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[0:00] I want you to take your Bibles this morning and open them to Paul's letter to the believers at Philippi.

[0:18] ! That of course will be the book of Philippians. So take your Bibles, open them, find chapter 1 in this epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians.

[0:34] And I'm going to start reading with verse 3. In fact, I'm going to read verses 3 through 7 this morning. So Philippians chapter 1, verses 3 through 7. Paul writes, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.

[0:52] How would you like to have the Apostle Paul write a letter like that to you? Open it that way. I thank my God, he said, upon every remembrance of you, always, in every prayer of mine, making request for you all with joy.

[1:10] For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

[1:25] Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.

[1:43] Marvelous passage of Scripture. Now, all this month, we have kind of put our study of Luke on hold, okay? It's been so long since I've been in Luke, I've even forgotten where I am.

[1:56] Maybe you have too. But we'll get back to that next Sunday, I assure you, if Lord willing. And he doesn't come first, which would be okay, you know, if he did.

[2:07] But, and then we'll just let Luke tell us the rest of what he meant in that great gospel. But we've kind of put that on hold in order to concentrate on the subject of missions.

[2:21] And, you know, for a lot of Americans, this is March madness, you know. That's what this month represents. And a lot of it is madness, isn't it? But for us here at Highland Park, at least I hope this is true of you, it's March missions.

[2:36] This has been our emphasis throughout the month. And we've had, really, a very exciting lineup, really, for every Sunday throughout this month. Starting with Martin. Martin from East Asia and church planter, pastor.

[2:51] And I have just a tremendous relationship with this man and a growing relationship. I just love Martin to death. And his commitment to the people of East Asia, Southeast Asia.

[3:07] And all that God has been doing through him. And for him to come and just share with us various times about the work there. And even to preach to us.

[3:18] Just a great Sunday. I so enjoyed my time with Martin. And then Sunday after that we had Vladimir. Vladimir Pomaskov. He came and shared with us last March.

[3:31] And we were just pleased to have him come again this March. And Vladimir, now president of Odessa Theological Seminary in Odessa, Ukraine.

[3:44] And the pastor of Comintanova Baptist Church in Odessa. And just a joy to have Vladimir here. And then the special treat to have Vasily Novikovets, the dean at the seminary there in Odessa.

[4:01] And then last week, Chaplain Brad Johnson and just preached a great sermon. I just loved it. Out of John chapter 1. And to hear also about the work, his work.

[4:13] And work that we have joined him in at Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy. And that was a good Sunday. So each Sunday has been just tremendous. And here this Sunday, you have me.

[4:26] I'm sorry. I'm from here. And I hopefully speak English as best I can. Don't need an interpreter. At least I hope I don't need one. And on this Sunday, kind of the culmination of our month.

[4:39] And this being our Gospel Debt Commitment Sunday. And we're going to be taking of the Lord's Supper. And afterward, our missions banquet. And a great way to kind of just bring it all together.

[4:52] And cap off a great, great month. Now, what I want to do this morning is focus on our theme. Our theme for the month.

[5:03] And I've mentioned it nearly every Sunday through this month. But the theme is partnership in the Gospel. We are partners in the Gospel.

[5:15] And we've been, you know, just really blessed to have some of our partners from other places in the world. And other places near us who we consider to be partners.

[5:26] And in a sense, and as we're going to discover, I think, this morning from this text. That all believers are partners. We're partners.

[5:39] We're joint participants in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's our theme, partnership in the Gospel. And the theme, of course, the theme passage is right here in that passage I read a moment ago.

[5:55] And to begin with this morning, and this is kind of by way of introduction, I want you to notice the word always. Always, Paul said at the beginning of verse 4.

[6:06] Paul said always. Now, it's from the Greek word, pontotes. All right, let's get it right here.

[6:18] Pontotes. And I bet you can't guess what that Greek word means literally. Right. Who said that? Oh, well, Mike, you're just right on.

[6:29] A Greek scholar. Probably learned it from your dad, didn't you? Okay. It means always or it literally means at all times. At all times.

[6:41] Which is the same thing, isn't it? I mean, who knew? At all times. Now, what did Paul mean, though, when he used the word? What was his purpose in using that kind of all-conclusive word?

[6:55] Always. Well, we know this from verses 3 and 4. This, again, is just an introduction. So, if you like to write notes, we're not coming up on point number one yet.

[7:06] This is an introduction. And in verses 3 and 4, it means or Paul used it to convey four things. He attached it to four things that were true of him.

[7:18] And he said, Paul, or Paul said, I'm always mindful. That was the first thing he meant. Always mindful. And Paul was always thankful. And Paul was always prayerful.

[7:31] And Paul was always joyful. We get all those right out of the passage. And they're all connected to this word always or at all times.

[7:43] Mindful, Paul was. He said, upon every remembrance of you. Again, I would mention, I'd love to have the Apostle Paul write a letter like that to our church.

[7:53] Always thinking of you. Always remember you. So, he was mindful. Always thankful, he said. He said, I thank my God for you.

[8:07] Always prayerful. Prayerful, he said, in every prayer of mine for you all. That means he was from the South, by the way. And, that's an old joke, isn't it?

[8:20] It really is. And joyful, he said. Making requests with joy. So, now Paul is building up to something here. That's what we ought to notice from this.

[8:32] Although we could spend some time just kind of looking deeply behind each of these various concepts, various ideas. But, he's leading up to something, he's building up to something.

[8:43] And, so we ask the question, of what is Paul mindful? And thankful. And prayerful. And joyful. Of what?

[8:54] Well, he tells us in verse 5. For your fellowship in the gospel. Your fellowship in the gospel. Well, hello there, fella.

[9:05] Well, looking for somebody, isn't he? We'll have an invitation later, by the way. The fellowship of the gospel.

[9:20] And, this is our key passage. The theme of our month. And, the word fellowship, it's translated that way in the New King James. And, also the King James.

[9:31] Other versions have partnership. And, even some have participations or participants. It's from that famous Greek word koinonia. You've heard that word before.

[9:43] Koinonia. And, this was one of Paul's favorite words. In fact, he used it more than any other New Testament writer. He used it 13 times in his epistles. In fact, it appears twice, by the way, in the passage.

[9:56] Our passage here for this morning. And, he used it to convey a number of ideas. Each time he used it. He used it and attached it to a number of other concepts.

[10:08] And, multiple applications. And, Paul could do that because this word koinonia is such a rich word. Rich with meaning. And, it can apply to so many things in the Christian life.

[10:20] Now, if you were to look the word up in a Greek lexicon. Which is just a, you know, one of those scholarly words for dictionary. If you looked it up in a dictionary.

[10:31] A theological dictionary. Then, you would find words like this. You would find words like community. Or, communion. Or, of course, fellowship.

[10:44] Or, partnership. Or, joint participation. In many other words. And, it is all of these things. Depending on how you use the word.

[10:54] And, in what context you use it. All of these concepts are in this word koinonia. And, they're supported in Scripture. Now, Paul attached the word koinonia.

[11:05] To another very, very famous word in the New Testament. And, it is the word gospel. Euangelion. The good news. And, of course, it's the good news of Jesus Christ.

[11:16] So, Paul attached koinonia to gospel. It is the koinonia of the gospel. And, Paul said that this koinonia of the gospel has a duration.

[11:29] It's an ongoing thing. And, it had a beginning point with the first readers of this letter. The believers at Philippi. It began there where Paul planted this church.

[11:39] And, he gave them, proclaimed the gospel. And, they received it. They believed it. And, they were saved. And, so, this koinonia of the gospel has a beginning point.

[11:50] But, it's ongoing. It was ongoing with the people at Philippi. It was ongoing from them out to the world. Ultimately, to us today. It's still going on today.

[12:01] It continues on today. That's what Paul said in verse 5. It is the koinonia of the gospel from the first day. It has a first day for every one of us.

[12:13] And, until now. When Paul wrote this letter. And, he meant to convey the idea that it's ongoing and ongoing until Jesus comes.

[12:24] Now, think for a moment about the apostle Paul and what he was involved in. What part Paul played in this. Paul lived during the birthing stage of the church.

[12:36] Paul was one of the apostles. Born kind of out of season from the other apostles. But, he was apostle nonetheless. And, Paul was a pioneer church planter. That's what Paul was.

[12:47] He was a missionary. In the truest sense of the word. Perhaps the very first missionary. And, Paul planted churches where Christ's name had never even been heard. I mean, there are still some places like this on this planet.

[13:01] And, yet. Many of the missionaries and pioneer missionaries who move into those places. They discover that the name has already been heard there. But, in Paul's case. Here at the beginning of the New Testament.

[13:14] The beginning of the church in the first century. He could go places there. Even in Israel. And, ultimately to Asia Minor. And, to other parts unknown.

[13:24] And, go to a people and proclaim the gospel. A gospel that they had not one time heard. They had no, even any reference for it.

[13:36] You know, we're talking about his ministry to the Gentiles. They didn't have any idea. Not a clue about these. And, Paul was involved in that kind of church planting. It would have been exciting.

[13:46] Though, very difficult, of course. And, now. We exist today, by the way. Because of the ministry of the Apostle Paul. And, the other apostles.

[13:57] And, the close participants. Associates of the apostles. They're in the first century of the church. And, so the koinonia of the gospel includes Highland Park Baptist Church.

[14:10] It includes us. The fellowship of the gospel. The partnership of the gospel. It includes us. It is to continue on with us. And, after us.

[14:23] Until Jesus comes. And, how can that happen? How can that be possible? Well, in the very first place. Through our own personal evangelism. Our own personal living out the life of Christ.

[14:36] And, proclaiming the reason for our faith. As each one of us, individually. Cross over the bridges that God has placed in our lives. Whether it's a bridge to lost family members.

[14:47] Or, a bridge to a lost co-worker. Or, a bridge to other connections that we have. And, the gospel flows that way from us. Across those bridges to other people.

[14:57] Just like it did in the first century. Still works that way. And, we could go a step further. Through Hope Medical Clinic. We support that.

[15:08] And, many of you volunteer there. And, that's an avenue for the gospel to continue on. And, we're partners in that.

[15:20] We are the kononia of the gospel. Through our prison ministry. Many of you are involved in that. And, once a month. On the third Friday of every month.

[15:32] We go and we preach the gospel. And, teach the Bible. And, there's a connection there. And, we're participants in the gospel. And, it goes on with us and beyond us.

[15:46] I'm very excited. We're back on track to get Hispanic work started here. And, we've been visiting with some people about that.

[15:56] And, things are progressing. Some exciting things happening. We don't know how soon that's going to happen. That's another way, see. That the gospel goes on with us and from us.

[16:12] And, we could name so many other things. Our partnership with Open Bible in Colorado Springs. Our partnership in China. And, through the training of house church pastors.

[16:22] And, our partnership with Odessa Theological Seminary. And, especially with the church at Comin Ternova. And, on and on we could go.

[16:34] And, some of the benevolence kind of things that we do in the name of Jesus. Right here in our own community. So, what kind of kononia is it? What kind of partnership or fellowship is it?

[16:46] Well, again, it's the gospel of Jesus Christ is what defines this koinonia. This fellowship. You are who you are because of the gospel.

[16:59] And, our church is what it is according to the gospel. Without the gospel, we'd be little more than just a social club. We don't want to be that. And, so, what defines you?

[17:12] What defines Highland Park Baptist Church? What defines Voice of the Martyrs? What defines the International Mission Board? And, the North American Mission Board? What defines the SPC?

[17:22] Southern Baptist Convention? The koinonia of the gospel. The fellowship of the gospel. The partnership of the gospel. Now, to get this clearly in our minds this morning.

[17:39] And, also to serve as a kind of culmination of our missions month. I want us to consider what the koinonia of the gospel looks like.

[17:53] How can we define it? Describe it? What does it look like? I mean, it is what should define us. And, so, how are we to understand that?

[18:04] What does this look like? Well, a lot of things. And, we could spend probably a month of Sundays looking at this.

[18:14] And, going to various places in scripture. And, really, we could just simply go to all those places where Paul used the word koinonia. And, he connected it with specific aspects of the church and the gospel.

[18:28] But, this morning, I just want us to consider two. Just two. And, the first one is this.

[18:40] Koinonia of the gospel looks like a community. It is a community. The koinonia of the gospel is a community.

[18:51] It is that if it's nothing else. But, it is much more than that. But, it is that. It is a community. We have a commonality as believers here in this fellowship.

[19:06] This body called Highland Park Baptist Church. We have a commonality. We have a communion. We are God's community. Community of faith.

[19:19] See, the gospel did that to us. That's what happened when we trusted Christ and we were born again. We suddenly became a part of a community.

[19:31] Now, we're part of a community that's much larger than Highland Park Baptist Church, of course. But, it is defined by this church here.

[19:41] This local body of believers. The koinonia of the gospel is this community right here. I love the description of the birth of the church.

[19:52] Don't you? In Acts chapter 2. It's the day of Pentecost, of course. And, Peter stands and he preaches a great sermon. And, you know what happens after that.

[20:04] In fact, we're going to look at that passage here in just a moment. It's a wonderful story. Think about it. This is the birth of the church. The very first church there in Jerusalem.

[20:15] Of course, it didn't end there. It exploded from there. And, grew and expanded around the globe.

[20:25] And, today, it's all around the world. Think about that. It all started there in Jerusalem. And, I love the description of the first Baptist church of Jerusalem. They call themselves that.

[20:37] And, so, in Acts chapter 2. In fact, you can turn to it if you'd like. And, you can just follow along with me. In Acts chapter 2, starting with verse 41. And, I love this description.

[20:49] That's just really kind of a bare bones description, actually. I mean, we could expand upon every word that is said here. And, we can begin then to, just from this description, begin to picture this community.

[21:04] Because, that's what we have here. Think about what it says about community. Starting with verse 41. Then, then is after this great sermon.

[21:17] Then, those who gladly received his word. They gladly received the word of God. As preached by the apostle Peter. They gladly received it.

[21:27] Then, those who gladly received his word. Were baptized. They were baptized. That's how it's supposed to be done.

[21:38] That's the order. That's the mandate of scripture. To believe and be baptized. They were baptized. And, that day, about 3,000 souls were added to them.

[21:54] Best estimate, about 150 were already saved. The apostles and the disciples that followed him. 150. And, then suddenly, 3,000 added to them.

[22:05] And, they, just follow along the text here. That is, all of them. All 3,000 plus of them. Did what?

[22:16] They continued. They continued. And, then the word steadfastly. They continued steadfastly. Now, let's just stop there just a minute.

[22:28] They became a community through salvation. Right? I mean, that's the first thing we can understand there. They suddenly became a part of a community through salvation.

[22:44] They were saved. That's what the text says. They received the gospel. They received it. That means faith. They believed it.

[22:56] They trusted it. They received it. Faith. And, they were baptized. And, they continued. So, we know this is true conversion. They continued.

[23:07] walk an aisle and, you know, and then get wet in the baptistry and, you know, and maybe, you know, attend for a few Sundays and then after that, gone, you know.

[23:19] They continued, continued steadfastly. See, they became a part of a community suddenly through salvation. But let's read on.

[23:32] They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Doctrine. Can a church grow through the preaching of doctrine?

[23:46] It's the only way it can. I get a little bit irritated about these churches and these ministers who say, well, doctrine's not important. If you, you know, if you really care about that, then go somewhere else because doctrine's not important here.

[24:03] They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. That is, the divine revelation given through the apostles.

[24:15] It had not been written down as we have it today, or at least the New Testament had not been yet. Now we have it. We have the Old and New Testament, the full revelation of God to us.

[24:27] And they continued and we continue. This community continues steadfastly in the Word of God. The doctrine, the theology that is given to us through divine revelation.

[24:42] Given to them through the apostles. All right, so we can say that they became a community through salvation. And then we can say, secondly, they became a community through Scripture.

[24:55] And then what else? They continued steadfastly in fellowship. Now there's our word koinonia. Fellowship. And so we can say then, thirdly, that they became a community through sharing.

[25:11] Sharing something with one another. They shared everything. They shared their eternal life. Their salvation. They also shared their love, their common love.

[25:25] Their mutual love for Christ and for His Word. And they shared their love for one another. And that's what fellowship is. Every time we come together, we call it fellowship. Usually we have a meal or some food or something to eat of from.

[25:40] And we call that fellowship. But really it's the fact that we've come together. We all share something in common with one another. Not only our love for Christ, but our love for one another. And a love that is willing to express itself through the giving of, providing of needs and so forth.

[26:03] All right. So it's a community. That's what we have here. Community through salvation, through Scripture, through sharing. And what else?

[26:14] They became a community through the supper. The supper. The supper. And I'm not just talking about supper at your house or their house. We're talking about the Lord's Supper here. In fact, that's what it means there in verse 42 in the breaking of bread.

[26:26] That's the idea. Not that they just got together and ate together. No, they did do that. This is a reference to the Lord's Supper. We'll get back to this one here in just a moment.

[26:37] So they became a community through the supper. But what else? The passage says, in prayers. And in prayers. So we could say then, finally, from this passage, they became a community through supplication.

[26:53] Through their prayers. They prayed together. We spent the month of February meeting in small groups and having prayer together.

[27:03] And it was such, I just really enjoyed that. And many of you participated in that. And I know you were blessed by that. That was, that's what makes us a community.

[27:15] A community through prayer. Now, don't forget. They continued in these things. In all these things. That's community.

[27:26] They didn't just experience this from time to time or one time only kind of thing. And it's just a memory. It's a community with an ongoing thing.

[27:37] That is what the koinonia of the gospel looks like. And now, I would say to you that the beauty of this community is never more profound than when we are observing the Lord's Supper together.

[27:52] And so, to kind of help fortify this whole idea of community, I want us to take the Lord's Supper together right now. So I'm going to ask all of our deacons who are going to be serving to come forward this morning.

[28:08] And I'm just thinking as I kind of imagine the first church.

[28:25] And they're meeting together. They're excited. They, all of them have a mutual faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're excited about that.

[28:36] And it is a shame that our excitement about all that kind of waxes and wanes, you know, over time. And maybe it's just not as exciting as it once was.

[28:47] And then they got together and they took of the Lord's Supper. And that was such a meaningful time for them. Let's not ever let or allow this observance, this ordinance that's given to the church.

[29:02] Let's never allow that to just become kind of routine. Kind of a humdrum. Kind of, well, you know, we do that. Take the bread and drink the cup. Let's do what they did in their community.

[29:19] They remembered Jesus. They remembered that He bled and died on the cross for them. Let's never, ever forget that.

[29:30] Never, ever let that become just a common thing. Let's always be excited about that. Let's begin with a word of prayer.

[29:43] Dear Father, we want to thank You that You have given us this, this, we call it an ordinance. You've given it to us, to the church, to help us, to help us, to remember.

[30:02] To remember why we are who we are. To remember our hope, why we have this hope.

[30:14] And it's all because of what Jesus has done for us. He died, bled and died.

[30:26] As they nailed Him on that cross, He was taking our death, taking our sin. Father, would You help each one of us here this morning to meditate upon that, to remember it?

[30:44] And then, Father, we pray that You would cleanse us. And if there's anything, Father, in any one of us that would keep us from truly worshiping through this supper.

[31:06] Father, Father, it would be dealt with and removed. And our fellowship with You individually would be restored. And we thank You in Jesus' name.

[31:22] Amen. Amen. That's community. community. The community of the faith.

[31:37] That's the koinonia of the gospel. In a very visible form. Same time, a very worshipful expression of that community.

[31:51] And so we're considering here this morning the koinonia of the gospel, what it looks like. And so it looks like community. Community of the redeemed of the Lord through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

[32:07] Second, it is a cooperation. It is a cooperation. In so many ways it is. A cooperation.

[32:18] That, too, is the meaning of the word koinonia. A cooperation. A partnership. A joint participation in something. And so Paul said here in Philippians chapter 1 verse 3.

[32:32] I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mine I make request for you all with joy. And why? Verse 5.

[32:43] Because of your... And I'm going to read it in the ESV this time. Because of your partnership in the gospel. Your partnership.

[32:57] He said, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ. Your partnership in the gospel. And in verse 7 he says, And it's right for me to feel this way about you.

[33:10] Why? Because I hold you in my heart. For you are all partakers with me.

[33:21] And I want you to notice something here. The word partakers is the same word. Koinonia. A little different form of it. But it's the same root word. Koinonia.

[33:31] And it means, this time, the form of the word means to a participant with others in something. A participant. A joint partner.

[33:43] They were partners with Paul. That's what they considered themselves. They had been planted. The church had been planted by Paul. It was through the evangelism of the gospel.

[33:54] Through the apostle Paul that planted that church in Asia Minor. At Philippi. And from that point on they considered themselves partners with Paul.

[34:05] Paul. That's what Paul is saying here. That's why he's just always remembering them. Why he was always praying for them. With joy. They were partners with Paul.

[34:18] They had co-opt with Paul in his ministry. In several ways. Verse 7 says, With his chains. That is in persecution.

[34:30] By the way, we have to add that to this partnership. They were partners with Paul in persecution for their faith. They partnered with Paul in his chains.

[34:43] But also with his defense of the gospel. Paul said there in verse 7. Defense. Apologia. That is, standing up for the faith. Not apologizing for the faith.

[34:55] But defending the faith. Being able to give a defense about why you believe what you believe from God's word. And defending that faith from scripture.

[35:07] They were partners with Paul in that. And so are we. Not only in his chains and in his defense of the gospel.

[35:17] But also in his confirmation of the gospel. The root word in that Greek word translated confirmation is the word bio.

[35:27] It's life. And so he and they were living out the faith. Not just simply defending it. But living it out. Modeling it.

[35:40] Expressing the truth of it through their daily lives. And the things they said. And the places they went. And the activities they were involved in. They were confirming the gospel in their faith.

[35:51] And in their prayers. So they were participants. They co-opt with Paul in his ministry. Through persecution.

[36:03] Through the defense of the gospel. Through the confirmation of the gospel. Do we know anything specific? Tangible. Specific about how the Philippians partnered with Paul.

[36:17] Do we know anything about that from scripture? Well yes we do. Turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8. And starting with verse 1.

[36:28] 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 1. Paul is writing to the Corinthians. But he is really writing about someone else.

[36:40] Some other group of people. Some other church. He says moreover brethren. We make known to you. The grace of God bestowed on the churches. Of Macedonia.

[36:52] He's here not talking about the grace of God. In salvation. He's talking about something else. They were given God's grace. For some other activity. The grace of God bestowed on the churches.

[37:05] Of Macedonia. That in a great trial. Or test of affliction. The abundance. Now watch this. The abundance. The abundance of their joy.

[37:15] And their deep poverty. Abounded. It overflowed in something. What? The riches of their liberality. What's he talking about? Well he's talking about financial support.

[37:31] He's talking about financial support. For the cause of the gospel. For the cause of Christ. And who is he talking about? The churches in Macedonia. That's what he said.

[37:43] That's Asia Minor. And who would have been included in that? The church of Philippi. In fact when Paul was led by the Holy Spirit.

[37:55] To go into Macedonia. His first stop was Philippi. First church that was planted. Was in Philippi. He's talking about the Philippians. He's talking about possibly some others as well.

[38:06] But the Philippians certainly. In fact Paul in Romans. Excuse me. In Acts chapter 16 verse 12. He's referring to this very thing.

[38:18] Where he went into Asia Minor. Where they were liberal in their giving of gifts. To the needs of the saints. For the cause of Christ.

[38:30] And then in verse 3. He says here. In 2 Corinthians 8. For I bear witness. That according to their ability. That is their financial means.

[38:42] Yes and beyond their means. Beyond their financial means. They were freely willing. Freely willing.

[38:54] And then notice what he says next. Imploring us. In the fellowship. In the fellowship. In the fellowship. Literally pleading with us. With much urgency. That we would receive the gift.

[39:06] This financial gift that they had sent. And the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. Let me read it in another translation.

[39:16] Begging us. This is what they were doing. This is what Paul is saying about the church at Philippi. And a few other churches there in Asia Minor. There. Begging us earnestly for the favor of participating.

[39:27] Or for. Of participation. In the support of the saints. By the way. Participation is the word koinonia again. Begging him.

[39:38] Now get that. It's like they're saying. Please. Pastor Paul. Please. Oh please let us take part. In this supporting of the work of the gospel.

[39:51] Please let us be a part of that. We're poor. Yes. We know. But we want to be a part of this. You see. And in Romans chapter 15 verse 25.

[40:04] We'll not turn to it. But Paul makes a reference to this very same thing. In that. In that book. In Romans 15. And there Paul said that they. That is the church at Philippi.

[40:15] Considered it a debt that they owed. Amazing. Amazing. And so Paul says here what? He says they gave beyond their means.

[40:29] He said in verse 2. Their deep poverty abounded. It overflowed in the riches of their liberality. Amazing.

[40:41] It's what Paul is saying about the church at Philippi. Their cooperation. They considered themselves partners with Paul.

[40:55] They considered them partners. Themselves partners with the work of the gospel. In the known world of the day. And we too. And so Paul is commending them.

[41:08] They actually begged me. To be a part of this. And their. Poverty abounded.

[41:19] It overflowed. In the riches of their liberality. Dear people. That's kind of the way I feel about you. In your giving.

[41:34] It's been an amazing thing to me. Your. Giving of your resources. And for many of you.

[41:46] Beyond your resources. For the work of the gospel. Giving of your tithes. That's first and foremost.

[41:56] And then giving. Giving. To our gospel debt. To the world.

[42:10] I don't know if you've had an opportunity to fill this card out yet. Hopefully you have. And hopefully you've prayed about this. About your commitment.

[42:24] For the next 12 months. As we. Start over again. With. With our gospel debt. Missions fund. And I'm just thinking back to.

[42:38] Three marches ago. And how. You had. Paid off that. And really. More.

[42:49] Than was needed. To pay off the mortgage. On our. On this part of our. Facilities. Out of debt. It was a great. Sunday. Burned the note.

[43:00] I nearly burned myself. Burning the note. I remember. If I recall. All. And then. You remember. How I suggested.

[43:11] That. We really have another debt. And it's a debt. We've always had. And it's not a debt. To buildings. Or to a bank. But it's a debt.

[43:24] Certainly begins. With our debt. To the Lord. But it's a debt. Actually a debt. To the world. It's a gospel debt. And I encouraged you.

[43:37] To seriously pray. About. Taking that money. You'd been giving. To a building. That's now paid for. And now.

[43:48] Giving that. To this other debt. What a blessing. For each.

[44:00] Of the last two years. You've made commitments. To do that. And. Again. This year. As the year before. Went beyond.

[44:12] What was even committed to. And all of that. Money of course. Being used for. Great commission strategy.

[44:24] Here. And around the world. It's time once again. To do that. As we come to the close. Of this service. Perhaps.

[44:38] You're willing to give. Commit to giving. An amount of money. Each week. Maybe each month. Or maybe it's. Some lump sum.

[44:50] Amounts. That you would commit to. This year. To give. May I say something. From a pastor's heart. If you.

[45:03] Are not tithing. Right now. The Bible defines that. By. Giving a tenth. Of everything. That God has given you. If you're not tithing.

[45:16] Giving your tenth. With no strings attached. If you're not yet. Doing that. Then you shouldn't be.

[45:27] Considering this yet. You need to tithe. To the Lord. This is on top of that.

[45:39] As God. Would lead you. And God. Enables you. To give. Specifically. To missions. To missions. Let's pray together.

[45:59] And after we pray. Then we'll come by. And just. Give our commitments. To this morning. Dear father.

[46:13] We're grateful. Thankful. For how you have led us. In this direction. And how you have used. Our giving. To make. Make.

[46:23] Such a difference. In the lives of people. And ministries. And. Supporting. Of. Pastors. And. Church leaders.

[46:35] And. Giving to people in need. In the name of Jesus. People who then have. An opportunity to. Hear the gospel. And get a witness.

[46:46] In the saving name of Jesus. The prisoners. There. Incarcerated. At Dick Connor. The people who come.

[46:59] For. Free medical. Aid. At the. Hope Medical Clinic. And we could just. Go on and on. We're thankful father.

[47:10] That you have. Led us. To give. To support these things. And we're thankful. For what you've done. Through them. And now Lord.

[47:21] Help us. Instruct us. On what we should give. And we give it.

[47:32] For your glory. And for your kingdom. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.