Bible Verse for Sunday Service January 7, 2024
Romans 10:14
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?[a] And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Announcements:
Hunter Gately represents HeartCry Missionary Society and serves as coordinator for Eastern Europe. Today, he will be informing and challenging us regarding the need and opportunities to preach the gospel of Christ and establish local Bible-believing churches within the “10-40 Window” of the world. HeartCry’s goal is to support and train nationals to reach their own people for Christ. We look forward to hearing from Hunter about this important ministry that God has raised up. In the foyer, we’ve placed a table with prayer guides and literature to inform us and enable us to pray more effectively for these believers and the ministry of HeartCry.
We want to financially help with the ministry of HeartCry as well as with the expenses of our guest speaker. Please consider giving a gift today. You can use the offering envelope in the pocket of the chair in front of you or write on your check to the church and designate it to HeartCry.
It’s time to get everyone an updated church directory. Please provide us with any contact information for you that needs updating. Also, if you are not in the directory, we would like to have you listed. You can use the insert to provide your information and leave it on the foyer table.
You can also use the church update directory form to let us know how you would like to receive prayer chain requests and information. We send requests for prayer via email, text or phone.
Communion will be next Sunday.
We were planning a meal of soup, salad and dessert after service on January 14, along with the annual business meeting. However, the weather and -40 temperatures dictate postponement to the next Sunday, January 21st.
Sunday School:
Our Sunday School this day was dedicated to Hunter so he could present the mission and work of HeartCry. He started by explaining HeartCry started in 1988 with Paul Washer who realized when working in Peru that the local pastors were good Christian men, but that they worked without the benefit of seminary. Thinking he could do more to support them in the US, Paul moved back there and started to promote the need in Peru, how to support these indigenous pastors. After starting HeartCry and the support of Peruvian pastors, HeartCry next moved to work in Romania. Soon HeartCry was supporting 20 churches. These churches flourished, and HeartCry did too, supporting 380 churches in 70 countries.
Next Hunter spoke on HeartCry the organization. Its central office is in Virginia. Five or six representatives work with the world. Hunter described his role as one of these representatives, looking after European pastors. HeartCry has been in Sicily for 25 years. For example of what he does, Hunter explained that he had attended a conference lasting 3 days for European pastors in Turkey. He works to try to support and help these indigenous pastors who work in cities, building relationships between them. Besides these networking conferences, HeartCry also runs Bible training conferences, it recently had such a conference in Portugal.
Hunter now spoke on supporting pastors. HeartCry’s goal, mission is to free the pastors to be full time pastors. In this what is HeartCry doing? Is it trying to replicate US culture, no. It is to make sure all can worship Him.
HeartCry is working to distribute God’s word through out the world. How HeartCry does this depends on the country. In Europe empty church buildings are for sale. While in Africa the church is vibrant and growing. Although a significant portion of Africa lies within the 10-40 window where churches are fewest. When working in these countries, we ask ourselves what do we have that can be shared that we do well.
How pastors that HeartCry supports are selected, Hunter covered next. If someone believes that they are called to serve God as a Pastor, HeartCry asks them to meet one of the pastors that they support so as it can get a sense of the Pastor’s character through relationship. To illustrate how HeartCry sees itself in this role, Hunter used gathering water from a well using a rope and bucket as a metaphor. In the well, the missionary is the bucket, actually doing the work of gathering water. We are the people holding the rope. By giving to missions, we enable the pastor to do the work. HeartCry thinks of itself as the rope, connecting givers to the work of the Pastor in directly advancing God’s kingdom.
Hunter then covered HeartCry’s unique method of fundraising. It doesn’t do any. Instead, it copies the model used by George Mueller who started Sunday Schools. Mueller relied on God to provide the necessary funds. And of course He did. Hunter gave examples of God meeting HeartCry’s need. One sponsor offered to fund the lease on the new, larger location.
In closing, Hunter described the staffing of HeartCry, the administrative staff and the media workers, each numbering four. Primary for the media is documenting HeartCry’s work and showcasing that work with first hand testimony. That media staff also produce magazines covering the work in countries in depth. Hunter showed the latest one, covering work in Nigeria and Nepal.
Hunter then took questions from the Sunday School attendees.
If you would like to watch Hunter’s presentation online, you can find it here on our Rumble account. You can also watch it below:
Sermon:
In conjunction with our missions service, Hunter Gately spoke during the service on missions. He chose as his text Revelation 12. He asked us to consider of the interpretations of this chapter of Revelation, it was written to the church and is written in figurative language. He offered that this chapter pictures the child of promise, the promised Savior, and offers a binary view of the world, a war between good and evil, a cosmic battle. In his review he noted that the history of God’s people is a history of failure. Israel failed in its purpose. Everyone born into the world is under the influence of Satan.
What does that mean of missions? It helps us to understand that missions is fundamentally a spiritual battle for the 3 billion people who do not serve Christ. Once we have this perspective, we should be motivated to do something about this. We tend not to notice our world is full of darkness, and consider our participation. People often don’t think about anything outside of their area, not recognizing the world is more than just a natural place. We can help begin to see by understanding that money is not the solution. First we must see the spiritual context.
To help with this transition in thinking, Hunter offered the resource of John Pipers “50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.” One of the principal ones was to overcome the accuser through the blood of the Lamb. If Jesus has overcome, then we should claim the natural world we live in for Him. Another way of thinking about this is that God helped me to see Him in this world of darkness, out of gratitude to Him, I should help others see Him too through missions.
Another important point from Revelation is time. This is a temporary and short time compared to eternity. We should use this time well to advance the Kingdom in a greater way.
Returning to the theme that missions is a battle between the Devil and God, what should we do in light of that. Pray, and put on the whole armor of God as instructed in Ephesians 6. In our prayers we should pray against Satan’s stronghold, the 10/40 window. While praying, we can ask, what is my place in this spiritual war? Hunter reminded us to know what side we are on as there is no middle ground.
Also, Hunter reminded us that Revelation describes a great deception. We should make sure we understand and are not deceived. Let’s keeps God’s glorious day in mind, and follow the Lamb. Is the Lamb calling you now? Commit. Follow Him.
Accessing the Service, Bulletin and Sermon Outline:
Here are the pages from the bulletin, click on the images below to see them full size:
Hunter did not provide a sermon outline
If you would like a link to this service you can find it here. Perhaps you would like to share it with your friends. You could also share that link on social media, if you use any of the providers. We use Rumble, a safe alternative to Google’s YouTube.