[0:00] Children, you are dismissed for Children's Church at this time. This morning, Ms. Rachel Sanders is leading Children's Church today, so you can head out that door and follow her.! Savannah is on vacation this week, and Justin was really excited. He told Savannah,! Look, we didn't actually listen to Evan preach, and Savannah said, that's why we're going on vacation.
[0:19] Thanks, Savannah. Humble. So, this morning, Pastor Brett asked me a few weeks ago to preach a missional message, which, that's my language. That's what I love to preach about. And so, for me, my initial thought was like, Acts.
[0:31] But we've been in Acts for a few months now, I think. And we've had a little bit of a break, and we're about to go back into it, I believe, next week, probably. Next week. So, I had to remind myself that, look, the entire Bible is a missional message, right?
[0:44] From the first page to the last, every page and every word is bent on telling of God's pursuit of lost souls back to himself. In the beginning, we were created to worship God.
[0:55] From the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. All creation was designed to worship God. We see this from passages like Psalm 19.1. The heavens declare the glory of God. The sky above proclaims his handiwork.
[1:07] Let heaven and nature sing. This is our king. And all of heaven and all the skies, it's almost like they're saying, You think I look great. Well, look to the one who created me. The heavens declare the glory of God.
[1:19] The skies proclaim his handiwork. We see that in passages like Colossians 1.16. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.
[1:32] All things were created through him and for him. The purpose of all creation is to worship God. But we see in the scripture something happened, right?
[1:45] Mankind rebelled. Stories like Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel. Sodom and Gomorrah. All of Israel in the Old Testament. We see, they were unable to live according to God's plan.
[1:57] All throughout the scripture we see, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I mean, they're created to worship God. They were created to do something. But they are completely incapable of doing that.
[2:08] And everything they do, we are incapable of reflecting and worshiping God as we were created to. We choose to worship other things. And throughout the disobedience, we see throughout scripture that God still pursued his creation, right?
[2:24] God never gave up. God never crumbled up the paper and said, Let's just start from scratch. He chose to pursue those who had rebelled. So God gifted his people with the law. These instructions on how to navigate the brokenness of the world in which we were in.
[2:39] He then made it possible for us to have atonement. For things to cover our sins in sacrifice so that we might be reconciled to God. God pursued creation throughout their rebellion.
[2:52] Sin corrupts and distorts all things from their created purpose. But all scripture culminates while we celebrated this past week, right? And when we look forward to it, Easter.
[3:05] God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to love, heal, and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon.
[3:17] And an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. All the scripture culminates to this point where God made a way for rebels, for sinners, for those who have been corrupted and broken to find peace and life in him.
[3:32] Which brings us to what we've been studying for months in the book of Acts. God's mission through the church. Through what? We've seen in the book of Acts that God has made salvation possible through Jesus.
[3:45] And now Jesus has commissioned his disciples to take the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, they've endured persecution.
[3:56] They've faithfully proclaimed the gospel. They've planted churches. And the early church has begun to boom. It's been incredibly encouraging for me personally to read through the book of Acts with each of you.
[4:06] Because it is such an incredibly, incredibly encouraging story of God's mission through the church. Yet after the events of Acts, God's word jumps a bit.
[4:19] The next thing we see is John's revelation in the last things. Which is where I want to spend our time this morning in the end of this missional message. So if you have your Bible, turn me to Revelation chapter 7 where I believe we get a glimpse of the great commission fulfilled.
[4:35] We get a glimpse of the mission accomplished. And I pray that as we consider the picture in Revelation 7 this morning, that it may prompt us to boldly take part in God's pursuit of reclaiming sinners through himself, from every tribe, nation, and tongue, that we may worship as we witness.
[4:52] So Revelation chapter 7, starting in verse 9. And after this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, from peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.
[5:17] And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four leading creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, Amen.
[5:30] Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, Who are these clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?
[5:44] I said, And sir, you know, and he answered me, These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
[5:57] Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.
[6:09] The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. He will guide them to springs of living water.
[6:20] God will wipe away every tear from their eye. Now, before we continue this morning, I want to offer a little bit of a Bible reading tip, since we're venturing into one of the most intimidating books of Scripture.
[6:33] Thanks to Kirk Cameron and the Left Behind series. This is a book most people are kind of scared of a little bit. So I'm going to offer a little bit of a tip for how to read this. And this is the tip, alright? Let's keep the main things the plain things.
[6:44] Let's keep the plain things the main things. Rather than getting lost in some of the questions, and some of the debates, and some of the details that honestly matter but don't matter, let's focus on what is very clear and true from God's Word.
[6:58] And I believe that will help us as we navigate this. So while there's a need to faithfully study and seek understanding of the whole counsel of God, I don't want us to miss the beauty of what is present in this scene in Revelation 7, by being distracted by other details.
[7:13] So this morning, we're going to keep the main things the plain things, right? And the first clear thing that we see from this text is that God will receive praise from all people.
[7:25] God will receive praise from all people. John sees a multitude of people around the throne doing what? Worshiping. That's what he sees them doing, worshiping. He writes that they were standing before the Lamb of God, clothed in white robes with palm branches, crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.
[7:47] And then there's these pretty incredible creatures themselves, the angels, the elders, and the four living creatures from chapter 4. They all fall on their faces before the throne and worship God.
[8:00] Now, this is a big deal, right? This is a big deal to see this taking place. Chapter 6, right before this, had actually ended with a question. The question was, who can stand before the Creator God on the throne?
[8:12] Who can stand before Him and not suffer His wrath? That was a question that left chapter 6, and then chapter 7, we get the answer. Those who experience salvation by the blood of the Lamb.
[8:23] Who can stand before this Creator, this Almighty, this Holy, this Perfect, this Awesome God, who can stand before Him? Well, only those who have been saved by Jesus Christ.
[8:34] This is a big deal to see. On our own, we are sinners unable to save ourselves. We are destined for what we see in Revelation 20, a lake of fire, eternal torment, and a place called hell.
[8:46] But praise be to God that He gave His Son. Praise be to God that He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, as a substitute, as a perfect, sinless lamb, so that through His death, burial, and resurrection, we may have eternal life, and be able to worship before His death.
[9:04] I love verses 13 to 14. John's observing all of this happen, and I'm just imagining it's marvelous. And while the elder that addresses him in this scene here, while the elder knows the answer to this question, I like to take a little bit of imaginative liberty, per se, and just how we ask the question.
[9:25] I think John's watching this worship take place. His mouth is probably like to the floor, just watching in all of what is happening. And I can imagine this elder just kind of like creeps up beside him over his shoulder and whispers, Who are all these people?
[9:41] What's going on? He actually asks this question. He actually asks this question. He says, Who are these clothed in white robes, and from where have they come? And we see the answer in verse 14. These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
[9:54] They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now, there's a little bit of debate. I'll introduce this a little bit. There's a little bit of debate on what the great tribulation exactly is referring to, whether it's all of the suffering that God's people have experienced three times, the great troubles and tribulation and persecution they've endured throughout the ages, or whether it's an age right before Christ's coming that is just a great deal of persecution.
[10:18] But let's take that debate aside. What's the plain thing here? God's people have experienced great suffering. Yet, through that suffering, they have endured.
[10:31] They've persevered. They've remained faithful. And now, they stand before the One who has made them clean, who has given them life, who has forgiven their sins. And notice this. And they worshiped.
[10:43] It's in this moment where we see mankind fulfilling their creative purpose, right? We were created to worship God. We were created way back in Genesis 1 and 2.
[10:55] We see the creation of Adam and Eve, the first mankind. And all the way throughout the story, we see them trying to worship other things and trying to get to this point that's a fixed point in time, where we will finally achieve our creative purpose.
[11:09] They worship God. Worship in the presence of God. They worship, despite their suffering, they worship before the Lamb who suffered death, so that they may experience life.
[11:23] They're free from the bodies of sin, free from the brokenness of creation, and they worship God, saying, Amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be to our God, forever and ever.
[11:39] Amen. That's not such a cool story. It's written in the book. I mean, this isn't just something that's part of our imagination. It's not some fairy tale that's just happened to make its way in.
[11:53] This is a fixed point in time that will come to pass. This is something we can look forward to. People of every tribe, nation, and tongue will stand together as the redeemed, as the reconciled, as the restored, worshiping the Creator God on their throne.
[12:10] So this morning, no matter what difficulties you're facing, no matter what loss you may have endured, no matter the questions that you may ponder, no matter what temporary treasures the enemy may use to tempt you, this much I know for certain, God will receive praise from all people.
[12:29] So what is He getting from you right now? Who are you living for? Encouraged by this thought of David Platt, he writes, the train of history is heading towards the enjoyment and exaltation of God's glory among all nations.
[12:46] So if you want your life to count, you jump on that train. Brothers and sisters, quit living for temporary, fleeting pleasures. Quit indulging in shameful and degrading sin. Quit living for yourself and start fulfilling your creative purpose today.
[13:02] Worship God with your life. And one of the primary ways that we worship God is through our witness to the world. Pastor John Piper puts it this way, when you know the truth about what happens to you after you die, and you believe it, and you are satisfied with all that God will be for you in the ages to come, that truth makes you free indeed.
[13:24] Free from the short, shallow, suicidal pleasures of sin, and free from the sacrifices of mission and ministry that calls people to give glory to our Father in heaven.
[13:38] So this morning, we understand from this passage, God will receive praise from all people, every tribe, nation, and time. Therefore, us as a church, we must share the gospel with all people.
[13:55] God will receive worship, praise from all people. Therefore, we as a church, what's your mission? To share the gospel with all people. To share the gospel with all people.
[14:07] We must share the gospel. This is a great example of this in what we've been studying for months. I tried to stay out of Acts, but here's a little bit of it for you. Acts 1A, did you see the example of the early church? Jesus hands the gospel baton off the disciples.
[14:19] Verse 8, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
[14:31] We see in the following chapters what it looked like for these followers of Christ to bear witness of Christ to the world around them. In Acts 2, they received the power of the Holy Spirit, and they began to boldly proclaim Christ to those around them.
[14:45] In Acts 3, they trusted God to meet the physical needs of others. And gave God all the honor and glory. In Acts 4, they committed themselves to prayer, trusting God to grant them boldness in the face of opposition.
[14:58] In Acts 5, they trusted God to purge hypocrisy from their midst, stating the course of obedience to God's mission. In Acts 6, they raised up even more leaders, so the proclamation of the gospel is not neglected in the tyranny of the urgent.
[15:13] In Acts 7, Stephen displays radical obedience to the cause of Christ, proclaiming the gospel to the point of his death. In Acts 8, they share the gospel with those they used to hate.
[15:26] In Acts 9, they witness God bring salvation to their greatest enemy. In Acts 10, they spread the gospel among those they used to deem unworthy. In Acts 11, their witness is so evident to their neighbors around them to where they were first called Christians in Antioch.
[15:41] And in Acts 12, they faced increasing opposition from worldly leaders, but they remained faithful, and the word of God increased and was multiplied. Now, I'll read the rest of the chapters for the coming weeks.
[15:52] That's where we'll stop there. But do you get the picture, right? To worship God doesn't mean we just sing songs all the day long. That's an incredibly important part of worship. That's not all worship is.
[16:03] We don't just remain in the sanctuary to worship. We worship through our witness. We worship through lives lived ultimately for God.
[16:15] This means that we diligently live our lives in obedience to God's missional purpose so that others may come to stand next to us on that day before God, before the throne of Revelation 7.
[16:28] We want to bring as many people as we can to that scene that will come to pass. So we want to live our lives in worship and we worship as we witness.
[16:39] And the only way that someone stands before God on that day, as we see in verses 13 and 14, is they responded to the gospel by faith in Jesus Christ with their robes being made white by the blood of the Lamb.
[16:53] We see the great need around us, right? I don't think we live in such a holy huddle, such a bubble, to where we're just blind to the needs around us. I'm thankful for a church that reaches out so well that gives us a glimpse into our community that helps us see the real needs that are there.
[17:10] I'm thankful for Hope for the Hungry, where we, most, many of you who've served in that, you've seen the real need around us. There are people in our immediate community who struggle to even put food on their table. You've seen it, if you served at the toy store a few weeks ago, the association toy store we were able to host, if you served at that, you saw families that were experiencing difficulty and just needed a little bit of assistance to get through the holidays.
[17:34] We see the great physical needs in our community around us. And depending on your profession, your connections, you may see even darker parts of our community.
[17:45] You may see the prominent issues that our community has with drugs, poverty, abuse. As a church, we want to do everything we can do to be a lighthouse, right? We want to do everything we can to be a place of hope, a place of life in the midst of all the darkness and brokenness.
[18:02] We want to do everything we can to help those that we can help. After all, faith without works is dead. How dare we ever not meet the needs around us?
[18:13] But I do want us to remember, we must never lose sight that the truth of God, the truth of God, the truth is that God only, and only God can save and satisfy.
[18:25] Humanitarianism is great, but it's not the great condition. Let's look back at the picture in Revelation 7, verses 15 through 17, right there at the end. Therefore they are before the throne of God, serving day and night in his temple.
[18:40] And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
[18:51] For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, he will guide them to springs of living water. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There's the old proverb, give a man a fish, you'll feed him for a day.
[19:06] But teach a man a fish, you'll feed him for a lifetime. I believe we can take that and think about Revelation 7 and change it a little bit. Give a man a fish, you'll feed him for a day. Give a man the gospel, you'll feed him for eternity.
[19:20] We must always remember the gospel as what we must be about. For those that place their faith in Christ, when they're in God's presence, there will be no more hunger, no more thirst, no more discomfort, no more tears.
[19:32] He has sealed you, he has saved you, and he will supply you with all that you ever need. God is a good shepherd who leads his people well. So again, let's remember, this is a fixed point in time that will come to pass.
[19:44] And while there may be brokenness all around us, I'm definitely not advocating in any way that we don't address the desperate needs around us. But I am saying that as a church, the gospel must be primary.
[19:57] The gospel has to be number one. We don't merely hand out boxes of food once a month. We have intentional gospel conversations with each and every person who will offer them eternal hope. And this past year, we celebrated 16 people and made professions of faith through over the 100 years past year.
[20:13] We don't stop our free child here for a week at Vacation Mile School, although that's thank the grace of God for that. We proclaim the gospel to each and every child and through every station. And this year, we saw two children give their lives to Christ at EBS, and another dozen or so that gave their lives to Christ at Pineco City.
[20:30] We don't just buy Christmas presents for families in need. We prayed with each and every family that walked through it on December 11th. Not only one family, not only left with gifts for another tree, they walked away with the gift of eternal life.
[20:41] We don't just take a team to Boston to move furniture. Right, Chad? We don't just take a team to Boston to move furniture. We go to demonstrate and declare the gospel to students and families that come from all over the globe for one of the most formative seasons of their lives.
[20:56] We try to connect them to a local church where they can flourish in their faith. We don't just go build houses in Ensenada, Mexico. We labor to give families the living hope of Jesus Christ and all of heaven rejoice.
[21:08] When we were there this past year and Miss Mary in the sand got to leave Miss Mary going to Christ. One of the homeowners, one of these young mothers, she gave her life to the Lord thanks to the work that was done there. But we don't just do things to meet the physical needs.
[21:21] We do everything that we do as a church is in obedience to the Great Commission with the anticipation of what we see in Revelation 7. Where people of every tribe, nation, and tongue will rejoice and worship before the throne of God.
[21:35] Look at the Great Commission, Matthew 28 and 19. Then go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. The picture of the throne room is incredibly diverse.
[21:47] People from every tribe, nation, and tongue. Which means that this fixed point in Revelation 7 that will come to pass is a completion of the Great Commission. So brothers and sisters, we don't labor and wane.
[22:00] We don't just share the gospel with hope and prayers. We share the gospel knowing that there's a fixed point in time where the work that we do will come to completion. Everything we do is with anticipation of this point where the mission will be accomplished.
[22:17] So while we want to be faithful to bear witness of Christ to our immediate community, we are disobedient to the Great Commission if we don't look beyond our community as well. The International Mission More Post a few weeks ago until the gospel is reached every people in every place in every language we have work to do.
[22:38] We've got work to do. This is a sharp reminder of the mission before the church today. According to the Joshua Project, one research agency, there are approximately 3.43 billion people in our world today that are classified as unreached.
[22:51] That is a geographical classification for areas that have little or no Christian presence. Meaning that likely in many of those regions, there are more Christians sitting in this room today than there are in those entire cities, some of those entire nations.
[23:05] Little to no gospel presence there. There are 3.43 billion where it is incredibly difficult to make any missional progress often due to hostility to the gospel. Further, according to Whitecliffe Bible Translators, there are almost 780 million people, three quarters of a billion, 780 million people that have zero access to scripture in their own language.
[23:27] Because there's not a single portion of scripture that has been translated into their native tongue. In many of these areas, most of them will live in earthly torment, suffering through poverty, disease, war, and famine, only to die and spend an eternity in hell, a place of eternal torment, never having even had the chance to hear the gospel.
[23:52] There's work to be done. In many of these areas, it will take people giving their lives to gospel ministry, moving their families and giving their lives to this gospel ministry, dedicating their life to Bible translation work.
[24:05] It will take a lot of work to get there. I remember years ago, David Plath, when he was the president of the IMB, he said that the need and urgency of the gospel mission for believers today is so great because all of the places that are easy to reach have been reached.
[24:21] There's Christians there. They speak English. Some of you may be thinking, well, there's a lot of lost people here. Yeah, but you're here. You are the gospel mission. You are the gospel presence.
[24:32] There are places where there is no gospel presence. So if we are to look toward Revelation 7, knowing it's a fixed point in time that there will be people of every tribe, nation, and tongue that will be worshiping there, we've got a lot of work left before us, right?
[24:47] We've got a lot of work left to do. In many of these areas, it will require people giving their lives to gospel ministry and Bible translation work in order to build relationships and see gospel fruit.
[24:59] This is why we give to the Lord and the Christmas offering, right? It's one of the reasons we give. To fund the work of missionaries all over the globe and making progress towards Revelation 7. And it encourages my heart so much to see not only our church but many other churches in our area that I can see that have met and exceeded their goal.
[25:18] Thank you so much for being such a good church. May we give even more next year, right? Well, there's a need for us to finance and help support those who are giving their lives to this mission.
[25:30] It's why we go to international cities like Boston and Clarkston, Georgia where we meet people of every tribe, nation, and tongue. It's why we send teams to Mexico and why we're working on partnerships in other places as well so that we can get our church to the nations.
[25:44] And while we work as a church to have this focus, to have this goal, this destination of Revelation 7 in mind, this morning, I'm going to ask you to consider a first one. As a church, we're working to be intentional in establishing partnerships locally and globally to give you a place to worship as you witness.
[26:04] Serve alongside others to share the gospel in whatever context God places you. And today, as you leave, there's a little wooden table right out there as you leave the bridge here.
[26:14] There's two sets of white papers that I'll put together of just mission partnerships and opportunities. So if you're trying to figure out what's my place in this, what's my role in this, I hope that's a good starting point for you. Look at it.
[26:25] See some of the ministries we partner with in our local community. Be praying for some of the partnerships we have around the world. But I don't want you just to finance. I don't want you just to pray. Although those things are important and necessary, I want to encourage you to go.
[26:40] I want to encourage you to go. In 2025, we'll take a team back to Mexico during that last week of May. Pastor Brad, I believe that's going to lead that team. And I pray that so many people sign up to where it's a nightmare for this man to get you through security.
[26:54] Right? That's my personal goal is that there's so many people that go to where it's just a logistical nightmare for him. Since I'm not going, I want that to fall on the end of the year. Right? All right?
[27:05] There's a group of students that Rachel Sanders is going to lead to Clarkston, Georgia. Clarkston's one of the most diverse square miles in all of the United States. It's a place where you'll see refugees from all over the country. Students, you have an opportunity to be a part of that.
[27:17] Some of you adults may be needed on that trip as well. So Rachel Sanders will be leading that trip in July. I'll be leading the team to Boston. I think he's tired of moving furniture. And I'll be leading the team to Boston later this August where we're partnering again with Kings Hill Church for the big move where countless students from all over the world will come in to start their semesters at the 64 colleges and universities in the metro Boston area.
[27:39] This upcoming year, I'm going to see more and more people leveraging their lives, their careers, and their relationships for the gospel mission of God. The need for the gospel is so great in our world and God has commissioned us, the church, to take it to the ends of the earth.
[27:55] People of every tribe, nation, and time. I'm looking forward to that day where we can stand before the throne of God and worship Him.
[28:06] But I've got two questions to be posed this morning. The first is this. Will you be standing next to me? Again, the only people that will be standing there are those who have given their lives to Jesus.
[28:19] So this morning, I want you to strongly consider this. Are you confident in your faith in Jesus Christ? Have you surrendered your life to Jesus? Acts 4.12, there is salvation in no one else.
[28:30] For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we may be saved. Only those who surrender their life to Jesus and confess to Him as Lord will be able to stand before Him on that day. So are you confident in that?
[28:43] Will you be standing next to Him? Secondly, if you have, if you are confident of grace and the Lord for that, who are you bringing with me? It's often been said you can't take anything with you beyond the grave.
[28:56] And for material possessions that's quite true. But the one thing we can take with us are those that have given their lives to Jesus because of the goodness that He made to them. So, who are you taking me?
[29:12] All of history is rushing towards Revelation 7 where God will receive praise from all people. Therefore, church, this is our mission. This is what we've been called to do, to share the gospel with all people.
[29:26] So this morning if you're sitting here and you're like, but that's not my mission, I want to plead with you to come to the Lord today. You're sitting here and you're not confident in your faith in Jesus Christ.
[29:38] I beg of you, find someone before you leave today and say, hey, I want to give my life to Jesus and I don't know how to do that. Well, the moment of invitation, you're welcome to come now and you're welcome to find one of us afterwards, but I beg of you, I plead with you, don't leave from here today with that not being true for your life.
[29:54] Give your life to Jesus. And if you have, let's stop living for ourselves and let's give in towards the moment in history where we will stand before the throne of God with the people of every tribe, nation, and time.
[30:10] Let's jump on that train and give our lives to worship as we win this. Let's pray. Father, I want to thank you so much. God, I'm gratefully humbled that you would love me and not send your son to die for me.
[30:26] Lord, I stand here personally unworthy, having made many mistakes in my life, selfish, prideful, but Lord, you love me not that while I was still a sinner, you died for me.
[30:39] Lord, that's true for everyone else in this room as well and for those beyond this room. So Lord, may we not forget the gospel. May we not let our lives be about anything else but God, today, right now, may we choose to worship you and bear witness of you to the world around us.
[30:58] Father, may we not be standing around the throne one day wondering where our families are, where our friends are, where our co-workers are, where our neighbors are. Lord, may we do the work now and see that they're there, that they're given every opportunity to know you and to stand next to us on that day.
[31:16] Lord, I want to swing for the fences here and say that there may be a person here today that you are calling and putting out a clear desire for the nations for them and that you're calling them to uproot and move across the world to another contest.
[31:31] Lord, I pray that if there's someone here today that you're calling to the mission field, Lord, I pray they may respond to that call. They may allow us as a church to equip them in every way possible. Lord, during this invitation, I pray that you may do a great work.
[31:44] And as we leave from this church this day, as we enter into 2025, may our lives be about you. May we worship you. May we know you.
[31:56] And may others come to know you for our witness. Lord, so let me pray. I ask you to stand this time. I ask you to listen to the attention. I ask you to Christ to come here. I'm here. If you have any need whatsoever, I invite you to come here this time.
[32:08] for the cause of Christ the King we give our lives and offer till all the earth resounds with ceaseless place to the sun.
[32:31] For the cause of Christ we go with joy to read with faith to show as many sing and many put their trust in the sun.
[32:52] Christ we proclaim the name above every name for all creation every nation God's salvation through the sun God's God's God's love though the music may end the invitation remains the same.
[33:21] If you're here today and you're not confident that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior find someone before you leave for the rest of us let's get to work. There's so much love to be done in 2025 and I pray that we may be in church on mission in Bolden then on Revelation 7 knowing that will come to pass and we can be encouraged in the middle of our suffering in the middle of our setbacks that we be confident that God's on the throne and he's got a part for us to play in this story.
[33:51] Let's go do it. Let's pray. Father we love you Lord thank you so much for this day. Help us as we leave from here today to be on fire and serve us to your mission. Lord help us to worship with every ounce of our being with every part of our lives.
[34:05] Help us to worship you and place you as number one. Lord help us to help us to reach the world. You could have easily stayed on earth and done this mission yourself but God you gave us a task and that task remains unfinished.
[34:18] So Lord let us face all that we have. Let us continue to pray for our missionaries but God let us let us play our part as well in taking the gospel to every people of every nation and tribe and town.
[34:29] Lord we love you. Bless this church bless this people and help us to serve you well today in your name we pray. Amen. God bless. God bless.