JY: Welcome to GearTalk. Today, we’re replaying the third of three missions-focused messages originally delivered by Jason DeRouchie in the fall of 2022 at Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College’s Fusion youth Weekend. The title of today’s message is Now Missions. All three of these messages grow out of Colossians 1:24-29. In these verses, Paul provides the foundation for his and the church’s global mission. These messages clarify what fuels the work of Hands to the Plow Ministries, and we hope they will help motivate listeners to be goers or senders for the sake of Christ’s name.

JD: You should have two handouts, a small one and a bigger one. Please pray with me. Father, we want to treasure Christ. We want to give him glory and to see his fame spread to the ends of the earth. I ask that you would work in us, each one of us, what is pleasing in your sight. Give us ears to hear your calling, to know, to discern how you are leading us. Help us say no to sin and yes to holiness. Help us embrace your heart for the nations. Grant us boldness where we are timid. Grant us boldness where we fear. Grant us hope where we have anxiety. Ground us in the truth of the gospel, that the reigning God saves and satisfies sinners who believe through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. And may we, each one of us, be able to stand in hope, knowing that you are 100% for us, that all authority in heaven and on earth stands behind us and goes before us, that you are our help. Exalt Christ through us, we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen. Amen. Jesus says to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord, the Lord of the harvest, to send out laborers into his harvest, Matthew 9:36-37. There are many people here who have been praying for this weekend, who have been praying that God would awaken hearts in this room to world Christianity. So what is God doing in you? Is he calling you to be a goer or a sender? Those are the only two options. Today, we’ve considered why missions, how missions, and this session, we consider now missions. What does it look like for 12 to 18 year olds to think missions? you can’t yet hop on a plane and cross cultures overseas, so what does it look like? I want us to consider Colossians 1:24-29, in light of what we have already seen, and consider now implications and applications of this passage. So I encourage you, have your Bibles open, Colossians 1:24-29, as we consider.

Point one, if missions is God’s initiative, verse 25, ask God how he wants you to be involved. Paul’s ministry was a stewardship from God. That’s how he calls it. Christ calls his church to make disciples of all nations, and he promises that from generation to generation, I will build my church. He is raising you up for a new generation of church building. Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, but it wasn’t just apostles that God called to go. For example, in Acts 13, which we already saw in a previous session, the Holy Spirit called Barnabas to join Paul in the missionary venture. Scripture portrays different kinds of missionaries.

First, there’s Paul-type missionaries. In Corinthians, Paul expresses his hope to preach the gospel in lands beyond you, church, without boasting of work already done in other areas of influence. 2 Corinthians 10:16. Similarly, in Romans 15:20, he says, “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has already—I make it my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation.” Paul was a frontier type missionary. And yet this didn’t stop him from sticking around for three whole years in Ephesus, warning them and teaching them, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and the whole council of God. Even frontier missionaries are called to build healthy churches, teaching along with reaching.

Next, there’s Apollos type missionaries. These are those who come in following up after a church has already been planted, but not necessarily sticking around for a long time. Paul planted the church in Corinth, and then Apollos came thereafter. So it is that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:5-6, “I planted the seeds, Apollos watered, but it was God who made things grow.”

Finally, there are Timothy type missionaries. Those who engage in long-term shepherding yet in a foreign context. Timothy left his home in Lystra, says Acts 16:1. He traveled with Paul for a time doing missionary work in various places, Acts 16:3-5. But then Paul commissioned him to settle in a place away from home in Ephesus to shepherd the church after all outreach was already happening and elders were already established. And he stayed there for some time. Three different kinds of missionaries. Is God calling you to be one of those types? But that’s not all we need. We don’t only need goers, we need senders.

God calls some to shape local churches into mobilizing centers that can send others in a manner worthy of God and support them. Consider 3 John 6-8, he says, “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.” hear that? Worship. 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. We only need goers. We need strong senders. Such support includes helping missionaries through advocacy, through financial provision, and through contributing financially to the needs of those they’re serving. We see all that in the New Testament. Through such means, churches and missionaries become partners in the gospel and fellow workers for the truth. Goers and senders. Those are the only two options for Christians. Anything else is disobedient. May God guide. Knowing that the missionary task is a stewardship from God, what does now missions mean?

Missions now means that you should prayerfully assess whether God is calling you to go out for the sake of the name, or whether he would have you be one who has a world Christian mindset and is a strong sender and a strong supporter. Now, what God’s calling you to might actually take some time to figure out. And so, engaging in things like Spurgeon College’s Fusion Impact Program while you’re in high school is something worth doing. And then prayerfully considering whether God would have you come to Spurgeon and involve yourself in the Fusion full Program. This is a means for you to discern, what is God calling me to? And it will also be a means to fan that flame of global vision, aligning your heart with the heart of our God. God is calling you to either go or to send. He desires that you become a world Christian who desires to see Christ proclaimed and disciples shaped among every tribe, every language, every people, every nation.

Number two, if missions expands through suffering, verses 24 and 25, and if missions expands through sharing, warning, and teaching, verses 28 and 29, all of this to see others treasure Jesus, verses 25 through 28, then this means that you must fight against an entitlement perspective that thinks God owes you a good life. Fight against that. It’s not the heart of a missionary. Train, share, and resign yourself to treasure Christ, come what may. The Apostle Peter says, Church, don’t be surprised when the fiery trial comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Don’t be surprised when things get hard. 1 Peter 4:12-13.

After the Communists took over Romania, Christian minister Richard Wormbrand was imprisoned and endured 14 years of torture. From 1948 to 1964, listen to his words urging believers to ready yourselves for suffering. What shall we do about these tortures, he says? Will we be able to bear them? If I do not bear them, I put in prison another 50 or 60 men whom I know because that is what the Communists wish from me, to betray those around me. And here comes the great need for the role of preparation for suffering, which must start now, now. It is too difficult to prepare yourself for it when the Communists have put you in prison. In prison, you lose everything. You are undressed and given a prisoner’s suit. No more nice furniture, nice carpets or nice curtains. You do not have a wife anymore. You do not have your children. You do not have your library and you never see a flower. Consider that. Nothing of what makes life pleasant remains. Nobody resists who has not renounced the pleasures of life beforehand. From Paul’s own prison cell, he writes to the Philippians, “It is my eager expectation and hope that Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” What does Paul mean when he expresses his hope that he will honor Christ in his body by life, for to me to live is Christ? I just want to take that half. Later in the book he says this, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. To live is Christ. May God be honored in my body by life, for to me to live is Christ.” Is that the cry of your heart? There’s a second half. There’s a third half. It is my eager expectation and my hope that Christ would be honored in my body by death. For to me, to die is gain. Just two verses later, he clarifies what he means. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. We honor Christ in death when we die, by believing that to be with him is far better than this life. Count the cost, brothers and sisters. God help me count the cost.

Karen Watson was a missionary in her 30s from California, who gave her life for Christ in the Middle East on March 15th, 2004. She got caught in the line of gunfire. Before her death, she wrote a letter that depicts a beautiful treasuring of Jesus above even her earthly life. And I just want to read a few lines from this letter for you. “Dear Pastor Phil and Pastor Roger, you should only be opening this letter in the event of death. When God calls, there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn’t called to a place. I was called to him. To obey was my objective. To suffer was expected. His glory, my reward. His glory, my reward. She includes a poem. The missionary heart. Care more than something is wise. Risk more than something is safe. Dream more than something is practical. Expect more than something is possible. She concludes, I was called not to comfort or success, but to obedience. There is no joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving him. I love you too, and my church family, in his care”. Shalom, Karen.

Jesus says, if anyone comes after me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Count the cost. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he’s laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. We don’t want to be those who begin to build and don’t finish. Brothers and sisters, count the cost.

So what does missions now, in such a context, mean? First, it means that you will begin to count the cost of what it could mean to follow Jesus. Your parents and siblings and friends may think you’re radical or crazy, but this may be part of the cross that Christ calls you to bear for the sake of his name. Paul says, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. Next, what does missions now mean? It means that you will train to warn and to teach with care. Remember the main heading. If missions expand through suffering and sharing, to see others treasure Christ, then fight entitlement, train, share, and resign yourself to treasure Christ. Come what may. So I say, you need to be those, even at this stage, who are training yourself to warn and to teach. Paul told Timothy, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, who rightly handles the word of truth. That’s what a missionary does. Right now, even at this stage in your life, become hungry for this book. Want to hear preaching, want to hear teaching, that you might know this God, that you might make him known. Missionaries must know God’s Word and understand how Christ relates to everything. Paul told the Corinthians, I decided to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t understand that there were other things other than Jesus. Like learning languages, understanding culture, gaining skill that might get you in the door in an overseas context when they don’t want missionaries to come to this country. When Paul says, I resigned to know nothing among you but Christ and him crucified, what he was saying is that in all of his teaching and in all of his doing, he would always see how it connects to the cross. DA. Carson says of Paul on this verse, “He cannot talk about Christian joy or Christian ethics or Christian fellowship or the Christian doctrine of God or anything else like Christian missions without finally tying it to the cross. Paul is gospel-centered, he is cross-centered, so too must be every missionary.”

Number three, you need to be those, if teaching cross-culturally is what you’re called to do, this means you’re gonna need to know your people. The people group that God’s called you to, their language, their culture, their worldview, already allow God to be stirring in your heart certain people groups that might be the target of the rest of your lives. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. As you begin to stir a heart for missions, begin to value that, prioritize that, your heart is going to grow in that direction.

Finally, missions now in such a context means that you will eagerly and boldly proclaim the gospel even now around you, both to Christians and non-Christians. Proclaim the gospel to Christians? Why would I do that? When Paul wrote to the Romans, he says, “I am eager to proclaim the gospel to you.” he was writing to the church! “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” The only way we can understand that is when we realize that in Paul’s mind, salvation was not just something in the past for Christians. Salvation was present and salvation was future. Ephesians 2:9, “By grace you have been saved through faith.” Ephesians 2.8. 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. In Romans 5:9, “Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from the wrath of God? Salvation, sorry, justification, past salvation, sanctification, present salvation from the power of sin. Jesus died to free you from pornography, to free you from bitterness, to free you from prejudice, to free you from laziness. Indeed, the only sins you can conquer are forgiven sins. You need a God who is 100% for you when you seek to pursue holiness. What that means is you’ve got to be connected to the Gospel. And then, there is glorification wherein we will be fully holy and protected from the wrath and fire of God forever. That’s Gospel hope. That’s living hope. So proclaim the Gospel to Christians and non-Christians alike. Right now, you, you, you, proclaim the Gospel. Be bold. You’re a jar of clay, but you have the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth with you.

Number three, if missionaries must toil with God’s strength, then right now, nurture dependence and pray for missionaries to endure and succeed with God’s help. That’s verse 29. “For this I toil,” Paul says. Paul struggled with all of Christ’s energy that he powerfully worked in him. How does he talk to the Philippians? you work out your salvation, but do it with fear, do it with trembling, for God is the one in you who both wills and works according to his good pleasure. You can’t bear fruit unless you’re connected to the vine. God is the one who’s gonna alter your will. God is the one who shapes our desires, our deeds. We work hard, but we work in a way that does not replace grace. That’s what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:10. I worked harder than all of them, yet it was not I, but the grace of God that was in me. Whoever speaks, do so as if speaking the very oracles of God. Whoever serves, do so in the strength that God supplies so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus, 1 Peter 4:11. But not only must we be dependent, right now, you can be an agent in God’s hand, pleading with him on behalf of the missionaries who have gone out, praying that they would endure, praying that they would be dependent, praying for doors to be opened for the gospel to run. Thus Paul says at the end of Colossians, “Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ. Pray for us that the word can run.”

Now you’ve all got a long big piece of paper here and I just want to get immensely practical, alright? I brought a goody bag with my wife’s help. I say, resources to nurture a world Christian. So let’s consider resources. Number one, every one of you, get a map. Get a map and learn where places are, where the missionaries in your church are located, and begin to pray. Begin to pray. I’ve got a map in my office, I’ve got a globe in my other office. Right next to our dining room table, we’ve got maps. So that when we hear about peoples and places, we can pray. Books like Window on the World, or Pray for the World. Single pages that unpack people groups and places that clarify specific prayer requests and what missionaries are doing in the country. You can nurture your world Christian heart by having these kinds of books right next to you in your devotions. Praying in your family worship time, bringing this into your youth group. Start getting Voice of the Martyrs magazine. It’s free. It’ll come right to your house. And you can begin to read about how God is advancing in the darkest of places, moving for the sake of his name through surrendered men and women who have counted the cost and who are paying the cost. Just let your heart get stirred. On my phone, I’ve got Unreached People of the Day app. It comes up every day, people to pray for. Get your local church’s missionaries. Find out who they’re connected to, and then find out, so get the list, and then start getting their prayer letters. Get their prayer letters. Former Fusion student, now serving in Asia. Bible translation family, working in Eastern Europe. School teacher, serving in Indonesia. Start praying, and see your heart be awakened to the nations. Next, read missionary biographies. These are some great ones. We’ve read tons of them with our kids. You can also get them on tape. This one is the Trailblazer series. It’s filled much more intentionally with gospel-rich intentionality. This one tells more of the story, and often misses some of the great parts of their lives, but it’s still very insightful. So this is Christian heroes then and now. This is the Trailblazer series. You might be in high school, and it might look like a lower-level book. Get it! Read it! It will stir your heart and make you amazed at what men and women of the faith have done and are doing. Other biographies. I list a handful of them. Here’s one by John Piper, building off of the very Colossians text that we focused on, and then giving three biographies of William Tyndale, John Patton, and Adoniram Judson. Read good books that celebrate God’s supremacy, Christ’s beauty, and radical living for kingdom advance. Let the nations be glad. It’s a higher level book, but I’ve got a number of them that are not as high. If you’re in high school, you could digest this. It will awaken your heart for the fame of Christ’s name among the peoples of the world. Finally, watch videos. Wild Brothers. If you’re not familiar with Wild Brothers, super cool. Whole family of missionaries living in Papua New Guinea, and all these videos are put together by the kids. There’s seven or eight of them. Awesome. Then, Frontline Missions has put out a 10 DVD set called Dispatches from the Front. I wouldn’t watch this until you’re in high school, but this is raw, raw footage. One hour long DVDs that will awaken your heart. He just goes in and follows the missionary for an entire week, and you see the gospel advancing in some of the darkest places on the planet. Awesome. Then, at least my heart has been most stirred for the fame of God’s name among the world through the sermons of John Piper and through the sermons of David Platt. So I link you to two of their websites. May God stir you now for missions. The gospel is advancing. I pray that you’ll be a part of it. May God work into his church what is pleasing in his sight, and may he move you to be a solid goer and a solid sender who is so enraptured with the beauty of Christ that you are compelled to work for the fame of his name among all the nations. Let’s pray. All right. Father, thank you for who you are. You are worth pursuing. The cost is high, yet like the man who found the treasure in the field, we can sell all because the treasure is of great value. Work in these students. Lead them for your namesake. Fill Fusion Impact and the Full Fusion Program with students like these who are hungry for you. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

JY: Thank you for joining us for GearTalk. For additional resources related to other Biblical texts, visit handstotheplow.org. This episode concludes our three-week series on missions.