SENT TO SERVE
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
October 17, 2004
Text: Acts 13:1-3
These three verses in chapter 13 of Acts are fairly minor verses. Now by
that, I mean that they do not contain massive amounts of Christian
theology in a condensed form like John 3:16: For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall
not perish, but have everlasting life. How better can the entire message
of Gods loving salvation be summed up for us?
The Acts 13:1-3 text are not verses requiring an extraordinary amount
study to grasp. Some verses do require a great deal of knowledge of the
Hebrew or Greek languages, syntax, and historic situations in order to
understand. Even then, many times we still cannot grasp with full
understanding the meaning of such a passage. After all, there are
Scriptures that are still being debated today that have been debated for
centuries. Our text this morning is straightforward: In the church at
Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the
tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the
Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to
which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they
placed their hands on them and sent them off. No mystery there, right?
Nevertheless, because they are so straightforward, these verses are of
immense importance. In fact, they are so important that if they were not
there, we might as well tear most of the following pages of Acts from our
Bibles, because they would not be there. Same for the letters written by
Paul. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on
them and sent them off.
Where would the Christian Church, then and now, be if Paul and Barnabas
had not been sent off? (I use the names Saul and Paul synonymous here
because he is, of course, the same person). The Christian faith is a
missionary faith. It is a good news faith, and Jesus instructs us to
share his good news. God does not want anyone to perish, its just that
simple. Paul and Barnabas were here commissioned and sent as missionaries
who would share this good news faith. This is why these few verses are so
important and powerful. They teach us two qualities about Christian
missionaries. Because we are highlighting and promoting American Baptist
missionaries, I will share these two qualities in the context of some of
them. These two qualities are, first, Christian missionaries are called
by God, and, second, Christian missionaries are sent to serve God.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called
them. The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, spoke to
the believers worshiping at Antioch. God spoke to them and, not
unreasonable to conclude, especially to Barnabas and Paul. The Christian
missionary begins with a call. Now Gods call to service is certainly not
limited to just missionaries who are sent to other places inside and
outside our own nation. Every Christian has a unique call from God to
serve Him. In large part, thats what Spiritual Gifts are all about -
discerning those ministries to which God has called us. But thats
another sermon; I want to stick to the calling and sending of
missionaries this morning.
Barnabas and Paul were set apart by the Holy Spirit. They were called
out. Not everyone in the church at Antioch were going to leave the area
and travel to far away places. Most were going to stay right there, and
that was appropriate. But on that day, two were called to a different
ministry that would require them to pack up and leave.
Two weeks ago, I mentioned Duane and Marcia Binkley in the sermon. Duane
and Marcia had spent some time back in the U.S. due to health and family
concerns. The time came, however, when they could once more testify to
the Holy Spirits call: While we felt right about remaining in the U.S.,
it never seemed we were saying good-bye to Thailand for good. So when
Gods call spoke to them about missionary service again, they responded
by returning to Thailand. Our missionaries stories begin with Gods
call.
So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and
sent them off. Barnabas and Paul were set apart for missionary service
and then sent. They experienced ministry in a variety of settings. As
we well know, they preached, evangelized, and planted churches. They were
also involved with healing ministries and teaching ministries. Since God
frequently kept them on the move, Paul, Barnabas, and any of the others
who traveled with them from time to time usually sought to train local
leaders in the Christian faith so that the established church could
continue on after the missionaries left.
Our missionaries are also involved in quite a variety of mission
ministries. I dont know that we have any individual missionary with
quite the unique calling and gifting of Paul, but taken together,
American Baptist missionaries are involved in as many ministries as
Barnabas and Paul. The settings in which our missionaries are sent to
serve include teaching, evangelizing, church planting, strengthening
local pastoral leadership, healing, agriculture, counseling, rescuing men
and women from all forms of societal ills such as drugs, prostitution,
gambling, and the like, and proclaiming the love of God in some places
that are at times in the midst of unjust civil strife. They are quite
amazing ministries, and our missionaries are quite amazing ministers.
You might recall Kristy Engel from last weeks childrens sermon. Kristy
not only uses her skills in nursing to bring healing to children in the
Dominican Republic, she also uses her dog, Kobe, to teach children proper
hygiene. Kristy shares, Most of the children know my dogs name better
than my own! She also testifies that God has given her a greater sense
of His purpose through nursing on the mission field.
Katherine and Wayne Niles serve on the impoverished island of Haiti. This
is the poorest place in the Americas, if not the world. Seventy percent
of the Haitian population lives in rural areas where people depend on
agriculture to make their living on small plots of land. Wayne Niles
helps Haitians grow more food. One project involves hand-drilling of
irrigation wells using tools Haitian welders can build. These wells make
irrigation available to those who often lose their crops to drought.
Katherine ministers in partnership with a rural Haitian Baptist Church
congregation, through which she has established a medical clinic.
Adalia and Ray Schellinger-Gutiérrez work with the women of the Baja
Baptist Churches, ministering to victims of domestic violence. Their
ministries include counseling and education for both victims and abusers
in these situations. They also offer workshops to all churches in the
region on alternatives to violence, self-esteem, relationship skills, and
communication. They hope to begin soon construction on a facility for
Deborahs House, a ministry that provides shelter for persons escaping
domestic violence. Adalia recalls a recent conference where A single
mother told me that she had promised God the very night after my talk
on child abuse that she would never lay a hand on her little son out of
anger again. A year later she wept as she told me she has kept her
promise.
I have spoken about Katherine Welch before. She was at the Region annual
meeting and Womens Day yesterday. Katherine has served as a physician at
Kwai River Christian Hospital in western Thailand. Through their medical
ministries, Katherine and other hospital staff serve patients with
compassion and seek to transform lives by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Gary and Mylinda Baits work with the Costa Rican Baptist Convention in
response to a great need for pastoral and lay leadership training and
theological education. They teach courses in worship, preaching, Bible,
pastoral counseling, ethics and theology at the Centro Teologico Bautista
Metropolitano in the San Jose area and work with the Costa Rican
leadership to recruit and encourage pastoral leaders. Gary enjoys
teaching preaching classes and encourages his students to take seriously
the call to study Scripture and creatively communicate its transforming
message. Mylinda uses her artistic gifts and pastoral training to
encourage worship that is Biblical, rich in meaning, thoroughly Latin
American, and creative.
LaMon and Patricia Brown serve on the other side of the world from Gary
and Mylinda. LaMon teaches Bible, doctrine and other courses at Payap
University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While foreign missionaries can be
effective in evangelism and starting new churches, Christians from
Thailand have much more success. Therefore, training Thai Christians to
impact their nation or people group for Christ is a vital part of their
ministries. In addition to Thai students, others come to the school from
tribal groups in Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), so the impact of Payap
University extends well beyond Thailand. Pat is also a teacher there.
Since all students are required to pass four English courses in order to
obtain their degrees, Pat teaches English. LaMon and Pat pray that, by
spending time with the students and working with them in academics as
well as spiritual matters, they can help these young people develop into
future strong leaders of Christs church in Thailand.
Another missionary couple involved in theological education are Debra and
Flint Miller. As branch director and professor of the Asian Baptist
Graduate Theological Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines, Flint helps
prepare future missionaries throughout Asia. The seminary is a premier
mission-training center for Asia, providing higher-level graduate
education as well as short-term mission immersion experiences and
training for missionaries. Debra teaches pastoral care and counseling at
the Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary, and facilitates counseling
groups and workshops. She also leads the Clinical Pastoral Education
program at the seminary, training ministers for service at area
hospitals, and assists at the Global Mission Training Center. Debra and
Flint also lead marriage and family life conferences among local
churches.
Called to serve and sent to serve. These have been the primary
qualifications for missionaries since the first century A.D. Although the
tools available and the techniques to employ them effectively have
changed over the centuries, the basics remain just that: the enduring,
unchangeable basics. These basic qualifications for missionary service
are the same as those experienced by Barnabas and Paul. I hope that
through these simple testimonies, you are encouraged by the ministries of
the missionaries you help support. And I also hope that you are
encouraged by the importance of these simple but vital verses buried
about in the middle of Acts. In the church at Antioch there were
prophets and teachers
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to
which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they
placed their hands on them and sent them off.
Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN
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