The Deathless Sermon

If we expect God to move, then we should walk in anticipation of that move.   ~~~   In 1792, in a sermon preached in a Baptist meeting, William Carey urged his fellow pastors and brothers in Christ to enter the mission field, to support the cause of missions with their money and members. From that sermon came the famous line, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” That sermon is sometimes referred to as the “Deathless Sermon” because it sparked a missions movement that has not ceased to exist. Carey is known as the father of the modern day missions movement, not only lending his voice to promote this movement, but his very life. Just within a year of delivering that sermon, Carey was aboard a dutch ship sailing in secret to Eastern India, along with his wife, his son, and a doctor. What was he doing? He was expecting great things from God, and attempting great things from God. The work in India was anything but easy. Carey started learning the Bengali language, started translating the Bible into Bengali, and preaching to small groups. Seven years later he had his first convert. Carey’s words and life would inspire other missionaries like Adoniram Judson, Hudson Tayler, and David Livingstone. All of this because He believed, he expected God to keep His word of doing great things in the world. What do you expect from God, and then what do you attempt in light of that expectation? With just a quick glance at the daily structures of our lives and what we attempt in the world, it would appear that some us don’t expect much from God. If that is so, we find our selves at odds with many faithful people of the Bible, including the main character of our passage for study over the next few days, Jonathan, King Saul’s son. So join us tomorrow as he begin to look at his attempts.