Our Mission Sunday contribution demonstrated once again your strong commitment to missions and your generous willingness to share your blessings with others. I’d like to focus on both of these aspects of this wonderful church family as we enjoy this Thanksgiving weekend, for truly this expresses our gratitude in a real and practical and needed way.

This church has a great history of mission work. Haiti, Nigeria, Guatemala, Ukraine, and other places around the world have benefitted from the work of this church. Helping to support great works such as Eastern European Mission and the ministry of Denny Landon enables our reach to go to more countries, more areas, more ministry efforts, and more churches than we could ever know.

But the church here has always had a greater commitment than just financial support. We have been involved in hands-on ways by sending our own members to Haiti, Nigeria, Ukraine, and other places. We have had members involved every week with our Brewer Road mission efforts through teaching classes, tutoring students, and other ways. Truly, there is a commitment to fulfilling the great commission of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8) here in this church family that goes to the very fiber of what we are all about.

And that is seen in the generous spirit with which this church always rises to the occasion when mission efforts we are committed to are in need of funding. We have well over $30,000 of our $35,000 Mission Sunday goal given or pledged. I have NO doubt but that we will surpass that goal by the end of this year. Certainly the reason for that is because our ultimate trust is in God, and not in our possessions, and that can be clearly seen by how we hold our possessions with an open hand rather than a clinched fist, and are ready and willing to share with those in need, and particularly with those in need of hearing the wonderful news of the gospel of Christ.

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)