MID WEEK MOTIVATION - October 1, 2025 (Marc Lewis & Grant Stegall)

You're listening to the Midweek Motivation Podcast from DeSoto Hills Baptist Church in South Haven, Mississippi.

Here's your host, Mark Lewis, David Burgess, Laura Ulrich, and Pastor Grant Steagall.

Welcome to the Midweek Motivation Podcast for Wednesday, October the 1st, here at DeSoto Hills Baptist Church.

I'm Mark Lewis.

I'm Grant Steagall.

We hope this programming can encourage folks throughout DeSoto County and beyond.

Be sure to subscribe and share our link on social media.

It is season two, episode five today.

It is busy, busy, busy.

We have homecoming at Horn Lake.

We also have homecoming right down the road here at DeSoto Central.

So there's lots of activities going on and it is absolute craziness.

By the way, just turning the corner, there is a sign on the corner of Church Road and Get Will.

I don't know if you've seen it.

It's advertising for Christmas lights to be put up at your house.

Somebody stuck a sign on the road that said, If you want Christmas lights, come to me.

I cannot believe we're already talking about Christmas lights.

Oh yeah.

All right, today we're diving into one of the most impactful mission initiatives in our state, the Margaret Lackey State Mission Mission Offering, excuse me.

This isn't just about fundraising, it's about seeing lives changed right here in Mississippi.

Margaret Lackey was a school teacher and a passionate advocate for missions.

Her legacy lives on through this offering.

It supports over 20 vital ministries in the state of Mississippi, from campus ministries at Old Miss and Mississippi State to feeding programs in Jackson to supporting church planters all across the state.

When we give, especially sacrificially, we participate in what God is doing.

Like the widow who gave her two coins, the power isn't in the amount, it's in the obedience and the faithfulness.

And you've been pushing this for weeks, a couple of weeks.

And this Sunday is the day.

Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Sure.

So uh Margaret Lackey missions offering.

We we have three special offerings every year that we that we take up.

Um Margaret Lackey kind of kicks off the church year uh for us, like you said, it is the a mission Mississippi focused mission giving.

At Christmas, we do Lottie Moon.

It is an international focused.

At Easter, we do Annie Armstrong, it is a North American mission board.

So Margaret Lackey, we focus on Mississippi.

Our goal this year is$8,000.

Uh last year our goal was$5,000.

We exceeded that, so we uh upped that a little bit this year.

Um, and it it does support a lot of things.

You mentioned a few.

Can I just there's some really cool ones I want to point out?

Please.

One thing that Margaret Lackey offering supports is criminal justice ministries.

So in state correctional facilities in the state of Mississippi, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has seminary extensions in some of those correctional facilities.

That's wild.

So people are getting their MDivs and and things from from seminary while they're in prison.

Um and then to hear at some of the some of the state um meetings that I went to this year, um there is there is a revival going on in some of our correctional institutions in Mississippi.

Um Christ is being um I He is working.

The Holy Spirit is working in in a lot of those places.

So that is really big.

Another big thing that Margaret Lackey supports is disaster relief.

I don't know how many of our listeners know it, but and I don't know if you know it, but Mississippi Baptist Disaster Relief is it's really is it's it's known throughout the world, not just, but they show up and they have these bright yellow shirts and bright yellow hats.

And when that truck pulls up at disaster relief places all across our country and even across our world, people are excited, especially like people who are trying to handle the disaster relief and manage it.

They're excited when they pull up because Mississippi does disaster relief very, very well.

So this offering goes to uh support those church planning and revitalization, uh, it helps those.

Um, as we talked about.

Another thing that I love is the port ministries to internationals.

There are two ports uh in Gulf Port and Pascagoula that ships come in from all over the world bringing bringing things, and we have two centers in both of those where people can come.

This right on the port.

They can get off their ship and come because they usually can't go far because a lot of them aren't have aren't undocumented and things, but they can come to that, take a shower, get some good food, rest and relax, go get back on their ship.

Like it is a neat ministry uh that Mississippi Baptist does, so this supports them.

It supports short-term mission trips.

So uh we're we're gonna go on some short-term mission trips in 2026.

Um, this offering will go and support some of our people who go on those, but also other other uh people who are going on short-term mission trips.

Collegiate ministry, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, uh, even our Baptist colleges, our our community college, BSUs across our state.

Um, this offering helps uh collegiate ministries.

And then two camps we have Central Hills and Camp Garraway that are spreading the gospel to kids and students every summer.

Yeah.

Every time it supports them as well.

So it's a it's a big offering.

There's a lot, and that that's not every I didn't mention everything, I just highlighted a few.

So it's a big uh the cooperative program dollars would not stretch far enough to hit everything you just mentioned.

Correct.

And cooperative program, this is alongside cooperative program, some of your cooperative program dollars goes to these things, but it wouldn't they would not be able to do what they do without this offering.

Right.

So very, very uh important that we take this offering very seriously.

And we're gonna be taking this offering up Sunday morning during both services.

Correct.

Just when we when we take up the offering um at the end of the service as we as we have begun to do again, right?

Um there are you can just label that.

You can if you put it in any envelope and lay label it Margaret Lackey, you can do that.

There are designated Margaret Lackey envelopes at the work at the Welcome Center, so you can pick up one of those and and put your uh check or cash or however.

You can put do that online if you're an online giver.

Um we have a designated spot.

We have a designated spot for Margaret Lackey online as well.

Okay, and then you could of course drop it off in offering boxes or send it into the church office as long as it's well marked.

We'll know that that's what you want it to go for.

Yep.

Okay, it's October.

We've got fall festival coming up.

Busy, busy, busy time.

Uh, and this is uh a big storage unit today, getting stuff out of storage today, getting ready.

Um, so anything you want to mention about that, we're we're taking up candy at this point.

Taking up candy.

Um sign-ups will go out really soon uh for you to sign up uh when you can do that.

There's a couple things that we are gonna do differently, not differently.

That's probably not the best way to say that.

We're there's some other things we're gonna be doing with the Fall Fest.

One is last year we had a prayer tent.

I remember.

Um we're gonna do two of those this year.

We're gonna have to do one up by the church building and one down by the pavilion.

Um so it'll just be a place where if you need prayer, you can go by there uh and do that.

So we're looking for some people that would be willing to work in in the tent, which will be a new place.

We're also this year gonna try, uh, we're making about 300 buttons that you can pin on that say iHeartDHBC.

And we're gonna we're encouraging all of our church members to get a button and wear that button so we can recognize each other.

So when you see someone who's not wearing a butt button, you know that they're not a member of our church.

They may be a member of another church, but we don't know.

So I'm gonna I'm encouraging folks, if you if if someone's not wearing a button, go talk to them and say, Hey, do you have a church?

Let me tell you about DeSoda Hills and and engage people who are not.

Uh, and let's really make this uh a community outreach event too, where we're also inviting people to our church, not just hosting this event, which is good in and of itself.

I'm glad we do it, but but also take take the initiative to invite people.

Yeah, we also want to mention that next Wednesday night is October the 8th.

That is fall break for schools, so we will not be having our normal programming here.

Correct.

So we wanted to make you aware of that.

Also, as a part of that programming note, we won't be doing a normal midweek moment podcast, but we do want to recast um Sam Henderson's presentation that he gave a few weeks ago on our Sunday night worship night and to tell them just a little bit about Sam Henderson and and the work that he's doing.

So Sam is a church planner, he's planning a redemption church in Coldwater.

Um they're having, I mean, I think they just celebrated their first year about three weeks ago from the time we're making this podcast.

Um they've just celebrated their first year of meeting.

Right.

Uh as you know, having services.

Um they meet at a at a if it was already a church that closed their doors.

Um, and so they have that building that they are meeting in.

Um, and you know, you know, I think it's been tough, but at the same time, uh Sam seems to be enjoying it and uh God is is working.

It's slow going, but they are growing, which is what's what's encouraging.

And DeSoto Hills is is helping.

Yes, we support them monthly.

Okay.

Yeah.

I love it.

So you if you want to know more about that and you were you missed him uh his presentation, it was fantastic, by the way.

We will be recasting that next Wednesday morning, right here on the Midweek Motivation Podcast.

We have now going to shift our devotion port to our devotion portion of the podcast that we call the Midweek Moment.

So today is October the 1st.

Um, we are starting the New Testament in our read through the Bible, Mark.

Today, baby.

Matthew, thank you.

Thank you, Apostle Matthew.

We we appreciate you so much.

Um, so for those of you who have been reading through your Bible, great job.

Uh, for those of you who have gotten behind or anything, keep it up.

It's okay.

Don't don't worry about it.

For those of you who have just dropped it, you know what?

The New Testament is a great place to pick it back up.

Don't feel like, oh, I gotta go read through the minor prophets or I'm not just hey, just pick it up at Matthew, just start there.

Uh to read through the New Testament in the in the throughout the rest of the year is a good goal to have.

So, so just just pick it up there if you want to.

So, starting the New Testament, starting in Matthew today.

Um, so what I want to do is is just talk just a little bit about Matthew, give you a little bit of a background there.

Uh, Matthew um is also known as Levi in the New Testament.

He was an apostle, he was a tax collector, um, which we talked about this not too long ago, uh, Mark.

I think tax collectors were um, I mean, they were viewed as traitors, uh, basically by the Jewish people because they were brought on by the Roman government to collect taxes, which Rome was probably already overcharging people for taxes.

And then most tax collectors, what they did was charge even more and line to their own pockets uh with those and so with that money.

And so they were they were not only hated, but I mean they were they were viewed as traitors.

People did not like them.

And Jesus came along to Matthew and called him, and he left what he was doing and and followed, followed Jesus.

Um Matthew is a is a super interesting book though, because in the Gospel of Matthew, you're gonna have probably more, I think it's more, if not more, as much as Old Testament prophecy.

Matthew is going to point out how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy.

Several reasons for that.

One is he was right, his audience that he was writing to.

He was writing to either people who were Jews who were kind of on the line of could Jesus really, could he be, or people who had trusted Christ and it was just to encourage them.

And so that's why you have all the prophecies because the Jewish people should have known those.

And and what he's trying to do is highlight okay, here's a prophecy, here's how Jesus fulfilled it.

See, here's a prophecy, see, you see, come on here, and so he that's really uh his target audience uh was was a big big thing there, and then he talked a lot about the kingdom of God.

Uh talked about God's kingdom, and and that is said a lot, the kingdom of God.

Matthew chapter 13 is a ton of parables where he says the kingdom of God is like the I mean, the kingdom of God is like a farmer who went out and sowed seed.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

The kingdom of God is like a pearl of great value, the kingdom of God is like a treasure that was hidden in a field.

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

Like so he he talks a lot about the kingdom of God and what it is.

If it it's really hard, a lot of times we try to find like a verse that kind of summarizes a book.

It's really hard to do that in Matthew, uh, but but but I want to focus on one today just to kind of help us see.

I didn't say this, but really the theme in Matthew is Jesus is the Messiah King.

But he's talking about the kingdom of God.

Jesus is the king of that kingdom, and then he's talking about he is the Messiah that was promised.

So when you put those together, he is the Messiah King, he is the one who reigns.

And so when you come to Matthew chapter 16, Jesus is talking to the disciples, and in verse 13 it says, Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is?

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

And they said, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

And he said to them, But who do you say that I am?

Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And so Jesus comes to him and says, Hey, you're out among the people, you hear them talking about me, who do they say that I am?

Some say John the Baptist, which is crazy because Jesus lived during the time of John the Baptist.

They were seen in the same places at the same time.

John the Baptist baptized him in Matthew 3.

So, so the fact that they're saying he's John the Baptist is kind of crazy to me.

Some say Elijah, uh, some or one of the other prophets, some say Jeremiah.

You you're one of those.

And he said, Okay, that's all fine and well, but but who do you?

You've been around me the most.

You've seen, you've heard my teachings.

Who do you say that I am?

And Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

So that word for Christ is kind of the New Testament word for Messiah.

So so he is Peter is uh confessing, you are the Messiah.

Now I'm convinced Peter didn't fully recognize what he is saying there.

Uh he had his idea and vision of what the Messiah was supposed to do.

He thought Jesus was the Messiah.

He just thought Jesus as the Messiah was going to do something differently.

It wasn't really until the crucifixion that they understood uh oh, this has to happen first.

And so, and and even then it took a while for some of them to come around.

Well, they really thought he was gonna set up some sort of kingdom on earth.

Right then.

Like when he's talking about the kingdom of God, they thought he's doing it then.

And what he is saying is, no, I've got to save you first.

Like your souls have to be saved.

You can't be with me until until we've dealt with this sin problem.

So we're gonna deal with that, and then we're gonna set up this kingdom.

And so, and so, yes, but when he comes and says, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, like that is a question that we all are going to have to deal with.

At some point in our life, we are gonna have to deal with it.

It may be today, or it may be after we die.

But at some point, we're gonna have to ask, what have we done with Christ?

Have we accepted him or have we rejected him?

And and Matthew's gonna tell tell you in his gospel what happens for those that reject, what happens for those who accept.

I pray for all of those who are listening.

Um I pray for everyone that they will come to a place where they accept Christ as the Messiah King.

Thanks so much for listening.

If you don't have a church home, we'd love to see you here Sunday morning.

You can catch our services online at DeSotoHills.com, our YouTube channels, at DeSoto Hills Baptist Church for all of our church family.

We love you.

We'll be off next Wednesday for fall break, but we will have a special episode for you to hear on here anyway.

We'll see you bright and early October 15th.

God bless.

This has been your midweek motivation.

We'd love to have you join us in person on Sunday mornings.

Our services are at 9 and 10 30 a.m.