Colossians chapter number one. I want to preach on one verse out of this passage of scripture, but I think for the sake of context and what the Bible is talking about here, we will begin with verse number nine and read to the end of the chapter. So as we read, I trust that you have a copy of God's word and that you can follow along. Colossians chapter one. Beginning in verse number nine, the Bible says, for this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church, whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. " In the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 11, the Bible makes this statement. And if a tree fall toward the south or toward the north, In the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. It kind of reminds me of that philosophical thought experiment that no doubt you've heard of as something that symbolizes the ineffectiveness of unheard opinions or thoughts. And it goes this way. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? This evening I want to look at a strange and somewhat difficult statement from this passage in the book of Colossians found in verse number 24. The Bible here says, and Paul is speaking, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind or lacking in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake which is the church. Now it's an interesting statement that Paul makes that he is suffering on behalf of the Colossians, and in doing so, he fills up or completes the sufferings of Christ. And he completes that which is behind, as the Bible says, or that word behind means lacking. And if we look at it that way, of course, I think it would raise some concern. What does that mean? What is he saying here? Does it mean that our Lord's sufferings on the cross at Calvary are incomplete? Does it mean that somehow you and I have to supplement or add to or finish the work of Christ, perhaps through a time spent in a place called purgatory? Or perhaps through asceticism, the self-punishment that we could inflict upon ourselves and thereby we would add to and complete what our Lord has done on the cross. Or perhaps it would be doing some form of penance. These are some of the ways if we misinterpret this verse we might begin to think that what Christ has done for us on the cross needs to be completed. That his work is not fully complete and that there are things that you and I need to do. Or as Paul said, that in his sufferings he is filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh and he is talking about his own suffering. Well, I think we would all agree, without me having to say anything more, that that is not what the Bible would be saying. In fact, it would be contrary to what we read in verse number 20, where the Bible says of Jesus Christ, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled." There's no doubt about it. He hath reconciled us completely in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. If we were to believe that somehow the work of our Lord was incomplete on our behalf and that we needed to do something, that would be contrary to what the Bible teaches concerning the finished work of our Lord. You'll recall that on the cross as he gave up the ghost, he exclaimed, it is finished. And we believe that it wasn't just that he was finished, he wasn't saying it in that sense, but that the work that he was sent to do was complete. That Calvary pays, covers it all, and there is nothing left. If you look over into the book of Hebrews, for example, in chapter number 7, the Bible is very clear on the fact that His work for us on the cross is complete. There is nothing more to be done, nothing can be added to it, nothing should be taken from it, but it is complete. Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7 and verse number 24, the Bible says, But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people's. For this he did once when he offered up himself." One sacrifice, we read in chapter 9 of the book of Hebrews, verse 11, and down to verse number 14. But Christ being come, and high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" And then over in the 10th chapter, just to drive a point home, but in verse number 9, here in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 9, We read, and then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifice, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Sounds to me like the work of Christ on the cross was once and for all. It was finished. It was complete. And so we would ask the question in Colossians chapter 1 and verse number 24, what does the Bible mean when Paul says that in his sufferings, He is filling up that which is behind or lacking in the sufferings or the afflictions of Christ. Well I think to understand this verse, first of all we need to know something of the context of the book of Colossians. It's always helpful when you're studying the Bible, and particularly when you're encountering verses that cause us to scratch our head a little bit and wonder what is the Bible talking about, that we would study the context. And the context of the book of Colossians is that Paul was in prison in Rome. He was there, having been transported from Caesarea. We read that in the concluding chapter of the book of Acts, and he was placed there under close arrest in Rome. And while he was there, he wrote what are sometimes referred to as the prison epistles. And Colossians was the first of the prison epistles that was written. As we read the book of Colossians, we come to understand that this was one church that Paul actually did not personally start. Paul had not been there to Colossae, and we understand that if we look, for example, in chapter 1 and verse 4, he said that since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, he said we heard about you, and of course he's writing to this church, In verse 7 and verse number 8, it identifies the man who actually was responsible, I believe, for planting this church in Colossae. The man was Epaphras, or Epaphras, if you want to say it correctly. But as ye learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. And so while Paul didn't personally plant this church, he certainly heard about this church, and I believe that historically this church would have been one of those that was started out of the church at Ephesus. Because while Paul was there in Ephesus for the space of three years, the Bible says that all Asia heard the word of the Lord. And Paul himself never left Ephesus during that time. He was there, he said, day and night, teaching and preaching the Word of God. But obviously what Paul was doing there, along with his associates, is that they were training men to be the preachers of the Gospel. And as these men were trained, some of them became the pastors of the church at Ephesus, but others were sent out as evangelists so that all Asia, all of their province, were able to hear the word of the Lord. And in that, the church at Colossae came into being. But now Paul is hearing that they are being assailed by false teachers. Just as we saw this morning as we were studying the Word of God, we see that as soon as God does a great work, you can be sure the devil's going to be there to disrupt it or to oppose it or to even put it to a stop. and the false teachers had come to Colossae. And Paul writes in chapter 2 and verse number 8, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. And these false teachers were the Gnostic teachers who were using their Greek philosophy and blending that with Bible Christianity. And they were using that to beguile these believers and to fool them into thinking that there was somehow beyond the word of God, there was additional higher knowledge that could be attained if of course you followed their teachings. And then there were the Judaizers who were using a blend of Jewish tradition with Bible Christianity and they were judging others in the church because they were not observing the holy days and the new moons and the Sabbaths and the dietary laws. And this was troubling to the church. And so Paul is praying for them. You see, these false teachers, regardless of what label they may have had, they were teaching that the death of Christ must be supplemented. either by human merit through works, or by following tradition, or by asceticism, denying yourself, going without, and suffering for Jesus, or by the attainment of higher knowledge. And though Paul was not personally acquainted with this church, he spoke of his sufferings on its behalf. That's what we read here in chapter 1 and verse number 24, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you. Now, what does he mean by that? Well, look at chapter 2 and verse 1. He said, for I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. You see, Paul still had a great burden for this church, and he prayed for this church, and that's why he wrote the book of Colossians. These were his sufferings. He was in prison. In chapter 4 and verse number 18, he says, remember my bonds. He agonized for the Colossians. In chapter 1 and verse 9, he said, for this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you. He wrote in defense of the truth, and his suffering was really God's will for his life, because when Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, and God led him to go visit Pastor Ananias of the Damascus Baptist Church. God told Ananias, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And so we would ask ourselves the question, well then is verse 24 telling us that in some way Paul was a co-redeemer? We know that our Lord suffered for our sins, but Paul is saying, I am suffering for you and I fill up that which is behind or lacking in the afflictions of Christ. Well, obviously not. The Bible does not teach such a heresy as that. So the question really comes down to this. What is incomplete about the sufferings of Christ? Well, from a theological point of view, there's nothing incomplete. There's nothing. The death of Christ completely satisfied the demands of a holy God. And the death of Christ is absolutely 100% sufficient to save any and every sinner. Doesn't matter how bad you may be, He's able to save you to the uttermost. So there is nothing incomplete about the sufferings of Christ from that point of view. But what is missing? Well, think of it this way. The fact is that our Lord Jesus Christ died on a cross on the hill called Calvary, and He died for all men. But the one thing that is missing is that Calvary, outside of Jerusalem, was about a thousand miles away from Colossae. And so there had to be a personal presentation of the gospel of Christ to the people of Colossae. What good would it be for Christ to die on the cross in Jerusalem and then for no one to hear? Let me put it this way, if Christ died on the cross and no one hears about it, are his sufferings effectual? And I think that's the point here of verse number 24, that Paul is not saying that our Lord somehow did not die enough or shed enough blood or that his death was not quite sufficient. But he's simply pointing to the truth and the reality that there is a world out there that is dying and on its way to a Christless eternity in hell. And what does it matter if Christ died so far away if they don't hear the good news of the gospel? And I believe that's what is being taught in this particular verse. not just Colossae, but to the world. Do you know what happens when the gospel comes to a place, even for the first time? I want to have you look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Galatians, chapter number three, and particularly the second part of verse number one, where Galatia was also hundreds and hundreds of miles away from where Jesus died. But there were a time when the gospel came to the region of Galatia, and the gospel was preached. And Paul writes here in verse number one of chapter three, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? And listen to this, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you. Now circle that word evidently, because faith is the substance of things not seen, the evidence of things not known. Faith makes it real. And when these preachers came, in their preaching they set forth before the Galatians the crucified Christ. And we are not saved by having to see Jesus die on the cross. There were only a handful of people, relatively speaking, who saw Him actually die. But by faith, we believe the Gospel. And the Gospel was preached in Galatia, and those preachers who came, they set forth Jesus crucified before them. In the preaching of the Word of God, they saw Christ as the Lamb of God who would take away their sins. And that's what we're talking about here, that for this cause, Paul suffered. He wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation. which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. Paul is saying that I am transporting that message that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, that he rose again the third day, the gospel message. I'm bringing it to you. And I'm doing that and I'm suffering in order to do that. for you. And that's the message that we see here. In Paul's sufferings, he was completing the purpose of the gospel that not only would Christ die, but that men would hear that message here and around the world. He said, and now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem. not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of those things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. He wrote that, or that was recorded for us, I should say, in Acts chapter 20, verse 22 and 24. In 2 Timothy, Paul said, therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. In Galatians chapter 6 and verse 17, Paul said, from henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. His was a physical suffering. If you're familiar with the life of Paul and his journeys and all that he went through, why did he do that? So that he could bring the message of the cross to peoples around the world. He followed the same commission that we are called upon to obey today. There are people in the world today who have not heard the message that Jesus died for them. And they're not going to hear it unless somebody tells them. And in order for somebody to tell them, it's going to require some sacrifice. whether it be in our giving or our going, whether it be on our knees or on our feet, we are going to have to suffer if we're going to complete the sufferings of Jesus Christ in what He intended for the whole world, that every man would hear the gospel. That is the will of God, that none should perish, but all should come to repentance. But it requires some suffering. If we're going to see the Great Commission to be fulfilled, if we want to see souls saved, if we want to see churches established, then it's going to require a payment to be made. And so if I can distill the thought that I'm trying to bring to you tonight into a simple statement, it's this. There's a price to be paid if you and I are to obey the Great Commission. And I believe that we need to face that reality. Perhaps not in the body. I mean, we don't often hear of physical suffering as men and women have endured in times past and certainly of the apostolic times. But nonetheless, there's a price to be paid. And so the question is, how much am I, how much are you willing to suffer for the cause of Christ? How much are you willing to put forth the sweat to get the gospel from Calvary to Fort Worth, Texas? How much are you willing to do that to get Christ from the cross to the state of Texas? How much are you willing, how much are you willing to suffer to get Christ from Calvary's cross to the Philippines, to Thailand, to Namibia, or any of the other 236 countries in the world? They need to hear. And if they don't hear, then it's like that tree that falls in the forest. They need to hear. It does take suffering, perhaps the sacrifice of time, for you to give some time in the service of the Lord. It may be the sacrifice of treasure. as we are seeing this emphasis here today for the faith promise missions offering, to really give so that others may go. It may be the sacrifice of intercession, spending time in earnest and meaningful prayer for these who are going and taking the gospel. It may be the sacrifice mom and dad of your children, to give them up to the service of the Lord, to set aside the normal parental ambitions for their children and say, if God wants my son, if God wants my daughter, then I'm going to give them up and I'll sacrifice them for the cause of Jesus Christ. It'll involve some dying to self. There was a young missionary who was very eager and who was planning to return to the field. But he was an invalid. And so a learned preacher said to him, why, invalid as you are, are you still planning on returning to the field? To which the young man replied, because I cannot sleep at night for thinking about them. To which the preacher replied, well, the trouble with me is I cannot think about them because I'm inclined to sleep at night. David Brainerd, who was an evangelist to the Native Americans in the colonial days, he died in 1747 in his 20s. Yet he had a great effect upon the tribes that he reached. And it is said that he would sway a whole tribe with the Savior's love. He wrote in his journal, I think my soul has never been so drawn out in intercession for others as it has been this night. I hardly ever so long to live to God and to be altogether devoted to Him. I wanted to wear out my life for Him. I wrestled for the ingathering of souls, for multitudes of poor souls in many places. I was in such agony from sub half an hour high till near dark that I was wet from sweat. But oh my dear Lord did sweat blood for such poor souls. I long for more compassion." I think David Brainard understood the meaning of this scripture. that he was rejoicing in his sufferings for others to fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. Filling up the afflictions of Christ is to be our commitment to him. When we do so, we'll rejoice in what sufferings or inconveniences, I suppose, that we shall be called upon to endure. May God bless his word to us tonight. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we bow in your presence tonight, we thank you, Lord, for the challenge that your word brings. And Lord, this is a verse of scripture that is hard to wrap our minds around, perhaps to a certain degree, but Lord, it's pretty obvious that our Savior, he paid it all, and all to him we owe. And Lord, that while Calvary covers it all. It does nothing unless that message is taken to the far reaches of this world. So help us, Lord, to be willing to make whatever sacrifices you would call upon us to make. Lord, I thank you that you deal with us as individuals. For some, you have the ministry of intercession. For some, you have the ministry of giving. and the ministry of going. But whatever it may be, Lord, use us for your glory, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I want to encourage the members of the church, come to the altar tonight and ask God to put a blessing on the offerings we've given. and ask the Lord to bless our missions efforts this coming year. This is the end of our missions month. I wanna encourage you to come. As we sing verse number one, won't you come and offer prayer to the Lord about our missions program. ♪ Have thine own way, Lord ♪ Have thine own way Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will. Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. Search me and try me, Master, today. Whiter than snow. Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. I pray. Power, oh power, surely is Thine. Touch me and heal me, Savior divine. Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. Hold, Lord, my being. Absolute sway. Till all shall see Christ only, always living in me. As we sing. Have Thine own way, Lord. Have Thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, while I am If you would if you just be seated for just a moment before we're dismissed tonight I'm gonna have brother Wayne give us a bit of a testimony but to close off missions month I find it appropriate to just remind us of you know, how a church family and how a church properly functions We believe that the tithes and offerings of God's people support the immediate mission work and the immediate work of the local church. A tithe is a tenth. In my practice, the way that I was taught when I was a kid and it was modeled before me by my father, you know, every time my dad would get a paycheck, he'd hold his paycheck out and he'd figure out what his gross pay was. And he would give the first tenth plus an offering to the Lord. We delivered papers when I was a young man, and we delivered the Detroit Free Press. I was a paper boy. My dad encouraged me to take the earnings as a child from my paper route and give the Lord the first tenth of my increase plus an offering. And we've practiced that throughout our lives. My wife and I, when we got married, it was the first major spiritual decision that we made as a married couple. I said, we will practice. Tithe giving our tithes and offerings to the Lord It would be inappropriate for someone to give a missions offering without tithing that's doing something backwards a faith promise Missions offering is basically something we're giving over and above our tithes and offerings to support mission works around the world now I do believe that 2nd Corinthians 9 7 which is on this card is Me and Jake were reading this verse on the way to church tonight Every man according as he purposeth in his heart. So let him give I believe that verse was specifically penned for a Offering given towards missions now several times in the book of Timothy Paul was instructing Timothy to lay hold on eternal life That's a that's a really a missions mindset We're laying hold on things that are just that are eternal in matthew 6 It says for us not to lay up for ourselves treasures upon earth Where moss and rust doth corrupt and thieves break through and steal but we're supposed to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven And I believe that those treasures in heaven are the sage souls that come directly from these offerings for our supportive missionaries. Our church has the ability to offer great help to people financially. Our church has been financially blessed. We live in a financially blessed world and society today. In our country, we have more than many other countries. When I go to a foreign country, I just came back from Argentina, every home I went to had very few pieces of furniture altogether. I went into a pastor's home and found a table with five chairs. I didn't see a couch. I didn't see any kind of lounging furniture. The apartment they lived in, their children would actually ride bikes inside their apartment, but they had very little. They lived very meagerly. Here in the United States, we have everything the heart could wish. And I've always believed that most Christians and most church members spend more on cable television, video games, and things that will never bring eternal value to their lives. They spend more on that than they invest in the cause of missions. And all we're trying to do is turn your hearts and your eyes toward heaven. What we do to give to missions makes a difference in the lives of people. And I really want to thank our church for such a response. We've always, I mean, I've always been amazed at how God has used our church and blessed our church. You know, when I came here, I was kind of intimidated because I've never taken over a ministry that had a $100,000 missions budget. But while this church had an interim pastor, Brother Wayne Hudson, our church took up over $100,000 the year I took over. And I thought, wow, there's people here who really sacrifice for missions. Didn't want to stop there. I wanted it to increase from there now praise the Lord for the last two years. We've seen a 10% increase But folks, I'm just want to let you know I'm praying for more We went to Penny's Church the last couple years. These people are struggling along. That's an expensive place to live, New Zealand. And when I got there a couple years ago, they were given 10,000 New Zealand dollars to admissions at their little church. And last year they increased from 10,000 to 17,000. And then this year they increased from 17,000 to 25,000. If our church increased the way that their church has increased, we'd be given over $200,000 to missions, and oh, what a joy that would be, to be able to increase our monthly amounts that we give to all the missionaries we help support, to basically find churches who are sending out missionaries, like Pastor Sargent's church. He's got two missionaries, one planting a church in Washington, one, I believe, who's in Fiji, and we don't support them yet. But I would love to take on every missionary we could find and start blessing them with finances so that they could get the gospel to these areas quickly. Let's get out there and get to work and to preach the gospel. And may God use our gifts for that. I want to thank every person for being a part of this. And if you haven't prayed about it or chosen to be a part of it or don't have a figure yet, we're going to be taking up these cards for the remainder of the year. This isn't the end of it, but we would like you so that we could plan for next year's budget and our missions program. For you to do your best to put these cards in again. These cards don't have your name It's a commitment between you and God but having those figures does help us to set our budget for the upcoming year Brother Wayne has asked if he could give a testimony tonight before we close and I just want to say how thankful I am and how thankful We all ought to be for such a good man brother Wayne Hudson to be a part of our church We love you, brother Wayne come on up and if you would after your testimony if you'd close in a word of prayer I just wanna, I've been wanting to say something all day long. And you know when it just keeps rolling back over you, I was a member of a church. We had imaginary missionaries. We heard about them, but we never saw them. We didn't have any kind of a mission program. We just gave our money and Certain percent of each Week went to headquarters and headquarters divided up among the missionaries That's not my testimony I'm thankful for the day that God showed us that what Faith Promise was. Milton Martin, Bruce's dad, and Joe West, pastor down in San Antonio, were having a missions school and Brother Milton spoke and I listened. Brother Hugh was there. Hugh Atkinson started sending me the bulletins from this church and put me in faith promise mission school and begin to teach me. Here's my testimony. In my mind, every Baptist in this town ought to be here this week to hear this man speak. I was in that missionary church, and I found a track somewhere. Do you remember this one, brother, where you had the Protestant churches, the little trees? But there was one tree that went all the way back to Calvary, and it was just one tree. The little Protestant churches had sprung up, off the roots of a dead tree. He put all this, there was a, I liked the track. It said things to me that I'd never heard before. And I went to my pastor and I said, do you think, do you think it'd be all right if I see if we could get some of these tracks? Oh yeah. It was from a missionary pastor in Australia. And so I wrote a letter to Australia and you got it. I got the letter back. He said, if you can print it, be a blessing. Just go ahead and print it. I went to my pastor. And said, it's okay if we print it. He said, well, I'm not gonna print that. I don't even know if I believe that or not. Well, I was glad that he wasn't my pastor much longer. But I found a place to get truth. And When we started this college here in this church, one of our teachers was a preacher. And I said, where are you getting your material? It turned out it was a charismatic web page on the internet. We had to have an anchor. And so I went to the pastor, we talked about it and we anchored on the materials that we use today. He's the daddy of it all. He's the authority that wrote those ABCs of Christian growth and a hundred other things that we depend on. See, missions comes out of a changed heart. We're selfish people, that's our nature. We got saved probably with a selfish desire. We don't want to go to hell, we want to go to heaven. But God is not a selfish God. And what he just preached, he said he's a choice vessel. And to the choice vessel, he said, he's going to have to suffer so others can hear. If we intend to be a choice vessel, we're going to have to get to a place that we adhere. What we do as Christians does not begin here. It doesn't even begin with me. But it begins with that foundation of the Word of God. The truth has to be planted. Then the tree grows. Without the truth, you can put out wings and blow away. It's such a great honor. This week, we're calling it a Christology class. But it'd be better if we could just say it's a revival meeting and go on with it, right? I promise you, it'll be down the road somewhere. That was back in the 60s or 1960s or 1970s, somewhere along in there when you wrote that track. I never dreamed that I would meet that Australian without going to Australia. This week, he's going to teach every night. It's a rare opportunity. If the publicity went out, half of Texas would pay to get here to hear him. He's here and he's available. Don't let it go by. That's all I say. Amen. Thank you, Brother Wayne. Before we close, can I have all of our deacons come down here again and come on down to the front guys. And if we can collect these cards, Brother Mark has already made a tally from you know, what we came up with this morning. What I'd really like to do is, you know, let's just sing a song or two together. Maybe Brother Tim can come back and lead that. Here am I, Lord, send me. And possibly our deacons can come up with the final amount. I don't know if that's too much to ask tonight. You think we'd be able to do that? Let's let all of our deacons go back there and count these things up and come back and give a report to the church on what came in. And, uh, can we sing that, uh, Here Am I, Lord Send Me song again? You guys can remain seated for this. This shouldn't take all that long. I'd really like to give a report to the church on what came in for missions tonight. How many of you think that's a good idea? Amen. Go ahead. Let's sing this song again. Lord, I give myself to you. Take control each day. I will follow everywhere. Never far away. Here in my corner send me. I will serve you faithfully. Here am I, Lord. Send me. Let's sing it one more time. Lord, I give my life to you. Take control each day. Here am I, Lord, send me. Here am I, Lord, send me. I will serve you faithfully. Do what? We can sing acapella. Let's sing the song, Thank You, Lord. Amen? Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank You, Lord. for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and free. Let's sing the song Isn't He Wonderful. ♪ Isn't he wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ♪ ♪ Isn't Jesus my Lord wonderful ♪ ♪ Eyes have seen, ears have heard ♪ ♪ Times recorded in God's word ♪ ♪ Isn't Jesus my Lord wonderful ♪ Amen, great singing. God is so good. God is so good. God is so good. God is so good. He's so good to me. He answers prayer He answers prayer He answers prayer He's so good to me Amen, amen. Another song? Anybody else got a favorite chorus or song? But we said, ah, our friends, they said, I'll go over there. And I, being a missionary over there, it's been interesting to find the indigenous people over there. I feel so thankful to God. You deacons can come I'll come on the stage with us here. These are our leaders of our church And we're very thankful for all of our deacons. Again, some of you may not know that these men are, you guys can come up on the stage with me, that these men are the leaders of our church. And if there's ever a need that you have, these men are here to assist you and assist our church with the needs we have. So the total today, and this doesn't mean we always have kind of more offerings that come in today, but just what was committed today was $104,794. And if that excites you that our church has given that much money towards Michigan missions, why don't you just say amen and praise the lord? Amen Yeah again, these are our deacons and uh, if there are needs that you have in the church if something happens Uh to where maybe i'm not available. I want you guys to know these are the men that you can reach out to we've got a good set of deacons and these men are such a blessing to me in our church and We also want to say thank you to everybody else in our church who's been so involved here lately with either cleaning the building or taking care of the grounds and I'm just so thankful to be a part of a great church where there's so many servants. I All right, let's stand together and let's commit these things to the Lord. We wanna say thank you to Pastor Sargent for being here. And as Brother Wayne has encouraged you, we'd love to pack out that room every night this week. If you do intend to come and turn this into a revival, make sure that you let Brother Jeff and Miss Sarah know, and we might need to increase the amount of food that we're making for each night. But I just wanna tell you, you will not be disappointed if you're able to come to the classes this week. So please be faithful to that. Let's go to the Lord in prayer father in heaven. We thank you for your blessings and thank you for our missions month I pray Lord that as the finances continue to be pledged and come in that Lord you would just multiply it I pray Lord that we would see even an increase this year and I pray Lord for our missions program I pray it be with our deacons as we consider our More missionaries to to recommend to the church I pray Lord that as we make decisions that you'd be honored and glorified with what we do and Lord, we just pray that These gifts these offerings would be used for the salvation of souls and for the increase of your kingdom I pray, Lord, that you'd bless our church. I thank you for all the visitors we saw today. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to win those who are lost to you. Pray that you would do a great work in all of our hearts. And I also pray, Lord, that you would give us the attitude of Isaiah, where he said, here am I, Lord, send me. Help us this very week to give our lives to you, to control, to use, I pray Lord that each of our members would use their mouths and their their mental abilities to try to reach people For the Lord Jesus Christ now bless us as we depart And we pray that you'd keep people safe as they're driving home tonight and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen