I’ve heard people say, “These missionaries are always looking for money.”  And so are you.  You don’t work for free.  If your boss came to you tomorrow and said, “I’m not going to pay you anymore, I just want your work to be a “ministry” to this company,” you’d start looking for another job.  You have bills to pay, food to buy and a mortgage company waiting for a check.   Missionaries have needs too.  There are some missionaries who are “bi-vocational”, they earn money doing something other than gospel work and split their time between the two roles, may God grant them strength.  There are some people who want other people’s money so they don’t have to work at all—may God remove them from the scam.  However, there are messengers of the gospel that work hard and work a lot who are not receiving any support from the fledgling works they are establishing.  That is where an established church like Calvary can come alongside and help out.  The apostle Paul established churches all across Asia with the financial support of other churches.  At times he did his tent-making work but often he was solely dependent on the gifts of others.  (Read 1 Corinthians 8 & 9 and Philippians 4)  We certainly need to exercise discernment as we support mission endeavors.  Missionaries need to be accountable to those who are providing their support.  Let’s not allow the bad stories to keep us from supporting those who are truly doing the work.  Gospel ministry in any culture is work and when carried out properly we should remember that the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Sunday is the “Money Sermon”.  The primary reason I preach it at this time of the year is to prepare us for our Missions Weekend, October 30-November 2.  Each year we ask people to commit an amount of money for missions.  If you have been a part of missions through giving…thank you!  If you have been a part of missions through praying…thank you!  If you have been holding back from both, please consider joining the team of people at Calvary that believe we need to proclaim the gospel “Here, There and Everywhere.”  I’ll be preaching about why it is such a good idea this coming Sunday.  Yeah, missions means money!