6.7.26 | Brett Mitchell

Sugar Plain Friends Chruch: I'm Mitchell. I don't think I'm related to any Mitchells around here. So, but I did think that was funny. I like I I've been a missionary in the Philippines for 15 years and it's been great. It is very different. So I just want to touch on a couple things that's different when we jump into scripture. they're relevant to the message, I promise. So one of the things that's very different in the Philippines than to America when it comes to churches in particular is that... Churches are generally much smaller there, unless they're in a big, big city, because everybody walks everywhere. Most people don't have a car. And so we have our five churches, but they're all in the same town. But their towns there function more like a county, with a whole bunch of little villages. So the goal of our work is to... start churches so that nobody starting in our town and then working out outwards is not more than a 30 minute walk from a Bible teaching church. That's where our focus is there. So as we look through the different villages in our area, we look at, are there churches there that are teaching the Bible? There's some churches that don't teach the Bible, so we don't count those. And then it doesn't have to be one that's from our church movements, right? But like, what they have there is one of the cultic churches. It's just a different church than what we are, but they're teaching the Bible to you. is to get the message to as many places as possible. the thing that's hard in the Philippines is that if you leave here today and you look up Christianity in the Philippines, what it will tell you is that the Philippines is statistically, the most Christian nation in the world. But statistics are very different than actual. So the Philippines is technically 90 % Christian. But having that 90 % Christian, they're in the top 10 most corrupt countries in the world. 90 % Christian, about 40 % of the population are drunks. 90 % Christian, but the rate of teen pregnancy is one the highest in Southeast Asia. assassinations, political assassinations, big problems. But it's 90 % Christian. And so try to get to the root of what happened with this one. And we go back to, it was a colony of Spain for 300 years. And the way that the Spanish church did their missionary work was they'd go to a place and they'd say, you are all Christians now. And they said no. And they'd kill everyone in that village and go to the next village and say, you are all Christians now. And they'd say, we are all Christians now. And so it became just over the centuries. If you're Filipino, you're automatically a Christian via Catholic. And so every child born in the Philippines is baptized as a baby. They might not ever step foot in church again, but they are Christian. And so when we do church planting, the first six months to a year is actually convincing people that they're not Christians. And that sounds strange. But they're not. And they need to recognize that before they're able to receive the gospel. Because you can't receive the gospel if you think you're already a Christian. And it's like, no, just talk about Christian living. Well, I can't talk about Christian living until you're a Christian. Otherwise, we're just making bad things look good. There has to be a change in the heart. And that's a challenge. The area that we work in is in remote mountain villages. And the tribe that we work with, it's my wife's tribe, it's the Ibaloi tribe. And they are, as a tribe, they are pagans. And when I say pagan, I mean like Old Testament pagans. Animal sacrifices, witch doctors, consulting mediums, that is normal there. they're Christians. So it's a hard place to be in. So I just wanted to give you that general little bit of a background as we jump into our passage for today. If you have your Bibles, please open up. We're going to have two different passages. We're going to be in Acts chapter one for quite a while, and then we're going jump to Philippians later. So in Acts chapter one, Jesus is doing a few last-minute reminders to them. There is a very funny time when he's talking to them about a church that's going to be built. And they're like, is this when you're going to reestablish the kingdom of Israel? And he's like, no, you're not listening to me. Trying to picture how that exchange went makes me laugh every time. We get to this part, though, where he gives this commission to them. starting verse 7 of Acts chapter 1. And he said to them, it is not for you to know the time or the epochs which the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the most remote parts of So he gives this commission thing, right? Not quite the great commission, but there's this similar thing there, that you're going to proclaim me, is what he's saying, right? But he gives this guidance to how and where they're going to do this proclaiming. He says the Holy Spirit's gonna come. He tells them to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes, and it's kind of a, you'll know it when it comes in a week. in the next chapter at the day of Pentecost, they knew it when it came. It was very dramatic. But he says when this comes, from that point forward, you're going to be my witnesses. You're going to be those that I'm sending out to proclaim not only here in Jerusalem, this is where they are currently, they're in Jerusalem when he says this. And he says, will be my witnesses here right now where we are. physically right where they are. Culturally, spiritually, very similar, Still the Jewish nation, the seat of Judaism. You will be my witnesses to the people that are like you and that are close to you. And says, also you're going to be my witness in all of Judea. Which again, there is this, they're still Jews, right? And they're close geographically, but not quite as close as in Jerusalem. So in my surrounding area, you're going to be my witnesses. Don't just stay here in Jerusalem. Don't just focus in your backyard. You need to be my witnesses to those outside of where you live, as well as those where you are. The next one, this is the challenging one. This is also in Samaria. I don't know how much you know historically. Jerusalem and Judea and Israel. The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other. They really, really hated each other. And it's interesting how much they hated each other. So to go from Jerusalem north to Galilee, there's a straight line to do that. But to take that straight line, you pass through Samaria. And so most Jews would not do that. They would add... extra days to their trip to go around Samaria. It's how much they didn't like them. And there's a history as to why they didn't like During the time of the exile in the Old Testament, when Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem, actually even before that, the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, what happened in both cases, in the ancient world, when you would conquer a place, you would take the people from that place and move them somewhere else and bring captured people from another place to that place. The reason why is you would not have a feeling of patriotism if you're living in a place that's not ancestrally yours. So the idea is, if we conquered these people in what we now think of as Turkey and bring them down into Israel, they're not gonna feel this attachment to the land and they're not gonna rebel. That was the reason. There was a few people that were left, but most of the people were non-Israelis. And when these new ones came, they learned a little bit from the few Israelis that were left, and they blended their religions together. And after the exile, when Zerubbabel comes back to rebuild the temple, there's this hostility towards the people that are there and the Jews that are returning. They fought with one another and they had changed their religion so they weren't really following God anymore. And so the Jews were like, no, you're not part of us. And from that moment forward, they hated each other so much. Jesus is telling them, you will be my witnesses to those people that you hate. You're going to be my witnesses to the people that you hate and the people that hate you. Is that easy to do or is that hard? Is it hard or easy to share the love of God to someone that doesn't like you? heart. And sometimes what's even harder is to share the love of God with somebody that you don't like. Maybe they like you, but you don't makes it even harder. Because what we're doing, we're sharing the gospel to somebody. saying is we want you to be with us in eternity and sometimes like I really want to spend eternity And so it can be challenging to share the love of God with someone that you hate and with someone that hates you. But Jesus is saying, I don't really care how you feel. I'm telling you, you are going to be my witnesses to these people that are culturally different than you and who don't like you. Now we have a problem in the church today that We don't like people that aren't like us also. It's a big problem all over the world. Now, whether that's a looking like us, whether that's a thinking like us, it doesn't matter why they're not like us. They're not like us and we don't like them. We disagree on this and we can't talk about Jesus here is telling us, you are going to be my witnesses to your ancestral enemies. And the last one he says, you're also going to be my witness to the most remote parts of the the most remote parts of globe. The idea of this one, historically we can look at it two different ways. Some scholars look at this to say the extent of the Roman Empire, which if we're looking toward the west would be like Spain, toward the north would be Britain at the time, to the south would be like Ethiopia area, to the west would be what would now be like Iraq, was the boundary area. So some suggest that that's what it is. I don't think that's the case. I don't think that the most remote parts of the world was the edge of the Roman Empire. I very much feel that he meant people from places you've never heard of before, I'm going to send you there. People that you've never heard of, that have never heard of you, and that without you would never hear the message of the Lord. I'm sending you there. So then the question becomes, what does this mean for us? With the great commission. There is an idea amongst many people that the Great Commission is meant for pastors and missionaries, full-time church workers, that that's who Jesus is talking to when he gives the Great Commission. And there can be the idea as well regarding this, that this is for the full-time church workers, those called to be missionaries like me. Or those called to be pastors or Sunday school teachers. Whatever it would be. This is for them. It's not really for me because, you know, I don't do that as a... It's not my calling. But he doesn't make that distinction. And in both cases, here in Acts 1 and also in Matthew 28 when he gives the Great Commission, Jesus is speaking to every believer in him at that time. He's not just speaking to the Twelve. Like, it's really Eleven because they had to replace Judas yet. In any case, he's not just speaking to the Apostles. In both of these cases, he is speaking to every single believer in Christ. And as we read both the Great Commission and this passage in Acts, he is speaking to you as well. You are called to be his witness where you currently live, where you are now. You are to be his witness there, to the people that are culturally and geographically close to But you're also to be his witness to the Samaritans of your life. Those who are geographically close, but culturally different. though is that are technically in your nation, but you'd rather they weren't. That's what it was for the Jews and Samaritans. Don't lump us with them. He's calling us to be the witness to whoever them is in your mind. You are to be his witness. But at the same time as that, you are not to forget those in the most remote parts of the world. You're not to forget about them. Some people will be called to those most remote parts of the world. That's what happened to me. My mom made a joke with me when you look at the globe, the Philippines is on the exact opposite side of the world as where we are now. I'm from Michigan and I hope you can forgive me about that. Did you say no? okay. I thought you said no and I was gonna get a call. Anyway, when you look on the globe, it's right across from each other, right? On the other side of the planet. And my mom goes, Brett, you went so far away that if you went any further, you'd be returning home. And that is the case. If we're flying in an airplane... If we go any further past the Philippines, I'm already on the way home. That's the most remote parts of the world, geographically speaking, right? You can't get any further away. That's where God's... to tribes that are very different, culturally very different. I'm very blessed to have my wife from that tribe that helps bridge some of the cultural gaps for me. It helps it so I can understand the culture a little bit more and be able to speak to them in a way that they can accept. grateful for all of that. But it's still hard and it's different. And it's not for everyone. Not everyone can go to the other side of the world. Not everyone can go to do inner city missions. Not everyone can do cross-cultural ministry. Not everyone can do ministry with children. Not everyone can do ministry with seniors. It's different. God calls us to different things. But the question is, are we willing to, one, receive the call that he's giving us and do it? And two, are we willing to acknowledge that though we might not be called to everything, as a congregation and as an individual family, we should have a heart for the different things as You should have a heart for the most remote parts of the world. You should have a heart for the Samaritan of the world. Whatever that would be for you. You should have a heart for those in your community. You need to have a heart for the different areas. You might not be able to go there. Of course not. And you might not be able to financially support ministries in all of those different areas. But you need to have a heart for them. You need to be willing. to find out what's going on in those places and pray for them. And as a congregation, perhaps... different families can get involved in different areas of ministry. Whether that's checking up on missionaries in other places, sorry that's his ship or alarm, it actually can't be silenced, so almost done. Making sure that you're following up with the different missionaries that your church supports. Making sure that you are aware of what's going on in the ministries that are tied, whether to your individual congregation or wider, I don't know what the right word is, denomination, for lack of better word. So you know what's going on. It can be intentionally praying. can't go everywhere, but your prayers can. What I want to share next is in Philippians. And we're going to, it's going to be in Philippians 4. And what we're going to look at here is probably, as we read through it, we're going to read the second most famous verse in the Bible and the first most misquoted verse in the Bible. So we're gonna be in Philippians chapter four, where we start in verse 10. But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have received your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, I know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled and of going hungry, both of having an abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Were you aware that this verse was not actually about sports? that funny? Thank you for laughing at my joke, Adrienne. This verse, and we're going continue to read, we're not going stop there, but in context, this verse of, can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, is talking about finances. We don't usually think of it that way. And lest you think that I look down on, not because I'm on the stage, but lest you think that I'm looking down on and saying, oh, how dare you? When I was young, my sport was bowling. I love bowling. I'm a bowler. And I can tell you there were definitely days when I'd go up for bowling and I'd be there. I can do all things to practice strength. I can do 300 to practice strength. I definitely did that as a teenager. That is not what the verse is talking about. It's not. I'm going to continue reading and then we'll talk more about it in second. So continuing in verse 14 now. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my afflictions. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the Gospel after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matters of giving and receiving but you alone. For even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied, having received from Epipoditus what you have sent. A fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing. In this passage, Paul is talking about finances. He says, I'm glad that you finally were able to share with me because I know you've had a heart to share with me. Yes, you shared before, but lately you've been wanting to and you couldn't. But I'm grateful that now you could. Not because I need something, but because you now have this opportunity to share in the work that God is doing through me. That's what Paul's saying. And at the end of this one, he makes a very interesting statement that's easy to kind of go over our heads because we don't live in an era of temples. calls the financial gift that they gave, a fragrant aroma. a well-pleasing sacrifice. The American church in particular has had a bad view of what offerings are supposed to It's not a check it off your checklist of things to do. It's not an obligation you have to give. It's an opportunity for you who aren't full-time ministry workers to take part in a ministry that God is doing. And it's a function of worship. The American church in particular, but all over the world, we've gotten so focused on singing as worship that we've forgotten that singing is not the only form of worship. And we've also forgotten that singing in and of itself is not worship. It's only when we sing with a heart that is worshiping that singing is worshiping. And in the same way, when it comes to giving, whether a regular offering for your local congregation or whether it is you want to do more and support a missionary or a ministry that's outside your local congregation, If you're just, yeah, I'll the check every week, every month, whatever it's gonna be for you. Yeah, just, okay. That's not worship. In the same way that coming and singing the song, not caring at all, not considering the words, but just kind of going along, that's also not worship. But whether it's through giving, whether it's through singing, whether it's through the way that we treat one another, Paul talks about that in Romans 12. If our heart is doing it in a way of saying, I'm doing this as an offering to the Lord because I love Him and I want to take part in the work that God is doing, that's when it's... When Paul writes to the Romans, and if the Romans 12, 1 and 2, it says, urge you therefore by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, well pleasing to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. Our act of worship is the way we live our lives. Not just coming together and singing the beautiful songs that we sing. I hope your heart was in it and that it was worshiped. But if your heart's not in it, you were just singing. And it's no different than singing anything else. Nothing wrong with it. But not necessarily worth And when we give our offering, if it's a, every week with this, that's not worshipful. But if it's a, Lord this is for you. Lord what's mine is yours. I want to be part of the work that you're doing. Then your giving is worship. And that apparently is how the Philippians worked it. And when Paul writes that verse 13, the most misquoted passage in the Bible, He's telling us in this one as well is because my life is a life of worship whether I have a lot or whether I have a little I can glorify God and do whatever he's calling me to do because my purpose That's why he can do all things through Christ because his life is a life of worship and whether he has a lot or a little it doesn't change that his life is about in all that he does. It's been very interesting being in the US again. I get a little bit of culture shock every time we come back to America. Partly because every time I come back to America it's a little different than last time we came back. But also just because the mindset from the Philippines is so different than the mindset here. almost never hear of Filipinos who have almost nothing living in little tiny shacks that would have been frowned upon in the Great Depression. and you have to enjoy them. And then we come to America. people that are in even huge houses with all the bells and whistles and there's no joy to be. They have not learned the secret of being hungry and having an abundance. They cannot do all things worshipfully because Christ is not the one leading them. But when Christ is truly the center of our life and when we allow His message from Acts that we are to be His witnesses everywhere that we go, where we live and where we congregate, to the towns next to us, to the people that are different than us, that don't like us, that we don't like, or even to those that are in the most remote parts of the world, when we have a mindset... for the loss. when we have a desire that all that we do is worship to Him. changes every You might not have as much as the other person. You might have more than the other person. The amount's not what matters there. In our context here, what matters is where is your partner. think there was a study that most... the most depressed people in the world are wealthy Americans. And that seems counterintuitive, doesn't it? Because how often do we think of, if I had more, I would be more satisfied? it seems to be. And I want to suggest that the foundation of that is missing that call. right there at the Beanie and Axe, that we're to be his witnesses and We're to not just do it accidentally, but to do it intentionally. To intentionally be his witness to your family. To intentionally be his witness to your neighbor who keeps cutting on your side of the to intentionally be his witness. those people that just ruined the town to intentionally be his witness. your friends that you just don't want to offend. to those you've never even heard of by simply praying for them. getting messages of encouragement or even my financial support. I can tell you as a missionary, so far away from home, I'm the only foreigner in my town. And again, I was saying that our town is like a county. So in our county, I'm the only non-Filipino. If I want to have a fellowship with other Americans, I've got to go two hours away to the local city, closest city to us. And I do have a few American friends there. And it's very refreshing to be able to have that fellowship with people that are similar to me. But I didn't have that fellowship until I was in the Philippines for six years. The first six years I just felt so alone all the time. And there was only one time when I was there, even even up until now, that a church without me asking for anything sent me a big envelope full of Christmas cards. And that's all it was. It was just an envelope. full of carts from a church that knew me and they just wanted to... That's only happened once. And I can remember the names of every person who put a card in that one. And this was 11 years very very that's different. It's different because I had asked them to send something and included was encouragement cards. The first one was I had no idea they even remembered me. I guess it was before we were married, so we're looking at 12 years ago. But I remember who wrote those cards. I can't remember the names of every person that has ever given us money for our work. But I can remember those 15 that wrote me cards of encouragement. That's all they did, but it was so impactful. Because when you're in the most remote part of the world and on the front lines of church work, spiritual warfare, that encouragement goes a long way. It really does. So many Americans feel like the only way to support missionaries is to write checks. And don't get me wrong, that's helpful. But it's not the only thing that's helpful, and frankly, it's not the most helpful. I very much believe that God will provide whatever we need as long as we're doing what he is calling me to So I don't really worry about the money part of it. If God's calling me to do something, He's gonna provide. But that encouragement is different. And it's so desperately needed on the front lines. So I want to encourage you today as I wrap things up. As I wrap things up, I want to encourage you today to be thinking about this congregation. What ministries does this congregation support? Do you individually know what is going on in those ministries? I encourage you to find out if you don't know. And if you do know, help others to find out. be intentional about the- Even if you don't have a lot of money to give, that's not the important thing. The important thing is giving them Financially, yes. Ministries need help. What Paul tells us here is that when we give with a heart like that, it's a worship to God. The phrasing use of sweet aroma, this is the same phrasing used throughout the Old Testament for literal offerings to the Lord, animal sacrifices. It's the same wording use. It's the same thing. if your heart is there. So if you're going to whatever it's for, your regular tithes and offerings here at the church or other ministries and missionaries, give with a heart that you're worshipping. Let it be an empty check. Let it be a check that's given. And pray over Truly consider it as you're giving this word, as you're singing songs. May it be a true heart and act of worship. We need to be able to have the idea that we can do all things through Christ's strength. we can do that because our whole life is about worshipping God. Thank you Lord so much for this opportunity we have to be together. Thank you that we can worship you this day through the reading of your word, through singing psalms, through giving financially Lord, through fellowship Lord, that we can worship you through all these things. Lord I pray that you help us to truly have a heart for the lost, wherever those lost are, that we would truly be your witnesses in every area of our life and even to those people that don't like us or that we don't like. Lord, give us the courage and the boldness and the words that we need to reach the people that are in our lives, whatever category they would call them. Lord, give us a heart, even for those that we've never heard of. Give us a heart for the ministries that this church supports. And may you draw more people closer to you through what happens in this congregation. whether it's through the DBS that's going be going on this summer, or whether it's through the Helping the Homeless, whatever ministry could be done through this congregation, Lord, may you be praised and glorified. May more people come to you. We thank you so much for this opportunity, Lord. Continue to encourage us, continue to guide us, continue to draw us closer to you. We love you and we pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

Acts 1 · chapter mention