1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,480 Hello, Go Church family. 2 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:12,960 I'm Lara. 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:18,480 Happy New Year for our Armenian friends. 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:20,640 I'm here with Pastor Matt Hattawog. 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:21,960 Praise the Lord. 6 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:22,960 And Gilbert. 7 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:28,240 Happy New Year and Merry Christmas, but I can't say it in Armenian. 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:30,480 Yeah, that was a very long word, by the way. 9 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,080 I think that was two words. 10 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,920 Yes, that's both Happy New Year and Merry Christmas. 11 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:35,920 Say it again. 12 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:41,960 I mean, I mean. 13 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:42,960 That's great. 14 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:44,720 I love languages. 15 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:45,720 That's awesome. 16 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:46,880 Well, Happy New Year, everyone. 17 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,940 We're so glad to be back with you for a new year. 18 00:00:49,940 --> 00:00:56,640 We're so excited about what the year is bringing, about what we as Go Church are going to accomplish 19 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:57,640 in this year. 20 00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:58,640 Yes. 21 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,240 And I believe that everyone is blessed and empowered to prosper this year. 22 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:03,240 Yes. 23 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:09,000 Empowered to go forward, empowered to not stay where you are, but to see change happen 24 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:10,000 in your life. 25 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,120 That's not, I mean, that's faith, right? 26 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,240 Faith is not, well, I'm going to wait and see what happens. 27 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:17,000 Faith declares what's going to happen. 28 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,760 This is what we are going to accomplish. 29 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:19,760 I like that. 30 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:20,760 Praise the Lord. 31 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:21,760 Praise the Lord. 32 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:29,160 So this month, we're going through a series called The Fasted Life, and it's quite a challenging 33 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:36,160 series in the sense that it really puts into question the actions that you take, not only 34 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:38,220 once in a while, but on a regular basis. 35 00:01:38,220 --> 00:01:42,360 I wanted to call it Life in the Fast Lane, but Gilbert wouldn't let me. 36 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,380 Yeah, let's stick to Fasted Life. 37 00:01:46,380 --> 00:01:51,000 Sometimes I'm a bully with these things, you know. 38 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,760 But before we do that, let's talk a little bit about Go Church. 39 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:59,520 Let's talk a little bit about the vision of Go Church, especially for the year, because 40 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:00,800 this is a new year, right? 41 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:02,720 Thank God for Go Church Beirut. 42 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,840 Thank God for Go Church Beirut. 43 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:06,840 That's right. 44 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:08,840 So who is Go Church Beirut? 45 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:09,840 Silent. 46 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,600 Well, I hope it's us. 47 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:14,720 Well, let me answer that question. 48 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:20,240 Go Church Beirut is part of a family of churches, and we say that we are a family of churches 49 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,440 that work together to reach the world. 50 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:28,800 So there are actually three Go Church locations in the UK, and Go Church is the newest location, 51 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,660 but it's not in the UK, it's in Lebanon, and right here in Beirut. 52 00:02:32,660 --> 00:02:37,920 And our values are Love, Grow, Go, because Go Church is your place to experience the 53 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:44,200 unconditional love of God, to grow in His love, and to go out into your world with that 54 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,400 love. 55 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:52,480 Go Church is also a Bible based, a spirit filled, and a group centered church. 56 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,360 For the most part, we're an English speaking church, although we have groups happening 57 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,080 in different languages. 58 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:03,320 Sometimes the same groups happen in multiple languages as well, which is fun. 59 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:11,320 But you know, we are here in order for everyone, no matter what language you're comfortable 60 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,860 in, to find your place. 61 00:03:13,860 --> 00:03:19,720 My favorite words and the values of Go Church is your place, because it is not the place 62 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:26,040 of specific people, you know, who are on the podcast or specific people who stand on the 63 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,280 stage on Big Sunday, but it is your place. 64 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,680 You know, if you are connected to Go Church, you are Go Church. 65 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:40,200 You know, you are an integral part, a necessary part of what the Lord is doing and is trying 66 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,400 to do through Go Church in Lebanon. 67 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:48,680 And to take that a step further, because we're a groups centered church, if you're part of 68 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,560 Go Church, you're part of a group. 69 00:03:52,560 --> 00:04:00,560 If your experience with Go Church is just this podcast or our Big Sunday, I mean, let 70 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,400 me say, Ahlan, welcome. 71 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:09,320 But if you want to be part of Go Church, then you need to find your place in a group, because 72 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,160 that's where growth happens. 73 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,880 And I love our groups. 74 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:19,720 I love that we have groups happening all over Lebanon, and we're going to be opening some 75 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,800 new groups this month. 76 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,880 Yeah, we're so excited about it. 77 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:29,560 We're happy to say that we have groups of all ages too. 78 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:31,280 We have a kids group happening. 79 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:34,360 We have a parents group happening at the same time as the kids group. 80 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:35,680 You see that planning right there? 81 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,280 That was deliberate. 82 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:42,360 And we have groups happening with young adults, with families. 83 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:48,080 And we're so glad that they're happening not only in Beirut, but we also have groups happening 84 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,320 at the North, which is amazing. 85 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,840 And our heart is for groups to start happening everywhere. 86 00:04:53,840 --> 00:05:02,240 Whether it's in homes, whether it's in public settings, or whether it is in prisons, and 87 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,000 so many settings, right? 88 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,680 Or whether it's going to happen eventually at a Go Church hub. 89 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:17,360 A Go Church hub, the parliament building, the presidential palace, we don't discriminate. 90 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,240 We'll have grow groups everywhere. 91 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:24,000 And we're not setting up groups just for the sake of saying we have groups, but we want 92 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:30,140 groups to happen so that wherever you are, wherever you're comfortable, you have a place 93 00:05:30,140 --> 00:05:31,140 to come to. 94 00:05:31,140 --> 00:05:32,360 Yeah, you have a place to grow. 95 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:33,400 That's right. 96 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,280 Your place to grow. 97 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:42,680 So you mentioned hubs, and we've experimented a little bit with having a central place. 98 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:50,520 Although Go Church is very much meant to be decentralized, but we have found from just 99 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:56,760 practice that having centralized places help groups grow. 100 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:04,380 And many of you that are listening to this have used what we call the mission house or 101 00:06:04,380 --> 00:06:06,600 the place in Sinilfil. 102 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:14,600 And then we also have Go Cafe that Rafi and Patricia, Go Church family, have opened up 103 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:16,000 for us. 104 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,480 So we want to take that idea further and build that out. 105 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,720 We believe we're going to see that in this new year. 106 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:30,360 And I believe we'll see hubs pop up all over Lebanon, places. 107 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,200 And that's how I would describe it. 108 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:39,400 It's one hub may look a little different than the other, but hub would be a central place 109 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,360 that helps groups grow. 110 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,400 Yeah, I want to make sure I say that again. 111 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:45,840 Thank you, Rafi and Patricia. 112 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:46,840 Absolutely. 113 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:47,840 For your doors. 114 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,000 Go Cafe is a precious place. 115 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,640 It's a precious place, and it's a dream come true. 116 00:06:53,640 --> 00:07:00,060 Rafi and I were tramping around Borshamood seven, six years ago. 117 00:07:00,060 --> 00:07:02,440 Well, seven years ago now, yes. 118 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:04,020 Six years ago. 119 00:07:04,020 --> 00:07:08,080 And I said, man, it would be great if we had a cafe where we could host meetings. 120 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:09,080 Yeah. 121 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:13,600 So something so special, like, I mean, once in a while I make my way to that grow group, 122 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,360 and it's so nice just being in town. 123 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:24,000 I mean, it's like a central decentralized location that Go Church Beirut can operate 124 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:25,000 from. 125 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:30,160 And it's a place where groups are happening, but also alphas have happened. 126 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,720 And also, there are different kinds of meetings happening there. 127 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:39,040 So Arabic speaking groups are meeting there, English speaking groups are meeting there. 128 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:44,880 And I also know that some of our Go Church family actually just come and hang out there 129 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:46,840 even when there are no groups happening. 130 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:47,840 Right. 131 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,960 And that's what we want to see with hubs all over Lebanon. 132 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,560 And we believe we will. 133 00:07:53,560 --> 00:08:03,720 And this past year, Pastor Joel Sims was with us in April of 2023. 134 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:10,520 And he gave a word to Go Church. 135 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:12,640 And I want to just bring that back up. 136 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,840 It's the word emerge. 137 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:24,820 And as I've been praying over the new year, there's nothing particularly special. 138 00:08:24,820 --> 00:08:28,440 We make this time of year special, where we change. 139 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:32,920 We were saying 2023, and now we say 2024. 140 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:35,760 It's like just putting a new chapter in, right? 141 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:42,140 As I was praying about that word and where we're going for the new year, I heard that 142 00:08:42,140 --> 00:08:51,600 same word, but I heard it more as a command that this is not just what God is doing. 143 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:56,520 God is creating this space for Go Church to emerge. 144 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:05,040 But we as Go Church need to emerge, meaning we need to become prominent, visible, and 145 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,760 help Lebanon recover from a difficult situation. 146 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,980 And we've been doing that families at a time. 147 00:09:11,980 --> 00:09:14,000 And I thank God for that. 148 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,160 But there is more. 149 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:25,920 And in order for us to see that, we individually, me individually, we as leaders in Go Church 150 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:32,960 and all of you, we need to move forward in God's plan. 151 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:37,800 And as we move forward in God's plan, that means that we have to start saying no to things. 152 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:43,320 There are things in our life that are occupying too much of our time, too much of our attention, 153 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,680 too much of our focus. 154 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:48,700 And when I say too much, why too much? 155 00:09:48,700 --> 00:09:55,160 Because we need to move from where we are into where God has for us in this new year 156 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:56,280 as a church. 157 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:01,280 The only way the church corporately will do that is if we do that individually. 158 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,360 That's so good, which is probably why we're doing fasted life. 159 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:06,140 Yeah, praise the Lord. 160 00:10:06,140 --> 00:10:07,840 Probably. 161 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:13,960 Well, I like to say it this way, that there is always a new word for a new work. 162 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:19,560 And if we want to go further, then we need to take draw from the life of God that's contained 163 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:24,720 in His words so that we can put that in our lives, apply it in our lives and move forward 164 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:25,720 and go further. 165 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,520 So we can never disconnect our plan as a church from the word of God. 166 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,540 And that is why we look at all these different subjects. 167 00:10:32,540 --> 00:10:37,600 It's nice that two months ago we looked at prayer and now we're picking up fasting. 168 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:42,120 If you notice in the Bible, fasting and prayer tend to happen a lot together. 169 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,560 And we're going to study those things out and we're going to look at those things over 170 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:46,820 the month. 171 00:10:46,820 --> 00:10:48,800 And we're actually going to put that in practice. 172 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:58,440 And Pastor Matt shared a special New Year's message on podcasts, which is available on 173 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:03,160 podcast, encouraging us all to pick up an action. 174 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:09,920 And that action is to start seeing what we can fast. 175 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:11,760 How would you say like, how we can... 176 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,720 To choose something. 177 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:22,600 Fasting and this is what we're going to talk about all month long, because I find that 178 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,000 there's a lot of assumptions associated with fasting. 179 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:33,840 So I want to look at it from a scriptural standpoint, but in short, I just would like 180 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:42,680 all of us as a church to choose something individually to say no to for us. 181 00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:48,960 I don't mean something that we shouldn't be doing anyway. 182 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,560 I don't want anyone fasting lying during January. 183 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:54,160 You have to stop doing that. 184 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:55,360 Sorry. 185 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,640 But I do. 186 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:04,080 There are some things that are perfectly fine, perfectly okay, but we can... 187 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:05,520 And this is the great thing about fasting. 188 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:07,160 It's something that you can do. 189 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:08,760 You can stir yourself up to it. 190 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,400 And you can just say, I'm just going to tell me no. 191 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:19,960 And telling me no, me telling me no is very good and it helps me grow. 192 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:21,920 Yep. 193 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:23,920 Can we give examples? 194 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,920 Like social media? 195 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:27,920 Yeah. 196 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,760 I mean, we're going to talk about what is fasting as we get into it. 197 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:40,600 And I'll just say it, the word fasting in the Bible literally means to close your mouth. 198 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:46,480 So it is deliberately tied to food. 199 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:53,900 We do talk about other kinds of fasting, other types of fasting, but ultimately it's about 200 00:12:53,900 --> 00:13:01,200 choosing something that you do that's a part of your life that you just say, I'm going 201 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,440 to deny myself. 202 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:05,280 That's something that Jesus said, right? 203 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:14,080 If someone would follow me, let him, let her deny himself and follow me. 204 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:21,440 So fasting is about telling yourself no, and it's about telling yourself no about something 205 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,840 that maybe is okay for everybody else. 206 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:32,880 But for you, for now, I'm just choosing to say no. 207 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:34,040 That's so good. 208 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,360 I have some stories about that that I'll share, but yeah. 209 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:38,360 It's going to be a fun month. 210 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:39,360 It is. 211 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,560 We're going to talk about a lot of stuff and we're actually going to put a lot of this 212 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,440 in practice and we're going to see change. 213 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,040 I will tell you that if this doesn't sound like an exciting subject, it really is. 214 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:56,320 This is one of the few things that Jesus said has a reward attached to it. 215 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:57,320 That's good. 216 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:06,000 So this is very exciting and it's very good for us to get into and study from the word 217 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,640 because then we can do it in faith. 218 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:16,680 So I want to talk about this subject and why we're doing this subject at the beginning 219 00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:17,680 of the year. 220 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:23,520 You know, last month we talked about joy and we talked about joy during the Christmas season 221 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:30,920 because we tend to tie the subject of joy to the Christmas story and the birth of hope. 222 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:37,420 I don't want to go back and talk about it, but I do want to say that in my mind, Christmas 223 00:14:37,420 --> 00:14:42,000 was usually at the end of the year, but I realized that the Christmas story is actually 224 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:50,880 a birth of a new hope, it's a birth of a new moment, a new period in time. 225 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:57,200 So going into a new period, a new time, which is what we tend to look at the New Year as. 226 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:01,880 So a lot of people at the beginning of the year want to put down New Year's resolutions. 227 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:06,600 Unfortunately, most of those resolutions are well-meaning, but they only last about two 228 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:07,600 weeks. 229 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:12,160 And then, you know, for whatever reason, the diet doesn't seem so attractive anymore, the 230 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:17,320 gym membership seems too expensive, or whatever that looks like. 231 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,960 But the reality is we like new beginnings. 232 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:25,760 We like to think about something that we can look forward to in terms of change in our 233 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:26,760 lives. 234 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:32,960 So I look forward to doing something different so that I can see something different. 235 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:37,480 And the fact is, fasting is very much along those lines. 236 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:39,260 It's about change. 237 00:15:39,260 --> 00:15:47,000 It's about expectation of change and, you know, allowing change to happen in me, or 238 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:53,860 allowing myself to undergo deliberate change, so the things on the outside can then start 239 00:15:53,860 --> 00:15:55,800 to change. 240 00:15:55,800 --> 00:16:03,160 And that is really the reason why we're looking at this subject at the beginning of the year. 241 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:09,600 It's very deliberate because, like Pastor Matt just said, there is, you know, it's something 242 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:15,520 that Jesus instructs us to do, He expects us to do, and there is a reward attached to 243 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:21,600 it, which basically means that it is something that we can commit ourselves to and expect 244 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:23,240 to see change in our lives. 245 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:29,300 And that is so important when we go into a new year, something new, and we want to go 246 00:16:29,300 --> 00:16:33,260 further and we want to go forward in the things of God. 247 00:16:33,260 --> 00:16:36,600 And we're going to see how this applies. 248 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:41,480 We're going to build up faith on this subject when we look at the Word of God so that we 249 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:47,960 know without a doubt that when we do this, we're going to see change in our lives. 250 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:52,580 And so with that, I want us to read the purpose of this series because everything we do is 251 00:16:52,580 --> 00:16:53,580 with purpose. 252 00:16:53,580 --> 00:16:57,160 I mean, we want to take this and then apply it to our lives. 253 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,280 So Laura, could you read the purpose of the series? 254 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:01,280 Sure. 255 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:06,440 We want the Go-Church family to understand the power and place of fasting in their lives 256 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:14,880 and to recognize that as a church, we live a fasted life before God. 257 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:15,880 I like that. 258 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:16,880 Yeah. 259 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:23,760 I like the fact that, you know, you talk about we live a fasted life before God because a 260 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:29,840 lot of the time, you know, fasting seems like a one-time event, a limited time event, a 261 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:34,800 specific thing related to food and how we eat and when we eat, but there's so much more 262 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,160 to it. 263 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,160 Yeah, absolutely. 264 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:45,760 The term fasting in religious circles has become largely event-based. 265 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:55,680 And I think we lose something that's pretty essential to the teachings of Jesus, that 266 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,960 it is not an event, but it should be part of our life. 267 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,560 And that's what we want to talk about. 268 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:02,880 Yep. 269 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:08,800 And so over the course of this month, we're going to look at, in the Fasted Life series, 270 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:15,200 we're going to look at what is fasting, or you could say the meaning. 271 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:21,400 In week two, we're going to look about when and how should we fast, or we could say the 272 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:22,400 method. 273 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:27,920 And in week three, we're going to talk about what is the result of biblical fasting, or 274 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,160 we could call it the reward. 275 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:31,560 You know, I don't want to call it the result. 276 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,440 I want to call it the reward because that's what Jesus says about it. 277 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,080 He says that there's a reward tied to it. 278 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:43,120 And it's so amazing that when you see it, you see it and you, you know, going back into 279 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:47,880 those, I'm not, I don't, I don't believe that I've done enough of this in my life. 280 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:52,400 And there's something I definitely want to do more of, but of the times that I've done 281 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,480 it, I see a reward tied to it. 282 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,800 I see a change that comes out on the other side, and it's benefited me so much. 283 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:00,800 Think about it like this. 284 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:07,280 Paul told Timothy, he said, godliness is profitable. 285 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:16,320 Having the promise of a reward, you're going to experience profit and increase and a reward 286 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,200 now in the world that you're in now and in the life to come. 287 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:21,200 So godliness is profitable. 288 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,680 He said, he calls godliness as profitable. 289 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,480 Well, when we dig into that, what is that? 290 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:35,280 Well, we see it and we'll dig more into this in the coming weeks, but Jesus talks about 291 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,000 prayer and fasting and giving. 292 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:44,960 Prayer and fasting and giving are godly and they are profitable. 293 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:45,960 Yep. 294 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:46,960 That's right. 295 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:54,280 So this is something that we want to not make, you know, I'm encouraging the Go Church do 296 00:19:54,280 --> 00:20:02,280 it together in January, but I don't want it to be an event as much as I want it to become 297 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:04,840 part of our life. 298 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,280 And why? 299 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,320 Why do I want it to become part of our life? 300 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:15,040 Because I want Go Church to experience the profit of godliness. 301 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:16,040 Yeah. 302 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:17,040 That's so good. 303 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:20,960 So actually in the scripture that you were referring to, that's 1 Timothy chapter four, 304 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:22,360 verse eight. 305 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:30,140 And Paul says, bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things. 306 00:20:30,140 --> 00:20:35,080 So you see here that bodily exercise profits a little. 307 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,240 I mean, it's not like profits nothing, but profits a little. 308 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:42,000 And the fact is we should not turn our fasting into a bodily exercise. 309 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,000 Yes. 310 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:44,200 A lot of people turn. 311 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:51,720 So I've been doing this diet system, which is called intermittent fasting, right? 312 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:52,720 And it's a... 313 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:53,720 Not spiritual. 314 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:55,040 Yeah, it's not spiritual. 315 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:56,280 It's purely diet based. 316 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:02,760 And I still have Roy's voice telling me, I like breakfast too much. 317 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:03,800 I would never do that. 318 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:05,400 I don't know how you do that. 319 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:06,400 That's ridiculous. 320 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,600 The fact is I feel great doing that. 321 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:12,800 You eat eight hours in an eight hour window and the rest of the time you just simply don't 322 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,080 eat. 323 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:18,120 And that is purely bodily exercise. 324 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:19,560 And it profits me a little bit. 325 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:20,560 Absolutely it does. 326 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:21,560 I feel better. 327 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,480 My body enjoys it. 328 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:26,640 I feel like I have more energy. 329 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:32,800 There are certain physical benefits tied to it, but that is not what we're talking about. 330 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:39,440 We're talking about the other side of it, which is godliness being profitable to all 331 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:40,440 things. 332 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:46,100 So fasting is an exercise in practicing godliness. 333 00:21:46,100 --> 00:21:49,480 This is literally what we are looking to do. 334 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:56,840 And we want to exercise godliness in our lives because there is, like Pastor Matt said, and 335 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:01,520 well forget what Pastor Matt said, this is what Paul said. 336 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:07,320 Paul says having the promise of the life that now isn't of that which is to come. 337 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:12,840 And so the Bible tells us that practicing godliness will allow promises to flow in your 338 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:13,840 life. 339 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:14,840 Yes. 340 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:15,840 That's so important. 341 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:16,840 That's so big. 342 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,880 We're looking forward to the fruit of what we're about to do. 343 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:31,200 And before we close the podcast for the introduction week, I just want to refer to our key scripture 344 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:39,680 this month, which is Acts chapter 13 verses 2 and 3. 345 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,960 Laura, could you read that for us? 346 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:44,280 Yes, sure. 347 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:51,240 So Acts 13 verses 2 and 3, this is the New King James version. 348 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:56,740 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to me Barnabas 349 00:22:56,740 --> 00:23:00,080 and Saul for the work to which I have called them. 350 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,920 Then having fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. 351 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,800 Yeah, I find this such a nice passage of scripture. 352 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:14,240 We refer to that a lot actually in our believers gatherings, because there was a time when 353 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:22,960 the leaders of the Church of Antioch got together and ministered to the Lord. 354 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,440 So they specifically looked at the Lord. 355 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:31,720 They specifically focused their attention on Him. 356 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:39,280 And when you focus your attention on Him, you focus your attention away from other things. 357 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:47,160 And because they focus their attention on Him and away from other things, there was 358 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,240 an outcome to that meeting. 359 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:55,680 And the fact is, the Holy Spirit said, Separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which 360 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,480 I have called them. 361 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,880 And so having fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. 362 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:10,560 So you see that there is a time of fasting and prayer, which led to a result. 363 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:16,700 And the result was clarity of my purpose, clarity of what God has in store for me. 364 00:24:16,700 --> 00:24:25,800 And not only for me, because when someone in my church goes out, like so the church 365 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:31,820 at Antioch, this was an answer for all of them, because they had these leaders. 366 00:24:31,820 --> 00:24:39,200 Saul and Barnabas who were separated onto the work to which they were called in God, 367 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:45,440 which is effectively being apostles, going out into the world and making the gospel known 368 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,040 and laying foundations in places where they were not laid before. 369 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,280 And that is not just a win for Paul and Barnabas, that is a win for the church. 370 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,120 That is a win for the Antioch. 371 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:57,120 Absolutely. 372 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:05,600 And the fact is, it started with fasting and prayer and it's finished with the gospel being 373 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,880 spread across the Mediterranean. 374 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:19,160 So you may not be ready to go out and leave your home and take the gospel to places where 375 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,940 it's not been preached yet. 376 00:25:22,940 --> 00:25:28,360 That may not be the thing that you're ready for today, but you may think, I really need 377 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:32,120 clarity of what God's got for me next. 378 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:33,680 Guess what? 379 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,400 Fasting and prayer. 380 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,720 This is for you. 381 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:47,440 And there are things that I believe the Lord's going to reveal to you as you tell yourself 382 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,320 no and focus on him. 383 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:54,500 And we'll talk more about this as we get into it, but I'm excited. 384 00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:56,780 I think this is going to be great. 385 00:25:56,780 --> 00:25:58,400 We have a few events coming up. 386 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:00,160 We didn't mention those. 387 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:01,160 Thank you. 388 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:02,160 Thank you, Loris. 389 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:07,560 Well, we have our Big Sunday Gathering that's on January 14th. 390 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:09,640 And what is starting in January? 391 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,640 So where is the Big Sunday Gathering happening? 392 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,240 In Sinelville municipality. 393 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:22,000 And I'm excited for the next event that's happening, which is Alpha. 394 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,720 January 11th. 395 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,560 Is there more to life than this? 396 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,440 It's going to be great. 397 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:38,120 Under the category of Emerge, we actually have some big posters that are going around 398 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:39,840 the city. 399 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:46,200 We're limited about what we could put on those right now, but that's just a taste of what's 400 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:47,200 to come. 401 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:48,640 Yeah, praise the Lord. 402 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:54,200 So Alpha is happening on January 11th. 403 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:58,000 That's Thursday evening and that's going to take place as well. 404 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,640 Incident field at the Mission House. 405 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:09,080 And so for more information, reach out to us on WhatsApp or on social media and we would 406 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,880 be happy to invite you there. 407 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:17,400 You know, if you have anyone who you think would be interested to take part in Alpha 408 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:22,520 or just even if you want more information about Alpha, please reach out and we'd be 409 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:29,400 so happy to welcome you to open doors and have a nice meal together and get to know 410 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:30,400 you. 411 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:31,640 Every single person is welcome. 412 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:38,800 No matter whether you're from here, there, anywhere, everywhere, any background, we're 413 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,600 just so happy to welcome you to Alpha. 414 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:43,960 It's going to be amazing. 415 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:48,800 So if no one told you yet today, we want to tell you that we love you and we're praying 416 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:49,800 for you. 417 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:50,800 God bless you. 418 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,920 Thank you for listening to this message. 419 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,680 We want everyone to experience the unconditional love of God, grow in His love and go with 420 00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,640 His love to the rest of their world. 421 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:03,960 We invite you to connect with us at one of our groups for our next gathering. 422 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:12,200 And if no one told you yet today, we love you and believe God's very best for you.