[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:07] It's Rick. Welcome back to the Nomad Pastor Podcast.
[00:00:11] So we just finished, in the last episode, we just finished up the letter to the church in Ephesus as we went through chapter six in Ephesians. And today we're just going to pivot a little bit. And one of the themes that has been coming up a lot lately between Linda and I is is this living sent mentality, right?
[00:00:30] What do you do when God calls your name?
[00:00:35] So that's the question I want to start with. Because it's not a hypothetical question. It's not some far off Bible trivia. It's real life. It's a right now question.
[00:00:48] And that's the same question that Isaiah was confronted with in Isaiah 6:8.
[00:00:53] In Isaiah 6:8, he says, then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said, here I am. Send me.
[00:01:04] Now. That verse, it may sound like this big courageous thing. It sounds very bold, almost like this rallying cry, like this spiritual rally, right? And you have probably seen it on T shirts, mission trip flyers.
[00:01:23] You know, maybe it's been painted in bold letters on the walls of your church.
[00:01:30] But I want you to really think about what's happening right here, because this is not a slogan.
[00:01:36] This is a moment of total surrender.
[00:01:41] You see, Isaiah doesn't just stand up because he's confident. He doesn't raise his hand because he's got the skills or he's got the resume.
[00:01:48] He says, send me.
[00:01:50] Because he has just been wrecked in the presence of God. He saw God's holiness and he saw his own brokenness.
[00:02:01] And he confessed. He said, woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.
[00:02:08] And then we see God's mercy cleanse him.
[00:02:13] And he realizes there was only one right way to respond.
[00:02:19] Yes, Lord, I'll go.
[00:02:22] That's where the power is, saying, yes, saying send me before you know what the assignment is, Send me.
[00:02:36] And you know, that's not how most of us operate.
[00:02:41] Let's be honest about it. I know for me, I like details.
[00:02:46] I'm a planner.
[00:02:48] I want a timeline. I want to know what the budget is.
[00:02:54] I just, I want to know that it's going to work out.
[00:02:59] Sometimes I drive people crazy, like with all that, right? What are we doing at this time?
[00:03:04] What are all the details? What's the plan?
[00:03:08] But God doesn't hand Isaiah some PowerPoint and say, here's your five year strategy.
[00:03:15] God simply asks, who will go for us?
[00:03:21] And Isaiah had a willing heart and says, here I am.
[00:03:30] I really want to live in this moment for a minute. Because Isaiah isn't the only one who has had to wrestle with this.
[00:03:41] You know, Moses was standing in front of the burning bush hearing God say, I want you to go to Pharaoh.
[00:03:49] Moses didn't be like, send me now. He argued. He told God, I'm slow to speech, I stutter. I can't do this.
[00:03:57] He gave excuse after excuse until finally he begged God to send someone else.
[00:04:04] But God didn't let him off the hook.
[00:04:08] And you know why? Because the calling wasn't about Moses ability.
[00:04:12] It was about God's power.
[00:04:17] You know, Jeremiah, he was a young man who tried to bow out by saying, I'm too young.
[00:04:23] I don't know how to speak.
[00:04:26] And what did God say?
[00:04:28] Don't say, you're too young.
[00:04:30] I will put my words in your mouth.
[00:04:33] The calling again wasn't about Jeremiah's qualifications. It was about God's authority.
[00:04:41] We look at Peter, right? Peter stepped out of the boat when Jesus commanded him.
[00:04:47] He didn't wait until he was sure he wouldn't sink. He didn't run the calculations of, you know, what are the likelihoods of me being able to walk on water.
[00:04:57] He simply said, yes.
[00:04:59] And even though he faltered, even though he started to sink, he's still the only disciple that we can say walked on water with Jesus.
[00:05:13] If you look at all these Isaiah, Moses, Jeremiah, Peter, right?
[00:05:18] Ordinary people hesitate.
[00:05:23] But when they say yes, when they say, send me, God shows up.
[00:05:32] The same question God asked Isaiah, who will go for us?
[00:05:38] He is still asking right now, today.
[00:05:43] He is not just asking pastors or missionaries or evangelists. He is asking me and he is asking you.
[00:05:52] When I think about my walk, you know, Linda and I used to attend this church in Smyrna called LifePoint Christian.
[00:05:58] And everything that this church did was built around one theme. Live Sent.
[00:06:04] Amazing church, amazing message, amazing pastor, very God filled.
[00:06:10] We just moved an hour away, and so we had to look at another church. But everything they did was built around the theme Live Sent.
[00:06:22] So think about that for a second.
[00:06:25] Live Sent.
[00:06:28] It doesn't say be a Christian, doesn't say attend church.
[00:06:34] Their entire DNA was centered on the idea that if you belong to Jesus Christ, you are not meant to sit still.
[00:06:45] Their sermons, their small groups, their ministry, it all came back to one challenge.
[00:06:51] Live like you've been sent by God into your community, into your home, into your workplace.
[00:06:58] And I'm going to tell you that that kind of focus, that does something to a congregation People stop thinking of church as the place to go and start seeing it as the launching pad into the community.
[00:07:14] The question should shift from what do I get out of this? To where is God sending me next?
[00:07:21] And I can tell you personally from personal experience that that kind. Excuse me, that that kind of mindset changes everything.
[00:07:31] Because when you see yourself sent, suddenly the grocery store isn't a grocery store anymore. It's a mission field. Your neighborhood isn't a collection of houses. It's a place where God wants you to move.
[00:07:49] Your job isn't just a paycheck.
[00:07:52] That's what happens when you live Sent.
[00:07:56] You know, there was this other church that Linda and I attended a few years back when, when she was volunteering for the pregnancy center. And it's just, it was nothing flashy. It wasn't a big church. It wasn't, you know, but I'll never forget the one detail. And her and I have talked about it a lot. Right. But right on the door, when you walked out of the sanctuary into the parking lot, there was a sign.
[00:08:21] And that sign said, you are now entering the mission field.
[00:08:26] Simple words, but man powerful. It's so powerful that we attended that church one time probably four or five years ago, and I still remember it.
[00:08:42] So powerful that I remember it was red with white letters and it says, you're now entering the mission field.
[00:08:49] Because what it did is it flips the script.
[00:08:53] We usually think of walking into church as like, we're entering this holy ground, and we are.
[00:08:58] But that sign reminded everyone that the real mission began when you left the church, when you went out into the neighborhood, when you went to your workplace, when you went out into the world where people were hurting and lost.
[00:09:16] You know, between life points. Live Sent and this other church is, you're now entering the mission field.
[00:09:26] I believe that God was trying to get a point across to me.
[00:09:32] He was reminding me that faith isn't about sitting and soaking it up.
[00:09:39] It's not about going to the church on Sunday, soaking up the message and going home.
[00:09:44] It's about going and doing.
[00:09:48] It's about saying like Isaiah, here I am.
[00:09:53] Send me.
[00:09:57] I think it's important to also say, like.
[00:10:00] When you do, say yes. When you do say yes, Lord, send me. Here I am. It's going to cost you.
[00:10:08] It cost Isaiah his comfort.
[00:10:11] God told him up front, you're going to speak, but they won't listen. You're going to preach, but their hearts will be hard.
[00:10:18] That's a tough assignment.
[00:10:20] But Isaiah still went.
[00:10:25] It cost Moses his Excuses. God didn't let him hide behind his weakness.
[00:10:30] He had to stand before Pharaoh, trembling yet armed with God's authority.
[00:10:38] It cost Peter his safety.
[00:10:41] He had to step out of this perfectly good boat into a raging sea.
[00:10:46] And look, it's going to cost us, too.
[00:10:49] It might cost us our pride. It might cost us time, energy, resources, whatever it might eat. There's a cost.
[00:10:58] But what we gain far outweighs that cost. What I have gained by saying, send me. Yes, Lord, here I am.
[00:11:06] Far outweighs the cost.
[00:11:08] We gain joy of knowing God used us to change somebody else's life.
[00:11:16] We gain the privilege of watching the spirit move through somebody else's. Yes.
[00:11:25] You know, I think about when I'm at the rescue mission, preaching. I'm preaching to men who have been through hell on earth.
[00:11:32] And there have been countless times that I have felt so unqualified to be there.
[00:11:39] Times where I'm getting ready to step on the stage and I'm thinking to myself, and I'm talking to God. I'm like, lord, I'm not the guy.
[00:11:47] There are plenty of people who could do this better.
[00:11:52] But every time I say yes, God shows me it was never about me in the first place.
[00:11:59] It was about him.
[00:12:00] It was about His Word and his spirit reaching into the lives of these men who desperately need hope.
[00:12:10] And that's what you get when you say, send me.
[00:12:13] That's what you get when you answer the call.
[00:12:19] So if you think about your life right now, what does send me look like?
[00:12:28] Maybe. Maybe send me looks like forgiving someone who hurt you.
[00:12:32] Maybe it's. It's finally saying yes to serving in a ministry that you've been avoiding.
[00:12:38] Maybe it's about being bold and talking about your faith at work.
[00:12:44] Maybe it's stopping in the moment when someone asks for prayer. And instead of saying, I'll pray for you, you bow your head right then, right there and say that prayer.
[00:12:59] Don't underestimate the small instances where you say yes.
[00:13:05] Don't sit and wait for some big assignment with fireworks and a band and whatever else it may be.
[00:13:14] God is looking for faithful hearts in everyday moments.
[00:13:20] And those everyday moments, those everyday moments that you say yes, build a life of faith.
[00:13:30] Because every time you step outside of your front door, you're entering the mission field.
[00:13:38] Every conversation is an opportunity. Every relationship is a chance to be the light in a dark place.
[00:13:45] Every moment is a chance to say, here I am.
[00:13:49] Send me.
[00:13:54] So here's where I want to land it.
[00:13:56] Isaiah 6:8 isn't just Isaiah's story, it's my story.
[00:14:03] It's your story. It's our story.
[00:14:07] It's the question God is still asking today, who will go for us?
[00:14:17] And the answer he's waiting for. It's not complicated.
[00:14:21] It's not a five page essay.
[00:14:24] It's not a TED talk or a PowerPoint.
[00:14:28] It's two simple words. Send me.
[00:14:33] If I was looking at you eye to eye right now, I'd tell you the greatest adventures with God don't start with a roadmap.
[00:14:43] The greatest adventures, they start with surrender.
[00:14:47] They start with saying, yes, here I am, Lord. Send me.
[00:14:56] So what are you going to say?
[00:14:59] How are you going to answer when God whispers into your heart, when he nudges you with an opportunity, when he asks who will go for us?
[00:15:10] Are you ready?
[00:15:12] Are you ready to say, like Isaiah, here I am. Send me.
[00:15:18] Because the world doesn't need more church attendees.
[00:15:24] It needs more people willing to say, send me. It needs more people willing to live. Sent. It needs more people willing to accept the call that when you leave, you're entering the mission field.
[00:15:37] That's what we need today.
[00:15:40] And if you listened to my last episode, put on the armor of God and walk out the door, here I am. Send me.
[00:15:51] That's what God needs today.
[00:15:55] Look, I want to thank you for listening. Hopefully this message touched you and you got something out of it.
[00:16:02] Just never forget that.
[00:16:05] If you got questions, if you've got thoughts, if you need prayers, if you need to find a church home, send us an
[email protected] I'll get the questions answered for you.
[00:16:16] I don't have all the answers, but I can find answers.
[00:16:21] Remember, when you leave your house, you're entering the mission field.
[00:16:25] When you enter your house, you're entering the mission field. I don't want to leave that out again. This is Rick with the Nomad Pastor podcast. Subscribe, share with your friends. Like it?
[00:16:37] If you need anything, send me an
[email protected] and I want to remind you to never forget to love God and love people.
