Welcome to the Harvest Center! We're glad you're here today!
Good morning...
Good morning everyone
Nice to see you in church today. Nice to see those who have come back after a time.
Well, it's good to see you here. I want to start with, you know, God is good and we know we are
here to worship God, we are here to worship His name and we do it in the best way that we can.
And sometimes even when there are problems, you know, we don't look at the problems,
we look at the Lord. Amen. So I just want to invite you to stand up all together.
Just open this service together. We're going to worship God, we're going to praise His name.
He is good. Hallelujah. We thank you, Lord God. Hallelujah. We thank you, Jesus. We praise your
name. You are wonderful God. Hallelujah. We thank you, Lord Jesus, because you've prepared
something good for us today. We thank you, Lord Jesus, because we are forgiven. We thank you,
Lord Jesus, for the cross. We thank you for Jesus, for the grace that we find in you. We thank you
for Jesus, for the love that comes from you, God. And we pray, Lord God, Holy Spirit, as we gather
together today to worship your name. We pray for your presence among us. We pray that you will
speak to each one of us, that you will minister to our life, Lord. You will bless each one of us,
God. Those who came here this morning with a heavy heart, with a heavy load, Lord, we just pray for
your blessing. We pray for faith, Lord, that we can have that faith to grasp something new and
something beautiful, something that you want to do for us in our life today, God. So we praise you,
Lord Jesus. We thank you because we are not alone. We are not forsaken, but because you are always
with us, God. And we pray, Lord God, Holy Spirit, have your ways among us this morning. We pray for
those who are struggling with health, that they will find healing today. Those who are struggling
with mental health, that will find rest today. Those who are looking for you, that they will find
answers today. So we praise your name, Lord. We worship your name. Amen. It's good when we pray.
It's good to listen to the prayers of a broken heart because we can, as a church, we can join,
we can say amen together. You know, when two people or more people agree on something in the Lord,
you know, that's things, you know, God moves into these things. So it's good to say amen when we
hear the prayer of a broken heart. But as well, if your heart is full of thanksgiving, it's good
to hear a prayer from a heart that maybe is in a good moment, is in a joyful moment, because you
build the faith of the people around you. So we pray. Let's pray together. Yeah. Amen.
Just one very quickly, just a reminder about next Sunday for, yeah, then Anna's coming after me,
coronation day. Well, it's Saturday, it's the coronation day, but we're going to do like
something small here in church. On a Sunday, we're going to, after the service, we're going
to just stay here. And instead of doing our church lunch, we're going to do like an English,
how would you call it? English tea. Yeah, with a tea, afternoon tea, afternoon tea. I'm trying to
use the, so please come along. You know, we will, the church will prepare and cover, you know,
the ingredients and the preparation of everything, so you don't have to bring anything from home.
But, you know, donations are well accepted if you want to contribute towards the, to cover the
expenses. Come along and then we're going to do some games outside for the kids. So if you go,
maybe a neighbor, you know, some friends that want to come along, you know, just invite them
to come along. We're going to have a good time together after church. Now, Anna, you can come,
you wanted to share something? Yeah, come up here. Yeah, just an announcement about something
exciting happening. Probably dates still to be confirmed, but can you hear me? Yeah. It's
going to be between end of May and throughout June. We're going to have four to five sessions
on a Sunday evening on godly parenting. Okay, so this is for parents, for grandparents, for children's
workers, or if you are getting ready to become a parent, or if you know somebody who is a parent
and who is struggling. And I'm excited about this, because we've got the privilege to have,
well, mainly to very experienced, absolutely successful sets of parents who are going to be
teaching and speaking to us. So we're going to have Ken and Val. They're going to take one of
the sessions about godly parenting. So they're going to share a lot of their own lives and how
they did it with their kids, the challenges that they faced with their children. And they had four,
well, three daughters, three daughters. And then we're going to have Steve and Sarah doing two
sessions. And I'm going to talk you through the topics in a minute. And they have two sons and
a daughter. And then Sam and I, we're going to take one session as well. So the one of the sessions
is going to be a general one on godly parenting by Ken and Val, Christian home, Christian values,
some of their routines, and some of their secrets to success that they had throughout the years.
And then Sarah and Steve are going to take two sessions. One of the sessions is going to be on
discipline and how do you discipline children? How do you set healthy boundaries with children?
Okay. And another session is that Sarah and Steve are going to do is going to be on behavioral
disorders, difficulties and problems. Okay. So they don't just have a background as parents,
but they also have a background as foster parents where they learned how to deal with very different
problems and issues in attention, in behavior and in contact. So I'm looking forward to that one.
And then Sam and I, we're going to do a session on screen time and social media. Okay. So we grew up
without screens and without social media. So we are having to face this brand new problem of kids
are being or wanting to be in social media and having screens all the time. So yeah, dates to be
confirmed, but yeah, it's going to be on Sunday evenings. Okay. If you feel like you can't come
out on a Sunday evening, but you would love to be part of it. So we are looking to record
the sessions. If you would like to watch them afterwards, let us know. Okay.
And, you know, just to say, this is not just open to the parents in the church. If you know of any
friends that they would benefit from something like that, just feel free to invite them to come
to come along. Okey-dokey. So today I would like to start a new series. I'm going to speak for three
Sundays. Well, when I will be speaking, I'm not speaking three Sundays in a row, but from when I
will speak, I'll speak. I'm going to cover over three Sundays a series titled The Church, A Living
Organism. So, you know, sometimes we, you know, people think about the church as an organization,
especially maybe people who are not familiar with the church. They look at the church and they look
like a, they see the structure. They think it's like an organization that somehow managed to work
together, but is actually a better definition of it is that it is a living organism. And the
difference is that while an organization is quite structured and is quite, I would say, dead in
itself, an organism is something that is alive. And the church is something that is alive. The
church is something that, you know, the Christ is the head of the church. We are the body, yeah.
And he moves us, you know, according to what he wants to do in this world, what he wants to do in
this generation, in the various places. So really is an organism that can grow, that can move, that
can develop, that we can, you know, improve on the base of what we have. It's something that is
constantly on the move. It's not something that relies on human design or human like structuring
of things, but it's something that really depends on the person of Christ who is the head of the
church. I was reading a book recently that was making the point of how Christianity, yeah, and
of course the church, you know, we are Christianity, you know, as a religion, is a religion that is
very easily translatable, yeah, so you can, it's adapted to different cultures, yeah. And as well,
it can be easily transferable. So it's not based on one place, but everywhere it's developing,
it's growing, everywhere is moving in a different way, which is very different from other world
religions. For example, if you look at Islam, you know, they still pray, but they look at Mecca,
all the people. Mecca is the center of everything. The Koran is when they read the Koran in their
meetings, they're only allowed to read it in Arabic, you know, so it's like everything is
built on the structure, but actually the church is the only religion, the religion, if you want to
say Christianity, that is a living organism. Wherever it goes in the world, it adapts itself,
it changes itself. It's like, as well, if you think about the history of the church in different
points of history, the center of the church, we can call it this way, was in different places,
in Europe, in Asia, and it's always moving according with what God is doing in his church.
Now we know that unfortunately in Europe, the church is in decline because Europe is more and
more secularized. People, you know, kind of don't care about God because they've got too much things
to think about, right? They're too busy with their minds, but there is like other parts of the world,
like Asia and Africa and other continents where until like maybe 50 years ago, there were like
a few Christians, and now the number of Christians, the churches are exploding, like places like China,
Korea, you know, the numbers of Christians is growing and growing, is developing, so you see now
Christianity is moving more, you know, towards, you know, that part of the world. So Christianity
is not something, the church is not something that is based in a place, it's not something, it's not
dry structure, but it's a living organism, and Christ works in it, through it, and he moves among
his church, and he does what he knows to be best, you know, for the church. And we have in the Bible,
of course, a blueprint of an healthy church, because, you know, usually the growth of the church,
and when I speak about growth, I'm just, I don't mean just numbers, but the healthy, how healthy
the church is, is, it depends really for how much kind of, how much people need God in their lives,
and that's why kind of in the Western world, is like we, the church, unfortunately, is very much
in decline, because we live in a world where the politics around us are built in a way where
actually Christians cannot say, or cannot, you know, they like to adapt a lot to what's going on
around them, rather than sticking to what the Bible says, while in other parts of the world,
where maybe there is not the wealth that we have, there is a deeper desire of God,
then the church is exploding, the church is growing. So everything is connected, when we speak
about the health of the church, is that really about how much desire we have in our life to
experience God, and unfortunately in Europe, and in the Western world in general, this desire is not
much there, because there are so many things that, you know, we are distracted by, you know, there is
a massive number of people in the prisons who get saved, for example, in the Western world,
and you know, the reason for that is some is connected to the fact that people find themselves in
prisons, and of course they kind of, they felt like I reached the bottom, and they reach out to God,
but as well a lot of people actually get saved, there are testimonies, because they are saying
suddenly I had time to read the Bible, you know, I didn't have much distraction, I was sitting in my
jail, didn't know what to do, I had that desire, I started to read the Word, and the Word started to
speak to me, and you know, and they get saved, so but when you go out in a normal context, yeah,
we got so many things for internet phones, and so many things that are there to distract us that,
you know, and directly affect the health of the church, but the church is an organism,
is a growing organism, is a living organism, Christ is the head of the church, the world will
not overcome the church, because of course Christ has already overcome the world, and when we go in
the book of Acts, there is, as I said, a blueprint of a healthy church, there were people, the first
church, the first group of believers who really had a deep desire of knowing the person of Jesus,
and I'm just going to read something very quickly, and in these verses we will be speaking in the
following few Sundays. In Act 2, verses from 42 to 47, this is like the book of Acts, if you've got
small titles in your Bible, it titles it the Fellowship of the Believers, yeah, it speaks
really about how the early church, how it was functioning, and what they were doing,
and the important things that were present there. So starting from verse 42 of Acts 2,
they devoted themselves, so the people, the believer, they devoted themselves to the
Apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was
filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the Apostles. All the believers
were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give
to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke
bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the
favor of all people, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
And we love the final verse where the Lord was adding, but there is an end. End the Lord,
it's like that sentence, the Lord was adding daily to the church was connected with the
previous verses. Now in these verses there are three things that we're going to look together.
The first one is that the early believers, they were devoted to the Apostles' teaching,
they were devoted to fellowship and to breaking of the bread, and they were devoted to prayer.
Three things. And in verse 42, and then if you read 43 to 47, the structure of those verses
actually follow the structure of verse 42. Because verse 42 starts by saying they were
devoted, they devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching, and then if you go to the beginning of
verse 43, it says everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the
Apostles. And then the second item in the list of verse 42, they were devoted to fellowship and to
the breaking of bread, and then you go to verse 44, and it speaks about the believers, they
lived together, they were selling property and giving, helping those who were in need.
And then there is the third item of verse 42, that they were devoted to prayer, and again in
verse 47, they were praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. So these verses were like
built around these three elements. And today we're going to look together about how they were
devoted to the Apostles' teachings. And for today I kind of titled the sermon that a
church that is healthy is devoted to the Word of God. They had Apostle teachings there, of course
Apostles were there, but guess what? We have the Apostles' teaching too, right? We have them in the
Bible, so we cannot say, oh they were lucky, they had Apostles were there, they actually could hear
firsthand what they had to say, thank God everything was recorded, everything is in the Bible.
So two thousands years later we can actually translate this into devotional, spiritual,
into devotion to the Word of God. A devotion to what's written in the book, to the tool that God
has given us, you know, in order to live an healthy Christian life, and in order to build a healthy
church. More your life will detach itself from the Word of God, more your Christian, more the
quality of your Christian life will start to decrease. Colder and colder, and sooner that
you think you will find yourself to be far away from the Lord. And same things apply for the
church. More the church moves away from what's the, from the devotion of the Bible, from what the
Bible says, from the teaching of the Bible, and more the church will grow cold and will die.
This has been the history of the church since the year zero. You know, if you imagine the church as
a tree that is growing and is like the main stem or the trunk of the tree is Christ, and then there
are all different branches, all the kinds of denominations and groups that over 2,000 years
came about, you know. They started well, they went on fire from the Lord, and then eventually,
you know, they messed it up, and the branch was suddenly died, and certain churches, you know,
died, you know, denominations and other groups of churches died over the years. But then a new
spring, a new offspring was coming from somewhere else. And then it was, again, it was alive in that
offspring, and then maybe slowly they started to go away from the Word of God. And then, you know,
the church was always alive, but the healthy bit was always the bit that was faithful to the Bible.
And unfortunately, in the Western world, right now we see the mainstream church, the slow, well,
actually not quite slowly, quite quickly, is moving away from, you know, what the Word says in order
to embrace ideology and way of thinking that have nothing to do with God. Actually, they come
straight out from the pit of hell. And more is the church is detaching from the Word,
more is like the devotion from the Word is not there, and more the church will grow cold,
and it will die. You know, I come from a Catholic country. Catholic church is one of the richest
churches in the world because, you know, in politics, they've got their hands in politics,
and, you know, it's crazy. And yet, if you go to church, any church in a Sunday, they are completely
empty. If you speak to any Italian on the road, you know, why you don't go to church? Well, it's just
it's dry. We go there, we listen, but there is no real meat. There is no, like, there is no
nothing that can substantiate and change my life and transform my life. And churches are empty.
You know, their numbers are high just because, you know, every time they baptize a baby, they
label the baby as a Christian. That's why the reason they've got so big numbers on paper. But
actually, the churches are quite empty. Yeah. Because when you move away from the Word of God,
guess what? God moves away. Actually, God always follow his church, you know. So it's like those
who desire the Lord with a sincere heart, there is where God is going to be. So God is going to
follow his church and whoever moves away slowly will start to drive out. So a healthy church in
the Book of Acts, they were devoted to the Apostles teaching. So we have to be devoted to
the Word of God. And I want to define the meaning of the word devotion and look a little bit online.
And there are different, you know, different definitions as such, but they're all pretty much
very similar with each other. A devotion is like a great love, a great loyalty, or a great
enthusiasm for a person or for something or for something. A profound dedication, an earnest
attachment to a cause, a person, and so on. And of all these definitions, I really love the one,
a profound dedication. You know, it's like the meaning of the word devotion, a profound dedication.
So the question that I'm going to hammer to you and to me and to all of us and to those who are
listening today is like, is your life profoundly dedicated to the Word of God? Is your life, you
know, centered and built in the Word of God? Is the Word of God, you know, does the Word of God
occupies the place that it should occupy in your life? You see, I'm on paper, you see, without
internet. I cannot use my tablet. So it's like, so is the reading of the Bible part of your daily
routine? You know, I call it routine, but you understand what I mean? It's like, is the Bible
there? Do you go to the Bible when you have problems, when you don't understand something,
or when it's like you're so confused and you say, right, I really would like to see straight into
this matter. Do you go to the Bible? There are many Christians, you know, in today's world, and
you know, when I speak today's world, I mean the Western world, where it's like, you know, they get
confused because they hear so many things out there, and then it's like instead of finding a
line to fall in the Word of God, they stay confused. They stay confused. It's like, oh, I don't know,
I don't know, I don't know, blah, blah, blah, blah, and then in a short time they don't even know what
they believe anymore. So is the Bible still, you know, the tool that you use when you have questions,
when there is something that is not clear to you, do you go to see what actually God has to say
in that situation? Or do you allow yourself to be drifted away by the so many, you know, ideas that
are out there? You know, you go back in time, ideas always change. You cannot trust on any idea.
You cannot trust on any philosophy. You cannot trust on any ideology. They keep on changing
because they are man-centered, and of course, may man be who he is that we fail, you know,
we all come up with the craziest idea, but the Word of God is the one that stays constant and true.
So are you actually devoted to the Word of God? Is there a deep desire in your life to read it,
to study, to understand, to allow the Bible to drive your life instead of your life,
or what you think to drive what the Bible has to say? So when we look at Acts 2, 42, like the
church was devoted, you know, to the apostle teachings, there is this element of actually,
you know, for us to be devoted to the Bible, but there is also a second layer,
and this is as well, you know, if maybe you're new to the faith, you need to trust on those in
the church who teach you. And I'm not speaking about blind trust. We can all go wrong sometimes,
right? You can search the other word. You know, Paul, as actually he was, there was a group of
people in the book of Acts, and these were the Berean people. They were earnestly listening to
the apostle teachings, but then they were going to check that what the apostle was saying
corresponded to the truth. So I'm not saying, you know, follow what your pastors, your elders,
or whoever speaks from here says. You know, you can do your research, but do them in the Bible.
Because I can tell you, you know, I give, I mention these time after time. If you go on the
internet and you type on Google, I've seen a donkey flying. I can guarantee you that you will
find someone around the world who will say, I've seen a donkey fly too. Donkey must be flying.
We're all wrong. You know, and there are people who use this approach to Christianity. You know,
they hear something, then they go on the internet, and then they find all the crazy ideas and theory,
theories, and really because there is, I always say, when there is no heart that desires the Lord,
really, they take these things and allow these things to, you know, to move them away from God.
But I believe, personally believe that these people really, perhaps in the first place, they,
there was never that desire of really knowing God. So because, you know, so you got to trust
those who teach you, you know, there is, you know, the people there, the book of Acts,
they were trusting the apostles' teachings, and we are in even a better place because we have
people in the church, in all churches, appointed to teach, but as well we have the apostles'
teachings. We can actually go and check out that all what is written there, all what is spoken is
actually written in the Bible, the Bible speaks about. So trust, trust those who teach you.
And if you have any question, come and ask. It's like, and I'm not saying that because, you know,
you want to put, I want to put myself or those who teach from the church in a higher spot than
maybe than you, if you never spoke from here. It's like things never happen because of accident.
A doctor is a doctor because he studied medicine, right? There's years of study, practicing, then
eventually become a doctor. So, you know, or like someone who flies a plane is not just someone who,
I want to be a pilot, you know, let me fly the plane. I wouldn't go on that flight, would you?
Someone who wake up in the morning, I'm gonna fly you back. I'm gonna fly you on holiday. No,
thank you, I'm gonna stay here. So when we step on a plane, we kind of trust the process that
whoever is flying the plane, presumably went to a pilot's school, if that's what you call it,
the way how you call it, has done some practice. He has some hours, flying hours on his pockets,
and then I can trust my life to that, you know, I know that he does something different than what I
do. And same thing when it comes to church. Usually when people speak is because maybe they've
started, they've got years of faith behind, they search the word. So, you know, we speak and we say
things and you can go and check them, as I said, don't blindly take what we say, you know, to
understand what I'm saying, but it has to be the element of trust, because the moment you click on
your phone, you go on the internet, you will find, you know, everybody saying the opposite of
everybody else. So you need to be careful what you watch, you need to be careful what you read.
If you're not sure about read a book or something, just ask someone, you know, what do you think
about this book, you know, you know, it's just there is nothing, there's nothing wrong in asking,
yeah. So being devoted to the word, so being the word of God being at the center of our life. So
here is the question, you know, how can we trust the Bible? Fair enough, maybe you're new to the
church, new to the faith, and you always hear the Bible, Bible, word, word of God, word of God,
how can we trust the Bible? Now, if you know me, you know, a little bit, you probably you heard,
you heard me already saying that, but, you know, I'm going to say it again for those who never heard
it before. I'm going to do a little game now. Okay, so I'm going to ask you, okay, we are all
pretty much from Brandon, we think we live around here, yeah, we know, we all know Brandon, yeah.
So if I tell you what's, what do you think, give me your, the three things that you like the most
in Brandon, yeah. Some of you can come up, oh, I like whatever, the park, the first place, the
second place, I like the library, third place, I like the river, yeah. Someone else comes up,
say, well, actually, I like the Harvest Center first place, yeah, that's me. Second place, I like
the river, third place, I like Aldi, you know, someone else will come up with something else,
yeah. We are all a group of people from the same pretty much generations, yeah, we live together,
we are all pretty much from the same culture, we all speak the same language, we all have the same
language, we all live in the same small town or villages around here, but yet the, what we would
say about what we think is best in Brandon would be all different from each other. And the reason
for this is because we are all different and therefore everything is subjective to us, I think
this is best, I think this is best, I prefer that, so we get all kinds of feedback. Now if you go to
the Bible and you think for a little bit about what the Bible is, a Bible is a composition of
66 books that were written over a time of over a span of time of about 1500 years. They were written
by 40 different people in 1500 years, so 40 different people that were coming from different
generations. Not only that, but these 40 different people, they were not all the same kind of people,
they were not all religious men, they were not all carpenter, they were not all whatever, they were
all kinds of people, all kinds of background, all kinds of social status, we had fishermen, we had
kings, we had prime ministers, we had those who were second to you know to to Pharaoh, we have Moses,
we have those who doctors, we have Luke, you know there are all the people who contributed to the Bible,
they are all from a different background, they're like they're formed in a different way,
so probably they've got a very different way of seeing things from each other. 1500 years,
written in three different continents, think about the cultural element here, Africa, Asia, and in
Europe, the Bible was written in all the books in the Bible in three different continents. I mean
this is the perfect recipe for a disaster, especially if I ask you know your quest, your
task is to explain me God, your task is to explain me the reason why men exist, your task is to explain
me what is the purpose of life, you know I'll ask you what is the best place in Brandon for you,
but imagine if I would ask you what do you think or would ask the people in Brandon, what do you
think is the purpose of life, I mean these are like tricky questions right, where do we go when we die,
what happened, where do we come from, and yet the Bible answers all these very difficult questions
like if it was one big mind behind it who wrote it all, it doesn't look like it was written in
1500 years, it doesn't look like it was written by 40 different people, it doesn't look like that
these people were coming from different political you know social backgrounds and status, it actually
looks like one person has controlled everything, someone has controlled everything, and this is
exactly the case because God is you know inspired the people to write the word of God, the mind of
God is behind the Bible, and you know there is no other book, no other book that can claim this,
even people who are not Christians who study archaeology and who study ancient writings and
they've like nothing to do with God, they say there is something special about the Bible,
and these are just a few things that you speak about the prophetic element in the Bible, things
that are you know foretold and then happen on the day, on the time, on the hour, you know there are
many things you know this is just you know I'm not getting here that I'm giving you, but you know there
is so much in the Bible that is like wow the Bible is not just a book, the Bible must be something
more or something supernatural, that's why we can trust you know what's written there, and that's
if you want is the logical answer, if you want to if you like more to process things through mind you
can think about all of these, but as well as I can give you a tangible answer because you cannot
it's not just about to be in awe and in wonder when we think about how the Bible was written,
but it's actually the best bit is not even that the best bit is that we can actually experience
in our life whatever is written in the book, so it's like it's not just a logical answer to our
question why we can trust the Bible, but it's a very tangible answer that you can experience in
your life. In Psalm 34 verse 8 it says taste and see that the Lord is good, bless is the one who
finds who takes refuge in him, taste and see there is this invitation open invitation you know for
those who follow God to come taste and see that I'm good, trust my promises trust the word
you can experience God in your life, you can experience the promises of God in your life
and my attempt here I don't want to sell you like sell you, not the right word, but I don't want to
propose you a cheap faith because you know when we think about the you know people sometimes think
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
it's not the case the Bible doesn't say everything is going to be easy the Bible doesn't say
everything is going to be solved the Bible doesn't say everything is going to be nice and happy
clappy so you know it's like it's like it's actually quite the opposite you know the Bible
is very clear in Psalm 23 verse 4 for example even though I walk through the darkest valley
I will fear no evil for you are with me so God is with us but we're still facing the darkest valley
so you know if you're here and you maybe you know someone you kind of there was a time in your life
when you got interest about the Bible but then all what you thought yeah God is good God is good
he wants my best and therefore his best is my best everything needs to go according to my plans and
then the moment something doesn't go according to your plan or didn't go didn't go according
to your plan you you drift away from the Lord because you say well that's not faith right
that's not God how can this happen possibly happen to me probably is all wrong the Bible
now it cannot cannot be there is a God otherwise I trusted him why has this happened in my life
well if you've got this perception of faith it's not correct because the Bible says look
you will go through the darkest valley the Bible says I'm going to bless your life I'm
going to I'm going to protect you I'm going to but as well there is an element look you will face
that the dark valley in your life but I will be with you I'm going to carry you through
but still going to be painful probably
it's still going to be difficult to understand perhaps certain times
second Corinthians 4 17 can puts everything into focus the right focus because it says for our
light and momentary troubles are achieved for us in eternal glory the far over weight them all
we heard last last Sunday from Ken we spoke very well about the eternal hope that we have with God
the eternal hope that we have with God and this is like that's the place that's the final price
where we desire and we hang to where everything is going to be perfect there's not going to be
any tears there is not going to be any sickness there is going to be any any any loss of oh you
know we lose sometimes we lose losing dear people there's going to be any death there's not going to
be any any struggle it's going to be ours and the Lord sees our is seen is going to be present there
when our body will not be affected by sin is going to be the perfection but still here Paul
to the Corinthians said look like your light and momentary troubles are achieving for us eternal
glory so you're just like you will go through this time but even when you go through a time of tribal
to a time where you feel like you know pressed down it's like remember your hope is not here
your hope is eternal yes it is painful when we lose people who are dear to us it is painful when
once you know we go through difficult situation you know it's like and we cry out to the to God
and we don't understand and we's like we struggle but our our hope is eternal
these these struggles is going to be something momentary and God is going to be with us you know
we read you know when we go through the darkest valley I'm going to be with you
you know Christ you know we just came out from Easter and we just say you might we just seen
you know the the sacrifice of Jesus and if Jesus the son of God had to go through physical pain
and to blood loss of blood and and to insults and and from all what he had to go through and he was
the son of God and yes we are exposed to that as well but we know we know where we are going you
know it's like so he's like don't judge the Bible according to you to what you are experiencing in
your life don't be the one who said well you know because I'm not enjoying this moment in my life
there must be a problem in this Bible there must be an issue in this Bible therefore you know
everything is is is is wrong God is going to be with you your your hope is not in this place your
hope is is eternal so are you devoted to the word of God do you have a profound dedication you
remember the definition of the word devoted a profound dedication to God's word word when
we struggle with sin in life what do you do when you struggle with sin do you allow sin to push
you away from God do you allow sin and problems to push you away from reading the word of God
because you see the opposite is true more we feed ourself of God's word and more we will be able to
stand to sin more we feeds our well ourself of God's word and more we will be able to walk
the way God wants us to walk and God doesn't want us to walk in sin so do you desire God do
you desire to to to feed yourself with God's word some some 119 verses 9 to 16 these verses
is they're all about God's word and what God's word can do in our life how can a young person
stay on the path of purity by living according to your word pay attention how many times the
the word word is mentioned I seek you with all my heart do not let me do not let me stray
from your commands I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you praise
be to you Lord teach me your decrees or your laws or your word with my lips I recount all
the laws that come from your mouth I rejoice in following your statues or law or word as one
rejoicing great riches I meditate on your precepts another word for law commandments word of God
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways I delight in your decrees and I will neglect
and I will neglect and I will not neglect your word now all these words decrees precepts statues
what else was there the word you know they all command they're all speaking about God you know
you know the word of God's spoken word of God which we have a record today yeah in our hands
we believe that the Bible is the word of God the infallible word of God this is something again
that is very much attacked in our days is the word is the Bible fallible or is like you know is
is not you know but this is something else yeah but we have it in our hands and it's like listen
to this if you struggle with sin it was like if I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not
sin against you more you will you see we unfortunately we cannot live in another planet yeah we are here
we have a mission here to bring the gospel and we live in the world where we live we are constantly
bombarded on the internet on our phones on our emails on YouTube on on our social medias on what
we see in TV we're constantly bombarded with ungodly things and when I say ungodly I don't mean
like you know ungodly not nice but something doesn't come from God it comes from somewhere else
we're constantly bombarded with that and unless you're going to balance that with the word of
God with the truth that is written in the word of God then you will all soon be overwhelmed by all
what you hear by all what you see you will be very much confused you will not know exactly where to
turn because you will hear so many voices and you will forget to hear God's voice so it's like
reading and and and meditating the the the word of God the Bible is something paramount in our
faith something important something that cannot be exchanged for anything else
something that cannot be exchanged with anything else something that cannot be exchanged with
anything else and I'm shouting this to you and you know and to all who are listening you know we the
word of God needs to be there we cannot neglect the word of God we cannot push it aside we need to
fill our heart with it we need to allow the Bible and the word of God to change us from the inside
out we need to allow the word of God to wash ourselves from the inside out we need to allow
we need to allow the word of God to wash ourselves from all the dirt that we pick up as we walk around
in this world we need to allow the word of God to draw lines in our life lines boundaries oh this
word that we the society today they don't like this word boundaries and lines what is a boundary
what is a line I do what I want what I believe is that is right that is right you know you live a
life I live my life but the Bible sets boundaries it draws lines very clear lines for us to follow
Hebrews 412 for the word of God is alive and active sharper than any double-edged sword
it penetrates even to dividing your soul and spirit soul and spirit you know soul is your mind
the spirit is what's going on is your spirit spirit is what connects with God and then the
soul is the mind or what we process and the word of God separates the two because sometimes your
soul your mind will tell you things that are not in line with the spirit will tell you things that
are not correct will tell you things that will lead you astray but the word of God because draws
a line because it's very clear it divides the spirit from the soul look this is what the spirit
wants this is God this is you my friend this is your mind joins the marui judges the thoughts
and attitudes of your heart it judges the thoughts and attitudes of your heart so we we can actually
know it's not about whatever we think or whatever we believe is right and correct
allow the word of God to judge your thoughts and your attitude to life allow the word of God to
to say yes or to say no
you know we as I said we live in a world where they don't like to draw lines is all this you
hear this word everywhere this walk ideology something that comes straight from the pit of hell
infiltrating politics the school systems society basically whatever you want to pass this
yeah this is trying to destroy all what God has created the order of things how God put them into
place in all the all in all the aspects family sexuality the way how we interact with each other
is just trying the cancellation culture and we can go on this green agenda extreme you know I'm
speaking I'm not speaking about you know respecting the environment which is always good but you know
other things that you we hear are constantly bombarded is like they're you know slowly you
know they're diminishing and taking away that you know that meaning that actually God put into place
when he put things together and we are completely surrounded by these and that's why even like
perhaps we live in a time where the church I mean come on of course the word of God has always been
important and maybe you know is the those who came before me they say these words that I'm saying
but I'm saying that anyway anyway I think we believe in a time where God's word has to become
important like never before in your heart I know of course he always is important you know even the
past generation I'm not saying that and even though those who live in the first you know century
but you know look we live in a world that is really corrupted the western world is going mad
is going crazy what you hear what what you oh goodness me I like to follow sometimes debates
oh my goodness sometimes I like just to slap people it's like what are you saying I can't believe
I'm hearing that oh my goodness and I wonder what God feels imagine he puts everything perfect in
his work he's giving son to die for this world and they see the man came coming up with his
weird and crazy and toxic ideas imagine God and the only reason why he's not coming and putting an
end is because want to give a chance to more people to know him yeah so God is saying although I'm
looking a world that is going mad you know I'm still holding back my love is too great I don't
want to see people perishing I want to give the possibility for people to know me so allow God's
word to draw the lines in your life don't be fooled don't be tricked into moving away from
what the Bible says because that was going to be the beginning of your downfall I just want to read
one last scriptures in there in John 17 verses 5 15 to 19 I'm not asking that you take them out
of the world but that you keep them from the evil one they are not of this world you are not of this
world because maybe you're listening to me and you're saying oh come on Sam I cannot do what
you're saying I cannot do what the Bible says the world moved on the world is different well guess
what you and me are not of this world they are not of the world just I'm not of the world sanctify
them by the truth what is the truth your word is truth Jesus knew it all right as you send me into
the world I also send them into the world for them I sanctify myself so that they too may be
sanctified by the truth and the truth is the word you're not of this world if you feel different
this is exactly the way how you should feel being a Christian is not about conforming with the world
but being different from the world and not just because we want to be different
it's simply because we are different we are children of God speaking about identity we are children of God
so I want to close with the you know the question I'll ask you at the beginning Washington you can
come if you want are you devoted profoundly dedicated to God's word why don't we all stand
you see you may think sometime you know I don't feel like reading I'm tired I get that
sometime I feel that too what pastor you feel sometime that gets busy but you know what they
told me a bible school and reading the word of God is a discipline it's not something that
we don't always feel like reading the word especially when we had maybe a difficult days
going through difficult time you lost someone or something you we don't feel ah no no no sorry not
today but actually do the opposite feed yourself with the word is a discipline sit down
pick up your bible your phone whatever read feed yourself is a discipline
feed yourself with the word allow the word to wash your life allow the word
to speak the truth over your situation over your circumstances over what you're thinking over your
thoughts over your attitudes allow the bible to speak the truth and let the Bible speak the truth
allow the Bible to speak the truth you know also the Bible is a subjective book in a sense that
God is behind it is subjective to him he's objective to us but subjective to him right
he's like he's God he decided to put what to put there
what to put there and allow it to determine the way how you walk
you know there have been plenty of you know studies and people have read try to understand why
the church it seems that in the western world he's in decline he's declining
and the most common answer seventy eighty percent it was directly connected to the
fact that the church is slowly moving away from the truth that is the word of God to embrace
something else and then you go in other countries they don't have all what we have
all what we have they're not bombarded by what we are bombarded they actually laugh at some of
the things that we believe to be right i'm just gonna say that there was this interview there was
this man he went to somewhere in africa and he was having a conversation with this group of masai
masai's kenyan tribes and he asked a question do you believe a man can become a woman
this guy look at him he was trying to understand he was joking with him
he repeated the question and this guy just burst laughing of course it's not possible
and he was laughing and laughing where are you coming from with this and he was making the point
that all this it is one of these examples just came in my mind but there are so many things that
a lot of the things that we believe to be right and correct are just the fruit of a
of a sick culture sick society and we don't have to allow these things to drift us away from God's
word because more you go down to to the root of man like without all the complexity that we have
in the western world all the kind of perks that we have here so that's why they've done this kind
of interview in these countries and and when you speak to people who are like you know just living
their daily life and struggle to you know they fight for their daily bread that's what they think
and live off they don't even they cannot even conceive these things they didn't even cross their
minds but we are very complex and i'm afraid of this complexity that is in society today
that will drive you away from the simplicity of God's word because God's word is simple it goes
away at the beginning it goes away at the beginning why God created things it gives a purpose there's
a purpose there's a reason for for certain things to be in certain ways
it doesn't matter what you hear it doesn't matter what you listen what you see
would you allow God word to speak the truth when you're in your situation
to speak the truth when you're in your situation
God's word is teaching you to be content with what you have
and yet we live in a western world where people are not content with what they have
they always try for more and more and more to gain to gain to gain
the bible says the riches are nothing
right
right so what's driving your life today what's driving your life
is this simplicity of God's word the truth of God's word or is a society around you
and i want to encourage you be devoted to the word have a profound dedication to read the word
study the word we've got so many tools available
Bible apps books people around you that we can experience we can expand just go for it
hallelujah thank you Jesus yeah God we thank you because we have the word of God
we thank you because you have not left us with nothing but you've given us something
your truth Lord and I just pray for each one of us here and for this church
we want to be a church that is built on your word we want to be people whose life is built on your word
built on your word
and I cannot say Lord help me to read the Bible because the Lord has nothing to do with that
it's me and it is you you've got you need to put your will into action
to take time and to be devoted to the word of God don't ask God would you help me to read more
come on that's something up that you can do it's nothing to do with it it's not going to force you
to do anything so it's up to you and I want to encourage you because you see this is a
the foundation of a healthy life this is the foundation of a healthy church do not depart
from the word study hallelujah we thank you God and we thank you because
we have your Holy Spirit in us that is guiding us as we read and as we understand
thank you because it's like you're the spirit of God you're bringing alive what we read
in us we can experience in our life Lord God and I want to pray for those who are
not aware of you for those here who do not know you I pray that they will have an encounter with
you maybe for the first time they heard maybe they already heard a few times but
they kind of haven't made a decision yet and Lord God I want to pray for them they will they will
and open their eyes to see the importance that is in your word God so we thank you Jesus we
praise your name God hallelujah we thank you Lord Jesus hallelujah we praise your name we praise your name
and if you feel like ah I've not been so good with my reading
yeah I'm not here to you know to make you feel guilty it's like it's about going back to the
Lord I need to do that sometimes you know we are all the same we're all in the same boat
and not putting myself in a higher place it's not because I'm standing on the stage is because I got
it all now but we I want to encourage you if you feel like you've missed something recently
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
come come back to me we start again don't worry you lost your
your daily reading your Bible this I know how to pronounce in English it comes up with the app
when you manage every day to read and they give a little prize for it you you win little stars
when you manage to do one week two weeks three weeks without missing
two weeks three weeks without missing and maybe you missed you lost all your stars in your app
just kidding here but it's like you know just go back to the Lord and start again
feed yourself with the word if you're struggling with sin and you don't know where to turn
the answer is the word of God feed yourself with God's word allow the word of God to change and
transform your life to stand against sin to draw lines in your life to give you the strength to
stand strong when you hear all different kinds of things coming to you so we thank you Jesus
oh how precious is the word of God amen do you understand how precious is that book
people have died for that book to bring that book to us let us not let us not be the generation
who allowed this book to die right my good uh Anglican friends to read mark and inwardly
digest speaking about the Bible read mark pay attention to inwardly digest eat it becomes part
of you but the Bible also tells us to be doers of the word as well as hearers yeah
try again to be doers as well as hearers so we've got an opportunity to do good do good to all men
especially those in the household of faith Bible tells us we have an opportunity to do good in
Uganda we are doing two things we are well three things we're going in June and we're going to take
a special offering to help towards fund the medical day i mean it's a shame you're not going to
experience it but people will walk for days well not days that's that's lying they will walk miles
and they'll dress up in their sunday best usually the older ladies particularly really and then we'll
give them free medication we'll employ local doctors and we'll give them free medication now
you don't do you moan about national health come with me to Uganda and they appreciate it just
unbelievably so we're going to take a special offering and thirdly because with men going this
time not women our bags are going to be half empty we're going to say we're taking a special
collection for children's underwear and that has been upgraded from girls knickers to include boys
pants so call it what you want as a dear pants for we could be very scriptural as a dear pants anyway
we're going to collect children's underwear clean new and one second hand soil you know clean new
underwear hey you can welcome to my world over the years
well my wife tells me sevens to elevens
me sevens to elevens and i see five to sevens and if you really get led of the lord buy some extra
sevens to elevens as well i'll tell you what it will not go a waste we're going to preach but you
think you do not know what you lay up in heaven i think some some of us do not realize it's the
same with tithing it's the same with the whole giving thing you do not realize your reward you
don't do it for that that's what the bible teaches us we are rewarded when i was naked did you clothe
me when i was hungry when i did you feed me when i was homeless did you take me in when as a stranger
would you welcome me when i was in the hospital did you visit me and that day the writers will say
lord when did we do it unto you and he will turn around and say as you did it to the least of these
my brethren you did it unto me so between now and june we will continue to raise some money for the
medical mission we will buy medication in country we will employ local medical practitioners
we will also receive gifts of clean children's knickers and pants amen
yes lord we thank you we thank you for today we thank you because you are good we thank you because
we can worship you we can praise your name we thank you because you gave us the means to
to do good things lord to help people around us lord god and i just want to you know follow up
what ken said i just want to pray lord for this uh you can uganda mission trip lord that you will
provide that you will uh anoint that you will cover with your protection that will you will you know
completely take over uh this mission trip that you will use the people who will be going there
to be a blessing from a physical perspective from a spiritual perfect perspective lord just you know
be with them cover them with your grace and love god so we thank you lord jesus we thank you
we pray for the country is an important week a new king is going to be crowned on on saturday lord
lord just pray lord for wisdom lord for you know i don't know how to pray for these things lord god
but just want to pray that your will will be done in this country god your hands will be over this
country lord god and we pray for the church in this country lord you revive the church in this
country lord revive us each one of us here today we thank you lord bless the week that is ahead of us
lord follow us with your blessing and protection in jesus precious name amen amen and
we'll see you next week