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Welcome to the Harvest Center! We're glad you're here today!

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Good morning...

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Good morning everyone

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Nice to see you in church today. Nice to see those who have come back after a time.

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Well, it's good to see you here. I want to start with, you know, God is good and we know we are

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here to worship God, we are here to worship His name and we do it in the best way that we can.

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And sometimes even when there are problems, you know, we don't look at the problems,

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we look at the Lord. Amen. So I just want to invite you to stand up all together.

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Just open this service together. We're going to worship God, we're going to praise His name.

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He is good. Hallelujah. We thank you, Lord God. Hallelujah. We thank you, Jesus. We praise your

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name. You are wonderful God. Hallelujah. We thank you, Lord Jesus, because you've prepared

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something good for us today. We thank you, Lord Jesus, because we are forgiven. We thank you,

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Lord Jesus, for the cross. We thank you for Jesus, for the grace that we find in you. We thank you

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for Jesus, for the love that comes from you, God. And we pray, Lord God, Holy Spirit, as we gather

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together today to worship your name. We pray for your presence among us. We pray that you will

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speak to each one of us, that you will minister to our life, Lord. You will bless each one of us,

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God. Those who came here this morning with a heavy heart, with a heavy load, Lord, we just pray for

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your blessing. We pray for faith, Lord, that we can have that faith to grasp something new and

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something beautiful, something that you want to do for us in our life today, God. So we praise you,

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Lord Jesus. We thank you because we are not alone. We are not forsaken, but because you are always

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with us, God. And we pray, Lord God, Holy Spirit, have your ways among us this morning. We pray for

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those who are struggling with health, that they will find healing today. Those who are struggling

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with mental health, that will find rest today. Those who are looking for you, that they will find

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answers today. So we praise your name, Lord. We worship your name. Amen. It's good when we pray.

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It's good to listen to the prayers of a broken heart because we can, as a church, we can join,

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we can say amen together. You know, when two people or more people agree on something in the Lord,

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you know, that's things, you know, God moves into these things. So it's good to say amen when we

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hear the prayer of a broken heart. But as well, if your heart is full of thanksgiving, it's good

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to hear a prayer from a heart that maybe is in a good moment, is in a joyful moment, because you

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build the faith of the people around you. So we pray. Let's pray together. Yeah. Amen.

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Just one very quickly, just a reminder about next Sunday for, yeah, then Anna's coming after me,

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coronation day. Well, it's Saturday, it's the coronation day, but we're going to do like

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something small here in church. On a Sunday, we're going to, after the service, we're going

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to just stay here. And instead of doing our church lunch, we're going to do like an English,

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how would you call it? English tea. Yeah, with a tea, afternoon tea, afternoon tea. I'm trying to

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use the, so please come along. You know, we will, the church will prepare and cover, you know,

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the ingredients and the preparation of everything, so you don't have to bring anything from home.

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But, you know, donations are well accepted if you want to contribute towards the, to cover the

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expenses. Come along and then we're going to do some games outside for the kids. So if you go,

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maybe a neighbor, you know, some friends that want to come along, you know, just invite them

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to come along. We're going to have a good time together after church. Now, Anna, you can come,

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you wanted to share something? Yeah, come up here. Yeah, just an announcement about something

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exciting happening. Probably dates still to be confirmed, but can you hear me? Yeah. It's

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going to be between end of May and throughout June. We're going to have four to five sessions

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on a Sunday evening on godly parenting. Okay, so this is for parents, for grandparents, for children's

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workers, or if you are getting ready to become a parent, or if you know somebody who is a parent

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and who is struggling. And I'm excited about this, because we've got the privilege to have,

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well, mainly to very experienced, absolutely successful sets of parents who are going to be

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teaching and speaking to us. So we're going to have Ken and Val. They're going to take one of

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the sessions about godly parenting. So they're going to share a lot of their own lives and how

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they did it with their kids, the challenges that they faced with their children. And they had four,

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well, three daughters, three daughters. And then we're going to have Steve and Sarah doing two

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sessions. And I'm going to talk you through the topics in a minute. And they have two sons and

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a daughter. And then Sam and I, we're going to take one session as well. So the one of the sessions

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is going to be a general one on godly parenting by Ken and Val, Christian home, Christian values,

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some of their routines, and some of their secrets to success that they had throughout the years.

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And then Sarah and Steve are going to take two sessions. One of the sessions is going to be on

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discipline and how do you discipline children? How do you set healthy boundaries with children?

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Okay. And another session is that Sarah and Steve are going to do is going to be on behavioral

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disorders, difficulties and problems. Okay. So they don't just have a background as parents,

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but they also have a background as foster parents where they learned how to deal with very different

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problems and issues in attention, in behavior and in contact. So I'm looking forward to that one.

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And then Sam and I, we're going to do a session on screen time and social media. Okay. So we grew up

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without screens and without social media. So we are having to face this brand new problem of kids

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are being or wanting to be in social media and having screens all the time. So yeah, dates to be

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confirmed, but yeah, it's going to be on Sunday evenings. Okay. If you feel like you can't come

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out on a Sunday evening, but you would love to be part of it. So we are looking to record

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the sessions. If you would like to watch them afterwards, let us know. Okay.

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And, you know, just to say, this is not just open to the parents in the church. If you know of any

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friends that they would benefit from something like that, just feel free to invite them to come

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to come along. Okey-dokey. So today I would like to start a new series. I'm going to speak for three

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Sundays. Well, when I will be speaking, I'm not speaking three Sundays in a row, but from when I

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will speak, I'll speak. I'm going to cover over three Sundays a series titled The Church, A Living

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Organism. So, you know, sometimes we, you know, people think about the church as an organization,

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especially maybe people who are not familiar with the church. They look at the church and they look

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like a, they see the structure. They think it's like an organization that somehow managed to work

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together, but is actually a better definition of it is that it is a living organism. And the

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difference is that while an organization is quite structured and is quite, I would say, dead in

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itself, an organism is something that is alive. And the church is something that is alive. The

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church is something that, you know, the Christ is the head of the church. We are the body, yeah.

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And he moves us, you know, according to what he wants to do in this world, what he wants to do in

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this generation, in the various places. So really is an organism that can grow, that can move, that

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can develop, that we can, you know, improve on the base of what we have. It's something that is

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constantly on the move. It's not something that relies on human design or human like structuring

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of things, but it's something that really depends on the person of Christ who is the head of the

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church. I was reading a book recently that was making the point of how Christianity, yeah, and

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of course the church, you know, we are Christianity, you know, as a religion, is a religion that is

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very easily translatable, yeah, so you can, it's adapted to different cultures, yeah. And as well,

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it can be easily transferable. So it's not based on one place, but everywhere it's developing,

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it's growing, everywhere is moving in a different way, which is very different from other world

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religions. For example, if you look at Islam, you know, they still pray, but they look at Mecca,

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all the people. Mecca is the center of everything. The Koran is when they read the Koran in their

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meetings, they're only allowed to read it in Arabic, you know, so it's like everything is

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built on the structure, but actually the church is the only religion, the religion, if you want to

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say Christianity, that is a living organism. Wherever it goes in the world, it adapts itself,

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it changes itself. It's like, as well, if you think about the history of the church in different

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points of history, the center of the church, we can call it this way, was in different places,

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in Europe, in Asia, and it's always moving according with what God is doing in his church.

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Now we know that unfortunately in Europe, the church is in decline because Europe is more and

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more secularized. People, you know, kind of don't care about God because they've got too much things

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to think about, right? They're too busy with their minds, but there is like other parts of the world,

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like Asia and Africa and other continents where until like maybe 50 years ago, there were like

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a few Christians, and now the number of Christians, the churches are exploding, like places like China,

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Korea, you know, the numbers of Christians is growing and growing, is developing, so you see now

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Christianity is moving more, you know, towards, you know, that part of the world. So Christianity

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is not something, the church is not something that is based in a place, it's not something, it's not

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dry structure, but it's a living organism, and Christ works in it, through it, and he moves among

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his church, and he does what he knows to be best, you know, for the church. And we have in the Bible,

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of course, a blueprint of an healthy church, because, you know, usually the growth of the church,

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and when I speak about growth, I'm just, I don't mean just numbers, but the healthy, how healthy

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the church is, is, it depends really for how much kind of, how much people need God in their lives,

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and that's why kind of in the Western world, is like we, the church, unfortunately, is very much

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in decline, because we live in a world where the politics around us are built in a way where

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actually Christians cannot say, or cannot, you know, they like to adapt a lot to what's going on

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around them, rather than sticking to what the Bible says, while in other parts of the world,

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where maybe there is not the wealth that we have, there is a deeper desire of God,

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then the church is exploding, the church is growing. So everything is connected, when we speak

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about the health of the church, is that really about how much desire we have in our life to

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experience God, and unfortunately in Europe, and in the Western world in general, this desire is not

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much there, because there are so many things that, you know, we are distracted by, you know, there is

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a massive number of people in the prisons who get saved, for example, in the Western world,

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and you know, the reason for that is some is connected to the fact that people find themselves in

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prisons, and of course they kind of, they felt like I reached the bottom, and they reach out to God,

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but as well a lot of people actually get saved, there are testimonies, because they are saying

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suddenly I had time to read the Bible, you know, I didn't have much distraction, I was sitting in my

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jail, didn't know what to do, I had that desire, I started to read the Word, and the Word started to

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speak to me, and you know, and they get saved, so but when you go out in a normal context, yeah,

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we got so many things for internet phones, and so many things that are there to distract us that,

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you know, and directly affect the health of the church, but the church is an organism,

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is a growing organism, is a living organism, Christ is the head of the church, the world will

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not overcome the church, because of course Christ has already overcome the world, and when we go in

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the book of Acts, there is, as I said, a blueprint of a healthy church, there were people, the first

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church, the first group of believers who really had a deep desire of knowing the person of Jesus,

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and I'm just going to read something very quickly, and in these verses we will be speaking in the

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following few Sundays. In Act 2, verses from 42 to 47, this is like the book of Acts, if you've got

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small titles in your Bible, it titles it the Fellowship of the Believers, yeah, it speaks

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really about how the early church, how it was functioning, and what they were doing,

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and the important things that were present there. So starting from verse 42 of Acts 2,

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they devoted themselves, so the people, the believer, they devoted themselves to the

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Apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was

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filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the Apostles. All the believers

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were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give

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to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke

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bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the

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favor of all people, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

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And we love the final verse where the Lord was adding, but there is an end. End the Lord,

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it's like that sentence, the Lord was adding daily to the church was connected with the

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previous verses. Now in these verses there are three things that we're going to look together.

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The first one is that the early believers, they were devoted to the Apostles' teaching,

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they were devoted to fellowship and to breaking of the bread, and they were devoted to prayer.

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Three things. And in verse 42, and then if you read 43 to 47, the structure of those verses

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actually follow the structure of verse 42. Because verse 42 starts by saying they were

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devoted, they devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching, and then if you go to the beginning of

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verse 43, it says everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the

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Apostles. And then the second item in the list of verse 42, they were devoted to fellowship and to

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the breaking of bread, and then you go to verse 44, and it speaks about the believers, they

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lived together, they were selling property and giving, helping those who were in need.

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And then there is the third item of verse 42, that they were devoted to prayer, and again in

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verse 47, they were praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. So these verses were like

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built around these three elements. And today we're going to look together about how they were

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devoted to the Apostles' teachings. And for today I kind of titled the sermon that a

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church that is healthy is devoted to the Word of God. They had Apostle teachings there, of course

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Apostles were there, but guess what? We have the Apostles' teaching too, right? We have them in the

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Bible, so we cannot say, oh they were lucky, they had Apostles were there, they actually could hear

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firsthand what they had to say, thank God everything was recorded, everything is in the Bible.

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So two thousands years later we can actually translate this into devotional, spiritual,

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into devotion to the Word of God. A devotion to what's written in the book, to the tool that God

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has given us, you know, in order to live an healthy Christian life, and in order to build a healthy

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church. More your life will detach itself from the Word of God, more your Christian, more the

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quality of your Christian life will start to decrease. Colder and colder, and sooner that

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you think you will find yourself to be far away from the Lord. And same things apply for the

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church. More the church moves away from what's the, from the devotion of the Bible, from what the

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Bible says, from the teaching of the Bible, and more the church will grow cold and will die.

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This has been the history of the church since the year zero. You know, if you imagine the church as

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a tree that is growing and is like the main stem or the trunk of the tree is Christ, and then there

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are all different branches, all the kinds of denominations and groups that over 2,000 years

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came about, you know. They started well, they went on fire from the Lord, and then eventually,

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you know, they messed it up, and the branch was suddenly died, and certain churches, you know,

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died, you know, denominations and other groups of churches died over the years. But then a new

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spring, a new offspring was coming from somewhere else. And then it was, again, it was alive in that

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offspring, and then maybe slowly they started to go away from the Word of God. And then, you know,

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the church was always alive, but the healthy bit was always the bit that was faithful to the Bible.

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And unfortunately, in the Western world, right now we see the mainstream church, the slow, well,

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actually not quite slowly, quite quickly, is moving away from, you know, what the Word says in order

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to embrace ideology and way of thinking that have nothing to do with God. Actually, they come

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straight out from the pit of hell. And more is the church is detaching from the Word,

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more is like the devotion from the Word is not there, and more the church will grow cold,

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and it will die. You know, I come from a Catholic country. Catholic church is one of the richest

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churches in the world because, you know, in politics, they've got their hands in politics,

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and, you know, it's crazy. And yet, if you go to church, any church in a Sunday, they are completely

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empty. If you speak to any Italian on the road, you know, why you don't go to church? Well, it's just

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it's dry. We go there, we listen, but there is no real meat. There is no, like, there is no

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nothing that can substantiate and change my life and transform my life. And churches are empty.

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You know, their numbers are high just because, you know, every time they baptize a baby, they

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label the baby as a Christian. That's why the reason they've got so big numbers on paper. But

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actually, the churches are quite empty. Yeah. Because when you move away from the Word of God,

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guess what? God moves away. Actually, God always follow his church, you know. So it's like those

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who desire the Lord with a sincere heart, there is where God is going to be. So God is going to

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follow his church and whoever moves away slowly will start to drive out. So a healthy church in

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the Book of Acts, they were devoted to the Apostles teaching. So we have to be devoted to

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the Word of God. And I want to define the meaning of the word devotion and look a little bit online.

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And there are different, you know, different definitions as such, but they're all pretty much

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very similar with each other. A devotion is like a great love, a great loyalty, or a great

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enthusiasm for a person or for something or for something. A profound dedication, an earnest

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attachment to a cause, a person, and so on. And of all these definitions, I really love the one,

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a profound dedication. You know, it's like the meaning of the word devotion, a profound dedication.

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So the question that I'm going to hammer to you and to me and to all of us and to those who are

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listening today is like, is your life profoundly dedicated to the Word of God? Is your life, you

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know, centered and built in the Word of God? Is the Word of God, you know, does the Word of God

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occupies the place that it should occupy in your life? You see, I'm on paper, you see, without

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internet. I cannot use my tablet. So it's like, so is the reading of the Bible part of your daily

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routine? You know, I call it routine, but you understand what I mean? It's like, is the Bible

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there? Do you go to the Bible when you have problems, when you don't understand something,

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or when it's like you're so confused and you say, right, I really would like to see straight into

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this matter. Do you go to the Bible? There are many Christians, you know, in today's world, and

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you know, when I speak today's world, I mean the Western world, where it's like, you know, they get

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confused because they hear so many things out there, and then it's like instead of finding a

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line to fall in the Word of God, they stay confused. They stay confused. It's like, oh, I don't know,

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I don't know, I don't know, blah, blah, blah, blah, and then in a short time they don't even know what

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they believe anymore. So is the Bible still, you know, the tool that you use when you have questions,

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when there is something that is not clear to you, do you go to see what actually God has to say

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in that situation? Or do you allow yourself to be drifted away by the so many, you know, ideas that

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are out there? You know, you go back in time, ideas always change. You cannot trust on any idea.

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You cannot trust on any philosophy. You cannot trust on any ideology. They keep on changing

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because they are man-centered, and of course, may man be who he is that we fail, you know,

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we all come up with the craziest idea, but the Word of God is the one that stays constant and true.

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So are you actually devoted to the Word of God? Is there a deep desire in your life to read it,

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to study, to understand, to allow the Bible to drive your life instead of your life,

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or what you think to drive what the Bible has to say? So when we look at Acts 2, 42, like the

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church was devoted, you know, to the apostle teachings, there is this element of actually,

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you know, for us to be devoted to the Bible, but there is also a second layer,

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and this is as well, you know, if maybe you're new to the faith, you need to trust on those in

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the church who teach you. And I'm not speaking about blind trust. We can all go wrong sometimes,

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right? You can search the other word. You know, Paul, as actually he was, there was a group of

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people in the book of Acts, and these were the Berean people. They were earnestly listening to

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the apostle teachings, but then they were going to check that what the apostle was saying

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corresponded to the truth. So I'm not saying, you know, follow what your pastors, your elders,

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or whoever speaks from here says. You know, you can do your research, but do them in the Bible.

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Because I can tell you, you know, I give, I mention these time after time. If you go on the

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internet and you type on Google, I've seen a donkey flying. I can guarantee you that you will

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find someone around the world who will say, I've seen a donkey fly too. Donkey must be flying.

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We're all wrong. You know, and there are people who use this approach to Christianity. You know,

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they hear something, then they go on the internet, and then they find all the crazy ideas and theory,

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theories, and really because there is, I always say, when there is no heart that desires the Lord,

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really, they take these things and allow these things to, you know, to move them away from God.

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But I believe, personally believe that these people really, perhaps in the first place, they,

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there was never that desire of really knowing God. So because, you know, so you got to trust

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those who teach you, you know, there is, you know, the people there, the book of Acts,

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they were trusting the apostles' teachings, and we are in even a better place because we have

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people in the church, in all churches, appointed to teach, but as well we have the apostles'

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teachings. We can actually go and check out that all what is written there, all what is spoken is

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actually written in the Bible, the Bible speaks about. So trust, trust those who teach you.

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And if you have any question, come and ask. It's like, and I'm not saying that because, you know,

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you want to put, I want to put myself or those who teach from the church in a higher spot than

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maybe than you, if you never spoke from here. It's like things never happen because of accident.

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A doctor is a doctor because he studied medicine, right? There's years of study, practicing, then

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eventually become a doctor. So, you know, or like someone who flies a plane is not just someone who,

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I want to be a pilot, you know, let me fly the plane. I wouldn't go on that flight, would you?

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Someone who wake up in the morning, I'm gonna fly you back. I'm gonna fly you on holiday. No,

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thank you, I'm gonna stay here. So when we step on a plane, we kind of trust the process that

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whoever is flying the plane, presumably went to a pilot's school, if that's what you call it,

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the way how you call it, has done some practice. He has some hours, flying hours on his pockets,

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and then I can trust my life to that, you know, I know that he does something different than what I

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do. And same thing when it comes to church. Usually when people speak is because maybe they've

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started, they've got years of faith behind, they search the word. So, you know, we speak and we say

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things and you can go and check them, as I said, don't blindly take what we say, you know, to

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understand what I'm saying, but it has to be the element of trust, because the moment you click on

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your phone, you go on the internet, you will find, you know, everybody saying the opposite of

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everybody else. So you need to be careful what you watch, you need to be careful what you read.

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If you're not sure about read a book or something, just ask someone, you know, what do you think

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about this book, you know, you know, it's just there is nothing, there's nothing wrong in asking,

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yeah. So being devoted to the word, so being the word of God being at the center of our life. So

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here is the question, you know, how can we trust the Bible? Fair enough, maybe you're new to the

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church, new to the faith, and you always hear the Bible, Bible, word, word of God, word of God,

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how can we trust the Bible? Now, if you know me, you know, a little bit, you probably you heard,

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you heard me already saying that, but, you know, I'm going to say it again for those who never heard

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it before. I'm going to do a little game now. Okay, so I'm going to ask you, okay, we are all

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pretty much from Brandon, we think we live around here, yeah, we know, we all know Brandon, yeah.

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So if I tell you what's, what do you think, give me your, the three things that you like the most

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in Brandon, yeah. Some of you can come up, oh, I like whatever, the park, the first place, the

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second place, I like the library, third place, I like the river, yeah. Someone else comes up,

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say, well, actually, I like the Harvest Center first place, yeah, that's me. Second place, I like

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the river, third place, I like Aldi, you know, someone else will come up with something else,

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yeah. We are all a group of people from the same pretty much generations, yeah, we live together,

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we are all pretty much from the same culture, we all speak the same language, we all have the same

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language, we all live in the same small town or villages around here, but yet the, what we would

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say about what we think is best in Brandon would be all different from each other. And the reason

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for this is because we are all different and therefore everything is subjective to us, I think

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this is best, I think this is best, I prefer that, so we get all kinds of feedback. Now if you go to

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the Bible and you think for a little bit about what the Bible is, a Bible is a composition of

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66 books that were written over a time of over a span of time of about 1500 years. They were written

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by 40 different people in 1500 years, so 40 different people that were coming from different

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generations. Not only that, but these 40 different people, they were not all the same kind of people,

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they were not all religious men, they were not all carpenter, they were not all whatever, they were

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all kinds of people, all kinds of background, all kinds of social status, we had fishermen, we had

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kings, we had prime ministers, we had those who were second to you know to to Pharaoh, we have Moses,

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we have those who doctors, we have Luke, you know there are all the people who contributed to the Bible,

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they are all from a different background, they're like they're formed in a different way,

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so probably they've got a very different way of seeing things from each other. 1500 years,

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written in three different continents, think about the cultural element here, Africa, Asia, and in

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Europe, the Bible was written in all the books in the Bible in three different continents. I mean

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this is the perfect recipe for a disaster, especially if I ask you know your quest, your

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task is to explain me God, your task is to explain me the reason why men exist, your task is to explain

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me what is the purpose of life, you know I'll ask you what is the best place in Brandon for you,

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but imagine if I would ask you what do you think or would ask the people in Brandon, what do you

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think is the purpose of life, I mean these are like tricky questions right, where do we go when we die,

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what happened, where do we come from, and yet the Bible answers all these very difficult questions

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like if it was one big mind behind it who wrote it all, it doesn't look like it was written in

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1500 years, it doesn't look like it was written by 40 different people, it doesn't look like that

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these people were coming from different political you know social backgrounds and status, it actually

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looks like one person has controlled everything, someone has controlled everything, and this is

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exactly the case because God is you know inspired the people to write the word of God, the mind of

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God is behind the Bible, and you know there is no other book, no other book that can claim this,

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even people who are not Christians who study archaeology and who study ancient writings and

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they've like nothing to do with God, they say there is something special about the Bible,

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and these are just a few things that you speak about the prophetic element in the Bible, things

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that are you know foretold and then happen on the day, on the time, on the hour, you know there are

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many things you know this is just you know I'm not getting here that I'm giving you, but you know there

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is so much in the Bible that is like wow the Bible is not just a book, the Bible must be something

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more or something supernatural, that's why we can trust you know what's written there, and that's

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if you want is the logical answer, if you want to if you like more to process things through mind you

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can think about all of these, but as well as I can give you a tangible answer because you cannot

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it's not just about to be in awe and in wonder when we think about how the Bible was written,

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but it's actually the best bit is not even that the best bit is that we can actually experience

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in our life whatever is written in the book, so it's like it's not just a logical answer to our

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question why we can trust the Bible, but it's a very tangible answer that you can experience in

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your life. In Psalm 34 verse 8 it says taste and see that the Lord is good, bless is the one who

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finds who takes refuge in him, taste and see there is this invitation open invitation you know for

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those who follow God to come taste and see that I'm good, trust my promises trust the word

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you can experience God in your life, you can experience the promises of God in your life

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and my attempt here I don't want to sell you like sell you, not the right word, but I don't want to

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propose you a cheap faith because you know when we think about the you know people sometimes think

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of the Bible oh there's so many good promises my life is going to be so good it's going to be so easy

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it's not the case the Bible doesn't say everything is going to be easy the Bible doesn't say

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everything is going to be solved the Bible doesn't say everything is going to be nice and happy

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clappy so you know it's like it's like it's actually quite the opposite you know the Bible

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is very clear in Psalm 23 verse 4 for example even though I walk through the darkest valley

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I will fear no evil for you are with me so God is with us but we're still facing the darkest valley

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so you know if you're here and you maybe you know someone you kind of there was a time in your life

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when you got interest about the Bible but then all what you thought yeah God is good God is good

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he wants my best and therefore his best is my best everything needs to go according to my plans and

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then the moment something doesn't go according to your plan or didn't go didn't go according

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to your plan you you drift away from the Lord because you say well that's not faith right

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that's not God how can this happen possibly happen to me probably is all wrong the Bible

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now it cannot cannot be there is a God otherwise I trusted him why has this happened in my life

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well if you've got this perception of faith it's not correct because the Bible says look

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you will go through the darkest valley the Bible says I'm going to bless your life I'm

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going to I'm going to protect you I'm going to but as well there is an element look you will face

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that the dark valley in your life but I will be with you I'm going to carry you through

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but still going to be painful probably

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it's still going to be difficult to understand perhaps certain times

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second Corinthians 4 17 can puts everything into focus the right focus because it says for our

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light and momentary troubles are achieved for us in eternal glory the far over weight them all

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we heard last last Sunday from Ken we spoke very well about the eternal hope that we have with God

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the eternal hope that we have with God and this is like that's the place that's the final price

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where we desire and we hang to where everything is going to be perfect there's not going to be

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any tears there is not going to be any sickness there is going to be any any any loss of oh you

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know we lose sometimes we lose losing dear people there's going to be any death there's not going to

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be any any struggle it's going to be ours and the Lord sees our is seen is going to be present there

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when our body will not be affected by sin is going to be the perfection but still here Paul

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to the Corinthians said look like your light and momentary troubles are achieving for us eternal

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glory so you're just like you will go through this time but even when you go through a time of tribal

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to a time where you feel like you know pressed down it's like remember your hope is not here

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your hope is eternal yes it is painful when we lose people who are dear to us it is painful when

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once you know we go through difficult situation you know it's like and we cry out to the to God

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and we don't understand and we's like we struggle but our our hope is eternal

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these these struggles is going to be something momentary and God is going to be with us you know

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we read you know when we go through the darkest valley I'm going to be with you

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you know Christ you know we just came out from Easter and we just say you might we just seen

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you know the the sacrifice of Jesus and if Jesus the son of God had to go through physical pain

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and to blood loss of blood and and to insults and and from all what he had to go through and he was

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the son of God and yes we are exposed to that as well but we know we know where we are going you

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know it's like so he's like don't judge the Bible according to you to what you are experiencing in

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your life don't be the one who said well you know because I'm not enjoying this moment in my life

387
00:38:39,700 --> 00:38:43,700
there must be a problem in this Bible there must be an issue in this Bible therefore you know

388
00:38:43,700 --> 00:38:51,220
everything is is is is wrong God is going to be with you your your hope is not in this place your

389
00:38:51,220 --> 00:38:58,580
hope is is eternal so are you devoted to the word of God do you have a profound dedication you

390
00:38:58,580 --> 00:39:04,900
remember the definition of the word devoted a profound dedication to God's word word when

391
00:39:04,900 --> 00:39:10,020
we struggle with sin in life what do you do when you struggle with sin do you allow sin to push

392
00:39:10,020 --> 00:39:14,820
you away from God do you allow sin and problems to push you away from reading the word of God

393
00:39:16,740 --> 00:39:23,460
because you see the opposite is true more we feed ourself of God's word and more we will be able to

394
00:39:23,460 --> 00:39:30,100
stand to sin more we feeds our well ourself of God's word and more we will be able to walk

395
00:39:30,900 --> 00:39:36,980
the way God wants us to walk and God doesn't want us to walk in sin so do you desire God do

396
00:39:36,980 --> 00:39:48,980
you desire to to to feed yourself with God's word some some 119 verses 9 to 16 these verses

397
00:39:48,980 --> 00:39:55,060
is they're all about God's word and what God's word can do in our life how can a young person

398
00:39:55,060 --> 00:40:02,500
stay on the path of purity by living according to your word pay attention how many times the

399
00:40:02,500 --> 00:40:09,460
the word word is mentioned I seek you with all my heart do not let me do not let me stray

400
00:40:09,460 --> 00:40:17,300
from your commands I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you praise

401
00:40:17,300 --> 00:40:26,500
be to you Lord teach me your decrees or your laws or your word with my lips I recount all

402
00:40:26,500 --> 00:40:35,300
the laws that come from your mouth I rejoice in following your statues or law or word as one

403
00:40:35,300 --> 00:40:44,100
rejoicing great riches I meditate on your precepts another word for law commandments word of God

404
00:40:44,580 --> 00:40:51,380
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways I delight in your decrees and I will neglect

405
00:40:51,380 --> 00:40:57,940
and I will neglect and I will not neglect your word now all these words decrees precepts statues

406
00:40:58,740 --> 00:41:05,620
what else was there the word you know they all command they're all speaking about God you know

407
00:41:05,620 --> 00:41:11,620
you know the word of God's spoken word of God which we have a record today yeah in our hands

408
00:41:11,620 --> 00:41:17,140
we believe that the Bible is the word of God the infallible word of God this is something again

409
00:41:17,140 --> 00:41:22,100
that is very much attacked in our days is the word is the Bible fallible or is like you know is

410
00:41:22,100 --> 00:41:26,500
is not you know but this is something else yeah but we have it in our hands and it's like listen

411
00:41:26,500 --> 00:41:31,620
to this if you struggle with sin it was like if I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not

412
00:41:31,620 --> 00:41:37,540
sin against you more you will you see we unfortunately we cannot live in another planet yeah we are here

413
00:41:37,540 --> 00:41:42,740
we have a mission here to bring the gospel and we live in the world where we live we are constantly

414
00:41:42,740 --> 00:41:48,420
bombarded on the internet on our phones on our emails on YouTube on on our social medias on what

415
00:41:48,420 --> 00:41:53,460
we see in TV we're constantly bombarded with ungodly things and when I say ungodly I don't mean

416
00:41:53,460 --> 00:41:58,660
like you know ungodly not nice but something doesn't come from God it comes from somewhere else

417
00:41:58,660 --> 00:42:03,620
we're constantly bombarded with that and unless you're going to balance that with the word of

418
00:42:03,620 --> 00:42:08,420
God with the truth that is written in the word of God then you will all soon be overwhelmed by all

419
00:42:08,420 --> 00:42:13,060
what you hear by all what you see you will be very much confused you will not know exactly where to

420
00:42:13,060 --> 00:42:20,340
turn because you will hear so many voices and you will forget to hear God's voice so it's like

421
00:42:20,340 --> 00:42:26,740
reading and and and meditating the the the word of God the Bible is something paramount in our

422
00:42:26,740 --> 00:42:31,380
faith something important something that cannot be exchanged for anything else

423
00:42:31,380 --> 00:42:35,380
something that cannot be exchanged with anything else something that cannot be exchanged with

424
00:42:35,380 --> 00:42:39,860
anything else and I'm shouting this to you and you know and to all who are listening you know we the

425
00:42:39,860 --> 00:42:45,700
word of God needs to be there we cannot neglect the word of God we cannot push it aside we need to

426
00:42:45,700 --> 00:42:51,700
fill our heart with it we need to allow the Bible and the word of God to change us from the inside

427
00:42:51,700 --> 00:42:57,780
out we need to allow the word of God to wash ourselves from the inside out we need to allow

428
00:42:57,780 --> 00:43:03,700
we need to allow the word of God to wash ourselves from all the dirt that we pick up as we walk around

429
00:43:03,700 --> 00:43:13,140
in this world we need to allow the word of God to draw lines in our life lines boundaries oh this

430
00:43:13,140 --> 00:43:18,820
word that we the society today they don't like this word boundaries and lines what is a boundary

431
00:43:18,820 --> 00:43:23,780
what is a line I do what I want what I believe is that is right that is right you know you live a

432
00:43:23,780 --> 00:43:33,620
life I live my life but the Bible sets boundaries it draws lines very clear lines for us to follow

433
00:43:36,900 --> 00:43:44,580
Hebrews 412 for the word of God is alive and active sharper than any double-edged sword

434
00:43:44,580 --> 00:43:51,540
it penetrates even to dividing your soul and spirit soul and spirit you know soul is your mind

435
00:43:51,540 --> 00:43:57,380
the spirit is what's going on is your spirit spirit is what connects with God and then the

436
00:43:57,380 --> 00:44:02,340
soul is the mind or what we process and the word of God separates the two because sometimes your

437
00:44:02,340 --> 00:44:08,100
soul your mind will tell you things that are not in line with the spirit will tell you things that

438
00:44:08,100 --> 00:44:13,860
are not correct will tell you things that will lead you astray but the word of God because draws

439
00:44:13,860 --> 00:44:18,820
a line because it's very clear it divides the spirit from the soul look this is what the spirit

440
00:44:18,820 --> 00:44:26,100
wants this is God this is you my friend this is your mind joins the marui judges the thoughts

441
00:44:26,100 --> 00:44:36,340
and attitudes of your heart it judges the thoughts and attitudes of your heart so we we can actually

442
00:44:36,340 --> 00:44:40,740
know it's not about whatever we think or whatever we believe is right and correct

443
00:44:40,740 --> 00:44:47,780
allow the word of God to judge your thoughts and your attitude to life allow the word of God to

444
00:44:47,780 --> 00:44:51,460
to say yes or to say no

445
00:44:56,980 --> 00:45:03,300
you know we as I said we live in a world where they don't like to draw lines is all this you

446
00:45:03,300 --> 00:45:10,500
hear this word everywhere this walk ideology something that comes straight from the pit of hell

447
00:45:10,500 --> 00:45:18,100
infiltrating politics the school systems society basically whatever you want to pass this

448
00:45:19,300 --> 00:45:25,940
yeah this is trying to destroy all what God has created the order of things how God put them into

449
00:45:25,940 --> 00:45:32,740
place in all the all in all the aspects family sexuality the way how we interact with each other

450
00:45:32,740 --> 00:45:40,660
is just trying the cancellation culture and we can go on this green agenda extreme you know I'm

451
00:45:40,660 --> 00:45:44,980
speaking I'm not speaking about you know respecting the environment which is always good but you know

452
00:45:44,980 --> 00:45:49,780
other things that you we hear are constantly bombarded is like they're you know slowly you

453
00:45:49,780 --> 00:45:56,820
know they're diminishing and taking away that you know that meaning that actually God put into place

454
00:45:56,820 --> 00:46:03,060
when he put things together and we are completely surrounded by these and that's why even like

455
00:46:03,060 --> 00:46:10,580
perhaps we live in a time where the church I mean come on of course the word of God has always been

456
00:46:10,580 --> 00:46:15,060
important and maybe you know is the those who came before me they say these words that I'm saying

457
00:46:15,060 --> 00:46:20,340
but I'm saying that anyway anyway I think we believe in a time where God's word has to become

458
00:46:20,340 --> 00:46:25,460
important like never before in your heart I know of course he always is important you know even the

459
00:46:25,460 --> 00:46:29,620
past generation I'm not saying that and even though those who live in the first you know century

460
00:46:29,620 --> 00:46:36,900
but you know look we live in a world that is really corrupted the western world is going mad

461
00:46:36,900 --> 00:46:42,500
is going crazy what you hear what what you oh goodness me I like to follow sometimes debates

462
00:46:43,220 --> 00:46:49,620
oh my goodness sometimes I like just to slap people it's like what are you saying I can't believe

463
00:46:49,620 --> 00:46:57,300
I'm hearing that oh my goodness and I wonder what God feels imagine he puts everything perfect in

464
00:46:57,300 --> 00:47:02,260
his work he's giving son to die for this world and they see the man came coming up with his

465
00:47:02,980 --> 00:47:10,900
weird and crazy and toxic ideas imagine God and the only reason why he's not coming and putting an

466
00:47:10,900 --> 00:47:17,780
end is because want to give a chance to more people to know him yeah so God is saying although I'm

467
00:47:17,780 --> 00:47:23,940
looking a world that is going mad you know I'm still holding back my love is too great I don't

468
00:47:23,940 --> 00:47:31,380
want to see people perishing I want to give the possibility for people to know me so allow God's

469
00:47:31,380 --> 00:47:40,980
word to draw the lines in your life don't be fooled don't be tricked into moving away from

470
00:47:40,980 --> 00:47:45,460
what the Bible says because that was going to be the beginning of your downfall I just want to read

471
00:47:45,460 --> 00:47:55,780
one last scriptures in there in John 17 verses 5 15 to 19 I'm not asking that you take them out

472
00:47:55,780 --> 00:48:03,780
of the world but that you keep them from the evil one they are not of this world you are not of this

473
00:48:03,780 --> 00:48:12,420
world because maybe you're listening to me and you're saying oh come on Sam I cannot do what

474
00:48:12,420 --> 00:48:18,820
you're saying I cannot do what the Bible says the world moved on the world is different well guess

475
00:48:18,820 --> 00:48:29,620
what you and me are not of this world they are not of the world just I'm not of the world sanctify

476
00:48:29,620 --> 00:48:41,220
them by the truth what is the truth your word is truth Jesus knew it all right as you send me into

477
00:48:41,220 --> 00:48:49,380
the world I also send them into the world for them I sanctify myself so that they too may be

478
00:48:49,380 --> 00:49:00,260
sanctified by the truth and the truth is the word you're not of this world if you feel different

479
00:49:00,260 --> 00:49:07,220
this is exactly the way how you should feel being a Christian is not about conforming with the world

480
00:49:07,220 --> 00:49:11,860
but being different from the world and not just because we want to be different

481
00:49:12,740 --> 00:49:22,180
it's simply because we are different we are children of God speaking about identity we are children of God

482
00:49:26,900 --> 00:49:31,860
so I want to close with the you know the question I'll ask you at the beginning Washington you can

483
00:49:31,860 --> 00:49:39,460
come if you want are you devoted profoundly dedicated to God's word why don't we all stand

484
00:49:43,220 --> 00:49:50,820
you see you may think sometime you know I don't feel like reading I'm tired I get that

485
00:49:50,820 --> 00:49:59,140
sometime I feel that too what pastor you feel sometime that gets busy but you know what they

486
00:49:59,140 --> 00:50:05,700
told me a bible school and reading the word of God is a discipline it's not something that

487
00:50:05,700 --> 00:50:11,300
we don't always feel like reading the word especially when we had maybe a difficult days

488
00:50:11,300 --> 00:50:19,700
going through difficult time you lost someone or something you we don't feel ah no no no sorry not

489
00:50:19,700 --> 00:50:26,740
today but actually do the opposite feed yourself with the word is a discipline sit down

490
00:50:28,420 --> 00:50:35,380
pick up your bible your phone whatever read feed yourself is a discipline

491
00:50:35,380 --> 00:50:42,180
feed yourself with the word allow the word to wash your life allow the word

492
00:50:42,820 --> 00:50:51,620
to speak the truth over your situation over your circumstances over what you're thinking over your

493
00:50:51,620 --> 00:51:01,060
thoughts over your attitudes allow the bible to speak the truth and let the Bible speak the truth

494
00:51:01,060 --> 00:51:09,060
allow the Bible to speak the truth you know also the Bible is a subjective book in a sense that

495
00:51:09,620 --> 00:51:17,060
God is behind it is subjective to him he's objective to us but subjective to him right

496
00:51:17,060 --> 00:51:20,100
he's like he's God he decided to put what to put there

497
00:51:20,100 --> 00:51:28,340
what to put there and allow it to determine the way how you walk

498
00:51:31,220 --> 00:51:38,260
you know there have been plenty of you know studies and people have read try to understand why

499
00:51:41,060 --> 00:51:46,900
the church it seems that in the western world he's in decline he's declining

500
00:51:46,900 --> 00:51:55,220
and the most common answer seventy eighty percent it was directly connected to the

501
00:51:55,220 --> 00:52:02,340
fact that the church is slowly moving away from the truth that is the word of God to embrace

502
00:52:02,340 --> 00:52:09,060
something else and then you go in other countries they don't have all what we have

503
00:52:09,060 --> 00:52:17,060
all what we have they're not bombarded by what we are bombarded they actually laugh at some of

504
00:52:17,060 --> 00:52:21,860
the things that we believe to be right i'm just gonna say that there was this interview there was

505
00:52:21,860 --> 00:52:30,020
this man he went to somewhere in africa and he was having a conversation with this group of masai

506
00:52:30,020 --> 00:52:39,620
masai's kenyan tribes and he asked a question do you believe a man can become a woman

507
00:52:41,540 --> 00:52:45,860
this guy look at him he was trying to understand he was joking with him

508
00:52:47,220 --> 00:52:54,500
he repeated the question and this guy just burst laughing of course it's not possible

509
00:52:54,500 --> 00:53:01,460
and he was laughing and laughing where are you coming from with this and he was making the point

510
00:53:02,980 --> 00:53:07,220
that all this it is one of these examples just came in my mind but there are so many things that

511
00:53:07,220 --> 00:53:13,140
a lot of the things that we believe to be right and correct are just the fruit of a

512
00:53:13,140 --> 00:53:24,340
of a sick culture sick society and we don't have to allow these things to drift us away from God's

513
00:53:24,340 --> 00:53:35,300
word because more you go down to to the root of man like without all the complexity that we have

514
00:53:35,300 --> 00:53:41,140
in the western world all the kind of perks that we have here so that's why they've done this kind

515
00:53:41,140 --> 00:53:45,860
of interview in these countries and and when you speak to people who are like you know just living

516
00:53:45,860 --> 00:53:54,660
their daily life and struggle to you know they fight for their daily bread that's what they think

517
00:53:54,660 --> 00:54:00,660
and live off they don't even they cannot even conceive these things they didn't even cross their

518
00:54:00,660 --> 00:54:08,500
minds but we are very complex and i'm afraid of this complexity that is in society today

519
00:54:08,500 --> 00:54:12,980
that will drive you away from the simplicity of God's word because God's word is simple it goes

520
00:54:12,980 --> 00:54:17,620
away at the beginning it goes away at the beginning why God created things it gives a purpose there's

521
00:54:17,620 --> 00:54:21,620
a purpose there's a reason for for certain things to be in certain ways

522
00:54:24,100 --> 00:54:28,500
it doesn't matter what you hear it doesn't matter what you listen what you see

523
00:54:29,540 --> 00:54:33,860
would you allow God word to speak the truth when you're in your situation

524
00:54:33,860 --> 00:54:35,940
to speak the truth when you're in your situation

525
00:54:40,580 --> 00:54:43,300
God's word is teaching you to be content with what you have

526
00:54:44,660 --> 00:54:49,540
and yet we live in a western world where people are not content with what they have

527
00:54:50,420 --> 00:54:53,780
they always try for more and more and more to gain to gain to gain

528
00:54:55,700 --> 00:54:57,780
the bible says the riches are nothing

529
00:55:00,180 --> 00:55:00,500
right

530
00:55:00,500 --> 00:55:08,180
right so what's driving your life today what's driving your life

531
00:55:10,500 --> 00:55:16,340
is this simplicity of God's word the truth of God's word or is a society around you

532
00:55:18,420 --> 00:55:28,660
and i want to encourage you be devoted to the word have a profound dedication to read the word

533
00:55:28,660 --> 00:55:32,980
study the word we've got so many tools available

534
00:55:36,100 --> 00:55:45,220
Bible apps books people around you that we can experience we can expand just go for it

535
00:55:47,140 --> 00:55:55,380
hallelujah thank you Jesus yeah God we thank you because we have the word of God

536
00:55:55,380 --> 00:55:59,620
we thank you because you have not left us with nothing but you've given us something

537
00:56:01,780 --> 00:56:09,540
your truth Lord and I just pray for each one of us here and for this church

538
00:56:11,300 --> 00:56:20,420
we want to be a church that is built on your word we want to be people whose life is built on your word

539
00:56:20,420 --> 00:56:21,620
built on your word

540
00:56:26,100 --> 00:56:30,500
and I cannot say Lord help me to read the Bible because the Lord has nothing to do with that

541
00:56:30,500 --> 00:56:38,180
it's me and it is you you've got you need to put your will into action

542
00:56:40,340 --> 00:56:47,220
to take time and to be devoted to the word of God don't ask God would you help me to read more

543
00:56:47,220 --> 00:56:52,740
come on that's something up that you can do it's nothing to do with it it's not going to force you

544
00:56:52,740 --> 00:57:01,300
to do anything so it's up to you and I want to encourage you because you see this is a

545
00:57:01,940 --> 00:57:09,460
the foundation of a healthy life this is the foundation of a healthy church do not depart

546
00:57:09,460 --> 00:57:17,540
from the word study hallelujah we thank you God and we thank you because

547
00:57:18,260 --> 00:57:22,580
we have your Holy Spirit in us that is guiding us as we read and as we understand

548
00:57:23,300 --> 00:57:29,140
thank you because it's like you're the spirit of God you're bringing alive what we read

549
00:57:30,100 --> 00:57:38,420
in us we can experience in our life Lord God and I want to pray for those who are

550
00:57:38,420 --> 00:57:45,780
not aware of you for those here who do not know you I pray that they will have an encounter with

551
00:57:45,780 --> 00:57:52,660
you maybe for the first time they heard maybe they already heard a few times but

552
00:57:53,620 --> 00:58:01,300
they kind of haven't made a decision yet and Lord God I want to pray for them they will they will

553
00:58:01,300 --> 00:58:10,820
and open their eyes to see the importance that is in your word God so we thank you Jesus we

554
00:58:10,820 --> 00:58:20,420
praise your name God hallelujah we thank you Lord Jesus hallelujah we praise your name we praise your name

555
00:58:24,180 --> 00:58:27,860
and if you feel like ah I've not been so good with my reading

556
00:58:27,860 --> 00:58:36,740
yeah I'm not here to you know to make you feel guilty it's like it's about going back to the

557
00:58:36,740 --> 00:58:42,500
Lord I need to do that sometimes you know we are all the same we're all in the same boat

558
00:58:43,140 --> 00:58:50,180
and not putting myself in a higher place it's not because I'm standing on the stage is because I got

559
00:58:50,180 --> 00:58:56,340
it all now but we I want to encourage you if you feel like you've missed something recently

560
00:58:56,340 --> 00:59:01,380
just to go back to the Lord he's loving grace he's waiting for you he's loving you he's like come on

561
00:59:01,380 --> 00:59:06,900
come come back to me we start again don't worry you lost your

562
00:59:09,860 --> 00:59:14,820
your daily reading your Bible this I know how to pronounce in English it comes up with the app

563
00:59:14,820 --> 00:59:20,580
when you manage every day to read and they give a little prize for it you you win little stars

564
00:59:20,580 --> 00:59:23,620
when you manage to do one week two weeks three weeks without missing

565
00:59:23,620 --> 00:59:28,980
two weeks three weeks without missing and maybe you missed you lost all your stars in your app

566
00:59:29,780 --> 00:59:36,020
just kidding here but it's like you know just go back to the Lord and start again

567
00:59:38,260 --> 00:59:42,020
feed yourself with the word if you're struggling with sin and you don't know where to turn

568
00:59:42,980 --> 00:59:50,180
the answer is the word of God feed yourself with God's word allow the word of God to change and

569
00:59:50,180 --> 00:59:56,180
transform your life to stand against sin to draw lines in your life to give you the strength to

570
00:59:56,180 --> 01:00:05,220
stand strong when you hear all different kinds of things coming to you so we thank you Jesus

571
01:00:07,140 --> 01:00:11,940
oh how precious is the word of God amen do you understand how precious is that book

572
01:00:11,940 --> 01:00:19,700
people have died for that book to bring that book to us let us not let us not be the generation

573
01:00:20,580 --> 01:00:31,860
who allowed this book to die right my good uh Anglican friends to read mark and inwardly

574
01:00:31,860 --> 01:00:41,860
digest speaking about the Bible read mark pay attention to inwardly digest eat it becomes part

575
01:00:41,860 --> 01:00:47,540
of you but the Bible also tells us to be doers of the word as well as hearers yeah

576
01:00:49,540 --> 01:00:55,780
try again to be doers as well as hearers so we've got an opportunity to do good do good to all men

577
01:00:55,780 --> 01:01:00,820
especially those in the household of faith Bible tells us we have an opportunity to do good in

578
01:01:00,820 --> 01:01:12,340
Uganda we are doing two things we are well three things we're going in June and we're going to take

579
01:01:12,340 --> 01:01:18,580
a special offering to help towards fund the medical day i mean it's a shame you're not going to

580
01:01:18,580 --> 01:01:25,140
experience it but people will walk for days well not days that's that's lying they will walk miles

581
01:01:25,140 --> 01:01:30,900
and they'll dress up in their sunday best usually the older ladies particularly really and then we'll

582
01:01:30,900 --> 01:01:36,660
give them free medication we'll employ local doctors and we'll give them free medication now

583
01:01:36,660 --> 01:01:43,460
you don't do you moan about national health come with me to Uganda and they appreciate it just

584
01:01:43,460 --> 01:01:50,260
unbelievably so we're going to take a special offering and thirdly because with men going this

585
01:01:50,260 --> 01:01:58,420
time not women our bags are going to be half empty we're going to say we're taking a special

586
01:01:59,300 --> 01:02:09,380
collection for children's underwear and that has been upgraded from girls knickers to include boys

587
01:02:09,380 --> 01:02:16,820
pants so call it what you want as a dear pants for we could be very scriptural as a dear pants anyway

588
01:02:16,820 --> 01:02:24,500
we're going to collect children's underwear clean new and one second hand soil you know clean new

589
01:02:24,500 --> 01:02:28,500
underwear hey you can welcome to my world over the years

590
01:02:31,380 --> 01:02:34,820
well my wife tells me sevens to elevens

591
01:02:34,820 --> 01:02:46,340
me sevens to elevens and i see five to sevens and if you really get led of the lord buy some extra

592
01:02:46,340 --> 01:02:54,580
sevens to elevens as well i'll tell you what it will not go a waste we're going to preach but you

593
01:02:54,580 --> 01:03:02,420
think you do not know what you lay up in heaven i think some some of us do not realize it's the

594
01:03:02,420 --> 01:03:09,460
same with tithing it's the same with the whole giving thing you do not realize your reward you

595
01:03:09,460 --> 01:03:17,700
don't do it for that that's what the bible teaches us we are rewarded when i was naked did you clothe

596
01:03:17,700 --> 01:03:22,820
me when i was hungry when i did you feed me when i was homeless did you take me in when as a stranger

597
01:03:22,820 --> 01:03:28,500
would you welcome me when i was in the hospital did you visit me and that day the writers will say

598
01:03:28,500 --> 01:03:33,460
lord when did we do it unto you and he will turn around and say as you did it to the least of these

599
01:03:33,460 --> 01:03:39,620
my brethren you did it unto me so between now and june we will continue to raise some money for the

600
01:03:39,620 --> 01:03:45,620
medical mission we will buy medication in country we will employ local medical practitioners

601
01:03:46,260 --> 01:03:54,100
we will also receive gifts of clean children's knickers and pants amen

602
01:03:54,100 --> 01:04:00,500
yes lord we thank you we thank you for today we thank you because you are good we thank you because

603
01:04:00,500 --> 01:04:04,980
we can worship you we can praise your name we thank you because you gave us the means to

604
01:04:05,620 --> 01:04:10,820
to do good things lord to help people around us lord god and i just want to you know follow up

605
01:04:10,820 --> 01:04:16,740
what ken said i just want to pray lord for this uh you can uganda mission trip lord that you will

606
01:04:16,740 --> 01:04:22,420
provide that you will uh anoint that you will cover with your protection that will you will you know

607
01:04:22,420 --> 01:04:27,940
completely take over uh this mission trip that you will use the people who will be going there

608
01:04:27,940 --> 01:04:34,900
to be a blessing from a physical perspective from a spiritual perfect perspective lord just you know

609
01:04:34,900 --> 01:04:40,180
be with them cover them with your grace and love god so we thank you lord jesus we thank you

610
01:04:40,980 --> 01:04:46,740
we pray for the country is an important week a new king is going to be crowned on on saturday lord

611
01:04:46,740 --> 01:04:52,740
lord just pray lord for wisdom lord for you know i don't know how to pray for these things lord god

612
01:04:52,740 --> 01:04:58,900
but just want to pray that your will will be done in this country god your hands will be over this

613
01:04:58,900 --> 01:05:04,740
country lord god and we pray for the church in this country lord you revive the church in this

614
01:05:04,740 --> 01:05:10,900
country lord revive us each one of us here today we thank you lord bless the week that is ahead of us

615
01:05:10,900 --> 01:05:18,260
lord follow us with your blessing and protection in jesus precious name amen amen and 

616
01:05:18,260 --> 01:05:44,420
we'll see you next week