In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of valuing and caring for the people who make up the church. He reminds the audience that God's focus is on His people, not on grand plans or programs. The speaker shares his belief that God uses difficulties and temptations to help His people grow and learn what they are capable of through His grace. He also highlights the blessings that come from serving others and being part of a team that is dedicated to doing God's work.

Hello, this is Ben Torrey back with you this evening. It's good to be sharing with you once again. Last week I closed with a word about our most valuable asset, our people. Very often, whenever we are involved in big, expensive endeavors, we get caught up with the size, the cost, the special programs, or what have you, and tend to forget about the people who make it work. I know that the Lord never forgets. It is His people, His servants, whom He cares about, not our grand plans, our buildings, and programs. We can have the best facilities that money can buy, but if we have the wrong people, they are totally worthless. I shared on this program several months ago how God commanded me not to ask Him for money. He told me very clearly that I was His workman, and He would see to it that I would have whatever was needed to do His work. I have been fairly faithful in that, even though I have encouraged others to pray for the resources that we need, I think that is an important way for many people to be involved. For myself, my main prayer has always been that I have God's wisdom and the discernment to know what He wants me, His workman, to do. Anyway, as we have been moving forward with all this, I have also found myself reluctant to pray for specific people to join us. My sense of God providing as He sees fit in order that the job He wants done gets done, this is carried over to the people who are to be involved. There are some whom I have invited to join us, even urged to come, but I generally have not prayed for them to. I will admit though that I have let the Lord know how much I would like to have certain ones join us, but have not made that my strong prayer. The reason for this is that only God knows the hearts of each of us, and only He knows whom He is calling to this work. Even as I have invited or urged some to come, I have always emphasized that the most important thing is for them to discern what it is that God wants them to do. They should not come just because I want it. If even the most skilled or committed person joined us in contradiction to God's call on his life, in contradiction to God's call on his or her life, neither they nor we would benefit. In fact, it could end up being a complete disaster. Over my years of ministry and service in the church, I have seen situations where people were responding to men and not to God, to their own desires not His, and have seen these situations turn into such disasters. No, I do not want to choose the people for this work. I want God to choose them, and He has. Over the past five years that we have been at this, God has assembled a wonderful team of people at the Three Seas. Our community there, including children, now numbers 21 with one on the way. Each person is precious to us. Each one has his or her own special gifts and strengths. We all have our own particular weaknesses as well, and struggle with our own temptations. But it is God, the creator of these vessels who have been cracked and stained by sin, our own and others, who has ordained that we be His vessels for love in this world. God knows us each one, as we cannot know even our own selves. He knows where we will triumph, even when we would never have thought that we could. Sometimes, as we go through particular trials and temptations, I think of Abraham, called to offer his son Isaac on the altar. I am convinced that God did not do this to prove to Himself that Abraham would be faithful. He already knew that. No, I believe it was so that Abraham would know that he was faithful. After coming within a hair's breadth of killing his son, the ancient sages taught that the knife actually pierced Isaac's skin before the angel intervened. After this, Abraham knew in his heart of hearts that he was willing to obey God to the end. Whatever doubts assailed him up to that point, they no longer had any hold. As God has brought together our team, He has led us through difficulties and temptations. I believe that He uses these so that we will learn what we are really capable of by His grace. God is in the business of building His church, and His church is people. Of course, He has called us to make disciples of all men. Of course, He has come to save the fallen and the lost, to bind up the brokenhearted and wipe the tears from the eyes of them that mourn. He loves all people, but I think that it is those whom He has called and chosen to be His hands and feet to do this work who are the most blessed. Last summer, when we were carrying out our summer program of work camp schools, which will be starting again soon, by the way, all of us who are working as staff and volunteers, some coming for as long as eight weeks, we felt that we were the ones who benefited from these schools the most. It was a training for us and a turning of our hearts ever more towards North Korea. Always in God's economy, it is the ones who serve who are the most blessed. This is what Jesus meant when He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. So God has been building us a team. He has brought together a group of people and is training them to serve Him in a particular way that He wants, so that we will do what He wants in the way that He wants it. Through this team, God will bless many. We hope that He will bless the people of North Korea in a very special way, but we sense that we will be the ones most blessed. Of course, how do you measure that? I can't really say who is more blessed, but I know what it seems like to us. I mentioned our Three C's community of 21, but I also just mentioned our summer program last year. Truly, the larger group that God brought together for that was outstanding. Our group went from the youngest at just 20 or 21 to a retired couple who had no idea what they had gotten themselves into, but ended up enjoying themselves immensely, even through the cold and wet of typhoons and rainy season in cramped quarters and even a tent. There were some whom I wasn't sure were right, some whom I doubted, but I came to see how God had a purpose and a use for each one. I'm glad they were there, all of them. That whole experience taught me a lot about how God takes care of all the details for His work. He provided us the money that we needed very unexpectedly, the wonderful place, and most importantly, the very special brothers and sisters to participate in this work with us. We were all stretched, we all grew, and we all became close to one another. It was a wonderful experience. I'm looking forward to seeing much the same happen again this year. People are our, no, our God's greatest assets. It is wonderful to live and work with the people that He chooses. It is not always easy, not by a long shot. We hurt each other, we disappoint one another, we get sad, we get angry, we're selfish, the list goes on. But it is these very things that God uses to build us into the people that He wants. As we work our way through all these difficulties, the ties that bind us grow ever more tight and love increases. I think of two scriptures, 1 John 1 3, what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 4 12 to 13, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. We want to draw more into our fellowship with Christ so that we will have more love and so that we will be built up into the very form and fullness of Him. Next week I will share about some of these special people individually. Think this week about whom the Lord has put you with and what a blessing that is. Good night.