It is a pleasure to be with you again and I thank you for being here on a Wednesday evening and we look forward to what God is going to do. I enjoyed the handbell special. That's not something we get to hear very often and I don't think I could do that but I certainly was able to enjoy that tonight and I hope it was a blessing to you as well. Thank you for the music, for the choruses, the hymns that we sing tonight, especially the ones that have the missions theme. Now, I am going to ask you to help me this week. Because you're wearing a mask, I can't see all of your faces, so I need some help, okay? I need to know that you like me. All right, so I need to see everybody smile at the same time. Let me see what your eyes look like and see what it is when you smile. And now I wanna see everyone frown at the same time. Now that's the last time I want to see that all week, okay? I know it's an aggravation to have to still be wearing the mask and who would have thought that would have been the case, having been in the situation for as long as we have, but aren't you glad you just get to come to church? You know, there are places around the world tonight that because of the mandates and the restrictions, that people are not allowed to assemble and worship. In many places, they may be allowed to assemble at a slightly diminished capacity, but they're not allowed to sing, as is the case in many of our churches in Europe today. So praise the Lord that we're able to come together and we're able to have a missions conference on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday evening, and then end up on Sunday. I'm excited about Dr. Sisk being with us. When I was pastoring in Tennessee a number of years ago, I called Dr. Sisk. I said, I was just cleaning out the closet in the back of the pastor's office. I don't think anyone had been in that closet, not the back of the closet, for at least 20 years. And I determined when I left, I'm not going to leave this to the fellow that's following me. I'm going to clean it all the way to the back. In the very back of that closet, I found a cassette tape. How many of you remember what a cassette tape is? Okay, I found a cassette tape from 1969, and it had on there, Dr. Don Sisk, Missions Conference, 1969. I didn't have a cassette player to listen to it on, so I called Dr. Sisk, and I said, you'll never believe what I found. And he said, what did you find? I told him, he said, oh, go ahead and throw it away. It wasn't worth anything the day that I preached it. You know, that's how much I appreciate him. I appreciate his humility. But truly, the man has had an influence in so many people's lives. He has the ability to talk to someone on the phone or in person and make them feel like they're the most important person in the world. He's been a personal mentor to me. And so I'm excited about him being with us on Sunday. And I hope that you're able to be with us as well. Tonight we're going to take our Bibles and turn to John chapter number four. John chapter number four. I know your theme comes from verse number 35. I thought it would be appropriate for us to begin here this evening. I've already been asked if I'm going to tell stories about the airplane and the jungle, and I'll probably do that. I'm actually going to show you a picture of that airplane on the airstrip that I told you about the last time I was here. If you don't remember that story, just act like you do, smile at me, amen, and it'll be a great time. I've also had other folks ask me about some of the stories that we told when we talked about the series of purposeful prayer for missionaries. How many of you remember that from the last time we were here? And I probably will allude to that some this week while we're here, because I think it's something that we need to be reminded of so that we do pray honestly, striving together for our missionaries and doing it purposely. And so we will refer to that some this week. John chapter number four. We'll focus our attention here in just a few moments on verse number 35, but I think it's important for us to think about the context of what is happening here in John chapter number four. In John chapter number four, in the verses just previous to verse number 35, the Lord Jesus is making his way, he's journeying with his disciples, and he tells them that they needed to go through Samaria. And in the country of Samaria, they went to the area of Sychar, And in that particular area, there was a well where a woman was drawing water. And most of us remember this story because it refers to the woman at the well. How many of you are familiar with the story? Well, when we think about the particular setting, if you'll remember, as the Lord Jesus was speaking with her, and was really giving a recap of her history and her life and giving her the understanding of who he is as a Messiah. All of those things happened in the preceding verses to where we'll be tonight. And then the disciples come back And they're kind of taken by surprise by the event. I think they're taken by surprise by the fact that he wanted to go through Samaria in the first place. But then when they walk in or they walk up and they see the Lord Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman, there's no other men around, there's some challenges that happened in their own heart, in their own minds, and the Lord deals specifically with those that came into their mind. If you'll read with me in verse number 35, you'll see, well, let's begin in verse number 31. In the meanwhile, his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. We'll talk about that in just a few moments. Therefore said the disciples one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto him, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Say not ye that there are yet four months and then cometh harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest. Let's pray together. Our Father, we come to you tonight, and Lord, as we begin this conference this year, we first of all need to remove the distractions that are in our hearts and in our minds. Lord, I pray that even as I'm praying that each individual in this room tonight would lay aside the things that are concerning their heart and concerning their life. Lord, that they'll forget about some of those things just for a little while so that they can focus intently on what you have for them to hear tonight and the decisions that you would have for them to make. Lord, I pray that this missions conference would be a time where just as we would go in for an annual physical to find out the condition of our health, I pray that it might be a time for each one of us to talk to the great physician and tonight say, is there anything in my life that should not be there? Is there anything in my life that needs to be added to my life to make me more Christ-like and to have a greater burden for missions worldwide? And Lord, I pray that your full purpose will be accomplished in our hearts and our minds this week. And Lord, if that's the case, then Lord, it indeed will be a wonderful time. Lord, I pray for the one who is already considering the call, maybe to ministry or the call to full-time service, or perhaps the call to mission specifically. I pray that this week they will be encouraged in their heart. I pray that you will give them courage in their heart. And Lord, that at the time that you would have for them to yield, Lord, I pray that they would be willing And Lord, they would come forward and say, I believe God wants me to be a missionary. Lord, most of all. We just want to be obedient to your voice this week, and we'll give you the praise and the honor and the glory for all that is accomplished, in Christ's name, amen. You know, we understand the principles of sowing and reaping, but we often apply human reasoning to godly principles, and I feel that when we do that, we fall short in our expectations and in our actions. I believe that we understand that if we are going to accomplish something for Christ, then we need to be engaged in what Christ is doing. How many of you would say amen to that tonight? But how many of you would often say, or you have said in the past, you would say, Brother Brian, there's been times in my life where I knew God was telling me to do something specifically, but then I took that message, I took that inclination in my spirit, and I took it home, and I thought it over, and I prayed over it, and I applied my own human And oftentimes, because my human reasoning did not reach the height of what God was asking of me, I didn't seek to do what God had called me to do. Anybody? That was a long, complex sentence, wasn't it? How many of you say, there's been times when I couldn't see what God was asking me to do, so I did nothing? Okay, my hand's up, there we are, thank you. I'm asking you to communicate, I just wanna know that you're with me tonight. You know, I believe that we need to understand the context of the principle that Christ is trying to teach. And so tonight, I want you to understand in this portion of scripture, in this context, the Lord Jesus is dealing specifically with his followers, the disciples. How many of you are in agreement with me there? Now, how many of you two would also identify as a follower of Christ tonight? You say, Christ is my head. He is my King. He's my Lord. He's my Savior. I seek to follow him. Amen. I see hands over the auditorium. And so as we consider the context of the scripture as he is addressing his followers, I think it's very easy for us to put ourselves in the context of the scripture and understand that the Lord is also trying to teach you and I some life lessons that can be applied in our life. Let me give you three of those lessons this evening if we could. First of all, I want us to see that the spiritual harvest knows no cultural boundaries. What do I mean by that? The disciples did not expect a harvest in Samaria. How many of you have ever taken a shortcut before? It was easy for them to see that, hey, this is the best way to go, but it's not culturally acceptable for us to be in Samaria. Why? Because the Jews kept themselves separate from the Samaritans. And so the disciples in this particular case, I don't think they were that excited about going through Samaria. Let's stay with our people in our land, and let's do what you want us to do, but in that context, in that culturally accepted context. But we understand that the disciples, they did not expect this harvest. So when they come up on this situation of the Lord Jesus speaking with this woman, I believe they were taken back by the prospect that he was even trying to minister in this land. Secondly, a part of this also, I want you to see the disciples were out of bounds concerning what was culturally acceptable to the Jew. That's not a fault to them. We need to understand there was a long-standing distrust and rivalry with the Samaritans. This is no small thing. As a matter of fact, if you look back at the life of Jonah and you find that he was called to go to Nineveh, there was also a longstanding feud and rivalry that went back generations that would cause Jonah to not be concerned about the spiritual needs of those in Nineveh. And yet God called him to go to Nineveh specifically. But it was not culturally acceptable for him. But we need to understand the spiritual harvest knows no cultural boundaries. Let me tell you, when I left Tennessee to go to Bible college in Jacksonville, Florida, I was challenged with my cultural boundaries. Why? Because I went to work in inner city Jacksonville. I'm from rural America. I grew up on a farm. I grew up in that in that area, hard work, and working on the farm, and planting crops, and dealing with animals, and things of that nature. To go into an inner city setting was something completely new to me. And yet, the first week that I was in Bible college, they said, Brian, we're going to assign you to bus route 57. That is C Sunday School. And I said, OK, that's great. 57, that's a lot of bus routes. Amen? I said, what's the afternoon Sunday school? They said, that's the inner city bus routes. And you'll be dealing with gangs, you'll be dealing with drugs, and you'll be down in some of those unseemly areas of Jacksonville. And it'll seem somewhat dangerous, but pay attention to your bus captain, stick close to him, and everything will be all right. Well, I remember going into inner city Jacksonville the first time. I was like, my parents would not approve. If my mama only knew where I was, she would come get me, amen? But here I am, this six foot five, you know, 19 year old in Jacksonville, and I had a bus captain whose name was Daniel Bacon, and Daniel Bacon was about six foot six, and he was a slim fella, and I played basketball in high school, and he played basketball in high school, and so we would go into some of these areas of Jacksonville that honestly the police department would not even go to. We went to this one particular housing project called Hollybrook. And Hollybrook was one of those areas that if you talked to a police officer in Jacksonville, they would say, oh no, we don't go there. Why? Because of the criminal activity. And they knew it would not be safe for them to go there. But I would go with Dan Bacon. We were about the same height. He was a little bit taller than me. I would stay close to Dan because they all knew Dan, and Dan would go into Hollybrook, and I mean, there's drug dealers sitting out on the porches and just all kinds of things going on that I'd never experienced before. And he would go up to somebody standing on the corner selling drugs, and he'd say, hey, give us your two best guys on the basketball court. I think we can take them today. And if we take you, you've got to go to Sunday school tomorrow. Well, the first week he did that, I was like, this man is nuts. Mom should come get me, amen. It was not culturally acceptable for me or for them for me to be there. And yet Dan Bacon, he caused me to reach out of what was culturally appropriate for me and to stay there with him and we began to play basketball and we never lost a game. And they would bring the best from that area. It wasn't because that was that good, it was because I could rebound and he could shoot. It was a great combination. So we would win these games and these guys would be like, oh man, I gotta go to the church bus tomorrow. And we just had fun and saw folks get saved. And I remember one time, now don't tell anybody at the Department of Transportation this, but I remember one time when there was 120 people on our school bus. I was in the back, I was pinned against the wall. The reason I was there is so nobody would go out the back door, amen? But I remember that was some of the greatest experiences in my life as the Lord taught me that there's no cultural boundaries in the call of the Lord Jesus Christ when it comes to telling others about him. How many of you would say amen to that tonight? You know, the disciples had to learn this lesson. You know, in verse number 27, read it with me there. It says, and upon this came his disciples, and look at this, and marveled that he talked with the woman. Yet no man said, what seekest thou, or what talkest thou with her? They just simply marveled. They didn't say anything to him, but they were like, this isn't right. And yet we read in the story that later this person came to Christ and not only her but the men from the city came out because she said, is this not the Christ, this man who told me all about my life, is this not the Christ? And they came and the Lord Jesus marveled with them and stayed for two days. So the first thing that we learn from this story is that the spiritual harvest knows no cultural boundaries. If the Lord is dealing with your heart about being a witness and a testimony in a place that you do not feel is culturally appropriate, then trust the Lord, amen? Trust the Lord that He is already working ahead of you and that He will prepare the way and that He will care for you while you are on the journey. Secondly, I want you to see tonight that the spiritual harvest has no lunar schedule. What do I mean by that? Well, when we consider the harvest, we often think about the farmers. My wife and I were in, we left Chattanooga last week on Friday and drove over to Sumter, South Carolina. And from Sumter, South Carolina, where we met a future missionary couple, we drove up to Jacksonville, North Carolina, and then made our way up here to Woodbridge yesterday and to Herndon today. All along the way, we were passing through the farm fields of the Southeast. And in all of those areas there was soil that was being turned, there was soil that was being prepared, and there were planters in the field. And we often think of this concept of sowing and reaping like we would farmers planting in the springtime so that they may harvest 90 to 120 days from now. But I want us to consider tonight, as we consider the Missions Conference for 2021, that when we're talking about the spiritual harvest, there is no lunar schedule. There is no time frame that the soil must be turned. I want you to understand that the spiritual harvest is an ongoing harvest. There is a constant need for seed to be planted. There is a constant need for the seed to be taken care of and to be watered. And there is also a constant need for harvesters to be in the field. You know, how do we do this? We rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the timing. We rely on his leadership, his plans, his schedule. He is orchestrating events that we are not privy to. As a matter of fact, if you want to think about it in this sense, our security clearance is not high enough to understand the things of God. And he is, it is not necessary for us to understand the ways of God. It's simply to be obedient to the voice of God and the leadership of the spirit and the leadership of the word of God. Would you say amen to that tonight? You say, well, brother Brian, I want to know the end game. I want to know the end result. The end game is you and I will be in glory together. Amen. The end result is our obedience will lead to the harvest of many souls. It will lead to the opportunities to sow seed where we never thought it would be acceptable for us to sow seed. There will be opportunities for us to come behind others and water seed like we never would have imagined just simply by our obedience. You know, when we're thinking about this, we need to understand that we we must rely on the chain of command to give us the instruction and then he relies on our immediate and complete obedience. Last year when I was here, I was speaking to you about a particular village that we went into in Venezuela. It was the last village that our airplane was able to go to in Venezuela. And fellas, I got the pictures out of order. You might want to correct that here just for a moment. But when I was thinking about this particular thing, about this leadership of the Lord and trusting the Lord, I thought about this village. And since I had mentioned it to you last time, I thought I'd bring you some pictures tonight and kind of explain the scenario again. 9-11-2001, we had a group, a medical missions group from Trinity Baptist in Jacksonville, Florida, that were visiting with us in the village of Chahudanya, deep in the jungles of Venezuela. We had several hundred Indians that came in, not only from that particular village, but also from neighboring villages that met with the doctors. And everyone that came through, not only had their medical needs attended to, but they also received a complete account of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's interesting, when we first went to Venezuela, we were there with Clint and Rita Vernoy, and they had been in the jungle just a few months ahead of our arrival. When we arrived, Brother Clint told us the story, he said, we found out that, there's the village of Wasaranya. When we went into the villages the first time, I'll never forget, they said, Brother Clint said, you know, the tradition of the Makaritari people understand that God, There is a God, the God that you and I believe in. His name is Wenati in their native language. They understand that Wenati had a son, and that Wenati's son had died, and that Wenati had raised him from the dead, but they did not know the name of Wenati's son, they did not know the significance of his death, nor why Wenati had raised his son from the dead. And so Brother Clint said we were able to very easily say, yes, we know that story. We call him God in our language. And he was able to show them from the scriptures, this book was written about God. It was written by God so that you might not only know that he had a son, but that his son's name is Jesus Christ. and that he died on the cross because of our sins. And it was amazing the transformation in the heart of those people. But the more I thought about it, the more folks that came to Christ, the more I began to realize that deep seated in the heart of that tribe of Indians and the traditions and the stories that were passed from generation to generation. It had made it to the point where now the missionaries had come again into that culture some 40, 50 years after they had been there before. And now we were able to take that story that they were familiar with and fill in the blanks. And when you filled in the blanks, they went, we know we've sinned against God. We understand that he would send his son to die for us. Now we know who he is, why he died, and now we understand that Wenati raised him from the dead so that we could believe that he wants to forgive us of our sins and we can be saved. Let me tell you, that was a transformation in that village. And yet, the villages around Chahodanya was somewhat reluctant. Wasaranya, the village you see there tonight, and there were other huts around the area. But Wasaranya was isolated and they did not want any missionary influence. They didn't want white men or white men's book in their village. And yet on 9-11, 2001, there was a young baby that had visited the medical clinic. They had been visiting a neighboring village and some family. and they heard about the medical missionaries coming in, and they had made their way over to Chahudanya, and among that group was a small infant, and that small infant saw the doctor, and we didn't know this until after the fact, the doctor had met him, but the doctor didn't know what village this child was from, but the child was deathly ill, and the doctor that was there on that particular trip saved that baby's life. Well, as soon as that happened, that family disappeared into the jungle. We didn't know where they were from, had no idea. We didn't have cards that you filled out. You didn't check in at the kiosk and all the things that we would do here and get the free gift on the way out. They just disappeared into the jungle. And for some time, we had heard nothing about them. But then almost two years later, the radio rang, the ham radio, from another village. It was the chief of Huacerana. this village that never wanted the missionaries to come. We found out that particular day, almost two years later, that that infant child was the child of the chief of Wasaranya. He called us on the ham radio because there were some other sicknesses going on in the village, and he said, we want you to bring the doctors. He didn't understand the doctors were in the United States. They weren't there with us in Chahudanya. But Brother Clint Vernoy said we'd be happy to come, But first, you need to allow us to come and to bring the message that God has given us for you. And so if you'll show the next slide, you'll see that we took our airplane and we landed there in the village of Huacerana. That was the runway that was curved, and you had to land on one wheel and kind of fly it around the curve, set the other wheel down, and it was out in the savanna. But I'll never forget when we landed. airplane and we went into that village little did I know that would be the last time we would be able to fly that airplane in that ministry. But here's what God did and this is why I bring it up. Along with us on this flight in the back seats of that airplane were two young Indian preacher boys. Barely could read or write, but they were studying under Brother Clint. They wanted to be preachers. They felt the call of God on their life. And when we left that village, it was not like there had been a huge revival. There had simply been an introduction to the truth of Scripture. We had answered questions for almost two days about the truth of scripture and the author of scripture and how that they could be certain. And these young Indian preacher boys had been listening to this message and listening to their questions. And we left there praying that God would give us a door of opportunity to start a church in Wasaranya. But there was one problem. You could only move to Wasaranya with an invitation from the chief unless You had kinfolk in that village. Those two young Indian preacher boys in the back of that plane, little did we know, we did not know. On the way back to Chahawadanya, which is about a 20 minute flight, both of those young preacher boys piped up and they said to Brother Clint, hermano Clinton, that's what they called him. They said, we have family in that village and we can move our families to Wasaranya to be a witness and to be a light in that dark place. And as soon as we get home, we'll make preparations. And those two young men went back to Chahudanya. They took what little belongings they had and they made their way through the jungle with their young families and moved to Wasaranya. And they established the first church that would ever be in that particular village. The missionaries left soon after that. We all had to leave Venezuela. But when I think about this spiritual harvest, I want you to understand when it has no lunar schedule, it really goes beyond our human reasoning and our human understanding. We need to understand God calls us to be salt and light. He calls us to sow the seed. He calls us to water the seed and to harvest the seed. And we do it on his time schedule. And here's the great thing about it because we do not know what God's doing. on the other side. The third principle I'd like to bring to you tonight as we look into scripture is our involvement in the spiritual harvest is determined by our obedience. Look at verse number 34. Jesus saith unto them, again this is to the disciples, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. and to finish his work. When I think about this particular story and what he's trying to teach his disciples, I want you to understand, he says, the will of him that sent me, who sent the Lord Jesus Christ? It was his father, amen? Our heavenly father. Sent him to do what? To finish his work. That is the death, burial, and resurrection on the cross of Calvary. But it was also to demonstrate to his disciples that there's no cultural boundaries in ministry. We are to reach everyone that God gives us the opportunity to reach. He sends us to harvest where we have not sown, but others have sown before us. I have one other picture I'd like to show you tonight before we close, and that is a picture that was taken in China back in 2015. The gentleman there on what would be my left, but your right, is a man I've only met one time in my life. We were there, we were visiting with my wife's sister and her husband and their children. We were at a small underground Bible study and they were excited about us being there. I didn't understand anything that was being said. I was totally out of my element. As a matter of fact, anytime someone in Chinese spoke to me, I would always answer them in Spanish. We got a lot done, amen? There's just something about it. It's not English, it must be Spanish, amen? Hola, hermano. You know, I mean, that's what I'd say. And this little man came up to us and he was there in the Bible study and they were intrigued and they were excited that my wife and I were there. And this little man was a, or not a Bible teacher, he was a language teacher. He spoke seven languages. And he said, could I get, we didn't know what he was saying, but it came to us through a translator that he wanted us to sing a song, a Bible song, to him in Spanish. He knew that we spoke Spanish. I don't know how he knew it, but he did. Somebody told him, and I didn't understand that, but he said, can you sing me a song in Spanish? And so my wife and I looked at each other, and I mean, this was impromptu, and we had been out of Venezuela for some time, and we started this song. Cristo me ama, me ama a mi. Su palabra me dice así. Niños pueden ir a él. Quien es nuestro amigo fiel. Anybody recognize that song? You understood every word of it, right? Well, it was amazing. My wife and I sang that song. We sang it fairly quickly because no one there understood, but about halfway through the first verse, we noticed he began to move his mouth a little bit, and he began to do his head like this, and I was like, I know he doesn't know the words to the song. I know that he doesn't speak Spanish, but when we finished the song, he piped up and he said, when I was a boy, I went to church and I went to Sunday school and I heard that song. Here's a man in his late 70s at this point and he said, I heard the message of the Lord Jesus Christ and became a believer. You know, he said, I have never heard that song since. He was a little boy living in communist China. I can imagine that he had not. But I remember as I read this particular passage of scripture in preparation for this, I thought of this man and I thought about the fact that you and I need to understand that God just simply needs us to be obedient to do our part. He is before us, He is with us, He is behind us, and we are all working together to accomplish God's purpose here on this earth, and that is to take the message of the Lord Jesus Christ to the regions beyond. You know, my brother-in-law, who had been there in China, and he spent the greater part of 10 years in China, and he's back in the States now, but as he talked about this particular setting, he said, you know, I continue to find people scattered throughout China who have a little bit of understanding about the things of God. And he said, and I marvel that the seed has sprouted and yet it has not grown. They do not have the word of God. Many of them have never seen a copy of the word of God. and yet other missionaries have gone in and others have printed Bibles and others have started churches and they continue to sow the seed and water the seed and what happens is the increase comes and God gets the honor and the glory for it. I come back to the scripture. Verse number 36, he said, and he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And here is then that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor. Other men labored and ye entered into their labors. You know, oftentimes we think as we travel to the regions beyond and we go into villages where we think the gospel has never been presented, oftentimes we found others have gone before us. Seed has been sown and God has brought us in at that particular time to gather a harvest. I can tell you tonight, my friend, as you consider what God would have you to do, He just simply wants you to be obedient. He simply wants you to practice this idea of when the Lord speaks to your heart, you say, yes, Lord, I don't understand it. It's way above my pay grade and my security clearance. It's way beyond my abilities, but Lord, If this is what you would have me to do, I know you have a reason for it. I will be better for it. Others will be better for it. I simply want to yield and say yes. And if it's going to Uganda, if it's going to the Ukraine, if it's going to Togo, West Africa, wherever you would have me to go, Lord, I'm willing to go. And my friend, we will be able to sit down one day and look at the pictures and watch the missionary presentations and marvel at the goodness of God. We'll be able to rejoice in those that have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. We'll be able to reminisce about the airstrips around the world that the airplanes have landed on. We'll be able to rejoice in the river trips where we've gone up into villages where we can't imagine that we would have ever gone. And we'll be able to reminisce and say, isn't God good? That he would take somebody like me out of middle Tennessee, up on the border of Kentucky, someone that never wanted to go to college, barely got through high school English. And because of my obedience and his call on my life, he would allow me to witness his marvelous works, not only in Tennessee, not only in Jacksonville, Florida, working a bus route, but in South America. And now with the U.S. military in Japan and Okinawa and Korea and Germany and Italy and Spain, to see God do something amazing simply takes you saying yes to Him. My friend, if we are going to have a good conference this week, then every person here tonight must determine that when God speaks to me and God calls me, I will say yes. I will not ask for an itemized list of what that entails, but I will say yes, Lord, whatever you would have me to do. And I can tell you right now, I wouldn't go back to April of 1989 and change my decision to follow the Lord and the missions. I would not do it for anything. because I never could have imagined what God wanted me to be a part of when he called my heart that day. Would you bow your head and close your eyes just for a moment? Let me ask you here in closing this evening, is God speaking to your heart? You know, I believe that he does, and I don't believe that he speaks to you every single service, but I believe oftentimes we're distracted by things in our life and we miss the opportunity. But I do believe there are times like the Missions Conference where we need to revisit this idea, am I surrendered to God to do what he would have me to do? And if you would say no tonight, then my friend, simply your prayer needs to be, Lord, help me, give me the courage to say yes. Give me the courage to be willing to be used by you wherever you would lead me and I would go." Our Father, we come to you tonight and our heart's desire, and I believe that every Christian's heart's desire, would be to say yes to the Lord Jesus. Lord, it would be a continual relationship where we just marvel of what you're doing. It's outside of our box. It's outside of our cultural understanding. And yet we see you do amazing and wonderful works. And Lord, it creates a desire in us to say yes and to be a part of something great that you're trying to accomplish around the world. Lord, I pray that tonight would be the first step of saying yes to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, saying yes to the God of heaven, who is putting a purpose in our heart and in our life, and Lord, that we would be willing to go. Lord, give us the courage tonight in Jesus' name, we do pray. Would you stand to your feet, your head bowed, your eyes closed, and follow the Lord, pastor. Word. Song, while he's doing that, if the Lord's touched your heart and maybe you just want to come down there at the altar and say, Lord, I want to say yes to whatever you asked me to do. I don't need a detailed list. I just want you to know I'm willing. I'm willing to witness to my neighbor. I'm willing to go. I'm willing to give whatever you touch my heart to give. I'm willing to forgive someone that's done me wrong, that I might be a light to them. But whatever you ask me to do, I'll say yes. Lord Jesus, speak to our hearts tonight that every one of us in this room, every teenage boy and girl, every child, every adult, whatever you've touched our hearts about, we would simply say yes. In your name we pray.