportunity
we'll
send
you
this
check
you
got
this
opportunity
we'll
send
you
this
check
and
I
want
to
be able
to
share
with
you
as you
give
your
tithes
and
offerings
to
us
that
we
were
able
to
go
this
year
above
and
beyond
what
we
committed
to
fulfill
the
needs
that
were
there
with
people
we've
got
long
term
partnerships
with
but
even
places
where
we
didn't
one
of
our
instances
that
we
had
was
a
church
in
Atlanta
where
God
just
said
yes
do
this
and
so
we
had
the
opportunity
to
do
it
so
we
pray
for
them
we
financially
partner
with
them
but
then
also
we
participate
we
participate
with
them
we
say
you
know
what
it's
not
just
about
you
doing
the
work
over
there
but
it's
about
us
doing
the
work
together
and
what
I'm
excited
about
what
I'm
praying
about
in
2021
is
that
at
some
point
in
time
these
shoes
will
be
able
to
step
foot
onto
a
plane
that
will
land
with
one
of
our
partners
in
another
country
where
we're
able
to
go
and
come
alongside
them
and
partner
with
them
and
work
it's
why
we
do
student
ministry
mission
trips
not
so
that
they
got
somewhere
fun
to
go
and
you've
got
more
money
to
give
but
it's
ingraining
in
them
the
importance
of
missions
so
the
question
I
have
for
us
the
question
that
we
have
to
wrestle
with
is
the
where
and
Jesus
gives
us
that
answer
Acts
1
8
but
you
receive
power
when
the
Holy
Spirit
has
come
upon
you
and
you
will
be
my
witnesses
in
Jerusalem
and
all
Judea
and
Samaria
and
to
the
ends
of
the
earth
so
Jesus
in
Acts
1
8
they
got
the
great
commission
Jesus
is
about
to
ascend
and
go
to
heaven
and
they
said
Jesus
what
do
we
do
now
where
do
we
go
you've
given
us
this
but
what's
next
and
Jesus
says
just
wait
because
the
work
that's
going
to
be
done
is
a
spiritual
work
it's
not
going
to
be
done
in
your
power
and
in
your
power
alone
but
just
wait
and
when
you
go
I'm
going
to
give
you
four
places
to
go
the
first
place
that
Jesus
tells
them
to
go
is
to
Jerusalem
the
place
where
they
called
home
Jesus
you're
going
begin
there
and
so
for
us
we
begin
at
home
so
what
are
we
doing
as
a
church
here
in
South
Carolina
I
wanted
to
say
earlier
I
started
to
label
this
as
Lexington
County
but
it
was
the
great
reminder
of
what
God
does
as
we
don't
just
have
people
here
from
Lexington
County
what
I
know
is
that
we've
got
people
here
at
least
from
Orangeburg
Richland
and
Lexington
got
people
all
over
our
state
and
so
for
us
our
Jerusalem
is
South
Carolina
and
what
God's
been
able
to
do
through
our
church
is
to
partner
with
organizations
like
the
South
Carolina
Baptist
Convention
that
is
mobilizing
and
our
giving
there
is
mobilizing
men
and
women
and
opportunities
all
over
our
state
we
have
the
opportunity
in
our
partnerships
with
White Knoll
Elementary
that
while we
can't
do
our
fall
festival
and
the
things
that
we
normally
do
we've
been
able
to
come
alongside
and
support
them
and
to
give
them
things
that
they
need
and
hope
to
share
the
gospel
we're
able
to
partner
still
every
single
week
with
project
153
as
each
Wednesday
they
fill
our
kitchen
with
people
who
are
cooking
to
take
food
to
those
who
are
homeless
which
by
the
way
right
now
project
153
the
city
women
and
families
to
give
them
out
to
be
able
to
partner
but
I
want
to
say
this
our
greatest
partnership
here
our
most
powerful
partnership
that we
have
is not
an
organization
it's
you
it's
you
because
we
are
all
mobilized
every
single
day
where
God
places
us
so
the
factories
that
we
work
at
the
firms
that
we
work
at
the
schools
that
we
go
to
every
place
where
we
find
ourselves
that's
the
mission
field
Jesus
says
don't
only
take
it
to
Jerusalem
but
take
it
to
Judea
now
for
us
I'm
going
to
find
Judea
as
the
United
States
a
region
a
little
outside
but
including
where
we
find
ourselves
for
us
we
have
several
partnerships
that
we've
been
able
to
establish
here
within
our
country
to
see
the
gospel
spread
several
years
ago
we
started
a
partnership
with
a
Christian
orphanage
called
the
Black
Mountain
Children's
Home
in
Asheville
North
Carolina
and
have
been
able
to
take
our
middle
schoolers
there
and
our
high
schoolers
this
past
year
and
God
has
really
blessed
that
I
want
to
share
this
with
you
though
if
you've
never
been
I
want
to
encourage
you
maybe
one
day
when
you're
driving
up
to
go
apple
picking
take
a
little
detour
google
it
it'll
come
up
on
your
phone
and
find
where
Black
Mountain
Children's
Home
is
and
just
ride
through
there
and
here's
what
you'll
see
it
is
absolutely
beautiful
I
find
that
why
it's
called
Black
Mountain
this
past
year
because
there's
a
shadow
that
falls
on
that
side
of
the
mountains
all
the
time
it
is
the
most
amazing
thing
even
when
the
sun
is
fully
out
no
clouds
you
see
this
shadow
alongside
the
mountain
that's
why
it's
called
Black
Mountain
so
if
you
stand
there
at
the
children's
home
and
you
look
out
you
see
the
mountains
and
it
is
a
beautiful
place
to
spend
a
week
with
a
group
of
middle
schoolers
absolutely
beautiful
but
if
you're
standing
there
and
you're
staring
straight
from
the
children's
home
that's
what
you
see
but
if
you
turn
to
the
right
it's
not
so
pretty
and
if
you
turn
to
the
right
you
don't
see
the
mountains
you
see
a
women's
prison
and
here's
the sad
part
about
where
this
is
located
that
a lot
of the
kids
are
there
because
mama's
over
there
and
daddy's
nowhere
to be
found
and
so
through
Black
Mountain
children's
home
it's
not
just
a
place to care for them and get them educated but it's an opportunity to share the gospel with them. We partner with the North American Mission Board that plants churches, the largest church planning organization and plants churches all over North America. We partner with Dustin Stockman and Hope Valley Church in West Jordan, Utah. This year we'll be able to provide them not only funds, but people hopefully through a trip as we go. Jesus not only call it
He calls us to Judea, but he calls us to Judea, but he calls us to Samaria. We're classifying that for us as North America and the Caribbean. It's where we continue to see the work that Bill Howard has started through Alex's house and continuing on through Disciples Village as they see that work and that ministry spread as they see men and women living in the midst of poverty, finding daily hope that is connected to their eternal hope. It's where we see men like Hans Ostrom leading an upward
Canada and Canada in Toronto to see Muslim families to see Muslim families and connecting them with a local body of believers. But then Jesus doesn't just stop there. He doesn't just say Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. But then Jesus throws out the hard target, the difficult places. Jesus says to the ends of the earth. Now I want you to imagine this. I want you to imagine that you're standing there with Jesus. And Jesus says, I want you to go to places that you've never seen.
You've never heard of. You don't even know that you've never heard of. You don't even know that there's people there. Think about this. They didn't just go to the library and get a map and find out where this is. They couldn't jump on their phone and Google search, right? Jesus says, you don't even know what's on the other side of that water, but that's where I'm sending you. And that's where you're going. And that's where he calls us to go. And that's why he says the ends of the earth.
Because we're to go to people in places that we've never heard of, that we've never seen, that we don't understand. But we have the hope of the gospel. And God's been gracious with us.
Through our partnership with the International Mission Board, the IMB, we have the opportunity to see that the IMB is the largest missions organization in the world, deploring more missionaries every single year than anyone else.
So we have the opportunity to partner with Daryl Cheeks, who has to jump from island to island to island to share the gospel.
So we pastor with the John family who is seeking to see churches planted in every village in the state of Rajasthan.
That's why we partner with Ashley in North Africa.
That's why we send out from our home Rick and Tina, who we deeply love and miss.
But it's worth it for the gospel.
So I've got a question for you.
2020, the beginning of a year, the beginning of 2021, lots of us like to make resolutions.
All right, we're going to go to the gym more.
That'll last about a month, right?
We're going to read more.
We get really through the introduction of that book, and then we decide maybe not.
We get all these resolutions that are good things, right?
I need to go to the gym more.
I need to read more.
I need to do all of those things more.
And they could change our tomorrow.
But what if we made resolutions that didn't just change tomorrows, but changed eternities?
What if we made resolutions that impacted lostness all across this world?
That you and I as a church is what God has done in and amongst us and through us and what God is continuing to do.
But what if we stopped looking at it in the sense of the organization?
And what if we looked at it in the sense of the individual?
And so what if for this year, what is God calling you?
What if God has in mind for you a Samaria?
What if God has in mind for you a Judea?
What if God has in mind for you a different Jerusalem?
What if God has called you to the ends of the earth?
What if today, instead of the commitment being to go to the gym every day,
what if today was the commitment to pray every day for a missionary?
What if today was the commitment instead of,
I'm just going to see how much more I can put into my retirement account?
What if today was the commitment to,
how about today I give more to a missionary that I know is in need?
What if today is the resolution to not take yet another vacation,
but to take your family on a missions trip and to go and engage?
What if our life was not just about tomorrow?
But what if our life was about eternity?
And the importance and the value of the hope of what God's doing.
Lord, thank you for the graciousness of our congregation, Lord,
as I've gone along this morning.
The importance of what we're talking about.
Lord, the work that you're doing, the work that you haven't stopped,
and the wonderful opportunity and privilege that you give us to be a part of it.
So, Lord, I thank you.
Lord, I thank you that right now there's individuals that are wrestling
within their soul and their spirit
about adopting a missionary to pray for.
Lord, I thank you that right now there's men and women
who are beginning to understand that maybe there's a family they know
that are missionaries and they can support them monthly.
Or they can write a one-time check and help fund some work that they're doing.
Lord, let them hear in their hearts that it's not about giving more to here,
but it's about giving more to the work that's being done.
And so, if those dollars and cents never pass through here, Lord, we praise you for it.
Lord, I pray right now that there's individuals who are wrestling with
maybe canceling a cruise and instead jumping on a plane
and going and serving at an orphanage.
Instead of going to a beach, going to a village or a Bible college.
Lord, I hope
that there may be even a family or an individual who's here
who says it's not just about doing something different for tomorrow,
but it's about doing something different for the rest of my life.
And they're looking at answering the call
to not go for a weekend or a week,
but to go for the rest of their life.
So that little girl can hear.
So that village can be given an opportunity to have hope.
So that language might be introduced
to the only one who saves
Jesus.
God, convict us.
Draw us.
Point us in the direction of obedience to you.
It's here to me pray.
Amen.
Just a moment.
We're going to stand and we're going to respond in song.
Do not let your response end when you walk out these doors.
Maybe it's about praying more.
Maybe it's about giving.
I'm not talking about giving more to this church.
If you want to give to a missions organization,
a missionary,
let me know.
I'll get you connected.
Straight to them.
Maybe it's about going
for a weekend or a week
or a month or a season.
But I want to say this.
I pray that we lose church members this year
because we lose you
because you go
and you're sent
and you find another country
and another people
and you share the gospel
and you live there
and you plant a church there
and you come alongside them
and you give them hope.
Maybe you go.
Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church Weekly Podcast.
We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message.
If you'd like to learn more about who we are
or explore additional resources,
visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com
or by searching for Willow Ridge Church
on Facebook and Instagram.