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Welcome to our Sermon Based Podcast at First Friends Church in Canton OH. As First Friends Church, we live to glorify God together by loving Him, making disciples, and proclaiming the gospel.
Welcome First Friends Church family. We are so glad to have you tuning in because here at First Friends Church, we live to glorify God together by loving him, making disciples, and proclaiming the gospel. One of the best ways to strengthen our faith is by diving into the word of God together during our Sunday gatherings. So if you don't have a church family, we would love to have you join us. All there is to know as you plan your visit can be found at firstfriends.org.
Speaker 2:Let's see if we get this. In? And And we were preparing for months months and, we actually well, for a whole week, we spent together to prepare and embark on this journey. And so we were ready. We were prepared.
Speaker 2:We were excited. As we would come together and prepare, our hearts were unified, And yes, I said Cuba in 1990 And yes, I said Cuba in 1997. So for over a week there, we did amazing ministry and then for, a moment of time, we decided to we we need to get out of Havana, lay a little low, because it is illegal to proselytize the gospel in Cuba, if you are a foreigner. And so we were traveling down there to to, witness to these people and we thought, okay. Let's go to another place.
Speaker 2:We found ourselves in South Central Cuba in a place called Sininfollos. About a 4 hour ride, from Havana, and as we're doing ministry and doing street evangelism, the next thing you know, our 8 companions were all shuttled in the back of a police truck. And as an 18 year old boy, now behind bars in a prison cell in Sinopuelos, Cuba, the first thing I thought of was, oh Fidel, wait till my mother finds out. Seriously, I did think that, but you know, I I I the other thoughts that I had in my mind, honestly, I started thinking about it. God, you know, we were prepared.
Speaker 2:We were ready. We were worshiping you. We were united. Our mission was clear, and now our team, the mission has failed. Where are you God in the midst of this?
Speaker 2:And so I feel like maybe I had done something wrong or maybe God had had forgotten about us, but you know, sometimes I think, you know, we wrestle with this thing called mission or missions, And we don't always understand what the purpose of mission is. And in our struggle, in our wrestling, we doubt. We doubt. The 1, do we really know what God is about in his mission? But 2, do we even know?
Speaker 2:Do we respond faithfully even in hardships? And today, I wanna take us on a journey to embark on a journey, not necessarily to Cuba, but an inward, journey into our hearts to understand why God's mission, and why First Friends Church has mission as one of its core values of who we are. Yes, that's right. Today is about mission, and I am the missions pastor here, and it's a little cliche, but we are going to be exploring God's mission. If you have your Bible, I want you to turn to Matthew 28.
Speaker 2:If you do not have a Bible, ushers will bring one down for you. They can provide a Bible, for you as well, and if you do not own your own Bible, feel free to keep this one, for yourself as a gift from Canton First Friends. But yes, I said we're gonna be looking at this idea of mission, and I know some of you as soon as you hear that, you begin to tune out. Mission is something that is sometimes difficult for the church to connect with. And for some of you just getting here, you and your family is like an old mission in itself.
Speaker 2:Check. That's it. I'm here. Mission accomplished. So, and if I feel that way too at times.
Speaker 2:But sadly, in most of our evangelical circles and Christian circles, mission has become this thing just we call optional. And sadly, this is a trending sort of thing. And there's a few reasons why, and I want to address some of the reasons why that we think or others think that mission has become optional. One is the church has made it into this trendy newish thing. And church, God's mission is not trendy.
Speaker 2:It's not new. In fact, it's not just a New Testament idea. God, you see him reveal his heart for the nations all the way back into Genesis. You can see there in in in chapter chapter I'm sorry. Genesis chapter 12 when he starts his covenant with Abraham.
Speaker 2:It says that you will be a blessed people. I will bless you and bless the nations that who who worships me. Not only that, we see it in Isaiah the prophet when God speaks to him and says, I will make you into a light unto the gentile. God's heart has always been for the Gentiles, for the nations. And another verse that's not often referred to, you see in Leviticus.
Speaker 2:Leviticus of all places, God says for us to have love for the foreigner. Other translations say the stranger. And then it says something interesting. Treat them as they were you. God's heart has always been for the people.
Speaker 2:This is nothing new. And some some churches, we they think it is something that is distracting from meeting their own needs. For many of our churches in America, we we think just, you know, getting to church has become the end goal. Now, I'm not saying that meeting our own needs is wrong. There is definitely a strength in that.
Speaker 2:However, if we're not too careful, we can become so inward focused, we lose sight of the church's missional calling. My hope, my prayer is that we would not be just known for our seating capacity here at First Friends, but our sending capacity. Because when you think about God's primary redemptive activity in the world, or or wherever it may be, it's in the world, not necessarily here. We're being prepared here to be launched into the world. We can have all the right theology, great programming, great worship, and still fail to empower God's people into the service of his mission.
Speaker 2:Another reason could be is we would think it's not our gifting. And in the back of the minds, maybe you have heard a missions pastor or a message on mission, and you heard that missional call, and and and maybe like you, I thought this too. We think that God is gonna send us to some foreign way like distant land. Maybe to some place like Sao Paulo, Brazil of all places. Wouldn't that be nice?
Speaker 2:And I understand that fear, but however, dismissing God's mission because one feels that they lack the gifting, it should not excuse us from living on mission. I wanna remind you that the beginning of the church, the first century church was all started by the spirit to live on mission with their Lord. And perhaps, some of us think mission is optional because we reduce mission some to some message or or an event. It's something that maybe we just talk about in here. But when we leave here today, when God gets our attention, can we say yes to him?
Speaker 2:That not if, but when he interrupts your day, would you be able to respond? And maybe it's not to going to the uttermost parts of the world, but maybe the far reaches of your backyard. So, has mission become simply a message or an event? I hope not. My point is mission is more than a message.
Speaker 2:It's more than an idea, more than event. It is the story of God, and beyond that, it's who we are. Charles Spurgeon pointly said that every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter. Meaning, and he doesn't want to he doesn't want to guilt you, but we need to take that posture that everywhere you go, whatever you do, you are a missionary sent by Jesus to love like Jesus, overcome sin like Jesus, proclaim the gospel like Jesus, see people's lives changed by the power of the Spirit. And that on every occasion we are on mission.
Speaker 2:Every part of your life, every activity, every event is part of Jesus' mission. So mission is beyond something we do, but it's who we are. Robert Coleman, wrote a small little book. It's if you haven't got it. I have extra copies if you're interested.
Speaker 2:It's called The Master Plan of Evangelism, And he writes this book and he says, mission is not an optional accessory to our life. It is the heartbeat of all that we are called to do and be. It is the commission of the church that gives meaning to all else that is to be undertaken in the name of Christ. And maybe this morning, you struggle with mission. Maybe this morning you doubt that you could actually participate on God's mission.
Speaker 2:Maybe you're a little confused this morning about who he is and his mission in this world. Well, you're in good company because as we look at Matthew 28, the great commission, I believe the disciples also felt the same way. So in Matthew 28, starting in verse 16, we're going to look at some of the final words of Jesus, and in this time, we see this is after the resurrection story, and Matthew doesn't include other other encounters of Jesus in this story. This is after the resurrection, the encounters of Jesus in this story. This is after the resurrection, the gentile sorry, the, the disciples go straight to Galilee, and there's so no no other meetings are recorded.
Speaker 2:But this is what we call the great commission. A mandate that I believe still challenges the church today, guides the church, and is able to encourage us this morning. So, Matthew 28 starting in verse 16. Let us read. Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
Speaker 2:When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 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 in the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am with you to the very end of the age. This is God's word and it is true. There's 3 sections that I want to look at today, and I'm kind of broken them down this passage into just kind of 3 different sections.
Speaker 2:The first one would be the assessment. This is where Jesus is refining the to the disciples to go and make disciples, and the assurance, where the disciples are emboldened by the presence of God now and forever. So the first part, let's take a look the assessment. It's interesting, Jesus says to go to Galilee when they were in Jerusalem. This is a 90 mile journey, and Jesus says to go.
Speaker 2:And later on they're gonna be right back in in Jerusalem, in the book of Acts. So the first thing is he's assessing them, and he wants his disciples to do this. He wants them to be obedient. Obedience is always the standard. So, why this mountain in Galilee?
Speaker 2:Location, location, church. Location. You ever heard that before? I believe Jesus selected this location, because this is the culmination of His ministry. It's where it started, and it's where it's begin It's ending, and it's now where the disciples will continue on the work.
Speaker 2:70% of Jesus' ministry was there in Galilee with his disciples. It's a foreshadowing to display God's heart for the nations. Because from those, that literal mountaintop, the disciples would have been able to see all of Galilee and beyond the Sea of Galilee, the gentile nations. And we do not know what physical mountain Jesus is talking about, but it was it could have been Mount, Arbel, the Beatitudes. Some say it could be the Mount of Transfiguration.
Speaker 2:It could be a way to say to his enemy, Satan, look who else I have at a high place, a high mountain. You remember when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and Satan took him to a high place? And Satan revealed all of the kingdoms. He said, if you bow down and worship me, I will give you all of this. And in one way, Jesus is taking his down disciples to say, look at this.
Speaker 2:If you bow down and worship me, I will then give you my mission to reach the nations. And maybe it stands in stark contrast, but what what else? This would be the This is the perfect backdrop that Christ gives his disciples, this powerful great commission mandate. And don't miss this. With the disciples wanted to see Jesus, they had to go to Galilee.
Speaker 2:This is not an easy adventure, but they obeyed. And often, when it comes time to wanting to follow Christ, we we want the easy road. We want the gentle slope. But church, much like the disciples, if we want to know his plans, obedience has to be the standard. Secondly, the right response is always a posture of praise.
Speaker 2:It's always a posture of praise. Last week, Pastor Gabriel, he spoke on the core value of worship. And worship, it's the church's highest virtue. All throughout scripture, you see God longing for the worship of all the nations. The Psalms are filled with the praise and adoration of God.
Speaker 2:All creation cries out in worship back to the father, and at the end of time in Revelation that we see every nation, every tribe, every tongue worshiping our God. Gabriel said that God doesn't need our worship, but when we worship and praise him, it reveals to us more of who he is. And may I add, it also puts us in a posture to receive. So out of a posture to glorify God in worship, it places us in the best place to receive and then to respond in fulfilling the great commission. But look at the text again.
Speaker 2:Some worship and others did what? They doubted. They doubted. Often, I've wanted to skip past this this passage and this portion, but you know, man, I I can relate with this. I don't know if you can, but I can relate with this.
Speaker 2:See, this word doubt means it's their their kind of unwavering. Now, Jesus is not using this at this time to point out their sinfulness, but much more about their humility and frailty. Like Thomas. Remember who Thomas is? What is his nickname?
Speaker 2:Doubting Thomas. That guy gets such a bad rap. You know, after he touches the wounds of Christ, after he does this and he's commissioned, you know where he goes? He goes to India. He goes to India and begins to establish 7 churches.
Speaker 2:And today you can There's there's churches in India that track back their heritage all the way back to the apostle Thomas. Not too shabby for a guy who doubted. Right? I can I can relate with the disciples? I can relate with Thomas.
Speaker 2:You know, they they The disciples, remember, they showed up in Galilee. They followed. They were obedient, but some they had doubt. Sometimes we're devoted, sometimes we doubt. Sometimes I have faith, but Lord help me because sometimes I need help overcoming my doubt.
Speaker 2:I wonder if some of us, like Thomas and the disciples, we doubt, but do we admit to the lord and ask him to help us overcome our doubt, or do we feed that doubt, and does it come and grow into disbelief? And here's my point, even though we may doubt, Jesus doesn't withhold his presence and he doesn't disqualify us. But what do doubts do? They give us an opportunity for God to strengthen us. Now, notice in the text, without any rebuke, he drew near, defeating the doubting disciples.
Speaker 2:He says this, all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. He says this so we can be confident that Jesus has all authority. Now, in my home, my family has told me that my voice has a certain tone. That I can say things with a certain inflection that doesn't really represent my heart. It's a natural gift.
Speaker 2:Anyone else have that gift in this room? I don't know, but I I seem to have this, and and I I often will say to my family, this is not what I mean. Well, your tone says maybe otherwise. So I'm working on this. I'm I'm working on this everybody.
Speaker 2:I've confessed this before you. I need help. Pray for me. So, however, I don't believe when Jesus looks at the disciples in their doubt, he doesn't say to them, and I don't know. I wasn't there, and give me grant me a little liberty.
Speaker 2:I don't believe Jesus was saying, all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. I think Jesus is looking at his disciples, building them up, and as a friend reminds them, and maybe reminds us this morning for us doubters. Remember in your fear, in your doubt, in your dismay, remember the Father has handed me all authority. In heaven and even what you're facing right now here on earth, Praise god. What a relief.
Speaker 2:What a relief it is that we do not have to be the ones in authority to figure everything out, like it was up to us because he's been given all authority. Does Jesus have that kind of authority in your life? Is he first place in your life? Does he have first rights? Does the savior of your life truly have lordship?
Speaker 2:You see, Jesus establishes this with the disciples as well. Longs for us to do the same, because he wants us to know him before we go for him. I remember, when I was an intern here, I met a man named Howard Moore. He was the missions pastor. I think I have a picture of him right there.
Speaker 2:He was a missions pastor here at, First Friends Church, a former missionary in Taiwan for close to 40 some years as a other as an area, superintendent for the Friends denomination. And I remember sharing with this, you know, my call into ministry. I was a college student at Malone at the time, and I was so excited sharing about my story. I feel like how God's calling me either to be a pastor or maybe a missionary one day, and he just stopped me. And he looked at me and he said, very pointedly, he says, Scott, before anything, remember this.
Speaker 2:And he said this, and I'll never forget it. He said, first, a call to mission is first a call to Christ. A call to mission is a call to Christ. We have to know Jesus, and be a devoted follower of Jesus before we go. So the first half, so the first half of this has been all about the assessment of the disciples, their condition.
Speaker 2:The next is this great assignment, the great commission. And it says here that we are to be devoted, to Jesus wants us to be devoted to following God's mission. Again, it says, go therefore 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. He says, go. Then this part of the great commission, this word is not something that is passive.
Speaker 2:They actually In the Greek, it is an active word. It should say, I believe in the translation, if it was properly translated. It should say, as you go or in your going, meaning that we are to make disciples continually. It is an it's active, not inert, and, we are to be active as God is active in this world. It's a natural flow and outcome to go and make disciples.
Speaker 2:Making disciples, maybe you've heard this mandate a few times. We've done a series on discipleship, and maybe it's become becoming a little redundant. Good, because that is what we are about, making disciples. But let me challenge us a little bit here about the way I believe Jesus wants and intends for us to make disciples. Often we reduce discipleship Jewish culture and even the manner that Jesus taught his followers, they don't only share information, things about God, but they share their very lives.
Speaker 2:There's this Jewish expression, as one would follow their teacher, their rabbi. If you were a disciple, it would say, it sounded it said, may the dust of the rabbi cover you. Meaning that you walked so close and followed the rabbi's way so closely that you are covered by the dust of his sandals. Meaning that, not only did you listen and watch this rabbi, but you were able to absorb everything about what they said and how their lives in order to become like their teacher. This is the picture I believe Jesus has in mind when he tells us to make disciples.
Speaker 2:And what is discipleship? I believe a year ago, we did this, series, but pastor Nathaniel, defined it for us. He said that discipleship is the day by day commitment to allow Jesus to make me more and more like him and helping others do the same. So discipleship is not just to be discipled, but to make disciples, and of who? To go back to your text, it's of all the nations.
Speaker 2:All the nations. And I'm sure the disciples thought this is would be a challenge because they were God's chosen people, and it and it would be hard for them to go to foreign lands. But I want us to note, the word nations there does not mean actual nations and borders and countries. It's the word in the Greek ethne. It's where we get our word ethnic.
Speaker 2:So think people groups, don't think nations. And today, this this this is a little picture of our mission field today. Today, we have over 17,000 unique people groups in the world. Out of that, 7,402 are unreached people groups. That is in total of all people in the world out of the 8,000,000,000 some, 3,200,000,000 people have yet to ever hear the name of Christ.
Speaker 2:This is our mission field, And perhaps, you and I, we may be, we never go to these people or go to the nations, But there's a there's a there's a quote from John Piper, of the book called, Let the Nations Be Glad, and he says this and reminds us there are only three responses to the great commission. Go, send, or disobey. Often, we become inward focus and forget. God longs to see on earth as it is in heaven. Every nation, every tribe, every tongue worshiping together, and to do what?
Speaker 2:As we do this, we are to baptize, to identify, and notice it's not the names, but the name of the father and of the son and the Holy Spirit. To be united with the triune God. And then he says teaching them to obey all I have commanded you. All I have commanded you. Doesn't that kind of take your breath away?
Speaker 2:If you look at that, teach them everything I have told you. And today, that means if in our completed scriptures, it's 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 31,103 verses. That's a lot. That's a lot to teach. And I love to teach the Word of God, and this this is overwhelming at times.
Speaker 2:But may I suggest church, we start with what Jesus said in Matthew 22. As we disciple, show and display that we are to do 2 things. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. So more than just fulfilling heads, but fulfilling hearts for the things of God. And the last area is the assurance.
Speaker 2:I wanna focus on this. Says, surely I am with you. Jesus says to his disciples to the very end of the age. He says, be we are challenged to be comforted by the faithful assurance of Jesus. Some translations here say, behold, I am with you always.
Speaker 2:And I love that word behold because that word behold means to stop, pause, and ponder to remember who I am. And Jesus doesn't say, I might, I will, maybe I will delegate an angel to be with you always. He says, I am with you always. In your presence tense and throughout with you all of your days. And this could have a double meaning here too.
Speaker 2:When I read this, I I'm taken back to reminded about when Moses met met God at the burning bush and and God says, I am. And when Moses says, who should I go who who's gonna who should I tell people that, who sent me? God says, tell them I am sent you. So Jesus commissions his disciples and assures them that he will be with us. God will be with us, And he is with us right here, right now, presently.
Speaker 2:The question is, are we available? Are we be available to use God for God and his mission? Are we able to be to say, here I am, Lord. Send me. I wanna briefly share with you a little bit about our church and our history.
Speaker 2:You know, it wasn't about people's greatness or their abilities or or or they just said yes. In our church, we have a great history and I want to share just a little bit about some people who had said, yes. If you have this slide up here, go to this next slide for me. This picture right here is of the 1st missionary from our friend's denomination in the Ohio region that was sent out in 9 In 18, 18/87. Her name was Esther Butler.
Speaker 2:She was sent to Beijing, China, And for the next 20 years, she paved the way, and it wasn't men. So congratulation women, and it's by the way, Women's history month. So thank you women. It was the women, if you go to the next picture, they were they they were all women and they helped establish a friend's mission headquarters in China that existed until the late 19 forties when Mao pushed out all the missionaries. They established over 15 churches in their time and countless missionaries would continue to go over and and and to serve.
Speaker 2:Actually, I have another picture right over here, and if you go to this next slide for me, you'll see some of the, Chinese lahu people that gave their lives to Christ. And the next slide over here is Robert Duvall, and he was there for medical missions and great grandpappy Walter Williams, which our very own Dave Williams, who goes here, is related to. So not only that, today our friends movement, our e f m movement, if you take a look at this next slide, we have over, 10 missionary, I'm sorry. 21 missionary families working in 10 different countries through our Evangelical Friends missions. I would encourage you to go to their website.
Speaker 2:Continue to pray for our missionaries, but the work is not done. If you're familiar with Luke 10 that EFM is doing, right now, we have identified 6 fields that we are sending missionaries to go to. And if you look at this next slide, we have the countries listed right there, and we have, right there you can see Mexico, Shuar of Ecuador, South Sudan, refugees in Greece, immigrant workers in the gulf states starting in Dubai, and that's where our EFCR, our region is focusing on, and northeast Brazil. And you can see some of the future ministry, missionaries that have already agreed to be a part of this, and I'm wondering if there are people here that would be willing to go as well. And not only that, 1st friends here, we we we celebrate, if you go to this next slide.
Speaker 2:We have in our evangelical region, we have these church planters. We have up to 17 different families that are involved in church planting all throughout the east region, and then our own very church, we celebrate and support over 30 some missionaries. Here are our local missionaries and organizations, and then here are our international, missions on the next slide as well. And maybe you're looking at this and you feel overwhelmed, but have we taken the great commission? Literally.
Speaker 2:Let me push this a little bit farther. Have you taken it personally? If so, where are you reaching? Who are you discipling? And I'm constantly amazed by the people that God uses to advance his kingdom.
Speaker 2:He, at times, selects people with great abilities, but when you read the scriptures, you discover that more often not, he selects people that are available. Jesus is more concerned with your availability than your ability to serve him. And as a first step, I want to bring up, Ryan Barnett. He is our sports ministry director here at the church. And maybe, just maybe, one way that you can join him in his mission this morning is through the mission right here, right now, through our sports ministry.
Speaker 2:Brian, come share.
Speaker 3:Alright. Good morning, everybody. If I have not had the pleasure of meeting you, as Scott said, my name is Ryan Barnett. I am the director of sports ministry here at First Friends. And I've had the privilege of serving here since 2019 in the sports department.
Speaker 3:And so I'm coming up on 5 years, and what a blessing and joy it has been just to see God move, in our sports ministry. And so, I wanted to share just a couple highlights, a few stories, and then kind of bring some attention to a little insert that we put in your bulletin today. But you know, First Friends Sports started in 1958. And so the mission then, they built a gymnasium back at the old building, and their mission was to serve their congregation and their community. And you know, for us, what a blessing to see that we are still doing that.
Speaker 3:And so last year, 2023, we were able to serve 2,000 youth in, in sports. We were able to present the Gospel, to all of them. We're able to present the gospel to over a 1000 adults in our sports ministry. And this is through multiple different leagues. So we have about 10 different leagues, inside, outside sports, recreation, in in arts.
Speaker 3:And it's just been such a privilege to see what God is still doing, you know, with that faithful mission back then in 1958 to today, of being able to serve our congregation and our community. And so I wanted to share a couple stories, for, for you guys and some testimonies. And so, if you look at that insert, I, I wanted to break down kind of 2 ways that you can serve with us. And so the first one is if you're maybe like me, I love sports. Right?
Speaker 3:We have, we have kind of 2, 2 edges of the sword. We have the people that love sports. They know way too much about it. We know way too many stats that our wives get frustrated with us because they're like, You can't remember the birthdays of our kids, but you remember that. Right?
Speaker 3:So that's, that's me. I admit that. But, you know, there's, there's this heart of, I love sports and what can I do? And so one of the stories I want to share is, it's actually with our intern. And so, our intern, Landon Thorne, back in 2010, Landon was a kindergartner and he came to First Friends and he played in our basketball league.
Speaker 3:He ended up loving basketball and he continued to play all the way up through high school. When he started to get too old, he decided that he was gonna work as a scorekeeper. And he got plugged in and he was working, you know, for us in that way. And then his passion just kept growing from all the people that he was interacting with, from this ministry, from this building. You know, God was really capturing kind of what what his desires were in in life.
Speaker 3:And so he began to ask questions with me about, you know, what does it look like to become an intern? And so a few years ago, he became an intern. And now he's directing leagues, you know, he's, he's, serving faithfully, he's about to graduate from college, And we've been able to, for 14 years, do life with him, right? Like, disciple him just by walking together, by all these coaches' interactions, from the directors, from, from different people, and we've been able to encourage him and get ready to launch him into the workforce. And so that's just such an amazing testimony of what we do, of 14 years that we've had an impact on one person's life.
Speaker 3:And now, as they're about to enter adulthood, he's got a place of belonging, he's got, community, and he's been discipled, through first friends. And so then there's the other side, right? Of all of you that maybe are like, you've already tuned me out because it's sports, right? I get that too. But the other story I want to share is, 1, and I didn't ask her if I could share it, so next service, I'll have to, like, get a thumbs up from her.
Speaker 3:But, Linda, Linda Eckler, she told me just a couple weeks ago that one of her nurses that she constantly interacts with, she's been able to share just kind of her life and and her story with her and in doing so, she, kind of learned about the beliefs that her nurse has. And so she began, you know, I'm going to pray for my nurse to find truth, to find belonging, to find community. And wouldn't you know it, her daughter signed up for a volleyball league, not out of Linda doing anything except for praying. And so in doing that, you know, now she's been able to open up a new way of communi communicating with her nurse, of here's here's our story. You know, this is what First Friends believes.
Speaker 3:This is what I believe, and I'm praying for you. And and her nurses responded with I love your church. We love the devotionals and we're really getting encouraged by this. And you know, we haven't we haven't seen a commitment come out of this, but it's opened the door, right? It's opened the door for the gospel to go forward.
Speaker 3:And so maybe for you, you're kind of like I don't like sports. The bare minimum that we would ask is add first friend sports to your prayer list. Be praying for us. Be praying for our coaches. Be praying for our directors.
Speaker 3:Be praying for our community that they would choose to play at First Friends, you know, over somewhere else, that they would come and receive that encouragement. And God, we just pray that, you know, pray for their hearts, right? That when they are hearing the gospel, that it is falling on good soil. And so if you kind of look at this, we have a few things on the back of different activities, different events that are kinda like a one day thing. And so this Friday, we have a very large one day thing.
Speaker 3:This is our our volleyball celebration and so we will have, we have a little over 300 girls that are in our volleyball program. All of them and their families will come, we'll serve, food, we'll present the gospel to them as well, and we'll just celebrate a season that they had played. And so we invite you, to come and to see what that looks like, to experience, just a glimpse of what we do, here at First Friends. But I encourage you, you know, if nothing else, add us to your prayer list, because we need a lot of prayer.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Brian. We just give him thanks and appreciation. He and his, staff and crew do a phenomenal job. And again, it's amazing what God will do when you say yes. Not because of your great ability for him, but your great availability availability with him.
Speaker 2:Are you available? Are you willing to say yes? And here's one great way for you to take that step, because the mission field is coming to us each and every week. Would you stand and join us in prayer as we pray over, all of us, but especially our sports ministry as we continue to worship. Let's pray.
Speaker 2:Lord, we do come before you. May our hearts be open and available to you, Lord. Not if, but when you do interrupt us, Lord, we can say, yes, Lord. Here we are. Send me.
Speaker 2:Send us. God, you have come to seek and save the lost, to reconcile all things back to yourself. Lord, help us step out in faith and be empowered by your spirit so we may proclaim boldly that Christ has come to save sinners. So Lord, we pray over the sports ministry. We pray over our missionaries.
Speaker 2:We pray over us. Encourage us, even in our doubts. Speak to us. Give us confidence in Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us for this week's message. One way you could connect further with First Friends Church is through our website, firstfriends.org. There, you can learn about our equip groups as well as our upcoming events for all ages. On Sundays, we gather at 9 and 10:30 AM, and we'd love to see you there. Have a great week.