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MISSION SUNDAY
A Missionary's World
~Psalm 67~
Dr. D. Marie Battle, Associate Minister
Second Baptist Church
2412 Griffith Ave.
Los Angeles
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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1O God, in mercy bless us; let your face beam with joy as you look down at us.
2Send us around the world with the news of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind. 3How everyone throughout the earth will praise the Lord! 4How glad the nations will be, singing for joy because you are their King1. 5Praise God, O world!
May all the peoples of the earth give thanks to you. 6For the earth has yielded abundant harvests. 7God, even our own God, will bless us...
Psalm 67, The Living Bible
Good morning! Thank you for joining us on this last fifth Sunday of 2023. The fifth Sunday is reserved for the Mission. We publicly recognize the humanitarian work of our men and women who are sharing their time, energy, talent and treasure to serve the needs of their communities.
I want to pause here and say on behalf of our entire membership, thank you to those members who have maintain the Church's needs during the last three years due to the COVID epidemic, and the structural damage of the Church. The Church was closed for three years. These faithful few gave of their time, talents, treasure and strength. So, we thank you for your joint successes and your individual contributions and sacrifices.
May God's unlimited blessings shower each of you and your families. Your service speaks volumes of your love for God and His church. You have earned our respect. Thank you.
I want to thank Pastor Epps for this opportunity to bring the message on this Mission Sunday.
I have chosen for my subject: A Missionary' World. A Missionary's World. The scripture is Ps. 67 from the Living Bible version.
Missionaries are seeing a world that's changing rapidly. In fact, it is changing so fast that they are beginning to feel helpless!
Consider what it means to feel helpless in the midst of life’s continuing changes.
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They see fewer people attending Church. Many churches have closed for lack of members; they are having difficulty finding volunteers to help with the much needed services in the community.
Pastor was asked to preach at a Church a few weeks ago. The members told us that they have been without a Pastor for five years!! Where are the young men and women who are interested in studying the Word to prepare themselves to continue God's work in the world?
The question becomes, What is going on? In making a few inquiries, we are told many of the young adults seems to have no interest. I asked a young person to come to church with me and I was told that she, "didn't feel anything...it's a waste of time."
(Can you imagine that?)
I asked a few other younger people who told me they don't feel anything. To those of you out there in radioland, I want you to come to Second Baptist, you will feel the
Spirit of the Holy Ghost!
Maya Angelo said, "People will not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel"
To Christians everywhere, we have the love of God running through our bodies, let us use that energy in our speech and actions. Let's envelop our young with our love.
Consider what it means that your faith is determined by how
you make others feel: redeemed, restored or rejected.
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Tuesday, October 31, 2023 | |
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The Bible says, that Love conquers all.
We all know that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your mind, soul, heart and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself.
Let us open our arms, and hearts and speak lovingly to everybody. Speak from the heart, and not the head. Let us love Jesus so powerfully that this loving energy is felt wherever we go! Divine Love is like a magnet, it draws people to you! The scriptures tell us that, Love conquers all.
The Missionaries who are teaching the Word of our Lord, are reaching out to all parts
of the world by comforting, feeding, and caring for others! We salute you as Ambassadors Of CHRIST!
We are all aware that this group is a special "brand" of people with a history of loving and serving the Lord. They appear to be calm, centered, and deeply rooted in the Word of God. When I say rooted, they never waver; they don't stumble in adversity; they hold on through the boisterous storms and trials that they encounter. Their minds are consistent and their hearts are dependable. They weather the storms of life and have learned lessons of strength and determination from their mistakes and pain. They radiate a kind of moral joy! They do not try to impress others, they see a need and work to address it in the name of love for Jesus Christ.
Consider what it means to do what you do in the example
provided in His day, in our day.
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Wednesday, November 1, 2023 | |
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I underscore LOVE. because You read about their work and struggles, and know that their world is not without some conflict. The adversary is always present! The line separating good and
Evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties. But right through every human heart. The adversary is always at work. Our Missionaries are who have built strong inner strength and have achieved a certain spiritual depth. They can be caught "off guard" they are humans.
I want to share three of their stories and how they handed them. I will label these stories as the good, the Bad and the ugly These are situations that the Missionaries encountered. The question become, what is going on? In making a few inquiries, we are told many of the young adults seems to have no interest. I asked a young person to come with me and was told that she Didn't feel anything, it was a waste of time. (Can you imagine that?)
I ask a few other younger people and was told they don't feel anything. To those of you out there in radio land, I want you to come to Second Baptist, you will feel the Spirit of the Holy Ghost!
Maya Angelo, said people will not remember what you said, but will remember how you made them feel"
To Christians everywhere, we have the love of God running thru our bodies. Let use us that energy in our speech and actions. Let's envelop our young with our love.
The Bible says, that Love conquers all.
We all know that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your mind, soul, heart and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself.
Let us open our arms, and hearts and speak lovingly to everybody. Speak from the heart, and not the head. Let us love Jesus so powerfully that this loving energy is felt wherever we go! Divine Love is like a magnet, it draws people to you! The scriptures tell us that Love conquer all.
Consider what it means to let the love of the Lord be
experienced through your actions and witness.
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Thursday, November 2, 2023 | |
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To the Missionaries who are teaching the Word of our Lord and reaching out to all parts of the world comforting, feeding, and caring for others! We salute you as Ambassadors Of CHRIST!
We are all aware that this group is a special "brand" of people with a history of loving and serving the Lord. They appear to be calm, centered and deeply rooted in the Word of God. When I say rooted, they never waver, They don't stumble in adversity, they hold on through the boisterous storms and trials that they encounter. Their minds are consistent and their hearts are dependable. They weather the storms of life and have learned lessons of strength and determination from their misstates and pain. They radiate a kind of moral joy! They do not try to impress other, they
See a need and do it in the name of love for Jesus Christ. I under-score LOVE.
You read about their work and struggles, and know that their world is not without some conflict. The adversary is always present! The line separating good and
Evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties. But right through every human heart. The adversary is always at work. Our Missionaries are who have built strong inner strength and have achieved a certain spiritual depth. They can be caught "off guard" they are humans.
Consider what it means to be an ambassador of Christ to the world.
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I want to share three of their stories and how they handed them. I will label these stories as the good, the Bad and the ugly These are situations that Missionaries encounter.
Story #1
This a story of a 31year old missionary, who works as a Social Worker. This story aired around the world.
I will call the young man, Joseph. Here is his story:
One afternoon, Joseph had just stepped from the train coming from work, when a young teenager appeared And whipped a knife, He demanded his money, Joseph calmly handed him his wallet. As the young robber turned away, Joseph he called out to him Hey, wait a minute, You forgot something, If you are going to be robbing people For the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm. The boy looked puzzled. Why are you doing this? Joseph said, if you are willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, than I guess you must really need the money.
So he told the boy that he was on his way to get dinner, if you are hungry he could join him. Stunned by the evening's turn of events, the robber asked, how is it that everyone is so nice., even the dishwasher. I come here Every day to eat dinner. They know me, plus, I was taught to be kind to everyone. Joseph asked him if he also been taught to be kind to everyone/ the boy tole him he had, but he didn't think people acted that way in the real world. When the tab came, Joseph told the teen he was going to have to pay the bill, since he had the wallet, unless he wanted to give it back and he would be happy to pay for the whole thing.
The boy didn't hesitate and he handed over the wallet. Bedsides treating him to dinner, he gave the boy $20.00 to help him out. He asked him for his knife and the boy surrendered it.
The lesson here: Joseph said that treating people right, regardless of how they treat you, is the simplest and most promising prescription he knows to bring people hope and to make the world a better place.
Consider what it means what you perceive this story
shares with you about your faith.
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Saturday, November 4, 2023 | |
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The second story is about a little Maid. 2 Kings 5:1-5.
1Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.[a]
2Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels[c] of gold and ten sets of clothing.
An unnamed girl from Jerusalem was captured as a slave and taken to Syria. Away from her home and family, she served as a foreign missionary in the house of Naaman, the captain of the armies of Syria. Though Naaman was a mighty man of war, he was afflicted with leprosy.
This little servant girl had good news to share. She knew of a man in her home country named Elisha, a prophet of God. She knew that Elisha had the power of God on his life and that if Naaman would visit the prophet, then he could be healed. This little missionary girl directed her master to someone who could more powerfully show God's might and message. Even though she was in a foreign land against her will-she loved the people enough to share God's good news. She had such a testimony among the people with whom she worked that they acted upon the information she gave and never questioned her motives.
He offered Elizha gifts of several thousands in silver and expensive robes, which he didn't accept. But his servant said to himself, my master should not have let this fellow get away without taking his gifts. After Elisha returned home, his servant went back to Naaman and "My master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hills of Ephraim just arrived and he would like $2.000 and two suits to give him. Naaman insisted that he take $4,000.00 and two robes. Before the servant returned home, he hid these gifts. Elisha asked him where had he been?
I haven't been anywhere, Elisha said, don't you realize that I was there in thought when Naaman offered your request?
Because you have done this, Naaman' leprosy shall be upon you and upon your children and your children's children forever.
The third and final story is an analogy that is a comparison between two things.
For the benefit of young people who may not know, salmon swim against the current to return to its place of birth, where it will lay eggs for the next generation.
There was a monkey stranded on an island. While waiting for the raging waters to recede, he spotted a fish swimming against the current. It seemed to the monkey that the fish was struggling and needed assistance. Being of a kind heart, the monkey ran to help the fish. There was a tree limb that was leaning near the water. The monkey moved out on the limb and reached down and snatched the fish from the water, and carefully laid the fish on dry ground. Needless to say, the fish died.
What was meant for good was a mistake that ended the fish' life.
The mistakes in life often are a lack of knowledge. Missionaries must develop cross-cultural communication in their work.
This is a good that ended badly.
Within a global community we meet new challenges of cultural differences. New ways of living in the world. Jesus wants us to love one another. We must embrace people who are not like us. As scripture give us direction to love our neighbors who are not like us, we come to know Jesus, and His love for all humanity.
The monkey and the fish is a lesson in cultural differences, but underlying this story is
a beautiful action of love. That turned sour.
As Christians working for Christ, we want to gather and teach people from all corners
of the world so that we can deliver souls from all corners of the world.
Conclusion
Let your faith looks to Jesus for the commutate expression of being a witness as a mission for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Consider what it means reveal the Lord Christ as the
Lord Jesus Christ was revealed to us.
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