WHAT ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH?

What you love is what you will invest in.

1 John 2:15, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

            A Sunday School teacher once said, “Show me your checkbook and I’ll show you what you love.” Our finances reveal what we spend our money on and what we spend our money on reveals what we love. But it goes deeper than that. What we invest our time and talent in also reveals where our heart is at. It reveals what we love.

            If you spend your time, talents, and treasures on the things of this world, you love the world. Now, the manner in which you do those things will truly determine how you love it. If you invest your money on missions (Men and Women going out to win souls for the glory of God), it reveals you love to see sinners saved. If you spend your money on temporal things, it reveals you love the God of this world, this world’s system, and the materialistic things this world offers.

DON’T LOOSE FOCUS

          Supporting missions is essential for sharing the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 3:9, For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

            There are many places in this world I will never be able to share the Gospel. There are places in this world I cannot, in person, make an impact for Christ. There are places in this world only national missionaries are able to share the Good News of the Gospel. This is where the local church comes in. We may not be able to go across the sea or in the secluded areas of America, but we sure can support those that can!

            Praise the Lord for those opportunities to assist missionaries as they go all over this globe to share the Gospel Message. Don’t get so caught up in this world that you loose focus on the most important responsibility we have as Born-Again Believers; telling a lost, dying, and hurting world about Jesus! Will you labor together with God in the area of Missions?

GOD’S HEARTBEAT

…. is Missions.

Mark 16:15, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

From the founding of the Church, the mission of the Church has been Missions. You may say, “What are you talking about?” As born-again believers we ought to be sharing the Good News of the Gospel with our neighbors, our co-workers, the fella at the shop, the cashier, and anyone that we meet. We can simply tell others about what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for them.

            When is the last time you have shared your faith with someone else? When is the last time you shared God’s heartbeat?

NO MISSIONS?

            Christianity is nothing if it’s not missionary! - John Goetsch  

Mark 16:15, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

            It has been said that the mission of the church is missions. If a Church is not doing anything in order to win the lost for the cause of Jesus Christ, we have missed the boat! Preaching and teaching in the local church and sending out missionaries ought to be the drive in a local body of believers. This is the very reason Jesus leaves us here on Earth after we are saved; to spread the Good News of the Gospel!

            When was the last time you told someone your testimony? When is the last time you told someone they needed to repent and trust Jesus Christ as Saviour? If not today, when? Jesus a quick reminder, we are not guaranteed tomorrow….

BE MISSION MINDED

A man's feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world. –Santayana

Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. Psalm 96:3

There are so many opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We should start in our homes, going out into our neighborhoods, and then to the uttermost parts of this Earth. We should leave no ear untold or heart impacted about the saving power of Jesus. It should be our life’s goal to see many to come to know Him as Saviour! Oh, you can’t go? That’s okay, support those who can! Give to Missions! Pray for Missionaries! Pray for the field God has called them to!

There are still many who have never heard the Good News! Will you be Mission Minded being part of the solution or will you be on the other team?

WHAT’S YOUR DRIVE IN MISSIONS?

Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter. -Spurgeon  

Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. 3 John 1:7

Drive is just another way of saying motivation. Our motivation should be the love of Jesus Christ. His compassion, His longsuffering, His mercy, and His grace should motivate us to tell others about Him. It should provoke us unto good works. It should spark a desire to stand up, speak up, and proclaim the Gospel to every person we come in contact with.

John told Gaius, “…for his name’s sake they went forth.” What’s your drive in Missions? Just look to Calvary and it tells the old, old story of Jesus and His love!

MISSIONS- THE HEART BEAT OF THE CHURCH

Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter. –Spurgeon

 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:16

            When I visit other churches I often find myself looking at the Missionaries they support. Some have pictures of their Missionaries along the walls, some have Missionary displays, and I went to one church that had a digital photo frame with pictures of the Missionaries it supported scrolling on the screen. I thought, “WOW, what a way to honor those that give so much!”

            Today, we start our 2019 Faith Promise Mission’s Conference at Calvary. Our goal this week is to challenge our people with this thought, “How am I winning souls for Jesus Christ?” What and how am I being effective in seeing someone come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? Some people can’t get around too well so they pray for those that can, some knock on doors, some surrender to the Missionary Call from the Lord, some give to Missions, and some do it all! One thing is for sure, if you’re saved you will be doing something in the area of Missions! The greatest thing we can do is tell someone about Jesus and what He has done for you!

THIS MISSION OF THE CHURCH IS MISSIONS

It is the pagan heart that needs the redeeming message of Christ whether the person who has the heart lives in Shanghai or New York. –Decker

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8

We praise the Lord this morning for enabling our church to take on two more missionaries last night. We are not just throwing money at a cause but we are partnering with these families to see God’s will be done. In taking them on for support, we are agreeing to pray for them, encourage them, and of course, financially support them and the work God has called them to. We pray for them to have success in winning souls and building churches. We encourage them to remain faithful to the call. We financially support them because it would be difficult for them to do what God has called them to do without it.

The need in this world today is not more education, more programs, or more social experiences. What the world today is who the world rejects, the world needs more of Jesus! Will you partner with your church in missions? Will you help spread the Gospel? I am reminded of what James tells us in James 5:20, ”Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

JESUS IS CALLING…ARE YOU LISTENING?

You will never make a missionary of the person who does no good at home.  He that will not serve the Lord in the Sunday school at home will not win children to Christ in China. –Spurgeon

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

The Lord has a specific job for each one of His children to do. It may be singing in the choir, mowing the church yard, preaching in some third world country or some other job around the church. But let me share something with you, everyone can’t be a hand in the church. Everyone can’t be the feet, eyes, ears, or any other part. I can only do the job He wants me to do! You have to do the job He wants you to do. If we don’t someone will have to pick up our slack!

Child of God, get busy doing what God wants you to do! Don’t sit down! Don’t shut up! Don’t shrivel back into a corner! Stand up! Speak up! Shout it out that Jesus Lives and Jesus is coming!

LET’S SET THE WORLD ON FIRE!

If I had three hundred men who feared nothing but God, hated nothing but sin, and were determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I would set the world on fire.—John Wesley

            And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? Deuteronomy 10:12

Yes, let’s set the world on fire for Jesus! Let’s take His name across the street! Let’s take His name across our nation! Let’s take His name around the world! As the song says, someone needs Jesus and today would be a good day for them to receive Him as Saviour!

You may not be able to go physically yourself but what you can do is support those who God has called to go! You can give through your local church to support missions! You can pray! You can send encouraging notes! There’s a lot each of us can do, but will we? There are some ordinary men and women just like you that God has used…so let Him use you to change; your family, your community, your country, your world! Will you be the one God uses to set the world on fire for Jesus?

PRAYING FOR MISSIONS

If there be any one point in which the Christian church ought to keep its fervor at a white heat, it is concerning missions.  If there be anything about which we cannot tolerate lukewarmness, it is in the matter of sending the gospel to a dying world. –Spurgeon

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

As a fellow church across town is in their Mission’s Conference this week, we are uplifting them in prayer. There is no greater cause than to support one another’s mission’s programs! This is the very root of what the church is about! Some will disagree and that is fine! But what I see in the Word of God, it is about Missions! First spoken of in Genesis 3:15, you don’t have to look hard to see where Jesus, the Greatest Missionary (for He was sent), is in every verse seeking out lost mankind!

Does your church support missions? If not, I would rethink about where I attend church!

GO OUT AND TELL THE WORLD!

      You will never make a missionary of the person who does no good at home. He that will not serve the Lord in the Sunday school at home will not win children to Christ in China. –Spurgeon

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

       As the colt carried Jesus into Jerusalem, you and I need to carry Him into the world! We need to carry Him across the Street, across the State, and across the Sea. There should not be any place He is not shared… your next door neighbor needs to hear along with the nation down under!

OUR GREAT CONCREN IS THE GREAT COMMISION—CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH- STATESVILLE

It is the pagan heart that needs the redeeming message of Christ whether the person who has the heart lives in Shanghai or New York. –Decker

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

     After finishing out our Faith Promise Mission’s Conference and seeing this message from CBC- Statesville posted on a friend’s page, I have to rejoice in what the Lord is doing in missions at Calvary Baptist Church of North Lenoir County! After the morning service yesterday our people committed to raising our mission’s given by 70%! Yes, that was 70%! Amen!

If you don’t go to a church that is mission minded…why not? How do you fulfill the Great Commission if you don’t support missions through your local church? Do you tell others about Jesus yourself? Have you gone to the uttermost for the guttermost? What and or how are you fulfilling the Great Commission child of God?

What’s your message?

If there be any one point in which the Christian church ought to keep its fervor at a white heat, it is concerning missions.  If there be anything about which we cannot tolerate lukewarmness, it is in the matter of sending the gospel to a dying world. –Spurgeon

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. Proverbs 11:30

When is the last time you told someone about the Lord Jesus? When is the last time you shared what He has done for you? Have you ever led someone to the Lord? You haven’t? Why not?

Don’t you know oh Christian you’re a sermon in shoes? Don’t you know oh Christian you are telling a story? Don’t you know oh Christian your works are telling a story about your Saviour? What’s the message you have told your children? What’s the message you have told your neighbor? What’s the message you have told your co-workers? What’s your message?