Recap:
Opening – Wayne & Lea Groff
In Matthew 24:14, Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
That word “nations” in the Greek is ethnos, it’s not talking about modern borders or governments. It’s talking about tribes and peoples, distinct cultures, languages, and families of the earth. Jesus was saying that when every tribe and tongue has heard the good news, then the end will come.
This morning, we’ve heard stories that prove that this gospel is indeed reaching the nations.
The Punjabi Story
Years ago, in the mid-1990s, before smartphones, before social media, YWAM Nashville adopted an unreached people group called the Punjabi, a tribe scattered across northern India and Pakistan, with little to no access to the gospel.
Fast-forward to 2018: two YWAM missionaries, Celso and Helen Braa from Madison, Wisconsin, went to teach in Nepal. Among their students were Ashton and Susanna, young believers who caught the fire of God. After completing their training, they returned home to North India and began planting churches in the mountains.
One day Ashton visited the state of Punjab, yes, that same tribe adopted decades earlier, and shared the gospel with a young mother. She came to faith in Christ. What Ashton didn’t know was that her family were devout Sikhs, often hostile to Christians. Yet as her life was transformed, one by one, her family began to follow Jesus.
The gospel was spreading in a place that had once been considered unreachable.
Paul said in Romans 10, “How will they believe unless they hear? And how will they hear unless someone is sent?”
Now, in 2025, Ashton and Susanna are leading a discipleship school among first-generation believers from Sikh and Hindu backgrounds, people who have lost everything to follow Jesus. Because they are from oral cultures, they learn Scripture through story, art, song, and painting. When the authorities came, they burned their artwork to protect one another, but the Word of God was already hidden in their hearts.
And as we speak, they are back in Punjab sharing the gospel again. On their very first night, another woman gave her life to Christ. God is moving among the Punjabi.
The Islands of French Polynesia – Joe & Judi Portale
From the mountains of India to the islands of the Pacific, God is still pursuing people in the farthest corners of the earth.
Through Operation Christmas Child and YWAM Ships, missionaries traveled to isolated coral atolls with only a handful of children. They carried shoeboxes filled with gifts, and hearts filled with the gospel.
On one island, 21 children heard the story of Jesus for the first time. They gave their lives to Christ, received New Testaments, and then, get this, taught the gospel to their parents. Whole families came to faith through the witness of their children.
As of this year, over 90% of the children in all of French Polynesia have now heard the gospel. Every child matters to God, and every island is precious in His sight.
Forty-Six Years in East Africa – Chip & Chari Kingsbury
Then we heard from Chip and Sherry Kingsbury, missionaries sent out by this very church 46 years ago. When they first arrived in Kenya, they thought they were going to train pastors. Instead, the pastors trained them, teaching them what it truly means to serve.
Through their ministry, generations of leaders have been discipled. They’ve trained teachers, mentored university students, counseled marriages, and planted churches. Today, they are seeing second- and third-generation believers leading children’s ministries, teaching in universities, and transforming communities.
Sherry described it beautifully: ministry is like a stone dropped into still water, ripples of God’s glory moving outward through the generations.
The Call to Us – Mark Traver
Psalm 96 says,
“Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.”
God is not just the God of Johnson County or America, He is the Lord of every tribe, every family, every nation. His heart beats for the world, and His call remains the same: Go and make disciples of all nations.
This week, our church is hosting 26 of our 40 missionaries, men and women who have left comfort, family, and the American dream to bring Jesus to the ends of the earth. They’ve traded air-conditioning for dusty roads, traded ease for obedience, and they are changing the world.
Church, this is our call too. We may not all go, but we can all pray, give, and send.
Some of you are retired, take a missionary to lunch this week. Hear their stories. Pray with them. Be a part of what God is doing through them.
Next Sunday, we’ll take up a special offering to support missions for the year ahead. Every dollar given helps us send missionaries, build churches, and reach the unreached. Whether it’s one dollar or a thousand, every gift matters, because together, we’re fulfilling the Great Commission.
Closing
We live in a world flooded with bad news, but make no mistake: Jesus is on the move. From the Himalayas to the South Pacific to the plains of Africa, His glory is filling the earth.
So let’s be a church that says, “Here am I, Lord. Send me.”
Let’s go, let’s give, let’s pray, and let’s keep declaring His glory among the nations, until every tribe, every tongue, and every nation has heard.
Group Questions:
Icebreakers (Choose 1–2)
- If you could visit any country in the world, where would you go, and why?
- Have you ever met someone from another culture who inspired your faith? What did you learn from them?
- What’s one story of faith, yours or someone else’s, that you’ve never forgotten?
Scripture Foundation
Matthew 24:14: “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Psalm 96:3–4: “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.”
Discussion Questions
The Heart of the Great Commission
- What does Jesus mean when He says the gospel will be preached to “all nations”?
- How does understanding ethnos (tribes, peoples, languages) change the way we view missions?
- Why do you think God’s plan for the end of the age is tied to every tribe and tongue hearing the gospel?
- The Punjabi Story – God’s Faithfulness Across Generations
- What stands out to you about how the Punjabi people were first adopted in the 1990s and are now seeing revival decades later?
- How does this story show the long-term nature of God’s work in missions?
- What can we learn from Ashton and Susanna’s obedience, even under persecution?
- The Islands of French Polynesia -The Power of the Next Generation
- How did God use children to reach entire families in French Polynesia?
- What does this teach us about the importance of discipling kids and youth?
- In what ways might God want to use the next generation in our community to reach others?
- The Kingsburys – Generational Impact
- Chip and Chari described ministry as “ripples in the water.” What does that image mean to you?
- How have you seen faith ripple through generations in your own life, family, or church?
- What does it mean to invest your life in something that lasts beyond you?
- Our Part in the Mission
- Mark Traver reminded us: “We may not all go, but we can all pray, give, and send.”
- Which of these three areas, praying, giving, or sending, do you feel most called to grow in? Why?
- How might God be inviting you to personally engage in the Great Commission this year?
- What does obedience look like for you in this season, whether that’s going, supporting, or simply saying, “Here am I, Lord, send me”?
Application & Prayer
- Take a few minutes as a group to pray for one of the regions mentioned: Punjab (India/Pakistan), French Polynesia, or East Africa.
- Pray specifically for:
- Courage for missionaries sharing the gospel.
- Open hearts among unreached people groups.
- A renewed passion in our church to give, send, and pray.