Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / Ambassadors for Christ (Part 2)

Transcript

Ambassadors for Christ (Part 2) · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

0:01
Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
0:06
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
0:09
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
0:13
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
0:17
right in. Good evening, everyone. Welcome again
0:26
to our midweek service, and we thank God for
0:28
another opportunity. I thank the pastor for this
0:30
opportunity to be able to share. So we'll continue
0:34
with the teaching, Ambassadors for Christ. So
0:37
Ambassadors for Christ, and for those who are
0:39
probably just joining us, I'll just do a bit
0:42
of a walkthrough. The text is 2 Corinthians 5.
0:49
7 Corinthians 5 .20. I read from the New Living
0:52
Translation. It says, so we are Christ ambassadors.
0:57
God is making his appeal through us. We speak
1:01
for Christ when we plead, come back to God. So
1:07
we are Christ ambassadors. And what we did on
1:10
Sunday was to talk about who an ambassador is.
1:14
And in the world's perspective, an ambassador
1:16
is someone who is representing the president
1:18
of the country in a foreign land. And we know
1:22
that the person is doing it on behalf, standing
1:25
in on behalf, as a brother of Gabriel was leading
1:29
us in prayer, just emphasizing how the ambassador
1:33
is in a foreign land and is covered by the government
1:37
of the country that sent him or her. And what
1:42
we saw here is that Paul uses this imagery to
1:46
communicate. He uses this powerful imagery that
1:49
is very conversational, is a known position to
1:52
communicate our identity as believers. And I
1:57
said, our identity is very important because
1:59
if we don't know our identity, we will not be
2:01
able to carry out the responsibilities that are
2:03
tied to our identity. So it's very important.
2:06
And he goes on and on. And we understand that
2:08
this role or this identity is that of every believer.
2:14
It's not that of a selected group. of individuals
2:17
is that of every believer. And we looked at the
2:20
word and we say, we understand that that word
2:23
is, that word carries that notion of you being,
2:26
in fact, even the word in the world sense, you
2:30
are representing a government. You're representing
2:33
an entity. In our own case, we're representing
2:36
God's kingdom. Anywhere we go, we are representing
2:40
God. We are representatives of God. And I told
2:43
us that even in the world, you have brands. People
2:45
say I'm a brand ambassador. All of those things
2:47
carries the same notion. Where the person is
2:49
coming in and carrying the badge and standing
2:53
in or representing that particular company, that
2:55
particular entity, in this case, the kingdom
2:58
of God. So we are God's representatives here
3:00
on earth. We are God's representatives here on
3:03
earth. And it's a great privilege to be an ambassador.
3:06
It's not a small feat. It's not a small thing.
3:08
And it comes with a great responsibility. It's
3:11
not just the status. There's also the service,
3:15
the responsibility that is tied to that. And
3:18
we looked at Matthew 20. We just focused on 25
3:23
to 28, where we saw the situation with the two
3:28
of Jesus' disciples. And we looked at Matthew
3:31
20, 25 to 2, but Mark has his own account of
3:36
the same situation in Mark 10. But in Mark...
3:40
Mark just focuses on the two disciples, not mentioning
3:44
the mother. And we see something similar around
3:47
about that in Luke. But Matthew's account draws
3:51
our attention because we see that situation presenting
3:55
itself and we see how Jesus addresses the situation.
3:58
We see how Jesus addresses the situation, bringing
4:00
the attention of disciples to the fact that you
4:03
are struggling for a position. Mills, while you
4:07
are ignoring the service that that position comes
4:10
along, meaning that it's not just a title attached
4:13
to your name, it's the responsibility that comes
4:16
with that title and where he brings the attention
4:19
to how it's ultimately about service. And I said,
4:23
I think what was the first thing we looked at
4:25
when we were looking at the first word that starts
4:27
with an M? The motivation, right? We say for
4:32
everything there's motivation and... If your
4:34
motivation is wrong, every other thing will flow
4:37
from there. It will just be wrong going down.
4:39
But if your motivation is anchored on what is
4:41
right, and that's why Jesus Christ tells them,
4:43
look, the way the world does is different from
4:45
the way we do it here. Because the way the world
4:48
does, the way the world lords it over you, the
4:50
world operates. You see people acting very different
4:53
because they have a position. And that sometimes
4:56
is the person is showing you what their motives
4:59
are already in the action. And we say it is very
5:02
different for us in the kingdom. We are not in
5:04
positions because we want to lord it over people.
5:08
There's no way. The ultimate example for us is
5:12
Christ Jesus. And if he doesn't do that, you
5:14
can't be representing the person you're representing
5:17
different from the identity or the character
5:20
of the person. So we say that first is the motive,
5:23
right? The motive, that's the reason why. And
5:26
then the second was what? The message. And in
5:30
his... he communicates, he tells them, no, this
5:34
is not what it should be like. Because you can't,
5:36
in your action, you're trying to correct, you
5:39
have to put, you have to say, it's not like this,
5:42
this is it. You don't just correct someone and
5:45
just leave them in limbo. You correct them and
5:47
point them to what actually, or what it should
5:50
be like. And then the last one is what? Huh?
5:56
The means, right? The means, which is how to
5:58
go about. Because know that in all of this, he
6:01
points them to himself as a model. He points
6:05
them to himself as a model, and he shows us how.
6:07
Because in that last, that 28, he says he did
6:10
not come to be served, but to serve. And he gave
6:14
his life as a ransom for many. That's the ultimate.
6:18
He's not just telling you to do it. He's showing
6:21
you, like, his life exemplifies it. The life
6:25
of sacrifice. Meaning that as an ambassador,
6:27
you have to live that same life. And for the
6:32
work of ministry, for everything that we do that
6:34
we want to be effective in, we have to sacrifice
6:36
a couple of things. Sometimes you have to sacrifice
6:39
your time. Most times you have to sacrifice your
6:42
time if you really want it to work. You have
6:44
to sacrifice even your money. Sometimes there
6:47
will not be service, like the bus service. You
6:51
have to factor in, okay, I have to be here. And
6:54
I have to find a way. If I don't have the money,
6:57
I can pair up a group of people and we reduce
7:00
the cost. You have to sacrifice. You have to
7:02
have that consciousness because it's very important
7:05
for us to make progress. And what is our role
7:07
and our responsibility? We have the role and
7:10
responsibility as ambassadors to proclaim a message.
7:13
And that message is a message of reconciliation.
7:15
And we see that in the passage. It's reconciling
7:18
them, men, back to God because we have been reconciled
7:21
to the Father. Right? Because if you're not being
7:24
reconciled to the Father, you will not be reconciling
7:26
people to Him. Because you have to have a relationship
7:30
with the one you're representing. You have to
7:32
have some form of relationship for you to be
7:34
able to effectively do that. And we saw that
7:37
in the New King James. Let's go back to 2 Corinthians
7:41
5 .20. In the NLT, it says, back to God. In the
7:48
New King James, it says, you are be reconciled
7:52
to God, right? It ends with be reconciled to
7:55
God. And we talked about, when we came back to
7:57
this passage, we talked about the first thing,
8:00
the motive. We saw that the motive for everything
8:02
that we do, the motive for the thing that is
8:05
anchored in our love, is love, anchored in love.
8:08
Our motive for what we do, because it's love
8:11
that empowers us to do the work. Because it's
8:15
not... easy to go about doing stuff. One thing
8:18
that will help you to or compel you to do the
8:21
work and keep you at it is the fact that you
8:24
have something that is not externally motivated.
8:31
Something that comes from within. Because you
8:33
are making a decision to do this and it's not
8:36
the easiest thing to do, but love empowers us
8:41
to do it. It says in verse 14 of that same chapter.
8:45
He says, love compels us. God's love is what
8:49
compels us to do everything he instructs us to
8:52
do. God's love is what compels us to do everything
8:55
he instructs us to do. The same thing applies
8:58
to even Christ laying down, Christ giving his
9:01
life for us. It's love that compels him to do
9:04
that. Everything that we see here is tied to,
9:07
is very much centered on Christ, and that is
9:09
why he is the model that we live by. Praise God.
9:12
That's why he's a model that we live by. I was
9:16
saying that everything that we do in the kingdom
9:18
is for. We do all the things that we do for others.
9:24
And it's not selfish. It's not anchored on self.
9:26
It's anchored on selflessness. It's not anchored
9:29
on ourselves, but it's anchored on selflessness.
9:34
And it starts off from our relationship with
9:37
God. I want us to continue from... Pick it up
9:41
from there. I just did that because I know I
9:44
see a lot of faces that were not around on Sunday.
9:47
So let's look at 2 Timothy 2 verse 2. 2 Timothy
9:53
2 verse 2. 2 Timothy 2 verse 2. It says, and
9:58
the things that you have heard from among, for
10:03
me, among many witnesses, commit this to faithful
10:08
men. who will be able to teach others. Meaning
10:12
that what has been received is committed to faithful
10:16
people and the faithful people are faithful.
10:18
So we see almost like a chain where it doesn't
10:21
stop at one point. It moves and it uses the word
10:25
faithful, faithful. The other translation would
10:28
say trustworthy, trustworthy, faithful. So as
10:32
you, whether you like it or not, it doesn't stop
10:36
at you. It shouldn't stop at you. It shouldn't
10:40
stop with you. What you have received has to
10:42
flow from you to others. Praise God. And that's
10:45
very key in our work. That's very key in our
10:48
assignment. That's very key in the tax that God
10:50
has given to us. It doesn't stop with us. As
10:53
we have received, we are entrusting to others
10:55
because we are weaknesses. And I want you to
10:58
mark the word weaknesses because we're going
11:00
to see that coming in again and again. So God
11:04
has entrusted us with this, the gospel entrusted
11:07
us with his word. When we look at the Great Commission,
11:10
he has entrusted us with this. And every one
11:13
of us, not just a specific group of people, every
11:15
one of us is entrusted with this assignment,
11:17
with this message. And this message has to be,
11:20
remember we talked on Sunday about the urgency
11:22
of the message. It's urgent, it's urgent and
11:27
it requires great attention. The message has
11:30
to be preached. And we are the ones that have
11:34
that responsibility and that tax to do it. And
11:36
we are ambassadors and our responsibility is
11:38
to proclaim it to the world. And when we say
11:40
the world, the world is the people around us
11:43
who have not come into the knowledge of the truth.
11:46
And we'll see in 1 Timothy 1 verse 11. Let's
11:49
see something in 1 Timothy 1 verse 11. And we
11:53
see Apostle Paul speaking of himself to Timothy.
11:58
And he says, According to the glorious gospel
12:02
of the blessed God, which was committed to my
12:09
trust. He's speaking of the glorious gospel,
12:12
which was committed to his trust. He was entrusted
12:15
with the glorious gospel and he didn't stop at
12:18
him. He ensured that it spreads. It ensured that
12:23
it spreads. And I want to challenge us. Are you
12:26
ensuring that what you have received goes to
12:29
someone else? Are you ensuring that what you
12:31
have received goes to someone else? Are you ensuring
12:35
that what you have received is passed on to someone
12:38
else? And I think today something happened. Because
12:42
that word, my trust, I'll read 1 Thessalonians
12:46
and I will go to it. It says, 1 Thessalonians
12:49
2 verse 4. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 2 verse
12:51
4. 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 4. 2 verse 4. It says,
12:58
but as we have been approved by God to be entrusted
13:04
with the gospel, even so we speak not as pleasing
13:10
men, but God who tests our motive. I want you
13:13
to put an NLT. Put an NLT. NLT says, for we speak
13:18
as messengers approved by God to be entrusted
13:22
with the good news. Our purpose is to please
13:25
God. not people. We alone, it says he alone,
13:29
sorry, examines the motives of our hearts. God
13:33
alone examines the motive of our heart. And I
13:35
want you to pay attention to the part of we being
13:40
entrusted with those good news. And that word
13:43
entrusted means that we are in charge. We're
13:47
responsible. We're put in charge of doing the
13:49
work. We're put in charge of doing the work.
13:51
It means that we are... We're the ones that have
13:55
to do the work. Nobody else will be able to do
13:59
it. We are the ones that have to do it. Praise
14:02
God. We're the ones that are responsible. We're
14:04
doing that. And I think this perfectly illustrates
14:07
the point. I think this evening, this morning,
14:10
this morning, okay, this morning, I went out,
14:13
had my class, then got back home in the afternoon.
14:17
When I got back home in the afternoon, I think
14:19
this was very, because I learned a lot just by...
14:22
observing what had happened. I was in the house
14:24
and then all of a sudden I smelled smoke. And
14:26
we know that when you smell smoke, there should
14:28
be fire somewhere around. And then I was hoping.
14:32
And then I looked out the window. I saw like
14:33
a lot of smoke coming from the floor downstairs.
14:37
So, and then there was bangings. I think the
14:39
smoke wasn't what caught my attention. The bangings
14:41
and the smoke, all of them. And then I could
14:43
figure out that something was going on. And then
14:46
I went downstairs only for us to find out that.
14:49
the particular apartment downstairs was seriously
14:53
on fire. And it was seriously on fire, but that's
14:57
not the story. What caught my attention is the
15:00
fact that people that were managers, that were
15:03
placed in charge of the building, were willing
15:05
to find a way to get into the building. You know,
15:07
sometimes it can just mean like, oh, I don't
15:10
live here. Right? This is my work. They don't
15:14
pay me that much to go into a place that is burning,
15:17
or they don't pay me that much. So a couple of
15:20
the men, one of them got the wrong keys. He went
15:22
back, got the right keys, pushed. I think the
15:25
other guy, and the good thing about it is that
15:26
as God would have it, the guys that were working
15:28
were around. So they were able to spot that something
15:30
was off. And then they opened, they were able
15:33
to get back, open the door. And then I could,
15:37
from just standing on the side, I could see fire
15:39
coming from. The other guy got the fire extinguisher.
15:43
He saw that, oh, that one wasn't working. He
15:45
ran upstairs, got the, I was looking, I was like.
15:48
This guy is just walking. He just walks here.
15:52
But the way he was able to take on, went in,
15:56
not thinking about his life, entered into the
15:58
place, was using it. In fact, one of them got
16:00
in. He came out. He was choking because there
16:02
were several fire extinguishers they were using.
16:04
He was choking. He came out. He still went back
16:06
in again. The other one wrapped his head, going
16:08
just to put out the fire. And they were willing
16:12
to sacrifice themselves to put out the fire that
16:16
was happening in one place. And when the lady
16:18
that owns it, because they had to call her, she
16:21
rushed back. She came into the place and she
16:23
wanted to rush into the place. They had to calm
16:25
her down because we're thinking to ourselves,
16:26
okay, there are a lot of valuables, there are
16:28
a lot of things in the place where they had to
16:30
hold her back from going in. I didn't realize
16:33
what was happening. It was when I later saw that
16:35
she had her pet, her dog was inside the place
16:39
because they had to hold her back because if
16:41
she gets into the, it was going to be problematic
16:43
because she'll be looking for something that
16:45
she'll struggle to find. So she was able to do
16:48
that. And then the fire service people came along.
16:50
And then I was thinking to myself, how quickly,
16:53
how quickly that had happened. I was just thinking,
16:56
I say, if this were to happen in a place that
16:58
I know, if this were to happen in a place that
17:01
I know, given the timeframe, everything would
17:04
have, I think a lot of other houses would have
17:06
been, but just the fact that the people that
17:08
were placed in charge took it upon themselves
17:12
to do what needed to be done to ensure that.
17:17
more properties were not and they were able to
17:21
put I think the fire I think two fire service
17:23
truck came the other one needed wasn't needed
17:26
and then he left and then they had to use the
17:28
the one that came and then they put out the fire
17:31
and as they were doing it the cleaners were coming
17:33
and they were kind of responsible I was just
17:35
like wow like if you pass around there you might
17:38
not necessarily know something happened if not
17:40
for the left and I'm very sure that before you
17:42
know it every place will be clean and everybody
17:44
back to It just points to the fact that people
17:48
placed in charge of something that know what
17:52
their responsibility and their tax or what is
17:55
to be done, they will go out of their way. Nobody
17:59
needs to tell. The owner of the school didn't
18:01
need to call and say, you guys need to, you should
18:04
be up and running. He probably is in his house.
18:06
He probably will be informed of it later on.
18:08
But everything was sorted out because some people
18:11
were placed in charge and they did what needed
18:13
to be done. because it was urgent. It was very
18:18
urgent. It needed to be acted on. If not, we'll
18:21
have more than just one apartment on fire. Praise
18:26
God. I brought that out because I want us to
18:30
picture ourselves, put ourselves in a situation
18:34
where the gospel, like that fire, needs to spread.
18:39
Praise God. The gospel needs to spread, and God
18:42
has entrusted every one of us in this room with
18:46
the tax and the responsibility of doing that.
18:49
And failure on our part to do so will mean that
18:53
the other thing, which is not the fire, which
18:57
is not the fire that we want, will spread. Because
19:01
you can't, something will spread. If the gospel
19:05
is not spread, something else will be spread.
19:09
People are very bold to tell you what they want
19:13
to sell to you. I was walking to Ika's and then
19:16
the lady blocked me and she was like, do you
19:17
need a synth? I said, the one I have, I've been
19:20
using it for 13 years. She said, oh. So if I've
19:23
been using what I have for 13 years, you cannot
19:26
give me something new. I'm comfortable and okay
19:29
with what I have. But at least she tried, right?
19:33
For somebody else, if she does that for like
19:35
20 persons, at least one person will respond
19:37
and say, okay, it's true. This line has been
19:39
disturbing. I warned them. I told them. They
19:42
have been chopping my money and they will switch.
19:44
But she made the effort to reach out. And I think
19:47
that was today when I was passing the game was
19:50
the second time. But this time was two. So the
19:52
other one, I said I have the other line. Praise
19:55
God. So I want us to understand that what we
19:58
have been given, placed in charge of, is something
20:01
that is important and is something that needs
20:02
to spread. And we have the responsibility of
20:05
doing so. Right? We have the responsibility of
20:08
doing so. And Apostle Paul, in his communication,
20:10
clearly states that it has been placed in his
20:14
trust. And we know from the writings of Paul
20:16
that he did not hold back. He ensured that everyone
20:20
around, every place he went to, the gospel was
20:25
being preached, was communicated. And I know
20:29
some of us will be thinking, it's not that serious.
20:37
Whether you like it or not, the Word of God says
20:41
we have been given that responsibility. And for
20:43
the church to grow, this is a necessity for each
20:47
and every one of us, right? For us to see growth,
20:51
for us, as I keep saying, I said it on Sunday,
20:54
I said it previously, for the empty seats to
20:57
be filled up, every one of us, we have that responsibility
21:01
of doing our own role or playing our own part
21:04
in it. Praise God. And the little inviting someone,
21:09
the little preaching to someone, the little going
21:13
out of our way, going out of, because the uncomfortable
21:17
thing to do is to speak, right? Speaking is very,
21:21
it's not the easiest. If you're a quiet person,
21:23
you have more reasons not to. But know that,
21:26
as I often say, nobody is quiet when they are
21:30
in trouble or when they need help. Praise God.
21:33
Nobody, even the most, Say I'm shy. When you
21:37
need help, you will have to speak up. You'll
21:40
have to speak up. So it means that that whole
21:42
myth of saying I don't speak or I can't speak
21:44
goes out of the window because you need help.
21:47
And in this case, God is calling out, God is
21:51
instructing and the gospel has to be. And it
21:53
says here, our role, our responsibility is to
22:00
please God. And in our pleasing God, It might
22:07
not please man, right? The person you're trying
22:10
to speak to might not be pleased with what will
22:13
come out of your mouth, but you have the responsibility
22:16
to do so. When the disciples were flogged and
22:20
asked not to preach, they had made a decision.
22:24
They did not make the decision while they were
22:26
being flogged. They had made the decision already
22:28
before that situation presented itself that no
22:31
matter what we do, we'll rather obey God than
22:33
man. Praise God. We would rather obey God than
22:37
man. And in this case, the good news has been
22:41
entrusted onto us, each and every one of us in
22:44
this room, and we are asked to go about doing
22:47
the Lord's will, which is preaching the gospel.
22:50
And the message has to be proclaimed, and the
22:52
message will be proclaimed to us. And think of
22:54
it like this. A medical doctor is in charge of
23:00
whoever the patient that comes in. his life in
23:06
the hands of the doctor. And the doctor, if the
23:09
doctor is careless, the result will be the death
23:11
of the patient. If the doctor is careful and
23:14
is diligent, if the doctor is faithful to his
23:16
art and the craft and all he had learned in medical
23:19
school, the person will be able to survive, right?
23:22
And there's a responsibility on the part of the
23:24
doctor to do his work with accuracy, do his work
23:28
with precision to be able to save the life of
23:29
that person. The same way we have the responsibility
23:32
of giving. share with people the life -giving
23:36
word of God to be able to bring them back. And
23:39
we want to communicate it in its wholeness, right?
23:41
We want to be able to communicate the word of
23:44
God in its wholeness, communicate the gospel
23:46
or give that gospel in its wholeness. And we
23:49
see the basic ingredients that has to be part
23:52
and parcel of our communications when we go out
23:54
to preach, when we go out to teach. 1 Corinthians
23:58
15, 3 -4. 1 Corinthians 15. 3 to 4. It says,
24:05
For I delivered to you, first of all, that which
24:07
I also received, that Christ died for our sins,
24:12
according to the Scriptures, that He was buried,
24:15
and He rose again on the third day, according
24:18
to Scripture. We see that He died, He was buried,
24:22
and that is the message that we preach, that
24:24
He died for our sins. He died for our sins, and
24:31
we know that that is according to the Word. He
24:33
died for our sins. He was buried. And he rose
24:35
again on the third day. And we all have believed.
24:40
We believe that he died for our sins. We believe
24:42
he has resurrected. And we are all, as I said
24:45
from the previous verse, we are witnesses, right?
24:47
We are witnesses. I said we are ambassadors.
24:49
We are witnesses. We are representing him. We
24:52
are telling people of him. We are proclaiming
24:55
the message. We are proclaiming the message.
24:57
And it's not about how the people feel about
25:00
the message. It's about... the instruction that
25:02
we're given to proclaim the message. And we do
25:05
that with everything because that's the mandate.
25:07
We've been given that. We've been instructed
25:09
to do so. We're doing the prayers. We went to
25:13
Matthew 28. We saw that even in Mark 16, 15,
25:18
it says we should go into the world and preach
25:20
the gospel to every creature. We should preach
25:23
the gospel to every creature because preaching
25:25
the gospel has the power to save. Because in
25:30
the communication, if you don't speak or you
25:32
don't communicate the gospel, there is no being
25:35
saved. There's no being delivered from sin. There's
25:38
no being delivered from all of those things.
25:40
So we're placed in charge of doing that, and
25:42
we have the great privilege to go out and do
25:46
it. And we are doing it not because we know.
25:49
You know, some people say, I have to be an expert
25:51
before I do it. Well, you can't be an expert
25:55
if you don't even give it a try. You know, many,
25:58
many times we are scared. I think I was speaking
26:00
to someone today. I think yesterday, I think
26:02
yesterday when I was speaking to someone, the
26:04
person came into my office and then he came for
26:08
the English exam that was happening at the, he
26:12
came to actually ask about how he would register
26:14
and what he would do for the English exam. So
26:16
he was, he actually was speaking to me in, he
26:19
was speaking in English, but not like proper
26:21
English. He was just saying words like English,
26:23
Turkish. He was just trying to mumble. So most
26:25
of the times when I, When that happens, I just
26:28
want to get them to do it a lot more further.
26:32
Not because I think Pastor Emmanuel will remember
26:34
this a lot of years back when we went to report
26:37
the case and then the man was feigning like he
26:39
didn't know any word of English. We were struggling
26:41
with our Turkish at that time. We struggled,
26:43
struggled, struggled, and then all of a sudden
26:45
the guy now spoke. prim and proper English. And
26:49
I didn't know which one was making me offended.
26:53
Is it the fact that I had a problem that I needed
26:55
to communicate to you and then you feigned like
26:57
you didn't understand what I was saying until
26:59
then you now say, okay, you can go ahead. It's
27:01
like the guy was like, these guys are butchering
27:04
this thing, so just go ahead. So when he came
27:06
into the office, I was like, I was like, okay.
27:08
I said, okay, I don't understand what you're
27:10
saying. I just feigned I don't understand what
27:11
you're saying. So when I saw that he tried and
27:13
tried and tried, so I now replied to him in Turkish.
27:15
I was like, okay, what do you want? Then he was
27:18
like, why did I figure? I said, okay, I'm not
27:19
here for the English exam. So if you're here
27:23
for the English exam, it means that you need
27:25
to do some more practice and practice to help
27:28
you. So I had to explain to him why I had to
27:30
do it so that he can be able to. So he said,
27:32
it's hard. English is hard. I said, everything
27:34
is hard. Like if you want to do anything at all,
27:36
it's hard and requires practice. And if you don't,
27:38
if you spend less time, because notice that you
27:41
had the hard way and you had the easy way. And
27:44
you chose the easy way because you were believing.
27:47
So if I had not been able to communicate to you
27:50
in this life, we would just be doing the hard.
27:53
You have to be stuck with it. But because I was
27:55
able to at least learn what you do your own,
27:58
you are now able to communicate easy. So it means
28:01
that for everything that you want to set out
28:03
to do, there's always the trying and failing,
28:06
the trying and failing, but you keep at it because
28:09
you need to, because he opened up and he was
28:11
talking. He said, He had failed the exam before
28:13
and he just needed to pass with 50 points. I
28:16
was like, over 100, you need to pass with 50
28:17
points. It's not even like, you just need to
28:19
pass with 50 points. So I asked him again, I
28:22
said, okay, what course are you studying? He
28:24
said, he's studying psychology. So I was like,
28:26
wow, you're studying psychology and you just
28:28
want to be treating patients in Turkish. Like
28:32
you have a broader clientele if you expand or
28:37
you learn the other language. So I just, just
28:39
trying to. motivate him to do. And the same applies
28:42
to anything that we want to do. If you want to
28:45
go out, there's always the first time. There's
28:48
always the doing it and doing it until you get
28:51
better. There's the fear, but we don't let fear
28:54
hold us back. We push past the fear and believe
28:57
that we're doing God's work, right? We're doing
29:00
God's will. We're not allowing ourselves be a
29:04
limitation to what God wants us to do. We're
29:07
pushing past the hurdle of, the difficulty, and
29:10
we're saying, I'll do it regardless. And doing
29:14
stuff when you're afraid, you'll make mistakes,
29:16
right? You make mistakes and you might be scared,
29:21
but you do it anyways and believe God for it
29:24
because the disciples themselves had those phases,
29:27
right? They had times where they messed things
29:29
up. We can read it. And the good thing about
29:32
the word of God is that it doesn't, there are
29:34
instances where people messed up that you can
29:37
read. and learn how not to mess it up, right?
29:41
Because the problem is that we don't learn. We
29:43
read God's word and we probably just make the
29:46
same mistake, but we look at it and we see that
29:49
the disciples themselves had times where there
29:54
was a struggle, where they moved past that. And
29:58
then we see examples of individuals that opened
30:00
their mouth and proclaimed the gospel and we
30:02
see 3 ,000 people. are saved, right? We see even
30:07
people like Philip, right? Philip is not even,
30:13
like Philip was just appointed to serve tables,
30:16
right? He was a minister, he was a deacon, was
30:19
appointed to serve tables. We see him not allow
30:21
himself, I'm not part of the elite, I'm not a
30:24
part of it, but he went into a city and he still,
30:28
he did what was instructed. And every one of
30:31
them have this. that this thing that we have
30:35
been given, we have to ensure that others come
30:38
to the knowledge of it. And I'm challenging everyone
30:40
of us here that you want to go in with that same
30:43
mindset, that consciousness, that in the little
30:46
way. I shared on Sunday that the woman at the
30:51
well, in closing, I shared on Sunday with the
30:53
woman, I'm closing now, in closing on Sunday,
30:56
I shared because I heard somebody saying, oh
31:00
yeah, he's closing already. In closing Sunday,
31:04
I shared that the woman didn't have much, she
31:06
didn't have much training. But with what she
31:10
knew, she did what she could. And a lot of people
31:12
showed up, right? A lot of people showed up.
31:15
It means that with what you know, you can be
31:17
able to, the main thing is that your motives
31:19
are right. You have, you know what the message
31:24
is, right? You know what the message is. It just
31:27
means that, and the means to go about it is there.
31:30
You have been taught, you have been explained
31:31
to. You just go out. and do it. So let's read
31:34
Acts 2, 14 and 41. Yeah, 14. It says, But Peter,
31:46
standing up with eleven, raised his voice and
31:49
said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell
31:54
in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed
31:59
my words. Just keep it here. Note that he says,
32:02
this is him opening his mouth and proclaiming.
32:08
During the course of the prayer, he sounds, he
32:12
knows what he's saying, right? He has been given
32:16
the instruction. He knows that, okay, this is
32:18
how we need to do it. He didn't say, he didn't
32:21
stand up and then he was quiet. He stood up and
32:25
raised, Scripture says he raised his voice and
32:28
said to them. He didn't just pray in his heart
32:33
for them, right? He didn't write their names
32:37
down and say that we're praying for them. He
32:39
went ahead to speak to them. He raised his voice
32:41
and said to them, and he says, men of Judea and
32:44
all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known
32:48
to you and heed my words. And he goes on and
32:51
on. And in 41, now we see what happens as a result
32:54
of that. In 41, we see that, you see, then those
32:59
who, gladly received his word. So he had spoken,
33:03
and we see the result. We're baptized, and that
33:08
day, about 3 ,000 souls were added to them. 3
33:12
,000 souls were added to them. So we see that
33:15
he spoke, and the good thing about it, as I said,
33:19
you see that he says, and he spoke to those who
33:22
gladly, so there are those who gladly received,
33:25
right? You have instances where some people will
33:28
sadly walk away. Right? They will sadly not respond.
33:33
I said, if you invite 10 people and then two
33:35
people respond, glory to God, you continue. Right?
33:39
We continue because more people need to hear,
33:42
more people need to hear the word. It says, and
33:45
then 3 ,000 happened. And we see subsequent chapters,
33:49
we see that different things happens. If you
33:51
have more, 5 ,000, you have all of that were
33:54
saved. And then we see the example of Philip
33:56
as well. We see another example, Philip. Acts
34:01
8. Let's just look at 5. Let's look at 5. Just
34:08
8 verse 5. Let's just look at 5. We see different
34:11
examples. Then Philip went down to the city of
34:15
Samaria and preached Christ to them. So he went
34:18
to a whole city. And, you know, we're in the
34:22
city of Nicosia, right? In the city of Nicosia.
34:25
And for most of us, we have, like, this is one
34:29
person going and doing. Like going and you can
34:33
say, okay, probably, what was he doing? He has
34:36
a lot of time in his hands. Praise God. But know
34:39
that you have the same opportunities that you
34:42
have when you interact with people to communicate.
34:44
And then for you to do the work of communicating,
34:47
some will agree, in fact, some will look like
34:51
they don't agree, but the seed of the word has
34:53
been sown. And what will happen is that when
34:56
you do... speak to the individual. Somebody else
34:59
comes, does the same thing. Somebody else comes.
35:01
What will keep happening is that the word will
35:04
continue to wear and then the person will respond.
35:08
Praise God. The person will respond. And we take
35:10
time. When we go out, we take time to also pray
35:12
for the individuals that you have spoken with,
35:15
that the word will continue to take root in the
35:17
hearts of the individual and they respond. But
35:21
know that we will not fail to do our responsibility,
35:23
right? Of opening our mouths as Peter did. as
35:27
Philip did. Because if they had not done that,
35:30
you will not have seen the result or we will
35:32
not have seen the response. So our challenge
35:34
as a church is that when we have programs, take
35:39
for instance, we have in October, that's coming
35:43
month in October, we have the different meetings
35:47
that are announced to us. We have our workers
35:48
meeting on the 3rd. We have the outreach we have
35:52
on the 5th. We have the open air concert on the
35:55
night, right? Yeah, that's the time on a Friday,
35:59
Monday and a Friday. And what you have the, like,
36:04
asides when we come here and pray, you want to
36:06
have times where it comes to mind. You write
36:11
them down. You pray for the meetings that we
36:14
have. You pray for the services that we have
36:16
and pray that people will be, the gospel will
36:20
meet people. Praise God. That people will hear,
36:24
people that are just wandering around. It will
36:26
look like a coincidence, but it was perfectly
36:28
and divinely orchestrated that they show up around
36:31
there. That they will hear something, right?
36:34
They will hear something. That the words in the
36:37
song, the words in the song will minister to
36:40
them. That the things that will be said will
36:43
minister to them. And the opportunities that
36:44
we have when we're hanging around, when people
36:46
are asking questions, we'll have opportunities
36:48
to minister to them. Praise God. I have heard
36:52
stories of where even the, and sometimes we are
36:55
the ones that place a limit as to how God is
36:58
able to meet people, right? The people that we
37:01
have instances where people will see a flyer
37:03
and they're just drawn, see a flyer and something
37:06
changes, something shifts. In fact, see a flyer
37:08
and even get healed, right? See a flyer and even
37:11
get healed. And as we're using our flyers to
37:13
do publicity, we're using our flyer, we know
37:15
that it goes beyond the flyer. It's the instruction
37:20
that we obey of God that God will, because it's
37:24
in our actions that we see response, right? Our
37:27
opening our mouth are speaking. The flyer is
37:29
also speaking, right? When someone reads the
37:32
flyer, when someone looks at the flyer, all of
37:34
those things are opportunities that God will
37:36
be able to use and cost life and draw and pull
37:40
people to himself. Praise God. But we don't want
37:43
to be inactive. We want to actively engage and
37:49
actively believe that God will be able to use
37:51
us to do the work. I want us to see something
37:53
in 1 Corinthians 3, 5 -6. 1 Corinthians 3, 5
38:03
-6. I'll go back to Acts again, but let's just
38:10
do 1 Corinthians 3, 5 -6. Yeah, it says, Who
38:13
then is Paul? And who is Apollos but ministers
38:18
through whom you believe as the Lord gave to
38:24
each one? Right? Six. I planted, Apollos watered,
38:29
but God gave the increase. I want us to see something.
38:33
It says, but God gave the increase. Aside the
38:37
fact that we see that God gave the increase,
38:40
you know, some of you say, oh, it's God now.
38:42
It's God that does the work. But understand that
38:45
They are ministers that did the groundwork, right?
38:49
They are ministers that did the groundwork. He
38:52
talks about Paul. He talks about Apollos, right?
38:57
He talks about Apollos. He says, I planted, Apollos
39:01
watered, and God, you see that different individuals
39:05
were responsible for what God later does. And
39:09
the responsibility says, Apostle Paul is saying
39:12
he planted. Someone else waters. And then we
39:17
see an increase. Just imagine if Paul did not
39:21
plant. Apollos did not water. Would we be talking
39:26
about an increase? Praise God. Would we be talking
39:29
about an increase? What it means is that there
39:32
has to be a planting. There has to be an action.
39:36
There has to be the word that is communicated
39:38
to the individual. There has to be a seed that
39:41
is sown. There has to be... the watering of that
39:44
seed. There has to be different paths coming
39:46
to play, right? As I was saying earlier, you
39:49
spoke to the person, the person heard it for
39:51
the first time. And we know that the person probably
39:53
might not fully comprehend it the first time.
39:55
Sometimes they comprehend it very quickly, but
39:57
you don't even know the background work that
40:00
has been done previously by other persons. What
40:04
the person's response is what you're looking
40:06
for to that response. You're looking for to them,
40:08
as we saw on the previous, texts where we read,
40:14
we see that those people gladly responded and
40:17
they were baptized. And for some of us, when
40:20
we see that, we're like, why is my own not like
40:21
that? Why do I always leave discouraged after
40:25
I have tried? No, what you have just done is
40:28
that you have tried, right? You have tried and
40:31
we all will keep trying. Praise God. We all will
40:34
keep trying because God, I love the fact that
40:39
it says, God gave. Praise God. God gave. I know
40:43
you'll be thinking, yeah, he's talking about
40:45
it in the past, but God does give the increase.
40:50
But other things are tied to that. He does give
40:53
the increase, meaning that it's sure. It's sure.
40:58
I don't know about you, but it's sure. Because
41:00
if there's anything, we are the ones that can
41:03
fail to plant. We are the ones that can fail
41:04
to water. Praise God. But God never fails. When
41:09
everything has been done to give the increase,
41:11
meaning that if you speak to someone, God doesn't
41:13
fail to cause that thing to work in the hearts
41:16
of that person. Praise God. When we go out of
41:19
our way and do the things that is needed for
41:21
increase to happen, we'll see increase. Praise
41:23
God. But when we sit down and say, going back
41:28
to what had happened today, I said, those people
41:32
had this consciousness of the fact that I am
41:37
part of this. I am responsible for this place.
41:42
If anything bad happens, I will take responsibility
41:45
for it. Not the owner will take responsibility
41:48
for it. I will take responsibility for it. And
41:51
they went out of their way to do all that they
41:53
did to address the situation. Praise God. I want
41:57
us to have that same consciousness, that same
41:59
urgency. Don't look at it and say, it is God's
42:03
church. It is the church of NECF. It's the pastors
42:05
that will be responsible. Have that consciousness
42:08
that, It is every one of us here that puts our
42:12
hands together to see it work. You know, sometimes
42:16
you just think, you'll be like, how can people
42:23
see something not going right and have the means
42:30
to resolve it and then act like it's not? You
42:33
know, that thing can happen over and over again
42:35
where you're desensitized to. the way things
42:39
should be. Because you have seen it a lot of
42:41
times that way, and then you feel like, my impute
42:44
will not do anything. The one or two persons
42:47
that I reach out to will not do anything. Right?
42:51
Because you are hoping and expecting that, yeah,
42:53
every other person is doing something. But just
42:56
imagine a situation where every other person
42:58
is doing the work faithfully. Apostle Paul is
43:01
talking about how Apollos is watering. He is
43:05
planting. He knows that he is planting and he
43:08
keeps planting. And there is a list of many other
43:12
people that are planting, right? You know, if
43:15
every one of us is planting, you can imagine
43:19
what will happen when we need to harvest, right?
43:22
Every one of us is planting faithfully, right?
43:25
Because you know when you plant, you don't even
43:26
see anything, right? You just, you have to have
43:31
faith, right? And you know that there's something
43:34
that is on that ground. And then you keep watering
43:36
and watering. At some point in time, something
43:39
happens to make you understand that, yeah, we
43:43
didn't waste our time, right? We didn't waste
43:45
our time. But if you are looking at it for the
43:48
first few weeks, you'll be like, are you sure
43:50
this was the spot I planted? Praise God. But
43:53
we don't stop because we know that seed has been
43:56
sown in this particular area. We keep at it.
43:58
Praise God. And my encouragement to us is that
44:00
you don't go out of your way to speak to people.
44:05
and not take the time to water, right? And watering
44:09
can come in the area of where you're praying
44:12
for that person that you've spoken to, right?
44:14
Because many of us take the time and we just
44:17
do the work and check it, like check it. And
44:21
then we don't take time to pray particularly,
44:23
specifically for the individuals that, in fact,
44:26
we don't even do it for our people in church.
44:30
Like you're not necessarily praying for them,
44:32
it's the ones that are here. You know, we don't
44:34
have that consciousness of the fact that, okay,
44:36
I've not seen a brother. I've not seen a sister.
44:39
And these people, I kind of know them or they're
44:41
close. And you don't even have to be in a relationship.
44:43
You don't have to know them personally. You want
44:45
to be conscious of the fact that I've not seen
44:47
this person. How about I reach out to them? Because
44:50
that is also you watering the person, right?
44:52
That's also you encouraging the person. That's
44:55
also you going out of your way to ensure that
44:57
the person that is here doesn't go away. Praise
45:00
God. And that is part of the things that, and
45:02
you know, when we read from Thessalonians where
45:06
it was talking about motives, you know, people
45:09
will say, oh, I go out of my way to do this.
45:13
Know that your motives is seen, like, many times
45:17
we can't tell what's in your heart. But the way
45:20
you act or your actions will communicate to us
45:22
what exactly is going on in there. Because we
45:25
can't see, right? We can't see what's going on
45:27
inside. But we know that when we see you act,
45:29
we can know what... Exactly, we can deduce from
45:32
your action. So if you are here and you don't
45:36
even care about the people that we can see here,
45:38
we don't need anybody to put two and two together
45:40
to help us understand that what's happening around
45:44
doesn't really concern you, right? What's happening
45:47
around doesn't really concern you. But the challenge
45:49
or the encouragement is that God does give the
45:52
increase, right? God does give the increase as
45:56
we put in the effort to labor, put in the effort.
45:59
to reach out to others, put in the effort to
46:01
see to it. And I want to see that, I think, 6
46:06
and 7 in the NLT of this particular chapter,
46:11
6 and 7. So it says, I planted the seed in your
46:15
hearts, and Apollos watered it. But it is God
46:20
who made it grow. And 7, it says, it is not important
46:25
who does the planting or what does. or who does
46:29
the watering. What is important is what God makes.
46:33
What is important is that God makes the seed
46:36
grow. And it's, then it just brings into light
46:39
the fact that God is the one that takes the center
46:43
stage. He was just, because he's addressing a
46:45
situation that happens where people are trying
46:47
to, but we understand that our responsibilities
46:49
are important. But what is greatly important
46:51
is the fact that God causes it to grow. God causes
46:55
every seed, God causes every labor and every
46:57
work that is put in to grow. And we said that,
47:01
just going back to that area of our responsibility,
47:04
in Acts 1 .8, just go to Acts 1 .8 in the New
47:08
King James. Acts 1 .8 in the New King James.
47:13
It says, But you shall receive power when the
47:16
Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be
47:19
witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and all Judea and
47:22
Samaria. and to the ends of the earth, and to
47:25
the ends of the earth. So we see that in 1 .8,
47:30
it says, you shall receive power when the Holy
47:32
Ghost comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses.
47:36
Witnesses are individuals that are your witness.
47:38
You are telling of something that happened. So
47:40
witnesses, remember from the previous, we said,
47:42
you can't be a witness that doesn't open your
47:45
mouth to speak. You can't be a witness that doesn't
47:47
sow seed. You can't be a witness that doesn't
47:49
water the seed that you sow. because it's like
47:53
anytime I see this passage, you have received
47:57
something and then you do nothing about it. And
48:00
as I said previously, you can get used to receiving
48:04
stuff and doing nothing about it. And for many
48:07
of us in church environments, you just hear something,
48:09
hear something, hear something, do nothing about
48:11
it. And my charge and encouragement is that let's
48:15
do something about it. And what you can do is
48:17
the little things. Remember what I told us about
48:20
the... The guy that came to the office and then
48:24
he was asking. Then he ended up asking me one
48:26
thing. He says, so what do I advise him to do
48:28
to improve? I told him, I said, it's the little
48:31
things. Very little things like ensuring that
48:34
when you have a movie to watch, watch it in English,
48:36
not Turkish. When you have a song to listen to,
48:42
listen to it in English, not Turkish. Because
48:44
even if you don't listen to Turkish or if you
48:46
don't speak Turkish for the longest of time,
48:48
you'll still speak, right? Any language you know
48:51
how to speak, that's ticked, it's done. But any
48:54
language you want to learn, you have to put in
48:56
the work, which is apply yourself to see if you
48:59
can. Praise God. And in this case, you have received
49:03
the next thing that should happen because you're
49:06
witness, right? You're taking the work and then
49:09
you witness. And in this place, they are witnessing
49:11
to Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria, and to the end
49:16
of the world. So you're going far and wide. And
49:18
we see... We see Philip going to do that. We
49:22
see the instruction given. We see them acting
49:24
on instruction. And as I said, we can get used
49:27
to listening, not doing anything about it. And
49:29
what you can do after this is making the effort.
49:33
And some of us, we know this very well because
49:36
you'll be sitting down somewhere or you'll be
49:38
at a place and then you hear the Holy Spirit
49:42
prompt you to speak to someone. And then you're
49:46
like, it's a beautiful idea. And then you'll
49:50
be asking for more other signs. If the person
49:53
just smile at me. If the person says hi, you'll
49:59
be like, you'll be doing fleas. And most of the
50:06
times God is very precious. And sometimes you
50:08
will find yourself meeting that person a couple
50:10
of times. Praise God. So this is an encouragement
50:14
to us that we should go out of our way and share.
50:18
We have opportunities in the church. Evangelism
50:21
happens on a Saturday. Go out of your way to
50:24
work with other people and watch them. Praise
50:28
God. Because you're paired in two. You say, oh,
50:30
I've not done this before. You'll do it and then
50:33
you get better at it. You are in your classroom.
50:35
You have someone sitting next to you before the
50:37
class starts. You just ask a question. and then
50:41
it starts up a conversation. You'll be amazed
50:43
how many people are interested in hearing you
50:46
speak. But if you don't, you keep quiet. And
50:50
once you do, if the person tells you they're
50:53
a Christian and you ask them, okay, what church
50:55
do you attend? They say, okay, I've not found
50:56
a church yet. You have an opportunity to invite
50:59
them to yours. Praise God. But if you had not
51:01
started the conversation in the first place,
51:03
you wouldn't have gotten there. If you don't
51:06
speak, nobody knows. Praise God. If you don't
51:09
speak, Nobody will know what exactly it is that
51:13
you have to say. And we have a solution, right?
51:16
People have problems. We have the solution. And
51:19
we have the solution in God. We have the solution
51:21
in his word. We have the solution in prayer.
51:23
We want to exercise our authority. Praise God.
51:25
Because remember, with the responsibility that
51:28
has been given unto us, we have on the authority
51:30
that we exercise, right? We have the authority
51:33
that we exercise in God. to get things done or
51:37
to help people or to minister to people's situation.
51:39
Praise God. So the very key things is that all
51:42
of these individuals, the same way the instruction
51:44
was given, they were reliable and available for
51:47
the instruction to take place. Praise God. Because
51:50
in Philip's case, he was very much reliable and
51:54
very much available to do the work that was called
51:56
to. And the challenge or the encouragement to
52:00
us is that we have to be available. We have to
52:03
be people that are reliable to see or to get
52:06
the work done. And I saw something I would love
52:11
to share. It says, growth comes from a Christ
52:15
-centered focus, which produces a Christ -centered
52:19
life. When our work and our passion and our life
52:27
is centered on Christ, Christ -centered, when
52:30
our focus is on Christ, and we know that that
52:32
is in His Word and the teaching and the training,
52:35
what will happen is that the life that comes
52:37
as a result will be bettered from Him. Remember,
52:41
I said an ambassador doesn't represent himself.
52:45
Ambassador represents the one who has sent them.
52:48
The moment your focus is representing Him and
52:51
pleasing the one who has sent you, it means that
52:54
every other thing you will do will be in line.
52:58
with what the instruction or what the person
53:00
that sent you is. And know that when we give
53:03
ourselves to staying in God's word, we give ourselves
53:06
to training, the end result is that we see growth
53:11
in our lives. We see growth in the lives of people
53:14
that are around us. Praise God. So it means that
53:16
we have this consciousness to always center.
53:20
And when we are doing that, we're doing it for
53:23
ourselves. We're doing it with the end goal of
53:25
people being blessed. People will be impacted.
53:28
And as I talked about the meetings that we're
53:31
having, I said, you want to put before you the
53:34
fact that in this meeting, you want to see it
53:38
marked with miracles, signs, and wonders. You
53:41
want to see God move mightily in the hearts of
53:43
people. You want to see the supernatural. You
53:45
want to see God empower. You want to see God
53:48
minister to people like never before. You want
53:50
to see people come and experience God's power.
53:53
You know, that is a prayer that you can pray
53:56
every day. until the different events and you'll
54:00
find yourself not stopping. Praise God. Because
54:02
after you see God move mightily in such a way,
54:05
you'll know that really He does meet the needs
54:08
of His people when they open their mouth and
54:09
they speak or they pray to Him about it. So what
54:13
we want to do is we want to, first and foremost,
54:15
desire to see God walk in and through us because
54:19
His walk in us will result in an expression or
54:23
a manifestation of His power through us. And
54:25
as ambassadors, We're empowered to do God's work.
54:29
We are not going to get the power because we
54:31
said for growth to happen, he causes growth.
54:34
He causes growth. When we have made everything
54:37
available for him to do, everything available
54:40
for him to cause growth, we will see growth and
54:43
we will see increase. And we have to be reliable.
54:44
We have to be available, right? We have to be
54:46
reliable and available and we have to make ourselves
54:49
available for the things that will cause the
54:52
forbearance of the kingdom of God. We're making
54:54
ourselves available. When we say, okay, we're
54:56
meeting to go out and we make ourselves available.
55:00
When we say, okay, there's a concert that's going
55:03
to happen and we need everybody to be there.
55:05
Because we are people that want to see God made
55:10
manifest or see God made manifest in the lives
55:13
of people, we will show up there because we know
55:15
that God is interested in that and we want to
55:18
be there to be part and parcel of what God is
55:20
doing. Praise God. The same way in the church,
55:22
you want to be part and parcel of what God is
55:24
doing. And you want to make out time to say,
55:26
okay, I've learned this. I want to share with
55:28
this. I want to talk to somebody about what I've
55:30
learned. And that is how we actively make progress
55:34
in our work, make progress because as you're
55:36
saying, okay, I've learned this. You know, I
55:39
was thinking about this. Let me say this in closing.
55:42
You know, when you're praying and you're believing
55:47
God, okay, for this and this to happen, you know,
55:50
we'll pray and say, okay, God should deliver
55:52
us. You know, you are praying that prayer, and
55:55
sometimes you fail to understand that there are
55:57
people around you that can make it work or can
56:01
frustrate it. You yourself can be what will make
56:04
it work and frustrate it, and there are people
56:06
around you that can. Imagine you're doing the
56:10
hard work of doing it, and then someone close
56:12
to you, you have a housemate. That housemate
56:15
is frustrating. In fact, the housemate is testing
56:17
your love work. Your housemate is testing your
56:23
love book and you're trying to make progress.
56:25
Do you know that if you spend time praying for
56:27
that housemate, your own growth will happen because
56:32
you are dealing with a challenge that will help
56:35
you grow. Praise God. I don't know whether we
56:39
understand what I just said because you are taking
56:41
time to say, okay, but when you take time and
56:45
pray for that individual, pray for that person
56:47
that you know that India You will be on the next
56:55
level. Praise God. It will shift. It will pull
56:59
you. It will stretch you, but you will see yourself
57:01
learning something in that process that will
57:05
help you to build. And many of the times we neglect
57:10
the fact that when we see God move in a certain
57:12
kind of way, because we believe God for that,
57:16
it helps us to exercise ourselves, our faith
57:18
for even something greater. Praise God. He helps
57:21
us to excite our fear for something greater.
57:23
And God's word is powerful. God's word is able
57:25
to help us, meet us at the very point of our
57:27
need. And we don't want to put ourselves in a
57:30
bind or put ourselves in a fixed world. We put
57:32
a limitation on what God is able to do in and
57:35
through us. Because God is able to empower us.
57:38
God is able to cause growth in us that result
57:40
in growth in the lives of others. God is able
57:43
to help members, help friends. And when I mean
57:47
members, I also mean family members. to come
57:50
to the knowledge of the truth. And it just takes
57:53
you taking the time and praying and saying, I
57:56
want to see God made manifest in and through
57:59
the life of this person. And we'll see God faithfully.
58:03
Sure, because he always gives the increase. Praise
58:05
God. I want us to open our mouths and just pray
58:09
for ourselves. Pray that we'll continue to be
58:12
effective representatives of God. We appreciate
58:16
you being here today. We hope you carry this
58:19
word with you throughout your week. Don't forget
58:22
to check the show notes for additional insights.
58:25
Stay connected with us through our website or
58:27
follow us on social media. If you are encouraged,
58:31
share this message with someone you care about.
58:34
Until next time, stay blessed.