Here I Am, Lord: Embracing the Mission to Share Hope

Embracing Our Calling: Sharing the Gospel with Courage and Compassion

Lisa celebrates a milestone in the Faith with Friends podcast journey, thanking listeners and guests for their support. She explores Isaiah 6:8, discussing the calling to spread the Gospel and the importance of a personal relationship with God. Lisa shares her own experience of following God's prompting to start the podcast and encourages listeners to embrace their own calling to share the message of hope and love. She challenges them to answer God's call with courage and compassion, becoming ambassadors for Christ in every interaction and opportunity.

0:00:01

Introduction to Faith with Friends podcast

0:00:51

Gratitude for reaching 8000 downloads and 42 countries

0:02:03

God's deliberate consideration in appointing messengers

0:03:13

Need for a personal relationship with God to be effective

0:03:42

God equips and empowers believers for their mission

0:04:16

Isaiah's response as a model for all believers

0:04:47

Delay in obeying God's call to start the podcast

0:05:47

Impacting lives through the podcast globally

0:06:16

Call to continue sharing Faith with Friends podcast

0:09:06

Chosen and appointed by God to be His ambassador

"Our podcast has been downloaded over 8000 times and heard in 42 countries."

"Your support and your encouragement have been a source of inspiration."

"The calling to spread the gospel is not just a task for a few of us, but rather a collective mission with each person of the Trinity actively involved."

"We cannot be effective messengers if we don't first experience the transforming power of God's presence in our lives."

"God chooses ordinary people to carry out his extraordinary message."

"It is God who equips and empowers us for our mission."

"Through Him. Because of Him, we can impact lives in a way that we never thought was possible."

"Please continue to share faith with friends, with others and let's spread the message of hope and love to even more people around the world."

"God pursues the lost and he will send people. Will it be you?"

"So where is he calling and how will you answer him? Don't delay."

[TRANSCRIPT]

0:00:01 - (None): You're listening to Faith with Friends podcast, where we talk about faith, relationships and spiritual growth. Welcome to our circle and the conversation where we seek to know God and make him known. Now, here's your host, Lisa Lorenzo.

0:00:21 - Welcome back to another episode of Faith with Friends. I'm thrilled to have you here with me today because together we have reached an incredible milestone in our Faith with Friends podcast journey. Our podcast has been downloaded over 8000 times and heard in 42 countries. So I want to thank you for being a part of this faith filled journey. And before we start today's topic, I want to express gratitude for each one of you.

0:00:51 - Your support and your encouragement have been a source of inspiration, and it's an honor to share these moments of faith together. And I would be admissed if I did not mention my girls, my friends that have been willing to come on and do their episodes, to share their gifts, to share their talents, and to share what God's doing in their lives in such authentic and transparent ways. So to each of you who have been on an episode or just prayed for us, prayed for God to do the work that he wants to do, not only in the podcast, but in each of us, I'm just so thankful and honored to be a part of your lives.

0:01:31 -bWell, today we're going to explore a verse from the book of Isaiah. It's Isaiah 68:6-8. And this verse presents a communication between God and the prophet Isaiah. It also offers essential insights into our calling, your calling, and my calling as believers to share the Gospel with the world. In Isaiah six, the prophet has a remarkable encounter with the glory of God. He sees the Lord high and lifted up, surrounded by holy angels.

0:02:03 - And then God initiates a conversation within the Godhead, saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Even though God knows all things, this shows us his deliberate consideration when appointing a messenger to represent him. God's divine counsel includes three. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And that underscores the unity of the Godhead. The calling to spread the gospel is not just a task for a few of us, but rather a collective mission with each person of the Trinity actively involved.

0:02:38 - This calling to proclaim the Gospel echoes the great commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20. And that's where Jesus instructs his disciples go and make disciples of all nations. It's a charge to share the good news. And it's not limited to just a few. It's a commission for all believers, which that includes you and me. But what does it mean to be chosen or sent by God? It's crucial for those who share the gospel to have a personal relationship with God. Otherwise you're just giving information.

0:03:13 - Isaiah himself had to encounter God. He had to hear his voice. He had to receive forgiveness before he could effectively be sent as a prophet. We cannot be effective messengers if we don't first experience the transforming power of God's presence in our lives. So then you might wonder, as you seek to fulfill this calling, am I worthy? Am I capable? And the truth is, it is God who equips and empowers us for our mission.

0:03:42 - 2 Corinthians 216 tells us that we are the aroma of Christ to God, both to those who are being saved and to those who are perishing. God chooses ordinary people to carry out his extraordinary message, and Isaiah's response is a model for all of us. You know what he said? He says, Here I am. Send me. He had an immediate willingness to go. Despite the challenges and uncertainties demonstrates Isaiah's readiness, resolution, and submission to God's will.

0:04:16 - The Lord put it on my heart. Start a podcast. Before I even knew what a podcast really was, I had never listened or subscribed to a podcast, but I knew God was calling me to do it. And so I delayed. I delayed for two years. Even after I chose the date November 11, 2020. I waited another year. A full year went by before God prompted me to obey Him now. And so November 11, 2021 was our first podcast.

0:04:47 - I was joined by a few friends, and we just told our story. We shared how COVID has sent us all to our homes, and we were all feeling lonely, disconnected, and needed to pray and thank God for Zoom. He brought us all together, and we shared such special, intentional time together. We really bonded as a group, as friends. We came together as believers and sisters in Christ. And little by little, it changed each of us, our hearts, our views on things, our views of each other.

0:05:16 - And I'm so thankful for that time. And every time we'd have a call, we would hang up and think, wow, this is so special. I wish we could share this with others. I wish we could get others to join us. And so started Faith with friends. Podcast. So as you reflect, as I reflect on Isaiah's calling, let us remember our own commission to share the gospel with courage and compassion. Let's embrace the truth that God's strength is made perfect in my weaknesses. In your weaknesses.

0:05:47 - Through Him. Because of Him, we can impact lives in a way that we never thought was possible. People in 42 countries all around the globe have downloaded episodes of Faith with Friends podcast. There's been parts of the world that I have to be honest, I had to Google and see, where is this place? And I've been in awe of the places and people that have heard our message. With that in mind, I just want to thank each one of you again for your continued support.

0:06:16 - It is because of listeners like you that we've been able to reach this 8000 download and listeners in 42 countries. Please continue to share faith with friends, with others and let's spread the message of hope and love to even more people around the world. There was a time I got a call from a friend to go and visit somebody that she knew who I had never met in the hospital. So I went to Baptist Hospital and I decided to go and pray with her.

0:06:43 - And we became close friends very quickly. And day after day I would go back and visit her. And the first day I went, I called my friend and I said, okay, I'm here. Where are you? And she said, oh, no, I'm running late. Just go ahead inside. And I said, are you sure? She said, yeah, just go inside. Turns out that she had called the mother to tell the mother that she was going to go with me and pray. And the mother said, no, I'd rather you guys not come. We don't want visitors.

0:07:08 - Well, my friend Tatiana decided not to share that information with me. And so I walked in there blindly thinking that I was not only expected, but welcomed. And I was, because God had so designed it that he put love in my heart for those people. Well, let me tell you, in one of those visits I got a call from my dad and he said that a cousin of his had a wife in the hospital that was dying of cancer.

0:07:33 - And me, being a little overwhelmed, said, dad, I'm already visiting somebody. I'll call you when I leave. And he said, okay, well, she's in room I don't remember the room number. One, two, three. And as I walked into the room that I knew all too familiar, Tatiana's friend's room. I stood for a minute and I prayed, as I always did. And I glanced over to the room right next to it and guess what room number that was?

0:07:59 - One, two, three. Well, I went inside and God had such things in store for me. It turns out that the husband knew a pastor from my church who ended up ultimately doing the funeral for him. It was designed by God. Had I not followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit, had I just said, no, I'm busy, I can't do it, god would have sent somebody else, as he has many times, to my shame. He will send believers to minister to his people.

0:08:28 - God pursues the lost and he will send people. Will it be you? So I challenge you today to remember that you are chosen and appointed by God to be his ambassador. So in every interaction, in every opportunity, whether it's in a hospital room, a friend in need over a conversation, over lunch or a podcast, let us boldly declare, here I am, Lord. Send me. So here's my question for you today. Where is God asking you to go? Or to whom is he asking you to speak with courage and compassion?

0:09:06 - Stop and look around if you know the Lord. He desires to use you to reach others. We are the hands and feet and voice of Jesus. So where is he calling and how will you answer him? Don't delay. Thank you for joining me today and until next time, may God's grace and peace be with you all. God bless you.

0:09:27 - Thanks for joining us for today's Faith with Friends podcast. We hope you will like and subscribe as we continue the conversation station. Follow us on instagram at Faith with friends. If you enjoyed this podcast, would you forward to your friends so our circle will continue to grow?