R11643 A Heart of a Missionary

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of the encouraging word of God. Father, you are the great I am. You are our God and you are forever worthy. You are the Lamb, the Lamb of God, slain from before the foundation of the world.

You are Jesus Christ, the Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Father, today we live in our world. We have so much for which we thank you. We are surrounded by blessings. Lord, each one of us today who worship you, we can talk about blessings, joy, family, loved ones, marriages, births. We can celebrate your goodness.

We can give you thanks and we want to today. Lord, we also come to you today and you know, you know how turbulent our world is, this world in which we live. There are people today worshiping you whose lives are on the edge, right on the precipice.

There's some Lord who, so to speak, are just hanging on a cliff. Lord, there are people hurting today. We think of those many families in their terrible, terrible catastrophe in South Florida that everybody has been thinking about and we pray for them. We thank you for first responders, for police officers, for medical personnel, firefighters.

Lord, we're surrounded by people like that, all of our communities. We thank you for them. We thank you for our members of the armed forces who serve. We just thank you for servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, people who just serve, who go. We thank you, Lord, for ministers of the gospel, for pastors and teachers, for leaders. We thank you for our missionaries who are deployed, frontline, not only right here in our own city, but all around the world, for our Jerusalem.

That's our world in Judea and Samaria and the outermost parts of the world. Right now, Lord, you're going to speak to us about that. You're going to write a fresh word upon our hearts.

We are quietened in your presence and we are listening to you and you are calling us, you're speaking to us, you're engaging us, and we are anxious to hear from you. In Jesus' name, amen. I want to speak to you for a few moments about the heart of a missionary. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 13, Acts chapter 13. There are countless numbers of illustrations that God gives to us about his call upon our lives. The Bible says in the church, in the church at Spartan, I beg your pardon, in the church at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers.

Here are some of them. Barnabas, Simeon, called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Menion, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul, and while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Get apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work for which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off, and the two of them sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. And when they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues, and John accompanied and was with them as their fellow servant, their helper. May the Lord write that word upon our hearts. The North American Mission Board defines a missionary like this, and I'm just quoting them.

A missionary is a person who, in response to God's call and gifting, leaves his or her comfort zone and crosses cultural, geographical, or other barriers to proclaim the gospel and to live out Christian witness in obedience to the Great Commission. This has been going on every day as long as people have replenished this earth. Going all the way back in the Old Testament, God came to Abram, said to him, I want you to get up and go, and you'll notice that he never told him anything about where he would go when he got up and went. He said, I'll tell you, all I want you to do is get up and say yes. Some of you, God is speaking to you right now.

He's calling you. And all he wants from you is your yes. God just wants you to say to him, I'll do it. And that's what human nature is usually accompanied by, well, just as long as I don't have to.

Or I will go and do this. We do that sometimes without giving. We do it without serving.

I'll give this, but I want you to know if I give this money to help this, I want to make sure that you do this, otherwise I'm not going to do it. God says give. I've always been convinced you take the strings out of the giving of God's people, you will multiply the ability of God's people to take the gospel around the whole world. If you could have seen some of those little children giving their hearts to Jesus in Kentucky.

Some of them have absolutely nothing. There's never been a greater time for a church like this to rise up. You and I need to stand up. We need to build. We need to strengthen.

We need to invest. We need to raise up our sons and daughters with the heart of a missionary. America is at stake. The soul of this nation is at stake.

And our politics and our politicians are not going to do it for us. Well, let's just look at these missionaries, shall we? A couple of things I'd like to tell you. First of all, they were properly embedded. They were properly embedded. Verse 1, the Bible tells us God wants us to know they were in the church at Antioch.

They were properly embedded. What a word about the local New Testament church. As I speak today, there are thousands of you worshiping with us. I see you, my friend. I meet you. I was walking with my wife, went to a drug store to get some things in Kentucky in a little town just on Thursday, minding my own business. I was in disguise. I had a T-shirt on and a cap backwards. And all I did was get a few things over the counter, and the lady said to me, I know you.

I said, well, I don't know you. No, I didn't say that. Do you know in every nook and every cranny in this beautiful nation, you'll find a church like this? It's God's plan. Well done, people. Church is serious business. This is worth investing in. I'm going to ask you to up your giving.

I'm asking our church. Get back on track. Up it.

If you give 10, give 20. I'm going to ask some of you who have got the capability to give some major special gifts. We need to build. We need to set. We need to establish. We need to invest.

It's the church. You're giving your money to everything. You and I pay for everything.

Ball games, holidays, vacations, motor cars. We do it, and we've got to do that. Don't neglect what God says. They were properly embedded. Number two, they were seriously seeking. I want you to notice this. Young people, I want you to notice. Those of you, those eight incredible young people, you notice this. They were seriously seeking.

The Bible says while they were worshiping the Lord. Now, I'm not going to tell you that those eight young people who responded on Friday night came to that decision on Friday night, but it happened while we were worshiping and seeking God's face. I'm going to tell you, my friend, there may be just one person listening to me right now. You may be watching by way of television. You may be on Facebook. You may be online.

You may be in your living room. You may be one of our faithful nurses. You might be on duty right now.

Maybe you've just stopped. You're in between. Somebody's life is hanging in the balance right now, and you are there. Maybe you are one of our firefighters. You're on duty. You're sitting there at that station.

You haven't got an alert yet, but it could go off at any minute, and you're on duty, and you just happen to be listening. I want you to notice something. The heart of a missionary took place when they were properly embedded and when they were seriously seeking. People, we need to seriously seek God in worship. When we seriously seek God, God will not only speak to us and bless us, but he'll call us out.

He'll raise up. As we watch God call us out and raise us up, know that you're not alone in this. God has called us to community, the body of Christ, and we would love to pray with you and for you about what God's speaking to you in your heart today. Give us a call. You can find us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673.

As a matter of fact, jot that number down 24 hours a day. We'd love to pray with you and for you and connect you with great resources like this. The encouraging word is having a summer book sale. Book prices will start at $6.

That's right, only $6. Visit us online at www.tewonline.org and click the Store tab located at the top of the page. We appreciate your support. The encouraging word is a viewer and listener supported ministry.

Thank you for listening today. Those are tremendous resources. I hope you'll discover more on our website at www.tewonline.org. As a matter of fact, while you're there, be sure and sign up for the daily encouraging word email devotional from Dr. Wilton.

That's online at www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. I want you to notice something, the heart of a missionary took place when they were properly embedded and when they were seriously seeking. People, we need to seriously seek God in worship. When we seriously seek God, God will not only speak to us and bless us, but he'll call us out.

He'll raise up. They were properly embedded, they were seriously seeking, they were decidedly set apart. I love that in the second part of verse 2, so they set them apart.

That's a beautiful statement there. They were spiritually guided. Verse 4, the Bible says the Holy Spirit accompanied them.

Don't you feel that? You know that's what God does to us. He guides us. Verse 5 says they were singularly focused. This is the heart of a missionary.

They were singularly focused. Verse 5 says when they arrived, they proclaimed the word of the Lord. Every bit of it focuses on Jesus. This is because of Jesus.

It's in his name. They were wonderfully helped. Here's another mark of these missionaries here. They were wonderfully helped. The Bible tells us about those that accompanied them. You're going to read that right throughout Scripture.

Every time you read about people who are engaged in full-time Christian ministry, you will see hundreds of people surrounding them, supporting, praying, giving, serving. Now, do you want an illustration of that? Would you like an illustration of that this morning, of what that looks like? Would you all please stand?

There's your illustration. This is the church. I happen to be privileged to be your pastor. I'm just your shepherd. But God shows us how it works.

The whole is greater than the one, but the whole is the one. Would you be seated? So the heart of a missionary, let me tell you a couple of things as I bring it together. Just imagine this boy, this girl, this college student, this young man, this young lady, this adult, this man, this woman, us, you, me, all of us. Let me tell you a couple of things. Here's just a few thoughts that I had. One, a missionary, a minister of the gospel, a servant of the Lord is loved by fellow believers. People, listen to me, you ever find yourself starting to want to criticize, stop. Get on board and your criticism will go away.

This is something we need to do together. Number two, a missionary is tolerated by governments. Now what am I saying? You could be in the Far East, the Middle East, in Africa and India.

You could be here in the United States of America. God's people are tolerated by governments. I'm tolerated by the pagan world in which I live.

You and I are tolerated. Christian, you will never get to the point at which this pagan world will just accept you. They'll tolerate you. Don't look for acceptance. The more you look for acceptance, the more you will water down the message you have in order to be accepted. You will change the message of God's truth in order to gain acceptance.

Stop trying to be accepted by the government or the nation. You don't need to be. Number three, heart of a missionary is missed by loved ones.

That's relative. You know, people who serve in Spartanburg or who serve in Atlanta or serve in Chicago, wherever it is your home. But remember, God has said just say yes, which means you're willing to forsake your comfort zone. You forsake your comfort zone and your own geographical boundaries.

You cross cultural lines. You're going to be very missed by your loved ones. Parents, watch me. Your son or daughter surrendered a ministry, don't ever try to hold on to them.

That's tough, isn't it? You try and keep them close to you. At some time it won't work, which doesn't mean to say they're going to go somewhere else. If God chooses to send them somewhere else, you cannot imagine the joy that you will have. Number four is protected by the Lord Jesus Christ. Bible's abundantly clear that he places his beautiful protection upon all who serve him.

I'm going to tell you something, folks. Don't fear the church. Don't fear the Lord's work. We are protected by God. If God be for us, who can be against us?

Number five is undergirded by fellow Christians. We support each other. You are the fuel that provides the fuel for the trucks that carry the gospel.

People, let's do this. This generation coming up is worth it. I'm devoting the rest of my life to passing that baton, to raising up, to placing my hands on, to affirming, to teaching, to getting alongside the younger generations. And while I do it, I'm soaking up the incredible blessing of my own generation.

These are my friends, man. We talk and laugh and have fun and fellowship. You and I are those of us who have grown up together. Now it's our turn. It's my turn. There are a lot of people in heaven today who did it for me.

Now it's my turn. And as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Undergirded by Christians who do what? What do Christians do? Pray for them. Let's pray for one another who give because of them.

And of course, in the third way, who go and serve alongside them. I never sought better expressed than in one small little space in Kentucky where there were adults and parents and students and boys and girls from the community all doing their little bit. I tell you, it is wonderful to be on mission for Jesus. It's the greatest joy. These things matter.

They last. They're so beautiful. I love serving the Lord alongside you. What a joy. Would you bow your heads with me today?

Right there in Genesis, right there on that TV set, right in the sanctuary in celebration. Wherever you are today, in front of that screen, just bow your head for a minute. Lord Jesus, you are speaking. You're calling.

You're calling people out. You're blessing people. Lord, there are some right now who are listening who need to give their hearts to Jesus. I pray right now that people would trust Christ. Say, Lord Jesus, come into my heart.

Engage. We're a family together. And you, my friend, are welcome in this family.

We're made up of everyone and everyone has value. And Lord Jesus, you're calling out from among us like our young people this past Friday night. There are people right now saying, yes, I'll do it. God's people right now are hearing from God himself. This is your word. Lord, we come confessing to you, bowing down in your presence.

You are the great I am. Amen. What a powerful time of studying God's word together with Dr. Don here on the Encouraging Word.

There's a great deal more to dive into and you need to know we're here for you. Perhaps the Lord has stirred your heart and there are questions about what it is to be fully committed to Jesus Christ or perhaps to rededicate your life to Christ. Know that we'd love to pray with you at 866-899-WORD any time, day or night. Jot the number down.

That's 866-899-9673. But first, our pastor is stepping into the studio. You've heard him as he's preached from the pulpit, but now hear from him as he shares from his heart.

Well, hello again, my friends. Are you ready to give your life to Christ? You know, you've been listening like this and God has been speaking like this, hasn't he?

And he's speaking to your heart. I'd love to help you give your life to Christ right now. Why don't you pray this prayer, make this your prayer, because you know that God not only hears our prayer, but he answers our prayer too. Pray this prayer with me. Dear God, I know that you love me very much.

I believe Jesus came and died on a cross just for me and that he gave his life for me. Right now, I confess my sin to you and by faith, I receive you into my heart and into my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Well, if you've prayed that prayer right now, in just a moment we're going to send you some information.

I want you to listen real carefully because you can take note of that. We've got the means by which we can connect together and I want to connect with you because you're part of my family. You're part of the family of God. You are my brother, my sister in Christ. God bless you today. This is a powerful day of studying God's word and knowing that God calls us out, that God is using even this broadcast to let you know that he loves you and has a plan for your life. It's our prayer that you've not just heard the powerful teaching of Dr. Don Wilton, but moments ago, as Dr. Don was leading in that prayer, you prayed along to give your life to Jesus.

If that's the case, if you gave your life to Jesus for the first time or maybe rededicated your life to Christ, Dr. Don has some wonderful resources he wants you to have absolutely free if you'll just write to us or call us. You can call us at 866-899-WORD, that's 866-899-9673, or meet us online. Our website is www.tewonline.org, that's www.tewonline.org, and Dr. Don's email is simply don, D-O-N, at www.tewonline.org. We would love to hear from you. We'd love to pray with you and for you. Just know that we're here to minister to you. 24 hours a day, online at www.tewonline.org. Thank you so much for your prayerful and financial support of this ministry, The Encouraging Word.