Message | Be a Friend to Jesus - Dick Brogden

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Be a Friend to Jesus"

Podcast: River Valley Church
Speaker: Dick Brogden
Date: October 26, 2025

Episode Overview

In this powerful message delivered at River Valley Church, missionary and "Live Dead" founder Dick Brogden delves into what it truly means to be a friend to Jesus. Drawing from John 15:11-16, Brogden challenges the audience to reflect on their relationship with Christ—not just as followers or servants, but as true friends. He weaves together biblical insights, personal stories, global mission statistics, and memorable anecdotes, urging listeners to encourage Jesus, defend Him, stand with Him, share in His suffering, and honor the profound trust that Christ has placed in His people to evangelize the world’s unreached.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The World’s Unreached and the Call to Missions

• Jesus’ Command: Brogden opens with John 15:11-16, pointing out five references to love in the passage. He frames fulfilling the Great Commission as the direct outworking of the Great Commandments: loving God and our neighbor (01:00).
• Global Numbers:
  • 8+ billion people on Earth, divided into ~15,000 people groups
  • ~7,000 are “unreached”—less than 2% Christian, unable to reach themselves without outside help
  • ~2,085 people groups remain “unengaged”—no missionaries, churches, scripture, or access at all (02:20)
• Application: Even 2,000 years after Jesus, millions are waiting with no gospel access. "I believe Jesus wants us to do something about that." (03:50, Dick Brogden)

2. The Radical Notion: Jesus as Friend

• Misheard Song Story: In a humorous anecdote, Brogden recounts a Filipino church singing “I am afraid of God; He calls me Fred,” instead of “I am a friend of God; He calls me friend” (04:35).
• Theological Wrestling: Brogden questions, how can the self-sufficient, triune God even “need” friends? He refers to the doctrine of aseity (God’s self-sufficiency), but wonders at the biblical reality of God desiring friendship with people like Abraham, Moses, and Enoch (06:00).
• Striking Quote & Challenge:

  "Could it be that the God who needs nothing needs you to be his friend?"
  (07:17, Dick Brogden)

3. How to Be a Friend to Jesus

Brogden expands on practical and spiritual ways to express friendship with Jesus, paralleling human relationships:

• Encouragement:
  • “Good job, Jesus, you did a good job when you made that tree.”
    (07:50, Dick Brogden)
  • Invite listeners to regularly recognize God’s handiwork and speak encouragement.
• Defense:
  • “Don't you dare slander my friend Jesus, because I know him and he's good and he's kind and he's faithful and he's true.”
    (09:00, Rebecca Ketterling, paraphrasing Brogden’s points)
  • Stand up for Christ’s true character in a world of misinformation or rejection.
• Standing With:
  • Compares to Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese—publicly standing with the marginalized.
  • “Whatever you think about Jesus, think that about me. Because I'm going to live with Him, I'm going to die with Him, I'm going to go through every circumstance with him.”
    (10:30, Rebecca Ketterling/Brogden)
• Consolation:
  • Shares that true friendship shares in another's sorrow (compassion = to suffer with). Jesus grieves over injustice, abuse, and the billions with no gospel access; His friends should also be moved by these things (12:00).
• Trust:
  • Friendship is based on trust. Jesus has trusted humanity with what is most precious: the evangelization of the world (14:00).
  • “He didn't give it to angels...but to us, his friends.”
    (14:44, Rebecca Ketterling)

4. Who Is Chosen for This Mission?

• Feeling Unqualified: Brogden names all the insecurities people might have—“I’m too weak...too broken...too old...too afraid”—and refutes them by quoting 1 Corinthians 1 (“God has chosen the foolish things...”) and Andrew Murray ("Hidden and unfelt, every child of God has the mighty Spirit of God") (17:00).
• Memorable Exchange:

  “Don't you dare say that you could not be a missionary. Does God Almighty by His Spirit live in you, or does he not?”
  (17:35, Rebecca Ketterling)

• It’s Not About Strength: Uses “agramatos idiotis” (uneducated idiots, Acts 4:13) to underscore that the Great Commission is for those who have “been with Jesus” (19:41).
  • “It doesn’t matter if you have a PhD—or can barely speak English. Can you be with Jesus?” (20:13, Dick Brogden)

5. How Do We Steward This Trust?

• Historical Example – Azusa Street Revival:
  • Early Pentecostal believers were “expecting God to baptize their strength instead of their weakness. But baptized, their weakness is what the Holy Spirit did…” (22:45)
  • The movement began in humility, prayer, and unity across race, age, gender.
• A Chinese Testimony:
  • A Chinese house church leader, when asked what he’d learned after long imprisonment, replies simply,

    “Is He not worthy? Is Jesus not worthy?”
    (25:00, paraphrasing)

• Mission Is a Privilege:
  • Citing David Livingstone:

    “Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege.”
    (26:30)

• The Waiting Villager Story:
  • In the Himalayas, a man waited 62 years for someone to come and share the gospel, after dreaming they would (27:15).
  • Brogden’s point: “Neither your friend Jesus, nor you, nor a lost world can wait 62 years.” (27:35)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Encouraging Christ:
  "Can we encourage our friend Jesus? Can you get up tomorrow morning and say, good job Jesus, you're doing a great job as Lord of all the earth..."
  (08:33, Dick Brogden)
• On Defending Friend Jesus:
  "Don't you dare slander my friend Jesus, because I know him and he's good and he's kind and he's faithful and he's true."
  (09:00, Rebecca Ketterling paraphrasing)
• On Worthiness:
  "Is He not worthy? Is Jesus not worthy?"
  (25:00, Story of Chinese leader)
• On Missions as Privilege, Not Sacrifice:
  "Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege..."
  (26:30, quoting David Livingstone)
• Raw Honesty about Qualification:
  "God has put his great commission into the hands of uneducated idiots. Anybody feel that you qualify for that? Welcome to the club."
  (19:41, Dick Brogden)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Welcome & Introduction (00:00–00:56)
• Reading/Expounding John 15; World Missions Stats (00:56–05:00)
• Anecdote: “Friend of God” Song Misheard (05:00–05:20)
• Challenging Aseity vs. Friendship (05:50–07:10)
• Being a Friend to Jesus: Encouragement, Defense, Standing with, Consolation, Trust (07:14–14:44)
• The Trust of the Great Commission (14:44–15:35)
• Feeling Unqualified / God Chooses the Weak (15:57–20:13)
• How We Steward the Trust (Azusa Street, humility, unity, prayer) (20:13–25:00)
• Chinese Persecution Testimony: “Is He Not Worthy?” (25:00–26:30)
• David Livingstone on Privilege, Not Sacrifice (26:30–27:15)
• The Himalayan Waiting Man Story (27:15–27:35)
• Final Call to Personal Reflection & Prayer (27:35–30:29)

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Closing Reflection & Practical Application

Personal Prayer Focus:
Brogden ends by inviting listeners into a time of stillness—no music, just reflection on two pivotal questions:

1. “Jesus, how do you want me to be your friend?”
2. “Jesus, how do you want me to honor the trust you have put in me to evangelize your world?”
   (28:10–30:29)

He encourages everyone in the congregation—some to pray, some to give, some to go—to see serving Jesus and His mission not as a burden but as a deep privilege of friendship.

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Summary Takeaway

This message is a passionate appeal beyond mere religious duty—into authentic, vulnerable, and courageous friendship with Jesus. From the local neighbor to the unreached nations, Jesus entrusts His friends—flawed, ordinary people—with His great mission. The ask is simple, but the impact is world-changing: Be a friend to Jesus—encourage Him, defend Him, stand with Him, share in His sorrows, trust Him, and do whatever He calls, knowing that He is always worthy.

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Transcript

[Pastor Rob]

I want to welcome everybody joining from every campus this weekend. And I'm so grateful that Pastor Rob invited this guest speaker that we're going to hear from. He's not really a guest. He's like an uncle of the church. He's been around longer and connected to River Valley longer than we've been here. The first missionary ever supported is this couple 30 years ago as River Valley Church was planted. He is the founder of an organization called Live Dead. And I just determined in my heart, my wife and I, we determined in our heart that whatever he's coming to share from the Lord this weekend, we are going to receive. And so let's lean in and get ready to hear a word from the Lord. Can we welcome, in River Valley fashion, Dick Brogdon.

[Dick Brogdon]

If you have your cell phone with you, there will be a QR code on the screen. If you'd like to get our newsletters, our prayer updates, you can capture that information from that QR code. If you have your Bible with you, would you open to the Gospel of John, chapter 15. I'm going to be reading from verse 11 through verse 16. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment. That you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends. For all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you. That you should go and bear fruit, that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Five times in this text, love is mentioned. And there is the obvious inference to the great and first commandment that we love God with all of our beings ransom powers and we love our neighbor as ourself. And that mission's premise contained within this context, is that fulfilling the Great Commission is how we obey the Great Commandments. Let me illustrate it with a review of our world. There are over 8 billion people on Earth today. And these billions are collected in what we call people groups, around 15,000 of them. A people group has its own religion, its own culture, its own language, its own geography. And of those 15,000 people groups, about 7,000 are what we call unreached people groups. This means quantitatively, they only have about two believers out of 100. And qualitatively, it means that they are so few they cannot reach their own people without external catalytic help. In other words, they still need missionaries. So 15,000 people group, 7,000 are unreached. And within that there are 4,000, 788 that we call frontier peoples, less than one in a thousand. And inside that we have about 2,085 that are called unengaged. And an unengaged people group means they have no missionaries, no churches, no Christian bookstores, no Christian camps, no Christian radio, no Bible translations, no believers, or so very, very few that we don't even know about them. So 2,000 years after the resurrection, we still have in our world over 2000 people groups that have nothing. They have no gospel access. And I believe that Jesus wants us to do something about that. So in Our text, verse 14, Jesus said, you are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you Doulos servants, but now I call you Philos friends, for a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. But all things I heard from my father, I've commanded to you and told to you. So I had a friend who was traveling in the Philippines. He was up in a mountain village. They wanted to receive him. Their hospitality was better than their English. And so, you know, there's an old course we used to sing, I'm a friend of God. I am a friend of God. You know that I am a friend of God. He calls me Fred. Well, they were tempting to sing that, but this is how they greeted him. I am afraid of God. I am afraid of God. I am afraid of God.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

He calls me Fred.

[Dick Brogdon]

Well, the Lord's not calling you Fred this morning, but he does in the text, call you friend. And I want to dig into that a little bit. Few months ago, my older son Luke said, dad, let's watch a movie. The movie was called St. John in exile. It tells the story of John the Beloved as an old man on the island of Patmos. And he is relating about the first day that he met Jesus. And the actor says, from the first moment I saw him, I said, he needs a friend. And this might sound strange to you, but I felt that I could be that friend. And that is exactly how it turned out. I heard the actor put those words in the mouth of John, and my mind exploded.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

And I thought, how dare the actor.

[Dick Brogdon]

Make John the Beloved say that?

[Rebecca Ketterling]

You see, the theological construct I was wrestling with is called aseity. And the word aseity, it comes from the Latin of oneself and it means God exists in and of himself, independent of anything else. And he does not need creation or creatures or any external cause to sustain or complete him. So I'm looking at this movie and the actor says that Jesus needed a friend. And I'm thinking, how does one befriend God? How do we give friendship to the God man, Jesus, we've all received it, what a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. But how do we give friendship to the God who is triune, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, perfectly content and fulfilled before the creation of Adam? He doesn't need Adam, he doesn't need you for God to be complete. So how can we dare say that.

[Dick Brogdon]

God needs a friend? And yet if flesh and blood, flawed and fearful, Abraham could be his friend. If human stuttering, agitated, Moses could speak with him face to face, if Jacob could wrestle with him, if Enoch could walk with him, wonder of wonders, without fully understanding how it all works, could.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

It be that the God who needs.

[Dick Brogdon]

Nothing needs you to be his friend? So I've been putting that as I've wrestled with it in human constructs. How do we as humans experience friendship? And I thought, well, I need encouragement from my friends. So I decided that I want to be a friend of Jesus by encouraging him. And when I see a beautiful mountain, or I was walking outside our live dead training school in Mombasa, Kenya, recently somewhere, this huge mango tree, and I looked at that tree and I said.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

Good job Jesus, you did a good job when you made that tree. And if that can be true of a tree, what about the crown of the creation of God? And could you agree with me that when God made Rebecca Ketterling, he did a good job? Can we say good job Jesus, when you made Rebecca Ketterling? And what would it be like if from all around the world, all of God's people, when we wake up in the morning and we see the sunrise or the fall colors, or we experience the goodness of God, could we say, good job Jesus, you're doing a good job as the king of the universe, you are holy, you are faithful, you are true. Can we encourage our friend Jesus? Can you get up tomorrow morning and say, good job Jesus, you're doing a great job.

[Dick Brogdon]

As Lord of all the earth, we can encourage our friend Jesus. I thought friends also defend one another. I've decided I want to defend my friend Jesus when a twisted world slanders him, when a Confused church misrepresents him. I'm going to stand up and I'm going to say in a loud voice.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

No, that's not Jesus. He doesn't carry on that way. That's just flesh and blood like you and me, somehow gone astray. But I know him and I walk with him, and he's my friend. And don't you dare say that about Jesus. Don't slander my friend Jesus, because I know him and he's good and he's kind and he's faithful and he's true. Don't you dare slander my friend Jesus. Now, you would do that for your friend, wouldn't you?

[Dick Brogdon]

If somebody lied about your friend, are you just going to sit there and take it?

[Rebecca Ketterling]

Or will something be provoked in your spirit? And you'll rise up and say, don't.

[Dick Brogdon]

You dare slander my friend.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

Because I know what they're like and I see them in daily life, and they're not what you're saying they are.

[Dick Brogdon]

And this is what my friend is like. In the same token, human friends stand with one another. Some of you might remember when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. As an African American, he was vilified and abused by the fans. In a particularly low moment for Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, who was white, jogged over and just stood next to him and put his hand around his shoulder. I want to do likewise for my friend Jesus when the world scorns him, when the world rejects him, when the world abuses him. I want to jog on over to.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

The nations and put my arm around my friend Jesus. And I want to declare I'm with him. And if you don't like him, you don't like me. And if you abuse him, then abuse me. And if you reject him, then reject me. Because I'm standing with my friend. And whatever you think about Jesus, think that about me. Because I'm going to live with him, I'm going to die with him, I'm going to be raised with Him. I'm going to go through every circumstance with him. I am connected to Jesus, and. And whatever you think about Jesus, think that about me.

[Dick Brogdon]

But unfortunately, there is such a pull and a pressure even in the ministry, even in missions, even for pastors to be popular. We want to be liked. We want people to like us. And there are parts about Jesus that are not so popular right now.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

And unfortunately, like Peter of old, we're not that different. Lord, I will be your friend. I will never deny you. Even if everybody else denies you. I won't but then, in that critical moment of pressure, I don't even know the man.

[Dick Brogdon]

You might not have said that with your words, but you did with your life. But if you and I are going to be friends of Jesus, then we've got to stand right next to him come hell or high water. And he's not always going to be popular, and neither are we. But if you're his friend, you enter into the shame and the scorn and the rejection and the unpopularity of who Jesus increasingly will be. I thought that friends need consolation. Compassion comes from two words meaning to suffer with. And there are things that made Jesus cry. Lazarus tomb, weeping over Jerusalem, how I long to gather you under my wings. You were not willing. We know there are things today that make Jesus cry. Racism, trafficking, poverty, injustice, any form of abuse. They break his heart. How does Jesus feel about 2,085 unengaged people groups that have never had a chance to hear the Gospel message that is so freely accessible to all of us? Don't you think that bothers him? Well, if it doesn't bother you, you're not his friend. If you're really friend, then the things that trouble your friends trouble you and you enter into their agony. And Jesus has agonized over 3.4 billion people in the world that don't have access to the Gospel. And as his friends, that better bother us. Which leads me to perhaps the most essential component of friendship, and that's trust. In an intimate friendship, in marriage, it's founded on trust. And if you would go to your best friend, whether that's your spouse or someone else, and in a moment of duress, you would ask them for help if they possibly could, they would help you to the best of their ability. They wouldn't question your motives. They wouldn't need a lot of details. If you cried out to your best friend for help, would they not help you? And would you not help them? Because friends trust one another and friends respond to requests. Jesus has trusted you with the thing that is most important to his heart. He didn't give it to angels, he didn't give it to armies. He didn't give it to presidents, he didn't give it to programs, but that for which he was born, suffered, died, resurrected, raised, and is coming again in glory.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

The most important thing on the heart of Jesus, he has given to his friends. He has trusted us with the evangelization of his world. He gave it to us, the thing that he is so passionate about, the thing that we will worship him forever. Revelation 7:9. And the text infers we don't. We're not ignorant about this. He says everything the Father's doing. I've told you. I am going to have a people from every people, and they will worship me forever, from every language and every people and every tribe and every tongue. And this is why I have come to the earth, and this is why my blood was shed. I've told you. You know the and now I'm trusting you with it because you're my friends.

[Dick Brogdon]

Jesus has trusted us with the evangelization of his world. Look at verse 16. You didn't choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. That whatever you ask the Father, in my name he may give you.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

Who, Me? You might be saying internally chosen and appointed to bear fruit amongst the nations. Me chosen to be a missionary to the unreached. One of the 500. Me to go to the unengaged. Me God's ambassador. Me to be God's church planter in a new location. Me used to plant the first church in the Amazon basin or the cities of North Korea or the deserts of Arabia. Me to be the one that God uses to bring light to darkness where it has never even been. How can that be? I am too weak. I'm too foolish. I'm too powerless. I'm too sinful. I'm too young. I'm too old. I'm too tired. I'm too afraid. I'm too broke. I'm too broken. I'm too black. I'm too Hispanic. I'm too white. How could God ever use me to.

[Dick Brogdon]

Change the destiny of nations? And the Bible has a very simple answer for this. Through the mouth of Paul in First Corinthians, chapter 1. God's chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. That no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him you are in Christ. Jesus Christ, the power of God and Christ the wisdom of God. Andrew Murray puts it this way. The writer from South Africa, Deep in the inmost recess of his being hidden and unfelt. Every child of God has the mighty spirit of God.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

So don't you dare say that you could not be a missionary. Does God Almighty by His spirit live in you, or does he not? And if God Almighty by the Spirit lives in you, God who has all knowledge. God, who has all power. God who is everywhere. If all of the goodness of God is in you by the Holy Spirit. Don't you dare say that you could not be a missionary because God can choose whoever he wants and he can do however he wants to do it.

[Dick Brogdon]

Through any one of us. And maybe your objection is not that God is sovereign and he could do anything, but you're just like a little teenager in Palestine saying, how can these things be? Because I do not know. I am not married. I do not know a man. And that Luke 2 answer for her is the same for us. For with God nothing shall be impossible. So let me address the how should God call you to be a missionary? How will that unfold? The first answer is found for us in Acts, chapter 4, verse 13. Peter and John been used by God to heal a layman. A crowd is gathered, an inquisition has followed, and the persecuting authorities are somewhat bemused. These are two Galilean bumpkins. How on earth did they find the power to heal this layman? The text says. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. Now, the Greek helps us in this text because the Greek word for uneducated is agramatos, a without grammatos, letters, education. And the word for untrained is idiotis. Anybody know what English word we get from that?

[Rebecca Ketterling]

God has put his great commission into the hands of uneducated idiots. Agramitos idiotis. Anybody feel that you qualify for that? Welcome to the club. And here's the point. It doesn't matter if you're smart. Doesn't matter if you have a PhD. Doesn't matter if you have a lot of ministry experience. Doesn't matter if you haven't been around the world. Doesn't matter as long as you have been with Jesus.

[Dick Brogdon]

You might be thinking, I don't know if I can learn Chinese or Arabic. I can barely speak English. Doesn't matter. Can you be with Jesus? Can you spend time in the presence of Jesus? Do you want to know how you.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

Are a friend to Jesus?

[Dick Brogdon]

You spend time with him. You want to know how you honor.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

His trust to evangelize his world?

[Dick Brogdon]

You spend time with him. That's where everything begins. Uneducated, untrained. Oh, they've been with Jesus. You know, there's a second aspect of this, and I'd like to look to history for it. The Assemblies of God, of which we are members as a church, is now almost 90 million people in the world. We have almost 452,000 churches. We're big, but that is not how we started. We did not start powerful and large and global. We started unknown, weak, poor and humble. An eyewitness to Azusa Street, a little chapel in Los Angeles where the Pentecostal movement began, early 1900s. Frank Bartleman. This is what he wrote. He was there, 312 Azusa street here. They had rented an old frame building in the center of the city, now a long time out of use for meetings. It had become a receptacle for old lumber, plaster. They cleared space enough in the surrounding dirt and debris to lay some planks on top of empty nail kegs, seats enough for possibly 30 people. These were arranged in a square facing one another. We found about a dozen saints there, some white, some colored. Brother Seymour, who was an African American, was in charge. The color line was washed away in the blood. Brother Seymour generally sat behind two empty shoeboxes, one on top of the other. He usually kept his head inside the top one during the meeting in prayer. There was no pride there. We only recognized God. All were equal. No flesh might glory in his presence. He could not use the self opinionated. All came down in humility, together at his feet. Bartleman goes on to write about an early mistake of those first Pentecostals. He wrote, they were expecting God to baptize their strength instead of their weakness. But baptized, their weakness is what the Holy Spirit did. And the world has never been the same. Do you know how we will honor the trust of Jesus to evangelize his world? Not by being strong, not by being many, not by being in control, not by having the power, but by getting down on our knees and sticking our head in a shoebox. Black and white, men and women, young and old and praying, if we do that, we will evangelize the world. And Jesus will baptize your weakness. You don't have to be strong, you don't have to be mighty. He comes in his lowliness and by the power of the Holy Spirit, baptizes our weakness. There's a third way. And I heard this story from a friend of this house, one of the people that you guys know and love. He works in China. Maybe you've heard him tell the story. He had gathered a bunch of Chinese house leaders together and they were telling of their experiences, how they had suffered, been in prison, persecuted for their faith, and all of them shared, except the oldest one. Towards the end of the evening, our mutual friend looked to him and said, uncle, everyone else has shared their experiences, but you suffered More than anyone. You were in prison longer than anyone else. Do you have anything that you would like to say? And that old Chinese man just simply looked up to heaven and said, is he not worthy? Is Jesus not worthy? How are we going to steward the trust of Jesus as his friends, to evangelize his world? We're going to spend a lot of time with him. We're going to get down, humble ourselves in prayer. Across the races, across the ages. We're going to look to him to baptize our weaknesses. And number three, we're going to pay any price because he's worthy. My wife and I now, 33 years we've been on the field. And I'd like to testify to you. As difficult as it has been in stretches, it's also the best job in the world. Let me quote David Livingston, who was the famous missionary to Africa. And this is what he said. For my own part, I've never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I've made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege to be a missionary. To go to difficult places, to make disciples where they've never been made. Best job in the world. Away with the word sacrifice. And say rather, it is a privilege. Why? Because Jesus is worthy. Way up in the hills of the Himalayas, the gospel came to a little village. Many people were saved. And true to the very nature of the Holy Spirit. They didn't want to keep that salvation knowledge to themselves. They said, outside of our mountain country, down in a neighboring valley, there's a whole bunch of villages where no one has ever heard about Jesus. Let's take the Gospel to them. So they began an apostolic band to walk out of the mountains to this neighboring valley in a different country. It took them two months. The reason it took them so long is that they stopped at different villages along the way and shared the gospel and planted churches as they went. So two months later, they enter the valley. And as they do, an old man comes running up to them. He's so excited.

[Rebecca Ketterling]

He said, I knew you would come. I had a dream a long time ago where people will walk out of the mountains. They'll tell me how my sin could be forgiven and how heaven can be gained. And I've been waiting so long. I've gone up and down this valley. I've gone to all the villages. I've told them you're coming. They'll tell us how our sins can be Forgiven. I know what villages are open. I know what villages are closed. So come with me. Let's go tell this news to the open villages.

[Dick Brogdon]

And of course, that Apostolic Band was super excited, but they said, well, hold on a second. You said you had a dream that we would come and tell you the good news, and that this happened a long time ago. How long have you been waiting? And the old man got very sober, and he said to them, oh, I had that dream 62 years ago. I've been waiting for you for 62 years. Well, neither your friend Jesus, nor you, nor a lost world can wait 62 years. For to honor the trust that Jesus has put in us to evangelize his world, there must be an urgency that we will do what our friend has asked us with alacrity and with the best of our ability. In just a few moments, we're going to have a time of quiet prayer. No music, no keyboards, nothing. Just quiet reflection. And as we go to that time, I want to ask you to pray about two things. Number one, how are you going to be a friend to Jesus? Friendship's unique. Some of the things I mentioned maybe are particular to me. But would you, as we go to this time of prayer, just sit quietly before him and say, jesus, in the days, weeks, months, years to come, how do you want me to be your friend? How do you want me to give friendship to you, Jesus? And the second question I want you to ask is, Jesus, how do you want me to honor the trust you have put in me to evangelize your world? I know that not everyone here is called to be a missionary. Some of you, your responsibility, your season in life, your ability, your capacity is to pray. And that is so valuable. And you would just say to Jesus, I'm going to up my prayer game. Some of you, God is given the ability to generate wealth that is so important. And as we heard in the video, as we go towards kingdom builders and the miracle offering, you're just. Something's rising up within you, saying, this is not a sacrifice, this is a privilege. Because Jesus has trusted me to use my resources to evangelize his world. And some of you, he is asking to go, would you close your eyes, bow your heads, and can we just sit in a holy reverence for a few minutes before pastor comes? How are you going to be a friend to Jesus? What does that mean for you? And how are you going to steward the trust that Jesus has put in you, his friend, to evangelize his world?

[Rebecca Ketterling]

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