Again, this morning in the name of our worthy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 16 this morning. I really think there was a spiritual battle going on as I was preparing for this sermon, and so I do covet your prayers even as we continue through the service today. I would like to begin reading here in verse 19. Verse 19. There was a certain Mitch man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gates full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abram's bosom. The rich man died also and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abram afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abram, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. And Abram said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, And now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. Besides all this, betwixt us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that he which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would come from hence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house, For I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come unto this place of torment. And Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses, and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham. But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." What a word. What a word. My title this morning is, The Beggar at the Gate. The Beggar at the Gate. We're speaking this morning to the church. I suppose that a large percent of those that are here this morning are church people. And so, Sunday morning I always think it's very appropriate to speak to the church. And so this morning we are addressing those of you who have taken faith in Christ and take your life seriously and are following Jesus, and have even pledged your allegiance to your local church. and to the church of Jesus Christ to build his kingdom here on earth. But as I look into this passage here today, there is something that I want to bring to focus here. Maybe this is not the right scripture to use even to do this, but it seems to me there's a message that is sewn into this passage. And we have it here. We have the comparisons here. We have the rich man, and then we have the beggar. That's the rich one side, the beggar on the other. No name given for the rich man. We have Lazarus, his name given for the other. Then we have the rich man, he's purple and in fine linen. And the other man closed in sores. One is faring sumptuously, the other is desiring the crumbs. and the dogs are coming to lick his sores. There's no record if he ever got the crumbs. But there's one similarity to both of them. They both died. But there's a great difference in what happened. One died and was buried, and the other was carried by the angels into Abram's bosom. One lifted up his eyes in hell, and the other rested in Abram's bosom. I asked the question, maybe I'll ask this question this morning. So why was the rich man in hell? Why did he go to hell? Was it because he was rich? I don't think so. Was he going, did he go to hell because he didn't feed Lazarus that was at his gate? We're not told. We're not told. But I ask the question, so who is the beggar? But maybe the most and more important question this morning is, who's the rich man? Who's the rich man? Now let's just look at some scriptures. It says here that the rich man was clothed in purple and fine linen. Purple and fine linen. Now, let's look at what purple means. Galatians chapter 2, verse 16. No. Somehow I've picked up a wrong scripture here. Yeah, it's what I want. Okay. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Jesus Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. There is no work. If the rich man had fed the beggar at the gate, that by itself would not have made the difference. That would not have made the difference. There is many a compassionate person, a compassionate man, that is in humanitarian aid work, etc., who is not a person of faith in Christ. That work alone will not make them eligible for the kingdom. And I want that to be very clear this morning. So being one that is involved in meeting even the needs around you is not enough. There needs to be more. But let's go on to Ephesians chapter 2. Look at 8 through 10 here in Ephesians chapter 2. For by grace are ye saved through faith, that not of yourself it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. But look at the next verse. I trust we're very clear that we are saved by grace, not by our works. But it tells us here, we are His workmanship, we're God's project, created in Christ Jesus unto what? Good works. Good works. Good works are a part, they're a following after one that has come to Christ. Therefore, we are not people who deny the value of good works. But that is not our intention. That is not our focus, necessarily. where he says, for we are His workmanship, created unto Christ Jesus, unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. Move on to the third scripture, just to reinforce this. Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3, verse 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of the regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord that being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life This is a faithful saying. These things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. The emphasis of our life is not good works. However, the Christian walking in a world of need can in no way disregard that need. And I say today that the beggar at the gate is the need that presents itself to us. And the needs that are presented to us today are now not just outside our gate. But because of technology and the news media and all of that, the beggar at the gate can be only in other side of the world. And as a result of that, our accountability and responsibility worldwide, the Christian has an intensive responsibility that becomes ever more intense, I believe. because of the knowledge that we now have of what happens around the world. The suffering people in the Ukraine, for instance, I trust we've been reaching out and touching those as we can from where we are here. There are those that are on the field and they're having a struggle to know how to reach the real needs. But then there's the Afghanistan, who feels himself to have been forgotten. And the media has largely dropped them because they're selling newspapers by, or they're selling, newspapers are becoming almost obsolete. They're selling news by Ukraine. But the Afghanistan needs are still there. The needs in other countries, those that have been, where the conflicts have persisted for years, And the pain and the misery continues to go on and the poverty just goes down, down, down. And they've been sort of forgotten. The beggar at the gate. Oh, but that's, yeah, okay. They're over there. We're here. Out of sight, out of mind. Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 2. Rich man's clothes in purple fine linen. Purple stands for royalty. Oh, we're not royalty. We're common people. We're still driving nails. We've never run for president. We're not a royalty. Verse 9, chapter 2, 1 Peter. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." What? That sounds like royalty, royal priesthood. Timothy chapter 2, beginning to read in verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live holy, soberly, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thy youth. That word peculiar means beyond the usual. Special. We are a peculiar people. Royalty. When Jesus, when there was a mockery of Jesus in the trial, before he went to the cross, they put a purple robe upon him. Yes, the word was that he is, this is the king of the Jews. And Pilate was there, art thou then a Jew? And Jesus said, well, I'll say it, isn't it? These others are saying it. I didn't say that. And then he says, well, what is truth? And then Pilate finally says, you know, a king. I mean, this man's supposed to be a king? He should have felt terribly threatened by having Jesus standing there. He wasn't feeling threatened at all. He didn't feel it. He was puzzled. How can this man be a king? He doesn't look like one. He doesn't have the bearing of one. He's here and he's not even defending himself. He was just terribly puzzled by the whole thing. Because there was the humility of Christ that was there and he was confronted with all of that. And he didn't know what to do with it. So they put a purple robe on him. They mocked him. They just had a headache calling him a king and mocking him. My friends, purple Is a sign of royalty. That's why they put the purple robe on him from the revelation I want to look at the second aspect. So the rich man was clothed in purple, but he was also clothed in fine linen fine linen What does fine linen? What's what what where do we find fine linen? revelation chapter 19 We have the fine linen verse 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor unto him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the linen is the righteousness of the saints. Let me ask you a question. Who is the bride? Who is the wife that has made herself ready? Is it not the church? It's the church. Is it wrong then for us to think that the man clothed in purple and fine linen could be the church? Could it be the church of Jesus Christ today that has forgotten her mission? Oh yes, she's still clothed in purple and fine linen. She's forgotten her mission of compassion. She's forgotten that there's a beggar at the gate. Terribly convicting for me as I was studying this. the beggar at the gate. If I think of this, a rich man as the church. So how are we rich? How are we rich? We're here this morning. We want to hear the Word of God. You've had the opportunity this week to come and hear the Word, and you've done well. You've been coming. I have no criticisms. But you could have turned on the CD somewhere and you could have listened to the Word of God at home. You could have picked up a good book somewhere and it could have just blessed you right down, all the way down, right to your toes. You could have probably went on the internet And you probably could have found a preacher that would have just absolutely tickled your gizzard. You could have done so many things. So many things. That would have just blessed you. You know, today, ah, you could have went to a seminar. You could have really gotten tickled. I mean, really. Whatever you're interested with. There's a seminar somewhere you could have attended, I'm sure. There's seminars and all you. There's men's seminars. There's marriage seminars. There's women's seminars. There's youth seminars. There's family seminars. There's Bible schools. There's audio tapes. There's video tapes. And there's the identity conferences. And there's the ministers' meetings. And there's the deacons' meetings where we really get taught what we're supposed to do. And I mean, if you Want to get taught? You can get taught. Absolutely. We have all these good things, but so what do we do? We travel. We go all over the place. We build bigger buildings, and we put plush carpet into them. We put big sound systems into them. get all tanked up, and we get encouraged as we have meetings like this this morning. And that's good. That's good. But is it enough? Is it enough? Have these good things kept us so involved that we are failing to see and to hear the Lazarus at the gate? Has the shut-in that can't come to church been forgotten? Has the one who's never had the chance to hear the gospel been forgotten. Have the ministries of our congregations and for us personally become so wrapped up in me and making me a better person and a better Christian that we have forgotten our responsibility toward the beggar at the gate. I submit that one of the leavens of today is hidden in our activity that revolves around me. And as churches, how our activities are, how do we What are the goals? I spoke on Thursday evening about the need of having goals and visions and purposes. So what, as churches, what are we doing on purpose to meet the needs of the beggar at the gate? And then there's the next thing that happens. Okay, there's the beggar at the gate, so now we're going to set up a program. We're going to have certain days we're going to do this. Oh, well, you know what? It's a better idea yet. We'll put a committee in. We'll have a missions committee. And you know what? Now we got the missions committee. Now we can relax. Because they're going to organize it and if they say it, we'll do it. Then we don't have to do anything else. I mean, that's just, yeah. It's fixed. We got it all covered. And we relax because we've discharged our personal responsibility. We're great with committees. I mean, really, we are. We just know how to do it. We just put them in, and then we can relax because they're going to, they'll tell us when we ought to do it, when it's not, they'll just, they'll just, oh my, the whole thing's fixed right there. So much good is going on. The leaven of the specialist. The leaven of the specialist. You know, old-fashioned family doctor is about as hard to find as whooping cranes throughout the country. You just about... Okay, so you go there and they discover a little something, a little liberty. So you know what? You gotta go see that guy, he's a specialist in that. I'm just a general doctor, I can tell you that there's something here that ain't working quite right. But I'd like for you to go over there to that doctor. And then he, oh that, you know what, I can take care of your ear and your nose problem, or whatever you got going there, but you got another problem here. I hear a little rattle in your chest, you better go check that other boy. You know, he's a heart guy. And you know, the idea of one doctor, you go into one doctor and he fixes everything is just about not existing anymore. I remember well, you'd go to the doctor and, I mean, he was a once and done guy. You go to the doctor and he just fixed you. I don't know how he was that smart. It didn't matter what was going on. He somehow had something, he could figure out something and he could get you on the road. But we are a people of specialists today, and I think the specialist syndrome has hit our churches. Where we are looking for the specialist. That guy over there, now he's got a real voice, he can sing, and so I don't have to sing, I can sit and listen to him. And I can just be blessed. I mean, really, he'll tickle me, and he'll bless me big time, and I mean, I get so inspired by listening to him. Sing and I, but I don't have to sing. Wait a minute. Is that the way it's meant to be? Aren't we personally accountable before God for what we are involved in and what we're doing with our energy, with our strength, and with our thoughts, and with Or how are we personally meeting the needs of the beggar at the gate? How are we as a church meeting the needs of the beggar at the gate? Years ago, Stephen Oldford, I listened to a sermon from him and there's something he said in that sermon Something he said in that sermon that I've never forgotten. He said, it isn't more teaching that we need, but it's a kick in the pants to do what we already know. And I've got a feeling he's right on target. We need times of revival. We need times to get back and we fill our gas tanks so we can roll a little longer. I don't care. I've got a machine out there that's, it's only, I guess, pretty efficient. But I discovered that when I'm going down the road, I have to stop every once in a while and fill the gas tank. And you're the same way. I am the same way. We absolutely have to recharge ourselves. It's one of the things that I found out in Kenya ministry. There was just the giving and the giving and the giving and the giving. There were times when you just sat back and said, hey, wait a minute. It's time to refocus. It's time to sit back here and get myself charged up so I have something to give. to those, and that's necessary. We need that. So I'm not telling us to take away some of these good things that we have, but what I am saying, we need to make sure that we have not displaced our personal responsibility to meet the needs of the beggar at the gate. We haven't delegated it to some committee or to some group of people who are specializing in this thing, and we think, OK, So we have the Muslim ministries. So if I meet a Muslim, I say, hey, you know, hey, glad to meet you, sir. But there's a guy over here. I'd love to have you talk to him. OK, why don't you talk to him? I had some interesting experiences with the Muslims when I was in Kenya. Some of them were really, really. One day I went to town and I was ready to buy. I wanted to buy a vehicle for the mission. And I went into this organization where I, it was obvious there was a Muslim there. And he was not ashamed of being a Muslim. I mean, he had the full garb, including the deal on his head and everything, and he was dressed in white and pink. And he was not ashamed of it. And you could tell by his bearing that he, yeah, he might as well have been a king, a royal. I mean, he looked like, no question, he ruled this place. Well, I walked into that place, and somebody else was talking to him, and being a good man, I didn't want to interrupt his conversation, so I just sort of stood there, until he, I guess curiosity burned a hole into his whatever. All of a sudden, he quit. He looked at me, and guess what he said? You were working for the government. I wouldn't sell you a thing. Nice way to meet a customer, isn't it? And it was just at the start of the Afghanistan war. He was a Pakistani. He wasn't real amused that a U.S. customer would come in there. He recognized immediately that I was a United States customer. But he said, OK, you're a man of faith. I'm a man of faith. On that basis, we're going to do business. How do you know I was a man of faith? No question, he was. He had it all over himself, the way he was dressed. And he was not ashamed of it. My friends, today, there was no question in his mind, he said, on the basis of our faith, we're going to do business. I loved it. I loved it. We had a good relationship. We did. But that first start, I'll admit, in your face approach that first day, I wasn't sure what was going on here. But I ended up buying a vehicle from him for the mission. and went back there repeatedly to his place of business to discuss the transaction and all of that. My friends, today, I believe that God wants us to be clear of who we are and we should not be ashamed of who we are. And we should guide our lives in such a way that there's no need to be ashamed of who we are. But sometimes we're just a little bit bashful, and that guy certainly was not bashful. And I would pray to God that we would not be bashful. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15. Let's meet the beggar at the gate here. Who could he be? Let's meet one of them here. Matthew chapter 15, verse 21. Then Jesus went and parted unto the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Cana came out of the same coast and cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord! thou son of David. My daughter is grievously waxed with the devil.' And he answered her, not a word. And his disciples came and saw him, saying, Send her away, she crieth after us. And he answered and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And evidently she overheard. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. He answered and said, It's not meat. Take the children's bread, cast it to the dogs. She said, truth, Lord. But yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the rich man's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. The crumbs, that's all she wanted. There are many imam around us that look into our culture and society of the Mennonite culture, and they look at the homes we have. They look at the brotherhood we have at the time when there is pain and death and all of that, and they see that coming around of others to support. Oh, they'd wish for just a little bit of that. They'd wish for just a little bit of that. But let me ask you a question. What do you do when that guy next door that has tattoos from here all the way up to across his shoulders, and everything that's exposed during the heat of the summer, he's just laid out with ink. What do you do when that man's wife dies? Is there a place in your heart for ministry to that man at that moment of need? What about that man or woman who's just going through that devastating divorce? And she or he is hurting for certain. And you can just see it. Is there room in your heart to reach out in compassion? Oh, we don't believe in divorce and remarriage. Boy, they're outside the kingdom for sure now. Is there room in your heart to go out there and touch the lives of both of them, if possible? I submit to you that's the beggar at the gate. That's the beggar at the gate. It doesn't look like we would have thought they would look. Lazarus, that beggar at the gate, how did he come to faith? How did he come to be carried into Abraham's bosom? By looking at him you could have never known. You would have never figured it out. I submit to you today that there are people in our streets, and in our counties, and in our neighborhoods, that are the beggar at the gate, you would never know who they are. That man that comes into the shopping place where you're shopping, it could even be the Walmart, and you've never met him before, and you're in a hurry, And you want to go your way, do your business, because we have so many things to do and so many places to go. But that man that's beside you, and he's also searching, or that woman, whoever it could be. I've had some really, really interesting things happen when I'm just friendly and say, hey, hello. And I've been here a while back, I was at the Walmart, and I was looking for seat covers for my truck. And this guy comes over. I didn't know him from Adam. And he comes up, but he's also looking at the seat covers. And I looked at him and I said, you know what? There's enough stuff here to be confusing, isn't it? Yeah. And he started talking. And he had lost his wife. And all he had left was his dog. And he was looking for a seat cover to go on his truck so that he could haul his dog, keep on hauling his dog with him. And he just started pouring out. It's like he was just waiting for somebody to talk to. I couldn't believe my eyes. I'd never met this man before. I haven't met him ever since. And I was like, I didn't do any good. All I did was listen. And after a while, he was ready to go, and I was ready to go, and we parted ways. And I'm like, what good did that do? All I did was listen to him and wasted another hour, or 45 minutes, or 30 minutes, whatever it was. You know, that's the way we think. because we have stuff to do. We have things to do. Let me just read this. They say the Master is coming to honor the town today and no one can tell at whose house or home the Master will choose to stay. So I thought, while my heart was beating wildly, that if He should come to stay, how I would strive to entertain and honor that guest divine. turned to toiling to make my home more neat. I swept and polished and garnished and decked it with blossom sweet. I was troubled for fear the master might come ere my task was done. So I hastened and worked the faster and watched the hurrying sun. But right in the midst of my duties, a woman came to my door. She had come to tell me her sorrows and my comfort and aid to implore. And I said, I can't listen. nor help you today, I have greater things to tend to." And the pleader turned away. But soon there came another, a cripple, thin, pale, gray, and said, let me stop and rest a while in your house, I pray. I've traveled far this morning. I'm hungry, faint and weak. My heart is full of misery and comfort and help I seek. And I cried, oh, I'm grieved and sorry I cannot help you today. I look for a great and noble guest. And the cripple went away. Well, they wore swiftly onward. My task was almost done. And a prayer was air in my heart that to me, the master might come. And I thought I would spring to meet him and serve him with utmost care when a little child stood by me with a face so sweet and fair, sweet, but with marks of teardrops and his clothes were tattered and old. A finger was bruised and bleeding, and his little bare feet were cold. And I said, I feel sorry for you. You're sorely in need of care, but I cannot stop to give it. You must hasten on elsewhere. At the words, a shadow swept over his blue-veined brow. Someone will feed you and clothe you, dear. But I am busy now. Alas, the day was ended. My toil was over and done. My house was swept and garnished, and I watched in the dusk alone. Watched? No football sounded. No one paused at my gate. No one entered my cottage door. I could only pray and wait. I wait until night had deepened and the master had not come. He has entered another house, I cried, and glad in some other home. My labor's been in vain. And I nodded my head and wept. My heart was sore with longing, yet in spite of it all, I slept. Then the Master stood before me. His face was grave and fair. Three times today I stopped at your house and craved your pity and care. Three times you sent me onward, unhelped and uncomforted, and the blessing you might have had was lost. and the chance to serve has fled. Oh Lord, dear Lord, forgive us. Doesn't that speak to us? We've got things to do, we've got places to go, and we're people of the list. You write it down so you get something done. And you are busy going from one project to the next at the top speed that you can manage, because you've got to get it done. I've got to get it done. But the interruptions that come your way, my friends, I believe are divine appointments. divine appointments. That's a hard lesson to learn. That's a hard lesson to learn. But I believe it's an imperative that we, as God's people, learn that lesson. Yes, the beggar at the gate. Luke 10. I'm not even going to turn to it. Luke 10, Good Samaritan. There was this man, he was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among the thieves and he got kicked into the ditch. Here comes the priest. I mean, he was on his way to church. He had his message already. I mean, he could have stopped and say, he could have at least stopped, but no, he couldn't. He didn't want to stop because, I mean, he had this message to preach. And he was on his way to church. He was the priest. Gotta be there. And, oh, I'd like to help you, but he could have stopped. But you know what? That man, that Lazarus wasn't interested in hearing his sermon. The man that was in that ditch, he wasn't interested. Here comes the Levite, and they're the singers, you know. Oh, he could have sung him a good song. He didn't stop. He kept on going. He had, after all, he had to be there to start the singing, to get the service going. Here comes the good Samaritan. Oh, yeah, he had stuff to do, but right here. He had oil along. He had something that could help. He just stopped and helped. However inconvenient it might have been, He touched the life of a beggar at the gate. Lovest thou me more than these? God says in John chapter 18, we have where Peter was around that charcoal fire and he was warming his hands there at that charcoal fire. The next time you find the charcoal fire is in John chapter 21, where Peter, God, or Jesus was earlier that morning. He was by the Sea of Tiberias or the Sea of Galilee. Different words that are used there. But he's at the sea there, and he has a fire going, and fish upon the fire. It's the only two times there's a charcoal fire mentioned in the Scriptures. John 18, John 21. When the disciples come back in there, They met around the charcoal fire. Why do you think that Jesus was meeting, had a charcoal fire there instead of a great big burning fire that morning? The disciples had been fishing that night. They'd fished all night. They hadn't done too well. But that morning they got a big fish, got more fish because Jesus said, throw the net on the other side. Here they come back in. And one of them said, hey, Peter, that's the Lord. and he hops into the water. He wasn't dressed properly. And so, now he's back in and they come around his, yeah, the charcoal fire. What do you think came to Peter's mind? What was the last time he'd been on a charcoal fire? It was around that charcoal fire where he said, I don't know the man. How many times did he say it? Three times. And around this charcoal fire in John chapter 21, Jesus said, Peter, do you love me more than these fish? Oh, yeah, I love you. You know that. Wait a minute. Peter, do you love me? Yeah, Lord, you know I love you. Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Ask the question tonight, this morning. Do you love Him more than these things? Seek ye first the kingdom of God. All these things shall be added unto you. The beggar at the gate. It's that young person, older person, who needs of your time to be encouraged or to be instructed, whatever it might be. Or it could be the unchurched. It's the one who you meet when it's not convenient to meet. The beggar at the gate. We're rich, my friends. One day we're going to answer to those needs that we have not met. AMA presently is looking for, what, four or five couples on the field. We have, what, five congregations represented here? Could I throw the challenge out to you? One family per church. Could you take the family that you least can spare and send them to the field to start another church? Couldn't we do that? I remember when I was working in Kenya and I came back home and attended a minister's meeting and I looked at that group and I says to myself, oh, we could pull these people into Kenya. What we couldn't do, how many churches we could start in Kenya. Around the world, and Kenya is just one nation of many. Around the world there are thousands that are begging for the gospel. Kurdistan. The gospel is flourishing. People there, you wouldn't know that they would... They're hungry for the gospel! And there's a teaching program, Summit Views, going over there. They're finding people that are hungry for the gospel. Come teach us how we should treat our wives, and how we should have our families, and this kind of thing. The things that we've grown up with and we just know. They like just a crumb of it, my friends. The mission of the church. The mission of the individual. The beggar at the gate. Let's stand for a closing word of prayer. Thank you God this morning for your kindness and your love. And your compassion toward us. Lord, I thank you so much. for the way You have made us rich in all these blessings that are so important. The families that we have and how we've been taught in our families. The churches and the fellowship we have and are so blessed and such a pleasure and such a great thing in our lives to encourage us in the right way. Lord, I pray that You would help us to spread our wings and simply look around us and to see how that we can somehow touch the lives of those who are unchurched, the lives of those who have needs around us that would just love to have a little bit of what we have. And some of them may not even be aware of what we have, and they don't even wouldn't, they'd love to have it, but they don't know they'd love to have it. And so, Lord, today, open our hearts and our minds to the beggar at the gate and to see the possibilities of the ministries that could be ours. Lead us in that way and open our eyes. In the name of Christ we ask it. Amen.