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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good morning. Welcome to church this morning. Go ahead and come on in and take your seats. Turn your song books to page number 17. We're going to be singing One Day One day when heaven was filled with his praises song number 17. That's song number 17. Come on in. Take a seat. Put on your singing voice because it's time to sing this morning. Praise the Lord. Song number 17. Give it all you've got. Sing it out on that verse like a mighty choir. One day when heaven was filled with his praises One day when sin was at storecase with thee Jesus came, Lord, to be born of a virgin Who was then my temp'rless being Letting him love me, denying his saving Carrying and carrying my sins far away Writing me just by, praying forever One day he's coming Oh, for he has saved Amen. That was a good start. Come on in. Song number 17. Song number 17. Join me on that second. One day they led him up on Calvary's mountain. Song number 17. Sing it out. One day they led him to Calvary's mountain One day they held him to die on the tree Suffering any which was wise and rejected Carrying our sins, my redeemer is Jesus Letting him love me, denying his saving Carrying and carrying my sins far away Writing me just by, praying forever One day he's coming Oh, for he has saved Are you awake yet? We're singing a big song this morning. Song number 117. I know you lost an hour of sleep last night, but right now it's singing time. Let's sing it out on that third. Song number 17. One day they led him alone in the garden One day they missed him on Sunday the 3 Angels came down, all rest tuned to the vigil For the Lord blesses my Savior is He Sing it out. Letting him love me, denying his saving Carrying and carrying my sins far away Writing me just by, praying forever One day he's coming Oh, for he has saved Song number 17 on the fourth. Isn't it a wonderful thing that Jesus is coming today? One day he's coming again. Song number 17 on the fourth. Come on, give it all you've got, all right? Song number 17 on the fourth. One day the great world can see him no longer One day the storm rolled away from the floor And then he broke the floor Now is the sin that I would ever want to know Living, he loved me, dying, he saved me Buried, he carried my sins far away Writing me just by, praying forever One day he's coming Oh, for he has saved me One more verse in you. Song number 17 on that fifth. Come on, give me one more verse. One day the trumpet will sound for his coming One day the skies with his horns will shine One who may find me will come and wake me Who will say you're this Jesus' life Now, living, he loved me, dying, he saved me Buried, he carried my sins far away Writing me just by, praying forever One day he's coming Oh, for he has saved me Amen. Great singing this morning. Amen, and we want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this morning. We're so glad that you are with us, and we appreciate you being here on time. We know you lost an hour of sleep today, and we're glad that you are here. I want to say thank you to all of you who were praying for us as we were out on the missions trip in the Philippines. I was traveling with my dad and with my two sons. We got back on Friday night, and we appreciate all of your prayers. I appreciate all of you being here, the men that preached, everybody that took care of things while we were gone. It's nice to know that the church will run well even while in my absence. I appreciate that. I appreciate you. Please be in prayer for my wife. She's home with one of our daughters and not feeling well, but she, of course, wishes she could be here. Let's begin the service with a word of prayer, and let's bow our heads together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you, and we thank you for allowing us to gather together today. Lord, we pray that you would bless the service today. We pray that you'd bless the singing, the preaching, the fellowship. Lord, we ask that you would meet with us, that you'd help us to draw closer to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Are you guys ready to sing another song this morning? Song number 143, Blessed Assurance. It's a big song, okay? Give it all you've got this morning. Song number 143, join me this morning as we sing off this wonderful hymn, this powerful hymn. Song number 143, Blessed Assurance. Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretage my glory be mine. There is salvation, purchase of God. Lord, I miss you, Lord. Come on, sing it out. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior on the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior on the day long. It's singing time, church. Are you singing this morning? Song number 143, Blessed Assurance. It's a beautiful song with beautiful words. Sing it out on that second. Perfect submission, perfect decline. Visions of rapture now burst on my side. Angels to save me, bring her on my love. Echoes of mercy, wash me down, wash me down. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior on the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior on the day long. One more verse. Sing it out. Perfect submission, all is at rest. Praising my Savior on the day long. One more verse. Praising my Savior on the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior on the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior on the day long. Praising my Savior on the day long. Amen. Great singing this morning. Amen. Good singing. Let's go and take our bulletins this morning. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin this morning, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. Psalm 103.8, the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. That's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10.30 a.m. We are glad that you are with us, of course, here on Sunday morning on the Lord's Safer Church. We do invite you to be back tonight at 6 p.m. for the evening service. The evening service is different than the morning service, different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached. Just one more opportunity to be in God's house with God's people under the preaching of the word of God. Tonight, we're going to have a special service. We'll talk about that here in a minute. We'd love for you to join us for the evening service. Then we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. We'll be back in the book of Psalms this Wednesday night. We'd love for you to join us, of course, with midweek service. We call it the most encouraging service of the week. We'd love for you to be a part of that. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, we have our vision offering coming up. We're going to talk about that here in a minute. Let me go over some of these other announcements that we have here in the bulletin. Of course, we have the Philippines missions trip that we just got back from. Tonight, we're going to have a special service with some testimonies from individuals that went to the missions trip. I want to encourage you to be here for that. I think you'll find it encouraging. Then I'll be preaching a sermon tonight that will be half sermon, half my own testimony about the missions trip. We'd love for you to join us, of course, for that. Also, just be aware that choir practice begins today at 5 p.m. for the adult choir. They're going to start practicing for Easter. Make sure that you are here in your place, here in the auditorium for the adult choir. I think the orchestra is practicing as well. Make a note of that. Also, I just want you to be aware of the Biblical Leadership Institute. It's going to start on Tuesday, March 18th. We apologize. The dates keep getting changed there. It's not this Tuesday. It's next Tuesday, March 18th. Please make a note of that. They've got homeschool group. They've got PE class. The dates are there. Ladies weight loss accountability group. They meet on Wednesdays at 615. That's a group that my wife leads. They meet in her office if you're interested in being part of that. Then upcoming cleaning crew. You can check for your name there. If you wouldn't mind, just real quickly, if you look at the insert there in your bulletin, we have our vision offering coming up on Sunday, March 23rd. It's not next Sunday, but the Sunday after that. We just want you to be aware of that and be thinking about the vision offering. Of course, it's a special offering we take every spring. It helps us with some special things. We just want you to be aware of the things we're raising money for. Of course, we want to continue to support our missionaries in the Philippines, Pastor Stuckey and Manella Pampanga in Bicol and our missionary, Dave Kabuntala in Cebu. We'll talk more about that later on today and tonight. Also, we want to do some work on the church property if possible. Really, the two main things is we'd like to get these hallways done and we'd like to get the fellowship hall done. Then, of course, we've got some financial goals there as well. We just want you to be aware of the vision offering, what we're raising money for, and then also just be thinking about what the Lord would have you to do. Of course, on the day of the vision offering, you'll have an opportunity to bring a one-time offering. Then you'll also have an opportunity to make a commitment to give in the months of April, May, or June. You don't have to give all three of those months. You can give all three of those months if you'd like or you can pick one of those months or however you want to do it. You can bring a one-time gift or you can commit to giving one of those months or you can do it all, whatever you'd like. But be thinking about, praying about the vision offering. I hope you'll put this somewhere where you can see it. We appreciate, of course, your prayers with regards to that. Then, of course, I just want to take a moment again to say thank you especially for the men who preached for me while I was gone. Brother Deacon Oliver Gonzalez, Brother Matt Borrello, Brother Nate Deakins, and Brother R.J. Marin. I haven't had a chance. I just got back on Friday night. I haven't had a chance to listen to the sermons, but I got some very good reports. It seemed like everybody enjoyed the sermons and I appreciate, of course, their faithfulness with that. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of March. This week we have Brother Scott Sweeten's birthday which is on March 10th. That's tomorrow. And then my mom has a birthday this week, Ms. Creniz Jimenez on March 12th and Montel Johnson Jr. has a birthday on March 15th. Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. And if you are a first-time guest, and we are glad that you're with us if you're a first-time guest, we have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building this morning. As you go out in the foyer, you'll see a little table set up and on that table you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. The one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it. We want to give this to you as a gift, so please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, you can raise your hand. One of our ushers will bring you by a very Baptist church pen, and you're welcome, of course, to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We'd love to have a record of your attendance, and we actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your information to do that. So please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements here, we're going to sing a song, and when we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering, and as the offering plate goes by, you can drop the card in the offering plate or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing at the main door greeting people on the way out. And I think that's it for all of the announcements. So we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, and if you want to pull that out, that all the earth may know. This is a short one, so we'll sing it through twice, all right, as we're prepared to receive the offering this morning, that all the earth may know. Sing it out. Sing it out. They are on the verse. Good. Now sing it out one more time. This time let's slow it down just a bit. Amen, good singing. I just want to remind you quickly before the men come up to receive the offering that we are, of course, a family integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. However, we do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All the rooms have comfortable seating. They've got monitors or windows set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. And, of course, if you need to be baptized, please let us know on your communication card. You can check off that you'd like information about baptism, and we'll follow up with you with regards to that. And please don't forget to turn your cell phones off and place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. And we'll go ahead and have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for lying us together today. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. We thank you for this group that has assembled today. We know people have lost an hour of sleep, Lord, and we appreciate their faithfulness. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. We ask that you would meet with us as we open up your word and as we study the Bible together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's turn our Bibles to Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one. Acts chapter 1, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom. Just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible. Acts chapter 1, the Bible reads, The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up. After that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of them, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know that times were the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power, but ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in wide apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter and James and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names together were about 120. Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem, insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, a seldoma, that is to say, the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein, and his bishopric let another take. Wherefore of these men which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, and unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Mathias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Mathias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. Let us pray. Lord God, thank you for this day and for this morning. Thank you for pastor. Please let this message edify us and glorify and bring honor to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Amen. All right, we're there in Acts chapter number one. And I'd like to focus in on one verse here in this chapter this morning, Acts chapter number one. And it's a very impactful verse. I'd like you to notice it there in verse number eight, Acts chapter one and verse eight. The Bible says, But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And of course, as we've been talking about this morning, we got back from our Philippines missions trip and our group got back Friday night. Other groups got back at different times. And tonight, like we've said, we're going to have a special service. We're going to hear some testimonies from some who participated in the missions trip this year. And I'm going to be giving a testimony slash sermon as well, entitled Lessons from the BBC Philippines Mission Strip. And so I want to encourage you to be here. We'll be talking about specifically about the Philippines missions trip tonight. But tonight, this morning, I want to preach a general sermon on the subject of just world missions in general. Tonight, we're going to talk about the Philippines. But I'd like to preach on the subject of missions this morning. And, you know, when it comes to missions trips, you know, this Philippines missions trip, we had seven of our church members here from Sacramento attend the missions trip there in the Philippines. And that's just our people here from Sacramento. Of course, there was many more people there that are from the Philippines. And then, of course, there's people that came from the United States and other parts of the world to participate. But just our seven members that went to the Philippines missions trip this year had 216 salvations. And praise the Lord for that. I'll let them, when they give testimonies this evening, to let you know how many salvations they each had or each group had individually. But that's 216 for our group. That's not the entire missions trip. Of course, the entire missions trip had much more than that. But just the seven that went from Sacramento had 216 salvations for the time that they were there. And that's a great number. And each one of those numbers, of course, represents a soul. And that's why we care about missions. We care about world missions. And I want to speak on this subject. I want to give you three thoughts about world missions from this passage, Acts 1 and verse 8. And if you'd like to jot these things down, then maybe you can do that on the back of your course a week. There's a place for you to write down some notes. Just three thoughts quickly this morning on the subject of world missions. I think as Christians, we need to understand world missions. We need to understand that missions is the heartbeat of God. And soul winning is the heartbeat of God. I'd like to give you some thoughts here from this verse. Number one, first of all, this morning, I'd like you to notice in this verse, in Acts 1 and 8, we see the process for reaching the world. The process for reaching the world. And here, it's outlined by the Lord Jesus Christ, of course. Acts 1 and 8 is one of the verses known as the Great Commission. The Lord Jesus Christ, several times in His ministry, gave this Great Commission. He gave it five different times in five different ways. All five of those come together to give us one commission. Each one of those verses has a different aspect or a different layer with regards to the Great Commission. And here, we find a very unique one. In Acts 1 and 8, when Jesus says, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in. I want you to notice the progression here. There's a process that Christ outlines for us with regards to reaching the world. When we ask the question, how are we going to reach the world with the Gospel? We're saying this morning that all the earth may know. We've got it written in the back here on the wall. That all the earth may know. That is our goal. Our goal is to reach the entire world with the Gospel. How is it to be done? Notice there the progression, the process that's given by the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, ye shall be witnesses unto me both in. First of all, He says, Jerusalem. And of course, He's talking to a local crowd there, to the disciples that live in this area. And He says, you're going to be witnesses in Jerusalem. And that is a reference to their local area, the local city in which they live. Then He says this, and in all Judea. And this of course would be the surrounding region that encompasses Jerusalem. For us, we might say it this way, in Sacramento and in all of California. Then He says, and in Samaria. That would be a neighboring region. And we might think of that as a neighboring state. And then He says this, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And here we see the Lord Jesus Christ outline this process for reaching the world. And He tells us that it must begin inwardly and move itself outwardly. He says, you must begin in your local area in Jerusalem. And then from there, spread out into Judea and into Samaria. And from there, unto the uttermost part of the earth. This is the goal that God has, that we would reach the world with the Gospel. You don't have to turn here, but in Matthew 28 and 19, we find of course another one of these great commission verses. Where Jesus said, go ye therefore and teach all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. In Mark 16, in verse 15, we find another one of these great commission verses. Where Jesus said, go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. So we see the process for reaching the world. And He's given us an outline. He's given us a step by step. He says, you begin in your local area. And then you reach the surrounding region. And then you go to neighboring regions. And from there, you continue to spread until you've reached the uttermost part of the earth. Now you're there in Acts chapter 1. I'd like you to keep your place in Acts. We're going to be in the book of Acts this morning. And we might go to a few other passages, but I want you to keep your place in Acts. If you can put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there. But if you wouldn't mind, go with me just real quickly to Acts chapter number 28. Towards the end of the book of Acts, you're in Acts chapter 1. So if you go to the end, the last chapter, Acts 28. And I'd like you to consider a couple of things with regards to the process for reaching the world. The process that we've been given by the Lord Jesus Christ is that we begin in Jerusalem. And we move out to Judea and to Samaria and into the uttermost part of the earth. We begin locally and we begin to spread out into our surrounding regions and neighboring regions. And we ultimately reach the entire world. And that's what we're trying to accomplish here at Verity Baptist Church. We began a church here in Sacramento locally. And over the years, the Lord has allowed us to plant churches in our surrounding areas. We have a church in Fresno, California that we started. We have a church in Vancouver, Washington as we move into regions that are next to us. And Boise, Idaho. And then of course, we're trying to reach the world into the uttermost part of the earth. We started a church there in Manila. And then a church in Pampanga. And a church in Bicol. And there's several other groups that are being cultivated for churches in the future. This is the process that God has given us. And I'd like for you to consider first of all the local obstacles. When it comes to reaching our world with the gospel, Jesus says that we must begin with our local area. Now oftentimes, our local area here in Sacramento, but not just Sacramento, really all of the United States, may not seem as receptive as other parts of the world. And we understand that. However, we need to remember that we have freedom here to share the gospel. And when we go out, we still get people saved. I mean, just yesterday my son was out and got somebody saved out soul winning. I'm sure there's others that had people saved. You know, sometimes I think people think about our local area in comparison to places like the Philippines. And they'll say, oh, it's not receptive. It's not worth it. Well, first of all, remember that Jesus told us we must begin in our local area. But let us not forget that though we don't live in the Philippines, this isn't Saudi Arabia. This isn't Vietnam. This isn't Iraq. And we still have the freedom here to preach the gospel. There are still people here that will hear the gospel and get saved. And we need to make sure that we stay encouraged to reach our local area with the gospel. If for nothing else, because that's where God commanded us, that's where Jesus commanded us to begin. And it might take some work. It might take some effort. There's some obstacles that we have here in the U.S. But we need to continue to preach the gospel. Notice in Acts 28, I want you to notice that the Apostle Paul was a missionary. And he went out to areas that were very receptive. But he had his local group that he was reaching as well. In fact, in Acts 28, we find him here and he is under house arrest in Rome. The Bible says in verse 23, and when they, and the word they there is referring to Jews that are living in Rome. The Apostle Paul, this would have been his local group, the local Jewish community. Of course, Paul talked about the fact that he was a Jew and he wanted to see his kinsmen saved. The Bible says in verse 23, and when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him. This is talking about Jews that are coming to Paul into his lodging. Of course, he's under house arrest. And the Bible says, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus. So he's preaching the gospel to what he would consider people that are local to his community. These Jews that are there. And the Bible says, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning to evening. He's preaching the gospel to his people. Notice what the Bible says in verse 24. Because in the book of Acts, we've got Paul going on missionary journeys and we read verses that say things that, that, you know, he reached the entire city, the entire community. That all of the area that he went, heard the gospel and he had great results and many people getting saved. But here, when talking about his, what he would consider his local area, verse 24, the Bible says, and some believed the things which were spoken and some believed not. I want you to notice that even for the apostle Paul at times, he would preach the gospel to areas that weren't super receptive. It's not like in other parts of Acts when it says that a great number received the word or thousands of people got saved. Here, he's preaching to these individuals and the Bible says that some believe and some believe not. And that's how it is for us here in our local community. We go out and we preach the gospel, some believe and some believe not. What we need to remember is that our motivation for soul winning ought not be the results. Now we understand that results are encouraging and we like the results. It's one of the reasons we're going to give testimonies tonight so we can be encouraged with the results of preaching the gospel. But we don't go out and preach the gospel simply for the results. We go out primarily out of duty and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ when he said, you need to begin in your local area in Jerusalem. The Bible says here that some believe the things which were spoken and some believe not. Keep your place there in Acts and go with me if you would to the book of John. John chapter 4. If you just flip one book back to John chapter 4. So we see the local obstacles. There are some local obstacles for us. What are the obstacles? The obstacles are that we live in a very prosperous nation. And you know, you might be here this morning and you might say, well I'm not rich and I'm poor or whatever it might be. And you may be poor in comparison to other Americans. But when you compare the way that Americans live to other people around the world, we live in a very wealthy nation. We live in a very rich nation. I mean the truth of the matter is that there's many beautiful places all over this world that you could live in. But there's really no place like the United States of America. And we've been blessed here because of, I believe, Christianity and the gospel. But that prosperity has made people dull. Their senses are dull to their need for a savior. And that's an obstacle. We understand that. And that's why you and I need to decide that we're going to be soul winners that are obedient soul winners. Not just for exciting mission strips, but even here in our local area. Because some will believe and some will believe not. We should consider our local obstacle. We're talking about missions and this idea of world missions. We should consider our local area. And are there some obstacles that we need to overcome? Yes. Will people get saved? Yes. Might it take you having to talk to more people, spend more time, and put more energy into it? I believe so. We should consider the local obstacles. But we should also consider the global opportunity. And that's what tonight's about. Is this idea that we need to realize that though we live in an area that is not necessarily unreceptive, but is not the most receptive, there are many places that are incredibly receptive throughout the world. The Bible says here in John chapter 4, this is of course the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. And he's speaking about the harvest of souls. In John 4, 35 the Bible says this. He says, Say not ye there are yet four months and then cometh the harvest. He says, Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the field. Notice this little phrase here. He says, For they are white already to harvest. That phrase, white already to harvest, is an agricultural phrase of course. It means that the idea is that when wheat turns white or light colored, that it is fully ripe and it's ready to be harvested. And Jesus is using this as an example. And he's saying, you need to look out and realize that there are people that are ready to hear the gospel. And again, you might say, well, you know, I go swimming in Sacramento and it doesn't seem like there's many people that are receptive here. But let me tell you something. People are receptive in the Philippines. And people are receptive in Mexico. And people are receptive in Latin America. And people are receptive in the Caribbean. And people are receptive in Africa. And I'm just amazed at the work being done there in the Philippines. And I'm going to say this and I don't mean this as any sort of detriment or insult to anybody else. But I think that Pastor Stuckey and the work that he's doing there in the Philippines is amazing. And I think that Pastor Stuckey may be the most important missionary alive right now. I mean, the work there in the Philippines, just in the month of February. And this is not the month of the missions, not including the mission strip and the things that they were doing there. Just in the month of February, between their three churches and the three local areas that they're cultivating there for future plants and churches, they have 2,033 salvations. Here in Sacramento, we pray that we can get a thousand salvations a year. They're getting 2,000 salvations a month. And don't let those numbers, you know, sometimes you hear those numbers and you think, well, you know, how can that be? Are those numbers inflated? Let me tell you something. The Philippines is receptive, but you still have to work. I mean, I went there and got many people saved. I didn't have the American effect. You know, white people go there and Filipinos just want to talk to white people. I look like a Filipino, so they just start talking to me like Tagalog and I'm like, no, sorry. But, you know, even though I still had many people saved, but I had to work at it. You know, I had to talk to people and you still got rejected. You still had people who said they're not interested, but there's more people that seem interested than not interested in comparison to us. The point that I'm saying to you is this, that there are local obstacles. There are global opportunities and this is why we must emphasize this idea of missions. Missions is important. We must begin in Jerusalem and we must move our way out. And the point is this, that there are going to be difficulties in missions work, both at home and abroad. You say at home there's difficulties because people aren't receptive. That's true, but we have lots of conveniences here and there's lots that we can do with regards to reaching people with the gospel in the United States of America. In overseas there are areas that are extremely receptive, but those areas are going to have their obstacles as well. Of course, doing things out in the foreign field can sometimes be difficult getting there and getting resources there and doing those things. The point that I'm saying to you is that there will be difficulty either way and we were not commanded to obey if it was easy. We're commanded to obey period and we must determine to reach our local area and to push out and move our way out into the world to reach the uttermost parts of the earth. The harvest truly is plenteous. Say not ye that there are yet four months and then cometh the harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the field for they are white already to harvest. David Livingston was a famous, very well-known Scottish missionary and explorer that lived in the 1800s. You may have heard of him. He was born on March 19, 1813 in Blantyre, Scotland. He was a doctor who turned missionary and he was sent by the London Missionary Society to Africa in 1841. He worked in what is now present day Botswana in South Africa and he explored much of central and southern Africa. In fact, he's known throughout the world in the Christian world. He's known for his missions work, but in the secular world he's known for the fact that he mapped much of Africa. He traveled and he did mapping for uncharted territories in Africa, including in the Zambezi and Congo Rivers. He was the first European to discover and to see the Victoria Falls in Africa, which he named after Queen Victoria in 1855. His reports and writings helped influence British efforts to end slavery in Africa and inspired generations of missionaries. His influence led to the increase of British missionary activity in Africa, particularly in Malawi and Zambia and Tanzania. He's known as one of the fathers of modern missions. He died of malaria and dysentery in May 1, 1873 in what is present day Zambia. There's a famous story about him being attacked by a lion. He survived a lion attack and he's known for the fact that when he died they took his heart out and they buried his heart in Africa. They sent his body back to England and he was buried in Westminster Abbey, but because he loved Africa so they buried his heart in Africa. He's a very well-known missionary and he inspired many missions to go on into Africa. But there's a story about David Livingston that I find interesting. There was a group in South Africa that wrote David Livingston and they were asking him, Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you. Livingston's reply to the letter was this, If you have men who will come only if they know that there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come even if there's no road at all. And the idea is this, that reaching people with the Gospel is going to have its obstacles, it's going to have its opportunities, it's going to have its difficulties. What you and I need to decide is that we're going to make the request of the Lord Jesus Christ, which was for us to go out and reach the world of the Gospel. We're going to make that our top priority and we're going to do it whether it's easy or hard, whether it's fun, whether people are getting saved or not. We're going to go out and warn people and hopefully win people and reach people with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see the process for reaching the world. We see it there in Acts 1-8. Can you make your way back to Acts chapter 1 if you would? I'd like you to look down at verse number 8 again. We see the process for reaching the world. What's the process? You begin in Jerusalem, you move out to Judea, you move out to Samaria and from there into the uttermost part of the earth. We begin in our local area and we move to our surrounding region and to neighboring regions and we eventually try to reach the entire world. We see the process for reaching the world. But I want you to notice secondly this morning in this verse, not only do we see the process for reaching the world in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, but we also see the participation of ready witnesses in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. See there's an emphasis here in this verse. The last part of the verse emphasizes how it is to be done or where it is to be done in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. But the beginning of the verse emphasizes who is to do it. Notice what he says there in Acts 1 and verse 8. He says, but ye, this is Jesus speaking to his disciples, he says ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. He says, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. This is the emphasis when it comes to the Great Commission. If you can turn back to the book of Mark real quickly. There in Acts you go past John, past Luke, into the book of Mark. I read this for you but I want you to see it. Mark 16 and verse 15. This is probably one of the two most famous Great Commission verses in the Bible. Mark chapter 16 verse 15. The Bible says this and he said unto them, I want you to notice these words. He said, go ye, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The command is a personal command. He says, ye shall receive power, ye shall be witnesses. He says, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. If you turn back to Matthew 28 and verse 19. Just one book before Mark. Matthew 28 verse 19. We find the other probably most famous passage with regards to the Great Commission. This might be the most famous passage with regards to the Great Commission. Matthew 28 and 19. Jesus said, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you all the way even unto the end of the world. Amen. I want you to notice that the emphasis is this, go ye, go ye. He says, but ye shall receive power. He says, and ye shall be witnesses. The truth of the matter is this, that you should get involved in world missions. We are talking about world missions. We are really talking about the Great Commission which is to go out and reach the world with the gospel. We say, well how can I be involved in reaching the world? We talked about it already. The process of reaching the world begins at home. We begin at home and then abroad and the truth is this, that you can preach the gospel at home. You can get involved in the work of soul winning and reaching people with the gospel. You might say, well I don't have the ability to be a soul winner. I don't think I can do it. Listen to me, if you are saved this morning and you have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you, then you have the ability to preach the gospel. Notice what Jesus said there in Acts 1-8. Stay there in Matthew. Let me just read it for you. In fact, you go to Matthew chapter 9 just real quickly from Matthew 28 to Matthew 9. In Acts 1-8 he says this, but ye shall receive power. You say, I can't do it. Well you, of course you can't do it. I can't do it either. The enabling comes from the Holy Spirit of God. It's not an excuse to say, well I can't do it. I don't have the gift of God. I don't have the ability to do it. You were never meant to have the ability to do it. That's not an excuse that is valid for not preaching the gospel because Jesus said that the power will come from the Holy Spirit of God. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost will come upon you. If your excuse for not being a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ is, I can't do it. I don't have the ability. I can't speak. I can't do it. Then that is an invalid excuse because the ability and the enabling comes from the Holy Spirit of God. I often think about Moses who tells God when God sends him into the world, into Egypt to bring his message and he says, I stutter and I can't speak and I can't talk. And God says, I'm going to enable you. I'm going to help you. God gives him a soul winning partner, his brother Aaron to go into Egypt. You know what's funny about that story is that you see Aaron kind of interact with Pharaoh a little bit and then you know in the book of Exodus it's just Moses talking the whole time. He's like that silent partner who says, I can't do it and then you can't get him to shut up. You say, I can't do it. You shouldn't be able to do it. The natural man in his flesh should not be able to preach the gospel. It's a spiritual work and the Holy Spirit of God will empower you. But ye shall receive power, he says, after that the Holy Ghost will come upon you. You say, I can't do it. Well, you shouldn't be able to do it. You should be the Holy Spirit doing it through you. You say, well, I can't present the gospel. I can't explain it. Listen to me. Jesus says, and ye shall be witnesses unto me. To me it's interesting you use that word witnesses. You know what a witness is? A witness is someone who can testify to something they saw, something they learned, something they experienced. The thing about a witness is that if someone is a witness to a crime, they don't have to take a class to be able to say what happened. If someone is a witness of something they saw, they saw something, I saw that car exit while I was gone. There was a car that rammed into our gate here, you know. And it's just, you know, it's just how it is. There's always something going on around here. But, you know, if you would have seen that, then you could just say, well, here's what I saw and here's how it happened. A witness doesn't have to sit there and think about, oh, did you see on this certain day when this person killed this person? You know, they don't have to go back and, well, let me review my notes and let me go back and look. Look, a witness knows what they saw. And what God is telling us here is that what you and I are are to be witnesses. You say, well, I can't do it. Well, here's the thing. Are you saved? If you're saved, then you should be able, and I'm not trying to minimize the work that should be done and prepare. I think we ought to prepare to preach the gospel. I think you ought to go through our soul winning seminar. I think you ought to highlight the verses and have some verses ready. You should have a presentation. We talk a lot about that. But let me tell you something. If you're saved this morning, you should be able to tell somebody how you got saved. I mean, if you're actually saved, you should be able to explain, hey, I was a sinner. I deserve to go to hell. Jesus loved me. He died on the cross for my sins. Let me show you what the Bible says. I mean, John 3.16 is the most famous verse in the whole Bible. It has the entire gospel just in one nutshell there. And I'm not saying that we only need one verse or anything like that. What I'm saying to you is this. If you are saved, then you can testify about your salvation. You can be a witness. And you can preach the gospel here at home. In Matthew chapter 9 and verse 36, I'd like you to notice the verses the Bible says, But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. It's always interesting to me, people who are hardened towards this idea of preaching the gospel to others. It makes me wonder about your compassion. Because the Bible says here that Jesus, when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Verse 37, Then saith he unto his disciples, he says, The harvest truly is plenteous. That word plenteous means plenty, abundant. He says, But the labors are few. He said, The people willing to put in the work are few. The people willing to stand in the gap are few. He says, Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labors into his harvest. It's always interesting to me, as far as I can tell in scripture and as far as I can see in the Bible, this is the one time we see the Lord Jesus Christ put in a prayer request. What kind of prayer request would Jesus put in if he was part of our church? What kind of prayer request would he put on a communication card and ask to be added in the bulletin during the prayer time? Well here he gives us prayer requests, he says, Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, he said that he would send forth labors into his harvest. You know what Jesus is praying for? He's praying that you and I would get involved in the work of missions. He said you should preach, he said we should pray that more labors would get involved. And the truth of the matter is this, that we see there in Acts 1-8 the participation of ready witnesses. And you and I can and should preach the gospel at home. But let me say this, you're there in Matthew, go to Romans chapter 1. If you kept your place in Acts, right after Acts you have the book of Romans, Romans chapter 1. Not only can you and should you preach the gospel at home, let me say this, you can also preach the gospel abroad. In Romans chapter 1 and verse 13 we have the apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome. I want you to notice what he says, Romans 1 and verse 13, he says, Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let hither to. He says, I purposed to come unto you, I was hindered until now. We know that eventually Paul made his way to Rome of course, we read about that in Acts 28. But notice what he says, why does he want to go to Rome? Here's what he says, he says that I might have some fruit among you, notice this word, also. Even as among other Gentiles. He said, I've gotten other people saved other places, but I want to get people saved in Rome. He said, in fact there are people getting saved in Rome and I want to be a part of that. He said, I want to have fruit among you also. And the truth of the matter is this, that we don't live in the 1800's. Where a man like David Livingston had to get on a ship and travel for months and never go back home. You and I can get on a plane and within a matter of hours, I mean sometimes, you know, it took us 24 hours to get back home. But within a matter of hours you can be in a different country, in a different place, in a place that's receptive. And I'm here to tell you that there is the participation of ready witnesses. He wants us involved. World missions is not something we just delegate to somebody else, but it's something that we can get involved in. You say, how can I get involved? Well you can and you should get involved by preaching the gospel at home. But let me just say this as well, you can also get involved in missions work. You can get on a plane and fly to the Philippines and preach the gospel that you might have fruit among them also. You, like the apostle Paul, can say, I've heard that there's people getting saved in the Philippines. I've heard that there's people getting saved in the Caribbean Islands. I've heard that there's people getting saved in Africa. I've heard that there's people getting saved in Latin America and in Mexico. I want to get in on that and I want to be a part of that and I purpose to come unto you that I might have some fruit among you also. And I want to encourage you, I understand not everybody is going to have the ability and not everybody is in the season of life that they can do these things. But I want to say to you that if it's possible for you and if you're able to, you ought to consider joining one of these missions trips in the future. It's a do it yourself missions trip. Do you have people that are there and they're there and they're living there and they've given their life to that like Pastor Stuckey? Yes, absolutely. But you can get involved and we want you to be involved. You can preach and look, it's a great thing if you're a soul winner that is faithful here in Sacramento and you're going out every week and you're seeing a few people saved. You know, it's good every once in a while to be able to go somewhere new and just kind of have a refresher and it's a place where it's easy and it's not difficult to have people talk to. And to give the gospel to. I'm saying to you that you ought to participate in world missions. Whether that is by being a soul winner here locally and showing up on Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon or Thursday afternoon for one of our soul winning times and going out with our local missionaries to preach the gospel. Or whether it's from time to time every once in a while getting on a plane and going on a missions trip. I want to encourage you maybe even today to plan for next year to be part of the Philippines missions trip and go out there and you get involved and do what Jesus said. Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses. So we see the process for reaching the world and we see the participation of ready witnesses. You can preach and you should preach the gospel at home and you can preach the gospel abroad. You should get involved. Look, when it comes to missions you and I need to take this thing personally. I'd like you to go real quickly with me if you go to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter number 5. Oftentimes the problem when people talk about missions is that they think about just supporting missionaries. And that's definitely part of it and we're going to talk about that here in a minute. And we want to do that. We want to support works going on in different countries and get people out there. But sometimes people get this idea. Soul winning, church planting, missions work, the great commission. That's just something we delegate to somebody else. It's not personal. Let me tell you something. God wants you personally involved in the work of the great commission. In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 18, I want you to notice what the Bible says. It says, and all things are of God who hath, notice the personal aspect here, who hath reconciled us to himself. Can you claim that verse? Can you say that you've been reconciled to God by the Lord Jesus Christ and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and has given, notice these words, and has given to a missionary somewhere else. Is that what it says? He says and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Who's been given the ministry of reconciliation? It's been given to you and it's been given to me. Notice verse 19, he says to wit that God was in Christ. He says look, in the same way that God the Father was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. He said you are a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says as though God did beseech you by us. Don't just read that. Let that sink in. Do you understand that when you go out and preach the gospel, you go out and knock on a door, you get on a plane and you go somewhere and preach the gospel to somebody, that the way that God looks at that is that you are his ambassador. You are his representative. In the same way that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, he says now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. When you knock that door and you ask that question, do you know for sure if you died today? If you're on your way to heaven and if you don't know that, can I show you from the Bible? It's as though God himself has sent you and he's beseeching that individual by us. We pray you. Notice the words here. In Christ's dead be ye reconciled to God. When you realize that when you and I go out and preach the gospel, we're doing it in Christ's dead, it might help you understand the seriousness of this matter, that you have been given a responsibility. Can you imagine an ambassador who's been commissioned by the President of the United States to represent him out in the world and the ambassador saying, no, that's not my gift. I wouldn't know what to say. I don't have the ability. I'm too busy. I worked too many hours this week. I can't go out and do that. The Bible says that we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's dead be ye reconciled to God. When you and I involve ourselves in this idea of soul winning and missions and the great commission, it's as though God is doing it through us. We are representatives. We are there in Christ's dead. Go back to Acts chapter 1 if you would. Let me give you the third thought this morning. We see the process for reaching the world. It begins in Jerusalem. It moves its way out to Judea, Samaria and to the other most part of the earth. We see the participation of ready witnesses that we can and should preach the gospel at home and we also can preach the gospel abroad. We can get involved. No matter how we get involved, we should take this thing of preaching the gospel and the ministry of reconciliation personally. We are ambassadors for Christ. And then thirdly this morning I'd like you to notice from this verse Acts 1.8. We see the program for resourcing the work. The program for resourcing the work. See in this verse there's not just the plan. There's not just the participation. There's not just the process. But we see the program. I want you to notice it. It's easy to miss Acts 1.8. He says, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me. I want you to notice this word. In fact, if you don't mind writing in your Bible, I'd like you to underline this word or circle this word. He says, both. And ye shall be witnesses unto me. Notice the word there, both. The word both means simultaneously. It means at the same time. He says, ye shall be witnesses unto me both. He says, in Jerusalem, that's our local area, and in all of Judea, that's our surrounding regions, and in Samaria, that's our neighboring regions, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. What I want you to notice that we see here is that this is not a sequential process. This is not like, okay, we do all of Jerusalem, and then once that's done, then we move out to Judea, and then once that's done, we move out to Samaria, and then once that's done, we just make our way into the uttermost part of the earth. No, no, no. We don't have time for that. The harvest truly is plenteous. The laborers are few. People are dying and going to hell. Now, today, they're dying and going to hell. Today! This is not sequential. This is simultaneous. He says you do it both at the same time in Jerusalem, and at the same time in Judea, and at the same time in Samaria, and at the same time in the uttermost part of the earth. So the question is this. If the great commission, if world missions is not sequential, but simultaneous, then how do we do that? How do we do it in both? How do we witness both in Jerusalem, and at the same time Judea, and at the same time Samaria, and at the uttermost part of the earth? And the answer to the question is this. Go with me, if you would, to Philippians chapter 4, just real quickly. Philippians chapter 4. You've got Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Philippians chapter 4. The answer to the question is this. That the great commission is not we go, and that's it. It is we go, but that's not it. Because if we go, we can't do both. You and I aren't God. We're not omnipresent. We can only be one place at a time. So, yes, we go, but we also need to send. Yes, we go, but we also need to support. Yes, we go. Yes, we go. We go locally, and you get involved in missions work, and you do it yourself, and you get on a plane if you can, and I want to encourage you. I don't want to say you have to do it every year, but I do want to encourage you at some point in your lifetime consider getting involved, and going on a foreign field somewhere, and preaching the gospel, and getting involved in this thing. But let me tell you something. The way that world missions work is that we go locally. We send globally. You're saying, well, how does that happen? It happens through giving. In Philippians chapter 4 and verse 10, I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul says here to the church at Philippians. Philippi, the church at Philippi, excuse me. Philippians chapter 4, verse 10, the Bible says this. Paul says, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly, and now that at the last, I want you to notice the words here that he says. He says, your care of me. When you're reading Philippians chapter 4 here, think of it this way. It's like reading a missionary letter. When we support missionaries, they will send letters. We have a missionary, Dave Kabuntala in Cebu every month. He sends a letter, a report letting us know the work he's doing there, how things are progressing there. Pastor Stuckey does the same. He sends me an email every week, and he does videos that he puts out publicly on social media. And that's what the Apostle Paul is doing here. He's writing to this church in Philippi, and he says, as their missionary, he says, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at the last, your care of me. He's talking about the fact that they're caring for him physically, have flourished again, wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity, verse 14. He says, notwithstanding, ye have well done that ye did communicate with my affliction, verse 15. Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, he's talking about at the beginning of his missions work, of his missions trip, when he departed from Macedonia, he says, no church communicated with me as concerning, look at the words here, giving and receiving, but ye only. He said, when I went out, there are all these churches that were going to support me and were going to help me along the way, he says, but when I left Macedonia, no church communicated with me concerning giving or receiving, but ye only, he says, for even in Thessalonica, even while he was at the church of Thessalonica, he says, ye sent once and again unto my necessity. What are we talking about here? We're talking about the fact that we are to go and we are to send, and the only way to do this is we must go and we must give. I don't know if you guys know this, but our church, of course, has two missionaries. We support Dave Campantala in Cebu and we support him monthly and for a good amount of money. Of course, he's got other Baptist churches that support him as well. Pastor Stuckey, he was on staff here and we sent them out and we actually support him full time here at our church. We pay a salary and then, of course, the churches have costs and expenses and there's other people that give towards those things, but I'm here to tell you that we are not only going ourselves, but we're also giving, and look, both are required. Some churches, they go, but they don't give. Many churches give and don't go. Both of those are incorrect. God wants us to go and God wants us to give. Why? Because God wants us to do both, not sequentially, simultaneously. He said, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only, for in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Notice verse 17. He says, not because I desired a gift. The apostle Paul tells us that there were times when nobody was supporting him and he just got a job. He was a tent maker and he just worked and supported himself when no one else was supporting him. He said, when I'm asking you to give, he said, not because I desire to give, he said, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. You say, we go out soul winning here in Sacramento and if I'm a faithful soul winner and I go out once a week, I get somebody saved maybe once every few weeks and it's not that exciting, it's not that receptive, it's not that cool, you know, like the Philippines or somewhere else. But let me tell you something, this church supports missionaries and supports missions work that's going on. It's getting thousands of people saved every month and God says that that is fruit that may abound to our account. When we get to heaven one day, it's not just going to be Pastor Stuckey and the group there in the Philippines that got thousands of people saved, praise God for them. They deserve all the credit that they can get, but God will look at you and God will look at me and God will look at individuals like the church in Philippi that sent time and again concerning giving and receiving and sent again to the necessity and supported the work there. And God says that that's fruit that's being abounding to our account. When you and I give towards missions, God says those people that get saved, he says you participated in that. In heaven you get credit for that. That's what he said. He said not because I desire to give, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. So the question I have for you this morning, two questions. Do you go? If you don't, you should. But let me ask this also. Do you give? In a couple of weeks we're going to be taking our vision offering. You've got the flyer there in your bulletin. The vision offering has many goals, but our first goal every year has been for many years and will continue to be to support our missionaries. One of the things that the vision offering helps us to do is to continue to support the work there in Manila, in Pampanga, in Bicol, in Cebu. And I'm here to tell you that you ought to consider not only going, but you ought to consider giving. You ought to pray and ask the Lord and say, I want fruit that may abound to my account. There's people in the Philippines getting thousands of people saved. I want in on that. Maybe you can't afford a plane ticket to go there or can't afford the time to go there. But can you afford to give? To give towards the work. As the apostle Paul says, not because I desire to give, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. And you might say, well I don't have a lot to give and I don't have the ability to give. The thing about the vision offering and these types of offerings is that it's not about any one individual. It's about all of us sacrificing together. And for some, some can give more than others. For some, stretching themselves and sacrificing, that number is going to look different than others. But look, when we all come together and we give towards this thing, it's fruit that may abound to your account. In the early 1900s, a missionary named Robert Moffat was traveling through a small town in Scotland sharing about the desperate need for missionaries in Africa. He spoke passionately about the vast number of people who had never heard the gospel in Africa. At the end of one of the meetings, an elderly woman approached him and handed him a single coin, the last bit of money she had. She said, I have no wealth and I have no strength to go, but I can give this, may God use it. Moffat took that small gift and used it to help print missionary materials. One of those materials ended up in the hands of a young man who not only would become his son-in-law, but also would go on to become one of the greatest missionaries of the 18th century and in African history, opening doors for the gospel across the continent, this man's name was David Livingston. What I'm saying to you is this, that this poor elderly woman, we don't even know her name, but when she gave, she participated, there's fruit that will abound to her account from the work that was done in Africa. I want to encourage you to get involved in this idea of world missions. We need to go, but we should also give. Notice Philippians 4, we'll finish up, look at verse 18. Paul says, but I have all and abound, I am full. Remember the context here is about missions work, specifically about supporting missionaries. He says, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving. He says in verse 17, not because I desire to give, but I desire, or in verse 16 he says, for even in Thessalonica, you sent once and again unto my necessity. Verse 17, he says, not because I desire to give, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. That's the context in which he says, verse 18, but I have all and abound, I am full, having received Epaphroditus, the things which were sent from you regarding financial support. Notice how he describes their giving. He says, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. See, the truth is this, when you and I give towards missions, who are we giving to? Well, specifically, we're giving to the work there, a very Baptist church in Manila, in Pampanga, in Bicole, and the work that Pastor Stuckey and his wife and his family are doing there, and to Dave Cabuntala and the missions work there. Yes, we're giving to them, but really, when you and I give to missions, we are getting fruit that may abound to our account, and we're presenting that gift to God. God looks at that gift that the Philippians gave to Paul for his missionary work, and he said that it was a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. And then, he says this in verse 19. Because, I want you to understand the context, because we like verse 19. Philippians 4.19, I think, is one of the most quoted verses by Christians. We like it. We like to claim it, and I'm not against you claiming it. You can claim every verse in the Bible, but let's understand the context. The context is verses 10 through 17 about churches caring for Paul, communicating with Paul concerning giving and receiving, sending once and again to his necessity. He says, not because I desire to give, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. And then he says, when you give towards missions, verse 18, it's from us to God. From us to God, it's a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. But then he says, not only from us to God is it a sacrifice that he approves of, he says there's also a promise from God to us. What's the promise? Verse 19. He says, but my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory, by Christ Jesus. You say, I can't afford to give to missions. I can't afford to support church planting in other countries. Well, you know what Paul says, Paul says to individuals that gave towards missions, he says, my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches. The truth of the matter is this, before you and I, before you and I try to claim that verse, during times of financial difficulty, let us remember that the context is, this verse is given to people that are giving towards the work of God. He says, you give and my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory, by Christ Jesus. And then he says in verse 20, now unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. So when it comes to world missions, what do we need to do? We need to go. You say, I can't go to the Philippines. Okay, but can you go down the street? Because we begin in Jerusalem. We work our way out into Judea and then out into Samaria and onto the uttermost part of the earth and I think that if you can, you should go on a missions trip. If you're able to, you should plan to do that in the future, but if you never can, you can involve yourself in world missions here at home. We can go here at home and we can give for the work being done abroad. So will you go and will you give? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, Lord we do love you and we thank you that you were in Christ reconciling the world unto yourself. And we're glad that somebody came and gave us the gospel. We're thankful that somebody cared enough about us to warn us, to reach us, the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to take our jobs as ambassadors as we go out in Christ dead. Help us to take it seriously. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be a church that does both, that we both go and that we give. Because what you want is both, both in Jerusalem, both in Judea, both in Samaria, both unto the edibles part of the earth. Lord, help us to go, help us to give. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Well, God bless you. I want to thank you for being here today and I appreciate you coming. I realize that you lost an hour of sleep and it can be difficult, but I just want to encourage you about tonight. Just a couple of reminders. First of all, don't forget that there is choir practice tonight at 5 p.m. If you want to be part of the adult choir, you'll be practicing for Easter, the orchestra as well. Make sure you're here at 5 p.m. for that. And then also, I want to encourage you to be back tonight. We have a very exciting service for you tonight. We're going to hear some testimonies from, I'm not going to preach very long tonight because I want to give time to several men that will be speaking from the missions trip. We're going to hear from them, hear from their experience. I think you'll find it encouraging and then I'll be preaching a sermon about, slash sermon, slash testimony with regards to the missions trip as well. We'd love for you to be a part of that. If there's anything that we can do for you, please let us know and we'll have Brother Andrew come up and lead us in a final song. Alright, go ahead and grab your song books there. Song number 396, so little time, the harvest will be over. Song number 396, I have to apologize. I'm going to have to ask for your help. I'm losing my voice up here, okay? So I need you guys to give me all you can. You're going to have to help me out a little bit, okay? Song number 396, so little time. Sing it out on the first. So little time, the horizon will be over. We'll be done. We'll report our birth to Jesus, Lord of all our lives. Through the silence, through the pride. To daily bring your cross, our golden harvest. Today is the end of us, just not to end. For then to say is the miracle of God worthy. To be well-known to rest us in prayer. How many times I should have strongly pleaded. Come, pray, my angels to be known. The Spirit would know that I'm good for Jesus. The greatest love ever watched was coming through. Today will be our best, our golden harvest. Today is the end of us, just not to end. For then to say is the miracle of God worthy. Come, pray, my angels to be known. So well this morning. Join me on this third verse, okay? As we finish up the service, 396, on this third verse. Despite the heat, this is the skill of hardship. The broken heart, for those who cannot win. Misunderstood, in fact, for those who do. They still don't regret, who have left for sin. Today will be our best, our golden harvest. Today is the end of us, just not to end. For then to say is the miracle of God worthy. Today will be our best, our golden harvest. A day of pleasure, a peace of friendship. A gift of love, or love is fair or fame. We'll all be trash and steal from good to bad. We'll all be sad if the price is right. Today will be our best, our golden harvest. Today is the end of us, just not to end. For then to say is the miracle of God worthy. Today will be our best, our golden harvest. You know, it's not too many hits. It's difficult to have a sweeter word than this song. This song has some beautiful words. And I think about the verse of this last verse. Let me sing it out. Let it resonate in your heart. And think about it as you go underway this week. The harvest flies with you. Today is crazy. And many souls will die again. Come on, church. Sing it out. Sing it out. Let us be free. Let us be and love be free. Today is the end of us, our golden harvest. Today is the end of us, just not to end. For then to say is the miracle of God worthy. Today will be our best, our sacred harvest. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. As always, if you have any questions about salvation, church membership or baptism, the pastor will be at the door in the back. He'll be able to answer those questions for you or direct you to somebody who is trained to do so. So, Brother Adam, would you mind closing us with a word of prayer? Amen.