In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of showing compassion and love to others, as Jesus taught in the Bible. The preacher highlights the passage where Jesus commends those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed strangers, clothed the needy, cared for the sick, and visited prisoners. The preacher emphasizes that showing compassion is not a burden, but a privilege and a way to share in God's heart. The sermon also emphasizes the need to love one another and to demonstrate love through actions, not just words.

...everything. Why? So we could share it. You'll read through the Gospels. You'll find this time and time again. And so Paul goes on, in chapter 9 of 2 Corinthians, Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people, but it is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the Gospel of Christ. And for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you, their hearts will go up to you because of the surpassing grace God has given to you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. Now that's what St. Paul says, obedience. There is a difference between pity and compassion. And I have the new international version and I'm sorry because in 1 John chapter 3 it's got the word pity. And I don't think it says it right. In the old Bible it says bowels of compassion. And that is what Jesus had for us, not pity. You can hear stories about the people in Hong Kong. You can see things on television which will move you to what? It will move you to emotion. And you maybe want to give some money, but it's pity. And I want to tell you that if you'll carry it a step further to obedience, then you'll know bowels of compassion. Because Jesus, you see, never came and said, I love you. He didn't say it. He showed it. He didn't just bless us. He died for us. He wept for us. It was a terrible death. But he scorned it. He scorned the shame for the joy that was set before him. So let's get it right. These bowels of compassion that he asks you to have is your privilege. Because it's sharing his heart. It's not your burden. It's not an awful thing you have to go through. He's asking you, will you? It's sharing his heart. And it's a privilege. You haven't got to give up things for God. God gave his life for you. And he's asking you to share what you have with others in whatever way. It may be Luke 14. Anyone who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. And if anyone loves me, he will keep my commandments. Do you love God? Do you really love him? In 1 John 3. We know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Who's your brother? Who's your neighbor? You know. Anyone who does not love remains in death. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. Listen. If anyone, if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but does not open the bowels of compassion for him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. This is the command to believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and to love one another as he commanded us. You know, I'm sure you've read when Jesus was talking about the end times, when the king would return and his people would come before him and he would commend some of the people. Come, you who are blessed by my father. Take your inheritance. The kingdom prepared for you before the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat and I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me. And then the righteous will answer, well you know how they answered, Lord, when did we see you hungry? When did we see you thirsty? When were you in prison and we visited you? And he said, in so much as you did it unto the least, you did it unto me. And to the others he said, depart from me. You who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not feed me. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. I was naked and you did not clothe me. And I was in prison and you did not visit me. And they will say to him, but Lord, when were we in prison? When were you in prison and we did not visit you? When were you hungry and we did not feed you? And he said, in as much as you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me. You are a rich church. You are rich in every way. You are rich in spiritual things. You are rich in your ministers and those that share with you. You are rich in space. You are rich in time. You are rich in possessions. And I believe that God is calling you to share these riches. I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about everything. Your resources, yourself. You know, there are some children here. I can't quite see them, but there are some children here who pray for us nearly every day. I really thank God because it was He who put that upon their hearts. And we're really grateful. We're terribly tired in Hong Kong. Last year, there were a few months where we were sleeping for four hours a night on average. There are just so many. Because God has blessed us, more and more and more and more people come. And we just don't have enough people to help. Sometimes mothers come up to me and they kneel in front of me. And I'm so embarrassed when they kneel in front of me. And they say, Please take my son in. Please, when is it his turn? And I say, We've got no room now. It may be in a month or two. And they have to come every other week. Twice a week to see us. And they kneel before us. They're sleeping in the streets, most of them. They don't know where their next meal is coming from. They've accepted Jesus. They have to pray for each meal. They pray for blankets to keep them warm if it's a cold night. And when they come, and I'm dreading going back next Sunday because they'll come and they'll say, Is it me? Now you're back. Is it me? Can I come in yet? And we have this power. I have the power to say, You can come into my house next. Or you wait a few days. I hate that. In the years to come, after that time, many times I thought, Why was I so quick to say it cost nothing? Because we did have hard times. We do have hard times. We live really hard. You know, even now, Nicole, who gave the interpretation to the song, we're still sleeping on a double bunk. We're living in a little house with six people. We can't even have half a room to pray by ourselves. We've got twenty-something people to sit down to every meal. We never have any peace. Never any time to ourselves. Never a ranch that we can go and have a retreat on. We live really hard. So I was thinking, Why was I so quick to say it cost nothing? There is a cost. Do you know now the way around that the cost is? I understood that before you've paid the price, there's a cost. And when you've paid the price, you know it cost nothing.