Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023042S
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00:00 (uplifting theme music)
00:13 (music ends) 00:16 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:20 We're glad that you could join us again this week 00:22 as we continue our journey through 00:24 "God's Mission, My Mission." 00:25 And we are looking today at week number three, 00:28 "God's Call to Mission," an exciting study 00:31 which we'll begin right after prayer. Let's pray. 00:35 Father, thank You for being with us today 00:37 and giving us an opportunity to learn more about 00:39 how we can be involved in the mission 00:41 of sharing the gospel with others. 00:43 We ask that You'll bless our time together today, 00:45 and we thank You in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:48 Well, we're grateful this week 00:50 to have Greg Whitsett with us. 00:51 He is the planning director at Adventist Mission. 00:54 Greg, welcome. 00:56 >>Thank you, glad to be here. >>So tell us 00:57 a little bit about this; what is it 00:59 to be the planning director at Adventist Mission? 01:01 What's kind of your background that's brought you 01:03 to where you are and what you're doing right now? 01:05 >>Well, my wife and I enjoyed 16 years 01:08 of mission service in Southeast Asia. 01:10 In the last five years, 01:11 we've been working at the General Conference. 01:13 Right now as planning director, 01:15 the great thing I enjoy is that I actually am able to 01:18 partner with the Adventist Mission directors 01:20 and the divisions and the attached unions 01:22 to the General Conference and support them with funding, 01:25 but also in any other ways--training 01:27 and different resources and that sort of thing. 01:30 >>And so you're bringing that to all of us 01:33 so that we can figure out how we can be more effective 01:35 in the mission fields wherever we happen to be, 01:38 and we're grateful for that. 01:39 So this week, we're looking at "God's Call to Mission." 01:42 Now, it would be a natural assumption for us 01:45 to say, "Oh, God's call to mission, Matthew 28. 01:49 "Let's go to the Great Commission 01:51 and just find out all about it." 01:53 But in this lesson, 01:56 you didn't jump straight to Matthew 28. 01:58 You went somewhere else. 02:00 Tell us where you went and why you went there. 02:02 >>Well, yeah, we go to, actually, the Tower of Babel in-- 02:06 >>Naturally. >>...naturally-- (laughs) 02:09 in Genesis, chapter 11, and the reason for that 02:11 is a couple of things. One, 70% of the Bible is story. 02:16 And so we find a lot of meaning in story. 02:18 But second of all, this is where we have the dilemma 02:21 of the languages being confused, 02:23 and how is God gonna resolve this? 02:24 Because that's the barrier; you know, 02:26 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is to help us 02:28 overcome the barrier of languages. 02:30 So it just seemed like a good place to begin. 02:32 >>All right, so we're starting here in the Tower of Babel. 02:35 Give us a little picture of what's going on. 02:37 >>Well, absolutely. 02:39 Why don't we actually turn there to Genesis, chapter 11, 02:43 and we'll look at a few verses. 02:45 >>Sure. 02:46 >>And beginning in verse one, it says, 02:48 "Now the whole earth had one language and one speech." 02:51 Wouldn't that be nice today? Google Translate helps us, 02:55 but--I enjoyed a ride once across Moscow, 02:58 talking with a taxi driver using Google Translate. 03:00 It worked quite well, but we know that often it doesn't. 03:03 The languages, of course, are not one language anymore, 03:06 but at this time of earth's history, it was. 03:09 And in verse two, "And it came to pass, 03:12 "as they journeyed from the east, 03:14 "that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, 03:17 "and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, 03:19 'Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.'" 03:23 And so then they--it begins to describe this process, 03:26 what they're doing, and the reason is in verse 4: 03:29 "Let us build ourselves a city, 03:31 "and a tower whose top is in the heavens; 03:33 "let us make a name for ourselves, 03:37 "lest we be scattered abroad 03:39 over the face of the whole earth." 03:41 And so we see that they had an intentionality, 03:45 that they wanted to make a name for themselves 03:47 because they didn't want to be scattered. 03:50 And the thought comes to my mind, well, why in the world 03:54 (chuckles) are they afraid of being scattered? 03:57 You know, a lot of times we tell the story 03:58 that they were afraid of the flood. 03:59 You know, maybe the flood would come back, 04:01 and I think there's some truth to that. 04:02 But what's explicitly stated here 04:05 is that they didn't wanna be scattered. 04:07 Well, we know that this is a concern 04:10 because this is based on the story of the flood. 04:13 In Genesis, chapter 9, in verse 1, 04:17 God actually blesses Noah and his sons, and He says-- 04:21 this is, of course, after they come out of the ark, 04:23 and they've had the sacrifice and the rainbow 04:27 and different things like that happen, 04:29 God tells them, "Be fruitful and multiply, 04:31 and fill the earth," 04:33 which, when we read that, we should be thinking, of course, 04:37 what God's blessing was in Genesis 04:39 when He created Adam and Eve, that they were to multiply 04:42 and fill the whole earth. >>Right. 04:44 >>So it seems that God's blessing 04:46 is that He wants us to spread out. 04:50 And that is a blessing. 04:52 And so what we see in Genesis, chapter 11 is they're saying, 04:55 "We don't want to do this." 04:57 Even though they have all this history 04:59 that's fresh in their minds, they still, 05:00 they don't want to follow this command, 05:03 meant to be a blessing, to spread out. 05:06 And so they stay to make a name for themselves 05:08 and to stay together. 05:10 And so of course, God needed to do something 05:12 to help them avoid, because--and in fact, 05:15 this is a revolt happening. 05:16 And I've often asked people, is this, is God-- 05:19 well, let's read the verse first 05:20 before we get ahead of ourselves. 05:21 Would you read verse 8 and 9? 05:23 >>Sure. Verse 8 says, "So the Lord scattered them abroad 05:26 "from there over the face of all the earth, 05:29 "and they ceased building the city. 05:31 "Therefore its name is called Babel, because there 05:34 "the Lord confused the language of all the earth; 05:36 "and from there the Lord scattered them abroad 05:38 over the face of all the earth." 05:40 So they didn't wanna be scattered, 05:42 and God ultimately scattered them. 05:44 >>Yeah. >>Interesting. 05:45 >>So what they're doing is that they're trying to obstruct 05:48 from God's plan of how He wants to bless the human race, 05:52 and they were beginning a revolt, and God said, 05:54 "Okay, I'm going to confuse the languages," 05:56 not as a way to curse them, 05:59 but as a way to ensure that the blessing will come. 06:02 >>So this is less about God cursing the human race, 06:07 about more of God trying to bless them despite the fact 06:11 that they apparently didn't want that blessing. 06:13 >>Yeah. >>So, very, very interesting. 06:15 So, next we're going to Genesis, chapter 12. 06:18 Genesis 11 talks about the building of the Tower of Babel 06:20 and the confusing of the languages 06:22 and the scattering of people. 06:25 We get to Genesis, chapter 12, and we pick up the story now 06:28 with God calling Abraham, 06:30 and we're gonna look more at that next week, 06:32 but we wanna start looking at 06:33 the story of Abraham this week. 06:36 What's the significance of going right here to chapter 12? 06:40 Chronologically, that's the case, certainly, 06:42 but what do you think the message is 06:44 that God's trying to get across to us here? 06:46 >>Well, what's interesting that we need to 06:50 kind of think about for a second is that 06:52 no sooner had God confused the languages 06:56 that God calls a missionary. 06:59 Isn't that interesting? 07:01 So, the challenge we have today to go to 07:03 every nation, kindred tongue, and people, 07:05 is actually a call that began 07:07 as soon as the languages were confused. 07:10 And so let's actually look at verses 07:12 1-3 there in chapter 12. 07:14 It says, "Now...Lord had said to Abram: 07:16 "'Get out of your country, from your family... 07:18 "'from your father's house, to a land...I will show you. 07:21 "'[And] I will make you a great nation; 07:22 "'I will bless you and make your name great; 07:25 "'and you shall be a blessing. 07:26 "'I will bless those who bless you, 07:28 "'and I will curse [those] who curse you; 07:30 "'and in you all the families 07:33 of the earth shall be blessed.'" 07:35 And I think that's really important to notice there because 07:38 that word "family" could also mean "tribe" or "people." 07:42 It's not just the nuclear family 07:44 of a mom and dad and the kids, right? 07:47 So, the idea was is that 07:50 now that we have these different languages, 07:51 people are going to be broken up into tribes, 07:53 into people groups. And God intends, even here, 07:57 that all of these different groups are going to be reached 08:00 because He knows that they're going to forget Him 08:03 and what His plan is, to redeem this world 08:06 from the curse of sin that leads to death. 08:09 >>And here we are looking at the world today, 08:11 and we can see all of these tribes and people groups 08:14 and families spread over all the earth 08:16 and a lot of confused languages. 08:19 You know, it's difficult for us to reach across, 08:22 not impossible, but more difficult for us to reach across 08:26 those borders or those obstacles, as it were. 08:30 As we look at Genesis, chapter 12 here, 08:32 what are a couple of takeaways that we can 08:37 learn from this story that we're looking at here 08:39 in Genesis 12 about Abram? 08:41 >>You know, immediately, Abram obeys and he goes, 08:46 and it's a beautiful story, 08:48 but as we read further into chapter 12, 08:52 we find he runs into trouble almost immediately. 08:55 It's a sad situation. 08:57 I remember as a child I was reading through the Bible 09:00 while I was in elementary school, 09:01 and I'd get to this and I'd say, 09:02 "What in the world?" You know, 09:03 "People forget so quick; why is this happening?" 09:05 I thought, "I'm never gonna be like that." 09:06 But we all know, and I've been a missionary, 09:08 like I mentioned earlier, 16 years, we were overseas, 09:11 and I find myself making mistakes as well. 09:14 So, this actually has some encouragement 09:16 for those of us who've lived long enough 09:18 to have made some mistakes. 09:20 It's the story of Abram in Egypt. In verse 10: 09:24 "There was a famine in the land, 09:25 "and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, 09:28 for the famine was severe in the land." 09:30 Now, the problem was, of course, 09:32 is that he had a beautiful wife, (chuckles) 09:35 and it's a very odd solution he comes up with. 09:38 In verse 12, it says, "Therefore it will happen, 09:40 when the Egyptians see you"--talking to his wife-- 09:43 "they will say, 'This is his wife'; 09:45 "and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 09:48 "Please say you are my sister, 09:51 "that it may be well with me for your sake, 09:53 that I may live because of you." 09:56 And so that's the plot. 09:57 And it's a horrible plan, of course. 09:59 And sure enough, apparently, 10:03 Pharaoh's servants were very keen on the fact 10:05 that he wanted beautiful women, 10:08 and they saw that Sarah was just that. 10:11 And so everything plays according to the plan 10:14 that Abram had suggested. 10:17 Some missionary he's being, right? 10:19 He's being taken to Egypt to be a missionary, 10:22 and here he is worried more about himself 10:24 and his own survival 10:26 and forgetting about his wife's safety, obviously. 10:29 And then thankfully, God comes to the rescue 10:32 and sends a plague. 10:33 What a blessing, and, you know, 10:35 you would never think a plague could be a blessing, 10:37 but this, of course, was an excellent blessing, 10:39 an answer to Sarah's prayers, I'm sure. 10:42 In verse 18, Pharaoh calls Abram and says, 10:44 "What...have [you] done to me? 10:46 Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?" 10:49 Because, of course, of the plague. 10:50 "And why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" 10:52 And then this is the incredible irony of this whole thing. 10:56 Here's what Pharaoh says to the missionary, Abraham, 11:00 "'Now therefore, here is your wife; 11:02 "take her and go your way.' 11:04 "So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, 11:06 and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had." 11:09 >>It's an interesting picture of a missionary. 11:12 Not exactly what we would... 11:15 exhibit A for doing everything the right way. 11:18 >>It's incredible. 11:19 And what I find encouraging, though, 11:24 like I said, as a missionary who've made my mistakes, 11:27 I remember the first time 11:28 I gave a gospel presentation to a Buddhist monk. 11:31 He came to me asking, "I want to know about Christmas." 11:35 I said, "Okay, well, I'll be happy to share." 11:36 And I began, I said, "Well, where should I begin?" 11:39 You know, if I just talk about the birth story, 11:41 he's not gonna understand the significance. 11:43 So I started back at Creation and the fall and going along, 11:47 and then I get to the birth story, 11:49 I kind of skipped a bit to get to the point, 11:52 but the young man who was this Buddhist monk, 11:54 he was kind of chuckling in embarrassment 11:57 because he could tell I had turned into, 12:00 you know, a person of conviction, 12:02 and I was trying to encourage him to be like me, 12:04 a disciple of Christ. 12:06 And by the time I was done, of course, 12:08 I had to go to the cross, I had to do the whole thing, 12:10 and by the time I was done, I knew it was a mess, 12:13 that he didn't understand 12:14 the importance of what I was saying. 12:17 It didn't ring any bells. 12:19 And to this day, unfortunately, 12:21 I still have contact with him, but he's had no interest 12:23 in the gospel since then. 12:25 And I think, you know, if I had approached that differently, 12:27 maybe that story could have been different. 12:29 But here we have Abraham who made a big mistake, 12:33 God still uses him, and it's such an encouragement 12:36 to those of us who fear that we will make mistakes. 12:38 >>So, a story that shows shortcomings, 12:42 and all of us have experienced shortcomings. 12:44 And if we haven't, which we probably have, 12:46 but if we haven't, we will see them soon enough. 12:49 >>That's right. >>But there is hope for us. 12:51 We're looking this week at "God's Call to Mission," 12:55 and if you are feeling that perhaps God is calling you 12:57 to mission in some way, shape, or form, 13:00 it may not be on the other side of the earth, 13:02 but maybe it's a little bit closer to home, 13:05 you want some more resources, some more guidance in that, 13:09 I wanna encourage you to pick up the companion book 13:12 to this quarter's Sabbath school lesson. 13:13 It is called "God's Mission, My Mission." 13:16 You can find it at itiswritten.shop. 13:18 Again, that's at itiswritten.shop, 13:21 "God's Mission, My Mission," 13:23 a wonderful, wonderful resource 13:26 that will help you to gain more out of 13:28 this quarter's Sabbath school study. 13:30 We're going to come right back here in just a moment 13:33 as we continue taking a look at "God's Call to Mission." 13:36 We'll see you back in just a moment. 13:37 (uplifting theme music swells and ends) 13:42 >>[John Bradshaw] There might be days when you just 13:44 can't seem to find the energy to take on life's challenges, 13:47 moments or maybe days or weeks 13:49 where basic tasks can feel overwhelming, 13:52 times when you feel as though your heart 13:54 and mind are trapped in a fog. 13:57 Countless people all around the world 13:59 are dealing with the weight of depression. 14:02 Most people will experience depression either firsthand 14:05 or in the lives of friends or family members. 14:08 There's hardly a person on earth 14:10 who hasn't in some way been touched by its weight. 14:13 That's why I sat down with a mental health expert 14:16 to discuss this vitally important subject. 14:19 Join me and Dr. Neil Nedley as together 14:21 we explore what actually works in helping battle depression, 14:25 its root causes, and its symptoms. 14:27 Don't miss the helpful and practical information 14:29 in this series, proven to benefit physical, 14:32 mental, and emotional health: 14:34 "Clearing the Fog," 14:35 available now on It Is Written TV. 14:42 (uplifting theme music) 14:46 >>[Eric] Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 14:48 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:50 We're continuing taking a look at "God's Call to Mission." 14:53 And, Greg, the story that as we're working through 14:56 this quarter's lesson, it kind of jumps forward. 14:58 We looked at Abram, we've looked at the Tower of Babel-- 15:01 or--Tower of Babel and Abram, and now we're gonna jump 15:04 all the way over into the New Testament 15:05 and jump to the book of Acts. 15:08 Why is this so important for us to understand? 15:11 What do we find here? 15:13 >>Well, what we left off with was 15:17 here's Abraham, Abram at that point, 15:19 no children yet, but he's accepting this call to mission 15:23 to be a blessing to all the families, 15:25 to all the tribes or all the people groups of the world 15:30 after the languages were scattered. 15:32 So, this important theme that we're trying to get at 15:35 in this lesson is our calling, and we wanna see 15:38 how does this play out as we get into the New Testament 15:40 because we know, of course, 15:42 that Israel struggled with this calling, 15:44 this mission to be a blessing to all the peoples. 15:47 And they started to see themselves 15:49 as kind of a privileged people, God's people, 15:52 and actually held themselves aloof 15:55 with the rest of the people. 15:58 So we want to look at this in the New Testament 16:00 and see how it unfolds. 16:01 >>So you take us here to Acts, chapter 8. 16:04 What's going on in Acts, chapter 8? 16:06 >>Well, in Acts, chapter 8, it starts off 16:08 with a picture of Saul, who later becomes Paul, 16:10 the great missionary to the Gentiles. 16:13 But in the first verse, we have this very difficult picture, 16:17 where it says in Acts 8, verse 1, 16:20 "Now Saul was consenting to his death. 16:24 "At [the] time a great persecution arose against 16:28 "the church which was at Jerusalem; 16:31 "and they were all scattered throughout the regions 16:35 of Judea...Samaria, except the apostles." 16:38 So they're starting to scatter. 16:40 And what I wanna point out, though, 16:42 with this verse is, again, this word "scatter." 16:44 Did you catch that? (chuckles) 16:46 That's exactly what God wanted Adam and Eve to do, 16:50 to multiply and fill the earth, 16:51 knowing his sons to do as they needed to, again, 16:54 populate the earth, and the Tower of Babel was an approach 16:57 and a revolt to not do that. 16:59 Well, this is what's happening here again. 17:01 But it's in this case, we see it's persecution. 17:05 The persecution is spreading them out. 17:07 If we can go to chapter one, of course, 17:10 we have that command, the instructions 17:13 that Jesus gave the apostles, 17:16 and it reads, "But you shall receive power 17:19 "when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; 17:21 "and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, 17:24 and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 17:27 So again, that outward focus-- 17:29 >>It's the spreading, the spreading again. 17:31 >>Exactly. So, this, as I mentioned already, 17:35 this is the theme of the entire Bible. 17:39 The Bible is really a missionary text. (chuckles) 17:41 This is God's way of not only revealing Himself 17:44 but also the instructions He's given to those who follow Him 17:47 of His goal to reach out to all people. 17:51 But what we find, of course, 17:53 as the history of Israel unfolds, 17:55 is that the temple is built. 17:58 And remember, when Solomon was dedicating that temple 18:00 in 1 Kings, chapter 8, in his dedicatory prayer, 18:04 he prayed about when the foreigners come and when they pray, 18:08 that God would hear that prayer. 18:11 But let's look at Isaiah because there 18:13 we have the famous verse that we're all familiar with 18:17 about the significance of the temple. 18:22 It's Isaiah 56. 18:24 And I'd like to start in verse 6; 18:29 read verse 6 and 7. 18:30 Would you read that? >>Sure. 18:31 This is Isaiah 56, starting in verse 6. 18:34 It says, "Also the sons of the foreigner 18:36 "who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, 18:38 "and to love the name of [his] Lord, to be His servants-- 18:42 "everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, 18:44 "and holds fast my covenant-- 18:46 "even them I will bring to my holy mountain, 18:49 "and make them joyful in my house of prayer. 18:52 "Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices 18:54 "will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called 18:58 a house of prayer for all nations." 19:00 >>Ah, see there? That "house of prayer for all nations." 19:04 But at the same time that this was the ideal, 19:08 we know that they isolated themselves. 19:11 They had prejudice towards the foreigner. 19:14 They saw the foreigner as an enemy, 19:16 not as someone to love and to win 19:19 to become disciples of Jehovah. 19:21 Of course, that problem is talked about. 19:23 Jeremiah is the one who calls--and later 19:26 Jesus quotes Jeremiah 7, verse 11 about 19:29 the temple becoming "a den of robbers." 19:32 And that prophecy that the Messiah would clean it out, 19:35 which is exactly what happened in Matthew 21, 19:37 where the market was just set up 19:39 in the outer court, and the foreigners, 19:42 that was a place where they would come 19:43 and where they would worship. 19:45 Of course, they're not able to do that. 19:49 So, clearly, the children of Israel 19:52 lost sight of their mission. 19:54 But I want to come back to Acts now, 19:55 because, again, we're trying to say, okay, 19:57 now that Christ has come and He's reorienting 19:59 their hearts towards mission, 20:01 He's showing that this is the case. 20:03 But in Acts, chapter 11, verse 19, it says, 20:08 "Now those who were scattered after the persecution 20:11 "that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, 20:15 "Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word 20:18 to no one but the Jews only." 20:21 Isn't that something? 20:22 And what's interesting is that the verse just before it, 20:24 in verse 18, when Peter came back, you know, 20:27 the Holy Spirit had been poured out on Cornelius. 20:30 He was the centurion who was over 20:32 the Italian regiment in Caesarea Maritime, 20:36 which is actually where Pontius Pilate's base was at. 20:40 So here, his, I wonder, 20:42 maybe Cornelius was even the chief bodyguard 20:46 for Pontius Pilate. 20:47 And here, he's receiving Christ as his Savior. 20:50 The Holy Spirit is being poured out upon him 20:52 and his household, they're speaking in tongues, 20:54 and Peter realizes, oh, God's showing no partiality here. 20:57 And he comes back with a report; everybody's up, 20:59 "What's going on, Peter? What are you doing?" 21:01 And he says in verse 18-- 21:03 well, their conclusion after he hears the report 21:06 of what God has done: "When they heard these things 21:08 "they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, 21:12 "'Then God has also granted to the Gentiles 21:15 repentance to life.'" 21:16 So they're really struggling with this 21:17 because on the one hand it's clear, 21:19 God is not showing partiality, 21:20 He's granting them repentance, 21:22 they're part of the mission focus, 21:24 but they're going only to the Jews. 21:27 And this is ironic, and I think it's often 21:30 descriptive of what is so natural to us. 21:33 Perhaps we probably do this today too. 21:35 >>Yeah, it seems like the easy route, as it were. 21:40 So what do we do about this as believers 21:43 and as a people who are called to participate 21:46 in this mission that God has for us? 21:50 What do we take away from this? 21:53 >>You know, I think there's two important lessons to learn. 21:56 And actually, there are two problems that we face. 21:57 One is that we naturally want to do mission 22:01 in our comfort zone, you know, where it's easiest for us, 22:06 people who we can speak their language, 22:08 people who are like us; their culture is similar to us. 22:11 The people who are most easily able to understand 22:14 and resonate with what we're sharing with them. 22:17 For example, it might be easier for us 22:19 to share Christ with someone who is suffering 22:22 than someone who seems to be increasing goods 22:24 and in need of nothing. But God doesn't say, 22:27 "Just focus on those who are easy to reach." 22:29 You know, we need to reach on the other. 22:30 So we often focus on the areas 22:33 that are the most comfortable, the easiest for us. 22:34 But the other one is that we often think that 22:38 mission service is only overseas, 22:41 that those are the real missionaries, 22:42 that I need to go somewhere. So I'm not really that person, 22:45 so maybe all these instructions don't involve me (laughs) 22:48 because I'm not there--or I must go over there. 22:52 But that verse we read in chapter one of Acts, 22:56 verse 8, you know, they were to start in Jerusalem 22:59 and then Judea and Samaria and then all the world. 23:02 And I think the important lesson here is reflected in 23:06 when Christ said in Luke, chapter 16, verse 10, 23:09 whoever "is faithful" in the very little 23:12 will also be "faithful...in much." 23:14 And so the idea of the talents being given, right? 23:17 And being faithful in those things, 23:18 so I think that our mission field is around us, 23:21 but our mission field around us 23:23 should not just be in our comfort zones 23:25 because there's a lot of people around us who probably 23:27 are from other backgrounds than our own, 23:30 whether that's a different religious background, 23:33 whether it's different ethnic groups and that sort of thing. 23:36 But we should begin where we're at and then move on. 23:39 >>So, you have had a wealth of experience 23:43 in reaching people on the other side of the world 23:46 in different cultural context. 23:48 You've also had a fair bit of experience here at home 23:52 in reaching out to people. 23:54 If there was somebody who was watching today's program 23:57 and saying to themselves, "I'm feeling called, 24:01 "I want to answer that call, 24:03 but I'm not quite sure what that looks like 24:05 practically for me where I am right now," 24:09 what advice, what recommendations would you give that person 24:12 to step forward and to answer that call? 24:16 >>Good question. 24:18 You know, if a person is feeling this dilemma of 24:21 "what should I do?", 24:22 that's a sign itself that God is working on your heart 24:26 because that dilemma means God is here. 24:29 (chuckling) You know, this is an opportunity. 24:31 And the first thing is that the call is always in the need. 24:34 Are there unreached out there? 24:36 Are there unreached in your community? 24:38 Well, if that's the case, 24:40 then just the principles of Scripture can teach us a lot, 24:45 and we need to just simply accept the call. 24:47 But second of all, we need to pray that God 24:49 will actually help us to hear His voice. 24:54 To recognize the voice of God is actually 24:57 one of the most challenging disciplines, 24:59 because how do you know it's God's voice and not your idea 25:02 or, worse yet, a temptation? 25:05 Of course, if it's based on Scripture, 25:06 that's a good place to start. 25:08 But I often say that mission work should be done by faith 25:13 just as much as following Christ 25:16 and justification and sanctification. 25:19 All these things are done by faith, 25:20 so witnessing should be done by faith. 25:22 Which means that I need to be in tune with God's voice 25:25 so that I can sense that and follow Him. 25:29 I'd like to share a short story, though. 25:33 After 16 years working in Southeast Asia, 25:37 we came back to the States, we settled in Maryland, 25:39 and I was like, you know, "This is my own language. 25:43 "There's a lot of people I can reach, 25:44 but where do I begin, and how do I reach out?" 25:46 And so I was praying about that. 25:47 And it was during the pandemic, 25:50 you know, isolation for about a year, 25:51 I said, "You know what? 25:53 I think a great place to start would be to have 25:55 some kind of a block party during the holidays." 25:57 And so we talked to a number of neighbors who said, 26:00 "Yeah, we'll help, we'll do it outside; 26:02 "we'll set up a canopy out by the road 26:04 "and have some refreshments and packages and things 26:07 "so we can stay clean and not 26:08 cross-contaminate our germs"--or what-have-you. 26:10 But we did this, and our community loved it, 26:13 but, you know, nothing became of that. 26:16 So we just keep praying. 26:18 Well, the next thing is we, with our church, 26:20 our pastor appealed to us all to start connect groups, 26:23 where we could have these groups that we would 26:25 encourage each other, like Hebrews says, you know, 26:26 that we should not forsake 26:28 the assembling of ourselves together, 26:29 but to encourage and to support each other 26:32 and "to stir up love and good works," right? 26:35 So, we did that, and the result of that was 26:38 we've had several baptisms over the last couple of years. 26:42 Some who lived far away, some who joined us on Zoom from, 26:45 you know, from a distance, 26:47 and others who are right there with us. 26:48 So what I'm trying to say is that 26:51 the best place to start is just to do what you can. 26:54 And because some of the people that we shared 26:56 what we were doing at the block party said, 26:57 "Hey, let's do something else," 26:58 and so we just kind of evolved. 27:00 And I think that sometimes God 27:01 wants us just to take those steps. 27:05 We must remember that God provides the increase. 27:08 Paul "planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." 27:11 So we just need to be faithful, 27:12 and the results are really up to God. 27:14 >>Step forward in faith; see what God does with it. 27:17 Remember, we're not the ones who are in control-- 27:20 very powerful. 27:21 We hope that you've enjoyed today's lesson, 27:24 "God's Call to Mission," and if God is calling you, 27:26 which it sounds like He probably is, 27:29 step forward in faith and see what He can do 27:32 in you and through you. 27:33 God bless you, have a wonderful week, 27:35 and we will see you again next week 27:37 here on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 27:40 (uplifting theme music) 28:26 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-10-14