Missionary Commissioning Service for Steve Hofmaier

Driving home: There is no such thing as a uncommitted Christian, a Christian who lives for himself. That lesson was clear to me at that point. And the Lord in his grace and mercy brought me to bow the knee.

Steve Hofmaier describes his spiritual journey as a 'road' with milestones, beginning with his conversion, to illustrate God's progressive leading in his life.

Let me first say more than a few words about God's leading up to this point and then speak a few more words about what lies ahead. Of course, I must begin. us begin in speaking of what brings me to this point at the beginning, at the point of conversion. I'd like to speak of these dealings, by the way, and just thinking of that as a road which leads me to this spot. And the beginning of that road was when I first began to walk with the Lord. I was at a church youth camp when I was just 16 years old. And the issue there was that I had to lay down the rebellion of my heart in seeking to go my ow...

2:02 - 3:11 Read in full sermon

Driving home: There is no such thing as a uncommitted Christian, a Christian who lives for himself. That lesson was clear to me at that point. And the Lord in his grace and mercy brought me to bow the knee.

Hofmaier states there's 'no such thing as an uncommitted Christian,' emphasizing that total surrender to Christ as Lord and Savior is foundational to conversion, not a 'second experience'.

March. March. My life was not my own. My life is not my own. But my life belongs to him who shed his blood and purchased me for the Father. There is no such thing as a uncommitted Christian, a Christian who lives for himself. That lesson was clear to me at that point. And the Lord in his grace and mercy brought me to bow the knee. But I must say at this point, all the more so, that there was no second experience along the way that brought me to that point of total submission, that point of saying, okay, Lord, I'll do what you want. No second experience, no total surrender. That total surrender...

3:12 - 4:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The service begins with an introduction to Steve Hofmaier's missionary commissioning. Hofmaier then shares his testimony, detailing his conversion, milestones in his spiritual…

Hofmaier shares the church's Thanksgiving tradition of newly married members thanking God for their wives, using it as an opportunity to publicly thank God for his wife, Carol, and playfully 'embarrass' her.

Having a time in another culture to prepare me for the Philippines, having a time teaching here in the academy, being involved in theological instruction that I might be able to teach men in the Philippines to commit to others those things that have been committed to me. Another milestone at this point recently in the past year was God providing. God has given me a help me that I might not go just by myself to the mission field. And since I won't be here this Thanksgiving, you know, this church, for those of you who are visitors, our church has a Thanksgiving service, every Thanksgiving in whi...

8:25 - 9:47 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The service begins with an introduction to Steve Hofmaier's missionary commissioning. Hofmaier then shares his testimony, detailing his conversion, milestones in his spiritual…

Hofmaier uses the metaphor of 'giants in the land' (from the Israelite spies' report) to describe the formidable challenges they will face in the Philippines: Satan, indwelling sin, wicked men, new culture, and missing loved ones.

Frothiness to the religion there, where there is the darkness of idolatry and superstition in the Catholic Church there and the people ate it up. And it was just such a delight to to point to Christ and to have men and women see the beauty of Christ and delight to hear of him. It was a goodly land, a land which I desired in many ways to return to. But now, as we come to the end of those milestones, those things that bring me and Carol to this place, let me speak a little bit of what lies ahead. When I was there and saw that it was a goodly land, I must also report realistically that there are ...

10:32 - 11:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Solicit your prayers and pledge to pray for Trinity Baptist Church. Solicit your faithfulness to the Lord. Press on, my brethren, and may we rejoice in God's good work here and in the Philippines.

Hofmaier quotes Moses' words, 'If you do not go up with us, do not lead us from this place,' to express his dependence on Christ's promised presence in their missionary endeavor.

We go with the promised presence of Christ. And I can well understand the words of Moses to the Lord when he said, If you do not go up with us, do not lead us from this place. And yet as we go, we have the confidence that in fulfilling Christ's commission, we have Christ's presence. And in his presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

17:49 - 18:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin explains that the elders will formally commend Steve and Carol to the Lord. Elders Clark and Dixon lead prayers, expressing mingled sadness and joy, acknowledging…

Pastor Clark contrasts the familiar Christmas imagery of 'treetops glisten' and 'sleigh bells tingle in the snow' with the hot, humid climate of the Philippines to illustrate the cultural and environmental differences the Hofmaiers will experience.

mature Christians we thank thee that both of them have had experience in foreign lands Steve with the six months in Kenya and the nine weeks last summer in Manila and Carol the year that she spent in West Africa all romantic ideas if they ever had any are gone they know what they are going into going into a different climate a climate where they will never see the treetops glisten or watch the children as they listen they hear sleigh bells tingle in the snow going to a land where it's hot and humid all year round going to a crowded city into a country with a very different culture than what we...

21:51 - 23:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: All that Christ the head of the church calls upon the church to do he will furnish the church to accomplish everything in his strength and in the power of his spirit that's the bottom line and surely if Christ has called…

Martin quotes James Henley Thornwell, a Presbyterian theologian, arguing that the church's duties are divinely appointed and cannot be delegated to other agencies, emphasizing the church's self-sufficiency for missions.

that the church can do all that the head of the church requires it to do in his will and under his blessing a hundred and twenty years ago that very issue was debated very hotly in the Presbyterian church here in the United States and a man by the name of James Henley Thornwell took the position that I have articulated and he stood in loving but firm resistance to every effort to obscure that issue and I want to just quote several paragraphs from Thornwell in which he beautifully and very perceptively articulates the teaching of the word of God on this point he was debating primarily another l...

42:19 - 43:48 Read in full sermon

Driving home: This is the issue in the debate between me and my opponent it is this is the church as a church as organized by Jesus Christ and his apostles competent to do all that her head has enjoined upon her or does she require ad…

Thornwell's analogy of a man delegating the care of his family to a neighbor while abandoning himself to idleness is used to illustrate the impropriety of the church delegating its God-given duties, like missions.

by which the duties can be discharged she can therefore no more throw them off upon others than a man can delegate to his neighbor the care of his own family while abandoning himself to idleness and ease if our form of church government is based upon the word of God it is adequate for all emergencies and then he goes on to say God has appointed the leadership he has in his church for this very purpose and gave them no authority to shift the responsibility the heat and the burden of the day upon creations of their own if the church can delegate one part of her work she can delegate another unti...

43:48 - 45:17 Read in full sermon

Driving home: This is the issue in the debate between me and my opponent it is this is the church as a church as organized by Jesus Christ and his apostles competent to do all that her head has enjoined upon her or does she require ad…

Martin quotes Thornwell's core argument: 'Is the church as a church as organized by Jesus Christ and his apostles competent to do all that her head has enjoined upon her or does she require additional agents to assist her?' This frames the church's rationale for direct missionary support.

ministerial and declarative she is only to hold forth the doctrine enforce the laws and execute the government which Christ has given her she is to add nothing of her own to and to subtract nothing from what her Lord has established discretionary power she does not possess put in simple biblical language if ye love me ye will keep my commandments teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you one other quote again in which Thornwell brings the issue into clear perspective he said this is the issue in the debate between me and my opponent it is this is the church as a churc...

45:17 - 46:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that indulging personal sin or grieving the Spirit of God here will have ripples that break upon the shores of the Philippines.

Martin uses the metaphor of 'ripples' to illustrate how the spiritual state and sins within the home church will directly impact the Hofmaiers and the work in the Philippines, either strengthening or grieving them.

and said well look the churches are so dead they don't give therefore we've got to have independent agencies to raise the money the churches are so dead that volunteers aren't forthcoming from the church we've got to recruit them outside the church rather than rather than accept the death and create our own agencies cry to the God of heaven to send life to the church and when he sends life to the church laborers will come and purse strings will be opened and God will send forth an army of men clothed with the spirit supported by churches bound to them in the dynamics of Holy Spirit rock church...

64:34 - 66:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain your commitment to care for their temporal needs. Our giving must not be whimsical; it must be principled giving.

Martin uses the analogy of a soldier not serving at his own charges to illustrate that God has ordained those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel, justifying the church's financial support for missionaries.

Verse 6 of 1 Corinthians 9. Then he asks some questions. What soldier ever served at his own charges? Does our government expect a soldier to go out and earn the money for his own uniform, buy his own rifle, buy his own ammunition? Of course not.

71:01 - 71:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Have the vision that with this new responsibility, Lord, is there some more that I can do so that this will, in a sense, not make a dent in cash flow, but the response to the new ministry, brings a new response of sacrif…

Martin compares the church's finances to the widow's barrel of oil (from 1 Kings 17), where the more they give, the more God provides, illustrating God's faithfulness in supplying their needs for ministry.

giving must be principled. We ought to have the vision that with this new responsibility, Lord, is there some more that I can do so that this will, in a sense, not make a dent in cash flow, but the response to the new ministry, brings a new response of sacrificial giving. Now we're ready if God raises up another Steve to say, brother, we're prepared to send you forth. Well, you see, it's like a revolving fund that when we give, the scripture says it shall be given unto us, not in equal measure, but what good measure, pressed down and running over. Do you see the vision of that? You've heard th...

72:02 - 72:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Have the vision that with this new responsibility, Lord, is there some more that I can do so that this will, in a sense, not make a dent in cash flow, but the response to the new ministry, brings a new response of sacrif…

Martin recounts a conversation with a tiler working in the church basement who asked where the money for the building came from, providing an anecdote to illustrate the church's unique, non-denominational funding model and God's provision.

that woman's barrel of oil. The more we take out, it seems, the more God puts in. And the deacons can say amen to that, and your elders who are aware of some of the inner mechanics, and we stand amazed. I had a wonderful chance to witness to a tiler working in the basement of the building this past week. He said, this is a beautiful building. He said, where are you getting the money for this?

72:48 - 73:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Have the vision that with this new responsibility, Lord, is there some more that I can do so that this will, in a sense, not make a dent in cash flow, but the response to the new ministry, brings a new response of sacrif…

Martin quotes Thornwell again, who argued that systematic giving is a part of religion and worship that cannot be performed by proxy, reinforcing the church's direct responsibility for missionary support.

and that the church should be the agency of support. He says, when we pleaded that systematic giving is to be viewed as a part of religion, our brethren still viewed it as a scheme, a piece of machinery, and they called it your plan, Mr. Thornwell. So now, this doctrine that the church in her organized capacity must do her own work and not delegate to vicars or substitutes is called by these brethren my plan. I contend that it is of God. We then contended that systematic giving is a part of our religion, part of our worship, and a part which cannot be performed by proxy any more than prayer or...

74:03 - 75:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain frequent, full-orbed communication with Steve and Carol through letters, sharing your whole life in Christ, family matters, and prayer concerns.

Martin shares a humorous anecdote about his wife calling him predictable, and then her own unpredictability, to introduce his 'predictable' third charge to the congregation about communication.

finally, I charge you as a congregation, and some of you already know what I'm going to say. I'm glad I'm predictable. That's what my wife always says to me. And she does something I expect. She said, well, isn't it lovely? I'm predictable. Then when she does some harebrained thing I couldn't expect, she laughs and said, isn't it lovely? Living with a wife that makes life interesting.

75:27 - 75:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain frequent, full-orbed communication with Steve and Carol through letters, sharing your whole life in Christ, family matters, and prayer concerns.

Martin compares letters in the apostolic church to the 'very lifeline of spiritual communication,' emphasizing their crucial role in sustaining the communion of saints for the Hofmaiers.

So she has it going and coming. Well, I don't know if I have it going and coming that way, but I'm sure some of you already anticipated my third strand of charge. It's this. I charge you as God's servant. I charge you as God's servant. I charge you as God's servant. I charge you as God's servant. So this is also a title. It's the second one. I ask you as God's servant. I charge you as God's Paschal servant. It's this third one. If he punishes you, God's looked down and a lot of the reasonable justice in that carefully, all that changes. And we're going to do all this to maintain frequent, full...

75:47 - 76:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain frequent, full-orbed communication with Steve and Carol through letters, sharing your whole life in Christ, family matters, and prayer concerns.

Martin uses the example of telling the Hofmaiers about a child losing their front teeth to illustrate the kind of 'full-orbed communication' that helps missionaries feel connected and follow the lives of church members.

You don't know how that will minister to their hearts and their feelings. To have a letter in which you tell them that your little one just lost her two front teeth, and then they'll try to imagine what she looks like with the little hole in the head right in the front. That's what I always say to the kids. I say, uh-oh, got a hole in your head when they lose those two front teeth.

77:12 - 77:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain frequent, full-orbed communication with Steve and Carol through letters, sharing your whole life in Christ, family matters, and prayer concerns.

Martin describes receiving letters that start like an apostle but are 'phony,' often seeking something, to contrast with the genuine, full-orbed communication he desires for the Hofmaiers.

I get letters from some people. They start out like an apostle. Grace, mercy, and peace to you, my esteemed and my beloved brother. And they go on and on and on.

77:47 - 77:56 Read in full sermon

The point: If you are a new member, write a letter, send a picture, give a biographical sketch, and assure them of your prayers.

Martin shares his personal experience of how much it meant to find three or four 'full-orbed communication' letters waiting for him when he arrived at a place during his travels, illustrating the encouragement such letters provide.

Oh dear people, you will never know. Take it upon the word of someone who's just felt it for a matter of weeks. Being severed from you, God's people. How much it is meant when I've arrived at a place and found three or four letters waiting me when I got there.

79:04 - 79:20 Read in full sermon