FULFIL THE MISSION - ANSWER THE CALL (Missions Month) | Pr Gloria Paul

You're listening to a message to go from acts church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

The message I'm going to talk about or share this

morning is about missions, okay, and I hope that as

we hear today's message, okay, we'll be inspired to understand

what was Jesus trying to tell us, you know, the

moment he you know, sent the Holy Spirit as a

helper and when he ascended to heaven. You know, why

was this great commission that he gave to us? And

I wantest to also understand that your missions is not

just another to do list as a Christian, you know,

because you're not just a religion. Remember that it's a

way of life. Okay. We serve because not just because

oh I have to, but because I want to. God

has been so good and I want to do it

because it's a privilege to serve him. I want to

do missions because I want others to also experience what

I have experienced. Yeah. So I hope that today's message

will just inspire us to understand that. You know, just

because we speak about missions every time, especially, we've been

in church long enough to not get caught up with

the idea that it's just I have to do it

just because everyone else is doing it. Yeah, let's not

be caught up with peer pressure. But we want to

do it because it's a way of living, it's part

of our faith, right, And as we learn about missions, okay,

we want to also understand that it's not about what

we just do in the front. Okay. Most of the

time as people, as humans, we are so caught up

with Okay, who's in the front, the preacher, or how

good you are with your talents and your abilities. Yes,

God glasses with different skills and abilities, Thank God for that.

But it's also not about just doing missions just because

I figured it all out, Okay. At homes, you know,

on Friday, we spoke about one of the questions was

what is not the challenges when you think about going mission?

You know, what are the things that is at the

back of your mind, like, oh, I don't think I

can go for it, okay, And so some of us

shad about finance or could it be the language you know,

or the culture that's so different, or even the time

right because most of us could be working or studying,

and so there are different priorities and you feel that Okay,

how do I drop all this and go for it?

Right?

And then of course we had Richard we shad his experience,

you know, going for one of the IRDB trips okay,

and he had to share in in Bahasa okay. And

so for some of us, maybe BASA may not be

the strongest because you don't speak it all the time.

But then again, if you think about all of this,

I'm sure none of us want to go right. I

think none of us would ever be prepared. How prepared

can we be? Right? And so then the conclusion was

we just need faith. Okay, we just need faith if

you want to go for missions. Yeah. And so it's

not so much about whether I have it all figured out,

but it's a about allowing God to use this. And

so to understand this, we're going to be exploring the

Book of X. Some many of you have read the

Book of X. Yes, and you know we're called X

for a reason. Yeah, We're called X. When I say

if some people ask ch church are you from I

say X, Oh you mean X? I said, no, X's

in the Book of the Bible, acts y. Because we

want to carry this DNA as a church, okay. And

as you've read this book, you will realize that it's

all about doing the work of God missions and that's

a story behind it. Yeah. And so when you have

written that, if you've read the New Testament, you will

see that Matthew, Mark, Luke John. These are the Gospels,

so we see a lot about how Jesus walked on earth,

the miracles he performed, and the great things that he

has been doing. You know, we've been walking through the

series on the Ims the past few Sundays, right, and

so that's how powerful Jesus is. Right. But when we

step into the Book of X, we don't see Jesus

on the on the lend, right, But we see now

people who have actually caught that fire, who allowed the

Holy Spirit to work in them, and they were doing

the same thing that Jesus was doing as well. They

were going around praying for the sake, they're going around

sharing the gospel, right, And I think that's powerful because

that's always been the plan of Jesus. You know, there's

always been his plan to use us. I mean, if

you think about it, God is great. He could just

speak to people by himself, right, he could do make

things happen without this. But yet He chose you and me,

people who are just ordinary, right, and sometimes we may

think that we are incapable, but yet he chooses people.

And as we're going to go through some examples from

the Book of Acts, you realize that the names that

we're going to look at, they may not be the

most prominent names that we always talk about. I mean,

the name that you always hear from the Bible would

be Paul Mosses Joseph, right, But the names that we're

gonna look at today may not be the ones who

have been spoken about all the time, but yet they

created and impact, Okay. And so that's what we want

to learn about missions today, right. So now let's just

start with a scripture here from the Book of Romans, okay.

And I believe you all have your Bibles with you, okay,

And so what we're gonna do today is I'm gonna

get different ones to read, okay. So the mic would

be given to you, and I just want you to

read it together, okay. And I believe ACTV will help

us with the with the scripture on the screen so

we can all read from the same version. Okay. So

we're gonna start with the first scripture here from Romans

chapter ten, verse thirteen. Okay, So can I get tried

and start right? Romans ten, worse thirteen. Yeah, if you

have a Bible, yeah, you can read it from there

as well.

For everyone, the.

Romans tenterden everyone who calls on.

The name of the Lord will be saved.

Okay, continue to till worse six fifteen to fifteen thirteen

fourteen fifteen?

How then can they call on the one they have

not believed in? And how can they believe in the

one whom they have not heard? And how can they

hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can some and how can they preach.

Unless the ascent as it is written, How beautiful are

the feet of those.

Who bring good news?

A man?

Right?

Thank you tried it? Okay? So as you read this scripture,

you will see they are actually questions for us to

think about, okay, Because firstly they say is that everyone

who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Okay,

But then again, how would they be saved unless they

believe in him?

Right?

There must be a moment where they'll say, yes, I

believe in God. How can they believe in him if

they have not heard makes sense, right. If no one

told them about who God is, they're not they'll not

be able to believe. And how can they hear unless

someone tells, right? And who's going to be the one

who's going to tell right? So when we read this scripture,

you'll notice the journey to salvation. Okay, just taking you

through this, Okay, some of us have walked through this journey.

You've been long enough a believer, right. And so the

first one is the sending we send, Okay, we send.

Believe us. Once believe us are sent right, be in

your own community or be true missions. Then the preaching

takes place. Okay. Preaching doesn't necessarily happen in a pulpit, yep.

If it's a church, yes, But if you're out there,

then it's true. Your testimonies of what God has done

in your life, or you feel that you have to

just you know, share a message or a scripture to

that friend is to encourage them. So preaching, yeah, preaching

the word. And then when you preach, of course, the

next thing is they hear. They hear the word, and

if it truly convicts them, they believe. And when they believe,

they call on the name of the lot. That's the

whole process of how someone comes to know Jesus as

their personal Lord and Savior. Yeah. And so when we

look at this journey here, the sending and the preaching

is our responsibility as believe us, right, because we either

send missionaries, or we go to different places, or we

connect with someone.

Right.

So that's something we can do. It's an action when

we preach, it takes right. So I want to get

out of my comfort zone and speak in a different

language or just share my story without you know, being afraid. Right,

So that's an action as well. But what comes after that,

the hearing, the believing, calling on the name of the Lord.

It's the work of God. It's the work of the

Holy Spirit, right, and so meaning we can't force someone

to do it. We can share great stories, great preaching,

but if nothing penetrates into their hearts, it's not going

to reach anyone. Yeah. So what I wanted to understand

from this is that we are partnering with the Holy

Spirit when we are reaching out to someone. Yeah, we're

not alone. And that is the reason why when we

speak about challenges, things that we may have in our minds,

like can I do this I just want to remind

you that you're not doing it alone. We have the

help of the Holy Spirit. He gives you the words

that you need, He sends you to the place, He

provides the money, the finances that you may need to

travel to a place. He equips you. Okay, And this

equipping is not something that just happens overnight, but it

is a journey. Okay. If you're a young person, maybe

you're a teenager, then yes, he's preparing you now, Okay,

in your school, in the one to one conversations you're

having with your teachers and your friends. You'll never know.

As you grow up, it's going to make you go

to places. It's going to make you lead a church. Right,

It's going to make you preach the gospel. So never

take for granted the small opportunities that God gives you.

And I don't believe anything small, because every opportunity is

an opportunity, right, no matter whether you're preaching in the

front or you're preaching to someone out there where no

one sees. What is equally important. Right, And so just

try to understand this that we are all in this

journey of being built and being equipped for missions, right,

and that is something that we're going to be exploring

from the Book of X. Okay. And so as we

read this Book of X, if you have the time,

you know, since we're in in the month of Missions,

just encouraging you to read the Book of Ax, Yeah,

because you'll see a lot of things that that how

God is capable to do right beyond what we could

even imagine, and how the would have God spreads white him.

And so when you look at the first chapter here,

just giving you a brief overview here, you know, the

first verse here, we can see how you know, the

Holy Spirit is promised, okay, and so you know we

can see this from verse four. Okay, We're just going

to read a couple of scriptures here it says, you know,

and being assembled together with them, he commanded them to

depart from Jerusalem. Not to depart from Jerusalem, but to

wait for the promise of the Father, which he said,

you have heard from me. For John truly baptized with water,

but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not

many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together,

they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time

restore the kingdom of Israel, verse seven. And he said

to them, it is not for you to know times

of seasons, which the Father has put in his own authority.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has

come upon me in Jerusalem, has come upon you, and

you shall be witnessed to me in Jerusalem and in

all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

And so this is what Jesus says, and then he

assents to heaven. Right, that is how the story starts,

this book of XS. And so what he tells us

here is that it's not for us to know seasons

and times. We don't have to figure those things out, right,

though in our mind sometimes you'd like to figure out, like, Okay,

what's going to happen next? Can I just plan my

old life? Well, it doesn't work that way, right, But

what he tells us here is that his Father is

an authority. God is an authority, right, But what he

has given us is the power of the Holy Spirit.

And with the Holy Spirit were called to witness to

the ends of the earth. Yeah. And so then from

this chapter onwards, as you read on, you will see

how we have the Upper Room prayer that starts okay,

and then we have the whole thing about how the

people just experienced more of God. People came together, just

like how we have homes, you know. People came together,

they break together, they had fellowship, and they started to

just experience such a growth in the church. Healings started

taking place, breakthrough started taking place. People just begin to

know God. You know. People were just like, oh, I

want to know who God is. It was that time

of revival when the Holy Spirit was sent. Okay, So

we see that happening. The church started growing. As you

can read that in chapter two, verse forty onwards, you

can see the church grows, right. And then as the

time goes, as you read through the Book of Acts,

you will notice how people started rising up and do missions. Okay,

and that's where we draw the different different places that

we have our missionaries actually going. Okay, and you will

see Asia one of those places that are mentioned as well.

That's how the gospel came to us as well. Right,

and so it just started spreading. The heart of missions

just started growing. People just began to just stand in

front of people and share. Nothing stopped them. Yeah, what

they persecuted, Yes, Okay, there were different struggles that they faced,

but yet they kept going right. And as you read

this book, you will realize one name that is often mentioned.

Can anyone tell me what's the name? Paul?

Yes?

Okay? Was Paul always sharing the gospel from the start? No,

what was he doing before that? He was persecuting? And

what was his name at that time? Saul? Okay? So

before he was called Paul, his name was Saul. And

he went around persecuting people, okay. And we're not just

talking about persecuting as in just shooting them away, but

he started to send them to jail. They started, he

started to stone them like cruel, being cruel okay to

anyone who brought out the gospel, okay. And so that

was Saul. What happened to the Saul?

Then?

Anyone knows the story? He became blind? Yes, okay, he

became blind. And guess what, God still used him, you know, Okay,

God used him. He didn't choose the other faithful ones

that were there, but of all the people, he still

chose the person who went around persecuting Christians. Can you

see how God works?

Right?

And so he made him blind, okay. And then from

then on we see the journey starting. Okay, what happens

after that, right, So what we're going to go through

today is I'm going to take you through a journey

of just showing you. I'm not going to talk much

about Paul, because we know what he did, okay, and

how he rose up and he became a missionary and

he wrote a lot of the books of the Bibles

as well. But I want us to look at the

people behind the scene, okay, those of them who actually

had a big part to Paul growing and becoming who

he were, okay, so that he could actually borely push

the gospel. So you must remember that Paul did not

have a very good reputation among the people, especially among

the Christians. They were all afraid of him. So to

get him back to the community was not the easiest, okay,

because I mean, you've done the damage, right, and so

who's going to be welcoming you in? And so then

God actually used different people here. So Jenny with me

as we look through three different names from the Book

of X okay, and see how God uses the power

of one right, the power of each one of us,

and how we play a part in missions as well.

The first name that I have here is Steven. Okay.

Now we're going to read this from X chapter six. Okay,

if you have your bibles, okay, you can turn with me.

And as you see this chapters six, right, you will

see that it's quite a long passage. Okay, if you

have the time, you can read it as well. In

this particular passage, we see how Steven goes boldly sharing about,

you know, the gospel. So he talks about Abraham, he

talks about you know, what happened in Egypt and Israel,

and how God delivered Moses. So meaning he was a preacher, okay,

he brought the word out. Yeah. And then as he

prey this okay, let's just look at one portion of

the scripture here, okay, X chapter seven, worse fifty seven. Okay,

we're gonna read it from verse fifty seven to worse

sixty Okay. Can I have maybe Jonason to read for us, yeah,

fifty seven to sixty seven, right, thank you, thank you, Jennison.

Right.

And so this is the ending part of what happened

to him, okay. And so if you notice people were

not happy with what he was doing. He was bringing

the gospel, he was sharing, so boldly, okay, and to

the point that they just decided to stone him, right.

And so why are we looking at this name because

the foundation that he built, okay, when he shared the gospel,

and I mean some took it, some received it, some

you know, responded to Jesus, whereas some didn't did not. Yeah,

I remember, that's not our work, right, we just do

our part sharing the gospel. And the thing about Stephen

is that he understood his calling despite the circumstances. Okay.

I mean, because of the opposition he received. He could

choose to to just you know, walk away from his calling, right,

but he did not. He just went on faithfully serving

and sharing about the gospel, Okay. And I'll just encourage

you to read the whole chapter chapter seven. You will

see how he just goes on sharing one thing after

another from the Old Testament. Who God is, what Jesus did?

You know?

He kept sharing and because of that sharing, it had

built a foundation for the people, meaning people started to

understand that, Okay, this is who God is. Okay, this

is what he has done, and many came to know

Christ true he's sharing as well. Yeah. And so that's

the first encounter. And if you notice at this point

Saul has not been convicted yet. Okay, he was still

going on persecuting the churches. He still didn't quite understand

or she experienced the love of God to actually say hey,

I shouldn't be doing this.

Yea.

So he was part of this picture, right, But what

is important for us to understand this is that he

was there in that place when Steven went on sharing

the gospel. So could it have gone into his heart?

Could he have heard it?

Right?

And that is why when we speak about sharing the gospel,

you know, we all play different parts to it. Some

of us may just be there to welcome them to

church one day, right, and some of us may be

there to follow up and say that, hey, how are

you doing? And some of us may be there to

actually witness this person saying yes to God. Okay, how

long does the process take? Does it just take three

days or three weeks? Maybe not? Maybe a year? Right?

Sometimes it's quick. But what I try to say is

that we all play a different role, maybe not be

not be able to see the result right away, but

we've just got to be faithfully doing what we are

called to do. If your called to just be encouraging them.

Let's do that. If your called to just fashion to church,

let's do that, right, or if your called to just

even maybe the one who can ask them a do

you believe Jesus as your personal and savior? Then me

do that. That's being bold to ask that, right. So

let's play our part. And I believe Steven did this.

Did Stephen? Actually he didn't receive the opportunity to see

Paul repenting and sharing the gospel. No, you couldn't see that.

Was he part of the picture, definitely right, because he

was there present, sharing the gospel in the midst of

the persecution, in the midst of all the challenges that

came his way, he still kept going right, So that

is Steven, okay, And some of us could be in

that place where we don't see the result, but you

are still with one of the reasons why you know

that breakthrough came about after a while. Yeah, And so

that's the first name that we can see, yes, Stephen.

Now the second name that we're going to explos all

here is about Annius. Okay. Now, this name Annaeus. You

may have not heard his name much because it's only

mentioned once. Okay, and yet a very powerful impact that

he had. Okay, so we're gonna read X chapter nine. Okay,

X chapter nine versus. Let's see, Okay, verses ten to

ards eighteen all right, verse ten, Okay, verses ten to

verses nineteen. Right, let's read this. Maybe I would get

Matilda to read first.

Now as to go to the street called Straight and

inquire at the house of Julus for one called Stul

of Tarsus, and be hope he is praying, and in

a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming

in and putting his hand on him, so that.

Mike received his side.

Then Annius answered, Lord, I have heard from many about

this man how much harm he has done to your

stakes in Juri's look, and here he has authority from

the Chief Christ.

To bind all he call on your name.

But the Lord said, to go, for he is a

chosen passal of mine, to bear my name before gentiles,

kings and the children of Israel. For I will show

him how many things he might supples, or my name

is Rake. And Ananias went his way and entered the house,

and laying his hands on him, he said, brother Saul.

The Lord Jesus appeared to view on the road, as

he has sent me that you may be filled immediately

from something less scale. And he received his side at once,

and he rose and was so that he had received.

Was thank you, Matilda. All right, So what can you

learn from this scripture? What do you what do you hear?

What happened? He went and prayed? Okay, so you know

what happened to to Sault, right, he went blind? Yeah,

and he had to use this guy named Annius to pray.

It was Anonyus opened with the idea to start. No, okay,

it was hesitant. Why because remember Saul had a reputation. Okay,

he was known to be the person going around persecuting Christians.

And so his question was, you know, how do we

do this? Okay, what is the question? He asked? Okay,

let's look at verse thirteen. Right, he says, Lord, I

have heard from many about this man, how much harm

he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. So he

was even figuring out, like, why why did God tell

me to do this? But he went on, okay, obedience,

all right, obedience. So Annonaius was one of the persons

who made it possible for God's work to be done

because God says here that he is my chosen vessel.

He wants to use him to bring the gospel, right,

he wants to use him to be able to tell

others of who God is, okay. And I think it's

powerful when actually you hear it from someone who did

not believe and now believe, okay, and even more someone

who persecuted against and now all out that was the

plan of God.

Right.

And so what NAIs did he went to him, He

went to him, And I think it takes a lot

of courage. You have to be obedient, okay, And maybe

he could be fearful as well, thinking what's to happen

because I'm dealing with this scary guy, right, Saul. But

just because God told me to go, I will go, okay.

And so that's the thing about nni Is. God used him.

He did not know that his obedience could actually say

if not just Paul, but the whole nation. We think

about it, right, because God was about to use Paul

to bring the Gospel to save many others.

Right.

And that is what I mean by the power of

one the power of that one person that we may

not be able to see in the front. Right, they

are at the back, the quiet, yet the powerful and

the obedience, and that was exactly who Anania is. He

stretched out his hand on Paul and he received this healing. Okay,

and it says in scriptures that Paul was strengthened. He

stayed on with the disciples. I mean that hisself says something,

because I think Saul was trying to Paul was getting

to his senses by then. Okay, he knew, okay, who

God is, because it is God that has healed me.

And he used a vessel like Annius, right, and so

some of us could be like Annius. Okay, you may

not be the one who is you know, loud and

always speaking in the friend right, but yet you have

that strength within you. You know, you know what's that

power that's working in you, the Holy Spirit? Right. And

when God calls you to go and say, hey, go

and lay hands on this person and pray for them,

you don't hesitate, but you just go and do it

in obedience. You know why. You know that you're not alone,

but God is with me. And when you lay hands,

you see healings staying place.

Right.

You see that person coming to know God through God's love.

And because He used you right, and so again never never,

you know, be little those opportunities that God brings into

your life. And sometimes it happens in the most unexpected times.

You can be just sitting in your office just like

any other day. You're not looking forward to the day,

and you're like, oh, it's another day at office, it's

a Monday, and then God says, hey, why don't you

go and speak to your colleague, right, he or she

needs that encouragement. Can you go and do it? And

you just be amassed with the things that can happen. Right,

And that is missions. That is catching the heart of missions.

You know, it's not about just being ready one hundred percent,

but just availing yourself. Okay, The question is are we

actually ready? Are we ready to just say yes, Scott,

you're calling me. I'm going to go for it. I'm

going to answer this call. Okay. The message today is

about answering the call because we all have the same mission. Okay.

Mission doesn't change.

You know.

The man day that God has given to us is

to go and make disciples, to share the gospel. We

all are called to do that, as believe us. But

how we are called to do it. It's in our

individual callings that God has placed in our lives. Right,

Some of us are creative. You know you can serve

God through music, you can serve God through acting. Well

be that, let it be. Yeah. Some of you are

good with your words, some of you are good with

your singing. Some of you are good with just the

way you encourage another person. What is the gift that

God has given to you?

Right?

What is that gift that God has given to you?

If you've been journeying with God for some time now,

I think it's a good time for us to ask

that question. How can I actually be part of this

mission that God has for each one of us? And

am I answering that call? Yeah, don't wait too long, Okay,

don't wait too long. Don't think you're too young and

you got a long way to go, because you know,

things happen right and everyone just needs to know about God. Right,

like the words scriptures you read in the Book of Romans,

how would they know if no one told them? Right?

And you could be the very reason why your place

in where you are. It might be a place that

you want to be, but maybe for it for a season.

You are there for a purpose. So just take some

time to look around the place that you're at. You know,

from a Monday to Friday, who are the people that

you're always seeing and you're facing. You could be taking

the public transport, right, but it could be still an

opportunity for you to say hello to someone. Right, be kind?

You know, these are the ways that we can actually

leave the love of God. That's withiness, amen, right, And

so that is one example that we can see Annius. Yeah,

and because of Anius he got his eyesight Paul, and

he started preaching the gospel. Okay. So now the third

name that we're gonna look at would be Barnabas. Okay.

Now Barnabas is again the same name that we don't

another name that we don't here often, okay, but in

a couple of the scriptures. And so now you remember,

just because Paul got his eyesight doesn't mean that everyone

is going to be accepting him. Okay, Remember he was

he did not have a good reputation. So how was

he going to go to the churches the temples they

call back then, right, or to be able to say

hello to someone? They're gonna run away from him. So

then God knew that he had to use someone to

lead him to the people. And guess guess who used Barnabas.

Right.

He chose Barnabas to kind of like be the sidekick,

right or the person that can just accompany Saul. Why

because Barnabas had a good reputation among the people, especially

among believers. You know, he was known to be a

great encourager. Right, So anyone who speaks to him, you know,

they fell blass or they would they would be the

person that they'll always go to. Okay, maybe in extras

maybe everyone goes to Richard or goes to Sheelin. Right,

So it was that kind of a person Barnabas, Right,

can you pray for me? Or I'm going through this,

can I speak to you?

Right?

And so that was the person that God chose. And

so imagine if Paul is walking with Barnabas, there's going

to be a change, right. People will be thinking, oh,

if Barnabas is with Paul, then maybe Paul is a

change person. They'll start accepting him into the community. Okay.

And so that was the role of Barnabas. Let's just

look at a couple of scriptures here, Okay, we can

look at acts chapter nine. Okay, let's read verse twenty six. Okay,

it says, and when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he

tried to join the disciples, but they were all of him.

I did not believe that he was a disciple, Okay.

So that that was one and then we as we

read on Okay, we can see. Okay, let's just look

at a scripture here, Okay, reading from verse twenty seven.

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles,

and he declared to them how he had seen the

Lord on the road and that he had spoken to him,

and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the

name of Jesus. And he was with them at Jerusalem,

coming in and going out. So you can see what

Barnabas did that. Okay. He was saying, Hey, it's a

change person. I spoke to him, and I know and

I saw how we preached boldly, right, And so that

is how the acceptance started to come in. Yeah, and

so they started accepting Paul. And I believe Barnabas could

actually do that because he's or something in Paul. Okay,

And most of the time for you to actually do

that to lead someone, especially for those of us are

part of discipleship. Okay. In extra should we talk a

lot about discipleship because it's a journey that you journey

together with someone, right, And when you're doing discipleship, you

pray with the person, right, you encourage the person and

sometimes maybe even correcting the person if needed. But it

takes a lot of being prayerful.

Right.

You need to be close enough with God, right, you

need to be in it as well, right to be

able to walk with someone. And for Barnabas to actually

see that in Paul, it just shows about his faith

in God that he knew that God had a plan

and a purpose for this guy. You know, although he

had all those mistakes in the past, yet God is

using this person, right, Because if you think about in

a human mind, it's very easy for us to think about, hey,

this person has messed up, you know, as he really changed, right,

and you might just choose to keep this guy aside.

But yet beyond all that, Barnabas could see that Paul

was precious and he had a calling okay, and because

of that he could actually stand up for Paul and

say that, Okay, I'm here to vouch for this guy, right,

and he's a changed person. And it takes a lot

to say that, right, you know, if you're wanting to

speak up for someone, meaning you know that this person

is someone you can trust that he or she has changed. Okay,

And that is what Barnabas did. And again we see

someone who is just faithful, obedient, who happened to be

in the journey of Paul becoming who he is, right,

a missionary, and Barnabas played a part, right, So how

many of us here could be a barnerbas you know,

who is again not much mentioned, but yet a faithful

encourageer Okay, someone who could just speak up. Okay, we

know there are a lot of people when we talk

about missions, you know, we sometimes go and we preach

for those who have been oppressed, okay, the minority when

we go into r DP communities. You know, some of

them may even not have the privilege to do church right,

speaking up for them, being the voice for them, or

in some parts of the world, okay, people are persecuted

for their faith just because they're a Christian. Could we

play a part to be a voice for them, to

pray for them? Our prayers go a long way church.

Never never think that, oh, it's just my prayer, what's

going to do? Prayer is powerful. Prayer is powerful. You

can be here in Malaysia and you can be praying

for another nation far away. But yet it riches and

things change, right, And so we could be that barner

bus as well, speaking up for someone, praying for someone.

If you have the means to go, then go go

for missions. If you're saying yes, maybe at this point

I can pray, then pray. If you're saying yes, I

want to give that someone else can go for missions,

then do that. But we all play a part, right,

We all play a part. The Bible reminds us of

how we are one body in Christ, and every one

of us have a part to play. Yeah, some of

the hands, some of the feet, some the mouth, right,

and so we all play a part to building God's

church and to bring his word out there to the people.

Right.

So these are the three names that we can see.

Of course, the main character is Paul Okay, and we

know how God used him mightily. As he traveled and

became a great missionary. People started to accept him, and

many more people became to we came to know Christ

because of his sharing.

Right.

But it was only made possible because God used this

faithful men, these three different faithful men to answer the call. Yeah.

And so that is the power of answering your call church. Yeah,

whatever capacity, if you can do it, just do it

because you'll never know how it impacts a person in

a greater way, and even more so, impacts a nation

or a community in a bigger way as well. Yeah,

are you good Chish? Yeah? Right, So the power of

one Now just think about it now, Okay, each of

us here had the opportunity to receive Jesus. And think

about the person that shared the gospel with you. Okay,

it could be maybe I was saying it from a

Christian family. It could be your parents how they brought

you up. If you say that, yes, I was not

a believer and someone came and shared the Gospel to me,

or I was in this church or anything, think about

that person who shared the gospel with you. How would

your life be different if the person was not there

to bring the gospel to you? Right? If you can

imagine life not knowing God, I'm I'm pritty sure things

will be so different. Right. And so that is the

power of how God uses one person. Okay, and again,

like we speak about speaking here, it's not about preaching

the Bible, but it's just being there, praying for them

and encouraging them so that they will come to know

Jesus as their savior. Yeah. So can we be that

one person as well? It's how we came to know Christ.

Can we be that one person to someone else so

that they can also experience who God is? Right? So

it's not about what we can or can't do, but

it is about us being faithful and God works through us.

Right.

It's just about being present, being present all the time.

And remember God is always trying to speak to us.

It's always trying to show us like hey, do this

reach out to this person. But if you're living in

our own world and we are just you know, our

own voices, then we miss out. Okay, But let's just

be a little bit more present with where God has

positioned you to be. Okay, in your schools, in your workplace,

among your families, be that voice. Allow God to use

your voice to be an encouragement to someone. Okay. Let

that be our mission for this week, our goal that

I'm going to share with at least one person, beat

a testimony, beat an encouragement, beat a prayer. Yeah, but

to at least one person, right, So this is the

heart of missions when we speak about it. God is

always using people. God is the business of people, and

that is why we believe in empowering people as well. Okay,

if you have seen our church, you know, ex Church

to the Cross, helping people believe, right, that has always

been our desires. You want people to believe and to

know God. And so God is always looking for vessels

that are ready to say yes, Lord, send me, yeah,

and going for missions here Okay. When we read the

scriptures just now in the Book of Romans, Okay, how

are they to preach unless they are sent? Right? And

what does it mean to be sent? Okay, because when

we speak about missions, sometimes you may have the idea

that it's just one person going and you know, doing missions.

We may think of evangelism as an individual effort, right,

But there is also a community aspect to it. Okay,

there's a community aspect to it, and that is what

we do as a church. And if you come for

our pre service prayer, you notice that we have all

these different church plants, not just in militia, but all

across the globe, and we pray for them every other Sunday,

and that's a community effort because we keep remembering them

in prayer. Yeah, and so this means our prayers are

reaching to different parts of the world, Okay, different countries

that we have our missions missionaries around and when we

see a community aspect, meaning when we actually sometimes raise

funds and send our missionaries to different parts of the world, okay,

And some of our missionaries there are full time, for example,

our Japan missionaries Okay, Pasta Benji and Pasta Michelle, they're

there full time just doing church, you know, connecting with people,

having service, having homes and so our giving actually enables

them to do what they're doing.

Right.

Our missionaries in Mianma, Okay, we all know what has

been happening around in Yanma over the past few years.

It's been tough, Okay, but yet we have Pastor Samuel,

his wife and the leaders there who have been faithfully

working on the ground. You know, there was the point

of time where they couldn't have church, and they started

raising funds to get hand phones for the people so

that they can actually tune in online and experience God

through that.

You know.

It's hard ground, you know, and they have their their

children home as well that they're taking care of. And

some of the young people okay, maybe not not be

wanting to come to church because of the fear that's

going on, right, And so every country has its fair

share of challenge, and so our giving encourages the missionaries

that are there, our leaders that are there, you know,

and so it goes a long way, right. We have

it in ex Singapore, x UK. You know, all these

different countries that are working the ground. And sometimes we

think of countries that UK. Oh it's good to do

missions there and you know, be and visit the country.

Well that's one, but more than that, it's still a

hard ground, okay, especially countries like UK. Okay, we have

big churches, but not exactly a church. Okay, things are

changing around the fear of God is watering down in

many parts of the world, and that's why the church

must still be alive, right, the church must still be alive,

and so that's why we do missions, right, That's why

we do missions. And that is what we mean by

a community aspect. When we take the first priority pledge,

it is towards the giving of that. Okay. And if

you notice that there's a certain amount for different countries,

different people, Yeah, because it truly meets these different communities. Yeah.

So missions is all of us, okay, and we all

play different parts to it. Beat prayer, be it giving,

be going. Yeah. But it's important for us to answer

the call and go for it. Right. So I'm just

going to end here with three piece to help us

remember what is our call when it comes to missions. Okay.

And we can see this in efficients chapter six, verse

fifteen to twenty. Okay, let's turn up by both the description. Okay,

Iphisian six fifteen to twenty. Maybe we get edieline to

prayer to read first.

And heavy shot your feet with the preparation of the

Gospel of Peas above all the issue of fact we've pinched,

you will be able.

To page all the firy dogs.

Of the rely good one and take a helmet of

salvation and.

The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Praying always with all prayers and supplication in the.

Spirit in much fool movies, end with all perseverance and

sublivision for all the sense and for me the authors

may be given to.

Me that I may.

Man right, thank you Ed Lynn So who wrote this book?

Efficients anyone can tell me Paul right, Paul So, the

very person that went through their journey, yeah, is who

got us. And now he's the one who is asking

for prayer as I go and share, could you pray

for us?

Right?

And so what he tells us here is about bringing

the Gospel and about praying, okay, and so that he'll

have the Uterans, meaning he'll know what to preach, he'll

know what to do when he goes and brings the Gospel. Yeah.

So I read this somewhere, Okay. Who is a missionary?

It is someone who leaves their family for a short

time so others will be with their families for eternity. Right,

That is who a missionary is. We know that life

doesn't just any on earth. There is eternity, and so

as we share as we go, we are bringing the

Gospel to the ends of the earth. So three piece

for us to remember. Number one is to pray, pray

and pray. Never stop praying. Yeah, don't just pray for

our needs. Yes, we can bring our needs to God

he listens. But let's also pray for those who have

not known Jesus. Let's pray for our missionaries. Let's pray

for those who are there on the ground working to

bring the gospel, because your prayer goes a long way.

Coalitions for too. It says, continue steadfastly in prayer, being

watchful in it, with thanksgiving, steadfast. Let prayer always be

our priority. We can never say enough of this, right,

it is so important, especially in the times that we're

living in. We need more prayer. Yeah, we need more prayer.

Join us for prayer services to stay. Okay. There is

power when we come together praying as a church because

we pray for countries. Yeah, we pray for each other.

Yeah.

So prayer number two is preach Romans ten seventeen. It says,

so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the

word of God. So remember, how are they going to

believe if no one tells them? So you are going

to tell them. Turn to the person next to you

and say, tell them, right, tell them, because only when

you tell, only when you share about the Word of God,

they can know. Okay they can. No, don't keep the

goodness to ourselves. But let's bring it out. Preach. Let's

boldly preach about God. And of course number three is perseverance.

Is it easy always to do missions? No, okay, because

we're living on earth it's easy. Then maybe something is wrong. Okay,

it is challenging, but that is when we depend on

God even more. That's how you solved. If you think

about it. It didn't just change Paul overnight, right, he

had to go through his own journey. People had to

see that God can use someone like Paul. And that

is how powerful. You know, you stand up and brought

God's word and just did great things for him. Right, Perseverance,

leave the truth, and trust God for the change. In

Romans twelve twelve, it says rejoicing in hope, patient and tribulation,

continuing steadfastly in prayer.

Yep.

So let's never give up. Sometimes it can get tough,

but we've got to keep going, right, You've got to

keep going. I mean, Jesus never gave up. He went

all the way for rest, and that's why we're alive today. Right,

So what more us? You know, if we want If

you feel like we are, you know, losing the strength,

then speak to one of us. We're doing this together, right.

If you need encouragement, That's why we have a show.

That is why missions is a community. In fact, the

Bible tells us that when you go go in too, right,

it's not men to be going all by yourself, living

your life by yourself, but you're men to do this together.

Right.

And so if you're losing hope, let's let's come back

as a church and then be strengthened as God sends you. Yeah,

So to pray, to preach, and to persevere. Let's remember this.

It's gonna invite the extreme forward. M Let's remember this,

especially in this month of Missions, and ask ourselves, ask God, right,

how can I answer the call? What can I do

in this place that God has positioned me to be?

And how can I be a blessing to someone else?

Men?

Right?

Just want to end with this quote here. But this missionary, Okay,

his name is Henry Martin. He was a chaplain right

in India, and he reached out to the Muslims as well.

At a very young age, and I think he was

in his twenties or even earlier, he started doing missions.

And this is one of the things that he actually said,

The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The

nearer we get to him, the more intensely missionary. We

become so again. Doing missions is not just another to

do list as part of a religion, but it's just

a way of life. The more we have Christ in us,

the more of the spirit of God living in us,

then we just want to share. Right, No one is

going to needing to force us, but I just want

to share because God is good. Right, he has given

me testimonies. I have seen it with my own eyes

that He performs miracles, and I just want to share.

I just want to bring this out towards this and

that should be our desired church, right, that should be

our our you know, our prayer that God, I want

to be more like You. And as we are filled

with more of Him, it gives us the ability to

bring that gospel out right. And so that is missions.

That is missions, more of Christ, and we catch the

heart of missions. Amen.

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