Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S2-E6 | Everyday Eurasia | Esteban Juan Alcantara
Transcript
- 0:22This week we will join Esteban Juan Alcantara.
- 0:25He serves as a missionary, coordinating alongside his wife
- 0:28Sergei, the Missions Mobilization Ministry for the
- 0:31Eurasia Region. Together with their son Gael,
- 0:34they live in the United Kingdom, where they also serve by
- 0:37supporting the Diaspora Ministry in Barnsley, England.
- 0:41Esteban is deeply passionate about walking alongside those
- 0:45who feel called 2 Missions. He enjoys surfing the church
- 0:48through discovering, developing and deploying nursery
- 0:51missionaries, helping to mobilize and equip new workers
- 0:55for the mission field. Today he will speak about
- 0:58missions mobilization. Welcome and thank you for
- 1:01joining us in this first episode of our series on missions
- 1:04mobilization. I'm excited to share with all of
- 1:07you throughout this week as we meditate together in God's
- 1:10words, missions mobilization is a ministry that exists to
- 1:14facilitate the missionary work within our church, and we do it
- 1:18by discovering, developing, and deploying as re missionaries
- 1:21around the world. In all these to continue with
- 1:24the mission of the Church of the Nazarene to make Christ like
- 1:28disciples in the nation. During this week, I'll be
- 1:31sharing more about what our ministry does and why it
- 1:34matters. But today I want to begin by
- 1:37talking about the purpose of missions and the reason the
- 1:40church accessed to go and reach the nations.
- 1:44When we think about mission, very often people connected with
- 1:47troubles languages and different culture.
- 1:50But let me tell you that missions is much deeper than
- 1:53that. Mission is born in the heart of
- 1:56God and from Genesis to Revelation we see a God who
- 2:00seeks to save, restore and reconcile the humanity to
- 2:04himself. And this is in the New Testament
- 2:07made it very clear that the church was not called simple
- 2:10together within 4 walls, but the church was called to go, which
- 2:14means that the Great Commission is not a suggestion.
- 2:18It is Jesus's command for his disciple and his church.
- 2:21Today I want to share with you how the mission of the church
- 2:25started Matthew and ends with a multitude worshipping before the
- 2:29throne of God in Revelation. Matthew 28 verse 18 to 20 tells
- 2:35us that before ascending to heaven, Jesus gathered his
- 2:39disciples and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been
- 2:44given to me before. Go and make disciple of all
- 2:48nations. What a powerful words, isn't it?
- 2:51Jesus did not say wait for the people to come to you, but
- 2:55instead he said go and make disciple, which means that
- 2:59mission requires a movement, it's requires obedience, and
- 3:03it's mean that we need to step out from the comforts hunt to
- 3:08bring the gospel and the hope to others.
- 3:11And something important here is that Jesus spoke about all
- 3:15nation. God never intended the gospel
- 3:19for only a small group of people made trying to make sure that
- 3:24our understanding of mission is grounded in a centrifugal
- 3:29mission perspective. The Gospel has always been for
- 3:33everyone, every culture, and every language.
- 3:37The mission of God is global because the heart of our God is
- 3:41global as well. But mission is not only about
- 3:44obeying a command. Mission is born out of
- 3:47compassion. In Matthew Chapter 9, the Bible
- 3:50says when he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them.
- 3:55Jesus saw the pain of the people and he saw their burdens, their
- 4:00spiritual emptiness and their need for hope.
- 4:03And this is still happening today in our region, Eurasia,
- 4:07and even beyond. Millions of people still do not
- 4:11know Jesus. Many lives in the middle of
- 4:14conflict, migration and social pressure, poverty and a
- 4:18spiritual helplessness, and they are searching for a meaning and
- 4:22for hope. And you know what?
- 4:24Jesus is still looks at the multitude with compassion.
- 4:28Then Jesus said later, the harvest is plentiful, but the
- 4:34workers are few. Ask to the Lord of the harvest
- 4:38before sending workers. We see that Jesus called his
- 4:41people to pray, which means that the mobilization of the church
- 4:45begins when the church learns to pray for the nations, because
- 4:50every through mission is first born in the presence of God.
- 4:55The Church of the Nazarene throughout the year had served
- 4:58in many countries around the world and through discipleship,
- 5:01compassion, church planting, and leadership development, many
- 5:06lives have been transformed by the Gospel.
- 5:08It's beautiful. That all began with one person
- 5:12available to God saying, here I am, Lord sent me.
- 5:17Maybe they didn't have all of their resources at that time, or
- 5:21they were afraid, or they did not know how the journey would
- 5:25look like in the future, but they choose to obey.
- 5:28And even today, God is still calling people, not only pastor
- 5:33of full time missionaries, but also he's calling John people
- 5:37professional local churches willing to serve, support,
- 5:41disciple and praise. We all have a place in God's
- 5:45mission. In the Book of Revelation we can
- 5:50learn that mission has a glorious ending.
- 5:53Revelation 7 describe ambition from heaven from the apostle
- 5:57John when it says a great multitude that no one could
- 6:02count from every nation, tribe, people and language.
- 6:06What a beautiful picture. People from every culture
- 6:11worshipping together before the tomb of God.
- 6:14This is the destination of our mission.
- 6:17Mission will not be a failure. The gospel will read the nation
- 6:21in and today we probably may see challenges, opposition and
- 6:25difficult places, but Revelation reminds us that the final
- 6:30victory belongs to the Lord. One day we all will be together
- 6:36in front of the throne of our God.
- 6:39But today there is a lot of work to do and the the church has the
- 6:44privilege to participate in His eternal plan.
- 6:47Let me ask you a question. What plays the missions have in
- 6:51your life? Maybe you might think I'm not a
- 6:55missionary, but missions also needs people who pray, who
- 7:00disciple, who give, who serve, or who share the gospel wherever
- 7:05they are. As Paul teaches in First
- 7:07Corinthians 12, the church is the body of Christ, and every
- 7:11member has a different role and function.
- 7:14In the same way, missions belong to all of us, and all of us have
- 7:19to participate in His mission. The missions mobilization of
- 7:24Keys Church begins when we stop thinking about ourselves and
- 7:28begin to see God's hearts for missions.
- 7:32Maybe today He wants to awake compassion in your heart.
- 7:35Maybe He want to teach you to pray more for people who still
- 7:39do not know Him. Or maybe He is planting a seed
- 7:44or a calling to mission to transform your life.
- 7:48I want to leave you with a challenge for this week.
- 7:52Every day ask God, Lord, how can I participate in your mission?
- 7:58Let's pray. Jesus, thank you because your
- 8:01heart loves all nations. Thank you for allowing us to be
- 8:05part of your mission. Give us compassion for people
- 8:08who still do not know you and teach us to pray for the harvest
- 8:12and rise up workers for your work.
- 8:15Strength your church in your Asia, in around the world and
- 8:18help us live with obedience, passion and love for the nation.
- 8:24In your name we pray. Amen.
- 8:27Thank you for listening to the Everyday Eurasia podcast
- 8:30Inspiring Faith for Everyday. For more Everyday stories,
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- 8:41For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
- 8:44region, visit our website, eurasiaregion.org.