Thank you all. I've asked Anna, if she will, to each night give us a new evangelism story. We get these all the time, and we just think that they're a wonderful way to help us, number one, be motivated, believing that God's still in the saving business, but number two, give us some ideas as to where are we gonna find people, how are we gonna connect with them, and so I think you'll enjoy the stories. This is a very fun story and I think it's especially meaningful to Jeff and me because we got to meet these people. So when I first wrote this on our blog, and by the way you can look on the exchange and just go to the blog tab, and there are hundreds of stories from all over the world, people in Brazil, different places where Believers like you and me take steps of faith to give the gospel and God does what only he can do, and that is rescue souls from darkness and give them that beautiful everlasting light. So this story, when I wrote it, I called it baristas for Jesus, and I think you'll understand it's really an example of evangelism at work. So for these two young women, music and Starbucks were the two things they had in common. They both were actually baristas at Starbucks. Mary is the believer in this story and Diana is the unbeliever. One day they were on break at Starbucks and they sat down at a table and Mary began to share with Diana her love for music and discovered that Diana had that same love for music. Mary began to talk about her church and how there were some people in her church that sacrificed to make it possible for her to be involved in the music program at Northwest Valley there in the Phoenix area. As she began to talk to Diana, she just invited her, would you come and visit church with me? Diana said this, I think this is so interesting because sometimes we feel like when we invite people, they're going to shoot us down. This is what she said, I have been searching for a year to find somewhere to study the Bible. I want to know what does the Bible say, not just what do people say about the Bible. So this was a hungry soul and as Diana began to talk to her, she realized that she was really ready to hear the gospel. So she invited her to do the exchange, which many of you are familiar with. It's just a four-lesson Bible study that helps an unbeliever understand who God is and how we can relate to them. So what they would do is they would go to Diana's house, they would do the Bible study, and then they would have a music lesson together because Mary was an accomplished musician and Diana, of course, was interested in music. So after the first lesson, which talks about God's holiness, The lights began to go on in Diana's mind and she has a crucifix hanging around her neck and she says, so this necklace with a crucifix doesn't do anything for me? Mary said, well, yes, you've got it right. tears it off and she throws it down and she says, well, I'm not going to wear it anymore then. So I think you can see God is at work in her life. They would have dinner together. In fact, over one of the dinners, Mari, her father is quite a theologian. I guess you could say he's a lot of Very big things. But anyway, he knows the gospel. He shared with the gospel. But you know, Diana still didn't really understand and wasn't ready to trust Jesus as her savior. So after they had studied the second lesson, which is on justice, Jeff and I were in the church there in Phoenix. It's Northwest Valley Baptist Church. And I got up in Sunday school and I shared with believers, just like you, about four of the stories that I'm sharing tonight. And after Sunday school, Diana came up to me with Mary, and she said, I loved hearing your stories. And I'm looking in her face. I don't know any of this back story. I'm thinking to myself, I bet you're going to be one of my next stories. So that night, Diana came to evangelism training. Now that's fascinating, because sometimes we think that the only people that are in evangelism training are believers. But Jeff and I have seen a lot of people trust Christ in evangelism training. So she came to our seminar, and God was really at work in her life. And they had just begun to look at the love of God. And Jeff and I had talked about it that night. As they were driving home, Diana, the believer, Mary is trying to witness to Diana just to understand where she is. Diana was under so much conviction and your song reminded me of this because these were her words, ''I just don't think I'm good enough.'' And so, as they're driving down, I don't know if you've ever been to Phoenix, but the highways there are crazy. So here, Mary is driving down the road, and she pulls out her purse, and she's digging in it for the GPS, and she's trying to drive, and by the way, the GPS, I should explain what that is, right? It's not just a navigating system. The GPS for us is a little gospel presentation tool that we give to help believers to share the gospel so an unbeliever can see those Bible verses. But in it, it has the exchange chart, which is one of the most beautiful portions of the gospel, and that's where a list of our sins is recorded. We put our name above those list of sins, and then on the other side is Jesus Christ, holy, just, perfect record. And in the exchange, what we can do is cross out our names and put Jesus' name there because when he died on the cross, he took all of our sins on himself. And then we can go over and cross out Jesus' name and put our name. And we are illustrating that when we make this exchange with Jesus, he no longer sees us as the sinners that we are. He sees us through his perfect righteousness. So here they are driving down the interstate. And Mary is explaining this to Diana. And for Diana, the lights go on. And she realizes that, yes, indeed, God does love her. And he made a way that she could have a relationship with him. So driving down the interstate, people can get saved. And that is exactly what happened with Diana. And her life is forever changed. Right after she trusted Christ, she went through a huge obstacle, but Mary discipled her through that. In fact, they started doing the discipleship book that Jeff has written called Living the Exchange. Here's the cool thing. She got so excited, she began, Diana, to share the gospel. Remember, she's a brand new Christian, but she began to share the gospel. In fact, Mary had to have a conversation with her. It went something like this. It's wonderful to share the gospel, but probably the best place is not as people are going through the drive-through at Starbucks. Whenever we do training, One of my favorite things the whole time is Anna's stories. Even though I've heard these stories over and over, it is always, always, always a blessing. So tonight, take your Bibles and turn to Philippians chapter four, verses 10 through 19. It's amazing what you can find on Facebook. So I stole this picture and let it be the picture representing. So each night this week, I've kind of planned out what our messages are gonna be. So this morning we looked at, for the sake of his name, we preach Christ. And tonight, we're gonna look at, for the sake of his name, we give. And we're gonna look at a reality that missions giving equals fruit to your account. And I think it's gonna be an enjoyable message. And then tomorrow night, I'm gonna look at, for the sake of his name, we pray. And we're gonna take a very practical look at praying for our missionaries. And then Tuesday night, if you will give me permission, I'm going to take a portion of my time and share a little bit about the exchange ministry and ask you if you would consider partnering with us. And then I've written a new book called Conversations with Jesus and it's a Bible study through the book of John. It's an evangelistic Bible study I'm going to introduce that concept to you and then we're going to look at learning excuse me, some traits of good conversations from looking at Jesus. So we're gonna take a little aside away from the, for the sake of his name. I obviously talking about Jesus is for the sake of his name, but we're gonna do that on Tuesday night. And then Wednesday night, we're gonna look at, for the sake of his name, we go. And so we'll be looking at these four things. We preach Christ, we give, We pray and we go for the sake of his name. And I hope that each of those things will be things that are a blessing to you and help you. It is our desire. I love missions conferences. I was a pastor for 30 years before. I started traveling on the road, and we frankly don't get to go to very many missions conferences, and so this is just really, really fun for me, and I hope you don't mind my putting in a few concepts here. I wanted to do another missions moment tonight. And this one is much shorter than this morning's. But this one is about William Carey, the father of modern missions. And he was sent out by the Baptist Mission Society in England in 1793. He's considered the father of modern missions. You probably know him for his famous saying, expect great things from God, attempt great things for God. And just prior to leaving, he met with a group of four supporting pastors, and Andrew Fuller, who became a great champion for the whole concept of mission theology, was in that meeting, and he recalled feeling that Cary was about to descend into a deep, unexplored mine. And it was as if he were saying to the group, well, I'll go down if you will hold the rope. And the meeting in Fuller's mind was as if he and the other brothers gave their word, and these are in his words, that whilst we live, we should never let go the rope. And your missionaries are descending to rescue precious jewels all over the world, and you have been committed the job of holding the ropes. And I believe that one of the most important aspects of holding the rope is giving of our funds, and we'll talk about that tonight. I read another story about holding ropes that I wanted to share just before we got going here. The story title is, Are You Holding Your Missionary's Rope? The story is told of a long ago couple who said farewell to their home church as they were about to leave to African mission field known as the white man's grave. The husband said, my wife and I have a strange dread in going. We feel much as if we are going down into a pit. And we are willing to take the risk and go if you, our home church, will promise to hold the ropes. And so he's taking that same concept. And then he says, one and all promised to do so. Less than two years had passed when the wife and the little one that God had given the couple had succumbed to the dreaded fever. Soon the husband realized that his days were also numbered. Not waiting to send word of his coming, he started back home at once and arrived at the time of the Wednesday night prayer meeting. He slipped in unnoticed, taking a back seat. To close the meeting, he went forward, and awe came over the people, for death was written on his face. He said, I'm your missionary. My wife and child are buried in Africa, and I've come home to die. This evening, I listened anxiously as you prayed. for some mission of your missionary to see if you were keeping your promise, but in vain. You prayed for everything connected to yourselves and your home circle, but you forgot your missionary. I don't know if that's a true story. I really don't. But I know it is a true story because over and over and over, We get so busy with the things that we do. I noticed tonight, your missionary tonight was from Canada. And I just commend you as a church for remembering your missionaries, for caring for your missionaries. That is so critical. And so I want this to be encouraging. I wanted you to see that, Danger of not doing it, but I number one. I believe you are doing that and number two I I really want us tonight to just kind of get that sense of weight like Andrew Fuller had of Our missionaries are going and descending down into that pit and and we're gonna hold the ropes So I hope we'll all carry that tonight We're gonna look together at the great plan of God for missions. And I just, I want you to know, this is not our plan. This is not just some great idea. Boy, wouldn't it be good to have a missions conference and the church kind of gets excited about missions. Missions and specifically the way we do missions is God's plan laid out in God's word and carried out down through the years by God's Holy Spirit. Listen to these words in Acts chapter 13. Now, there were in the church in Antioch certain prophets and teachers, and among them Barnabas and Saul. And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. I enjoyed this evening. listening to Seth talk about his call, and it's a very personal, it's a very deep and meaningful call, but I really believe, and I assume that after hearing this testimony you believe, that Seth has heard that voice of the Holy Spirit in his own heart saying, I want you to go, so separate me, Seth and Susanna. And when they had fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them and sent them away. And so they, being sent by the Holy Spirit, I just think that's interesting too, don't you? The church sent them out. but they were sent by the Holy Spirit. And then if you look at the end of that trip, which is the end of chapter 14, it says, and thence they sailed to Antioch from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for which they had fulfilled. So they were going back home. And it said that when they had come, they had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. and they were there in abode a long time with the disciples. So what we're doing tonight. and having some tell of their call of the Holy Spirit, having others, the Sandals, come and rehearse for us what God is doing in their lives and through their lives. This is all God's plan. And so I just want us to recognize that this is not just our church, this is the broad, great plan of God that we get the privilege of being a part of. So, with that in mind, we are going to look at Philippians. You thought I'd never get there, didn't you? So, Philippians chapter 4, we're going to begin in verse 10, and I'm going to go through verse 19, and we're going to look at this concept, for the sake of His name we give. And I'm going to ask the question tonight, what is missions giving? And let's give a little backdrop to this. 10 years have passed since the Macedonian call. We sang about that tonight. And Paul then had the resulting ministry in Philippi, which resulted in the founding of the church that this letter is written to. When Paul went on to the other, cities in Macedonia to give the gospel and to plant churches, Thessalonica, Berea, the church at Philippi supported him. And when Paul moved on to Achaia, where he went to Athens and Corinth, they continued that support. But as the years passed, They were consistently concerned for Paul. We see that in the letter, but lacked opportunity to provide support for him. Now, Paul doesn't state why they lacked that opportunity. It could be their own severe poverty, because we know that poverty hit that area of the country during that time, or of the world during that time period. It could be their lack of knowledge of the specific needs that he had, or it could be, and in that day, this is probably more realistic, It kind of lost track of where he exactly was to be able to get help to him. After Paul teaches them how to direct their thoughts, he tells them in the beginning of chapter 4 here to rejoice in the Lord and to have a certain way of thinking. he mentions the impact of their renewed care for him. So this is the wrapping up of the book of Philippi. And there are two things that we're going to see here. Number one is care for our missionaries, and then number two, giving to our missionaries. And let's look first at the care for our missionaries. We'll find this in verses 10 through 16. In verse 10, we read this verse, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at the last, your care of me has flourished again, wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity. There's several practical things that I see from this passage. Number one, our care encourages our missionaries. You know the reality of spiritual warfare. experience it yourself, but literally everywhere a battle for souls is being fought, there is spiritual warfare that you are lifting the hands of your missionaries as you give and provide for them and care for them. I believe that especially in the territories of the world that are dominated by the enemy, I can't think of a place more dominated than East Germany. I can't think of a place more dominated by satanic rule than Brazil. you hear Alexander, you'll see it in Africa as well. And so we are literally, as we care for them, encouraging them, just like Paul here is saying, I was so encouraged by your care for me. And then we also see that they have a need for spiritual partners, and spiritual partners are more than just people who give, and one of the things I want us to see tonight is that giving of our money is important, but giving of our time and our talent is equally important in terms of supporting our missionaries. And so I think, and I kind of fall under the category of being a missionary these days, so I can speak a little bit personally. There is nothing like someone who takes time to understand your life. There's nothing like that that touches your soul more. There's nothing like people who take the time to agonize with us in prayer. You know this passage in Romans chapter 15 where it says, Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, for the sake of his name and for the love of the spirit that you strive with me. The word strive here literally means agonize with me in the prayers to the Lord. I guarantee you our missionaries go through battles in which they are agonizing in prayer for the specific people and they love for us to be able to help them. And I would just say this, I don't know if you've ever done this, I don't know if you've ever thought of this, but there is nothing more encouraging than you taking your time and your money and going to visit them on the field. I love the book Radical by David Platt. It has drastically impacted my life. In the book Radical, David Platt, one of the five challenges he gives to people to living a radical life is that you spend one week out of 52 on the mission field, serving the Lord. Because I promise you, as you go and serve with our missionaries, you will come home different people. And so if you've never considered that, I would urge you, find a missionary that you feel like you could be a help to them, and then ask them, would it be all right? When would be a good time? What would you like for me to do specifically? By the way, if you go, find out some of their favorite foods that they can't buy here in the States. We always take an extra suitcase and leave it because there's just so many things that missionaries need and we can help them with that. And Paul said, I rejoice in the Lord greatly at this flourished giving. It was a great encouragement to him. I hope we never forget the power of encouragement. I heard a story once about a teacher who was commended at the end of the year for how well her class did. Everybody in that class just excelled, and this teacher was being commended by the principal, and she said, well, she said, when you have a class like mine, she said, that's not hard to do. And he said, well, what do you mean a class like yours? And she said, well, didn't you see their IQs? And it was like 150, 148. And he said, oh, that's their locker numbers. She believed in those students, and it went a long, long ways. And I think just simply letting your missionaries know, I believe in you. You are a great blessing to our church. What a privilege it is for our church to be able to be a part of supporting you. We have three sons and a daughter. And our youngest son, all three of the boys joined a summer hockey league. And our youngest son, We kind of figured out that everybody else in this league that he was playing in knew each other and kind of formed these little teams and Luke didn't know anybody and there were several like eight other little guys and these were just little guys didn't know anybody and they kind of got tossed into a team of their own and there wasn't anybody to coach them. And every time they played, they lost miserably. And my wife looked at me and she said, you've got to do something. You've got to become their coach. I said, I don't know anything about hockey. And she said, well, you've got to do something. And so I became their coach. And literally, the only thing I knew to do was to stand on the side of the rink and just yell at the boys, you can do it. Come on, guys. and they didn't lose another game. they won the rest of their games. Listen, all they needed was someone to believe in them and to encourage them. And I really believe that you and I have to just really genuinely believe that's part of our job as people in the home church is to care for our missionaries in that way. I think also, it's interesting here, he uses this word that now at last your care for me has flourished. And I like to call this section, let's be careful. in our missionaries, you know what I mean? Careful, we're gonna care for them and let it flourish. And we'll talk tomorrow night about the responsibility to care for them in prayer. Just a little footnote here, J.O. Frazier, we're gonna talk about tomorrow night, he made this statement. I believe it will only be known on the last day how much has been accomplished in missionary work by the prayers of earnest believers at home. And we'll talk about prayer specifically. tomorrow night. But one of the things we can do in not just praying, but when you pray, you communicate with them. And my wife has taught me so much about this. She's a real prayer warrior. And by the way, if you're ever doing a Bible study and you want someone to pray with you while you're doing a Bible study, she loves that. And we do that together in our afternoon staff prayer meetings. There's only two of us, so we can have a staff prayer meeting. And so she keeps track of it. And then when she prays for people, she just jots them a little note and lets them know, boy, I prayed for you today. And you'd be surprised how many times people are touched by that. So it's not just praying, but then praying and communicating. And when you're caring for missionary. I thought it was good this evening to kind of get a glimpse into being an MK. Don't forget the kids. Care for the whole family. I would just urge those of you who have children in your home to ask each one of them to kind of take on a missionary kid, and at the very least, I know some kids are shy, at the very least, buy some gifts that they can personally send and be an encouragement to them. Our care can lag if we're not careful, wherein you are always careful, but you lacked opportunity. And just a reminder here that we can start good and then fade if we're not careful. But I want us to see in verses 11 through 13, not just the church's care, but God's care. Here's a promise. God meets the needs of our missionaries. the physical needs, not that I speak in respect of want, and spiritual needs, for I have learned." And I hope that you have learned the power of contentment. Paul says, I've learned that whatever state I am, therewith to be content. I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. Everywhere and all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. And I just want us to know this, contentment is not dependent on our circumstances. Contentment is a command. Hebrews tells us this way, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. We often talk about the fact that God that Satan doesn't like what we do. And we find all kinds of roadblocks in our way. That just is life in gospel ministry. Here's the cool thing. God loves what we do and he is always making a way. It's just amazing to me how many good things God does to me. We've just been thinking, I think it's time for us to shift that focus and just to be focusing on the reality that God does love what we do. And God loves what your missionaries are doing. They're making choices. Their choice is not to live it up in this world. They're making choices. And I just want you to know, just like contentment is a command, contentment is a choice. If God gives us a command, then we have a choice to make as to whether or not we're going to do that. And here's what I want you to know, look at verse 13. God is more than enough. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. In verses 14 and 16, we get a little glimpse into our missionaries' needs. And in verse 14, it tells us our missionaries need true partners. Notwithstanding, you have done well in that you did communicate with my afflictions. The word communicate here literally means they entered into partnership with him. So when he says it again here in verse 15, this word communicate, he's talking about a partnership. And in verse 15, we see that our missionaries get lonely. Now you Philippians know also that at the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia no church communicated with me or literally parted with me in giving and receiving but you only. And Paul here is commending them, but he gives us a little glimpse into the reality of the loneliness of the ministry of our missionaries. I'm not saying that because I'm trying to get you to feel sorry for them, I really am not, because I think our missionaries this week would be the first to tell you that they counted a privilege to do what God calls them to. But I'm just helping us to recognize the importance of partnership. That this is not just, let's give them some money and send them on their way. When we do that, we form a partnership with them in which we are communicating. And that word communicate is a great translation of partnering with, because partnering means communicating. And then 17 to 19, you thought I'd never get to giving, but we're going to get there. And so 17 to 19, I want to talk about our gifts to our missionaries. And in verse 17, I want you to recognize that missions giving is literally fruit to our account. Now, because I don't do this, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. I just want you to see for just a moment from Paul's perspective the uncomfortable position of being the recipient of the giving. It's a whole lot. it's more blessed to give than to receive. I mean, there's a blessing in that. Paul is letting us see here the uncomfortable position of being the recipient, but then notice the benefit that that gift brings in terms of encouragement, in terms of being able to go on and do the work. But notice what he says here. that what we give is a gift, a donation, money, or a physical gift. And when we got here yesterday, Pastor gave us a little gift bag. And we took it back to our room and started opening it up. And there were some gift cards in there, I just thought to myself, this is a church that knows how to give well. And it was nice because it wasn't just that you gave us stuff, but that you had thought through some of the needs that we would have and that you gave those. And I just want you to recognize that that is a tremendous encouragement. I wanted to say personally, thank you. But those are the kinds of gifts that mean something to your missionaries. Sometimes it can be a gift of friendship and love. Our missionaries need people who care about them and just let them know that. Sometimes it can literally be spiritual care and partnership. And even if you don't get a chance to go to the mission field and visit your missionaries, you need to be sending your pastors. because your pastors can be a spiritual benefit to your missionaries and it is extremely important. And then notice here what Paul was seeking for, we're talking about physical gifts, but He was seeking for a spiritual benefit of the giver. The benefit of giving, look at Luke, you don't have to look at it, I'll read it, 6 verse 38. Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together. I don't know if you guys did this, but when we were kids, we would take a paper grocery bag out to the garden to pick green beans, you know, and so my job was to fill up a grocery bag, and so I would go out, and you know, it's hot, it's wet, it's sticky, and so I would throw my beans in, and it would be, you know, about this far from the top, and I would be so glad that I'm now done, and my dad would come over, and he would pick that thing up, and he would And next thing I knew, there's only this much beans in the bottom of it. And what God is saying to us is that you can't outgive God. That when you give, God gives back to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. So He doesn't give stingy like I did when I was picking beans. He is a generous giver. And notice this, for what measure you meet or give. with all it shall be measured unto you again." And that's not a negative, that's a positive. God is saying you can't out give God. Your sacrifices for the mission field are worth it. The fruit of your missionaries is a part of the fruit of this church. So literally, the Sandals are, I heard him say it this morning, he is representing you in Germany. They feel like they are a part of this church going to Germany, and the fruit that they have had over the last 20 years is fruit to the account of this church. And we'll talk in just a moment about what that means, because I think it's pretty significant. We write letters all the time to our partners, sharing with them the many stories of people who are getting saved doing the exchange Bible study or using the exchange message app, because that fruit is a direct result of their investments. And I just want you to recognize that that's the way God sees the work that you're doing through your giving. It's interesting to me, you give physical gift, whether it's money or friendship or time, and God records it in our heavenly as fruit. I just think that's awesome. What is the benefit of this fruit? I say to you, he that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. And I've got to tell you, I'm not sure I totally understand rewards in heaven, but I know this, you're not going to regret any of them. What is the greatest fruit? What is the greatest reward? It's hard for me to imagine going to heaven and God saying, here's some more gold. I mean, they make the streets out of gold, you know. It's hard for me to imagine that. I believe the greatest fruit in heaven is friends in heaven. In Luke chapter 16, he says, make to yourselves friends that they may receive you into everlasting habitation. And I believe that souls in heaven, souls that you've impacted for Christ in heaven, are the most valuable thing in heaven. is the intentional leveraging of all that I am so that others may become more like Jesus Christ. Will Galkin said that. Can I read it to you again? I just think it's an amazing statement. Discipleship is the intentional leveraging of all that I am so that others may become more like Jesus Christ. Jim Elliot said it this way. He is no fool who gives that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. We believe that those who have been saved as a result of your partnership will be a close, intimate friend of yours in heaven. And the richest people in heaven are going to be those who have invested their time, talent, and treasures into the souls of fellow human beings. Because the most valuable thing from heaven's perspective is a human soul, I believe you and I should spend our lives investing in human souls. You say, how do you know it's the most valuable thing? Well, think about this. What was it that Jesus left heaven and came to earth to purchase? And I believe that the only thing we're gonna be able to take to heaven with us are the human souls that we've touched. And notice this, herein is your father glorified that you bring forth much fruit. And so this is not just about me, it's about glorifying God. And so we've seen this reality that missions giving is literally fruit to our account, but missions giving is, you indirectly giving gifts to God himself. Notice this in verse 18, but I have all and abound, I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things of which you sent, an odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice, acceptable, well-pleasing, to God. So this was a physical gift from the Philippi church family to Paul. And he's talking about how, you know, I was being abased. I mean, I was going hungry, and I was learning to be content with that, but boy, your care has lavished again, and I am now literally, I have all, I am abounding, so he's talking about a physical gift that literally met physical needs, but then notice he's also talking about the fact that this physical gift was a spiritual gift that was actually well-pleasing to God himself. An odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice, acceptable. well-pleasing. Those are beautiful words when you talk about this ability that we have to take a physical gift and literally see a transaction in which God sees our temporal gifts transformed into supernatural spiritual gifts to God. That's amazing to me. You know, when I think of giving, then we have to ask ourselves, so how much should we give? I mean, you know, you got to be reasonable. Well, let me just give you a story. Do you remember Mary just prior to the Lord's crucifixion? She broke the expensive container that the ointment was stored in and then poured out the contents onto Jesus. And if you do the research, based on what was said about the gift, this gift was probably worth $40,000. an investment for her, for her safekeeping as probably the youngest of the family. And so this is kind of her own gift, her own money. And I don't know whether this gift sounds good to you. I mean, somebody breaking a bottle and pouring stuff over my head. It doesn't sound like a great gift to me. So if you're feeling like giving me a gift like that, Let's talk about it first, okay? But clearly, it was appreciated by Jesus, and it was recognized as extravagant by Judas and the other disciples. So this was appreciated, it was extravagant, but I want you to recognize something. This gift was not extravagant from Mary's perspective, and here's why. Because she valued The gift of Jesus' life more than she valued that stuff. And her love for him. demanded that she give extravagantly. Does that make sense? And I just look at that gift, and I think to myself, wow, that is amazing. And here's what's so amazing about it, that the Lord not only accepted this gift of love, but he saw it as worship, and he commended her, and he said, she's done what she could, she came aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. And I just want you to know that when we give our physical gifts toward the work of the Lord, God himself is pleased. He sees it as a gift to him. She could never take away the pain and the shame of the cross. But what she did brought comfort to Jesus. And I don't know about you, but I want God to be pleased with my life. And I know, we're not legalists, we don't earn favor with God, I get that. But when we have a heart full of love, there's something inside of you that just says, I want to do something to bless him. God receives our missions giving as sacrificial acts of worship to him, and he is pleased. And then lastly, missions giving comes from God's supply. Verse 19, but my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but nothing we actually own here on earth, we actually own. I mean, it's all provided for us by God himself. Do you remember the parable of the talents? And each person was given talents and they were to invest that. And I believe that you and I need to look at all that we have and recognize this is our ability to invest now. Listen to this verse in Luke 16. What we have is temporal but it belongs to God our creator. Listen to this. If therefore you have not been faithful in unrighteous mammon, the temporal stuff, who will commit to your trust true riches? So let's turn that around. If you are faithful with unrighteous mammon, the temporal stuff, Then someone, and we know who that someone is gonna be, is gonna commit to your trust true riches. We'll go on and say it again. He says it again. And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, it doesn't belong to us anyway, it belongs to God, who will give you that which is your own? And so literally what he's saying is that when you and I take these temporal stuff that's not ours anyway, and we give it to the Lord, that he converts that to that which belongs genuinely to us forever, and that which is genuinely valuable. And I believe we're talking about the souls of humans. God promises to supply the need of every single person who look to him and live for his cause. I just think that's pretty interesting, especially when we're considering for the sake of his name. So when he says, my God shall supply all of your needs, literally what he's saying is, if you are looking to me and you are living for the sake of my name, I'm the one who's supplying all of these things. It literally gives new meaning to the phrase, for the sake of His name. So let's think about then, if we're living for Him, what is His agenda to seek and to save that which was lost? What is His heart? We see it when the prodigal son comes home and the father says, it was meat that we should be merry and be glad for this your brother was dead and now is alive. He was lost and is now found. And we see the heart of the father rejoicing in the center. Come home. Those who have given sacrificially can expect God to provide richly. but my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. A.T. Robertson said it this way, and this is the last quote that I'm gonna give you. God has an abundant treasure in glory and will repay the Philippians for what they have done for Paul. The spiritual rewards is what spurs men into the ministry and holds them to it. I don't know about you, but I believe that God wants a motivated people. And I believe that one of the reasons God tells us about spiritual rewards is because he wants it to motivate us. And just remember this every gift. is literally an act of faith because you can't see the eternal riches, the eternal rewards. Does that make sense? And so what is it that pleases God? But without faith, no one can please God. And literally every single time, this is not about stuff. This is about my heart for him and my faith and belief in what he says. So our missions, our motive and missions giving needs to be genuine care for our missionaries, number one, and blessing God with our extravagant love and worship. So I have a few questions that I want us to end with. Number one, and this one's not on the screen, how much should I give to missions? And I don't know, I think that ought to be a question that all of us are asking this week. got excited about missions when I was a pastor. We had a missions conference in which Dr. Ed Nelson, he was my pastor in the early days of our church, and we asked him after his retirement to come and preach our missions conference for us. and we were at the time giving about $40,000 a year to missions, and he took that long finger, I mean his finger must be about this long, and he pointed, and it's not quite straight, it kinda does this, and he pointed that at our church, and I'm sitting right down here where the preacher's sitting, and he made this statement, he said, this is not a $40,000 a year church. this is $140,000 a year church. And I'm thinking, where's that gonna come from? And I just want you to know, our church over the years got so excited that by the time I left that church, they were giving almost a quarter million dollars a year to missions. And it was not necessarily because the people had lots and lots of money. It was because the people got excited about giving. to world evangelism, that was their passion, that was their excitement. And so how much should I give to missions? And I would say this, enough to care for the missionaries and to bless God with your extravagance. That's a beautiful answer based on this passage. So here is three questions I'd like for you to ask yourself as you're contemplating the giving that you'll be doing. What are you giving and doing for missions? So what am I doing? And then what are my motives? Why am I doing that? And then here's the next question. Is God calling you to do more? And I just think we all have to put this before the Lord. This is a personal, I love this about the way God talks about giving. It is all based on me and God. But it is based on me and God. And I think it's important for us to ask ourselves the question, what does God want me to do? Father, I thank you for the work that you're doing in each of our hearts this week. Lord, what a great attendance tonight. What a great time together around the work that you're doing. Word of God that you've given to us so that we might be able to think biblically. And Lord, I pray that you would help each of us to contemplate in our hearts and to genuinely seek your face. Lord, what can I do to be a blessing to our missionaries and to be a blessing to you with my extravagant giving? And we thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in Jesus' name. Amen.