To make sure we are all on the same page, let’s quickly review what we’ve discussed so far in this series. For those watching or listening to this sermon, please note that we didn’t include this content in the handout; however, it is available online already.  Just go to last week’s sermon on our website, and you will see my manuscript with everything on it.

 A passage that summarizes The Mission of God is Romans 8:28-30:

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose [(His Mission!)]. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

 A passage that summarizes The Mission of The Church is Matthew 28:19-20:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations [(ethnic groups or people groups)], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)

 As a church, we explain The Great Commission Jesus gave His Church this way:

“Engage (go to and intentionally connect with) those far from God (unsaved and unreached people) with the Gospel of Jesus Christ to know and follow Him (make disciples!).”

 Notice that we categorized those “far from God” with two words—“unsaved” and “unreached.”  Essentially, it’s a way of contextualizing lostness.  It's not that one is any more lost than the other, but rather the terms are meant to distinguish the severity of their context.

 “Unsaved” refers to those individuals who currently have the potential to repent and believe in Jesus.  That is, healthy, growing churches exist within their culture; therefore, if those churches do their job, they can provide the unsaved in their culture with the opportunity to know and follow Christ.

 “Unreached” refers to people who have no current potential to repent and believe in Jesus because there is no local church present within their culture to potentially engage them with the Gospel.   

 The Mission of the Local Church, then, is to globally carry out the Mission of the Church within a local context, meaning each local church needs to get a VISION from the Lord on what God has called them to do in their community and around the world.  At Venture, the VISION we believe God has given us to faithfully participate in the Mission of The Church is to:

 “Localize the movement of the Mission of The Church throughout the counties on the western side of the Charlotte metro region (unsaved) and in people groups around the world that have no access to the Gospel (unreached).”

 We believe there are five keys to that vision:

Plant Venture satellite CAMPUSES throughout the region that localize the Mission of The Church.

Be a church of GROUPS that multiply quickly enough for everyone in Venture to live in community with a small group of people who help each other grow in their faith as they serve together in the Mission of The Church.

Capitalize on strategic PROJECTS that help advance the Mission of The Church in cultures unlike the one we live in.

Form strategic PARTNERSHIPS to support ministries and missionaries that effectively localize the Mission of The Church with unreached people groups.

Adopt UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS and work to remove them from the list!

 Those five keys are what Venture needs to do to accomplish our mission.  However, the question then becomes, what am I supposed to do as an individual to help?  That is, what has God specifically called me to do in and through the local church that He led me to partner with to serve with Christ in the Mission of The Church?

Last week, I mentioned that not everyone is called to do the same thing.  However, that was slightly misleading.  It is indeed true that we aren't all called and gifted to do the same things, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some universal responsibilities that we all share.

So, today, we're going to discuss the three most important things we need to know when determining our role in the Mission of the Local Church.

There are three important things to know when determining your role in the Mission of the Local Church.

The first most important thing to know is that,

 There are universal responsibilities every follower of Jesus is commanded to OWN in the Mission of the Local Church.

 To own something means you’re not going to sit around and watch others do it.Because you own it, you’re going to put your heart and soul into it yourself.  You’re not going to just hope or assume it will get done and done so with excellence; you’re going to put every ounce of effort you can into ensuring that it is.  That’s what it means to own something.

So, what is in the Mission of the Local Church that we are supposed to own?Well, I’m going to walk you through a sampling of Biblical passages that speak directly to the universal responsibilities that every Christian is supposed to OWN within the Mission of the Local Church.  When we are done reading through these, I’m going to give you some quick bullet points that capture the responsibilities we just read about.  This doesn’t cover everything we are supposed to personally own in the mission of the local church, but I think we could argue that it hits all the major ones.

19  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

23 And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. (Luke 14:23)

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Romans 3:9-15)

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:11-14)

 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10)

 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

 2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison--4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2-4)

 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called youout of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

So, what did we just learn?Every believer in Christ should own the following in the context of The Mission of the Local Church:

 Be committed to continually growing up as a fruit-bearing Christian who represents the Kingdom of God well in their family, church, and community.

Note:  Own your own spiritual health!  Don’t blame your spiritual immaturity on somebody else.  Get plugged in to a local church committed to teaching God’s Word and living out The Mission of The Local Church to help feed your own personal relationship with the Lord, not to replace it!

Financially support the work of your local church (tithe!) that is supposed to be localizing the work of Christ in your region and with people groups who have no access to the Gospel!

 Note:  I did an entire sermon on this back in December 2024.  Here’s a link to it on our website - https://daretoventure.org/sermons/giving/

Pray for people in your church and for the missionaries with whom your local church is partnered.

Build sincere relationships with people far from God in your sphere of influence and point them to know and follow Jesus.

Note: We will not all do this in the same way, but we must all be working together to do it.

 Build sincere relationships with people within the church to lovingly help each other grow in Christ, live life, and participate in the Mission of the Local Church (Groups!).

 Note: We will all do different things within this, but we all need to demonstrate love for others within our local church in a way that enables us to enjoy living life together, helps each other grow in our faith in Christ, and supports each other in successfully participating in the Mission of the Local Church.

The second most important thing we need to know is that,

 The Bible provides various examples, but not an exhaustive list, of how God individually gifts and equips people to serve in the mission of the Local Church.

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:3-8)

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-12)

This means that, just as the body has a vast array of parts, there is an almost endless list of ways God can gift and call a person to serve in the Mission of the Local Church.So, let me tell you some of the ways God has gifted and called some of the people in Venture to serve!

There are a ton of volunteers who serve on our AVL team, but I want to talk about one of our newest volunteers. He’s a High School student named Carter Ingle.  Carter is now volunteering to run the equipment in Lincolnton that enables everybody in Lincolnton to join in with the people in Dallas for the sermon!  We cannot fulfill our vision of multiplying campuses that localize the movement of the Gospel of Jesus in places around our region without people like Carter Ingle.  Hundreds of people in Lincolnton will join with people in Dallas to see and hear the preaching of God’s Word or not see and hear it because of a High School student named Carter!

Eric Plemmons is an HR specialist who started, built, and sold an HR company in the Raleigh/Durham area, then moved back here with his wife, Leslie, who retired as a career schoolteacher. He is still employed full time doing HR work, but they also volunteer to lead a Venture Life Group made up of empty nesters who help support various ministry efforts through the church and around Lincolnton (i.e., they led a campaign to purchase Christmas presents for children of inmates in the Lincoln County Prison).  Eric also serves as the chairman of our Trustees.  Venture’s Trustees are the elected group of volunteers tasked with helping lead the financial and business matters of the church, including HR matters.

Joe Padilla is a gifted visionary leader who has been advancing up the ladder at TSA because of it. But he hasn’t isolated that leadership ability and passion exclusively to TSA.  Joe and his wife Stephanie actually started Venture’s first “satellite campus.” During the COVID shutdown, they set up a TV in their backyard and invited all their neighbors to come over and watch the service we put online.  He not only serves Venture as one of its lay (nonpaid) pastors in Lincolnton, but over the years, he and his wife have started numerous life groups and Bible studies, and used their financial success to specifically purchase a home that could be used to host Life Groups and Bible studies in the Lincolnton area.   They even helped start and host a weekly Bible study for tweens (4th and 5^th graders) that has been growing like crazy!

Terry Gregoire owned an auto shop in Gastonia. He has served as one of our lay (nonpaid) pastors for a while and now serves at the Dallas campus.  He helps oversee groups and does an incredible job with pastoral care.  A couple of years ago, he sold his shop and retired; however, while he owned it, his greatest passion was discussing Jesus with customers.  When people sat in his waiting room, waiting for their cars to be repaired or serviced, Terry would get to know them, find ways to pray with them, and discuss the Gospel.   Terry influenced tons of people to know and follow Jesus!

One of the people Terry influenced is named Kat Loo. As a result, Kat and her family ended up at Venture.  Long story short, since they adopted two deaf children, Kat and her husband, Ben, decided to learn sign language.  However, in doing so, they got a passion for reaching people in the deaf community with the Gospel.  When they began attending, they approached the pastors with a vision to establish a deaf ministry at Venture.  They didn’t ask us to do it.  They asked if they could do it in Venture.  If you come to the 9:30 worship gathering in Dallas, you will see the fruit of their work!  Venture is bringing the Gospel to one of the most unreached people groups in the United States, thanks to how Kat and Ben Loo have utilized their talents in the Mission of the Local Church.

 Zach and Brandy Turton are gifted visionary leaders committed to doing everything with excellence, and as such, they have both been advancing in their careers in corporate America. Meanwhile, they also love seeing teenagers grow up in Christ, and they are both truly gifted at helping them do so.  As such, they both volunteer in our VSM ministry to lead discipleship groups.  Zach leads a high school guys’ group, and Brandy leads a high school girls’ group.  But they don’t just lead a discussion group on Wednesday night and then go home.  They are all in, building relationships with the students in those groups, showing up at games and other life events, and being on call for them to reach out about things in their lives and faith.  They love listening to and providing Biblical counsel, as well as praying with their students.  As a result, all kinds of teenagers are getting grounded in the faith and leading others to do the same!  They also lead an adult Life Group together, a Life Group that I imagine our student pastor, Jason Gilbert, hopes everybody in that group will end up helping Zach and Brandy with different things in the student ministry.

Pam Blackwell is a retired elementary and middle school teacher. Every Tuesday, she contacts every new family that registered a kid in our children’s ministry the previous weekend.  Two Sundays a month (three when there are five Sundays), she volunteers in the AdVenture Kids ministry at the Dallas campus.  She leads the Small Group for K-2nd graders during the 9:30 worship service and teaches the large group lesson on the 2nd Sunday of each month.  In addition, she is a Bible teacher for the Bible Club we started for the Boys and Girls Club of America that meets in our Dallas building (The Hub) and teaches the Backyard Bible Club we are doing at the Cline Learning Center in Dallas.  She was even a chaperone for the kids who went to camp at Ridgecrest back in June!

 Speaking of our kids’ ministry. On both campuses, the curriculum we use on Sundays with our kids is called the Gospel Project.  It comes with some incredible videos and other media that help kids engage with the content and understand the day’s lesson.  In Dallas, for the kids to see and hear those videos and worship music, someone has to be in the AVL booth in the Kidzone to run it all. One of those volunteers is my oldest daughter, Ada Rammell.  Ada isn’t an IT specialist, nor is she a sound engineer, nor is she a computer geek; she simply loves Jesus and wants to serve in the Mission of the Local Church.  So, she became aware of a need in this area, acquired the necessary skills, and began volunteering.  As a result of her and the other students who volunteer to do the same thing, many kids are being inspired to live their lives loving and following Jesus.

 Sandra and Jeff Cloninger are both retired. They serve as greeters in Lincolnton, serve on our mission team that’s leading Venture to take names off the list of unreached people groups around the world, volunteer for the Red Cross to help people in the region who suddenly lose their homes to things like a fire, and they volunteer with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief program that goes all over the country and around the world to help people.  They have leveraged the resources of their retirement and the passion to help people in crisis to do things locally and across the globe that tangibly demonstrate the love of Christ to a lost world.

 Years ago, Steve Harrington was almost killed in an industrial accident. He has third-degree burns over a large percentage of his body and spent a year in the hospital.  He lives in constant severe pain … yet … there is hardly ever a Sunday that people don’t get joyfully greeted by him when they walk in the front doors of our Dallas campus … and he’s been doing it for years!  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who felt judged and unwelcome by churches, but when they walk into our Dallas building on a Sunday, Steve Harrington is one of the first people they meet who starts to convince them this is not one of those places!

Earlier, you saw a video about Keverly Dyson. Like Kevelry, Kelly Rent is also utilizing her talents on the global mission field.  She’s a career pharmacist who volunteers her time to travel with Samaritan’s Purse to provide pharmacy services in disaster areas where Samaritan’s Purse is helping to provide medical relief.  In addition, she not only serves on our mission team to help Venture figure out how to take names of people groups off the list of those who are unreached, but she’s personally committed to doing the work as well.  Kelly is one of several women in our church who have learned a specific way to tell the story of the Gospel, in the Old and New Testaments, to people who can’t read and have no knowledge of Jesus.  The idea is not only to teach the Gospel, but to do so in a way that allows listeners to learn it and share it with others.  She volunteers to go on trips with Venture’s key mission partner, Calvary Road Ministries, to work with unreached people groups, especially the women in those groups. These women typically come from places like Darfur, where many are denied the opportunity to learn to read.

Joey Choate is a small business owner in Lincolnton, North Carolina. He owns Lincoln Plumbing and Water Filtration. He and his wife, Kristi, who runs the business with him, started a Bible study in their home and have intentionally invited all the people in their business, as well as friends and neighbors, to attend.  They aren’t just inviting the believers they know to it, but also intentionally inviting people in their sphere of influence and community who don’t know Jesus as well!  Additionally, they hold devotions with all their employees at least once a week, and he leads a men’s group on Saturday mornings.  You don’t have to be a Christian to work for Joey, but if you go to work for him, you're going to be loved and encouraged by him and his wife, and you’re going to hear all about the Gospel of Jesus!

 Christy Jones is a career homemaker who loves to cook and disciple women to know and follow Jesus. For years, she has volunteered to prepare incredible food for people going through difficult times in life, as well as for church outreach events and programs, and various other purposes.  In addition, she spends a significant amount of time leading a team of women to disciple and encourage other women, and she also disciples and encourages women herself. As a result, the women’s ministry on our Dallas campus is growing rapidly, and it has spawned leaders like Lauren Ingle, who are now spreading the concept in Lincolnton.

 Speaking of moms, a group of them recently got together in Lincolnton and started a Bible study at a place called Amy’s House. Amy’s House is a battered women’s shelter in Lincolnton that serves women and their children.  Some of Venture’s women are teaching the Bible, others are simply hanging out and building relationships, while others are taking care of the kids during Bible Study so the moms can focus.

Similarly, Scott and Kristy Parrish are taking leadership of our Families Count ministry in Dallas. It’s a multi-week program that collaborates with DSS to provide gospel-centered mentoring for parents who are at risk of losing their children.  There are all kinds of ways parents can end up in this situation, but instead of judging them, Scott and Kristy are determined to lead an effort to rescue them!   They are planning to do another group this September—stay tuned!

 A few years ago, Marty Clary retired as the director of the Charlotte Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. Leading up to his retirement, he got busy volunteering his time on the Board of the Greater Gaston Boys and Girls Club of America – Dallas Club, which Venture donates space to in our Dallas Campus (the Hub) to serve the Dallas community. He helps raise the money for the club to exist and has even chaired the board for the last few years.  In addition, for decades, Marty has put his passion for leading and serving to work in all kinds of ways in the mission of the local church, one of which has been organizing short-term mission PROJECTS to places like West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, New York City, Kentucky, Alaska and even right here in North Carolina.  He's at it again to see if we can help a camp ministry in 2026 for native Alaskan teenagers who have very little, if any, access to the Gospel.

 Last, but certainly not least, after volunteering in various areas with Venture, “Rocky” and “Jude” quit their jobs in the United States and committed to working for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to help reach people who have no access to the Gospel.  They are now living overseas and traveling to various places in the 10/40 window to conduct boots-on-the-ground research on specific unreached people groups.  They are providing valuable research to help (local teams and churches) effectively plan and align resources to eventually engage those groups with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

I could EASILY go on and on about all the people in Venture putting their gifts, talents, and resources together to work in and through this local church to engage those far from God with the Gospel of Jesus Christ to know and follow Him.I am incredibly blessed to serve as the Lead Pastor of this church in part because I know I’ve left out SOOOOO many stories.  Therefore, to the many people I didn’t mention, I apologize for not sharing your story, but I also know you ain’t doing it for me to mention anyway … you’re doing it for HIS GLORY and therefore I know you don’t care if I talk about you or not!  Additionally, every person I mentioned is probably mad at me to some extent for using them as an example, because they aren’t doing it for us to applaud either.  So, I apologize to you as well.  But, I didn’t ask you for permission to tell your story because I knew you would likely tell me to use someone else!

Finally, to wrap this up, let me quickly share the third most important thing we need to know:

If you’re trying to figure out what to do in the mission of the local Church, don’t overcomplicate things! If you don’t know what to do, then get plugged into a life group and start serving with them in whatever they are doing. God will lead you to the next right thing if you will get committed to the first right things—the things every Christian ought to own!

Matthew recorded Jesus saying,

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

The words of Christ here are directly about trusting God to supply our needs, but the principle applies to everything in our lives.Trust God enough to do what you know you are supposed to do now, and if He wants you doing something else, He will lead you there!  We see this principle all over the Bible, including one of my favorite passages.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I closed out the second thing we need to know with the story of Rocky and Jude; however, to make this point a little clearer, let me take you a little deeper into their story.

When they started serving in Venture, they had no idea that one day God would call them to go overseas and do what they are doing now.Long story short, they got plugged in with a group and started serving in areas of need that sounded like things they might enjoy doing.  One of them got started here as a teenager.  However, in both cases, the point wasn’t what they were doing as much as why they were doing it—they wanted to work together with the people in Venture to help fulfill the mission of the local church.   Simple as that.  They did the next right thing in front of them that they could do, especially the things that every believer in Christ is supposed to own in the mission of the local Church.  As they did, they began to catch a vision for what God had specifically called and gifted them to do.

I will tell you that they didn’t try to force their way into areas of ministry that they weren’t gifted enough to do with the level of excellence we need at Venture to be effective in our vision.They also didn’t sit around for months and years on end trying to figure out what to do.  They started volunteering with things they could do with excellence, getting plugged into other people’s lives to be discipled and help others be discipled, and bang … years later, they are flying all over the 10/40 window doing the ground-breaking work that will one day lead to those unreached people groups no longer being unreached people groups!

Challenge

What’s the next right thing for you to do?  How well are you taking responsibility for the things every Christian should own in the mission of the local Church?  Are you more concerned with finding the “perfect” something for you to do, or with the Mission of the Local Church and serving with Christ in it?

Discussion Guide

The Prior 3 messages were on:

1. The Misson of God
2. The Mission of His Church
3. The mission of Venture.

This last message is about your involvement in all 3.

What are some reasons someone might get involved, serving, in a church?

What inspired one of you (a group member) to start serving?

 There are three important things to know when determining your role in the Mission of the Local Church:

 There are universal responsibilities every follower of Jesus is commanded to OWN in the Mission of the Local Church. (Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 14:23; Romans 3:9-15; Ephesians 4:11-14; Colossians 1:10; 3:16; 4:2-4, 1 Peter 2:9)

*Read the above passages ahead of time and choose a few to define and discuss in a way that group members could bring out their personal responsibility in living the values.

 The values brought out in the above passages should reflect some of the points in A-E below.

Related to Points A-E:

-Which one has the Lord changed your mind on or grown you in?  Is there a passage or principle that caused you to see it differently?  What were some steps you had to take to face the battle of changing?

-Which one do you know you need to change in but have struggled to do so (someone else in the group could help them overcome)?

-Is there one that you don’t see any need to change in? (this could provoke the whole group to really have to think change together).

 Be committed to continually growing up as a fruit-bearing Christian who represents the Kingdom of God well in their family, church, and community.

Financially support the work of your local church (tithe!) that is supposed to be localizing the work of Christ in your region and with people groups who have no access to the Gospel!

Pray for people in your church and for the missionaries with whom your local church is partnered.

Build sincere relationships with people far from God in your sphere of influence and point them to know and follow Jesus.

Build sincere relationships with people within the church to lovingly help each other grow in Christ, live life, and participate in the Mission of the Local Church (Groups!).

The Bible provides various examples, but not an exhaustive list, of how God individually gifts and equips people to serve in the mission of the Local Church. (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, Ephesians 4:11-12)

Have you discovered one or more gifts that God has given you?

How do you use that gift to serve others or serve the mission of the church?

Is there a gift you wish you had?  (this just pulls out how people see themselves)

Could someone in the room point out a gift you’ve noticed in someone else, whether they see it or not?  (this could provoke some conversation in connecting people into a ministry opportunity)

If you’re trying to figure out what to do in the mission of the local Church, don’t overcomplicate things!If you don’t know what to do, then get plugged into a life group and start serving with them in whatever they are doing. God will lead you to the next right thing if you will get committed to the first right things—the things every Christian ought to own! (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 3:5-6)

 Is there a ministry you’ve been considering but haven’t approached for some reason?

Challenge

What’s the next right thing for you to do?  How well are you taking responsibility for the things every Christian should own in the mission of the local Church?  Are you more concerned with finding the “perfect” something for you to do, or with the Mission of the Local Church and serving with Christ in it?