Here, There, and Everywhere (2)
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I like to think that I’ve been a valuable employee at the places I’ve worked throughout my life.
I’ve never been fired from a job — at least not yet — but there was a day when I was a teenager, working one of my first jobs, that it almost happened.
And the man who nearly fired me was my own father!
My dad owned a construction company, and we were building an elementary school in Western Branch.
I was a laborer, which meant that I dug miles of trenches, pulled a ton of concrete, pushed more than my share of wheelbarrows, and hauled miles of board-feet of lumber from one side of the job site to the other.
This was in the days before security cameras were cheap and easy to set up, and there was a point at which all the walls and roof were up on this school.
But there was still no way to lock it up after we’d shut down for the day.
So, one day, my immediate boss, a man named Leroy Dunning, who was the job superintendent, asked me if I’d stay on the site until dark to make sure nobody came in and vandalized the place or stole our table saws or whatever expensive tools couldn’t be locked inside the job site trailer.
“What do I need to do?” I asked him. “Nothing. Just sit inside and make sure nobody comes in. And then go home when it gets dark.”
Now, I wasn’t going to do this alone. Who knows what could have happened? So, I called my best friend, Chris, and told him to pick up a pizza and come join me.
And so, Chris and I ate some pizza, listened to some music, and then went home when it was dark.
The next morning, we were pouring concrete sidewalks when Dad showed up on the job site. He said hello, went into the building and walked around a bit, and then came out scowling.
“What did you do here last night?” he asked me. “I watched the building.”
“That’s all? You didn’t clean up or sweep or anything else? Don’t you see that mess over there? Couldn’t you have cleaned it up?”
“Well, Leroy didn’t tell me to do that.”
Dad called Leroy into the job trailer, and they were in there for a while. When they left the trailer, Dad got in his car and headed to the office, and Leroy called me aside.
“Your Dad was pretty steamed,” he told me. “He wanted to fire you.”
“Oh, NO!” I said. “What did you say?”
“I said he couldn’t fire you, because you work for ME, and you did exactly what I told you to do.”
Now, I learned an important lesson about taking initiative from that incident, and I don’t THINK my father ever wanted to fire me again after that.
But I tell you this story, because today is Missions Sunday, and we’re going to be hearing about the various ways this church is engaged in doing the WORK we’ve been commanded to do by our boss, the Lord Jesus Christ.
His commandment was to go and tell, to make disciples — in other words, to raise up new followers of Jesus.
Matthew and Luke recorded what seem to be two different versions of the same commandment, and both are probably familiar to you.
From Matthew 28:18-20:
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jesus says here that He has all authority in heaven and on earth. In other words, the Father has given His risen Son the privilege and power to issue this command to make disciples, to baptize them, and to teach them all about Him.
And it’s significant that He tells the disciples that He is always with them. And not just them.
“And lo, I am with you always [that word literally means ‘all the days’] even to the end of the age.”
Jesus is with all who have put their faith in Him by the presence of the Holy Spirit within them. But in light of His having received all authority, I think this statement is more than just a word of comfort.
I think what Jesus is saying here is that He will give them — and us — the ability to do just what He has commanded us to do. He will give us the resources we need to be disciple-making disciples.
That’s been my personal experience in serving Jesus. Every time I have said yes to the Lord’s calling, He has provided the means and the resources to make my obedience possible.
And that’s just what we’ve seen here at Liberty Spring Christian Church as we’ve stepped out in faith to become disciple-making disciples.
When we decided we were going to be serious about the commandment of Jesus here in Matthew 28, what we learned is that GOD is faithful!
Tracy Francis is going to talk a bit about the financial resources that, in His wonderful grace, God has provided us to help us be obedient to Jesus.
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God is GOOD!
Now, I don’t want to ignore the fact that the financial situation Tracy has shared results from the obedient generosity so many of you exhibit with your tithes and offerings each week.
God works through people. And many of you have truly taken to heart what I teach so often, that God blesses US so we can bless OTHERS.
It truly has been one of the greatest blessings of my life to see this church grow so much in its generosity in recent years.
And with our remaining time this morning, we’re going to see how that generosity has blessed people around the globe and right here in Suffolk.
As we were talking about how to put this program together, I wanted you all to see that there’s an intentionality to our outreach.
The strategy we’ve followed comes right out of Luke’s account of Jesus’ last command to the disciples before He ascended back to heaven.
You’ll find it in Acts 1:8.
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Here, Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit will give them the power — the ability — to be His witnesses.
Remember, they had all deserted Him in the hours before His crucifixion. They were afraid, and they were UNWILLING to be His witnesses then.
Peter had even denied that he’d KNOWN Jesus. But when the Spirit came, Peter preached the first sermon of the Church Age.
And then, he and the other disciples became great missionaries, spreading the gospel first in Jerusalem, then in all of Judea, then in Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth.
And the Missions and Evangelism Committee has tried to use this verse as a model for how WE invest this church’s God-given resources to spread the gospel.
We’re going to look at this work from the opposite perspective of how Jesus presented it. First, what are we doing to support the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth?
Supply & Multiply
As most of you know, Supply and Multiply is near and dear to my heart. It’s the ministry through which Annette and I have served in Haiti on numerous occasions.
The church supports Supply and Multiply with a $400 donation every quarter. This money helps support the ministry’s work of housing and caring for elderly men and women in the Matthew 25 House in the little coastal town of Montrouis.
Some of you also sponsor children there, helping them pay for the costs of attending school.
Sadly, Haiti has been an incredibly dangerous place for the past couple of years, and short-term trips there have pretty much ceased.
One recent development has been a U.S. government program whereby Haitians can receive temporary visas to come to the U.S. under the sponsorship of American citizens.
And some of the Haitians who are connected to this ministry are working to meet the requirements of this program so they can come to the U.S.
The ministry in Haiti will continue, but Supply and Multiply is now working to establish locations in other Latin-American countries.
The hope is that the success it has had in Haiti can be replicated in other places and give short-term teams opportunities to serve elsewhere.
I can’t say much more about these things now, because plans are still in the works and we need to be sure not to put anyone in danger in Haiti.
But I hope to have Pastor Chris Surber visit us in the fall with more information.
Bethany International
Through Bethany International, we support the Witt family of missionaries with $400 per quarter.
The Witts, who are from Suffolk, serve a largely Muslim population in Kenya.
Some of y’all know Jason and Rebekah Witt. If not, then I encourage you to find them on Facebook.
They post interesting and enlightening updates about their ministry in Kenya. Here’s an excerpt from one of those posts that explains their work in Kenya:
“God has given us a burden to love and proclaim the gospel to the people in this North Eastern part of Kenya. ... We strive to do [this] in a contextual way so that it can be understood in this culture. Muslims most likely will never step foot in a church. We are able to be ambassadors of Christ through having medical clinics, bringing education through schools, meeting needs through community development and building friendships.” [https://thewittzend.blogspot.com/]
The Witts are back in the states for a few months, and I hope to have them visit us in June or July to tell us more about their ministry.
Convoy of Hope
While we have a few ministries that we support on a quarterly basis, there are some that have received one-time contributions to help with urgent and unexpected needs. One of those is Convoy of Hope.
This organization is involved in many different ministries all over the world. But we got involved with them when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
We sent $2,250 to Convoy of Hope during 2022. The money has been used to deliver hundreds of pallets and containers of food to those displaced by the war, along with generators and other supplies and equipment.
As you can see, our partnerships with other ministries help us to be obedient to Jesus’ command for us to be His witnesses even to the remotest part of the earth.
But God has also allowed us to do much to serve those closer to home, in our own Judea and Samaria, as it were.
Connie Schubert will kick off our look at some of those ministries with some information about the Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk.
Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk
Thanks, Connie. One of the things I love about CAPS and the other ministries we’re talking about now is that we have the opportunity with them to be hands-on.
We’re not just sending checks. We’re also getting in there, doing the work, and getting to know the people we are serving.
Cynthia Harris has worked closely with the Crisis Pregnancy Center in recent years, even serving as a mentor to some of the ladies whose babies have been saved through the work of CPC.
Cynthia, come up and tell us about that.
Crisis Pregnancy Center
Thank you, Cynthia.
Two local ministries with whom we have struck up recent partnerships will, I think, have a huge role in making disciples for Jesus.
Hope Center Ministries
Hope Center Ministries exists to lead addicts and their families to be fully devoted followers of Jesus.
This ministry was started locally by our friends at Compassion Church, which was formerly Family Harvest Church.
That church bought and renovated a home here in Suffolk to be used as a residential addiction recovery center for women. It will open tomorrow.
And some of you may be interested to know that they are looking for women to volunteer in various roles, from meals prep to mentoring. Let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll put you in touch.
Chosen People Ministries
Many of you were here in January, when Rabbi Derek Blumenthal brought us a message from the Book of Romans about the great need for evangelism to the Jews.
And then, during the week before Passover, many of us were blessed to take part in a Passover Seder conducted by Rabbi Derek.
We learned about the meaning of the various elements and how so much of what is done during this observance points to Jesus.
I’m so excited that the Missions and Evangelism Committee has decided to make this important mission outreach a regular recipient of missions funds. And I expect we’ll have many more opportunities to work directly with them in the future.
So, we’ve looked at our efforts to reach the ends of the earth and our own Judea and Samaria. Now, let’s look at some of the things the Lord has allowed us to do right here at home — in Jerusalem, as it were.
Community Outreach
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Let me tell you how much I LOVE Family Fun Day! Even though it means I start getting wet around 10 a.m. and don’t get dry for 12 hours.
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We have met so many new families during this event, and it’s such a great opportunity to show the community our love. Mark your calendars for this year’s version, June 17. It’ll be wetter than ever!
Many of you don’t know that we also host the Suffolk CrimeStoppers’ annual student awards banquet and have done so for several years. The group was here just a couple of Wednesdays ago, with about 150 people crammed into this room.
And who can forget Trunk or Treat! Annette and I were out of town for it this year, but I’ve heard it went well. And I’m looking forward to my next opportunity to wear this:
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And whenever Halloween rolls around, I know that it’s time to start thinking about the food giveaways we take part in for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cynthia, can you come up and share?
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Now, Jane Chipman is going to talk about some of the work the Lord is allowing us to do with schools in Suffolk. She’ll also talk about what we’ve done to provide meals for first responders.
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As I was putting this presentation together, I was amazed at all the Lord is doing through Liberty Spring Christian Church. And we haven’t even touched on some of the other things that are happening under the Missions and Evangelism umbrella. Muffin drops and blood drives and movie nights and more!
It’s wonderful to hear the compliments from people in the community about how we are reaching out. But what’s more wonderful is knowing that we are being obedient to Jesus’ commandment to be His witnesses.
And there are more things coming.
GREATER things are still to come!
God is still at work in and through Liberty Spring Christian Church!
On Saturday, for example, we will restart a ministry that I loved but that we had to stop because of Covid.
We’ll be visiting the Autumn Care nursing home in Suffolk at 10 a.m., and we’ll hold a praise and worship service with the residents there.
This will be a monthly visit on the first Saturday of the month, and I hope you can join us. I can promise you’ll be blessed.
And next Sunday, we’ll hear from a missionary to Portugal, the exquisitely named Fabio Fernandez.
He has a riveting story to tell about his life, his conversion, and the work the Lord has done through him.
And I would not be surprised if we wound up partnering with him in his effort to plant churches in this part of post-Christian Europe.
Folks, there is a wonderful blessing we receive when we reach out to others with the love of Jesus and with His gospel of hope.
We don’t do it for the blessing, but God is GOOD, and He blesses us, anyway.
If you’re not involved in one of these ministries, let me encourage you to find one to join.
That way, YOU can bless someone ELSE with the blessings you have received. And then, because God IS good, receive an unexpected (and UNDESERVED) blessing of your own.
What a great God we serve! What a great savior we have. Let’s go do what He said to do! Here, there, and everywhere.