Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E98 | Everyday Eurasia | Jim Ritchie

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S1-E98 | Everyday Eurasia | Jim Ritchie · Eurasia Region Podcast

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  Hello and welcome to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Faith for Every Day. Each day we are on a journey
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  with Jesus in our churches, our homes, our workplaces, and in so
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  many different places around the world.
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  Is it beautiful that no matter where we are, we can walk with
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  him every single day? Jesus is the one who connects us
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  all and stands at the very center of our lives day after
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  day. Through this podcast, you'll
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  hear voices from across the region sharing devotionals that
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  reminds us of God's presence in our everyday moments.
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  This week, we take time to reflect on the heart of our
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  mission. The Church of the Nursery is a
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  missional church. Everything we do is centered on
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  sharing hope, faith, and love across borders, from one
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  community to another. At the center of this global
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  movement is the World Evangelism Funds.
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  It serves as the backbone of our work, making it possible for us
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  to be present where we are needed to support churches and
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  to reach people all around the world.
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  Through this fund, we remain faithful to our mission, making
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  Christ like disciples in the nations, raising up people who
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  live and love like Christ in every culture and every country.
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  Today we will listen to Global Missions Director Jim Ritchie.
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  Hello, dear friends. This is Jim, the Global Missions
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  Director. I'm here in my office in Lenexa
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  in Kansas, and this morning I'm thinking about the World
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  Evangelism Fund. Now, in my role, I get a unique
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  perspective of what the fund is and what it does, and really
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  it's the most important way that the whole church can be involved
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  in supporting mission all over the world.
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  In my ministry in the Church of the Nazarene, I've been a local
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  pastor, a district Superintendent, a regional
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  director, and they're a global missions director.
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  And in each of those areas, I've seen the incredible impact that
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  mission makes, but the incredible impact that
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  partnership makes between the local church and global mission.
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  And we can pray for mission. We can send people in mission,
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  we can give to mission. And that's what the World
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  Evangelism Fund does. It is our privilege to say we
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  are together, we are supporting mission, and we are giving all
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  we have to enable people to go and do all that God has called
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  them to do. Now, when you give locally and
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  you give globally, I believe that you're fulfilling not only
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  the Great Commission to send people to go, but also you're
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  blessing your local ministry because whenever we get
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  activated in mission globally, it really raises the bar locally
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  and vice versa. And so giving is an incredible
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  important component in all of that.
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  I've got a passage from Luke chapter 6 to share with you now.
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  You'll all know the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew five to
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  seven. Well, around Luke 6, we have
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  what we call the Sermon on the Plain, similar teaching, but not
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  exactly the same, but but kind of shorter chunks of Kingdom
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  teaching from Jesus to his disciples.
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  If you don't know it, read it. It's wonderful.
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  But right in the heart of that, Jesus says this, he says give
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  and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed down,
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  shaken together, running over and poured into your lap.
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  For with the measure you give, it will be measured to you.
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  Now, there's two ways to interpret that.
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  The first is, yeah, if we give, we're going to get back wrong.
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  That's not what Jesus meant. What Jesus meant was the more we
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  give, the more we bless others, the more that God by his
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  goodness and mercy blesses us. So if you want an opportunity to
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  be blessed, go and bless somebody else and just see what
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  happens. It's like Kingdom economy that
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  we don't give to get, but because we give, God trusts us
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  and says, OK, I see your heart and I'm going to give you even
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  more. A good measure.
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  Pressed down, shaken together, running over, poured into your
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  lap. I mean, that's great imagery,
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  isn't it, that we have this goodness of God that he pours on
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  our life. And where it starts is that when
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  we give to others, and of course we, we don't just give money, we
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  give time, we give grace, we give forgiveness, we give
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  compassion, we give the heart of the gospel.
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  But giving in God's economy always equals blessing, blessing
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  for others and blessing for us. So if you're a local church
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  member, or if you're a pastor or a leader or a district
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  Superintendent, or you're involved in the church in any
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  way that you're involved, please know that you play a vital role
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  because we're A-Team, we're a body, we all contribute.
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  And when we contribute, when we give together, when we go
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  together, when we pray together, it really does make a huge
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  difference. Now in Global Missions right
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  now, we are focusing on another a number of key priorities #1 we
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  want to communicate all that God is doing, and we want to tell
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  the church what he's doing through mission.
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  And the reason I want to do that is because if you don't know
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  about something, you can't care about it.
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  But when you do know about it and when you do care about it,
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  you want to be involved in it and you want to pray for it and
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  you want to give to it, the second priority is raising up a
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  new generation. I want to see a generation who
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  see the mission of God to the world as part of not only their
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  calling, but it's their problem. Jesus said you go, not somebody
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  else, you go. It's called the Great
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  Commission, not the great suggestion.
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  He's saying go and make happen all the good things that I am
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  working with you for. And that is vital that we raise
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  a generation who has the same heart and passion for mission
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  that many of us have for many, many years.
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  And of course, the third thing is that how we can actually
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  equip and how we how we can provide and how we can support
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  missionaries all over the world. And that's what the World
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  Evangelism Fund does. And that is something that we're
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  all in together. So I want to encourage you that
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  missions is going on really well all over the world.
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  God is making a difference. People are coming to know Jesus.
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  People are being saved, people are being healed, communities
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  are being brought together, transformed.
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  The gospel is going to the ends of the earth and we need your
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  support. We need to do it together.
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  And remember the passage that Jesus has given us this morning.
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  The good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over,
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  poured into your lap. So the measure that we give, let
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  us see God give us a measure of his Kingdom and of his goodness,
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  of his blessing in our lives as we say.
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  Yes, Lord, here am I, send me, here am I use me, here's what I
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  have. I give to you.
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  Just like the little lad with the loaves and fishes.
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  It's all he had, but it was all that God needed.
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  So we give them what we have and God will do the rest.
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  May God bless you, bless your ministry, bless all that you're
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  doing, and thank you so much for being a partner with us in
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  missions and in the World Evangelism Fund.
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  I love you, I thank God for you, and I pray God's greatest
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  blessing on you in Jesus name, Amen.
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  Thank you for listening to the everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Faith for Every Day. For more Everyday Stories,
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  subscribe on this podcast channel, follow our socials,
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  For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
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  region, visit our website, eurasiaregion.org.