Kevin & Sarah breakdown what it means to be Sent by Jesus to the world. They discuss what having a mission mindset looks like, how to know if you have it, and how to keep focused & grow it.

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Sent 315 is here to help Christian believers grow in sharing Jesus & their faith testimony. This is practical, natural evangelism.

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Sent 315 Podcast - Episode 2

We are Sent - And What This Means!

Intro- Welcome to Sent315, We're here to encourage Christians to engage in adventure of sharing Jesus, those that God puts into their life. And we're so glad you're here.

Kevin Miller 00:00:14 - Hey everybody, this is Kevin Miller, your host for Sent315. I'm with Sarah Maine.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:00:21 - Hello

Kevin Miller 00:00:21 - And our great engineer Matt Hall who maintains silence, but he's waving at you guys. And seriously, we are so excited to be with a whole bunch of non evangelists who really do want to share the love of Jesus. And that's what we're here for. And I'm excited about it. Sarah, tell me, how was the week? How do week go?

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:00:40 - It was good. Yeah, it's it's been a little busy with work and everything going on. But it's been pretty good. Something weird happened, you know, you sometimes end up in a random group chat. And so as (laughs) always, like,(inaudible) Okay. Yeah, I landed in one of those. And there was like, 20 people in it, and someone was seeming like they were taking, wanting to go into unholy direction.

And people started responding, like, who the world is this blah, blah, blah. And so I was like, well, you got to take your opportunity. So I just said, Hey, I don't know who anyone is here. But here's John 14:1&6. And, you know, don't be troubled. And Jesus, I am the way the truth and the life Jesus loves you, each, and then it just magically all stop(laugh).

Kevin Miller 00:01:35 - (inaudible)... you're getting booted out of that thread,(laugh), but you brought calm and peace to them.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:01:39 - Yeah, yeah,

Kevin Miller 00:01:40 - I've got a couple that I've been meaning to share and so much fun. This is how complicated and how we can get into our head. And I, you know, I'm in the recovery phases of COVID, and all of that, and getting my endurance back and running and stuff. So I was out on a run all by myself on a very popular flat, easy trail, "Walker Preserve".

I don't know if you know that one. But I like it. It has its purpose. And I and I decided, I've had this in my head on runs or you know, sometimes you smile, and people are saying something nice to people is good.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:02:40 - Yeah

Kevin Miller 00:02:40 - But you know, I want to do want to take it a little bit more is so funny, because this is nothing. Everybody could do this, but it was in my head. So as I passed people, I would say good morning, with a big smile. Obviously, I wasn't running all that hard, I had a lot of breath. But then if they responded in any way to it, like, you know, like, Good morning back or something, or just say, God bless you, just to add a little God into their day, which is such a simple thing. And who knows what will happen. And in on that trail, there's people that do that same trail all the time.

And so I just kind of, you know, didn't get all spiritual about it, but kind of claim that trail like, Hey, I'm gonna be intentional about this. Because usually when I run with my buddies, we're into our own conversations and everything, we're still friendly. But we're in the middle of nowhere. Very excited about what we're what we're going to be getting into for this week, because we're going to talk about_

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:03:08 - "Our name"

Kevin Miller 00:03:13 - That's right, we're going to break down this very complicated name that we have "Sent315".

(Inaudible & Crosstalk)00:03:13 - .......we won't go to the Greek(laugh).

Kevin Miller 00:03:17 - But we're gonna talk about being sent, that we're going to try to convince everybody listening, (I don't know how) many people that is right now that we are sent. And then what can happen to us after we determine that we make that determination.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:03:36 - Let's get into it.

Kevin Miller 00:03:37 - I want to start off with a couple of Bible verses that are really important to me that helped me to understand that we are sent number one, that John 3:16. You know, God so loved us, when we weren't in love with him, that he sent his only son He gave His only Son, that's what love does, it sends. And then everybody knows that verse. But, but Jesus really confirmed that he understood it when he said in John 6:38, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.

So, Jesus had it real understood his purpose. And then, and John 20, which we, you and I have talked about before. Jesus said to the disciples, peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, I also send you. So, this is these, you know, you, you find the love of God, and you have a relationship with them. And it's such amazing, is just amazing. And part of that is that you just you must share that thing so good and so important. And I know there's a verse that you really like, and I do too.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:04:51 - Before I get to that verse, I think too, it reminds me of what Paul said about the love of God "compelling him" and in some translations, it says "controlling him". And there's several parts in Paul's writings that he talks about that it's like it just outflows out of you because it is the heart of God that we are sent to people and to reach people and to give them his love. And along that line is the verse in 1 John 3, which says, The reason, the Son of God, so Jesus appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

And then it's in a passage, it's talking about how, when we walk with God, we're not walking in darkness, and that we get to come into the light, and you can cross reference that all over the place. But I just love that. Because when we're sharing Jesus with people, when we're sharing his love, we're undoing darkness in their life.

Kevin Miller 00:05:49 - Yeah

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:05:50- We're joining Jesus in that mission, to destroy all that's bad, and all the things that we don't want. And helping people learn how to walk in His goodness, which we are created for,

Kevin Miller 00:06:03 - You know, it's more important now than never, because people are in need of that hope within us and that joy and what we have. So if we decide that, yeah, father we're sent, and we may not look that way, but we've decided we're sent we're we've got a purpose, and we're continuing your mission. And that's what we're all about. So we kind of take a look at then, why do we fall off of mission? Why does it happen sometimes? And I've shared a book with you by Doug's Beta, which is the Monday morning atheist. It's cool, and I'm sure we're going to have Doug on the show.

But one illustration that really drove this home to me about mission was his picture, because he was an aviator, military aviator. You think about his mindset, and you know, this, this means that he looks through, and he said, You know, it seems as though so many times we treat church and our getting together as the church as kind of a cruise ship, and that we really enjoy each other. And we have potlucks, and we're in the jacuzzi. And, really, I've got to admit, I go to church with extraordinarily cool people that I truly love and love me. So it's so easy to slip into that, and almost think that we're on this cruise, and it's really, really nice. And maybe even we don't want to mess it up.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:07:31 - Yeah

Kevin Miller 00:07:31 - So we just will, you know, it's just fine. But he said, You know what, it's just not that when you read the Word of God, what it is, is Yeah, the joy of fellowship is there for sure. But the purpose of church are getting together is more like an aircraft carrier. And we come in, because we need to come in and we're told to come together. But it's for encouragement, it's for as an aircraft carrier, refueling and repair to be sent off on mission again. And so if we don't watch out, we can lose that mission mindset, which I think is important.

And, you know, you and I have talked about that. Why do we lose mission mindset? And how do we do some things that are just practical that might keep us in that mindset of when we take off? Monday? It's Monday morning, what do I do?

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:08:22 - So, so the question I have in you sharing that is, why don't we have a Jacuzzi at our church?

(Laughs)00:08:31

Kevin Miller 00:08:32 - You don't know about the jacuzzi at our church?

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:00 8:35 - Okay, know that I love that analogy. Something that I personally struggle with is, is just what you started to hit on which is due, because none of this is revolutionary, what we're talking about, about us being sent. These are the verses, this is the Bible, this is how our faith has grown, you know, an increased over history. It's not something wild or new that we're talking about. It's something that we hear in church every week, "go share with people, get them out of the world,(laughs) bring them into the kingdom", but sometimes it seems like we struggled to do it, or that when it happens, it's like this magical unique moment that has never, you know, happened in a million years. And I think there are fantastic, cool stories that happen in in special times.

But I always think about for myself, like when I go through a week, where I'm not sharing the gospel as much, you know, in a way that seems so outright and I worry about sometimes like oh my gosh, like, "am I a terrible Christian?"

Kevin Miller 00:09:43 - Yeah

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:09:43- "Do I not get the mission mindset?", "Am I really on the same page with the Lord?" And so, my question for you is, we don't have a mission mindset truly like Jesus did, like we're not in on that picture? Or is it that we just lose? How do we know the difference with ourself in, if we really understand if we're sent or not? And what does that look like?

Kevin Miller 00:10:22 - Well, a couple of things. One of them, I had a young pastor tell me what his father told him who is a senior pastor right now. And he said, "son, 90% of what you do from the pulpit is reminding, and 10% is revolutionary", you know, Revelation and brand new here or something like that. And I think it's the same, you know, that, we need to be reminded about it. Now, when you're struggling with it, then, to some degree, first of all, it means that you're thinking about it, you're intentional about it, you're struggling with it,(inaudible 00:11:00) and the enemy can kind of if you're never thinking, if you are, then you know, then there's a problem.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:11:04 - Yeah

Kevin Miller 00:11:05 - But the enemy, the enemy is really tricky. You know, like, when you are maybe doing just fine. You know, some of the ways that we quote "evangelize" is by good works, and giving God the glory, and is by kindness and love, and, and so many things like that, that evangelism, you know, it might not look that way. But it's already being done. But the enemy will come in and try to get you and shame you and say, Yeah, you're rotten, you're good. Why would you tell anybody anything anyway? Because you don't even tell anybody anything, anyway. It's just a circle like that, I think that's part of it.

And I sort of understand that some of the things that people are doing, that are listening right now, are really sharing their faith, because they'll find somebody who will come to them from never had any conversation with them about the Lord and say, "hey, my marriage is falling apart. Could you help?", "My son is is is an alcoholic in trouble. Can you help?" That has happened to me so many times, when I didn't think that I had an impact on anybody at all. So that that's part of it. I think the other thing is, and I know how much you love John Whimbers quote about "we leak".

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:11:37 - (Laughs)John! I'm not a fan of that.

Kevin Miller 00:12:09 - And we just, we do leak, and we need to get refilled. And we need to get reminded. So. So there are some things that we can do ourselves to be reminded that we're sent and we're on mission. I try to do this every day, which is "Father, would you give me vision today for what you're already doing? I'm not stirring something up new that Jesus isn't doing. I'm joining in to what he's doing. And would you give me the vision to see it? And would you give me the courage to step into it like that?" So threatening thing I did "God bless you" on the trail. You know, this is easy.

(Laughs 00:12:55)

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:12:55 - My text message.

Kevin Miller 00:12:56 - Yeah. And so I think that's it, you know, get up, "I just want to be about your business, I'm available". And then there can be some things during the day that are reminders, too. You can have a verse on the dash, you can have an appointment with yourself on your phone, being hey! boy, "Father, I got so busy, I got so distracted, I got so whatever, that I want you to know. I'm back on track, you got anything you want me to pick up on right here?" I think those really do help. I think it's a it's it's good that we have reminders in the way during our day.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:13:30 - Another thing that in this having a "sent" mindset, understanding that having an available mindset, I think is what you're hitting on right now, as well. How do we sometimes in church, it's like on one hand, we're told, you know, go get people like they need you, they need Jesus, go get them. And then the all, the rest of it is like everyone in the world is is evil, and they're out to get us and they're gonna do all this stuff. How do we balance that, where we're making sure that we're staying like in righteousness before God and not letting things influence us in a way that's incorrect, but doesn't get in a way of making everybody the enemy where it could block our available mindset?

Kevin Miller 00:14:25 - I think for me is one of the one of the most challenging, dangerous prayers that I have encouraged Christians to pray is "Father, would you give me your love for the lost?" because he gave up his son and his son gave up everything. And so "would you give me your love?" when I when I looked through that lens at these people, that's number one. And the other thing is about the other side of the coin that you were saying, Go get em, go get em and on and all that.

I think the call that we really do have is Ephesians 2:10. And it's just beautiful and magnificent and compelling and constraining. And he puts it into a proper perspective when he says "we are His workmanship, we're created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them". So, instead of we're taking Jesus to some far off country or some miserable situation, Jesus is already there. And he's saying, Sarah, or Declan, or Kathy, I have something for you that you're going to love, because you're my workmanship, I know how I made you. And I made this good work. And it is going to be fulfilling, and it could be hard, and you're going to need to depend on me, but it's sitting there, and know that I went before you and know that I will equip you, go get on and I can make up your lack. So many, many failures. So I think that that's something that really puts it into a very different perspective. And it helps keep us in a mindset that is missional.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:16:14 - I think off of that, too, it makes me think about the fact that the people that are yet to come to him, and not to get into the whole, like predestination debate or anything. But there, their are people that you know, we're wanting to reach that are going to come to him, and that versus for them, too. And just also applying it that way. And remembering that as we're sharing his love and going towards that, their, their's a workmanship, their's an entrance to good works for them in a deeper level with the Lord. And I think that helps to not be so focused on the enemy that they could be.

Kevin Miller 00:16:55 - It's so cool. I've never thought about it this way. But you got it right on the button. They are His workmanship. They were created in Christ for good works as well. And so it's like "hey, come here!"

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:17:09 - Let's go, (laugh& Crosstalk),it's what we're created for.

Kevin Miller 00:17:12 - And when you're in when you're a part of that process, and you have relationship with somebody who is far, far, far away from God. And now there's so so so bananas for Jesus, like Keith Green used to say, he does it every single day. I mean, we're going to have a guest on, in an upcoming episode. There's another seed plant, who we're going to talk about, he saw these people at his work, and he knew the things that they were going through. And they were so hungry. Can I share a story? From Declan?

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:17:44 - Yeah, go for it.

Kevin Miller 00:17:45 - I was encouraging Declan who had doing some security work, you know, no guns and knives or anything like that. But he had a position where he had to make sure that everything was going right where he was working. And, and he told me about a situation and how do I minister to this person, you know, kind of like this person that I'm supposed to be running off, because they're not supposed to be where they are.

How do I minister to them? So, I gave him some encouragement. And I and I prayed with him and everything. And I love Declan. And he said, you know, and he told me he heard this once. And, and I can't remember where he heard it. I mean, I'm going to ask him again. But he said, you know, you only have to have 20 seconds of courage.(laugh & Crosstalk) And so he just told this guy. Can I pray for you?

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:18:36 - That's such a huge question.

Kevin Miller 00:18:38 - He was blown away. He could not believe that somebody would care enough to pray for him. And he's probably gonna see this guy sitting. Are you not supposed to be sitting blah, blah, blah. But oh my gosh. And and absolutely, Sarah? Absolutely. Almost everybody you ask, can I pray for you will say yes.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:18:58 - The only people that have ever told me no, are Christians.

(Laugh&Crosstalk).... I'm not kidding, they were just fine.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:19:06 - They're like, Oh, no, I don't know. I'm good. Thank you, or thanks for praying. But other people, they're like, Oh my gosh, and it doesn't matter usually, where they're at, in religion or God, they are so blessed by the fact that you would ask that and care and see them randomly and just like care, that you would want to do that.

Kevin Miller 00:19:28 - You know, that's, that's one more practical piece of advice for this about being sent. If only you get up and you commit "Father, when you show me an opportunity, I will be faithful, I will gear up 20 seconds of courage to say hey, can I pray for you?" Now for the person that you're saying that to, I'll give you a tip if they're if they're not in relationship with the Lord, if they're far from God, they think that you're going to pray for them. You know, some other time like when you say you're (Inaudible).

And then when you pray for them. Right there. If it's appropriate and everything that's revolutionary for people who haven't experienced that, I don't know if you have any more questions, but I know that we promised these folks that we're going to give 30 minutes of less than I've got a couple of things I wanted to slip in. Did you have any other questions on this one first?

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:20:15 - No, I don't, I don't think so I'm sure we'll be diving into this things more. And you know what, I got to do a whole episode on some of the stuff.

Kevin Miller 00:20:23 - Yeah. And I'm, I want to so bad, I want to tell everything, I want to ask everything I want to do the whole thing. One time, this is what I want to add, to really send people away with, besides Ephesians 2:10, that you are made for good works. And there is just no better work than sharing the love of Jesus with people who haven't experienced that are so hungry for it. In the babble of that, shame and guilt that you're talking about, that we need to get rid of. Because just by letting your light shine in such a way that people see your good works, and you give the father glory, that takes care of business. You know this, there's an old saying it says, your life speaks so loudly, I can't hear a word you're saying. We need both.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:21:11 - Yeah,

Kevin Miller 00:21:11 - We need the word and we need the actions that go along with.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:21:14 - Not your megaphone(Inaudible). Yeah, it could work somehow.

Kevin Miller 00:21:22 - But this is the, this is the takeaway for me. And it's John 1:6. And when this hit me, the way it hit me I knew I wanted to share this said "there came a man sent from God, whose name was John". And today for everybody who's listening, I encourage you, maybe challenge you a little bit. There came a woman, there came a man, there came a teenager, there came a person sent from God, whose name was "your name". Fill your name in, because you are a person sent from God to a desperate world. Even if they don't seem like they're desperate at all. You just never ever, never know.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:22:11 - We thank you guys for listening today. And we have a website, Sent315.org. We've got a lot of resources on there that Kevin has gathered over the years of books and things that you can learn. Other things we're going to be releasing in the future. We also have an Instagram, which is Sent_315. And that is a great way for us just to connect with you. You can share it on your stories and get people listening. Also rate and review us.

Kevin Miller 00:22:47 - Yeah and asking us questions and people that you'd love to hear interviewed.

Sarah Marie Mayne 00:22:51 - DM us

Kevin Miller 00:22:52 - Until next time, one week from now. Thank you so much like Sarah said for listening and just consider yourself SENT.