Well, why would a person do that? Let's talk about the Bible. You have Genesis 1 in front of you? Okay, I'm getting the signal. I've got about 10 minutes to talk. Okay, about the Bible. So we'll do that. Why would you have a mission's conference in a church like this? It's because you want to get to know missionaries and you want to know where your money's going. You want to know what they're doing. So you bring in missionaries and say, that's really good. Now we're doing a good job. We feel good about this. But one of the realities that we all have to face is that missionary conferences can sometimes be misleading. They can mislead us into thinking that our role in the mission is to support other people doing the mission, to send out missionaries. But the reality is in the Bible that while that's important and that's a huge piece of this, sending missionaries, full-time missionaries is huge. The reality is that the Bible tells us that every single one of us is a missionary right where we are. And the only reason that that's true is so basic as incredible is because we're breathing. Okay, if you're a human being, you are designed and called to be on a mission. And the mission that each individual, each family, each church, each culture has in God's economy and God's way of looking at things is to turn this world into his kingdom. What I'd like for it to do is read from Genesis 1 verses 26 through 29. Who will do that for us? Please. Thank you, sir. Can you read where we're allowed please? Okay. There are two things I want to see from this passage and it's really straight up. The first thing is this, what does God call us? Okay, what title do we have? It's found in verse 26 and in verse 28. What does he call us? You know what it's there. It says we are the image of God, we're the likeness of God. Now, if you've been in Christian circles at all, if you've been like to Sunday school or if you've been reading any books about Christianity, you know Christians say that, right? We say, oh yeah, people are the image of God. But that phrase is like a lot of religious phrases. We use it but don't have much idea of what it might mean. In fact, if we were to write down each of us what it means to be the image of God, we'd probably have as many different answers as there are people in the room. Because we just don't talk about it much. So we need to narrow down what this really means to be in the image of God because this is all about who you think you are. I mean, in fact, one time I stood up in front of a church in South Carolina, it wasn't a Presbyterian church. You'll be able to tell that in a minute. And I said to them, I said, I'm going to say two words. And I want you to shout back to me. You say, not Presbyterian. I want you to shout back to me the first thing that comes to mind. And so I stood there and I said, human beings and waited for them to respawn. And they shouted back to me without a moment's hesitation in unison. Sinners. And I said, you know, I said, thank you very much. But isn't it because I knew that's what you say, but at least I hope so, because if you didn't, the sermon would be ruined. But isn't it interesting when we think about human beings, what first thing to come to our minds is failures, sinners, futility, you know, horrible things. But as far as we know, the first thing that God said about us was not, hey, let's make some sinners. Or even better than that, let's make somebody who starts off really good and then let them become sinners and mess everything up. It's not what he said. What he said is, let's make the image of God. And the problem here is that we need to get in a time machine to understand what that means. So get in with me real quick and let's go back to the days of Pharaohs and, you know, pyramids and ziggarrots and things like that. Back to the days of Moses, because you might be surprised to know that Israel was not the only group in the world that used the expression image of God or likeness of the gods or son of the gods. That's all the same for them. Other cultures did too. The Egyptians did, the Babylonians did, the Assyrians did, even the Canaanites did. But in their cultures, that phrase, image of God or likeness of God was only given to one kind of person. Can you imagine what kind of person it was? It was the king. Yeah, I mean like Charles and Hesse and Neil Brenner. Neil Brenner is the only one that could be called the son of the gods or the image of the gods. You guys know this? The king. And the reason it was very simple is because of what they thought kings were supposed to do. Kings were supposed to learn the will of God in heaven and make it happen on the earth. Just like politicians today. Just like Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in the Declaration of Independence, I know what God gave as an alienable rights to human beings. And we're going to make that happen down here. That's the goal of a politician, even if their Marxists still call it the universe or the state. That's their God, okay? Learn the will of God and have it and make it happen on the earth. Well, here's Moses saying that to people who were former slaves, who had for hundreds of years been propagandized into believing that they were something less than the image of God, something less than the likeness of God. That's how they got them to build their cities and their pyramids and do all the wars and all the fighting that they did. They told people, you're less than the Pharaoh, you're less than the emperor. And Moses is looking at these people and he's saying, that's a lie. From the beginning, what God said is that every single one of you is the image and likeness of God. And what he's communicating to them is this, that every one of them has the importance and the value and the significance of a king or a queen or an emperor or a Pharaoh. That's what he's saying to them. It's all people's job to learn God's will and make it happen on this planet. That's the bottom line for what it means to be a human being. And it was hard for them to believe, but I can tell you, it's hard for you to believe too. Make sure, yeah, there are lots of people that have lots of pride and go around beating their chest like they're all that when they're really not. But a lot of people are also in the fix where they can't even begin to imagine that their lives will have any significance at all. Especially as you get for the end of your life, you really wonder whether your life is significant or important. And so the mission of the church begins with you and me believing what God says about us. And that is, we are as significant as any king or any queen that's ever lived on this planet. And if you don't believe that about yourself, then you are right where the evil one wants you to be. You're right in this hands because if you think that your life has no significance and your choices don't matter, then you're going to waste your life away. It's really that simple. I think everybody in this room would agree with what I'm about to say. I don't care how you voted in the last presidential election. We all agree that President Obama is an important man, right? And why? Because if he decides we're going this way, the whole of human history goes that way. If he decides we're going that way, all of human history goes that way. I mean, he's an important man. You don't want him getting sick. You don't want him to have a migraine headache. You know, make a decision with a migraine headache, can you imagine? You don't want him fighting with his wife tonight. If he and the first lady have a big fight tonight, you know, and he says, oh yeah, you don't like that. Well, watch what happens when I hit this red button and he pushes the button and the whole world blows up. And we don't want that to happen, right? Why? Because he's an important man. But when you think about your life, it's very easy to have just the opposite feel. And that is, hey, it doesn't matter whether I'm sick. I mean, somebody in this room probably has a migraine headache. Do you think we care? If you could find a red button in your house to push, nothing would happen, right? Your life is as significant. That's what the devil wants you to believe. And so you don't even think about what role do I have in the mission? Because who am I? I'm not a preacher. Who am I? I'm nobody important. Who am I? You know, I'm retired. What am I? I'm trying to make... I'm just trying to eat out a living here. What role do I have in this? What's my little $50 going to do? What are my simple little prayers going to do? What's my going out here and doing something in the kingdom of God for a week in Peru? What's that going to do? What's my little bit of effort going to do? Nothing. So when you think that, you know what you're going to do. You're not going to do it. But you know that's a lie. Because you've heard the stories. You've heard the stories of the grandmother who does nothing her whole life, but race her orphan grandson to become a Christian. And he does nothing but become a shoe salesman. And he does nothing but one day share his faith with one of his customers. Who does nothing significant but share his faith with his next or neighbor who becomes Billy Graham the Savior of the world? You've know those stories, right? So who in that sequence of events do you want to say was unimportant? Do you want to say that the grandmother was unimportant? Do you want to say the shoe salesman was unimportant? Or that the next door neighbor? Or just that Billy Graham is the only one that matters in this scenario? So Billy Graham would not have happened had it not been for the grandmother and the shoe salesman and the next door neighbor. That's the key. And you've got to begin to believe that just as the president choices direct the course of history, your choices direct the course of history too. Because you are the image of God, you are the likeness of God, made to learn the will of God in heaven and make it happen on this planet. And until we start believing that, we're not going to even consider what contribution we might make to the mission. You understand that? Nobody's expendable. Everybody's got a place in this thing. The key is finding your place in this thing called the mission and fulfilling it. How do you figure out what you're calling it? How do you figure out your place? Well, let me just give you some practical guidance on this because I think everybody needs to do this. Think of it in terms of three big circles. Big circle out here would be the Bible. So the Bible gives us lots of principles and you're learning those in Sunday school. You're learning about what commandments God has given us and all those kinds of things. And so you never want to think that your place in the kingdom of God, your place in the mission, you never want to think of it in a way that violates the Bible. That's clear enough. So for example, if you think God wants you to be an action murderer for Jesus, don't do it. Okay? This against the Bible is a lie you're being deceived. Well, now move to a smaller circle inside that one. It's what our Purits and Forbearers call providence. What that means is where God has put you in the world. The kinds of gifts He's given you, the kinds of connections He's given you, the place where you are in the world, the time of history you're in and that kind of thing. And that also then begins to narrow down some options. So for example, I'm looking around this room. Yeah, I think this is fair to say. If anyone here in this room wants to be the first Chinese missionary to Iceland, I'm sorry, it's not going to be possible for you to fulfill that calling. Why? Because you're not Chinese. That's right. Okay? I would love to be able to speak Spanish well enough to be a preacher and a teacher in Spanish. I'll never be able to do it. My brain is too old. We do have limits. If you have children, for example, in your family, if you've lost your job recently, if you are married, if you're not married, all those kinds of things make a difference in what kind of role you should play in the Kingdom of God. And you need to narrow it down that way. But that's not the only thing that we need to do. Now, we're pretty good as Presbyterians, we're pretty good about getting the Bible thing. Pretty good. We're even reasonable enough to look at providence and say, you know, I'm 70 years old. I probably should not get on an airplane and start walking the streets of Baghdad. Okay? Probably. Although, that's what I'm going to do, and I'm 70 if I can. But, you know, that sort of narrows options down. But what's the third circle inside? This is the part where we're very weak. It has to do with what we called in the old days, vocation. Calling. It used to be that in our branch of the church, people believe that every single person had a calling from God, a call from God. And it was their job to embrace that call personally, and to say, this is what Jesus wants me to do. So I am going to do this with my whole heart because you become convinced that this is the role Jesus wants you to have. You're able to do it even when the hard times come. But you see, if you never get down with Jesus on this and you never get face to face with Him and ask Him to tell you what He wants you to do, then what you do basically is just kind of piddly around in the Bible. It gives you so many options. You can never really feel bad about what you do. And you can look at your circumstances and find a million things to do. And you never really have a strong sense of what God wants you to do as the image of God. Let me just tell you this story, give you a sense of how this goes. I went to three different schools after I went to college. And the first school I went to seminary was an evangelical seminary. And when I went there in late 70s, people there would talk about, have you gotten a call yet? Have you gotten a call yet? Meaning have you been picked up by a church yet? Okay, so they're looking for God's call. And people would sometimes have various options. And they say, yes, I'm really seeking God on this. And they want to have that internal call in their hearts, that intuition, that leading of a Holy Spirit, that conviction inside of you. That you just can't escape. You know what that feels like? Do you know what that feels like? Okay, they wanted that about what they were going to do with their lives. So they sought after it. Then I left that school and went to a liberal school in Richmond, Virginia, union seminary, a seminary. And when I heard people talking there, they didn't talk about getting a call. They talked about getting a job. Have you got a job yet? Well, no, not really, got three offers, but really not sure which job I'm going to take. Have you got a job yet? The ministry got down to being a professional choice in that liberal school. Then I went off to graduate school for another five, six, seven years later. I'm out and I'm starting to teach in a seminary, one of our seminaries. I thought for sure what I'd be facing then was students that are looking for a call. I mean, they weren't looking for an option, they were looking for a call. They wanted to know where God wanted them to be, right? I thought I would face. Do you know what I think? What I found out in our own schools, in between those times, when I first began seminary and when I finished and started teaching, our own seminarians started talking, have you got a job yet? Have you got a job yet? And after talking with people that have been on public committees and things like that, they can see the ones that have done it for decades. They have told me they've seen the same change. And it goes like this. It used to be that people would candidate for a church, and the last thing they'd talk about is the package. That means the money. It would be like the very last thing you talk about. You get a general sense of it, and you say, you know, I think God wants them to be here. And then you start talking about the package. Now, what they tell me is that for the most part, the package, the money part of this, for ministers going to public committees and things like that, is number one or number two. The first of the second thing they ask, well exactly, what's the range of salary for this position? And what kind of benefits do you have for the children's education? And on and on and on the biscuits? Now, if that's happened in our ministers, and it has, I know how far in the idea of you having a calling is. Okay? If our own ministers, by and large, are not thinking of their ministries as a call to mission, and God convicted them that this is what you are called to do, then I know that the laypeople are just sort of floundering around saying, what in the world am I supposed to do with my life? Well, if what you do is you just take the Bible, and you just take the circumstances in your left with a thousand options, you might actually get enthusiastic and try something. But what's going to happen when it gets hard? What's going to happen? If you're just trying something, what are you going to do? You're going to move on to something else. Well, let me tell you something. There's nothing about the mission that's easy. It's all hard. It was hard for Jesus. He gave his whole life to it. He sacrificed everything for it. And it's not going to be easy for the people that pick up and join him in that mission either. In fact, we're told that in order to fellowship in Christ's sufferings, what must we do? To fellowship in his glory, what must we do? Fellowship in his sufferings. So it's all going to be hard. If you're in the mission, it's going to be hard. Sometimes it's easier than other times, but it's not going to be easy. Is that right, Carl? Is the mission hard or easy? It's hard. Do people thank you all the time for what you do? I'm talking to somebody in those. If you don't think I know, this man knows. Do people like you for being in the mission? Nope. Do they praise you for it? Nope. Sometimes even your own wife won't. Your own children will say, what about me? Well, here's the reality. Unless you have gotten down to the point where you and Holy Spirit are won. And you know exactly what God wants you to do as a calling. Not a job, not an option, not a trial, not an experiment, a calling. You will never tie into a mission so strongly that you will actually succeed. You might get lucky in God's providence. That was a contradiction, wasn't it? You might get lucky in God's providence and try something and it works, okay? But by and large, what's going to happen is you're going to try it. It gets hard. You're going to give up. I'm walking. Doug, do you think that if you had had an attitude of so long as it goes well, if you were here at Peace Tree City, would you be here? No. So what keeps Doug here? Doug, what keeps you here? Yeah, that's right. The package. Yeah. I can guarantee you that's not the case. Doug has done this enough now. He can move on to a bigger church so we give him a lot bigger package than what you give him. I don't even know what you give him, but I know that's the case. So what keeps him here, even during the hard times, is that he believes God wants him to be here. Now that's what each and every one of us in this room has got to get. Where? What role? What style? What way? Does Jesus want me involved in His mission? And put your finger on it and have conviction from Holy Spirit that this really is what God wants you to do. And then you can push ahead even when it gets hard. It doesn't have to be a lifetime commitment because callings can be temporary. I'm going to do this in my life for the next five years or I'm going to do, I feel satisfied that the Holy Spirit wants me to do this for this month, that kind of thing. He could even be that. But it's got to be with that firm conviction. And don't let go of Him. And don't stop seeking Him until He gives it to you. That this is your role. Maybe your role is this. You know what I need to do for the mission? As I need to go visit nursing homes right here in this area. Maybe your mission is what I need to do is go down here to down the street here and start tutoring in the public schools. Maybe your mission is I need to join. What's the fellow's name that does the Indian thing here, the Native American thing? Yeah, where are you? Oh yeah, okay, good. Okay, maybe I need to join in with this Native American mission. Maybe I need to go with this next trip to Peru, even though the last one was tragic. You see, whatever it is, you've got to get on your face before Jesus and get the call from Him. All right, maybe you need to go to the men's ministry to treat next weekend because I can tell you what that means. That could be your opportunity to take the time it requires to be with Jesus and get a call two weeks away. Are you going to give them a chance in that retreat to get a call? Okay, there you go. So we are the image and likeness of God. And that means what we have is an opportunity to be very significant in the course of history. We could put it this way. We cannot do this mission without God. We just simply can't because we don't have the power to do it. But God has chosen not to do it without us. Because that's the way He's going to bring glory to Himself is by using weak little people like you and me to fulfill His goal of turning this earth into His kingdom. His choice. Now is our job, our call. Okay, I'm done. We have five minutes. You want to talk for five minutes? Yes, sir. Good. That's great. In a group like this, this is the way I would describe it. We are Calvinists with a thick velvet glove. That means not a Trojan horse. Because the last thing I want to do is make the whole world like us. Right? I mean, you know what we're like. Do you really want them to be like this? No, I don't think so. But the salt and pepper of them? Yeah. I do want to do that. I want to take any hand of salt and pepper in. I don't want to destroy the enthusiasm that people out there have. You don't, you know, you don't want to turn men and lights into boring Presbyterians, right? But you do want to salt and pepper them because they stop building homes. They stop going to Japan. They'll be the ones in Japan, you know. The Minonites, right? Not us. They'll be there. We're not packing. Anybody packing up together Japan? Okay. See, the Minonites are already in the plains. I can guarantee it. They're ready to go. They'll be there before the Red Cross. Isn't that funny? That's sad. So we want to salt and pepper them because they got bad theology and they're messed up in other ways. But we want, don't want to kill that enthusiasm. So here's what we do. If there have been longstanding differences among evangelicals that are legitimate differences of opinion on what the Bible teaches.