What If We Get It Right: God's Global Mission

Now, if you promise not to tell anybody, I don't think it originated with him. I think he actually borrowed it from god because it's the very heart of god to reach the lost around us and everywhere and so today's topic is about god's big picture. What if we get it right? Now, by saying what if we get it right, it means there are times that we sometimes don't get it right. Yeah. [00:40:15] (37 seconds)

Now, this is one of my favorite New Testament stories but in reality, this quest to reach the Ethiopian eunuch didn't start with Philip. Matter of fact, the journey to receive the open eunuch started before Christ even died on the cross before Genesis was ever written because it originated from the very heart of god. Which makes me kind of wonder sometimes, do we really understand the heart of god? Another way to say it is, has our church found a cause greater than ourself? If we wanna personalize it, it would be, have I found a cause greater than myself? [00:43:45] (51 seconds)

Now, I met a man thirty years ago who got it right. His name was Dave Lanier. He used to be an overseer. He'd act and he had early Parkinson's disease. And so here me and Dave are strapped with money and we're going to Russia. And I said, brother going to Russia. And I said, brother Lanier, what have you been doing? You know, recently? What have you been doing recently? He goes, well, actually, I've been going to China a lot. And I said, China? What have you been doing in China? And he said, I've been smuggling Bibles. I've been three times this year. [00:45:22] (39 seconds)

``So, what's god's big picture started in Genesis three nine and it does have an ending point. It culminates in Revelation seven, nine, and 10 where he gathers them from around the throne and to the lamb. Now, on this journey, it took John three sixteen because that was the required sacrifice or the means of salvation. It took Acts two, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because that was the power to accomplish the mission but I'm convinced that Vince that all 66 books in the Bible, there is a scarlet thread that goes through all of them and it started with Genesis three nine. [00:50:01] (51 seconds)  #Do you want one hashtag per paragraph? I need you to confirm how many quotes (or hashtags) you want me to generate.

Now, I think of it in these terms. Luke 19, Jesus is about three days from when he's gonna be betrayed and beaten and then ultimately crucified. He knows where he's headed. He knows what's awaits him. But in Luke 19, he stops for a midget tax collector. You know, Zacchaeus, the wheel of the man? And I realized quickly, his heart's different than my heart. Because if I knew that in three days, I was gonna be persecuted, I would be hunkered down with family, and yet Jesus was stopped for a tax collector. Equivalent of our IRS. We don't even know if they have souls. Correct? So think about it. How much of his heart is in our heart? [00:55:52] (55 seconds)

In Acts chapter two, when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place, it wasn't with the Jews. It was a multicultural conduct text where everyone heard the praises of god in their own language. Why? Because he's headed to Revelation seven, nine, and 10. Now, some denominations wrongly say, well, the outpouring the holy spirit in scripture was just to jump start the church and then it stopped. Why would god cut off his power source to reach Revelation seven, nine, and 10? And the answer is he wouldn't. He wouldn't. [00:57:36] (39 seconds)

Sometimes we ask the question or we look at the question is, am I called to missions? And if you think about, am I called to missions? That's a question for people who don't know Jesus. Because if you know Jesus, the real question would be, in what way am I supposed to be a part of what god's doing in his epic quest to reach the nations? Where do I fit in in god's plan to reach my Jerusalem, my Judea, my Samaria, the outcast, and the ends of the earth. [01:05:12] (54 seconds)

Because he wants us to reach our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and so some of the questions that hit me is this, who are we living for? Because in many ways, it seems like we're living for the tee ball game or the next game schedule or the next Florida Gators, weekend game. It's like we put everything else before him and then we add a little Jesus when it's convenient and we stop short of following the one we say we love. It's like we don't know his mission. [01:11:24] (58 seconds)