Across the World as it is in Heaven May 31st, 2026

Well, good morning, Fellowship. Say good morning to the chapel and those who are joining us online around central Arkansas and maybe even around the country, somewhere around the world. We're glad that you're here with us today. It's so good to be together as a church family. Many of you know this. If you're a guest, you may not know this, but Fellowship is one church in multiple locations. So seven campuses around central Arkansas. And I love it that when you look at Fellowship, even West Little Rock, when you look around and kind of see everyone who's here, you're actually a part of something that's even bigger than what you see. Because God is doing this amazing work in all of central Arkansas through Fellowship. And I'm so thankful that this is our church family. And so if you're a guest with us here today, thanks for joining us. My name is Brandon Bernard, one of the teaching pastors here. We have four teaching pastors. So Mark, Henry, Ben Parkinson, Justin Bilson, and we help lead the church, but really we're an elder led church more importantly. And so this great team ministry that we get to be a part of, just so thankful for all that God is doing. And if you're a guest, man, we're really glad that you're here. If you have a Bible, Romans chapter 10 is where we're going to find ourselves this morning. Romans chapter 10. If you don't have a copy of God's word, we will show it to you on the screen here in just a few moments. Many of you know this, but we have been really throughout this whole year, we've been talking about your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now when I say your kingdom come and your will be done, I'm not talking about you. That is a vertical prayer that we are lifting up to Jesus, to God, the father to say, we want your kingdom to come, your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And so we've been talking about that, preaching through our mission statement all throughout this year. And even over the last few weeks, even if you go back about, you know, five weeks ago, we started a series where we talked about at home, like we talked about the relationships that we have around us, the places that we live and work and, and our local community that we serve in, that we want to see his kingdom come and his will being done in our local communities, in our homes. And then for the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about God's kingdom coming across the world as it is in heaven, that we really want God's heartbeat for the nations. We really want our heart to align with God's heart, that we really want to care about what God cares about when it comes to his global purposes and his provision and his plan and how all that works. And today we find ourselves in the last message of this series, and we're talking about God's glorious plan, his glorious plan. And it's interesting. I was thinking about to a TV show in the 1980s, all right, so that's going to be out of range for some of you. But there was a TV show called The A-Team, yeah, yeah, it was a good one. And it was a band of special force guys who were falsely accused, trying to do good in the world. It's amazing because there was a lot of shooting in that show, but no one ever got injured. It was crazy. But it was, at the end of every episode, Colonel Hannibal Smith, not a real person, but Colonel Hannibal Smith, he, at the end of each show, he had a famous phrase. And you may actually even know the phrase, even though you've never seen the show, because the phrase got kind of popular. He would always say this, I love it when a, okay, yeah, some of you knew it and you didn't want to say it, didn't want to admit it, but he would always say, I love it when a plan comes together. That was kind of his phrase, you know, have a cigar in his mouth, he's like, I love it

when a plan comes together. Now some of you are wondering why I'm quoting The A-Team, we're talking about global missions and that's a valid concern. But the reality is, is when a plan comes together. You know, what we're talking about today is about God's glorious plan. The fact that he knows what he's doing, he's working his purposes, he's working his plan to see the nations be glad in him, to see the nations rejoice in him, to see people come to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ and to be saved for all eternity, to worship him forever. He is accomplishing his plan. I want you to look at Acts 1-8 here before we dive into Romans 10, but here's what it says. This is Jesus speaking to the disciples before he leaves to go into heaven, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. So Jesus is leaving this very important message to his followers in that moment, he says, listen, you're going to be my witness. You're gonna receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. It's gonna be a power. And you will be my witnesses. You will be the one who will proclaim the good news of my love and my grace of salvation. You're gonna be the one to proclaim the good news. And you're gonna do it in Jerusalem at home. And you're gonna do it in Judea and Samaria and the surrounding areas there, your local communities. And you're gonna do it to the end of the earth. So he gave us that beautiful commission and promise. And so when you think about the last few weeks

that we've been, I just wanna recap real quick. Two weeks ago, we basically talked about this truth. God's glorious purpose is to be praised and enjoyed in all the earth. That's his glorious purpose, is to be praised and enjoyed. I think some people missed that phrase, by the way. I won't re-preach that sermon. But to be praised and enjoyed in all the earth. That's why we looked at Psalm 67. Let all the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations rejoice and be glad, right? So we understand that his glorious purpose is to be praised and enjoyed in all the earth. And then the second thing is, his glorious purpose is actually made possible by his glorious provision, which is Jesus. That's why last week, we preached on John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. God gave his only son. He loved us so much that he gave his only son that we could have life in him. So his glorious provision of this grand purpose that he has is Jesus. He's the one that we share. He's the one that we take to the nations. He's the one that we want to show his great love and grace to.

And this last one is about God's glorious plan. The plan that God has to see this come to fruition. So let's look at Romans 10, nine through 17. And let me just read to you from this amazing passage. Here's what the Apostle Paul writes beginning in verse nine of Romans chapter 10. He says, "'Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified. And with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him,' talking about Jesus, "'Everyone who believes in Jesus will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, everyone who repents and trusts and believes in Jesus, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him whom they've never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they're sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. But they have not all obeyed the gospel.

For Isaiah says, Lord who has believed what he has heard from us. So faith actually comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Now, it's an amazingly powerful passage that Paul writes. And in this, he unfolds God's glorious plan. The plan for all nations to praise him, the plan for all peoples to rejoice in him and to be glad in him. He gives us this great plan. So if you look on your notes today, I want to kind of take three angles of God's glorious plan. And I want to talk about it. And hopefully God will encourage. I believe he's going to encourage and strengthen our hearts and maybe even convict us in ways that we didn't know. So here's the first thing. When you look at God's glorious plan, you have to talk about the dilemma. Okay? There is a bit of a dilemma. As this plan unfolds, there's a great dilemma. And here it is. How will people believe in Jesus if they never hear? Right? That's a dilemma. How are people going to believe in Jesus Christ if they never hear about him? And what we know is that there's over 8 billion people in the world and at least three and a half

to 4 billion people who've never ever heard about Jesus. Now, I don't always like giving statistics because you say 8 billion people and three and a half to 4 billion people don't know Christ. I mean, it feels like I should just tell you to go out in the parking lot and hug an 18 wheeler. Like, it's just like, I can't get my arms around this. It's just too big, too massive. It's just too much to really understand. But over 8 billion people and three and a half to 4 billion people who've never ever heard of Jesus. How will people believe in Jesus if they never hear? Like, you gotta know the bad news and then to receive the good news. The bad news is that everyone's a sinner on the planet and without Jesus, they're gonna die and spend all of eternity in hell. without Him. Do you realize that? Do you realize that there are billions of people right now that if they were to die, they would spend all of eternity without God, without joy, without peace, without purpose, without salvation, without Christ. That's what the Bible calls hell. It's a real place. It's a real thing that there are people who are gonna spend all of eternity without hope, without Jesus.

And that is the very definition of hell, of being separated from God for all eternity. I mean, how are they gonna hear? How will people believe in Jesus if they never hear? Second thing is this. How will people hear if no one ever goes? Like, how are people gonna hear about Jesus if no one ever goes and tells them about Jesus? And some of you are like, YouTube? Well, I don't know, maybe. Maybe he's gonna introduce himself through the internet. Maybe that's how people are gonna hear about Jesus, yeah. That's how God's gonna use it. I mean, God can use all kinds of tools. I mean, God speaks in visions and dreams. Almost 10 years ago, I found myself in another country, and I literally met a man face-to-face who told me that God spoke to him in a dream and a vision, and that's literally how he came to put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ. So I know that God speaks in multiple ways, in ways that maybe we don't even understand fully, but here's what the Scripture teaches. For someone to spend all of eternity with God in heaven, they must believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. There is no other name. There is no other name. Not Buddha, not Muhammad, not Joseph Smith, not a different place. We can go through all the different places.

It's only through Jesus Christ that someone is saved. He's the way, the truth, and the life. He's the one who said it. And how will people hear if no one ever goes? If we don't have men and women who are willing to say yes, to lay their yes on the table, to sign the blank sheet of paper, so to speak, and say, God, I will follow you. I will go to the nations to share the good news. And by the way, while we're on this subject, let me just kind of take a little time out here, because one of the greatest hindrances to world missions is Christian parents, who love their kids and they love Jesus. They just want their kids. They want the kids to love Jesus locally, right? One of the greatest hindrances to world missions is Christian parents who love Jesus, who love their kids. They just want them to love him locally. And I pray that we can be a kind of people that says, no, we want our kids to be able to risk for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the nations, to be a part of God's global purposes, God's global plan, that we would be that kind of people. It's true. So how will people hear if no one ever goes? That's the dilemma. But let's talk about the design. Let's talk about God's glorious plan and the design, like how he kind of set it up to be.

Because God can do his plan any way he wants to. He technically doesn't need us. He can do whatever he wants to, but he set it up to use us that way. He chooses to use us and our mouths to be able to proclaim and share the gospel. He's using airplanes and boats. He's using modes of transportation. He's using resources. He's using ways to get us to places where we can share the good news with people. That's his design. So good news is meant to be shared to all nations. This is how God planned it. This is how he designed it, for good news to be shared to all nations. I know you know this, but news is meant to be announced. News is a proclamation. For something to be news, you're getting information out, so to speak. It's not something that we just kind of keep to ourselves. And when we talk about the good news, we're talking about the gospel. That's what the word gospel means. It means good news. And the good news is this, that Jesus Christ left heaven and he came to earth to save sinners, of which all of us are. Every person on the planet is a sinner,

separated from God by their sin, born that way. And Jesus came and died for our sins. He was the substitute. He went to the cross and God poured out his wrath on Jesus, but he should have poured out his wrath on you and me and every person on the planet because that's what sin deserves. It deserves the wrath of God. But Jesus took our place. That's amazing grace, that he took our place and that God punished him in that moment. But he didn't stay dead. God raised him from the dead and Jesus defeated death so we could have. of life, that is the good news, and it is transformative. And so it's meant to be shared to all nations. Psalm 46.10 reminds us of this. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in all the earth. Like he says it, this is what's gonna happen. Be still, take a deep breath, and know that I'm God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in all the earth. I will be lifted up, I will be praised, I will be enjoyed in all the earth. This is my purpose, this is my plan, this is what I'm doing. Get on board with it.

He's commanding, he's inviting, he's calling us to follow him in that, because good news is meant to be proclaimed. Matthew 24, three through 14, says this. And he, talking about Jesus, sat on the Mount of Olives. The disciples came to him privately, saying, tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Like, when are you coming back, how's that gonna work? And Jesus answered them, see that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, I'm the Christ, and they will lead many astray, and you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you're not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There'll be famines, earthquakes in various places. It sounds a lot like today. All these are but the beginning of birth pains. And then they will deliver you up to tribulation and they'll put you to death, and you'll be hated by all nations, for my name's sake, and many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. Like, this is what, all this stuff's gonna take place

before Jesus comes back. He said, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed. This gospel, this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Now, I don't know if that means that when the last person hears the presentation of the gospel and puts their faith in Christ, or that, man, it's over. Or maybe the good news comes to the ends of the earth and God still tarries a little bit so people can have time to put their faith and trust in Christ. But what we do know is this, we don't know when Jesus is gonna come back exactly, but we do know it's not gonna be until everyone has heard the gospel. Until every person on the planet has heard the good news of Jesus Christ. That is the design that God gave us. And within that design, he says something about people who go to the nations. He says something about people who share the good news to anyone who's around them, whether it's locally or globally. He says something about them in his design. And here's what he says. It's one of the most beautiful statements in all of scripture,

because Paul's breaking this down. How are they gonna believe if they've never heard? And how are they gonna hear if no one ever goes? And how's that gonna work unless people are sent? And then he makes this beautiful statement, this design of saying, how beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news. How beautiful are the feet that bring good news, that actually take the gospel to someone who's never heard about Jesus Christ before. To someone that's willing to live in a different culture and a different context and learn a different language and use the skills that God's given you, which by the way, being a missionary, being a mission partner, being a global worker, doesn't mean that you have to be a preacher per se. Do you understand that? There are many people who've crossed missions off their list and crossed global worker off their list because they're like, oh man, I'm not a preacher. Well, we can argue about that. We can talk about that a little if you want to. But if you're saying that you gotta go plant a church to be a mission worker, or you have to be able to go teach tons of Bible studies to be a global worker per se, that's really not the reality. If you have an accounting skill, if you have a banking skill, if you have a teaching skill, if you have a work ethic in some ways,

like you can take that to different countries around the world and God can use that as your servant to help proclaim the good news. He can do that. And it says how beautiful are the feet that bring good news. One of the things I pray for fellowship is that we become a place, we become a church family where we actually celebrate and encourage the goers. Where we actually get excited about it. I'm talking like when our team scores a touchdown, however infrequent that might be, or whenever we win some games or something good happens. I'm talking about having a church family that says, you know what, we celebrate the goers in a healthy biblical way. We encourage the goers. We're not shocked by it. We're not the parent, we're not the uncle or aunt that's going, really, you really wanna do that? We're the people that go, God's calling you to do that? Yes. Yes, how can we come along? He said, Brandon, be practical, man. It is a little bit sad sometimes. It is a little bit hard. It absolutely is. It absolutely is. But what you know about this is that the cost is great, but the reward is always greater.

Yeah, the cost is great, but the reward is greater. We wanna be the kind of community, the kind of culture where it's normal and it's encouraged to be goers. That God might be saying to some of you today, I want you to put your yes on the table. I want you to go, not just across the streets, not just across the town, not just across the county, although those are great things, God may be actually saying to some of you today, I want you to go to the nations. He may be actually saying that to someone today, several someones today, that he's calling you to be a part of his plan to reach the nations for Christ. I wanna show you a picture of some beautiful feet. On the left here, the Cunards, they're from actually Cabot, Arkansas. And they were sitting in a seat just like you well over 10 years ago. Clay was doing IT work, their family was involved at the Cabot campus. They were leading a D group, NAD group, had great community, loved the schools, loved all the things that were going on. And through the preaching of God's word and through the calling of God on their life, as they were sitting just like some of you are, they felt the stirring of God saying, you need to go. You need to go.

And now all these years later, they're speaking Italian, Clay's preaching in Italian, they're planting churches, they're developing leaders, they're making disciples of all nations, but especially Italian ones. And God is using them in a mighty way. And they said, yes. Sitting in the same kind of place that you're sitting in this morning. How beautiful are the feet of the Cunards, right? Logan Miller, right there in the middle. Logan, cheese in for the camera, there he is. He is fresh out of college. Logan spent some time at our FSM and God got a hold of his heart in a very powerful way. Matter of fact, here's what he said in his own words, God opened my eyes to his heart for the world my junior year of college. I had no idea that there were 3 billion people with little to no access to the gospel. So my heart was burdened because that same gospel saved me. Not knowing this info, I had to choose what I would do about it. I saw the needs of the world and thought it was strategic to mobilize college students. And so that's what he's doing right now. Logan is actually working for a ministry called the Traveling Team, okay? They travel, that's what they do, okay? Go figure.

The Traveling Team. And what they do in their mission is over a three year time span, they actually try to hit every college campus in America. And they're encouraging college students to give their lives for the nations, for the sake of Christ. And Logan sees himself at some point, maybe even going to a 1040 window geographically, where there are people who need to know Christ. God's giving him a heart in some ways for Muslims. And here's what he said, God used FSM to shape me in middle school and high school. He's one of our own. Who God is using him to go to the nations. On the right, we have Victor and Abby Arunda. Victor is from Kenya. Abby is from here. And when she was 13 years old, God began to stir a desire in her for missions and in particularly for Kenya. And out of that, along with her parents, Bob and Carmen and kind of what God was doing and using in their family, she actually started a ministry called Blue Door Ministry. And they've been on our campus. They've been with us even for our global conference, a weekend that we had this past year. They have two kids, William and Vaughn. They've had another kid since that picture.

But as a 13 year old who was a fellowship, as a 13 year old, that God was beginning to work in her heart and life. Out of that, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news? I said, I don't know what God's doing, but I do know this. There may be someone in here this morning, someone who's listening online. We may be showing your picture five years from now on a slide because of what God does today. You say, how do you know that? I don't. But I know God's working. He's moving. He's stirring. I wanna show you another picture of beautiful feet here. Can we show the team that just left yesterday? This team right here, they left yesterday to go to Honduras. They're going down there to do some medical work. They're going down there to have some, build some relationships, to encourage church, to share the gospel, to be encouraged by believers who are in Honduras. There's so many things that work faster than that. But they left yesterday, have their passports, got ready to go. Raised the money, spent the money. Here they are going.

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. So here's what I wanna do. I wanna pray for them right now because they left yesterday and we just wanna take a moment and pray for this team. Okay, so Lord, we just come to you right now and we pray that. You would bless this team that's in Honduras, Lord. Thank you for the ministry that's already taking place there. Thank you for the believers who are in Honduras who are spreading the gospel to their neighbors and to friends and people who are around them. Lord, we know that there's still many in Honduras who don't know you, and so we're praying, God, that you would continue to spread the gospel there and that you would reach people who've either never heard of you or who have been rejecting you. Lord, we just pray that you would use this team to be a blessing, that you would use this team to help meet physical needs, medical needs, Lord, that you would use this team to build relationships, to show the love and grace of you, Jesus, to be able to proclaim the good news and for people to be able to hear and respond and believe and trust in you. We pray for protection over them. We pray for meaningful group time and communication and how you're changing their hearts. It's gonna change them when they get back.

Lord, we pray for the believers in Honduras who are gonna encourage the hearts of these people, Lord, because it's a mutual thing. And so we pray for that ministry to be taking place. And Lord, we just pray that you would bless them and use them and help them and strengthen them. And Lord, you would glorify your name through their lives as they serve and as they help people praise you and rejoice in you. So Lord, would you bless this team, watch over them, protect them, strengthen them, help them, bring them back, Lord, to continue to live for your global purposes and your global plan. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen, amen. Now some of you are conditioned. That's not the end of the sermon, okay? Just so you know, all right? That's not it, all right? Here's what we know. God's designed for people to go. And by the way, here's what Jesus says about going. When we talk about the cost being great, the reward being greater. Mark 10, 29 through 31 in the New Living Translation says this, yes, Jesus replied, and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for my sake and for the good news will receive now and return a hundred times

as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and property along with persecution. And in the world to come, that person will have eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be greatest then. What a beautiful promise. I mean, this is Jesus saying, look, yes, you sacrifice. The cost is great, but the reward is greater. And really, when you're putting your yes on the table and saying, I wanna be like God's kingdom, God's purposes, is it really a sacrifice? And in some ways, yes. You sacrifice leaving family behind. You sacrifice economics in some cases. You sacrifice maybe loneliness in some cases, like community, what that means. There's all kinds of sacrifices that come. I can't give you a list of all the sacrifices that you would have to make if God's calling you to go to somewhere to the nations. But there are sacrifices being made. But Jesus says, listen, you're gonna receive it a hundred times more. And by the way, this is not the prosperity gospel. You know, some of you are like, man, we've been won that new house, let's go to the nations.

Like, it's not saying that God's gonna bless you in that way. What he's saying is, is that when you forsake all these things around you, because let's be honest, that's why I said the greatest hindrance sometimes, one of the greatest hindrances as Christian parents is because we wanna be around our kids. We wanna be around our grandkids. We wanna have the familial feel and there's nothing wrong with that. And if God gives you to that, praise him for it. Thank him for it. Don't feel guilty about it. But solely don't be a hindrance in the midst of it. Because what the scripture says is that when we leave behind these things, that he gives us a hundredfold. He gives us the spiritual community. He gives us the promises. And even for mission partners and global workers who died on the field, lonely, frustrated, without much fruit in their ministry, here's what I know. If they died, they're with Christ right now and they are receiving so much more in the presence of God. So you understand he rewards that. It's his design. And here's what we know is still under his design.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. This is why the proclamation of the gospel is so important because when we go to the nations, when we're sharing the good news, we're sharing the scriptures. Like we're sharing who Jesus Christ is. We're not sharing our opinions. We're not sharing feel good love, so to speak. We're sharing the grace and love of Jesus Christ through what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross and the empty tomb, proclaiming the good news. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. So how are people gonna hear if people don't go? And if they go, they need to hear the word of Christ. Which by the way, is one of the things I love about our church. I don't want this to feel like a look at fellowship moment. I really don't. You're a generous people. And over the past 15 years, we have given well over $700,000 to scripture translation in people's heart languages in over five different countries. Now, again, not saying that to pat you on the back, but just saying this, if you come to fellowship and you're a part of fellowship, just understand this.

We want to be a people. We understand that faith comes through hearing and hearing comes by the word of Christ. So we're gonna put some dollars into scripture translation so that people can have scripture in their own heart language so they can hear and God can use that for them to repent, believe. and trust in Jesus. That's a worthwhile investment. We talked about that last week. West Little Rock campus, you're here, 15% of what you give goes out the door to missions. Like we wanna be the kind of church that gives faithfully and generously to missions. And we know that the scriptures being proclaimed is so important, that the only way faith is gonna come is by hearing, and the only way hearing really is gonna work is through the word of Christ. So we wanna make sure that we're going in that way. All right, let's get to the wrap-up part here because you've got a dilemma, you've got the design, and wouldn't you know it, I've got another D for you, the decision, right? God's plan, there's a decision. There's a decision that has to be made. And when I say that, I wanna speak to those in the room who aren't believers in Jesus Christ, maybe, to those who are listening online,

you're not a believer in Jesus yet, like you're still checking out the claims of Christ, or you're still wrestling of whether you really wanna follow Jesus, do I wanna be all in, or like you're still maybe wrestling with that. Because there may be someone here today, there may be several someones here today who are wrestling with that, and if that's you, man, we're glad you're here, thanks. We always say that, like you know what's coming, like we're, well you don't, but the rest of the people do, like we're glad you're here. We really wanna know a little bit more about you and your story, see how God's working and moving. He's clearly working, because you're here today. You're like, yeah, but someone made me come. Well, God's still working, okay. You're here today, like He's still working. And if you don't know Christ, like He loves you. He loves you, and He gave His life for you, so that you could have joy, and peace, and salvation for all eternity. And nothing would give us greater joy than to be able to share Christ with you. So I'm just gonna encourage you, if you have a bulletin with you, there's a tab. I don't know where it is, I lost it. Oh, here it is. You can tear it off, the bottom of your bulletin. If you wanna have a conversation about knowing Christ,

just fill out your name and information, and say, I'd like to know more about Christ. You can fold it in half, and you can put it in the giving box when you leave today, and one of our staff will contact you. We'd love to have a conversation with you. If you're like, man, I can't wait till then. Well, we would prefer that, actually. If you can't wait till then, stop by our Connection Center. We've got pastors, I'll make my way over there as well, but we'll have pastors that are there. We'd love to have a conversation with you about what it means to know Jesus. Look, there's no reason why you have to leave here today, and not know Christ, or at least know steps towards meeting Christ. There's no reason. But for the rest of us who are believers, young and old alike, for the rest of us who are believers, we have a decision. Like, we have a decision to make. To quote the one-hit wonder from The Clash, should I stay, or should I go? You didn't even know who that came from, because it was a one-hit wonder, right? I'm pretty confident that song had a different meaning, but the question is very relevant for today. Should I stay, or should I go? And we wanna make this really important,

because, look, not everybody's called to go to the nations, okay? It's like when you talk about foster and adoption. Like, not everyone's called to go to foster or to adopt. Not everyone's called to go to the nations, okay? Matter of fact, the reality is that most of us are going to stay. I'm just saying, make sure that's what God's calling you to do, because if God's calling you to stay, then stay. Be a sender, be someone who prays, be someone who gives. If God's calling you to stay, then stay, and don't feel guilty about it. But stay on purpose, stay with a going heart, stay with a going mindset, stay with purpose. But if God's calling you to go, go. If he's calling you to go, go. I don't know if you've experienced this frustration in your life, but I've found myself on many occasions pulling up to a stoplight and being behind a car, and when the light turns green, they don't go. I have at times said some words that weren't fruit of the Spirit. But one of my frustrations is, what I wanna say to them is go, the light is green, go. And I'm telling you, for some of you today, God's given the green light, and he's saying, go. And we wanna come alongside you as a church to help you take those next steps. Because your first baby step might be to go on a short-term trip.

Your next step might be to, okay, I wanna look into a little bit of long-term, what does that mean? I mean, we've had people in our church family who have gone for a year or two and they've served. They've taken their marketplace skills and they've gone to another country, a mission agency, a church organization. They found a place to go serve, use their accounting degree, use their teaching degree, use their business degree, use some form of whatever God's done, use their agriculture degree, their construction degree. They've been able to go and take what God's done. Even if you don't have a degree, take whatever your skill set is. We have people who've done that for a year or two. Just pull up and say, man, we're just gonna go do that. And by the way, that hasn't been just young adults. It's also been families who've done that from our church. You have a decision to make. What is God asking of you as a believer? What is God commanding of you? What is God inviting you into? And by the way, this happened all throughout scriptures and people made excuses. Moses, you remember him? He's like, I can't do this. I don't know, I can't speak. God's like, I know you can't.

I know you can't do it. I can do it through you. Jonah, remember Jonah? That's the guy who loved his country more than his kingdom, than God's kingdom. Remember that? He was like, you wanna save those people? I'm not going to those people. And he ran from God, but God ended up using him to proclaim the gospel. He was giving excuses. You remember Gideon in the Bible? It's one of my favorite stories. Gideon, God says, I'm gonna use you. Gideon's like, me? I'm the baby of the family. Can't use me. God's like, I'm pretty sure I can. I can use you. Esther, y'all remember Esther? She's pretty famous. She's a strong woman. The Lord used her in a mighty way. She had to have a pep talk from Mordecai. He was saying, listen, for such a time as this, God's put you here for a reason, for a purpose. And thank God she obeyed. She followed Christ, our God, in that, and she made a difference. God used her.

But God's calling people to go. People make excuses. Too young, too old, too risky, not a preacher, not a pastor. But look, the bottom line is this. Here's the decision. Ready? Pray, give, go, or disobey. And some of you are like, oh, I didn't know disobey was an option. I'll take that one. No, it's not really kind of how we're designing that, right? It's pray, it's give, it's go, it's disobey. I mean, as believers in Jesus, this is where we are. And here's what you know. Everyone can pray. Everyone can pray. Young and old, everyone can pray. This has not been my practice for consistency, but I'm starting to get there. There's an app called Unreached of the Day. I have it on my phone, Unreached of the Day. And I want it to be one of my first things I wake up to. I open my phone, because I know everyone else does that too, and I go to Unreached of the Day. Today's a group that's in South India. You could pray every single day. I know you drink coffee. I know you get up every day.

I know you're breathing every day. I know that you're scrolling multiple times a day. Then why not make it count? Unreached of the Day. I give you full permission right now. Get on your phone, go look it up, download it right now. It's okay. Unreached of the Day. And you can say, you know what? I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna pray for these people to come to know Christ. Everyone can pray. Most people can give. Most people can give. And certainly when you give the fellowship, if you're not on the giving team here, I wanna encourage you to be on the giving team here, because we use our resources to go global. We do that. But for some of you to give in other ways. Some of you are sponsoring kids in different countries. Some of you are supporting people on mission trips that are going. Most people can give. I was sharing with Midtown last week. I was on their campus preaching, and I give God thanks for a guy named Danny. You don't know Danny. But Danny gave $500 to my first mission trip. And as a kid who grew up in a high school in a town

with one stoplight in a small country church, for a brother to write a check for $500 blew me away. And it changed my life. Maybe you're the givers. We need givers. We need prayers. We need people who are sending in that way. Most people can give. Some can go. Some can actually go. And you may be one of those people. Are you praying and giving so that others might go? Are you encouraging and celebrating the goers in healthy ways? Because here's what I'd say. Whether you stay or whether you go, you commit to participate in God's glorious plans. So whether I stay or whether I go, I'm gonna commit to God's glorious plan. I'm gonna commit to participate and be a part of that. And so this morning, I don't want you to feel judgment. We're not saying that the people who go are godlier than the people who stay. That's not the way it works. They might be. But some people who stay might be godlier than sometimes even people who go. The reality of it is this. It's not whether you stay or go. It's how are you gonna participate in God's glorious plan.

Romans 1, 8 through 12 in the New Living Translation says this, let me say first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world. God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you in your needs and prayer to God whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the good news about his son. One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, look what Paul writes, I love this, when we get together, I wanna encourage you in your faith but I also wanna be encouraged by yours. I love that. Hey, don't you know when you go on a short-term trip, it's not just about us taking the gospel, it's about us being encouraged by other believers too. We have trips here at Fellowship that when you go, you're actually being encouraged by other believers. I promise you, the team that's in Kenya right now, the team that's in Honduras right now, the teams that are going to different places this summer, they're gonna go, they're gonna share the gospel, they're gonna love and they're gonna show God's grace but they're gonna be impacted by the believers

where they are. It's mutual, it's very powerful. Talk to some people who've been on mission trips, they'll tell you their life was changed. God used other believers from other nations to encourage our hearts. That's what happens when we are involved in God's heartbeat for the nations. We gotta wrap this up, okay, resources, let me show you some resources here, fellowshipar.com slash trips. If you'll go to that, if you go to fellowshipar.com slash trips, it will show you the trips that are going out this summer, okay? Some of you may say, I wanna go, we love you, too late, okay, this summer but we have a couple trips in the fall and we're gonna release new trips in October that will show you what for next summer, okay? So go to fellowshipar.com slash trips and you'll see that. If you're thinking about going long term, fellowship.com slash global, go long term, you click on that, we actually have something for you today. Out at the map, you can pick these up, go long term. It gives you kind of a brief rundown of how that could work in your life, what next steps you could take. Because some of you are going, man, I think I might be called

but I don't know how to get there, guess what, we can help you, we can help you. So maybe pick that up, okay, that's one of the things that you can do. And then I would just say this, because there's places, there's places to serve, short term trips, long term opportunities, we have opportunities, come talk to us. You can even fill that out in this thing, if you wanna fill that out and say, I'd like to talk to missions about that, just do that and we'll follow up with you. But then the last thing is that we've got the nations here. Hey, there are international students here, there are people that come and work here, they don't know Christ. Some of them know Jesus, it's great, talk with them, they'll encourage you in your faith, you can encourage them. But we also have some people who don't know Christ. Have them in your home for Thanksgiving, international friendship outreach, English as a second language, we have opportunities for you to get involved with the nations here. The nations are in Central Arkansas. Like I said, have them over your house, have coffee with them, discuss religion with them, discuss theology with them, discuss life with them, get to know them a little bit more. There's ways for you to be involved with the nations here.

And if you have questions about that, reach out to us, we can help you, we can help you. The question is this, if there's a blank sheet of paper in front of you, are you willing to put your yes on there? Pray, give, go, or disobey? And the reality of this is that we have an opportunity to say, man, I wanna be a part of God's glorious plan. Let's pray together, let's bow our heads right now, I'm gonna ask the worship team to come on out. We're gonna sing one more song before we go. I wanna encourage you, if you're tempted to leave early, I wanna encourage you to stay. Sometimes we slip out and you may need to do that. If you need to do that, no judgment. If you don't, stay. As we sing this song, as we sing these lyrics, listen, let's be real for a moment. There actually may be some students in here today, some young adults in here today, some men and women here today, some empty nesters in here today that God is calling you to go in a way that maybe you haven't thought of before. Do not miss this holy moment. Some of you, God's inviting you into a deeper prayer for the nations. Do not miss this holy moment. For some of you, God may be asking you to open up your checking account,

to give in greater ways to the cause of Christ globally. Do not miss this holy moment. So Lord, we say, as Isaiah said, here am I, send me, send me. Lord, would you raise up, senders. and goers today, because the body needs both. And I pray that you would have your way in us and your kingdom would come and your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's worship. Thanks again for listening to the word of God. We are blessed to reach you throughout the week through whatever platform you're listening on. If you're needing prayer or you want to talk to someone about your walk with Jesus, reach out to us at fellowshipar.com slash contact. Have a great week.