WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.339 Just a reminder that next week we'll begin our series looking at the themes of the Apostles' 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:18.800 Creed. So next week we believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth. How does 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.580 that help us to understand our faith? How will that help us to share our faith? We're going to 00:00:24.579 --> 00:00:35.320 read now Acts chapter 10 from verse 34 to verse 43. That's on page 1104 if you're using a church Bible. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:45.079 Again we have Peter, again a very different context. Now he's in Cornelius' house, a Roman 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:52.379 soldier. Then Peter began to speak. I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, 00:00:52.380 --> 00:00:56.700 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 00:00:57.480 --> 00:01:03.540 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through 00:01:03.540 --> 00:01:09.659 Jesus Christ who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:15.939 beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:21.939 the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who are under the power 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:27.560 of the devil because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he did in the country 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:33.840 of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:39.459 the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by 00:01:39.459 --> 00:01:45.340 witnesses whom God had already chosen, by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 00:01:45.340 --> 00:01:52.000 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:59.260 judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:10.960 receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Amen. Three texts, different settings, very similar themes. So we're 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:14.840 thinking about our third privilege. We thought about the privilege of hearing God's words together. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:19.760 Thinking about preaching, we've thought about the privilege of praying to God together. Now we're 00:02:19.760 --> 00:02:26.200 thinking about being on the mission of the risen Jesus together. And to help us to get into this topic, 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:31.760 I want to introduce a figure who will be familiar to some of us, others not so much, perhaps. 00:02:32.140 --> 00:02:40.379 Count Nikolaus von Zinzendor. At least one person will have heard. Zach is away preaching. I'm glad. He knows 00:02:40.379 --> 00:02:46.719 church history. I have to know it. But von Zinzendorff is associated with the Moravian missionary 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:51.460 movement. Listen to this. This is what Zinzendorff said. He was a very wealthy man. He was a king. 00:02:52.280 --> 00:03:00.599 This is what he said. He said, I have but one passion. It is he. It is he alone. The world is the field, 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:08.620 and the field is the world. And henceforth, that country shall be my home where I can be most used 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:15.000 in winning souls for Christ. So, Zinzendorff was connected to this 18th century Moravian 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:21.860 missions movement. And to read their history is amazing. If you track it down on the internet, 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:28.099 find out about the Moravian missionaries. Amazing. So, it began with a community of about 300 Christian 00:03:28.099 --> 00:03:34.800 refugees who gathered around von Zinzendorff. He obviously had a big house. And after a time, 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:39.920 they established a pattern that would last for 10 years of praying around the clock. So, 00:03:39.920 --> 00:03:45.200 everybody had a shift. So, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For 10 years, they were praying 00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:51.320 together, concerned for the glory of the Lord Jesus. And that time of those refugees gathering 00:03:51.320 --> 00:03:57.260 and of prayer happening became the launching pad for a remarkable mission to the nations. This was a 00:03:57.260 --> 00:04:04.680 group that went to extremes. I didn't know this until this week, but 29 of them sold themselves 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:11.060 into slavery. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, they knew that the white slave owners, they'd heard about 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:18.540 Jesus, but the black slaves hadn't. And so, 29 of these white guys went and became slaves on plantations. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:28.980 22 of them died to make Jesus known. By the time Zinzendorff died in 1760, 226 missionaries had been sent 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:39.759 into 10 different countries. Back to King von Zinzendorff, very wealthy man, very influential man. Why did he 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:49.800 prioritize mission? We heard it. I've got one passion. It's Jesus. He knew it was all about Jesus. He wanted to 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:58.300 make Jesus known to proclaim salvation in Christ, to go into the world wherever God would send him in order to extend 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:04.180 the kingdom of Christ. And it seemed like that whole Moravian mission movement, they got it together. 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:12.879 And that's why it made such an impact. A single concern for the glory of God and for people to hear 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:21.160 about salvation through Jesus. That's our great privilege, for the glory of God to bring the good 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:30.740 news of salvation to be on mission for the risen and exalted Jesus. Like the church in Acts, our message 00:05:30.740 --> 00:05:40.540 focuses on Christ, Christ crucified and risen. We go in the power of the Spirit sent by the risen Christ. 00:05:40.540 --> 00:05:48.660 And like those Moravians, our movement is to go into the world, recognizing it is his mission field. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:56.439 So as we close up our little reflections at the start of the year on our privileges as the church, 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:02.680 my prayer would be that we would capture something of the spirit of those Moravians, 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:09.959 something of the spirit of Peter and the apostles, so that we too might embrace and enjoy the privilege 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:19.439 of being called into Christ's mission. Let's think a little bit more about that in Acts chapter 4. 00:06:19.620 --> 00:06:23.439 That's going to be the text that we're going to spend a bit of time on just now. Thinking about the 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:31.379 message as the message spoke of the risen Lord Jesus. Just to set the scene within the book of Acts, 00:06:31.379 --> 00:06:39.240 we understand that Luke has many different themes, but a key theme as Luke writes this book is the 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:46.639 resurrection. Our first scene, Acts chapter 1, begins with the risen Lord Jesus teaching His disciples 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:54.420 before He ascends to heaven. He promises He would send the Spirit, and the church would then spread 00:06:54.420 --> 00:07:05.220 the witness about Christ through the world. We are led to understand that as much as the book of Acts is 00:07:05.220 --> 00:07:09.379 about the church, and it's about the Spirit, the mission director, we can use that terminology, 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:16.740 the mission director of the church continues to be Jesus by His Spirit through His apostles and followers. 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:25.879 Peter Stuhlmacher, New Testament scholar, writes that the movement of Christianity spreads only by 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:33.240 experiencing that Jesus has been raised by God and exalted to His right hand. This is the wonderful 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:41.400 news that the apostles and the church shared, the only way to be saved through discovering the risen Lord 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:47.379 Jesus as Savior. So, how did they speak about the risen Jesus, and how does that help to inform our 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:55.699 mission? Well, look with me at verse 10. As Peter, before the hostile religious leaders, begins to 00:07:56.279 --> 00:08:01.219 explain his understanding of Jesus, he says, 00:08:01.219 --> 00:08:07.239 Then know this, you and all the people of Israel, it's by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:14.060 crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. So, he connects 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:23.980 resurrection with a great reversal. So, Peter, filled with the Spirit, records the truth that God overrides 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:33.720 the decision of those leaders. The verdict that was placed on Jesus by those who crucified Him has been 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:42.680 overridden through the resurrection. So, that while they wanted to heap shame on Jesus as a false Messiah, 00:08:42.680 --> 00:08:52.960 by God's design, He is honored. They meant nothing but death for Jesus, but He was righteous and didn't 00:08:52.960 --> 00:09:02.480 deserve to stay in the place of death, and so God raises Him to life again. While His enemies would call 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:10.879 Him a blasphemer, His Father said, this is my Son, and I love Him. Listen to Him. This idea of God 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:19.940 reversing their verdict is a common theme, actually, as Peter and the apostles teach. So, we heard it at 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:29.039 Pentecost. In verse 23, this man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge, 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:34.679 and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross, but God raised 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:42.719 Him from the dead. So, part of God's plan. And so, Peter stands before a variety of different crowds in 00:09:42.719 --> 00:09:50.000 the book of Acts, and he will say, I'm an eyewitness. I'm an eyewitness to the risen Lord Jesus. I'm an 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.719 eyewitness to the fact that He was ascended into glory, and that speaks to the fact that God has a 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:02.840 different verdict on Jesus than the religious leaders. We often say, don't we, that God's verdict 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:07.600 on our lives is the one that matters, and that's true. We should live before the audience of one. 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:12.840 But here we need to understand, when it comes to the resurrection, it's God's verdict on Jesus 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:21.080 is the one that matters. And of course, our response to that determines the verdict God has on our lives. 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:25.740 So, when they speak of resurrection, they often bring in this idea of reversal. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:34.680 Coupled with that, verse 11 helps us to see that resurrection is connected with the idea of 00:10:34.680 --> 00:10:45.140 necessity. Jesus is, quoting from Psalm 118, the stone you builders rejected, which has become 00:10:45.139 --> 00:10:51.399 the cornerstone. So, one of the wonderful things that Jesus helps His followers to understand is that 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:59.159 as they read their Old Testament Scriptures, they will find foreshadowings of the person, the work, 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:07.699 the ministry of Jesus, including the resurrection. They're taught by Jesus Himself to know that the 00:11:07.699 --> 00:11:14.819 cross is necessary and the resurrection is necessary to God's plan of salvation. So, Peter, as we've just 00:11:14.820 --> 00:11:23.780 heard in Acts chapter 2, can see God's hand in it. Listen to His language again. This man was handed over 00:11:23.780 --> 00:11:34.640 to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge. Essential to salvation, that Jesus be handed over, 00:11:34.640 --> 00:11:43.500 that He be killed, and then be raised to life. It's anticipated in Psalm 16. 00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:47.400 And again, Peter quoted from that, 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:53.160 you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead. You will not let your Holy One see decay. 00:11:54.180 --> 00:12:00.080 Now, whenever Peter hears the words of that Psalm, he understands that that truth is applied to the 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:05.860 lips of Jesus. He is the Holy One who was not abandoned to the place of the dead. Indeed, it's 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:12.040 unthinkable that the author of life should ever be permanently subjected to death, 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:20.279 rather having gone into battle against sin and death and the devil. He was raised in victory. 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:28.919 So, the resurrection is reversal, and it's necessary. And then to go back to chapter 4 and verse 12, 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:39.719 Peter wants to connect the resurrection with salvation. Because Jesus is risen, salvation is found 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:46.680 in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:58.100 Acts' speeches from Peter, from Paul, often end with a call to repent. Why do they end with a call to 00:12:58.100 --> 00:13:05.720 repent? Because as they understand the truth of the resurrection, they understand that Jesus is the 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:13.200 one who has overcome sin and death. There is forgiveness, there is victory in Him, there is peace with God, 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:20.080 through faith in the risen Christ. They understand that He has been appointed by God as the end-time 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:29.080 judge. And to hear the judgment of being declared righteous, you need to have faith in the one crucified and now risen. 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:40.340 And so, they emphasize that the resurrection has significance for salvation. Indeed, we didn't read it, 00:13:40.400 --> 00:13:46.460 but Acts chapter 4 verse 2, we read this, they were greatly disturbed, that's the opponents of the 00:13:46.460 --> 00:13:52.340 apostles, because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:58.740 dead. So, they're beginning even at this stage to make a connection. Jesus rose from the dead. If we have 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:05.779 faith in, we too will rise from the dead, that where Jesus goes, we too will go. So, salvation then 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:14.399 becomes tied up with the hope of a new heaven and a new earth for the people of God. So, the resurrection 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:23.240 is crucial for the apostles as they teach, regardless of their context, friendly or otherwise. Now, 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:30.360 how can all this thinking about the resurrection help the church on mission today? Well, to take a step 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:40.580 back, we read three different scenes, but in each we see Peter publicly testifying that Jesus died and 00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:48.100 rose again. And I think we have in the book of Acts an encouragement to public faith, that part of our 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:53.340 mission is to live our mission is to live out our faith before a watching world. Now, the context for 00:14:53.340 --> 00:15:03.700 them, often hostility, often opposition. Definitely, they were a tiny minority, both within Judaism and 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:10.740 within the Roman Empire at this stage, but yet they publicly testified. What might that look like for us? 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:23.740 Allowing Jesus and his teaching to impact our daily lives? Certainly, he's Lord of all. Look like 00:15:23.740 --> 00:15:30.980 obedience to Jesus as Lord, being ready to bear the cost of that, that makes life difficult in 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:36.100 our family setting, in our workplace, in our workplace, or in our place of education. 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:46.060 As we see from Peter and others, taking risks with the help and the power of the Holy Spirit to 00:15:46.060 --> 00:15:54.100 communicate our faith to others when we have opportunity to love the local church as an expression 00:15:54.100 --> 00:15:59.980 of the kingdom of Jesus. So, we're encouraged to public faith. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:10.560 I think this also encourages us to recognize, all this talk about the resurrection, to recognize the 00:16:10.560 --> 00:16:19.040 interest that there is today in the afterlife. What happens after we die? It's interesting to see that 00:16:19.040 --> 00:16:22.660 there's still a great interest. People are still asking those questions. Popular culture. 00:16:24.100 --> 00:16:28.279 You've got TV shows like The Good Place or Russian Doll. You've got novels like The Lovely Bones. 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:33.759 You've got so many stories that always sell well about people, you know, traveling into the light 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.259 and going to heaven for a few minutes and then coming back. And they can always get on telly and 00:16:37.259 --> 00:16:45.000 they can always sell books. People are interested in the idea of the afterlife. And there was a survey 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:52.840 recently done by King's College down in London called the World Values Study, looking at different 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:57.300 countries and what different countries think about religious questions. It revealed that in the UK, 00:16:57.820 --> 00:17:05.660 46% of people still say they believe in life after death. It seems fairly high. Interestingly, 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:13.680 younger people are recognized to be more likely to believe in life after death, more likely to believe 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:19.240 both in heaven and in hell. 16 to 24 year olds are far more likely to believe in heaven and hell than 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:25.920 60 year olds and 70 year olds, according to that survey. The survey director made the observation, 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:32.660 it seems like those young people who are less attached to formal religion actually have a greater sense and 00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:38.740 need of, there must be more than this. There must be something bigger than this. 00:17:40.040 --> 00:17:44.980 And so when we see it in our culture and we hear it in our surveys and we hear it in conversation, 00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:50.960 we need to talk about the resurrection as a crucial part of the whole gospel. You know, 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:56.440 we can't stop with, you know, Jesus lived and Jesus died for our sins. To remind people about the 00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:03.059 resurrection, about the return of Christ, about the new heavens and the new earth and what that looks 00:18:03.059 --> 00:18:10.799 like for the believer. Because Christianity promises to meet so many deep longings that people have. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:19.220 People love this earth. People love friendships and family and a love that, want a love that lasts. 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:22.960 Jesus promises it in the new heaven and the new earth. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:33.259 Jesus meets deep longings as people come to him by faith. The third thing that we see from 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:40.480 Peter and the apostles throughout the book of Acts is a reminder again to take a step back, 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:44.000 to read the Bible in a Jesus-centered way. We thought about that a little bit this morning. 00:18:45.059 --> 00:18:51.340 You know, after teaching, after listening to Jesus, it becomes instinct for these believers, 00:18:51.339 --> 00:18:59.379 for these apostles to read their Old Testament and to see Christ on every page. Again, a plug for the 00:18:59.379 --> 00:19:06.399 Rooted Women's Bible Study. It's going to be a good time of seeing in those great stories of Ruth and 00:19:06.399 --> 00:19:16.379 Joseph themes that connect to Jesus and the gospel. Our mission is to help people to know our God, 00:19:16.380 --> 00:19:27.020 to help people to come to know Jesus. He is the great hero in the storyline of all of Scripture. 00:19:28.520 --> 00:19:32.620 Jesus risen and exalted is the one that we proclaim. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:36.540 Andreas Kostenberger said this, 00:19:36.539 --> 00:19:43.019 The dynamic that drives the dynamic that drives the irresistible spread of the gospel in Acts is clearly 00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:54.039 the apostolic proclamation of the risen Christ. Nobody saw it coming that God's Messiah would die 00:19:54.039 --> 00:20:00.099 in shame and be raised in glory, but they proclaimed it, and the world was turned upside down, 00:20:00.099 --> 00:20:08.699 and it will always be the same. So that's the message of the risen Christ that we need to proclaim. 00:20:09.819 --> 00:20:15.919 Now let's turn to Acts chapter 10 just for a few minutes to think about the movement of the risen 00:20:15.919 --> 00:20:25.559 Christ as the church goes on mission. So we're here in Acts chapter 10. Peter is at Cornelius' house. 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:29.980 It's one of these great moments in the book of Acts where the gospel jumps barriers, 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:38.319 because Cornelius is a Roman soldier. He is a Gentile, would be regarded to an outsider as an enemy 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:45.039 of the people of Israel. But we know that God is working in his heart. He's described in verse 2 of 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:52.419 chapter 10 as a devout and God-fearing man along with his family. God is drawing him. 00:20:52.420 --> 00:21:01.060 And God works through two visions. Cornelius gets a vision. Go and send for this man Peter. Peter 00:21:01.060 --> 00:21:07.300 gets a vision while he's praying and is led to come to Cornelius' house. And when he arrives, 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:19.519 what's his message about Jesus? Well, here that he stays on topic. He tells Cornelius, 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:26.900 Jesus is God's message of good news. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:35.400 announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. He declares in verse 00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:44.539 38, Jesus is God's anointed, anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. And he declares that Jesus 00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:53.180 was raised by God. Verse 39 and 40, they killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from 00:21:53.180 --> 00:22:02.839 the dead on the third day. And after speaking about Jesus, Peter also wants to tell Cornelius something 00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:09.740 of himself. In verse 41, he makes the point that he saw Jesus. He's one of the eyewitnesses that Jesus 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:18.180 appeared to. In verse 42, he makes the point that he was sent by Jesus. He commanded us to preach to 00:22:18.180 --> 00:22:26.359 the people. And he makes plain his message. All the prophets testify about him, that everyone who 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:37.779 believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Wherever Peter goes, he is sharing the same 00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:45.480 kind of message about the risen Lord Jesus as good news, bringing salvation and forgiveness of sins. 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:53.500 And as he goes, we see the Spirit is at work. The risen Lord Jesus who sends the Spirit, 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.920 and the Spirit is then directing mission. 00:22:56.920 --> 00:23:10.720 And listen to how Peter understands the mission movement. So again, in verse 34, we hear the language, 00:23:10.840 --> 00:23:19.800 I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation the one 00:23:19.800 --> 00:23:26.160 who fears him and does what is right. This is not good news just for some people. This is good news for 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:36.279 all people. Verse 36, you know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:47.380 peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. The supremacy of Christ and salvation through Christ for all. 00:23:47.380 --> 00:24:09.340 All the prophets, verse 43, testify about him, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:19.079 through his name. Making the point in so many different ways that the risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ seeks to gather 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:28.339 his people from all nations. And he continues to do so as his people bring the gospel message. 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:39.579 And so as we think about our ongoing mission to make Jesus known here in Edinburgh, wherever we happen to find 00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:49.359 ourselves, again, some implications for us to consider, borrowed from the website of Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 00:24:49.459 --> 00:24:55.519 OMF, and some headings for us to consider. As we think about what will it look like 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:06.059 for us to be involved in the mission of the risen Lord Jesus? And we begin, as we were thinking about 00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:12.920 this morning, with the idea of giving. One of the ways that we can be involved in mission is by 00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:22.440 supporting financially. So just to flag up, we made this decision, I guess, last year, maybe even two 00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:28.000 years ago as a deacon score, that every penny that comes into our offering on a Sunday evening will go 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:36.000 to support mission. Mission in our church plant in Galaxias, the new church plant in Leith, and to 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:42.559 support the Reannos working in Columbia. So whenever you give on a Sunday evening, that's where the money 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:51.220 will go. Perhaps giving might look like supporting the Bible Society. Bible Society last year completed 00:25:51.220 --> 00:26:02.039 181 translations of the Bible used by 723 million people, but they reckon there's still 1.15 billion 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:09.200 people who still have no access to Scripture. So Bible Society, Bible translation work is a wonderful 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:18.000 way to support the kingdom work as we think about how would God have me use my finances to invest in 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:26.660 the kingdom of God. So we give. We're called, of course, to pray. We see it in the book of Acts, the early 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:35.539 church so often praying together, praying for the glory of God, praying for the spread of the good news of 00:26:35.539 --> 00:26:43.940 salvation. We saw it in the Moravian mission movement, praying for the glory of Christ in the world as 00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:51.620 his mission field. So we have the chance to pray individually. We have the chance to pray as we come 00:26:51.620 --> 00:26:58.720 together, to pray knowing that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his 00:26:58.720 --> 00:27:05.019 name, knowing that we have the best news that people really need to hear. And so we pray for our 00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:11.779 preaching here. We pray for every opportunity that we have to teach the Bible formally and informally. 00:27:11.779 --> 00:27:19.019 We pray for our plans for a new kids' club in our community, for evangelistic Bible studies for our 00:27:19.019 --> 00:27:31.500 students and young workers. We pray for the sake of ongoing mission. For some of us, perhaps we'll hear the 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:41.359 call from God to go. Historians estimated that one in every 92 people connected to the Moravian movement 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:49.639 they left home on mission. That's striking, isn't it? One of the things I've been praying in the last 00:27:49.639 --> 00:27:56.240 year or so is to pray that God would put it on the heart of one person or one family in our church to 00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:02.019 think about mission here or abroad. I include myself in that. We all need to be open, I think. David Platt 00:28:02.019 --> 00:28:08.619 puts it so well when he says, we are called to be ready for mission wherever we are. It could be in our 00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:16.459 families, in our neighborhood, in our office or our school, and we need to be open to wherever God leads. 00:28:18.979 --> 00:28:26.599 Remember Isaiah, having seen the glory of God, ready to say, here am I, send me. As we see and 00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:34.539 appreciate the glory of the risen Lord Jesus, are we ready to say, here am I, send me. Maybe the last 00:28:34.539 --> 00:28:41.920 implication, OMF recognising the shift of people movements, they talk about welcome, reminding us of 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:48.299 the mission field on our doorstep, reminding us of the opportunities that we have of nations, people 00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:53.559 from different nations coming to us. And many people who in their home countries wouldn't have easy 00:28:53.559 --> 00:29:02.180 access or any access to a church or to a Bible, to a place to ask questions or to explore Christianity. 00:29:02.180 --> 00:29:11.039 So we have amazing opportunities, a chance to share the gospel, to make disciples, to send people home 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:17.120 as believers of the Lord Jesus. And so again, that leads us to pray and seek opportunities, and maybe 00:29:17.120 --> 00:29:24.980 especially to pray for things like Connect on a Monday, where people from different nations gather, 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:27.720 some of whom are Christians, many of whom are not. 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:36.880 So we see in the book of Acts, here are the apostles sent on this amazing mission for the 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:42.019 risen Lord Jesus. And we understand that we have that same mission as the people of God. 00:29:43.539 --> 00:29:49.700 Luke, as he writes his book of the Acts, he wants us to see that the rapid growth and spread of the 00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:55.279 gospel. The mission of the gospel, the mission of the church doesn't come because of finely tuned 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:04.259 strategies. It comes because Jesus sends the Spirit, and the Spirit directs men and women, 00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:10.360 ordinary believers, as well as the apostles, to speak and act for the living God. 00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:18.719 And that's what God still wants to do, to equip us, to empower us, ordinary Christians, 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:25.679 that we might make Jesus known. And that's good news. It's good news as we think about our mission. 00:30:25.799 --> 00:30:30.619 It's good news as we think about our Monday morning. And where will we be? Where will our mission field 00:30:30.619 --> 00:30:40.719 be this week? Perhaps in the school? Perhaps on our street? Perhaps it'll be in the hospital? Or in our 00:30:40.719 --> 00:30:50.039 office? But we have that promise that Jesus will be there with us by His Spirit, giving us that 00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:59.439 wonderful privilege of representing Him, of serving Him, so that we might make it known that Jesus is the 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:06.420 risen Savior of the world. Let's pray together briefly. Lord,