Reasons WE Support Missionaries

Greetings and welcome once again to the live stream midweek service of Beacon Baptist Church, Burlington, North Carolina, coming to you from our nearly empty auditorium. How we long for the days when we can gather together as we formerly did, but that of course is all in God's hands and we submit to His sovereign control, His sovereign will, His divine appointments, and we continue our ministry in the best way that we can without neglecting the assembling of the saints altogether, but without assembling too frequently as we continue to keep our eye upon COVID and what is going on in that realm.

So we continue with our Sunday morning people present service at 9.30 and then Sunday night at 6 and Wednesday night at 7 we have live stream only. We will be conducting our monthly elders and deacons meeting this coming Tuesday night at 7.15 and to that end we need all of the nomination forms returned. Hopefully they have been. We're processing them in the office now and getting ready to have that information ready for the meeting. And we are hopeful to have received all of our faith promise cards. We haven't received as many cards thus far as last year, but our totals have exceeded the dollar amounts from last year and we're very encouraged by that.

As of today, as additional cards came in the mail, we have now received 88 cards. We have a missions total of 157,253. That's just a little less than $9,000 more than the final total last year. And we have $12,808 for the building fund. That's a little bit higher than last year's total.

Right at 100 cards. So we're short of that. We'd like to receive some more. Don't hesitate to join us if you haven't already done so.

Don't hesitate to join us even if you are not able to commit a great deal. Pastor Carnes who does the tallying on the cards showed me a card that came I think in the mail this week. He said it was his favorite card and when I saw it, it became my favorite one. It was obviously filled out by a child. It checked that this child committed himself or herself to tithing whatever income the Lord should give them throughout 2021. And then when it moved down to faith promise missions, it committed to 25 cents a month for a total of $3 for the year.

It was so small it hardly even budges the numbers. But God views it entirely differently. I see that like the widow's mite. And remember Jesus said that she gave more than all the rest. And how wonderful it would be if we would receive 30, 40, 50 cards like that from children. Wonderful way to train our children in recognizing God as the giver of all things. And our privilege and responsibility to give back to him as he has so faithfully supplied our needs. So if you are in that category, please get your card in.

We'd like to include it with all the totals. By Chris Anderson entitled For the Sake of His Name. Go to the world for the sake of his name. To every nation his glory proclaim. Pray that the spirit wise will open darkened eyes, granting new life to display Jesus' fame. Love the unloved for the sake of his name. Let us hang in shame.

Jesus did not condemn but was condemned for them. Trust gospel power for we once were the same. Rescue the lost for the sake of his name. As Christ commands, snatch them out of the flame. Tell that when Jesus died, God's wrath was satisfied.

Urge them to flee to the lamb who was slain. Look to the throne for the sake of his name. Think of the throng who will share in his reign. Some, for whose souls we pray, will share our joy that day, joining our song for the sake of his name. For the sovereign grace, lest life be wasted, exalt Jesus' cross. Shall we pray?

Jesus Christ died as a substitute for those who will trust in him. And so therefore, oh Lord, we give you thanks that the gospel came to us. We give you thanks that the Holy Spirit opened our hearts to understand it, to believe it, to receive it, to be born again by it. And Father, we desire that that same gospel shall go forth and touch the lives of yet many, many, many others.

Those who are our loved ones, our children, our friends, our neighbors, and yes, those who live in faraway places around the world. Oh Lord God, in your gracious power, send the gospel out and cause it to be effective in myriads of lives, even as by your grace it was made effective in our lives. Father, help us to be faithful during these days of COVID as this pandemic continues on and on and on.

We do not know when it shall end. We leave that to you. It's all according to your design. We recognize that and we submit to your will. We pray that you will make us faithful and fervent and that we will be good examples of Christians who live by faith and who are surrendered to the sovereign will of our creator savior. Father, we pray for our nation.

We are grieved by the unrest that took place in our nation's capital today. We pray, oh Lord, that in your kindness, you will bring our nation to stability and to peace. Father, we pray that you will hold back forces of darkness, that you will keep those who are determined enemies of the gospel of Jesus Christ from carrying out their desires. Oh Father, we pray for revival. We pray that your spirit may sweep through our land and may touch the hearts of believers and stir them up to greater faithfulness and obedience to your word. And oh Lord, that you might open the hearts of unbelievers and cause them to become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Father, bless our time together by live stream.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for joining us tonight by live stream. Since that's the way that we can gather in these days, we are grateful that you have joined us. I'm looking at our prayer request sheet, and I begin with the praises, which at the top says, Pastor Barkman and Marty are doing well from COVID.

That is true. Thank you for your prayers. Neither of us would claim to be at 100%, but we are certainly better than we were a week or two ago, and we thank the Lord for that. Marsai Councilman is doing well from her recent eye surgery. Larry Hunter's cancer procedure went well, and he's now awaiting the biopsy report. David Moxley is making good progress from his chemo treatments, and Isaiah Slauson is doing well following surgery.

Our government official of the week is Gibsonville alderman Shannon O'Toole. Please pray for Shannon. Pray for Tracy Airy as he continues to recover from foot surgery. For Marsai Councilman as she'll be undergoing a second eye surgery on February the second. For May Counts as she continues to battle COVID. She's better than she was, but she still has a ways to go, still having fevers in the afternoons, I do believe. We are praying for her. Pray for Drew Guthrie as she battles cancer and COVID. Pray for Art Pope who was scheduled to have an MRI, but that was, well he was scheduled to have a breathing test rather, but that was postponed.

He's waiting on the results of an MRI. We're also praying for Brenda Kramer, the sister of Steve Gagnon, and Caden Hammond who's having oral surgery on tomorrow. That's the grandson of Eddie and Clara Driver. We are praying for Mary Hicks who is in Carolina Pines rehabilitation, that's who Elliot's aunt, and for Todd Norris who had a stroke, that's Jack Petry's son-in-law. And we're praying for Jack Petry who is in assisted living in Pittsburgh.

Also for Geraldine Smith, most of us know her as Dinky, Jerry Holt's mother, who is battling COVID. I have an update on Stuart Waugh. He is doing better, but he still needs our prayers. I'll give you that update in a moment. I will also give you an update on Mike Webster, missionary Mike Webster in France who is battling colon cancer.

And we have a pretty recent and detailed report of that that I will read to you a little bit later. We are praying for the family of Cliff Gagnon. That's Steve Gagnon's father who passed away in Indiana. Steve and Laurie were up there for Christmas and able to visit with him, but he became infected with COVID and got pneumonia and he died. And so the funeral will be on Friday.

Steve and Laurie are returning to Indiana for the second visit in a short while. Please pray for that family. Pray for Nancy Bingham who is recovering from surgery and is very weak, a friend of Denise Marley. And for Janet Miller, Cheryl Ingold's neighbor who is under hospice care.

It occurred to me that I didn't mention Alice Marley, but she's now home recovering from a fractured pelvis. Is in need, however, of someone to stay with her. Basically, she needs somebody who can stay with her during the day, somebody who can stay with her at night over the next two to three weeks, which is the doctor's recommendation. We're praying for Pat and Betty Duncan. Betty's having severe back pain. And also for Ruth Patterson in Highgrove, long-term care in Reedsville, and she has COVID.

Please pray that the Lord will strengthen her. Now, I'm ready for some missionary communications, and I'll begin with Stuart Waugh. We generally get our news from texts that come to us, forwarded to us generally from Eric Johnson. And I will, I can see my phone is not cooperating, so I'll have to turn it sideways.

So let's see. Here's what it says. This came yesterday. And it said, Stuart had a scan yesterday which showed that another abscess had grown a bit and might need to be drained.

His hepatic artery is still blocked, but a little blood is getting through. There's nothing that they can do for that, and I can see that I have inadvertently somehow put this on, it's picking up my words and transmitting them for an email or a text to go back. I need to erase that right now, which I am doing. Okay.

Back to that. A little blood is getting through the hepatic artery, that is to his liver. There's nothing, says Laverne, that they can do for that. Please pray for these abscesses to clear up.

One of them is blocking a bile duct, so Stu is very yellow and nauseous. Thank you for your continued prayers. And then there's a follow-up on that. I can get my phone to cooperate, which so far is not cooperating very well. Wish I could make it turn around like it's, ah, there we go. Got it going the other way. All right. Now I think I can get to the bottom of it.

Somehow, somehow, somehow, somehow. Coming, coming, coming. The last communication. Laverne says he is so brave and is forging on getting material and plans organized for our return to Zimbabwe.

He feels awful, but is determined to get on with the Lord's work and leave the outcomes to him. We are resting on the Lord's perfect plan and trusting him for much fruit in Zimbabwe. Love you all.

Laverne. The latest from Stuart Waugh. Forgive my clumsiness with my phone. A couple of missionaries wrote thank you notes.

This one from Tony and Kathy Payne in South Africa. Dear Pastor Barkman and friends at Beacon, we want to thank you for your generous Christmas gift of $275 that you sent to Gospel Fellowship Association in December. We're very thankful for the way God cares for us. We were enabled to help two needy families during this season. Please pray especially for Fernando and his wife Sunet, who attended our Christmas Day service along with their three children. We will share more about them in our January prayer letter.

Kathy and I are paying a second visit to Fernando's mother and stepfather this afternoon. Please pray for Jeanette and Freddie. They wanted to come to church on Christmas Day with Fernando and Sunet, but had no transportation. Pray that we can find a place to meet in the community where they live.

God bless you all in 2021. Love in Christ, Tony and Kathy Payne. And this one from missionary Herb Taylor.

Dear Brother Greg and Mike, I just wanted to take a minute and say thanks for the opportunity this month to present God's word to the brothers of the Tri-State meeting, as well as to the dear folks of Beacon Baptist. We really appreciate Herb coming up and preaching on the Sunday before Christmas when I was out battling COVID. Pastor Carnes was out battling COVID. Pastor Latour was battling COVID, though he was he was more on the mend than we were.

But we were pretty short handed. And we appreciate missionary Herb Taylor coming up from South Carolina and ministering at that time. He says, I trust that both of you, your families and others who have tested positive for COVID are doing better.

I'm sure that it has not been an easy thing for anyone. I have sought to pray for you often, but especially more during this time. We also want to thank you for the gracious honorarium from Beacon, which we received this past week. Beacon has been so very kind to us over the years, and we are indeed grateful to God for you all. May the Lord continue to strengthen you physically as you continue the spiritual battle.

Grace signed Herb and Wanda Taylor. I might mention also that Pastor Mike Carnes had a recent telephone conversation with our friend Don Theobald, who lives in Canada, who was scheduled to be at our spring Bible conference last April. We had to cancel that because of COVID. We were hoping he might be able to come to our spring Bible conference this April, which we are planning to conduct. We had our fall one and it went well in spite of COVID.

And we're planning to go ahead with our spring one. But Don Theobald tells us that he is not even able to do that because of the tight travel restrictions between Canada and the United States. And he has no assurance at this time that he would be able to travel to the United States. In fact, today he could not. And he has no certainty that he would be able to do that in April. So reluctantly, we are not going to be able to have him in April. We will work on other arrangements and we'll let you know who the Lord supplies for our spring Bible conference the first week in April.

I can also report, however, that Don Theobald and his wife Marlene are doing well. They don't have COVID. He said nobody in their church there in Canada has COVID. None of his friends or any of his acquaintances have had COVID. He's been virtually COVID free.

I mean, he doesn't even know anybody personally with COVID. That really strikes us as remarkable because our experience here has been very different. But we rejoice in God's protection for the Theobalds and we hope to see them back, perhaps. Well, we'll just have to see what the Lord works out for us, perhaps, in a future Bible conference we trust. Now, the letter from Mike and Melanie Webster in France that I told you I would read that would tell us more of the details of what's going on with Mike's cancer. He says, here's a quick update on my health situation.

We're sorry that we have not yet been able to answer all of your messages individually. You cannot know how much every single one of them has meant to us. As I enter this sixth and last week of combined radio and chemotherapy, I want to testify to God's goodness. First of all, we have had much support from our church family here in spite of COVID. In spite of COVID restrictions.

Imagine the special reassurance that comes when a prayer meeting, prayer is offered by a Christian oncologist who has seen my file and has a good relationship with my doctor. A home care nurse has driven me once a week to my appointment and has offered to do my weekly blood work. Secondly, Melanie has managed to stay relatively rested in spite of all that this has put on her.

Her sister came for a long weekend from Belgium and that was a tremendous encouragement. I've actually been able to do some of the driving to and from the daily treatments, which is also a help to her, especially since our car, like most in Europe, has a manual transmission that intrigued me. I knew that was true in the past. I haven't been to Europe now for several years, so I didn't know if that was still true or not, but it is. Here in America, it's hard to find a manual transmission. And many people in America couldn't drive one if they had one. In fact, I happen to have a car that has a manual transmission. It's a second car, more of a recreational vehicle. And I have four sons-in-law and two of them can drive it and two of them can't.

And that's kind of the way it is. I can remember quite a few years ago now we had a used car that our girls had been using and it was time to sell it. It was getting old and needed to be replaced. And we had already purchased a replacement and we put the car out in front of our house with a for sale sign on it, as we've done many times over the years, and successfully sold a lot of vehicles that way. And so one day there came a knock at the door and there was a man there and he said, I see your car out here and I'm thinking about the possibility of purchasing it for my grandson. And I said, well that's great, here's the keys, go check it out. So he walked back out to the car.

I stayed in the house, was doing something, but I kept my eye out the window. After a while I thought, you know, it's strange, he hasn't turned on the motor, driven it. I told him to go ahead and take a drive. So I walked out and I said, in case he hadn't understood me, I wanted to make sure. I said, you're welcome to drive it, go ahead and take it for a drive.

And he said, it's a manual transmission, I can't drive it. That's America. I read in the Reader's Digest, I'm getting off trail here, I know. I read in the Reader's Digest many years ago now, 40 or 50 years ago now, a bank robbery planned by a well-organized gang of bandits. They had it all worked out. Who was going to go in and take the money and who was going to drop them off and who was going to park the getaway vehicle in front of the bank and leave the motor running so they could run outside and jump in the vehicle and take off. Everything went perfectly according to plan until the thieves that had the money ran out of the bank, jumped in the getaway vehicle with the motor running and sat there because it was a manual transmission and neither of them could drive it. They got caught. Well, that's neither here nor there. But anyway, that's the way it is in France.

So Mike says their car has a manual transmission. And lastly, though there have been several side effects, particularly fatigue, I have managed to remain active, including some preaching and teaching. This has been a blessing since with the COVID situation, we've been called upon lately to help assess each week whether church can meet in person or not and adequately communicate the conclusions.

This is because though churches can meet again with restrictions, the virus finally made its way into our congregation a month ago and several were infected. We think we will be able to meet again in person in January and a somewhat readjusted and belated Christmas program. The next big step for me is surgery that should take place sometime in late February.

Whether or not more chemo and radiotherapy is necessary will be determined by the surgeon's findings. But God knows, so we will continue trusting Him, knowing that He does all things well. Thank you for your continued prayers for wisdom, strength, and healing through this new adventure that God has chosen to bring our way. Ever thankful for your prayerful support, Mike and Melanie Webster. That also reminds me of a person who's battling cancer that I keep up with on Facebook who actually attended church with her parents several decades ago and she's had quite a battle and it's not over yet.

It could go either way, but she's been brave, but I was so encouraged by her post today by which she said, if I could do it over again, I would not change a thing. I have learned so much. I've grown so much.

I've benefited so much from this battle with cancer. The Lord is good. What a testimony.

That's what we delight to hear. Now, if you will open your Bibles to the third epistle of John. There are three epistles of John.

They're easy to identify because they are identified as 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. The three epistles of John. 1 John is five chapters. 2 John is one chapter, 13 verses. 3 John is one chapter, 14 verses. And we are looking at 3 John, one of the shortest epistles in the New Testament.

I think perhaps it is the shortest when it comes to word count. But I'm looking at it particularly with the subject of missions in mind. That is, in many ways, our primary focus on Wednesday night, always the ministry of God's word and always prayer requests and a time before the Lord in prayer. But beyond that, missionary communications and focus upon the work of missions. And having been through missions month in November, that's very much on our minds and we are still collecting faith promise cards for missions from our congregation, so all of this is very much on our mind. So I'm going to be looking in 3 John and with this question in mind, why should we support missionaries?

That question is answered very clearly in this little epistle and there are five reasons given. Now I'm going to read verses one through eight. The elder to the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. I stop before I go on and read a couple more verses. But John the apostle, well-known, beloved apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ is writing to a man named Gaius who he considers one of his children. And of course the spiritual sense, I would take it therefore that Gaius probably came to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ under the ministry of the apostle John who at this time in his life is living in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor but is ministering all throughout the region of Asia. And he's writing to Gaius who is in some other town which is not identified for us, some other church besides the church at Ephesus and who has a leading role in that church. We don't know exactly what his position of leadership may be and was cooperating with the missionaries that were sent out from the church in Ephesus and that's where we get this emphasis upon missions and the answer to the question why support missionaries.

Now I continue reading the next four verses. Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well because they went forth for his name's sake taking nothing from the Gentiles.

We therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth. Five reasons why we should support missionaries are given to us in those last two verses, verses 7 and 8. Reason number one, why should we support missionaries? Because of their personal sacrifices.

We should recognize that. We should help and encourage them in the face of that because of their personal sacrifices. Because verse 7 says because they went forth. Prior to that he said, if you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well because they went forth.

Who are the they? Well, they are the brethren who are strangers that he mentioned in verse 5. Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren. And my translation says and for strangers, but it could just as accurately be translated and probably would better be translated even for strangers. So he's talking about those who are brethren in Christ and yet they are strangers to Gaius. In other words, he didn't know them personally. They are believers in Christ who though unknown personally to Gaius nevertheless had a reason to come to where Gaius was and John is commending Gaius for helping them in their work. Even though they were not personally known by Gaius, Gaius recognized that they were people who ought to be helped.

They ought to be supported. These brethren who are strangers. They are strangers in the sense that they are not part of the church of which Gaius is a member. They traveled to that church, but they are brethren even though they are strangers to Gaius. And furthermore, John tells us of these brethren who are strangers in verse 6, who have borne witness of your love before the church. They had come back from their journey which turns out to be a missionary journey, an evangelistic journey.

They have been traveling throughout the regions of Asia. They had received encouragement and tangible help and expressions of love from Gaius and from the church of which he was a part. And they went back to their home church which was Ephesus, the church where John was now ministering, and they testified. They bore witness before the church. They were members of that church. They had a standing in that church. They returned to that church. They gave a report to that church of their travels and their labors and what they had experienced. And in the course of that, they bore testimony to the loving support that was given to them by Gaius and his church.

So he says now in verse 6, If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well. Apparently they were coming back again. These were people who were given to itinerant ministry. Having traveled before, we don't know where all they went, but they had stopped in the church where Gaius was a leader and had been helped on their way by him. And now they had gone back to Ephesus and reported on their labors.

And now they're starting out again. The pattern is very similar to that we see in the Apostle Paul. He went out on an itineration, traveled, preached the gospel, planted churches, came back to the church at Antioch and reported. Also many times came back to the church at Jerusalem and reported there.

And then after a while, went out again. Well, that's exactly what these people are doing. They sound very much like missionaries. And so if you send them forward, if you help them on their way, send them forward on their journey, you will do well. They were traveling on assignment. They had an itinerary.

They had a particular route that they were taking for their labors and that took them through the city where Gaius was. They stayed there, no doubt, got lodging and help and encouragement and financial support to help them on their way. If you send them forward on their journey, in a manner worthy of God, you will do well. John says you should help them generously, help them in a manner worthy of God. Don't be stingy about it, but recognize that these are servants of God, messengers of God, help them in a way that is worthy of God because, he says, they went forth, going on to verse 7. They went forth or they went out. They were sent out, out from their homes and families in Ephesus, out from their home church in Ephesus with a commission to go on this journey, out into the world to represent Jesus Christ, out to extended ministry, and therefore you should help them because they went out.

They went forth. These who are qualified ministers endorsed by their home church, who have been asked to undergo itinerant ministry for the sake of Christ, left their home and their former means of support, whatever jobs they had to support themselves when they were living in Ephesus, and they have gone out to do gospel work and John is saying Christians should recognize their sacrifices, value their work, and support their endeavor. Some go. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Others help those who go, help them in various ways, but not the least of which is to help them financially.

And both of those matters are necessary. Some must go if the gospel is going to be proclaimed. Some must support those who go if they're going to be able to travel and proclaim the gospel. May God increase those who go. May God increase those who support those who go. But the reason why we should support missionaries, number one, is because of their personal sacrifices.

These are people who went out. And recognizing that they have been willing to leave behind the comforts of home and the security of a job, we should encourage and help them because of their personal sacrifices. Why support missionaries, number two? Because they represent Christ. Again, verse seven, because they went forth for His name's sake. His namesake, not for their own sake, not for personal advantage, surely, not for personal glory or even for adventure. I'm sure there are times when people go on a mission trip because they are excited about the adventure of going to a foreign country and experiencing new experiences that they haven't had before.

But that wears pretty thin pretty quickly. But those who are committed to the work of the gospel go forth and are willing to endure hardship for the sake of Jesus Christ. And there's always hardship involved when you leave your home, you leave the familiar, you leave your family, you leave your friends, you leave your support group, your home church, and you go, but they are doing so to represent Jesus Christ. They went forth for His name's sake. They went forth for the name of Jesus Christ, which means they went forth for Christ, for the one who bears that name because of who He is, because of what He did in coming to earth and living a righteous life and dying a vicarious death upon the cross. And because of that, they went forth for His name's sake, not their own, and therefore, they represent Christ, who He is. And if they represent Christ, then in a secondary sense, they represent everyone else who belongs to Christ, which is Gaius and his church, and in similar fashion, there are people like this that we know and support and they represent Christ and they represent us. And those who belong to Christ, therefore, ought to help them. Go to the world for the sake of His name.

That's what he's talking about here. They went forth for His name's sake. To every nation, His glory proclaim.

Pray that the Spirit wise will open darkened eyes, granting new life to display Jesus' fame. So, why should we support missionaries? Number one, because of the personal sacrifices which they make. Number two, because they represent Jesus Christ.

Number three, because the world does not support them. Again, verse seven, because they went forth for His name's sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. Taking nothing from the Gentiles. Who are the Gentiles? Well, you say Gentiles are non-Jews.

That's not the way John uses it here. Taking nothing from the Gentiles, we, therefore, he says in verse eight, ought to receive such. So, there's a contrast here between the Gentiles on the one hand and we, John says, he who was by birth a Jew, but not I, but we, including Gaius who was a Gentile by birth. But you see, John is contrasting the people of God on the one hand with those who are not the people of God. In the Old Testament context, the people of God were Jews from the bloodline of Abraham, and those who were not of that bloodline were Gentiles, the people of God on the one hand, and those who were not the people of God on the other hand. But clearly, in the New Testament, these concepts are spiritualized so that now when John says they went forth for His name's sake taking nothing from the Gentiles, what he clearly means is they take nothing from those who are not the people of God.

We, therefore, who are the people of God ought to help such. So, because the world does not support them, they take nothing from the Gentiles, nothing from non-Christians, nothing from unconverted people. Now, why do missionaries take no support from Gentiles, from the unconverted? Well, in the first place, because the unconverted would have very little interest in supporting them.

They probably wouldn't get much, but that's not the main reason. But it's obvious that the unconverted have no obligation to support the Gospel. In fact, the Gentiles, as he calls them here, are the very ones that these people are going to with the Gospel.

That's where they're going. From we, who are the people of God, John and Gaius and others, they are going to the Gentiles so they don't take support from the Gentiles, the ones that they are taking the Gospel to, because that violates an important principle. We can see this in the ministry of the Apostle Paul, how that when he went into a town to preach the Gospel and establish a church, he didn't take any financial support from that church while he was there, establishing it. I could show you that in Scripture if I had more time tonight, but I won't take time to do that. Now later, when he left that city, leaving a church behind, and went on to another location to establish another church, then he was happy to receive financial support, missionary support from the church that had been established.

While he was there, he didn't do that. He wanted to minister without charge to those to whom he first proclaimed the Gospel and who were first established into a church. When they were young and immature, for the sake of the Gospel, that there be no misunderstanding of what was taking place here, no confusion as to why Paul was laboring in this way and establishing a church, he wasn't doing it for his own financial advantage.

He was doing it for their soul's advantage. The same principle is being followed here among these people. John says to Gaius, We ought to support them because they don't take anything from the unconverted. That's a principle of missions work.

They don't do that. That's why it is my conviction and the conviction of many Christians that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ does not seek to raise support from the community in general. We don't have bake sales and car washes and Brunswick stew sales and who knows what else in order to raise money in the community for the work of the church. It's not the responsibility of the community to support the church. It is the Christians' responsibility to support the church. It is the church members' responsibility to support the church. Likewise, it's not the world's responsibility to support the missionaries. It's the church's responsibility to support the missionaries. Why do we support missionaries?

Number three, because the world does not support them. Why do we support missionaries, number four? Because it is a Christian obligation. Verse eight, we therefore ought to receive such.

Have to read it all together. If you send them forward on their journey, if you help them on their itinerant ministry, if you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well. Because they went forth for his namesake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. We, therefore, we who are God's people ought to receive such. And the receiving here is the idea of receiving them to encourage them, to help them, provide hospitality to them, to respite for them in their itineration. And we have a general obligation to do this. We, John and all believers, ought to do this.

That's present tense. It's a standing obligation. It wasn't just in John's day and in Gaius's day, but in our day as well. It is a Christian obligation. God's work ought to be supported by God's people. If you are not a Christian, you have no obligation to support the work of the gospel. But if you are a Christian, you do have an obligation to support the work of the gospel. In fact, that's one way that you manifest that you are a true Christian, by your financial support of the work of the gospel, your support of the church, your support of the work of missionaries. That's why we have a strong emphasis upon missions at Beacon Baptist Church. And we are so thrilled by the generous commitment and sacrificial giving of our people to missions.

But that's the way it ought to be. We, who have been saved by the grace of God, ought to help people like this. And then there's reason number five, because doing so produces a fruitful partnership.

Let me go over these again. Why should we support missionaries? Number one, because of their personal sacrifices. Number two, because they represent Christ.

Number three, because the world does not support them. Number four, because it is the Christian's obligation to support them. And number five, because it produces a fruitful partnership between those who support missionaries and those who do the work of the missionary. Back to verse eight, we therefore ought to support such that we may become fellow workers for the truth. We ought to support such that we may become fellow workers, fellow workers, literally, that we may work alongside. And that's an important principle. Those who encourage, help, support missionaries are working with them in partnership, working alongside them, are involved in the work that they do. What a wonderful truth. What a wonderful opportunity.

It produces a fruitful partnership. Don't you want to be involved in the work of missions? If you're a Christian, you do. The last command, the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ was, go therefore into all the world. Preach the gospel to everyone, every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. That's a commission that's given to all of us. But all of us are not involved in it in exactly the same way. Some are singled out by the Spirit of God to go, to leave home, to make sacrifices, to travel, to preach, to plant churches. It's arduous work, it's sacrificial work, but some are called to do that.

But all are called to encourage and help those who do that, to pray for them, to encourage them, to support them financially. And when we do, we are fellow workers working alongside them. That's why we do it, that we may become fellow workers for the truth. We're not automatically fellow workers of the truth. We only become fellow workers of the truth when we get involved. That's why we encourage you to get involved in Faith Promise missions. We want to help make you partners with those who are involved in this labor.

It is for your blessing, it is for your benefit, it is for your opportunity to be involved in such a fruitful partnership. We become joint workers with those whom we support. And in that way, everyone can be involved in the work of missions. You say, I have trouble preaching, I can't do that.

But you can give, even if it's $0.25 a month, you can give. You can be involved in some way in partnership with missionaries. That is what we are doing, and that's why we support missionaries.

It's a wonderful plan designed by God to involve his people in the work of missions. With that, we will now bow together in prayer. Lord God Almighty, the more we learn about your plans and designs and what you have laid out for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more we marvel, the more we are amazed, the more we are privileged, the more we see the wisdom of your design, and the more we want to be involved. Father, we pray that all who are your true people will become partners in the work of gospel missions. We pray, O Lord, that our church will continue to be strongly involved in the work of missions around the world.

And we thank you that we've been able to do that these many years. Now, Father, we come tonight to pray for all of those who have positions of civil leadership in our nation, local level, state level, national level. Oh, Lord God, we pray. We pray for President-elect Joe Biden. I pray, O Lord, that you will guide him and guard him and use him for your glory.

We pray for Gibsonville alderman Shannon O'Toole, that you will guide this one with your wisdom. Father, I want to praise you that Marty and I are gaining strength from COVID. I thank you that Marseille Councilman is doing well from her recent eye surgery. And I pray that you will prepare her for her second surgery in February, that this too might be successful. We thank you that Larry Hunter's cancer procedure went well, and we commit him into your care. We thank you that David Moxley is showing good progress from chemo treatments. We pray that he may continue to enjoy progress. We thank you that Isaiah Slauson is doing well from this recent surgery.

He's had so many of them. We thank you that you have given him such excellent medical treatment. We pray that you might continue to minister to his needs. We pray for Tracy Airy as he recovers from foot surgery and for May Counts as she's battling COVID.

And Drew Guthrie as she battles cancer and COVID. We pray for Art Pope as he waits on the results of his MRI and as he needs this breathing treatment that has been postponed. We pray that you might grant that treatment to him soon. We pray for Alice Marley as she continues to recover from her broken pelvis. And we pray that you might supply the right persons to stay with her, to help her at this time that she needs help from others. We pray for Brenda Kramer battling COVID. We pray for Kayden Hammond who has oral surgery tomorrow.

We pray for Mary Hicks at the rehabilitation center, Sue Elliott's aunt. We pray for Todd Norris who's had a stroke, who is Jack Petrie's son-in-law. And we pray for Jack Petrie as he continues to battle various health needs. We thank you that he's out of the hospital and doing much better. We pray for Dinky Smith who's battling COVID.

We pray for Stuart Waugh and thank you for this good report. But Father, we realize there are still many needs and we commit him into your care. We also pray for Mike Webster in France. We thank you for this report on his condition and treatment and we commit him to you and pray that you will bring him successfully through these treatments. We pray for the family of Cliff Gagnon as they gather for a memorial service on Friday. We pray that you will minister much grace to him and his family at this time, to Steve and to his family. And we pray for Josh Boyd who has a serious medical issue and also needs the saving grace that only you can give. We pray for Nancy Bingham as she's recovering from surgery and from Janet Miller as she's in hospice care. We pray for Betty Duncan and for Ruth Patterson and for a number of others of our shut-ins who are facing various needs, some who are in pain nearly all of the time. Oh, Lord, we commit them unto you that you might strengthen and encourage them, each one. And now, Father, turn our hearts towards things eternal. Help us to live whatever days you give us upon the earth with eternity's values in view, with the work of the gospel in mind, giving ourselves to that which lasts forever rather than only those things which pertain to this life here in this world. Help us, oh Lord, to be good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.