Sunday, December 9, 2007
"Send Off for Bill and Mary Glidden"
** Bill and Mary are beginning their missionary service with Amercian Missionary Fellowship. One of the purposes of this service was to strengthen our relationship wtih them, in order that we may be a part of their work in southeastern Colorado.
During the service Bill shared concerning the work and ways that we might pray for them. Afterward, AMF regional director Stan Spiess (who was accompanied by his wife Jan) gave a charge to Bill and Mary. I then had the privilege of sharing with our congregation how we might effectively send and continue to send the Gliddens (= the brief message below)...
Let’s begin by reading that classic missionary passage, Rom. 10:1-15…
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 5. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 6. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7. Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15. And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
In these first 13 verses, we see the beauty of the salvation that comes through faith in Christ. Praise God that we don’t have to attain the righteousness which is described in the law, for what man or woman can do the things written in the law? As Paul writes in Gal. 3:10, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Aren’t you thankful that there is One who continued in all the commandments of the law; His name is Jesus. That same Jesus became a curse for us, taking our sins upon Himself? Yes, that is good news. Because of what Jesus did, "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
That is the beauty of salvation that comes through faith in Christ, but there is another beauty in this passage. Verse 15, "…How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." If the message is beautiful, so are those who faithfully proclaim it.
Now look in verses 14-15 at the link between the message and the messengers. Paul uses a bit of sound logic that would appeal to the Roman mind. Let’s begin in verse 13 and read 10:13-15a…
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15. And how shall they preach, except they be sent?…
Think it through slowly and carefully. It’s wonderful that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but how can a person call on the name of the Lord unless he believes in the Lord? Of course, we know this belief is more than a mental knowledge and requires more than intellectual assent. This is a complete casting of self on Jesus Christ and what He did at the cross. But who can believe in Jesus in this way, if he hasn’t heard about Jesus and the gospel? And how will he hear without a preacher? Remember that the "preacher" here is not someone who stands up in front of a congregation. We may call what I am doing "preaching," but that is only a small part of what Paul is talking about here. The Greek word used here means "to proclaim as a herald." When a king or some other very important person was coming to town, a herald would run before him and cry out, "The king is coming." He was simply a proclaimer. But wait a minute. The herald who proclaimed the message in the town was sent by the king. How can a person go and proclaim such good news, if he is not sent to bear that good news? The word "sent" in verse 15 carries the idea of "being sent with a message."
So when we think about evangelism and missions, we start at the other end of this progression. The first step is being sent. And then those who are sent go and proclaim the good news message. Because the message is proclaimed, people hear it. And some who hear believe. As a result they call upon the Lord and are saved. Praise God!
So let’s look for just a moment at that first step, the sending. Who is it that sends? Let’s make no mistake about it. It is the Lord Himself who sends. Though the king might tell an underling to summon the herald, the command came from the king. So it is with our King. The Lord sends. If a missionary is not sent by the Lord, there is no basis for his work. Before Paul and Barnabas set out on that first missionary journey, who was it that said, "Separate (unto) me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." It was the Holy Spirit. He was the sender. So let’s be absolutely clear that if Bill and Mary are truly going out as missionaries in the name of Jesus Christ, then it is the Lord who is sending them. It isn’t us; it isn’t AMF; it is the Lord Himself.
So do we have any part? Yes, because the Lord has so ordained it. It isn’t that the Lord needs us in any way, but He gives us the privilege of being a part. Let’s read that passage in Acts 13, to which I just referred. Acts 13:1-4…
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
Notice that in verse 3 we read that "they sent them away." In verse 4 we read that they were sent forth by the Holy Spirit. Both statements are absolutely true. The initiative came from the Holy Spirit, as we see in verse 2. However, he uses the local congregation as His sending agents. Praise God that we too can have a part in sending Bill and Mary.
Please allow me to suggest four specific ways in which we can send and continue to send the Gliddens into the field. This "continuing to send" is very important. What we are doing this morning must be a beginning, not an end.
1. Give. We have already started our giving. As most of you know, we support Bill and Mary with $300 a month. This contributes to their living expenses and their ministry expenses. Every time we pass the offering plate we are continuing to support the Gliddens. Though this is in one sense the easiest part of our support, it is vitally important.
2. Encourage. Bill and Mary will need encouragement. They aren’t super people; they are ordinary believers just like the rest of us. Before Paul and Barnabas sailed to Cyprus, the people laid their hands on them. It is not conclusive from this passage who was involved in the laying on of hands, but even if it was only the leaders, they did so as the representatives of the people. Don’t you know that in the days ahead they remembered many times this symbol of support from God’s people.
Because Paul and Barnabas were constantly on the move, they didn’t have the privilege of ongoing support during that first missionary journey. They didn’t have a post office box. But because Bill and Mary will be ministering in a particular area, we will have the opportunity to prove that this is not just a one-time sending, but that we are linked with them in ministry.
While Bill and Mary will be plenty busy, I doubt that they will resent any letters and phone calls they receive from us. Speaking of busyness, most every one of us will be tempted to say, "I just haven’t had time to write or call Bill and Mary." Let me remind us before we say it that it is a lie. If you absolutely don’t have the time, then skip supper and write them a short letter. I dare say that in 95% of the cases the letter you write will have more eternal value than the meal you would have consumed.
3. Provide Accountability. Bill and Mary are ultimately responsible to God. They also receive supervision from AMF, primarily through Stan. But they still need accountability in the body of Christ.
Please let me explain what I mean by accountability. I do not mean that you call Bill up and say, "Bill, I am calling you to see what kind of job you are doing up there. Are you being faithful to the Lord?" I’m talking about an accountability that grows out of a relationship, the "iron sharpening iron" relationships, of which the scripture speaks. If one of you ladies call and say, "Mary, I’ve been praying for you. What’s the Lord been doing?" I assure you that Mary will be more than happy to give you an earful. If things haven’t been going well, she may cry on your shoulder a bit, but that’s okay too. I’m simply encouraging us to maintain the kind of contact that reminds Bill and Mary that they are part of a team.
4. Pray. As you might have suspected, I saved this one for last because it is the most important. While it is the most vital way we can support Bill and Mary, there are ways in which it is the most difficult. It isn’t so much that we will be tempted to forget them and never pray. Far greater will be the temptation to make prayer for the Gliddens a little routine. "Lord, bless Bill and Mary." I’m not saying that’s wrong, but I am suggesting that we give diligence to offering more effective prayer.
You might want to find biblical prayers to pray for Bill and Mary. How could we go wrong, if we pray for them the prayer of Eph. 3:14-21, which was one of Paul’s prayers for the Ephesian believers? After praying that for a while, we might select another biblical prayer.
Let me suggest some specific things for which we can pray. First, let’s pray that Bill and Mary abide in Christ. If you prefer different wording for the same concept, pray that God keep on filling them with His Holy Spirit. Or pray the same concept in terms of Col. 3:16, "that the word of Christ may dwell in them richly." Bill and Mary cannot be effective missionaries, if they are not abiding in Christ. Of course, we will find it difficult to pray this for them if we are not praying it for ourselves.
Second, let’s pray that the Lord will give them grace to proclaim the true gospel. Why do I mention this? Because there is an increasing tendency in our religious society to compromise the gospel of Jesus Christ. Increasingly we see preachers and ministries who soften the message in order to make it more acceptable for the hearers. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, many who claim to represent the Lord are proclaiming a God who is less than holy, are abandoning the necessity of repentance, and are presenting a Christ who can be received on man’s terms. Such a gospel has no saving power. Let’s pray that Bill and Mary will proclaim "the faith which was once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).
And finally, let’s pray that God will give Bill and Mary the wisdom to know where to invest themselves for the glory of God. When we make ourselves available to the people around us, the needs can be overwhelming. But they will not be able to meet all the needs that present themselves. They will need much wisdom to know what to do and what to leave undone.
Bill and Mary, I remind you that although you will be involved in meeting the needs of hurting people, your first response is to your Lord, even above meeting the needs of people. As Jesus said, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (Jn. 4:34). And as you do His will, He will pour your lives out for the sake of others.
Order – Dec. 9, 2007
Announcements/Introduction
"To God Be the Glory" (64) – Jim
Resp. Reading # 580 –
Prayer
Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8 –
Introduction – Bill & Mary
Testimony: Bill
"What a Wonderful Savior" (255) -- Jim
"When I Survey" (158) – Lee
Offering
Introduction: Stan Spiess (Ron & Bill)
Message: "Exhorting the Missionaries" -- Stan
Message: "Exhorting the Senders" – Ron
Special Prayer for Bill and Mary
Benediction
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment