Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / Ministers of God pt 3

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Ministers of God pt 3 · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
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designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
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walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
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the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
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right in. Amen and amen. So I want to thank the
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pastorate for the opportunity and also congratulate
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the graduates. for the milestone, and we thank
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God for what he's doing. And we're proud of the
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graduates. We're proud of them, and we thank
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God for the things he's doing, and it's just
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getting started. There's more that lies ahead,
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and we're not distracted. We'll keep on keeping
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on. Praise God. So I think I was very appreciative
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to hear a lot of us talk about, I think the graduates,
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talk about the times where there were highs and
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there were lows. There were highs and there were
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lows. One thing that is sure is that for you
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to make progress and arrive to the point where
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you're done is that you keep on going. I think
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in the midweek service, we said, it says never
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give up. It says never give up. Never give up.
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But as a minister, you will have challenging
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times. You'll have difficult times. You'll have
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times when things don't seem like they're working.
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But one thing we must do is we must stay consistent
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and stay faithful. We are not people that start
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and stop. We are not people that quit. Because
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if our Lord Jesus Christ had given up, we would
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not be here today. Praise God. And he is working
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in us to do all that he has instructed and called
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us to. And we are greatly empowered and helped
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by God. So just for a recap, just for those of
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us that are probably just joining on a Sunday
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today, the topic is ministers of God. The topic
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is ministers of God, and we're looking at 2 Corinthians
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6. And we say, who's a minister? We say a minister
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is a person who serves. Someone is a servant.
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We say it's diakonos. Someone who serves and
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serves with another. And it's... The word used
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for a deacon is the word used for a deacon. And
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we established this teaching when we started
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off by saying that our identity as ministers
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is what will go forward to characterize our responsibility.
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The fact that you are identified as a believer,
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there's a responsibility that is demanded of
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you. We say as ministers, what we do is that
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we minister. You are not just here marking time.
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You know, there are believers that have this
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mindset or mentality that once you're saved,
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next thing, heaven. No, you're saved for service.
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God has redeemed you to proclaim. We say that
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every believer is called to ministry. Every believer
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is called to ministry. And the moment that is
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etched at the back of your mind, that brings
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in a sense of responsibility. And we had established
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that. We said, after salvation, what should follow
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is training. Those of you that had finished your
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nursing, you have been trained in that field
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of nursing. You spent four years. Some of you
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is dentistry, Sister Christabel. A couple of
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you have been trained all through that year to
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be able to graduate and say you have this degree.
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And the paper itself is not what qualifies you.
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The whole... countless times of showing up in
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class when you feel like it or when you don't
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feel like it. The whole times of where you are
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sleeping, but you still have to study. The hours
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and hours you spend on toiling to get that done.
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And as believers, we do the same. We do the same,
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not for a certificate. We thank God for NECF.
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We hand you a certificate. But what is more important
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to us is the training that you go through that
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builds you, that equips you for the work of ministry.
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It helps you in the life that you have ahead.
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It helps you mostly for the work of ministry
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that you were called to. Praise God. And we said
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this, that the priority of a believer has to
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be the work of ministry. And that ministry is
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the ministry of reconciliation. We see that in
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the 2 Corinthians 5. It said that ministry is
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the ministry of reconciliation. What we are meant
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to do as ministers is that we are reconciling
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men to God. We are reconciling men to God. God.
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And one very key ingredient in this walk of ministry
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is the local church. The local church is very
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important, and I love the fact that many of you
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are testifying of how, not that I say local church,
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it's not the global, it's not the church online,
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because I think in our sermon we discussed, I
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think we had a talk about it, where we were asking
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a couple of questions, and we said, what are
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the reasons? Or somebody gave a scenario. What
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if someone comes and says, I am following my
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church back? And not that the... The hardships
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that you go through here, you don't call customer
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key and say, give me a word of encouragement.
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There's something about when someone, there's
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a one -on -one interaction. And it's not just
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one person. It's like a lot of persons around
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that will encourage you. You have a lot and we're
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blessed with a lot of pastors that will encourage
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us and strengthen us, encourage us with the word
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of God, encourage us with the things that will
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build us up. Praise God. And you don't want to
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be, because some of us are very, you know, we
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have this short fuse. It's like when we try something,
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it doesn't work, we quit. We try something, it
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doesn't work, we quit. We come with fire, we
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come with zeal, and then it's just, we're not
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consistent. And you don't make any progress,
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you don't start, stop, start, stop, start, stop,
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take two steps forward. 10 steps backward, and
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then you feel that that is how your walk is going
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to get, that's how you're going to get, you're
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going to get it done. You have to, at some point
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in time, realize that there's a reorientation
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that has to happen here. There's a realignment
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that has to happen here for you to make solid
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progress and come to that point where you can
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actually see that you are like a possible, you
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see you have fought the fight. You have gotten
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to the finish line. And on Wednesday, we say
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that for you to carry out this responsibility,
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you have to be single -minded. You have to have
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that one thing that your eyes are locked in on.
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Not many things. One thing that your eyes are
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locked in on. For those of you, for the period
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where you were, your eyes were locked in on the
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diploma. That day when you graduate. Some of
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you had even pictured yourself on that day. Picture
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yourself having to throw your caps in the air.
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Some of you had pictured, and those are the things
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that kept you going on. Praise God. And our drive
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is anchored on the price on what God has done,
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what motivates us. I think we saw from the life
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of David. David said, one thing have I desired.
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Psalm 27, verse 4. One thing have I desired.
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And we say that he started off that verse with
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saying that the Lord is my light and salvation.
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Meaning that he... He has a relationship that
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can make him say that the Lord is my light and
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salvation. And he says one thing, not many things,
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one thing have I desired. Praise God. And then
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we look at the life of, we looked at the situation
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in Luke 10. That's what I want us to very much
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touch on for the time that we have. We looked
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at that. I will just brush that and then we go
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into. And Pastor Victor had touched. just when
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he was looking at the life of Apostle Paul, just
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to emphasize the importance of how our role and
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our responsibility as ministers is anchored on...
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Because someone will have an opportunity to experience
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God because we stood in our place of responsibility.
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Our not standing in our place of responsibility
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will make individuals... miss an opportunity
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to encounter God. Because we have that encounter.
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And there are people that will need to have that
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similar encounter that we've had that brought
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us to the place where we're standing. Praise
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God. And in Luke 10, 42, it says, But one thing
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is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part,
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which will not be taken away from her. One thing
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is needed, and Mary has chosen that, and we'll
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be thinking to ourselves, what is that one thing?
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Let's go back to 39. 39 says, And she had a sister
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called Mary, that's Martha had a sister called
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Mary, who sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.
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Who sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. It's
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very important that you know that that one thing
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that will not be taken away from her is that
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The Word of God, the training, the learning.
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And in 41, it says, after Martha had complained
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and Jesus answered and said, Martha, Martha,
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you are worried and troubled about many things.
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And this is an encouragement to those that have
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graduated. You know, you had had times where
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you had worried, troubled, and then you had finished.
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The worrying will continue if you don't... Focus
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on one thing which is important and put your
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energy. The recipe for frustration is trying
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to do a lot of things at the same time. And for
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her, it's a good thing. Preparing service is
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very beautiful, but training is more important.
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And in the Church of NEC, I'm repeating myself
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because a couple of us went around and made a
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week's service, and it's very important that
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this drops. That your service to God is important.
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But what is much more important is your training
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that makes you effective in your service. What
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is much more important is your training. And
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to those of us that will skip on an opportunity
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to be trained and will jump on an opportunity
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to serve, what you are doing to yourself, you
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might not see now, but you will see yourself
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in the future having spent so much time in service,
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but not having. progressed or grown to a place
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of maturity. I was speaking to someone. I said,
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I love the fact that you've taken a step to serve.
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But what is much more important to us is that
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you take the time to be in services. Midweek
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service is important. Cell meetings are important
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where we can interact much more. We give you
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books to read. We say be part and parcel of the
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things that the church is doing. That is being
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part of a local church. Where you can be checked
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on, you can be accountable. That's the point.
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You can be accountable. It's very hard. You can't
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even be accountable when you're online. You can't
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be accountable when there's distance. The local
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church is called local for a reason. It means
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that it's within reach. It's where you show up.
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And it's not where you choose to show up. It's
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where you know it's important that you show up.
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Praise God. So what is of most importance, which
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we must value what is most important, which is
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learning and growing. Which is learning and growing.
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We need to evaluate ourselves. We need to take
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time, evaluate ourselves. Sit down and think
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about where you are now and where you used to
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be before. Praise God. Having that time of reflecting
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and... Telling yourself or sitting down and saying,
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what am I doing now? Where was I before? Where
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am I now? And where am I headed? Because where
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you are now is just one phase. Because we're
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all going somewhere, right? We're all going somewhere.
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Some of you came here. Some of you are about
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to leave in. And it's very important that we
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look at, we think deeply about that. I said,
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what makes our service effective? It's the training
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that we received. And if we see through Scripture,
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training was very important. And we said the
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disciples themselves were trained. That's why
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people could look at them and say, these men
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have been with someone, and these men have been
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with Jesus. So our training is as important,
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more important than our service. And let me just
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jump my notes to where I will... Let's read Ephesians
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5, 15 to 17. Ephesians 5, 15 to 17. So it says,
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let's read it from the NLT. I'll read. It says,
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so be careful how you live. Don't live like fools,
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but like those who are wise. Make the most of
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every opportunity in these evil days. Don't act
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thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants
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you to do. But understand what the Lord wants
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you to do. Remember I told you about wanting.
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Once you understand that wanting, there's no
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confusion. There's clarity. You move with precision
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because you know what that wanting is. And I'll
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read it from the J .B. Phillips. It says, Live
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life then with a due sense of responsibility,
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not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose
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of life, but as those who do. I'll read that
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part again. Not as men who do not know the meaning
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and purpose of life, but as those who do. 16
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says, Make the best use of your time, despite...
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all the difficulties of this day. Don't be vague,
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but firmly grasp what you know to be the will
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of God. Firmly grasp what you know to be the
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will of God. Know that it says that we should
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make the best use of your time. And I believe
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that many of us are doing that. Many of us have
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done that to be able to come to this point where
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we are saying, okay, this is... the phase where
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we're in, we're looking forward to another thing.
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It takes focus. It takes discipline. It takes
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persistence. It takes consistency at doing certain
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things that you probably don't like, you probably
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don't enjoy, but you know that it's important
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for you to get you to that point where you can
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be able to say that you're living with a due
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sense of responsibility. You're living life with
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a due sense of responsibility. You're careful
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how you live your life. You don't act. like someone
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who is thoughtless, but you are thoughtful and
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you are holding on to what the will of God is
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for your life. And you're going to experience
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challenges. And in the second Corinthians, let's
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just go to the second Corinthians 6, 6 verse
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4, 4, 5, 6 verse 4, 5. It says, but in all things,
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we commend ourselves as ministers of God. In
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all things, we commend ourselves. As ministers
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of God. In patience. In tribulations. In needs.
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In distresses. In strifes. In imprisonment. In
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tumults. In labors. In sleeplessness. In fastings.
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All of these things are things we can relate
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with. Even without service. There are things
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that we can relate with. Because you'll have
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times when you don't sleep. Apostle Paul is telling
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you these are the things that he went through
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as a minister. Times where he was facing trouble.
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The list goes on and on. Times where he was shipwrecked.
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Disaster. Times where he was flogged. Times where
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he was in prison. Times where he was mobbed.
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Times where he was slaving. Times where he didn't
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have... food to eat. Times where he couldn't
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catch sleep. The list goes on and on, but it
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didn't stop him from carrying out his responsibility.
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That did not stop him. And that shouldn't stop
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us as well. Praise God. That did not stop many
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of us. We had times of difficulties, but it didn't
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stop us from moving ahead. Because the prize
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or the thing that the one who has called us is
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the one who is empowering us. And we must trust
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that he is there. even when it doesn't feel like
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it, even when it doesn't seem like it, even when
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we feel like stopping along the way or we feel
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like saying, what is all this for? We always
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should remember, we always should hold on to
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the fact that God is faithful. The one who has
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called us is faithful. The difficult times will
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not stop all of a sudden. Hard times will not
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stop all of a sudden. But it should not distract
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us from our work as ministers. We should not
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say, because things are hard, we're pursuing
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something and we're neglecting what is most important.
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Praise God. Because if it's important to you,
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it will show. It's like I was talking to someone
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and I said, if it's important to you, the way
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you guard it, you can miss a midweek service
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and it's important to you, you go back because
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there's a recording. And then you go and read
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and take notes. That shows that even though you
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miss, if you had a way, you would have been there.
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If you had an opportunity to be there, you wouldn't
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miss it for the world because you value that
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thing. And we're told to value relationships.
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We're told to value our local church. We're told
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to value the people that God has blessed you
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with. Don't despise them because those are the
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persons that will help you. You know, he was...
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He was pointing to us that it was people that
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helped him to let him down off the bus. In fact,
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the part I wanted us to go through and see in
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Acts 9 is verse 10. Acts 9 verse 10 is Ananias.
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You see, now there was a certain disciple at
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Damascus called Ananias. To him the Lord said
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in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Here I am,
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Lord. He says, Here I am, Lord. And I want you
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to know that Ananias is a disciple. Ananias is
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like you and I. And God calls you to a responsibility.
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Your response should be, Here I am. Praise God.
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11, it says, So the Lord said to him, Arise and
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go to the street. Someone is praying or someone
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is just in need of help. Someone is somewhere.
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in need of help, and you are that person that
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needs to come through for them. And there's a
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call out to you to help or to reach out to someone.
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Then Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard from
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many about this man, how many harm he has done
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to your saints in Jerusalem. 14. And he has authority
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from the chief priests to bind all who call on
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your name. 15. But the Lord said to him, Go,
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for he is a chosen vessel of mine, to bear my
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name before Gentiles, kings, and the children
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of Israel. For I will show him how many things
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he must suffer for my name's sake. I want you
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to see something that Ananias had heard news,
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has heard information. And it's not like him
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going to see this man is putting his life at
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risk. It's putting his life in danger because
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what he says here is that, see, I've heard that
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this man is given authority to bind. If you are
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aware of chapter 7, someone was killed, not just
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bind. Stephen, this man had a responsibility
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to take out Christians, and now you have an instruction
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to do the unthinkable. And you want to thank
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God for people like Ananias who will see or hear,
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but still follow through with what God is instructing
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them to do, which is minister. Praise God. And
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Apostle Paul... even recounts this. He recounts
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this, saying that, and he knows the things he
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was going to suffer. He was shown the things
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he was going to suffer. And Ananias fell through
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with it. Thank God for people, ministers that
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followed through with the instructions given,
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and then the results that happened afterwards.
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Because as Pastor Victor was saying, there's
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a lot we would have missed out on. or someone
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else would have been instructed to carry out
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the same assignment. And at every stage, as at
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the point of when he was saved, there was an
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ananias. As at the point when he needed to be
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integrated to a local church, there was Barnabas.
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At every stage of his life, at the point when
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he needed men, I think in the miracle service
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we talked about Timothy, Eutychus, a couple of
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other men that were around to... To serve, to
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minister unto him in his time of need. Praise
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God. We have all of these men. God has placed
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us in so... The local church is so collective,
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so inclusive, that you shouldn't be in the church
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and still be isolated. You shouldn't be in the
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church and still feel like you're a loner or
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you're alone. God has blessed you with a family.
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Make the most of the family. You can't be stranded
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and still act like you have a lot. You know,
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when you have a lot in your account and you're
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still acting broke. You have a resource, human
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resource, a lot of resource that you have here
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and you don't want to... You want to make the
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most of the resource that God has blessed us
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with. And Ananias did that regardless of what
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he has heard. And we want to discipline ourselves
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to be able to hear God. And follow through with
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the instructions given. Because you are going
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to bring someone into something that they can't
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experience without you being there. Or without
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you leading them through. Because you are there.
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I will just take us to first, we will close with
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this. To 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. 9. It says, But
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you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
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a holy nation, his own special people, that you
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may proclaim the praises of him who has called
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you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
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It said, You may proclaim the praises of him
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who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous
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light. In Matthew 16, 18. It says the church,
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ecclesia, we're called out. And we are called
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out of darkness to marvelous light. And we have
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a responsibility, which is to proclaim. Which
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is to proclaim. Which is to tell. For this translation,
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we say show. To show forth. To manifest. To demonstrate.
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These are the different words that are used.
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And we are God's special people. We are not ordinary
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people. Jesus Christ in Matthew 5 verse 14 refers
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to us as the light. We are called into his light
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and we show forth his light to the world. And
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we shouldn't get tired of doing our responsibility,
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which is displaying, which is speaking to people
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and calling them out as well. As we're called,
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we're calling them out of darkness into his marvelous
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light. And that call is very key. in how we go
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about our daily living. We shouldn't forget who
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we are. We shouldn't forget what he has done
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for us. And we should also look out for an opportunity
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for him to do the same to others. As a minister,
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everywhere you find yourself, you're looking
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for an opportunity that people will taste of
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God, that people will experience God. In our
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affirmations, I think our brother was talking
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about how Joshua, I think even though there are
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two Joshuas, I think he's Joshua, you're Joshua.
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We're talking about how the affirmations are
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powerful. When we say, We're winning billions
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of souls. We're taking over territories and nations.
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What we mean in a sense is that we're proclaiming
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and bringing people into the light they were
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in. That's how we take over. You know, some people
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when they say take over, they mean something
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else. But when we say take over, as a believer,
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when you say take over, you're meaning that the
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gospel will reach millions and billions of souls
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and people will be snatched from darkness into
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this marvelous light that we're part of. Praise
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God. Light is distinct. When there's light in
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a place, it's evident. There's a way light operates
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that is unique from darkness. There are things
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that light does that is unique from darkness.
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Praise God. And we are that light. We are the
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light of the world, as he says, we are a city
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set on a hill. Let's not hide. Let's come out
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from where we are hiding. and show forth that
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light. The ministry is collective and it's every
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believer's responsibility. We have a structure
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of leadership that ensures that everybody is
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doing their function, right? And this is where
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we get developed. The local church is where people
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are developed, people are built, people are discipled,
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and all of this, as ministers, we're doing, making
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process because there's faithfulness in the service.
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We talked about accountability, we talked about
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effectiveness. We talked about submission, where
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you have to submit to the authority of the church
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to grow. We're not raising people that are rebels.
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We're raising people that are faithful. I think,
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remember, I think in the midweek service, we
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were talking about how Eutychus was faithful,
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Timothy, faithful servant. All of these individuals
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were faithful. And it's very important that we're
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active in the church of God. We take that responsibility
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to grow. It's very essential for us. To know
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that in the church of God, there's going to be
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instruction. There's going to be correction.
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There's going to be accountability. All of these
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things is all part of the training process. And
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the goal for us is not to get people saved and
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bring them to church. The goal for us is to get
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them saved and train them to do likewise. Praise
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God. Because now, all these graduates now, some
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of you will be staying, some of you will be leaving.
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Right? Some of you will stay, some of you will
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live in. So the goal is for you to be trained
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because you're called when you're saved, you're
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called, then you are equipped, and then you are
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sent out. We saw that in the time of the apostles,
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persecution is what spreads them. And I said
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this in the last teaching, that when they went
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to those places, they were not looking for shelter
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to be safe. They went and continued the work
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that they are called, they were called to do.
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So an encouragement to each and every one of
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us. No matter where you find yourself, what should
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be that one thing that you should never doubt
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or motivation for is what you are called to.
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Because the moment you lose that, you lose everything.
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As I said, careers, degrees can fade away. You
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can end, you can, whatever it is you've studied
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can be outdated or something. Things like AI
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now will just take, will be taking things where
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they can't. But one thing that makes you relevant,
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one thing that will last is what God has done
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in us and is doing in us and is doing through
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us. Praise God. I want us to rise to our feet
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and declare these words. I'm a minister of God
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winning billions of souls. I am faithfully serving
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in the local church. For us that are here, the
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local church is NECF, right? I am accountable
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to leadership. I am accountable to leadership
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in the local church. I am not afraid to preach
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the gospel that gets unbelievers saved. I am
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patient with that unbeliever until I get them
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saved and see them grow. I want you to just pray.
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We appreciate you being here today. We hope you
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carry this word with you throughout your week.
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Don't forget to check the show notes for additional
31:10
insights. Stay connected with us through our
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website or follow us on social media. If you
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are encouraged, share this message with someone
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you care about. Until next time, stay blessed.