FROM WEST END TO WORLDS END SERMON 1

Series Title: From West End to World’s End

Sermon Title: Missions Is the Heart of God

Text: Genesis 12:1–3

In this first message of our new series, From West End to World’s End, we begin a journey through the heart of missions and evangelism.

At West End Baptist Church, we currently support several mission projects around the world. Yet, I want to ensure that the mission work we support—and the mission work we are called to personally engage in—remains front and center in our minds and hearts.

Reaching the world with the Gospel is not an idea that began in the New Testament. It has always been in the heart of God. From before the foundation of the world, God knew man’s fallen condition and had already prepared a plan for redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ.

In our text, Genesis 12:1–3, we see God begin that plan by moving one man—Abraham—to set His great mission in motion. But it didn’t stop there. God looked beyond Abraham and his family and saw the entire world. That same mission continues today, and I believe West End Baptist Church is part of that story and plan.

1. The Call to Leave

(Genesis 12:1)

God said to Abraham, “Go…,” but didn’t immediately tell him where. His command was clear, but His direction was vague. Abraham was called to leave his land, his family, and his security—simply to obey God.

True faith in God often means stepping out of the familiar into the unknown. The great missionary Jim Elliot understood this when he left the safety of his home to reach the tribes of Ecuador. He famously said,

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

As a church family, we must embrace the idea that sacrifice means something. People on your street, in our community, and across the world need Christ—and we may have to get uncomfortable to reach them.

Everyone wants the Gospel to be “cool” or “catchy,” but most often, it’s carried by ordinary people willing to obey Godin extraordinary ways. Abraham was one of those people—and so can we be.

2. The Promise of Blessing

(Genesis 12:2)

Though God’s directions were unclear, His promise to Abraham was certain:

“I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee…”

This blessing had a twofold meaning—both physical and spiritual. Abraham’s descendants would form the great nation of Israel, but also a spiritual nation of all who, like Abraham, believe God and are counted righteous by faith.

The Jewish nation and the Christian faith are deeply connected. Our Bible was written mostly by Jews. Our Savior was born to a Jewish maiden. The Gospel itself is rooted in Jewish types and promises.

In blessing Abraham, God also promised His favor and provision to all who would trust Him. Often, the reason we hesitate in missions is fear—fear that if we give or go, God will forget us. But He never does.

God’s promise still stands: “Thou shalt be a blessing.”

If we will trust and obey, God will bless us. And with the blessings we’ve received, we owe it to our Lord—and to the world—to use them for His glory.

3. The Global Purpose

(Genesis 12:3)

God told Abraham that through him “all families of the earth” would be blessed. That word families translates to tribes or ethnic groups.

Abraham only knew people who looked and talked like him, but God’s vision reached far beyond that. That’s why God told him to leave his country and his kindred—it’s hard to reach the world when we only care about our small circle.

Through Abraham’s obedience, every tribe, tongue, and nation would come to know Jehovah. Abraham couldn’t imagine it then, but we now see the global reach of the Gospel that began with one man’s faith.

Let’s remember: one act of obedience can change the world.

Consider Edward Kimball, a timid Sunday School teacher who led D.L. Moody to Christ in a shoe store. Moody led Wilbur Chapman to the Lord. Chapman led Billy Sunday. Sunday led Mordecai Ham. Ham led Billy Graham, who preached to more people than anyone in history.

All because one shy man shared the Gospel.

From Genesis to Revelation, the heart of God has always been people—loving, saving, and blessing them. Abraham obeyed, and the world was blessed. Jim Elliot obeyed. Edward Kimball obeyed. Someone obeyed to bring the Gospel to you and me.

Conclusion

Will West End Baptist Church obey?
Will you obey?

God’s heart has always been for the world. Let’s make sure that from West End to the world’s end, we keep His mission at the heart of everything we do.