EBC Message

Testimony and Calling

Good morning, Church. I cannot express how grateful I am that you would allow me to speak this Sunday morning. Thank you Pastor Wayne, and thank all of you for lending me your ears. It is my intention to, in around 30 minutes, share my testimony and calling and then preach briefly through Psalm 98.

Testimony

My name is Saige. My wife’s name is Deztanee. And my daughter’s name is Judah; she’s 10 months old. I come from a family of 5 sisters and 2 brothers. We moved to Phenix City in 2012 when none of us, except my mom, cared any about the Lord. We resented another military move to another place we didn’t want to be, but God, in His sovereignty, had plans of His own that were far greater than what we could have imagined.

After living there for a year or so, my older brother started attending LBC due to a girl he was dating. He invited me to youth group with him when I was around 13. I started going and kept on going, not because the Gospel was captivating or I wanted to know my Creator, but for friends and girls. The Lord used this to slowly break down walls in my life toward Him. It came together at a weekend youth retreat when God saved me from my sin. I saw who Jesus was and realized there was no one nor thing greater than He which is worthy of my life. I gave Christ my life and was baptized.

What made sense to me at the time following my salvation was “I need to stop cussing and I need to be in church a lot.” So I did those things. On the outside I displayed a good young man who loved Jesus, but this was more of a mask. I dont mean to convey it was wrong of me to get involved in the church and watch my tongue. I am grateful I did! But there were still major heart problems and major sin in my life I was not confronting. And I was not in God’s Word. I understood people should see Jesus in me, but I didn’t understand that knowing Jesus wasn’t an act for others to see but a genuine life-transformation.

After a few years of focusing on what I was supposed to do for my public image, I naturally got burnt out. I was frustrated because I felt like I was supposed to be getting something back, but was being short-changed. “What about me, Lord? I am doing all this good but it still feels like I am getting nothing back.” I would still mess up or be looked down on for something and get so aggravated. While I had God’s Spirit, I was woefully immature. I misunderstood the Gospel: that is, I misunderstood that my reward is Christ. Eternal Life is knowing Christ; not everyone knowing me in a certain light. Not being seen a certain way. And knowing Christ is far greater and more satisfying than man’s praise. Truthfully, it has taken many years for the Lord to break down that mindset in me.

A major factor that broke down that mindset was a man who began to attend our church. A marine who was married and had two daughters. There was something really strange about this guy that stuck out to me. I had been in the youth group for a few years and knew there were just a few adults who volunteered outside the youth pastor, but no one else does. Well, this man started to come to youth on Wednesday nights. He came to service projects. He played games with us. One day, I saw him serving at one of our service projects and the contrast was clear: I was complaining, not helpful, watching the clock, but he was the hardest worker I had ever seen. He never complained. He worked past what we were scheduled to without a word and he knew what he was doing. That contrast led me to ask him to teach me how to be a man.

Truth-be-told, my dad was deployed a lot and when he was home he wasn’t really teaching me about being a man; so I really did not know how. Especially not a godly man. This guy’s name is Beau. After approaching Beau, we roomed together for a mission trip to Romania and he started to disciple me. He didn’t know that’s what it was called, and neither did I. He just genuinely cared about me as a young Christian man. But after Romania we met every Friday morning for breakfast and talked about 1 Samuel. I ended up working out with him and another good friend at the church M-F at 5 AM. He became the janitor at the church and I would stay back and help him clean. I’d help him with projects at his house, run errands with him, etc. If you’re unfamiliar with discipleship, what you’re hearing right now is “This guy dooped a kid into being free labor!” But what was happening was Beau was teaching and showing me the Gospel everyday.

So, under his discipleship, I started actually reading the Bible. I started actually fighting sin. I started actually growing. My faith began, slowly, to feel less frustrating because I started taking the attention off of me and focusing it on Christ. Finally at 18, I felt a call to ministry. I never knew exactly what that may look like, but just pursued youth ministry because it was what I knew. I moved to North Carolina for an internship at a Christian summer camp and found this calling confirmed and amplified! I came home and married my wife. We had been dating since 15 years old and we were 20 then. When we were around 18, I think, she started being poured into by Beau’s wife Kirstien. We all grew very close.

The Calling

I had the privilege to serve in a couple youth pastor roles but eventually stepped down due to my own immaturity and need to grow more. It truly is a noble work being a Pastor and requires more maturity than I had, or have. So we continued serving in the church, only now as members not in leadership. But even with the role change, there was an area of ministry that we never stopped: that is, missions. In fact, when I considered my call from the start, I would always say “I am open to long-term missions work, but it would have to be very clearly from the Lord.” Ever since I was a young teen in Lakewood I was going on mission trips. My reasoning was not always right. When I was younger I just wanted to travel, really. But as I grew older and my wife and I served together and under our dear friends and mentors, the Reimink’s, our hearts for reaching the lost and building up sister churches grew more and more. This culminated after another mission trip to Romania when Beau taught a class at our church on missions. This was maybe a 6 week study walking through what missions is. Something he singled in on from his study of Scripture is that missions occurs by church planting. Going somewhere the Gospel isn’t and planting a healthy church that can impact those in that area for generations to come, rather than leaving behind new Christians who aren’t being discipled.

This class really stuck to both Dez and I, but especially Deztanee. One day, as I was driving with Beau somewhere, Deztanee texted me, out of no where, saying “Are we gonna be missionaries?” I thought this was weird and didn’t understand it. I told Beau what she said and I asked him “What do you think this means?” He asked something I hadn’t considered yet, “Did you ask her?” I hadn’t! So I did and found that Deztanee was feeling a pull in the direction of missions but didn’t know what that looked like. We talked more and found this pull was present in both of us! After a couple weeks of prayer, we sought counsel from those who knew us best: Beau and Kirstien. After a bible study at their house, we stayed late and expressed this calling asking their thoughts. What we did not know was the past month or so, they had also felt a calling towards missions and were praying for confirmation and direction. And so, we found this calling to be shared. That my family would join the Reimink’s to plant a church where the Lord leads.

Called to Where?

So the question we get more than anything with this is “Why Wyoming?” And alongside that, “Why Byron, Wyoming?” Despite being in the United States, even being a red-state, Wyoming is an extremely lost state. According to NAMB, 53% of this area’s population are Mormon, 37% don’t identify with any religion, and 10% are evangelical. Then of that 10%, there is a very small sliver that is SBC. While Wyoming is politically conservative, it is not morally conservative. There is a deep need for healthy churches in Wyoming. Beau already had some connections in the state affirming this need, and so Wyoming is where we chose.

But why Byron? Truthfully, this is not a town that you will easily find when looking at a map because it’s very small. Then how did we find it? It was our Planting Pastor, Beau, who discovered it. He had Google alerts set to notify him whenever an article was posted including “Wyoming,” and one day he saw several outlets reporting the same tragedy From the same town. In one day, a husband and father lost his wife and four daughters. Suddenly, as Beau had been praying with us about where we must plant, his phone was filled with notifications telling of this tragedy in Byron, Wyoming. There was a home school co-op at the church at that time. As he read of the deaths of this mother and four daughters and listened to the kids running and laughing and playing through the church, he wept. Byron did not have this.

After a little research, he found this town of around 560 people has never had a Christian church. It has a park, a bar, a mormon stake, and many homes of individuals and families. Eventually, Beau met a pastor from a somewhat nearby town to Byron and found that he has been praying God would send someone to plant in Byron as well. He affirmed the need greatly.

So What’s Happening?

Now you’ve heard my testimony, you’ve heard our calling, so what’s happening then? Our church plant is under the Name Mission Wyoming. Mission Wyoming, via a kind donor, has received the funds to purchase land in Byron already. This land consists of a motel building, a metal building, and a trailer. It has been severely neglected for a long time and so there is much work to be done on this property. It is our hope that one day this property will feature functioning, livable rooms, a coffee shop/thrift store, and a meeting space where the church will gather.

As far as who the team is, it starts with the Reimink’s: Beau, Kirstien, and their two daughters Kymber (17) and Eyda (12). Just so you can know a little bit more about him, here is a couple-sentence resume: Beau has 6 years of pastoral ministry, has led many groups on missions to places such as Romania, Peru, and Jamaica. He is a NAMB endorsed church planter. He just finished his Masters through Gateway Seminary. He will be our Planting Pastor.

Beau’s family moved to Wyoming in the beginning of April. They have been staying in a camper at a local church in another town for the past month. Lord-willing, this June they will be closing on a house in Byron. Beau has been tirelessly working on the property, even receiving teams from other churches to help clean it up! They have already made an incredible dent.

Last month, I got a job at a community college nearby to Byron called Northwest College. I’ll be managing the use of their indoor rock wall and ropes course along with the use of all their outdoor equipment. We will be living in campus housing in Powell, only 20 minutes away from Byron. Under the church plant, I will be the Pastoral Assistant. This namely entails leading worship for our church and anything else I'm asked!

Calling Conclusion and Message Transition

The Lord, in many ways, has made this calling very clear to us. If I could just share our hearts in this a little further: look around you now. We are gathered together as believers, and perhaps visitors, in a building on a property set aside for worshiping the One, True God. Your kids are able to partake in VBS, sometimes at multiple churches, even. There are schools you can go to here that have Bible as a class and chapel is mandatory. Now, think about Byron. No church. No VBS. No Christian education. No Bible studies that aren’t laced with teachings contrary to Scripture. But, as Beau has said before, Byron is already the Lord’s. There are many there who are already His, but just may not know it yet. We are going to claim what is the Lord Jesus’s. It is our mission to, by God’s grace, plant a healthy church in this town where Jesus Christ will be worshiped, His Word will be preached, His Gospel will save, and His people will grow.

So, please consider partnering with this church plant. Follow our newsletter, pray for us, commit finances, or even visit us to help with the work.

Now, I am going to spend these last 10-15 minutes or so talking about Psalm 98.

Psalm 98 Exposition

When Pastor Wayne invited me to preach a sermon, I asked him if there was a text he’d like me to preach. He told me “That’s between you and the Lord.” I am grateful for you just letting God work, Pastor. After going between a few different texts, I landed on Psalm 98.

Psalm Info

This psalm is in Book IV of the Psalms; it is a psalm of praise for the King of All Things. We know this King by His name stated in the Old Testament: YHWH meaning I am Who I Am, I Was Who I Was, and I will Be Who I Will Be. God gives Himself this name in Exodus 3 at the burning bush. Our Bibles do not say YHWH, but will say LORD in all caps or small caps. In the New Testament, this King came down in the flesh to live, die and resurrect (physically). It was at His incarnation He revealed His other Name, the name of the Second Person of our Trinue God: Jesus Christ. This psalm is wholly focused on giving praise and glory to this King.

Before I go into my three points for this, I just want to explain how this connects to church planting work, namely what we are endeavoring to do in Byron.

Jesus Christ reigns as King over all of Creation, yet so many of His creatures have rejected Him. While they bear His image, they reject His Son. This is true of many in Byron, Phenix City, Columbus, Nigeria, Iran, Russia, China, etc. Everywhere there are still image-bearers rejecting their Creator and King! But this does not make Him any less king. This does not take from His authority, His rule and reign over the Earth.

Jesus is King over Byron. Yes the Mormons settled the town and have heavily influenced it with a false Gospel, but Byron is Jesus’s. This passage tells us why we should sing praise of this King. I believe, one day, many who reject Him today, in Byron and here, will sing His praise just as the psalmist instructs. This is our hope.

READ AND PRAY

Sing, for the King is Victorious! (V.1-3)

Psalm 98:1–3 CSB

Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has performed wonders; his right hand and holy arm have won him victory. The Lord has made his victory known; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory.

My first point is: Sing, for the King is Victorious!

The first few verses tell us one reason why we should sing praise to this King: His right hand and holy arm have won Him victory.

All throughout history, God has always been victorious. Throughout the OT you see Him giving victory to Israel, but taking it away when there was sin in their people. Whether or not a person or nation would have victory is determined by the Victorious King,

Here, though, the Psalmist seems to refer to His faithful love to His people as His victory! In all the battles, through all the sin, in the exodus, conquest, prosperity, and exile, God’s faithful love to His people is evident, in that He always preserved a remnant and always redeemed His people.

So our King is victorious throughout the Old Testament, but what about the new? In the New Testament, what happens to the King? Even after reversing the curse of sin on the world through His miracles, He is slaughtered by His own people. How could this be victorious? It was by King Jesus’s death victory was won, for His death bought our salvation and His resurrection secured it. Now, because He bore our sins and died in our place, we can live abundantly today, and eternally after death.

1 Corinthians 15:50–57 CSB

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

We are victorious in Christ, not just because He saved us from sin, but from the consequences of sin! We deserved to live eternally separated from our King, but Jesus not only died to take on your death, but then resurrected so that you too will resurrect. In this, death is literally swallowed up! We will still die but only to be raised incorruptible to be with our King! This is victory.

The Psalmist reflects that all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory. That was true for Israel when this was written, as everyone knew the God of Israel, YHWH, who delievered his people out of Egypt through the Red Sea. But you have seen God’s victory too if you save seen me: a sinner saved by grace. You have seen God’s victory if you’ve seen Pastor Wayne. But also if you’ve looked in the mirror! Each of us who love and follow our King are living displays of the King’s Grand Victory.

So if all the earth has seen God’s victory, what should their response be?

Sing, All of Creation! (V.4-8)

Psalm 98:4–8 CSB

Let the whole earth shout to the Lord; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing. Sing to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and melodious song. With trumpets and the blast of the trumpet shout triumphantly in the presence of the Lord, our King. Let the sea and all that fills it, the world and those who live in it, resound. Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains shout together for joy

Do you see this grand festival of praise of King Jesus?

People from all over the earth sing praise and play instruments! They shout with joy and sing with gladness!

The Ocean and its creatures resound with praise of the King!

The Rivers roar in applauds of the King!

The mountains shout in unison for joy in the King!

Is this true already? I’d say the sea, rivers and mountains certainly shout glory to God today; but not all the people are. Truly, not everyone will.

But, Church, this is why we must go to Byron. This is why you must be in your community reaching the lost. This is why you must go to those nations who haven’t heard the Gospel and commend them to their King!

Once again, the King has already determined who will serve Him, but, as Paul says,

Romans 10:14–15 CSB

How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

Yes all of Creation must sing but this is why we must go because, as Piper says, missions exists because worship doesn’t.

Sing, For the King Judges Righteously! (v.9b)

Psalm 98:9 CSB

before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world righteously and the peoples fairly.

Finally the Psalmist finishes by pointing to one more important aspect of the King: He will judge the earth righteously.

This should bring us great joy and cause us to sing. Consider all the evil you see. Consider all the injustice around you. Consider all that we are helpless to fix! What will be done about these evils? What will be done about the injustice? Vengeance is the King’s. He will deal with the evil rightly.

This means Satan will be cast down into the lake of fire, and this means that all those who despised the kings kindness and who bear their sin on their heads will go with him.

Once again, this should cause us to rejoice. Evil will die, righteousness will reign eternally in the King.

But there is one note to this: only those who have put their faith in King Jesus will reign alive with Him. Friends, if you have been rejecting your King, I implore you to repent. He is sovereign, He is good, but He is just and He hates evil. This is not a King we come to and attempt to wrestle to bend to our will. Our King, our God, is so wise, so holy, so good, we are best off when we submit to His ways and confess Him as our Lord and Savior.

I pray that if you have been rejecting Him, you’d accept your King today and be adopted into His family. Go from a rebel to His will to son or daughter in His home.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, your application is clear: sing! Sing with joy for your King! Sing praise to the holy name of Jesus! If you’re a Christian singing praise should be like breathing. There is no Christian who does not sing. Our God is victorious and just! Give Him praise.