Now y'all didn't miss a beat. Was that a new song for some of y'all?
It's a very old song. Y'all sounded like you knew it.
It's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful picture of the work of Christ for His people.
Let's remain standing if you've taken a seat.
That was too early. Too early.
Because we're going to stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.
We're starting a new book this morning.
It's always exciting for me to open up a new book of God's Word and begin into a new section of the Word of God.
We're in the book of Philippians this morning.
Our passage this morning is going to be Philippians 1, verses 1-11.
We always encourage you to have a copy of God's Word open,
whether that's the scripture journal that I hope you have a copy of to take notes in,
or your own copy of God's Word.
Or if you don't have a copy of God's Word at all,
you can find that in the Bibles in the seat back in front of you.
It's going to be on page 921 in that Bible.
If you don't own a Bible, take that copy home with you.
It's our gift to you.
We want you to have a copy of God's Word.
It's going to be necessary as we go through this series in the book of Philippians.
Philippians 1, verses 1-11.
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons,
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine for you all,
making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel
from the first day until now.
And I am sure of this,
that he who began a good work in you
will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
It is right for me to feel this way about you all
because I hold you in my heart.
For you are all partakers with me of grace,
both in my imprisonment
and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
For God is my witness,
how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more
with knowledge and all discernment,
so that you may approve what is excellent
and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
to the glory and praise of God.
Father, we praise you again for your word.
We praise you for the good news of the gospel of Christ.
And we pray now as we open up the book of Philippians,
would you teach us,
would you lead us in awe and in worship
for all you are and what you've done in Christ.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Most of you know last week I traveled up to Wake Forest
for the annual Pillar Network conference.
Our church is part of the Pillar Network.
That's a group within the Southern Baptist Convention
that plants and strengthens and establishes churches all over the globe.
And I came away as usual from that time,
both very tired and very encouraged.
And one of the things that I always come away encouraged by when I go
is meaningful gospel partnership.
Meaningful gospel partnership.
Between like-minded churches,
churches that share the same convictions and beliefs,
churches that love the Lord and love each other,
and churches that want to see the gospel advanced,
not just in their own church and in their own community,
but want to see the gospel advanced all over the world.
And I'm always encouraged because it is a beautiful thing
to partner together for the advance of the gospel.
Well, this past conference,
I was surprised to see a pastor friend from Asheville
there at the conference.
As you know, Asheville was one of the areas
that was hit hardest by Hurricane Helene.
And my friend got up on stage.
They invited him up there and he shared two things.
For one, he shared the incredible level of need
that's there in the area.
His area has just been totally wrecked by Helene.
There are physical needs, of course,
water, food supplies, cold weather supplies,
these needs that we're collecting for,
these physical needs.
And there's spiritual needs as well.
And by the grace of God,
their church is well positioned to be a source of grace
for both spiritual and physical needs.
And these needs are going to continue for a long time.
All right, long after the news cycle
has moved on to the next thing,
these needs are going to continue.
But then he shared, second,
how thankful he was for the ways
that other churches like ours,
other churches within our network,
churches from Greenville,
churches from Charlotte,
churches from Mount Pleasant,
he rattled off six or seven other churches
that came together to help in his time of need.
And he praised God for the evident grace
that he saw through gospel partnership.
And as he spoke,
and as I reflected on what he said,
I thought, you know what,
that is exactly what we see happening
here in the book of Philippians.
The book of Philippians is a beautiful picture
of gospel partnership.
Paul, the apostle Paul,
has planted the church in Philippi.
He has since moved on to another location
to go continue the message of the gospel
spreading throughout the areas.
He's continued planting
and strengthening other churches.
And now he's found himself in prison
because of the ministry of the gospel.
He has a tendency to do that.
And in his time of need,
who comes to help him?
Who comes to encourage him?
Who comes to strengthen him?
But a member of the church at Philippi.
Epaphroditus.
And he comes not just with words of encouragement,
but Epaphroditus comes with a financial gift
from the church.
And he comes to say,
Paul, we believe in what you're doing.
We love you.
We love the Lord.
We love the gospel.
We love the mission.
And we want to be your partners in the gospel.
So in response to this gift,
Paul writes the letter to the book,
the letter of Philippians,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus
who are at Philippi
with the overseers and the deacons.
This passage is,
y'all get ready for this, okay?
This passage is Paul's prayer of praise
for gospel progress through partners.
Y'all follow that?
Y'all say it again, okay?
This is Paul's prayer of praise
for progress,
you could say,
through his Philippian partners.
And what it shows us here
is the beautiful picture
of what comes through gospel partnership.
And so what I want to do this morning
as we look to verses 1 through 11
is I want to ask the question,
what does gospel partnership produce?
What does gospel partnership produce?
And we'll see two answers
to that question this morning.
This will be our outline.
What does gospel partnership produce?
Gospel partnership produces,
first,
praise for God's grace.
See that in verses 3 through 8.
And second,
prayer for more.
See that in verses 9 through 11.
First, gospel partnership produces
praise for God's abundant grace.
Gospel partnership is evidence
of God's grace at work.
It's reason to give Him glory and praise.
And I think it's helpful here for us
as we begin the book of Philippians
to remember how the church in Philippi
even came to exist in the first place.
Let's zoom out here from our passage
and think about the origins
of the church at Philippi.
You read verse 1 here,
and it seems clear to me
that this is an organized gospel church.
They have a group of saints there
that Paul's writing to.
Those who have come to know the Lord
who have been baptized into membership
of the local church there in Philippi.
They've installed officers.
They have the two offices
of the New Testament church,
overseers,
that's another word for elders
or pastors,
and deacons.
This is a functioning,
organized gospel church.
But zoom out for a minute
from this book
and ask,
how in the world did we get here?
How in the world did we get here?
How did this happen?
Well, Acts chapter 16
tells the story.
You can flip there if you like.
You don't have to.
But all of this
is a work of God's grace.
Paul,
as far as we can tell,
had no intention
of coming to Philippi,
but the Lord gave him
a vision in the night.
A man from Macedonia
was calling out to Paul,
urging him,
saying,
come over to Macedonia
and help us.
Come here,
help us.
And I love how Luke
puts it in Acts.
He says,
Paul concluded
that maybe God
was calling him
to preach the gospel
in Macedonia.
And so he went.
Immediately,
it says,
they sought to go
to Macedonia,
concluding that God
had called them
to preach the gospel
to them.
This is grace.
God has sovereignly
intervened
and providentially
guided the steps
of Paul
to come to the area
of Macedonia.
And when they come there,
they arrive at a city
called Philippi
in the rest of the chapter.
It tells the story
of how Paul goes
and preaches the gospel
and this hodgepodge group
of unlikely converts
come to faith in Christ.
First is Lydia,
the seller of purple goods.
She listens to Paul
teach and preach
and the passage says
that the Lord
opened up her ears
and she might hear
and perceive
what Paul was speaking about.
This is grace.
There's the girl
who's possessed
by a spirit
and she's delivered.
And then there's
the Philippian jailer
and his family
who come to faith
there in Philippi.
Slowly but surely
as seeds are planted
here and there
as the word of the gospel
is spread,
God builds the church
in Philippi.
So now,
now I imagine
Paul as he's sitting there
in a jail cell,
he has a lot of time
on his hands, right,
while he's there in prison
and he sees Epaphroditus
coming to him
with words of encouragement,
a member of the church
of Philippi
coming to him
with a financial gift
of support.
I imagine him thinking
back on all of this
and just marveling
at the grace of God.
Look what God
has done here.
Look what God
has done
with these people.
I had no idea
what God was about
to do in this place.
God has taken
strangers,
enemies of the gospel
of God,
enemies of Christ.
He's brought them
to faith in Jesus.
He's opened up
their ears
to hear the gospel.
He has established
a church.
They're growing,
they're maturing
and now they're
at the point
where they are
sending support
out to more gospel
mission,
more gospel ministry.
This is a work
of God's grace.
And so he says,
verse 3,
Philippians chapter 1,
I thank my God
in all my remembrance
of you,
always in every prayer
of mine for you,
making my prayer
with joy.
Why?
Because of your
partnership
in the gospel
from the first day
until now.
Gospel partnership
produces praise
for God's grace.
So let me ask
just a couple of
questions here
because I want to
make sure that we're
all on the same page.
We're talking about
gospel partnership.
I need to ask a couple
questions of you.
First,
what is the gospel?
And second,
why do we need
partners
in the gospel?
What is the gospel
and why do we need
partners?
Well,
what is the gospel?
You may have come
to church all your life
and never really understood
what the gospel is.
What is the gospel?
I'm so glad you asked.
The gospel
is the good news
of Jesus Christ.
If you're a visitor
with us this morning,
you should know
that our church,
our aim is to make
a really,
really big deal
about the gospel.
This isn't an
unusual sermon
where we're preaching
about the gospel
right now.
This is every single
week that we gather here.
We want to make
a big deal
about the gospel.
In fact,
our mission statement
as a church family,
do you all remember
what it is?
We exist
to magnify
the glory
of God
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
It's a message
of the glory
of God
that's seen
and experienced
and demonstrated
and manifested
most clearly
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
It's a message.
So what's the message?
What's the message?
The message is
that there is
a God
in heaven
who is
good
and holy
and just
who has created
all things
including me,
including you,
but it's the bad news
that you and I
both
and everybody else
have rebelled
against this holy God.
We have sinned
against Him.
We have earned
separation
from Him
left to ourselves.
His wrath
is against us
in our sin.
This is bad news.
Praise God.
The gospel
is a message
that God
is a God
of grace
and a God
of mercy
and He has
made a way
to be made right
with Him
through the blood
of His own Son,
Jesus Christ.
Christ Jesus
has come,
has lived
perfectly
in our place
where we've all
failed.
Christ Jesus
has died,
on the cross
bearing the wrath
of God
against our sin.
Christ Jesus
has risen
from the grave
defeating sin
and death,
defeating all
of our greatest enemies
so that
any sinner
who turns to Him
in faith
may have eternal life.
That's the gospel.
If you found
your way
into this place
this morning
and you've not
put your faith
in Christ,
this is all you need
to hear this morning.
Repent and believe
the gospel.
You too
will be saved.
This is
the message
and the ministry
of the church.
If you ever
have a friend
to ask you,
well what is
Sea Wee Bay
about?
What do y'all do?
What's your ministry
at this church?
You can respond
very simply,
we hold out
the gospel
to sinners.
We preach
Christ crucified.
We lift up
the name
of Jesus.
Why?
Because that's
how sinners
are saved
and that's
how the church
is built.
No gimmicks,
no fluff.
Our ministry
is the message
of the gospel.
Jesus Himself
defined the mission
of the church.
Matthew 28,
18-20.
What does He say?
All authority
in heaven
and on earth
has been given
to me.
Therefore,
go and make
disciples
of all nations,
baptizing them
in the name
of the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them
to obey all
that I've commanded
you and surely
I am with you
until the end
of the age.
So question
number two,
why in the world
do we need
partners
to do it?
Why do we need
partners to go
about this
great commission
task that Christ
has given the church?
Well,
the mission
of the church
is required
of each individual
church,
but it is never
dependent on
each individual
church alone
to do it.
The great commission
is required
of every individual
Christian.
We are all
required,
called to preach
the gospel,
but it is never
dependent entirely
on any one
individual Christian
to fulfill it.
In other words,
gospel progress
requires
gospel partners.
Christians ought
to link arms
with other
Christians
to evangelize
their neighbors,
their co-workers,
their family members,
and churches
ought to link arms
with other churches
to see more
gospel preaching
churches established.
This is how
the great commission
will be fulfilled.
world.
We should know
this better
than anybody,
Siwe Bay,
shouldn't we?
Siwe Bay Baptist
Church probably,
and I only say
probably because
God can do
what He wants,
right?
But Siwe Bay Baptist
Church probably
would not be here
right now
apart from
partners in the
gospel.
First Baptist
Church,
Mount Pleasant,
Oakhurst Baptist
Church in Charlotte,
Lakeside Baptist
Church in North
Myrtle Beach,
Grace Baptist
Church in Asheville,
Life Church in
Athens, Georgia,
McDonough Road
Baptist Church in
Georgia,
Life Park Church
down the road
along with
dozens of
other individuals,
some of whom
you have met,
many of whom
you have not met.
these people
have seen a
need for a
gospel witness
here in this
community,
and so they
have partnered
with us to
make it happen.
You know what
that is?
That is the
abundant grace
of God on
display.
It is
evidenced,
it is seen,
it is manifested
visibly,
made visible
through their
partnership,
and you know
what I do
when I think
about these
partners in
the gospel?
I marvel at
the grace of
God.
See,
one reason why
we are called
to partner
together and
to link arms
together is so
that we might
see God's
power and
His grace at
work in the
lives of our
brothers and
sisters in
Christ.
Paul sees
it.
He thanks
God, but he
doesn't stop
there.
Look with me
there.
Look what he
does in verse
six.
He not
only prays
and thanks
God for
them, he
also sends
back some
encouragement
to them.
He lets
them know
that in
their partnership
he sees
evidence of
God's grace
at work in
them.
Look what
he says.
I am
sure of
this,
certain of
it, that
he who
began a
good work
in you
will bring
it to
completion
at the
day of
Jesus Christ.
One of the
most beautiful
verses of
assurance and
confidence in
all the
scriptures.
It is right
for me to
feel this
way about
you all
because I
hold you
in my
heart.
Why?
For you
are all
partakers
with me
of grace,
both in
my imprisonment
and in the
defense and
confirmation of
the gospel.
You know,
Paul knew a
little bit
about grace,
didn't he?
He was a
Pharisee,
a persecutor
of the
church.
He hated
the name
of Jesus
Christ.
But what
happened?
How did we
get from
there to
here?
Grace.
Christ
himself,
the risen
Lord Jesus,
appears to
Paul,
revealed himself
to him.
He saved
him.
He gave
him a new
identity,
gave him a
new purpose
in life to
give it away
for the glory
of God.
to no
longer tear
down the
church,
but to
serve and
to build
the church,
to advance
the gospel.
And Paul
says,
that same
grace that
took me out
of my sin
and opened
up my eyes
that I might
see the worth
of Christ,
that same
grace that
has changed
me, I see
it at work
in you.
And what
God started
in you,
church, he
is going to
complete it
at the day
of Jesus
Christ.
You know,
we just
sang this
hymn.
I hope
you listened
to the
words,
complete in
thee.
Did you
notice this?
Yea,
justified,
O blessed
thought,
and sanctified
salvation
wrought,
thy blood
hath pardon
bought for
me,
and glorified
I too
shall be.
All three
pictures are
here in
this text.
Do you see
it?
For the
Philippians
and for
you,
this is
true.
The moment
the Philippians
heard the
gospel of
Jesus Christ
and believed,
they are
justified in
the sight of
God.
Declared
righteous.
God looks
at them and
he sees all
the perfection
of Christ.
They are
legally,
objectively,
truly righteous,
perfect in the
sight of God,
justified.
And yet we
all know this,
we're not
perfect.
God sees us
as perfect,
covered by the
blood of
Christ,
but truly,
experientially,
really,
in our day-to-day
lives,
are you
perfect?
I'm not.
We're not
perfect.
We are being
sanctified.
We are being
made like
Jesus.
We are seeing
the fruit of
our justification
played out
through
sanctification.
and Paul
says,
I see that
in you
through your
partnership.
I see that
in you
through your
generosity.
I see that
in you
through the
ways the
Lord is
shaping your
mind and
your heart
to be more
like Christ.
Your
sanctification
is proof
of your
justification
and it
gives me
confidence
in your
glorification
to come.
We are
declared
righteous.
We are
being made
righteous and
one day,
Paul says,
you will
truly,
finally,
be
righteous,
glorified,
complete
in thee.
Here's the
good news,
church.
God finishes
what he
starts.
God has
a no man
left behind
policy.
He is
not like
us where
he starts
a project
and it
doesn't get
done until
months down
the road.
He doesn't
leave any
projects
unfinished.
If God
has begun
a work
in you,
you can be
absolutely
certain
that at
the day
of Christ,
when the
Lord Jesus
returns,
he will
bring that
work to
his
completion.
Gospel
partnership
produces
praise for
God's
grace.
But not
only this,
second,
when we
see God's
grace at
work through
gospel partners,
look what
happens.
We pray
for more.
We pray
for more.
Now,
this is
interesting,
isn't it?
Because,
I mean,
Paul has
seen God
do a lot.
He's
seen God
save these
Philippians in
unthinkable,
miraculous ways.
He's seen them
grow up in
Christ-likeness.
He's seen them
now share his
heart for
ministry.
He's seen
them give
generously out
of their own
pocket to
support him
sacrificially for
the cause of
the gospel.
And what does
he do?
He doesn't
say,
thank you,
God,
that's enough.
He asks
God to
do even
more.
He says,
I want to
see God
continue to
shape you
by his
grace.
If you
will one
day be
complete at
the return
of Christ,
and if that
work of
transforming
grace has
already begun
in you,
and I see
it,
and if I'm
praising God
for it right
now,
then I want
to see it
grow more
and more
and more.
I want to
see you
shaped more
and more
by the grace
of God
so that I
might magnify
the glory
of God
because of
you,
because of
God's grace
in you.
I want to
see you
become who
you are
in Christ
and who
you will
be when
he returns.
Look with
me at what
he prays
for God
to do
in them.
We see
his prayer
in verse
9,
and then
the result,
the outcome
of his
prayer in
verses 10
and 11.
So here's
what he
prays.
He prays
verse 9,
look there
with me.
He prays
that God
would work
in them
abounding,
truth-rooted,
discerning
love.
You see
all three
of those
there?
Look there
with me
to verse 9.
It is my
prayer
that your
love may
abound
more and
more
with knowledge
and all
discernment.
You see
each part
there.
Each phrase
is loaded
with meaning
for us
to unpack
this morning.
Abounding,
truth-rooted,
discerning
love.
And you
know,
this is
really a
helpful
description
for us
as we
think about
how we
can pray
for our
partners
and even
as we
consider
partnering
with other
works.
We want
to be
marked
by abounding,
truth-rooted,
discerning
love.
What does
this mean?
He first
prays that
their love
may abound
more and
more.
This is
horizontal
love.
This is
one another
love.
This is
sacrificial,
humble,
selfless
love for the
sake of
the gospel.
And church,
love has
to be at
the heart
of any
meaningful
partnership
in order
for it to
last and
in order
for it to
honor God.
You all
know this.
It's one
thing just
to check
off a
box,
to write
a check,
to feel
like you've
done your
duty,
your good
deed,
but that's
not necessarily
love.
That could
just be
obligation
or duty
or just a
sense of
I feel like
I've done
a good
thing.
Paul knows
that these
Philippians
went out
of their
way to
support
his
ministry
and they
sent people
over there
to fund
the mission,
to encourage
him,
but he
knows that
they did
this not
because they
just wanted
to do a
good deed,
but because
they loved
Paul.
And they
loved the
gospel.
They loved
the mission.
He says
abound in
this love,
but not just
any old
love.
Not just
any old
love.
There's a
shape to
the love,
isn't there?
It's grounded
and it's
rooted in
the truth.
This is
abounding
love with
what?
With
knowledge.
He doesn't
just want
them to
do,
he wants
them to
know why
they do.
That's
knowledge.
Listen,
love and
knowledge are
friends.
We shouldn't
pit them
against each
other.
They go
together.
It's not
good just
to stroke
a check
and send
it off
to Paul
or to
Seawee Bay
or to
any gospel
partner and
not actually
know why
you're doing
what you're
doing.
Other than
you just
think it's
a good
thing to
do.
I mean,
it is a
good thing
to do,
but why?
Paul wants
them to
know why
they're giving
him this
gift.
He wants
their love
and their
loving actions
to be rooted
in knowledge.
And again,
ultimately,
this is knowledge
of the gospel.
I mean,
Seawee Bay,
if I could say
anything about
you,
you are a
big-hearted,
loving-to-a-fault,
generous,
kind-hearted
people.
And I praise
God for that,
but listen,
our love
needs to be
rooted in
the truth
of the gospel.
Our actions
of love
need to be
rooted in
knowledge
of the gospel.
Why do
Christians love
one another?
Well,
we love
because what?
Because he
first loved
us.
That's the
gospel.
Why do
husbands,
why are we
called to
love your
wives?
We're called
to love
our wives
as Christ
loved the
church.
How?
He gave
himself up
for her.
That's why
and how
you love
your wife.
Christ humbled
himself to
bring eternal
life to the
lost,
and so we
go and
follow in his
footsteps and
bring the
gospel to the
lost and to
the perishing.
God has been
generous to us.
What do you
have that you've
not received?
God has been
generous and
gracious to us,
and so we
are generous
for the sake
of the glory
of God.
The deeper
your knowledge
of the truth,
the greater
your love
should be for
your brothers
and sisters in
Christ.
They go
together,
Paul says.
Grow in your
knowledge of the
truth so that
you might
grow and
abound in
your love.
And with
that knowledge,
he prays,
will come
discernment.
Now,
when we
talk about
partnering for
the sake of
the gospel,
partnering with
other good
works,
this is
incredibly
necessary because
the needs are
so many.
There are more
needs than we
can possibly
begin to meet.
And again,
I know your
heart,
church,
we're big
heart people.
We want to
meet needs.
We want to
help people.
But here's a
word of caution
for big
hearted people.
Not everybody
can meet
every need.
Not every
church can
meet every
need.
I had a
seminary
professor who
cautioned us
as a room
full of
ministry
trainees
getting ready
to go into
churches and
college campuses
and communities
and go bring
the gospel.
And he said,
you need to
know that the
need is not
necessarily the
call.
You may hear
that a church
needs help in
the area of
children's ministry.
And you may
love that church,
abounding love.
You may know
that children
need the gospel,
but you need to
discern whether
or not you are
called to fill
that need.
The need is not
necessarily the
call.
We need love
with knowledge
and with
discernment.
And so
here's where
this applies
to us,
church.
Over the
past two
years,
we've given
generously
out of our
budget to some
excellent
organizations.
We've given
to the
Pillar Network.
We've given
through the
cooperative
program to
see churches
established and
the gospel
advance throughout
the nations.
as we move
into next
year,
you should
know that
we're prayerfully
discerning how
we might partner
more directly
with a gospel
work to see
other churches
established.
I came back
from the
Pillar Conference
this past week
with invitations
to go to
Colombia and
to go to the
United Kingdom.
you imagine
two more
different areas
of the world.
But why?
Why?
Because churches
are being
established in
these areas.
Pastors need
theological
education.
These churches
need resourcing.
They need help.
There are needs,
but the need
is not necessarily
the call.
We need
discernment.
And for us
to partner well,
we need to ask
good,
discerning
questions like,
well,
is this a gospel
work?
Is this something
that would carry
on if the gospel
were removed
from it tomorrow?
Are we
theologically
and missiologically
aligned with
this partner?
Do I understand
the need that's
here?
Do I understand
how we can
contribute?
Is this open-ended?
Is it for a
defined period of
time?
Do they exist
to magnify the
glory of God
and the gospel
just as we do?
Or is their
mission something
different?
Church,
we need
discernment.
And so,
will you pray
this for our
church?
Will you
pray this
for me,
for Treg?
Will you
pray that the
Lord would
grow us
as a body
in ever
abounding,
truth-rooted,
discerning
love?
And let's
trust that
the result of
this will be
verses 10
and 11,
that we might
approve what is
excellent and not
what's false,
that we will be
blameless at the
day of Christ,
that we will be
filled with the
fruit of righteousness
right now in the
present,
this righteousness
that comes not
through us and
our generosity and
our sacrifice,
but through Christ
alone and above
all,
above all,
that God would
receive all glory
and praise
for his work of
grace.
That's what
gospel partnership
produces.
Jesus.
I'll tell you
one more story
as we close.
One of the most
encouraging moments
of my life,
a couple years ago
I was at the
Pillar Conference
and we had just
arrived at
Seaweed Bay a few
months earlier
and I went out
to the tent
for lunch.
Everybody goes
and we grab a
sandwich and go
sit outside under
these big tents
and around the
table with me
were four
pastors.
Dave from
Oakhurst Baptist
Church in
Charlotte where
I served a few
years out of
seminary.
There was Mike
from Lakeside
Baptist Church in
North Myrtle Beach
where I came from
before arriving
here who sent
us here.
There was Matt
from First Baptist
Church of Mount
Pleasant and there
was Treg Hallman
from Seaweed Bay.
About ten years
of my ministry
assembled there
in one table
it was almost
surreal to look
around the table
and say why are
we all sitting
here right now?
I'll tell you why.
Because these men,
these churches
have linked their
arms together
for the sake of
the gospel
here in all
and all.
Here at Seaweed Bay
and I'll tell you
I praise God
for his grace
to our church
through partnership
and I pray for
more.
Let's do that
now church.
Father,
would you grow
us?
Grow us in
ever abounding
truth rooted
discerning love
Father that we
might know how
you might use us
for the advance
of the gospel.
Lord we praise
you for what
you've done
and what you're
doing here.
We praise you
for our generous
partners who have
seen the need
of the gospel
here in this
area.
Lord we praise
you for the
fruit that we're
seeing reaped
as the word is
proclaimed and the
gospel is preached
and we pray for
more.
We want to see
your grace in
action.
Lord,
sinners are saved
and the church is
built.
We pray all this
to the glory and
praise of God
in the name of
Christ.
Amen.