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Is your wife going to come up
at all? Okay, all right. So I'll have them come up here
in just a moment and they're going to say what they're going
to say. I have no idea. And we're going to see their
field in picture or video form. He's going to share his burden
for where they're going and then open it up for any questions
that you may have for them. And if there's any time left,
he's going to preach as well. Amen all right my wife can preach
a good message so well You know, like I said today at the Joy
Lunch or Joy Fellowship, we really have enjoyed our time with you
guys. You guys have a wonderful spirit. We have just been encouraged
by various folks and just seeing how active you guys are in missionaries
and with the missions letters and stuff like that. That's one
question that a lot of missionaries have. Do people read my letter?
And to see that being done here, that's a blessing. And thank
you. Thank you so much for it. The way we usually do it, if
my wife comes up, is that I talk for five minutes and she does
the rest. But no, she's going to give her testimony real quick.
And, you know, I'm glad it was pastor's idea, not mine, because
I usually get in trouble if I don't tell her. But my wife's going to give her
testimony. It's a very powerful testimony. It's a very tragic
testimony. But even in tragedy, the Lord
is great, He is good, and He's what we should be standing on
and depending on. And I'll open that up for my
wife right now, and then I'll get up and I'll finish it out. Okay, so I wasn't ready for this
tonight. I was ready for tomorrow, but
I wasn't ready for tonight. Okay, so my name is Mariana Hernandez
and I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. I come from,
I want to say, I don't want to say a single parent household
because my dad and my mom did got married when I was five years
old. So, but let's start from the
very, very beginning. So my mom grew up Catholic and
she came to the big city of Monterey when she was 14 and started working
cleaning houses and that was her job because she wanted to
still help my grandma. They live like outside the state
of Nuevo Leon. So my mom is a baby of nine,
so she had that burden of helping grandma and grandpa, just sustaining
the family. My grandpa was a farmer, so she
met my dad when she came to the big city, and they started dating. They started dating, and they
dated until Obviously, my mom got pregnant. My mom got pregnant,
and she went and told my dad that they were gonna have a baby,
and he's like, I'm not interested in having a baby right now. I
don't wanna be part of it. I just don't wanna be Mary, because
my dad thought that my mom was gonna say, okay, we need to do
something, because my mom coming from a Catholic background, that
was, Very bad. People would just point at my
mom because she wasn't married and having a kid. So my mom is
like, okay, if you don't want to be part of it, we're not going
to get married, but I'm not going to live with you. I'm going to
have my daughter, and if you want to see her, that's fine,
but she's not going to have your last name. So I was registered
as my mom's sister instead of my mom's daughter because I had
her last names. So when my mom was still pregnant
with me, there was a church that was going to be started and they
were inviting people, so they invited my mom. And my mom went
off and on because she worked and all those things, but the
Lord really started talking to my mom. So when I was three days
old, my mom got, she, She got saved, so I became, she became
the first member of the church that started down there with
the former missionaries. So I became the baby of the church. So it was really like, honestly,
my mom had a lot of babysitters that would take care of me when
she was working with a pastor and tried to be a help there.
So until today, my mom's still in that church. She's been there
for all my life. And, I do, I do, I thank God for allowing me to
have a mom that really is strong and It doesn't stop her even though
my dad is not safe, he's not there by her side. So when I
was five, my parents got married, my dad came back and he said
that he wanted to get married and my mom said okay, well yeah,
because for my mom that was, Her only love so they got married
and they had three more kids. So I had two sisters and a brother
So I grew up in ministry my brothers my my siblings grew up in ministry
because my mom always took us to church And she even dedicate
us there. I remember my mom Standing by
by herself and dedicating her kids to the lord um so When I
was around eight, nine, I remember that I wanted to get saved. So I did that. But I really didn't
understand what I was doing. I just did it because, I mean,
all your friends do it, so why not? And I just thought I was
saved and on my way to heaven. But it wasn't until I was 16
when one of my sisters, we went through a very tragic experience. My husband was talking about
this yesterday. My youngest sister had an accident. The Lord, the Lord took her home
very, very young. She was almost six. So if you
see my daughter, Aaliyah, my youngest, you're looking at my
sister. So she was that, like that. But the Lord had another plan,
and his plan was to take her home. So it was really hard because,
um, My sister died in my arms. I was 16 at the time. And I became very bitter. I did
not understand what God was doing. I really got bitter because I
couldn't understand how he was doing that to my mom. after my
mom had done so much and I started talking to my mom and I said,
mom, we should just stop going to church and not be a part of
it anymore. She's like, no, we're not gonna
do that. We're gonna keep on going because
we're gonna see her one day and that was God's plan. You have
to understand that she wasn't ours. I dedicated her to the
Lord and the Lord It's okay with me if he want to take it home.
So seeing my mom very strong and still going and serving,
even though I got bitter, I still was serving their side with my
mom because I was the only thing that she had. My dad wasn't there.
She had me and my siblings as well. After two years of me battling
with all this anger and not understanding really why God had that plan,
I was helping in the Christian school. And Mrs. Johnson, which is the
former missionary, she was giving a Bible lesson. And that's the
first time I heard that she had lost a sister, her only sister
in a car accident. And now I had a connection. And
one thing she said is like, but I know I'm gonna see her again.
I'm 110% sure that I'm gonna see her again. And I didn't have
that. I didn't have that and God just started like, speaking
to my heart, and I said, Lord, I need to do something, because
I do want to see her again. I didn't have the time to say
goodbye to her, and I just saw her vanish in my arms, and I
waited until Mrs. Johnson was done with class,
and I talked to her, and I said, I want to get saved. I want to
be sure, like you, that you're going to see your sister again,
and I want to see her again. I got saved on December 8, 2008.
And from that time, my life just changed completely. I didn't
desire to do anything else than just serve, and I didn't know
how. I just knew that I wanted to
serve wherever God wanted me to serve, and my mom always said,
Mariana, if the Lord calls you one day to ministry, I am not
gonna be the one that holds you back. You just go, because that's
why I'm serving God, because of you guys, and I want you to
serve him, so. I said, OK, Mom, I really didn't
know that God was going to open a door for me to, later on in
life, become a missionary. I got saved and started working
in our church, getting more involved, and obviously I already knew
Gavino because we grew up together in the Christian school. But
I really never, really never had a desire to marry Gavino. I knew him, and I was scared
that maybe he wanted to serve God, and maybe I wasn't the perfect
fit for him, and I didn't want to hold him back, because I grew
up in ministry, but I really was never sitting with pastors
and missionaries, so I didn't know how to act and things like
that. But the Lord had another plan. We started dating, and my mom
was there. At first she wasn't, but then
she became very happy that I was dating Gavino, and she's like,
Mariana, I think the Lord wants this for you. My dad was not
in favor because he doesn't understand working for the Lord means. He
doesn't understand that. So for him, it was like, you're
wasting your time, or you can't live out of serving God, and
things like that. But my mom saw what I couldn't
see. because God had given her that.
So I started dating Gavino and in 2014 we got married. We moved
up for my paperwork in 2017. And I'm just so thankful that
I had a mom that dedicated me and that it's strong and still
very strong. But I think that the most important
thing is that I'm thankful for her because of all the time that
she invested in me. and I told her this when they
approved us to be missionaries. I told mom, one thing you told
me when I was growing up is that serving God is not in vain and
I can see it now. I can see it now and I'm so thankful
for your dedication and all the time and tears you just shed
for me and I'm just so thankful for my mom. Obviously I'm thankful
for God that she gave me my mom, but I'm so grateful that I can
call myself now a missionary and I'm ready to go serve in
my field. OK. So I'm just going to give
my testimony, and then I'll get into what I say is our calling. And then we'll see our video,
and then I'll open it up for Q&A. And if you have any questions,
you can ask my wife also in the Q&A, and she'll be able to respond.
But I come from a single-parent household. My mom had me out
of wedlock when she was 23 years old. My mom had gotten saved
when she was 18 at the University of Toledo in Ohio. Her roommate actually led her
to the Lord. And my mom was going against the current a little
bit because my mom had just gotten saved and she was going against
her tradition, her family religion, which was Catholicism, being
Hispanic. And months after my mom had gotten
saved, the lady that led my mom to the Lord actually passed away
in a car accident. She hit a semi head on and passed
away. And my mom questioned God's plan
on why he allows things to happen. And instead of continuing in
church and trying to understand God, she just fell to the wayside
and reverted back to what she knew best. And it wasn't until
I was six years old that I asked my mom one day if we could go
to church. My mom fell under conviction, and she made a commitment
that day that she was going to have me grow up in a Christian
home and give me the best Christian heritage she could. And what
happened was that we were going back to that church where she
had gotten saved. I qualify that place as being
my mom's Bethel, going back to where she met the Lord for the
first time. And what happened is that we were driving an hour
and a half one way, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday, and
on Saturdays in order to go to visitation. But my mom was very
committed. It became a little bit of a financial
struggle after going and doing that for quite a bit. So we found another church that
was closer by, about 15 minutes away, a little country church.
And that church had about 60 people in it, 60 members, and
it was a thriving ministry. The pastor was a phenomenal guy.
He actually could memorize, he memorized the whole New Testament.
He could quote any verse out of the New Testament. Just a
phenomenal guy, but he wasn't the exception. He fell into sin
and had to resign months after we had arrived there. The church
split and we went from 60 down to 25. And with or without a
pastor, my mom still tried to be faithful in serving God and
going out and reaching people with the gospel, going door to
door and trying to just be a light where we were at. My mom got
called into ministry when I was nine years old, and we moved
down to Mexico. We didn't know the veteran missionaries
down there, but we moved down there on October 15, 2001. That
was the first day that the borders had opened up after the Twin
Towers had come down. And we got in there, and we started
working with the veteran missionaries. They had a Christian school.
They had several church plants. And my mom started working as
being my wife's fifth and sixth grade teacher right when we first
got there, and kept on teaching in the Christian school. Now,
I grew up in that Christian school. I started going to that. And
we were at a solid church. We ran about 120 at that time. Just a great thriving ministry.
I was no longer qualified as just being a kid that was growing
up in a Baptist church. Now I was qualified as an MK.
I was a missionary kid. I had a title. And being also
in a Christian school, there was requirements that we had
to follow, learning chapters on end in the Bible, John 10,
John 15, the Romans Road, Ephesians 4, 5, 6. So it became something
that we started working and being very active as much as possible
in the church. And I could do all these different
things, but I wasn't saved. I was being a part, I was acting
a part, but I wasn't being a part. I wasn't saved, I wasn't truly
a part. I was putting on a facade and
acting. And it wasn't till we had a guest
preacher that came in one day for the first anniversary of
one of the churches, the church plants that was going on. He
brought some preacher boys down from his college and about 40,
45 guys, and we had two of the other church plants come to this
church, and there was probably 300 people in this little rinky-dink
church. and they were celebrating their
first anniversary. Everybody's excited, and there
was a standard message on just keep on growing, keep on doing
more for the Lord, don't be stagnant, keep on witnessing, keep on being
a light. And it boiled down to the invitation,
and the invitation was very standard. He said, every head bowed, every
eye closed, nobody looking around. Then he asked the question. He
said, if you're saved tonight, raise your hand. I knew I couldn't
raise my hand. I was scared. I was growing up
in ministry and I didn't want to affect my mom's ministry.
And then he went in and said another phrase. And that phrase
was, if you're not saved tonight, just know that hell is waiting
for you. And the torture and torment there will never stop
for all eternity. And I'm glad he didn't leave
it there. And he said, but Jesus wants to save you from that.
I understood in that moment that Jesus Christ had come to save
me. And I understood the importance
of why he came and had gone. It clicked in my mind, but I
wish I could say that I raised my hand or came to an altar,
but I didn't. I'm still scared and I stayed
in my seat. We went back home and we were living with the veteran
missionaries and that's where the guest preacher would stay
in all the groups because it was a big house. And that night
as we were trying to have supper, I'm sitting at the table and
I can't eat because I'm so much under conviction. And the guest
preacher is sitting at the table also, it's a big long table and
he was sitting to my left and he was eating but he was quiet
and everybody else was goofing off inside the house. And I just
can't get through my food and I get done eating, grab my plate
and then go and put it inside the sink and inside the kitchen,
he comes up right behind me and he puts his plate in the sink
and he looks at me, smiles and gives me a side hug. Doesn't
say a word. And then he goes upstairs and
goes to bed, and I head to bed, because we had school the next
day. And that night, as I laid there in the midst of all the
preacher boys, I struggled to sleep, and I couldn't. I tossed
and turned, and I just knew that hell was waiting for me, because
I wasn't saved. And I rolled over, and I grabbed
one of the preacher boys, and I said, hey, brother, I'm not
saved. I need to get saved. He grabs his Bible, and he takes
me out to the patio, not to wake anybody else up in the room. And he opens it up, and he starts
taking me through the Romans road. And I stop him after the
first verse, and I said, hey, man, I know these verses by heart. Let's pray. I was so primed with
the gospel that I knew if I were to have died in that moment,
I was going to spend eternity in hell. I knew I had to pray
and get right with the Lord. And that night, I prayed out
to God to cleanse me from my sins, and I gave all my burdens
to my Lord and Savior. And that night I got saved. I
slept like a baby. And the next morning I went downstairs
and I told the veteran missionaries of what I did. I told my mother
and I also told the guest preacher. And the guest preacher smiled
from ear to ear and he was so excited. He said, Vino, he said,
I saw you didn't raise your hand last night. He said, and I stayed
up all night praying for you to get right with the Lord. I
come from a single parent household. But I've had men of God that
invested into me personally on a one-on-one basis that have
showed me the ministry and have taken me under their wings and
just let me walk with them and help me, let me minister with
them and to see inside and out of ministry and to be a part
of it. And they have invested into me
and I have just been blessed beyond measure. I come from a
rich heritage, even though I wasn't born into it. Four years later,
we were in a missions conference similar to what you guys have
going on, and we had all the flags down the aisles, and everybody's
excited to the highlight of our year. I mean, the school would
do dramas. We would set up a whole entire
classrooms in order to, as a country, and we would just have people
come in and just walk through it, and just be able to represent
some type of country that needed the gospel. And we had a veteran
missionary that came up that we had supported for years, and
he had just started an orphanage. And he was so excited about presenting
this orphanage because it was something that he was so close
to his heart. He was in the state of Chiapas down in Mexico. And
as he came up and he showed his video and he showed just the
pictures and video clips of what was going on in that ministry,
I saw kids that looked just like me with the same hair color,
same skin color and smiling and just looking like they were so
excited. I understood while I was watching
that video that there was a need in that area and somebody saw
that need and somebody did something about that need. And it was that
missionary. But after the video, the missionary
comes up and he stands up in the pulpit and he said, church,
I want to let you guys know that not only in Asia and Africa and
Europe do they need the gospel, but they need the gospel here
in our local area. He said, the mission field is
not just out there, it's here too. He said, there's people
all around us that are dying and going to hell, and who will
tell them? I understood in that moment that
I was in a city of 5.4 million people, and there's people all
around me dying and going to hell. There was neighbors around
me, people in just my reach that needed the gospel, and if I wasn't
telling them, then who was? Because I had a personal responsibility
to do it. I fell under conviction, I came
to the altar that night and I surrendered my life to preach and to do whatever
God wanted me to do. And I told my pastor that night
and the next morning I started working with my pastor full time
as I finished out high school and as I finished out our Bible
Institute. At the age of 22 I married my wife, two and a half years
went through immigration paperwork, we came here into the States,
we came to a church that didn't know us from Adam. We came there
and I started working there, and after us being there for
three months, the pastor passed on the junior church. We took
over the junior church and started working there. After two and
a half years of us being there, the pastor had me come on staff,
and now after being there for five years, going on six years
in April, the Lord opened up the opportunity for us to be
ordained and to be sent out as missionaries from that church.
I've seen God's hand completely move in miraculous ways in my
life, and I can't explain it. But I am just so grateful for
what the Lord has done in our lives and how he's moved us.
And I believe it's his time and for our time and for him to move
us down to Mexico. And he's opening up the doors
left and right for us to do that. We're at 22.8%, it's very precise,
because I just looked at it. 22.8% as of today. And we still have four more churches
that are supposed to be putting in. The Lord has just been doing
an amazing work, and we just started in September. The Lord
has been doing an amazing work, and we're just blessed. But as
we're going to go into our video now, I just want to encourage
you, church, to understand that the mission field is not just
out there. It's also here in Taylorville, Illinois. And the
question is, who's going to tell them if we're not? There's people
dying all around us that are going to hell. It's not just
in Mexico. It's not just in Europe. It's
not just in Africa. It's here in the United States. This is our
mission field. This is your mission field. We're
going to Mexico particularly, but who's going to reach Taylorville?
Guys. Mark 6, 34 says, in Jesus, when
he came out, so much people, and was moved with compassion
toward them. Because they were as sheep, not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many
things. Hi, I'm Gavino. And I would like to share a quick
story with you about two girls in college. One was a faithful,
compassionate, loving soul winner. And the other was a lost girl
that had no clue in what she believed. And that girl was my
mom. And that compassion set us on
a different path. And that's why we're here now,
sharing the love of Christ here in Mexico. Missions is not a
foreign concept to me, because in 2001, God put compassion in
my mom's heart for the Mexican people. My mom came down to Monterey,
Mexico and started working alongside veteran missionaries. This is
the same field where God has called me. Growing up here, I
saw firsthand the investment of compassion of the ministry
workers in not only the national people, but also in my life. The investment in me showed me
many things from discipline to longevity to responsibility. But not just that, it showed
me a compassion and a love for lost souls. What does that investment
mean if I fail to pass that on? Our plan to pass down the investment
of compassion that was given to us, to the Mexican people,
is through evangelism, one-on-one discipleship, and at the same
time, planting a local indigenous Baptist church here in Monterrey,
Mexico. Whether your support be through
prayer, financial, or both, we would be honored and grateful
to be your representatives here in Monterrey, Mexico, and if
some have compassion, making a difference. Even if we found the time to
care Would we take the risk involved in always being there? Or we hold the very thing they
need so much? Sometimes the Word of God can
pass through just a simple touch How can we reach a world we never
touch? How can we show them Christ if
we never show them love? Just to say we care will never
be enough. How can we reach a world we never
touch? We hide behind these walls and
the security of friends. While beyond the stained glass
windows, the world is lost in sin. How can we reach a world we never
touched? How can we show them Christ if
we never show them love? Just to say we care will never
be enough. How can we reach a world we never
touch? How can we reach a world we never
touch? Okay, at this moment, I'll open
it up for Q&A. If anybody would like to start,
that would be great. I'm okay with awkward silence,
Pastor Taylor said. Anybody? Yes, sir. Yeah, so basically, my answer
to that is, is, as you see, I never reference it in my at any any
type of presentation, I never focus on it. But because I've
grown up in it. I've seen it firsthand ever since
I, from 2005 to 2013, it was like a war zone. I mean, we had
police officers, all the police officers were arrested by the
military and taken down for questioning in Mexico City. So we had army
tanks up and down, and that was some type of law enforcement.
But yes, the cartel is very, very bad. Actually, in the past
three months since November, since January 3rd, when El Chapo's
son was arrested. Now there's another cartel that's
taking over and we were down there for a month and we had
six killings within, you know, a five block radius of my mother
in law. It's just crazy They don't respect
innocent people if you're in the line of Who they're trying
to kill the you'll you'll get hit to A famous taco joint that
we go down to every single week the first night that we pulled
into Mexico They had just killed a guy that same night outside
of the taco joint So it's very dangerous, very, very dangerous.
But I don't focus in on that in the aspect, because I already
know what I'm getting myself into. It's not a big thing for me. What it boils down to is that
it's still people that need Jesus Christ. It's still lost people,
and Jesus Christ came to die even for the most vile person
in this world. So it boils down to the same issue, is that we
need to preach people with the gospel. So, yes, sir. Anybody else? Anybody else? My favorite tacos
are tacos de trompo, which are al pastor. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So our main focus will
be a church plant. I reference it in the video a
little bit. So it'd be starting a local indigenous
Baptist church. So what we're going to be doing
is that there's three church plants there now that the veteran
missionaries had left. And we're going to add on, Lord
willing, a fourth one. And we're going to focus in on
that and start a Bible college there and kind of start a network.
And then after that one's pretty solid, then we'll head out and
start some other smaller church plants. But the whole point is
to I want to say this in the most polite way. We need a balanced
college out of Mexico. A balanced Bible college. There's a big thing with the
Spanish Bible, and there's so many things. If we think about
different camps here in America, it's as bad, it's just as bad
down in Mexico. Baptists will fight over just
ridiculous things, and then We're not even doing our job. So there's
a need for a balanced college. There's a need for a balanced,
I would say, just center place where everybody can just come
together and say, okay, we're on the same page, even though
we can defer, we're on the same page and we need to reach people
with the gospel. I mean, we know that our time is running short,
and we still want to fuss about, you know, white shirts. So, anybody
else? I saw Pastor Chuck on that one. Anybody else? Come on, I need, I know somebody
else wants one. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So down there, as you
could see on our video, 77% of Mexico still qualifies themselves
as being Catholic. And you guys probably know a
ton of missionaries that are in Mexico, but we're still, you
know, for decades, we've been trying to reach Mexico with the
gospel, and you would think that there would be more, but 77%
is the statistic are Catholic, but they are very open to the
gospel because they don't even know why they're Catholic. So yeah, they'll
accept they'll accept something that actually has answer and
has depth to it. So yes. Anybody else? Yes, ma'am. Yes. Yes, so our plan is to have
a Christian school alongside with a Bible college. So yes, yes, ma'am. And Lord
willing, we'll be planning on opening up also a language school.
So a lot of missionaries that come into, you know, and come
into Mexico, they can actually go there and start off their
ministry there and learn Spanish. So that's kind of our, this is
our like 20, 30 year goal. So right now it would be get
there, one-on-one discipleship, you know, Bible studies, and
then just forming a church. And then from there, moving forward,
you know, everything's a process and a step. So, anybody else? Yes, sir. 5.4 so here's this and in 2021 a
20 2001 when we went down there We used to say 7.2 That was our statistic back in
2001. Somehow during the pandemic,
I don't know if they just didn't do their job right or what was
going on, but somehow there's a discrepancy of 2 million people.
I don't know if they just didn't go down to the poor areas or
what it was. But yes, sir, we do have an area, a specific area
that we have strategically prayed about, about going and starting
a church. It's an area that's very difficult
for other pastors to go, but as an American citizen, we're
able to step in to be able to have common ground with those
people and be able to start a church, Lord willing, through that. So
yes, sir, we do have that located. Anybody else? Anybody else? Yes,
ma'am. So right now we are doing a Becca
videos on So that's what naya is doing right now. She's doing
a Becca video. So even in the car She's able
to watch her videos and do class, but my wife was a teacher for
10 years And so she's been able to teach my my youngest daughter
Kindergarten right now and then once she gets into first grade,
she'll be going into a Becca videos, too So yes, we will be
doing that for the first first few years up until we can get
a Christian school Going. Yes, ma'am Anybody else? Pretty silent on this area. I'll
put pressure there. No pressure. Anybody else? Yes, sir. Yeah, 5.4. Yes, sir. Yeah, we're closer to New York
City, but I think there's a discrepancy. So the reason why I believe there's
a discrepancy because even the census from 2020 for Mexico City
was 10 million, even though they've always said 40 million. The Mexican
government doesn't even know if it's a state or it's a city. Yeah. So, it's just like, we
call it district, so, because we don't know. So, anything,
anybody else? Yes, sir. We are aware of several. I know
personally of a missionary that's out of, I think he's out of, towards
the Cleveland area in Ohio, and he started, I think he's tried
to start a church in every municipal, but they're very, very, very
liberal, and the Bible that they use is worse than an IV. So I
would say there's several like going back to the camp thing
It's it's where we kind of boil into this thing that they've
been influenced by too many people that it boils down to They'll
be solid on one thing, but they're way off on some other stuff Whether
that be doctrine or whether it be music or whether it be you
know certain things so that's kind of why we're just kind of
trying but I would say Personally, I'd probably know about 15 churches
that would probably be decent where the Gospels preached so
Anybody else but with with that with that many people even if
we were to plant 20 churches That's still not enough for four
five point four million people just put that in perspective
Yes Here's this. I had a preacher
friend of mine. He was an evangelist. He said,
if you would have asked me 25 years ago if I would support
Govino, I would say no. But you know what? It comes down
to everybody else has seen God's hand in my life too. And they
just want to be a part of it. But yeah, I would say that there's
certain people that even during my teenage years, there were
certain times that I got bitter. I got bitter with certain things
I saw. I got bitter with backstabbing in the ministry. And I didn't
want to have part of it for a bit. But I was still at church. And
there was people that just like, okay, well, he's a lost cause.
So, but most of the people that we've grown up around have supported
us. And there's probably like one
or two that just don't. But I guess they expect me to be perfect. Yes, sir. As in, like, give me an example
on people not inside the church. Okay, on witnessing, yeah. I would say I don't have any
problems. I would say that I've definitely been going back to
kind of what we've joked around pastor with. I was an MK, and
I hung around a whole bunch of PKs, and we always pushed boundaries.
That's one thing that we're known for, you know. And you always
do that, and it just kind of comes with, I would say, the
pressure of the ministry. I always, when I was old enough,
I always wanted to talk to people outside of the church. And so
I always established relationships outside of the church. Like I
knew a lot of the gangbangers that were in my area and I just
wanted to get to know them. I had a friendship with them
they would come for VBS and stuff like that and you know or for
for stuff and and I have a good relationship with them actually
in our video I'm actually talking to the one of the head of the
the biggest gangs in our area I was talking to his mom because
their dad had actually his her her husband had just passed away
Two weeks before we had gotten there and I was actually just
wanted to talk to her and my mom had let her to the Lord Years
previously and they live right in front of our church that's
down there and they don't across the church in order to come to
church. But yes, I don't feel like I've struggled at all in
order to establish relationships or to be able to witness to anybody
or have conversations. Plus, I like to talk. You guys
couldn't tell. So, anybody else? All right. All right, let's open
up our Bibles to Romans, Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter
5, I got about 15 minutes, so we can get through this real
quick. And let's stand for the reading of God's Word real quick,
stretch those legs. Revelation chapter 5. You know,
I've read through the Bible several times growing up, and I have
Sometimes you get into this routine where you read the Bible just
to read it, and then you don't get anything out of it. And you're
just like, what did I read about? But I would have to say that,
you know, try to always get something out of the Word of God. Always
try to find one verse that connects with you when you're reading.
And that's kind of what happened here about two years ago when
I was reading through, and especially when everything was shut down.
I read through the Bible, and I came up upon this chapter,
and I've read it several times. But it meant something different
to me when I was reading it during this time and the Lord spoke
to me. And he showed me something that I needed to fix in my life.
And we're gonna look at the whole entire chapter real quick. I'm
gonna read it, just follow with me with your vision. It says,
and I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a
book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice. Who is worthy
to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man
in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much because
no man was found worthy to open the book and to read the book. And to read the book neither
to look thereon and one of the elders saith unto me weep not
Behold the line of the tribe of Judah the root of David hath
prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals the seven
seals thereof and I beheld and low in the midst of the throne
and of the four beasts and in the midst of the elders stood
a lamb as it had been slain and having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the
earth. And he came and he took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, and the four beasts and four and
twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden veils full of odors, which are the prayers
of the saints, and they sung a new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for Thou
art what slain and hath redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue people and nation and has made us unto
our God priests as kings and priests and we shall reign on
the earth and I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round
about the throne and the beast and the elders and the number
of them was ten thousand times ten thousands and thousands of
thousands saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb that
was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing and every creature and which
is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth. and as such
are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the
four beasts said amen, and the four and 20 elders fell down
and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever." Talking about
amazing chapter. We are just blessed in order
to have this chapter. in the book of Revelation because
we can see this lamb that was worthy enough in order to step
up to the plate. Tonight, I would like just to
touch on a quick subject, worthy to serve. When I was reading through this,
it just meant something completely different for me. And I would
just like to share that with you tonight. Dearly Father, we
come to you right now and we just thank you for what you have
done. God, I thank you for dying on the cross for me, Father.
God, I thank you for taking my place, taking my sins. God, I
thank you for this church. Please be in our midst right
now as we open up your word, talk to hearts, talk to my heart. God, I ask that I would just
be a vessel in your hands and be used of you. And we thank
you for all that you have done for us. Be our guest of honor
in Jesus' precious name. Amen, you may be seated. You
know, one thing that we may love about Revelation is the cool
imagery that happens in Revelation. You can see all the way from
Revelation chapter one, all the way to Revelation chapter 22,
and you just see a lot of things that you cannot explain. We can
see here that there are several creatures that would be a little
weird looking. And if we look at these four
beasts we can see them in Revelation chapter 4 verse 5 it says verse
7 Sorry and it says and the first beast was like a lion and the
second beast was like a calf and the third Beast was like
the face of a man and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle
Up until now we can see That we wouldn't have a problem You
know, if we were to see a lion, we would be okay with it. If
we were to see a calf, I think we would be okay with that. How
about a man? Yes. How about an eagle? I think everything
is hunky-dory up until right there, right? But if we look
at verse eight, and it says, and the four beasts had each
of them six wings about them, and they were full of eyes within,
and they rest not day and night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. Okay, now I start
having a bit of an issue. You know, I'm the type of kid
that would have gone up in the zoo and go up to the lion's den
and go up and, you know, tap on the glass to have the lion
react to me because I knew he couldn't get to me because there
was a glass there, right? And if I see a lion out in the
open, I would probably run like a little girl because I didn't
want him to be eaten. But now, if I were to see a lion with
six wings and eyes all about, I wouldn't know how to react.
I would be scared. How about a calf? Let's make
it even worse. How about a man with six wings
and eyes all about? You know, if we just heard an
eagle with wings, that would be fine, but how about with eyes? Talk
about some weird imagery, but one thing that I can see here
in verse eight is that they were worshiping Lord God. The Bible references them to
be as beast But if we were to probably put it in layman's terms
in our day and age, we would probably say they were monsters
If I were to see them, I wouldn't know how to react and probably
be scared We have to understand that even
the most weirdest creation even the most vile thing has to worship
God because he is the almighty creator, the almighty being,
and that's who I serve. That's who I call my father.
The Bible even says that the demons tremble. That's the person that I serve,
the superior being. He's my father. We can even see
that in Revelation 5 that there's a lamb, and that lamb is Jesus
Christ. And we can parallel that even
with 1 John 1.29, it says, The next day John seeth him coming
unto him and saying, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh
away the world. You can see that Jesus Christ
was referenced as being the lamb that had shed his blood for us. And we can see that here in Revelation
5, this lamb that stood up in the midst He is Jesus Christ. Now we have to understand that
Jesus Christ was also the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David. He was the one that sacrificed
himself for us, for our redemption. We have to understand that. He
is worthy and that His blood was worthy in order to be shed
for that because it was a perfect blood. It was a blood that was
shed and that was shed in order to cover all of my sins and all
of your sins if you're in this room tonight and you're saved. But I want to take you back to
that night where you got saved, and I wanna see this in verse
two real quick, and it says, and I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man in heaven nor in earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither
to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book. Neither to
look, they're on. You know, we can see this reaction
of what's happening in heaven as this is happening, and we
see this angel, probably very muscular, and he's saying, who's
worthy to open up this book? And nobody can say anything. Except for Jesus Christ could.
And God really hit me here while I was studying this. That night
when I got saved, I was told that I was not worthy enough
in order to go to heaven because of my sins. It dawned on me. If somebody in this room were
to say, who is worthy in order to go to heaven because they
have been such a good person? This room would be quiet. And you would feel hopeless because
you know the state that you are in. Maybe your reaction was the same
reaction that John had here. And I said, and I wept much.
I know I cried. When I understood that I was
unperfect and I was hopeless without Jesus Christ, but Here's
the great part, and if you look in verse five, and it says, one
of the elders saith unto me, weep not, behold the lion of
the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. Praise the Lord
that it wasn't stuck there, where I was completely hopeless, and
I was unworthy to go to heaven. Praise the Lord it wasn't left
there. That person that was witnessing to me told me, but there's one. Jesus Christ came to seek and
to save that which was lost. He came to die and to shed his
blood for me because I was unworthy to go to heaven. But he was worthy
in order to stand up in the midst and to say, I am the way, the
truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Talk about a bold statement. There's no way to
get to heaven except through him. Even in my hopeless state there
was an answer. And that answer was Jesus Christ. Because he
is worthy, because he's always been worthy, and because his
blood was worthy, because he was a perfect sacrifice, and
because he gave himself up as a lamb. Praise the Lord for that. And
it wasn't left there. He has been my answer and he
will always be my answer. You know, if we look in verse
12 and 13, it says, and saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing, and every
creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and such as are in the sea. and all that are in them,
heard I saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be
unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever
and ever. Sometimes we just jump over these
words and we don't define what they mean. But a simple definition
of blessing means make happy. Honor means respect. Glory means
to magnify. Power means doing or performing
anything. If we break these down and we
start and seeing if we are being able to say this, are we making
God happy with what we produce or what we have in our life?
Are we honoring God? Are we respecting God with who
he is in our life? Are we magnifying God? Are we
glorifying God with what we do? Is he superior than everything
else? Does he have a place in our life?
Does he have the power to do anything or perform anything
in our life that he wants to? You know, we, We say that we
can do this, but in reality, do we allow God to do this in
our lives, to have total control? We have to understand that God
was worthy enough in order to save us from our sins, but when
it boils down to is God worthy to serve, sometimes we have issues
with that. If God says, I want you to serve
me full time. Whoa, God, that's a little bit
too much. I want you to give a little bit
more. I don't have enough income that's coming in. God will always
provide a way if he's asking you to do something. But is God worthy enough in order
for us to serve him, in order to trust him? If I were to ask
you tonight and you would be completely honest with me and
honest with yourself, if you 100% understand salvation, we
would all really say, yeah, I understand, but do we understand why Jesus
left glory in order to come and die on a cross for us? Do we
understand why we get the benefits, why we get to have a mansion,
why we get to walk on a street of gold, why we get to sit by
a crystal river, why we get to spend eternity in hell, when
I was the one that sinned before an almighty, holy God, and yet
I just have to accept the fact that Jesus could save me. And
I put my faith into it, and yet I'm saved. If I were to ask you
in reality, do you understand that? You would say, no, I don't
understand that. And that's how it is with the
Christian walk. We don't have to understand God, we have to
trust God. Because he is the one that knows
from the beginning to the end. He's the one that sustains us.
He's the one that gives us our breath. He's the one that's there
for us always in heartaches and in good times. When it comes
down to us doing something for Christ, we almost limit him and
say, God, you're worthy enough for me to get saved, but when
it comes down for you to ask me to do more, that's too much. But is he really worthy of that?
And I would have to say, yes, he is worthy of everything of
me. He is worthy of every last breath of mine. I get the pleasures of everything
that comes with salvation because of Jesus. When we hear a verse like an
open invitation like Isaiah 6, 8, it says, also I heard the
voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go
for us? Tonight, if they were saying,
there is somebody that is lost outside of these four walls,
and who will go and tell them? And the Lord places that on your
heart. Is God worthy enough in order for you to go tell them? Well, they might spit in my face,
they might throw a track at me, but is God worthy enough in order
for you to give up over yourself in order to give it to them?
Is God worthy enough in order for you to be a part in somebody's
destiny changing from going to hell to going to heaven? Isaiah's
reaction is, here am I, Lord, send me. We sang it just a little
bit ago. We have to understand that we
should live our lives like Romans 12. 1 and 2, it says, I beseech
you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies, by the mercies,
I think we all have experienced mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. Your reasonable service is something
that would be minimally required of you. That you would just be a living
sacrifice in God's hands, that you would be a vessel that is
used by God. Why? Because you've experienced
the mercies that God has given you. Now tonight, as I just shared
with you, sometimes we say that God or Jesus was only worthy
enough for us to get saved. But He's worthy way more than
that. He's worthy of everything of
us. He's worthy of a surrendered heart that would be willing to
be a living sacrifice in His hand. Are we that tonight? Is God worthy
to serve? With every eye pout, every eye
closed, I pass it off to Pastor. Excellent question for us to
be left with. Your heads are bowed, your eyes
are closed. Just answer it now. And the answer, with our answer, we will be showing
honor to God by doing that when we leave here. But we have to
choose, make that commitment. Heavenly Father, God, we thank
you for the truth that we've heard tonight, the challenge.
You are worthy of honor and glory. And God, I pray that each of
us would reflect that outside the walls of this building. In
Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much.
Waiting World . . Willing Church?
Series 2023 Missions Conference
Grace Baptist Church of Taylorville, IL 2023 Missions Conference
| Sermon ID | 320232319352733 |
| Duration | 59:10 |
| Date | |
| Category | Conference |
| Language | English |
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