I once heard Eddie Fox, a Methodist evangelist, tell of how in 1994 he and his wife were privileged to attend some of his denominational meetings in Estonia.  They arrived in the port city of Talin exhausted from the trip.  They had a room overlooking the beautiful harbour of the city.  And on that night September 24^th, 1994 the two of them stood looking out of their hotel window, about 6pm and they talked about the harbour.  And then they began to talk about this ship.  It was the largest ship in the harbour.  They noticed its blue markings.  They noticed the name written on its side, the name Estonia.  About 6:30 they went for dinner; if it hadn't been almost dark they would have taken a picture.

At 7pm that ship left the harbour.  At 1:23 am the ferry ship named Estonia sank into the deep dark, damp Baltic Sea. One of the largest number of fatalities on any ship since the sinking of the Titanic except in war.

And Fox says he cannot get that image out of his mind. In all his travels around the world he had never seen a plane leave an airport that later crashed.  But he had watched a ship leave a harbour on which 900 people died.

And he kept on asking himself, "Had I known the fate of that ship and the people, what would I have done?"  Of course… you would have done it, I would have done it.  We would have raced to the harbour, not content with warning only the top floor, but one cabin after another, we would have said to the people where this ship is going.

And we live on this ferry ship called earth.  A ship that knows corruption, a ship that seemingly heads towards destruction. And there is an urgent word that we need to proclaim.

We do not go into the world empty-handed.  We go with the love of Christ.  We go teaching all that the Lord Jesus Christ has shown and done and commanded us.  We go with the best news the world has ever known.  We are to go with the message of the empty cross, the resurrected Lord, the forgiveness of sins and the gift of new life. We go with the message that hope and help are to be found in Christ and in Him alone. We go with a message of hope for people who are by all accounts very much alive, but are in reality dying.  They are dying for lack of purpose,  lack of companionship, for lack of love, lack of forgiveness... dying for lack of God.

How do we do it?  How do we share the love of Christ with the world, our country, our friends and neighbours?  We've learned haven't we during these past few weeks?  Begin with prayer.  See the harvest; let your heart be broken…  for a ferry ship of a world that is doomed to a hellish eternity without Christ. 

Let's be clear, sharing the love of God with others is built on relationships.  To be sure there will be those experiences where you will be able to share the good news of Jesus Christ with a person with whom you have no previous relationship.  But most often sharing the love of God with others is built on relationships.  It was Dr. Joe Aldrich who said that "people don't care to hear what we know, until they know that we care."  The success of sharing the love of God begins at the level of loving and caring and of having our hearts being broken open with compassion for the unsaved. 

Begin with prayer, see the harvest and let your heart be broken. Then we learned last week to go where the people are - understand the culture and communicate in ways that are understandable and compassionate.

Now I could pat you on the back and say go to it.  Off you go.  But let's think about sharing the love of Christ together.  Let's think of how we can infiltrate our world and be agents of transformation together.  As a body of believers, let's think how we can do it as a team, a family a group of people, with everyone of you here.  Not just the devoted core group that are here for everything, but everyone of you who are here today because you love God and want to worship him and show the world that what He has done for you.

How can we do it together? I have a plan.  We have been given a mission.  And it's called "Operation Andrew."  It could be called Mission Impossible, but this is Mission Possible because we are going to carry it out in faith in the living God and we know that with God all things are possible.  

In my hands I have the mission strategy for sharing the love of Christ together.  It's time to go the next step.  Yes, we need to pray; yes, we need to strategize - but this plan seeks to take us deeper, this plan is an intentional step-by-step strategy to bring in a harvest for the glory of God.  Are you in? We've always been serious about reaching out - it's now time that we were intentional.  

As I open it, it tells us to look to the word of God:

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).  (John 1:35-42) (NRSV)

Operation Andrew receives its name from the disciple named Andrew.  In the other three gospels Andrew is simply mentioned by name but in John's gospel Andrew is a distinct personality.  He is a person, we learn as we read through the gospel who is invaluable.  Why?  You can sum it up in one word.  Andrew is invaluable because he was an introducer. 

It's wonderful to be an introducer, isn't it?  It's a wonderful thing to be an introducer of people to people, of friend to friend.  Have you ever done that? It's very rewarding to introduce one person to another and stand back and see a friendship bloom. It's a very rewarding thing to introduce people to books and authors and ideas.  But the greatest introduction of all is to be able to introduce another person to Jesus Christ.  To be able to say I first introduced this person to our Lord Jesus Christ.  And that was the part that Andrew played. 

Andrew was an introducer.  We see him first here introducing his brother Simon Peter to Jesus.  He says to his brother, "We have found the Messiah, which means the Anointed One, the one promised and the one set apart"  And Andrew brought him to Jesus.

Andrew was motivated by the fact that he had made a unique discovery.  He has been with John when John pointed to Jesus and said, "Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world".  And Andrew went along with Jesus and realized that there was something different about Jesus.  Indeed he discovered the Messiah. 

Notice that word "found".  In the Greek it is translated "Eurisko".  And that is the word from which we derive the word "eureka".  You remember that old story how Archimedes, when he discovered a means to weigh the gold in the emperor's crown ran through the streets shouting "Eureka, Eureka, I have found it. Eurisko - I have made a unique discovery."

And so for every one of us we have made a unique discovery in Christ.  Here is one who loves us with an undying love.  Here is the one in whom we discover forgiveness, and new life.  We can all shout Eurisko!  And so we are motivated to invite others to come and see.   That's how it all begins.  We have found the Messiah.  Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if someone here for the first time said, "I know about religion, I know about the church, but you've opened my eyes and I've found Christ." 

Now Andrew has earned the name of introducer because he introduced his brother to Jesus but also in John 6 we witness again that he is an introducer.  This is the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand and who brings the boy with the five loaves and two fish to Jesus?  Andrew. 

Then over in chapter 12 beginning at verse 20 we see that certain Greeks wanted to come to see Jesus.  They first go to Philip.  And in verse 22 we read that Philip then went to Andrew.  One the reasons that he did that was that Philip didn't know what do with the request.  But he knew that Andrew was a skillful introducer.  So Philip went to Andrew, and handed the Greeks over to him, and together, with Andrew strengthened by Andrew went and told Jesus about the Greeks wanting to meet him.  And Jesus is delighted because those Greeks were the forerunners of the Gentile world listening and responding to the message of God's love in Christ. So Andrew is an introducer to Christ.

This is the Biblical foundation of Operation Andrew.  It is a step-by-step mission strategy through which we as a body of believers introduce people to the reality of the love of Christ.

Here is the second document for operation Andrew – copies are found in the pews before you.  Take the cards there that say Operation Andrew.  Turn to the side that says, "Operation Andrew is five simple steps". 

First step - look around. We've covered this, we are to see the harvest.

Step two - begin with prayer.

Step three - go, and make friendships.  Be a true friend and influence them for Christ. 

But you say, Pastor, I thought this plan was for all of us.  How can we all participate in this, it seems rather individualistic.  It is up to this point. 

Step four.  "Talk with each person on your list about attending a special evangelistic event with you.  Choose a specific date and invite them."

What are we going to invite them to?  I propose that we invite them to dinner.  Let's invite them to discuss the faith in a non threatening, encouraging atmosphere.  And let's do it together. 

Three and half years ago, we as a church offered a program called ALPHA.  It's time we offered it again.  It's a 10-session practical introduction to the Christian faith.  Dinner, video, discussion.  It is a great means of sharing the faith. 

When will we offer this course?  Wednesday nights beginning the third or fourth week of September of this year.  Why then?  Because at that time ALPHA Canada is launching a nationwide blitz.  Radio, Television and billboard advertising.  Churches across our nation are encouraged to host the program.   

Operation Andrew - if you choose to accept this mission I can tell you that your prayer life will deepen and be enriched.  You will witness the power of God in ways you never thought possible.  You will have the joy of seeing others come to Christ.  The harvest is ready.  Scripture tells us that heaven throws a part for every seeker who submits to Christ.  Through Operation Andrew and the subsequent Operation ALPHA, you are being invited to become a part of that cosmic celebration.

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - May 2003