Core Values: Mission

This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.

Let's pray.

Father God, how great thou art.

How great that you would choose us.

The least worthy to carry your message, to be your ambassadors.

Father, speak today.

Lord, I pray you would break people's hearts.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Good morning.

Like Neil said, my name's Bart Cardi.

My wife Heather is right over here.

My daughter Eden is out in the warehouse hanging out with the other the other youth, probably causing trouble.

And you know, 10 years ago we we were sent out by Grand Parkway to serve as full-time missionaries in Costa Rica.

It was a great 10 years, but it is it is really, really good to be home.

It is good to be back.

I want to start by by saying thank you to Grand Parkway.

And I want to tell you that all your investment was not for nothing.

There's now a group of um well over over 80 people that have been baptized.

There's churches established, and all that that y'all did was integral in in that that success.

So thank you.

Thank you so much for what you for what y'all have done.

A few months ago, Neil messaged me and he said, Hey, I want you to come and share a little bit of what about what you learned in 10 years on the mission field.

And um 10 years is a lot of time, and you can learn a lot of things in 10 years.

And uh so I got to thinking about it, and there was all these crazy things that kept popping into my head.

I mean, like like you know, some people just just won't listen to you when you tell them not to drink the water.

Uh, you know, they've got to learn from experience.

Um, not pretty, uh, but that is true.

Um you know, I I I learned that um that that um that if I was gonna get some things done, I would need to learn how to weld.

Um I learned not to weld in flip-flops.

Um and if you know a welder, they've learned the same thing because it gets hot in those boots.

Um I I learned that uh the the the Clyde is really scared of snakes.

Um I learned that the that the Travis is scared of spiders.

Um and um and uh it was confirmed that uh that I'm scared of both of those things.

Um yeah, we we got a spider down there, they they call it the horse killer, and uh you can just think about why they would call it that.

Um yeah, I'm scared of that one, and you should be too.

Um so I was getting getting real excited, and it's like I got this big old list, and it just kept growing longer and longer, and and and and all I could think was, you know, I was gonna beat Don Minton's record for for most points in a sermon.

And and then uh then I didn't want to take that from him, and and the and the Holy Spirit just kind of reined me back in and said, You know, you know, you need to just boil this down to the essentials, just to the critical things.

And uh so that's that's that's my prayer.

That that that's that's what we have this morning.

Um so if you if you have a Bible, turn over to uh 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

We'll be in verses 17 through 20.

I'll give you just a second to get there.

And uh I'd like to apologize if I sleep slip into Spanish.

Um that's how most of my preaching has been done.

And I'll do my best to keep it in English.

Um 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old is passed away, behold, the new has come.

This is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

The first thing I want you to see here is that missions is more than an action, it's an identity.

You see, traditionally, uh I think the the idea that a lot of people have is that if if you're a missionary, I mean you're somebody that's that's been sent out and and you know you leave the church, go somewhere overseas, and and uh I mean, we did that, yes, we were missionaries at as a profession.

Um but but there's more than that.

Um you know, you know, some people think think of missionaries as you know, someone you know, you're going and sharing the gospel with the lost, you're in living in poverty, um, you know, tip of the spear, you know, kind of stuff.

Um and you know, all of those things, I mean, they're they're stereotypes for a reason, um, because there are a lot of missionaries that have been that way.

Um and you know, and for for myself, um, I I know there were times when I was hiking up in the mountains, you know, we're deep in the jungle and cutting through the, you know, through the tall grass with machetes, and and and I just would think to myself, you know, I'm like Indiana Jones.

This is pretty cool.

Uh except there was never that golden monkey, and and um there was all the snakes, and it just, you know, there's pluses and minuses.

Um and you know, and it's also something that uh if you share with someone you're a missionary, uh they're immediately gonna think you're a little weird.

Um just the way it is.

Um, you know, when we were in Costa Rica, we'd see other expats and be talking with them, and you know, the normal questions always come up, you know, where do you live, where are you from, how long have you been here?

Um and then that question of uh what do you do?

And you'd say, oh, you know, we're missionaries.

We're gonna sit out here to work with uh with the indigenous up in the mountains, and they just turn around and walk away and be like, okay, well, you're weird and we don't want to be with you anymore.

And uh so you know there's there there's these ideas of what what missions is.

You know, it might be a short-term trip, but but it's so much more than that.

Um and I want to tell you that the kind of missions that that I've described and the type of missions that that you know I experienced on the reservation with with the with the indigenous, that's not for everyone.

I mean, there's some of y'all, I mean, how many of you that does that not sound good at all?

Yeah, raise your hand.

If that doesn't sound good, you know, raise them high.

Yes, and there's my wife holding her hand the highest.

You see, we were we were sent as missionaries to Costa Rica, but we didn't have the same mission.

See, we each individual has their own mission.

My mission was to the Guaimee.

My mission was hiking mountains, laying pipes, building churches.

Her mission was in town, teaching ESL, working with with our daughter's school, uh, working with a local church.

You know, she she found her mission, I found mine, but we were both sent out.

And you know, some of you hear the word missions, and and you you immediately thought, no, that's that's somebody else's thing, you know, I'll give a little money toward it, or but you know, that's not my responsibility.

Um well I'm I'm I'm here to tell you today that that that's not true.

Um if you are a believer, you're a missionary.

And and more than that, you you you have a ministry.

Um so so look at the Bible again.

Go go back to uh verse 18 of 2 Corinthians 5.

It says, all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

You are a minister, and you've been given a message, it's right there.

Um I I I can't say it any other way.

Um but this also tells us that salvation has a cost.

You see, when when we when we share the gospel and we tell people that that it's it's it's a free gift, it is free.

Um it's free because we can't pay for it.

It's free because it's it's got so much value that we can't earn it.

But here in the United States, when you think of things that are free, you go to go to the go to the store, any store, and you see a box excuse me, and you see a box that says free, what do you think?

That's cheap.

That's something that nobody wants.

And too often that idea of free gets tied to the gospel.

But that's not what the gospel is.

You see, salvation has a cost, and and and and and that cost is your life.

You see, salvation sets us free from sin.

And it provides a new master.

You see, a lot of us think and and and you know have bought into this idea of freedom that if I'm free from sin, I'm free to live however I want.

And that's that's not what it's about.

You see, you're free from sin, but but now you're a slave to God.

And you're you're a new creation.

You're this new creation that that now has the ability to say no to sin.

And has a responsibility to obey God.

You know, you're no longer that person that had no choice.

Before Christ, we we sin by nature.

Now we sin by choice.

And and and the reality is that a lot of us obey the old master better than the new one.

You agree with me?

It's easy to go back.

But we have hope because that that that's that's where where the Holy Spirit comes in, and that's that's where sanctification comes in.

You know, if if you walk in the spirit, little by little, that old master looks a whole lot less attractive, and it's a whole lot easier to obey your new master.

And sanctification hurts, it hurts bad sometimes.

It may be the hardest thing that you ever do and ever go through, but it's good and it's worth it, and it leads to a changed life.

You see, if there if there's no change, if your identity from from from before, before you met Christ, if that identity looks just like it is now that you are a believer, and you don't see any reason to change, you need to check your heart.

Because that's just that's fate.

I mean, you're you you may know the words, but but you're not not living it.

You see, this this changed life.

That's something that we we would see on the reservation uh with these these indigenous, these these pagans, that you know, these we'd see men that would beat their wives and they would they would they would take their you know treat their kids horribly.

Um, men that would they would they would take their livestock and keep them in the house and make their kids sleep outside because the because there was more money in a cow than there was in their kids.

And they'd come come to the Lord, they'd come to faith.

And it didn't take a marriage conference to make him treat his wife better.

The Holy Spirit made him do that.

It didn't take a parenting conference to make him know that it was better to keep the kids in the house and the cow outside.

That's the power of the gospel.

But a lot of people think we need to go and we need to we need to do a marriage conference to a bunch of people that don't even understand what marriage is.

Or we need to do a parenting conference to people that have done it a certain way for thousands of years.

And it and it's not that's not what it is.

You know, the the the gospel transforms culture, and the and the gospel works within culture to make that transformation.

You see, and and and we get to play a part in that because we're ambassadors.

You see, look at look at verse 20.

Um it says it says, therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

See, you're you're your identity is as an ambassador.

And that's one of those words we don't really don't really use much.

Um I mean, if you're if you're from another country or going to another country, I mean you you might have had to had some interaction with the embassy.

That's that's where the the ambassador would live.

Um you might have heard of uh like diplomatic immunity, uh, you might have been at the airport and seen that special line that the that the ambassadors get to go through.

You know, when you're at the way back at the back of the line and you see that that one that nobody's in, you never see the ambassador there, but they keep it open for them.

You know, I was very, very jealous of that line many times.

It was like, I'm an ambassador, I get I should be able to go through there, but didn't have the right stamp on my passport.

But I want to dig a little bit more into the idea of ambassador.

Um, you know, a definition of ambassador.

That's a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as a resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign.

That's that's a really complex complicated way to say something very simple.

And and and it applies to us this way.

As a believer, you are a representative of the kingdom of heaven here on earth, and you have God's message, you are his mouthpiece, and that sounds pretty pretty heavy, maybe a little scary to some of you.

It's like, how can I speak for God?

You know, how can I be an ambassador?

I'm I'm not I'm I'm not an ambassador, I can't do that.

But I I would argue that um just about everyone in here is is is a pretty good ambassador, one way or another.

Um it may be for your job, your favorite sports team, your university.

I tell you, I I got some friends over in Alabama and half of them are for Auburn, half of them for Alabama.

You know, there's a there's a gospel struggle going on there.

Who's an ambassador of Auburn?

Who's an ambassador of Alabama?

You know, there's there's some uh almost comes to blows sometimes.

But we're really good at that.

We're really good at being ambassadors for a team that can't win, but we can't do it for the gospel, and it's way better than that.

And even if your team does win, the day after they win, they're at the bottom again.

They gotta start over.

What's the point of that?

You see, and and God even makes it easy for us because the message that we've got to give isn't our message, it's his message.

He gave it to us, he wrote it down.

It's right here in the Bible.

See, the message is the gospel.

You see, and this is this is one of the things that that that really uh hurts my my heart the most um and that that that I learned in the mission field.

And that that is that most believers um don't know the gospel.

And I think it's the the the biggest thing standing in the way of the spread of the gospel.

It's like people don't know it, they know pieces of it, parts of it.

But when we'd have teams, I would ask them, you know, pull people aside and just get as I get to know them and say, hey, you know, if uh if you have the opportunity talking with uh with one of the indigenous, you know, what would you tell them?

How would how would you lead them to Christ?

You know, because you're you're here on a mission trip, you know, what what what do you do?

And you know, I'd I'd get responses like uh you know, Roman Road.

It's like, okay, what does that mean?

It's like, well, let me go get out of track and I can tell you, or or someone else and say, oh, it's it's Jesus loves you.

Okay, that's good, but but how does that apply here to these people?

Or or or God loves you, and and and and I'll tell you this, almost every culture I've come into contact with, they believe in God.

It's just not the same God that we believe in.

And you tell them that God loves them, and they'll say, okay, yeah, true.

I believe that because I am my God.

You see, we we we we we we we have to contextualize the gospel, and we we have to give the background for people to understand it.

You see, if you go out these doors right here and get in your car and just just go in a half-mile circle, how many nations are just right here around the church?

How many cultures do you see out here?

How many of these people grew up in homes that don't have Bibles, have never gone to church?

You know, why why would you expect a Muslim family to have a Bible in their homes and expect them to know what it says?

Why would you expect a Hindu family to have a Bible in their home and to know what it says?

And and and why why would you expect them to understand when you say Jesus loves them, to understand the significance of that?

You see, let's go take a look at what the Bible says the gospel is.

Uh turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 3 through 4.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4

And this this is Paul talking here.

And he says, For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

You see, the the most important thing that I see there is that it's in accordance with the scriptures.

You see, Paul was talking to people that knew the scriptures.

You know, they were they were Jews that were converted, or there were pagans that had been taught the scriptures.

But but you know, most of the people that that we we come in contact with don't know what the Bible says.

They may think they know what the Bible says.

They may have seen some little verse of the day thing that comes across on their email, but but they don't know the scriptures.

And because Paul was talking to people that knew the scriptures, he could get right to the heart of the matter and say that Christ died, he was buried, and he rose again.

But we can't do that.

Because the people we're talking to don't understand the significance of that.

You see, and and and what results when we when we when we start talking about the gospel is is you know on on we we have an incomplete gospel.

We we don't we don't have all the pieces there.

And and you know, on the worst case you end up teaching a false gospel, but but a lot of times it ends up just it's a boring gospel.

It's something that no one wants to hear.

And and when that happens, we start thinking we need to make it a little shinier and and and and and pretty it up and add to it or take away.

But but if you know this know the scriptures and know the Bible, there there's a beauty to this.

to this to this gospel that that that the the that that christ died he was buried and and he rose again that that that you don't get without it you see because if if you don't know the scriptures you don't know that that God in in three persons the Father the Son the Holy Spirit that that he perfectly created the heavens and the earth you don't you don't know that that that he created man from from dust and and and and breathed life into him you don't know that he made eve from one of his ribs you you you don't you don't know that Adam and Eve disobeyed and and through that sin entered the world and and that's why we need a Savior.

You see if if you don't know the scriptures you know the people and if the people you're talking to don't know the scriptures they won't understand the purpose of the law.

I mean why why Moses was given this this standard that was so high that it can't be be fulfilled they they they won't understand why why it's a big deal that that some some prophet in the Old Testament said that a that a child would be born and his his his name would be called Wonderful Counselor of the Mighty God, the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.

They don't understand why it was why Jesus being born in Bethlehem was a big deal because it was prophesied to be born of a virgin 400 years before they they they don't understand why him dying being buried and raised again is is a big deal.

They won't understand that he's that he that there's a prophecy that he's coming back and that when he comes back all of this is going to be made perfect again.

And when it's made perfect again we we who believe in him get to reign and rule with him and that's good news see but but but the gospel we give is oh believe in Jesus and you'll get to go to heaven and you know I'll take my chances honestly what what's exciting about that see you you gotta have the gotta have the whole picture and then you know and if they don't know the scriptures they they they won't understand that there's a final judgment coming and this is either going to scare you to death or it's going to be the the the the best thing you've ever heard you know in the end everyone who has not accepted Christ is good is going to be judged and God's wrath is going to be poured out on them and they're going to hell you see we we we we offer this gospel that says oh accept Jesus and don't go to hell but but you know we should we should fear the one that can send you there more than the place you see hell's bad but if you're on the wrong side of God that's way worse.

I mean think about it he's the one that can put you there and keep you from ever getting out in his mercy he's given us away you know he he he he he he's chosen to send his son to die to be buried and be rose and to rise again and that if we believe in him we can have everlasting life and that's great news you see because it was it was completely in his right when when Adam and Eve made made their disobedient disobedient act he could have just ended it right there.

He can end it today but he chose not to and that's that's the greatest act of mercy and and and you know we we we not only avoid the wrath of God but we get God in his glory and there's nothing better than that you see and more than that in in the gospel in the Bible there's room for every story.

See if you're on the fence right now with with with with Christ uh and and and and if you want to believe or not um I want you to to listen real close in these next few minutes um see the gospel's the gospel story is big enough for you and and let me explain um I have a friend in Costa Rica his name is Ezechio um you speak English that's Ezequiel um but he speaks Spanish so it's Ezechio and he's an indigenous lives up at the top of this mountain and he he was uh you know one of the the first people that I met when I was was down there on the reservation and uh you know there's one day we were sitting down I was talking to him asking him questions about his people asking him about about the schools the the culture about about religion and uh you know just all the things you need to know to understand a culture and and when he got to the part about uh about explaining about about religion he said you know I went to a church once he there's this church down down at the bottom of the mountain and I'd you know the first time I went I was wearing a hat and sunglasses and had my had my cell phone on and you know got up to the door and they said said hey you got to take that off before you come into the building and because you know it's just respect thing and and he's like okay well that's that's fine um I don't really understand but you know if that's what I need to do I'll do that.

And he went in and he he you know he he met with him for a couple of months and was hearing about Jesus was hearing hearing bits and pieces of the gospel and he was getting real interested in it and uh but then he said one day he just decided not to go back and so you know I asked him about that so why why didn't you go back and uh he got real quiet and he looked at me and he said um is it a sin to eat a monkey yeah eat a monkey and and I said no um it's not and and you know I could I could just feel the Holy Spirit say uh you know you you better better be listening close because it's gonna get real interesting and and he wasn't lying um I said you know it's not a sin to eat a monkey but why do you ask and and and he said well because because that church said that if I if I eat monkey that it's a sin and I'll go to hell I can't I can't go to heaven.

And I said no that's that's that's not true.

And um and he said well um you know I don't I don't want to go to hell but you know I really like eating monkeys so I'd I'd rather rather take my chances and eat monkey and um and he said and then he then he looked at me and said so how do you know you know how do you know it's not a sin and and I said well you know if you if you go to the Bible there there's this this this man named Peter and he used to think the way that church did you know he was a disciple of of of Jesus and he said oh yeah I've heard of Peter um I said he used to think the way that church did you know that there were there were clean foods there were unclean foods and if you if you ate uncle unclean food you would you were sinning and you know one night he was having this dream and he saw this this sheep coming down out of heaven and it was all the different animals were stacked up on it and he heard this voice that said Arise kill and eat that's that's a good message uh right there and and if if you get your uh get your scriptures from from a um daily email blast or whatever um you're you're probably never gonna see that one come across um but if you do I want to know which one it is because that sounds like an awesome one um but you know I I told him that and I and I said hey you know look I wasn't there it wasn't my my vision there's not a list in the Bible of all the animals that were on that sheet but I believe that if if if Peter had looked close enough you know there would have been a monkey paw sticking out somewhere and and and so eat all the monkey you want and then he got real quiet again and he he looked at me and he said well would you eat a monkey that's where the gospel gets real okay and and when he's he he said that and I and I and I looked looked him in the eye and I said yes I would I said you know if if I wouldn't normally and if any of you invite me over and say you've got a nice roasted monkey I'll I will I will probably tell you no but um but for him um for for his soul the price of of eating a monkey for that that's nothing that's nothing and so you know I I I told him that and and he said well well next time I I get a monkey um I'll call you up and you can come over and we'll eat monkey together and um and I said all right you know we shook shook hands on it and he and he said yeah you know I can I can hit a monkey between the eyes from a hundred yards with a 22 22 rifle and then I said no hold up hold up you know it's not a sin to eat a monkey but it is a sin to lie and uh and um he uh he said well you didn't see me and I said well that's true so I I'm not calling you a liar yet but um just be careful and and it and at that point he said well you know that's that that's that's the only thing that was holding me back and and he said to the Lord right there with a conversation on eating monkey um and just so you know I I have not eaten monkey yet um he he the they never came back through he never shot one and he he never invited me up but um but he is going to heaven so uh and that's the important part um but you know if if if if you're on the fence today and don't know if if if this is real or not I I want you to know if if if if there's room for this this indigenous guy living on top of a mountain wanting to eat monkey there's room for you too if his story is in the Bible your story is in there too that story is weird and I was there it's just strange but you know there there's there's room for you and there's hope for you so that's that's what I mean when I say that there's there's there's a depth and a beauty to the to the gospel that's that's lost when we don't know the scriptures the next thing uh sharing the gospel is not a negotiation and this is where the church in America has gotten way off way off you see when the gospel becomes a negotiation it's no longer the gospel we add to it or take it away and try to make it look better for for people but it's it's not the gospel anymore.

You see that's that's where we get things like the prosperity gospel that's where we get things like the poverty gospel which is the opposite of the prosperity gospel that's where we get things like the self-help gospel that's where we get get things like the gospel that says God is only love they're out there you know it's not about your best life now and washing your face it's about the scriptures it's about Christ coming and and and and dying and being buried and resurrected and according to the scriptures now to to close um and to begin to wrap up here I I want you to know that um yes I went overseas gone for 10 years that was the mission that was given to me that that is probably not your mission in in 10 years there hasn't been another family that's been sent out overseas from Grand Parkway and there's a lot of people here and that's that's okay you see the idea of mission is more than than somewhere far removed and out of mind.

See your mission might be your family which is the hardest one you're gonna you're gonna come against because they know you the best it might be your neighbor it might be someone at your work your community you see that that's where where the gospel and community and missions and blessing all start to come together.

You see all those core values see if the gospel isn't isn't sprinkled throughout all of the others they're not worth anything your community is just a club without the gospel missions and ambassadorship is just going and hot air you're blowing a bunch of hot air without the gospel blessing is just a handout without the gospel you see but but but for all of these to work together it takes time you you you can't you can't fully exercise this thing called Christianity with with with without being in community and and living life with people see we we we were in Costa Rica for 10 years and and when we left we got a little taste of of the impact that we made in the community that was built there's people in the grocery stores that were that were they were crying when we left it was it was just crazy there were there were people on the on the reservation who who came up that I hadn't seen for years and said you know thank you for coming and giving us water and thank you for giving my kids a place to go to school.

There were people at at our daughter's school that that at graduation called they called us up on stage and said you know this is you y'all have been so important to to our community and to our school that that that you know we want to we want to honor you here and and my daughter just told us that they're naming the library after us which is just mind blowing and just crazy um and but if we had just gone and not built relationships and not been in community and not taken the time to get to know people's names and know their kids and know what schools they go to and know when they're sick and when they've been in the hospital you see that's that's not just the job of a missionary that's that's the job of a neighbor if we hadn't done that we could have gone and left and made no impact and so you know I want to ask you you know what what is your mission?

You know where where are you making an impact?

You know what is the community that you've built and it's surrounded you where where you can where you can apply the gospel where you can be a blessing and where it can be true community you see and it's it's different for everyone and if I could tell you what it was I would tell you but but I can't that's that's the job of the Holy Spirit right there.

So just just think on that um think about that what is your mission let's pray Father God thank you thank you for this time and God Lord I I pray for every person in this room that you would give them clarity and vision show them what what your purpose is for them what is what is the mission that you've you've set aside for each and every one of them Lord help them to walk in ambassadorship in this this position of honor this this this this position that that that speaks with authority um Lord put your words in their in their mouths Lord pour out your blessing over this church Lord because when when when when when we live as ambassadors for the king for you there's no stopping your kingdom Lord we thank you there's a few things going on in the life of our church we want you to be aware of so I'd uh invite you just to turn your attention up to the screens here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

The worship ministry at Grand Parkway is made up of teachers, salesmen, welders, computer programmers, business owners, and more.

Although we all come from different walks of life, each of us is passionate to help the church worship.

Some of us are on stage each week while others are behind the scenes.

If you are interested in serving in one of these areas as a production tech or as a musician come see Clyde at the front of the stage at the end of the service.

Mark your calendars for February 10th as Blake Hardcastle will be sharing his vision for the spiritual formation ministry here at Grant Parkway.

Blake will be joining the staff this summer as the Spiritual formation pastor so make sure you can be here to hear what he is passionate about and how you can pray for his family as they transition here.

If there's anything you've heard today and you have questions or you would like someone to pray with you, some of our pastors and elders will be down by the stage at the conclusion of our service let me invite you to stand to your feet hold your hands out like this Bart's going to close us with a blessing we're an ambassador chosen by God to proclaim his message of reconciliation so go and find your mission in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen