Hantz Bernard's Sermon from Sunday

"Ordinary people, people like you, you have the power, the ability, the opportunity to do a kind of ministry that can generate gratitude in the hearts of the choicest servants of God. God has given you opportunities and power that you can do things that will impress the "professionals" of heaven, that will people in the situation that they are so choked up by what you do for the Lord that they can hardly find words to express themselves."

-Hantz Bernard


On Sunday, Hantz Bernard, Director of Bibles International, gave an outstanding sermon on the involvement of the Philippian Church in the missionary work carried out by the Apostle Paul in the early days of the Gospel. In Philippians 1:3-5, Paul expressed gratitude to God for the Philippians' "partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." It seems that the Philippians were the only ones (see Phil. 4:15) who took such a keen interest in the success of Paul's outreach to other places.

That the interest of the Philippians was keen is illustrated on numerous occasions throughout the Book of Acts and other parts of the New Testament. Hantz offered seven examples. All of the examples involve the participation of Christians from the church at Philippi.

1. They looked at the opportunity to be hospitable to God's servants as a blessing and privilege for themselves, rather than simply for the Apostle and his companions - Acts 16:15
2. Having received the Lord as their Savior, they realized that the people God sent to them with the Gospel possessed something of such magnitude that whatever they might be able to do to help, even lowly acts of service, would be worth it - Acts 16:33-34, 40
3-4. They enthusiastically embraced their responsibility to assist Paul with taking the Gospel elsewhere, sending him "aid" repeatedly even after he left them and traveled to other places to share the Gospel - Acts 17:1-3; Philippians 4:15; 2 Corinthians 11:7-9
5. They selflessly participated "beyond their ability" in fund-raising for other established ministries other than their own without being ordered or coerced - Romans 15:26-27, compare with 1 Corinthians 16:1-5 and 2 Corinthians 8:1-5
6. They persevered in finding creative ways to support the ministry in spite of formidable obstacles - Philippians 4:10
7. They sacrificially employed human resources "for the work of Christ" - Philippians 2:25-30.

So what motivates people like the Philippians to so generously support the work of Christ around the world? The Apostle Paul tells us the answer in 2 Corinthians 8:5: "...they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will."

I am thankful to the Lord for leading Hantz to do this study. It has been my prayer through the years for the Lord to build our church through missions. It has been my prayer, in other words, that we would be like the church at Philippi. Let me encourage you to look over these notes, and even to re-listen to Hantz' sermon, and together let's recommit ourselves to Philippian-like giving of ourselves first to the Lord and then to the mission of faithfully supporting the work of the Gospel here at home and all over the world.