Lessons from the Mission Field 11-17-24

Overview

Every Christian, a Missionary

The Great Commission was given without geographic or demographic limits. When Jesus sent his disciples to make disciples of all nations, he did not restrict the call to a particular time, place, or personality. Mission happens in our family rooms, our schools, our workplaces, and even on the golf course—wherever God places us, when he places us there, and with whomever he sets before us. Mission is not reserved for extroverts. God created each of us as we are, and by his grace he equips both the bold and the quiet to share the faith he has given. The shape of our witness may vary, but the call does not.

Sharing our faith can feel frightening. Because faith is so personal and central to who we are, speaking of it leaves us vulnerable to rejection, and most of us have at some point let an opportunity pass. Yet Scripture shows us that mission rarely unfolds the way we plan it. In Acts 16:11-15, Paul and his companions were redirected by the Spirit to Macedonia, then went outside the city expecting to meet a group of men at a place of prayer. Instead, they found women gathered there. Rather than walk away because the situation didn't match their expectations, they sat down and preached. The Lord opened Lydia's heart, and she and her household were baptized. God's "divine appointments" often look different than we anticipate—but unexpected people and unexpected places are not signals to close our mouths. They are precisely where God has sent us.

The power for this work is not our own. As Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." It is Christ in us who goes forth, Christ in us who speaks the good news of forgiveness, Christ in us who bears witness. We plant seeds; the Spirit gives the growth.

Mission Lived Out Among Us

Two ministries at Living Word illustrate how God places his people in specific times and with specific people. The preschool ministry has grown from about 20 children to 42 across multiple classes, with chapel led by the pastors, weekly music with Mrs. Zybel, lessons on God's creation from David Colson, and Bible stories shared in classrooms and on Fridays. Six teachers—most not yet members of the congregation—have embraced the church's mission as their own, joined by faithful volunteers (Sandy Plail, Noel Grash, Linda Carita, and Barbara Wilcox) who serve alongside them. Children are learning the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and carrying songs and stories home to their families.

GriefShare meets people in some of the deepest pain they will ever know. Across 13 sessions, participants watch teaching videos, work through a companion workbook, and share honestly with others who have suffered loss. The mission of GriefShare is to point grieving hearts to the only One who provides lasting comfort, strength, and purpose—Jesus Christ. As one teacher in the program puts it, "Grief is the price you pay for having loved someone." We grieve, but we also give thanks for the gift of love God granted, and we trust him to carry us forward. A standalone Surviving the Holidays session is available, and a new 13-week series begins Sunday, January 12 (2–4 p.m.); registration is at griefshare.org.

Going Forth

We do not know the full extent of what God will do through a preschooler's song or a grieving widow's renewed hope. We do know that we are invited into his kingdom work, called to plant seeds wherever he sends us. Open your lips this week. The Lord who sent Paul to Lydia, and who sends teachers, volunteers, and grief-share leaders here, is sending you too—into your home, your neighborhood, your daily encounters—to bear the good news that in Christ there is forgiveness, comfort, peace, and hope.

Transcript

So we talked last week about how we are all missionaries, how we are not necessarily 7s

called to go and proclaim the gospel in China, we may be, but we may not be. 15s

But we are called to go and make disciples of all nations. 20s

And that can be in our family room, that can be in our schools, that can be in our jobs, 28s

that can be on the golf course, wherever we are, we are sent as God's missionaries. 35s

God does not give us, when Jesus said, go and sent his people forth, 44s

he did not give us parameters of in this little time, in this little place, to these little people, 49s

but he sent us forth, he sent his disciples forth. 57s

So, and we got to hear from two missionaries, right here, from Living Word, Lutheran Church, 60s

we're going to hear from another missionary. 68s

And we can see how mission is brought into our lives, or God places us for his mission. 70s

Where we are, when we are, and with whom we are. 79s

So we're going to go ahead and continue talking about mission. 83s

One of the things that can be scary about sharing Jesus, sharing God, sharing our faith with someone else. 87s

One of the things that can be scary is that we don't want to be rejected. 99s

Our faith lives are very personal and very important, and makes up such a big part, 104s

makes up who we are. 113s

So, to share our faith, to share the faith that God has given us with someone else, 115s

it's a really vulnerable position to find ourselves in. 121s

But we find ourselves in that position nonetheless. 126s

We are still called to share the good news. 130s

Have you ever, yeah, I'm going to ask this, have you ever, and this isn't a judgment call, 135s

this is just like, let's be honest with each other, have you ever had that opportunity 141s

to share the faith that God has given you with someone, and you kind of went, 148s

no thanks. 155s

Okay, all right. 159s

And again, it's not a judgment, it's not a judgment, you know, it's just the reality, 161s

because it's scary or it can be scary. 168s

Who here thinks that mission is made for the extrovert? 171s

Who, I love in the back, we have a, yeah, who here thinks that introverts don't have to 181s

or are not called into mission. 191s

Right, God does not specify, go as my extroverted disciples and make more disciples. 195s

He says go to all of us. 205s

Now, how we are to minister, how we are to bring his word, will that maybe vary a little bit 208s

with how we are equipped or who we are? 215s

Absolutely, because God has created each of us to be exactly how He has created us to be. 220s

He has given us the introverted or extroverted nature by His grace and empowers us, 228s

whether an extrovert or an introvert empowers us to share His word, empowers us to share the faith with others. 238s

Does it always look like when we're in mission, I promise we're going to get to Scripture? 248s

Does it look how we would imagine? 254s

To be a missionary, does it look how we would imagine? 259s

Let's turn to Scripture now. 264s

Go to Acts, the 16th chapter. 265s

So if you open up to the New Testament, you're going to see the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 268s

And right after that is the book of Acts. 274s

And this is the church. 277s

This is the church as it began and carried through. 281s

And really, Acts is not finished because the church is still here on earth right now. 287s

So that's a little aside note. 294s

But so we're going to to Acts chapter 16 and we are going to begin in verse 11. 297s

So this is the Apostle Luke or not the Apostle, sorry, the gospel writer Luke, he is writing, he also wrote the book of Acts. 307s

And he says here we set sail. 316s

So he is with Paul in this at the mission on this mission. 318s

He is with Paul. 325s

And so he says we set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samatha Rase. 326s

And following day to Neapolis and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the District of Macedonia and a Roman colony, 331s

we remained in this city for some days. 342s

On the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate by the river where we were supposed there was a place of prayer and we sat down and spoke. 344s

Okay, we're going to stop there for a moment. 353s

So what Paul and his missionary team is expecting. 354s

They are expecting to go and preach. 359s

They knew that they had been taken to Macedonia by the spirit. 362s

The spirit wasn't letting them cross where they had planned to cross. 367s

So the spirit leads them to Macedonia there in Macedonia. 371s

There aren't a lot of, there aren't synagogues there. 375s

And so they knew that they would be outside the city. 379s

They would find some Jewish people that they could be missionaries to. 381s

They could proclaim the gospel to. 386s

And so they're expecting to find this prayer meeting with a bunch of men. 388s

And so they have a certain expectation in their mind. 392s

And then they come to this place outside of Macedonia. 398s

They sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 405s

Paul and his missionary team was not expecting to find women to preach to. 413s

They were expecting to find men. 420s

Women were not people of status. 424s

They were not people who would be the ones that a man would go to preach to necessarily. 427s

And so he finds these women. 437s

And instead of high-tailing it out of there because this is not what he expected. 440s

They sat down and they preached to these women. 447s

They preached to these women. 452s

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God was listening to us. 453s

She was from the city of Thiaatira and a dealer in Purple Cloth. 458s

The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul when she and her household were baptized. 462s

She urged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, 469s

come and stay at my home and she prevailed upon us. 473s

So Paul, as a disciple of Christ, was sent forth to make disciples of Christ. 476s

He heads out, doesn't get to go where he was planning is diverted over to Macedonia. 484s

Okay, Lord, I'll go with you on this one. 489s

He goes to Macedonia, looks for the place of prayer, goes outside the city looking for a bunch of men and he finds women. 492s

And so he goes ahead, okay, Lord, I'll go with this and he preaches to Lydia and the women that are there and Lydia comes to faith. 500s

She hears the word and she comes to faith and her and her household are baptized. 512s

We don't know God's plan. 520s

We do know that we are invited into his kingdom work for his glory and for the growth of his kingdom. 527s

And so when we face those times where it is not what we expect, when we encounter people that we do not expect to encounter, 537s

that is not the time that God is saying, okay, you're off the hook. 548s

Close your mouth, don't share my word. 554s

Because God places us in the place and time and with the people to whom he has for us. 557s

It's the divine appointment. 567s

And we know that we are called to plant those seeds by God's grace. 570s

It is he that does the growing, the spirit that calls us into faith, but he uses us to share his word. 574s

Go, go baptizing and proclaiming all that I have taught you. 586s

So we go forth not knowing what we are necessarily going to find, not knowing who we're going to find, but still going forth. 596s

Let's go to Galatians 2. 606s

So if you keep turning to the right from the book of Acts, you're going to find Romans and then 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and then you will find Galatians. 610s

And we're going to look at verse 20. 625s

Actually, we're going to look right before verse 20. 631s

And we're going to do in the springtime, we're going to do a deeper dive into Galatians, we'll have an adult ed, all on Galatians. 635s

But right now, we're just looking at this. 642s

So Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, I have been crucified with Christ. 644s

Now looking at 20, he says, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. 650s

And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 662s

It is Christ in you that goes forth, sharing his word. 669s

It is Christ in you that goes forth to say, we are crucified in Christ, and we have forgiveness in him. 675s

And it is his word of this good news that goes forth from our mouths. 685s

So we're going to listen or hear from another missionary of this congregation. 691s

We're going to hear about two missions that this gentleman is engaged in. 697s

And I know from knowing him that it is not just in the parameters of these two missions that he proclaims the word. 702s

But these two are endearing or special in my heart. 711s

So I'm going to invite our missionary, Chris Anderson, to come up here. 720s

And he's going to share about how God has led him and put him in a place and time and with specific people to be a missionary. 725s

Hold on, I don't know if this is on. Is this on? Oh, perfect. Here you go. 735s

Okay. So it's on. 740s

So the first year went very smoothly with just two classes and a total enrollment of about 20 children. 744s

Two children from the preschool were baptized along with their mother here during a service. 750s

And two families attended here at times during the school year. 756s

It was successful enough that the church decided to add a class four two year olds this year. 759s

And yeah, I mean, I was doing fine and then Pastor Malinak said, yeah, we're going to add two year olds. 766s

What? 772s

So once that had been decided, Pastor Malinak and I were shocked when we saw the demand for the two year old class. 776s

And a decision was then made to increase the maximum class size to 22 about double what we had originally thought. 783s

This allowed us to more than double our enrollment from last year so that we currently have 42 children enrolled in the preschool. 793s

These children attend three hours per day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but their days are full during those three hours. 804s

They have instructional or academic time. They have craft time. They have free play. They have recess. They have time for fun and games. 811s

But they also have chapel every Wednesday morning led by Pastor Zybel and Malinak. 817s

And where they learn about the Bible, they learn about Jesus Christ and they hear about the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 824s

Some of those kids, that's all new stuff. But they're here and regularly when they're here. 832s

They have a weekly music class led by Mrs. Zybel where they sing many Christian children songs. 838s

And if you've never seen Denise with the little kids, you need to. 845s

Because she just loves it so much. And she just has such a good time with them and brings in different musical instruments. 851s

Sometimes they're playing tambourines or bells or rattles or who knows what it is they might have. 859s

But they've got all kinds of things going on. She takes time to give them a little music theory. 865s

They learn about quarter notes and half notes and whole notes and and rests and just all kinds of crazy things. 869s

They also learn of God's creation from David Colson as he comes in by weekly to talk to each of the classes. 877s

They hear Bible stories during class time and they create related crafts. And they get more Bible stories and applications of God's word on Fridays when I get to read to them. 883s

And that's a joy for me. I get to read Bible stories or books about God or sometimes it's just secular stories. 895s

And then we can talk about what happens in that story and how that ties to what God tells us and teaches us. 902s

And there's just nothing better for me. 910s

So this is a mission that is reached out not only into grapevine but also into surrounding communities as some children come from locations nearby. 914s

It's a true mission outreach of the church. We have six teachers at the preschool this year who have adopted the church's mission as their own. 922s

They also have become our church missionaries even though most of them are not members of the church. 934s

And that's really wonderful to see. 941s

I love when we get to have morning devotions and we get to talk about some of those things and some of the things we want to share with kids. 944s

We also have four church member volunteers who donate one morning each week to assist in one of our classrooms. 954s

They are Sandy Plail, Noel Grash and Linda Carita who assist with the two-year-olds. 961s

And that's a big challenge and it's so helpful to us to have another person in there when you're changing diapers and doing all the things that two-year-olds need. 968s

And sometimes they can't communicate everything so well. 978s

So it's such a blessing to have those people there. 981s

And then Barbara Wilcox assists with the four-year-olds on Fridays and she's also helped out in the two-year-old class when needed when there was a person missing there or whatever. 984s

So when you see these ladies, please thank them for their contribution to the preschool ministry because it's so important to us. 998s

And they're such a tremendous help and asset to our teachers and they've established a greater connection between the church and the preschool. 1006s

They serve our preschool and our students as, again, additional missionaries from the church. 1014s

We thank them immensely. 1022s

And I can't thank Pastor Malinak enough. 1025s

I mean, she plays such an important role in the church. 1027s

She knows the kids, knows their names, knows the parents, greets them, talks with them if they ever need anybody to talk to about anything. 1030s

I mean, she makes everybody feel welcome. 1039s

The parents, I think, enjoy coming here. 1042s

We also need to thank Steve Burke. Steve does so much for our website and promoting the school. 1046s

I'm sending pictures all the time that the teachers are taking. 1053s

And this year, the two-year-old teachers had just gone wild taking pictures. 1057s

I send him some almost every day. 1060s

And he always says, thank you. 1062s

I think, yeah, you're welcome. Steve, good luck getting those out. 1065s

And they're too. 1067s

If you're going to put these things. 1068s

But somehow he does and he always does it so graciously and happily. 1070s

Okay, so what a tremendous mission outreach this is. 1075s

I mean, an arm of the church reaching into our community and beyond to work with little kids and help them get a beginning of knowledge of Jesus Christ and take that home and share that with their parents. 1079s

I get there from parents about, they came home singing this song. 1100s

Yeah, they did. 1104s

Because Denise taught them that song and they love singing. 1105s

You know, kids, they enjoy that music. 1109s

And so we get to hear those wonderful things. 1111s

It's such a blessing to us. 1114s

I mean, yeah, there's some work involved. 1115s

But so many joys. 1118s

I mean, it's as much a blessing as it is a job when you get to participate in this kind of a mission. 1119s

Okay, the second mission that I want to talk about is grief share. 1129s

And one person out here, Barbara Walker, knows a lot about grief share because she led it many times here at the church before I started doing it. 1136s

So there's going to be no surprises in here for her. 1146s

And some of you out there have participated in grief share, I know. 1149s

So very few surprises for you in this either. 1155s

And I wish I could introduce grief share to you by making a humorous comment or sharing a funny story. 1161s

But the truth is there's nothing funny about grief share. 1167s

Almost all who come to grief share are experiencing the greatest suffering and pain that they've ever known. 1172s

And there's absolutely nothing they can do about it. 1179s

They feel hopeless and out of control. 1183s

They are powerless to help their lost loved ones. 1186s

And they cannot return to the life that they have known. 1190s

That life is gone forever. 1194s

And now they must move forward into the unknown. 1197s

I experienced this personally when my first wife passed away almost 10 years ago. 1202s

From a lung disease. 1208s

I participated in a grief share group a few months later. 1210s

And I've led six groups since that time, the last four with Allison as my assistant. 1215s

People often don't know what to say to a grieving person. 1222s

And the grieving person often finds that others really don't understand their feelings or what they're experiencing. 1225s

It's truly not possible for those who have not lost a loved one to imagine what it is like or to fully empathize with someone who has lost a spouse, a child, a parent or other loved one. 1233s

Participants in grief share have all recently suffered the loss of a loved one. 1249s

And they can relate to each other's feelings and experiences. 1254s

It consists of 13 to hour sessions. 1258s

Each session includes a video of about 30 minutes followed by a discussion time. 1261s

The videos are hosted by David and Nancy Guthrie, who lost two small children to a genetic disease. 1267s

The videos have a strong Christian basis and include biblical verses related to the topics of the lesson. 1275s

Grief share is only sold to churches. Individuals cannot buy it. It's only sold to churches. 1282s

The videos contain insights and personal experiences from pastors, psychologists, counselors, professors, social workers, authors, and many everyday people, just regular people who have experienced the loss of a loved one. 1291s

During the discussion time, following the video presentation, participants comment about anything that struck a chord with them, anything that surprised them or anything that they have a question about. 1307s

Prepared questions are asked to stimulate discussion or responses. 1322s

No one is ever required to speak during discussion time, but participation is usually found to be helpful for the individual speaking and for the others in the group who get to hear that person's response. 1327s

Participants serve themselves and each other at the same time, and that helps create a bond. 1345s

There's also a workbook with articles to read and questions to consider during the week prior to the next session. 1355s

We review those at the beginning of the next session. We go through the questions and the articles and talk about them. 1362s

During our sessions, we cry individually. We often cry together. 1370s

We nod our heads a lot when each person speaks, and we comfort each other as much as possible. 1376s

Grief is at times painful, frightening, threatening, and often overwhelming. 1385s

Where can you turn for help? 1393s

Some seek escape through alcohol or drugs, some seek solace and created things, some bury themselves in their work or another aspect of their lives, and some look for love in all the wrong places. 1396s

The mission of Griefshare is to help participants realize that there is only one place to turn for lasting relief and comfort. 1414s

There is only one person who can provide the strength to move forward, only one who can lead us to the purpose he has for us. 1424s

We all know who that is. 1433s

If you're old enough, you might remember a positive speaker who used to be very popular, named Zig Zigler. 1437s

He's in one of the Griefshare videos, actually he's in more than one of them. 1445s

But he's since passed away, but he had lost a daughter, and he speaks about that in one of the videos. 1450s

And he says, Grief is the price you pay for having loved someone. 1459s

The only way to avoid grief is to never have loved. 1466s

So in Griefshare, we strive to take comfort in the fact that we have loved, that we had someone who loved us in return. 1470s

A relationship of that kind is the greatest gift that can ever be given, and God is so gracious and pleased to have provided it to us. 1480s

We try to cry less over what we have less, what lost, but to smile more about the gift we were given. 1491s

Though we will carry our grief with us forever in our hearts, we will also forever carry the memories of the blessed gift God granted us. 1499s

And that's where we have to try to get. 1512s

That's where God can take us, but only God can take you there. 1516s

And as an announcement, if you haven't read it in your bulletin this afternoon from 2-4pm right here in the conference room, living word, Lutheran Church, 1524s

we will be holding a special two-hour griefshare session. 1535s

This is a standalone session. It's not part of the series or anything. 1539s

It's entitled, Surviving the Holidays. 1544s

The holiday season is especially difficult for those who have lost a loved one. 1548s

Someone who was an integral part of their holiday celebrations is gone. 1553s

The empty chair can seem like too much to bear. 1559s

Anyone who feels the need to attend this afternoon is welcome to come. 1563s

We start at 2 o'clock. 1568s

Also, beginning Sunday, January 12th from 2-4pm on Sundays, we will begin a new 13-week session of griefshare. 1570s

We will meet every Sunday with just a few exceptions through April 27th. 1580s

If you would like to attend or know someone who may benefit from attending, please sign up at www.griefshare.org 1585s

where you'll find our group listed among those available. 1595s

And if you sign up on the website, you also get access to the videos so that after we have that session, you can watch the video at home. 1600s

As many times as you want to throughout the entire course of the class and a few weeks after reading. 1609s

There are many other things available on the Griefshare website that can be helpful. 1618s

You can sign up for daily devotions. There are just many, many other helpful tools and products that you may find beneficial. 1622s

So, yeah, griefshare is such a needed mission and it's just a blessing to be able to serve those who are so in need. 1631s

And as one who has been there, I know what that need is and how the hurt feels. 1649s

So, it's truly a blessing to me. Thank you. 1658s

Thanks, Chris. 1663s

So, this is a perfect example of how God has used a person in a given time or space to glorify God and to serve Him and to share His Word with those people around Him. 1668s

And so, we don't know to what extent those little preschoolers are going to share the good news that they receive. 1686s

And we don't know to what extent the healing and the movement forward in God's blessed comforting Word will go. 1695s

But those are just two more examples of missions that we have. 1705s

You don't have to go far off, but they're right here in our own community, in our own home. 1711s

So, let's close in prayer. 1717s

Lord Jesus, you are great, you are merciful and you call us to share your Word. 1720s

Use us and equip us to bring your Word to those around us. 1727s

We don't know who you're calling us to, but we know that you call us and you send us forth as your missionaries this side of heaven. 1734s

And so, open our lips when we encounter those around us with your Word. 1742s

Open our lips to share the good news of your Word that we have forgiveness in you and you alone and that we can find all comfort, all peace, and all hope in you. 1747s

Lord, use us today, use us this week to share the good news and to be your missionaries this side of heaven and in this community. 1762s

Lord, we lift this to you in the blessed and holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 1773s

We will see you next week and we'll have another missionary to share with us as we go forth. 1778s

Thank you. 1786s

Amen. 1792s