Dustin Meadows | Prayers From a Missionary

For those of you who are still standing, I appreciate the

Ovation. But really, that's enough.

That's plenty. I hate coming here.

I don't know why y'all are laughing.

Scripture, Paul tells us outdo one another in love, and I feel

like most of the time I get to win that one until I come here

and I feel like I lose and it's a competition and it's what I

want to win and I do my best to out, love you guys.

And I Denver, and never felt like I've been able to, so you

make me feel like a loser. So, You got your bibles if you

would turn with me to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

Kyle told you I was going to tell you a few things and he

lied. I'm not that's not what I'm

going to do today. If I would love to talk with you

about missions a lot. So anytime you guys want to

hear, please call me text me will Zoom it.

Whatever I'll come over here, would love to talk about

missions as many times as I can. But this morning I want to Talk

a little bit about from a different standpoint than just

education in missions. First of all, I want to say

thank you for praying for dtn, for being so, diligent and

praying for dtn and her people. It has been a truly special

thing when I spent, I guess the last six months or so,

developing what we're calling our sending Church training and

spent a lot of time on trying to understand what it means to

send. Well, I don't know if you're

aware but missionaries are almost always.

He's not sent well 7,000 missionaries, quit annually

because they don't get the resources and encouragement in

the service that they need in order to be able to stay and

this to me is a backwards step for the gospel.

Our goal is to advance the gospel to get the gospel to the

nation's and to let those laborers labor.

Well, and so it doesn't make any sense when 50% of the

missionaries that were sending are coming home within two

years. Right?

It's a backwards move and it's because plain and simply I don't

think the local church understands.

The need of a missionary, they don't understand exactly what it

means to leave a place that you know and love and go to a place

that you don't know and really don't love at least not at

first. They don't grasp what it means

to have all the normal things in life, become completely

abnormal. There's no taking a break.

Anybody ever brush your teeth and be done and then not even

remember. Like did I brush my teeth,

right? And I ever do that, because it's

normal. When you go over there, it's not

normal. If you don't pay attention, you

brush, your teeth with water that will make you sick.

And so, all the normal things in life, become completely, AB

normal. All the normal stress free

things in life, becomes stressful Wars in life.

And so, it's these types of things that I've just plain.

And simply I think that the church must be awakened to You

must know and learn about what a missionary life is and what's

required in a missionary in order to be able to take the

gospel to a place that it can go and bear fruit.

Okay, so that's what we've been trying to do and so there's a

long way of telling you this. I spent a lot of time in the

scriptures at those places that most of the time we read really

quickly. I'm finding that my natural bent

is towards the doctrine stuff. I love.

When Paul start starts to talk about things that are very

practical or things that are very weighty and I just dig into

those areas and then towards the beginning of the books, or

towards the ends of the book. He'll start saying things like

hey greet the brothers and start, you know, tell tell these

people. Hello and and I go that alone,

all right, let's go on to something else.

And I'm Miss some things in my heart when I do this and I think

maybe this might apply to you. When I began to study about what

it means to send a missionary. Well, I found out that Paul in

the New Testament in his 13 letters names over 75 people

that he says, mean meant a lot to him and helped him to be able

to accomplish his task, over 75 individuals, not counting the

churches, but 75 individual people. that's so invested in

him and I just found it fascinating and because I've

been Walking. Along with Colin Patricia a

little bit through the last couple of months.

They're teaching me so much about the Lord and so much about

faith and steadfastness in times and I'm realizing for life.

I'm not nearest 10 foot tall as I used to be I'm not near as

bulletproof as I used to be. And so I'm realizing that we as

Christians need these things these times that we typically

speed read through. Ew.

And these times are becoming far more precious to me and far more

encouraging and empowering to me.

And so this morning, rather than talk to you about missions

methodology and things like that.

I preached on that last week, so I was kind of bored with it.

Just kidding. I did preach on it though.

I want to just read Colossians with you if we could, so if you

would stand with me, And let's take a look.

Now our text today is really going to be verses verse 3

through verse 14. But starting in verse 9, Paul

starts a sentence that's 218 words long and it doesn't end

until the end of verse 20. So we're going to read his whole

sentence and then I'm really going to shrink down and preach

half his sin. It's okay, he's Paul that's what

Paul does. All right, Colossians chapter 1

Colossians 1:3

verse 3, we always thank God. God the father of our Lord.

Jesus Christ. When we pray for you, since we

heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that you

have for all the saints because of the Hope laid up for you, in

heaven of this, you have heard before the word of the truth.

The gospel which has come to you as indeed in the whole world.

It is bearing fruit, and increasing.

As it also does among you, since the day, you heard it and

understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it

from a path. Us our beloved fellow servant,

he's a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has

made known to us your glove in the spirit.

And so from the day we heard we have not ceased to pray for you

asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will

in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

So as to walk in a manner, worthy of the Lord, fully

pleasing to him bearing fruit in every good work and increasing

in the knowledge of God being and with all power, according to

his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.

Giving thanks to the father who has qualified you to share in

the inheritance of the Saints. In light, he has delivered us

from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of

his beloved Son. In whom we have Redemption, the

Forgiveness of sins. He being Christ is the image of

the invisible. God, the firstborn.

Of all creation. For by him, all things were

created in heaven and on Earth, visible and invisible, whether

Thrones, or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through him and for him, and he is

before all things. And in him all things, hold

together. And he is the head of the body,

the church, he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that

in everything, he might be preeminent for in.

Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through

him, to reconcile to himself all things.

Whether on Earth or in heaven, Making Peace by the blood of his

cross. Father, I am grateful to be in

your house this morning and with my brothers and sisters, I'm

grateful for the connection. We have because of you because

of Christ. And father, my prayer this

morning is that in all things, you would be preeminent.

That you would have first priority.

Because God, we recognize all of life has come from you and our

new life has all come from you. So father, I pray.

That you would help us to Hope in the gospel.

That you would help us to bear fruit and increase.

For the glory of Your Great Name for ask this in Christ's name.

Amen, you may be seated. This one is actually kind of a

strange book when you think about what Paul wrote most of

the time Paul with his for missionary journey since most

scholars believe he had would go to places plant churches and

then would write them letters afterwards but it this one is

not one of those things. This is a church that was

planted by someone else. It's actually planted by a man

named epaphras and this is not the same epaphroditus that we

see in in Philippians. This is a Different guy but he

had has gone and done the work as far as we know, it doesn't

look like Paul knew the church at Colossians and I get that

from chapter 2 verse 1. He says, I want you to know how

great a struggle I have for you and for those at laodicea and

for all who have not seen, me face-to-face.

Doesn't sound like Paul's been there, right?

We do know that Paul new people from colossae, the the city Paul

has written a letter on These two final fine Lehman.

And finally, man was a colossian and at least 24 Philemon, it

sounds to us as if Paul led him to the Lord.

So it's kind of strange there is a connection but it's not a

direct connection there. Now, this we believe was

actually evangelize. During pulse third missionary

journey, you can see an x 19 and verse 10 as Paul was working in

Ephesus. The scripture says that This

continued for two years. So that all the residents of

Asia, heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

It might have come before that even because in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

the scripture tells us that there were people from I can I

was going to look up how to say this and I didn't but Fergie.

Uh, it's all I know is it's not Fergie.

Okay. You guys can make it up however

you want to after that. But they were there on the day

of Pentecost, and so they might have heard and taken the gospel

back there, but probably we know that at least by Acts 19, the

gospel had gotten to this place at Colossians.

Now, here's why I think it's fascinating.

This man epaphras is considered there in verse 7.

A beloved fellow servant and then he's called a fellow

Minister and another place he's actually called a fellow

Prisoner as Paul was in Chains with epaphras.

This was a dear brother, this was something that epaphras had

worked hard. Epaphras was a colossian.

I'll show you this in. 412, if you go maybe just one page, over

Colossians 4. Paul says epaphras who is one of

you? A servant of Christ Jesus

greets. You he is with Paul at this

point. He greets.

You always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you

may stand mature, and fully assured in all the will of God

for. I bear him witness that he has

worked hard for you and for those in laodicea and in

hieropolis, so we recognize Paul knows the church.

Well, But not so well that it was him that has done the work

and maybe not even well enough that he's been there.

But he knows the brother. Very dearly, there are churches

that I've been able to work in and labor in for years, at a

Time, new life isn't one of them. but the way that new life

has adopted us and has made us feel at home, my wife,

considers, this our home church and we've been here maybe five

times During the handshaking time, one of my children came up

and said, can we move here? I am not making it up to three

minutes ago. Can we move here?

We love the kids can write and Candy.

Everybody puts up with me because of my family.

I know how it goes. They you guys have just loved us

and I find this. So tender as Paul takes his time

to write a letter to the church at Colossians that he can't take

credit for. It wasn't his church, it was a

his baby, but he loves the church and the church in.

Turn loves him back and it's fascinating.

So, within 25 years of the resurrection of Christ, we know

that the gospel had got to Colossians 2, classy rather.

Now, I always like to think of how long it took the gospel to

get to where we are. Does anybody know the first time

someone in your family became a Christian there on my mom's side

there's actually a couple of preachers way on back but on the

Meadows side it was my grandparents.

On my grandparents have cool stories that I wish I could tell

you because they're fascinating, like he went AWOL in WWII to get

married, his commanding officer was so upset at him when he came

back. He said, how did you get

married? And my grandfather said, I

managed it. All right, I guess, and he got

mad at him and sent him on a bus.

They were in Austin, Texas. They sent him on a bus to San

Diego. California, he turns to my

grandmother who had never driven ever.

Her and throws his keys to her and says San Diego.

California. My grandfather said she made it

my transmission didn't but she made it.

Right as she drove and followed his bus to San Diego, California

fascinating stories. They bought a little house in

1946, they bought a little house that was an old house.

They moved outside in March, under a lean-to, with two little

boys and my grandfather, tore the house down, knocked every

nail out of the board's, straightened, the nails and

reuse the boards and the nails to rebuild a house.

They just don't make them like that anymore.

But my grandparents were lost. and in the first week of June in

1948, a man named Jake, Brady Came to town and he preached.

A Revival meeting is a very Revival meeting.

Okay. But by God's grace, the gospel

went forth. And in a covered wagon on the

way home my grandmother. Told me that she started to cry

because she knew that she was going to have to look at her

brand-new husband, who did not know the Lord.

And tell him that she was going to have to become a Christian

and she couldn't help it. And she said, I looked, and I

told him that tomorrow night when the preacher gives the

invitation, I've got to go down front and I know you probably

want to divorce me, but I can't do it.

I have got to become a Christian.

And she looked at my grandfather and my grandfather was crying.

and he said, I was trying to figure out how to make sure you

weren't going to divorce me because I've got to go down to

And on June 6th, six the 1948, my grandparents gave their

hearts to the Lord. I can tell you when that

happened, I'm not sure here. But probably sometimes 1700

years later than the the time the Colossians got the gospel

Magnolia got the gospel. And it's fascinating to see what

the gospel has done here. It's neat to see what the gospel

didn't Colossians. When we if you dig down and

study that book. It's so neat to see what the

gospel can do. And it's so neat to see what the

gospel is doing here. But we must recognize that as

Paul begins to share this about this great gospel that they've

received. And he says there, in verse 6,

it is the hole in the whole world indeed.

He says the gospel is bearing fruit, and increasing as it also

does among you, since the day, you heard it.

So great to see and to recognize that the gospel is having a huge

impact around the world. It is having this impact.

I said page five I was going to go to page five, it's actually

page for so might change that my notes for me.

Would you, you know, as we begin to think that in the whole

world, the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing.

But you understand that 300 years after the gospel has come

to Magnolia 17? Well, 2000 years I guess after

the gospel came to the church at colossae They're still 3.3

billion people that have never heard it.

I understand that it's not just never heard it, have no access

to hearing it. Eighty-six percent of the

world's Hindus Muslims and Buddhists will live and die

without ever even meeting a Christ follower.

So, we come knowing that we're going to hear it and they don't

have that even even the opportunity at least not yet.

Not yet. But as Paul says the world, the

gospel is going forth. It is bearing fruit.

Is it is increasing. Let me tell you a little bit

about how what you've helped us to do through dtn.

I want to give you this report because this doesn't happen

without you. You guys may not know but you

monthly donate, some funds and you pray for us and Kyle serves

on our board helping us to get missionaries in the gospel to

the nation's. We have a missionary in Costa

Rica, Costa Rica. You might think is reached Missy

ologists a for that country that has over 5 million people.

There's less than 10, biblically faithful churches, dtm's

missionary, there is planted two of them.

Okay, their latest Church Plant just had a big baptismal service

the other day celebrating 15 baptisms. 40 over 40 new members

and on November 20th, they're going to appoint three new

deacons and three new Elders. As the God is, as God is by his

grace, not only going in and bearing fruit, but notice it's

not just bearing fruit, right? What's the scriptures is bearing

fruit. And Thanks, there is not just

New Life there but there's a maturity that's happening,

right? That's what we want.

We have a couple of church Planters in Portugal and by

God's grace. One of them met a man that had

stage 4 cancer And just throughout their conversations,

this missionary was able to proclaim the gospel to this guy

that the missionary playing preach the gospel to this man

with stage four cancer. And he became a Believer and the

last six months of his life, he hosted the new DT in church

plant in his home. And now he's gone on to be with

Corey to be in glory because of Faith.

The Gospel made it there in time.

Because a dtn structure. The reason that your support

means so much to us is because we do not take all the support

from our missionaries. That's the way some agencies are

designed, right? Well, a couple of missionaries

were added this year. One of them.

We gave Eleven Hundred Dollar raise every month, because the

admin fee from their last mission organization.

Cost them an extra $1100 a month.

And with this not only are they, is he able to stay In country,

but he's been able to multiply his ministry.

He's now pastoring two churches. And a Portuguese.

Speaking in an English-speaking Church, he's meeting weekly

having multiple meetings, weekly with leaders and he's training

up, new church Planters throughout the country.

In another instance, we had a church missionary that came in

that because of our structure. We were able to give a twelve

hundred dollar-a-month race and they're using it to start a new

home school Co-op just a few miles outside of a major u.s.

military base. That's overseas.

The house has 8,000 US citizens and there's no education

opportunities for them that are Christian.

We're privileged to feed transport and often clothes

Council and evangelize over 10,000 Ukrainian refugees.

And we're doing that in both sides of Europe.

We were the first ones vtn was the first cut first mission

agency able to get funds into Ukraine when everything hit it.

Shut the entire country down. We were able to get in, we had a

way that we were able to sneak some stuff in and we were having

an immediate impact on those refugees.

Thousands of them, thousands of them coming through New Hope,

Baptist Church there in Earth's grid Ukraine on the office.

End of Europe are missionaries and Portugal are housing.

Ukrainian refugees that have made it all the way to the

water. All the way to the Western end

of Portugal. Got as far away from there, as

they could, and then they have nowhere else to go.

Thankfully though, God's people are there to help and encourage

them. Feed them, how's them and

getting? Let me tell you a story.

Kyle tells me you got to hurry and I never hurry.

This is where I get so quickly. I run to just numbers and I run

to this Doctrine in this belief and we just we got to check all

these boxes as I'm trying to teach everything.

Once you understand, these are people when our missionary there

in Portugal, got the first wave of Ukrainian refugees out.

He showed up to help. And there was two, women and two

children, because Ukrainian men aren't allowed to leave the

country. and so, they were sending women and children

across Well, what happened was, unfortunately human traffickers

figured that out. And human trafficking of

Ukrainian refugees women and children skyrocketed.

And so, as our missionary met these women, they were too

afraid, because they had seen what was going on to them, and

they didn't know if they could trust him, and they were taking

pictures of his car and have his license plate and trying to send

to people. So that if something was to

happen, they would be able to find them.

And as our missionary patiently, Opened everything that he had

showed him. He was that here, take pictures

of me. This is me, this is my

identification. This is a picture of my, my

credit cards with the same number on it.

My same name on it. Look at all these things.

I'm here to help you. We're going to go to this place.

This is New Life, I'm sorry, this is cascais church.

This is where you're going to be staying.

We have this, he was showing pictures of their bedrooms that

they had built inside their Church.

They would help them install a brand-new shower because they

didn't have have a shower in their church so that they would

be able to do right as he just lovingly and patiently.

Recognize that these people have been through tragic situations.

And was able to love on them, huge lives.

It's huge. The way.

God is changing lives through these situations.

God is at work all over the world.

Okay? What I want to tell you here,

that's a little bit different than because you guys have been

praying for dtn and for missionaries.

And so what this passage really is is the missionary praying for

you. And here's what I want to tell

you. Okay, he does two things.

One, he gives big, thanks. He gives big thanks for what God

is doing inside the church. He says we.

Thank God always. As we pray for you since we

heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love that you

have for all the Saints. First of all, in that

interesting. Anybody ever been in a prayer

request time? It's never.

Hey, this is going really well for somebody.

Let's pray for them. It's always things are going

bad. Let's pray for them.

I want you to see here, Paul is praying and thanking God, and

praying for them. As the gospel has come forth to

them and is doing work in them. And this is when Paul begins to

actually love and pray for them through his efforts.

And then he begins to mention these things that we again read

over really quickly, but this Christian Triad of virtue.

Choose prayer of faith, Love and Hope and these three all work

together. But I want you to understand

that hope here as Paul is giving, thanks, he's giving,

thanks that. God has given this church hope.

Now hope when it comes to the scriptures is not the way we

would use the word hope I hate the way we mess up words

sometimes right but the word hope to us means wishful

thinking back, I hope I don't fall down the stairs, it would

be really embarrassing and you guys have already proved you'd

laugh right I hope I don't fall going up.

It's not that that's not the way that the scripture uses the

word. Hope hope is a force.

It is an Solutely assurance that is not yet fully experienced.

God has assured us and promised us of something that we are

waiting on, but has not yet come true in our lives.

The hope is that thing that is here and now and the Fulfillment

of that hope is the thing that still lies ahead, but this is

something that Paul says in Romans 13:11 that hope is a

Romans 13:11

sense that our Salvation is, Nearer to us now than when we

first believed. It is this sure thing and the

reason I think Paul is thankful for this happening inside a

church is because he understands that hope is a sanctifying

force. Hope, is that thing that

strengthens our faith? That empowers our love.

And these are the things that Paul says is working inside this

church and is bearing fruit and increasing.

There's an intensive inner growth that causes this.

The fruit to be born here. The gospel is at work.

I'm so thankful to know Kyle enough that he gets to tell me

the things that's going on at church because I've love to hear

the stories over the last three years of the Gospel at work at

New Life. I love the fact that I've seen

some of your faces over the last several years and I know

specifically of the growth that's going on in you I know I

knew it. What it was like when it was

just Kyle and Jasper And I love the fact that there's other men

who have matured to the place that they are in leadership and

they're serving Faithfully here. I praise God for that and I

praise God that next year. There's going to be more stories

to tell. God is at work.

So, he prays a lot of really cool stuff there.

In verse 9, he begins to pray with some petitions after he's

given. Thanks, he begins to pray with

some petitions. He says, since the day we heard,

we have not ceased to pray for you asking that you may be

filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and

understanding So the word filled here is literally filled to the

point that there's an absence of everything else that nothing

else can fit inside this. And this is the way that Paul

says, I pray that you can be filled with the knowledge of the

will of God. So there's always these people

in sock about. Well, I've got to go find the

will of God. This is such a great thing

because Paul says, we can pray that you would know it because

it is possible to know God's Will.

And so many times we want to go Lord, which way do I need to

done? Need to marry this person or do

I need to marry this person? And so many times, that's not

the way we look for things like this, but this is not the way

God declares. His, will God declares his will

in this. Then we would know the will of

God. In all spiritual wisdom and

understanding. So as to walk in a manner,

worthy of the Lord, this is the way that we are to know his will

that we could walk in it, that we could walk in a way that

would give make our lives pleasing to him learning.

The will of God is not something that you can be learned like a

theory and Seminary class. They made us take a class called

The presence of God or something like that.

I can't remember what they called it, but it was useless

because it was all talking about the presence of God in your life

in theory, only That's not the way.

You can learn the presence of God in your life.

There's an old book. That's a classic that's called

practicing the presence of God. That's the way this is learned.

We must actually be putting things in order this spiritual

understanding. This wisdom must be things that

are gained. That does, yes, help us to learn

how to prioritize things and give think give these principles

that the scriptures teach, but it's then the Apple applying

them in the way you see. True knowledge always leads to

practical religion. It always does.

Let me said better right. Knowledge leads to right

Behavior. This is what Paul is praying for

this church that they would have right knowledge that would lead

to ride Behavior. Now here's what is tempting

because you have some pastors that are really smart and

sometimes it's tempting to grab some Advanced knowledge about

God. But the not pair it with that,

practical application for your life and that's dangerous.

Knowledge that allows a wretched sinner to be puffed up and what

they think they know is a false knowledge, because knowing about

God and knowing god are very, very different things.

You see what Paul is praying for here is the exact opposite of

Romans 1. When Paul talks about people in

Romans chapter 1, he says that they suppress the truth of God,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

they force it away from themselves.

And what Paul is praying for the church here is that they would

not suppress it, not stiff arm. Not keep it at Bay but that they

would welcome it. You understand?

This is how we accept all truth. To accept truth is really a

couple of stages. The first is you must reject

falsehood. You can't believe that two plus

two is four and that two plus two is five, you can't do that.

And so you got to reject the one in order to embrace the other

and this is how we're called to learn.

God, we must reject all the false things that we used to

believe about God. And this is tricky, because we

grew up in the Bible Belt, that there's so many things that are

pervasive, oh, well, you know, God is just loving, he would

never send you to hell. Will you that must be rejected,

why? Has the truth of God is

different than that. We must reject the falsehoods in

order to bring in the truth. Now watch this new knowledge

always leads to Good Works the new knowledge leads to the right

Behavior. But I want to be careful here.

Because good works are the fruit of God's grace and not the root

of God's grace. You see when God makes a new

people, it happens like this. To make a new people, God gives

them a new heart and that new heart has a new affection.

And those new affections lead to new behaviors.

It happens in that order every time.

Now, what sometimes people want to do is they want to put their

right behaviors and claim that God has given them a new heart.

But you can't do that. You can't exchange the putrid,

vile best effort of a of a man and exchange it for the grace of

God to man, you can't do that. You can't say that this is going

to work, when really all that will work, is the grace of God

and giving a new heart. So new people come with new

hearts and those new Hearts have new affections in those new

affections lead to new behaviors.

And that's this thing that Paul is praying for that God in the

new heart that he's given you. This gospel that is at work in

you that is bearing fruit and increasing which is continued.

Because I just want to say it real clear, I love where you're

at. I know where you've been and I

love where you're at. But I also don't want you to

stay just right here. There's so much more of God to

go into and I can say that for all eternity because he's his

infinite. We must continue to Hosea 6s.

Let us know the Lord. Let us press on to know the Lord

the new heart that God has given us should always continue to

build in this idea that we want to pursue him in All spiritual

wisdom and understanding, until we're filled with the knowledge

of his will this idea of filled literally means that that it's

taking control of you So many of us know things about God.

You've been coming here a long time.

You've been hearing the word be preached, but the life hasn't

changed yet. You must be filled until it

takes over. The missionary, then prays for

this, he prays that you would have power.

Being strengthened with all power.

According to his glorious mind. Now. a millionaire could show up

to dtn and by the way if you know one send them to DPM but a

millionaire could show up to dtn and give of his wealth and it

really not mean that much Right? I can give of the contents of my

wallet and it won't get you far. This is different.

What Paul here, praise is not that God would give of his

wealth, but that God would give according to his wealth.

If a millionaire gives according to his wealth, we're going to

check, right? We're getting something big, if

God grants you from his, well, that may not be very much but if

he gives a cording to his riches that are found in Christ Jesus.

Says in Ephesians 1. What God has for you, is

immense. this is the power to not only strive well, but even

to Suffer Well, Where do you find the strength to do?

What's been called of you in the last 8 weeks?

Can't do this. You can't remain steadfast on

your own. You can't persevere through that

on your own. But the good news is that Paul

the missionary in this missionaries been praying for

you. Then when God would strengthen

you, he wouldn't strengthen you of his mighty strength, but

according to his mighty strength, And this comes into

play even later when the missionary talks about, how he

serves in verse 28, if you'll notice he says him Christ.

We Proclaim warning everyone. In teaching, everyone with all

wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ for

this. I toil struggling with all His

energy that he powerfully works Within Me. if you notice Paul

the missionaries praying, the thing for the church that he

needs for himself, And then he I can't really tell really if this

is a prayer or if this is just Paul jumping into excitement.

But I jump into excitement when I think of New Life Community

Church. And one of the things that Paul

says here and I just give thanks to the father verse 12 who has

qualified you to share in the inheritance of the Saints in

life. He says in Ephesians 2 which is

kind of a very similar book in that one.

He says these Gentiles though they had one time been separated

from Christ. Alienated from the Commonwealth

of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise having

no hope and without God in the world.

Now in Christ Jesus those who are far off have been brought

near and the blood of Christ and that's Colossians and that's

you. Most of us in here are Gentiles

who have been brought near by Christ and I want you to see

this at inheritance that he says is a Sovereign Grace.

You know, Kandi and I have a last will and testament, it was

required before we go overseas. Right?

Have a last will and testament and it will tell which of the

kids get sweat of our assets and it was not very expensive

because if you don't have to put anything on the left side of the

decimal, it's really easy, okay. But we have to show, which kid

gets what, right? And they didn't earn a any of

it. I don't know if you know but

they hadn't earned a thing. Right?

You have this baby and they've done nothing but scream at you

and keep you awake. They did nothing but kick candy

in the stomach for nine months, right?

And we go how let's give this baby everything we have.

It's the same thing with this. The grace that God has given

you. I hope you see that has made you

qualified to receive part of his inheritance is a Sovereign

Grace. It is a Grace that comes

directly from him and not from anything that you've done.

And then verse 13, 14. Paul just cannot help himself

because the gospel he seen in the church at colossae and the

gospel. He's seen work not just in them,

but around the world he prayed specifically would just continue

to be maturing in them and he just kind of breaks into song

and he says Christ has delivered us from the domain of darkness

and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

In whom we have Redemption. The Forgiveness of sins.

He see when the missionary prays for the church.

Missionaries are blessed, sometimes.

When God gives them the Eternal perspective.

So many times, we get so focused on the temporary focused on the

things that are right here in the needs that we have.

And we really forget the in Christ, all of our needs are met

for all eternity. We have Redemption and we have

the hope of redemption because we, as Paul says, we have been

saved and we are being saved in the Salvation that we have

coming is so much closer to us now than when it was, and it's

arriving. And I think Paul just with his

eternal perspective, says, guys, don't you see Don't you see

that? God is not just doing this right

here. We don't have a faith that's

been around. Since you got here, we have a

historic faith that has been going around for thousands of

years. You are in line of a long

lineage of believers who have lived and died for Christ in

Christ. And it's amazing and the same

inheritance that Paul got the same inheritance that epaphras

got the same inheritance that Paul prayed for the church at

colossae, to have is the same. When I pray that you are going

to have, this is a line, this is not a temporary thing.

This is a long thing. And so this is the, My ultimate

prayer for your church that you would continue to know the will

of God so much that you'd be filled with it.

It should know, the will of God so much that you'd be

overflowing with the way to please God in this life.

That you would have wisdom and understanding about how to walk

worthy because to be quite honest, the world is watching.

I don't know if you know, but from recent events.

Lots of eyes have been on you. And I'm thankful that what the

world the watching world is seeing is a city set upon a hill

And I pray that God would just help that to burn brighter.

I pray that because of the hope and love and faith that you have

that, the inheritance you have in the gospel would be treasured

and it would be so treasured that it wouldn't Captivate your

soul in that you don't want to share it but it would Captivate

your soul so that you have to share it.

That you got to take the gospel that God has entrusted to you

and give it to the world. We don't send missionaries to

send missionaries. That's dumb then get a travel

agent to do that. We send missionaries because

it's through them that the truth goes to the nation's.

That's what we want to. Send is the truth, we want to

send the gospel. That's why we send missionaries.

It's because people have so fallen in love with the grace of

God, found in the gospel that they recognize their complete

inability to to deserve it. You see that?

That's one of the biggest necessities. for acceptance of

Grace is to realize your absolute lack of deserving of it

and when you realize how the gospel has made it all the way

to here, even if it took 1700 years, Did it needs to still go

to the other 3.3 billion. And so I want to say,

ultimately, New Life Community Church.

I'm praying that you would continue to love Jesus much.

That you would. Find ways to say God anywhere.

Anyhow, any win any way that you could use me, use me.

I cannot explain to you all the ways that you have blessed dtn

and you have made dtn to be. Go be able to go farther for the

sake of the Gospel. Then we could have ever went

without you So first, have my humble, thanks. the second, I

want to give you an opportunity to Continue to partner with us

to go farther. Somebody's got to turn the air

conditioner on my eyes are sweating.

I love Colin Patricia. I'm not going to look at them,

but I love them. and, I don't know if you knew this but one of

the things that they did when Winnie Kate past was they said

if anybody would like to give donations they should give

donations to disciple the nation's. and because when he

Kate was who she was and how she was Precious little girl.

Who loved the Lord? And loved the Lord's people.

Would you saw this as a great opportunity to be able to honor

her memory and to honor what new life has done?

And so disciple, the nation's is privileged.

To start a new fund called. Winnie Cates kids.

We beg God with lettuce. To give children around the

world, an opportunity just to be raised in the nurture and

admonition of the Lord. And I've asked Colin Patricia,

if they would be on the team that leads, those decisions that

would choose How we would use those funds that God brings in

except for the first ones, because I was kind of on a time

crunch and I wanted to surprise them.

And so I I got to decide the first one.

Kyle has helped. Several times with a group of

leaders that I train every Thursday morning in Africa,

they're in Malawi, and Mozambique and their six guys.

And and they oversee 21 churches there that they're pastoring and

shepherding and doing the best they can to share the gospel in

those areas. And it's an area where Malawi

and Mozambique Earth to the most impoverished countries on the

planet Malawi's. Actually number five on the list

of most, and Mozambique is no. 47.

And if you take the average of the entire country, the average

annual income for Malawi is about 350 dollars a year, okay?

But these guys are the farthest away possible from any sort of

large city. And that they don't make that.

And as we just go and pray for him, three of these guys.

Well, one of them, we do it as at his house.

And then two guys walk from about two miles away once a

week. One way to come and listen to me

talk as we train them in Ministry and the other three

come from about 12 km away. And they come and listen.

And once they did that every week Faithfully for a year, I

decided that was enough and I raised, you know, by God's

grace, he brought some funds in that we could buy them bicycles

and just of tried to find ways to serve and help them.

They've had two years of massive flooding, then it followed by a

year of drought. They have no food, I have

pictures of little children, eating stuff that they should

not be eating. Because that's what they have.

And so these six pastors, I talk to them about what they need and

dtn is actually helped. We spent part of this year doing

some testing on some crops so that these guys could be able to

provide food for their families and then also their widows and

Orphans of their churches. All of them, have orphanages

that they've taken orphans in from around the community, and

they just serve and do whatever they can and we try to help but,

every week when we talked about some things that they're dealing

with, they always pray, you know?

It would love for our kids to be able to go to school and you

guys probably have that you want your children to be educated and

to have opportunities. It's a little different for them

in Malawi children, are allowed to go to school until they're

age of 12. And then after that, there's

what they call a secondary school that requires a large sum

of money to be able to attend. And none of our guys are able to

afford it. So a lot of young men get into

big trouble that's 12 and 13 year old.

Boys should never be allowed to be idle, right?

And so a lot of their boys get in big trouble.

There's just no opportunity. But their biggest concern is

there girls. Because they're having children

that you can't feed. Anyways, one thing, but having

12 and 13 year old people that start eating like adults makes

life even harder. and so, what often happens, well, I've seen a

lot of Twelve-year-old, Brides. And I've seen lots of 12 year

old mothers. because, They will try to find somebody else that

could take care of them. And here's the thing, if they

can't get married, they can't find someone that has some

funds. That would be willing to pay.

Then the next logical step for these 12 year old girls is

prostitution. And for the last two years is

we've been training. These guys, they've been telling

us over and over. Pray that the Lord would help us

find a way to get our kids in school.

And so what I've done is, I looked at the six pastors and

have lots of kids. Oh about older and younger but

there's four girls. At school age who they weren't

able to go to school. But because of Winnie, Cates

kids, they start school tomorrow.

So, I want to show you. This is actually Hadassah.

I don't know how I messed up that name and Siddhartha,

Francisco and Emma. Now is oniy.

This is Duncan's daughter. Go to the next one, please.

And this is Rebecca in memory and these girls are young girls

who are sons of our daughters of pastors, who love them.

Well, And want what's best for him.

And I'm thankful that we get to serve and support those pastors

and make opportunities for these daughters through indicates

fund. And I want to ask if you want to

help because this is the last one of those decisions.

I'm making Colin Patricia is going to take over, but I've

given you an opportunity. If you can scan that, if you

want to give, then that will go into a fund that we promise.

Will always be used to help young people.

Young kids to be able to grow in the nurture and admonition of

the Lord and I have don't know where it'll go.

But I trust in their hands is going to go in a good place.

Can I pray for you stand? Father, I love my brother and my

sister. And God, I'm grateful for the

gospel that has been the anchor for their soul, though.

The waves have crashed and caused all sorts of Destruction.

You have by your grace held them firm and father.

I know that that is having a major impact in this church and

in this community and father. Now I pray that you would use it

to make a Major Impact in your world as you take weenie.

Kate's story and her love for you and love for children.

To the nation's. We do this father in your honor

and For Your Great Name sake. And we do this so that your

glory would cover the Earth as the waters cover the sea father.

Thank you for giving us the ministry of reconciliation.

This ministry of gospel Proclamation because father,

this thing that the is happening in the church, the missionaries

praying that the church would continue.

Because there's so many other places that don't have it. so

God, I pray that you don't Just bear fruit and mature new life

for new life sake. But you would mobilize them for

the nation's sake. For this.

I pray in the name of your son. Amen.

For this. I pray in the name of your son.

Amen.