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“What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see.” - Luke 18:41
This week has been a tremendous blessing for our Missouri Baptist Convention as nearly 1400 of us gathered in St. Charles to hear reports, conduct business, pray, worship, and hear God’s Word preached! Each year, we contribute funds as a church to the Cooperative Program, which supports our Missouri Baptist colleges and ministries, as well as our Southern Baptist seminaries and mission-sending agencies. I’m so thankful to hear the work the Lord is doing throughout our state and around the world. Here in Missouri, we’re about to have our 6th straight year with an increased number of baptisms (on track for roughly 8,000 this year) and a significant uptick in Cooperative Program giving. These are things to celebrate, and South Gate contributed to both: we celebrated 15 baptisms and gave roughly 3% of our budget to the Cooperative Program in 20252-2026. Thank you for making a Kingdom impact locally, nationally, and internationally!
As we look ahead to Sunday, we’re continuing our journey through Luke’s Gospel in Luke 18:31-43, and I’ve titled this message “Seeing Jesus Clearly.”
Have you ever been looking directly at something but you couldn’t actually see it clearly? Sometimes what we’re looking for is right in front of us, yet we somehow miss it. On Sunday, we’ll see Jesus’ own disciples, who spent three years following Him, listening to His teachings, seeing His miracles, and asking Him questions, struggle to understand His purpose. Then Luke will introduce us to a blind beggar who couldn’t see anything, but recognized that Jesus is the Messiah.
Those who could see physically missed some of the spiritual details, and the one who couldn’t see physically was able to see the spiritual situation perfectly. My prayer for us, regardless of our physical eyesight, is that God opens our eyes spiritually to see Jesus for who He is, respond to His Word, and submit to Him as Lord and Savior this Sunday!
I can’t wait to worship with you all this week. Know that you are loved and prayed for!
Pastor Joel
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