Preacher: Tim Heath
Well this time let’s have all the missionary couples come on up Robin take would have an opportunity to introduce themselves and Tim and Judy Come on up
I’m not sure how many people were at the women’s ministry yesterday but a chance like in the morning I know that the ladies were able to share in it last night we had a barbecue and a fire at the house it was great I get to know some of these guys and also for Sunday School Robbie and Tegan were able to share we want you to introduce yourself tell us a bit about yourself and your ministry All right my name is Robbie Heath and.
A wife when here. And we have a son named Vernon we are missionary candidates through things to come mission we are going to South Africa this summer and just recently we got back from the Philippines and we were traveling around this coming year getting prepared to go to South Africa and I just wanted to thank you for having us here and thank you for being so open and receptive and the men’s thing yesterday was wonderful it was so many people who just had wonderful questions and it was awesome to be able to answer it in that kind of setting so.
Please come in come to our table in the back we have our information and newsletter sign up on the table and please sign up on that if you would like to hear from us on a more regular basis and yeah thank you so much.
I think Watchmen or Tim’s going to preach. Judy’s not going to preach with Judy that’s Judy.
But Jim you were I think you were here last you’ve been here a couple times right yeah and I’ve always enjoyed hearing from you and and feeling convicted and all by themselves to do something afterwards so that’s good so it’s good to be on the other side but I just want to pray for you rather before we begin Laura thank you so much for this again this mission’s conference and just just this reminder how important is to share the message of salvation with the world around us thank you for these couples that have given their lives to serving you in these unique roles so I just pray that through our brother here you really speak to us and show us how to put our faith into practice because in questioning.
It’s
good to be here I’m not sure if you can see me in the back because there’s no lights up here but.
I’ll talk and you listen you know I never really get a good joke I’m kind of like my mom where you remember parts of it but mess up the punch line sighs think of me and I go home and I can take my cell phone out and then say What am I doing.
I’m so phoning over you and.
I won’t get that because I don’t I don’t use a watch so that’s where my my watch is myself anyway I know that you didn’t do that either OK so now if you’re a visitor today I just want you to be aware that what is happening today is historic It really is it will never be repeated again in the history of this church. That a guest speaker is speaking as many times as the regular pastor has spoken.
Very cool I have been in this church and at this Paul but the same amount of time as your pastor.
And it won’t happen again he won’t have me back no.
If you’re visiting I trust that you will take advantage of getting to know some of the folks obviously I have no clue of who you might be. But I am thankful to be able to be here Judy and I live up in Leavenworth Washington make sure you don’t think of that as Kansas.
That’s a different Leavenworth where with things that come mission we were missionaries for three and a half years in Southeast Asia in the country of Malaysia and really enjoyed it but didn’t see the fruit that we were hoping for came back and ended up doing what I’m doing now and that is representing things to come mission and especially the teams and I’ll get into that a little bit more but it’s really important to understand that right now there is a real paradigm shift taking place in missions at least in things to come mission where we are getting missionaries Robbie are. Not now the newest missionary candidates and they call them the candidate until you get to the field then you become a missionary So they’re missionary candidates going to South Africa but we have another couple that will be coming around next year Sanders and they are going to be working in Penang Malaysia as well as a single gal Janay we’re trusting she’ll be travelling at the same time and she will also be going to Penang that church and printing that the kill goes started about four years ago is really growing and we’re real excited about what God is doing there your missionary theme is.
Beautiful feet I’m trying to think smelly feet what I knew it had do with feet but you know there are some interesting verses in the Bible Jesus said if your foot offends you cut it off.
Jesus characterized Simon the fairest chastises not characterizes chastises Simon the fair city for not washing his feet but a prostitute is washing his feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair Jesus also told his disciples to shake the dust off of their feet their sandals if a town doesn’t accept their message and I was thinking about that as I was looking at that verse thinking wow what if we did that today in let’s say Thailand where they work for three four years before they see a person come to know Christ as Savior sometimes longer than that and then they work with them another five to six eight ten years before they really break away from. Buddhism and can really understand the freedom that we have in Christ it’s tremendously difficult and yet Christ was saying you know you go out and you preach if they don’t like you you shake the dust off your sandals It’s like walking through sand you know you get more sand in your sand you shake it off and go forward but I want you to look at the fish and this is not the theme passage I’ll get to the theme passage in a minute.
But going home last night this is what was I don’t know what to do introductions are really important because that’s where you really grip the people and whether it did or not but I felt like God I was thinking about several different things and and God gave me this idea of what the Scriptures say about feet in the Bible besides the one in Romans that we’re going to go to but any fusions Chapter six beginning and burst into says finally be strong in the Lord in the power of His might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the stand he knows that word.
A person who does not have legs can’t stand so you need feet and you need legs in order to stand so there we get feet OK So we have to be standing on our feet in fact Robbie inside the school says we’ve got to get our feet wet I think if we thought about it much I think we would do a whole lot with feet.
In fact we had a contest I mean.
I don’t know what you call it a fun time in our church one time in Leavenworth years ago where we had guys hide behind a sheet OK and they had rolled her pants up and you and they were just bare bare feet and we’re supposed to guess who belong to the feet OK And so we were guessing who bought the feet and it’s amazing feet are not normally beautiful and I had guys I should say guys gals I don’t know why God did that gals are beautiful guys or just well that’s what we are and one of them is not cute feet. But but so so here he’s saying stand in with your feet focused on God but he goes on for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the cosmic powers over the present darkness against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand for so then he says therefore stand stand stand stand. We are challenged today when we think of missions to to stay in the gap to keep going to keep focusing and I want you to turn over to Romans Then in chapter ten this is where their theme is taken from is Romans ten.
And HAWR.
The way Paul says it. He starts from one spot and moves backward OK So Romans Chapter ten verse fourteen How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed this is Romans ten verse fourteen fifteen let’s say on 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 sin as it is written How beautiful it feeds of those who preach the good news so if we reversed that OK that order and do it like we would normally do it we would say that a group or an individual sins someone to preach
when the good news is preached they will hear upon hearing some will believe once they believe that they will call in the name of the Lord now sometimes we get confused with well if they believe in the call in the name it Lord isn’t that the same thing and it’s really not. In in a psalm and I just want to read it to you real quick because it helps you to see that calling on the name of the Lord in other words if I didn’t know about Jesus when I’m facing a problem what would I call to would I bow and do my. Eight verse prayer that the Muslims do five times a day so who would I call on when I am hurting and in some one hundred sixteen
first four verses says I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy because he inclined his ears to me therefore I will call on him as long as I live the snares of death encompassed me the pains of Shiel laid hold of me I suffer distress and anguish then I called on the name of the Lord oh Lord I pray deliver my soul do you see the situation there
when the world is hurting and that’s what Robbie was talking about in Sunday school when people are hurting they will call on someone they will say well I just got us tough it out. That’s their god that they are going to try to do it because the world says everyone has a God in them that your god so you call on yourself doesn’t work real well when you’re going through heavy problems and struggles and trials and so when when we are going and facing difficulties in this world we need to call in the name of the Lord but we can’t call on them if we don’t know who we is that’s the point the missions. That’s why we send missionaries and I want to focus on the sending I because I wanted to touch on the beautiful feet OK but but you know what you are you’re the sending group
you are the sitting group you are really critical to this whole process because Paul says how are they going to preach and less they are sent
someone has to send the missionary out that’s you see sometimes if if this wasn’t and I’m not Joel Bless your heart you’ve done a great job but if you weren’t aware of the mission conference. Let’s say if you were aware of the missionary conference you may not have come because people don’t like to feel guilty Oh man here the missionaries come everyone supposed to be a missionary when I don’t feel like being a mission area and so I’m not doing God’s Will
I’m not sure if you felt that way but I know of people when I was pasturing that would not come to a missionary conference
they don’t want to feel guilty let me take your guilt away
you’re here with a job to do and you cannot be a missionary
I was that
we’re not looking for you
unless unless a large broad thing then you want to say yes to God But you say you’ve got an important task
and I want to I want to look at a couple things about the senders to be sent means you have a you have a person involved you see we don’t send money and tracks in a sense we do but what we really are sending is people you are sending people and by sending people you help them financially.
Robbie and take one cannot go to South Africa without support Judy and I wouldn’t be traveling unless we could have support we’re still on missionary support. You make it possible for us to do what we’re doing OK So you as the senders are involved in a person’s life in a number of people’s lives and you’re really important.
I just came back from a board meeting in Indianapolis and we accepted
two missionary families that are Filipino who are going to be going out and we accepted one American couple that will be going out next year and one single gal so we have seven people.
One two three four groups that have the potential of going out and being involved in people’s lives who have never heard about Jesus Christ never they do not know who Jesus is so they cannot call on him so how can they call in someone that they don’t know how will they know unless someone is sent you know that whole process see that process involves you you have the glorious opportunity to work hard here to be involved here and to send out those who are needed other areas and I just want to encourage you I am so excited for where you are I am so privileged to be here today and to be able to share with you I just appreciate so much Pastor Josten your ministry you’re doing and the vision you have you’re surrounded by all these homes how will the people here unless somebody is sent
and in that way it involves you it involves you running into people at the store it involves you seeing somebody out in fact and David others say David you probably all know who he is but we were leaving. I was and Robbie because we weren’t invited to the ladies’ luncheon for some reason and and we were leaving for coffee and oh no I was picking up Judy that’s right Judy and I would leaving after the the thing was the ladies and and the guy was kind of looking at Judy and asked if we were.
OK OK what church moved in here so she was just talk a little bit but David saw him talk he walked right over to him See if you want to interact in people’s lives you have to walk across the room. Don’t you. Most people won’t come to you you have to cross the bridge that man put out a bridge he said what church is this now crazy church or what and see I don’t even know if that person is here so if you are please though I had no idea that would be really bad if I’m telling a story and you’re here but but the thing was.
One of the members of your church walked over to him right at the fence over here and began talking with him I have no idea what happened but I was so excited because that is what you get to do here that we desire our missionaries to do their It’s amazing how similar it is in Malaysia we had to go out to the people they did not come to us now there is an advantage overseas.
When we went in the Paul we were in a small village and no up white person it ever stayed overnight in the village and they had never seen a white woman stay in the village so I thought they were coming to see me and Judy the second time I went to Nepal and I was in the village nobody came so I realized wow they came to see my wife Judy because she was the attraction of the area.
Now you don’t get that here I understand that but you have the most exciting opportunity everything’s new the community is new the church is new to you
what would we do with it
the exciting thing is to ask God to open up the bridges that you will ask God for the courage to walk across the bridge
you see if I’m waiting for the bridge and I’m praying for the bridge I don’t have to panic on what I’m going to try to say
because God brings the bridge over to me something happens I say hi they say Hi I can walk across the bridge. We look at the bridges in our life walk across the bridge to minister to people but it always involves a person and it it’s a person that has a purpose.
What would happen if
Vernon Anderson never went to the Philippines
you know those first missionaries Vernon went to the Philippines Vernon and Darlene then the Watkins went and then. I think it was near it was the drivers of the Bigelow’s of the hunts and then we came in sixty seven
what if that had never happened
thousands and thousand five hundred churches now turning out between four and eight Filipino missionaries every year
because they decided there was a purpose for T.C.M. to be there God had brought about what he was wanting to do through this organization called things the commission we’re not the only mission others can do it but we have the privilege of seeing specific people come to know Jesus Christ the Savior and that’s the purpose in living my mom turns ninety five in another week or so you know what her is at ninety five she’s still pretty strong
What’s the purpose of me still living and I said Mom no purpose go ahead and die no I don’t. Know. But that’s what she feels like why doesn’t God just take me home I said Mom you have a purpose OK I can pray Well when I get back this time and part of my ministry is going to be watching my ninety five year old mom I just need to do that and I’m going to take her downtown and we’re going to have these little flyers little teeny things that says Are you considering church cascade MT Bible Church the phone number the web address and I’m going to give one to my mom and saying OK let’s give it to somebody because she talks to everybody so she’ll talk to buy them to my church and I give her another way I’m going to give her a purpose to be alive now I want you to know what if this church wasn’t here
there’s other churches in town.
But no one gets to be watching over people.
You see
you have a purpose for being here
no matter how old you are
no matter what your condition is
no matter how young you are you have a purpose to be here and when we understand that there is a purpose for our ice we begin to then look for a plan
and we need a plan so you have a purpose and when one is sent they realize I am sent as a missionary I’m sent as a an ambassador to those around me and I have I have got a purpose that today I am praying that God will give me an opportunity to present the gospel of Jesus Christ or to encourage someone or to just lift him up out of their hopelessness to give them the word of of grace from the Lord Jesus Christ
I have endeavored to just tell people when I pass on the Lord Jesus bless you if I open somebodies door you remember I told you that I like repeating if you do this if I do it twice
if I do it four times OK that’s what my son in law Nathan helped me do so if he sells a joke now we go like this one hundred eighth and yeah so but if I told you this but see it when you’re when you’re out and about you say can I take your card for you and they say wow thank you shopping cart I mean not take it with groceries in it but when they’re done.
And they say thank you and when they sank you to simply say The Lord Jesus bless you I have no idea what that will do in a person’s life
but they’re not hearing the name of Jesus as a swear word
they’re hearing it as a blessing
I want the name of Jesus Christ
to be heard as a blessing because I’m tired of hearing it as a swear word
and we have the opportunity to do that
you have a purpose for being here let’s make a plan.
A plan for outreach a plan to minister a plan to if you’re here for the first time we’re going to have lunch together
and then maybe you get a card to Windies for ten bucks
who know to make the plan when a person is sent out they have to have know that there’s a meaningful purpose for them being there and they’re developing a plan that God will use to touch people’s lives our plan is to open up country after country and not just in Southeast Asia we’re in fifteen countries right now in South America only in Brazil at the present time though we’d like to see some things change in Africa we’re in South Africa Kenya new Gonda and and then in Southeast Asia we’ve just open to new fields at this last mission conference a Mission Board meeting Vietnam and East Timor you may have never heard of East Timor and you’ll have to look at up it somewhere in Indonesia. But I think we do know where Vietnam is OK that’s just opened up we have to missionaries one going to each of them plus others that will graduate and join them so we have teams so there’s team booklets on the pack if you haven’t ever gotten one of those get a team booklet it will be on your right as you leave we have team Laos we have team Cambodia we have a team in Mazar which has opened up in just this last year very tough field that we just need prayer everything is expensive there they can only stay at the first thirty days twenty one days and then they had to leave and they had to come back so the bees the problem is big time in many countries and we’re trying to work through trying to figure out a way to have a visa that will last longer and then I’m not talking about a Visa card for those of you who have traveled you realize you have to have a visa to get into the country except for America and then you just walk across the border but.
What that might be really a put I forgot all of a sudden where I was.
Ministry have a plan I mean that’s even a whole nother thing I mean talk about a plan to reach the Mexican population
see develop the plan if one is going to be sent to preach they have to know that they have purpose in life and then that they have a plan and then I want to look oh man don’t look at your watches OK everyone’s go look at your watch OK now we got that done.
And then there’s the placement
I’m not sure what that means like cut it off oh no.
OK I just want this kind of close with this.
Where you go is really important and Paul in Romans ten has just talked about if you confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you’ll be saved for with a heart one professes and and is saved and with the mouth confession is made and to salvation anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved that’s why we go out as missionaries and that’s why you go out and share with your neighbors and your friends the reality that without Jesus Christ what is there hope in Australia the Aborigines tribes I don’t know if they still do it or not but if they had twins and we have some twins here if you were born in that tribe you would take pick one of the twins and you would take him and lay him in the sand and then you would take sand and poured in his mouth as he’s crying and tell he dies because they were afraid of what it meant to have two that looked exactly the same that’s without Christ if you were in a mountain village and your wife was accused of being unfaithful she was to climb the tallest tree in the village and when she got to the top she would jump out and if she didn’t die she was innocent if she died she was guilty that’s because they don’t know about Jesus Christ. If you are in a tribe and Papa New Guinea and you had lair in giantess they would bury you because the life is in the voice and if you couldn’t talk you must be dead and so they would bury you alive you see these accounts of what has happened all over the world is in numerable we could go over and over and over again why because the reality is if they do not know Christ they have no hope and you are the ones to sin them you are the ones that sacrificed to send them a missionary should not have to travel fifteen thousand miles to raise support because it is critical that they get there and share Jesus Christ with those who are in need and you get to send them
you don’t have to go
although they venture is leaving in May and.
It’s it’s almost it and two weeks in Southeast Asia see the kind of three countries all your expenses paid once you get their four thousand dollar gift and you know it’s a wonderful opportunity to see countries but for many of you you may not even have a passport let alone go overseas so I would love to encourage you to do that
but you have such an important thing here it’s not about numbers it’s about bringing hope to people’s lives
we can’t be satisfied with a group large group we can’t be satisfied with a filled church
because there are people around us
who don’t call on the name of the Lord because they don’t know who he is
and they have no hope
it’s not as bad as an Australian tribe
but it’s the consequences are just as horrible
it’s not guilt it’s the excitement that you get the P. a part of God’s plan right here in Phoenix but around the world
as you see that you have a purpose
for what God is doing
grab that purpose with all your heart make the planet.
Go give whatever God needed to do with all your heart
and see what God will do let’s pray Heavenly Father you are so good.
You
don’t motivate us Father through guilt you motivate us through the excitement of being part of the God of creations workforce
the God who works in us and through us we have that opportunity we have that blessing
that excitement of realizing that we can be involved in eternal work just simply because we know Jesus Christ and His Spirit lives within us we glorify your name father we are so excited about this church right here and we pray Father that there will be wonderful stories of how bridges were extended to them and they went over those bridges and saw people’s lives changed for eternity Oh father may you give them an excitement to be used by you right here and and other places as they get involved in prayer in giving and visiting but Lord all we pray a blessing on this area this special church and each individual here Lord they have a purpose Help them to develop their plan so they can go to the right place and see you work in a person’s life and we give you the praise of our Savior States.