Sending Missionaries - John 20:19-23

I'm sure you can hear my accent. I tell people, we live in Bristol, UK, and so they think we should have a West Country accent.

I tell them it is a West Country accent, but it's a lot further west, near that westernmost outpost of Irish civilization called San Francisco.

That's where we're from. So I don't think my accent is difficult to understand in any event.

But my wife and I, we work for Africa Inland Mission. I'm the international director, and our international office is in Bristol, so that's why we're there.

But we worked for about 20 years in Africa, 10 years in a little place called Comoro Islands down by Madagascar, five years in another country called Djibouti.

And probably most of you have never heard of Djibouti, but you can look it up and find it. It really is there.

And then another few years in another country in the Horn of Africa that I don't like to say out loud just for security issues.

But we were actually kicked out of that country after a few years, and since then we've been in Bristol with our organization.

We have two grown-up daughters and one grandson.

I didn't have an option of showing pictures, but I would show you a whole bunch of pictures of him, but that gets kind of irritating after a while, doesn't it?

I was in South Korea not long ago, and I offered to show pictures of my grandson to some Korean people, and they said,

oh, in Korea you have to pay people to show pictures of your grandchildren, so I didn't want to do that.

I'm going to talk with you about sending and what it means and the privilege of sending missionaries.

I understand sometimes we don't like to use the word missionary anymore.

In the U.K., that's not a popular word because it just brings up all these colonial notions and, you know,

these old guys in their pith helmets marching through the jungle.

So people almost have abandoned that word.

I still use it, but if you prefer another word, they call them global partners in the U.K.

or international workers or this and that, but I still stick with the old term.

So, missionaries is what I'm going to talk about and the particular aspect of sending missionaries.

My text is John chapter 20, starting in verse 19.

John 20 · chapter mention

It's only four or five verses I'll read, 19 through 23.

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,

the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of Jesus,

Jesus came and stood among them and said to them,

Peace be with you.

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them, Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, even so I'm sending you.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,

Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any, they're forgiven them.

If you will withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.

Serving as senders.

That is a particular privilege and prerogative of a local church like yours.

Serving as sending.

Serving as senders.

Usually when I preach in the UK or the United States,

there's these apocryphal stories of people supporting their missionaries in Africa

by sending them used tea bags.

And that might seem like a funny story.

You might think that's one of these Christian legends that goes around the churches.

But I've actually met at least two missionaries who used to receive used tea bags

that were sent to them in Africa.

So that apocryphal story is really true.

But that's not what I'm going to talk about today.

I'm not going to talk about what you might think are the usual themes of sending,

sending and supporting, how we need to pray for our missionaries,

how we need to financially support them, how we need to visit them,

welcome them, emotionally support them, send them used tea bags

or your old worn-out clothes or whatever.

You know all these things.

And you don't need me to stand here and say that you should pray for

and financially support and encourage any missionaries that you know.

I think that's pretty obvious and you know it.

The thing that I want to talk about today is the privilege of sending.

Before I do, let's stop just a minute and dwell on the wonder of this passage.

We read through this.

We're probably pretty used to it.

We read through these resurrection stories.

But let's just stop for a minute.

These are the disciples.

It's Sunday.

It's the day Jesus has risen from the dead.

A couple of them have apparently seen Him already.

But they're in this room.

The door's locked.

They're still confused.

They're still very scared.

And all of a sudden, Jesus comes and stands among them.

I just stopped for a minute and thought about that this morning as I was preparing.

It's like, Jesus is there standing among them.

This man they've seen crucified three days before is now standing among them.

Think about how amazing that would have been for the people in that room.

All of a sudden, Jesus is there.

Jesus is truly risen from the dead and Jesus is standing here among us.

Think how amazing it would be if Jesus was standing here among us.

And I know He is here by the Holy Spirit.

But what if Jesus was physically standing here among us?

That would blow our minds, wouldn't it?

And think of these disciples who'd seen Him killed three days before,

who don't have the benefits that we have.

And all of a sudden, Jesus is there.

Jesus is risen from the dead.

Jesus is with us.

What an amazing moment that must have been for those disciples.

Jesus stood among them.

He rose from the dead.

And He pronounced peace.

Not just once, twice to their troubled souls.

And I know, we get used to this again.

Peace be upon you.

Be a shalom in the Arabs.

Salam alaikum.

Whatever you want to say.

But Jesus speaking peace.

Peace.

Jesus still speaks peace to troubled souls.

He showed them the ultimate proof of His grace and love.

He says, look at my hands.

Look at my side.

What greater proof could they have?

And what greater proof could we have of the grace and love of Jesus Christ?

He died for me.

He died for me.

He breathes on them.

He says, receive the Holy Spirit.

He talks about forgiveness of sins.

And somehow gives them even power and authority to forgive sins.

Think of the comfort, peace, and the grace the disciples would have received at that moment.

And that very same comfort, grace, and peace is available to us.

Jesus is present with His people.

Offering forgiveness.

Offering proof of His love.

Offering peace.

Offering power of the Holy Spirit.

Offering peace.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Today, just as much as He was there in that upper room.

If we're talking about mission sending,

I need to say something that you all know,

but it seems like it needs to be said anyway.

Your country for years has been a destination for missionaries,

not a country that was sending missionaries.

And there are still, I met a number of missionaries that are here

helping in your church planting efforts in this country.

But at the same time, you are now the ones bringing the gospel to Ireland

and beyond Ireland.

Your country was a destination for missionaries.

Now your country is starting to become a sender of missionaries.

And can we just stop and appreciate what an amazing thing that is?

What an amazing thing that the Lord is doing in this country.

I think of, in just looking out at you and thinking of the people I met

this last weekend of the multicultural nature of Ireland now.

And that's another thing that God has done,

how God has blessed Ireland by bringing in believers from other nations.

Same thing in the UK.

You know this.

The biggest churches in London, they're all African churches.

Incredible thing.

I was at a conference a couple months ago,

and the man who was standing up in front, he said,

he was a British man, he said,

we prayed for revival,

and we didn't recognize it when it came,

because its face was black.

Wow.

That was quite a statement.

The Lord is using Africans,

Latin Americans,

Asians,

to bring renewal and revival

to our churches.

Ireland was a valley of dry bones,

not so many years ago,

as far as the gospel was concerned.

And the Lord is breathing life

into this country.

You may be small,

but you are here.

You know the gospel,

you know the territory,

you know the people,

you know the language,

you know the culture,

you have the word of God,

you have the Holy Spirit,

you have the church,

everything is here in you,

in your churches,

to bring the gospel

to Caragalline,

to Cork,

to Ireland,

to Europe,

to North Africa,

to the ends of the earth.

Everything is here

in your churches already.

I use the word missionaries,

and let me just define that term

before I go any further.

There are a lot of ways,

again,

to define this,

but here's what I'm talking about

when I talk about a missionary.

With few exceptions,

missionaries are people

who are sent.

They're sent ones.

It's the Latin derivation

of the Greek word apostolos,

from which we get apostle.

An apostle is a sent one.

Okay,

literally that's what it means.

Okay,

so missionary in the same sense.

Missionaries are people

who were sent,

usually cross-culturally,

to perform or support

apostolic ministry

of preaching,

teaching,

building the church

of Jesus Christ.

Okay,

that's what we consider

missionaries to be.

There are a great variety

of ways to do this.

And people who are

in support roles,

not front-line preaching

and teaching,

they're critical

to this effort.

But fundamentally,

that's what mission

and missionaries are.

People who were sent

to advance the kingdom of God,

bringing the gospel

to people in places

where there is no gospel.

Okay,

just so you know

when I'm talking about missions,

what I'm talking about.

Okay,

let's go back to the text

for just a minute.

John 20,

19 through 23.

What I want to emphasize

is the importance

and privilege

of sending.

What happened

on that first Easter?

Who did Jesus see?

As far as I can

piece together the events,

or who saw Jesus

more likely?

First of all,

it was Mary Magdalene,

as far as I can tell.

And then there were

some other women.

Okay,

so Mary,

the women,

and then Peter.

He met Peter.

And then the two

on the Emmaus Road.

Those are the ones

that are listed.

And then these 12.

So,

this is the day

he rose from the dead.

One of the first meetings,

the first meeting

he has

with all the disciples

together.

What does he say?

He says,

Peace be upon you.

Then he says,

Peace be upon you.

He says that twice.

And then,

what's the very next thing

out of his mouth?

As the Father

has sent me,

so I am sending you.

Think about the things

he could have said

after those initial

greetings of peace.

Peace be upon you.

Think about the things

he could have said.

He could have said,

Why weren't you there

with the women?

Why weren't you there

at the tomb?

Why didn't you believe

what I said?

There's all kinds of things

he could have said.

He didn't say those things.

He said,

The Father has sent me,

so I am sending you.

Think of the importance

of sending.

That that's almost

the first thing

that comes out

of Jesus' mouth

the first time

he sees his disciples.

Sending is a big deal.

God sent Noah.

God sent Abraham.

God sent Moses.

God sent the prophets.

Finally, God sent Jesus.

It's a huge priority

for our God

that he sends.

Third thing he says to them,

I am risen.

Peace be upon you.

Let's get going.

And the sending

that started that day

continues until this day.

Don't believe that was

exclusively for the disciples.

It comes down to us.

As the Father has sent me,

so I send you.

Sending is a joint enterprise

of the Father,

the Son,

the Holy Spirit,

and the church.

Think about that for a minute.

Our little churches,

and even if it's some huge

American mega church,

it's still really very small

compared to the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit.

Our little churches,

we have the privilege

of partnering

with the Holy Trinity

in sending missionaries.

It is a high privilege

that the Lord gives

to his church.

Who is sent?

I believe that all of us

are sent.

Acts 1.8,

You receive power

when the Holy Spirit

comes upon you.

You be my witnesses

in Jerusalem,

Judea, Samaria,

the ends of the earth.

We'll talk about that

a little bit later.

How does he send?

As the Father has sent me,

so I'm sending you.

Okay,

what exactly does that mean?

I like it.

It's one of these

little preacher tricks

because there's some alliteration.

There's three M's in there.

Okay,

there's the means.

He sends by the power

of the Holy Spirit.

He breathes on them,

says receive the Holy Spirit.

There's the message,

forgiveness of sins.

Again,

Luke 24,

Luke 24, 47,

repentance and forgiveness

of sins should be proclaimed

in his name

to all nations

beginning from Jerusalem.

By the way,

there's a great commission

in all four Gospels

and in the book of Acts.

Right?

It's not just in Matthew.

We're talking about

John's commission here,

but there's one in each

of the Gospels.

Yeah.

And,

okay,

the means,

the message,

and finally,

the method,

as the Father has sent me,

so I send you.

Now,

with those first two,

the means,

meaning the Holy Spirit,

the message,

forgiveness of sins,

there's some little

difficult things

to understand

in this text

about when did they

actually receive

the Holy Spirit.

Was it there?

Was it the day of Pentecost?

What does it mean

that the disciples

have the authority

to forgive sins

or retain sins?

I'm not going to go into those.

I'm going to let

your capable pastor

talk about

those with you

another day.

That's the privilege

of a visiting speaker.

He gets to jump over

the difficult things

and leave it for the pastor.

He doesn't have that privilege.

I want to focus

on the method.

The method,

as the Father has sent me,

so I send you.

So,

if we want to know

how Jesus sends the disciples,

we need to look at

how the Father sent Jesus.

So,

how did the Father

send Jesus?

Again,

I don't believe

this is just for

foreign missionaries

like myself.

I believe this is

for all of us.

First of all,

he sent Jesus

as the sacrifice.

We know that.

He does not send us

to be a sacrifice

for sins.

The sacrifice of Christ

was done once for all.

But he does send us

to lay down our lives

for the advance

of the kingdom of God.

Paul says in Philippians 2.7,

he says,

even if I'm being poured out

like a drink offering

on the sacrifice

and service

of your faith,

I rejoice

and share my joy

with you all.

Paul said,

I'm willing to be poured out

like that wine

they used to pour

on the sacrifices

in the Old Testament.

Paul said,

that's what I'm willing

to be poured out

for the church

and for the gospel.

That's the way

the Father sent Jesus.

That's the way

Jesus sends us.

He sends,

the Father sent Jesus

to serve.

Matthew 20,

26 through 28,

Son of Man

did not come

to be served,

but to serve.

Give his life

as a ransom for many.

Again,

our call is not

to give our lives

as a ransom.

No,

done once and for all.

But our call certainly

is to follow

the leading of our Master

and not to want

to be served

but to serve.

He came as a sacrifice.

He came as a servant.

He also came to suffer.

And we know

that Jesus was sent

for the purpose

of the cross.

And as the Father

sent Jesus,

so Jesus sends us.

Paul said this

in Colossians 1, 24,

I rejoice in my sufferings

for your sake

and in my flesh

I'm filling up

what is lacking

in Christ's afflictions.

Now that's a difficult

verse as well

and it certainly

doesn't mean

that Paul is adding

something to the atonement.

No.

Once for all,

but Paul is

willing to suffer

to bring the message

of that atonement

to the Colossians

and to other communities

in the Mediterranean.

So,

sacrifice,

suffering,

service

are the ways

the Father sent

the Son.

They're ways

the Son

sends the disciples.

Christ was sent

in humility.

Philippians chapter 2,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

you know these verses.

He was in the form

of God.

He did not count

equality with God

a thing to be grasped

but emptied himself

taking the form

of a servant

born in the likeness

of men

found in human form.

He humbled himself

by becoming obedient

to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

We keep coming back

to these same things,

these same themes.

They're all linked together

but if the Lord

is sending us out,

it must be

as the Father

sent the Son

in humility.

There's no place

for arrogance

in the people

that the Lord

sends out.

Whether to a local

community here,

in Ireland,

whether to the ends

of the earth,

we go out in humility

following the example

of our Lord.

Incarnationally,

the Father sent

the Son

incarnationally.

That's one of those

big theological words.

Incarnation,

it means He became

flesh.

Okay?

He became one of us.

Stop for a minute

and think about that.

that God the Father

sent His Son.

What an amazing thing

that God the Father

sent His own Son.

He sent a person.

He didn't just send

a message.

He sent a person.

And now,

He continues

to send people.

We send money

to missions?

That's a good thing.

Please keep doing that.

We do media ministries.

I'm involved

in an online ministry,

sharing my faith

with people

in different countries.

That's wonderful.

Keep doing that.

We do short-term things.

Send for two weeks.

That's great.

Okay?

But the model

that we're trying

to follow

is this incarnational model.

As the Father

sent the Son,

so the Son sends us.

We become incarnate

among the peoples

that we're trying

to reach out to.

Okay?

That involves

learning their language.

That involves

understanding their culture.

That involves

living together with them,

sharing life with them

as much as we can.

And that's true in Ireland

as well as is true

in Djibouti

and the Comorra Islands.

Okay?

It's true for all of us.

We are incarnational ministers

as Jesus was incarnated to us.

There's probably other things,

but those are some ideas

about how the Father

sent Jesus.

Now let's look at

a little bit more

about how Jesus sends us.

That's how the Father sent.

How does Jesus send?

First of all,

it's Jesus who sends.

And that's an...

I know I keep saying

obvious things to you,

but sometimes

these obvious things

are good to repeat.

Jesus sends people.

He may use individuals

who hear His call.

He may use churches

who confirm that call,

but it's Jesus who sends.

Better,

it's the Trinity

that sends,

especially the Holy Spirit.

But the Holy Trinity,

the Holy Spirit,

sends through the church.

Okay?

The church called to listen

to the voice of God,

identify people

that the Lord is calling,

commission,

and send,

and train those people.

people.

In AIM,

we are a mission-sending agency.

We send missionaries,

but we do not send anybody

by ourselves.

We only send people

that the church has identified,

that have received their call

through the church,

and that the church has sent to us.

We send them together.

We don't want people

who self-call.

We want people

whose call is confirmed

by the church.

We talk a lot in AIM

about the missionary call.

What does that mean?

Somebody's called

to be a missionary.

And there's mystery here

in the Scripture,

but there's only a couple things

that are really clear.

One is that the missionary call

comes from the Holy Spirit,

and the second is

that it comes

through the church,

or it's confirmed

and acted upon

by the local church.

So,

I'm referring to Acts chapter 13 here,

Acts 13 · chapter mention

where the Holy Spirit

says to the church,

set apart Saul and Barnabas

for the work

that I have called them to.

And that is by far

the clearest teaching

we have anywhere in the Scripture

about a missionary call.

You can see the critical role

that the local church

plays in that.

The call comes

from the Spirit,

but it comes

through the church,

and it's confirmed

and acted upon

by the church.

I believe every church

needs to take this

very seriously.

And we take it seriously

in AIM too.

We do not want people

whose churches

will not confirm

their call to missions.

Okay.

Jesus sends into all the world,

again, Acts 1.8,

Be my witnesses,

Jerusalem,

Judea,

Samaria,

the end of the earth.

What does that mean for us?

Okay.

I don't think it's too hard.

Jerusalem is here.

This is your Jerusalem.

Judea,

same culture,

different location.

So,

a village

that's not far away,

a village in Ireland,

same culture,

needs the gospel,

you send people to there.

That's your Judea.

Okay.

Same culture,

a little bit further away.

Samaria,

now we're talking

cross-cultural,

but similar location.

So,

now we're talking about

reaching out to

Muslim people of Ireland,

Pakistanis,

Indians,

Somali people.

Okay.

Nearby location,

cross-cultural,

Samaria.

Ends of the earth,

still the ends of the earth.

Okay.

Anywhere beyond there.

Okay.

I think this is relevant

to us today,

not just to the disciples,

Jerusalem,

Judea,

Samaria,

and the ends of the earth.

And everybody needs to ask,

where's the Lord sending me?

I believe we're all sent.

Okay.

Where is the Lord sending you?

Most of us,

He's sending us to our friends

and neighbors

and family.

But for some of us,

there's another call

to go further on than that.

But all of us are sent

and all of us

should be asking the Lord,

where are you sending me

for the sake of the gospel?

Who do you want me

to be sharing the gospel with?

Jesus sends as salt and light.

Okay.

Jesus talks about

you're the salt of the earth.

You're the light of the world.

It's not always easy to understand

what He's talking about there.

I believe He's talking about

our physical presence

and the Christian lifestyle

that we live

in terms of salt and light.

We do good works

in the name of Jesus.

We are the salt of the earth.

We're the light of the world.

Okay.

He sends us His salt and light,

but He also sends us

as witnesses.

Okay.

You'll be my witnesses,

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,

the ends of the earth.

A witness has to talk, right?

If you're called into court

as a witness for something

and you just sit there,

smile at people,

be really nice to people,

I don't think that's going to work, right?

You have to say something

if you're a witness.

My American friends,

they love this quote

that's attributed

to St. Francis of Assisi

who supposedly said,

preach the gospel at all times.

When necessary, use words.

Very clever quote, right?

And Americans,

my American friends

really like that

because that kind of

gets them off the hook

of actually saying something.

They feel like just

their good works

and their love

and this and that,

that's a sufficient witness.

The problem with that

is there's absolutely no proof

that the good saint

ever said that

and it's entirely inconsistent

with his life as well.

Whatever you think

about Francis of Assisi,

he ended his life in Egypt

trying to share the gospel

with Muslims down there.

Okay.

So it's not consistent

with his life

or anything he did

and it's not biblical either.

We do need to live

good and honorable lives

among non-believers

and show them the truth

through our good works.

We also need to be witnesses.

He sends in the power

of the Holy Spirit.

He doesn't send us alone.

Behold, I'm with you always

even to the end of the age.

You'll receive power

when the Holy Spirit

comes upon you.

He sends,

but he goes with his people.

Finally, he sends us

his sheep among wolves.

And I don't think

that needs much definition.

Sheep among wolves

is not in a particularly

secure or safe position,

but still he sends.

And it's striking to me

to think that

he sends us

his sheep among wolves

knowing that we're sheep

and knowing that we're

going to wolves.

But still he sends.

How do the Father

and Jesus not send?

We could come up

with a big list of these.

But they don't send us

with promises of comfort,

security, peace,

and easy results.

It's quite the opposite.

He says,

you'll be sheep among wolves.

He said,

you'll be hated by all men

for my sake.

And that's true

in Ireland

or in the ends of the earth.

Just a few comments

about the role

of the church as well.

What is the role

of a local church

in this mission sending?

First of all,

the church needs

to mobilize.

Okay?

The church needs

to mobilize

her people.

Yeah.

Need to mobilize

the whole church

for outreach,

especially local outreach

in a place like Ireland

where you have

only a very small

percentage of the population

being Bible-believing Christians.

I think that's still

got to be a very

high priority

for a church

here in Ireland.

Yeah.

Mobilize for local

ministry and outreach.

In a sense,

you're still living

in the midst

of a mission field here.

It's an obvious

priority for the church.

All are sent,

but not all are sent

to the ends

of the earth.

If the whole church

shows up in Africa

someday and says,

here we are,

I expect that will

create some problems

for us,

so please don't do that.

But at the same time,

everybody can be involved

in local outreach

and a few people

to go to Judea,

Samaria,

the ends of the earth.

The ends of the earth

is not for everybody.

And in AIM,

we want some

of your best people.

Think about Saul

and Barnabas

sent out from

the church of Antioch.

There were five leaders

listed there

among whom were

Saul and Barnabas.

and the Holy Spirit

said,

take these two.

Maybe your best

two guys

set them apart

for the work

I've called you to.

Very difficult

for small local churches

to do that.

But I believe

that's what the Lord

would have.

The ends of the earth

is not for everybody.

Church needs to define

what mission is.

the Lord

has a particular call

for different churches.

Okay?

And the church

needs to think

in advance

what is the Lord

calling us to do

and what are the

kinds of people

we want to send

and where do we

want to send them to?

Okay?

It's good for the church

to identify

those priorities

in advance.

Otherwise,

when someone comes

and says,

I feel like God's

calling me to do

this or this,

then if the church

hasn't defined

those things in advance,

then they're going to be

in a difficult situation.

Okay?

If the church

has defined,

for instance,

that we believe

that the kind of

missionaries

we want to send

are to

unreached people groups,

Muslim people groups,

people in places

where there is no gospel,

then when someone

comes along

and says that,

I feel like I need

to be a missionary

to Australia

to save the coral reefs

of Australia,

then the church

can say,

that's a nice thing.

And go ahead,

bless you,

but we're not

going to get involved

with that.

You know,

I said exactly

those words

in our church

in Bristol,

and one of the elders

came up to me

afterwards,

and he said,

there is someone

in our church

whose idea of mission

is close enough

to what you said

that they will think

that we put you up

to saying that.

It's like,

really?

But,

yeah,

I mean,

people have different

notions about mission.

So then I changed it,

and I started talking

about save the koalas

of Australia

or something like that,

but I don't know,

koalas are cute.

Maybe someone

would want to do that.

It defined in advance

what mission is.

Church needs to pray,

and I believed,

or Jesus told us,

pray to the Lord

of harvest

to send workers

into his harvest field.

I think the church

needs to ask the Lord,

Lord,

send workers

to your harvest field,

send Irish people

into the harvest field,

and send people

from this church.

I think that's a prayer

that tremendously

honors the Lord,

and I believe the Lord

will answer that prayer.

Lord,

send people

from this church,

from this community

of churches,

and Lord,

send some of our

best people.

That's a scary prayer,

maybe.

I think it's a prayer

that honors the Lord,

and he's likely

to answer.

And then the church

needs to listen

to the Lord,

and under the guidance

of the Holy Spirit,

identify those people

who have that call

of the Lord

in their lives,

just like the church

in Acts was able to do.

Church needs to prepare

and train missionaries.

Okay.

We have all kinds,

there's all kinds

of specialized

missionary training programs

we can refer you to,

and that's a good thing.

But the most important skills

of mission

are disciple making,

following Christ

as a disciple

and making other disciples,

serving,

bringing the gospel

to people outside the church,

learning the Word of God,

learning to teach

the Word of God,

learning to pray.

Those are all things

that can and should be taught

right here in this church.

You don't have to send someone

to a specialized

missionary training program

to learn those kind of things.

And those are the kind of people

who have learned those things

in their local churches,

who've learned to serve

in their local churches,

who've learned to share

the gospel out

in their own community.

Those are the kind of people

that we want to send

to Africa.

Last thing,

church needs to build up

the base.

Acts 20, 28,

be on guard for yourselves

and all the flock.

Okay.

Good statement

that Paul makes

to the Ephesian elders.

Yeah, guard the flock.

Savage wolves are coming.

They'll ravage the flock.

But he says,

first be on guard

for yourselves.

Before we can shepherd others,

we need to shepherd ourselves.

And before we can effectively

send missionaries,

we need to build up,

or so I shouldn't say before,

but as we think about

sending missionaries,

we need to watch

our own churches.

In particular,

I think there's two things

that churches need to do.

And especially

in this modern era

when the truth

is facing challenges

from every side.

The church needs,

first of all,

to maintain true doctrine.

And again,

I'm saying obvious things

to you.

But I think there's three things,

especially,

as far as missions is concerned,

the church needs to hold on to

with all its might.

One is the authority

of the Word of God.

The second is the eternal destiny,

whether saved or lost,

of every man and woman.

And the third is

the uniqueness of salvation

through Jesus Christ.

Authority of the Word of God,

eternal destiny

of every man and woman,

uniqueness of salvation

in Jesus Christ.

If you lose any one

of those things,

then why would anyone bother

being a missionary?

If we lose the authority

of the Word of God,

if we stop believing

that every man and woman

is either going to go

to heaven or hell,

and that the only way

to go to heaven

is through Jesus Christ,

if we stop believing

any one of those three things,

then why are we going

to do mission?

And why are we even

going to reach out

to our neighbors?

Why even bother?

Church needs to hold on

to those things

with all her might.

And then the last thing

is just promoting evangelism

here in your own community.

Don't make any distinction

between local outreach

and international

or global outreach.

A church that has a heart

for reaching out

to its neighbors

will also have a heart

to send its people

to North Africa,

bring the gospel

to those people.

A church that has a heart

for North Africa,

by God's grace,

will have a heart

for reaching out

to local people.

So in promoting

local outreach,

church is promoting

mission as well.

Local church plays

a crucial role

in the kingdom of God.

You are God's

chosen instrument.

Even a little bitty

church like you.

Sorry, you might think,

who's this American guy

telling us we're

a little bitty church?

But God's grace,

you're here.

It's wonderful.

You're God's chosen

instrument to establish

the kingdom

here in this country

and abroad.

What a responsibility.

What an honor

it is for the church.

What a blessing

for the church

and what rewards

God will give

to the church

that's faithful in this.

Amen.

You might say,

well, do we have

to do this?

No.

You don't have

to do it.

You don't have

to send anybody.

Your salvation

doesn't depend on it.

You don't have

to do it.

But I read

something written

by a man named

Robertson McQuilkin

a few years ago.

He was a seminary

professor,

or he was the head

of a seminary

in the United States.

And his wife

was ill

with advanced

Alzheimer's disease

and kept getting

worse and worse

and finally he realized

he was going to need

just to step down

from his position

and take care

of his wife.

So he did.

And he took care

of her for five years.

And when she died,

then he came back

to leading the seminary.

But he wrote

a little short pamphlet

called Living by Vows

and talked about

the journey

that he went

through in caring

for his wife,

stepping down

from his position

in order to care

for his wife.

And he said this,

he said that a lot

of people come to me

and they say,

oh, I'm so sorry

that you have

to do this.

McQuilkin always said,

he said,

I don't have to.

I get to.

I get to.

And it's the same

for the church.

We don't have

to do this.

You really don't.

But we get to do it.

Sending is a privilege

the Lord gives

to a local church.

Let's pray.

Thank you, Father,

for your goodness.

Thank you for the privilege

you give to your church.

Thank you for this great plan

that you have accomplished

in building your church.

Jesus Christ

built this church,

each local manifestation

of it.

Thank you for these

brothers and sisters

that are here.

Thank you for your church

in this area of Ireland.

We praise you, Lord.

You are building

your church here.

And I pray for the

brothers and sisters here

that you would

encourage them.

You would encourage them

that you would send them

out into the community

and into other communities

cross-culturally

here in Ireland

and you would send

a few of these people

to the ends of the earth.

Lord, that you would

identify who those people are.

We know you have

your people everywhere.

Please make that clear

to the church leaders here.

And let us all,

wherever we are,

embrace this privilege

of sending.

We're thankful

for Jesus Christ.

We're thankful

that he sends us.

We're thankful

for the peace

that he speaks to us.

We're thankful

for the grace

that you give us

in Jesus Christ.

And we pray in his name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.