2 Corinthians 5:14-15 - Bridge of Hope — K.P. Yohannan

In South Asia, 90 million children go hungry every day and 135 million between the ages of 7 and 18 have never been to school. Listen to this, 160 million child laborers in India, the largest number of working children in the world.

Christ's Love Compels Us to Live for Him

They start to work at the age of 4 and 5 making 8, 9 cents for the whole day's labor. And the statistics like this breaks my heart. And when I read the scripture in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 14 and 15, it says, for Christ love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died.

And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them. You got that? We say, Brother KP, when you look at pictures like this and these stories, how does this all fit in?

You know, I remember waiting at Bombay airport trying to catch my Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, Germany, looking at this newspaper and a picture on the front of this newspaper of a little boy, 4 or 5-year-old boy laying on the busy sidewalk on Bombay Street.

But beside him lays a dog, a female dog. And look at the picture, you'll see the boy drinking milk from this dog. And the caption reads, this dog is his mother. And the three-column article explained about over 100 ,000 children that live on the streets not knowing who their parents are.

And I said to myself, what if this boy happened to be my little son Daniel or my daughter Sarah? I couldn't imagine, I couldn't handle it. But the Lord used that and many other occasions like this to help me understand.

Repentance for Self-Centered Christianity

I am so self-centered, so preoccupied and consumed and drunk with my own world and selfishness that my heart cannot feel His pain. And I must repent. And I'm so glad for the emphasis Pastor Steve has about knowing the Lord and repentance and walking with God.

My brothers and sisters, Christianity, the authentic Christianity is not about my forgiveness of sin, my wholesome living and my good family and then finally make it to heaven. No, it is much more than that.

Freedom from Self Through the Cross

Jesus came to die on the cross to forgive my sins and set me free from the grip of Satan. But also to set me free from myself. And I cannot experience that unless I make a choice to say no to myself. There was a time 30 years ago when I was living in Dallas, I had 70 expensive neckties all from Europe, expensive suits and library with books that I may never read but look nice.

And I was becoming like anybody else. I'm not talking about having nice things is a bad thing. No, I have friends who are multi-millionaires who live for God and radical disciples and impact the lost world.

But for me, in my evangelical Christianity, I was so concerned about my own world that I would buy books after books when half of the world have never seen one page of the Bible. And that's when the Lord said, don't you understand son, half of the world go to bed with empty stomach and naked bodies.

Don't you care? And I saw my enemy was not devil. It was myself. And I said to my wife, I just want a couple of ties and a couple of jackets and a couple of trousers and a few shirts and, and sell the rest and give it away or whatever.

Evaluating Life in the Light of Eternity

Oh, the freedom I found to be detached and removed from the pool of materialism and the sickness of the case of this world. And that's before the ministry began. I'm still on that journey, but I'm telling you this, when you look at pictures like this and see the scripture, no longer I must live for myself, but for him.

That means not just lip service, but I evaluate everything about my life in the light of eternity and the lost world. And if that be the case, how do you translate this into practical life? That is the big question.

Well, for me, um, it's very simple, you know, on the tape recorder, some of the older people like me, you know, the tape recorder, the old cassette tapes and all that, there's a, there's a fast forward button.

You know that. But CD machine also, you have all the sudden from, from the first song, you go to the last song. Hey, push the fast forward button of time for your life. 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 50 years from now, 80 years from now, add 50 years to your present age and ask the question, what is this all about?

The reputation, the honor, the appreciation, the good look, the clothes, the car, the house, the stuff that I'm living for, what is it all about? It's all for nothing. This is a brief pilgrimage, a fraction of a second.

Don't waste, get to know him intimately, say no to yourself and walk away from stuff and things that destroys your inner life and be willing to accept the cross for him who embraced the cross and gave his very life to see the world and the lost come to know him.

A Child's Faith and the Healing of His Mother

And if that be the case, I tell you, I want to embrace a little boy like Naboon, a first grader who was in one of our centers in Northeast India. He wore clothes, ate good food, had someone to love him after he came to our center.

And he learned about Jesus healing the sick, casting out demons and loving people, all those things. And one day he went home to his poor parents and said, Daddy, Jesus can heal mommy. His mother was dying of some illness, laying on the mat in their hut.

And the father thought we had a medical doctor named Jesus. And then he came to our place and said, would you please have your Jesus come and heal my wife? Two missionaries went with him and explained the gospel all about the Lord and prayed for this woman laying hand on the sick woman.

You know what Jesus did? You guessed it. The Lord healed her right there. And the whole family gave their life to Christ. That was the reason for the first church to be planted in the community, Little Naboon.

And I'd like to see 100 ,000, 200 ,000 Little Naboons and little girls and boys embraced and loved and cared for. And someday through them, their people also will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. I need to wrap it up.

Sponsoring Children as an Act of Christian Obedience

You say, Brother KP, what do you want me to do? How do I do something about it? It's very simple. But Steve talked about it. And I just want to mention this and ask you that you asked the Lord what you want me, what you want him to do, what he wanted to do.

And he said, Lord, whatever you say, I will do it. That must be your response. And there's a little card like this on your seat. Can you take it out? Just a simple little card. You can see it on the screen also.

Sometimes spirituality is intangible. We cannot touch it. But this is something. No more living for myself with my resources, with my time, with my prayers, but for him. That is his heart. How do I do it?

My request to you is this. If the Lord speaks to your heart, would you decide to take one or two or three or 10 or 15 children as your children? I have two children. Both of them grew up in states. They are missionaries now, 10 years on the mission field, and they both got married.

So I have four children. So my wife and I took four children from these Dalits communities. So we got eight children. My wife didn't have to get pregnant that many more times. It was instant. So if you are having two or three or four children, take that many children to be your children.

If your grandchildren, 20 of them, take 20 grandchildren more. And if you are not married, hoping to get married, have 19 children, take 19 children, whatever. And you say, do you have kids standing out there?

Really, we do. Don't get scared. You find this little four days like this, hundreds of these four days. We have right now 20 ,000 children like this little one Pegu from Assam. What a beautiful little kid.

I suppose the first time this kid will have something to wear decent is when we gave it to him. Like this 20 ,000 children we have that no one is caring for them, loving them, and helping them. Would you please decide to sponsor one or two or 10 or whatever?

There are people who support sponsor 50 children. I can't, but you may be able to. And when you fill out this card that you got in your hand and say, OK, I can help one child or two or whatever. And your name and address and everything on the back of the card.

You know, you can do it through credit card or whatever. When you bring it to the table out there, you can take home with you your child or your children today. Start praying for them. And the twenty eight dollars you send, every penny goes to help those children.

Nobody take nothing out of it. That is an absolute promise we make. And we do that. And a couple of times a year, these children will write you letters and you can write back to them. If you ever go to the field in Nepal or India or wherever the kids are, you can visit these children.

That is another beautiful thing. And again, you don't have to give any money today to get your children. You can send the money later, but you should take your children today with you so you can start praying for them.

Seeing Jesus in the Vulnerable

And I pray that the Lord's leading in your life, whatever that may be, that you will do this. Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote these words. I saw the face of Jesus in a little orphan girl. She was standing in the corner on the other side of the world.

And I heard the voice of Jesus gently whisper to my heart, didn't you say you wanted to find me? Well, here I am. Here you are. So what now? What will you do now that you have found me? What now? What do you do with this treasure you have found?

I know I may not look like what you expected, but if you remember, this is right where I said I would be. What now? I told Pastor Steve this morning, I live with a constant burden and a pain to think about tens of thousands of these children lost, helpless and hopeless.

What a privilege the Lord gave us to love them and show them the way to our Lord and their communities. With your help and prayers, we can do it. And someday we will see all of them around the throne.

Loving Christ Above All We Possess

And by the way, if you're interested to get a copy of the DVD, we have plenty of them. You can take home one with you free. If you want to pay for this fine, whatever your materials also. But you know what?

The most beautiful thing in the whole world is to love him who loved us and say, Lord, I'm yours and all that I have. Tell me and I will follow you. May the Lord speak to us and bless us. Amen.