Who We Welcome and Why - 4

                                                         Who We Welcome and Why - 4

Subject – Welcoming Missionaries to Life Church

By Rick Welborne

Romans 10:13-18 (NKJV)
¹³  For "whoever calls on 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 unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
¹⁶  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?"
¹⁷  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
¹⁸  But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world." 

--Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to those of you who have caught the vision of missions here at Life Church! Please never forget, it is not a Pastor Rick thing, but a Bible thing.

--I love when parents come up to me, with tears in their eyes, and tell me that their kids feel a call from God to become missionaries. That also is a biblical thing. It should be our prayer.

Luke 10:1-3 (NIV)
¹  After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.
²  He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
³  Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 

--I do pray and have prayed for years for Jeremy, Joshua, and Stephanie this prayer. Lord, fill them with Holy Spirit and with fire, and I pray to the Lord of the harvest to send them forth into His harvest field.

--Pastor Rick, you know not everyone is called to be fulltime missionaries and to go to some foreign land. I, of course, agree. But all of us are called to be missionaries to our families, friends, co-workers, etc.

--I want all of my kids to understand their responsibility to reach a lost and dying world whatever their career choice is. None of us are off the hook.

--This is why I was so thrilled to hear that Joshua (Airborne Welborne) was leading a bible study and prayer meeting in Poland among his fellow soldiers. Made dad cry because I was so proud.

--So here we go…why do we here at Life Church welcome missionaries? Why do we have a month of mission’s emphasis every year? Why do we do District mission’s projects? Why support 210 missionaries?

1. We Welcome Missionaries so We Can Send Them.

Romans 10:15 (NKJV)
¹⁵  And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" 

--How shall they preach unless they are sent? They come to us and share their hearts with us so hopefully we will catch the vision, and help send them.

--Yes, they must have our prayers. Yes, they need us to be here to encourage them in their call. God’s callings are irrevocable. They need to know the church is behind what they are doing.

Danny Townsend – When it comes to missionaries, we get the easy part. We give but they are the ones who go and do the hard work. We should be happy and blessed to send them.

--When you are here to listen to their journey of how God called them and you hear about their hearts being touched by those they are reaching; it is so exciting.

--You have an opportunity to get to know them, to adopt them, to pray for them, and to understand the joy of sending someone (usually a family) to a foreign land to reach the unsaved.

--I have said this before but let me reiterate; can you imagine the utmost exhilaration in your heart when you get to heaven and someone comes to you and says thanks for giving to missionaries. I got saved! Thank you!

--Yes, I want you to give to the General Missions so we can send more and more missionaries to preach this beautiful gospel to the ends of the earth. It expedites the return of Christ to this earth.

Matthew 24:13-14 (NKJV)
¹³  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
¹⁴  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

--Yes, I want you to be here when we have missionaries so you can connect with them and understand the mission God is sending them on. They shake me out of my complacency. 

--Yes, I want us to experience the blessings of God when we are in one mind and one accord totally agreeing together to make a difference in the world. 

--But there is more. More, Pastor Rick? Yes, there is more. I want you to find the joy and fulfillment you can have in being obedient to Christ and fulfilling His Great Commission.

--I love La Vida Church, Life Church Villages, and our main campus. I love our children’s ministry, youth ministry, and senor’s ministry but we must never lose our focus of why we are here.

--Yes, we are here to make disciples, we are here to worship, we are here to fellowship, we are here to pray for one another, we are here to hear the Word of God, but there is more.

--We must keep our focus that the reason Jesus came was to seek and to save the lost. Our campuses, our ministries, our fellowships should always be thinking, how can we reach someone who is lost.  

Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
⁸  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

--The baptism in Holy Spirit is for everyone which means witnessing (sharing the gospel) is also for everyone. When we turn inward we tend to devour one another but when we look to the fields, wow!

2. We Welcome Missionaries to Come to Remind Us About Sacrifice.

Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)
¹  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
²  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

--We want our churches to be like Super Wal-Marts where we can find everything we want under one roof. You don’t have this or that for us we shop somewhere else. Really?

--Maybe the ministry or topic you are so interested in may just be what God is calling you to do instead of piling more and more on pastors or other servants who are already loaded down. 

Galatians 6:2-5 (NKJV)
²  Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
³  For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
⁴  But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
⁵  For each one shall bear his own load.

--Missionaries leave their families, their home country, their comforts, their American dream and go to a country that may be so poor. They learn a new language, a new culture, a deeper life of sacrifice.

--While they are doing all that many in the states are getting offended because they hear too much about missions. Please do not talk to me about sacrifice when I want more and more comfort.

Hebrews 12:25-29 (NLT2)
²⁵  Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!
²⁶  When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”
²⁷  This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.
²⁸  Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
²⁹  For our God is a devouring fire. 

--I hope and pray God will send us missionaries who will shake us and wake us up from our sleep and slumber so that we can make a difference in these last days.

--When we welcome a missionary to Life Church try to think about all the things they are willing to sacrifice to be obedient to God. Let that motivate you to be more sacrificial in your giving and witnessing. 

3. We Welcome Missionaries Because It Pleases Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

--Notice the God-head represented here in these verses talking about the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT2)
¹⁸  Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
¹⁹  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
²⁰  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Luke 24:46-49 (NLT2)
⁴⁶  And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.
⁴⁷  It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’
⁴⁸  You are witnesses of all these things.
⁴⁹  “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” 

--We welcome missionaries because God welcomes us to be obedient to His Word and His Great Commission!