Simple Obedience (Missions) | 3 John 1:1-8 with Chris Ochoa

You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with

Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is

people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in.

Let's dive in. Last week, Kevin, he absolutely

killed it. I killed it.

He killed it with the message on that he entitled Simple

Assurance and it was out of Hebrews chapter 10 and it was so

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

good. I wanted to recap it a little

bit. Basically the main point.

The reason being I'm going to build off of it a little bit in

unity with Kevin because providentially when Casey asked

me to speak weeks ago, the text that I wanted to speak on today,

third John chapter one has a lot of similar themes as Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, what Kevin preached on with his simple assurance.

So with that said, coincidence to the Christian is really

Providence. We don't believe in coincidence,

we believe in Providence. I believe that God has something

amazing in store for Bridgetown for 2026 and that He wants His

people, that's you, on mission, living for something greater

than the here and now. Kevin last week talked about

Jesus being our assurance. You remember in Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

10, Jesus is portrayed by the author of Hebrews as our great

High Priest, that because He was righteous, because He was holy,

He intercedes for you and I. He goes into the holy place of

the temple between where only God and the High Priest can

interact. Jesus being our great High

Priest, has washed us clean by His blood, made us new and

opened the way to the Father. You and I now have access to God

as our Father. You can go to Him anytime in

prayer. You can go to Him anytime in

devotion and worship and reading the Word, and He will respond to

you because your great high priest interceded for you in the

past and continues to intercede for you today.

You have access to the Father. Kevin talked about Jesus being

your assurance for your life. He said this.

He said we approach ministry on the foundation of Christ alone

and I respond with a resounding Amen.

Absolutely Jesus is the starting point of your faith.

I echo Kevin and in unity I want to compliment what he showed

last week. So I entitled my message today,

simple obedience, simple obedience.

If last week was about simple assurance this week I want to

speak to you today on simple obedience.

Now my wife and I, we have three kids.

I know three kids under 4. So pray for us.

We decided to get them out of the way early.

But three kids, we're in a unique position because our two

oldest girls have birthdays in November and December.

That means the last four to five months were busy.

Super busy. I mean busy.

Fall, winter season, we have Halloween and harvest festivals,

then the November birthday party, then Thanksgiving a week

later, then the December birthday party, then Christmas,

then New Year's. It's a lot.

It's been a hustle the last four or five months for us.

So at these birthday parties, my wife, with her heart of

generosity, she invites like 40 people from our current church.

And me as the father, as the husband, the curmudgeon amigos.

Why I only attend parties. I don't host them.

Man, it's a lot of work. The curmudgeon amigos I

inevitably default to. Well, what are we going to feed

them? That's a lot.

That's 40 people. Are you kidding me?

How can 40 people love my kids? You know, inevitably I defaulted

to, well, let's just cater the food or worse.

Do we really need tables and chairs?

Do we need the streamers? Can people, you know, bring

their own blanket or something? That's where my mind inevitably

goes initially goes. But my wife, Pam, she has the

biggest heart of generosity. I'm talking like she's changed

me a lot. Her family gives each other

gifts and presents for Valentine's Day.

Like that was new to me. I entered into this family

that's just a generous, giving family.

So I found myself thinking after years with Pam, wait, why?

Why is that initially my first thought?

What's it going to cost me? Why do I have to initially

default to, well, where are we going to feed them?

I don't want to take care of them.

I thought, you know what, these people, they're coming to my

place to bless my kids because they love my kids.

My kids are a joy to me. And far be it from me that one

day they look back in these photos of their first and 3rd

birthday parties and say Dad can go all out for them.

All right, So what I did was I fired up the grill, fired up the

stove, and I slaved over the stove.

I'm talking like not just burgers and fries.

I did like two batches of chilaquiles, red and green.

I did like pasta bolognese and like pesto pasta.

I know I was impressed with myself.

Now I tell that story because in that moment, what motivated me

to put in the effort to cook for all of these people and to

sacrifice my time and my finances was love and gratitude.

Love and gratitude for these people, for all they've done for

my wife and I and our kids, and because they're just worth it.

Knowing how much these people love my kids and how good

they've been to us. I, I just realized, you know

what, these people are worth it. So let's get the tables, chairs

and streamers, you know, let let me cook a meal for them because

they're worth it. A question I have for you today,

Bridgetown is given what Kevin talked about last week about our

simple assurance being in Christ.

It's yours. This is your treasure.

How much is that simple assurance that you have a future

and a hope in Jesus worth to you?

How much is it worth to you? Does it compel you to sacrifice

for the sake of another? Does it move you to proclaim the

goodness of God in your life to other people, even people you've

never met? Kevin mentioned this last week

and it was it was killer. He said, unlike the thief on the

cross. Remember, he highlighted the

thief on the cross who at his dying breath recognizes Jesus as

the Christ. He says, Lord, Remember Me when

you come into your Kingdom and Jesus says today you will be

with me. That's all it takes, by the way,

to be one with God, to be reconciled with God is

acknowledging Jesus as the Christ.

Do you believe that this man, at his very last breath on his

deathbed on the cross, recognizes Jesus?

I believe you, and Jesus responds with your mind.

You're going to be with me forever.

Yet Kevin said. Unlike the thief on the cross,

you and I have time to make an impact.

You're still breathing. You're still here.

You think about it. If Jesus loves you so much, why

hasn't he taken you home yet? Because you still got a mission.

He's not done with you yet. There's people that need to hear

about His goodness through your life and through your testimony.

So my desire this morning is that we would cultivate A

grander vision for our life as believers.

That we wouldn't just settle for the comforts of America.

We wouldn't just settle for the comforts of a four O 1K in a

retirement account, but that we would be on mission.

Because your life is more than finances.

Your life is more than your nine to five job.

You're made for more. Maybe live on mission.

And that's what this text is about today, living on mission.

What does that look like? So the context of third John,

like I said, this is his third personal letter.

He's actually written 4 things in the five things rather in the

New Testament, right? The Gospel of John, these 3

letters and the Apocalypse, the Revelation, the Book of

Revelation, that's this same John the Apostle, he was one of

the 12. So he spent about 3 1/2 years

with Jesus. He was actually in the inner

circle. So we have 12 apostles that

Jesus calls with him, but he would take these three, Peter,

James and John, and mentor them, if you will, where he didn't

take the other nine. He was in the inner circle.

Now, the style of this letter, it's a very personal letter to a

believer named Gaius. This man, Gaius, he's the leader

at the Church of Ephesus and he's actually, John calls him my

son in the faith, my son in the face.

So he looks at Gaius. John does, He looks like Gaius

and he treats them like a son, probably because Gaius was

converted believe in the gospel of Jesus as John preached to

him. So this carries the same themes

as John's other writings. Since it's in the series of

writings by John, he's going to hit two big things, truth and

love. Truth and love.

This is the most personal and specific of John's writings to

Gaius and you get to kind of a in depth image of what it looks

like to live as a believer in the early church.

What does it mean to be on mission?

What does ministry look like for the Christian?

What should it look like? With that said, let's study it

verses one through 4 John. He calls himself the Elder, and

he says this the elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love.

In truth. Beloved, I pray that all may go

well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes

well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the

brothers came to me and testified to your truth, as

indeed you are walking in the truth.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are

walking in the truth. We'll stop there for now.

Here, John rejoices over his son.

Guys, he's just gushing over him.

He's so proud of him, like a proud dad to a son.

John had received report from local missionaries that reported

back to him that guys has been faithful to the truth.

This guy's a genuine believer. He still believes John despite

persecution, despite false teaching, despite the suffering

that he's endured. He still believes.

He's still walking in the truth. Even amidst a culture where

false teachers AKA spiritual wolves lurk about praying on the

sheep of the church with deceptive teaching.

It doesn't shake Gaius. He still walks in the truth.

Now why is truth so important to John?

You're going to see it over and over and over again in John's

writings. In first and second John the 1st

2 letters, he actually says that truth and love are connected.

Truth and love are connected. He says they're tests to

discern, to discern true saving faith and what he means by that

is if you are truly a regenerate believer, if you claim Jesus as

the Christ, if he is your Lord and Savior, here's some 2 tests

for you to think about If you truly have been brought out of

darkness and to his Kingdom of light.

Do you love the truth? Do you remain in it despite

immense persecution? Because understand in the early

church they're still under the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire

and they're fighting ex family members who are Jewish who want

to worship God Yahweh in the old covenant, calling them the new.

These new believers, your heretic, these Jewish

Christians, these believers are facing immense persecution to go

back, to walk away from the truth so that they would live

more comfortable lives there. That's the first Test.

Do you adhere to the truth? The second test is do you love

the brothers? Do you love the brothers?

He says, how can somebody say that I am saved?

How can somebody say that I've experienced the grace of God if

I don't give the grace of God out to other people?

That's his test. So in first and second John,

truth and love are connected. Now what is the truth?

What, what exactly does the truth mean?

When we talk about what something means first, it's

actually helpful. Let's talk about what we don't

mean. OK, So before we get to what is

truth, what isn't truth according to John one first John

1 John 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 and 4, you can go do some homework and read it up.

John says what isn't the truth? What's the spirit of the

Antichrist and many antichrists like him, and it's just that

Antichrist. It's thoughts that are

Antichrist. It's denying facts and testimony

about Jesus of Nazareth specifically, two key things.

One, that he was physically embodied.

He was physically here. There was a teaching going

around from a sect called Gnosticism and what Gnosticism

believed was that the body is bad, the spiritual life is good,

and if God is all good that means he can't possibly put on a

body. So when G when you guys saw

Jesus, that really wasn't him physically, that was a spirit

being. And this was being peddled

throughout the church calling the into question the life,

death and resurrection of Jesus. The second thing that denies the

truth about Jesus of Nazareth was that he was the Christ, that

he was the Christ, that he is more than a prophet or a rabbi,

but he's actually the promised one of God, the one that

fulfills the Old covenant, Old Testament storyline.

There were people approaching believers in the church saying,

one, Jesus, he wasn't physically here, like who told you that?

And then two, he's not the Christ, He's not the

long-awaited one. Hey, I can give you some secret

wisdom you want. You want to listen to it.

That's kind of what John and Gaius were dealing with.

This is why he goes through painstaking detail.

He opens up the Gospel of John. Do you remember how the Gospel

of John opens up? In the beginning was the Word

and the Word was with God. The Word was God.

And then he goes on to say the Word became flesh and dwelt

among us. That's an argument against these

people first, John. He starts with that which we

have seen. That's what we that with, with

which we have heard, with which we have touched.

We were here with him. He's using physical language to

dispel rumors from these Gnosticists that Jesus didn't

come in the flesh. So what is adherence to the

truth? It's the reality about who Jesus

is and what he has accomplished, namely the gospel.

The gospel is the truth Jesus perfect life, his atoning death,

his victorious resurrection, his ascension and his soon return.

These are the truths about Jesus that John commands Gaius for

holding to now. The hope of every pastor, every

elder, everybody in leadership at your church, the hope of of

theirs is that you, the people, would abide in the truth and

remain faithful to Jesus. Casey, Pastor Casey loses sleep

at night over you. He bears with you.

He cries for you, and I've seen it.

Casey's a very emotional guy and that's something he should wear

with a badge of honor. He cares about you, and where

this care comes from is this hope.

He wants you to abide and walk in the truth, to remain faithful

to Jesus. Here's why, my friends.

One day your body will fail you and your mind's going to betray

you. It just happens.

Menopause, old age, midlife crisis, catastrophic injury, you

name it. One day you're not going to be

able to run like you used to. You're not going to be able to

jump over a Creek. Your body will fail you.

Some seasons even your heart will fail you, your heart will

be despondent and you won't feel anything at all.

So let me ask some of you this question.

How have you been feeling lately?

And if some of you are honest, you'd reply to me.

Well, not not very good, Chris. I don't feel very good.

Quite frankly. I'm not really feeling anything

at all in this moment and I'm just blah.

Just is what it is to you. I respond with exactly that's

just living life. The ebbs and flows of life,

seasons of feast and season of famine.

In those seasons of darkness, in those seasons of despot,

despondent heart, your body physically breaking, it is

essential that in these seasons you remember what you know to be

true about the truth of Jesus Christ and abide in it.

The time for doubting Jesus, well, I don't know if he's true

or not. That's not the time to doubt

when your heart is despondent. Figure those things out when

life's going well, so that when you enter in those seasons of

darkness, those valleys, you're ready because it will happen.

Abide in the truth for me. My personal mission statement

for you guys, I think for anybody in my ministry is get

them home. The tagline I have for everybody

I preachers teach is get them home.

And I, I, I pull that out of Peter, Peter's letters, he

actually describes the Christian experience living in this life

as exile. He says, live the remainder of

your time in exile worthy of the Lord because to Peter and the

New Testament authors, this isn't our home.

I'm not meant to be here, I meant to be with Him and the

Kingdom to come and my desire for you, my mission statement

for you is to get you home, that you would remain faithful until

your final breath and the Lord comes for you.

With that said, the nature of our Sunday gathering.

What is church all about on Sunday mornings?

Why are you here today? I hope it isn't that you're here

because you think you'll somehow merit God's favor.

That's not true. The nature of the Sunday

gathering is 3 things. Why we come together corporately

as a family of God on Sunday mornings as these three things.

To worship Christ together through music and singing.

As the center of our affections. We worship Him because of what

we've received from Him. Secondly, we remind each other

of the truth through preaching, teaching, and prayer.

For those of you who come in and say, oh, I've heard this before,

you know, I used to be that person.

That's the curse of knowing a lot of theology.

You go into church and you become bitter because you're

like, this guy doesn't even know he's talking about, I've heard

this before all you're talking about brokenness.

Again, my friends, you'll be a lot happier.

You'll be a lot wiser. You'll receive a lot more.

If you remember that the church is not necessarily for learning

anything new, that does happen, but infrequently.

Church on Sunday morning is to be reminded of what you already

know to be true so that you cling to it.

Third thing that the church gathering on Sunday does, it

renews the soul. It renews your soul with hope

through the proclamation of the gospel.

You can equate the Sunday gathering to like a Formula One

pit stop for you race fans out there.

Any Red Bull fans out here? Oh, man, it's like the number

one sport in the world other than soccer.

Guys, come on, Formula One, in any race, there's a mandatory

pit stop. You get new tires, you clear the

visor on your race helmet and you refuel.

You get ready to go back onto the track.

That's what Sunday gathering is. We come together to worship, to

remind one another, and to be renewed by the things we know to

be true so that we go back into the world on mission.

That's what we do. It's church gathered on Sunday

versus church scattered throughout the week.

The church is still the church Monday through Saturday.

All right, moving on, Verse five, pick up with me verse 5

through 6. John goes on and he says,

beloved, it is a faithful thing you do on all your efforts for

these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your

love before the church. We'll stop there.

John commands Gaius for his love and hospitality, the love and

hospitality that he's shown to traveling missionaries.

These are the same people that brought Guy, that brought John

the report about Gaius. Though these people were

strangers to Gaius, he opened up his heart to them and hosted

them as his brothers. So much so that when the

missionaries reported back to their home church, they couldn't

help but boast about how Guy has supported them.

That's the Lord. Answer it.

We're talking about missions. If you're looking for a sign

today, that's it. Go.

What I want you to see here is that we talked about truth.

And remember, to John, truth and love are connected.

Gaius has shown this gushing, overwhelming love for these

strangers, these missionaries who have come out to preach the

Gospel. He's been loving to them.

Not only is he walking in the truth, but he demonstrates

hospitality. This love has changed.

This truth has changed him. What I want you to see is that

the truth about Jesus is transformational.

It's transformational. You cannot have a true

relationship with Jesus without being loving.

It's been said that the journey of Christianity is a matter of

inches from the mind to the heart, from the mind to the

heart, that we will be changed from the inside out.

Saving knowledge of the truth about Jesus, if it's true,

should result in a radical love for people around you.

Consider John the Apostle himself, this guy.

Remember Jesus and his buddies, the apostles?

They nicknamed him a son of Thunder, him and his twin

brother James. They're called the sons of

Thunder because they're brash, they're loud, they're

courageous. This is the same guy who in Luke

9, when he sees the crowds, the multitudes coming to Jesus to be

fed with bread, he tells Jesus, Lord, dude, it's been a long

day, send the people home so they can eat.

Jesus looks at him and says, hey, I'm not going to do that.

You feed them, you feed them. This is the same guy who on a

journey to Samaria with Jesus, he sees these people baptizing

in the name of Jesus, and he says, hey, they're not with us.

They can't do that. They can't baptize.

Lord, do you want me to tell him to stop it?

Jesus says John, leave him alone bro, he was not against us.

As for us, this is the same guy who on that way they get to the

village of Samaria and it says the village of Samaria doesn't

receive Jesus. They reject him.

John in his anger says, Lord say the word right now I'll call

down fire from heaven, Let me call down fire from heaven.

Let me destroy them, Jesus, says John.

Relax, buddy. This is the very same guy who

all of a sudden is calling Gaius, my beloved, my son in the

faith. It's a great thing you're doing

for these strangers and loving people.

How does he go from this brash son of Thunder to this big

softy? The modern day equivalent to

that a brother I love in the in the faith is is Rudy Rudy's a

big softy. The Lord has transformed his

heart. He's so good to you guys and and

if you're there, I love you, man.

The truth about Jesus, the gospel is transformational.

It should evoke love in US. And do you hear the tagline?

Does it sound familiar to you? It says it's a faithful thing

you do for these brothers, strangers as they are.

Does that sound familiar? That's the heart of Bridgetown.

That's the heart of Bridgetown. That's the tagline.

From strangers to family. From strangers to brothers.

From strangers to sisters. Question.

What changes the relationship dynamic.

Unity in the gospel. Unity in the gospel.

I don't know you. You don't know me.

If we were growing up together, we probably wouldn't be friends.

Why are we here today? Because what unites is our lives

have been changed by the gospel of Jesus and it should result in

love that comes out of us. That's like pitting a Bears fan

and a Green Bay Packer fan becoming best friends.

Brothers for you Green Bay pans, Green Bay fans, I'm sorry.

We'll pray for you after up here.

Unity in the gospel cultivates the family that belongs to one

another and loves immensely. Now, my friends, this world

outside those doors right now, they don't have that family.

They don't have that hope that you have, that unity that you

have. This world is bleak.

Our generation are. They're lonelier than ever.

If I see another Barnacle that says Gen.

Z, you know, is lonely, they're not doing.

You know, it's all over the place.

It seems month after month, people are on their phones.

Marriage rates are dropping. There's just a lack of love and

that lack of meaning outside these doors.

The world is bleak. My friends, non believers, watch

the way that the church loves one another.

They do and this is what Jesus says in John 13.

The world will know you're my disciples by the way you love

one. Another question for us is, are

we in unity for the truth? Are we in unity for the truth?

These non believers will also remember the way that the church

loves them. Does the love of God, the gift

of grace that you've received from him?

Does it motivate you for mission to go outside those doors today

and to carry this hope, this simple assurance that Kevin

talked about last week to people who need it?

Does it motivate you for that? A more urgent question for you,

Does the soon return of King Jesus, his second coming, give

you a sense of urgency to share the gospel?

Because this is part of that truth that we talked about

earlier that we must abide in the truths about Jesus.

A lot of the times, our gospel presentations, we leave this

part out. We forget he's coming again.

It's not that, oh, we're just going to wait till we die going

to be with him. No, He could come at any moment.

And this next time he comes, he's going to be a conquering

king. We don't want people in the

world to face this without hope. Verse 6 will continue.

John says to Gaius, to these brothers, these strangers that

you've taken in, you've shown them love.

He says in verse 6, You will do well to send them on their

journey in a manner worthy of God, for they have gone out for

the sake of the name. Accepting nothing from the

Gentiles, John assures Gaius that his service to and

sacrifice for these brothers is never in vain.

Let me ask some of the church leadership here.

Does it feel like sometimes your efforts for these people are in

vain? Join the club, John says.

The guy is no, no, no. Your efforts are never in vain.

Guys is reminded of the mission at hand.

These missionaries have gone out for the sake of the name, for

the sake of the name. Now, for those of you who know

me, you know, I love to teach theology.

You know, I'm a pastor teacher at heart.

So here's your theology for today.

OK, I wanted to talk a brief aside on the name.

What does that mean? The name.

These people have gone out for the sake of the name or the name

of who? John.

Oh, the name. The name.

You get it. The name.

I want to walk you through the Old Testament Torah first, these

five books and show you how this name comes to be representative

of the very presence of God. OK, so starting in Genesis

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 and five, we're not going to read anything.

I'm going to mention them to you.

Go home and do your homework. Genesis chapter 4 and five,

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

humanity begins to call upon the name of the Lord.

You remember what happens? Adam and Eve sin.

They're exiled from the garden. Their sons foster that same sin.

Cain kills Abel, OK, God replaces Abel with another son.

His name is Seth. At the end of chapter 4, there's

this little tagline there. It says at that time people

began to call upon the name of the Lord.

They've been away from the garden now.

And in verse 26, at that time, people began to call upon the

name of the Lord. The sin, the curse of sin and

death has spread. And you see this simple refrain

over and over again in chapter 5.

And then they died, and then they died, and then they died.

Everybody makes a big deal in reading Genesis about all these

people live so, so long, like with those like 900 years old,

whatever. That's not the point of the

narrative. The point is every person ends

with the phrase and then they died and then they died.

You're going to die. Question that you felt in your

life that these people in Genesis chapter 4 are feeling.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

God, do you see me? Do you see what's happening

here? Are you there because I'm alone?

I'm away from the garden. I need you.

Help me, please. That's what it means when there

it says they're calling upon the name of the Lord.

Somebody save me from this curse of death.

Fast forward to Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

God responds to humanity and reveals his name to the people

of God. You remember in the burning Bush

with Moses in the wilderness, Genesis, Exodus chapter 3, verse

Exodus 3:14

14, God sees his family of Abraham, his people in darkness

of Egypt and in the burning Bush he meets Moses and he tells

Moses, Hey, go back to Egypt and free my people and then bring

him here to this land and they're going to worship me

here. Moses responds with I can't just

say that. Who do I say send me?

What's your name? And Exodus 314 God responds and

says I am who I am. And he said say this to the

people of Israel. The I am has sent you.

What is God's name? I am who I am.

It's a statement of self existence.

I'm the self existent God. Nobody created me.

Nobody will be after me. It is I He gives him the divine

name, the Tetragrammaton. For you Bible nerds out there,

YHWH. Now understand the Old

Testament. In the Old Script, the ancient

script of Hebrew, there was no consonants.

Oh, I'm sorry, there was no vowels.

There's only consonants. So that name that he reveals to

them is YHWH. There's no way to vocalize it.

It's just consonants. It's a statement of self

existence. The way we get the the the name

Yahweh, where we get that from is there's another word called

Adonai, which means Lord. All they did was in order to

show reverence, take the vowels from Adonai and put them in

between YHWH. That becomes Yahweh.

So there's some Bible trivia for you.

Another way that they talk about the the divine name, because it

was so revered, they didn't utter it.

Whenever they'd see in their ancient script, they wouldn't

say the name Yahweh. What they'd say is Hashem,

Hashem. And what that literally means is

the name, the name Hashem means the name.

So Hashem Adonai, the name, the Lord Hashem, the name Moses on

Mount Sinai in chapter 34 of Exodus says Yahweh, God, show me

your glory, show me your glory, show me what you're like.

And it says there in verse 30, in chapter 34, verse 5, the Lord

descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed

the name of the Lord. And here's what he says.

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to

anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping

steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and

transgression and sin, but who by no means clear the guilty

visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the

children's children to the third and 4th generation.

All Moses asked for was show me your glory.

The way the Lord responds is I'm going to show you my name and

what it's like. Here's who my character is you.

Fast forward to the Leviticus, the book of Leviticus.

This name calls out to the people of God from a tent to

draw near. This holy God who just revealed

his character on the top of Mount Sinai, has now set up camp

in the middle of these unholy people, and he beckons them.

Come, come to the tent. Leviticus is a whole book

devoted entirely to holiness laws.

Because what happens when a holy God shows up amongst an unholy

people to have a relationship with them?

It's dangerous. You die, you must be holy.

As he is holy, you must approach him on his terms.

So the high priest, like what Kevin talked about last week,

high priest would in the tensive meeting in the Tabernacle, he

would wear these specialized pieces of equipment that God

commanded to approach him with. He would wear a breastplate and

in the breastplate is stones representing all 12 tribes of

Israel. The high priest would literally

bear the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, the people of God

before the Lord. On his head he would wear a

turban, and on that turban it would say holy to the Lord, holy

to the Lord. He would say to the high priest

when it says holy to the Lord, You belong to me, you're my

people. Numbers chapter 6.

Numbers 6 · chapter mention

The name blesses the people of God.

You remember Aaron's blessing, Aaron says, or Moses says that

Aaron is supposed to say in chapter 6.

Verse 24, the Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Verse 27 is the kicker that we often overlook.

So shall they put my name on my people.

So when Moses is reciting this blessing, the Lord bless you and

keep you. The Lord be gracious to you,

lift up his countenance to you. What it's doing is placing the

name of God on his people so that they bear the name.

And finally, the last book of the Torah, Deuteronomy,

Deuteronomy chapter 12, God instructs Moses to tell these

Deuteronomy 12 · chapter mention

people that the name is going to dwell among you in the land.

When you get into the land, when you've cleared out all your

enemies, there's no more fighting.

You're going to build a temple, You're going to build a place

where my people will journey to meet me, my presence.

And he says, but you shall seek the place that the Lord your God

will choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, to

put his name. Where am I going with this?

Well, here's the biblical sense of the name.

The name does three things. It identifies that God is unlike

any other God. It demonstrates his character

that he is holy, He's perfect in all his ways.

And then finally, his name demonstrates that he is present.

He is present wherever his name dwells.

In the same way he puts his name on his people.

He dwells with his people. God's name is given to his

people because wherever his name is, they're his presence is.

So we move forward to the New Testament, and here's the

payoff. This dude, Jesus of Nazareth,

comes and says some interesting things on purpose, poking the

eyes of the Pharisees and the scribes and the religious

leaders of the day. John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

He's baptized in the Jordan River.

There's a divine voice from heaven.

As the clouds open, the divine voice speaks and thunders and

says, this is him. This is my son in whom I'm more

pleased. It identifies him as bearing the

name John chapter 14. Philip says, Lord, would you

John 14 · chapter mention

show us the Father? Would you show us the Father?

Jesus responds. Philip, have you been with me

this whole this whole time, all this time you still don't get

it. He who has seen me has seen the

Father. Jesus revealed the holy

character of God, John chapter 2, standing in front of the

John 2 · chapter mention

temple. He says, destroy this temple and

I will raise it up in three days.

Now, what is the temple? The place where the name of God

is, the place where his presence dwells.

And it says it clarifies that the temple he was talking about

was the temple of his body. Do you know what he's saying

there? Jesus becomes a place where the

presence of God dwells. It's in him.

And then finally, John, chapter 8, my favorite of all.

John 8 · chapter mention

When the Pharisees say by whose authority do you do this?

Who is your father? Where do you come from?

He responds and says before Abraham was I am that divine

name Yahweh. They knew exactly what he was

saying. This is why they picked up

stones to kill him. So if you ever hear it parodied

that Jesus never claimed to be God, he did on multiple

occasions. He flat out says it here that I

share the same name of God. I'm the I am.

The presence of God dwells fully in Jesus because he is one in

the same with the Father. He is God and the most marvelous

thing. John chapter 17, the night Jesus

John 17 · chapter mention

is betrayed after the Last Supper, where do they go?

They go to the garden to pray. And in John 17 we see the true

Lord's Prayer, the true high priestly prayer, the very last

night of Jesus on this earth. Here's what he's doing.

John 17. Go read it when you get home.

Verse 6 We see Him praying to the Father in agony, great drops

of blood because of what He's about to endure on the cross.

And the very last thing He thinks about is You and I.

And here's what He says. Verse 6 I have manifested Your

name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.

Yours they were. You gave them to me, and they've

kept Your word. Verse 11 I am no longer in the

world, in the world, but they are in the world, and I am

coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your

name, which you have given me, that they may be 1 even as we

are one. Verse 17 Sanctify them in your

truth. Your word is truth.

As You sent me into the world, so I send them into the world,

and for the sake and for their sake, I consecrate myself that

they may also be sanctified into the truth.

What's the payoff? Where am I going with this?

In the garden? The very last thing Jesus does

before he dies is transfer the name to you.

The same name that he bared that revealed the Father.

His prayer to the Father is Father.

I've revealed and I've manifested their name to you.

Keep them in your name. I'm coming to you, but they're

staying here. You believers now bear his name.

You belong to God. You think back to Hebrews 10,

what Kevin talked about last week, right?

The high priest entering with access to God the Father.

He's your high priest. Guess what?

Now that you belong to God, you've been commissioned as a

priesthood. The reason you have access to

God the Father is your now a priest that bears his name.

In the same way, in the book of Leviticus, the high priest would

bear holy to the Lord. You now bear the name.

You are the temple where his presence dwells.

And this temple, my friends, is mobile.

It's not just the Sunday gathering, it's everywhere.

You are the temple. What's the implication then?

How we live matters. How we live matters because we

uphold the reputation of His name by pursuing holiness.

I can't take another influencing Christian getting caught in

adultery or something. Oh, it's just it's a moral

failure. It should never be because his

name is upon his people and and put at stake.

We uphold the reputation of his name by the pursuing of holiness

as well. We expand the dominion of his

name through missions and evangelism.

Acts chapter 4 verse 12, Paul writes there is no other name

Acts 4:12

under heaven given among men by which you must be saved.

There it is again, the name Paul's picking up on it too.

Jesus, the name of Jesus. He's the only one that can save

and you and I bear that name now.

So guess what that means every interaction you have with a non

believer outside these doors, at that moment, they're

encountering God through you. They're encountering God through

you. Are you angry at the world?

Are you frustrated with them because they're so dark?

I can't believe they're doing this.

The kids these days will never Why are we so appalled and

shocked when the world acts like the world?

You've been called out of the world so that you don't act like

that anymore, but you're you're commissioned back into the world

to show them the love of Christ that they would be brought out

of the world as well. Last, last part verse 8, John

ends his direction to Gaius by saying, therefore, we ought to

support people like these that we may be fellow workers for the

truth, a fellow worker for the truth.

Bridgetown Church. Through our hospitality,

generosity and love for one another, we become united in the

mission at hand. God invites each one of you into

partnership with Him. He wants you to respond to his

calling and bear the name where only you can bear it.

Here's what I mean by that. Pastor Casey, Rudy, Dave, they

don't work where you work. Uncle Led, who is Antichrist.

They'll probably never get to talk to him, but you can

missions isn't just the job of the pastor in the leadership,

it's you. You are the temple, you're the

body and this is the Great Commission these Jesus is

parting words before he is sentenced to heaven is the Great

Commission in chapter 28 of Matthew he says to them all

authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go there for and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them

in the There it is again, the name of the Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit. I've given you the name.

You go baptize people in my name.

Now make them one, as you and I are one.

We are to preach, teach, and baptize into the name of the

Triune God. Now listen how the Faith Life

Study Bible talks about the Great Commission.

It says this. It says many Christians embrace

one particular Commission of Jesus without considering the

context of the original audience.

It's helpful to understand that the Great Commission in context

of which the Commission was given.

Jesus is original. Heroes understood that in giving

the Great Commission, Jesus was making a paradigm shift in

regards to missions. You see in the Old Testament

depicts a clear God-given vision that the nations would come to

Jerusalem to worship with the one true God.

It was very centripetal from the edges, the nations to the

center, which is the temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus is explaining now that his people need to go out and he

will go with him. Something shifted.

The mission is no longer centripetal but centrifugal.

So rather than bringing the nations to Jerusalem, the people

went out from Jerusalem. They went out from Jerusalem to

Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

The Great Commission is the backbone of missions and

expresses God's express desire to be praised by everyone all

over the world. But God still desires us to

reach our neighbor. John tells Gaius that when you

support these missionaries, your partakers, your fellow workers

in the mission at hand, you are fulfilling the Great Commission.

And I want to say in a side real quick about financial giving,

about tithing, financial giving support, that's what he's that's

what John's mentioning here. When you house these brothers,

when you provide hospitality, when you financially support

them, you are engaging in the mission.

A little aside, because it's necessary on financial giving

out of the gate. There is no New Testament

mandate for giving a specific amount financially.

There just isn't. So if you ever hear any pastors

say, oh, it's commander in the Bible to give, that's not.

This is an old covenant practice for the Israelites to support

the tribe of Levi because they don't get any land allotment.

They are mine. So the people would support

them. The other 11 tribes would

provide their every need because the tribe of Levi, the tribe of

Levi was to take care of the temple.

They don't get any land. No land means no sheep.

No sheep means no farm. No farm means no income.

They're the Bible nerds of the day, if you will, who dedicate

their lives to seminary and preaching the gospel.

So because of that, God says the other 11 tribes, you're going to

take a tie that 10% of your first fruits and you're going to

support the work of the ministry.

It's old covenant. There is no New Testament

mandate for giving a specific amount.

There is, however, a mandate on evangelism and Commission and

missions. There's a mandate on it.

Go therefore and make disciples. It's a command God has chosen to

reach people through people. And the expectation is that

Christians would have a heart of generosity because they've been

given so much. And that includes your finances,

that includes your time, that includes all the resources that

God has given you. A heart of generosity where

grace fills you and flows out of you to other people. 2nd

Corinthians 9, Chapter 7, Paul writes.

Each one must give as he's decided in his heart, not

reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

When we give financially to faithful churches and

missionaries, we enter into the work of the ministry and become

partners on the field, on the mission field, for the sake of

the gospel. Where?

What's the end of the story? What's the point of today's

sermon? Well, here it is.

As I as I end here, I'll invite the worship team up.

Missions is the reason that the trust exists.

We're to preach the gospel, fulfilling the Great Commission.

If there is a church not engaging in missions, at some

level we should question if it's a church at all.

It's just a gathering of people. Missions is to be both global

and local. Some of you are going to be

called overseas to bear the name, but some of you are going

to be called across the street to bear the name.

Yet all, without exception, are called.

All of us are called to play a part in the Great Commission.

Last week we sent out Kaden. This week we sent out Lindsay.

In both cases, we invited elders and leaders to come up to what

lay hands on them. Sound an awful lot like putting

the name on them, right? When you lay hands on somebody,

when you're praying for somebody, you're telling them my

presence is going with you and I'm going to support you.

I am on this mission with you. I am here for you.

That's exactly what the church is to do.

Theologian and reformed pastor John Piper, he puts it this way.

He UPS the bar and I love it. His famous phrase goes like

this. There are three types of

Christians, those who are sent, those who are sending, and then

those who are disobedient. It lays the gauntlet down.

When you became a believer, the name of God was placed upon you.

Jesus places his name on you and his expectation is that you

would go, go represent my name. That doesn't mean you're going

to be called across the nation, across the globe.

Maybe you can support financially.

Maybe you can support somebody with resources, food, clothing,

hospitality to open up your home to traveling missionaries like I

just did. You're called to play a part in

the mission at hand. You have a personal mission

field. Spouses, husband and wives

remind each other of the gospel and prayer and reading.

Remain faithful and grow in love together.

That's your mission to your spouse, parents.

Your mission field is a little, but it's powerful.

Live the gospel to your children and prepare to launch your

little arrows into the world for the sake of the name.

Stay at home, mom struggling mom struggling dad.

I know a lot of people don't see what you're going through, but

the Lord sees and your effort is never in vain.

You as a mom, when you pour into your children, preach the gospel

of Jesus, live it out. You are engaging in missions

because those kids may go farther than you ever will, and

that's the desire. Singles, you are free.

You're not tied down. Singles, you are free to travel,

to take the gospel to multiple far off places, and to walk with

many different people through the trials of life.

Understand what I'm trying to get you to see is a grander

vision for your life, that your vocation is mission, your

marriage and parenting are missions, and yes, even your

suffering Church, your suffering is missions.

Nothing is ever wasted under God's sovereign hand. 2025 was

hard for most of you. There's a lot of suffering going

on. You lost people that were close

to you, relationships broke. Your body broke.

It was given to you for a reason so that you would cultivate a

heart of love, lean on the truth and take it and bless somebody

else with it because you've been there before.

You are God's chosen means of reclaiming the nation's from

darkness, sin, and death for the Saints you believers in.

Here, I'll end with this. Some of you've been wrestling

with this call to missions. Maybe you came in today like I

just need a sign. God send me a sign.

All this is it. This is your sign.

Some of you've been wrestling with the call to missions.

Just respond. Just respond to the call and

take a step and trust in the Lord.

Your church here loves you, they're called to support you

and they will faithfully do it. The Sunday gathering isn't about

learning anything new, it's about commissioning each other

back into the world to bear witness about the truth.

You have a personal mission field for the non believer you

who have yet to take the name of Jesus as yours.

Some of you have been wrestling with God calling you to himself.

You feel like you don't have a place to belong.

You don't even know if any of this is true or not.

But there's something tugging this morning.

I want to bear a witness about his name, about the name

revealed in Jesus. Jesus, he's God in the flesh.

He comes down for two reasons only.

John says in his letters to do away with sin and to destroy the

works of the devil. Some of you are really

struggling with things in your life right now and you feel like

you're in darkness. Jesus has a light in that

darkness. He lives the perfect life that

you should have lived perfectly, and then He goes to the cross to

die on your behalf because of your sin.

Every stupid thing you've done over and over and over again,

every. I'm not going to do it anymore,

Lord. I'm not going to do it anymore.

I can quit at any time. He takes that upon himself, a

perfect sacrifice, and dies in your place, taking the curse of

death because you can't. Three days later he rises again

from the dead in victory, saying sin paid for it.

The curse of death is lifted. I'm alive forever more if you

would believe in me. Take my name upon yourself and

be transformed. I will be your God and you will

be my people. I will give you the blocking and

I will unite you with my family who have I've redeemed before.

This is the gospel of Jesus. Jesus, perfect life,

substitutionary death, victorious resurrection, his

ascension and his soon return. He's here and he loves you.

We hope you enjoyed this message and we'd love for you to join us

in person every Sunday at 10:30 AM.

For more information and updates, visit

wearebridgetown.com. Thanks for tuning in and we'll

see you next week.