1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,040 Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Englewood 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,920 Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,119 Thank you so much for tuning into our podcast. 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:10,400 You're going to hear from God today as we share. 5 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,160 From his word. About important issues facing 6 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,200 your life that can guide you according to the Bible. 7 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,680 OK, let's let's get at it. Get your Bibles. 8 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,080 Ephesians chapter 6. We're going to look at 2 texts 9 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:28,320 today. Ephesians 6. 10 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,800 Colossians 4, we've been talking about prayer with your students 11 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,080 for the weekend. I'm going to talk to you today 12 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,040 about praying for cross cultural workers, praying for 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:44,000 missionaries, praying for those that we send and those that we 14 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:46,840 need to send. I want you to find your place in 15 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,320 Ephesians 6. We'll start there. 16 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,840 I trust you have your your notes as well on your bulletin, but I 17 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,800 want to take you to some people. Before we look at the text. 18 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,360 I want to introduce you to some of my friends around the world. 19 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,080 I'll use just their initial because of where they serve and 20 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,200 what they do. I want you to think about them 21 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:11,840 and think about our need to pray for them. 22 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,480 I think about A who is serving in North Africa and the Middle 23 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:17,840 East. She is serving in a place where 24 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,440 the work is so hard that it feels like she's just picking up 25 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,000 rock. She can't even plant seeds yet. 26 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,440 And I asked the question, who's who's praying for her in that 27 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,600 hard work? Or I think about L he and his 28 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:36,960 family living in a war-torn part of Africa where people are 29 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:41,240 trying to protect themselves. They worry about their their 30 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,920 safety everyday and who's praying for those serving among 31 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,440 them. Or or M, who's serving in a more 32 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,520 reached area? He's actually doing theological 33 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,080 education in a in a more reached area, but what he's doing is 34 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,960 he's trying to call people to stand on the word of God in a 35 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:02,840 place where theological liberalism is rising. 36 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,680 And who's praying for him and his work? 37 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,240 Or J. Who is serving in one of the 38 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:12,480 largest countries in the world where every major religion 39 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,240 except the dominant 1 is under persecution? 40 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:22,240 Or C and his family living in a in a place, a tough soil, where 41 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,880 he and his family have been nothing but sick the entire time 42 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,320 that they've been on the field. And consequently they questioned 43 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,120 their call. Is this where they're supposed 44 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:32,960 to be? And who's praying? 45 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,040 Who's praying for all of these folks that that I think about 46 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:38,960 and others who are serving around the world? 47 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,400 I ask. I ask who's praying this morning 48 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,480 for two reasons. One, I ask because I have a 49 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:52,120 hunch that many of us talk more about praying for missionaries 50 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,880 than we actually do pray for them. 51 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,960 I I think sometimes we we only pray when we know that we need 52 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:02,320 to. We don't do it just because we 53 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,080 want to. I think we need to think about 54 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,000 that together. But there's another reason why 55 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,000 why I want us to think about praying for missionaries. 56 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,640 And that's because the Apostle Paul, who was first and foremost 57 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:17,080 a missionary, regularly called believers to pray for him. 58 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:19,840 Let me just take you to to some of his writings. 59 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,920 And in Romans 15, he said, I appeal to you, brothers, to 60 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:28,960 strive together with me in your prayers to God my behalf, to 61 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,680 wrestle with me in prayer. Second Corinthians chapter 1, he 62 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,480 says, you must also help us by your prayers. 63 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,600 In Philippians 1, he said, I know that through your prayers 64 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,760 and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will be for 65 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,360 my deliverance. In First Thessalonians 5, he 66 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,200 said simply, brothers, pray for us. 67 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:55,640 Second Thessalonians chapter 3 said pray for us that the word 68 00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:01,040 of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored has has happened 69 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,080 among you and so recurrently. He said, you pray for me, you 70 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,720 pray for my team. And we're going to go to two 71 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:12,080 texts this morning where this call to pray just reverberates. 72 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,880 And so look at me. First of all, Ephesians chapter 73 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,920 6, we'll look at the two texts, we'll put them in context, and 74 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,000 then we're going to talk about the word together. 75 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:27,040 Ephesians chapter 6, verse 18. As I pick up in this verse, I 76 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,000 want you to watch for urgency. We're going to come back to that 77 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,120 in just a minute. Verse 18 Pray at all times in 78 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:39,440 the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all 79 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:44,960 perseverance and intercession. 4 Notice this, all the Saints pray 80 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,560 also for me that the message may be given to me when I open my 81 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,120 mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the 82 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,360 gospel. For this I am an ambassador in 83 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,000 chains. Pray that I might be bold enough 84 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,920 to speak about it as I should. And so there's Paul's request to 85 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,800 the Ephesians. Go to Colossians, chapter 4. 86 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,400 Just a couple of books back in the New Testament, we're going 87 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,440 to read words that are strikingly similar as Paul 88 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:19,000 writes to the Colossians. He says in chapter 4, verse 2, 89 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,440 Devote yourselves to prayer, stay alert in it with 90 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,600 Thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for 91 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,480 us that God may open a door to us for the word to speak the 92 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,920 mystery of Christ for which I am in chains, so I may make it 93 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,360 known as I should. Twice we hear Paul say, you pray 94 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,440 for me. These two books, the book of 95 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,040 Ephesians, the book of Colossians, both written to 96 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,560 believers, to churches and contexts that we're dealing with 97 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,840 the reality of demonic powers. One, the Church of Colossae, 98 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:54,960 also dealing with the reality of false teachers working their way 99 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,240 into the church, infiltrating the church. 100 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,920 And Paul wants the believers to know this in a context where 101 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,760 demons are just residing and they're influencing the cities. 102 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:06,560 Paul wants the believers to know this. 103 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:12,000 Jesus Christ reigns over all powers and he wants the 104 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,440 believers to recognize, he wants to encourage them to, to press 105 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,120 on in their faithfulness, to, to pursue holiness, to put off the 106 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:23,040 old man and put on the, the new man to, to wear the full armor 107 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,200 of God. And to and in both letters, he 108 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,600 calls them to live out their faith in their households and in 109 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,440 their daily lives as a, as a witness to the one who reigns 110 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:36,800 supreme. And in both books, Paul starts 111 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,360 with a recognition that he's praying for the believers and he 112 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:45,160 ends the book with a call to pray for him and for his team. 113 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,560 So both of these books, both of these letters are bookended with 114 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:51,600 prayer. And that's what I want us to see 115 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:56,120 this, this call for us to pray for those that we send and to 116 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,160 pray for those that we need to send, not only those who have 117 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:03,400 gone, but those that we need to call out to go in the in the 118 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:04,880 days to come. So let's do this. 119 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,920 Let me let me pray for us quickly and then let's look at 120 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,080 the text together. Father, I do pray that you would 121 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:13,280 teach us that you would challenge us. 122 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:16,600 I pray against an enemy who would want to keep us from 123 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,480 hearing your word. And I ask you, God, to raise up 124 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:24,720 some prayer warriors out of this church to pray for those that we 125 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:29,080 send and those we will send in Jesus name, Amen. 126 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,640 I realize in, in some ways, as I speak about praying for 127 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,560 missionaries, I'm speaking to a choir in this church in the 128 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,880 sense that I know you well ought to know that this has been a 129 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,680 passion of your church to send people to the nations and to 130 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,200 pray for them weekly. And I thank God for that. 131 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:50,320 And so I recognize in some ways you're ahead of the game in that 132 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,400 sense. But I also have a sense that 133 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,440 even those churches that are committed to the sending, we're 134 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,680 not always as committed to the praying. 135 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,560 And so I, I want us to think about that for ourselves. 136 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,240 So get your notes. Let's talk about these these 137 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,320 texts together. Here's point number one. 138 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:12,120 We must hear the urgency, the urgency of praying for those 139 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:14,840 that we send. We must hear the urgency of 140 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,280 praying for those that we send. Well, let me let me put all of 141 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:23,600 this in context again. Both letters begin with Paul 142 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,800 saying, I am praying for you. He wants the believers to know 143 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,240 that he is the missionary is interceding for the churches in 144 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,120 Ephesians 1. He says to the Ephesians, I do 145 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,679 not cease to give thanks to God for you. 146 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,640 And I pray God would give you a spirit of, of wisdom and a 147 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,280 knowledge of him. And I pray that you will have 148 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:45,880 your hearts enlightened with the gospel. 149 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:50,000 And then in Colossians 1, he says, I always thank my God for 150 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,200 you. And I pray that you'll be filled 151 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,080 with wisdom and, and understanding and you will, you 152 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,360 will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and you will be 153 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:02,040 strengthened with his power. And so Paul starts these letters 154 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:03,840 by saying, we're doing this together. 155 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,200 We're in a partnership to do this. 156 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,840 I'm praying for you and I need you praying for me. 157 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:16,480 He presses forward to say, pray for me and pray for my team. 158 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:21,920 But before he ever gets there, before he ever gets to the place 159 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:26,680 of narrowing the focus to say I want you to pray for me, he 160 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:29,320 says, I want you to pray for all the Saints. 161 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:33,480 Go back with me to Ephesians 6 and look at this focus. 162 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,080 Look at the urgency of this praying as we read the text 163 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:41,200 again in verse 18. Watch for the word, all every 164 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,960 hear the urgency that Paul says this word to us. 165 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,880 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer request and 166 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:56,800 stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the 167 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:58,520 Saints. Look at that, he says. 168 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,000 Pray for everybody. Why is that? 169 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,560 Because he knows that we're all in this battle. 170 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,440 We're all wrestling against principalities and powers. 171 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:10,800 We all face an enemy who wants to devour us. 172 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,200 We're all up against an enemy who wants to drag us back into 173 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,760 our old lifestyle, who wants to divide what God has put 174 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:22,440 together. And Paul knows this enemy does 175 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,280 not give up. And so he says, you pray and you 176 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,520 pray for all the Saints, and you pray as if you believe it really 177 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,320 works. You pray, You just keep praying 178 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,480 with great urgency. And then in Colossians 4, look 179 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,080 at me at that text again. Go back to Colossians 4. 180 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:44,880 Let's see where it starts. He says devote yourselves to 181 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,440 prayer. More literally, the word there 182 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:53,440 is to to continue steadfastly in prayer, to persist in prayer, to 183 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,760 keep pressing on in prayer, to pray and to pray and to pray 184 00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,640 some more. And don't stop praying. 185 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,800 False teachers are coming into the church and so you've got to 186 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,680 pray. The enemy seeks to drag the 187 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:07,640 church in the in the wrong direction. 188 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,000 And so you've got to pray. Believers need encouragement. 189 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:16,320 And so we have to pray. And he says, just keep praying. 190 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:20,760 There's a lifeline sense of urgency to this praying. 191 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,880 It's an expression of dependence and and a longing for God's 192 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,840 guidance without which there can be no victory. 193 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,240 And so in both letters, Paul says, pray, pray, pray some 194 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,240 more. Keep on praying. 195 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:40,760 Devote yourselves to praying. And before he ever says pray for 196 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:42,520 me, he says you pray for each other. 197 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:45,240 You let prayer be a part of your DNA. 198 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:50,680 Let's let's just be honest, folks, maybe, maybe we don't 199 00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:56,240 pray well for missionaries because we don't pray well in 200 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:02,320 general in the first place. Maybe our problem is bigger. 201 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:11,840 And Paul starts there to say, I want you devoted to prayer, and 202 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,520 I want prayer to be in your DNA. And I want you to do this with 203 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:21,040 persistence and urgency. And we don't often pray with 204 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:23,600 that kind of passion that these texts require. 205 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,800 In fact, here's what we do. Here's what we do. 206 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:33,440 I'm convinced that we we pray only in a reactive mode. 207 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,280 Let's think with think with me about that. 208 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,640 Both churches I pastored in, in Ohio, we had a, we had a prayer 209 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:41,280 list. If you think about a prayer 210 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,640 list, what has to happen to get your name on a prayer list? 211 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,280 Usually it's something bad. Somebody has to get sick, 212 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:49,560 somebody dies, you lose a job, something bad happens. 213 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:51,440 Then we crank up the praying for you. 214 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,400 Or how about families in our churches? 215 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,000 When do we really start praying for families? 216 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,480 We start praying for them when we hear they're in trouble. 217 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,120 Young people, We start praying for young people when we hear 218 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,080 they're wandering. The enemy's dragging them into 219 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,760 sin. Sister churches, when do we 220 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:10,400 start praying for sister churches? 221 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:13,280 We do it when we hear they're fighting, when they're 222 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,000 struggling. And what happens in much of our 223 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,600 praying is that we don't start praying until we hear that the 224 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,520 enemy's already winning in some situation. 225 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:26,240 And Paul would say, no, this has to be DNA for you. 226 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:31,240 You have to pray, pray, pray, and you just keep praying. 227 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,440 So we have to hear the urgency of this call to pray. 228 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,120 It's out of this urgent DNA of prayer that we pray for. 229 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:48,760 For missionaries, Let's go to point #2 We must hear the call 230 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:53,280 to be alert as we pray. We must hear the call to be 231 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,000 alert as we pray. Go back again to Ephesians 6. 232 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,760 Let's watch for the watch for the wording, verse 18. 233 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,360 Pray all times in the Spirit with every prayer request and 234 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:09,800 stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the 235 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,360 Saints. Stay alert. 236 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,360 Go to Colossians 4. Let's see it again. 237 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,240 Devote yourselves to prayer. That's verse 2. 238 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,880 Stay alert in it with Thanksgiving. 239 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:27,920 Here's what Paul says in Ephesians 6. 240 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:34,080 Keep alert, keep watching. Stay awake in the battle. 241 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:37,360 Remember the disciples. Twice Jesus took them to pray. 242 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,640 Once to the Mount of Transfiguration. 243 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:41,400 He told them to pray, They fell asleep. 244 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:44,000 He took them to the Garden of Gethsemane. 245 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,520 He told them to pray. They fell asleep. 246 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:51,720 Paul says keep alert in this battle, Be aware of what's 247 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,000 taking place. We're all in the conflict, so 248 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:59,360 pray, keep alert. This is not listless, unfocused, 249 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,120 perfunctory, check the box praying. 250 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,400 This is praying in the power of the Spirit. 251 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,560 It's diligent prayer. Ever aware of the arrows of the 252 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,400 enemy but not being stifled by them. 253 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:17,080 It's being alert and praying in Colossians 4. 254 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:22,080 He says be watchful in this battle, be on guard for it. 255 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:25,560 Be aware of what's taking place in your own life. 256 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,080 Be aware of what's taking place in the world. 257 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:31,960 Be aware of what's taking place as the as the gospel spreads, 258 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:36,680 keep alert even as you even as you pray. 259 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:39,760 Well, let's talk about that for just a minute. 260 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:47,560 If you pay attention to the news at all, I'm guessing you know 261 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,920 that we live in a chaotic, messed up world. 262 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:55,520 Yes. And you don't have to listen to 263 00:15:55,520 --> 00:16:00,840 the news long today to know that there is strife all over the 264 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:06,800 world. Here's my question, and here's 265 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:12,720 my challenge to you and to me. When we hear what's happening 266 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:18,240 around the world, we need to let the events of the world drive us 267 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:24,160 to our knees. The news needs to be a call to 268 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,440 pray. You think about nations in the 269 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:32,440 world right now in war. Who's praying? 270 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,280 Who's praying for forces being sent into the war? 271 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,640 Who's praying for chaplains on the ground? 272 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,200 Who's who's praying for nations under attack? 273 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,200 Who's praying for people whose lives are on the line, often 274 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,160 people who've never heard of Jesus? 275 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,160 Who's praying for the believers in those contexts? 276 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,080 Who's praying for pastures in those contexts? 277 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,440 Who's praying for cross cultural workers? 278 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:03,080 If there are some in those contexts, As you read the news, 279 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:05,240 you listen to the news from around here. 280 00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:08,520 Families in turmoil, who's praying for them? 281 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,200 Who's letting the news drive us to our face? 282 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,480 That's what I want to encourage you to do. 283 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,880 Paul says be alert. Be alert. 284 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:24,520 Know what's happening around you and let that alertness compel 285 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:26,760 you to pray. Are you with me? 286 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,880 I want you, first of all, to pay attention to the news. 287 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:36,560 I challenge my students at Southeastern Seminary far too 288 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:37,760 often. They go through the day. 289 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:40,320 They pay no attention to what's happening around the world. 290 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:42,920 And listen to me, friends. We will never be burdened for 291 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,200 the world if we don't know what's happening in the world. 292 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,320 So you have to pay attention to what's going on. 293 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,160 You have to listen to the news. You have to read the news. 294 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,840 But pray, pray, pray. Be alert. 295 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:04,360 Paul says no, what's happening? Be alert in light of Christ's 296 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:06,360 return. Be alert in light of the needs 297 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,840 of the world. Be alert in your own life. 298 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,920 And then then Paul brings this down and he says, I want to 299 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:17,040 guide you as you're alert. I want you to think about how 300 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:21,560 you pray. He wants to focus them in their 301 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,040 praying, says be alert to what's happening. 302 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,880 And then he says pray for all the Saints. 303 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,960 And then he brings it down to in your alertness. 304 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,160 I want you praying for me. But I don't want you to miss 305 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,440 what Paul does. Because when Paul calls them to 306 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:42,160 be alert in this battle, to be alert in their praying, he also 307 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,840 wants them to be alert to their own walk with the Lord. 308 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,760 Now, how do we know that it's it's the way Paul puts the 309 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,800 letter together? Because if you know Ephesians 6 310 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,520 very well, you know that before Paul says, pray for all the 311 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:01,040 Saints and pray for me, he sets that up by saying you need to 312 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:05,400 put on the whole armour of God. And he warns them, we're up 313 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:06,880 against principalities and powers. 314 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,080 And so here's what you have to do. 315 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,640 You have to walk in truth, and you have to walk in 316 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,560 righteousness, and you have to speak the gospel of peace. 317 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,680 And you have to carry the shield of faith, and you have to wear 318 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,640 the helmet of salvation, and you have to take up the sword of the 319 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:21,000 Spirit, which is the word of God. 320 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,640 And you have to love it and you have to live it and you have to 321 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,640 speak it. You have to understand your 322 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,240 position in Christ and you have to live out your practice of 323 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,360 faith and you have to wear this armor of God if you're going to 324 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,960 pray for me. The Colossians 4 he says the 325 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:39,720 same thing before. He says to them, I want you to 326 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,440 pray for me and my team. Prior to that. 327 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,080 In that letter he tells them you are to put to death anything 328 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,200 that is earthly in you. You're to put on the new man. 329 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:52,800 You're to let the word of God just dwell richly in you. 330 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,560 And here's what we have in this letter where Paul calls them to 331 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:58,800 be alert. In both of these letters you 332 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:03,400 have a missionary church planter who is under arrest for his 333 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:10,800 faithfulness. He's in the war and he wants 334 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:17,120 prayer support, but he wants to make sure that those who are 335 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:21,960 praying for him are actually walking with God in the first 336 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,760 place. You know why? 337 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:27,880 Because he wants to know that those who are praying for him 338 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:32,000 are praying effectively. Because here's what Paul knows. 339 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,440 Here's what Paul knows. We have to pray for each other. 340 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:45,240 But he also knows this prayer from ungodly disobedient lips 341 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:51,080 doesn't go very far. So when he says you all pray for 342 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:55,040 me, he wants them to be alert to their own walk with the Lord 343 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,520 because he wants to know that their prayers touch heaven. 344 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,080 I fear that sometimes we call people to pray and we don't call 345 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,080 them the holiness. And that's a problem. 346 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,880 We've got to hear the urgent sense of prayer here. 347 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:16,000 We must be alert to the to the praying. 348 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,920 We must recognize what we have to do is we carry out this work 349 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:24,080 looking at our lives, looking at the world, sending out those and 350 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:29,480 praying for those that we send. Let's go to point #3 We must 351 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,440 hear the request of the missionary. 352 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,400 Now go back with me again to Ephesians 6. 353 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,320 Let's look at the text one more time. 354 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,040 Ephesians 6, beginning in verse 19. 355 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,920 Here's Paul's request for himself. 356 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:52,640 Pray also for me that the message may be given to me when 357 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,600 I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the 358 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,000 gospel. For this I I am an ambassador in 359 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,320 chains. Pray that I might be bold enough 360 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:05,120 to speak about it as I should. Listen to his request. 361 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:08,920 Pray for me that I will speak the gospel boldly. 362 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,840 This is Paul. He's under divine compulsion. 363 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:17,600 He's called to be an apostle to proclaim the word among Gentiles 364 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,360 and kings and the children of Israel according to his calling 365 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,240 in Acts 9. He's just speak for the king 366 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,400 with boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel, that God 367 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,200 has now revealed this gospel to Jew and Gentile alike, and it's 368 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,720 for the nations. And and Paul says you pray for 369 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:41,080 me, that I will be courageous. Why does he request that? 370 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,400 Here's why. He knows he's in a spiritual war 371 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:51,520 because his calling is to get the gospel that the Bible 372 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:56,520 describes this way, people to get the gospel to people. 373 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:02,280 The Bible describes this way in Ephesians 2, the Bible says 374 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,880 those who are not believers are following the Prince of the 375 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,840 power of the air, Colossians. One says they live in the 376 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:13,360 Kingdom of darkness. 2nd Corinthians 4 says they are 377 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:18,800 blinded by the God of this age. Second Timothy 2 says they're 378 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,920 caught in the devil's trap. Acts 26 says they are living 379 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,080 under the power of Satan. And I want you to hear that, 380 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,720 friends, even those that we love, our family, our friends, 381 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,480 our Co workers, our classmates. If they don't know Jesus, here's 382 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,200 their condition. I'll say it to you again. 383 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:37,400 They're following the Prince of the air. 384 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,680 They are in the domain of darkness. 385 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,440 They're blinded by the God of this age. 386 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:43,000 They're caught in the devil's trap. 387 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,040 They are under the power of Satan. 388 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:51,000 And we must consequently pray. Paul gets it. 389 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,040 He knows his calling. His calling is to engage the 390 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,560 enemy's territory, to take the gospel of light into the 391 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:01,720 darkness, and he must speak boldly, and he needs the prayers 392 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,280 of God's people to do that. Now that's striking to me, and 393 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,960 let me tell you why. Where is Paul again when he 394 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:15,080 writes these letters? Tell me he's in prison for doing 395 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:19,280 what? For preaching and for preaching 396 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,920 how boldly. He's in prison for preaching 397 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:25,480 boldly. And he says, you pray for me, 398 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:27,480 that I will speak the gospel boldly. 399 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,080 Here's what he says. You all pray for me that I'll 400 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,480 just keep on doing what got me here in the first place. 401 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,080 And when he when he and when he knows he has that prayer support 402 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,640 and he knows that he's called just to preach the gospel 403 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,480 wherever he is, even jailers for him. 404 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,360 They are not problems. They are prospects for the 405 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:49,720 gospel pauses. You pray for me that I'll speak 406 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:51,640 boldly. Then look again at Colossians 4. 407 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:55,880 Let's see what he says there. He adds to that beginning in 408 00:24:55,880 --> 00:25:00,560 verse 3, says at the same time, pray also for us that God may 409 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,680 open a door to us for the Word to speak the mystery of Christ 410 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:08,320 for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I 411 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,360 should. He says, pray that God will open 412 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:14,840 up a door for me. If you read the scriptures, we 413 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:20,240 hear that phrase at other times in Acts chapter 14, we read Paul 414 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,160 and Barnabas reported that God opened up a door for the 415 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:27,480 Gentiles to hear. 1st Corinthians 16, Paul tells us a 416 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,880 wide door for effective ministry had been open to him. 417 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,400 Second Corinthians 2, he wrote a door was open for me in the 418 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,400 Lord. And so here's what Paul says. 419 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:40,280 You pray for me that God will open up a door for the Word, 420 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,840 that God will give me opportunity to speak, that God 421 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,360 will raise up people ready to to listen. 422 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,000 So here's what we learn. Here's what Paul gets. 423 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,200 He knows that God is over all of this. 424 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:58,120 It's God who gives us boldness to speak and he opens our mouths 425 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,560 to speak. It's God who opens the doors for 426 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,640 conversations that we might have opportunity to speak. 427 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,360 And it's God who opens hearts to believe. 428 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,480 God guides us. God opens the doors, and God 429 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,600 opens hearts to hear. This is all about God. 430 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:20,120 He does it. So we must pray. 431 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,600 And Paul understands that more literally. 432 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,320 He says, you pray for me, that I will make the gospel clear. 433 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,200 The apostle says, you, you pray for me. 434 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:36,880 Here's the request of the missionary. 435 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:40,880 Pray for me that I'll speak the gospel boldly. 436 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,360 Pray for me that I'll speak the gospel clearly. 437 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,960 Pray that God will open a door for the Word. 438 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:47,680 This is the heart of the missionary. 439 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,560 This is the heart of the people that you and I send His heart's 440 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,120 desire. Paul's heart's desire for Israel 441 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,600 is that they would be saved. So much so that in Romans 9 he 442 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,320 wrote that if it were possible even for me to be accursed that 443 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:06,240 they might be saved, I would welcome that, that they would 444 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,240 know. My Lord, that's the heart of 445 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:14,000 people that you and I send. That's the passion of the 446 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,840 missionary. And when you're that broken over 447 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:21,400 lostness, your heart is that wounded over people who need to 448 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,240 know Jesus. Even when you are in prison, you 449 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,600 desperately want God to open up a door. 450 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,960 You desperately want to speak clearly and boldly and you 451 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,920 desperately recognize that you need the prayer support of God's 452 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:43,200 people and the people we send need our prayers and the people 453 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,080 we need to send need our prayers. 454 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:49,640 So I want you to hear the urgency of these requests. 455 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:52,360 I want you to hear the call to be alert, and I want you to hear 456 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:55,520 the requests of the missionary. I want to, I want to bring this 457 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,320 together with this challenge for you. 458 00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:58,760 I want to give you some things to do. 459 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,200 Here's number one, I challenge you. 460 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:07,840 I challenge you to start praying consistently for missionaries by 461 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:12,040 name, not just when you hear there's a problem, but I 462 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,960 challenge you to pray for them because we have sent them. 463 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:19,080 And if you say to me, well, Chuck, I don't know any 464 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,120 missionaries by name, here's what you got to do. 465 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:24,200 Go talk to Pastor John. I promise you he can get your 466 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,000 name. So we, we may not be able to 467 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,680 tell you all the details, but I promise you, we can get your 468 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,680 names and missionaries all around the world who deserve 469 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:37,000 your prayer support. Parents, grandparents, I plead 470 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,840 with you, build that into your family devotions. 471 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,040 Raise up kids who pray for the nations. 472 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,480 And I challenge you to pray the way the Apostle Paul said to 473 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,440 pray. Pray for boldness, pray for 474 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:53,120 clarity, pray for open doors. You've got the guidance. 475 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:55,280 We just have to make the commitment to do it. 476 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:02,720 And then I challenge you. I challenge you, parents, 477 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:10,800 grandparents, pray that your children and your grandchildren 478 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:16,920 will follow Christ wherever He calls them to go. 479 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:24,720 Now listen to me. The nation's need folks to bring 480 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,960 the gospel to them. It is our responsibility to 481 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:33,120 raise them up and send them. And they might be your children 482 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,320 and your grandchildren. And I'm going to challenge you 483 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:40,480 to pray that if God calls them to do that, they will go 484 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,720 willingly and you will prayerfully rejoice with them 485 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:49,760 because I know this. You see, it's one thing to say, 486 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,840 and I know how your church does this and dedicating babies, but 487 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,440 it's one thing to stand in front of this congregation with babies 488 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:58,680 in arms and say, I give them to God. 489 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,000 It's a whole nother ball game when God says I'm sending them 490 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:04,400 to the most dangerous place in the world. 491 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,320 And you have to decide whether or not you really meant it when 492 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:12,600 you gave them to God. I'm challenging you to mean that 493 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,040 and even to be willing to pray. God, if you want my children and 494 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:21,680 my grandchildren to go to the nation's, I praise you. 495 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,800 So tough prayer, but I challenge you to pray it. 496 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:30,240 And here's what's going to happen, folks, as we bring this 497 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:32,080 to a close. I said this to your students 498 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,520 over this weekend. I looked out across your 499 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,120 students. Pastor Dylan said 170 or so. 500 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,680 So much life, so much deal, so much potential there, so much 501 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,160 opportunity for another generation to change the 502 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,320 nations. And we challenge them to, to 503 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,640 pray and to and to learn how to pray and to commit themselves to 504 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:52,640 praying. And students, I challenge you to 505 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:54,520 to, to make that a part of your life. 506 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,440 And I warn them that this is what would happen whenever we 507 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,320 talk about praying for God's people, praying for the 508 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,440 nation's, whenever we talk about following God, Jesus warned us 509 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,160 that there is an enemy who comes and wants to snatch the word 510 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,080 from us before we ever get out of this room. 511 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,440 And I guarantee you it's going to happen. 512 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,280 You might say, well, I hear Chuck say I've got to pray for 513 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,160 missionaries. This is my commitment. 514 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,000 And before you ever get to the car, you'll let that fly. 515 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,880 That's what the enemy wants. I plead with you, don't you let 516 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:29,720 that happen. And I'm going to pray against 517 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,400 that in just a minute that you will write in your notes 518 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:33,800 somewhere. Here's what I'm going to do. 519 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,680 You'll tell Pastor John, Pastor Dylan, you'll talk to me. 520 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,200 This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to do what the Word 521 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:41,880 calls us to do. Pray. 522 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:46,400 Pray for those we send and pray for those we need to send you 523 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,560 with me. Do me this favor. 524 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,360 Let's stand together for prayer right now. 525 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:57,560 I'm going to lead us in prayer. I'll turn this over to Pastor 526 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,680 John and he will take us from this place. 527 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:05,520 Father in Heaven, thank you for those who are among the nations. 528 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,840 Thank you for those that this church and other churches around 529 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,400 this country have sent. Thank you for our Southern 530 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:18,280 Baptist missionaries who are serving in places where we 531 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:23,960 cannot even name some of them right now, in dangerous places. 532 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:28,840 I pray that they would supernaturally know right now 533 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:34,040 that a Church of believers and Rocky Mount, NC are praying for 534 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:37,560 them. God, I ask you to raise up 535 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,280 people out of this congregation who would not just hear this 536 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:44,600 word, but they would do it in their individual lives, in their 537 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:50,800 families, in their small groups. They would pray for those we 538 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,520 send and they would pray for those that we need to send. 539 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,560 God in the next few moments guide Pastor John as he leads 540 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:02,280 this this response time. Give all of us faith and courage 541 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:04,320 to do exactly what you have called us to do. 542 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:09,480 In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Amen. 543 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:16,520 As you remain standing, you know I'm so thankful that God has LED 544 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,040 someone like Chuck Lawless to work at Southeastern Seminary as 545 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:22,240 a Dean and vice president. He also works with our 546 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:25,400 International Mission Board. Aren't you thankful for that, 547 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,040 that you have godly men in those places training up that next 548 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:33,880 generation? You know, here's what we're 549 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,640 going to do. Some of you were here as 550 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:40,800 students and or as workers over the weekend, and you heard 551 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,680 several different teaching times. 552 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,000 And some of you, I know, turned in response cards. 553 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:50,400 And in just a moment, Pastor Dylan's going to be up here in 554 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:51,880 the front, and I want you to come. 555 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,200 And I just want you to share with Pastor Dylan about what the 556 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:57,960 Lord laid on your heart during the weekend. 557 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:03,200 The rest of us who are here for this morning, you feel something 558 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,680 tugging at your heart. That's the Holy Spirit speaking 559 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:08,520 to you. And I, I just pray that you'll 560 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:12,719 recognize that drawing, that conviction that that calling in 561 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:14,159 your life, we all have a calling. 562 00:34:14,159 --> 00:34:17,440 We all have a purpose. I was thankful in the first 563 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,600 service for the lady who came forward and was just sharing 564 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:24,239 about a burden calling in her life that that was a significant 565 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:28,520 change and was scary even, but she wanted to surrender that to 566 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,679 the Lord. So some of you in just a moment, 567 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:33,639 maybe you just want to come and and kneel at the steps in 568 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:37,040 prayer, surrendering, surrendering some part of your 569 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:41,000 life or lifting up someone, praying for someone. 570 00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:44,639 On a practical level, if you want to know the names of our 571 00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:47,639 missionaries, just down this hallway outside, if you just 572 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:51,159 turn left and go all the way around, you'll see podiums with 573 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:53,159 all of our missionaries and their names and their prayer 574 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:54,600 cards there for every one of them. 575 00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:58,000 And you can begin to pray for them. 576 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,120 Come back Wednesday night and we're going to be praying for 577 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,680 them. But for right now, this is a 578 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:08,640 time of reflection and the time of response. 579 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:12,360 Some of you, you might have seen baptism this morning and, and, 580 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,280 and you recognize, you know, in your heart of hearts, maybe 581 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:18,640 you've already trusted in Jesus Christ, but you've never been 582 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,640 baptized. You know, you need to publicly 583 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:24,600 identify that way. We have other people waiting to 584 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,760 be baptized. We're seeing this happen almost 585 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:30,240 every week. Maybe you're here and you're not 586 00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:33,040 ready for baptism because you've never trusted in Christ yet. 587 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:38,000 So salvation is your first step. Some of the pastors are going to 588 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:39,440 be here. You can come and pray. 589 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,160 Our Next steps room is open. You can go in there. 590 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:43,560 You don't even have to talk to one of us. 591 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:46,520 And you can have a private, discreet conversation and prayer 592 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:48,840 time with a counselor in there about what God's laying on your 593 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,560 heart. But it's time to respond. 594 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:55,560 It's time to take the next step. So let me pray and let's get 595 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,560 started. Father, thank you for working in 596 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:00,920 our lives. Thank you for the entire time of 597 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,680 worship this morning, for the testimony of baptism, for the 598 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,840 testimony of your Word, for the challenge of your truth. 599 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,040 Now, Father, I pray will respond. 600 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,040 For some it's salvation. For some it's baptism. 601 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,680 For some it's maybe a recommitment. 602 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:17,680 For some they need to come and intercede. 603 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,320 Maybe they need to intercede for family or friends. 604 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:25,280 Maybe they need to come and confess something to You so that 605 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:29,120 they can begin to move forward. Let's surrender right now. 606 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:32,560 And we and we're so thankful, Father, that we, we don't have 607 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:34,920 to come with pretense. We don't have to come and and 608 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:36,320 pretend like we're somebody else. 609 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:41,640 We can come just the way we are because that's the grace that 610 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,160 you extend. So we're never too far away. 611 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,800 We're never too far gone. We can come. 612 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:53,680 So I pray that we will right now, in the name of Christ, 613 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:58,720 Amen. Thank you so much for listening 614 00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:00,400 today, and I also hope that you'll go to 615 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:04,240 ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com as well as our app and find many 616 00:37:04,240 --> 00:37:06,600 other resources that will bless you and your families. 617 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:07,800 Thank you once again.