Morgan Teruel: Hey. Thanks so much for listening to Sandals Church. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We hope you enjoy this message.
Pastor Jeff Whye: Hey, Sandals Church. Let me tell you something. You are going somewhere. You are. You are on your way.
Believe it or not, there is a destination, there is a path that you are on, and and it might be intentionally or it might be unintentionally. You know how I know this? Because you're a person. We, you, I are human beings. And and what we do as human beings is that we do.
We're always doing something. That's that's what we do. Even if it's nothing, that's that's something. Right? I mean, you may be on a road, a boat, a bridge to nowhere, but I feel like I've heard that before.
But but still but still, a direction and a destination you are on, positive or negative. And imagine this imagine this. Imagine if you get your mind, your heart, your spirit, your body focused on something, then watch out. Because then you are on mission. You're on a mission.
Now you may be someone that's in church, out of church, deep church, unchurched. Regardless of where you are and how you found yourself here today, most of us know what mission is. Some of us are on a mission right now. You are focused and driving toward something. In fact, I actually I actually remember one of my top missions in life, and it was actually when I found my wife.
Can I say amen? Amen. Come on. Amen. Amen.
I I I when I met my wife, we were both in grad school, and she was getting her second master's degree. I was barely getting my first and only master's degree. In fact, I felt like that school mastered me. But but it was the 1st day of class, the 1st day of the semester, and it was the 1st class. And and she got there early.
She sat humbly back in in the back of the classroom and stadium seating, and she arrived on time, and she was ready to go to learn again. But I arrived 20 minutes late, 20 minutes late, arrogantly, and I was loud and I was late. And and I got there, but but I had a full suit on. I had a full suit on because I was I went I I was all about brownnosing. I was all about bread.
In fact, I didn't start out this color. That's how much I have brown nosed in my life. But but the class had started, and and and I walked in late. And, guys, I'm telling you, my my hair was 6 inches long. Can you imagine this?
It was like a lion's mane just waving all around. But but I walked in late, and and not only did I I I didn't, like, kind of, like, sneak in. I sat right up in front of the professor, again, brown nosing, and and and I was ready for class. But this is what happened. 5 minutes into the class Well well, 25 minutes for the rest of everybody else.
But 5 minutes into class, I I actually literally thought, Man, this class is a joke. I am dropping this class tomorrow. And so then, since I knew I was gonna be dropping the class, I started looking around to see if I noticed anyone or if I knew anyone, that I that I knew or if I didn't know. And so I started looking around and then and then I saw my future wife. I saw her there.
I locked eyes on her and she had eyes on the teaching. She was she was focused. But but but I I I wanna I wanna show you exactly what happened. My wife was sitting right about there. Okay?
And and I was I was I was in front I I was in the front, and and and I started looking around. And this is exactly what happened. And I started looking around. Oh, let me see if I know anyone. Let me see if I know Oh.
All right. Crazy though. That's exactly what I did. And for this 3 hour class, I turned around and looked at her just like that about 18 times. So then, as soon as the class ended, where do you think I went?
Man, come on, somebody. I beelined it straight to her. I beelined it straight to her. And she and she obviously she obviously knew like, Oh, my gosh. This guy is looking at me.
She actually thought like, Is there a clock behind me or something? Like And I want And if I knew that, I could have been like, No, baby. It's you. Ain't no black. I don't I don't be looking at a clock.
This is for decoration. But, as soon as the class ended, I beelined it straight to her, and I walked up to her, and I said, My name is Jeff. You must be new here. I got lines. Come on.
That was a pathetic line. There was a lot of new people there, but this is the only one I cared about right now. I said, My name is Jeff. You must be new here. What's your name?
And so, I don't know if you know, my wife's nickname is Nikki, but she told me her her birth name. And she said, My name is Monique. And I said, All right, Monique. All right, a black name. Come on, somebody.
A black name. And she said, It's French. I said, Uh-uh, it's Black. We done took it. How long?
How long? I told myself I had to meet her. I had to meet her. I got up and I did something about it. I made it my assignment to meet her.
I don't even know what the what the assignment was for that class. I I don't really care. I made my own assignment up. And I had to meet her. I was on mission to meet my wife.
And someone said, Well, Jeff, you should have paid attention. Well, if I paid attention, I wouldn't have found my queen. I wouldn't have found my bride. I I was being led by the Holy Spirit. Look, maybe it was your spouse.
Maybe it was your desire to have kids. Maybe it was your need to excel in school. Maybe it was athletics. Maybe it was a title. Maybe it was a promotion.
You fill in the blank. At some point in your life, you have been on a mission for something. That's right. You have. Amen.
We are in a series a series called The Power of Us. And today, we are talking about the power of our mission. Amen. The power of our mission. And you need to know that God has a mission for you.
He has a mission for us. I wanna jump right in today and dissect this word a little bit, this word mission because I think when we hear the word mission, we probably think missionary or, you know, we think special ops, we think military, maybe we think, of an astronaut, or we think, of someone's I I don't know. Maybe you think of Ethan Hunt. I don't know who you think of or what you think of when you hear the word mission, but this is the definition of mission. An assignment or a task that is carried out by an individual or a group that usually involves traveling.
Mission also could be pre established a pre established objective by someone and then carried out by someone else of their own free will. That's what mission is. You see, I think all of us have been on mission at some point in our life. Or you will be. The question is, whose mission will you be on?
And what mission will you be on? I want you to know upfront that that at the end of our time today, at the end of our time today, we will be commissioning you to whatever mission god has for us. We're gonna do that later on. Our main historical and biblical passage today will come from the apostle Paul and his letter to Timothy located in the New Testament. 1st Timothy 112 through 17, starting at 12.
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him. Even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ in my insolence, I persecuted his people. But god had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14.
Oh, how oh, how generous and gracious our lord was. He filled me with the faith and love that can only come from Jesus Christ. This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them all. But God but God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst of sinners.
Then others will will realize that that they too can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever. He is the eternal king, the unseen one who never dies. He alone is God. Amen.
Come on. Let's pray. Father God, thank you so much for this moment. Lord, this is the day that you have made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Oh, for those who are followers of Jesus Christ, oh, we thank you for the joy you gave to us. The world didn't give it to us and the world can't take it away. Thank you so much, dear god, for what you're doing. God, it is not by happenstance that we are here right now. So, father, since you have have helped direct us to this place, father, my prayer is that we receive all that you have for us in this moment.
Holy Spirit, my God, speak through me. Holy Spirit, help us all to hear and receive whatever it is you have for us today. In Jesus' name, we pray. And we all said together, amen. Here we read this letter from Paul, the same Paul who started most of the churches, who started most of the churches in the New Testament.
And he's writing to his young protege, his young Padawan, Timothy. Before we get into this message, I I I wanna say that Paul has shown us a part of what Christian living is all about. Paul, an older man, was a mentor and someone who led Timothy, a younger man, in the ways of Jesus. He chose Timothy and he said, Follow me as I follow Christ. He said, Learn from me.
But know this, Paul himself at one time was a mentee. He was led by Barnabas, a church leader who taught Paul. Timothy spent time and was led by Paul. Paul spent time and was led by Barnabas, sharing life together, living life together, and learning. There is no better way to learn and to teach someone than to share life and experiences with that individual.
I remember my first mentee, my first mentor in life, the person that mentored me. His name was Deacon Bob Jackson. And he was, about 50 years old at the time, and I was in middle school. And he showed me how to operate audio equipment and a video camera. Yes.
It was VHS and it was analog. But because of his teaching, I actually ended up becoming the lead and head audio engineer of this 1,000 member church when I was in 10th grade. I was the lead audio engineer. And then, also, because of this actually, I majored my major in college was communication, but my emphasis was around broadcast and TV production. And that was because of what he put inside of me.
I started also leading for the first time in high school due to my youth pastor, Kerwin Manning. I didn't know I was a leader and a speaker, but he saw something in me and he gave me opportunities to lead and speak when I did not think I should be leading and speaking to nobody. And you know what's awesome about this situation? You know what's really cool? I did not go to any of these men.
They came to me. They sought me out. They found me and they poured what they knew into me. And because of them, I sought other mentors out while at the same time seeking others to mentor. I have worked at 3 universities, I think about 8 years altogether, and and and I led teams.
I led I led a bunch of college students who desired to be leaders and who desired to be followers of Jesus Christ. It was awesome. And and and the churches that I've been a part of, staff or not staff, I've also continued to find individuals that I could mentor, younger men. My wife and I have been mentoring young, young married individuals for years now, many, many individuals. Being led by someone and and leading others is part of being a follower of Jesus Christ.
Learning from the generation above you and teaching the generation below you is what we should be doing and and how we should be leading the way as Christians. And understand this. As I taught those college students, man, I learned something. I learned a lot. I mean, one of the things I learned was what was what the fox said.
I didn't know what the fox said before I hung out with college students, but now I know. Ring ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. Pow pow pow pow pow pow. Now I know what the fox says. Hotty, hotty, hotty ho.
I'm telling you, I got to discover what the fox says. And I received that blessing, and now you have that blessing. Go look it up. Look it up. Don't look it up.
Don't. In all seriousness, I learned a lot from these young people. Learning Listen to me. Learning goes both ways. Learning goes both ways.
As I was teaching them, I was receiving. Actually, I just heard this week. This week, I heard this and then read for myself that this organization called Access discovered that when it comes to the new and this next generation of young people, Gen Zers, that people that the people most likely to reach them the best is baby boomers. Baby boomers. They're grandparents.
This is what their their their finding said. It said, Baby boomers could be key in reaching today's teens and tweens. When possible, enlist the help of a trusted baby boomer in your discipleship efforts. Man, do you hear that? Earl, that's you.
Mildred, that's you. Earl, that Mildred, that's you. That's you, friends. I I make light of that, but but Earl and Mildred have some wisdom. They have some wisdom.
And and not only that, but but they have a foundation that I believe we're losing today in our world. And I don't think I don't think we should lose it. I think we should find it, and they have it. You see, the church should be the place the place for intergenerational ministry. And apostle Paul displays that for us.
At the end of the day, pastor Kerwin, deacon Jackson, Paul, and Barnabas were only pouring out what was poured into them, which leads us to our first point. The power of our mission is found when we join God in what he already started, what he already started. Verse 12, continue on with what Paul wrote to Timothy. Whose work? Paul's work?
Our work? No. No. No. No.
His work. The work of Jesus Christ. And it's in his strength, not yours. It's in Christ's strength. What we are reading about and and and what we are are discovering today is the work and the mission of God.
The other part of that line also says this. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve. Jesus himself sought you out. Jesus himself appointed you. In this passage, Paul is telling Timothy and recapping only what Jesus said in John 15 16 when Jesus said at 16, you did not choose me.
I chose you. I chose you and I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will remain. I want you to produce. I want a good return on the investment that I put in you, fruit that will remain, that will last. The word appoint means to be chosen for a particular task or job.
You have been appointed, chosen, and selected by god to do a work from god. A work from God. Verse 13, even though I used to blaspheme man, Paul is saying even though I used to attack, even though I rejected rejected Christ, the name of Christ, he said in my insulins I didn't know Paul was a diabetic. In my In my insulins, meaning in my disrespect, I disresected the people of God. I persecuted his people, but God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.
I didn't know. Paul's saying, I didn't know. Listen, listen, we need to have mercy on people who beat up the church and talk about the church. Because it's very possible that they don't know. Actually, I know they don't know.
They don't know what they're doing. And listen to me. When in and when that person needs to be judged, it won't be by you. It'll be by God. And who knows?
God may use that very person just like he used Paul. In 14, Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was. Come on. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was and is. He filled me with the faith and love that comes from Jesus Christ.
When you have an encounter with Jesus, there is nothing else that will fill you like the love that can only come from God. Paul has a unique encounter with Jesus, and then he discovers the work, the task, the mission that God had for him. Paul actually went from an accuser of the people of God to an apostle to an apostle called by God. The term apostle actually means sent. Sent.
And listen, Jesus himself was sent by God, his daddy. And now he tells us, now he asks us, now he invites us to continue to do the work that he was doing. In John 21, after the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus appeared to the disciples and commissioned them to be sent as apostles, saying, peace be with you. Come on. Peace be with you.
As the father has sent me, I am sending you. God wants to send you somewhere with work to do. He is, he is joining us in us. You know why? Because he commissioned us.
He commissioned us. That co, co missioning means he's joining with us. You're not doing this alone. He is co missioning us. He's commissioning you into this work.
The fact that he's with us means that he's joining us, so you don't have to fret. The power is not on you. The power is in the Holy Spirit. Right, man. That's right.
You just need to be obedient. The work that god is doing is something he loves to do with and through us. I mean, the whole idea of work is just something that god is all about. Amen. It's really that's what he's all about.
Even in Genesis when this whole thing began, even in Genesis when the world began, he made Adam, and then it said he placed him into the garden to work it. Cultivate it. To get to it. Keep this thing running, Adam. And then he and then he brought him the animals and said, You name it.
Name it and claim it. Can I ask you a question? Where has God placed you? Where has God placed you? Many of us are right now, we are we are supposed to be exactly where we are, but we're trying to escape and slide in, slide out, day in, day out.
How can I just get in here just to get out? Could it be that Jesus is telling you that you are exactly where you are supposed to be? But, Jesus, but, Jesus, there's sinners here. Exactly. Bring my love, bring my compassion, bring my word into this place.
And don't forget, you were a sinner. I mean, you still sin. What, where, and how is the work that God has called you to? Where is that work? And listen, the method, the vehicle, the strategy, the place, the timing, even certain people, and the details will be different from person to person, from personality to personality, from giftedness to giftedness, but the work, the message, and the heart of of the task is always still the same for all of us.
And here's that work. Verse 15. This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners. Don't get it twisted.
Don't try to wrap anything up. To save sinners. And then Paul says, I am the worst of them all. Our mission is that we are to join Jesus in sharing Jesus, to help get people, sinners, saved. As Matthew and Luke lets us know in in their chapter, chapter 10, that Jesus sent the disciples to the lost.
He sent them out. He sent them to the lost, those who were separated from Christ, and to tell people that the kingdom of heaven is here. Basically, in short, Jesus has entered the room. The Savior is here. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, we also read also from the apostle Paul.
He lets us know the ministry and the mission and our role. 2 Corinthians 5:17 starting at 17, he says He says, this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. Man, praise god. I just love that part. I don't like the person I used to be.
A new person. The old life is gone, the new has become. And all of this is a gift from God who brought us back to himself through Christ and God has given us God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. Isn't that interesting? And all of this is from a gift to God, a gift from God and brought us back to himself through Christ.
And God has given us this task of reconciling people. What does that mean, Pastor Jeff? What does that mean? That means we are separated from God, and now we join God in in helping people find God. Amen.
That's what we do. And then it says this, for God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. If you're a follower of Jesus, Jesus is in you, helping you to reconcile people to his daddy. No longer counting people's sins against him, and he gave us. Or another version is he entrusted to us this wonderful message and ministry of reconciliation.
So we are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us. Do you know what an ambassador is? An ambassador is someone who who is from another country, from another land, from another, government, and they are sent by that land, by that country, by that government to another place, another area, another land, to another group of people to do to do an assignment, a temporary assignment. You are there on temporary assignment.
You represent us, but that's where you're supposed to go. We are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Let me tell you, you you are not of this world. I kind of hate when people put that on the on the back of the car because then they're the ones that are the most nastiest people on the road. But but listen to me.
But they're right, though. I'm not of this world. Someone said, you're right, pastor Jay. Look, I you are not of this world. You are a citizen of heaven.
You are an ambassador of Jesus Christ. You're an ambassador, someone who is sent on mission. And our task your task our task is to help reconcile people to God. -Yes. -That's what you You shouldn't have shown up today.
That's what you're supposed to be doing. -Come on now. -Reconciling people to God. And, honestly, just the ministry of reconciling reconciling people to people because we jack up. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are called to be a missionary for Jesus.
You are a missionary. If you're a Christian, that means you're a missionary. It goes with the territory. And what is our mission? To tell people about Jesus.
One of the ways we do this is by telling our story, which which another way the power of mission is found is in telling my story as a display of God's mercy. Amen. Amen. Verse 16. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst of sinners.
Paul had no problem sharing his story. He had no problem sharing his faith, sharing his life with others. He said, look at me and I'll show you Jesus and what he's done. I love that Paul says that that he is a prime example of Jesus' great patience and and that he was the worst of sin. Tell me, like, oh, I done taken s spot, Paul.
I'm the worst. I think I think this is so good for us to hear. And and listen, this is this is what God does, if you didn't know. He is in the business of taking broken people, broken people and using them to do amazing work. He says, the other, the other part of that line says, he says, Then others will realize that they too can believe in him and receive eternal life.
I will never forget, when when I just got to L. A, in 2001, maybe it was 2 or 3, I I actually went to this house church in LA. I think it was in Topanga Canyon. I went to this house church. It's about 8 young adults there.
And this guy, this, this this this preacher guy came up from San Diego, and we just had church. It was, like, a Saturday night or Sunday night, and we had church, 8 of us young adults. And and I remember the 4th month in, we met we met once a month. And and I remember the 4th month in, one of those individuals brought this girl. I can't remember her name.
I don't remember her name. But I remember what she smelled like and I remember what she looked like. She smelled like weed. She was all tatted up. She was cussing up a storm.
She had she had piercings everywhere. I I I mean, I was like, What in the world? Crazy cut her hair? I I mean, I was like, What is happening? But by the end of that time that she was there, she gave her life to Christ.
She gave her life to Christ. And then the next month, she showed up with 3 other people. And then the next month, she showed up with 4 other people. And then the next month, she showed up with, like, 5 other people. This girl was on fire.
She was on fire. Let me tell you right now. Ignorance on fire is better than intelligence on ice. We have a lot of cold, scripture knowing Christians in the church who have who have won no one to the Lord. This girl had no clue what she was doing.
All she knew was that, Man, I I once was blind, but now I see. Man, the life I used to live, I don't need to live that life anymore. I couldn't believe it. She tripled this group by herself. This is one of the first times I I realized in my life that God uses jacked up people to do great things.
All the day long, God uses jacked up people in the Bible and Paul was one of them. And and you may or may not know these people, but I wanna introduce you to some of the main characters that god used for his good in the bible. You I don't know if you remember Noah. Right? Noah?
Remember 2 by 2? And what? 2 by he was a drunkard, drunken brother. And God God God gave this God gave no kids having Sarah a promise, and she laughed in God's face. He said, I'm a give you a child.
She went, You crazy? There there was this guy, Jacob. Liar. He was a liar, a deceiver. You know David?
You know David from David and Goliath? You know, swing the sling, right? Sing That wasn't the only thing he was swinging. He was swinging his drawers. He was swinging his underwear.
It came right off, and he found himself having an affair with a married woman. What about Solomon, right? Solomon, you know, the the wisest person in the Bible? He also was the wisest person in the Bible. He had 700 wives, not the Lord's will.
You also get mother in laws that come with it. Hey, do do you Mary, the mother of Jesus, she was poor. And I don't mean poor. She was po. She couldn't even forward the O and the R.
She was po. Naomi was a widow. Moses ststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststststtttt. And Jesus called Peter Satan. The apostle Paul murdered people.
Listen. If God can use them Say no more. Say no more. Come on. Say no more.
Say the Lord. Say the Lord. Say the Lord. What is your excuse? You don't have an excuse.
That's right. Missional God work, kingdom work is always done by messy people. Always done by messy people. You know why? Because it's not about you.
It's not about you. You might be saying, Well, I'm too busy. Lame excuse. Well, I never graduated college. Not a problem.
Well, I slept around in high school. God can definitely use you. Well, I'm on my 3rd marriage. Really? I know someone who was on their 5th marriage, and God used her to reach her entire town.
Well, I'm too young. Nope. God loves using young people. He actually uses young people a lot of time to start a a revolution. I'm too old.
I'm too retired. I got nothing left in the tank. Oh, I know a guy who is 99 years old. If you are younger than 99 years old, then God can use you. Well, I guess that's me.
You see, the problem is the problem is that we think it's about us or or that your junk could inhibit the work of God. If that's true, you don't know my God. Come on, now. You don't know him because God does his best work with janky people. And who's janky people?
All y'all. Listen, don't Listen, don't take my word for it. Read the Bible for yourself. Read the Bible for yourself. But when Jesus sends the disciples on mission, and he did this a couple of times a few times, when he sent his disciples on mission in the gospels who who by the way, all of these disciples, they were all ragamuffins.
These guys were a motley crew. Seriously. And if God can use them I I mean, say And and these guys, these ladies that listen And you know what's interesting? When God sent them out, I know they felt like they were inadequate. They saw Jesus, what he did.
And like, man, you want me to be sent out? They thought they were inadequate. He tells them that he is going with them, not to worry. Don't worry. Don't worry about what to say.
The Holy Spirit will let you know. And if you're rejected, to shake the dust off your feet and keep on stepping because it's not about you. Just go. Yes, we need to be equipped. Yes, we need to be prepared.
It wasn't the 1st day of Jesus' school that he sent them out. But but at some point, you got to get out of the classroom and just go. See what happens. Plus, I I think we all know this. You learn the most anyway when you're in the field.
That's when you really know what to know. And know this: God God was already working before you got there anyway. And when you leave, God is gonna continue to work there. You just go and play your part. I mean, I know this series is called The Power of Us, but, really, it's the power of him.
It's the power of him. It's not our power, not our power. It's his power. It is it's his power that he gave to us. That's the power of our mission.
Church, friends, take a breath. I'm getting worked up today. Let's just relax because this is a process. It is a process. This takes time.
And one of the best ways to share your faith and to share your story is just by living with people and sharing life with people. Your agenda is loving them into the kingdom, not pushing them into the kingdom, not beating them into the kingdom, not shoving them into the kingdom. I think that this is one of the reasons why this next generation coming up is is is not coming to Jesus as fast as the older generation did because because they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Care about people. Love people.
Get to know people. You know, I I I feel like as the online pastor and part of the online ministry here at St. Louis Church, I I feel like, we are getting back to the heart of ministry and missions. Our online ministry, the online pushes us, guys. It pushes us to discover where they are at and then figure out how to bring them Jesus in a way that's palatable palatable for them.
In fact, part of my degree in seminary, school of intercultural studies was was cross cultural studies. And what does it look like when you encounter another culture that doesn't know Jesus and that you don't know? You stay there. You hang out. You get to know them for a year, maybe 2 years.
And then once you come to discover who they are, once you come to discover their ways, once you come to discover their culture and how they do things, and once they know you, then you can bring them Jesus on a plate that's palatable for them. This is what I learned in seminary. I feel like all that's coming back to me in this online experience that I get to do all the time. And Paul says, actually, the exact same thing in 2 Corinthians 922. He says, I am flexible.
I am adaptable and able to do and be whatever is needed for all kinds of people so that in the end, I can use any and every means necessary at my disposal to offer them salvation. I become all things to all men so that I might win some. All of this obviously is within the will of god. We need to allow the holy spirit, friends, to work through us whatever means necessary, which is why we should know that the power of our mission is found in remembering the holy spirit changes hearts. The holy spirit changes hearts.
The second half of that verse 16 says, then others will realize that they too can believe in him and receive eternal life. Friends, let's not force people or force the Holy Spirit. I mean, Jesus never did that. He never forced himself or his message on anybody. He was compassionate.
He was patient and he let love lead. The best conversations I've had in my life when when I've when I've helped people to to discover Jesus, those best conversations whenever, whenever I allowed the spirit of god to move and not me to move. Yes, you need to be ready. You need you need to be present but allow the Lord to work. You know, one of these stories is, a guy named Tony.
I remember meeting Tony and, I I met him and and I I heard the Holy Spirit say, you need to get to know him. So I immediately tell I tell him this. I say, God told me to tell you that I'm supposed to get to know you. He's like, okay. And so and so, we started hanging out at a coffee shop.
Every single month, we hung out at a coffee shop. Tony was he he's been here he at the time, he was here for about 8 years. He came here for school. He was Japanese and and, I just we chatted. We we hung out for 8 months.
I got to know him. He got to know me. I found out his religion that he followed with Shintoism. And and and he asked me a ton of questions, but we just hung out. And I remember I remember that 8th month.
I remember driving up to the coffee shop and sitting in my car. I'm like, man, today's the day today's the day toast. Today is Tony's gonna give his life to Christ. He's gonna give his life to Christ. I know.
I know it. And the Holy Spirit says, not today. He says, You don't need to do anything. This is exactly what I heard. You don't need to do anything.
He will let you know when he's ready. That's exactly what I heard. And I was like, Man, what? Okay. So a year and a half later a year and a half, I hung out with this guy.
I'm driving up to the coffee shop, and and I'm about to get out, and the Holy Spirit says, Today's the day. Come on. I'm gonna He said, Today's the day. -All right. -Today's the day he will let you know.
So I go in that go in that coffee shop. We're talking as we normally do. And out of nowhere, completely unconnected, he says, Jeff, how do I get baptized? How do I get baptized? And I said, are you what?
I I wonder how do I get so I told him, you get baptized by giving your life to Christ. Well, how do I do that? So then I walked him through, how to do that and he did. And then 2 weeks later, I got to baptize Tony. And he is married today.
Him and his wife are followers of Jesus Christ. I I mean, it was awesome. It was awesome. I'm telling you, friends, if you've never helped lead someone to Christ, it is the best thing in the world, but that took time and patience. The power of our mission is filled with hope, not in our abilities, but in the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit.
We're about to commission you. But before I do, I want to remind us about the great commission. Matthew 28 17 20. When Jesus saw him when Jesus saw I'm sorry. When they saw Jesus when disciples, everyone gathered around, when they saw Jesus, they worshiped him.
But some doubted. Isn't that good to know that even though you doubt, it doesn't count you out? Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I commanded you, and surely I will be with you to the very end of the age. And then he completed the commissioning in Acts 1:8 saying, And you will be my disciples, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Where is God leading you? What would it look like to go wherever you are with the understanding that God has sent you there on mission to serve? In your home, at work, at that anywhere location, at that campus, in your neighborhood, in your city. And listen, there are so many watching right now. There are so many listening right now.
People that represent other cities, represents other areas of the country, represents other countries, other nations. Wherever you are, God has called you there. Period. But has god called you to Jerusalem? Maybe your city.
Has god called you to Judea, your state, somewhere in that state? Has god called you to Samaria, somewhere in your country? Maybe you need to go somewhere else in your country, discover what god is doing. Maybe god has called you to the ends of the earth. Maybe you need to go to another country, another nation, another culture.
If god says go, we gotta go. We should go. We gotta go. We gotta stop wanting Listen to me. Listen to me.
Hear me. We have got to stop wanting people to come to us. Jesus didn't do it. He didn't. He he he he didn't he didn't he wasn't up in heaven and and said, hey, come out here.
You don't wanna be you see that Latin? No, it ain't Latin. See, escalate? No. You got a rope?
Hey, jump. Jump. Christ's cross will make you drunk. No. He didn't he didn't do that.
He didn't do that. He came to us. Listen to me. Christ Christ left. He came to us, and he gave us and called it the great commission, not the great invitation.
The Great Commission. So this is what we're gonna do. As we end, I I want you to bow your head and and I want you to hear from God. I I want you to receive from God today, maybe in a couple of months, maybe in, you know, next year or 2 years, your mission should you choose to accept it. And listen, you have a choice.
But when you hear from God, when you receive that confirmation, when when the writing is on the wall, I pray that you will say yes and then move. Amen? Come on. Let's pray. Oh, Lord God.
Father, thank you that you took the first step as god's appointed and anointed and sent one. Without your obedience, without you saying yes, lord, we would not even be here. We would not have the opportunity to share your glory, to share in your glory, Lord, and and to be saved from our sin and to be saved from ourselves. Saints, thank you, Lord, for showing us the way and then asking us to share you with others in this amazing work to help people find spiritual freedom, salvation, and eternal life. Lord, help us to pray and seek where you want us to be and where you want us to go.
Father, help us to know who you are sending us to. Maybe some of us right now, we got someone in our mind. Maybe some of us have been have been sharing life with someone, dear God. Praise God. But, father, who is that person, Lord, that you were sending us to?
Maybe we're thinking of of of where you want us to go and win. We want to be on the lookout and ready. Father, we want to be prayed up, read up, trusting in you as as people who are part of Sandals Church, whether online, at a local campus, or or or at a Sandals Church, anywhere location. Father, we pray that we would reach out to our community and the people you have put in front of our path. Help us to to do intergenerational, ministry.
Help us to do intergenerational ministry and and for us to pray for our Barnabas and also pray for our Timothy, the person that we're supposed to be being led by and the person that we're supposed to be leading. Father, as your servant, as a pastor at Sandals Church, and as a shepherd in the faith, I commission these disciples, these apostles, these men and women of God to do the work of God, the mission of God, all honor and glory to God forever and ever. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.