Amen. Go ahead, grab a seat. I want to welcome all of you here today, especially anyone who is here for the first time. Let's give them a warm welcome here this morning. You've come on a very interesting Sunday for us, because today is the big ask. Today, I'm asking everyone here to make an investment, I want you to invest with me in a field. And I think if we all sow together, we could reap a great harvest in this investment; I think we'll see kinds of fruit we've never seen before. I know we're city slickers, so we don't know a lot about fields and plentiful crops and things like that. But if we all pool our money and we invest in this field, we will see a great harvest. Now maybe you're wondering, what's the return on this investment? Well, I can tell you that you will get a zero percent return on your investment. All right, not only will you not make money, the money you put into this investment, none of it will be given back to you in the end. Who's it, right? And then also, you're thinking, Okay, well, if I'm not making money, maybe I get an ownership stake in the field, right? If I get a percent of the field, I could sell it later on, make a bunch of money, right? Is that what you're thinking? False. You do not get any ownership in the field. You just get to know the master of the field. And the master of the field, he actually has twenty-four-seven access in this line that he's opened up through his Son where you can ask the master of the field anything you want. You can ask him to send out more laborers into the field. You can ask the Lord of the harvest to raise a great harvest, you can ask that the fields would be white for harvest, and that he would do something beyond anything we've ever seen. No. All you'll get for investing in this field, you won't get any money back. You won't get any ownership. You'll just get the joy of knowing that the master is pleased. And, in the end, the master, he will decide what return to give you on your investment. Now, as crazy as that may sound, I think that by the end of the service you're going to want to invest in this field.
I want to invite everybody here to go to Romans 15:22-33 because we have now come to the big ask of the book of Romans. We have now come to like what Romans is, the biggest timeshare presentation ever done in the history of mankind. I mean, that's what's happening here. He now has something he did not previously reveal, that he's going to ask them to do, and it is about money in these verses. And I think that as we really study what Paul is saying to the saints in Rome, I am hoping that you will see in an excited way that you can participate in the Gospel of Jesus in ways that maybe you hadn't really thought through before. And so, out of respect for God's word, I want to ask everyone to please stand for the public reading of Scripture, and I'm going to read Romans 15:22-33. This is the end of Romans 15. And as I read this, try not to think about other people, some other place, at some other time that Paul's talking. To try to hear what Paul's saying, like he's calling for us to do it here today. Please follow along as I read, starting in Romans 15:22.
This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Go ahead and have a seat. That's the reading of God's Word. There is a handout in your bulletin if you want to get that handout and take some notes. We've got two ways that you can participate in the gospel. That's where we left off. Paul has an ambition to preach the gospel. He wants to do it where no one else has preached it. And now he tells us where that is that he wants to go. He wants to go to Spain, everyone. Now, if we go back to Romans 1, and maybe you'll remember this, he talked about mutual encouragement. He wanted to go to Rome. He believed they had faith. He wanted to build up their faith. He thought they would strengthen his faith. He also said he wanted to preach the gospel in Rome. But if you look back at chapter 1, he said nothing, that Rome was just a pit stop on his way to Spain. So, he gives them his teaching, his master class on the gospel. He gives them deep theology that challenged the way a lot of us think. He gave us practical applications that are really meant to transform our lives. And after all of this epic teaching, 15 chapters and 21 verses, now he gets to the big ask. Hey, guess what? I'm actually going through Rome on my way to Spain, and you're going to help me there.
So, let's throw the map up here on the screen, and let's think through what he's saying. Right? He's saying that the churches in Macedonia and Achaia have put together a collection that he's going to take to Jerusalem, and then once he gets down here to Jerusalem, he's going to go to Rome. And he wants to see them. He makes that clear. He wants to be refreshed in their company. He is excited about seeing them, but he wants them to help him. Where he really wants to go is not just to preach in Rome. He wants to go all the way, kind of to the ends of the earth at that time, all the way out there to Spain. Because nobody's really been out there planting churches, preaching the gospel yet, and he wants to blaze that trail. So, if you're looking now at the verses with me, in 15:22 he's saying, hey, I've been wanting to come to you, but I've got no more work in these regions. Hey, I've gone all the way up from Jerusalem to a Illyricum. So, I haven't come to see you because I've been so busy planting all these churches among the Gentiles. But now that I'm done with that, I can come to see you. And then he says in verse 24, “I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain.” So, that's kind of his real motivation, his real purpose being now revealed. And then he says this, “to be helped on my journey there by you.” Now, if you are taking notes, I want you to put down this word propempo is the word here to be helped on my journey. And if you look this word up in the Greek and you look up the verses where this word is used, you will see this isn't just like a normal word for help. This is like officially sending someone out, or even this idea of accompanying someone, this idea that that you're fully equipping them to speed ahead so that they would lack nothing. You are furnishing this person with the resources they're going to need for their journey ahead. So, this is not just maybe you guys can help me, maybe I can crash at your place on my way to Spain. This is him officially requesting that they would receive him and send him out as a missionary to Spain.
Let me give you an example of this from 3 John. I don't know when the last time you've been to 3 John. It's right before Revelation. If you want to turn on over there in your Bible, right before Jude there you can hopefully find 1, 2, and 3 John. It's just a few verses, but it gives the example of how this word is used. And Paul used this word a lot in Acts 15:3ree, he says, so being sent on their way by the church. That's what Luke writes in Acts 15:3. In Acts 20:38, it says they accompanied him to the ship. They formally, kind of went out with him until he left on the ship. Paul says, in Titus 3:13, “Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.” See that they lack nothing. So, you're speeding people on their way. You're making sure they have everything they need for their journey. That's this idea of Propempo. And look at how it describes it here in 3 John. Pick it up in verse 5, where John's writing to the to the elder Gaius here, and he's writing to this group of people there. He says, “Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers, as they are, who testified to your love before the church, you will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.” Okay, so what's happening here in 3 John is preachers are passing through. Preachers are going from town to town, spreading the good Word. And so, you don't even know who these preachers are. You've never, maybe even been where they're going, but you receive them. They're strangers to you. This is the real old school idea of hospitality here, where you don't know who they are, but you know they're preachers of the gospel. So, you welcome them in, you treat them well while they're with you, and then you send them out with more than they came in with. That's the idea here. And he's saying, wow, they're telling us how well you did that. You sent them out in a manner worthy of God. Look what it goes on to say in verses 7 and 8, “For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”
See, this is the whole idea of what Paul saying to the Romans. Hey, if you guys will support me in my ambition to go preach the gospel in Spain, if you'll help me on my journey, if you'll send me out with what I need, it's like you'll be doing it with me. It's like you'll be fellow workers for the truth. So, we can't expect the people in Spain, who haven't heard the gospel, who aren't yet saved, they can't support Paul when he's there preaching. They're not going to have and be ready to commit the resources needed to really support a pastor or build up a church community. And so, it's like we need to send Paul with those resources already. We can't expect the Gentiles, the nations, to do it. They don't know about it yet. We know about it, so we need to send him out, prepared to go to Spain. And that was regular, that was a common way that they would have thought churches would have been receiving preachers and then sending them out. And John's here saying, you guys are doing a great job, but I know they're strangers to you, but they're out there having a big impact, and you, because you help them, you are fellow workers of the truth. So, Paul is inviting the saints in Rome to be a part of the gospel going to Spain, but he's not inviting them to go to Spain. He's not saying they all need to be missionaries. He's not saying we should all go to Spain. He's saying no, just help me on my journey. Just send me out in a way worthy of the Lord. Just speed me ahead where I lack nothing. And you will be participating in the gospel. You will be taking part of Jesus, building his church when you do these two things.
And here's number one on your handout. The first way that you can participate in the Gospel is number one, “To pay.” That's what he's saying. To pay. You give the money; you provide the financial resources. When you pay, you are fellow workers in the truth. That's the idea behind protempo. The help on the journey is the financial support to go to Spain and be able to have some money to live there while he shares the gospel with those people and sees Jesus build the church there. So, this is the big ask. He wrote 15 chapters and 21 verses to the saints in Rome before he told them that he wanted them to give him money to go to Spain, but that's what he's ultimately asking for.
Now, go back to Romans 15, and let me show you how this beautifully develops in our text, because while he's setting them up now that in the future he's going to need money from them to go to Spain, he brings them to the present. You can see here in verse 25 “At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.” In fact, they were pleased to do it all. He's saying, all these churches in Macedonia and Achaia, these Gentile churches, they wanted to do this. Indeed, they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles, if the nations, have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. So, I'm going to go to Jerusalem, give this gift from all the Gentile churches to the poor saints there in Jerusalem, then I'm going to come see you in Rome.
So, let's throw the map back up here on the screen. You can see where Macedonia and Achaia are. That's where we kind of think of as Greece. And so, he's gone around to all these churches that have gotten planted. He's gone around to them. He's made this big collection of money, and now he's taking that money back to the church in Jerusalem. Now, if you've ever read the early chapters of Acts, you know that the church in Jerusalem was a mega church. When Peter started preaching the gospel by the power of the Spirit, on the streets of Jerusalem, thousands of people were getting saved. Three thousand got saved, and that was just the first day. So, thousands of people were all a part of the church in Jerusalem, and that meant that there was a lot of financial need represented there among their church. In fact, maybe you remember this problem that some of the widows weren't getting the daily distribution of food. In fact, it was kind of messed up, because what kind of widows weren't getting the food? The Jewish widows were getting the food, but the Greek widows, the Gentile widows, somehow they were the ones being left out. So, what do we know about the church of Jerusalem? We know there are thousands of people. We know some people have financial need. We even know there's this tension between the Jew and the Gentile that exists there within the church. So, Paul, he's going to bring this financial gift from all these Gentile churches, and his goal is that will meet the needs of the poor financially, and it will unite the Jews and the Gentiles together as one church in Jesus Christ. So, he's like, you guys are going to support me over here, because these other churches already gave me money to go back to Jerusalem. They've been blessed spiritually. I'm going to go give this huge financial gift with representatives from all these different churches, and we're going to go worship God and give them that gift in Jerusalem. Now look at the language here, because I find this to be fascinating. In verse 25 it says, “At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.” The word translated “bringing aid” is diakonia, which is a word, “to serve” or “to minister.” It's the verb we get the word Deacon from. Okay, so he just used, they translated it, “bringing” because the word for service here is referring to money. That's why they translated it, “bringing aid.” But, to me, this is fascinating, because when people say, well, I want to serve at church, you don't usually hear people say, well, give money. That's one of the ways to serve. That's what this just said. Service. The word diakoneo, to serve, to minister. That's what they did when they gave money to the saints of Jerusalem. They served them with their money.
And see, I grew up going to church, and I heard words like tithes and offerings. I did not know that the word “to serve” the church was used in a financial way. And so, seeing that to me is very interesting, because I hear people at this church say, I really want to do something to serve. Well, does that include giving finances? Because that's how it's used here. Look at the next verse, verse 26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.” All these Gentile churches, giving this money, it calls it a contribution. The Greek word there is koinonia. It's the Greek word that means fellowship. It's the word we use about sharing the life of Jesus. We might share a meal with somebody. We might share our time with somebody. We might share the truth that we're learning. We might share the love of Jesus with them. We have these fellowship groups where we koinonia, we come and we share the life of Jesus together. What did it translate koinonia as here? The financial contribution that the church has made to the offering to Jerusalem. Koinonia. Wow. Do you think that one of the things we're going to share as Christians is our money? That's a part of us sharing the life of Jesus as we share our money with our brothers and sisters in Christ. That's how these words are used here.
In fact, go with me to Philippians, chapter 4, verse 15, because this is something we learned before, and it really changed the way some people thought here at the church. It changed the way I thought we did this whole study of Philippians. This was back before COVID. This was back in 2019, we did this thing called the summer of joy, where Paul's a prisoner for the gospel, and yet he's writing a letter full of joy to the Philippians, where he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice.” Right. Some of us were there when we studied this. We learned about joy. It was a great study. But then when we got to the end of the letter, I learned something I did not expect. Look at Philippians 4:15-16, “And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.” Now, when he says partnership, partnership in giving and receiving, what is he talking about? What kind of partnership is he talking about there? He's talking about dollar bills, y'all. He's talking about money. No other church supported me financially, except you Philippians. But here's the thing that blew my mind. The word for partnership there is koinonia. It's fellowship, and it makes so much sense when you think about it, if we're going to share life together, if we're going to come together and share our hearts and worship, if we're going to get together and speak face to face and speak the truth in love to one another, and share what we're learning from the Scripture, if we're really here to share the life of Jesus, then how could money not be included? Money, it's a part of all of our lives. Money is something everybody here needs to make it through the day. Whenever I think about money, I always think of, It's a Wonderful Life. Anybody know that movie I'm talking about? And there's that guy, I'm not sure he's an accurate representation of angels. That guy, Clarence, you guys know who I'm talking about, and he's like, we don't have money in heaven. And I always remember George Bailey saying, “comes in pretty handy down here, Bob.” I don't know if anybody else ever remembers that line, but like, money is an essential part of all of our lives. And what Paul is asking the saints in Rome is that they would share their money with him when he goes to Spain. And then he's using, as an example, all these Gentile churches who shared their money in the fellowship and service of the church. They shared their money, and here's what they shared their money with. It wasn't to support their pastor; it wasn't to meet their own needs. They're represented in their congregation. It wasn't even to pay so they could have a building to assemble in. No, he's asking them to give their money for a field that is not their field. For a church of people. He's not expecting them to go there. He's not expecting them to ever know those people. He's not saying every Gentile at all these churches is going to someday go to Jerusalem. He's not expecting anybody in Rome to go with him to Spain, but he is expecting them to give their money towards that. He thinks it's a part of fellowship, a part of service.
In fact, go with me to 1 Corinthians 16. I want to take you to two passages, and he used these passages for the churches in Macedonia and Achaia when he was asking them to collect their money to give to the saints in Jerusalem. So here, in the these two letters to the Corinthians, we have examples of how Paul requested from the churches in Macedonia, from those Gentile churches. He talks about churches in Galatia, churches that he went to on his missionary journeys, that he later asked would give money so he could take this epic offering all the way down to Jerusalem to bless them and show them God is working among the Gentiles. Look at how he asked them to do it here in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4. “Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.” Okay, so he's saying, when you guys get together on the first day of the week, what's the first day of the week, everybody? Today, Sunday. This is why Christians have been getting together on Sunday. It's because that's the Lord's day, the day that Jesus rose from the dead, resurrection, Sunday. And ever since he did that on the original Easter, Christians have been assembling in his name all over the world on the first day of the week. And he says, I want you guys to take a collection. When you guys are getting together, when you're assembling in the name of Jesus on the first day of the week, take a collection. Each of you should set something aside, because then when I get there, you'll already have it collected, and then I’ll have representatives from your church. They'll go to Jerusalem. Maybe all go as well with them, and we'll bring that gift to Jerusalem. So, you're going to take a collection there in Corinth, when you gather together for brothers and sisters in a whole different city that you may not know anybody. You may never go there. You're going to make a collection for them. That's the idea here. Each of you is going to be a part of this.
Now, if you're just joining us, and you've come on the big ask day and you're thinking, wow, this is really awkward. I feel like I am at a timeshare presentation right now, they're talking a lot about money here. Let me just make this clear that, at our church, we're not even really doing this. Like, so far in 2025, we have not even taken a collection in any of our services. We haven't actually passed around an offering yet this year at our church. Our church is not here to try to get people's money. Our church came to Huntington Beach because I see Jesus save people's souls. That's what we care about. All right, so we're not really interested in getting people's money. That's not the goal of this church. But yet, Paul is very interested in people giving their money to support churches in other places.
Go over to 2 Corinthians, chapter 9. Look at what he says in the next letter to the Corinthians. In fact, 2 Corinthians, chapters 8 and 9 , two whole chapters of the Bible are all about this collection for the saints in Jerusalem, and a lot of people refer to 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 as the biggest passage on giving in the Scripture. Well, it's not even about giving at your own church. It's about giving for a whole other church besides your church. It's about taking what you have and paying it forward to God's people in some other place where there's a real need. And so, look, let's just jump straight to the climax of these two chapters in 2 Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 6. He summarizes it, and he says, the point is this. Let me just get right down to it here. “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Now that was agricultural. We're city slickers, so let's think that through. The sowing is the sowing of the seeds, right? The planting. You’ve got to throw the seeds out. You’ve got to water the seeds, and then you hope that the seeds will grow up and you'll reap some kind of harvest. Okay, so if we just throw out a little bit of seeds, how much harvest should we expect? Just a little bit of harvest. If we throw out a whole lot of seeds. How much harvest should we expect? A whole lot of harvest. Did he just use that about giving financially? Did he just tell us that if you just give a little, how much should you expect? If you give a lot, how much should you expect? That's really interesting that Paul says that in the Bible as the point of what he's trying to say about financial giving, and then he goes on to say this. Notice the language, same thing it said in 1 Corinthians 16, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a” what does it say there, everybody? A “cheerful giver,” someone who's happy to give, someone who's delighting. They’ve got a smile on their face. They’ve got a song in their heart because I've received so much, and I want to pay it forward. I want to give. And if you are a parent, if you're a dad, I've been blessed with three children, and even though I'm an evil person in my sinful nature, I love giving gifts to my children. I would imagine many other parents here, you delight in the happy faces of your children when you bless them with something, because these little ingrates in our houses, they need to appreciate how much we've done for them. Can I get an amen from anybody on that? Are any other parents feeling this right now, right? Man, I give my son this gift. I see that smile on his face and that high voice, thanks, Dad. You know, I'm just like, yeah. And then his sister comes over and what does my son do? That little ingrate he says, mine. And he grabs it away from his sister, and this righteous rage of the Almighty starts burning in the pit of my bowels, rising up in anger. Don't you realize, kid, I've given you every Lego you've ever assembled. I gave you every car you've ever rolled on the ground. How dare you not share with your sister? Am I speaking to any other parents right now? Right? You stingy little kid. Don't you see what I've done? See, this is how it is. God loves when he knows he's given you every good thing you've ever got. And then here you are saying mine, and God's looking at you like, why can't you share with your siblings? Why can't you be like your father? Why can't you pass it on in the same way that you freely received? Now, freely give, and when God sees his kids getting it, I know who my father is. Every meal I've ever eaten was provided for me by the Lord Most High. Every good gift I've ever received. It came from the Father of lights, with whom there is no shadow of turning. He owns the cattle on thousand hills. My father, in fact, all things on the entire planet belong to him, and he can give me whatever he wants, whenever he wants to give it to me. And because I know how generous my father is, I'm happy to give and God loves that he desires that. I can tell you something that God wants from your life. God wants you to be a cheerful giver. He loves it because it's so personal with the Father and his people, because when you know that he gives you. Is anybody else praying before your meals at your house? Is anybody thankful that you have a house, thankful that you have a car, thankful that you have clothes to wear, thankful that you have food to eat? Where did all of that come from? Did you get it by your own hard work, or did God, faithfully, by his gracious and omnipotent hand, provide everything that you need? See who's here to say, thank you, God, for what you've given me. And when you give, you show that you know where it all came from in the first place, and it shows that you trust in the generosity of your Father that just as he has given to you, so he is able to continue to give to you. See, when Jesus talks about giving, he talks about doing it in secret. He talks about, don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing, because when you give out of your money, it's something that's happening between you and God, because you're saying to God, I trust you. I believe in you. I believe that all these good things your hand has provided, and I believe in the future, that if I keep seeking your kingdom and your righteousness, all these things will be added unto me. And so right now, out of thanksgiving for what you have given, and out of faith for what you're going to give, I want to give this. And God loves it when his people respond like that. And then there's this beautiful verse here, verse 8, “and God is able see giving comes down to your faith and what God is able to do. God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” God had in this particular verse, the grace that abounds is talking about the financial provisions that you're going to need. And God, he is able, in his infinite goodness, to give you what you need, so you will have all sufficiency. And he'll give you what you need every time you need it, and he'll give you what you need in all the things that you could possibly need, all sufficiency in all things at all times.
So, you're not going to be held back from doing any good work that God wants you to do. God's going to make sure you've got the financial resources you need to do the good works. He's prepared beforehand for you to walk in. That's what that verse is saying. Who believes that? Because the people who believe that they will sow generously because they believe in a generous Father. So, giving is a personal reflection of what you really believe about God. You tell me you believe in God. Show me where your money is. That's what's revealing your faith in God, and God loves it when his people trust him enough to be cheerful givers. So, what the Bible actually says here in these verses, look at verse 7. This is the same thing it said in 1 Corinthians 16, each one must give as he has decided in his heart. It uses this language of each one of you should give. That's different than how I hear people talk today. Whenever you talk about money at church like this, these days, you will hear people after the service say, well, I don't have money to give, so I want to give my time. I want to give my skilled service. What's the other way that I can give because I don't have money to give? That is the regular thing you hear people say at church these days. I just want to make it clear that that is an unbiblical way to think. There are no exceptions as to who should give. It just says each one should give. It says each one, except for the widows, of course, should give or each one, except for those who've recently been laid off, should give, or each one, except for those who are going through physical challenges and medical bills, shall give. No, it literally just says each one should give.
Now it does give you two reasons not to give. Don't give reluctantly. If you don't want to give, if you're not doing it cheerfully, as before the Lord, by faith in the Lord, then please don't give. And don't give under compulsion. Just because we're preaching on it today from Romans 15, if you feel like, well, this is kind of a setup here I don't like. I'm feeling uncomfortable here at this service. Then don't give anything. Don't give if you don't want to, if it's not from the heart, and don't give because somebody's bringing it up or asking you to give. No. Each one you decide in your heart what you want to give, but the implication is that each one of us will give something. Well, I don't have money to give. What you really mean by that is, I don't think that I have extra money that I can afford to give right now, that's what you're saying. But you have money to give. Of you have money. I mean, if you really don't have money, come talk to me after the service. We have generous brothers and sisters that contribute so we can meet the needs of the saints here. But all of us have some degree of money in our bank accounts, and some of us might have more money in our bank accounts than others of us, but we need money. I mean, we need money just to get here today in our vehicles. We need money to have food to eat today. We need money to pay the bills, so we have some degree of money. And so, yeah, you may not give as much as somebody else, because they may have more to give than you. Each one gives as he prospers. Each one gives as he decides, but God knows how much money you have, and he knows because he gave it to you.
And so, people who are like, I can't I don't have any money to give. Well, maybe the reason you don't have any money to give is you don't give any money. Have you ever thought about it like that? Maybe you're the person who's sowing sparingly. Well, what should you expect to reap? Then, if you can't even give a little bit of what you have, why would God entrust you with more? See, he's saying, this is how it works. You give as an act of your faith. And so, how much should I give? Like, if you're thinking that through, what's the amount that I should give? Well, if the amount that comes to your mind feels very safe and very comfortable, that's not the amount you should probably give, because that requires no faith. That's just you feeling like you've got some extra that you can pass on. That's not what it's talking about. Now, if you're like, well, I can't give that amount. I don't think I'll have anything left. Well, don't be foolish. Don't be unwise in your giving, but I would imagine somewhere between safe and foolish. There's an amount that you're like, Man, if I gave that much, I would feel that that would cost me something. That sounds like the giving that requires faith, the giving that really says to God, thank you, and I trust you, because I want to be generous. I want to be the cheerful giver. God, I honestly want to say to you, thank you so much. Have your needs been met by our gracious heavenly Father? Has he provided for you when you asked him? Did he come through for you? I mean, can we just take a moment to say, over ten years in Huntington Beach, and this group of people here in Huntington Beach, this church of Jesus Christ, we have never lacked what we needed. For over a decade here in Huntington Beach, let's take a moment to praise the Lord together. He has provided all that we have needed. I mean, and there were multiple times along the way, where I was told an amount of money that we would need to do for construction, and my immediate thought was, we're not able to do that amount of money. I thought that about the cafe area. I thought that about this auditorium. And guess what? God provided more than what we needed on both of those occasions.
Do you realize that we just sent out the richest church plant in the history of the world, basically to Long Beach. God has blessed us, in our families, in our church. We are people that God has provided for. If there was a kind of place where Paul would be saying today, hey you guys there, you should pay it forward to other churches and other places. I think he'd be saying it to people like us. And so, we are going to take an offering at the end of this service. And I want you to decide each one, to decide in your heart, what is the amount that you want to give by faith in God? What is the amount that you can offer to God at the end of this service that can really say to God, thank you, and I trust you. That's what we should all be doing. And as soon as we have our needs met here in Huntington Beach, the money that we collect here today, the goal is to send it to other churches. And we'll talk more about that later.
Go back to Romans 15. So, now that we see how he instructed those churches to get this money for Jerusalem, now that we've seen him start to set up the saints in Rome for how they're going to pay for Spain, okay, now that we're kind of getting the idea of what's happening here, whoa, I didn't realize there was a big ask at the end of the book of Romans. Well, that's exactly what this is. But then he still does. Look at verse 29. Right? “I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.” So, yes, he reveals the idea that they're going to help him, support him, pay for him, on his way to Spain. But he still is genuinely excited to see the Romans. And then he says this in verse 30, “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me.” Now, I just want us to think through what he just said there in verse 30, he said, I encourage you. It's the Greek word parakaleo, to call alongside. Hey, I want to speak to you something. I want to urge you to do something, and I want to urge you to do this by the Lord Jesus Christ. So, picture Jesus resurrected, ascended, exalted at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Can you see Jesus given the name above every name is Lord? Do you have a high and exalted view of Jesus at the right hand of God in heaven? Okay, well, I want to encourage you, based on the fact that Jesus is the Lord, and by the love of the Spirit, has the Spirit come into your heart, and do you know the love of God? Do you now have a heart, a new heart, to love God? Do you know? Is there any love in your heart now for other people? Do you love God's people? Do you care for them? Well, I want to encourage you, based on the fact that Jesus is our Lord, and based on the fact that the Spirit has put love in your heart, I want to encourage you to strive together with me. And see this is in my mind where I think, oh, okay, this is where he's going to say, strive together with me. And let's all go to Spain. Who's coming with me? That's what I think he's going to say. But notice what he actually says, “strive together with me in your” what, everybody? “Your prayers to God on my behalf.” Wow. So wait. He doesn't ask them to become missionaries with him. He doesn't ask them to go on a short-term trip. He doesn't ask them to sign up for something. He literally just says that the way you could really partner with me in this is it your prayers to God on my behalf?
Another way to participate in the gospel is not just number one, “To pay,” but number two, “To pray.” That's the other way you can take part in the Gospel is by really praying for it, by really going before God on behalf of the person who is preaching the gospel, on behalf of the people who are hearing the gospel. You're saying that I don't have to go to the place, I don't have to see the people, I don't have to hear the sermon, but I could still pray for what's happening. And then he asked them to pray about his journey to Jerusalem, and he asked them to pray for three things here in verse 31. First of all, pray that I will be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea. Remember how the Jews chased him around trying to kill him? Pray that God will rescue me, that God will save me from the Jews who are persecuting me. That's number one. Number two, pray that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. Hey, pray that when I bring this offering, representing the Gentile churches, that it'll bless those who are poor in Jerusalem, and that there could be unity among the Jews and the Gentiles, that they'll really receive this gift and we'll all be one church before Jesus. Hey, pray for that. Pray for my ministry to the Christians there in Jerusalem, and then, number three, verse 32, “so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.” I need you to pray me all the way to Rome. I need you to pray until I'm there with you, then you'll know the prayers have been answered.
So, Paul, think about this, he's writing a letter to a church of people he has never been to before. Now, if you come back next week, he greets a lot of them. He definitely knows some of them personally from other places, but he hasn't been to this church in Rome, and yet, he's asking them to strive together with him. He's asking them, he thinks that they can participate in what he's doing, if they will just pray. Okay, so the word here strive together with me. The word here is sunagonizomai. Okay, sunagonizomai. And “sun” is this prefix that means “together” or “with agony.” We can kind of understand that agony, struggling, toiling. I want you to strive together with me, to struggle with me. I want you to get into agony with me when you pray for me. I want you to really, from your heart, pour out your soul in prayer to God on my behalf.
Now, this is a big ask, not because it's about money. This is a big ask because most Christians today struggle to pray. They don't actually struggle in prayer. And he's saying, no, I need you down on your knees for me. The Jews, they want to kill me. There are genuine people in Jerusalem who need money, and there's genuine tension between the Jews and the Gentiles. And I don't know, if I'm going all the way to Jerusalem, then I’ve got to go all the way to Rome. I need you to pray.
So, go with me to Colossians 4:12. Here's another example of this kind of struggling prayer that Paul is asking people who don't know him to do for him. You can see this here in Colossians 4:12. It mentions this guy, Epaphras. So, Colossians is another letter where Paul wasn't there, but he wrote them a letter, and the reason he did is because Epaphras told him all about this church. And so, now towards the end of the letter in Colossians 4:12-13, he brings up Epaphras, back to this church, and he says, “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers.” And what is he praying for them? 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 Hierapolis.” Wait a minute. He's not even there with them. He's far away from them. How could he be working hard for them when he's not even there with them? Oh, here's how he's working hard for them, because he's struggling in his prayers. Paul's like every morning, every night with this guy, Epaphras, he's always interceding on behalf of the Colossians, that they would stand firm in their faith, that they would grow up in maturity in Christ, that they would know that they're doing God's will, that they could have assurance of their salvation that leads out to the obedience of faith in their life. That's what he's praying for them.
See, you don't have to be at a church of people to know things you should pray for a church of people. You don't have to know who the preacher is. To know what the preacher should preach, you don't have to know who the hearers are. To know well. Epaphras, he knows these people. He's just not with them. But but even though he's not there, he's struggling for them in his prayers. Can you say that there's a group of people that you're struggling for in prayer outside of the walls of the people in your house? Can you say you're struggling for people? I hope you're struggling for people. In your prayers here at the church, I hope you lift up your brothers and sisters in Christ. But are there other churches, other places, people like Rosie and Jonathan in Tokyo, where you're not maybe planning on going there, but you're struggling for them in your prayer? Do you know anything about that kind of real intercessory prayer, where you're praying for other people? That kind of prayer is really altruistic. It's not about you. You don't have to wonder if you're spending it on your pleasures, because it's not about your own self-interest. It's genuine. Like I want the name of Jesus to be known in Tokyo. I want the millions of Japanese souls to know who you are, God. I want them to hallow your name. I want the people there in Tokyo, one of the largest cities in the planet, I want them to know steadfast love and faithfulness. I want them to know the name of Jesus as their Savior. I want them to know that he died on the cross to pay for their sins. And I want them to know that Jesus is coming back, and they're going to see him riding on the clouds. And there are millions and millions of people. Do you realize that the church, the church with one elder and zero deacons, the church where they're not even sure if they're going to see anybody get saved, the church in Tokyo, we're talking about fifty people, tops. And when I go to Tokyo and I meet Japanese Christians, they think we're a part of a big church. It's fifty people. They’ve got millions of souls down the street, down the subway. There are souls everywhere. And these souls, they're not thinking about going to church, they're not thinking about the gospel. They're not being convicted of sin. They don't even know about it. And here are Rosie and Jonathan, trying to spread the word to people who culturally don't want to hear it. Man, they need our prayers. See, they don't just need our money, even though our money does help in Tokyo, even though our money does go further there than it does here. You know what they really need in Tokyo? They need our faith. Do you have any idea the head start you have speaking English and living in America that from even whether you grew up going to church or not, ideas like who Jesus is, the fact that there is a church where somebody is preaching, and the fact that we are sinners who need to be saved by grace, those ideas, they make sense to us in our language. They make sense to us like someone can introduce you to that. They can explain that to you more fully, and you have the vocabulary and the cultural understanding to pick up what they're saying. It's not like that in all places on planet Earth. And so, there's not a group where you could get hundreds of people in Tokyo who are all praying that they really believe Jesus can save anybody he wants to, and the gospel is God's power to save people. They don't have that same kind of faith. So, they could use some people praying with faith for them. Are you going to be one of those people? Are you just going to spend your life with your money, looking with your people, or are you ready to partner in the Gospel, reaching the nation? To pay it forward and to pray for people. I don't know their faces, I haven't been to their church, but I know that they need our prayers, and that Jesus needs to do something that breaks through the culture and the language that goes beyond the regular expectations of a day in Tokyo. I know that Jesus needs to show his glory there among those people, and I'm going to ask him to do it until he does see that's the kind of prayer.
Do you still believe in a kind of prayer where the mountains actually move? Do you still believe in a kind of prayer where the demons are actually cast out? Do you believe that God is able, and so you ask him to act in a way that is worthy of him? See, that kind of prayer, they could use that kind of prayer.
So, let's throw the map of the world up here, and these are the places we're focusing on right now with Project Pay it Forward. Obviously, we're still really praying for our brothers and sisters in Long Beach, and we're going to keep who's still praying for Long Beach? Is anybody still praying for Long Beach? Man, I hope you still are praying. I'm going to keep praying for Long Beach until I keep hearing the reports of people getting saved in Long Beach. I'm going to keep praying for them. See, and I'm going to be praying for Rosie and Jonathan in Tokyo. But then the other places. I'm actually going to Uganda, not this Thursday, but next Thursday, and I'll give you like, here's what I'm doing on every day. I don't know if you remember, but when we were doing the construction on this place, we sent some of our money from the construction. We sent it to Uganda because they were running out of space at this particular church that I'm going to go preach at, and so they're building a bigger auditorium that was like double the size of their church there in Uganda. I'm going to go see how their construction is going. I'm going to preach there to their church. Then I'm going to teach for a whole week 1 Thessalonians, to a bunch of future pastors of Africa, and I'm going to try to equip them to spread the Gospel all over Africa, all over Uganda. That's the goal. Okay, so you guys could be praying for that.
Now, we talked about this church in India that's on the third floor. I actually was able to get a picture of the stairs of the church in India. That's what you got to go up to get to the auditorium in India. So, we're going to need some buff ushers at that church right there that carry. I mean, I wonder how many people here are thinking, I ain't going to that service. I mean, that is brutal right there. We want to get that church on the ground floor. We want to get them in a bigger space, because India is a place where there's a very culture like Christianity is marginalized. All they expect, all basically in India, what I'm finding out is I'm getting to know the pastors of this church. They expect the pastors not just to do the church, but to pay for everything at the church. So, all the pastors have to have other jobs where they're making the money, and then the pastors are giving away that money to meet the needs of the people in the church. That sounds really like it would be hard for the pastors to really have the time and energy to really break through in reaching the people there. So, there's a cultural limitation, like nobody thinks the worker is worthy of his wages in churches in India, no church in India expects to have enough money to give to those in need. There, among them, they think they're all in need. There, among them, you realize a little bit of money, a little bit of prayer with faith, could go a really long way in eliminating those stairs those people have to go up just to hear about Jesus.
These are the kinds of situations we want to partner with churches that we know are preaching the gospel, and we can give them game changing money for their church, and we can pray for them, maybe with a kind of faith that they don't even really have themselves, because we've seen Jesus do it. We've seen Jesus build his church, to some degree here in Huntington Beach, to send out to Long Beach. We've seen where it seemed impossible for that person to repent, impossible for those group of people to come together and be united, impossible for us to have an auditorium this big. And we found out that the impossible is not impossible at all, that it was just needing a little bit of faith. And God is able to do way more than what we ask or think. And if you believe that, if you have the faith to pray that, then you can ask God to do things in parts of the world where you're not bound by the way it's always been in that country. You don't know how it's always been in that country. You're actually the person, perfect person to pray then for that country, because you just know the power of the gospel, and that's what they need.
And so, will you pray? Will you pray for these people? Will you invest in this field? It's not our field. So, we're not going to get any return from this. They're not going to send money back to us. You may never go to Uganda or India or Tokyo, Japan. You may never meet any of those people on this side. But what if someday, when we're in his glorious presence, what if someday, when we're wearing the white robes and we're shouting out, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, and we're shining in the light of his glory? And there are people there, so many people. There, people of every nation, of every tribe, and of every tongue, and you're thinking, look, there are people from Africa, there are people from Japan, there are people, wow, so many people from India. Look at all the people that got saved. Are you going to be like, look at them over there? Or are you going to think, look at them. We made it because I strove together with them, because I paid it forward with them, because I was struggling on my knees, praying for them. When you see the nations in the New Jerusalem, are you going to think, look at all the people, or are you going to think, these are my people, the people of God. And I don't care where they are, if they're with Jesus, then I'm with them. And I want to give to them. I want to pray for them. I want to struggle with them.
Man, do you know how hard it was for Paul to get to Rome? Does anybody remember when we went through the book of Acts? Does anybody remember the Ship on a Bottle series? Does anybody remember that here? Do you remember that when he did get to Jerusalem, what happened? A mob attacked him. In Jerusalem, there was a group of men that made a vow that they would not eat or they would not drink until Paul was dead. That's what happened to him when he went to Jerusalem. He ended up in prison. They took him to Caesarea. Does anybody remember how long he had to sit there in Caesarea before he could go to Rome? Two years of his life, he sat there in prison because the Roman officials wanted to please the Jews who were attacking him and trying to kill him. And then eventually, he gets on a ship, two years later, to go to Rome. And what happens on this ship going through the Mediterranean Sea? They have a massive shipwreck, and he's out here in the middle of the Mediterranean and then, whoa, barely survives the shipwreck. Gets up on this island. Oh, these friendly Islanders, they've got this warm fire. I'll just come warm my hands here in the fire. So glad I survived that shipwreck. What comes and bites him in the hand? Does anybody know? A cobra, a viper, a venomous serpent of death. And all the islanders got their eyes on Paul, like he's going to swell up and he's this guy, watch out. He's about to die. Any moment he's about to die.
And see, I just go over that story in my mind. I think it's some little old lady who got the letter of Romans getting down on her knees in Rome saying, Oh Lord, I want to pray for Brother Paul. I pray that you'll deliver him from those unbelievers in Judea. And God sends the Roman army to escort Paul out of Jerusalem. Does anybody remember that the whole army escorted him out of town? I just picture this sweet woman down on her knees. Lord, I haven't seen Paul. I haven't heard from him. I hope he's okay. Paul's out here flopping around in the Mediterranean. Oh, Lord, will you please rescue him? Will you please save him? Do you remember what happened in that shipwreck where God told Paul to tell the crew that not one of them would perish, that every single soul on board that vessel would be spared, that not one of them died in that shipwreck? And then, when that serpent comes out of the fire and bites him in the hand, I just picture one of the brothers in Rome saying, Lord, I come to you on behalf of Paul, and I'm concerned for him. Lord, I wonder what's going on with him. And Paul lives in a miraculous way. And when Paul finally got to Rome, they weren't waiting for him at the door. They weren't waiting for him at the church. They weren't waiting for him at the gates of the city. When Paul finally gets to Rome, took him seven chapters to get there. When he finally gets there, they're coming out for miles to greet Paul.
After all those years, I wonder how much money they had saved up, wonder how many times they prayed for Paul as they were ready to receive him, the joy, the refreshing that Paul asked them for. Here it happened when he got to Rome, because when he got to Rome, he wasn't a stranger. They'd already participated in the Gospel with him. They'd done it in their prayers. And I hope that someday you will get to meet people that you never met on planet Earth, but you were with them because you paid and you prayed. I hope that will be true of us here in Huntington Beach.
So, we are going to take an offering right now, and as you leave the service to say you're going to get one of these cards. And in fact, if everybody could open up your bulletin right now, I want to show you that in the bulletin there is a QR code where you can scan and if you that's a way you want to give digitally that we're also going to pass the basket here to receive an offering. So, you can give what and however you'd want. It's up to you to decide how much you want to give. So, scan that QR code there in your bulletin. You're going to receive a card like this from one of the ushers on your way out. It has the QR code in case you want to later on give more, or later on, you have more clarity about the amount you want to give. There's that QR code. And then on the back of this card, here are the churches we're actively praying for right now all over the world. And so, you can put this up somewhere where you will be reminded to struggle for them in your prayers. Let me pray for us. Then you can give in the offering, and then we'll all sing a song together. But let me pray.
Father in heaven, thank you that you've gotten us all the way to the big ask here in the book of Romans, where Paul reveals that he wants to go to Spain and he wants them to help him, that he wants them to give money, just like all the Macedonian churches did for Jerusalem, he wants the Roman church to do for Spain. And so, God, I pray that we could really hear this, that we could really take this to heart, and then we could look around and see, wow, what blessings we have freely received here in Huntington Beach. What a blessing it's been for us as a church to be able to see building projects completed, to be able to see brothers and sisters in need have their needs met, to be able to see that we can send out a whole another church, and that church has everything they need to do church in Long Beach. Because you've been so generous with all of us and so God, I just want to take a moment to thank you for how you have provided for us here in Huntington Beach. And I ask God that you will put it on our hearts to pay that forward now, to pass that on, to take of what you've given to us and to send it to Tokyo, to send it to Uganda, to send it to India, to send it ahead, where our money can go a long way for those brothers and sisters. And God, I pray that we won't even just give and pay. But I pray that we would pray, that we would think about these churches, that we would lift them up to you, that we would pray that there would be more elders in Tokyo, that we could train up more pastors in Uganda, that that the pastors in India would have enough money to support their families, and they wouldn't have to work so many other jobs besides pastoring your people, that we could get them off the third floor to the ground floor. God, I pray that you will hear from us in Huntington Beach, and that you will answer us all over the world. God, I pray that we wouldn't think that our money is our own or our time is our own, but that these are offerings we want to give to you. God, I pray that would be our passion, not to be in it ultimately for ourselves, but in it for the name of Jesus Christ to be known, to be exalted, to be a part of his church, not just our church, but his church. And so, Father, I pray that it would make sense to all of my brothers and sisters here today how good you've been to us, and that we would therefore be generous to share with our brothers and sisters, that we would show that we trust you in the way we give our money and in the way we pray, that we have faith that you are going to act for the name of your Son, Jesus. And I pray that it would make sense to every one of us that if Jesus is willing to give his life as a sacrifice for me, that my logical response is to offer my body as a living sacrifice in the name of Jesus Christ. And I pray that we would give this offering and give these prayers out of what Jesus has given to us, we pray this in his name. Amen.