on February 4, 2012
Praise God from Whom All Blessings FLOW!
It’s been an exciting couple of weeks to watch God move in and around Mosaic. A couple of things come immediately to m...
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Taking the Land
Jul 11th | Nels Pitotti | Series: Taking the Land
Mosaic Fellowship June 2010
1.----> A. What is God’s mission? B. What does God say about His mission? C. Is there a place for me in God’s mission? 2, 3 & 4. Chris took me and his son Emilio on a whitewater rafting trip down the Clark Fork… Let me tell you that’s the way things are in the world today. In January there was one of my students who had to return to Pakistan. The political climate there is turbulent. I was concerned about sending her into harm’s way….
We are rafting the whitewater of a turbulent world. Last summer my son
At ICSV we have students from 42 different nations. As U.S. citizens we are forbidden to travel to some of those nations because the political climate is turbulent. This past year we had a trip to Iraq all planned out until we found Iraq is on the US Travel Advisory list. We take two mission trips with our students every year. One of the places we go with OM is Bosnia…
5.
What is God’s mission?
Gen. 12:1-4 household and go to the land I will show you.
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's
2 and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
"I will make you into a great nation
3 and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
I will bless those who bless you,
4 years old when he set out from Haran.
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five
6.
Take notice of a Few things.
V.1 He was given direct orders by God. V.2-3 He was given some promises. V.4 He obeyed. I had a Russian student at ICSV who was given direct orders. His teachers wanted the best for him. He was given a promise. Follow the rules and you get to stay here and get an excellent
2
Don’t forget your new African Name (
your life and pray that He will continue to strengthen you.
Ayomide) literally meaning my joy has finally arrived. We bless God who has started all good things in
education… He disobeyed. He incurred the wrath of his teacher, the principal and his Russian mother. Too often we are just like Vadim. We are disobedient. Notice V. 3 will be blessed through you."
all peoples on earth
7.
Who are the descendants of Abraham?
A. Those listed in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke Ch. 3. B. The 12 tribes of Israel. C. Some of the people groups found on all five continents. D. All of the above.
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that the Faith-Righteousness issue is not new and he uses Abraham as an example.
Rom. 4 Remember the church in Rome was made mainly of Gentiles. Paul’s point in Ch 4 is
9 Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that10Under what circumstances was it credited? Was11And he received the sign of12And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who
Neither physical decent from Abraham nor physical circumcision as a Jew makes a person a true child of Abraham, but rather FAITH. What land will they inherit? In Vienna there isn’t a lot of private land. Most of the land is owned by the Catholic Church and if you are lucky you get to lease it and pay big money and follow lots of rules so you can build a house on it. You can’t inherit it from your father. Remember Gen 12: 1? According to v.13 the land is the world.
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would be heir of the
law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
there is no law there is no transgression.
Rom. 4 13It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that heworld, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14For if those who live by15because law brings wrath. And whereYou can’t violate a law that doesn’t exist.
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What does God say about His mission?
We are Abraham’s seed and the earth’s families will be blessed if we bring them the gospel
.
11 guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. nations." and calls things that are not as though they were.”
Rom. 4 16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many[c] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead
So help us God, that we would never forget this 4,000 year old promise to Abraham, “By you and your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
3
Don’t forget your new African Name (
your life and pray that He will continue to strengthen you.
Ayomide) literally meaning my joy has finally arrived. We bless God who has started all good things in
12-> nation, tribe and tongue without intending it to be done. No generation has less excuse than ours if we do not do as He asks”
-“No serious believer today dare overlook the fact that God has not asked us to reach every(Ralph Winters, Founder of U.S. Center for World Missions pg 261).
13 Matt. 28:
Matt 28: 18-20 is considered to be the Great Commission NOT THE GREAT SUGGESTION!16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
17 authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. baptizing them in obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to
When we read it in the NIV (Nels Inspired Version) there are only three choices:
1. Go.
2. Send.
3. Be disobedient.
This is a direct commandment, not a suggestion. Not:
1. If you feel motivated.
2. If you want to.
3. If the clouds part and you audibly hear the voice of God.
The reality of the situation is that we would want to join God where He is working:
·
Not because he told us to.
·
Not because we want to.
·
But because we can’t keep from it.
Matt. 28: and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
So two things we learned: 1. God’s mission is to spread the Good News to all people, both Jews and Gentiles. 2. God’s mission is for every one of us to be missionaries. It isn’t a suggestion it is a direct order! The world will be blessed through us. We are God’s plan. We need to join Him where He is working. We have a saying at ICSV…
“The nations have come to Vienna and they send their best to ICSV.”
We don’t necessarily have to go to each individual nation, but we must go to the people and make
disciples.
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simple and it is something I sorta knew already, but when you look at it through the eyes of reality it
becomes pretty important.
There is an e-scale and a P-scale of missions.
Neighborhood mission or friendship evangelism is E-0. Every one of us is there. We all need to be able
to do mission at E-0. No question about it. No excuses!
Foreign mission is at the E-3 level. Neil Anderson spent 25 plus years breaking into the culture, learning
the language, reducing the language to writing, teaching the language to the people, teaching the
I learned one small thing about missions that changed the way I view missions. It really is quite
4
Don’t forget your new African Name (
your life and pray that He will continue to strengthen you.
Ayomide) literally meaning my joy has finally arrived. We bless God who has started all good things in
people to read, and translating the New Testament accurately in the context of the culture. That is a hard work!
ICSV is an easy work comparatively. Most of the time the staff of ICSV operates at the E-1 level of
evangelism. Language isn’t a huge issue, culture isn’t a huge issue, we have something the student and
parent want and we have a captive audience.
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(Matt 25: 14-30) 28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.
29 what he has will be taken from him. where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” you understand?
For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness,Now that is pretty blunt. What part of that don’t
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IS THERE A PLACE IN MISSION FOR ME?
There is no one excluded from mission. God is going to hold each of us accountable. Let me tell you about Uncle Bob…. Let me tell you about Dave a student of mine… Let me tell you about Evan another student of mine…. Let me tell you about Glenn, Math teacher at ICSV… Let me tell you about every single person on staff at ICSV.
·
Water? Currently, Mosaic is involved with feeding homeless youth at Cup of Cool Water,
Feeding meals to the folks at City Gate, sometimes volunteers help out with these as well as
partnering with Orchard Park and feeding homeless under the bridge. On the 11
be interviewing and sharing a little bit about Grace Giving International (working with orphans in
Ethiopia). This last year, we sent a team to Nicaragua with AGROS. John can tell you a little more
about that.
Start at home. Are there any local missions where you can get involved? UGM? Cup of Coolth, we will also
· I'm looking for a couple of extra people to help at City Gate tomorrow Saturday 6:15PM - 9:30PM. Pour coffee or water, serve plates of food, wipe and mop. Pretty simple.
Hey, Pitotti family,
·
Give me a call if any of you can help out.
· Mike Mann, MS, ATP
Thanks,
· help in an AWANA program? Can you volunteer at a VBS? Can you teach Sunday School? Can you set up chairs for Church Service? Can you help Habitat? Hook up with another church that has short term missions. Find out from Pastor John what is going on and where you can fit in. Join God where He is working. The biggest thing for you to do is to find some way for you to develop meaningful relationships. Get off your duff and get busy. Don’t sit around wondering and waiting. You want God’s blessing? Well, He isn’t going to bless you for doing nothing when He has a huge job for you to do. Step up to the challenge. God doesn’t mince words, He has said, darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
You can volunteer at school - any school. Can you read to students? Can you tutor? Can you30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the
5
Don’t forget your new African Name (
your life and pray that He will continue to strengthen you.
Ayomide) literally meaning my joy has finally arrived. We bless God who has started all good things in
We have been given direct orders. What happens to you when you are in the army and you violate a direct order? Find where God is working and join Him there. Do the job He wants you to do. Don’t try to do God’s work. You aren’t qualified! Let God do God’s work and you do the work He has assigned to you. 1. Get some basic training. Enroll in a Perspectives class. Enroll in a course or a class at Moody Northwest. Develop a skill or gift that God has blessed you with. There are mission Boards that can use any skill you have. There are places right here where you can put those skills to good use for the sake of the Gospel. Just remember your goal is not to build an empire, it is to develop a relationship.
I can think of my own background because of all the people I know, I believe I might know myself best.
Be brave, take a risk. It doesn’t take a lot of searching yourself, or a lot of prayer. God has already given
you marching orders. Are you going to argue with Him? “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker.”
There was a time many years ago when we needed a first grade boy’s Sunday school teacher. No one
stepped up so I decided to volunteer. I never taught 1
st grade before. I didn’t know 1st grade from 12th
grade. I’d have them line up and count off, I’d march them around like little tin soldiers. I’d have them read big chapters out of the King James Bible… It wasn’t too long someone came up to me and said, “Nels, why don’t you go find something else to do, I can do this.”
There was the time when I wanted some students to lead worship in chapel…. No takers they were all
too shy. I picked out what I thought were some really good old hymns and I started to sing a'capella…
I’m sure it sounded like a funeral dirge. I sing by the letter. I just open up and letter fly! After the first
Chapel a committee of students came up to me and said, Mr. Pitotti, we would like to lead worship in
Chapel this year.” Don’t be afraid about making mistakes. Actually it could be lots of fun to make a
mistake. You will make lots of them. Just use the gifts God has given you in a way that brings honor to
His name.
How many people do you think are more qualified than I am to be principal of ICSV? No doubt there are
more than a thousand. I keep asking God, “Why me? How was it you picked me from all the rest?” I
can think of lots of people who could do a much better job than I can.
Why did he pick David?
Why did he pick Ester?
Why did he pick Peter?
Why did he pick James?
Why did he pick D.L. Moody?
Why did he pick Billy Sunday?
Why did he pick Billy Graham?
Why does He pick anyone? God loves to work through common ordinary people. God’s strength is
perfected in our weakness.
17,18 & 19
I found out that God loves FAT FROGs
20 Average intelligence when focused through Christ excels.
Faithful, Available, Teachable person who Fully Relies on God. F.R.O.G.s
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Don’t forget your new African Name (
your life and pray that He will continue to strengthen you.
Ayomide) literally meaning my joy has finally arrived. We bless God who has started all good things in
21
To some of you sitting here today this may not make any sense at all. How are you going to disciple someone or to help someone else find eternal life if you don’t have complete assurance yourself that you have eternal life? To be a missionary you don’t have to cross the sea, but you must see the cross. If you don’t know with absolute certainty that if you should die today that you would go immediately to be with God in heaven then I want to talk with you. I’ll be up front right here waiting for you. Planet earth is a scary place to leave if you don’t know where you are going. Don’t put it off, make a decision today. What are you waiting for? Today is the day of salvation, now is the appointed time. If you believe God is speaking directly to you today about… “ them in everything I have commanded you.” Pastor John or one of the elders or if you want, you can talk to me. I would be glad to spend some time with you.
Making disciples of all nations, baptizing[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obeyThen I want you to tell someone about that today. You can talk to