[0:00] What a special opportunity that we have to have a reminder of Chile as we see this family and we pray for Tracy. I'd like to read you Romans 16, verse 1 and 2.
[0:12] And I think as I read these verses, you will think of Tracy. Being involved in admissions ought to help us have a better and a more full understanding of different passages in the Bible.
[0:25] And it certainly makes this day, thinking about Tracy, makes me look at this passage in a new light than I had before. It says in Romans 16, verse number 1, it says, I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of the church with the centurion, that ye receive her in the Lord as becometh saints, that you assist her in whatsoever business she has need of you, for she is a secure of many and of myself also.
[0:55] I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, the whole family that we heard from tonight that she'll be serving with and others, they know Tracy. But if they did not know Tracy and I was to have a conversation with them, I could say, just like that was said here, that we commend her to the work there.
[1:14] And that expression, my sister, that really is special, isn't it? We call each other brothers and sisters, and I really see her as a sister in Christ. She made mention that she has been serving here for 14 years.
[1:29] There's been very few members that have been here as long as she has. She's very special to us as a church. Tracy, you're very special to us as our family. And when I call you my sister, I really mean that in every way possible, that in Jesus Christ we have become a family in a way that only he can do.
[1:48] And I would say to Chile that we just had a very good representative to him and to the work in Chile that we can mentor unto this work. In 1812, when America was sending out its first missionaries, you know the story of Adner and Judson.
[2:05] But you know there was five people, but of those five that were commissioned in that first, two of them were ladies that were going as well. And they make up that count, three men and two ladies.
[2:16] And when Jonathan Allen was preaching the commissioning service, setting aside this time to say that these people are going to go there to India and they're going to do this work and eventually Burma.
[2:29] He doesn't just speak only to the men, but he says something that I think is very significant in that moment that expresses something that I would like to express to Tracy. And this is what he says in that commissioning service, especially to the ladies.
[2:44] He says, I love that.
[3:26] Go and do all in your power to enlighten their minds and bring them to the knowledge of the truth. Tracy's going to do the work of the ministry, to share the gospel, to teach the Bible.
[3:38] And it's such a beautiful thing. And Ms. Sturwald, missionary in Kenyam, for several decades, some 10 years ago, Brother John and I were in their home having breakfast and just hearing the stories and hearing about how she got to a point where she was so burdened and so saddened that as different men were learning the Bible and going through Bible institutes and so many programs were dedicated to them, so many ladies in the church were following the son, one another, some kind of false religion.
[4:07] And because of that, the church was never healthy. It was never strong. The families weren't where they should have been. But Ms. Phyllis said, I'm going to start discipling ladies just like my husband's discipling ladies.
[4:19] And it became a turning point in that ministry in Kenya. So we commend Tracy, our sister, and she is a servant unto the Lord.
[4:30] You know, commissioning, when there's a brand new ship, there's an event where the shipbuilders and the shareholders and the serve as a public declaration that the vessel is seaworthy and ready for the voyage.
[4:41] The commissioning is the launching point of the ship's active service. Tonight, today, we say that Tracy has been a servant unto the church and that she has served along with us and that she has used her abilities.
[4:53] But more than that, she is seaworthy. We say that he is worthy, that the God of heaven is worthy. Tracy, you'll love this. She wanted our last song tonight to be that worthy is the lamb.
[5:05] And, you know, at the beginning of the service, the computers went down and there was a glitch and all the words turned into the song, worthy is the lamb. Your whole service tonight was going to be just the words, worthy is the lamb.
[5:17] And if we're going to have a glitch, when all of our words disappear, and there's only one thing that we can say on a night like this, worthy is the lamb is most certainly the one. I'm familiar with the story of the first Moravians that went out and when they set sail, that was what was the battle cries, worthy is the lamb that is slain.
[5:34] And he is worthy tonight. And she has demonstrated that. It says that she is a servant of the church. She's most definitely a servant of the Lord if she is going to dedicate and serve in the church.
[5:46] And then it uses a funny word, or maybe not a funny word, at least a hard one for me to say here, secure, which is one who gives help, especially in a time of distress. And that's what she has done.
[5:58] She has just been here faithfully serving inside of the church. And it appears here that Phoebe is the one who delivers the letter to the church at Rome. Did the apostle Paul think that this lady could be trusted with the significant aspects of the ministry?
[6:15] And most certainly she could. She was vital to the work. And God knows that Tracy can be trusted in the ministry. Paul knew this, and we know this about Phoebe, and we know this about Tracy.
[6:27] And it says, receive her in the Lord after this manner. The Bible tells us that often, that we should receive people after the manner of the Lord, but we should also send them out. In 3 John, it says that we should bring them forth after a journey after a godly sort.
[6:41] The way that we receive missionaries and send out missionaries have to do with the fact that they are sent out for his namesake. She's not going out for her own selfish ambitions.
[6:52] She's not going out to create a legacy for herself. But she goes out for his namesake. And so we, church, we do well to send well. There's a big difference in the responsibility between a church that has missionaries and a church that sends missionaries.
[7:09] In 3 John, we see the value that is placed on sending. We see the great joy that is found in John when he was able to help people along the way.
[7:21] This morning, in the book of Luke, we talked about the great joy that is found. And not only hearing, as we will, and already have begun to hear that people in Chile have accepted Christ, but just in the process of sending out Tracy, we see the great value of sending.
[7:35] God would never command anything of us that was not best for us. And he commands us and gives us the privilege to send. And the mandate in 3 John, it says, We therefore ought to receive such that you might be fellow helpers to the truth.
[7:49] There's a mandate or an obligation to do this. We are blessed. And I'm going to miss Tracy in so many different ways, especially over here. I know the music ministry are going to miss Tracy.
[8:01] We have been blessed by her talents and her servants. And there's always going to be a place for her here to serve. And we would always love to keep the Tracys. But the Bible tells us that there's an ought.
[8:12] There's an obligation. When there's such need in a place like Chile, then a church with such blessings like us ought to send. We ought to share in what God has done for us.
[8:22] And the manner that we've already spoken of is the manner that they're going to carry his name. And that's why it would say, Assist in whatsoever business that she hath need of.
[8:33] She is about our Father's business. The work she is doing is our Father's business. And so we should do whatever we can in holding the rope and assisting her. A practical way, it says in Titus 3.13, it says, Bring Zenos the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.
[8:54] That's a strong challenge. If there's anything that we can do that will let Tracy reach farther into that country, to reach people with the gospel, and it's within our power to make it available to her, we should do that.
[9:08] Because she goes out for her namesake, and so she should want nothing in that pursuit. Servants find work where others do not know to look, which is at the feet of Jesus.
[9:21] We'll give Tracy the night. At the end of the service here in a moment, we'll have some testimonies, but we'll give Tracy as we've given out to the single lady missionaries that go out from our church, this alabaster box.
[9:34] As I said, a servant finds ministry where other people would not find ministry, which is at the feet of Jesus, reminded of the testimony of a lady who comes in, and when everybody else had overlooked the important work, when nobody else has washed our Savior's feet, she comes in, and she washes the feet of Jesus with her hair.
[9:54] And the great quote it says in Mark 14, about her is that she has done what she could. She took her life, and she did that as unto the Lord. In that story, she was criticized because she had done too much.
[10:09] That should never be the case. Isn't it a beautiful thing when the beauty and the worth of Jesus Christ is met with a proper response of believers? In that moment, the beauty of our Savior was met with the beauty of the service of that lady.
[10:23] We're in that same type of moment where Tracy gives out her life and completely, as the song was saying, just as an offering unto our Lord. And so we give that to her, set it out as a reminder to us in the work that she is doing.
[10:39] A servant of the church deserves that honor. And Judas there suggested a more reasonable or logical use of her life and resources. And Tracy, if any voice tells you to moderate your love for Jesus, don't listen to it.
[10:54] Just constantly give him your yes. Even if you give him your yes, and it takes you 14 years before this next step comes, he deserves that yes. Your life is spoken as a beautiful testimony of people.
[11:07] At no point did you ever say, someday I will serve him. But you've always said, with what I have right now, where I am at, I'm going to serve the Lord. And now God's going to allow you.
[11:19] And so the people of Chile, to those believers, if I could speak to them and to the missionaries there, I just want to say, our church commends our sister Tracy to you.
[11:29] And to the church family, I say, let her need nothing for the work that she's doing. Let us be behind her, not only financially, but certainly financially, but mostly in the support that she needs, let us hold on to the rope in such a way.
[11:44] We say on the box that here is, missionaries are sent, but we never let go, meaning that we are always going to stay connected with them. I'm going to say a word of prayer.
[11:54] And then after I say that word of prayer, it's going to be open to share some testimonies, friends or family or church members. You'd like to say a word of testimony for Tracy.
[12:05] And then we will spend the time of prayer with her. And as some of you know, the service is going a little bit longer. Well, this has been at least 14 years in the making. So come on people. All right.
[12:15] We can't be in much a hurry, but want to have a chance for you to share that testimony. So if you will, after I pray, if you wouldn't mind coming up here and standing in line, really helps us.
[12:26] If those that would give the testimony will come and stand and wait and be ready to be next to give it. If you wait, nobody ever knows when the service is going to end. Okay. If you just wait there. So it really will help if you'll come up here and wait in line and get close to the pulpit and go one after another, most certainly express your heart to her, but be mindful of the fact that there's a lot of hearts that are going to be expressed here tonight.
[12:48] And then afterwards, invite the ladies together around Tracy in the night and a word of prayer with her. Heavenly father, we are so grateful, Lord, that you've allowed us to serve along Tracy.
[13:01] Lord, in and of ourselves, we Lord do not boast. We don't find our glory in anything, but what it is, Lord, that we love about Tracy is what you have done. It is how the gospel has transformed her.
[13:11] It is how she has become a servant, Lord, under you. And as being a servant under you, Lord, she has blessed us so much in so many ways, Lord, not just in saying the truth, but in teaching the truth and living out the truth.
[13:24] And we're grateful to have the privilege and the responsibility to commend her unto a work, to commission her into a beautiful work there in Chile. Lord, I pray that you'll use her life as an offering to bring great glory to your name.
[13:41] In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Amen.