[0:00] But it's great to be with you and to share. And thank you for the invitation and the opportunity. And I want to share, first of all, with you a little about the work of Slavic Gospel Association.
[0:11] Later on, I will be going into the hall. I trust you'll join us there because it's then I will share a PowerPoint on the work in Ukraine and what is happening in that country right now with some of our missionaries and how we're seeking to reach out and to help.
[0:25] And indeed, when we look at our news media, we see destruction. We see death and devastation. But I want to tell you tonight, the church is alive in Ukraine and God is doing wonderful things.
[0:38] Join us in the hall after the meeting tonight. Slavic Gospel Association is not a sending agency. We don't send missionaries to Central and Eastern Europe or Central Asia or Far East Russia.
[0:51] But we seek to equip the national believers that they might fulfill the great commission of Jesus Christ and reach their people with the glorious gospel that we have heard read from Colossians chapter 1.
[1:05] And so we seek to do that through our four core ministries. There is the training of workers. That's our Bible school ministry. Supporting leaders is where we're helping church planters.
[1:15] Publishing literature is where we fund the publication of good, sound Christian literature. And crisis response is where we reach out to widows, orphans, refugees, and the situation that currently is in Ukraine.
[1:29] The training of workers has been a huge part of our ministry over the years. And we thank God that that work continues to go forward with God's help. Of course, during lockdown and the time of the virus, we were unable to travel.
[1:42] So we could not be in our schools to teach in person. But the Lord was doing something wonderful during that time because the church leaders in the countries began to teach their own people.
[1:54] This was something that we longed to see happening for years. But as long as we were traveling, they were never ready to step up to the mark and take on that extra responsibility. But when we were grounded and in our homes and couldn't travel, the church leaders carried on the teaching program.
[2:10] And we rejoice in that. And that has been something wonderful. That's going to continue as we continue with our teaching. It's going to be 50% teaching from UK and also 50% from church leaders in the country.
[2:24] In January, a new group of students began in Moldova. That was the 15th group of students, 26 of them. And what a joy to be there to welcome them. And while I was there in Moldova, my colleague Mark Foster was over in Poland, welcoming the fourth group of students there, 34 in the group in Poland.
[2:44] Later this year, I'll be traveling to North Serbia to open a new school amongst Hungarian speakers. And there's a great need to have people trained to serve the Lord amongst those people in the north of Serbia.
[2:57] And while I'm there, John Burney will be in Romania opening another new school. And so our teaching ministry continues, and we thank God for that. I want to bring you now to Central Asia and share with you about two projects that are very much alive right now.
[3:13] When we consider Central Asia, we're thinking of those five Central Asian countries. We have Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
[3:23] And of course, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan all border with the large country of China. And so it's a great opportunity to serve God in Central Asia, partnering with other missionary societies.
[3:37] We're serving and helping with Transworld Radio as we seek to use the airwaves for the glory of God. Of course, during communism, SGA was greatly involved in radio ministry.
[3:48] And, you know, the Iron Curtain could not stop the airwaves and the gospel reaching in to many of the countries during those days. I met a young man a few years ago in Russia.
[3:58] His name was Eugene. And he was sharing about his grandfather. And he said, you know, I'm delighted that I've got my grandfather's Bible. And he was so thrilled to have his grandfather's Bible.
[4:09] But as he continued to share, he said, it's my grandfather's handwritten Bible from Genesis to Revelation. While Slavic Gospel Association were reading the Word of God across the airwaves, my grandfather was sitting writing down the Word of God for himself.
[4:27] The airwaves are a great tool for reaching people with God's Word and with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so with Transworld Radio, we launched a project just last year called Sending Little Missionaries.
[4:42] Sending Little Missionaries is providing funds for radios, but also uploaded SD cards that have got scripture readings, sermons, songs, and testimonies.
[4:53] So if the people cannot tune in with their radio and they can't get a frequency, then they can listen to the SD card anywhere, any place, at any time.
[5:04] When we launched this project, initially we want to provide 500 of these little sets, mission accomplished. But God made it 1,000. God has made it almost 1,500.
[5:15] And it continues to grow. Our partners on the ground are distributing these little missionaries right across Central Asian countries. It's wonderful to hear about believers that are being edified in their faith, but also to hear about non-believers, Muslim people, because Central Asia, of course, is a Muslim part of the world.
[5:35] Listening to the Word of God on the SD cards, one lady shared her testimony. She said, you know, I'm a Muslim. My husband is a Muslim. And we always considered ourselves that we'd be Muslims for the rest of our lives.
[5:49] But she said, I got one of the little missionaries. And I began to listen on the SD card secretly, away from my husband, listening to the Word of God. That woman testified of how she came to faith in the Lord, and her life has been transformed by God's power.
[6:06] The second project that I want to mention in Central Asia is Bibles for the Nations. This is in partnership with Bible Mission in Germany, as we seek to provide God's Word for the nations in Central Asia.
[6:19] To date, the Lord has helped us to provide and have published the Bible in Kazakh, Tajik, and Uzbek languages. The project that is very much alive at the moment is in the Russian language.
[6:35] And you might ask the question, well, why are you printing the Bible in Russian for Central Asia? Well, there are over 35 different people groups in Central Asia with different languages.
[6:46] And so it's almost impossible to have God's Word in all of the mother tongues of Central Asia. But Russian is a common language, a little bit like Spanish in South America.
[6:58] And so people will understand, while it certainly would be much better to have it in the mother tongue for all of the people, the challenge is huge. We don't believe we've got the time on our side.
[7:09] And so providing the Russian Bible, and when I speak about providing Bibles, we're talking about Bible sets. These are adult Bibles and children's Bibles to reach families in Central Asia.
[7:22] The family unit is very precious. It's very strong in Central Asia. And so we want to reach families, and we believe by reaching families, we reach nations for God.
[7:34] And so Bibles for the nations as we reach families through God's Word. Something wonderful has been happening. Just a few weeks ago, in a country that's involved in the war in Ukraine, in a printing press in that country, something wonderful happened.
[7:53] God's Word was being printed, and the trucks arrived to have the Bibles uploaded onto the containers, and those Bibles are being taken right across to their destination, and we rejoice in that this evening.
[8:10] But just on Friday, a week ago, before I left to come up to your island, I got some pictures sent through to me of Bibles in the Russian language, sitting on pallets, many, many of them, thousands and thousands of them, that have been printed.
[8:28] And those Bibles will be making their way down into Central Asia. The believers are already prepared to distribute them, and they will distribute the Bible sets to four families, and they'll seek to witness to them, and see God working in their lives, and see families brought to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[8:49] Please do remember these two projects in Central Asia, sending little missionaries, Bibles for the nations, and may God help us as we seek to reach Central Asia in this day of opportunity.
[9:03] The other project I want to mention to you in this part of the service is Project 70. If you follow SGA's literature, I think it's been impossible for you to escape reading about Project 70.
[9:16] 2020 was a special year for SGA UK when we marked a very special milestone in the history of the mission, giving thanks to God for 70 years of His faithfulness.
[9:29] We had many events organized in the UK and Ireland to give thanks to the Lord, but you know due to what happened two years ago, those events had to be canceled or postponed.
[9:42] But the project for the field ministry was something that God put very powerfully on our hearts, and that was that God would send 70 missionary families during 2020, and SGA would support them.
[9:59] We prayed about this, and God really did speak to our hearts about this very powerfully, and as a staff in SGA, we felt that this is a huge project, but God is in it.
[10:11] Indeed, this was the biggest project we ever launched in the history of the mission, but we were stepping out in faith and trusting God that God would see it through for His glory and for the extension of His kingdom.
[10:28] You know, as I gather here this evening with you, I'm not here to tell you that God sent 70 missionary families, but God sent 80. You know, the Word of God says that the Lord does exceed in abundantly above all who can ever ask or even think, and the Lord did that for us in sending 80 missionary families during the year 2020 to mark a milestone in the life of our mission.
[10:54] We rejoice tonight that many of those missionary families are fully sponsored by churches and individuals right across the United Kingdom and Ireland. This project really developed in three regions.
[11:08] It developed in Far East Russia. SGA UK began ministering in Far East Russia in 2018. We had never been involved in Russia before, because that's where our sister mission, SGA America, had been serving with SGA Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and that was the part of the world that they were focusing on, while SGA UK were focusing on what is known as the satellite communist countries.
[11:37] But in 2016, at an SGA conference of the general directors and leaders, it was suggested that the five SGA officers worldwide would join together in an initiative called Reach Russia Now.
[11:51] And so that is to reach Far East Russia with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Far East Russia is almost the size of the United States of America. There are nine regions.
[12:01] This is just Far East Russia, not all of Russia, just Far East Russia, Siberia and beyond. Population of 6.5 million in that large territory.
[12:12] Tonight, SGA through Project 70 are supporting 12 missionary families in Far East Russia. Also, we're helping to finance the aviation program, where there are two little airplanes flying missionaries to the isolated communities of Far East Russia.
[12:31] I haven't gone there in the winter. I'm a little bit of a coward when it comes to the cold weather. I understand in Far East Russia in the winter, it can be down to minus 60. And one of my colleagues from America was there, and it was interesting to see some of the pictures with his beard, and he was outside, and the icicles were hanging from his beard.
[12:50] I prefer to go in the month of June. And in the month of June, it's about plus 12 or 14, and it was amazing just to see what God is doing in Far East Russia and through Project 70.
[13:03] The other area where Project 70 really developed was in Central Asia. And tonight, SGA UK are supporting 30 missionary families in Central Asia, and one country in Eastern Europe, Project 70, really developed with God's help, and that is the country Ukraine.
[13:26] Join me in the hall to hear more of what God is doing in that country, even in these days of war, and we look forward to sharing about that.
[13:37] We've had read to us this evening about the gospel, and what the gospel can do, and the results of the gospel in Colossians chapter 1.
[13:49] Paul the Apostle was a man that we read about in Romans chapter 1, 16. He could say, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.
[14:00] Tonight, dear friends, as we gather in this church, we rejoice in the gospel and the power of the gospel and the reality of the gospel and what the gospel can do across the world.
[14:12] We're not a defeated people tonight. We're on the winning side, and we have a glorious message to bring to the nations, a message that transforms lives.
[14:24] This is the glorious message of the gospel, as Paul the Apostle spoke about it. And here, as we have read together in Colossians, we have read about the gospel.
[14:36] During the Second World War, France was occupied by the forces of Hitler, and during that occupation, there were many brave men and women of the French resistance who were out to frustrate and eventually helped defeat their enemy.
[14:52] In the first days of the invasion, many of these resistant volunteers removed all the road signs in France so that the advancing German army did not know which way to turn or what direction to take, and it led to a lot of confusion and frustration.
[15:08] There is confusion and frustration today because the signposts of the gospel are being taken down. In France, it was done to frustrate the enemy, but in our day, it's been done by the enemy to frustrate the spread of the gospel across our world.
[15:27] There are many in our country tonight and on this island who don't know what way to turn. They don't know what direction to take. In such a time of crisis, we turn for our direction to the Word of God, and we find here in God's Word alone the reliable signposts that God has given to us for our living.
[15:48] At this time, when Paul was writing to the church at Colossae, there was confusion that was invading the church. It was a heresy at that time, known as Gnosticism, that was denying the supremacy and the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[16:06] And Paul is writing to the church at Colossae because the very person of Christ was being attacked, and the sufficiency of Christ was being threatened and was being attacked, and the supremacy of Christ.
[16:20] And as Paul seeks to write to the people in Colossae, he focuses them on the gospel and on the power of the gospel and of how the gospel can transform lives and minister to individuals.
[16:34] And I want to leave four points with you this evening as we look at Colossians chapter 1. The first thought I want to leave with you this evening is heralding the gospel, sharing the gospel.
[16:47] As we read here together in Colossians chapter 1, verse 6, which has come to you as indeed in the world and is bearing fruit and increasing, which has come to you as in all the world.
[17:03] And also in verse 23, which was preached to every creature, there was the heralding of the gospel. The gospel was being sounded out.
[17:15] Now we read here in verse 7 about Epaphras, and he had been saved, and he was sharing this thrilling news with his relatives and his friends back home.
[17:26] And perhaps it would have been exciting for Epaphras to stay with Paul in Ephesus where so much was happening. But he was going back to his home place. He was going to share this wonderful message of the gospel with his own people.
[17:43] And this was his mission field. Friends, tonight, I think it's true to say that our home mission field is the most difficult mission field. I'm sure for Epaphras, it would have been much easier for him to stay in Ephesus where there was revival and blessing away from the home mission field.
[18:00] But he went back to his own people. And I think for us, dear friends, believers tonight in this church, the challenge, the biggest challenge is our home mission field.
[18:13] To share the gospel with our family, with our neighbors, with our workmates, with those in the classroom, with those that we meet together to tell them that Jesus is the mighty to save.
[18:27] It's a challenge. But here, there's herald in the gospel, and Epaphras is bringing the gospel to his people. And this proclamation, the Word of God tells us here, it concerns the truth.
[18:41] The truth of the gospel. You know, the gospel of Christ is nothing less than the truth. There are many messages and ideas that can be called true, but only God's Word can be called truth.
[18:57] Satan is a liar. And to believe his lies is to be led astray into death, as we read in John chapter 8 and verse 44. But Jesus is the truth, and when we trust him, we experience life.
[19:13] In John chapter 10 and verse 10, the Word of God reminds us that the thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But Jesus said, I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.
[19:26] My friends, we rejoice tonight that this life is eternal life. It's abundant life. It's life that comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This wonderful message that we are to herald to the nations.
[19:40] There's life for the Luke at the crucified one tonight. There's that transforming power. You see, the gospel, it is the truth of the gospel.
[19:51] Men have tried to destroy God's truth, but they have failed. because the Word of truth still stands tonight, and the Word of truth is for the whole world, as we see in verse 6.
[20:06] It was Dr. Walter Wilson who would quote John 3, 16, and then ask, if you were to give a gift that would be suitable for the whole world, what would you give?
[20:17] He then listed several possibilities and shared how these gifts could not suit everybody. Gave everybody in the world books, many cannot read. Give them foods, people eat different things in different parts of the world.
[20:32] Clothing, climates are different. Money, not every culture makes use of money. And he came to the logical conclusion that only the gospel with the gift of eternal life was suitable for the whole world.
[20:47] And my friends, he was right. The gospel is for the whole world. Because man's need is the same all over the world. The Word of God reminds us in Romans chapter 3, 23, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
[21:02] My friends, we have all sinned as for as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death hath passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Romans chapter 5, verse 12.
[21:13] This is why the gospel is suitable for the whole world. Because man's need is the same all over the world. And here we've got this message of the gospel to herald to the nations at this time.
[21:27] Heralding the gospel. What a wonderful message we have to bring to the nations tonight. To bring to your island, to bring to Northern Ireland where I live, to my neighbors close by me and across the world.
[21:41] The world needs to hear about Jesus. And here we have this wonderful message heralding the gospel. Secondly, hearing the gospel.
[21:54] And here we find in verse 5 and in the latter part of this verse, of this you know have heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.
[22:06] Again, in verse 6, since the day that you heard it and you understood. And in verse 23, again, we read about the hope of the gospel that you heard.
[22:21] You see, my friends, tonight there is heralding the gospel, but there is hearing the gospel. And as Paul writes here to the church of Colossae, he speaks to them about people who heard the gospel.
[22:33] Now, sometimes in Northern Ireland we say that the gospel runs of people like water of a duck. You know what I mean? It doesn't really penetrate or get through to them. And isn't that true with many, many people in our society?
[22:46] The gospel doesn't seem to enter into their hearts. But here, these people, the Bible says, they heard, they heard in the innermost part of their soul, they heard the message of the gospel.
[23:04] Do you remember the Lord Jesus spoke about the different types of ground in Mark 4 and Matthew 13, the different types of soil and the seed was sowing? And then Jesus said, He that has an ear, let him hear.
[23:19] That Jesus was saying that the message will reach into the innermost part of the individual hearing the gospel.
[23:32] Not only do we have heralding the gospel and hearing the gospel, but we have the hope of the gospel. And here we find in verse 5, Paul writing to the church of Colossae, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.
[23:47] Again, in verse 23, if indeed you continue in faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. And look again at verse 27, where Paul speaks to the people and he speaks about Christ in you, the hope of glory.
[24:10] You know, friends, hope means certainty for the future. There's a joyful confidence and an expectation of salvation. Glory here refers to the glorious state to be enjoyed by the believer in heaven.
[24:26] And so, for the child of God, so the hope of glory refers to this wonderful certainty. My friends, there is hope in the gospel. It's not a hope so, it's a certainty.
[24:42] You know, my friends, I'm not just standing before you tonight and hoping it'll all work out in the end. But as I stand before you, I have a certainty. I have a blessed assurance that Jesus is mine.
[24:57] I have a hope and that hope is steadfast and it is sure tonight. No, my friends, the Word of God says, Christ in you, the hope of glory.
[25:10] There is a wonderful hope in the gospel. The gospel is based on relationship. It's a hope. It's a certainty. You're the unsaved, those without Christ.
[25:22] The Bible tells us they're without hope because they're without God. We read that in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 12. They are without hope.
[25:33] Those outside of Christ have no hope. But in the Bible, hope, it means a certain day. And my friends, there is a wonderful truth tonight. And there's hope in the gospel.
[25:44] The false teachers tried to unsettle the Colossian believers and move them away from the hope of the gospel as we see there in verse 23. But Paul makes it clear that this hope is laid up for the believers.
[25:58] in heaven as we see in verse 5. What a wonderful hope that we have tonight. And not only is this hope being reserved for us, but we are being kept by God's power so that we can be sure of enjoying heaven one day.
[26:14] The Lord keeps us by His power. We have a hope, my friends. A young man went out to China or Japan, I think it was, to teach a believer.
[26:26] He was a believer and he was told never to mention the name of Jesus before the students and in his class. Never mention Christianity. That young man, he didn't do that, but he lived his life for God.
[26:42] And he lived it in such a way that those young people in his class began to turn to the Lord one by one. He was living out that hope that was in him.
[26:54] And my friends, the hope of the gospel is a certainty tonight. It's a reality that we can have in Jesus Christ. A young man also got converted and he was a worldly young man.
[27:08] He was involved in worldly things, but the Lord saved him and changed him and transformed him. One night, his old friends gathered around him and they began to talk to him.
[27:19] They said, John, they said, if you were away from all the Christians and away from church, would you be back to your old life and you were left alone, would you be back to your own life?
[27:33] And John thought for a moment and he said, if I was left alone, I would be back to my old life, but I'll never be left alone because Jesus has promised never to leave me nor forsake me.
[27:49] My friends, when we have Christ in our lives in this great hope, we're never alone. God is with us. God will bring us through and we have this great hope, hope in the gospel, hearing the gospel, heralding the gospel.
[28:05] Yes, we can suffer for the gospel, but we still have a hope. We think of our brothers and sisters in Ukraine tonight, which I'll be sharing a little later, of the suffering that they're going through right now.
[28:17] My friends, it is horrendous. It is heartbreaking. But I want to tell you tonight, the men and women of Ukraine have a hope that is steadfast and sure. My friends, it's in Jesus tonight that they trust.
[28:30] And as I speak to them on the telephone and Zoom and in other means and listen to their testimonies, my friends, it rejoices my heart and it brings to me the reality of Colossians, chapter 1, verse 27.
[28:42] Christ in you, the hope of glory. My friends, the believers in Ukraine have a hope for glory tonight. And they're serving the living and the true God because there was the heralding of the gospel, the hearing of the gospel, the hope of the gospel.
[29:01] And then, fourthly, I want us to see the harvest of the gospel because we read here in verse 6, which has come to you as indeed in the whole world, it is bearing fruit and it is increasing.
[29:14] Dear friends, tonight, there is a harvest of the gospel all over the world today. People have been coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God's harvest field.
[29:26] This world and the Lord is the Lord of the harvest. And there's a harvest from the gospel this very day as people have been hearing the word of the living God.
[29:40] We go in the strength of the Lord. We go with a message that will change nations, change families, change individuals. We go in confidence tonight.
[29:50] While, friends, it may be hard to share the gospel with your neighbors, your community, and they don't want to hear, and I know there's apathy, there's carelessness, and generally speaking, people do not want to hear this wonderful message that Jesus saves.
[30:06] But our responsibility until Jesus Christ comes back again is that we go and tell the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[30:17] May the Lord strengthen us and empower us by His Holy Spirit to do that, to live it out in our lives, and to tell it to others, this message that's so precious to us this evening.
[30:32] The story is told of a young boy who was out on the beach one very hot summer's morning. and there there was an elderly gentleman who was walking his dog.
[30:43] The young boy was picking up starfish and throwing them back into the water to save as many of them as he possibly could. The gentleman watched him from a distance and he thought to himself, this young boy is making no impact on this situation.
[31:00] There are literally thousands and thousands of starfish. He approached the young boy and he shared with him his thoughts.
[31:12] The young boy turned to the gentleman and then he picked up a starfish and he threw it into the water and he said, Sir, it'll make a difference to that one.
[31:25] And if God uses us by His Spirit to reach one's soul for Jesus, it'll make a difference to that one.
[31:37] And the Bible reminds me, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? One soul is worth more than this entire world.
[31:51] And that's what motivates me in mission. That's what drives me. Men and women without Jesus and one of them is worth more than this entire world.
[32:05] God can use you and God can use me to reach out and be a channel of blessing for God in these days.
[32:17] We may not win hundreds to Christ. We may not win a dozen to Christ. but my friends, the Lord wants us to go with this great message of the gospel, heralding the gospel, hearing the gospel, the hope of the gospel, the harvest from the gospel.
[32:42] I wonder tonight, are you part of the harvest? Are you a child of the Lord's? It's wonderful to be saved tonight. I've been asked by your minister to share a brief testimony in the hall as well.
[32:54] I'm going to make sure I get you into the hall tonight. But friends, isn't it wonderful to be saved by God's grace, the mercy of God to us.
[33:05] But maybe tonight in this service you sit and you say, but I don't have that hope. I don't have that hope in my soul tonight. I cannot say that Christ is in me, the hope of glory.
[33:21] Thank God there's an opportunity to reach out to Jesus and find Him, have certainty, have hope, and to rejoice in the God of our salvation.
[33:34] May the Lord bless His word to all of our hearts, and may God strengthen us as we seek to go forth with this glorious message that's so precious to us in these days.
[33:45] As you leave in the vestibule, you will see some literature there on the table and please take your time and pick it up. This is a little prayer booklet, 31 days praying for SGA.
[33:56] Please take it with you and pray for us and for the ministry as we serve the Lord and take, there's plenty there, share them with others. And also some of our project leaflets, this is a Phoebe project, our ladies ministry that was launched during lockdown.
[34:11] Those leaflets are available on the table. Please help yourself to them. And also, just to mention, here are three books and you can pick them up tonight, pay some other time.
[34:22] We've done that here before. I trust you good people here in Barvis, it's all right. Here are these books. Here is a book on the ministry of SGA in Moldova. God has really been blessing in that little country.
[34:35] This book's available, Transformed, another new book, 22 Testimonies from Central Asia, tremendous read how God has reached people in Central Asia.
[34:46] And then, Casa Philippe is the house of Philip, and this is in Romania, in Cluj, young man who died with cancer at 36, but Christ was in him.
[34:57] He had a wonderful hope. He went home to be with Jesus at the age of 36. But in his memory, the house of Philip has been opened for cancer patients and for their families to stay while they're having treatment in the hospitals in Cluj.
[35:13] And that is a miraculous story. I highly recommend it to you. And really, the good news is that all three books, now a lady couldn't believe this this morning, she kept questioning me, but all three books are five pounds.
[35:28] Three books for five pounds. Not five pounds each, but three books for the five pounds. And those books are available there. Please take them with you. Read them. And I'm sure there'll be a blessing to you.
[35:39] And then there is another book, and it's for those aged eight to 14. It's on the table. The story of our founder, Peter Dynica, who found the Lord and became a great missionary.
[35:52] And we really want that age group to read missionary stories and to have a heart for mission and to serve God. And we believe as a mission, if we can get mission into the hearts at that age, then that will be something tremendous.
[36:09] So you may be thinking Christmas presents for your grandchildren or a birthday present. Well, they're available tonight at three pounds, or if you buy five or more, you get five for ten pounds.
[36:21] They're available there. But please take the free literature, and I trust it'll be a blessing to you as you read of what the Lord is doing. Thank you, dear friends, for giving me the opportunity to be with you tonight and to share a little of what God is doing and to bring to our hearts afresh the power of the gospel and this wonderful message that God has entrusted to us.
[36:45] Friends, let it grip our hearts afresh, and may we be excited about it, and may the Lord strengthen us in the coming days. We're going to bring our service to a close as we sing Psalm 67, the first version, turning to page 300.
[37:04] Page 300, Psalm 67, Lord bless and pity us, shine on us with thy face, that the earth thy way and nations all may know thy saving grace.
[37:18] This is what we want to see happening, and we're going to sing about it in this psalm, that the nations will know God's saving grace. Psalm 67, and we'll sing the complete psalm.
[37:33] Thank you. Amen. Lord bless and pity us, shine on us with thy face, love and nations all who may know thy saving grace.
[38:07] Let people praise thee, Lord, let people all be praised.
[38:22] O let the nations be glad in songs their voices raised.
[38:37] Thou dost be people's judge all our full nations all.
[38:51] Let people praise thee, Lord, let them praise thee, both great and small.
[39:06] The earth her fruit shall yield Our God's blessing send God's love's blessing shall live fear unto earth's utmost end.
[39:37] Amen. Dear God and Father, it's our heart's desire that the nations may know your saving grace. O God, we pray that you will help us to share this wonderful message of the gospel.
[39:54] Strengthen us, O God, and equip us and use us for your glory. Bless this congregation. Bless minister and people. May you use them for your glory.
[40:04] May this community feel the power of the gospel. And may there be a wonderful turning to Jesus Christ. That many in this community will be able to say, Christ is in me.
[40:16] And that's my hope for glory. Father, we pray that you'll watch over us and use us for your glory till we meet again. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all until he comes or he calls.
[40:36] Amen. Amen.