The Goal of Missions

If you have a copy of scriptures, I would invite

you to find the very last book of the Bible,

the book of the Revelation. And we will be looking

at chapter 5 this morning in just a moment. Before

we begin, would you intercede with me that the

Lord... would open up his word to us this morning.

Let's bow and ask him to help. Father, in your

mercy, Lord. God, we will not have eyes to see

or ears to hear unless your spirit, Lord, opens

them. And Father, this morning we pray that you

would do so, that we might behold wondrous things

out of your law. Lord, reveal Christ to us. Expand,

Lord, our understanding of his greatness and

of his majesty and of his glory, Lord. Jesus

is the son in whom you are well pleased, Lord.

Let us make much of him this morning, we pray

in Christ's name. Amen. So we come to the final

Sunday of September where we're going to end

our missions emphasis month. We began three short

weeks ago with Brother Josh Wormley, our missionary

in Africa, and he started to detail the work

of missions and even some of the dangers that

missionaries may face on the field. Then the

following Sunday, the 14th, Pastor Kyle preached

really on the movement of missions. How it starts

out locally in Jerusalem, Judea, spreads out

to Samaria, and then eventually goes to the uttermost

parts of the earth. Last week we had Pastor Greg

Wagner with us and he preached on the message

of missions. And today I want to finish with

the goal. What's the end of missions? Sometimes

you might understand the word telos. Telos means

the purpose. What is the purpose? What's the

goal in mind with missions? Now, some may say,

well, it's to get as many people saved from hell

as possible. That's worthy, and that's admirable,

but it's not the main goal. If we're going to

understand the end of missions or the goal of

it, we need to ask, what is God's purpose? What

is his goal in that we send out missionaries?

And Jesus told us this. In John chapter 4, Jesus

John 4 · chapter mention

said that the Father is seeking something. What

is it that the Father wants? In John chapter

John 4 · chapter mention

4, Jesus said the Father is seeking worshipers.

Those who will worship him in spirit and in truth.

The goal of missions is worship. John Piper famously

said that missions exist because worship doesn't.

And so he went on to say, missions is our way

of saying the joy of knowing Christ. It is not

a private or a tribal or a national, nor is it

an ethnic privilege. It is for all. So that telos,

or the end or the goal of missions, is worship.

But not just any worship. Christ -centered, Christ

-exalting, Trinitarian worship. That is, worship

directed to the Father, in the Son, by the Spirit.

See, the goal of missions is never about us,

or primarily about us. Everything that takes

place is for the promotion of God and His glory.

So when we talk about missions, it is to create

worshipers who will give glory to God. What is

the chief end of man? Can't look at you, Kim.

The chief end of man is to glorify God and to

enjoy Him forever. Paul said in 1 Corinthians

10, whether you eat or drink or whatever you

do, do all to the glory of God. Everything, eating,

drinking, mundane tasks such as that, is for

the glory of God, which means everything you

do ends in worship. What does it mean then to

worship God? It's a Christian buzzword. We gather

for corporate worship. But what do we mean? To

worship is to ascribe ultimate worth and glory

and reverence and awe and love and devotion to

God who alone is worthy. Worship is the believer's

response to God's saving grace. It really involves

two parts. There's adoration and there's submission.

In the Old Testament, written primarily in Hebrew,

there are two commonly words used. You have shahah

to bow down and abad to serve. So one word, shahah,

describes our posture. We bow down. It is good

to get on our knees. It is good to bow our heads

before him. And the other word, abad, is to serve.

That describes our action. We serve our king.

The New Testament, written in Greek, follows

the same pattern here. There's two commonly used

words. You have proskuneo, which means to bow

down, to prostrate oneself. And lathruyo, to

serve or to minister. So worship, when we're

talking about worship this morning, we're talking

about bowing down before our king. We recognize

his sovereignty. And by bowing down, we show

our humility, but we also show our dependence

upon him. And secondly, though, we serve him.

Now, I want to look at a passage this morning

found in the fifth chapter of the book of the

Revelation. Let me just say as a side note, this

is not the book of Revelations, plural. It is

one. There's just one revelation. Chapter 1,

Revelation 1:1

verse 1 says, the revelation of Jesus Christ.

It's the unveiling, the revealing of Christ.

Now in chapter 4, the apostle John, who wrote

the book, he was invited into the throne room

of heaven. And we find them in chapter 4 singing

praises to Christ because of his role in creation.

Now we move to chapter 5 and the theme switches.

From Christ the creator to Christ the redeemer.

And we're going to spend the next few moments

looking at this chapter together. Let's look

at the first four verses. In John writing, he

says, and I saw, this is a vision, and I saw

in the right hand of him who sat on the throne

a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed

with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming

with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the

scroll and to loose its seals? And no one in

heaven or on the earth or under the earth was

able to open the scroll. Or to even look at it.

So I wept much. Because no one was found worthy.

No one was found worthy to open and read the

scroll or to even look at it. So we have a scene

set before us. God the Father is seated on his

throne. And in his right hand there's a scroll.

And we're told it has seven seals. And the scroll

has writing on both sides. Which indicates it

is complete and nothing can be added. What does

this scroll contain? It's the title deed to the

earth. It is God's sovereign plan for history,

for judgment, and redemption. And there are seven

seals. Seven in scripture symbolizes completion

or perfection. Think of the seven days of creation.

So the seven seals that the scroll has means

it is perfectly and completely sealed and complete.

The contents, though, are totally inaccessible

at this point. To go back to the ancient world,

when they wanted to have a binding document,

they were sealed with a king's signet ring to

prevent tampering. And if it had more than one

seal, it showed the importance of it. For example,

a will might be sealed several times, meaning

it could only be opened by the rightful heir.

So now you have God the Father in his right hand.

He's holding a mysterious scroll. No one's even

worthy to look upon it. In verse 2, we have a

strong angel. And he cries out with a loud voice.

Strong angel, loud voice. It's important. Who's

worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?

Now notice what it does not say. It doesn't say

who can open it. It says who is worthy to open

it. This is not a question about strength. It's

a question about worth. has the innate worthiness

of character? Who has the divine right that would

qualify him to take the title deed of the earth

and open it? You see the answer in verse 3. And

no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth

was able to open the scroll. And I love John's

addendum here. Not only were they unworthy to

open it, they were unworthy to even look at it.

There's no one worthy. All creation falls short.

There is not an angel, a man, or a woman in all

creation who is able to open this document. Clearly

we see humanity's inability to redeem itself.

We're all unworthy. And this unworthiness is

universal. There's not anyone in the entire universe

found worthy to open the scroll and to break

the seals. So John has this visceral response

in verse 4. I wept much. He's weeping. He's weeping

strongly because no one is found worthy to open

it or to read it. So the apostle John himself...

One chosen by Christ, the beloved apostle. He's

not worthy and he's weeping much because without

the scroll being open, God's plan of redemption

is not completed. And much more, the judgments

that are going to fall on the earth and right

all the wrongs will never take place. He's left

in a conundrum here. He's weeping. What's going

to happen? Verse 5. But one of the elders said

to me, Do not weep. Behold the lion of the tribe

of Judah, the root of David. He has prevailed

to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

Don't weep. There is hope. There is one who is

worthy. There is one who is qualified. One who

is able not only to look upon the scroll, but

to open it and to loose its seals. There is an

appointed heir. It's the title deed. One person

qualified with the divine right and the moral

authority to exact judgment on humanity and at

the same time redeem God's people. He, who, excuse

me, is that rightful heir? It's the root of David.

This is Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

1 tells us that Christ is, quote, the heir of

all things. Psalm chapter 2 tells us, or the

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

second Psalm, shows us that Christ was the one

to whom the Father gave a promise. What's that

promise? You're going to rule the earth and inherit

all the nations. In Psalm 2, we see God speaking.

So the rulers are raging. He says, I have set

my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare

the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are

my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me

and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.

And the ends of the earth for your possession.

He gets it all. All creation is his. You shall

break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash

them to pieces like a potter's vessel. You, Jesus,

will bring judgment. But first he will bring

redemption. There is one who is qualified to

open the scroll, to loose the seals, and release

judgments on the earth. Well, who is he? He never

says Jesus. He first of all says the Lion of

the tribe of Judah. This is a reference to the

Messianic King. We read about this in Genesis

49. And I love how the Old Testament leads and

dovetails into the New. Genesis 49, verse 8.

Genesis 49:8

Judah. You are he whom your brother shall praise.

And Judah means praise, by the way. Your hand

shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's

children shall bow down before you. Judah is

a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have

gone up. He bows down. He lies down like a lion.

And as a lion, who shall rouse him? Now look

at verse 10. This is the promise. The scepter,

the rule, shall not depart from Judah. nor a

lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh,

until Messiah comes. And to him, this one from

Judah, shall be the obedience of the people.

John says, that's Jesus. And in case we're confused,

he said, it's the root of David. The root of

David? Yeah, Isaiah 11, 1 and 10. There shall

come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse. Jesse's

David's father. And a branch shall grow out of

his roots. And in that day there shall be a root

of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people

for the Gentiles shall seek him and his resting

place shall be glorious. Okay, now understand

what Isaiah is saying. There's coming one who

descended from Jesse. He's actually going to

be a descendant of David. He brought David's

line into existence as the creator. Yet he also

has his roots in David as his descendant. Now

that ought to make you scratch your head. How

can this Messiah be both David's creator and

his descendant? By the way, that was the very

question that Jesus Christ posed to the Pharisees.

As a human. One born of Mary. Jesus had his root

in David. But as God, the eternal son, he is

the root of David. And he is both human and divine.

The God -man we're speaking of here. The elder

then, in Revelation 5, he comes to the apostle

John. He says, stop crying. There's a lion who's

prevailed. He's worthy to open this scroll. He's

worthy to reveal its contents. How did he prevail

though? Through his death and resurrection. It

was through the death and resurrection that the

Lord Jesus defeated Satan, overcame sin, vanquished

death, and it granted him the sovereign authority

of the earth and to open all scrolls. Now the

remainder of chapter 5 is going to be focused

on the worship of this lion. Look at verses 6

and 7. And I looked, and behold, in the midst

of the throne and of the four living creatures,

in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though

it had been slain, having seven horns and seven

eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent

out into all the earth. Then he, that is the

lamb, came, and he took the scroll out of the

right hand of him who sat on the throne. All

right. The elder just told John that this lion

from Judah's tribe has prevailed. So John turns

around and he's expecting to see a lion. But

instead he turns around and what does he see?

He sees a lamb. And it's a lamb that looks as

though it's been slain, yet it's standing. So

the Lord Jesus is both the lion from Judah's

tribe and he's the slain yet living lamb. Now

what's going on here? You see here a contrast.

And it's really a contrast. Of Jesus' two advents.

His first advent, first coming. Second advent,

what he will fulfill when he comes again. As

the lamb, Jesus was judged. As the lion, he will

judge. As the lamb, he offered his body as a

sacrifice. As the lion, he returns as the king.

As the lamb, he came to serve. As the lion, he

came to rule. He comes reigning. As the lamb,

he comes meek and mild. As the lamb, he comes

meek and mild. As the lion, he comes majestic.

Both of these are talking about the advent of

Christ. The lion at his second coming. And so

the reference here, when we see, talking about

a lion, John turns and sees a lamb, we can't

help but think of John the Baptist's words when

he first saw Jesus. Do you remember there in

Matthew chapter 1, or John chapter 1? It says,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention John 1 · chapter mention

When John saw him, he said, behold, the Lamb

of God, which takes away the sin of the world.

The Apostle John, seeing this Lamb is so very

important because it reveals the work and ministry

of Christ as our Redeemer. And it really answers

the question that Isaac had for Abraham. Do you

remember, Abraham is told to go and offer up

his son Isaac. And on the way up there, Isaac

asked this most important question in Genesis

22. Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said,

my father. And he said, here I am, my son. And

Isaac's looking around. He says, hey, dad, look,

you got fire and you got wood. But where is the

lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham says these

prophetic words. My son. God will provide, now

we have for himself, but literally it says God

will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering.

So the two of them went on together. And then

John the Baptist, when he first sees Jesus, behold

the lamb of God. Which takes away the sin of

the world. Jesus is the answer to Isaac's question.

My dad wears the lamb. Jesus is the lamb that

God has provided. He is the lamb of God that

takes away the sin of the world. Now notice where

he is in the vision here. In the midst of the

throne. He's in the center. The Lord Jesus Christ

stands as a center and focus of heavenly worship.

He's in the midst of the throne and he's surrounded

by four living creatures and the 24 elders, which

represents God's people from both Old and New

Covenant. You have the 12 patriarchs and the

12 apostles combined together, the 24 elders.

I know I'm going fast, but that's a side note

there. So what's the point? Jesus is in the midst.

Jesus is the center of all that happens in heaven.

And so what we understand is, friends, we do

not worship a baby lying in a manger, but rather

we worship the living, reigning Lamb of God ruling

today from heaven. Now John gives this description,

and if we're not careful, we'll focus too much

on literal aspects of it. He said this lamb had

seven horns. What does seven represent? Perfection

or completion. So horns speak of power. So it

speaks of perfect power. His omnipotence. The

Lamb has seven eyes. Perfect sight. Perfect knowledge.

Represents his omniscience. Seven spirits of

God. This does not mean that there are literally

seven separate spirits of God. This is a vision,

folks. This points to the fullness of the Holy

Spirit in his perfect power and perfect presence.

So the seven spirits represents the Holy Spirit

in his complete work. sent out into all the earth

shows his omnipresence. So we have his omnipotence,

his omniscience, and his omnipresence. But there's

a great paradox we see in verse 6. This lamb

stood as a lamb as though it had been slain.

It's slain, it's killed, yet here it is standing

alive in the midst of heaven. It's his resurrection.

The cross. Looks like a glaring defeat, but because

of Christ's resurrection, that seeming defeat

has been turned into the world's greatest victory

ever. And we start to sing about this. Look at

verses 7 through 10. Then he, the Lamb, he came

and took the scroll out of the right hand of

him who sat on the throne. So Jesus takes the

throne from the Father. Now when he had taken

the scroll, The four living creatures and the

24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having

a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which

are the prayers of the saints. And they sang

a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the

scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain,

and you have redeemed us to God by your blood

out of every tribe and tongue and people and

nation. And you have made us kings and priests

to our God. And we shall reign on the earth.

When the Lamb came and took that scroll from

God the Father's hand, the weeping ended and

the worshiping began. Now, I hesitate putting

this in here. What we see in Revelation when

Jesus takes a scroll from God the Father's hand

is the fulfillment of Daniel's vision of Daniel

7. Quickly, and I won't spend a lot of time on

this. Daniel writes this, another vision. I was

watching in the night visions, and behold, one

like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of

heaven, he came to the Ancient of Days, and they

brought him near before him. Then to him, that's

that Son of Man, was given dominion and glory

and a kingdom, that all peoples and nations and

languages should serve him. His dominion is an

everlasting dominion which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

We see this taking place in Revelation 5. So

earlier, John's weeping. No one's found worthy.

Suddenly, you have a land slain approaching the

throne, and he does take that scroll from the

Father's hand. And we understand that the Lord

Jesus is the one who's uniquely qualified, uniquely

worthy to receive authority over all creation

and to fulfill God's plan for history. So when

Christ takes the scroll, all heaven begins to

fall down and worship before him. Verse 8. The

four living creatures and 24 elders fell down

and they had harps and they had bowls full of

incense. Notice what's happening. All heaven

is joining in in worshiping the Lamb which is

an affirmation of Christ's deity. Why? Because

we're told God shares his glory with no one and

the very fact that they are worshiping Christ

in the presence of God reveals that Christ is

God. The living creatures and the elders, they

have a harp. That's an instrument of praise.

They have a golden bowl full of incense, which

represents prayers. See, praise and prayers are

directed to Christ. By the way, just a side note

here. It is noteworthy. Our prayers are part

of God's plan. We may not understand how it works,

but it does mean something. And they begin to

sing. Verse 9. What kind of song are they singing

in heaven? The very first thing we're told is

that it is a new song. What do you mean a new

song? It's about the new covenant and the redemption

that Christ has accomplished. It's a worship

song. Thou art worthy. By the way, where do we

get the word worship? It comes from an old English

word, worth -ship. It's a gospel song. It's about

the good news. For you were slain and you have

redeemed us to God by your blood. That word slain

is very graphic. It's a word sfatso in Greek

and it literally means slaughtered or butchered.

Christ was butchered. He was slaughtered. That's

what it refers to, a slaughtered animal. All

of heaven is singing about the cross of Christ

and the blood of Christ that purchased our redemption.

Now I want to ask the church something. If this

is what heaven is singing about, what should

the church on earth be singing about? About the

blood of Christ, about his cross. We should be

making much of him. That's why we gather to worship,

to make much of Jesus. It's a missionary song.

For you were slain and you have redeemed us to

God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue

and people and nation. Revelation is full of

symbols. Seven represents completion. But we

have here, you have the number four. Four often

represents the whole earth. You have the four

corners of the earth, the four winds of heaven,

and here we have four terms. Every tribe, tongue,

people, and nation. What's the point? We are

seeing here that Jesus has ransomed people from

all across the globe. The goal of missions...

is that people from all nations, all languages,

all ethnic backgrounds will one day be gathered

around the throne of God singing praises to Christ

for having ransomed them. By the way, this is

why we give to missions. And this is why we go

as missionaries to make Revelation chapter 5

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

a reality. See, the gospel is to be preached

to all people. What did Jesus say? We are to

make disciples of all nations. It is universal

in scope, fulfilling the promise that was God

made to Abraham. Do you remember that promise

that God made to Abraham? Hey, Abraham, in your

seed shall all families of the earth be blessed.

All families of the earth, here it is. It's universal.

All languages and ethnic groups and tribes and

nations are present there at the throne of God.

It's a praise song. He made us kings and priests,

our God, and we shall reign on the earth. Do

you understand what this is saying? In the kingdom

of God, believers will be restored to God's original

intention that mankind will be his royal representatives.

Adam failed, but we won't fail anymore. Christ

is the true king and we will reign with him in

the renewed creation. Notice where we will reign.

It says on the earth. In the new heavens. And

the new earth. Our future existence, church,

is not in some ethereal heavenly existence floating

around on a cloud, but rather reigning with Christ

on the earth in new glorified bodies. That's

what we have to look forward to. Verses 11 and

12. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many

angels around the throne. The living creatures

and the elders. And the number of them was 10

,000 times 10 ,000 and thousands of thousands.

John's at a loss for words, folks. And he said

with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was

slain to receive power and riches and wisdom

and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

Innumerable heavenly multitude begins to sing

praises to Christ. You have angels and creatures

and elders, all of them, 10 ,000 times 10 ,000.

In the Greek, they don't have a word for that.

So this just means innumerable. John doesn't

have a word for it. The heavenly host here is

praising Christ. Why? Because he was slain. His

work of redemption. Worthy. Worthy is the lamb

who was slain. He's getting the honor. He's getting

the recognition that he never received here on

the earth. Heaven sees him for who he is. In

fact, there's a seven -fold doxology. Seven adjectives

used. And again, seven, the number of completion.

John uses seven adjectives for praising him.

He is worthy to receive power, it says. On the

earth, he was born in weakness. He died in weakness,

but he was raised in power. On the earth, it

says, or he's worthy to receive riches. On the

earth, he was born into poverty. But now he possesses

the riches of heaven and earth. Wisdom. Do you

remember as the Lord Jesus walked this earth,

men derided him? They called him a lunatic, said

he was out of his mind. And now he's shown to

be the wisdom of God. Worthy to receive strength.

Jesus Christ shared in our weakness of humanity.

God became tired and hungry and thirsty, the

God -man, I should say. But now he possesses

all strength. Honor. I love this. On earth he

was defamed. He was called a fraud, a deceiver.

Yet in heaven he is given the highest honor by

having the name that is above every name. He

receives glory. Again, on the earth they called

him a fool, a liar, a troublemaker, a son of

Belial. They said he was a glutton. They called

him a wine -bibber. But one day... Every knee

is going to bow and every tongue is going to

confess that Jesus Christ is Lord giving him

glory. He's the true king, but on the earth they

mocked his kingship, right? They put a crown

of thorns on him and a mock robe and a fake scepter.

But now in heaven he receives all the glory.

And I think about those Roman soldiers who fake

bowed before him. They will see him one day ruling

and seated on his true throne as the king of

the universe. And he's worthy to receive blessing,

reverent adoration. The one who became a curse

for us now receives the highest praise. And this

worship comes to a crescendo in verses 13 and

14. And every creature which is in heaven and

on the earth and under the earth and such as

in the sea and all that are in them, I heard

saying, I mean, this is everyone. John, really,

he's stretching the human vocabulary here. Blessing

and honor and glory and power be to him who sits

on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.

And then the four living creatures said, Amen.

And the four and twenty elders fell down and

worshipped him who lives forever and ever. All

creation joining in praise. There's universal

worship. It says every creature in heaven, on

earth, under the earth, under the sea, in the

sea, I mean, you name it. All voices join the

voice of heaven in this heavenly course, praising

the one who sits on the throne, that's God the

Father, and the Lamb. Christ receives the same

honor and worship as the Father who is seated

on the throne. Do you know what that means? Once

more, this is a very clear picture that Jesus

Christ is God. He shares in the worship given

to the Father. And the four creatures, they give

a final seal of agreement and they cry out, Amen.

And as they do, those 24 elders representing

all the people of God, they fall down and worship

our Lord. There's only one response to the worthy

lamb. Who has redeemed us by his blood. And if

you know him at all today church. The one response

is to fall down before him in worship. The vision

closes with the united eternal worship of Christ.

Redeemer and Lord. What's the point of history?

Is it just abstract and there's really no point?

It's pointless? As the nihilists say. Postmodern

say. No. This is the point of history. It's going

somewhere. It's linear. All creation, all creation

will one day honor the son, Jesus Christ, the

son of the living God as Lord of all. That's

the point of history. And right now you're invited

to bow your knee and confess him as Lord. See,

what's the point of missions? What's the goal

of missions? I would say it's the same point

of history. It's the goal of history. It's that

Jesus, the slain yet risen lamb, is worthy. And

we recognize that worth now. That's what we do.

Now what? As we close. Now what? What do we do

in light of this? If Revelation 5 teaches us

anything, it teaches us this. That only Jesus

Christ is worthy of our trust. No leader, Republican

or Democrat, monarch or anyone else. No government.

No political system should have our ultimate

trust. Be involved, seek the welfare of where

you live, great. Ultimate trust goes to Christ

only. See, where does our faith rest? Our faith

rests in Christ, the risen, the slain, yet risen

lamb. Secondly, though, and I said this earlier,

but I want to emphasize it again. Church, your

prayers matter. The saints had golden bowls filled

with incense representing prayer. So what does

that mean? You and I need to pray boldly because

God uses our prayers to unfold and further his

purpose. I don't know how that works, but I believe

it by faith. Additionally, let me just say this.

There is hope in the midst of chaos. The lamb

has prevailed and he is in control of history's

outcome. It's not meaningless, but he's not only

in control of history's outcome. He's also in

control of your life's outcome. Yeah, he has

the scroll of the earth. But Jesus Christ also

has the scroll of your life. Your life is in

his hands. Your job is to trust him. And lastly,

as we close out this missions emphasis month,

the gospel, that good news, it's for all people.

Every tribe, every language group. Every ethnos,

meaning every ethnic group. All people. Friends,

our mission is global. Because the Lamb of God

and his sacrifice has redeemed for God people

from all places. And we need to support that

mission to take the gospel to those places. We

are diverse as a people, right? We've got the

Philippines. We've got Mexico. We've got Americans.

I'm sure there's some other ethnicities in here.

We're diverse as a people. But we're united as

one body. We are the people of God. We're not

divided along socioeconomic labels in the kingdom

of God. We are the redeemed children of God,

the body of Christ, and that's what this table

represents. The many... Become one. Brothers

and sisters, all these people, all these flags.

So my challenge for Mamre, if you're joining

us today, this is my challenge for Mamre, is

that you would participate. 100 % of our church,

100 % of families would be involved some way

in missions, giving and praying. You pray about

whatever amount, I will never seek you out, but

I pray that, Lord, you have a heart to take the

gospel to the nations so that Revelation 5, you

have your hand in that. All nations gather around

that throne singing praises to the worthy lamb.

This is why we give. This is why we go. This

is why Ralph and Tim, I think Wes, are right

now in Peru, South America, in some tribal jungle,

telling others about Jesus Christ. Let's close

in prayer. Father, I thank you for your word,

Lord God. How can we add anything to it? Jesus

is worthy. The Lamb is worthy, Lord. I want to

sing it. I want to shout it. I want that to be

maintained and manifest in my life. That there

is a worthy one and his name is Jesus, Lord.

That there is hope in chaos, Lord. That it's

not random. It's not accidental. Our lives have

meaning. And Father, I pray for those gathered

here today, Lord. There may be some, no doubt,

there probably are some who don't know your Son.

They've never bowed the knee. They've never confessed

him as Lord. They've never seen him as glorious.

And I pray that today, God, open their eyes.

Give them a heart to believe. Lord, give them

a heart that would willingly confess Christ as

Lord and Savior. And Father, for your church,

God, help us to see why we do what we do, that

we live for the glory of Christ and the kingdom

of God, seeking him and it first. Oh, God, forgive

us, Lord. Prepare us, Lord, as we come to the

table of the Lord. Lord, soften our hearts. God,

prepare us to be the people of God. Make us what

you want us to be. We pray this in Jesus' strong

name. Amen. Deacons, if you would come and prepare

the table.