This sermon emphasizes the importance of ministry to the poor, highlighting the sacrificial nature of this work that mirrors Jesus' unconditional love for each individual. It stresses the value of reaching out to one person at a time with the love of Jesus, regardless of immediate results, and the lasting impact such genuine care can have on individuals and communities. The speaker encourages a patient, one-on-one approach to sharing the gospel, focusing on building deep connections and meeting people where they are, rather than pressuring them into immediate responses.

I'm going to give you a list of the basics. Well, they are the ones who are supposed to be aiming at. Let's take a point in preaching the gospel to the poor. Now, this one, this way of preaching the gospel, is going to be a little slower than any other ministry. A little slower. Okay, so for all of you who want to sort of quickly build a church and get 5,000 in two years, this is not for you. Okay, it may be alright that God wants you to do that job, but this is not for you. Ministry to the poor is going to cost you life and your whole life. And ministry to the poor is worth doing. And it's worth ministering to one man with the love of Jesus whether he believes or not. Because, you see, I'm not going to minister so that you can say I got 5 million converts. You go to minister because the heart of Jesus is to die for one man whether he believes or not. Of course, Jesus died so that we should believe. So that we could come into his kingdom and be forgiven and be healed and be set free. But he didn't wait until we said yes, Lord, before he died. He didn't wait until he got a son to preach from. He didn't wait until we said I will repent, Lord, to die anyway. He won't have anyway. Whether one of us here would have believed or not, he died anyway, that was his heart. So, if you want to do quick work, Lord, this ministry is not for you, but I still don't think it's optional. This one is going to cost you life, just like Jesus' life, that's all. He wanted to save the whole world, he died for the whole world, but he died for each one. So, the ministry to the poor is going to be one on one on one on one on one at the other. They have not fooled those people. They can always tell. I remember when I used to teach in a school in Hong Kong for a while, a girl who didn't like the Christian Union, And she used to say, well, they're just after your souls. I have to say, I'd rather agree with her. You know, they could somehow, under some pretext, get you into a meeting, you know, perhaps in the barbershop or something. Once they've got you, you know, they get their lines at you. And it would be very hard for you to get out. You'd be asked to make a response. Well, she thought they were just after her soul. She didn't do it, after her. And after all, he's preaching the gospel. She's not making decisions for Christ. She's sharing the heart of Jesus, so that people will respond. You know, you don't have to make people respond. You don't have to make a count anyway. But if they'll touch the heart of Christ, they will anyway. This is natural. We have people running after us. Do you know that? We don't have to go out and bash people with the gospel. We don't have to ask them to meetings. In fact, I'm increasingly believing that meetings in the wrong place bring people to the Lord. You know, it's very hard for them to start our meetings. They can't read the words, most of them. Not before. They don't speak our language. They don't understand it. They don't know where to sit down. They don't know if they're wearing the right clothes. They don't understand our Christian needs. They don't understand what's going on. You make them go through that, so they can know Jesus. I think the place for people to know Jesus is when you meet them. When you start loving their heart. And you'll understand that. And you won't need to pressure them into doing it. They will respond from their heart. It's yours. So I believe that this ministry to the poor, first of all, it comes to us. And we can be helpful. I'm able to do the work of saving the world. Certainly, using even the small ways to serve the world, that's going to be good, isn't it? I hope everybody will be ready. So this is an encouragement. If you feel weak, if you feel not that good, I feel you're the right material. And the second, the reason that I've chosen this, is so that we start, and I have to admit I'm biased, start our ministry with the poor. And the reason it's going to take longer than any other ministry, it's going to be so ridiculous. It's going to be so in the life. It's going to be so in the death. But that will make such precious foundations. And that, it will last. Long, long after the organized churches have come in. Long after this decade's introduction is coming along. Those people were disbanded because they were reached by someone who understood what they felt like. They were there when they were crying. We shared the rice bowl with them when they were hungry. We visited them when they were in prison. We visited them when they were impossible. We took the shirts off their back and gave it to them. That kind of gospel preaching, it takes a long time. A long, long, long time. But the results that come from it are out of all proportion to the effort that was expended. Out of all proportion. Is it completely unfair, this ministry? Completely unfair. You may spend your life in ministry for one man and you may never see him come to the Lord. But the fact that you have done that will touch millions and the world is watching. Be sure they're watching. Be sure they're watching. And I dare to say that millions will come to the Lord because you've wasted your life and run for that. God has chosen the lowly things of the world to nullify the things that are. God has chosen the despised things to nullify the things that are. A few months ago we were with others in a different team and we were in Moribua at a trip called Mugach when it was sort of like this except no one came down there. And, thank you. And the Chinese ambassador was invited to one evening session. I don't know if he had any idea what he was being invited to. But he very graciously came and our brothers shared without fooling any countries. And we sang in Mandarin and he joined in. We sang worship songs and the Holy Spirit was there. I didn't know that man felt the presence of the Lord. Do you know what they do across the dry ice in China? Shoot them. And here were three men who certainly would not have been welcome in China singing praises to the Lord and preaching the gospel to young Muslims. God has chosen those kinds of things to nullify the things that are. And God has chosen the things that are not to nullify the things that are. We have... I don't want to listen to the whole story of how God was...