How to Live on Mission for God

Good morning everyone, I am Nate Gustafson, the Location Pastor for our East Bethel Location of Renovation Church opening this spring!

Does anyone remember in 2018, (Picture) when twelve young soccer players and their coach got trapped deep in a cave in pitch-black darkness in Thailand? Freezing, starving, and cut off by rising floodwaters, rescue seemed impossible.

When divers finally found them after seven days of searching, they hoped to just bring supplies and wait out the storm. Instead, the water kept rising and oxygen started running out. They had to get those boys out immediately, or they would die.

To save them, divers had to navigate five miles of jagged, flooded tunnels, you can see in this picture. They came up with a wild, unprecedented plan: sedate the boys and swim them out one by one. For six hours per boy, they guided them through tight passages where the margin between life and death was measured in inches. Miraculously, after 17 days underground, every single boy made it out alive.

Stories like that captivate us. Our hearts come alive when people put everything on the line to save someone who is trapped and hopeless. We don’t just admire that courage—we want our lives to count like that. We want to pull people out of the dark and into hope.

And here’s the incredible thing: that isn’t just a heroic impulse. That is the exact mission Jesus has called every single one of us into.

Jesus calls us to step into the darkness, point people to eternal life, and help them grow. But here’s the tension: we want a heroic faith, yet everyday life throws us off course. A hard conversation, a setback at work, or discouragement hits, and we lose our footing.

We see neighbors hurting and friends drifting from God. We know we’re called to step in, but our own trials make us freeze. Too many of us sit on the sidelines, hoping someone else will help.

It’s time to get off the sidelines and learn how to live on mission for God.

Today, the Apostle Paul will show us how he kept fighting for people even when trials hit him over and over.

We’ll see that grounding our perspective in God’s truth gives us unshakable courage in daily trials to live the mission.

Open your Bible to 1 Thessalonians 2:17—or grab the Bible at your chair and turn to page 807.

We believe God’s Word is the light in the darkness, so every week we open it physically together to dig into His truth.

Here’s what’s happening as we jump in: Paul had shared the gospel in Thessalonica, and in just three weeks, a bunch of people gave their lives to Jesus and were totally transformed. It was incredible. But then, an angry mob rose up to crush this new movement.

The death threats got so intense that Paul had to escape town under the cover of night. And because he left so suddenly, critics started telling these brand-new Christians that Paul was just a hit-and-run spiritual con artist who didn't actually care about them. Let’s see how Paul responds.

Find the big number 2, and the little number 17

17 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. 19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

3 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy…

Does this sound like a guy who doesn’t care about the Thessalonians? Absolutely not. In verse 17, Paul says being ripped away from this young church felt like being orphaned. That’s why he repeats, “We could stand it no longer”.

His heart was so bound up with theirs that if their faith cracked under pressure, it felt like a massive hit to his own soul. He was desperate to see them because their eternity was at stake.

Paul shows us that If we’re going to step into the life-saving mission God gave us, we must:

1. Love sacrificially

Since Paul loved them with that kind of intensity, verse 1 of chapter 3 says he chose to stay behind alone in a hostile city like Athens just so he could send Timothy to strengthen them. His comfort came second; their spiritual survival came first.

Our world tells us to look out for ourselves, stay comfortable, and only help people when it’s convenient. But to live on mission when life gets hard, we have to ask God for a love that isn't safe. It means sacrificing your time, your comfort, and your plans just to show up for people and steady their faith.

Paul poured his life into these young believers because he remembered what life is actually all about.

Look at how he describes it in verses 19 and 20:

19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

Imagine saying that toyour friend, “you are my glory and joy”...that might be a little much

Paul invested his life into the eternal transformation of those around him.

He is showing us that if we're going to live on mission for God, we must:

1. Invest in eternal impact

When Paul uses that word crown—stephanos in the Greek—he isn't talking about a royal gold crown.

He’s talking about the victor’s wreath given to an ancient athlete who ran the race and crossed the finish line victorious.

Think about the sheer ridiculousness people will put up with for sports. During Michael Phelps’ peak Olympic years:

1. He trained for five straight years without a single day off.
2. Six hours in the pool every day.
3. Fifty miles a week—that’s like swimming the English Channel and back every week.
4. To keep his weight up, he ate up to 10,000 calories a day—I read he’d crush two footlong meatball subs AND a plate of pasta just for lunch…

His coach said Phelps didn't win just because of talent, but because he was willing to go into a dark place of pain no other athlete would tolerate.

Why? For gold medals and records. He welcomed the pain because he believed the prize was worth it.

Now, step back and look at your life.

If human beings will endure that level of agony for something so temporary, what should we be willing to endure for the eternal souls of the people around us? (PAUSE)

For Paul, the ultimate prize wasn’t a trophy that fades—it was helping people know and follow Jesus forever! That’s why when persecution hit, Paul didn't back off. He leaned in.

He counted the sweat, the cost, and the pain of loving people as nothing compared to the joy of seeing his friends stand strong before Jesus.

We must realize Life isn't about building a resume or upgrading our suburban comfort. It’s about helping people around us come fully alive in Jesus. One day we will stand before God, and the only thing that will matter is how we loved Him by helping others know the gospel.

Which is why I am praying many of you that live north of here are planning to join me in launching the East Bethel Location, because we are going to have the opportunity to help countless people find hope and eternal life in Jesus!!

Just Imagine the day Jesus returns. He looks you in the eyes and shows you how your encouragement helped:

1. Your friend believe that God loves them,
2. Your family member know that by God’s grace they are forgiven, or
3. Your coworker see that God cares for them through your act of service.

When we keep eternity in view, our hearts shift and we can persevere through hard times.

Too often, we just see people’s messes—how they annoy us, hurt us, or let us down. And when we focus on the negative, we treat them poorly.

But when we ask God for eyes to see that those same people are made in His image—with infinite, eternal value—and that we can play a significant role in helping them be all that God made them to be, it wakes us up from our selfishness.

Instead of guarding our schedules and our comfort, we will step up to consistently pray for the people around us and using our daily relationships to bring the best out them!

So, what prize are you living for? Temporary comfort, or eternal souls? (PAUSE)

When your heart is gripped by a passion to see people in God's family, that purpose will sustain you through the hardest battles.

Now, as we join God in this life-saving mission, we have to understand that we face a spiritual enemy that Paul describes in verse 18.

18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way.

We’re up against an enemy who uses trials to block us from doing what really matters.

The Greek word for "blocked" is a military term for destroying a road. To stop an advancing enemy, an ancient army would dig trenches or drop trees across a road to make it impassable.

That’s what Satan did to Paul. In Acts 17, Satan stirred up a mob to attack a local Christian named Jason, making it clear that if Paul ever returned, Jason and the other believers would pay the price. Satan was the invisible strategist behind that mob, cutting off the road to isolate these brand-new Christians so their faith would collapse

So, if we're going to live on mission for God, we must:

3. Recognize the enemy’s traps

Satan loves to hide in the background, using everyday hardships and hurtful comments to trick us into thinking our battle is against the people around us. He secretly tears up the road of our lives with trials so we’ll just give up.

Imagine an epic battle scene in your favorite movie. The hero stands face-to-face with the villain, armed with a sword and shield—and then just drops his weapons, taking punch after punch until he dies, move over. That would be a terrible movie!

Yet that’s how so many of us live. Because we don’t recognize the enemy working in the background, we aren't fighting back.

Recognizing an unseen enemy changes how you respond. You fight back with the weapons God gave us:

1. Praying for perspective and power in the battle.
2. Dwelling on God’s Word, knowing His truth breaks through what feels hopeless. And it changes how you see people.

When you realize your friends and neighbors are under spiritual attack—and that you can help them in the power of Jesus—you want to fight for them.

One of Satan's most sinister ways of attacking us is is found in chapter 3. In verse 2 Paul says he sent Timothy, to strengthen them and then in verse 3 it says,

3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.

Then look at verse 5, because they go together: 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.

Satan wants to use trials to unsettle your faith and make you doubt God's goodness.

For the Thessalonians, he wanted to isolate them from their community and tempt them to go back to what was comfortable. satan whispers the same lie to us today: "If you just quit following Jesus and stop trying to help people, your life will be so much easier."

That is SUCH a lie. Can we be honest? Life is hard either way—the hard just looks different. Yes, it’s hard to follow Jesus, fight spiritual battles, and love people in an unloving world.

But last time I checked, people who don’t follow Jesus still walk through all kinds of trials. The difference is, they’re walking through them without God’s power, and they're missing out on the eternal purpose they were made for.

Listen, living on mission with Jesus is hard. But living life without his life, grace, purpose, and strength, is also hard.

You just get to choose your hard—and the eternal results that come with it.

So, we must recognize that we have an enemy that wants to use our trials to destroy us. AND we are going to see next how God can use those very same trials for our good.

Lets read the rest of our passage, picking it back up in 3:2

2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.

Verses 3 and 4 are a little shocking: Paul says we shouldn’t be unsettled by trials because we are destined for them. Satan uses trials to destroy your faith, but God destines trials to refine your faith.

If we want to step into the life-saving mission God gave us, we must:

4. Walk as Victors, not victims

I think one of our biggest blind spots as American Christians is secretly believing God’s warnings about the trials of life aren’t true for us. God’s word says to expect to suffer, that we are destined for trials and yet when we do, we act surprised.

Our comfort-obsessed culture tricks us into seeing Jesus as a life coach whose only job is to make our lives easy. So when the storm hits—a job vanishes, cancer strikes, a relationship fractures—we get angry.

We think, "Wait, I’m a good person, God shouldn’t let this happen to me"

But that is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus, our savior and King, suffered. He was mocked, beaten, and gave His life for us on the cross. Paul, one of the greatest Christians of all time, faced constant persecution.

Yet somehow, we expect our lives to be free of it?

That lie robs us of the chance to prepare for trials and see the eternal good God produces through them.

When Paul says we are destined for trials, it means that God appoints them to grow our faith.

Just like Michael Phelps coach, who went full Dori from on him by saying, Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, so he could have the endurance to win gold medals.

God uses challenges to Transform our character, teach us to trust Him, and build our endurance.

That’s why approaching trials as victors, not victims, changes everything.

Some people go through life as professional victims—always talking about how unfair life is or how someone else ruined their plans.

Now, some of you have experienced deeply painful things and truly been victimized, and it’s important to acknowledge that.

But as Pastor Ray Pritchard says, living in perpetual victimhood dooms you to self-centered misery because you learn nothing from your pain.

Look at the difference when you choose to be a Victor instead of a victim:')

• A victim asks, 'Why did this happen to me?' A victor asks, 'What is God teaching me through this?'
• A victim blames everyone else for their problems, thinking “This is all their fault”. A victor takes accountability, Owning their part of the problem by asking “How can I change?” (Owns it)
• A victim believes their hard times mean “God is punishing me.” A victor knows that through hard times “God is refining me” to help them mature in Christ.
• A victim begs God to remove every obstacle thinking “I’ll be happy when this is over”. A victor learns through the obstacles that “God is my joy right now” because he alone is the source of true happiness.

Living as a victor reframes what so often discourages us into an opportunity to grow and make the best out of challenges.

Now, I know this may seem like a good theory, but impossible to live it out. But in the power of God it IS possible and it will deeply change your life.

We see that so clearly in the life of Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie. During World War II, they risked their lives rescuing Jews from the Nazis until they were captured and thrown into the Ravensbrück concentration camp. They were shoved into a dark, freezing barracks built for 400 women, but packed with 1,400—with overflowing bathrooms and a horrific infestation of fleas.

It would have been so easy for them to play the victim in circumstances you and I can barely imagine.

Corrie said that she began to fall into despair, wondering how God could allow this. But Betsie reminded her of what they had just read in the Bible the day before they arrived there in 1 Thessalonians 5 which says to Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.

So, they started to give thanks, living as victors and shockingly, Betsie thanked God even for the biting fleas infesting the room they slept and Corrie couldn’t believe it. She thought her sister had lost it to thank God for the fleas.

Yet every night in that barracks, they lived on mission with God, they read the Bible, led prayer services, and brought the hope of heaven into that dark place.

To their surprise, no one ever stopped them. Over time, they realized why: the brutal Nazi guards refused to step foot in their barracks because of the fleas!

God used those fleas to create a protected sanctuary where Corrie and Betsie were able to share the gospel and bring hope to women in despair.

That is what it looks like to be a victor, not a victim. They trusted God’s sovereignty over everything—from their enemies down to the fleas—and countless lives were changed forever in the middle of that darkness.

When you adopt this victor mindset, you stop being thrown off course by everyday hardships. You realize suffering isn’t evidence that God has abandoned you; it’s the very place where your faith is strengthened, your character is forged, and the light of Christ shines clearest.

Think about the single hardest trial you’re facing this week. Instead of just praying to get out of it, ask two questions every morning:

1. “How is God using this trial to help me grow?”
2. “How can I use this trial to point others to Jesus?”

When we do that, we become people like Timothy who strengthen and encourage others. Now, I know at times it feels like your prayers and encouragement don’t matter because the trials keep coming.

Yet in God’s sovereign plan, incredible things are happening even when you can’t see them. Paul desperately wanted to reach the Thessalonians, but Satan blocked his way. So, he sent Timothy instead. Timothy strengthened the believers and brought back such an incredible report that it caused Paul to write the very letter we are reading today.

And God has used this exact letter to disciple millions of people over two thousand years! It just shows that when Satan tries to tear up the road of your life, God can turn those detours into eternal victories.

Gospel Presentation:

Every one of us loves the idea of being able to help save others, like those divers in Thailand. But before you can ever help save someone else, you have to admit where you actually start in the story: you and I are the ones trapped five miles deep inside the mountain. The floodwaters of our sin and guilt were rising, the oxygen was running out, and reality is, according to God’s word, there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.

The reality is, we need a savior, someone who would dive into the pitch-black water and pull us out. That is the Gospel. Jesus Christ stepped into our darkness, died in our place on the cross, and rose from the dead to carry us out into the light so we can have eternal life in Jesus!

Today, some of you are still trapped in the cave, trying to save yourself or survive the rising waters of life on your own. You don't have to do that anymore. You can be forgiven of every sin, receive eternal life, and walk with God starting right now if you will surrender your life Jesus….