Charlie Joyce and his wife will be with us tonight as we continue our emphasis on missions for the month of January. The Joyce’s have been serving God in Burkina Faso in West Africa for many years of fruitful ministry. Brother Joyce had been pastor of an independent Baptist church in Fallbrook before going to the mission field at about the time Calvary Baptist Church began. We have supported the Joyce family ever since. Bro. Joyce will be preaching as well as reporting on the work in Burkina Faso, as he assists in challenging us to faithfulness in our missions commitment for 2015 that we will make tonight .
I reminded our men at the men’s prayer breakfast last Saturday of some of the principal reasons Paul was so impressed with the giving of the churches in Macedonia . We have it recorded in 2 Corinthians 8. First, he was deeply impressed at the large commitment to give that they had made, when he knew that financially they were living in an economy where many were below the poverty line. Then,
he was impressed with the strong degree of insistence they displayed concerning their desire that their giving be gotten to those in need of it. He was thirdly impressed with what preceded their financial commitment. It was their personal commitment to the Lord. He related that they “first gave their own selves to the Lord.”
We have supported Pastor Brent Givens as he planted Crescent Baptist Church in New Orleans. He has about 30- 35 folks attending now. This new church had its first Missions Conference last year. By the end of the year this little body of believers, many of whom are new Christians, gave over $34,000.00 to the cause of missions! What will God lead you to commit to, and what will we do together for our part in missions in 2015?