[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. We'll take your Bibles if you would and open them to Romans chapter 11.
[0:10] Romans chapter 11, if you would. Before we begin what I hope to be one of the most exciting times you've had in the book of Romans so far, I want to ask you to be in prayer for Vision Baptist Church of Cobb County.
[0:24] We will be having our Get Acquainted meeting, test drive our church on August the 25th at night, and then again the next Sunday night.
[0:37] And I'm going to ask that maybe 20 or 30 of you travel down with me on Sunday night and let them get the feel, anybody visiting, get the feel of what our church services feel like.
[0:49] Lord willing, we're going to take Ed with us and the Filipino singers, and we're going to take a Vision experience down here to show them what we're trying to get started in that area.
[1:01] And the Schwartz and the Vorices and Bo are excited and are working hard, and I want to ask you to be praying August the 25th. Write that down and pray about that, and I hope you'll make plans to go down.
[1:15] And I need you to work in the nursery. I need you to keep the nursery, be a greeter, take care of some children, so that the Vision Cobb County people can really be involved in the ministry that night.
[1:28] And by the grace of God, we're going to see another church like this one start up there in Mableton, and I would really appreciate your help. When I prepare a message, I probably hardly ever tell you the title of the message, but usually in the title I try to do what I think would describe what I want to get across to you.
[1:48] And today's message is called Replacements with But a Minute to Win It. Replacements with But a Minute to Win It. Romans chapter 11 is going to bring into play and help you understand what I believe is the truth in Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11.
[2:05] Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11. In Romans chapter 11, the Bible starts off, and God says, through the apostle Paul, Paul speaking, and Paul says, has God cast away his people?
[2:18] God forbid. I am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of David. God has not cast away his people, which he foreknew. But he goes on to tell a great story in chapter 11, and I challenge you to go home and read that.
[2:33] Now, you know where we're going to be every service, and so I would challenge you to read chapter 11. And we'll be back in chapter 11 next week, because we're going to go back through for a couple of weeks and pick up some things I can't cover with you today as we go through it quickly.
[2:48] But in Genesis chapter 11, here's basically what you're going to find out. God has an overall plan of getting the gospel to the world, making Jesus glorified and magnified, lifting up the cause of Christ, world evangelism.
[3:04] Since Genesis 1-1, his goal is that Jesus' name be glorified and magnified. And he chose for no other reason than he chose to use the nation of Israel.
[3:16] And he used the nation of Israel, and the nation of Israel, somewhere along the way, got so caught up in who they were, and they became so worried about the externals and the outside that they didn't worry about the inside, and they didn't worry about what their purpose was.
[3:31] And then he blinded their eyes and deafened their hearts, and he hardened their hearts, or blinded their eyes, deafened their ears, and hardened their hearts and set them to one side. And he brings out the Gentiles, the church.
[3:44] And you'll get to see those verses as we go through. And today is our day. You are living in the moments God has for us as Gentiles. When we get to shine, it's our minute to win it.
[3:58] It's us as replacement players on the field getting an opportunity to do a good job for God, to stir up things and get people excited about it. I want to walk you through that. And before you leave today, you should know our church ought to be about world evangelism, and that ought to be the goal of our heart.
[4:14] In 1987, the NFL, in the NFL, the pro players went on strike. And they ought to have a picture. You guys are about to just keep up. In 1987, the pro players went on strike.
[4:25] Eighty-five percent of the veterans would not cross the picket lines during the strike. Replacement players filled the rosters. They were mocked by being called the Chicago Spare Bears, the San Francisco Phony Niners, the New Orleans St. Elsewhere's, Washington Scab Skins, and Seattle Sea Scabs.
[4:47] The strike only lasted for 24 days. You probably don't realize it, but we have a great deal in common with the Spare Bears, the Phony Niners, and the Sea Scabs.
[4:59] We are replacement players. You can take that down now. They're tired of looking at that, trying to figure out what's going on. So we are the replacement players. We have been called onto the field.
[5:10] The strike's going to be a very short time. The time period the church gets a very short time. We're actually at the very last minutes of that short time before it's over. If you'd like to consider what we are, we're kind of like those replacement referees that were brought into play in the games that nearly ruined a season for everyone.
[5:29] Israel is the real team. They were chosen to be used of God to get the message to the world, to be a blessing to the world. They failed.
[5:40] They quit. They got hung up on how their uniforms looked, how they were pros and better than anyone else. They looked inward and saw themselves as superior and failed to carry out God's plan.
[5:52] God blinded their eyes and closed their ears. He did this corporately and not individually. You should write that down if you're a Bible studier or a note taker.
[6:03] It was a corporate blinding, not an individual blinding. As Israel stopped, God took those willing to cross the picket line and He started the church. Not all of Israel was blinded because all the apostles were Israelites.
[6:17] God gave us a chance to carry the gospel. We will provoke Israel to jealousy and they will be back in the game. And this is how God explained through Paul to the church what was going on in our lives.
[6:33] It will help you understand Romans 9, 10, 11. It will help you understand Him choosing who He will use and who He won't use. It will help you understand how He hated Esau and He loved Jacob.
[6:45] It will help you understand where you're supposed to be and what we're supposed to be doing right now. Number one, Israel to the sidelines for a while. Number one, Israel to the sidelines for a while.
[6:57] Look at verse 1 if you would. Romans chapter 11 and verse 1. I say then, hath God cast away His people? God forbid! For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
[7:09] God has not cast away His people which He foreknew. Don't you guys know what the Scripture says of Elijah? How he makes intercession to God against Israel saying? You see, what happened is Elijah was praying to God and Elijah was beginning to think, Hey, nobody's left serving God but me.
[7:27] And he thought that God had no one left. And it says in verse 3, Romans 11, 3, Lord, they kill the prophets. They dig down thine altars and I'm left alone.
[7:38] And they seek my life. But what says the answer of God unto him? See, Elijah says, God, I'm the only guy you've got left. I want you to know there's nobody but me.
[7:48] And God said, I have got reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. God had 7,000 men who had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
[8:03] God chose Israel by grace. Now, listen to this. I want you to see something. I want you to listen to me and see something. You see, God was using Israel. Israel was messing up.
[8:14] And even by the days of Elijah, there were so few people. And Elijah began to wonder about it. Now, look if you would in chapter 11 and verse 5. See, God chose by grace because of anything, not because of anything in them.
[8:28] God chooses who God will use, not based on who they are, but based on who he is and what his plan is. In Romans chapter 11 and verse 5, he said, even so at this present time, right now, there is a remnant.
[8:42] According to the election of grace. And if by grace it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, it's no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work.
[8:53] That's where we'll be next week, by the way. Romans 11, 6. It's either grace or it's works. God either does it or we do it. But it's God that's at work. Verse 7. What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeketh for, but the election has obtained it.
[9:08] When Israel failed to carry out God's plan of world evangelism, he sets them aside. I need you to look this way just a second. Let me show you something. God wanted the gospel to the world.
[9:20] From Genesis chapter 3, he's showing his love. He's showing his concern. He's showing his sacrifice. Adam and Eve sinned. And it wasn't Adam who developed a plan of salvation.
[9:32] It wasn't Adam that worked out a thing to get himself right with God. It was God himself that came down to Adam and said, Adam, Adam, where are you? And Adam said, well, I'm embarrassed and I'm hidden. I've messed up. And God said, well, I've come to find you because it's God who is the author of salvation.
[9:47] It's God who comes and seeks out man. It's God who does the work in man. And so God began working in man. And by Genesis chapter 6, everything's messed up again. And he destroys the world.
[9:58] But Genesis chapter 11, he picks out the nation of Israel. And he says, Abraham, you're going to be the father of a great nation. And I'm going to use you to be a blessing to the world.
[10:09] And they were. They gave us the Bible. They gave us the apostles. They gave us the church. They gave us Jesus. They've been a great blessing. But something happened along the way.
[10:20] They got too hung up in who they were. They got too hung up in the things that were wrong. And God sets them aside. Look, if you would, in Romans chapter 11 and verse 8.
[10:31] The Bible says, according as it is written, God has not given them the spirit of slumber. God has given them the spirit of slumber. Eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear unto this day.
[10:43] And David said, let their table be made a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see and bow down their back all way.
[10:56] Now watch this. This will help a lot of things that make sense in the Bible if you're a Bible student and you study it. You know, when you read the New Testament and it's old wineskins and new wineskins, that's what we're talking about.
[11:07] Israel had gotten to a point that they wouldn't carry the gospel. Israel had gotten to a point that they were concerned about the law. Israel was concerned about morality, but they weren't concerned about the sacrifice. They weren't concerned about who Jesus was.
[11:19] They weren't concerned about getting the message out. And something really wild happens in the ministry of Jesus. He sets Israel to the side. He calls them off the stage.
[11:29] He calls them off the football field. He calls the first string off the field and says, sit down. You guys are not playing well. You guys are not in the game. You guys are not showing excitement. You guys are not trying to win the ball game.
[11:41] You're too worried about getting grass stains on your uniform. You're too worried about sweating. Sit down. I'm going to bring another team on the field. And he brought us on the field.
[11:51] Go if you would down to Romans chapter 11 and verse 11. Number two, the church is on the field. The church is on the field. God didn't set them aside to get rid of them, but to give the Gentiles a chance.
[12:05] To give the phony Niners a chance. To give us a chance to be used of God. To give Israel a chance to sit down and us to get up. Romans chapter 11 and verse 11.
[12:16] The Bible says, I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. But rather through their fall, salvation is coming to the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy.
[12:28] That doesn't mean Gentiles can get saved now. They were already getting saved in the Old Testament. There were Gentiles getting saved in the Old Testament. But the ministry of the salvation, the carrying of the gospel, and world evangelism moved out of Israel's hands and into the Gentiles' hands and into the church.
[12:46] The responsibility for the message passed from Israel to the church. The fall of Israel was to bring the gospel to the entire world and make them rich.
[12:56] You see what happened was when Israel messed up. Did you know, man, we didn't have a chance. We weren't being used of God for us to get in the church and for us to be used meant getting circumcised.
[13:07] It meant becoming a Jew. It meant doing a whole lot of things. They had a whole bunch of rules. They had gotten lost. They had gotten off track. They didn't understand. They were like Jonah, not wanting to go to Nineveh.
[13:19] And so God made a way. He sets Israel aside. Look at chapter 11 and verse 12. This was a step along the way to God fulfilling His plan of getting the gospel to the world.
[13:30] You see, God wants to get the gospel to the world. Romans chapter 11 and verse 12. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentile, how much more their fullness.
[13:44] Now look at this. Let me show you what's happening. Watch, watch. Israel got lazy. Israel kind of quit working. Israel, 400 years of silence from the book of Malachi to the book of Matthew.
[13:55] Israel, by the time of Elijah, there's not anybody with us. So I still got 7,000. I still got a remnant. I still got a leaving. I still got a few that I'm going to use. But Israel, they killed Jesus when He came.
[14:08] They didn't embrace Him. They killed Him. They weren't excited about the plan. They weren't excited about the message. And they were set to the side. And when they were set to the side, guess what happened? All of a sudden, the church came on the scene.
[14:20] And we have the fullness of the Gentiles. God using us. Non-Jewish people. Red and yellow. Black and white. No matter where they're from. Not Jewish people are going to get a chance to take the Word of God and go around the world and preach the Gospel and see people get saved.
[14:37] The church is going to be started. The church is going to be lifted up. Jesus is going to be magnified. And guess what's going to happen? It's not like He got rid of the Jews. He said, if you think that's, I'm getting rid of them, you're crazy.
[14:49] He said, setting them aside is going to make them really go crazy. And here's what's going to happen. It won't be long. 24 days later, they pull the phony bears off the field. And they put the real bears back on the field.
[15:01] 40 days later, they pulled off the saint elsewhere. And they put the real guys on there. And said, hey, you guys go to play it. And it was like, we're back in. We're for real. We mean business. And Israel is coming back.
[15:13] And how much greater will their fullness be? Look at verse 13. Paul was excited about God bringing the Gentiles and the church to the front. Paul said, guys, it's our moment.
[15:25] It's our chance. Our church. It's you. We get an opportunity. We're God's people right now to be used to carry the gospel. Verse 13. I speak to you Gentiles.
[15:35] And as much as I'm an apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify, I brag on my office. I get to work with Gentiles even though I'm a Jew. And if by any means I may provoke demulation in them which are my flesh.
[15:47] And say, boy, I'm excited. I get to work with you uncircumcised Gentiles. I'm excited. I get to work with you guys and carry the gospel around the world.
[15:58] The Gentiles were getting the ministry of reconciling the world. Look at verse 15. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but the life from the dead?
[16:10] Look at verse 15. He cast the nation of Israel away. He said, hey, first string, off the field, on the seats. You can watch them coming off. The quarterback's mad. Everybody on the first string is mad.
[16:21] They're like, you can't send the scrubs in. You can't send the nobodies in. But he said, hey, he brought them off the field so the reconciling of the world could get on with the game. And he put us in the game.
[16:32] Verse 17. We were grafted in. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake us of the fruit and fatness of the olive tree.
[16:47] What happens is you have a picture of an olive tree. And that olive tree has died up, dried up, quit doing its job. And then they grafted in a new tree.
[16:59] And that's the church. And this is our moment. Romans 11 is about your job and my job and our job of getting the gospel message around the world.
[17:11] A dead, dried up stump. A root that's not been doing its job, but it's coming back to be used. Go with me to chapter 11 and verse 25. Romans chapter 11 and verse 25.
[17:23] Israel will be back on the field. Verse 25. I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, and that blindness in part is happened to Israel until, until the fullness of the Gentiles be coming, until the Gentiles finish running their plays.
[17:42] And so all Israel shall be saved. So verse 18. We should never take lightly that we are allowed this opportunity.
[17:52] Verse 18 says, don't y'all boast against the branches. Hey, phony bears, don't you be acting like you're the guys on the field. Don't you boast against that. Church, don't you boast against the branches.
[18:04] In verse 19, he says, the branches were broken off so I could get grafted in. In verse 20, he said, yeah, well, they got broken off because of their unbelief. And by the way, you can be off, you can be broken off.
[18:16] We were the scrubs, the nobodies. We didn't deserve a chance to be ministers of reconciliation. Verse 17. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them, and with them partake us of the root and the fatness of the olive tree.
[18:33] God is giving us our moment of glory, a chance, an opportunity to make a major difference. He will be bringing Israel back to their place of service.
[18:44] But this is our moment. How will we use it? Now, before I bring the application, I want to review with you. Let me show you something. Let's go back.
[18:55] God's nation is Israel. How many of you, there are a couple that attend our church that have Jewish backgrounds. How many of you have a Jewish background? Hold your hand up. How many of you are Jewish background? You got a mama Jew or a daddy or mama Jew Israel?
[19:07] You're from Israel. Anybody? Look at it. Nobody in the room has got their hand up today. You and I were never, we wouldn't have been allowed to touch this book. We wouldn't have been allowed to be the preachers of this book. We wouldn't have been allowed to have a Sunday school class.
[19:19] We wouldn't have been allowed to go out and carry the gospel message. We weren't even Jews. They had a place for us we could go and stand on the outside, but we couldn't even get in.
[19:29] Hey, we were out there with the women. We weren't allowed in. And then further in, some of the Israelite men got to come in. And then further in, some priests got to come in. And then there was this one place where one guy got to come in. And in the New Testament, God stands up and says, I'm letting all y'all in.
[19:43] Come on in. The wall's split. The wall's broken down. Walk into the presence of God. You're the guy that carries the book now. You can take the gospel message around the world. Today's your day.
[19:55] It's your moment. Don't you get an arrogant attitude and start looking at Jews and think something bad about them because God ain't finished with them. He's bringing them back. He's got them. But He's given us a moment.
[20:06] We have a moment. A minute to win it. We are the replacement team. We are not the real guys. But He's giving us an opportunity. That's what Romans chapter 11 is about.
[20:17] You say, how did we get chosen? He did it. We didn't get any choice in it. He just chose to use us. How come He decided to set Israel aside? Because He's God and He can do anything He wants to do. And He chose to use us.
[20:29] And I'm telling you, if I'd have been alive back in the Old Testament days, I think if I hadn't even had the opportunity to know, I'd have looked longingly at the guy that held a copy of the Bible and thought, man, I wish I could be in on that.
[20:41] I think I would have watched them as they shared the gospel and said, I wish I could be a part of that. I wish I could get in on that. I wish I could pray like you guys. I wish I could be there. But I'd have been on the outside.
[20:52] And Israel could have come and got me, but they didn't. Oh, they got a few forays that they made. They went down to Nineveh. They made a few other trips, but they just lost it, man. They quit. They sat down.
[21:03] They got tired. They were too worried about their uniforms. They were pros and they knew it. And so God said, all right, you forgot. I'm the coach. I'm the sovereign. I'm in charge.
[21:14] I'm running this show. And I've got a game to win. And I've got a job to accomplish. And you're not doing your part. So sit down. I'm going to bring the nation of Israel out. So here's your personal application.
[21:26] God is in the soul-saving, world-reconciling business. God is in the soul-saving, world-reconciling business. It's amazing.
[21:38] If you go back and read the Old Testament, once you read the New Testament, you'll find out, you know what, if you were a stranger in Egypt, you had a chance. You were allowed to eat. You were allowed to. He just said, hey, it's for you.
[21:48] It's for you. But they never thought about that. Hey, when it was time to go to Nineveh, Jonah said, Nineveh, nothing. I'll go the opposite direction. Every time they tried to get out of it.
[21:59] But God's in the soul-saving, world-reconciling business. And he has allowed us our brief moment in history. He has allowed us our brief moment in history.
[22:10] How will we handle this moment? Look at me and listen to me real quickly. I don't know if you get it. But you are the people that God is using to get the gospel message to the world.
[22:24] You are the people that God says, I want China to know. You are the people where God says, I want India to know. You're the people where God says, I want Alpharetta to know.
[22:36] You're the people where God says, I want Comin to know. You're the people where God says, I want everybody to know. I want you to get busy about this. Are we going to develop an arrogant spirit that makes us feel superior to Israel?
[22:47] Or will we humbly accept that we have been given an opportunity to play a part in his great word? Do you realize? Listen to what I'm going to tell you. It wasn't Israel to carry the gospel to the world.
[22:59] It was God doing that. And it was God that chose the first team. It was God that put the first team on the field. It was God that picked Moses and used him. It was God that chose Jacob to use him.
[23:11] It was God that chose David to use him. It was God that put all those people out there to love. Ezekiel and Daniel and Jeremiah and Isaiah. It was God saying, go do the job. Well, today it's God saying, Vision Baptist Church.
[23:25] Time of the Gentiles. Time of the church. Carry the gospel. Carry the gospel. But I'm afraid we suffer from the same disease of Israel.
[23:36] We have figured out we're God's people. We have figured out that we've got to keep the stains off our jerseys. We have figured out that we like to sit around together and think we're better than everybody else.
[23:48] We have figured out that we can study a copy of the law and never share a copy of the law. We have figured out that like Israel, we can sit in a room and brag about who we are and not who Jesus is.
[24:00] And so here's the question. What are we going to do with our moment to win it? Like Esther, maybe we have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.
[24:13] I truly, honestly believe you are not an accident and I am not an accident. I truly and honestly believe that God did not put Vision Baptist Church together by an accident.
[24:25] And we're not here so your kids will turn out right. And we're not here so you can enjoy good music. And we're not here so we can have a better society. We're here because Jesus is king.
[24:35] And he died on the cross and he paid the sin debt. And he wants the world to know. So we get rid of a lot of selfishness if we begin to think about getting the gospel to the world. How much does world evangelism matter to you?
[24:50] You know, it's a world evangelism church. I would dare say we talk about it more. We see more missionaries. We talk about it. Well, we give more money. But I'd just like to ask you a question. How much does it really matter to you?
[25:01] Are you like the Jews and you just walk in and say, yeah, we got the Bible. We got the Bible. Check out my uniform. Notice I pressed it this morning. You notice there are no stains on this uniform. I'm cleaned up and I'm ready to play.
[25:13] Not going to, though, because if I played, I get my uniform messed up. Don't want to do that. Don't want to do that. Don't want to get out there where anybody might sully my uniform. Don't want to get out there where I might get messed up. I want to live a clean life.
[25:25] I want to live a clean life. I want to live an upright life. I want to be a great football player who never plays. That's how Israel got before God set them to the side.
[25:35] By the way, how much of your income goes towards getting the gospel around the world? Do you realize that you are here for a greater purpose than to just take up space, breathe air, have children, get stuff, and die?
[25:51] You are here for a greater purpose than just to gather junk that somebody else will throw away. There will be a sign on the interest of your neighborhood soon.
[26:05] Estate sale means selling all the dead guys junk. Selling all the dead guys junk. And you and I have totally gotten out of focus.
[26:17] We have forgotten what we were put here for. You have forgotten what you were saved for. Israel forgot, and we're on the field. It's our moment. It's our minute to win it.
[26:29] Share the gospel. Give out some gospel tracks. Pray for some lost people. Invite somebody to church. Get to the mission field. It's our turn.
[26:40] Romans 9, 10, 11 always scares everybody to death. But here's what it was about. It was about God's people were chosen, and they were to carry the gospel, and they didn't. And now he's put a new group in place.
[26:54] Us. And we're not carrying the gospel either. But the truth of the matter is, if you read Romans chapter 11, which we're going to be in it two or three more weeks, maybe, Lord willing. Because I want you to see something.
[27:05] We're supposed to be making them jealous. He's using us so that the Jews are sitting over on the sideline going, man, those guys really do know God. We are priests and kings, and they are priests and kings, but they live like priests and kings.
[27:20] They really love the Bible. They really love Jesus. They really talk about it. They mean business. What God's doing right now is he wants the real bears sitting on the sideline to be looking out at the phony bears and saying, Pull them off the field.
[27:35] Let me play again. I'll run this time. I'll carry the ball this time. I'll tackle like I've never tackled before. Get the phonies off the field and give me a chance. But the truth is, we play like phonies.
[27:50] We don't give. We don't pray. We don't invest. We don't invite. We play like phonies. We're only on the field for a brief time, and all of heaven is watching.
[28:07] Will we use our time and talents and treasures to carry out the great commission, the ministry of reconciliation? In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18, the Bible says, And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and he has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
[28:28] This is written to the Corinthian church, not the Philippian church. This is written to regular, everyday people. They've got so many problems. I mean, this is a messed up church.
[28:39] And he says, Guys, I gave you the ministry of reconciliation. Verse 19, if you didn't understand what I meant, To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not impeding their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
[28:55] Now, we're ambassadors, and we go out praying in Jesus' stead, Be reconciled to God. Vision Baptist Church will determine how we handle the pressure. You ever thought about how it must have felt to be a phony bear?
[29:11] You ever thought about how it must have felt to be one of those referees that were in there because the real ones were on strike, and you hated them? You were tweeting about them and Facebooking about them and cussing them.
[29:23] You didn't want to watch the game because they stunk? I just wonder what sideliners think when they see the way we handle the Bible. I wonder what they think when they see the way we handle the church, the way we handle the truth.
[29:38] How will we handle the pressure? We got the book now. We got the Holy Spirit. We got God's money in our pockets. We have the ability to carry the gospel.
[29:49] Can we play to win? Can we take our moment of glory seriously? Can you individually realize that you were meant for glory? He has a plan for your life.
[30:00] Will you get involved in what is eternally important and what's important to him? You've been called up. What are you doing with it? Will you measure up in the position you've been given, or will you waste your opportunity?
[30:16] I don't know how you see it, but I can only imagine the phony bears, guys that couldn't make the cut, guys that weren't born with the right skills and guys who would have never gotten chosen they got their shot.
[30:31] And when they ran out there for 24 days and played a few games, by the way, the ratings only dropped 20% with the phonies. The phonies played good enough to keep everybody watching. 80% of the people kept watching them.
[30:44] And they weren't as good as the real guys. And we're not as good as the real guys. We didn't write 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament. The law didn't come through us, the prophets didn't come through us, and the church didn't come through us.
[30:54] But we got our moment. We got our moment. We got money in our pockets he put there. We got talents and abilities he gave us. But have you been to the mission field yet to even check it out?
[31:06] Have you been given? Have you been praying? Are you really involved? Or do you walk around here like this? I'm a pro. Check out this uniform. Got my name written on the back.
[31:17] Got my special number hanging. I don't have to show up for practice. I'm just that good. Or are you going to get involved in what God's doing around the world?
[31:29] Father in heaven, I love you. And I praise you. And I thank you for the chance to serve you. And I pray, God, that you would wake your people up. Challenge our church. Lord, I love this church. Challenge them to want to do more for you.
[31:42] Challenge us. Challenge me. Thank you for what you've been doing in my life over the past two weeks as I looked and worked on this. And I pray, dear God, that you'd wake us up and challenge us and motivate us to get your gospel around the world.
[31:55] God, I pray you'd increase our faith promise. God, I pray you'd increase moms and dads praying their kids would go to the mission field. God, I pray you'd increase people in our church that would go visit the mission field.
[32:05] God, I pray that you'd increase the number of us that would give out a gospel track and invite a lost person. God, I pray you'd help us to act like we really have the privilege, a minute to win it.
[32:16] We might be replacements, but we can try as hard as we can with the power of God to get your work done. I pray you'd use us. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[32:27] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.