[0:00] Would you open your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter number 9? Matthew chapter number 9. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share a few words with you this morning.
[0:10] And I want to say a giant thank you to Pastor Trent and to our church family for having one of my dear friends, Michael and Flavia, that were here just a couple days ago. I regret that I missed them, but I'm very grateful and I certainly appreciate you allowing them to be here.
[0:25] After God allowed us to start our first church in Argentina, a couple months after, we had been doing our best to witness, to talk to people, to involve people in church and get really in.
[0:38] Well, it was probably, I don't know, maybe four or five months in. And while we started, we had our first baptism. We were so excited. We had six people getting ready to get baptized. And Flavia and her brother Mauricio, they were the first people to get baptized in our church.
[0:53] And we're so grateful they began to grow and God began to use them. They began to teach and do different things. About a year in, or maybe even a little bit more, Michael started showing up to church and he showed up as a skeptic.
[1:05] He had no desire to be a follower of Christ. He had a desire to, I don't know, to debunk the things of Christ. And God got a hold of his heart. You know, if you want to wrestle against somebody, make sure that you're bigger than them, right?
[1:17] And he tried to wrestle against our Lord. And the Lord said, I'm going to make you tap out in one second here. And so he did his best with me. And he did a good job. But he didn't outdo our God. And God got a hold of his heart.
[1:28] And by that time, he started growing. He got involved in discipleship. And then he got involved in the Bible college. And then he started teaching sign language. He started learning sign language. And he started bringing people to the church in sign language.
[1:41] And he led our first deaf person to the Lord in our church. And what a blessing that was. And he started growing. Began the superintendent of all the kids' Sunday school classes. He was in charge of all of them and made sure the teachers did their job.
[1:54] Each one had an assistant. Each one took up role. And each one made sure they had Kool-Aid and cookies for the kids. And he did a great job. And God began to use them. We came back to the United States. And he kept growing.
[2:05] And then from there, he went to Mexico and continues his education. And then God put upon his heart to be a missionary to Romania. And I want to say from the depths of my heart, thank you for allowing them to be here. I had no idea they were in the United States.
[2:18] And just last week, they let us know and said, hey, we're here. I want to see you. And I said, you've got to be kidding me. And what a blessing and encouragement. We're in the book of Matthew chapter number 9. If you had a pen, would you underline something with you?
[2:29] Matthew chapter number 9. We're going to read verse number 36, verse number 37, verse number 38. Lord Jesus Christ, he's speaking here in a passage you will know. The Bible says this, Matthew chapter number 9, verse number 36.
[2:40] But when he, that's our Jesus. I saw the multitude of all these people. He was moved with compassion. You know, there's a difference between pity and empathy, right? And sympathy. And that would be that he didn't just see them and say, man, that stinks to be you.
[2:52] Boy, I'd hate to be in your shoes. He actually saw the need and said, you know what? I'm going to do something about this. He was moved with compassion, the Bible says, on them. Because they fainted, these people, they fainted.
[3:03] They were scattered abroad. They were as sheep that had no shepherd. Verse number 37. The Bible says this. Then saith he, that's our Jesus unto his disciples. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers, they're few.
[3:17] The Bible says this in verse number 38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he, that's our Lord, will send forth labors into his harvest. That's not our harvest. That's not the world's.
[3:28] That doesn't belong to a president or to a leader. That belongs to our Lord. And so we see that there's a problem here, right? The problem is what a lack of laborers, what a people that are without the, you know, sheep without a shepherd, people that are hopeless.
[3:42] How do they even get through life? You know, sometimes I think, how do we get through hard situations in our life? A lost loved one dies, or you're going through a tragic moment in your life. How do we get through those moments?
[3:53] Well, we get through those moments with the Lord on our side, right? And praise the Lord for the comforter that we have. But how does the world without hope, how do they get through all these situations? I don't know that they can. The world, the problem is that the world's without hope.
[4:06] But the solution is there's laborers, there's boots on the ground, there's men that we can send, there's people we can send over in their place, the Lord and Grant that can go over and talk to those young ladies, talk to those people, those sweet, wonderful people that need to know our Lord.
[4:18] But between the problem and between the solution, there's something that connects the two together. There's a linchpin, if you may say. I grew up and where we grew up, where I grew up, there was no water.
[4:30] To this day, there's no water that gets down the road to my parents' house. My dad loves to live off the grid. If it's up to him, he's going to wear a tin hat, nobody's going to know where he's at, you know? And he's off the grid and no water gets down there.
[4:42] And I'm always saying, Dad, why don't you just try, you know? Like, nope, I don't want anybody to know. You know, he built his house in like a bunker so nobody knows where he's at. And I don't know if the apocalypse comes or whatever's going to happen, you know? Dad is ready for it.
[4:53] But anyway, I would haul, so he gets his water. He goes, takes the truck and, you know, with the trailer and he'll go up to the fire station and for a quarter, he puts a quarter in, the water comes out and four quarters and equals up the 500 gallons in the truck there.
[5:06] And then he'll take it back and he puts that hose in the ground and he fills up the water. And that's how they, and then they've got this pump that goes. And to this day, Dad always hauls water. Well, when I was a kid, it was part of my job to make sure I hauled the water.
[5:19] And so I would get the haul of the water and, man, I'd seen a bazillion times. I knew exactly what to do. I can close my eyes and get to the fire station, put it in the corner, line it exactly up the trailer and back the trailer up.
[5:29] I knew how to do every bit of it. Well, one day I thought, well, you know, I'm going to help that out. He didn't tell me. Usually he'd say, all right, son, I need you today to do this. And today he didn't tell me. I'm going to take initiative. I'm going to go do it. So I go up there, line the truck exactly up and put that PVC right there and get all the water coming out and get ready.
[5:45] And I put on the top and I'm taking off and I'm driving home. And as I'm driving home, I notice all of a sudden, man, it's really bumpy. You know, you get all that water and the water begins to slosh. It's really bumping going up and down. And, you know, I'm making some of your motion sickness looking at me.
[5:57] But anyway, it's really bumpy going up and down. And all of a sudden I look and I feel something in the trailer. As I do, I look in the rear view mirror and the trailer had come off the truck and it hit the ground.
[6:08] I'm on a bridge and it went to the other lane and I'm driving this way and the trailer's driving this way, 500 gallons. I'm like, Lord, we're going to all die. And so I jumped out of the truck and I have no idea how, but out of, you know, you get this adrenaline at the moment.
[6:23] So I picked up the gooseneck and I walked it over and I did that, not because I was strong, because I feared the wrath of my dad if he found out what happened. And so I put that baby on and as I put it, I put those, you know, the change back in there and I looked and I locked that down.
[6:39] And what I'd forgotten to do is something so simple and something so silly. Once you put the chains onto the truck and once you put the gooseneck on and then you lock it down, there's a little piece of, I'm just a little bitty piece of metal and it's called a linchpin.
[6:53] And you put that metal through there and that makes sure that it doesn't pull back up. So, so simple. Everybody knows it. You say, that's not have anything to do it. And the problem right here, the great need around the world and the solution right here, the Lord says, let me tell you the linchpin, something so simple, everybody knows that we'll get the job done.
[7:14] And that's called prayer. And verse number 38, would you put a circle around the word prayer right there or pray? He says, you know the problem, you know the need, you know the answer. It's so simple. He said, but let me tell you how to get the job done.
[7:26] Now we need, it's money, right? Let's get them on there. Obviously the missionaries don't get on Delta and they say, sir, your ticket said, you don't understand. I'm a missionary sent by God. Got to go. They say, I don't care who you are. Give me the money, you know, like give me the ticket.
[7:38] So you know that it's needed, money is needed, but that's not what God says. There's a whole lot of things that we can say and all the, the equipping and all the tools and all that they need, but that's not the solution. That's not what God says.
[7:50] He said that middle piece right there is called prayer. You see, when we work, we work. And certainly there's no room in the Christian life for, for laziness.
[8:01] We must work. I mean, work for the night is coming, right? I mean, we know we must work. Let's put our hands to the plow. Let's not look back. Let's serve our savior. Let's work. But listen, when we work, we work. But when we pray, God works.
[8:13] He says, you have not. James chapter 4 verse 2. You have not because you ask not, right? And James chapter 1 verse number 8. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, right?
[8:25] You remember that song? If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. Who giveth to all men liberally? And he upbrained. Okay, I'll stop right there before you leave.
[8:36] But anyway, you know, when we ask of God, he gives it to us exactly what we need. And the Lord says the, the, the real thing right there, it's prayer. For many years, my grandma prayed for me.
[8:47] There's something dangerous about a grandma praying for somebody. A mama praying or grandma praying. Grandma would say, God, would you get a hold of his heart? My papa, he, he came back from the Korean War and he drank himself and literally drank himself.
[8:58] Died of sarosa liver because of just drank so much. But grandma would pray and pray. She put no excuse that grandpa was drunk, that the kids didn't care, that nobody, that they were poor. She put no excuse to it.
[9:09] She talked to the one who knew how to do the job. And she talked to God. And all of a sudden, God got a hold of my heart and saved me. And many in my family and God began to work. So I thought, well, if grandma could do it, then I could do it too.
[9:22] And so we were getting ready. We were raising our funds, getting ready to go over to Argentina. As we got ready, many and I, we drove in this little car. We had a 1990 Saturn. I mean, it was just a beautiful thing. I bought it for 50 bucks for my aunt.
[9:33] My cousin never added oil. And believe it or not, cars don't run well when you never add oil. You know, it's just the craziest thing in the world. So the engine block froze up and dad said, do you want the car? And I said, dad, it doesn't work. He said, do you want the car?
[9:44] I said, dad, it's useless. He said, do you want the car? I said, dad, it's a payboy. Do you want the car? I'll fix it. All right, dad, let's fix it. You know, I know nothing about engine. My dad can, you know, sit down, cross his legs, close his eyes and put things back together.
[9:57] Like, I mean, he's just a genius. And here I am, the weirdo son who could do absolutely nothing. You know, like I turn, I'm like, it must be broke. You know, call him a can. I know nothing about, you know. So my dad said, you want it?
[10:08] I'll fix it. And I said, okay. My dad fixed it. And my dad jimmy rigs everything that's out in mankind. And so I bought that car. Dad fixed it up. And man, I go first gear. Womb, I go second gear.
[10:19] I'm a little bitty car. And I go second gear. Third gear didn't work. That was part of dad's fixing. You know, like my dad can fix anything. If he's got a little duct tape, if he's got a little bailing wire, he can fix it all. It might not look pretty, but he can fix it.
[10:30] And so, man, I go, woom. And I put it in second gear and sound like a, you know, a weed eater on a stairway. And all of a sudden, you got to get it real high because third gear doesn't. Sometimes third gear worked, but it was one of those find them, grind them.
[10:41] You know what I'm saying? You found it. And so you go second gear. And you pop her into four. Man, we traveled all over. God was good. And so Mindy and I, we began to pray. God, would you please prepare the hearts of the Argentines?
[10:53] God, would you please? Lord, we don't know what to do. We don't know how to talk the language. God, we're not sure. God, would you please prepare the hearts of the Argentines? God, would you please do a work so that when we arrive, they're ready to hear your word.
[11:04] They're receptive to it. God, would you please prepare the hearts of the Argentines? Believe it or not, as silly and as simple as it may seem, we arrived over Argentina and we started, we got an old paint building. We cleaned it up.
[11:15] We put electricity in and fixed the windows and painted it all up, got it all ready. And as we did, we passed out thousands and thousands of invitations. We started working. And silly as it may sound and simple as it may sound and oversimplicity is the name of my game.
[11:28] And as it may sound simple, we began to pray. God, we've been praying for a long time that you prepare the heart. God, would you send the hearts of the people that you have prepared? And believe it or not, people began to come to church.
[11:40] And they came and they came and God began to do a work. And I thought, wow, God, you really do work. Listen to this. God says, let God be true. Romans chapter 3 verse 1 and 4. Let God be true in every man a liar.
[11:50] He says, nobody's going to seek me and you'll find me. Ask and you'll receive. I mean, God says, I am good to my word. So, dear friend, what is between here and what is between here?
[12:01] The world, it's truly harvest. The harvest is ready. It's plenteous. There's a great need. He said, well, here's the problem. Here's the way. Let's send the labors. He said, but here is the linchpin between the two.
[12:11] Guess what? That's within your power and within my power. God doesn't want every person to be a missionary. But God wants all of us to at least pray and ask what he wants for our lives. God doesn't want every person like, I can give this much.
[12:24] But God wants at least us to consult him what he wants to do. You see, all of it is about God. Our communication with God. Say, Lord, would you help me? Now, very quickly, before I end, I would like to give you a way that we could pray for a mission.
[12:36] The missionaries that we met this week and the missionaries that we know. How can we pray for a mission? So everybody raise up one of your hands. Raise it up. But okay, hold on one second. Pause. I just preached 11 times to the youth in five days.
[12:49] I had a wonderful time and God was good. But let me say, so forgive me if I oversimplify things as if you're the youth. My wife would say I'm very stubborn. So if you don't participate, I can be very stubborn.
[13:00] So everybody raise up a hand. All right, knowing that. Now, how can you pray for your mission? I'm a very simple minded man. So I want to use this. So thumbs up right there. All right, everybody. So first of all, think of your thumb.
[13:12] How can we pray for a missionary? First of all, we pray for their attitude. We pray for their spirit. We pray that they have a thumbs up attitude. Do you know 85% of our life is probably about perception, our outlook, what we see, what we believe.
[13:24] God, would you give us the blessing? God, would you do it? Let's pray for their spirit. Let's pray they don't get discouraged. Let's pray they keep on going forward. But second of all, now raise that hand like you're going to shoot a gun or something. Second of all is those that they are training.
[13:35] Let's pray. Do you know every missionary will leave the mission field one day? Maybe because of sickness, maybe because of age, maybe because the government kicks them out, maybe because God moved. Doesn't matter what. But every missionary will leave. The ministry will only continue on if they leave people that they've trained to continue doing the work.
[13:50] The Timothys and the Tituses and Sylvanias, etc., etc. So we're praying for their encouragement. We're praying for those they teach. And then the third one, that's the tall finger. What does that represent? The tallest one, that is their relationship with God.
[14:02] Most important. Do you know every one of us, we're busy. We have a lot of things to do. But you know what? We always need to make sure that we have our priorities. Matthew 6, verse 7, 33. You know about it. The problems are our priority problem.
[14:13] When you put priorities in line, everything begins to fall in place. Let's pray, even though that they're busy. They're in a spiritual war. We're in a spiritual war. We don't fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of darkness of the world.
[14:24] Against spiritual wickedness and high place. Let's pray for their walk with God. Well, the next one right there, that's your ring finger, right? Let's pray for their marriage. Let's pray that God gives them a good marriage.
[14:35] Let's pray that God gives them a strong marriage. Let's pray for one of those marriages that when the kids walk in the kitchen, mom and dad are kissing, they're like, that is so sick, dad. Let's pray for a long, good old kiss.
[14:45] You know what I'm saying? I mean, let's pray that they really love each other. One of the best things they can do for their kids is to have a good marriage. One of the best things they can do for people that don't know Jesus is show a good marriage. They need that.
[14:55] Do you know what? Your public life is built off of your private life. So they have a good marriage. They have a good walk with God. And all of a sudden it helps in other areas of their life. Well, the last one, the little pinky, that represents the little guys.
[15:07] That represents our children. You know, many times a child of somebody who grows up in church or maybe a missionary kid, many times the child will go back and they'll become very, they don't like the things of God.
[15:20] They're very discouraged. They're very, they're hateful. They don't like ministry. They don't like the things of the Lord. And let's pray for the little ones that God will use their lives, that God will bless them, that God will use them to continue going forward.
[15:31] Let's pray just some simple ways how we can pray for our missionaries. We all know the problem. We all know the solution. Don't forget that linchpin. God can do the work all by himself if he wanted to.
[15:42] But God wants to use you and me to help get the work done so that the word of God advances. Thank you, Pastor.