Missions

Good morning again everyone. It is a great day to get together and worship and praise the Lord together. We have our kids that are joining with their teachers this morning and we have our worship team that led us in worship, and we have our welcome team that has prepared coffee and snakes for later. We have our a/v team that is making sure that things are connected will and they are running our online systems for us as well. We have so many volunteers that keep this place running every week, it is amazing. Actually, listen if you are a regular attender and you are not part of a ministry team of some sort, then I want to encourage you to join one of the teams . There is always something you can do…from copying and filing to teaching or anything in between. We have a place for you to serve.

You know that is something that is actually really important isn’t it? I mean, part of living a life that is pleasing to the Lord is serving others.

1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

You see, God has gifted each of us to serve each other in various ways. That includes our guest for today as well. Today we are going to welcome Dave Hynes from ITEC, and I will let him share with you about what that is. But I will say that God has gifted Dave and his wife Kristen and they are using the gifts that God has given them to serve others.

Now, what Dave and Kristen are going to be doing is a little different than what you and I do as we serve our local church. You see, you and I live here at home and we serve each other and we serve at the church or in the community. However, what the Hynes family is doing is moving to a new place in order to serve others. That is equally important. Actually, that is what I want to look at briefly this morning. I want to talk about the importance of missions, and the reason is that God calls people into missions from churches like LRBC all the time, and I want to encourage every single person here to consider how God is calling you to be involved in missions. Maybe God is calling you to be a missionary and you need to begin to pray and think about what that means. So, turn over with me to

Romans 10:14–15 (ESV)

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

So I have a question for you this morning…Based on this passage, what does it take for someone to call on the name of the Lord? Well, it takes someone proclaiming the message of the Gospel, and that means it takes someone being sent to proclaim that message. That means it takes someone being willing to go where they are being sent, right. My question for you this morning is…“Is God sending you?” Now, after someone goes and proclaims the Gospel message, then those that heard that message must pay attention and believe. In the absence of any one of these factors, no one can call on the name of the Lord. The Lord will work in peoples heart, but someone must share the message of the Gospel, otherwise they do not know that

Acts 4:12 (ESV)

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

You see, that is what missions is all about. Missions is about Christians going and sharing the Gospel with those that have not heard and loving and serving them where ever they are. Now, many times when we think about missions we think about people like Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, as well as those who went with them. This group of men literally lost their lives to the Gospel and that action has had a ripple effect for decades. However, there are other types of missionaries. For instance, in a couple of weeks we are going to hear from Dave Decker who takes care of Dear Ridge Ministries, then in July we are going to hear from Al Dyck who serves over in Spain. You see, all of the missionaries we support as a church have different roles, and different ministries. Some are sent to live at home here in the US and some are sent overseas to minister in another place. All of the missionaries we support as a church family are actively involved in reaching people with the Gospel, but in all different kinds of ways.

That brings us to our speakers today. Today we are going to hear from Dave and Kristen Hynes. Now, I have known Dave and Kristen for a little over 10 years now and have seen God work in their lives in various ways. I have heard Dave’s heart to reach the lost and encourage believers using his gifts and passions. I am personally very excited to hear about how God prepared Dave and Kristen for this new role that they are moving into.

Let’s welcome Dave and Kristen and listen to how God is using them and I will say there is actually a pretty cool connection to Nate Saint that you might hear about this morning. Anyway, they are going to share a little about how they felt God calling them into missions ministry and what this ministry is exactly, as well as how they are participating in the Gospel being proclaimed not just at home, but in other cultures as well. Let’s welcome the Hynes this morning.

Communion

This morning we get the privilege of partaking in communion and both remembering Jesus’ sacrifice, as well as proclaiming his sacrifice to all of those around us. This morning as we take this time I want to encourage you to remember what we are doing. We have heard from this family that is going to serve and proclaim the message of the Gospel, so I want to encourage you to consider how you are proclaiming the message of the Gospel to those around you on a daily basis. This morning we will get up and come to the alter and pick up our communion elements and then we will go and sit down and spend some time in prayer and quiet reflection with the Lord preparing your heart and mind to take these elements and these symbols of Christs sacrifice for you and me. Let’s pray and then we will come and take your elements.

Prayer then people come and pick up

Prayer for the bread—elder

Prayer for the cup—elder

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV)

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Prayer to close—pastor