Beacon Sunday Service October 29th 2023

For you. As we just read in Lamentations, may we lift up our hearts to you and may our hands follow our may our worship of you follow that, Lord God. We ask, Lord, that this morning that your Holy Spirit would be working in us and amongst us. And ultimately, Lord, that none of this would be for our own glory, but for your glory alone. Would you be high and lifted up? May you be worshipped and pleased by what we have to offer you, O Lord. Because it's we can only offer what you have already given to us. So would you be glorified in that way? And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's all rise. Let's sing this first song before you I kneel. Um just as a prayer to him. Please follow.

Before you I kneel, my master and make good to offer the work of my hands. For this is the day, you've given your servants. I will reinjoice and be glad. For strength I have to live and breathe.

For you I knew. Before you I knew, and ask for your goodness to cover the work of my hands, and to shape my name. Your grace for once in my back within me like a living stream where the stones of God your ways are dwelling deep in me, and the harvest of life is grown.

Before you we kneel. Before you we kneel our master and make establish the hands and order our steps to seek first your kingdom. May we live.

And all glory to your name. Amen. All the glory be given to him.

Wonder, wonderful. What wonders, what love is this that Christ would die for me? His goodness, his merit, his righteousness, the sinners only. Oh foolish pride, be crucified, the work is in it. All my both is in Jesus. All my hope is his love. And I will glory forever in what the cross hath done. Now fully forgiven. Now fully forgiven my life is filled with grace with undeserved. Amen. For mercy that blow down that sacred. Let praise is now return.

Rise up my soul and bless the Lord. Who else working? All my boasts is in Jesus. All my hope is in love. And I will glory forever in what the cross has done.

Oh praise the one blessed him alone in my heart. And I will boast in less than the love of Christ my Lord's nephew.

Oh praise of one blessing him along and will sin less. Then the love of Christ might I boast not in richness. I boast not in riches or strength or light, but inner grace of God. I glory in weakness to live is Christ in plenty or in one that I may know that all may see if I will my boast is in Jesus, all my hope is his love, and I will glory forever in what the cross have done.

Now I stand now I stand in his dream, ransom clean in his eye, and I cannot be ashamed for my boast is Jesus Christ, my boast is Jesus Christ, forever my boast is Jesus Christ. Amen. All our posts is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And this morning we will confess our faith using the new city catechism. In this question and answer, we will confess what the church is. And here's the question What is the church? And together, God chooses and preserves for himself a community elected for eternal life and united by faith in love and follow and learn from, and worship God together. God sends out of this community to proclaim the gospel and prefigure Christ's kingdom by the quality of their life together and their love for one another.

Amen.

So we pray your kingdom. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done.

Every one might know your name.

Every honor till your soul run earth with your kingdom come.

Give us your strength, oh God, encourage me. Perform your wondrous deed those who are we stand to one.

Let your king come that your will be done know that one might know your name. Yeah, let your soul be heard every honor till your soul were honored, let your kingdom let your kingdom come, let your will be done, so that we might know your name. Yeah, let your song be heard every honor till your soul were honor.

Let your kingdom come.

Good morning, church. Um, as we kind of look through our how our weeks have gone, um, it's important for us to acknowledge uh the times and moments where we've gone astray and where we really need to depend on Jesus. But the Lord wants us to come before him and confess and be transparent with him. So as we go through a confession of sin, we're gonna have two parts. The first one being a corporate confession, and the second one being a personal time, uh, where we will just share uh the struggles that we had this week. So together, good shepherd, we have strayed from you like lost sheep. We have followed our own devices and sinful desires. We are lost and helpless without your constant love and projection, protection.

Please have mercy and lead us back to the sheepfold. It is in you alone that we find abundant life and green pastures. We, your sheep, hear your voice and trust in your atoning death. In Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. Let's take a time of private confession of our sins.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own. But the Lord Jesus has laid upon himself the iniquity of us all. Amen. Um, today's uh prayer topic is is rather simple, um, but it it actually encompasses a lot. Um there's a war going on in the Middle East, there's uh you know shootings almost like every week. There's uh politics that are going crazy, there's things happening in schools that have no business being there, and so it seems kind of bleak. Every everywhere that you turn, and it's so easy to think negatively about what's happening. But I think us as Christians, we actually have a moment to just think about what God has planned for us and our lives here as we live in America and everything that's going around us.

We just need to pray and be faithful to him. So honestly, the simple aspect of this prayer is this let's just pray that Christ prevails in all situations and that God's will will be done, even though we don't understand it, that his will will be done, and most importantly, that his kingdom will be glorified in all things. So may Christ prevail, may God's will be done, and may his kingdom be glorified. Let's pray.

From the moment man fell from that first sin, we gave up a lot. We knew that this world would be filled with that sin and it would multiply. But because of your son, Lord, we have this grace. We have forgiveness of our sins. And Lord, there's times where we don't understand your will for us, for this world, for our place in it as Christians. But ultimately, Lord, it's not our job to question you or to try to figure out like a puzzle, like what it is what it is that you are trying to accomplish, because your ways are mysterious. But Lord, as Christians, we just want to trust in you. We trust in your great plan. And ultimately, we just ask that your son Jesus Christ would prevail in this world that needs him at its peak right now.

And Lord, we ask, Father, for your will to be done, even though we may not understand it. And most importantly, that your kingdom will be glorified in all things, in every way possible. We ask for these things, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

And teacher John is helping out. As the students are being dismissed, we're going to go over our announcements for today.

It's November 11th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Uh it's okay, there's no pressure, but if you'd like to go, uh please let Tiffany or myself know. Uh we'll be attending that Saturday. Uh the second one is that we're having a town hall members meeting after service today. Uh so feel free to talk and catch up for a brief moment after service. Uh, I think, but then we're gonna kind of just gradually start transitioning into our meeting, so please that we ask as a member, please attend. Uh please review the children's ministry sign-up sheet. Um there's one in the back with a pencil and a clipboard. If you are available for backup, um, I know that we've already assigned weeks, but if you are able to back up, just in case someone's not able to make it, um, please do so.

Uh and last, our offerings are Zell, Venmo, Cash, and Check. So I'm going to take the opportunity to welcome our next guest speaker from Lighthouse Community Church as well. Uh, Pastor Alessandro Gonzalez. Uh briefly, he's an undergrad from Cal State Fullerton. Uh, and then he said he uh graduated by God's grace from Stanford. Uh seminary is Master Semine from 2017 to 2021. He grew up as a Roman Catholic, but was saved at age 28, attending Chinese Bible church in Farmington Hills, Michigan. He's married to Shen Pei, who's from China, been married for eight years, and they have three boys who we've seen already. Uh, their names are John Rogers, who's five, Matthew Tyndale, almost four, and Mark Sharnock, nine months old.

Let's give him a warm round of applause. Well, good morning. I would uh like to just say it's a joy to be here with you this morning to worship our great God. Such a privilege and a blessing for us to be able to do that. But please um join me, please stand as we read God's word. We'll be reading from the book of Philippians. It's Philippians chapter one, so feel free to follow along as I read. Philippians chapter one. Paul writes there. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I'm sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

This is the word of the Lord.

So I'd like to thank Phil and all of you for this opportunity to come and preach the word of God. The Lord is worthy of all praise, and I'm so thankful that even though we've just met, that we can come together for this common purpose, to praise our great God. So what an amazing blessing it is for us to be able to gather together and to do this. So if you don't mind, I'd like to pray one more time for us as we begin to look in God's word. Our Heavenly Father, we're so thankful for your goodness and kindness, Lord, in making us children of God, and making us a redeemed part of your family through the church in Christ Jesus our Lord. And Father, you know how a fraught our life has been with various challenges, various sins, various sufferings, but yet you love us through your word, through your Holy Spirit, and giving us the example of Christ Jesus and how we ought to live our lives.

Not only that, Lord, that he redeemed us from our sins and that we've been made one with him, and that we can all be part of the family of God. So, Lord, I pray you bless this service. Help us to see your glory more, to love you more each and every day, and you would bless this time of worship. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, as was mentioned earlier, my name is Alessandro Gonzalez, and even though I'm not Italian, my name is Italian. So I'm actually half Chinese and half Nicaraguan. And growing up as a half Chinese and a half Hispanic, it's created a lot of unique learning experiences for me. Now I grew up in Alabama for eight years, and then I lived in Nicaragua for seven years before finally moving to LA and was surrounded by a lot of Asians.

And what I learned is that I don't necessarily fit into any of these groups, right? The Hispanics, they freak out when I speak Spanish to them because they think I'm Asian. And the Asians don't believe me when I tell them that I'm actually Chinese. And the good folks in Alabama, they just don't know what to do with me. You know, but all of that is okay, because after being saved by the grace of God as a young adult in my late twenties, I learned that I'm always welcome in the family of God because of who we are in Christ. We are all sinners in need of a savior, and that savior is Jesus Christ alone. Now, through my time in seminary, my heart was drawn towards missions, and so as we sat down to strategize where it is that we might go, the biggest question on the table was where is it that we can go that we will fit in even less?

So we thought about Japan. And so my family and I, as was mentioned, we're currently preparing to be sent out as missionaries to go to Japan in February of next year. Now, of course, it's not so that we can fit in less, but we have a desire to be ambassadors for Christ there, making known the name of Christ, right? Preaching the good news to the people of Japan. So, Lord willing, in just over three months, we will be on a one-way flight to Japan to live there and make disciples of Christ. As you know, Japan is a country that seemingly has everything like good education, developed economy, and advanced medicine, and yet the overwhelming majority of people in Japan do not know Christ. Right? They have a population of a hundred and twenty-three million people, and less than two percent are Christian.

Now that makes them one of the largest, if not the largest language group without Christ. The vast amount of Japanese people have never met a Christian, and they may never meet a Christian face to face. They've never heard about the love of Christ that's displayed on the cross, and also his love for them. Now, again, that's over a hundred and twenty million people who will perish if they don't hear the gospel and believe. So that's part of the heart motivation for me and my family to go and to tell them about Jesus Christ. Now the Great Commission calls us to make disciples of all nations and to obey all that Jesus has commanded. But some of us are doing that right here in LA, and some of us are being sent across the country or even across the world to fulfill that great commission.

Some of us are goers and some of us are senders. And as we, the body of Christ, the church, as we seek to do this, right? It's clear in Scripture that the Great Commission requires partnership. And even as my family and I, as we prepare to go to Japan, it's become more and more solidified in my own heart that we need partners in the gospel. And while there's this massive need in Japan, the reality is that we simply would not be able to go if we did not have partners in the gospel, so that we can go and tell them about Jesus. And so my goal today is to show how Paul and the Philippian church were actually partners in the gospel so that we can have a clear biblical view of what it means to partner with missionaries for the gospel.

Now, as we look at this example in Scripture, I hope to give you some examples of how you can partner with us, but also with other missionaries in gospel ministry. Now I really want to peg our outline for you today into your mind. So that's what we're going to do. Let's peg the outline in our minds. That is the outline, peg, PEG, prayer, encouragement, and giving. Okay, prayer, encouragement, and giving. So let's look again at the book of Philippians in Philippians chapter one. All right, we'll start in verse three. And this is the beginning of Paul's letter. And as he is greeting them, he says, I thank my God and all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, or y'all, since Alabama.

But making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Now, uh, just in these few short opening verses, Paul is laying bare his heart for the Philippian church. Right, Paul's heart is filled to the brim, and he's overflowing in affections that manifest through thanksgiving and prayer and joy. Though Paul's affection is much like that of a father to a son, one of us the son who has been raised up under his care, and now they get to strive together in the gospel to serve for the sake of Christ. Now, to a large degree, it's all because of the Philippians' partnership with Paul in this gospel ministry, their commitment to Christ in saving the lost.

So as Paul opens this letter, we're clued in that they've been partners in the gospel from the very beginning. Now, if you remember back in Acts chapter 16, this is where their partnership began, and it was on Paul's second missionary journey. Alright, he had reached a point in his ministry where he tried to go this way and that way, but he would have been prohibited until finally God gave him a vision and specific direction to go into the land of Macedonia. And he preached the gospel there in Philippi. And many people believed and they even planted a church there. You know, my guess is that they actually called it the first Baptist church of Philippi. I'm just kidding. But eventually, you know, they planted this church, and the people in the city were stirred up against them, and Paul was beaten and he was thrown in prison.

Eventually he was released, but he was asked to leave the city. So they left and they went on to minister in Thessalonica. So that was the beginning of the partnership in the gospel between Paul and the Philippians. Now, from that time up to the writing of this letter, some ten years have gone by. And now, once again, Paul is under imprisonment, but this time he's in the city of Rome. Now, even though ten years have gone by, this partnership in the in in the fellowship and the gospel has only gotten stronger. Right? The Philippians are not looking around at each other, meanwhile, Paul's in prison, and they're not asking themselves, ah, yeah, yeah, Pablito, why are you in jail again? No, they're not thinking that, right?

Their commitment and their devotion to Christ and to one another has only been fortified in this furnace of affliction. So let's see how Paul leans on their partnership in prayer. Right? And for context, Paul is imprisoned in Rome. He's waiting to see whether he's going to be released or whether he's going to be executed for the sake of the gospel. So look with me a little bit further down in verses 18 to 21. Verses 18 to 21. There, Paul writes, Yes, and I will rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now, as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

But he, as you can tell, he's not necessarily meaning delivered from execution. He's referring to being able to be courageous for the name of Christ, whether he's released or whether he's executed, whether by life or death, Paul wants Christ to be honored through his steadfastness in the gospel. Now, Paul's life is hanging in the balance, and he anticipates that the conclusion is imminent. So there's pressure on him, there's pressure to cave in, to be ashamed of Christ, to be ashamed of the gospel, and to be ashamed of the resurrection of Christ. And so he sends this letter, this news update letter, if you will, requesting that the Philippians pray for him. And he needs their prayers and their support so that he can be courageous and stand firm for the gospel.

Well, just like Paul, every missionary has many diverse and great needs for prayer. Alright, being on the field presents missionaries with all kinds of challenges and difficulties that we might be completely oblivious to unless we're partnered with them and they actually trust us to pray for them. So they certainly have many fears, and they have a lot of uncertainty in their life circumstances that we probably just take for granted as we go about our lives. Now, as we seek to partner with you for the gospel in Japan, right, we want to share some of our prayer needs so that we can also be courageous on the field.

Clearly, we're not Japanese and we don't look Japanese. And it's no secret, I'm sure to any of us that the Japanese society is one about conformity, right? About not standing out. And so obviously our kids are going to stick out like a sore thumb. So, right, they're brown skinned, they're brown hair, they speak funny, and to the Japanese, they're probably going to smell funny, especially given the amount that they sweat. So, definitely we do not have the Japanese no sweat gene, you know, in our chromosomes, right? So if you look it up online, it's actually a thing, right? Foreigners actually smell funny to Japanese people. So all of this breaks down to being to translating into fears for my wife, right?

Will our kids have any friends? Will they be shunned by their classmates? Or will they actually just grow up and be okay? Or will they be miserable and grow a distaste for Japan or even resent the gospel because of any hardship that they face? Right, will they be bullied so much that they have to leave school? Alright, this is a real concern because we've actually heard of missionaries that have to come off of the field because of all the suffering that their children are going through. Now we need your prayers to work through those fears and also for our own children's heart as they grow up in Japan. We need prayer to trust the Lord through all of those potential situations and to have wisdom on how best to raise our kids in that context when the deck is so staggered against them.

We'll be in this environment that is not conducive for Christians to thrive in general and much less for kids. So please pray for us to foster that environment in our own home. Right, not just to a great degree, but to an exponential degree, and also not just for our children, but for our own sake. So why do I say that? Why do I say for you to pray for our own sake? Well, let me share with you another prayer request that you may not have thought of. Right? Can you please pray for the sins in our own hearts? Right? We've been warned many times that during our training as missionaries that once you go out onto the mission field, it's actually like pouring miracle grow onto your propensity to sin.

Right? It's like backing up the dump truck and dumping out fertilizer onto your hearts and pushing forth that growth of sin. And if we're not careful, right, we'll end up nourishing sinful fruit in our lives instead of cultivating godly fruit in order to point people to Christ. Right. So there really is a great need for prayer for our own spiritual health. You can imagine it's pretty easy, right, to get frustrated and to lose your temper with your family as you're in the middle of trying to set up a new home, getting kids enrolled in school, going to the DMV, figuring out the medical school, the medical system, and everything else, all in a totally new environment with a new language and a new culture.

There is a lot of pressure and there's a lot of opportunity for frustration to lead to impatience, to lead to anger in that environment. So we ask that you pray for us and for every missionary, that we would all be diligent in the fundamentals of staying in the word, being in prayer, and fellowshipping honestly with other believers that are there with us. Alright, those three pillars, right, of the spiritual disciplines in our walk with the Lord. So those are some of the fears and the needs that which we have need for your prayers. But what about other missionaries that you guys might be partnered with? What are some of their needs and some of their prayer requests? Well, if you don't know any missionaries or you don't know their specific needs, I'll just encourage you to pray through the scriptures for them.

Right, as you read through the book of Acts, as you read through the epistles, you'll pray for all those various issues that you see in Scripture that they will also be going through. Because I'll let you in on a little secret. Missionaries are not super Christians, right? They are just ordinary Christians, ordinary Christians with similar life issues as you and I, except with additional challenges that might distract them from following Christ. So it's easy for them to be discouraged since they're in this non-Christian environment, right? That's the why they're there in the first place. So pray for their families, right? Pray for their marriages. But above all, you know, I ask you to pray for their devotion to Christ.

All right. Pray that they would be in love with the one who laid down his life for them, and that their very heartbeat would be in rhythm with the Lord that they serve. Right. There are a lot of challenges on the field, but when our hearts are set on the light of Christ, right, these challenges turn into opportunities to reflect the love of Christ and to shine brightly into that dark world that desperately needs him. So please pray for the missionaries, right? They need our partnership in the gospel. And as we prepare to be sent out to the field, we need your partnership in the gospel through prayer. Alright, so we saw how the Philippians partnered with Paul in prayer and some modern-day examples of that, but let's look at the second way that they partnered with Paul, and that's through encouragement, encouragement.

Right? So Paul is actually, again, remember, been under imprisonment for some time, now that he's in Rome. But Paul is actually arrested all the way back in Jerusalem, and he eventually was sent uh up to Caesar, excuse me, to Caesarea before appealing to Caesar and then being sent off to Rome. So he's been in under imprisonment for three or four years at this point. And it's been about five years since the last time that he saw the church in Philippi. So Paul's been through a lot over these last five years since he saw the Philippians. Alright, and now the Philippians, they hear about Paul being imprisoned in Rome. So what do they do? Well, let's look over at chapter 2 and verse 25. Chapter 2, verse 25.

Right, Paul says here in verse 25, I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and your minister to my need. When the Philippians heard about Paul, they sent this brother Epaphroditus and all the way over to Rome to deliver this message and to minister to Paul's needs. Now, this is such a great example of their love and their affection for Paul. Right? It highlights their commitment to the gospel and their partnership with Paul. Going from Philippi to Rome was no easy task. It was about an 800-mile journey, whether by foot or animal or ship. And now, as you know, 800 miles from anywhere is 800 miles anywhere is way too far, especially you know, when you're leaving from the South Bay.

I mean, anywhere is far. I assume that you know the Ramen really wasn't that good in Philippi, and so maybe that was part of Epaphroditus's uh, you know, desire to go off to Rome. But either way, 800 miles is on foot is a long way, right? And the point is is that honestly, if you were to hike from here, it's similar from hiking from here all the way up to Oregon by foot. All right, that's the kind of journey that we're talking about, at Paphhroditus making. So can you imagine walking all the way from here to Portland just to go and see your friend? I mean, that's that would require a pretty monumental effort. Right, Paphroditus, he likely traveled during the night so that he wouldn't be seen by thieves and robbers.

And walking under the stars, you may have heard the growls and the howls of the animals out there thinking they found their next meal. But each step of the way on this journey, he is one foot closer to seeing his fellow brother, right? His fellow worker and his fellow soldier. Right? And he's on this track to bring in this message and to go and to minister to Paul. Now, what a blessing to be apaphroditus and to fill this role in the apostle's life, right? This brother, his commitment to Paul and to the gospel is next level. He's willing to extend himself in order to go and minister to Paul's need and to be this amazing bridge, this vital conduit of love from the entire Philippian church to their partner in the gospel.

Right? What a privilege to be in Epaphroditus, to be this funnel of encouragement and love to a missionary on the field. As you can imagine, the encouragement that Paul would have felt upon seeing his brother after so many years and being so far apart. Right, in a way, there's been a lot of apaphroditus this summer from Lighthouse, right? Many of them have actually gone to Japan and they made it a point to stop and to spend time with one of our church plants that's there in Nagoya. And so it would have been great if just one person had stopped by, but it's actually been many visitors who stopped in and they joined them for worship on Sunday, they joined them for a meal, and even took some of the ministry items that they needed for their VBS in Japan.

Now, throughout the whole summer, the entire church family in Nagoya was greatly encouraged because many brothers and sisters came and visited them and ministered to them. There's even this one sister that makes it a point. She goes to Japan every summer to go and encourage and minister to those missionaries that are on the field. So praise the Lord for all these visitors who serve to strengthen that partnership that exists between Lighthouse and Lagos, which is the church plant. Now, maybe that's something that you can consider, right? Visiting missionaries on the field, whether it be in Japan or whether it be in other countries, right? It'll require the giving of your time, and it may be physically challenging, like it was for Epaphroditus, but it will be such a blessing to that missionary.

All right, you can go and you can encourage them, and you can encourage them because they probably don't have that many believers around them. Right, another quick and easy way to encourage a missionary on the field is to read through their newsletter update. Pray for them right there on that spot when you read that newsletter, and then hit the reply button and just write them a very brief encouraging note. Hey, brother, hey, sister, I'm praying for you. Know that I'm praying for you. Our church is praying for you. We love you. Continue to do that work of gospel ministry out on the field. Right? That doesn't cost us too much to do that. But that will mean the world to them. And that'll keep them going for another month, another three months, maybe a year, just by those little encouragements, that'll help them to continue through whatever challenges they're going through on the field.

Now there's another fear on my heart that my family will certainly need your prayers and your encouragement. My wife, uh Chenpei, she has this untreatable genetic disease that's slowly taking away her eyesight. And so it's been deteriorating her sight for years, but it's starting to affect her a little bit more now. So it's a slow process, so it'll be you know years of constant adjustment for our family. But when we move to Japan, um, she'll have to give up driving because it just won't be feasible anymore at that point. And so, as a husband, right, I have a lot of concerns for her. I mean, which is good, it's right, we should love our spouse, right? Um, but you know, she won't be able to drive anymore, but is she going to be able to ride a bike to get around?

I don't know. Um, will she be okay walking around by yourself without stumbling or falling into a ditch like happened to one of our teammates on the STM this past summer? Um, you know, will people be willing to help her if she's lost, right? Or will people just avoid her because they just culturally just don't know, you know, what to do with folks with disabilities. Right. Will people feel comfortable uh being friends with her? Will people feel comfortable to come into our home for a meal once she's completely lost her sight? You know, these are all things that that are on our hearts, and one that I worry about, you know, is just her daily life, right? The daily life things that are also going to impact uh our lives, both positive and negative.

And also, we obviously being honest, it will have an impact on our ministry. Because let's be honest, right? These things will have an impact on us. But this disability is also part of God's grace in our lives. And that's something that we've learned a lot about the through the disability ministry at Lighthouse. See, we've often been reminded that these trials are not just difficulties in our life, but they are part of God's plan. Part of God's plan to draw us closer to Him and to bring others along the way too. Now, nothing makes this clearer to me than in the Gospel of John, Gospel of John chapter 9, when the disciples asked Jesus, who was it that sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind?

And Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Right, and that passage gives me hope. But it also gives me great confidence, right? That Chenpei losing her sight is so that others might be able to see Christ. And how that's going to play out, only God knows. All right, perhaps the Lord will use us to reach out to Japanese people who are also visually impaired. And even though they might not be able to see the world clearly, they'll have a vision of Christ. All right, perhaps he'll use us to start a disabilities ministry in the local church so that as a church family, we can show the mercy and the grace of God in a gospel-centered community.

Alright, the Lord can use this for a million great things in our lives and in the lives of others. But once we get there, right, it's gonna be real, right? And it's gonna be hard. There's gonna be a lot of challenges. And so we're going to need your encouragement, right? Encouragement from fellow brothers and sisters in Christ back here at home. We're gonna need those emails and those letters to encourage us to press on in the grace of God for the glory of Christ. And those will be a tremendous help to us personally. But we'll also need your encouragement and your reminder so that the people of Japan will be able to see the gospel. So missionaries need your prayers, and they need your encouragement.

So that's two of the three points that we want pegged in our minds, right? Prayer and encouragement, and now finally giving. Giving is the third point. Partnership in the gospel through giving. So you'll recall that after Paul had ministered for a while in Philippi, he was forced to leave, right? And according to Acts 17, he went to Thessalonica and he ministered there for a brief time before getting persecuted from out of there too. Now in the next passage from Philippians chapter 4, we'll see how the Philippians partnered with Paul through their giving from the very beginning. And even up to this point, which is about ten years later from when that first took place in Philippi. So look with me at chapter 4, Philippians chapter 4, starting in verse 14.

Philippians 4, verse 14. And Paul writes there, yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and the glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father, be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Right? It's instructive both for the missionary and for their partners, the goers and the senders. Right, the easier part to see is the fact that the Philippians were generous in their giving to support Paul in gospel ministry. Right, even though Paul was in Thessalonica for only a brief time, ranging from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, the Philippians managed to send him two gifts of support to him. Now, even now, ten years later, right, they sent him a gift with Epaphroditus, the brother who went to minister to him. And Paul describes this gift, right, as being well supplied, as being a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. So this highlights their generosity and their commitment to being partnered with Paul in the gospel.

All right, missionaries on the field, they the majority of their time is spent evangelizing to the lost, equipping the saints for the local church, raising up new leaders to shepherd that local church, and then they can repeat that whole process again, right? Go and plant another church. Now all of that requires partnership in the gospel through giving. So the missionary can focus on doing that work. Right, the Philippians saw that and they were committed in supporting Paul for the sake of the gospel. So that part, that's the part that's readily seen, easily seen in the text. But the part that's less obvious is actually also instructive for the missionary. So Paul says in verse 17. Look again there with me.

Verse 17. Paul says, Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. Right, no doubt, Paul is very thankful to receive this gift from the Philippians. Obviously, it's a huge help to receive physical and financial help from anyone, especially when you're on the field and trying to maximize your time to minister the gospel. But Paul is not interested in receiving the gift for himself, right? That is not his main goal. But what Paul is really after is the fruit that increases to your credit, right? In other words, Paul is really interested in the benefit of his partners. So Paul knows that as the Philippians are giving to the ministry, if they are actually storing their treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy and no thief can steal.

Right. Paul knows that where their treasure is, their heart will be also. And so Paul has the right perspective, right? He's not interested in swindling the people out of their money for his own benefit. He really cares about where the Philippians' heart is at, and he is delighted that their heart is centered on the gospel and centered on Christ. Right? Because as their heart is centered on Christ, and they support and they give to gospel ministry, right? Their hearts will be drawn even more to Christ. And as they pray for the missionaries on the field, Paul is fully confident that they will benefit. It will benefit their own soul as they draw near to the throne of grace. Right. And as they seek to encourage the missionary, he knows that they will also be mutually encouraged as they hear about all the work that the Lord is doing on the front lines.

So this is very instructive, both for the missionary and for the senders. The missionary has to have that desire in his heart. That the senders, the hearts would be centered on Christ, and he must do all that he can to encourage them spiritually for their maturity and for their love for Christ. And it's also instructive to his partners to realize that partnering in the gospel not only greatly benefits the missionary, but it's also good for their own soul. And let me be candid. Let me be honest, right? It's it's not always easy to go up and ask people for money, right? It's actually pretty awkward and pretty uncomfortable. So it's not easy for me to go and ask anyone to partner with us in the gospel, to partner with us through giving.

But one of the comforts is this, that I know that I'm doing this ultimately for the partner's good, for your own good, not necessarily for my own benefit. Right? Seeing this passage helps me to so that I remember that it's for the gospel and it's for you. It helps me remember that I'm not asking on behalf of myself, but I'm asking on behalf of the lost people in Japan, on behalf of the glory of Christ, and on behalf of your own personal benefit and your walk with the Lord. We need your financial support for the gospel in Japan, but like Paul, we also want your benefit, right? The fruit that increases to your credit. So, brothers and sisters, if I can humbly agree with Paul, the Apostle Paul, I also want your love for Christ to abound all the more.

Right? That's my desire for you now. That's why we're more than happy to come and serve in this particular way. But we also, that desire will also continue well into the future for your own spiritual growth and spiritual benefit with Christ. I want your love for Christ to increase every single day until we all see him face to face.

And that is the loss of our own church family. Right? We've been incredibly blessed over the last two years to be part of Lighthouse. And we were part of our old home church in Michigan for seven years, which is where we got saved. And we've been in many different small groups. We've gotten to know a lot of people through serving with them in youth group and college ministry and the young adult ministry, Bible studies and teaching Sunday school and all kinds of things. We've counseled them through life issues. They've been a blessing to us to counsel us through our own sins and our own failures. We've discussed the blessings and the challenges of life. We've worshiped together each Sunday. They've ministered to our kids in Sunday school just like they are right now.

Um they even helped get our oldest son into a Japanese kindergarten back in January. So this whole year he's been able to be there and learn and hear the language, etc. So, in short, right, we've done life together, right? Whether it's our old home church or lighthouse over the last few years. It's probably been one of the greatest blessings in our life outside of salvation, right? Just like Paul held the Philippians in his heart, right? We hold our fellow brothers and sisters in our own hearts. And we will certainly miss all of them. So you can imagine, right, the emotional roller coasters that we be that we'll be on, and that honestly I've already been on for a while now, uh, as we prepare to go to Japan, as we board that one-way flight to go to Japan and serve over there, as we integrate into a new church home in Japan, we will for sure rejoice in getting to know them and love them and serve them and do life with them.

But we'll also long, right, to see our old church family. So there's going to be a lot of challenges along the way, but numerous blessings along the way, too. Right. And these are just a few certainties that study my own heart on this journey. Right? They have a few things in my heart that help me as I go through those emotional rollercoasters from time to time. So number one is that Christ is worthy. Christ is worthy for us to go on this endeavor. But also He is with me. Right? He said, Lo, I am with you until the end of the age. Matthew 28. But Christ is worthy, and he is with me. Number two is that the people of Japan need to hear the gospel. Right? They need to hear the gospel and be saved from their sin and be restored in that relationship with God.

Right? The God who is the only true and living God, a God who loves them and who wants them to be saved. And the third thing that studies my heart of these emotional rollercoasters is that we have many partners in the gospel who are praying for us, right? Who are encouraging us and who are supporting us. And so, you know, I know we just met ten minutes ago. But I invite all of you to partner with us in these variety of ways, right? We need brothers and sisters back home that will pray for us, that will encourage us, and that will support us. Because again, I've tried to be honest and candid with the truth about what missionary life is like based on what we've seen and heard and learned through training and talking with other missionaries.

But yet again, right? Those studying factors. Christ is worthy, right? And he's with me.

So I hope this has been encouraging to you to see how Paul was partnered with the Philippians and also how you can think through about partnering with other missionaries that you guys might know. Not necessarily just us, but any of the missionaries that you already know. So please join me in a word of prayer. Our Father, we are so incredibly thankful. Because you are good and you do good. Your love is everlasting, and your faithfulness is beyond our comprehension. Father, you've known us from eternity past. You have desired us to be in your kingdom. Lord, you've made us to be in your kingdom. And God, we seek to honor you and glorify you and serve you for the rest of our lifetimes and to worship you and praise you for all eternity in heaven and in the new heavens and new earth with you.

And so, God, we ask for strength, we ask for your grace, we ask for your mercy and blessing. We just want to be faithful, uh, tools in your hands to glorify you, to serve you. And so, Lord, help us to walk in holiness, to walk with Christ, so that we might be useful in your hands. We pray all these things for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thank you so much for that, Pastor Alessandro. Just so encouraged to hear from you and just what he's going to be doing for you and your ministry in Japan. And so may we just rise and just respond and worship and just sing and be convicted as a church together to continue to support our missionaries and those that are out of in the world, preaching the gospel.

We shield up and bouncer. We'll stand against the devil.

We will fight with faith and doubt when faced with trial on every side. We know the outcome is the high for which she died and inherited a nation. See the cross.

Love and mercy meet as a son of God is sick and see his foes.

And as a song is hold away, and Christ emerges from the plane.

Every eye and heart shall sleep.

Give us grace for everyone that we love to win the pride of the servant good and faithful as saints of hold till I go away.

Well the price we stand in for your shield with shield up and that untruth will stand against the light on the home battle, reaching out to the temptation. Today is a great day where we get to take our sacrament of our communion together. Before you come up, let's just take a moment to reflect on the goodness of Christ and the sacrifice that he has done for ushen you are ready, please come up and receive the sacraments.

Is there anyone else who has not received the body broken in the bloodshed?

For I received from the Lord what I also deliver to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.