St Paul’s Kogarah 24 August 2025
Good morning, Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
I work for an organisation called Thesauros Consulting and we offer guidance for churches and Christians in navigating their finances as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Our work involves creating structures in place for people to manage their finances wisely but in a way that’s in accordance with their Christian convictions: taking control of money and use it where we get the most value, prioritising the Kingdom ahead of our own worldly desires.
But before starting Thesauros Consulting, I worked at a bank, as a Relationship Manager, making sure that the bank’s most important customers were happy with the services that we provided. I would meet up with them every so often over a meal or coffee just to make sure they were still happy and take in any feedback for improvement.
To build trust and to encourage them to continue doing business with the bank, it was essential for me to be able to speak with them on a personal level as well.
If I had to meet a client that was into a particular football team, I would study the news on the team for the past 2-3 weeks so I could carry a meaningful conversation with them
If they were into surfing, I would study up on some surf terminology and surfing beaches around the world.
And if they were into cricket, I would waive my white flag and just admit that the only time I attended a cricket match was 15 years ago and the only thing I could remember was I was so glad I brought my MP3 player but wished I had brought a book with me.
I have no interest in football, rugby, or surfing but for a good relationship with my clients, I would try to show some interest in what they were interested in. By showing that I cared for what is important to them, they were more likely to engage with what I had to say. … But cricket is where I draw the line. …
As I look back at that now, I remembered Paul’s words:
19 Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law[a]—to win those under the law. 21 To those who are without the law, like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. 23 Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)
If you are in sales and had to build business relationships with people, you would understand why for the sake of gaining an opportunity for others to listen to what you have to say, Paul said that he was everything to everyone.
When I was here two weeks ago, we looked at how church leaders and church members need to have hearts for the Gospel – the true message of Jesus Christ - above all else, above their own pride and ambition, for the church to be united and work effectively for the Gospel. To have this heart, we should guard and train our hearts to follow the ways of the Lord, and not our selfish ways.
The training of our hearts in righteousness takes shapes in good works and service towards others, and that often happens at church. When we work out our salvation we are doing so as a response to God’s favour on us. God’s grace activates our good works. We don’t do good works to activate God’s salvation.
In our passage this morning, we are reminded that there are sacrifices that we make when we have the heart for reaching out to other people with the Gospel.
1) When we love others, we are willing to leave our comforts.
2) When we love God’s plans, we are willing to leave our own plans.
3) When we love serving others generously, we leave our greed behind.
A. Love Others, Leave Your Comforts
If you care about others, you will go out of your comfort zone to do what is necessary to try and win them for Christ.
Two weeks ago, we read from Acts 15:1-29 where church leaders had to confront Christian Jews who taught that for Gentiles to be saved, they must follow Jewish law, including circumcision.
Paul and Barnabas said that even the Jews could not follow Jewish law so it is wrong to impose this on other Christians.
But as you would have noticed, in our reading, just one chapter later, Paul took Timothy and circumcised him. A tradition and ritual that Paul said was unnecessary, Timothy did anyway as an expression of love towards the people they were meeting. We read in verses 1-5:
Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek. 2 The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for the people to observe. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
To the Jews they became Jew to win Jews.
Although unnecessary for salvation, and painful, Timothy was circumcised so that when they spoke to Jews about Jesus, they could speak from the position of a fellow Jew and not from an outsider. Jewish people, like most any other race, are more likely to listen to their own people than a foreigner.
Praise God that Timothy was not concerned about his own comforts when he saw an opportunity to bring the good message of Jesus Christ to the Jews.
Often our comforts, or our unwillingness to risk a comfortable existence, prevent us for being productive in our Gospel work.
When you see a neighbour or friend needing help, even if they don’t ask for it, this could be an opportunity for you to reach out to them. By simply cooking a meal or picking up groceries when they are sick, perhaps you could offer to pray for them as you make your delivery.
All of this requires us to get out of our comfort zone and perhaps give up a few episodes of our Korean drama or whatever else we watch on TV, but we gain eternal treasures by doing so.
I must apologise for not completely understanding the history of your church here in Kogarah, but I am sure that in the 1870s when your church was first established, there was no service in the Mandarin language. At the time, there was no need for it. But as your suburb and surrounding areas changed, a group of people realised that it would be a great idea to reach out to the Mandarin language speakers with the Gospel.
Isn’t it great that the Anglican (which means English) church is willing to be Chinese for the Australian Chinese community? In Kogarah, the City, Broadway, Campsie, Cabramatta, Carlingford, Chatswood, Chester Hill, Eastwood, Granville, Hornsby, Rouse Hill, Killara, Hurstville, Lidcombe, Minto, North Ryde, Parramatta, Pennant Hills, and Castle Hill, the Sydney Chinese speaking community are served. There may be other locations that I have missed.
My point is, the Anglican Church – English in its origin – have church members and church leaders step out of their comfort zone, moved and transformed by the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel to other cultures.
Giving up our material comforts for the Gospel has been a common theme for Christians throughout history. Missionaries from Europe gave up their families, homes, and the comforts of Europe as the Spirit of God calls them to the new colonies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
B. Love God’s Plans, Leave Your Own Plans
You may have heard about a young British man in his 20s by the name of Henry Martyn. He was remembered as one of the best-known missionaries in India, perhaps second to William Carey. At age 21 he was ordained as a Deacon in the Anglican church in Cambridge. He then sought to be an overseas missionary through CMS – the Church Missionary Society. However at the time the doors closed for him. There was financial crisis which deprived him of income that would have supported his missionary endeavours.
But a couple of year later a door opened for him to become a chaplain for the British East India Company.
During this era, the British controlled India, parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong through the British East Indies Company. If you are a student of history, you would know that through this trading company, Great Britain committed very serious atrocities against local communities.
The British government was against sending missionaries to countries like India where they had a substantial trading interest. Why? Well, this is because missionaries actually cared about the well-being of people, the locals. If you cared about local people and tried to help them and educate them, they would be harder to control.
However, at the same time, the army of the British East Indies realised that young soldiers in the British outposts would benefit from having chaplains. They would nurture the mental and spiritual health.
As a result, many missionaries, including Martyn, went to India working as army chaplains. They got to work with soldiers, help support them spiritually, but in their own spare time, they would also share the gospel with the local community where they were stationed.
The British Army in India always set up their army barracks 1 or 2 miles away from the city, from where the locals lived. They wanted to maintain their distinct Britishness, and not intermingle with Indians. However, Henry Martyn built his house right in between the barracks and the local town. By doing this he wanted to let everyone know that he was serving the locals as much as the soldiers as chaplain.
That shows how much he had a heart for the Indian people whom he saw needed the Gospel of Jesus Christ just as much as a British soldier, and he made it clear to everyone that he didn’t think that the British were better than Indians.
Between 1806 when he was first sent to India until his death in 1812 at age 30 he learned four languages and translated the New Testament into three of them: Hindi, Urdu, and Persian. All this happened in 6 years while he was working as a chaplain and ministering people in the local community.
He was an Anglican ordained minister from England, yet he was willing to give up the comforts of home, even the comforts of living in British barracks, to be close to the people. He became an Indian for Indians and a Persian for Persians, learned their language, spoke to them in their language and most importantly translated the word of God in their language.
Just like the Apostles found the doors closed to preach the Gospel in Asia, Martyn initially couldn’t go as a CMS missionary as he originally planned.
The apostles and Henry Martyn were eager evangelists, with a heart for the Gospel, but that doesn’t mean that their plans for the Gospel always went their way.
Through closed doors, I believe that God wants to show that His plans are bigger than the ones of men – even the most Gospel-hearted men.
God halted Henry Martyn’s plan of being a CMS missionary but brought about fruitfulness in the years that he spent across India and Persia.
In verses 6-10 of our reading, we read about the Apostles:
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
God stopped them from going into Asia but if you read further, he graced them with fruitful ministry in Europe, and then at a later stage a fruitful ministry in Asia.
Two chapters away, in Acts 18 we read that finally the door was open to them to preach the Gospel in Asia, during Paul’s third and next missionary journey, starting in Galatia and Phyrgia (Acts 18:23) which is now in modern day Turkiye, continuing on to Ephesus (Acts 19:1-10). In Acts 19:10 we read:
This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
All the residents of the province of Asia heard the Gospel. This is remarkable, especially at time where there was no internet, no phone, no newspapers, not even the bible. Many churches in Asia were planted at that time. The seven churches mentioned in Revelation chapters 2-3 were all in Asia.
So much fruitful ministry was happening at a place where just a few years ago God stopped them from going.
C. Love Generosity, Leave Greed
Not all of us are given the calling to spread the Gospel overseas or in a cross-cultural context, but we can be part of the great mission to bring the Gospel to make Jesus known to all the earth, by exercising our gifts of service and generosity.
Let’s look at verses 11-13. This is after the disciples were given a vision to go Macedonia. Philippi was the capital and largest city:
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.
As is the custom for the Apostles, they tried to find a synagogue first to start preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in Philippi. But in this large city, they had to go outside the city gate by the river to find people gathering to pray – and they did not find a proper synagogue. A synagogue can only be built if there were 10 willing Jewish men. It is interesting that in such a large city there wasn’t even 10 eager Jewish men keen to build a place of worship.
Even at this place of prayer by the river banks, there were only women mentioned in verse 13.
Some of the keenest, most active, most committed church members are often women. And sadly, even now, women outnumber men in volunteering for church duties and various tasks.
Participating in the work of the Gospel is the most important job there is. Praise God for the local church, that gives you a place and opportunities for you to exercise your talents and your gifts for the purpose of the Gospel. So let me encourage you - especially the men, please use this opportunity well.
Now let’s look at the rest of the passage:
14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Not everyone can be like Paul or Barnabas or Timothy who preach the gospel across many nations. But that doesn’t mean that God can’t use everyone according to His will and purposes. Just because she didn’t leave town for Gospel ministry, this doesn’t mean that she wasn’t on mission for Jesus.
Lydia provided hospitality to the apostles.
In verse 14 we know that God himself had opened Lydia’s heart. God showed his grace upon her with the free gift of the Gospel. She was now a member of the Kingdom, a child of God. Some Christians could then be complacent about this but this wonderful reality stirred within Lydia a heart of generosity and compassion.
She generously opened up her home for the apostles. By doing this, she enabled the apostles to focus more effort and more time on preaching the Gospel. They did not have to spend time finding a place to stay every night, or thinking about what to eat.
Just because you cannot come up here and preach on a Sunday, it does not mean that God doesn’t use you for his purposes. You can invite your friends and family to church. You can be an encouragement to your fellow Christians by praying and reading the bible together with them.
You can show hospitality and generosity towards others in the name of Jesus. And you can serve at church. Serving at church with your hospitality, administration skills, cleaning, repairing, music and technical skills.
For the men and women here, but especially the men can I say: there are a hundred reasons or excuses you can use to say no to serving, some of them could be valid – but there is always one reason why you should say yes to serving: to say thank you for His grace and mercy.
Conclusion
Can I conclude my time with you this morning by asking this: What are you willing to give up for the Gospel to spread? Are you willing to give up your comforts and leave your comfort zone like Timothy? Are you willing to learn another language and understand a different culture like Henry Martyn so that can introduce Jesus to your neighbour from Greece or Lebanon or Korea or Nepal? Are you willing to serve with your talents and your resources – like Lydia. Could you serve with others from church with the Food Pantry? Being rostered on for Sunday services? Or help out other various ministries during the week? Why don’t you ask David or the churchwardens how you can help?
Let me pray:
Our Lord and Heavenly Father. Thank you that others have introduced the Gospel to us so that we may have peace and eternal life with you. Thank you that you have given us a church family so that we are connected with other Christians so that we may encourage and strengthen each other’s faith.
Lord, give us the heart and desire to make your Gospel known to others.
If we lack courage, give us courage.
If we lack knowledge, give us the desire to study your word.
If we lack compassion, give us a heart that loves others.
All these we pray in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
There are three questions that I would like us to consider this morning:
1) Who can I thank God for introducing the Gospel to me and how can I model that person to bring the Gospel to others?
2) What unproductive things occupy my time and energy that stop me from serving Christ?
3) What can I do to serve people at church and/or my community?