We Get To…

Begin with warning about adult content: children should enjoy kids church

Acts 13:1–4 NASB95

1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Intro: Shift to Intentionality, just as we are (make reference to first core value poster)

The root of all the intentional moves made, especially when it comes to the drive of missions are the words of Jesus, commanding the church to be His body on the earth…

Explain Jesus’ use of parables

One such parable is found in Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:25–37 NASB95

25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

This parable is not one that we often pair with missions, but if we look closely we see a parallel between the circumstances Jesus uses and the motivation for missions…

We often picture the man left for dead as a person we may see on the corner begging or passed out in the park, but the truth is, we have all been in the place of having been left for dead…

Sin is a robber that has come to all, incapacitated us, and left us laying on the road side, helpless and waiting for death…

Many walked by, even those who were expected to do be the graceful, but it wasn’t until someone stopped to pick us up and give us the message of life that we could live again…

And now we are the ones walking down the road and seeing those who are left for dead and we have the choice…

Will we walk by on the other side, or will we do something?

There are three responses when we see the man laying on the side of the road left for dead…

Three experiences when we are confronted with the mission and opportunity of a project like we are being presented today…

The first is…

Apathy…

We see the opportunity… See the need… see the pain and looming death, but do nothing, feel nothing, and avoid the messiness of ministry altogether…

The second is…

Avoidance…

We see the dispair… see the way we could help… and it bothers us, but just enough to make us move to the other side of the road…

This is often what happens when we see something that bothers our sense of justice, but we would rather avoid it than engage…

This is the most common response in this day and age… We see the issue, but turn the other way and try to forget how uncomfortable it makes us feel…

The other experience is…

Assignment…

This was the response of the good samaritan… He saw the need, felt the empathy.. and understood the assignment…

This isn’t an assignment of obligation, but rather an assignment of opportunity…

In other words, WE GET TO!

When we are presented with a need, we get to do something!

Today we are presented with a unique opportunity….

Play first two videos…

As followers of Jesus…

WE GET TO…

We get to do something! We have the opportunity to do something that only we can do..

We carry the hope of the world with us. No other group of people can help like we can help…

And we get to…

I think this is such an important shift in our thinking to go from we have to, or we should, to WE GET TO…

We have the honor to be able to participate in what God wants to do in the earth…

WE GET TO…

Not only do we get to do something, but we get to do something SIGNIFICANT!

We have the opportunity to take time out of our busyness, stop and see… really see the person who is hurting…

All these people who are losing their minds, confused about who they are, acting crazy are all crying out for someone to see them.. really see them…

We have the opportunity to see them for who they are, not just the problem they represent… and invest in their future.

This is doing something significant and it starts with seeing the person, not just the issue…

Call Worship Team

I want to introduce you to a young woman who represents thousands of others with a similar story… And I want you to see her. Really see her… This is Amy…

Play Amy’s story video

It’s at this point that we have the choice… Today we can be as the priest or the levite who walked by on the other side…

We can be apathetic and simply not care, we can avoid what we are feeling and walk the other way… or we can accept the assignment laid before us and embrace the idea that WE GET TO do something…

I want to share three ways you can do something today.

Pray

Shop survivor made products: https://www.ucountcampaign.org/shop

Give: A portion of our missions offering for today is going directly to project rescue.

Play Dr. D video

Here’s what I want to do. I want us to pray as a body for this first song and just listen to what God is wanting to do in us…

What is the assignment for you today? What would God have you give?

Take up offering after first song