Phil 1:3-8 Lloyds' Commissioning Service

You are listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Mattawan, Michigan.

Good morning. Welcome to Recast Church. I'm Don Felsick. I'm the lead pastor here, and I just want to say I'm glad that you've gathered together to celebrate what God is doing in our midst here this morning.

I recognize that for some of you, maybe you just looked us up online and you just showed up and you're like, hey, we'll check out a new church or whatever. We are doing something different than we normally do this morning.

Commissioning Lloyds for Gospel Ministry in Indonesia

We are commissioning to the service of the Lord for gospel ministry to Indonesia, Zach and Leloyd. And I ask if you guys would just stand for just a moment and identify yourselves here, Zach and Leloyd.

They're going to be heading off to Indonesia and a week from tomorrow they're actually going to be boarding a plane with their four children and they're going to take a long trip. And that trip is going to result in, it's so much more than a trip, it's kind of funny sometimes people will say, hey, you know how we heard you're going on a trip.

Well, it's not just a trip, not like going on a vacation, not simply as if they're interested in moving to a warmer climate. It's not just a job transfer, but this is them going to set up life in a different culture with the intention of bringing the good news to the people of Indonesia.

Zach and Leloyd have been called out by the Spirit of God to be sent by Recast Church and it is a privilege this morning that we have to take part in that. This morning we're going to hear from a representative from their their missions agency.

Their missions agency is called TEAM and a man named Larry Davies who's been their mentor from that agency. The way that admissions agency works, just to inform you real quick, why do we have a missions agency?

Well, Recast Church doesn't necessarily have all the resources that it would take to move the Lloyds from this place in Madawan to the point where they're living and functioning well in the country of Indonesia.

So there are agencies that have served the church for years, TEAM being one of those that serves churches all around the nation, to help them with the legwork and the logistics that it takes for them to get visas, to get plugged into language schools, to join with other missionaries that are already there on the field.

So we're going to be hearing from Larry Davies, who's been their mentor from that organization, helping them to get from here, raise support and get them to the field. And he's going to be sharing with us a challenge to us as a church about what what could we be doing to encourage them as they move on from this place, and we are their sending church, and in many ways we are going to be their lifeline.

We're going to be praying for them. We're going to be lifting them up and encouraging them. And so he's going to be sharing some of that with us this morning. What we're doing this morning is not something new.

Sending them out is not something that, hey, you know, Recast just thought, hey, let's find somebody who'd be willing to move overseas and send them somewhere else. It's not just something that originated with us.

But back in Acts 13, 1 through 3, back near the origin of the church, we saw this modeled for us. In Acts 13, 1 through 3, we read these. You don't need to turn there. You can just take this in, listen in.

This isn't even going to be a primary text this morning, but it is one that is focused on what we are doing here this morning. Acts 13, 1 through 3, says this, now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manan, a long life friend of 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. Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

And that's the nature of our meeting here this morning. That's the nature of our gathering, is that the Holy Spirit has laid on the hearts of Zach and Lee to go, that he has set them apart to be sent.

And the church is now sending them, and we will at the end of the service, the elders will come, lay our hands on them, and pray for them, and send them off in this pattern, in this model that we see laid out for us in Acts 13, 1 through 3.

This morning, we are officially sending out Zach and Lee Lloyd and their family as our first international missionaries. And that is something that is to rejoice in. It's something, yeah, that's, that's, and that's, I hope that applause is glory to God.

And I know Zach and Lee are, have been, just been emphatic as I've interacted with them. They want all the glory and honor to go to Christ. This is not a service for them. This is a service for us to connect with what God is doing in them and through them, and to take part in that as a church.

And I'm excited about what God is going to do through their family in the years to come. But now, let's pray as the band comes to lead us together in worship this morning. Father, I thank you for the privilege that it is to gather together as your church, and especially during this, this amazing and special service that we have here, to send out our brother and sister and their children to the ministry in Indonesia.

Father, for the calling that you placed on their lives, for the calling that we have in our very core values that talk about replicating, that talk about sending others out from our midst, that it's not all about us.

It's not all about what happens in these four walls, but you have a mission that is for reaching the nations, for reaching our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And that is your plan, that we would be a hub.

We would just merely be one stopping point along the way of the process of your kingdom expanding. And Father, that we would be ascending, ascending church, a church that is willing to give of our best and our brightest, and to give of our talent, and to give of our gifts, and all of the things that you have blessed us with to, in turn, send others out.

And so, we rejoice in this opportunity we have this morning. We also rejoice in the opportunity we have to step before your throne and to praise you together. And so, Father, I pray that you would receive our worship this morning, that these songs would be unto you, that we would envision you on your throne, glorious and worthy of all of our praise and worship, and that our worship would extend so much farther than our songs, that we would never be moved to think that worship is singing, but worship is our lives.

Worship is the way we work. It's the things that we say. It's the things that we do. It's the way that we parent. It's the way that we are co-workers. It's the way that we interact with others around us, as well.

So, Father, accept our worship this morning in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm gonna, at this point, introduce to you all of you Larry Davies, who's from Team Missions. He has been the mentor for Zach and Lee along the way.

He's gonna bring a challenge to us as a church about what it means for us to send out a missionary and to support them. Later on, I'm gonna bring a challenge to Zach and Lee. So, yeah, we're gonna have two, kind of, double-barreled messages this morning.

But we're both gonna be just a little bit shorter than I normally am. So, we'll see how that works out, maybe. You can be hopeful, at least. Larry Davies, himself, was a missionary to the Czech Republic.

He and his wife, Michelle, and their two kids from 2006 to 2014. And then, after his family moved back to the States in 2014, Larry stayed on with Team as a mentor to missionary candidates with that organization.

And so, he's currently, his full-time employment is this ministry of taking care of missionaries who are on their way to the field and helping them to stay the course and grow in the ways that they need to.

And so, he's been mentoring Zach and Lee along the way. And as a former missionary and as a member of Zach and Lee's sending agency, I'm very excited to have Larry come and bring this charge to us. He's going to be giving us, as a congregation, a challenge on how to continue to support them.

As a former missionary, I'm sure he has some insight into that, things that churches were able to do that would help and things like that. But he's going to be bringing the word to bear on our lives and talking to us about holding the rope.

So, Larry, if you come up at this time, I appreciate you being here with us and traveling from Pennsylvania to be here. So, thanks a lot, Larry.

Good morning. It's really great to be here with you this morning. And as Pastor Don mentioned, Michelle and I have been serving with team. And this last year or so, we have been serving alongside, or I've been serving alongside, Zach and Lee.

And I remember meeting them in the mountains of Tennessee in February of 2015. And little did we know that shortly after arriving, we would be met by a crazy ice storm that wiped out our power for about 24 hours.

Knocked out the internet service for about four or five days. Or any cell service on the top of this mountain. So, it was still a great time getting to know people. But it was just really great to get to meet them.

And many times when you meet a new missionary there, they're all excited. This is going to go really, really fast for us. And we're going to be out the door lickety-split. To be gone in about a year.

And I remember you meet most new missionaries, and they're all thinking it's fast for them. It does. But the task at hand sometimes gets larger than they think. And what seems to be a few months ends up being many, many, many months.

But Zach and Lee were diligent at the work ahead of them. And I'm sure their faith was tested a few times. Not sure what God was doing. And even their faith was tested this last week in obtaining their visas.

But God was faithful to the task. And here we are. Roughly a year later. And they are ready to launch on this journey. So it's been great to walk with them. And it is really, really great to be here to celebrate in this with you guys.

The Cost and Call of Missionary Sending

Well, let me talk to you about the two other missionaries. Perhaps you've heard this story before. But in September 1952, to Columbia, Walter Erickson and Edward Tritt received an invitation by the government of then Dutch New Guinea, modern-day Papua.

They received an invitation to go on a journey, an expedition into the interior parts of the country. And Erickson and Tritt were the first two missionaries sent by the Evangelical Alliance mission team.

Tritt had arrived a few months before this, whereas Erickson was there about a year or so earlier. But in September of 1952, the two embarked on this journey. It was a very difficult and challenging journey, fraught with difficult terrain, leeches, difficulty in the language, as well as some really, really strained relationships between Erickson and Tritt and their guides.

Edward Tritt wrote a lot about this journey in his journal. But the last journal entry was from September 27th, 1952. At that time, communication with the missionaries was lost, and a search party went out to try to find them.

On October 17th, Tritt and Erickson's bodies were found. Apparently while they were asleep, they were overtaken by their guides and as a result lost their lives. Well, in this day and age, that might have been the end of missionary work in Papua.

We tend to be a little safe, a little less risky these days. But in the words of the German pastor and author Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who also lost his life at the hands of the Nazis, he said, when Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.

Sometimes that's taken literally. Most certainly, every time it's taken that we give our will to God, his desire becomes our desire. Well, this was not the end of mission's work. No sooner was the news of Tritt and Erickson shared by team's assistant general director when Ron and Charlene Hill stepped forward as replacements for Erickson and Tritt.

And Ron recalled a story that he had a discussion that he had with Walter Erickson before Erickson left for Papua. And it was right then and there that Ron decided that he would follow God's call wherever God desired.

Little did he know that God would answer that call in the wake of this sad news. The stories that followed are incredible. How Tritt and Erickson's fiancees followed the call on the missions despite this heavy grief upon their lives.

How God's judgment weighed heavily upon this village where these attackers resided. Many, many other missionaries soon followed the call to go and 60 plus years later, team has sent over 425 missionaries to this area of the world.

Today, most of the work has shifted to schools that train nationals to go into the interior of the country to preach the gospel or to community centers where evangelistic activities are reaching the growing migrant population.

Today, the dangers are not the same as they were for Walter Erickson and Edward Tritt. But the call does remain the same and that call is to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. And that's why we're here today.

To celebrate what God is doing continues to do as he calls people out to go and make disciples this time as he's calling the Lloyd family to go to Papua. Now, did you know that we serve a ascending God?

Long before Erickson and Tritt, long before team was in existence, long before the Lloyds, God has been sending people. We read of Abraham being called out from the land of Ur which is in modern-day Iraq, if you will.

He was called out from there to go to the land of Canaan, the promised land. And he went in faith to do whatever it was that God called him to do. Many years later, we read of a specific call that Isaiah received.

In Isaiah 6, we read of him being called to prophesy to the Israelite people. Many, many years after that, God sent forth his very son here to earth to live among us and to die ultimately for our sins.

Paul writes of that in Galatians 4 .4, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son. That call continues to this day prior to his ascension to heaven. Jesus charged the disciples with this that we read in John 20 .21.

Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. God continues to call people time and time again, whether that's across the street or around the world, it's up to him.

Yes, today we are here to celebrate the sending of the Lloyd family to Papua, to recognize what God is doing. But this is also a celebration and commitment to you, their church, to say we are in this together.

We are standing with you for the good, the bad, and all the in-between. We are in this together. As Pastor Don mentioned earlier, this is what we would call a commissioning service. Commissioning, what does that kind of mean?

Well, one of the many definitions of the word, but one of the definitions is the authority granted for an action or a function. That's really an appropriate term for today. As we read earlier in Acts 13 .2 -3, that's exactly what this little church in Antioch did.

They commissioned Saul and Barnabas to go out. They laid their hands on them and released them, but they were sensitive to what God was doing in the congregation. They were sensitive that God had specifically said to Saul and Barnabas, you are to go out.

And they recognized that, laid their hands on them, released them, and sent them. That's the significance of this day. You, recast church, are recognizing the calling given by God and you affirm it in the Lloyds today.

And you bless them in this journey. It's something similar to what John writes in 3 John 5 -8. John writes, Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testify to your love before the church.

You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, for they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

John says you're sending them on their journey, and they're going out for the sake of the name, that is Christ's name. And you need to do well as supporting them in this as co-laborers in ministry. I might add today that you're also seeing results of your own labor.

The name of this church, recast, the re standing for replication, the core value of this church, right? You are, you see, you're not losing the Lloyd family. You're simply redeploying them as they replicate their lives in Christ to the people they come in contact with.

It's a very, very necessary thing. Paul writes in Romans 10, 14 to 15,. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? It's necessary for someone to go and preach, teach, and share their lives in Christ to the people who don't know it.

It's necessary for Zach and Lee and their family to go to share their lives so that it can be replicated into the lives of the Papoons. You're also adhering to the call that the church has been given, that which we read in Acts 1 .8,.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Here Jesus kind of gives a maybe a geographical blueprint for the church.

You have been reaching your local neighborhoods, your communities, your Jerusalem, if you will, and your towns and cities around here, your Judea, your Samaria, but now you're fulfilling that last geographical region to literally send them to the ends of the earth to Papua.

And this is necessary. Today you are recognizing the calling of the Holy Spirit in this family and you're sending them off as you faithfully obey the Great Commission. But your work will not end today.

In fact, it may just be beginning. They will be in a very short time hopping on a plane, heading off on an incredible, fantastic journey. But they will be in desperate need of your prayers and encouragement.

I'm reminded of another missionary, William Carey. He's known as the father of modern missions. He served for 41 years in India, never once returned in England. Now, Zach and the team is not asking you to stay for 41 years in Papua without ever returning to Michigan.

But he did some great things too. He translated the Bible perhaps in six different languages, helped found the Baptist Missionary Society, which exists to this day. But prior to leaving, his friend and fellow pastor, Andrew Fuller, agreed to stay behind and to rally support for the effort.

And Fuller made this statement to his congregation. He said, we saw that there was a gold mine in India, but it seemed almost as deep as the center of the earth. Who will venture to explore it and Carey had called out, I will go down, but remember, you must hold the ropes.

And Fuller added, we solemnly engaged to do so. Now, why we live shall we desert him. You, this church, are being called to hold this rope for the Lloyd family. They cannot go, nor be sustained in this ministry without you holding their rope.

Perhaps you may wonder, what in the world does it look like to hold the rope for a missionary? The Philippian church, I think, is a great example of a church that held the rope for Paul. Now it wasn't, the Philippian church was not Paul's sending church, if you will, like you are for the Lloyds.

It was a church he found on a second missionary journey. But this church caught the vision of partnering with Paul. When you read this book, you see Paul's deep affection for this group of people. He kind of holds him up as an example, as we read in Corinthians, he tells the Corinthian church, look to the example of the churches of Macedonia, which is where Philippi was located.

It's also widely accepted that Paul was in prison while he was writing this letter. He's in shackles. He cannot go about talking to people and to plant churches like he had been doing. But here he is, and throughout this letter you read this theme of joy and optimism.

Why would Paul feel this? His future looks dismal. Yet he's got such passion and joy, and he's rejoicing primarily because of his love for Christ and Christ's love for him. But he also rejoices with this church and what they have done for him.

Of all the churches he could have written to, he chooses to write to this church in Philippi. Read Philippians 1, 3 through 8. Paul writes, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you, all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart. For you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, for God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Wow! Do you catch what Paul is saying here? He's he's pouring it out. Look at the verses just that Paul is saying here. Read the rest of Philippians at some point and just see Paul's passion pouring out to these people.

Why? Why them? He's here saying, I thank God for all my remembrance of you. I hold you in my heart. Why this group of people? Simply put, they got it. They understood. They partnered in this ministry with Paul.

Later on in chapter one, you catch more glimpses of the church sharing in Paul's struggles. They could empathize with him. They cared for and loved him. They prayed for him. They were also sharing in Paul's vision for the gospel, for evangelism, sharing the good news, preaching amongst people who don't know Christ.

They understood the hard work of that and in that they could deeply relate to Paul and his struggles in sharing the gospel. Paul says that you are partakers with me both in imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

But we need to understand the depth of this partnership. It's not just superficial. Paul uses a word here in verse 5. We read it as partnership, maybe in some translations partnership or participation, maybe communion, maybe fellowship.

It's a word. It's not important that you know the original word. The word is koinonia. But this word has a deep, deep, rich meaning. It means partnership and fellowship and communion, but it also means being united in purpose and action, serving alongside each other.

In the New Testament, we read of a bunch of one another commands. Things like love one another, encourage one another, live in harmony with another, forgive one another, be devoted to one another. It's these kinds of commands that embody what Paul is talking about here in partnership.

Perhaps because of this partnership, we can view Philippians as a great missionary newsletter from Paul to the Philippian church. Now, hopefully, Zach and Lee will never be writing to you from prison, but when you read their letters, when you see their emails, look at the words, read between the lines, and see their love for all of you.

See their love for sharing with others about Christ. And as partners in this ministry to Papua, in this koinonia relationship with them, make sure that you, in turn, encourage them, bear with them, motivate them, be devoted to them, pray for them, love them, share with them in their struggles, laugh and cry with them, share with them in ministry as you two are in partnership with the gospel, as you are sharing with people here in Michigan, as they are doing likewise in Papua.

I think we'd be amiss if we also didn't mention a little bit about finances and how this church partnered with Paul. Philippians 4, 17 -19, Paul writes, Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God, and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

This church was able to tangibly show their support and partnership with Paul in what appears to be financial gifts. Missionaries cannot exist overseas without finances, so it's important to support them in this regard.

But the blessing is not only for them, the blessing is also for you. From the conversations I've had with the Lloyds, this church as a whole, and perhaps many individuals, are supporting them financially and coming alongside them because you love the Lloyds, you believe in the vision that they have been given, but you also do so because you're giving back in the hands of God to be used as he sees fit.

And that generous giving is pleasing unto God, and through it, God's blessing reaches out to you as well. Now, dare we look too far ahead, but you'll have another great opportunity to to partner with them, to share with them when they return in about, give or take, four years for their home assignment or furlough, whatever you might want to call it.

Look what happened in Antioch when Paul and Barnabas returned after their first missionary journey. We read this in Acts 14, 26 to 27, but I like how we read this account in the message translation. It reads this,.

Finally, they made it to Atalia and caught a ship back to Antioch where it had all started. Launched by God's grace, now safely home by God's grace, a good piece of work. On arrival, they got the church together and reported on their trip, telling in detail how God had used them to throw the door of faith wide open so people of all nations could come streaming in.

Isn't that amazing? I love how it says at the beginning there, where it all started. Launched by God's grace and now safely home by God's grace. Remember the word we talked about, commissioning, authority granted for a purpose or function?

It's the authority is in God's grace that is launching them today. Here at Recast Church, where it all started, you're sending them in full faith of that grace. They don't know what's ahead of them. We don't know what's ahead of them, but we do know that God's grace is sufficient for them and for you.

Upon their return, you'll hear all kinds of things about how God's grace sustained them and how God did amazing things in and through them. Isn't that what we read of here about Antioch? The church, or do you think maybe the church got together, heard a story or two, had some punch, some cake, and then went home after 30 minutes?

No, I think in every sense of the Christian sense of the word, I think they partied it up. They got together and they praised God for what he was doing. They were amazed. This little band of believers was hearing the gospel going out amongst the world, as far as they knew.

God was doing some amazing things. They heard story after story after story, and they couldn't get enough of it. The Lloyds will come back, and they will tell you all kinds of stories of how they made some serious mistakes with the language, some funny food stories, and how they broke some big-time cultural no-nos.

That's just what goes with it, being overseas. But in between all that, you will hear some great stories of how God used them to touch people, to bring people closer to him, and perhaps even seeing some come to know him personally.

Wouldn't you love to hear these stories when they return? To praise God for what he has done, like this church in Antioch was hearing? Then as their partners in ministry, don't you think you should be in frequent prayer for them?

Plead with God for their safety. They will be on the front lines, and the enemy does not want them there. Plead with God to keep their eyes fixed on Christ, because I will tell you that cross-cultural ministry anywhere overseas, outside the United States, is emotionally, mentally, and spiritually challenging.

Plead with God to break down the barriers that are before them so that his kingdom will break through to Papua. Be faithful in this, and as you do, you can wait with great hope and anticipation for that day to praise God similarly to what the church in Antioch did.

You can praise God for how his word was going out to people living in darkness, but have seen a great light, the light of Christ that is inside the Lloyds, the light that this church has helped kindle inside of them.

You know, when the Israelites crossed the Jordan for the first time, they had left Egypt and were entering the Promised Land. They had crossed, and God said, I want you to build a memorial. They took 12 stones, and they built a memorial right there so that they and future generations could be reminded of God's faithfulness of how he had called them out today.

May this day be a memorial to commemorate all that God has done in their lives, but how he has called this church to set them apart, send them along their way, and be in partnership to continue in that koinonia relationship with them.

I remember our commissioning service back in 2006. A missionary, a pastor from one of our supporting churches was there, and he told us, he says, remember this day. Remember when your calling was affirmed on this day, because there will be days in Czech Republic when you'll be like, this isn't worth it.

This is hard. Remember your calling. Remember when it was affirmed on this day. Looking back, there were many of those days, but today I ask that you recast church. Remember this day. Remember your commitment to the Lloyds in partnership in the gospel.

Remember you must hold the rope for them. They desperately need you to do that. Thank you.

I don't get a chance to do this very often, to get up and speak after communion. I think there's something cool about that, just having reflected and remembered what Christ has done for us. I would encourage you over the next few minutes that if any time you need to get more coffee or juice, or I don't even know if there's any donuts left over there, but whatever it takes to kind of keep our focus here, and I'm not going to go very long this morning, but I am going to be speaking to Zach and Lee specifically, and giving them a challenge from the church.

But I am speaking to them as a friend, and it's been such a joy to serve alongside of Zach and Lee over these years. And even though I'm speaking to them, I would like everybody to listen in to God's challenge for ministry as we think about this, because honestly God's word, as I'm going to bring it, is something for all of us to take on, despite the fact that I'm specifically tailoring it to your circumstance and your situation.

So I'll listen in. Zach and Lee, your calling, your calling is a great gain for Indonesia. I'm convinced of this. But it is a great sacrifice for us as a church, isn't it? It's a sacrifice for us. You've been here, you've been praying for Recast Church, and I don't know how many of you would even be aware of this, but they were praying for Recast Church for over a year before this church ever existed.

Before we ever had our first meetings, they were there faithfully on Wednesday nights in the boardroom over a Berean Baptist church where this thing, this idea, this plot was hatched to start a church in Matawan, Michigan.

And they were a part of that from the very beginning, and they were there from the very beginning. You've shined the light of Christ to others by using your gifts and your abilities to serve the body of Christ, and I am thankful to God for the way that he has ministered through you.

It's been a privilege to serve with you, to sharpen you, and to be sharpened by you. And I am so pleased to be sending your family out, and that I know, I know you, I know your work ethic, I know your passion for the glory of God, I know your hunger to see the kingdom of God expanded.

I know your commitment to the word of God, and I also know your commitment to the gospel. In your time at Recast, you've been models of ministry to many of us, and in your going out, you are models of ministry to many here.

I'm grateful to be sending you out without reservations. I can imagine it being otherwise, but it isn't. I send you out without reservations, and I'm confident that that's the sense of this church as well.

I know you're going to work hard in Indonesia for Christ. But I do have a text that I've chosen to challenge you as you step out into this new season of your life. I recognize that I fully believe, and I've had even conversations with you guys about many of these things that are pulling from the text, and I know that they're on your heart, and I know there are things that you desire.

And at the same time, just to remind you, I sense that this is going to be a reminder from the text of God's word to help you to move forward. So our text this morning is 1 Corinthians 2, 1 through 5.

I'd encourage everybody to just look over there. We're going to be brief. It's kind of one point per verse here, and we're going to be looking through it. But this is what God laid on my heart as I was reflecting on sending you guys out into gospel ministry.

And so let's all read this together. 1 Corinthians 2, 1 through 5. Follow along in God's word. Paul speaking here. And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom, for I decided to do nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.