By Pastor David Luke

Good morning Church, we gladly welcome you to the Mission Sunday celebration at The River of Life Assembly!
What is the importance of missions? Should we be a part of missions?
Illustration:
John Piper once said, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” (Ps 97:1). “Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Ps 67:3-4).
But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!” who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the Lord…I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High” (Ps 104:34, 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.”
Source: John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993/2003), 17.
What he basically saying is parallel that the shape of missions and the magnitude of God. Focus if mission conventionally means to reach out and motivation behind it.
The importance of mission means to see that God is glorified!
And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.
Mark 16:15
The evidences of the truth of the gospel are so full, that those who receive it not, may justly be upbraided with their unbelief. Our blessed Lord renewed his choice of the eleven as his apostles, and commissioned them to go into all the world, to preach his gospel to every creature. Only he that is a true Christian shall be saved through Christ. Simon Magus professed to believe, and was baptized, yet he was declared to be in the bonds of iniquity. Doubtless this is a solemn declaration of that true faith which receives Christ in all his characters and offices, and for all the purposes of salvation, and which produces its right effect on the heart and life; not a mere assent, which is a dead faith, and cannot profit. The commission of Christ’s ministers extends to every creature throughout the world, and the declarations of the gospel contain not only truths, encouragements, and precepts, but also most awful warnings. Observe what power the apostles should be endued with, for confirming the doctrine they were to preach. These were miracles to confirm the truth of the gospel, and means of spreading the gospel among nations that had not heard it.
Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
John 20:21
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:19
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
As you take a look at these verses, you will find there is a mandate which also tells us about the great purpose.
I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.
“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.  I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so.
Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
John 17:4‭, ‬20‭, ‬22‭, ‬26
What is God’s purpose?
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
What is the motivation of missions?
Illustration: In 1967 Charles Murray was a student at the University of Cincinnati and was preparing for the summer Olympics in high diving. He was not a Christian and had never gone to church. One day he met someone in a class that was a Christian. His new friend shared with him that God loved him and wanted to have a relationship with Him. He honestly was quite skeptical but interested. So over the semester, he talked this friend about God’s love and how much he mattered to God. One night he decided to call his friend up. He said, “Tell me again those verses in the Bible that says God cares about me.” And his friend shared those verses.
After he hung up he decided to go over to the school pool to do some practice diving. Because he was preparing for the Olympics, he had special privileges and he could use the pool even when it was closed. At the University of Cincinnati, it is an indoor pool and of course the lights were off because it was closed but it has a glass ceiling and there was a full moon that night so he could see his way to the diving board. He climbed up the top of the diving platform, turned around to do his first dive backwards and stretched out his arms. When he did that the moonlight coming through the ceiling shown his shadow on the wall and formed the shape of a cross. He looked at that and for the first time Charlie felt God’s love. He realized that Christ had died for him. That is how much God loved him. And in that moment on the twenty-plus feet diving platform, he sat down and opened his life to God. He said, “Jesus Christ, come into my life and make a difference in my life,” and he became a follower right there twenty feet up. He was sitting there in the dark when, about five minutes later, a janitor walked in and suddenly flipped on the light. It startled Charlie. He got up and as he looked down he saw that the pool had been emptied for repairs.
Charles Murray did not deserve heaven. He could have ignored the shadow of the cross and jumped into eternal separation from God. Instead he found grace. Likewise none of us deserve heaven. The fact that anyone is saved is a miracle of grace. God is waiting for the right time, however that will be decided, and then sin will be dealt with once and for all.
So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.  He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:9‭-‬21
Thats the purpose!
The apostle quickens himself and others to acts of duty. Well-grounded hopes of heaven will not encourage sloth and sinful security. Let all consider the judgment to come, which is called, The terror of the Lord. Knowing what terrible vengeance the Lord would execute upon the workers of iniquity, the apostle and his brethren used every argument and persuasion, to lead men to believe in the Lord Jesus, and to act as his disciples. Their zeal and diligence were for the glory of God and the good of the church. Christ’s love to us will have a like effect upon us, if duly considered and rightly judged. All were lost and undone, dead and ruined, slaves to sin, having no power to deliver themselves, and must have remained thus miserable for ever, if Christ had not died. We should not make ourselves, but Christ, the end of our living and actions. A Christian’s life should be devoted to Christ. Alas, how many show the worthlessness of their professed faith and love, by living to themselves and to the world!
The renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a new heart is given him. He is the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Though the same as a man, he is changed in his character and conduct. These words must and do mean more than an outward reformation. The man who formerly saw no beauty in the Saviour that he should desire him, now loves him above all things. The heart of the unregenerate is filled with enmity against God, and God is justly offended with him. Yet there may be reconciliation. Our offended God has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. By the inspiration of God, the Scriptures were written, which are the word of reconciliation; showing that peace has been made by the cross, and how we may be interested therein. Though God cannot lose by the quarrel, nor gain by the peace, yet he beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity, and accept the salvation he offers. Christ knew no sin. He was made Sin; not a sinner, but Sin, a Sin-offering, a Sacrifice for sin. The end and design of all this was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Can any lose, labour, or suffer too much for Him, who gave his beloved Son to be the Sacrifice for their sins, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him?
Four things that we can take from this.
1: Ministry of Reconciliation comes from God Himself.
2: God call to lost men everywhere and wants to reconcile with them.
3:This message He wants voluntary participation.
4:The result of this message is that it helps us achieve righteousness for God.
Illustration: Best-selling author and pastor Rick Warren shared on Friday that his dad, Pastor Jimmy Warren, who would have celebrated his 95th birthday this week, helped shape his destiny with his final, dying words.
In a Facebook post that also included a photo of Warren at 4-years-old helping his dad construct a church, the founder of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, stated that to understand why he does everything that he does, one needs to know the story of his father’s church planting ministry and final days while dying from cancer.
“He never talked about the books he’d read, the movies he’d seen, or the war he’d been in. Instead, he dreamed aloud about building churches, reliving one building project after another,” explained Warren about his dad during the last week of his life.
“The night before my father died, my wife, my niece, and I were in his bedroom by his side. Dad suddenly became very agitated and tried to get out of bed,” Warren continued. “Of course, he was too weak to get up so Kay insisted he lay back down. But he kept persisting in trying to get out of bed. Finally, Kay in exasperation said ‘Jimmy, you CANNOT get up! You are dying. We will get you whatever you need. What are you trying to do?’
“My dad replied, ‘I’ve got to save one more for Jesus! I’ve got to save one more for Jesus! One more for Jesus! One more for Jesus!’ He began to repeat that phrase over and over and over. It is no exaggeration to say that during the next hour, he repeated the phrase probably a hundred times: ‘Got to save one more for Jesus!'”
Warren said that as he sat by his bed with tears flowing down his cheeks, he bowed his head to thank God for the legacy of his father’s compassionate faith.
“While my head was bowed, my dad reached out and placed his frail hand on my head and said, as if commissioning me with a sacred calling, ‘Reach one more for Jesus! Reach one more for Jesus!’ It was a holy moment and I knew what I was supposed to do the rest of my life, regardless of problems, illnesses, conflicts, critics, attacks, delays, difficulties, or any other barriers,” he wrote.
As we conclude, the question arrises… What God wants you to do? People are dying and stand for the judgement of God. Like Pastor Warren’s father said His last word, “One more soul!”, do you want to be a similar ambassador and your name to be written in the book of God? Then you need to do what God has recommended. Support, be a part and encourage missions. Including supporting pastors and ambassadors of God who are already serving in the front line.
And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Acts 20:35
With this we close today’s service, nevertheless, we hope you are encouraged today that you will pray fervently to God to establish a purpose and calling of your life and to associate you with His mission, He has planned for you.

We look forward to see you next Sunday, God bless!