It is hard to believe that only 10 months ago, our group of incoming Radius students stumbled across the border into Mexico and began to butcher our way through the Spanish language. For 10 months we learned Biblical principles for church planting, took in-depth Scripture classes, formed rich friendships, made an abundance of cultural mistakes, prepared our hearts for future suffering, wrestled with our character, and produced sounds with our mouths we never thought possible.

In short, in the last 10 months we prepared for the challenging task that lay in front of us. And what is the task? Jesus’ final words before He ascended into heaven: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”

At this point, we can speak these marching orders in our sleep. We know the Great Commission. We know the task and the centrality of planting healthy mature churches within the task. However, before we leave this room and go our separate ways, many of us not seeing each other’s faces again until glory, let our attention be directed to the promise Christ gave at the end of these marching orders.

“Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

With all the training in the world, without the LORD our work will be inadequate, fruitless, and in vain. BUT praise be to God that His indwelling Spirit is within each one of us, as we have trusted in Him. Praise God that no matter what corner of the world we find ourselves in the God who made the heavens and the earth is personally within us.

So my friends, when determining what would be beneficial for each of us as we leave and follow the Lord on our different paths, I truly believe it will be the fact that he is with us. He is with you.

If you find yourself, as the famous missionary John Paton did, hiding in a tree with a tribe of armed cannibals shouting your name below, the Lord is with you. If the government kicks you out after 4 years of language learning, the Lord is still with You. If a medical diagnosis keeps you on the ground in America and you never hit the field, He has not forsaken you. When everything seems to be going wrong, and your worst nightmares come true, the Lord is with you always.

In Psalm 8, David, overwhelmed by the glory and goodness of God as he beheld the world around him, cried out to the Father saying, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him?”

What is man indeed. What am I? Weak, fickle, easily distracted, self-serving. Quick to quit when I suffer. Constantly comparing the bounty of blessings God has lavished upon me with what He has given my neighbor.

The only thing that I, that we, have to boast in and rest in is the God that loved us and died for us.

Who is this God?

The Word calls Him, Powerful with surpassing Greatness, the Rock of our Salvation, Refuge from the Storm, Resting Place, Majestic in Holiness, Awesome in Glorious Deeds, Creator of the Ends of the Earth, the One who does not faint or grow weary, Abounding in love and faithfulness,

Healer, Redeemer, Deliverer, Sustainer

Our Strength and Shield

He is Just, Merciful, Gracious, Compassionate, Wrathful, and oh-so forgiving.

Holy Holy Holy is He. Who is Worthy of all praise and glory and honor forever.

This is the GOD that we get to serve. And HE IS WITH YOU!

When a day grows late and you cannot see the Moon and Stars that God has ordained, and you sit at your desk swatting mosquitoes repeating another set of difficult verbs, translating the book of Ephesians, developing marketing strategies, or doing another one of the plethora of tasks that goes into church planting. The Lord will be there with You, right where You are.

As the first set of eyes in a remote corner of the world dawn with the understanding of the Gospel. Boast in Jesus Christ, the Author and the Perfecter of our Faith.

As you finish your race, and find yourself standing before a righteous, holy, and perfect Lord seeing His face for the first time, rejoice in the truth that He was with you every step of the way. And now? You will be in His presence for eternity, worshiping alongside many of the individuals in this room, praising him forever for all that He has done in you and through you.

So my brothers and sisters, peace and mercy be with each of you as you leave today. Thank you for pointing the believing and the unbelieving world to the Ever Present Savior. Thank you for being my family. God bless.