Value 3: Missionally Minded

Manuscript Template

Title:  Value 3: Missionally Minded

Focus Statement:  

Function Statement:  

Tweetable Phrase:  

Main Text:  Romans 9:30-10:15

Supporting Text:  Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 10:14-15, 1 Peter 3:15, Romans 1:16

Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus): Matthew 9:36-38

Benediction:  Colossians 4:5-6

WELCOME

Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.

‌Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.

ME/INTRO - Tension

Has anyone had a bad experience with a “church” person?

You know the person...someone who is very eager to either invite you to their church, or overly excited to greet you once you show up to the church.

I don’t know if it is just me, but I have had tons of “bad” experiences with church people.

To be fair, I’ve had quite a few bad experiences with non-church people as well, but I think it stings more when it comes from someone who claims to follow Jesus, or is actively inviting you to take the next step in your faith journey.

I went through a stretch during college, when I really felt church was against me.

I started attending a new church with some people from college. I went every week. It was a huge church (15,000) so I flew pretty much under the radar. Nobody knew I was there, and seemingly nobody cared. Until one day...I walked in through the same door I always did, the one with a large old man with a white beard greeting. He looked just like Santa, which I found amusing and if I’m honest is the reason I always went through that door. One week, he shook my hand as always, but refused to let go. He looked me in the eye and said, I’m not letting go until you smile. I’m not sure what my face was doing that offended him. But I do clearly remember thinking, is this what the church needs? If Jesus came to save sinners (Mark 2:17), why would the church expect me to smile when I came through the door. Whereas I had seen him multiple times before, we never spoke. He didn’t know me. And he wasn’t joking. He wouldn’t let go of my hand until I faked a smile.

But is this what Jesus envisioned for the church?

Are we a group of people who come every Sunday to sing songs worshipping God, hear a sermon, and put on a fake smile pretending our lives are perfect and we are never anything but happy?

I left that day very sad. Not for myself, but for every other person who had a similar experience in church, but was actually struggling with something. To be honest, if I was new to faith, or just new to that church and someone forced me to fake a smile to get in, I would never have gone back to that church. If that is how the church treats people, how many people never go back to church at all because of a bad experience like this?

Needless to say, I never went back through that greeter’s door again.

But that’s unfortunately not the only experience I’ve had.

At least that time I was just an attender.

Once I started serving at churches more things happened...

One of the first things I volunteered to do within the church was to serve in the student ministry. As a volunteer, I e-mailed a more senior person within the church with some concerns about the middle / high school ministry. The kids were struggling to stay engaged with the program given each week was run by a different intern and each intern had vastly different levels of experience planning and presenting youth programming and didn’t seem to be receiving the training they needed to get better. The kids in the small groups voiced to me that they were getting nothing out of it and were thinking about not coming anymore. As a volunteer, I didn’t have direct contact with the senior leader over youth, so I e-mailed them. I got no reply for weeks. I finally tracked them down on a Sunday and asked them about it. They told me that they got my e-mail and filed it in their February folder. Not sure what that meant, I asked. They told me they put me in their file to respond to in February. I sent the e-mail in early December. Needless to say, the youth group struggled as the youth knew that they weren’t the priority of the youth ministry at that church. Many kids left. I wonder how many of those kids never gave church, religion, or Jesus another thought.

At another church, I was the student’s pastor of a satellite campus. I had some questions that I needed to get answered from the team at the main campus. I e-mailed and called multiple times. Not getting any responses. Frustrated, I finally drove over and tracked the people down. I got my answers, but asked why nobody responded to my calls or e-mails. I was told by the executive pastor (the boss of all the church employees) that the employees are told that there is no expectation that e-mails or phone calls get responded to. Their work/life balance is important and it is fine if e-mails and/or phone calls go un-returned. Whereas I could drive over and ask my questions, how many e-mails and phone calls were from people in the community seeking information about the church or guidance related to something they were struggling with went unanswered? I wonder many people struggled to call or e-mail the church because they had a bad past experience with a church in their past and this was their olive branch. No return phone call or e-mail could have cemented their opinion about the church, religion, and maybe pushed them away from belief in Jesus.

WE - Tension

These are fairly extreme examples from my 20+ years in ministry...

...but how many times have we acted in ways that keep people from a relationship with Jesus?

How many “Be our Guest” cards have we taken from the info desk and never handed out?

How many of your neighbors do we talk to all the time, but never shared your faith?

How many times have you felt the nudge to share a sermon, quote, or event on FaceBook, Instagram, etc. but didn’t because you were concerned about what our “friends” would think about you?

As a follower of Christ, what should we be doing to help others develop a relationship with Jesus?

This is the question I’d like to talk about today as we continue our series titled “The 5W’s of Church”

We’re in week 4 of our 7 week series, we’re going to go over our church’s mission, vision, and values to answer

WHY - THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH exists

WHO - we are as a local expression of the church, The Light KC

WHAT God is calling us to do as His church

WHY we feel God put The Light KC WHERE He has in Overland Park, KS

and...HOW - we as the church feel called to live out the mission and vision God has given us

I hope you’ll be able to join us each and every week for this series as we break down the mission, vision, and values that a group of 16 of you came up with earlier this year and look forward to what that means for us and our collective future.

Week 1 we discussed our Mission and Vision. To review:

Mission (Why we exist)

To reflect the light of God’s love and grace to everyone, everywhere, at all times.

Vision (Who we hope to be)

To be the family of God, where all people are welcomed, loved, invited into a saving relationship with Jesus, and sent to live out their God-given purpose.

We’re currently walking through our values, that spell out the ACRONYM F.A.M.I.L.Y.

We’ve discussed

F: Faith Fueled

A: Action Oriented

Today we’re going to talk about our third value: Missionally Minded.

F: Faith Fueled

A: Action Oriented

M: Missionally Minded

If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.

As we begin, please turn with me to [Romans 9]

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.

AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.

Let's dive in.

GOD - Text

Romans 9 is a section of scripture where Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, is grieving over the fact that the Jewish people (his people) are rejecting the Good News of Jesus.

Let’s pick it up in Romans 9:1-5 with Paul speaking

Romans 9:1–5 NIV

I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

As we start our discussion today on what God is calling us, as a church, to do for the lost people of our communities who don’t have a relationship with Him, I think we need to start by evaluating our hearts.

Do we truly care for the people in our lives who haven’t put their faith in Jesus as their LORD and Savior?

Do we even know people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus?

Are we living comfortable lives, surrounded by people who do the same things we do, think roughly the same ways that we think, and believe the same things that we believe?

If this is true, I think we need to take some time this week praying...asking God for the passion of Paul for the lost. We should grieve the fact that so many people don’t know Jesus and are tricked by the enemy into thinking that they don’t need a savior. The biggest lie people believe today is that they have everything they need and don’t need anyone to live the life they want.

The truth is, we don’t have everything we need. Because we live in a fallen world and there is an enemy actively trying to ensnare us in sin that will destroy our souls.

We need help to live this life...

We need a relationship with Jesus, the only one who can forgive us of our sins

We need the Holy Spirit, the only one who can make us into a new creation, healing us from past failures and empowering us to live the God honoring life we were created to live

We need a community of believers (the church) to help us, encourage us, and hold us accountable to becoming everything God created us to be

That is the lie that the Israelites believed and Paul is in anguish over.

The Israelites believed they, by their own power, could keep the law perfectly. That they didn’t need a savior, because they could be good enough to earn their way into heaven.

The truth is, no one can be good enough on their own.

Skipping ahead a bit, Paul continues in Romans 9:30-32. He says...

Romans 9:30–32 NIV

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

Paul makes the case pretty clearly. The Israelites fell short because they thought they could be saved by works, by their own efforts, by their own power.

The misunderstood the purpose of the Old Testament. The 613 laws God gave in the Old Testament were given to show that by our own power we can’t be “Good Enough” to meet God’s high bar of righteousness. The Old Testament Laws were given to prepare Israel to accept the savior to come. They just missed the point.

The Gentiles, on the other hand, knew that they couldn’t live up to God’s standard of Holiness by themselves and were saved through Faith in Jesus, the only person, being both fully God and fully Man, who can meet God’s standard of righteousness. They knew that it is only through what Jesus has done for them, and for us, that they could be saved from eternal separation from God.

But Paul doesn’t give up. Let’s continue in Romans 10:1

Romans 10:1 NIV

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.

Paul’s heart is for everyone to come into a saving relationship with Jesus. No matter how far from God they are, Paul desperately wants everyone to know the love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace that he has experienced.

Do we have the same heart for the lost?

Is it our hearts desire, that everyone be saved? Or are we scared of the potential awkwardness that sharing Jesus with our friends who don’t believe could bring into our relationships?

Do we regularly pray for the people in our lives that do not have a relationship with Jesus?

For Paul, helping others develop a saving relationship with Jesus was the only thing that mattered.

Paul continues in Romans 10:2-3

Romans 10:2–3 NIV

For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

This line of thinking is very prevalent today. You don’t have to have too many conversations with people before you hear someone say, “I’m a good person”, “I’m Spiritual, not religious”, “I can believe without going to church”

The truth is, this is the same line of thinking as the Israelites that Paul is writing about.

People who say these things are trying to be saved by their own works, when that is not possible. It doesn’t matter how good we are, we cannot reach God’s bar of righteousness.

Paul continues in Romans 10:4-13

Romans 10:4–13 NIV

Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Paul makes it clear. The only way to be saved is to believe with your heart and profess your faith with your mouth.

My question to all of us is do we believe VERSE 13?

Do we believe that EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved?

If we do, Paul ends this section by calling us to action

Romans 10:14–15 NIV

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Paul is talking about us; me and you

The church is the group of people Jesus commissioned to go out and spread the Good News of His message to everyone.

This isn’t just a job for ordained pastors.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:9 that we are a kingdom of Priests

1 Peter 2:9 NIV

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Jesus, right before He ascended to Heaven, sent the early church to go out and make disciples.

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

You are called to preach as a member of the royal priesthood and have been sent to witness to the lost.

YOU - Takeaway

If we are to take what Paul is writing in this section of the Bible seriously.

If we believe that nobody is beyond savings, we should be...

Living a life that reflects God’s love and grace to the entire world

Sharing our faith with everyone we know that is far from Christ

Inviting people into the community of faith; either to events at the church and / or to worship services

Praying for God to soften the hearts of those that don’t believe to the GOOD NEWS of what Jesus has done for them

So are we?

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action

When I ask people if they talk about their faith, or have invited someone to church lately, the most common answer I get is, “I don’t know any non-Christians”.

This is a problem.

Jesus addresses this in Matthew 9. It says.

Matthew 9:36–38 NIV

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

According to all the research less than 25% of people attend church at all.

Of those 25%, the average person attends 1x per month.

Many only attend on Christmas and Easter.

What I’ve found is most people don’t know how to invite people to church.

Most people I talk to say they feel a nudge or conviction from the Holy Spirit to say something, but in the moment it’s too hard and they don’t end up acting on that conviction.

I think there are two things we all need to do.

1. Pre-decide when you’re going to invite someone to church or a church sponsored event.

Andy Stanley, a mega-church pastor out of Georgia makes the process of inviting very simple.

He teaches you should automatically invite someone to church if any of THREE NOTs are communicated to you.

When a person tells you they are NOT currently attending a church

When a person tells you their life is NOT going well

When a person tells you they are facing something they are NOT prepared for

Pre-deciding to invite someone to church if they communicate any of these THREE NOTs has made it very easy for me to know, in the moment when someone is most open to hearing an invite to church.

I always keep some “Be our Guest” cards in my wallet that I can give out along with the verbal invite.

The 2nd things we need to do is

2. Put yourself in situations where there will be non-believers

We have a few opportunities you can take advantage of to do just that.

Action Items

10/16 - Mission Night

11/6 - Care Portal - Response Team

Lobby - Apache ES - Thank you cards for teachers / Trunk-or-Treat

Sign up in Lobby - Single Mom KC - Adopt a Family for Christmas

Give

Our dream / prayer is to be able to have a missions budget, so we can more intentionally help those people who have given their lives to spreading the good news of Jesus. You may remember, we actually made two budgets for 2025-2026. The “aspirational” budget, which we presented at the congregational meeting last spring had 10% of the budget allocated to missions.

Budget right now is tight. We’re behind budget, but breaking even on actual expenses.

We lost 2 or More as a renter ($1,750 / month)

Morgage interest rate increased by 1.75% for $550 / month

I’m not trying to guilt anyone into anything.

But if we want to be a church that supports missionaries and intentionally engages in missional activities in our community, it will take all of us working together; giving of our time / talents / treasure.

Missions is not something reserved for church staff.

As Jesus told the disciples, the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few.

If we’re going to summarize our third value, I would do it like this...

Value #3: At The Light KC, we will be Missionally Minded. We won’t be a church that stays within our walls, only spending time with other believers. We will be a church whose heart breaks for the lost in our community. We will courageously live lives reflecting God’s love, share our faith, invite people into our community of faith, and pray for God to open doors and soften the hearts of those who do not yet believe in the saving power of Jesus. We don’t believe evangelism is the work of only the church staff, but of ever believer.

PRAYER 

Will you join me in prayer...

SONG 

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who needs God this week. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace.

‌

You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

BENEDICTION 

Colossians 4:5–6 NIV

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

This week...

Let’s commit to never be a church that only looks inward, focusing on ourselves, and ignoring the hurting in our community.

Let’s commit to ...

Living a life that reflects God’s love and grace to the entire world

Sharing our faith with everyone we know that is far from Christ

Inviting people into the community of faith; either to events at the church and / or to worship services

Praying for God to soften the hearts of those that don’t believe to the GOOD NEWS of what Jesus has done for them

The harvest is great, let’s all commit to putting in the work to save our non-believing friends, neighbors, co-workers, community members.

Quick reminder...

Apache ES - Thank you cards for teachers

Digging Deeper Bible Study - Wednesday at 6 PM - Programming for all ages

Oct 11th - Fall Cleanup

Oct 12th - Chief’s vs Lion’s at my house

Oct 16th - Missions Night

October 29th - Prayer Workshop

November 6th - Care Portal - response team training

If you’re new, please stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

You are dismissed.

DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)

How can we cultivate a genuine heart for the lost as Paul demonstrated in Romans?

What does being missionally minded look like in your everyday life at home / school / work?

What practical steps can we take to ensure we are being missionally minded in our community?

In what ways can you share your faith with friends who might not know Jesus?

How do you plan to involve your friends or neighbors in church activities, showing that you care about their spiritual journey?