Mud Huts or Brick Houses: Mission Work Starts at Home

What happens when churches set aside their individual agendas and work together for God's kingdom? The Engage Mission Conference gave us a powerful glimpse of this unity in action, and the results were nothing short of transformative.

Following the Acts 1:8 framework, we explored what it means for every believer to identify their Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and ends of the earth. This isn't about checking boxes—it's about recognizing that mission work begins right where you are. As we shared with our students while doing local outreach: "The only difference between here and the foreign mission field is you're walking up to brick houses instead of mud huts."

The weekend delivered an unexpected revelation when, before we even knocked on our first door during outreach, God orchestrated a salvation moment that wasn't on our agenda. While practicing our gospel presentation with two young ladies, one realized she needed to make her faith decision—proving that sometimes when we think we're reaching others, God is actually working on those right beside us.

Brother Mack Brunson closed the conference with a challenging reminder to "stick to the basics." If we're honest, many of us want the advanced spiritual content while neglecting the fundamentals. But mission work, kingdom building, and spiritual growth all begin with the simple disciplines of Bible reading and prayer. As he pointedly asked, "If it's so easy, then why haven't we perfected it?"

The Engage Mission Conference wasn't just about strategies and methods—it was about breaking down walls between congregations, combining resources, and recognizing that we're stronger together. When we shift from "our church" to "the Church," we create spaces where God can move beyond our expectations. The question remains: where is God calling you to serve in your Jerusalem before reaching the ends of the earth?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning, guys, and welcome to Word Up.
It is Monday and here we arestarting a new week, coming off
of the heels of the EngageMission Conference.
Those of you that were able tocome and to be a part of that,
how awesome that time was.
Today's quiet time Psalm 63,verses 1 through 8.
If you haven't had time to diginto God's Word, please go there

(00:33):
.
Spend some time with the Lordtoday.
But instead of really going offof the quiet time, I really
want to just talk about theconference.
I want to talk about the waysthat God moved and the things
that I want to talk about.
The ways that God moved and thethings that I saw our students
take in just give testimony towhat God did.
So those of you that may not befrom here or may not have any

(00:58):
clue what I'm talking aboutEngage Mission Conference is a
conference focused on bringingchurches together, sitting down
together and digging into God'sWord, looking at the vision of
what it looks like to be a partof the kingdom church, to work
together for the glory of God.
Not to build our kingdom withinthe four walls of our church

(01:19):
building, but to go out, partnerwith other believers and build
the kingdom of God.
And so we started that off onFriday with breakouts about why
do we do missions, and thechallenge was for our churches,
establish your Jerusalem, judea,samaria and to the ends of the
earth, for our students.

(01:40):
You already know we are goinghalfway to Honduras for our
summer camp and it's going to beall about Acts 1-8.
And our mission for theupcoming year is that everything
that we do would have a mission, whether it be our Jerusalem,
the things that we do here nearour church, in our own

(02:02):
communities, the way that we goout and we do outreach and we
take the gospel into people'shomes, the way that we serve our
local ministries, and then eventaking it all the way through,
highlighting each of the fourareas identified in Acts 1-8,

(02:22):
all the way to the ends of theearth, where we're going on the
foreign mission field.
And so our whole vision is thateach and every student, each
and every church member, wouldfind their passion.
Where is it that you'repassionate to serve God?
You may not be called to go tothe ends of the earth.

(02:44):
It may not be the time in yourlife you may be tending to a
sick family member.
We all have differentsituations, but there is no one
in the kingdom of God saved byGod that is not called to be on
mission for God.
If you are not on missions, youare the mission on mission for

(03:08):
God.
If you are not on missions, youare the mission.
And so I'm very excited aboutthe opportunities that are
coming, the ways that some ofthe conversations that took
place just between differentchurches coming together and
saying, hey, we've got thisreally awesome ministry mission
that we do with our church andwhy do we close that off to our
church family, if I've gotstudents that want to go with

(03:30):
you on your mission trip andyou've got students that want to
come with me on our missiontrip, why do we not do that?
Why are we so worried aboutbuilding up our kingdom and
trapping people within our wallsthat we prevent them from being
able to grow?
I may not be able to go on amission trip all times of the

(03:51):
year, but I have students thatare available whenever you have
a trip going, and so I want tosend them with you, because when
they come back, they're goingto have a fire that's going to
spread to all of the students inour group and they're going to
be leading others in how toshare the gospel and take it out
.
So it really was a fantasticday on Friday of just learning

(04:17):
the basics of how to establish amission team, a mission team,
how to identify those leaderswho will be champions for your
trips, that will be advocatingand sharing the testimonies of
what is taking place.
And then on Saturday for us, wehad a lot of our students that
went with us.

(04:38):
We went through and we listenedto some of the missionaries talk
about the different ministriesin their parts of the world and
then we were able to get on avan, drive to another part of
our county and partner withanother church to go out and do
an invite for their Easterservice and their Easter
programming that they havecoming up.
And it was such a special timebecause here we are, I've got

(05:01):
kids that are on fire, that havejust listened to foreign
missionaries talk about theministry work that they're doing
.
And all of our students said Iknow that I'm ready to go on the
mission field, I'm ready to beon missions.
And so when we got on that vanto drive across our county, I
told them here it is, you're ona mission trip.
We just were at the church.

(05:23):
We were at our central location, we ate a meal together, we got
on a van and now we're goingout into the neighborhood just
like you will on the Fordmission field.
The only difference is you'regoing to walk up to a brick
house instead of a mud hut.
So if you want to be onmissions, realize that there is

(05:45):
mission work to be done here andlet's go do it.
And so we divided up and weidentified as the church that we
were in their community.
We were no longer identifyingas our church that we came from.
We're now part of their church,serving alongside them in their
community for the glory of God,to build up the kingdom church.

(06:09):
And it was just a beautifulpicture of our students coming
together, working together justto grow the kingdom of God.
So we go out and on the streetthat we were given we had
directions of which houses tovisit and I had a young lady
from our youth group that waswith me and she had brought a

(06:30):
friend.
We start walking down thestreet and the direction said
start here and begin sharing thegospel until you get to the end
.
Well, you know what?
The directions were clear, butGod put on my heart.
Hey, I need to make sure thather friend knows who Jesus is.
And so sometimes, even thoughthe directions are laid out for

(06:52):
you, even though you have aclear path of what you're
supposed to do, you've got to besensitive to what God is
showing you.
So I decided, I said we'regoing to walk all the way to the
end of the road and we're goingto start with the house on the
end and we're going to work ourway back as we start walking and
begin sharing the gospel andjust telling them what we would
say if we encountered somebodywho opened the door for a gospel

(07:15):
presentation.
We get to the end of thepresentation and we unpack the
full gospel and we explain allthe truths and we get to the
point where, hey, there's adecision that has to be made.
Each and every one of us haveto make a decision.
And that young lady looked atme and she said I know for sure,
I know for sure that I'veaccepted Christ and that I am a

(07:35):
follower of his.
And I was amazed, it was ablessing to see, and I look over
and the young lady who's a partof our youth group, who brought
the friend, she's crying tearsrunning down her face.
She says I can't say that.
She said I can't say that Iknow.
She said God has just revealedhimself to me and I don't know,

(08:01):
but I'm ready to start my walkwith Christ.
And so I tell you all of thatto say yes, the Engage Missions
was great.
We have a mission to do here.
When we engage in missions here, when we are obedient to do
what God has called us to do, heshows out in ways that we don't
expect.
He shows out and he shows youhow to do things differently.

(08:23):
He says don't just follow therules, don't just follow the
certain path that's laid out foryou.
Be sensitive, spend time withme, let me lead and guide you in
the ways that you should go.
And the whole time that Ithought I needed to speak to the

(08:45):
friend, I really needed tospeak to her and God just showed
out.
And so we had our firstsalvation before we ever knocked
on the first door.
And I think that's a beautifulpicture of what happens in our
churches when we come together,when we work together, when
we're obedient, when we'reserving the kingdom, not serving

(09:07):
ourselves, when we're out onmissions.
Because he says go.
He says to do I mean Acts 1.8,matthew 28.19,.
He gives us clear direction ofwhat we're supposed to do with
our lives, and it's not alwaysabout the people we're going to
touch.
He works right back inside ofus, just because we're obedient.

(09:30):
So, guys, I hope that you wereable to come On Saturday night,
brother Mack Brunson.
He came and his whole messagewas stick to the basics.
Are we doing the basics?
Are you reading your Bible?
Are you praying to Jesus?
Are you spending timedeveloping that relationship and

(09:52):
fellowship with our HeavenlyFather?
And he said I know you want meto move on, you want me to get
in more depth.
And this seems easy.
But if it's so easy, then whyhaven't we perfected it?
Why are we not doing it?
Well, all of the things thatwe're talking about, they're
great.
Missions is great, sharing thegospel is great.

(10:12):
But if we're not doing thebasics of getting in God's word,
if we're not having a dailyquiet time with him, reading his
word and praying with him, wecannot do anything else.
In missions, in our walk withChrist, in our families, in our
schools, it all starts with thebasics.
I love you, guys.

(10:33):
Get in God's word, enjoy thattime with him, just like in our
quiet time today.
Psalm 63, verse 5, my soul issatisfied as with fat and
fatness, and my mouth offerspraises with joyful lips.
When you, like David, realizethat God's faithfulness is more

(10:54):
important than life'snecessities such as food and
water, you will praise him withyour joyful lips.
I love you, guys.
I hope you have a great week.
I'll be back here tomorrow.