Go into all the world

Holly Creek Baptist Church – Wednesday, March 17, 2021

I. Go into all the world - Introduction

A. In Feb. 2001, we walked away from a 17-year career with the DNR and entered the mission field. We had no expectation to ever return to the States.

B. But in 2007, God called us back to the United States where we would serve as Missions Pastor at CrossRoads Baptist Church for the next 13 years.

C. Then, 5 years ago, I became director of Wildlife Resources Division and one of my first acts as Director was to start a chaplain’s program.

D. None of this was our plan, but it was His plan. We are bond servants of the Lord. We go where He calls.

E. As a bi-vocational pastor, we serve on the mission field of His choosing.

F. Pastor Danny has talked about people who say they gave up stuff to become a Christian. We did too; we gave up a life full of sin and darkness and replaced it with a life of Joy as we follow Him.

1. It has not been a boring life, not by far.

2. We have taught the Word of God in more than 70 countries.

3. We have friends and fellow believers around the world that we may not see again in this life but oh what a day of rejoicing it will be when we all get to heaven!

G. Again, none of this was our plan, but it was God’s plan. We are first and foremost, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are soldiers in Gods army. We serve as missionaries wherever we go.

H. So, allow me to share with you about missions during this Annie Armstrong focus on missions.

II. Review of ship life

A. From 2001 to 2006, we served as missionaries overseas on a ship called the MV Doulos

1. Oldest operating passenger ship in the world

2. METAL

3. Huge crowds come to the ship

4. Turned down three times

5. On Aug. 2001 we were invited to join the Doulos

6. On Sept. 1, 2001 We arrived on the Doulos where I would serve as training Coordinator, Finance Manager, Assistant Director.

B. Sue and the girls, we have three girls who grew up overseas, and me were the first point of contact for all new recruits coming to the Doulos. Sue discipled and taught in conferences, Heather and Tressa worked in Creative ministries and Kaitlyn served other families by caring for their children. We ministered as a family.

C. Thus began 4.5-year journey of faith, a journey where God taught us to Go into all the world

Pray

The Great Commission

Do you realize the great commission is found in all four Gospels and the book of Acts?

Mark 16:15 - Go into all the world and Preach the Gospel to all creation.

Luke 24:47–48 (NASB95) — 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 “You are witnesses of these things.

John 20:21 (NASB95) — 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Acts 1:8 (NASB95) — 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.”

IV. Go - We are commanded to Go, but how do we go?

A. Go but " do not worry” Mt 6:31,

B. Go "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness Matt. 6:33

C. Go to the Lost sheep – Matt. 10:6.

D. "Go and do likewise." Lu 10: 37

E. Go into all the world Mark 16:15

F. Go … because God is at work

G. If you want a title for this message, that is it; Go into all the world … because God is at work. I want to tell you about God’s work in the world.

V. Where have we served?

A. Many have asked where we have served, what we have seen, what we have done.

B. It is easiest to show you.

C. Acts:1:8 – we have been to the uttermost parts of the world!

VI. Go but do not worry because God is at work in you - Cultural Adjustments

A. We have had many cultural adjustments. We had to face language challenges, speaking through an interpreter.

B. Beyond the language difficulties, I can safely carry a wallet in my back pocket, Sue and the girls can carry a purse all with out fear of theft or muggings. We can actually walk out and get into a car, our own car and drive to the grocery where we can purchase whatever foods we want, foods that taste good. Foods that were not crawling this morning across my living room floor. The slide you are seeing now is a photo of Thai snack food. Yes, those are fried roaches!

C. Go, but God’s Word says Mt 6:31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

D. Go and do not worry…because God is at work and He knows your needs

VII. Go…Matt. 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

A. God is at work around the world so, we adjusted, and we went.

B. Tell the dancing in the church story

C. We realize we had to adjust to the cultures we were in. Think about it, we were in a new country, a new culture every three weeks. Every 4 to 6 months, we travelled through a major shift in world view and religious thinking; Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Animism, we served in all of these areas and more. So, on every voyage or at arrival in port, We had “Port Orientation” to learn about the culture. Sometimes during major culture shifts, these orientations took several days. We wanted to be prepared and not offend. Some rules repeat so often, you simply did them all the time, like crossing your legs. For two years, it was engrained in us to never show the bottom of our feet to anyone. It is offensive in many countries. Another thing is how we treat the Bible. Overseas, you would never place the Bible on the floor. It is God’s Holy Word and it should be treated with respect. That is one of the reasons the people in the Middle East do not respect Christians. Islam treats their Holy Book, the Qu’ran, with great respect. Those things were hammered into us and we simply learned not to do them. Then we came home. In our first church service the pastor sat up front with his legs crossed! We were shocked.

D. Well, by God’s grace, we adjusted to this new culture called home! We have also learned that only one culture really matters – the Kingdom Culture, His Culture.

E. Go But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness because God is at work in you

VIII. Go to the Lost sheep of Israel because God is at work in the Middle East

A. Matthew 10:6–7 (NASB95) — 6 … go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

B. We have sought God and we have learned to trust Him. As we have gone, we have learned that God is at work around the world.

C. The Doulos sailed into Lebanon on January 27, 2005. It was our first visit to this country. We were soon to realize how much God was working in the world and in the Middle East. As we sailed into Lebanon, we prayed about Bible distribution. In the two weeks we were in port, we earnestly prayed that we could distribute as many as 500 Bibles. It was an ambition plan. Our leader in the area told us it would take him and his entire team more than a year to distribute 300 Bibles. They would need to knock on 1,000’s of doors and risk extreme persecution. Distributing 500 Bibles in 2 weeks was more than ambitious, it was impossible. But we prepared just the same, we had 500 Bibles on board.

D. Judges 7:1-9 we read the story of how God used Gideon to defeat the Midianites.

1. In verse 2 The LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.'

2. So, God sends home 22,000 and then another 10,000, until only 300 are left and

3. 9 ¶ Now the same night it came about that the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands.

E. We also lived these verses in Lebanon.

1. In the first day of our visit to Lebanon, we distributed more than 300 Bibles!

2. By the middle of the 2nd day, we had distributed all the Bibles available to us.

3. We needed more and God had only just begun His work.

4. We contacted the Bible Society; did they have any Bibles that we could purchase? Somehow, they had received a shipment of 10,000 Bibles. They had no idea what they were to do with so many Bibles. We could have them for the discounted rate of $6,000, less than a $1 a piece. But we had no money.

5. At the same time, a church in the US was praying for a way to get involved in the Middle East. They were praying if they could some how be involved in Bible distribution. This was not one of our normal contacts, but somehow, they linked with the Doulos at just the right moment. They provided the money for the 10,000 Bibles.

F. In Matt. 10:6 God says Go to the Lost sheep of Israel – because God is at work in the Middle East. We prayed to distribute Bibles, but our faith was small. No matter to God, He could still use us. He arranged for the Bible Society to have 10,000 Bibles on hand and just the right time. He arranged for a Church in the US to provide the resources. He is in control.

G. Go to the Lost sheep of Israel because God is at work in the Middle East

H. By the end of our 2 weeks in Lebanon, God had used 300 people on the Doulos to deliver nearly 10,000 Bibles into the hands of the Lebanese people!

I. There is a hunger for the Word in the Middle East.

1. De 8:3 "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

2. There is a hunger for the Word in the Middle East.

J. Don’t miss this. How do we go?

1. The missionaries on the Doulos physically went to the field.

2. The members of the church here in America prayed how they could be involved.

3. Then those people gave to His work.

4. It is the same for us. When God commands us to Go, we can pray, we can give, or we can physically go. Missions is a team effort.

K. The day before we sailed out of Lebanon, a car bomb exploded in Beirut near the ship. Sue felt the explosion in our cabin. Twelve of our people were walking down the street where the bomb went off but at the last minute turned down a side street. When the bomb exploded, they were only hit by flying glass. God protected us and used us to distribute Bibles at a time when many people would need comfort – the comfort of His Word.

L. Make no mistake, we are to Go because God is at work in the Middle East.

IX. Go and teach all nations because God is at work in Africa. Matt. 28:19

A. What a privilege to be a part of His work throughout the world.

B. People are always asking us is it worth it all? Is it worth sailing into the port in Africa knowing we would not have fresh water? Knowing we could not take showers or do laundry due to a lack of water? We knew we would not be able to go into the community to buy food because there is no place to go and buy food. We had 15 of our ships company mugged in our first three days in South Africa, one good friend of mine stabbed in Tanzania. Is it worth going to Africa with the many other unbelievable stresses and struggles we have faced?

C. On Friday, 1 July, I spoke to a group of more than 100 pastors from the area surrounding the port of Nacala, Mozambique. Many of them were pastors simply because they were the only ones in their village who were able to read. Very few had any opportunity to go through any type of Bible training. The Doulos offered just such an opportunity, however small. The only difficulty was that none of the pastors could afford the US$2.00 to travel to the ship for the all-day pastor’s conference. We covered those costs.

D. Then we realized that very few of the pastors owned a Bible. We let the ships company know of the needs and they raised the additional US$200.00 needed to purchase Bibles. They gave that money out of their own pocket money of US$20.00 per month. Thus, on Friday of that week I was able to teach the pastors how to study the Bible, using Bibles they owned. Yes, it was worth it all.

E. On Tuesday, 5 July, I had the opportunity to teach 38 volunteers the same topic, How to study the Bible. As I taught, I began to realize none of them had Bibles, not even my translator. I had to ask that someone go quickly and get the translator a Bible so the verses could be read in their language. Since they had no Bibles, they wrote down everything I taught, every verse I quoted. How do you teach people how to study the Bible when they do not even own a Bible?

F. On Tuesday evening as the volunteers said their farewells, we gave them all Bibles. As they opened the packages and hugged the Bibles and even kissed them over and over again; it was at that moment I once again realized it was worth it all.

G. Matt. 28:19 says Go and teach all nations because God is at work in Africa.

X. Go and do likewise - Luke 10:37

A. After returning home, I served for 13 years as Missions Pastor at CrossRoads Baptist Church. I was also back working with DNR and serving as Chief of the SAR Team. In Jan 2010, major Earthquake hit Haiti. We were home from the ship, and I was already serving as Missions leader at CrossRoads. We were to have our second annual missions conference the next weekend. But God has other plans. He called me and five others to Haiti to conduct SAR. We flew to Haiti with no sure way to return home, but we knew God was sending us. We thought we would be conducting SAR. But God had other plans. We discovered many, many orphans who were starving to death. We discovered a warehouse full of food but no one to distribute the food. So, for the next week we distributed food, water and money to orphanages.

B. Since then, I have been back to Haiti more than a dozen times times. CrossRoads has two churches in Haiti now and relationships with more than 100 other churches. We have trained well over 150 pastors in a 10 course, 500 hour non accredited seminary. This was not our plan, but it was God’s plan. We have also built houses the homeless, distributed eyeglasses for those with poor vision and done all kinds of other relief work.

C. Lu 10:33 "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 "On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' 36 "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" 37 And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

D. We go to help because not only does God say:

1. Go and teach all nations but also

2. Go and do Likewise…because God is at work in Haiti

XI. Go into all the world and Preach the Gospel to all creation. – Mark 16:15

A. Andrew has gone with me to Haiti on several occasions.

1. He started the eyeglasses ministry.

2. He had joined my Bible class as a new believer.

3. At the time he joined the class, he was not able to find a book in the Bible.

4. But he was on fire for the Lord. Over the last decade I have watched him grow in the Lord. He listens to sermons, He studies the Word, He reads through the Bible.

5. Andrew calls us regularly to discuss something he is studying. In fact, he called just last week.

6. But he does not just study the Bible, he shares with anyone who will listen. He shares with those who will not listen. He has taken to heart the command to Go into all the world and Preach the Gospel to all creation. – Mark 16:15

B. Yes, Andrew has gone to Haiti, but his mission field is right here in Georgia. He trusts God and he goes to whoever God sends his way and he shares the love of Jesus Christ.

C. Go into all the world because God is at work in Georgia.

XII. Go because God is at work in the world

A. God is at work around the world.

B. He is at work in the US, in GA and in this church.

C. I have told you only a small amount of the work He is doing around the world.

D. He has a place for all of us to be involved in His work.

E. Where is He calling Holly Creek Baptist Church? Is it Haiti, India, or maybe Indonesia or Sri Lanka?

F. I do not know, but God does. Seek him and join him in His work.

G. We have traveled to more than 75 countries. We have faced hard times and good times. We have been challenged and we have given challenges. We have encouraged and been encouraged. But through it all we have seen God at work around the world. We have answered His command to go…

1. Go but " do not worry” Mt 6:31,

2. Go "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness Matt. 6:33

3. Go to the Lost sheep – Matt. 10:6.

4. Go and teach all nations Matt. 28:19

5. "Go and do likewise." Lu 10: 37

6. Go and Preach the Gospel. – Mark 16:15

H. Our time on the Doulos is over as is our time as Missions Pastor but still God says Go and we go, we follow Him wherever He leads.

I. Where is God leading you?

J. He has commanded us all to Go.

K. We can go through our prayers, through our giving and through actually going.

L. When we leave this church tonight, you are entering into your mission field.

M. You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. God is Faithful!