Real Life Community Church Richmond, KY
Real Life Community Church, is a church located in Richmond, Kentucky. Our fellowship is comprised of authentic followers of Jesus Christ who aim to glorify God in all that we do. We have a desire to reach our community, meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of those who are hurting.What to Expect in a Service Our Sunday Morning services include a time of dynamic, blended worship. We have a full praise band, consisting of real Christ-followers who are committed to worshiping God, not just through song, but in every area of their lives. Each service will include a relevant, Bible-based message, that will inspire and challenge those who hear it. Come casually or formally dressed… however you are most comfortable. We hope to see you soon!
Real Life Community Church Richmond, KY
Acts | Part 17 | Making Christ Known Among the Nations (Part 2)
What would you sacrifice to bring someone eternal life?
This powerful question frames our exploration of Acts 10, where Peter's journey to Cornelius marks the moment the Gospel first intentionally crossed cultural boundaries to reach the Gentile world. The staggering reality is that today, 3.5 billion people have virtually no access to the gospel—not those who've rejected it, but those who've never had the opportunity to hear it.
Through Peter and Cornelius' story, we discover the essential framework for global missions: God orchestrates, and believers participate. While God does the heavy lifting of salvation, He invites us into three specific ways of participation—praying, going, and sending.
The 3.5 billion unreached are not just statistics—they're individuals with names, families, dreams, and eternal souls. How will you respond to reach them? Start a prayer journal. Consider your calling. Give sacrificially. Together, we can bring Christ's hope to every nation, tribe, and tongue.
All right Acts, chapter 10, beginning in verse 17. Now, while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision he had seen might mean, behold the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him. And Peter went down to the men and said I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming? And they said it said the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up saying stand up, I too am a man. And he talked with him and went in and found many persons gathered and he said to them you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I asked them why you sent for me, and Cornelius said Four days ago about this hour.
Speaker 1:I was praying in my house at the ninth hour and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send, therefore, to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner by the sea. So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come Now. Therefore, we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. So Peter opened his mouth and said Truly, I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all.
Speaker 1:You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John proclaimed, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him, and we are witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem they put him to death by hanging him on a tree. But God raised him on the third day and made him appear, not to all the people, but to us who have been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead, and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be a judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. The word of the Lord.
Speaker 2:Thanks be to God, you may be, seated.
Speaker 2:Thank you, dina. The message that I'm about to preach is a message of life and death, and so I want to take a moment, pray that the Lord would remove distractions and tune our hearts into what he would say to us through His Word today. Father, father, lord, we thank you for your Word, that you have communicated your will, the gospel, to us, passed down through generations. Lord, we thank you that Christ came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Lord, we could never be good enough to earn salvation. So Christ came, took the punishment for our sin, took our place at Calvary. He died for our sin. We might be forgiven, and he has risen from the grave. That's the message that every tribe, every tongue, every people need to hear. The gospel is the power Every tribe, every tongue, every people need to hear. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, both to the Jew and to the Greek. There is no other way to you, lord, except through Jesus. And so, god, break our hearts for the lost All across the world. Today, let us hear the words that you have laid on my heart. Pierce us, oh God, and may we be moved to action. In Jesus, wonderful, holy, righteous name, amen In Jesus' wonderful, holy and righteous name, amen, amen. The Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive and we know that to be the case. Amen.
Speaker 2:I think I have a picture of a team that went to London yesterday from our church to serve people and to clean up debris. They said it was an absolute mess. It's just unimaginable, unfathomable, the damage that that tornado caused. So they went there on their Saturday with busy schedules dropped, everything to go and to serve. And we know Charlie, I know you went earlier in the week and people from all over the country have driven, taken their vacation days, spent tons of money to give to this community strangers, because we know deep down within us we are made to give away. And while serving people in these capacities is necessary and wonderful, what's even better, what's even more rewarding, is playing a role in someone's decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Like, let me just tell you, if you lead someone to Jesus, like if you share the gospel and they repent and they are baptized, you will never recover. Oh, I want that for every one of you. The great news is this that Jesus has called every one of us. He has empowered every one of us to participate in making an eternal difference in the lives of lost people. What a privilege, amen.
Speaker 2:In the book of Acts we've been moving section by section through this wonderful book written by Luke, and the theme of the book again is found in Acts, chapter 1, verse 8. And we could summarize it like this Christ's aim for the church then and now is to make his name known among the nations across the globe. And the question is how do we accomplish such a mission? Like? It's no easy thing, because right now listen to me, this is staggering. In our world there are 3.5 billion lost people who have virtually no access to the gospel. I'm not talking about people who have heard the gospel and denied it. These people are hopeless without the gospel and without the gospel let this sink in they will perish. 3.5 billion people in the world that need the gospel. How do we accomplish such a task? It's a question I want to try to answer today and I want you to please pay attention because this message has eternal implications. Let me just give you.
Speaker 2:Last week I started unpacking Acts, chapter 10. It's a long chapter and we kind of did an overview last week. The story is simply this there's a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, and Cornelius is a Roman centurion, and there's no doubt that he became frustrated and disenchanted with the gods of the Greco-Roman world, the myths and the pagan religions, and so he wanted the real thing. And so somehow, some way, he heard about the God of Israel, and so he would, in his own way, in the best way he knew how the Bible calls him a God-fearer. He would seek to worship the one true God. And so the Bible tells us, in the first verses of chapter 10, that he was a man committed to prayer, he was a man that gave alms, he was charitable, he was a kind man, but none of those things saved him. And they can't save you. The only way of salvation is through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so Cornelius, by the end of the story, is saved. God sends Peter to preach the gospel. The Holy Spirit does a work, and and Cornelius, as well as his household, some of his friends, gloriously, are saved. And this is when the gospel breaks into the Gentile world, and from here it would spread to the then known ends of the earth. So how is it that we today get the gospel to the ends of the earth. Well, we can learn a lot from this story.
Speaker 2:So there are two requisites that I see in Acts, chapter 10. If we're going to make Christ's name known among the nations, number one is this God must orchestrate. In other words, god must be at work, he must go before us, he must go with us and he must work on the hearts of the lost. Without him, there's no salvation, there's no success in missionary endeavors. And we see I won't go through this, it's in the message last week, but the text is rife with the hand of God, all through the book of Acts, all through the Bible and specifically in Acts, chapter 10. It's God who does the heavy lifting. So, number one if we want to reach the nations, god must orchestrate. But number two we as believers must participate. We must participate. Let me give you three ways today that we, as believers, are to participate in making Christ known among the nations. Number one we pray. Number two we go. And number three we send, pray, go, send. Pretty simple yes. So let's begin with praying. We can participate in missions through prayer. Acts 10, 9 and 10.
Speaker 2:The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, these are two men sent from Cornelius' house. Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray and he became hungry and wanted something to eat. But while they were preparing it he fell into a trance. And this is when Peter receives the vision from Jesus that prepares him for his missionary work. What was Peter doing when the Lord showed up? He was praying.
Speaker 2:You know, if we truly believe what I preached last week, that it is necessary, if we want to reach the nations, that God must work in us and through us and go before us and stay after us If we believe that, then we will commit to prayer. The only reason we wouldn't pray for the nations is that we don't believe that it's God who does the work. We've got to pray. Well, what do we pray? What do we pray? Number one we need to pray that God would make us passionate about missions. Part of the purpose of prayer as we commune with God is to make us passionate for what God is passionate about. That's why we pray in the Lord's Prayer.
Speaker 2:Not my will, but yours be done. E Stanley Jones, the world-renowned missionary and prayer warrior, explained it like this. He said if I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch, hold of the shore and pull. Do I pull the shore to me or do I pull myself to the shore? He says prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you what is the will of God concerning missions Like? Is God passionate about missions? You could say that that's why Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. Let me read you 2 Peter, 3, 9. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises, talking about his return, as some count slowness, but he is patient towards you. This involves every one of you today. You know why the Lord hasn't returned here. It is Not wishing that any should perish, but that how many All should come to repentance. If you're here today and you still have breath, god's aim for you is to know him, to be saved, to be free of sin, to be forgiven. And God is passionate about missions, and prayer will keep our fervor white, hot for missions. So we pray. God would make us passionate about reaching the nations.
Speaker 2:Number two we must pray for the lost. Let me read you 1 Timothy, 2, 1 through 4. First of all, men, I urge that all supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for who, all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may live a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires for who, all people, to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. We're to pray for in the beginning of this text all people, because God wants all people to be saved. Romans 10.1,. Paul, talking about his fellow Jews who are not yet saved, he says brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved.
Speaker 2:Listen to this quote from Spurgeon. This is a loose quote, but it gets at the gist of what he was saying. Listen to this If people be damned, let it not be because of our lack of calling after them, not for a lack of our weeping over them and not for a lack of praying for them. Can I say that again? It's worth repeating if people be damned, in other words, if they die without christ, let it not be for a lack of our going to them or calling on them, not for a lack of our weeping over them, nor for a lack of our praying for them.
Speaker 2:Oh, we ought to pray for the lost. When one of my sons was straying from the Lord a few years back, I'll tell you this he was in my prayer journal. I didn't have to have his name written down, though, because day and night I was in agony because he wasn't right with the Lord, and I would pray and I would fast. I'd say, oh God reached his heart and praise God. He came back to the Lord. But I was thinking this morning. I thought you know, that ought to be our heart for every single lost person, like if you have a son or daughter not serving God, one who doesn't know the Lord. I hope you're on your face every day for them, and the only reason you wouldn't be is if you don't really believe what the Bible says. But I want you to not just cry out for your children like that. I want you to cry out for the world. Pray for the lost.
Speaker 2:Number three pray for missionaries. We need to pray that they would be protected and bold with the gospel. Second Thessalonians 3, 1 and 2. Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not all have faith. Do you realize that when the gospel is taken to many of these countries, when our missionary leave this place and they go to these new areas, their lives are at risk. They might be in prison, they might be hurt, they might be killed, and we need to pray that God would protect them. We need to pray for the fruit of their ministry, or you could say their effectiveness of their ministry, or you could say their effectiveness Colossians 4.3,. At the same time, pray also for us. Paul says that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I'm in prison. We need to pray God protect our missionaries in open doors, that they may pray, that they may proclaim the mysteries of Christ.
Speaker 2:We need to pray for more missionaries. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 9, 37 and 38. He said to his disciples the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. We currently, as a fellowship, have 2,700 missionaries to reach 3.5 billion unsaved people, or unsaved people who have no access to the gospel. That number hasn't changed too much in the last several years in our fellowship, ed and I the missionary was with us last week told us, though, that our new missions director has an audacious goal, of kind of outrageous goal, of adding 1,300 more missionaries very soon to go into these unreached parts of the world.
Speaker 2:We need to pray, lord, do it, raise up men and women who will go to the uttermost parts of the earth. And you know the great thing when we pray about missions, we can pray with confidence, can't we? Pastor Jack, he pointed this out a few weeks ago 1 John, 5, 14 and 15. And this is the confidence we have towards him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, and if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have asked of him. If we pray according to God's will, we will have whatever we ask, and there's some things in the Bible that are kind of unclear about. Is this the will of God? Is this not the will of God? But one thing I'm sure of it is the will of God that all men and women be saved, that every nation, tribe and tongue hear the gospel Amen. So when you pray for lost people. When you pray for lost nations, you can just be sure that God will answer that prayer. To make Christians, we must, or to make Christ known among the nations, we must pray, and secondly, we must go. Acts 10, three through five.
Speaker 2:Getting to our text about the ninth hour of the day, Cornelius saw clearly in a vision an angel of God. I want you to remember that An angel of God come to him and say Cornelius, can you imagine? You think that'd be cool? No, this is a Roman centurion. Over a hundred men, soldiers, no fear. Until an angel shows up. He asked what is it, lord? And he said to him your prayers in your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Note that when God showed up, cornelius was praying too. It, as a memorial before God, note that when God showed up, cornelius was praying too. And now here's what the angel tells him send men to Joppa and bring one, Simon, who is called Peter.
Speaker 2:Now here's something curious in this text. An angel comes to Cornelius, who is seeking God but doesn't know the gospel, doesn't know Christ. And the angel converses with Cornelius, who is seeking God but doesn't know the gospel, doesn't know Christ. And the angel converses with Cornelius. Why does the angel just not go ahead and share the gospel and say, peter the trip. Think about it Well, in the Bible we see that God uses angels as messengers and ministers, but they never are tasked with sharing the gospel.
Speaker 2:God has called His people to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Now we have seen in Acts I just want to say this quickly we are all called to share the gospel within our sphere of influence. Remember the gospel? The mission started in Jerusalem, then Judea, samaria, uttermost parts of the earth. This is our Jerusalem, your family, your work, your school. That's your Jerusalem. Your neighborhood, that's your Jerusalem. And it is incumbent upon you to share the gospel with those people.
Speaker 2:But today I want to focus on world missions, reaching the nations. And the truth is not all of you, the majority of you, will not be called to go to the ends of the earth. Sigh of relief for some of you, right, but some of you will, I believe. But some of you will, I believe. And this is no easy. Ask when God calls you into mission, work, being a missionary is not easy. Like, maybe, if you're called to Cancun or the Virgin Islands, that might be okay, but reaching the unreached, it's dangerous, it's not glamorous. But reaching the unreached, it's dangerous, it's not glamorous. Here's why it's not easy. Number one missions requires listening and absolute obedience. Verses 19 and 20,.
Speaker 2:While Peter was pondering the vision that the Lord had given him, the Holy Spirit said to him Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go and accompany them without hesitation. Just, the holy spirit shows up to you and all he tells you is hey, two men are coming to your door. Just get up and go with them. And then it says in verse 23 peter went down to the man and said I'm the one you're looking for. What's the reason for your coming? This is my point here. The Holy Spirit calls Peter to go to another race, another people, another tribe, outside of the Jewish community, to the Gentiles. He just tells him, though he doesn't tell him all that. All he says is hey, some guys are showing up, I want you to go with them. He just tells him, though he doesn't tell him all that. All he says is hey, some guys are showing up, I want you to go with them.
Speaker 2:No details. How many of you are like planners? Like when you set off to embark on anything, you've got to know every detail, husbands, how many of you have a wife? When you go on vacation or whatever, or you're planning something for the family, she asks you 5 million questions because she wants to know every detail. Come on, men. Nothing wrong with that, ladies, but do you know, often when God calls us to do things, he does not give us the details. We've got to trust Him. We've got to trust Him. You get this if you're a parent because you've told your kids to do something. Why, why, why? Why? You answer and it's this perpetual list of questions and you say I can't tell you. I'm not going to tell you all that. Just trust me. Just do what I say, come on, parents. Just do what I say, come on, parents.
Speaker 2:Missions requires obedience, even when you don't have all the answers and when you think of what I just told you. It also requires trust, requires trust. Peter has no idea what's going to happen, but he just the text says he just gets up and go. But, by the way, if you back up a little bit, it sounds like Peter's, just like man Lord, whatever you ask. But Jesus just spoke to Peter in the vision and had to repeat himself three times before Peter would listen. How many of you are a little stubborn. God calls you to do something and you're like, ah, you know, I don't know. Or Lord, am I sure this is the Lord and he'll call you again? And he'll call you again.
Speaker 2:Missions requires obedience and it requires trust. Listen, when you answer God's call to be a missionary, maybe he'll tug on your heart. Today, he may not even tell you where you're going. At first. You're going to have questions like how will I be provided for? Will the ministry be successful? How long will I stay in a particular country? How will this impact my children and my spouse? Will we be safe? These are all fair questions, yes, but the truth is God is under no obligation to answer all those questions. If he did, you may not go. Yeah, number three. So missions requires obedience. Number two it requires trust.
Speaker 2:Let me say one more thing here. Do you know, remember, that Jesus told the disciples pray for laborers? Do you know they are the answer to their own prayer? They became the laborers. Let me just side note here. Okay, if you're praying for a loved one or you're praying for God to send missionaries, could you consider today that you, lord, send somebody to share the gospel with my son. Well, could that be you. Maybe you're the answer to your own prayer. If we pray for missionaries today, for God to call missionaries, it might be you. Number three missions requires humility. Verses 24 through 26,.
Speaker 2:And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called them, together with his relatives and close friends. And when Peter entered, cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. Peter lifted him up, saying I too am a man, just real, quickly on this.
Speaker 2:If you are called into some type of ministry, particularly going into the nations, and a whole tribe of people turn to the Lord due to your ministry work, it is easy to forget it was God working through you, and it is easy. Those people will often turn to you and go man, you're so great, you're the hero, you saved us, and it's tempting to circumvent God's glory and want the glory for yourself. That's true in the church. As the church grows and people are baptized, it's easy to put on Facebook and here's what we do as pastors. Man, I was convicted about this Look at how the Lord is working. And we're putting all these pictures up and really what we're saying is look what we're doing. Look what we're doing Because it's tempting in those situations to want the glory, but we've got to. To be true, successful missionary, you've got to point the glory to God. Number four our missions requires impartiality.
Speaker 2:So Peter's talking to Cornelius in verse 28,. And he said to him you yourselves know. So Peter's just gone into Cornelius' house. Here's what he says you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or visit any one of another nation. Remember, cornelius is a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for I came without objection. I asked them why you sent for me. The Jews had a great disdain for the Gentiles. Gentiles were pagans and considered unclean. A Jew would never step foot into the home of a Gentile person. And so, peter this is so funny to me in this conversation he's like listen, I'm not supposed to come here. I didn't want to come here. But God told me that you're not just common like I thought. Come on. I mean, imagine going to share the gospel with somebody and say you know what? I didn't really like you, I would never come to your house. But God told me. Yeah, you're all right, you know. So this is amazing.
Speaker 2:God may call you to a place you don't want to go, to a people you don't want to minister to. Let me just give you an example. What if the Lord calls you to a country full of terrorist enemies of the US and he says you share gospel with them? What do you do? I want to remind you red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Every tribe, every nation. We're to pray, even for our enemies, because God means for the gospel to go to everyone, and that means everyone. Missions is difficult because you may go to places or to peoples that you would not choose to go, and, finally, missions requires sacrifice.
Speaker 2:Look at, let me just read for you Peter's decision to follow Jesus in Matthew 4, 18. While walking by the sea, he saw two. Jesus saw two brothers, simon, who's called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them simply follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. No details again. Hey guys, follow me, make you fishers of men. I would go just to see what that meant. You know, and here's what it says. Immediately, they left their nets, walked away from the business, walked away from their day, ended up walking away from family friends to go wherever Jesus went, and it cost them greatly. It cost Peter relationships, it cost him to be persecuted and it ultimately cost him his life. He was crucified upside down because of his faith in Christ and his proclamation of the gospel Peter. Was it worth it? Well, in Acts, chapter 5,. After being beaten and imprisoned, he and the it. Well, in Acts, chapter 5,. After being beaten and imprisoned, he and the other disciples went away, luke tells us rejoicing, because they thought it an honor to suffer for the name of Jesus.
Speaker 2:Jason Carter, a former missionary to Central Africa, wrote these words about his experience. A former missionary to Central Africa wrote these words about his experience. He said my wife and I have been overseas since 2006. All of our three children were born think of this outside of the US. We have experienced unbelievable joy, lifelong friendships, soul-transforming ministries and enjoyed worshiping with brothers and sisters in Christ in Central Africa who know the true meaning of sacrifice for the gospel. And then he says and there have been challenges. We've missed our extended family, grandparents, aunt and uncles and cousins. We've experienced attempted break-ins to our house at night, our car has been vandalized. Malaria has visited our family multiple times. While the joys abound, the challenges are manifold. Requires sacrifice.
Speaker 2:I'm reading right now a biography on Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones who back in the 20th century, was preparing out of high school. He went to college and was preparing to be a medical doctor and he graduated with honors and had a promising career, was so well thought of, he was brilliant, well thought of within the medical community and almost immediately God called him to ministry and without a thought he dropped everything. Everything left this promising career, this lucrative career, and he went and he and his wife took a small church where he said they literally had to pinch pennies and he did it gladly, because ministry and mission work. It requires sacrifice. Let me just be honest with you, because I'm going to ask you at the end of service are any of you called to go? Do you feel that tug? And if you do, it will cost you.
Speaker 2:If you go to these nations that I'm speaking about, you'll make less money, more than likely, than you make now. You will abandon the comforts and commodities that you take for granted in this country. You'll have to learn a new language and a new culture. You will leave behind dear friends and precious family. You'll be exposed to diseases you do not have to contend with here. You'll have to adjust to different climates and go places with dangers you are not accustomed to. You will risk persecution and you will risk your life. You will risk persecution and you will risk your life. Is it worth it? That's the question. Well, let me ask you is bringing glory to God, glorifying him by taking Christ to the nations, is it worth what you give up? Paul said it was. I count everything but loss according to what I've gained in Christ Jesus. Let me ask you this Listen to me Is risking your own physical life worth bringing someone eternal life? It's worth it To make Christ known among the nations? We must pray, we must go and finally, we must send.
Speaker 2:Peter was likely financially supported in part by his. He probably fished on the side, so to speak, but I mean he was in prison and he was always traveling, so it is very likely that it was the church who supported him. We've seen that throughout Acts, that they sold extra land and possessions so that nobody went without. And I want you to know our missionaries are dependent on our generosity. First, timothy 5.18 says that a laborer talking about ministers, they're worth their wages. Think about this. We don't think about, sometimes, expenses associated with missions, but between training, traveling, ministry supplies and living expenses, it appears that the average monthly budget for an Assemblies of God missionary for a single person is about $6,700 a month, not to mention a massive cash budget that must be raised up front to get them started. If you have a family, it's going to be upwards of $10,000 a month, if not more, and you have to rely on an American church, american churches who do not give like God calls them to give.
Speaker 2:Most of you will not be called to vocational missions, but all of us who are not must send through our generosity. Romans 10, 14, and 15. How will they call upon him who they've not believed, and how are they to believe in him of who they've not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching and listen? How are they to preach unless they are what Sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news? Oh, if you're called to mission, it's not easy, but how beautiful are the feet of those who take the gospel to the ends of the earth? And we for that to happen, we, church, must send missionaries through our generous giving.
Speaker 2:One of our missionaries told me the story. Told the story of two teenage boys in Arizona who, for Speed the Light, walked 100 miles in two days to raise money to provide this particular missionary a vehicle that he needed to get the gospel to where he was going, wherever he was serving. The missionary said I did not believe that they would make it, but they did. Now listen to this. When they got to the end of the hundred miles with blisters on their feet, somebody asked them, teenagers, why they would do a thing like that, and they said we wanted to walk so our missionaries would not have to. Oh, may that be our heart. While we're going on $5,000 vacations and driving $50,000 vehicles, vehicles, there's somebody right now leaving all of it to go to a third world country where their life every day is at risk and they're raising their children there and all they need is our prayer and our financial support. We must send missionaries through our giving.
Speaker 2:Let me just close with giving you some application, and I think I put these points on the back of your notes today. Number one how do you pray? Well, listen to me, I want to encourage you to this week, today or tomorrow, to start a prayer journal when you list out missionary names, list out needs from this church. You should have this anyways, so you remember to pray for those needs. Write down the lost people in your life and pray for them Religiously and fervently and pray for them religiously and fervently. But I want you to write down names of missionaries and begin to pray for them On the back of your notes there. I think it's towards the end. You're going to see a website it's the Joshua Project and on that website you can find a list of the 100 most unreached countries and people groups and I want you to pray for them a few a day and pray that God would send laborers. I would also ask you to visit one other website. I know I'm giving you a lot of points here, but that's why I wrote them down. But you can go to AGWM that stands for Assemblies of God, world Missions, and you can click on the prayer link, okay, and there you can sign up for a weekly newsletter and you will receive urgent prayer requests and testimonies from our missionaries, okay.
Speaker 2:So prayer journal. Listen, remember, the missionaries generally give out these little prayer cards. That's not a platitude Like. That's not trivial. They covet your prayers. It's life or death. How do you go? Well, let's talk about sharing the gospel in your sphere of influence this week. If somebody's in your life hear me, everybody, look at me, don't ignore me in this, because I know it's a hard ask. If you have somebody in your life who does not know Jesus, call them, visit them, text them this week and share the gospel, because their eternity depends on it. It hangs in the balance.
Speaker 2:But I want to talk about what. If you feel called this morning to world missions, here's what I want you to do. I want you to come talk to me during our prayer time. Again, I want you to visit agwmorg and click on the go button and learn what it being a missionary entails within our fellowship. I'd love for you everybody should do this anyways but go on a short-term mission trip outside of the country and we can help you do that. And then I'd love to connect you with one of our seasoned missionaries to encourage you. So that's how to go.
Speaker 2:How do we send? 2 Corinthians, 9, 7,. Each one of us must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. I'm not here to tell you how much to give. I'm just here to tell you to give, and to give generously, as the Bible calls you, and to give sacrificially, like if it doesn't hurt. You're not giving according to the scripture, like if you can have everything you want and give. You're not giving according to the scripture. And give cheerfully. I don't want to twist your arm, I don't want to manipulate you. Give cheerfully. Here's what I would ask you to do this week Seek God's direction, ask the Lord, over and above my normal offering at church.
Speaker 2:Lord, what do you want me to give towards the unreached? And it's going to stretch you if it's God. And I would say you don't give God the leftovers. Live under your means so when God calls you, you can say, yes, lord, I'll do it. I'll do it, christi, didn't you and Bob just do this? Prayed and asked, and you're already generous givers and it was a stretch for you, right? But you've done it, I'm sure, and you've done it cheerfully. Pray If you're married. Pray with your spouse. Don't do this without your spouse's knowledge. That might cause more problems than it. Yeah, listen, if you just cut out Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. That adds up Five, six dollars a day.
Speaker 2:Send it overseas, send it to missionaries. There's a in your. If you give online at myrealchurchorg or you use the Church Center app, I put a specific. Yesterday I added a specific account that you can choose and it's called Unreached Missionaries. And if you want, not just missionaries, there is just a general missions thing. But if you want, these are the people we need, these are the places we need to be sending people.
Speaker 2:Take the gospel to the nations. If you want to give over and above your offerings, you can do that. But let me tell you this Our goal at this church is to give away Most of you know, 51% of what comes in. We want to send back out to our community and to world missions. And if we figured it out, if regular attenders and members would just give that base 10%, we could do it. We could do it. But the average person here gives 3.3% and we're grateful for whatever you give. But that's our heart. In five years that we would be able to give 51% and I hope the majority, the large lion's share of that would go to the unreached world. So there it is. There's your to-do, and I hope you'll take this seriously. Let me close. This.
Speaker 2:Connor comes up and leads us in a song. Let me close by saying this these nations that we're talking about, these 3.5 billion unreached people it's easy to think about them in generalities, isn't it? But I want you to hear me. Look at me. These people that are going to perish without the gospel. These are mothers, they are fathers, they are sons. They are fathers, they are sons, they are daughters, they're aunts, they're uncles, they're co-workers, they're precious, they're real. These are not just peoples, they are individuals as well, and without the gospel they will perish. They might be spiritual a lot of those places are spiritual but without Christ they will perish. May we pray for those places. May we go for those places. May we go to those places. May we send missionaries to those places. God, help us. Today we pray, move on our hearts, make us passionate for missions, break our hearts for the lost. Thank you for the 2,700 missionaries in our fellowship and all the other missionaries and other denominations and fellowships who are faithfully preaching the gospel. Lord, we pray. Raise up more missionaries.
Speaker 1:Raise up more missionaries.
Speaker 2:Raise up more missionaries, send laborers to your harvest and let us be open to the fact that we might be the answer to that prayer. It is your will that none perish. Help us, lord, in this. There's one here today, not on the other side of the world, but they're here and they don't know. You, lord, that they would perish if they were to die today. Lord, let this be today the day of salvation for them. Prick their hearts right now. We pray Amen.