Ever wondered how the concept of 'Now Hiring' is intricately intertwined with Jesus Christ's mission? Join us on this enriching journey where we examine this fascinating connection. Discover how businesses' physical and digital 'Now Hiring' signs lead us to explore the teachings and compassionate acts of Jesus Christ. His mission, extending from Union County to remote tribes and bustling metropolises, reflects the vast potential of God's labor field waiting to be tapped.
Let's venture into the profound impact of initiatives like the Annie Armstrong Offering and the Lottie Moon Offering, reaching the farthest corners of the world. The power of technology has brought the gospel to global gateway cities such as Detroit and Queens, bridging geographical gaps. Learn how God's word and the Holy Spirit are reaching those without gospel access in their home countries, and how new converts in the US are utilizing technology to lead churches worldwide.
Lastly, we spotlight the immense harvest in South Arkansas, where churches unite to spread the Gospel. Imagine the power of mission trips and the profound effect of sharing Jesus Christ's message. As we ponder over the question of how each of us can contribute to this mission, we embrace the challenge to join God's field. Reflect upon the personal responsibility each of us holds to share the good news in our local communities, and join us in a prayer for God's Holy Spirit to call more people to missionary service. Let's make a difference together, let's be the solution, and let's share Jesus's good news.
Ever wondered how the concept of 'Now Hiring' is intricately intertwined with Jesus Christ's mission? Join us on this enriching journey where we examine this fascinating connection. Discover how businesses' physical and digital 'Now Hiring' signs lead us to explore the teachings and compassionate acts of Jesus Christ. His mission, extending from Union County to remote tribes and bustling metropolises, reflects the vast potential of God's labor field waiting to be tapped.
Let's venture into the profound impact of initiatives like the Annie Armstrong Offering and the Lottie Moon Offering, reaching the farthest corners of the world. The power of technology has brought the gospel to global gateway cities such as Detroit and Queens, bridging geographical gaps. Learn how God's word and the Holy Spirit are reaching those without gospel access in their home countries, and how new converts in the US are utilizing technology to lead churches worldwide.
Lastly, we spotlight the immense harvest in South Arkansas, where churches unite to spread the Gospel. Imagine the power of mission trips and the profound effect of sharing Jesus Christ's message. As we ponder over the question of how each of us can contribute to this mission, we embrace the challenge to join God's field. Reflect upon the personal responsibility each of us holds to share the good news in our local communities, and join us in a prayer for God's Holy Spirit to call more people to missionary service. Let's make a difference together, let's be the solution, and let's share Jesus's good news.
Hi, it's Pastor Jonathan and thanks for downloading the FBC El Dorado Sermon Podcast. We hope today's message will challenge and help you take the next step as you follow Jesus. Whether you're strolling through downtown or maybe just scrolling your feed on Facebook, you've no doubt seen this exact sign A physical sign hung in the front window of a storefront, or a digital sign posted to a Facebook business those two words Now hiring. Have you guys seen those signs lately? People are looking for folks to apply for jobs and interview for jobs and to take jobs that are open. Now a little bit of advice. When it comes to that sign and those two words, it's best to keep it to two words because you don't want to confuse the message. It's just way too important. Let me illustrate that point for you. Let's go to the next slide.
Speaker 1:This is a Wendy's somewhere in the United States. They say this our secret ingredient is our people now hiring. That's a little concerning, isn't it, if you think about it. Or there's this combo business, a Bojangles Subway, and it says now hiring, two sausage biscuits. It's like I would love to work at a restaurant where I could eat healthy at lunch with Subway and then have fried chicken at night Honey biscuits. Anybody know what Bojangles is? Y'all familiar with Bojangles? It's an East Coast chicken place. That is amazing. We had them when I lived in North Carolina. But I'm not a sausage biscuit so I can't apply for the job. And then one more we're hiring. It's part time and full time and it says servers, serve people, greeters, greet people, line cooks, cook people.
Speaker 1:And obviously, after they printed the sign, someone's like we didn't mean to say that, or did you? That's the question. It's better just to keep it at those two words. You don't want to confuse the message. It's way too important because with the two words now hiring, a business owner communicates this message to job seekers there is too much work and there are not enough workers. There's too much work and there are not enough workers. Maybe you know what that feels like. There is more work for you and your current staff to accomplish. You see the potential for growth, even in your business, but you know you cannot reach that growth potential without hiring on new staff. Ultimately, the business owner is going to post the sign now hiring because he wants to let job seekers know that inside his doors there is an opportunity to be had.
Speaker 1:And this is one instance, when the marketplace teaches us an important lesson about the mission field, because the local business owner, he's not the only one who hangs the sign now hiring. The great God of this universe, he too hangs that sign in the storefront of heaven. The prophet Isaiah reads that sign as he hears the Lord, he is in the throne room of God. The prophet Isaiah reads this sign now hiring when he hears this question whom shall I send as a messenger to this people who will go for us? Or on that dusty Damascus road, the sign now hiring hangs in the sky. This time it is like this fluorescent neon now hiring sign, as the man named Saul is blinded by the glory of the resurrected Christ and he is cast down to the ground. Saul reads that message when he hears those words that he is Jesus's chosen instrument to take his message to the Gentiles and to the kings and to Israel For God. He hangs the sign now hiring in front of a man named Jonah. Jonah, it turns out, isn't looking for a new job. Jonah isn't wanting to move to Nineveh, but God won't take no for an answer. When we read scripture, it's clear that in this instance the mission field is like the marketplace there is too much work and there are not enough workers Now hiring. It's a sign that God not only hung in years past but he continues to hang in the present. God asking people like you and me to be a worker in his great global mission.
Speaker 1:Today is part two of our series. Local is the title of it. Local is a combination of those two words we mentioned last week the word local and the word global. Local means that Jesus's mission unfolds in our own backyard. God's mission that is for the good and for the salvation of Union County and it is for Wildcats and it's for warriors and buckaroos and Trojans and dragons. Last week we learned that because God's mission is local, to participate in that mission, you and I, if we are a disciple of Jesus, a friend and follower of Jesus, we have to apply the truth that what I am redeemed by Christ to represent Christ, I am redeemed by Christ to represent Christ in Union County. But God's mission, of course it extends far beyond the borders of our county. God's mission is also global. God's mission is unfolding among tribes who live in the world's remotest and densest jungles, bedouins who cross barren deserts and those who live in the high-rises of the world's most populated cities and when we consider God's mission from this global vantage point, it further highlights the fact that there is too much work and there are not enough workers. So today, in part two of our series, we're going to learn that the right response to this reality the reality is there's too much work and not enough workers. It's too full that God's church must give and God's church must go.
Speaker 1:So I invite you now to join me in Matthew, chapter 9, matthew 9 in your Bible, and I will begin reading in verse 35. Listen to what Matthew writes. He says Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom, and he that's Jesus healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. With those sentences, matthew summarizes the ministry of Jesus Christ and Jesus' ministry. Based upon those two sentences, here's what we know about his ministry.
Speaker 1:Jesus was always on the move. Jesus' base of operations for his ministry is the seaside town of Capernaum, and that means that for him to be on the move, that one day he would travel north to Betsida, and then the next day further north, to Caesarea, philippi. Or another day he would travel south across the Sea of Galilee and land in Tiberias. Or other days he would travel west, to that little town called Caena. And remember Jesus, he didn't rack up frequent flyer miles. Jesus racked up the calluses and the blisters of frequent foot miles. He walked and walked and walked and walked.
Speaker 1:No matter the town or village that he visited when Jesus arrived, he always proclaimed the gospel as part of Matthew's summary statement. So, jesus, he would preach sermons to crowds, he would lead Bible studies with his disciples, he would have one-on-one conversations with men like the Pharisee named Nicodemus or that woman at the well. But it wasn't just with his words that Jesus proclaimed the good news of his kingdom. He also proclaimed it through his deeds, through the working of miracles. So, jesus, he would cast out demons. He would bring a dead girl back to life. He would heal the blind and the lame and the mute. Jesus would give hope to everyone he saw. He would see them being confused and helpless, that they could not help themselves. They were lost in their sin. And Jesus would offer them hope and peace and joy and proclaim the arrival of the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:Jesus was always on the move because he was well aware that there was so much work to be done. Too much work even for him. Let me explain, because I think when I say that too much work even for Jesus, it maybe makes you a little uncomfortable, but sometimes we forget that Jesus was fully human. Like you and me, jesus would get tired and hungry. Like you and me, jesus would need a minute to himself to gather his thoughts and to take a nap. Like you and me, during his earthly ministry Jesus could be at one place at one time.
Speaker 1:You see, on earth, jesus willingly divested himself of some of his divine characteristics and Jesus then subjected himself on earth to certain human limitations. Too much work even for Jesus. Furthermore, jesus knew that his earthly ministry that had a shelf life. He knew that one day he would die, three days later he would be raised back to life and that 40 days later he would ascend back to heaven and sit at the right hand of God, the Father. For that reason, there would be work that is left undone on earth. Jesus knew there is too much work and there are not enough workers. So what does Jesus do? Understanding his own limitations on earth, understanding that one day he will return to heaven.
Speaker 1:He hangs the sign. That reads now, hiring back to Matthew nine, verse 37. He said to his disciples the harvest is great. With that phrase, jesus compares the people of this planet, the souls that they are entrusted with by God, their creator, to a farmer's field. That means each person's life is something like a stalk of wheat. It is waiting to be collected, it is waiting to be gathered into the storehouse of God. The harvest is great because listen, god is at work in the world, preparing people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. The harvest is great because the gospel is already being proclaimed throughout the world. The harvest is great, ultimately, though, because every person who lives on planet earth is in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The harvest is great because every sinner and all of us are sinners need a savior. Acts chapter 15 says this. It says we believe that we are all saved the same way by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus, but there is a problem. The harvest is great. There's plenty of opportunity. There's plenty of work to be done. You're never going to be bored. You'll always have something to do, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest.
Speaker 1:Jesus says who's in charge of the harvest, ask him to send more workers into his fields. There's an old saying you're probably familiar with that many hands make light work. In other words, when you are faced with a difficult task, if people will work together, a group of people will all put their hands towards the completion of the task. It will be easier and it will be more quickly completed. The opposite is just as true. A few hands make heavy work, if not impossible work. In other words, when people approach a monumental task, something that is bigger than themselves, and you don't have enough people working together to accomplish the job, it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish it. That's why Jesus says pray, pray, pray that the Lord would send more workers throughout this month.
Speaker 1:A portion of our worship service each week is devoting to what Praying Praying for ministries that we partner with, for them to fulfill their mission, have adequate employees and volunteers. Praying for missionaries who are already out on the field. Praying that God would continue to call volunteers to volunteers, to partner with our local agencies, for missionaries to be called up out of church pews and to travel around the world sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need all hands on deck If every person on planet Earth is to hear the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ. Our giving to a global missions offering is one tool that God uses to answer the prayers of this church. I want to talk to you just briefly about the impact of this offering now around the world and how this offering sends workers out into the harvest field that is ripe, the harvest field that is great. So one of the components of our global missions offering goes to an offering of the Southern Baptist known as Annie Armstrong. Annie Armstrong supports church planting in North America At first Baptist.
Speaker 1:For the last about six, six and a half years we have had a specific partnership with one of the church planners who supported, through the Annie Armstrong offering, ken neither. Ken planted and then now pastors a church called crossover church that's located just outside of Detroit in Southfield, michigan. We annually send financial support to Ken and the crossover church. Members of our congregation even send special gifts outside of this offering to support crossover church. Over the course of our partnership We've sent about a half dozen teams to support their ministry in a variety of ways. I love our partnership with Pastor Ken and crossover church, because Ken is passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He preaches it with boldness, he calls people to faith in Jesus and then he sees to it. He creates a structure for them to grow and become a disciple of Jesus Christ. I love pastoring with Ken neither and crossover church. Another reason, though, that I love our partnership with crossover church is because the city of Detroit isn't just any other city.
Speaker 1:Detroit is a city that a misciologist term a global gateway city. A global gateway city. A global gateway city is a city that contains a significant population of one of the world's least reached people groups. A global gateway city is a city that contains a significant population of one of the world's least reached people groups. So Detroit Metro, the metro area of Detroit, has a population of people who have Arab descent. That is the second largest in the world, actually the largest in the world outside of the Middle East 300,000 men, women and children of Arab background live in Metro Detroit. Dearborn is a city on the Southwest side of Detroit. It's home to the largest population of Arabs in all of North America.
Speaker 1:Hamtrammack is the only US city also a part of Metro Detroit. Hamtrammack is the only US city with a Muslim majority among its citizens. So if you go to Dearborn, michigan again, if you travel to Hamtrammack and you're walking down the city streets, you will hear not church bells ringing. You will hear not church bells ringing. You will hear a mosque issuing out the call to prayer throughout the day. And of those Muslims who live in Hamtrammack, actually many of them are of Yemeni and Bangladeshi background, and among Muslims in the world, those from Yemen and those from Bangladesh are some of the least reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, in Detroit, five of the 100 least reached people in the world have significant populations in its metro area. Did you know that about Detroit, michigan? We think of Detroit, michigan, and we think of Ford and Chrysler. We maybe think of the Pistons and the Lions and the Tigers. We think of professional sports, we think of the auto industry, when instead we should be thinking of the harvest is great.
Speaker 1:People who don't know Jesus in droves, who don't have access to the gospel in their home countries, live now in the United States in concentrated populations where they can be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the reason it's called not just like a global city, that it's a global gateway city is because and here's how missionaries are leveraging these cities They'll share Jesus with someone in. It may take months, if not years, of sharing with someone of a Muslim background the story of Jesus Christ, but believing that God's word does not return void, and believing and trusting in the power of the Holy spirit, people come to faith in Jesus. But then this crazy thing happens in our world with the internet. This person of a Muslim background comes to faith in Jesus Christ. They get on FaceTime and they tell their grandmother, they tell their cousin, they tell their best friend who lives all the way on the other side of the world, in Bangladesh and Iran and Yemen. They tell them about Jesus and what he has done.
Speaker 1:Places where it's difficult, difficult for an American missionary to enter, the gospel penetrates using FaceTime or zoom. That's why it's a global gateway city. It reaches then around the world. It's like a portal around the world to share the gospel message and what we see happening in these cities. And you should be excited about what God does through these global gateway cities, that God leverages technology for the sake of his gospel. What we see is these men and women. They get on, they tell and they share Jesus with their neighbor from back home, their friend, their family member, and then, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that person even comes to faith. And someone else comes to faith and someone else comes to faith. But they don't leave it there. Instead, they begin to like meet every week on zoom or FaceTime and having a Bible study together. They don't have the Bible in their possession, but this person in the United States does, and they share it with them and they disciple them and they lead them and you even see converts in the United States who pastor churches around the world, basically via zoom. I know it's a foreign concept, I know it shakes everything we believe about what church means and what church is, but God's using it to see the gospel go out. That's why I'm excited we give to Annie Armstrong right and in all he packs the cities of North America. It's reaching around the world.
Speaker 1:One of my good friends who works at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, named Jamie. He's moving his family next May to Queens, new York. Jamie spent two years, right out of college, at Washington as a journeyman in North Africa Sharing the gospel with people. And now what is he doing? He's using that experience, transplanting his family to Queens to specifically work with Muslims with a North African background to see the same thing happen, to reach them, so that they reach the world. Also, as a part of this global mission's offering, we support Lottie Moon.
Speaker 1:Lottie Moon empowers the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to support foreign missionaries around the world To follow the call to reach the unreached and the least reached. The best statistics that we have say this that about 59% of the world's population, of the 8 billion people who call planet earth home, about 59% of them are considered unreached. And most of those unreached people about 96% of them are located geographically in on a part of the globe that we now call the 1040 window. The 1040 window goes from West Africa across Asia. Go to the next slide and we'll show it to you right where it falls. That's the 1040 window West Africa, all the way across Eastern Asia, from 40 degrees south of the equator to 10 degrees north of the equator. 96% of the world's unreached people live in that window of ground. When you consider West Africa to East Asia, it begins to feel like too much work, which is why we have to support Lottie Moon, which is why we have to work together.
Speaker 1:In 2022, gifts to Lottie Moon collected by Southern Baptist churches across our country supported over 3500 missionaries. As a result of the support in 2022, 67 new people groups were engaged with the gospel of Jesus Christ, over 728,000 people heard the gospel, over 178,000 new believers, over 102,000 abaptisms and over 21,000 new churches were planted through gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering. Another amazing stat is that, if you go backwards into the year 2019, only 300 candidates applied to be foreign missionaries through the International Mission Board. 300 new candidates that year Fast forward to the year 2023. Through nine months of 2023, over 1200 candidates have applied to be missionaries. Jesus said pray to the Lord of harvest and workers out into the field. I know sometimes we feel like God never answers our prayers. God's answering that prayer. He's sending people out, and so we give to support them so that they can go. We will give, but listen, you also can go.
Speaker 1:Have you ever gone on a mission trip? How long has it been since you last went on a mission trip? I shared with you this summer, after I got home from Nicaragua? Nothing refreshes your soul and nothing grows your faith like going on a foreign mission trip. You'll be placed in an uncomfortable situation and, like any area of life, when you're put in an uncomfortable situation you can either grow or just be really, really uncomfortable the whole time and you're forced to, in that moment, to trust God more and more, to trust God as you're put into position to share Jesus Christ. You trust God and God gives you the words to share in that moment and your faith grows.
Speaker 1:In July of next year July of 2024, ray Henley is going to lead another team from our church to Nicaragua. If you have any interest, any inkling of a thought I want to go to Nicaragua like this sparks an interest in me. Talk to Ray. Lift your hand. Ray, he's right back there, balcony people, he's right there. Okay, I know you can't see him. If July of 2024 doesn't work for your calendar, I get it. Some, for some of us, are work calendars. That doesn't work. But you want to go? Talk to Ray. He'll help you find a way to get there. If you're worried I don't have money for vacation, I don't. I can't have money to go on a mission trip, like finances are tight, I get it, that's, but don't let finances be an issue. Call the church office. We'll figure something out. We want to put more of you out onto the mission field, to experience the great joy of going on a mission trip and being exposed to what God's already doing in the world and to be a partner in that by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:But listen, the harvest is not only great around the world. The harvest is great in South Arkansas and the need is great in South Arkansas. We're in the aftermath of South Arkansas. Together, dozens of churches work together. We solve our 300 decisions of all sorts made for Jesus. People taking steps towards Jesus, some of those first time faith, sometimes read medications, sometimes just a confession of sin, but people are taking steps towards Jesus and that is something we always praise and praise God for and we celebrate. Thousands of seeds were planted, but here again, the harvest is great. The harvest isn't gone now. The harvest is still great and we cannot wait until the next crusade to tell people about Jesus Christ, to be serious about calling people of faith in Jesus, about representing Christ in our community so that people know the message of Christ and His salvation. And when I look around El Dorado, drive around Union County, one of the things that first strikes you is the number of churches in Union County, arkansas. Right, there should be plenty of workers. There should be plenty of work and plenty of workers. In Union County. The harvest is great.
Speaker 1:So the office of tourism in Queensland, australia, once posted a job listing. They advertised it as the best job in the world. It was to be the island caretaker for the islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The salary was a six month contract and you could make $150,000. Your responsibilities were to clean the pool, feed the fish, collect the mail, explore and report back. Pretty cool, eh, actually, kind of sounds too good to be true. Right, it is. It was a joke that they decided to publish that ad in the paper.
Speaker 1:But what have I told you? The great God of this universe? He's now hiring for an even better job, for the best job, and the job that God's hiring for the work is rewarding. Mind you, the pay in this world isn't all that much, but the eternal reward is great. And the great thing is God's not just trying to hire one person for one job, he's open to all applicants who show interest in know Jesus. He says, yes, I've got a job for you, and I've got a job for you, and I've got a job for you. There's plenty of work, plenty of positions. Will you just apply?
Speaker 1:God is hiring as many men and women, and children, even to work in his field so that people say yes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Will you give to help someone get to their field so they can work? Will you go and be a worker on the field yourself? And here's what I promise you. There is no greater privilege, and it's not even a job. It's a joy To tell people about Jesus, about his love, about his salvation and about his hope. When we look out over the world, there is too much work, but we still have a choice. You can sign on and be a part of the solution, or you can just sit on the couch or sit on a pew and be a part of the problem. God's hiring, now hiring. Are you ready to get to work? Let's stand together and pray.
Speaker 1:Father, we know that the words of Jesus spoken so many years ago to those first disciples that they continue to ring true to this day, that we know that the harvest is still great, but there still aren't enough workers. I think we all feel a level of conviction. I feel a level of conviction reading those words of Jesus Christ. So, father, we are going to pray right now for missionaries who are already on the field. Encourage them today. We are grateful for every man and woman and family who has answered your call. Lift them up in this moment. If they are down, be their comfort. If they are in a moment of despair, if they feel alone in a difficult place, let them know that you are there. Be their strength from the days when they want to give up and go home. Remind them why they are there.
Speaker 1:God, I pray that your Holy Spirit and I believe that your Holy Spirit, is still calling men and women and teenagers to lives of missionary service to go around the world for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to these men and women, and teenagers even, that you have gifted for that task. Give them ears to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and give them the boldness to say yes to your call. I pray for my church family in this room. May we have a spirit of generosity to give so that others may go. May we see going ourselves, whether it's in Nicaragua or somewhere else around the world, or just going out into our community and sharing the radical good news of Jesus. May that be a responsibility we know that we carry.
Speaker 1:We don't want to be a part of the problem. We want to be a part of your answer, sharing the good news of Jesus. What a joy that is. We know we are not the answer. Jesus is the answer, but we get to share him Like we get to partner with him and share that good news. Jesus, we can imagine too that if we feel that burden in other churches in our community feel that burden, Can we imagine a day when you would look out over our Union County, over El Dorado, in Parker's Chapel, in Smackover in Norfolk, and you would look out over this county and say, yeah, there's plenty of work, but I have plenty of workers, I'm sending them out to share the good news of Jesus? We want that to be the evaluation, that to be your assessment of this community, of these churches that you've planted and put in El Dorado, arkansas. In Christ's name, we pray amen.