If I asked us today to name some things that you would associate with the year 1812, what would you come up with? Probably two things, the War of 1812, and then with July 4th just having passed, you might think of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, right? About two different wars all together in that way. But something else happened at the beginning of that year. February of 1812, Adoniram and Ann Judson set sail from Salem, Massachusetts. They were newlyweds. Adoniram was 25 and Ann had just turned 22. This would be no honeymoon trip for either of them. Two years earlier, Judson had written an honest letter to his to Anne's dad asking to marry her. I don't recommend you write this kind of letter when you're asking for somebody's hand in marriage, but this letter does capture what Adoniram and Anne were about to face as they set sail in February 1812. Here's Adoniram's letter. I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring to see her no more in this world. whether you can consent to her departure for a foreign land, her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life, and whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, the influences of a southern climate in India, to every kind of lack and distress, to insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this? For the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and for you, for the sake of perishing immortal souls, for the sake of Zion and the glory of God, can you consent? Adoniram does show us that missions is for the glory of God. Marriage can be used for missions in the glory of God. Well, 35 years after the nation's founding, America was sending some of her first ever missionaries. Ann and Adoniram landed in Rangoon, Burma, modern Myanmar in 1813. There Judson would give the strength of his youth. He would endure long periods of depression, even imprisonment. And he worked and prayed for seven years before the first convert. And she gave her life there. She died when she was 37. Adoniram and Ann understood the message of missions and the mission of missions from Luke 24. They understood the advance in activities from Acts. They went in the love of Christ, sharing the love of Christ. I want to ask us again, who will be next among us to take up the banner of the Lord's love and go? Will you go? Are you praying? Well, just a few years earlier, nobody would have seen this happening in Adoniram's life. Jeton was raised in a Christian home, but as happens often, he went off to college at Brown University. He developed a very close friendship with a man named Jacob Eames. Both Jacob and Adoniram were both brilliant. People said that Adoniram was on his way to becoming the next Jonathan Edwards. That was the size of his intellect. But Eames was a bright student with a philosophical bent, and he rejected everything religious, especially the Bible. And under that close friendship, Eames assaulted Judson's fragile faith, and his faith crumbled. Young adults, kids, your friends will influence in you. Be wise in who they are. Well, Judson hid the loss of his faith from his Christian parents for a long time all through college. But upon graduation, valedictorian of Brown University, on his 20th birthday, he told his mom and dad he was not a Christian. He left for New York. He was pursuing a career in playwriting in the theater. New York is a tough place to catch a break today, and it certainly was then as well. And Judson soon left with little fulfillment and quickly disillusioned. One night he, riding horseback, traveling through a small village, spent the night at a local inn. Only one room available. The innkeeper tried to dissuade him of it because the room that was available was next to the room of a man who was actually on his deathbed. Judson was tired and insisted on the room. But he couldn't sleep that night. With the sounds of feet running in and out, the man's moaning cries on his way to death kept him up all night. And for the first time in a long time, Judson couldn't sleep and he began to wonder, is that man ready for death? Am I ready for death? Judson's philosophy, his massive intellect had taught him to think that death was nothing, just a doorway into an empty pit. But that brought him little comfort now as he heard the man's moans and cries. At the same time Judson lay in his bed, he was reflecting. He heard the voice of Jacob Eames mocking him now. Really, Judson? You're this weak? Are you really valedictorian of Brown University? And you're uneasy by a little superstitious religion? Conversations with Eames played over in his mind and mocked his fear. Judson lay there, alternating between fear and shame for being afraid. The voice soon went quiet. The next morning, the sunlight filled Judson's room, and as happens with many of us under a sense of conviction, the morning comes, the sun drives it away, and Judson feels a little sheepish that he was actually anxious and had those kind of thoughts the night before. He goes downstairs, he finds the innkeeper, and he inquires as he's ready to check out, how is the man in the adjoining room? He's dead, simple reply came. Judson pushed politely for more information. Do you know who he was? Yes, he was a young man from a college in Providence, Eames, Jacob Eames. Judson could hardly move. He didn't leave the inn for hours. His dear college friend had been in the next room. The one who had mocked death had succumbed to death. And Judson wrote these words. Jacob Eames lost. Irrevocably lost. Lost to his friends, to the world, and to the future. Lost as a puff of smoke is lost in the infinity of air. If Eames' own views were true, he reflects, well then neither his life nor his death has any meaning. But suppose Eames had been mistaken. Suppose the Scriptures were true and a personal God was real. But hell could open in that country inn and snatch Jacob Eames, my dearest friend and guide, from the next bed in the next room. This could not, simply could not be coincidence. Judson thought about that for the next four months. And then December 2nd, he came to his senses and the message that he had known in his head became true in his heart. And what was that message? That Jesus was the sinless Son of God who died in the place of people like you and me, on the cross. The cross tells you you're far worse than you think you are. And Judson came to realize it also said to him, I'm actually more loved than I think I am. And that Jesus rose again on the third day, proving that his death paid the price for sin. And that if anyone turns from his own sin, from worshiping his intellect, which is what Judson did, and placed his hope in Christ alone, that God would forgive him and save him. In other words, Judson placed his faith in Christ. You remember last week if you were here, we said an old preacher named Phyllis Brooks said faith is an acronym. Every letter stands for something. The F, forsaking. The A, all. The I, I. The T, take. The H, him. That's the only way to respond to the news about Jesus. Forsaking all, I take him. Is that true for you? Maybe you have lots more questions about it. It's okay. Like Judson, it took repeated exposure to hear and ask his questions again and again and again. I'd love to help you think through your questions. Don't be afraid of them. If this is true, it changes everything. Well, we're taking the time during the month of July to think about the nature of missions. It's partly why this week and then last week I started with a story from missions. And as you can tell from Judson's life, the questions surrounding missions and the good news about Jesus, these are of eternal significance. Everyone in here today, everyone in here must deal with the message of missions, with the person of Jesus. Jesus is the unavoidable figure of human history. You must do something with him. Thus far we've seen the message and mission of missions from Luke 24. Last week we looked at the advance and activities of missions, and today I want us to kind of start to put some of this together. I want us to think about the practice and people of missions. That's our title this morning, and you can turn back to Acts 13, which is where we'll land in a moment. As you're turning to Acts 13, I want to give this biography to somebody. This is the biography of Adoniram Judson to the Golden Shore. That story I just told is recounted at chapter four in here, I think. This is my favorite missionary biography. Now again, you need to be a member to take this book because membership has its privileges, right? So I'd love for somebody to take this book and read this. It reads like a narrative. So here's the story, at an arm's-jetson, I'll put it right here, and don't be bashful to come get it afterwards. So, we're going to land in a moment in Acts 13. The book of Acts ends with a man named Paul awaiting trial in Rome. He's awaiting his execution. But even though Paul is bound in a sense, the Word of God is not bound. I want you to listen once more to how the book of Acts ends in Acts 28. Paul lived there in Rome two whole years at his own expense, and he welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God, teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ without hindrance. The last word of Acts, it's an adverb, it's one word in the original, without hindrance, unhindered. It shows the advance of the gospel everywhere in Acts. Remember, Acts begins with Jesus promising, Acts 1-8, that the gospel would advance where? Judea and Samaria. The ends of the earth. That was His promise. And now when Acts ends, we're told that's happened. Paul now is at Rome, kind of at the end of the earth. He's going to the end of the earth. Now to be sure, not everybody in the book of Acts actually saw the advance of the gospel. Severe persecution broke out in Acts 8. We saw that last week. And many lost their lives advancing this good news. Beloved, just remember the gospel does not advance in spite of suffering. The gospel advances through suffering. The gospel can be opposed, but it cannot be stopped. Ann Judson died so that the people of Burma could hear the name of Jesus. Stephen dies in Acts 7, so as he's talking about Jesus. Well, I want us to think, who is it that advances with the gospel? And who are the people who advance? And what are the practices that go into sending them? The practices in sending people, and who are the people that go? So the practices and people. Who are the people, and what are the practices in sending them? Now we're back to Acts 13. Remember, this is the first in Acts. A Gentile church is about ready to commission the first group of missionaries to go out and to take this good news. And in some part, you and I are here today because this church in Antioch sent out people to take the good news. Antioch has a rich history. Let's read Acts 13, 1-5 to get the situation again. Notice how diverse this church is. And notice what they're doing. This is what Holy Scripture says. Now, there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers. Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Menean, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them. Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. And what did they send them off to do? Verse four, so being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of the Lord. Now, the first thing we learned from this, we said last week, is actually what a missionary is. And here's the definition I gave to you as we worked through this a little last week, that a missionary is somebody who's sent out by the Holy Spirit through the church with intentionality to go to new places and new faces. A missionary is somebody who's sent out by the Holy Spirit through the church with intentionality to go with this message to new places and new faces, to geographical areas. Now we come to the first practice of missions. What's the practice? Now what I'm going to do, so you can kind of pace yourself this morning, give you three sets. And I won't go practice and nail people, but practice people, practice people. Three sets of practices and people as we go through this. Here's the first set. What do we learn? What's the practice and acts when it comes to sending out missionaries? What do we observe from this text? Here it is. Missionaries are sent out by the Holy Spirit to the church. Do you see that here? Paul and Barnabas are in the church of Antioch. And apparently, and he's Saul at this point, his name, apparently they're part of the regular life of the church because of verse two, they're worshiping and they're fasting together. And Paul and Barnabas then are an active, regular part of a local congregation. And as they're being faithful in the life of this local church, something happens. What is it? The Holy Spirit sets Paul and Barnabas apart to send them through the church of Antioch. So what's the common practice we see? The Holy Spirit sends people out through the church. So here's an implication of that. The Holy Spirit sends people out, and the church evaluates the people being sent out. The practice is, the Holy Spirit sends them out, and the congregation evaluates those people being sent out. Well, how do we know who the people are? Let me suggest three broad things that start to answer who the candidates for missions are that they're sent out. This is topical, not here in the text, but first look at their character. Look at the kind of qualifications the Holy Spirit inspires in 1 Timothy 3 and 1 Timothy 5 and Titus 1 and Titus 2. Those passages reveal the need for believers whose lives are characterized by things like blamelessness, a devotion to good works, even things that are appropriate for their God-glorifying gender. Second, look at their faithfulness. Is that person a committed participant in the life of a congregation? Are they faithful to what God promises to already be doing and building in a local congregation? Did you know there are about 100 names connected with Paul in the book of Acts in all of his letters? 38 are listed as co-workers of Paul. And where does Paul pick up these 38 co-workers as you read? A majority of his co-workers come from the new churches and new converts that he'd established. And what does that tell you? Lots of things, but here's one. The Holy Spirit uses people in missions who are already connected to His work in a local congregation. That's what happened to Paul and Barnabas. And that's what happens to just about all the 38 co-workers that Paul picks up. They're already involved in the life of a church. So, if a person doesn't have the kind of character the Holy Spirit defines in 1 Timothy and Titus, And if a person's not living faithfully as a committed participant of a local congregation, then we can't be so sure it's the Holy Spirit who's setting them apart. Third, look at their fruitfulness. Now, I just said faithfulness, so don't press too hard here, but consider this example that somebody gives in a local congregation. Let's say the author writes, I have two couples in my church who want to be sent overseas as missionaries. They both live in the same community. They both have the same circle of friends. One couple is always having people over to their house and even has reached out into the international community and formed some friendships. It seems like every other non-Christian they come in contact wants to hear more, and some are actually converted. By contrast, the other couple with this desire never seems to be able to build relationships with many people. They try, but it never works out. And when they're in a discipling relationship, it fizzles out and that person goes on to somebody else. In fact, most of the relationships die out and people just don't seek out opportunities for discipling by them or they don't keep doing it. Now, both love God. Both are doing the best they can. But the author writes, I'd strongly encourage my church to spend money sending out the first couple overseas, not the second. Why? Because a trail of conspicuous fruitfulness in others lives is one grand mark of a prospective missionary. A trail of conspicuous fruitfulness in the lives of other people is a good indication of a prospective missionary. So the Holy Spirit sets people apart through the church and the church helps evaluate by looking at character and faithfulness and fruitfulness. Now what that means is, right, here's a corollary to that. What that means is that a desire to be a missionary doesn't mean that somebody is called to be a missionary. Here's a parallel example. You may feel gifted to play the piano, but if no one likes hearing you play the piano, you're probably not gifted to play the piano. We often think that if someone says, God's really calling me to do this, especially something like missions, then we think, who am I to say that God's not telling them? But even common grace tells you that's not the best approach or the ultimate way to think. Walk into a firm, an accounting firm, and tell them you have a strong desire for the job, a clear leading to get there, but you have no CPA and you can't do math. And see if they take you. A desire for something is no final, ultimate proof of anything. The Holy Spirit sets people apart for missions, and the people he usually sets apart are people of a certain character, a certain faithfulness, and a certain fruitfulness. And God's given the church to help discern that calling, like any other calling. So that's the first kind of practice and people. The Holy Spirit sends to the church and the church helps evaluate. So churches shouldn't be afraid to ask hard questions and get in awkward conversations with people. It's not because you're suspicious, but it's a call to discernment. In fact, I tend to think, I went to a college, and I'm sure there are other places too, and they had a missionary barrel. You know, you did the missionary barrel, you gave all the stuff you didn't want. That's really honoring, right? And sometimes we tend to think that people who go to missionaries couldn't cut it anywhere else, so that's what they're doing. Listen to what James Boyce writes of the kind of candidate we should think for missions. James Boyce writes, if a seminary graduate of his average gifts, we think he should pastor a church. If he has above average gifts, we think he should pastor a large church. But if he has exceptional gifts, we think he should teach in seminary. I say in schools of theology that's not the way it should be. In my view, the worst should teach, the more gifted men should pastor churches, and the very best people should be missionaries. Paul and Barnabas were the very best, and they were missionaries. That's the practice and the kind of people we should pray and think of. Well, what's the practice when it comes to sending them out? Is there a method? How are they now going to send them out? Here are the people. How are they going to send them out? Here's the second main couplet of people in practice. In the book of Acts, missionaries often, usually, go out in pairs, in teams. Think about this. I ran through this. Among the more frequently co-workers of Paul, Paul goes with Barnabas from Jerusalem, Timothy comes with him from Lystra, Luke from Antioch, Aquila and Priscilla from Rome, Silas from Jerusalem, there's Titus, Tychius from an unknown city in the province of Aegean, and Apollos joins him from Egypt. The point is that in the book of Acts, missionaries are usually operating in pairs, in a team, or at least in cooperation with what God's doing within a local congregation. And not only that, here's a thing that stood out to me this week. Some go with the missionaries in a more missionary support role, rather than missionary. Let's try to put some of this together. Missionaries are sent out in teams, and some who go with the missionaries are support staff, in a sense. So, think of what's happened here in Acts 13, 1-5. We have Paul and Barnabas, they're the main leaders, they're doing the tip of the spear gospel advancement, the primary evangelists, the disciples. Remember, I want to keep pushing this to you, remember in the book of Acts, there's a bias for a certain kind of mission's work. The heart of mission's work, the bullseye, the tip of the spear, is pushing out in the power of the Spirit, crossing certain boundaries. reaching the lesser reached, the harder reached edges of the earth with the gospel to make and gather disciples. That's the bias in the Great Commission, always going to the next harder, more reached place. And it actually usually sent out in teams. Well, Paul and Barnabas are the main leaders. They're the ones pushing out, but they're not alone. Did you notice the end of verse five? I think it's an intriguing, lovely little line. They proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John, this is John Mark, to assist them. Or maybe your translation has, he went as their helper. This is John Mark. He's an interesting story. If you trace his life in the Bible, John Mark starts with him, he quits because the work is too hard, and it makes Paul really upset. But later this brother is restored and used once again. A wonderful arc to his life. But what does John Mark do? We're told he's a helper. The only hint we have is in the meaning of the word itself. He's not doing the kind of work that Paul and Barnabas are doing, per se. He's their assistant, their helper. So the New Testament writers use this word in lots of ways, usually in an administrative way. So it's used of a temple guard. It's used of a general servant. Quite, quite literally and directly, it's the term under rower. It's used of a galley servant who's here's the main deck and underneath your job is to be under the deck rowing. That's this word. Whatever it precisely means, it's a supporting role, a helping role. Now, what's important is Luke, who wrote Acts, Luke uses it earlier in Luke chapter four, verse 20. He refers to it. A synagogue attendant is this word. So one commentator notes, maybe this means John Mark, what his job was, was to care for the scrolls and the belongings of Paul and Barnabas to help coordinate and take care of the administrative details. And maybe he certainly does help with the discipling of new converts, whatever he does. He doesn't seem to be at this point a missionary in the narrow sense of the word, but he's there on the team helping. He's assisting. So there's the scene. The church, by the spirit, sends out Paul and Barnabas. And now Paul and Barnabas say, we're going to need somebody to come help us. John Stott even surmises this is used from lots of different ways. An assistant to a doctor, an army officer to priests and politicians. And it could be that John Mark does anything from cooking and cleaning to discipling. It's how broad the word is. The overall point is there's a practice to send people in teams and sometimes we see people on those teams in a support role. Not directly doing missions work, but there to help so that the mission can advance. And what does this mean for us individually or as we think about missions? Here are four things. It means that a church should look to support people working in teams or a connection with other believers. It's pretty obvious. Second, it means churches should prioritize supporting missionaries like Paul and Barnabas who are advancing and advancing and advancing. Third, churches might be able to consider supporting people who are in John Mark's role. Now, I would say this, that maybe you're supporting somebody individually or a congregation, that if the entire portion of one or a large portion of one's mission's budget goes towards people in a mission support role, I think the church should reconsider that. We should be prioritizing missions more than mission support. And maybe you don't like that distinction, but I just want to keep pushing the ends of the earth missions as the primary support. All right, don't miss this. Maybe the Lord would send you out to go like Paul and Barnabas. And maybe he would send you out to be like John Mark. Now that would mean asking more questions and lots of evaluation. But think about it. I mentioned to you last week, Eckhart Schnabel wrote a commentary on acts 3000 pages then on thinking about the subject of missions. Schnabel points this out. The circle of Paul's coworkers included a considerable number of women. It's been estimated that 18% of Paul's missionary coworkers were women. What were they doing? Well, they're certainly not preaching, as that was a role that God gave to men, but these are women helping in all the vital ways, like John Mark is helping. From administration to discipleship, it's a broad word. What do you need so you can focus on this? And what part can I have in helping to advance the gospel? So we've seen two sets of practices in people so far. The Holy Spirit is sending out missionaries and the church evaluates. And now, while the church prioritizes this tip of the spear kinds of missions, there is a place and a team that's not directly missions, but it's for a support role. Now, now we'll move into the third big category of practicing people. This is a little bit of review from last week. But it'll help us to think what kind of missions work do they practice supporting and who are the people again. So to do that, we have to think once again, what does the Bible describe as missions work in the New Testament? So look at Acts 14, 21 to 23. Remember, they've gone now. Paul's preached a sermon. He's been in several places. Now they're coming back to Antioch that sent them. And this is the first missionary update. They're going to set up a table in the lobby and bring out their slides and show pictures, and then they're going to give them an update, and here's what they're going to tell them. Listen for the three primary activities of missions. Verse 21. When they had preached the gospel to the city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. Strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. And we summarized the primary activities of missions last week in three words, they all started with the E. Do you remember them? Of course you remember them because it was such a memorable sermon. You remembered it so well. Evangelism, equipping the churches, and establishing the churches. Those are the three E's we talked about. First, mission focuses on evangelism, verse 21, when they had preached the gospel. In Acts 8, when they're persecuted and scattered, they go about preaching the gospel. The first primary, indispensable activity to a sent-out missionary focuses on evangelism. That should never be minimized. So I quoted you last week from Generous Justice. Let me share with you another part from Tim Keller's Generous Justice, where he's actually trying to help believers think through acts of mercy and deeds of justice. And he urges us to remember this, however, that evangelism, speaking words, evangelism, speaking words, is the most basic and radical ministry possible to a human being. Evangelism is the most basic and radical ministry possible to a human being. He continues, that's not true because the spiritual is more important than the physical, but because the eternal is more important than the temporal. Sharing the gospel is the first primary activity of sent out mission. That's the intentionality with which they sent them out. They sent them out for a purpose. And if that's not happening regularly in something that's calling itself missions or not the primary purpose, that's fine. Just don't call it missions. Second, missions in the New Testament is establishing, strengthening churches. Verse 23, He established elders for them in every church understood that had been organized. I think this is helpful to keep us from a narrow view of missions. Paul evangelized, and then what does he do with the converts? He organizes them into congregations. Sometimes, for good intention, we can think that missions is all about and only about pioneer evangelism. Well, Paul certainly did that. Remember, his own passion was to preach Christ where he wasn't named. That's the drive, the heartbeat of missions. But Paul doesn't move on after some evangelistic crusade. Sometimes he's driven out and he can't stay. But sometimes he stays for two to three years in a place. What's he doing? He's evangelizing. He's establishing congregations. So New Testament missions makes evangelism and establishing churches primary activities. And there's a third one we see here. New Testament missions equips churches. It strengthens them so that they are an established church who sends out their own. What's involved in strengthening them? Well, here's where we have the part of the Great Commission that says, baptize them and teach them all things whatsoever I've commanded you. That's what it means to strengthen the churches. And in particular, then, one primary goal of the end of missions in a missionary should actually be to make disciples, gather disciples, and then teach that congregation to go do it all over again, to saturate your own area and to move on. In other words, from the outset, a missionary must go. Missions must begin not to make people dependent on the missionary or the outside support coming in. Sometimes we might support a missionary too long. And it can actually cripple the church that we're trying to help. They never have to trust the spirit and pray and work and reach out and move. I repeat the illustration last week, we're planted by Heritage Bible Church. Heritage Bible Church should not be supporting Emmanuel Bible Church 15 years later. I know that can differ in region. You have to leave place for the kind of location and the difficulty. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But as soon as it's prudent and possible, support should transition to that local congregation. I'm sure you've heard stories like this. I directly heard a story from a missionary who'd been in a place for 20 years, and during the Q&A, somebody actually said, when is your plan to turn it over to the people there? And he said, never, they need me too much. And they actually said they're ignorant and stupid to do this on their own. It's hard to know where to start addressing that kind of profound, unbiblical arrogance. But I wonder, if the way sometimes people support missionaries with no accountability or the way missionaries themselves go out isn't enabling that kind of unbiblical thinking unintentionally. Paul's always evangelizing. He's establishing churches, then equipping that church to care for its own and to take over the ministry for the church. In fact, now, now, now, Paul's a bit of a biblical maverick. He does things he doesn't say everybody else should do. But it is interesting that at the end of Acts, he's not even taking support. We're told in Acts 28, he lived for two years there. Did you hear the expression? At his own expense. Now, there should be kind of checks in place, evaluations in place for the sending church and the missionary to make sure that one goal of missions is that we're working towards a self-supporting, self-sending, established church who aren't harmed by prolonged support. Remember, sometimes helping can actually hurt. Here's an illustration that's coming. You know how church planning is often done in the United States? This happened to us a little bit. Heritage said, we'll support you for one year and then you're on your own. The goal was we think this should be able to happen in a year and you need to really work towards that. Another common approach is somebody will send a church and they'll say we'll give you 100% the first year, 80% the second year, 40% the third year, 20% the fourth year, and the fifth year you should be on your own. And what that does, and of course you can reevaluate when it's done and say, yes, yes, yes, should this keep going? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But the point is, this kind of tiered approach or this kind of discussion on the front helps keep this goal of missions in mind. It's not about us, the missionary. They're clothed in power with the Holy Spirit to do this there. To help start self-supporting, self-sending churches. And maybe that's strengthening the church so they can actually do this. And think of the scene in Acts 20. I think this is illustrative from Paul's life. He's about to leave the mission church at Ephesus. Soon he's going to send Timothy back there to pastor, but that comes much later. But Paul says, I've done two things with you while I've been with you as a missionary. I preached the gospel to you and I taught you the whole counsel of God. And now it's time for me to go. And he actually says, I'm leaving the care of the church over in the hands of the elders there. Well, where did the elders come from? They've come from converts and disciples within that own congregation. And now, Paul, it's time for you to take over. It's time for you to do this. Well, and it wasn't because they were, you know, so so mature and ready to go, because Paul says, and by the way, I've been in this church for a while and there are wolves from your own midst who are about to erupt and divide this body. And Paul says, I'm going to stay here another few months to help you take care of it, he says, I commend you to the word of God and his grace. The Holy Spirit is sufficient. God's word is sufficient. I've done enough here. It's time for me to move on. So Paul's goal is to evangelize and establish and equip, and then he's calling that church to start saturating its own area with the gospel as an established church itself. So maybe somebody goes out as a missionary and they're no longer in that role, and they transition into a pastor role. Timothy is a missionary with Paul, and then he settles into a pastor role. That's great. But at that point, they're not a missionary, they're a pastor. Missionaries and pastors are needed, but they're not the same thing. And maybe a church wants to still support somebody who's pastoring in that type of situation. That's fine. I'm just pushing us to ask and think, should I call it missions if now they're functioning as a pastor and the church is doing quite well? Now remember again, Brad was a church planner. Brad's now a pastor. Emmanuel Bible Church was a church plant. It's now an established church. So I think it would not be appropriate for me to send prayer letters out 15 years later and I could write some good prayer letters, some good stories about what's going on here. I don't think it's appropriate for me 15 years later to be writing out these things saying, please keep supporting me. Why? I'm not planning a church anymore. And sometimes we do that with missionaries well-intentioned, for sure, or not even aware there's a transition that's happened in the ministry. Or maybe they themselves have never thought about it. Just think well about these things. So I think there needs to be a combination of at least two of these things for it to be kind of New Testament missions, of this evangelism and strengthening and establishing. And again, it can take on different contexts, and in some contexts where you're not allowed a traditional missions presence, it's got to take on a creative face and patience, and you've got to think with great flexibility, and it won't all look the same, and it'll take lots of places. It took Adonai and Judson seven years for just one convert. Yes, to be sure. But even then, brothers and sisters, I just want us to be careful about that. For a time, it was popular to think business as missions was a creative way to get into a restricted access country. But here's what often happens with business as missions. Think of it this way. How much time and energy goes into starting a business here in the United States? That's a lot of time. Now add a distressed area in a country where you are learning the language as a foreigner. I'm not talking somebody within the country is trying to start something, but you coming in. And the business finally does well, but in order to keep doing well, you're probably not going to be able to talk about the gospel as much in that kind of country, which means you're not really advancing the missions. It's well-meaning, and I don't mean to be reductionistic or trite, but here's a caution and a warning. Often what I've seen in my limited experience in talking to those in missions organizations, there's more business in business as missions than there's mission as business in missions. Starting a business is fine, but you probably shouldn't call it missions. Well, what about Paul? Wasn't he a tent maker? Absolutely, but his business is so portable that it's so portable he can get run out of town and set up shop in the next city and start preaching again. And he's vigilant to keep it in its proper place. Here's a modern example, I think that reflects this kind of thing well. I know a brother in a restricted access country. He's there on a work visa, a particular kind of work. He works closely with his mission board to make sure that his work totals no more than 15 hours a week. That does two things. One, it makes sure that he's being honest with why he's there in the country actually doing something. And that's a problem in missions. You get this creative visa to get in and you're not doing that at all. The second reason he keeps track of his time so that he can actually spend time concentrating on evangelism. 15 hours a week. Then he spends time in thoughtful, aggressive evangelism. He's partnered with a local church there, and then he goes around meeting several of the churches, strengthening them to equip and evangelize, because many in that area for years and years and years have retreated in fear from sharing the gospel. And he's strengthening that church to go out and move out to that island and to that island and to that island with the gospel. It's pretty clear he's tent making, but it's pretty clear, checked and directed again and again by those that care for him that his tent maker really is functioning like it was for Paul. So here's the final thing of people and practices. This helps us keep in mind what Missions is and the kind of people we should support. Here in our last category. A few things to think about. First, thinking about the practices and people in Missions. Again, the very first question I ask in this series, I think it helps us once more not call everything Missions. Remember Missions is a junk drawer? There's a lot of stuff that's thrown in there. There are many great and worthy causes, but not all of them are missions in the New Testament sense. And when you say that, then people think like you're saying this is wrong. I'm not saying it's wrong. It's actually very great and wonderful. Let's just make sure we call it what it is so that what it is is doing what it's supposed to be doing. Here's how one writer put it. It was actually helpful for me. He writes, I have no doubt God gives some of us and calls us to care for orphans in other lands and to help people develop better sanitation practices and help sick people with very little access to medical care. We should celebrate those callings full stop with our full support. We may even give financially so that Christians can go and love their neighbors in these extravagant ways, in these needed ways. Full stop. Yet some well-meaning Christians act like everything counts as mission. So they put all their efforts into improving job skills, and lowering unemployment, and digging wells, and setting up medical centers, and establishing great schools, and working for better crop yields, all of which are important and can be wonderful expressions of Christian love, but they're not what we see Paul and Barnabas set out to do on their mission and acts. That's not what missions looks like and acts. And next week we'll talk about some of the results of missions where these things do happen, for sure, as a way to make these things happen, for sure. In fact, Eckhart Schnabel says there's kind of a revolution in missions thinking away from a traditional missionary focused on winning people to Christ and church planning and discipleship, concentrating rather on what he calls a holistic understanding of missions. And Schnabel says, but they do so without strong textual support in Acts. Just trying to get alignment. So the modern practice of supporting every good thing overseas done in the name of Christ as missions is not in the New Testament. The practice is to support missionaries, people involved in evangelism, equipping the church, establishing the church. So that comes down to how you think about missions and how you as an individual may choose to support a missionary or how we choose to support a missionary. Think of it like this. Think of it like this. All of us have different portfolios with time and money in our lives. There should be a portfolio in your budget kind of thing that's an investment portfolio for missions. What should go in that investment portfolio called missions? What guideline should be there? This is what goes into missions. I'm just going to suggest some things. Here's the first thing. Don't put things in the missions portfolio that aren't really missions. Don't support things with missions money that aren't this kind of biblical missions. Maybe you support it from a global mercy ministry fund, a global benevolence fund. That would be great and wonderful. Don't call it missions. Number two, you should prioritize and mission support the things we see being done in Acts and Acts 14. support things that are a combination of two of these three things. Someone said, the work of sent-out apostles should bear a strong resemblance to the work of our sent-out missionaries. And the closer they are to the heart of this evangelism, discipling and church planning, the more directly they're involved to it, even on a support role, the more likely it is that mission support is. And third, from within that portfolio of missions that looks like Acts 14, I would even ask us to think about this, prioritize missionaries doing missions work to the harder reached people in places. This is missions. And within that mission, think strategically about the lesser-reached, harder-to-reach people and places. That's the bias. That's the bullseye of missions in the New Testament. And then fourth, maybe create another category altogether for doing things locally. So here's an example for our own church. We have a great ministry with a local high school here in the area, and we want to budget for that at some level. Or an opportunity we have with the city to do something together and partner with them that we often do. But we'll call it outreach. We'll call it local evangelism. But we'll keep the missions portfolio for the heart of missions, the tip of the spear of reaching out to the end of the earth. Well, then what happens when you come in contact with people who fall into these kinds of investment portfolio guidelines? What do you do if you've got two or three people in the same thing? Well, this sounds really bad, but you think about it, it's not. You can't support everybody. And at some point you're going to have to say no to something good. Even a worthy missionary to support. So here's maybe a way to think about being more to say, I can't support everybody, so they need to be this portfolio. And within that here, three things. Think of the word alignment. Aim for supporting people with theological alignment. Can they sign your church statement of faith? What's their understanding of conversion? Because you can't support everybody, there's nothing wrong with looking for more theological alignment. Aim for church alignment, ecclesiological alignment. Do we agree on the nature of the church, the role of the church, the role of men and women in the church? Do we agree how the church should function? Do we agree with these kinds of things? Because you can't support everyone You could aim for ecclesiological alignment. And then finally, aim for strategic alignment. No church that can port all the mission's efforts everywhere. So are there missionaries focusing on a frontline area or an aspect of mission that you'd like to partner with? And maybe that's one way to think about it. Aim for theological alignment and ecclesiological alignment and aim for strategic alignment. So these are three people and practices that we've seen. The Holy Spirit sends out missionaries and the church evaluates those. The second one, the practice is the New Testament, the church supports people involved in those three E's. Those are biblical missionaries doing biblical work. And there's also a practice of people on missionary teams doing mission support work like John Mark. And third, this helps us to think of what to prioritize as mission support and what to prioritize within mission support. People in practice of missions. Now, In conclusion, I want us to think about the privilege of missions. The book of Acts ends open-ended. And the book of Acts, you ever been at the ocean and you stand in the water and the tide pulls you back out? And sometimes it's stronger than others. Acts 28 ends with the tide pulling us out to the end of the earth. How do I know? Well, it ends open-ended. People sometimes think it's not a very satisfying conclusion. What happened to Paul? He's left there just preaching. And that's the point. The mission of missions is still going on. And we're invited into the story. We're invited to take our place in the story, ascending or supporting. It ends with this word. You know what's happening with the Gospel? It's going forth unhindered. It's bearing fruit all over the world. At the end of Acts, Luke's pulling us in to take our part, clothed in the power of the Spirit. Remember Adoniram's words? Can you consent for the sake of Him who left us heavenly home, who died for her and died for you to go? Here's an old song, maybe some of you, you know it. Give me grace to be a servant. Give me mercy for the lost. Give me passion for your glory. Give me passion for the cross. And I will go where there are no easy roads. Leave the comforts that I know. I will go and let this journey be my home. I will go, Lord, where your glory is unknown. I will live for you alone. I will go because my life is not my own. I will go. I will go. I will go. Now you're not going to be able to go unless you think of a few things. There are two big reasons, there are lots, why people don't go. One is a fear of rejection. So here's what you have to believe. You have to believe and rehearse that Christ was rejected so that you would always be accepted and therefore you can go and aren't worried about that rejection. The second thing that happens is we're afraid of losing something, losing a place. I think you've got to think and meditate on something like this. Christ left his place and died so that I could have a secure place with him forever. And therefore, nothing can threaten what you think you're losing. No rejection is ultimate. You've got to believe that if you're going to go. Go with the promises of Revelation 5 and Psalm 2, that the lamb must have the reward of his suffering. And finally, I'd say to you, go because he's beautiful. I'll come back to that in a moment. I've pushed on young people to go. And I've said, you're not too young and you're not too old. Now I want to push on the old people. George Mueller is one of my heroes. Another biography that you could pastor the same church for 66 years. He was a pastor. And from that church, he started an orphanage. When he turned 70, he said, I finally ready to do what I've always wanted to do. At 70 years old, he and his wife left to be missionaries, and they spent the next 17 years traveling in 22 different places, preaching and sharing the gospel. You're not too old. You're not too old. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. The spirit doesn't jump off of you when you hit 70 years old. And he doesn't jump onto you when you hit 21. John the Baptist was full of the spirit from his mother's womb or clothe. Pentecost has not been reversed for anybody. Go because he's beautiful. Maybe you're here and you're not a Christian, and sometimes it thinks like, you know, you come to God because he's useful. You don't come to God because he's useful, you come to God because he's beautiful. Do you know the difference? Heard somebody say recently that when they were young, they went off to college, and they spent all their money studying Mozart so they could make money. They came to Mozart to make money. But now that they're much older, the person said, now I spend a lot of money to go hear Mozart. You know what the difference is? Now listening to Mozart is its own reward. It's beautiful. And in the same way you go, you know why you go? Because God is beautiful. That's why you go.