1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,080 A few years ago I was, well now it's been more than a few years ago now that I think 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,600 about it, but I was holding a revival in northern Illinois. 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:15,440 There was this long, tall, lanky guy that would come up every night, had hands that 4 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,760 seemed like they were that long. 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,240 He would shake my hand and he wouldn't shake it, he'd pump it. 6 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:26,400 And he'd say, ain't God good. 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:32,400 Long whippersnapper that I was in my mind, I thought that sure is bad grammar. 8 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,760 But by the end of that revival I began to understand what he was saying. 9 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:42,320 Ain't God, say it with me, ain't God good. 10 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,440 Give him another clap of your hands this morning. 11 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:50,560 Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. 12 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,060 Praise the Lord. 13 00:00:52,060 --> 00:00:57,280 You may be seated if you can as they say. 14 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,720 I am so glad to be in the house of the Lord this morning. 15 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:05,480 So glad to be among my family. 16 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:13,280 I was thinking a few days ago how grateful I was that the Lord brought me to the Hopewell 17 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,480 Church family. 18 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:21,800 And you've just opened up and accepted Sandra and me and we are so glad to be here. 19 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:28,880 We talk about it often, how glad we are that God has brought us into this family. 20 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:30,960 Brought me to sit under a pastor. 21 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:36,840 You know when you give out for almost 60 years you need some pumping in. 22 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:42,640 And pastor you've been pumping in to me every Sunday and I enjoy it. 23 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:50,560 That's alright, go ahead and give him a praise. 24 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,200 I want to show you some pictures here in just a moment. 25 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:58,480 You can go ahead and start that back there and get the first slide up. 26 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:02,720 What we're going to be doing is traveling in four weeks from yesterday. 27 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,600 We'll start our journey. 28 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,320 Guys did you realize it was that close? 29 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:11,920 It's really coming on to us. 30 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:17,640 And we're going to be traveling to the country of Zambia which is you can see the colored 31 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:18,680 marks there. 32 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,440 That's the country of Zambia. 33 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:27,080 And the circled part is the area of Zambia that we're going to, the eastern province 34 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:28,360 of Zambia. 35 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,080 Provinces are like our states. 36 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,880 This one is called the eastern province. 37 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,360 We're going to a town called Katete. 38 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:42,840 K-A-T-E-T-E in case you wanted to write it down and pray for us. 39 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:43,840 Katete. 40 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:56,160 We're right on the border of Mozambique and on the border of, I want to say the name, 41 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:57,160 Malawi. 42 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:58,160 The border of Malawi. 43 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:03,440 In fact, we'll be about 20 miles from the country of Malawi. 44 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:09,280 The Lord has opened this area for ministry several years ago. 45 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:16,440 While I was in Zambia as the overseer, the missiologists were calling this group, this 46 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:23,000 tribe that lives in the Katete and eastern province area, they were calling them an unreached 47 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,720 people group saying that there was no gospel there. 48 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:32,640 Well, I didn't understand that because at that time we had about 70, 75 churches among 49 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:34,640 that tribe already. 50 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:38,840 And so that was kind of a puzzle to me. 51 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:44,000 And as time has gone on, the Lord has blessed us. 52 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:53,480 In 2007, while I was there, one of my friends that I've known since we were both teenagers, 53 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:59,040 pastors in western North Carolina, he wanted to come over and do some ministry and so he 54 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,440 brought his entire staff over there. 55 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:11,320 And I set up for him to go to the eastern province for their provincial convention. 56 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:17,940 And I found out that there was only one preacher in this area that had a Bible. 57 00:04:17,940 --> 00:04:21,720 They were grabbing any and everything they could think of to preach from, even watch 58 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,940 tower stuff they were getting and preaching from it. 59 00:04:24,940 --> 00:04:29,380 And so when Roger heard that, he said, before we leave town, let's get some Bibles. 60 00:04:29,380 --> 00:04:34,920 And so we scoured the whole town, went everywhere we could find anybody that had a Bible and 61 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,000 we took them up there with us. 62 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,240 And we gave every pastor at that time a Bible. 63 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,400 You ought to have seen those people. 64 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,000 I'm telling you, we were outside hot and dusty. 65 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,000 That was nothing but dust on the ground. 66 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,960 They got to dancing and the clouds of dust began to fly up in the air because they were 67 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,060 rejoicing there. 68 00:04:56,060 --> 00:04:58,440 Pastor had a Bible. 69 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,560 Hallelujah. 70 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:07,600 And that began a ministry that has come out of the Kings Mountain North Carolina Church 71 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:14,080 of God that every year they do a Bible school in this area. 72 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:20,280 Also they sent one of their staff members and family to live there for a year to put 73 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:26,520 things on the, put roofs on the church buildings that were falling in and to dig wells and 74 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,960 all of those kinds of things. 75 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,840 And we've just seen the Lord minister and move in that area. 76 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:41,480 We've grown from about 75 churches to now we've got about 165 churches in that area. 77 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,460 The Lord has thoroughly been blessing. 78 00:05:44,460 --> 00:05:48,100 Go on to the next slide please. 79 00:05:48,100 --> 00:05:54,660 This is, it's kind of dark in the building, but the one in the back shows it much better 80 00:05:54,660 --> 00:05:56,040 than this one up here. 81 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,720 But you can see the pastors, they kind of separate themselves a little bit. 82 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,080 I don't know why, but most of them hang out on the right hand side and then on the left 83 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:09,080 hand side are some of the church leaders, some of the women and some of the church leaders. 84 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:15,280 This one was right after the, right after COVID and the crowd was not quite as strong 85 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:19,560 as it usually is and hopefully will be much stronger when we go this time. 86 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:21,800 But this is a part of the group that we'll be teaching. 87 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,100 Move on to the next one please. 88 00:06:24,100 --> 00:06:26,960 Let's give you just a different picture of it. 89 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:32,320 If you look way in the back right hand corner, you'll see motorbikes and bicycles and all 90 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:33,320 of that. 91 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,860 They don't leave them outside because somebody will come along and drive them away and push 92 00:06:36,860 --> 00:06:37,860 them away. 93 00:06:37,860 --> 00:06:42,880 So they park them inside the church building, except on Sunday morning we move them out 94 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,200 and because we fill the church building up on Sunday morning. 95 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:47,200 Move on to the next one. 96 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:52,760 I don't want to say a whole lot about each one, but you can see that the building, this 97 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,740 building was built by the Kings Mountain North Carolina Church so that we could have this 98 00:06:57,740 --> 00:06:59,440 kind of meeting. 99 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:01,240 Move on to the next one. 100 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:06,040 You can see me and my bald head standing there. 101 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:07,040 You see the crowd. 102 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:08,600 This is on Sunday morning. 103 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:10,560 You can kind of see the children there. 104 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,320 They put, just stretch out some tarps and they'll sit down on the floor because there's 105 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:15,680 not enough pews. 106 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,320 Go on to the next one. 107 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:19,800 This is from the other end of it. 108 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:21,680 You can see what's going on. 109 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:23,640 Next one please. 110 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,040 This is one of the evening services. 111 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,080 These are the pastors. 112 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,760 Sometimes we get to go in and it's not just teaching. 113 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:33,800 We get in the Spirit. 114 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,560 I mean to tell you when they get in the Spirit and start singing, they'll start dancing and 115 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,400 they'll start moving with the power of the Lord moving in their midst. 116 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,640 We've seen miracles in these meetings as well. 117 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:51,640 So we're not going just to teach, which we do and we do it as well as we can and we want 118 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,160 them to have as much knowledge as they can to take back with them. 119 00:07:55,160 --> 00:08:00,220 But yet at the same time we just let the Lord move and I believe he's going to move. 120 00:08:00,220 --> 00:08:01,780 Go to the next one. 121 00:08:01,780 --> 00:08:05,280 This is what we're going to be giving just to give you an idea. 122 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,200 This is a big bag of what they call Mealy Meals. 123 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:09,700 It's 25 pounds. 124 00:08:09,700 --> 00:08:11,360 It is their staple diet. 125 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,080 They will eat this with just about every meal. 126 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:20,720 If you like grits or you know of grits, it's a real fine grits. 127 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:25,960 It's really finely ground and they make it and they'll press their meat or vegetables 128 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,760 or whatever into it with their hands and they will pick it up and eat it just like that. 129 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:32,320 But this is a staple. 130 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,400 They live off of this. 131 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,040 Go on to the next one. 132 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,020 Now you can't see that very well, but it's a hoe. 133 00:08:40,020 --> 00:08:41,680 It does not have the handle on it. 134 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:46,600 We're buying that part of the hoe and they will go home and they will go out into a bush 135 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:53,080 somewhere and cut them down a small tree and they will make their own handle to that. 136 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,080 Go on to the next one. 137 00:08:55,080 --> 00:09:00,600 And then what we're going to do is give them 25 pounds of seed. 138 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:02,480 Last year they had too much rain. 139 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:04,320 The year before they had a drought. 140 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,320 Last year too much rain. 141 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,680 It just wiped out their crops. 142 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:14,280 They do not have any seed to plant this year. 143 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,400 Now just think about it. 144 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:21,520 Most of our pastors are subsistence farmers except those in the cities. 145 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:22,680 They're subsistence farmers. 146 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:25,700 They just raise enough to get by on. 147 00:09:25,700 --> 00:09:30,560 And so what we're going to do because the pastor has jumped on this and said we're going 148 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:36,440 to send home a 25 pound bag of high yield seed corn so that they can take it home and 149 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,160 have something to plant this year. 150 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:45,760 So we're not thinking of just feeding them the spiritual knowledge which they need and 151 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:50,240 they desire and they're hungry for but we're going to give them something tangible to take 152 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:51,320 home. 153 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:58,280 And not only that, normally we don't, when we provide meals for these kinds of meetings 154 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:03,000 we just provide the staples that they're used to, that they're accustomed to such as the 155 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:08,980 Mealy Meal and sometimes they'll have some fish but most of the time they do not. 156 00:10:08,980 --> 00:10:16,600 Pastor said we want to feed them meat at every meal and so for breakfast, lunch and dinner 157 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:21,720 they're going to have some kind of meat with every meal so that they can go home really 158 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:22,720 fed. 159 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:29,200 I praise the Lord for a pastor with that kind of vision and I thank you so much. 160 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,180 Go to the last one. 161 00:10:32,180 --> 00:10:34,600 This one has already been bought. 162 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,160 They had to buy these ahead of time because they go so quickly. 163 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,640 These are Chechewa Bibles which is their language. 164 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:46,280 We have bought, I think it's 150 of them I believe. 165 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:51,400 I can't remember the exact number but we have bought Bibles that have already are in the 166 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:52,880 province. 167 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:57,340 The man you see there with those is Ezekiel Sakala. 168 00:10:57,340 --> 00:11:08,120 He is our provincial overseer and he had to travel for 10 hours on a bus down to Lusaka 169 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,840 and pick those up and take them back on the bus. 170 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:16,560 So it took him almost three days to pick up these Bibles. 171 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:20,440 And so we've got them and they wanted them, they heard they were going to get them and 172 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,320 they were so eager and said can we go ahead and we said no, no, no. 173 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,640 We want to rejoice with you when you get them. 174 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:32,920 So it's just a few mooks more and Brian and Randy back there, we're going to have some 175 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:33,920 time. 176 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:38,520 I made him get Brian to dance a little bit. 177 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:39,520 I don't know. 178 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:40,800 We'll see about Randy back there. 179 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,000 I don't know whether we can get him to do it or not. 180 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:47,480 But we're going to rejoice with them when these pastors receive their Bibles. 181 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:52,320 Can you give praise to the Lord? 182 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,520 Hallelujah. 183 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:55,520 One more slide. 184 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,400 I believe, no there's two more slides. 185 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,960 This is when we were rejoicing at the last night of the meeting that we had. 186 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:07,400 This is the pastors and everyone rejoicing and excited. 187 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:12,240 As you see my jacket I've got on, this was made in Zambia. 188 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:15,100 This is somewhat the style that they wear. 189 00:12:15,100 --> 00:12:19,560 You can see over the man in the blue, he's got on the same style jacket. 190 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:24,400 But if we could blow that up a little bit, you would see that that is actually the Church 191 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,880 of God logo all over it. 192 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:32,240 And they have dresses that the women wear and the men will wear the jackets and so forth 193 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:35,440 with the Church of God logo just all over the whole thing. 194 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,560 They're proud to be a part of the Church of God. 195 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:44,640 They're excited about it. 196 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,800 One more slide. 197 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,040 I put this on there. 198 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:56,440 In fact my wife as we were putting this together she said we put this on the end. 199 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,480 And we want to thank you for your gifts. 200 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:02,280 You've sent me once before, twice before. 201 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,520 You've helped me to go to Africa. 202 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:09,200 And I want you to know that I'm so grateful for that. 203 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:14,240 And then that last statement, please pray for the success of the school. 204 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,380 Pray for Randy, pray for Brian, pray for me. 205 00:13:18,380 --> 00:13:23,600 They're going to do the teaching and I'm going to do some preaching at night or on Sunday, 206 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:28,240 the first night and on Sunday they're going to teach during the day and preach at night. 207 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,720 They're going to be so tired when they get home. 208 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,640 They're going to need to have about a week's worth of rest I think. 209 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,660 But we're going to keep them busy while they're there. 210 00:13:37,660 --> 00:13:42,120 And quickly before I bring the message, and you can go ahead and take that down if you 211 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,160 would like sir. 212 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:54,200 We have made arrangements that they're going to get to go see some wild animals. 213 00:13:54,200 --> 00:14:00,720 Some elephants and some lions and some hopefully we'll get to see some cheetah and also some 214 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:06,080 leopards and a lot of wildebeest and that sort of thing. 215 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:11,360 We won't have much time but we're going to take one day or one evening and do that. 216 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,160 We'll be there one evening. 217 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,480 We'll arrive in the afternoon, go for a game drive that night, go for a game drive the 218 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:22,360 next morning and then go back down to Katete which is only about two hours away. 219 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,640 Just wanted them, they couldn't go to Africa without seeing all that. 220 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,160 Can you agree with me on that? 221 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:29,640 Amen. 222 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:34,800 Alright, the message today. 223 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:39,680 I was a little bit afraid the pastor would get carried away a while ago. 224 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:45,160 He almost did because he preached some of my sermon already. 225 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:49,840 I want to bring to you something I feel like the Lord has given to me. 226 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:55,040 I've been praying about this for a few weeks since the pastor asked me where do I go with 227 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:56,040 this? 228 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,080 What do I do with this? 229 00:14:58,080 --> 00:14:59,920 And I believe the Lord has laid this on my heart. 230 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:05,760 Would you turn in your Bibles to Mark the 16th chapter? 231 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:13,040 Mark the 16th chapter and I'll begin reading at the 15th verse. 232 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:15,040 Give you a moment to find it. 233 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:23,480 I always dislike preachers that turn to Mark 16 and 15 and then they say go into all the 234 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:24,480 world. 235 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,880 I didn't even have time to pick up my Bible much less find it. 236 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,120 So I want to give you plenty of time. 237 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:35,960 Mark the 16th chapter beginning at the 15th verse. 238 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:43,440 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 239 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:51,320 He who believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not believe will be condemned 240 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:56,280 and these signs will follow those who believe. 241 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,920 In my name they will cast out demons. 242 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,360 They will speak with new tongues. 243 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:08,840 They will take up servants and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them. 244 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,760 They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. 245 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:19,160 Lord, I pray that you would put an anointing upon all of us today. 246 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:24,800 Put an anointing upon me that I may deliver the message as you've laid it upon my heart 247 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:31,960 and put an anointing upon each individual here today that they might receive and be 248 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:38,920 anointed to hear and to not only hear but to apply it to their lives. 249 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,440 Lord, I pray that you would make preaching easy this morning. 250 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:49,360 We can my mind focus it upon what you want me to say today in Jesus name. 251 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,360 Amen. 252 00:16:51,360 --> 00:17:00,000 This passage of scripture is in essence the last words that Jesus said to the disciples 253 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,640 before he ascended. 254 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:14,760 As they stood there after he disappeared into the clouds a couple of men came which we seem 255 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:20,680 to know that these are angels of the Lord and said why are you standing here gazing 256 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,560 upward? 257 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:28,760 You see their vision had to change. 258 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:36,800 Their outlook had to change because Calvary had shattered their dreams. 259 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:42,480 They thought a literal kingdom would be set up on this earth. 260 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:48,200 That Rome would be vanquished and that they would be in charge now and that they would 261 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:53,180 have a time of peace and glory. 262 00:17:53,180 --> 00:17:56,680 But Calvary shattered that dream. 263 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:02,660 And so a new vision had to be realized. 264 00:18:02,660 --> 00:18:11,840 And that vision had to be centered around the genuine reason that Jesus came to this 265 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,920 earth. 266 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:21,760 It wasn't just to satisfy the little area there of Judea. 267 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:28,840 But his reason for coming was to save the world. 268 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:34,160 To be the redeemer for the world. 269 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:40,000 I don't have the time this morning but in times past I've thought about the fact that 270 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:46,000 the nation of Israel did not really fulfill what God had told them. 271 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,520 They were to be the light for the world. 272 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:56,480 But yet they turned inward and they only thought about themselves when they were supposed to 273 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:03,320 be that part that led everyone in the world to God. 274 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:10,160 And now these men have that same kind of vision in their own mind. 275 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:15,760 We need to save our little world. 276 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:20,640 I'm afraid that's the way some of us get in our local churches. 277 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:26,660 We're more concerned about what's going to satisfy our people. 278 00:19:26,660 --> 00:19:30,100 What will be the happiness of our people? 279 00:19:30,100 --> 00:19:31,520 I'm not knocking that. 280 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:34,080 I think we need to take care of one another. 281 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:35,800 We need to pray for one another. 282 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,360 We need to provide this and that for one another. 283 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:39,720 I agree with that. 284 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:49,200 But when that's all we think about then we've lost the true vision of God and Jesus Christ. 285 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:54,200 We need to understand it's not just us four no more. 286 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:58,680 I've gone to churches to pastor where that was the kind of mentality they had. 287 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,600 We don't want anybody else coming in. 288 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:07,820 I remember coming up in a pastor's home, my dad having churches that had the same thought. 289 00:20:07,820 --> 00:20:09,040 It's just about us. 290 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,920 And when new people come in we freeze them out. 291 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,280 But this is not what Jesus wanted. 292 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,160 He wanted the world to be saved. 293 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,520 That's why He came. 294 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:27,880 And so the reason that Jesus came now becomes our task. 295 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,720 Jesus came in humility. 296 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,720 Jesus came voluntarily. 297 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,640 He did not have to be pushed into it. 298 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,080 Sometimes we have to push people into it. 299 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:48,000 I remember when Sandra and I accepted to move to Kenya and we were selling some of our stuff, 300 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:53,880 some of the things that we needed to get rid of that we had accumulated through the years. 301 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:58,320 And I remember one young lady, I can't remember what she bought, but I was helping her load 302 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,880 it into the car and she said, why are you selling this? 303 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,740 And I told her that we were getting preparing to go to Africa. 304 00:21:05,740 --> 00:21:08,400 She shuddered like this. 305 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:15,520 And she said, the reason I don't get close to God, I'm afraid He wants me to go to Africa. 306 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:23,520 You see, the thing that we've got to understand is we've got a duty and we've got a privilege 307 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:30,960 to serve our Lord voluntarily. 308 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:36,160 Not in a way that we're forced into it or we're guilted into it, but the way that we 309 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:40,120 know Jesus Christ and we want to serve Him. 310 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:41,880 We love Him so much. 311 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,120 We're thankful so much that He died for us. 312 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:53,400 He suffered for us that we want to do what His bidding is in our lives. 313 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,120 I'm not saying you're going to be called to Africa. 314 00:21:56,120 --> 00:22:01,880 Apparently, our pastor doesn't want to be called to Africa. 315 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:03,480 And I understand that. 316 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,120 Believe me, I do understand that. 317 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:12,440 But one of the things I read just as we were preparing to go, I was a little trepidation 318 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:18,000 about it and I just wondering and you know, you question this and then you say, no, no, 319 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,000 no, question it. 320 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,000 No, no, no. 321 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,600 One of the things that I read during that is if Africa is where God called you to be, 322 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:30,040 it's the best place in the world for you to be. 323 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:34,160 Now I have to tell you, if that's not where God called you, it's not the best place for 324 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,520 you. 325 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:43,120 But you see what we've got to do is to be willing to do whatever the Lord is telling 326 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:46,400 us to do. 327 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:53,160 But Jesus didn't just leave them and say, here you are, you do it on your own. 328 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,640 Oh, I like this. 329 00:22:55,640 --> 00:23:03,320 You see, I sat at the desk after I'd been in Kenya for a few weeks and I sat at a desk 330 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,120 early in the morning, one morning and I said, Lord, I don't know what to do. 331 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:08,440 I don't know how to do this job. 332 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:09,720 I don't know where to go. 333 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,280 I don't know what's the first thing you want me to do. 334 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,640 And the Lord said, you just listen to me. 335 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:17,960 You just listen to me. 336 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:19,480 And that's what I've tried to do. 337 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:20,480 Don't get ahead of him. 338 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:21,480 Don't drag behind him. 339 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,240 Let's just walk right with whatever the Lord wants. 340 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:30,360 If you personally will walk wherever the Lord wants you to walk, you don't have to be worried 341 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:36,840 about anything. 342 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,440 I don't have time this morning to go off and say some things. 343 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:45,520 My wife just raised her eyebrows back there and said, no, you don't. 344 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:50,000 But there are so many things that I could share with you about this journey of how the 345 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:55,480 Lord has led us step by step to the way he wants us to go. 346 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,120 It ain't always been fun. 347 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:06,480 It hadn't always been full of peace, but it's been exactly, exactly where the Lord called 348 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,360 us to be. 349 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:15,280 But you don't do this by yourself. 350 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:21,080 When the disciples left, he had told them to go back to Jerusalem. 351 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,840 So when they left, they're gazing upward. 352 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:32,600 They went back to Jerusalem and the power fell just as he promised. 353 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,280 Look what it says there. 354 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:42,520 And these signs will follow those who believe. 355 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,560 Not believers following signs. 356 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:52,680 Ooh, got kind of quiet when I said that. 357 00:24:52,680 --> 00:25:00,640 People would spend a lot of money to go after the signs when signs will follow believers. 358 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:06,000 He said, these things will happen in my name. 359 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,220 They will cast out demons. 360 00:25:09,220 --> 00:25:11,400 They will speak with new tongues. 361 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,560 They will take up servants and they drink anything deadly. 362 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,400 It will by no means hurt them. 363 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,520 They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. 364 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:24,680 I want to share something with you real quickly. 365 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:30,480 I've mentioned, our overseer in the country of Niger. 366 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:35,360 He's actually from the country of Chad, but he'd been sent as a missionary to the country 367 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:37,360 of Niger. 368 00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:43,480 One church when he went, a church that was kind of struggling, mainly made up of businessmen 369 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:51,640 that had gone there from other parts of Africa and wasn't really a spiritual church. 370 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:58,680 But we gave all of our overseers the tools to evangelize and to plant churches and he 371 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,120 got busy. 372 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:05,320 Not long after we gave him this plant, there was a woman that through the marketplace had 373 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:12,120 heard about our church and when she came, she looked like she was pregnant. 374 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:18,120 She was just now like this, but she was an older woman, but she looked like she was pregnant. 375 00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:23,680 But it was a mass that had grown in her stomach. 376 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:28,560 And she'd gone everywhere, witch doctors, gone to their prayer people and so on. 377 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:32,060 Doctors, nothing could be done for. 378 00:26:32,060 --> 00:26:36,880 So she heard that there was over here at this church, there was some healing that could 379 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:38,640 take place. 380 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:44,760 And so she came and talked to Afetikas and Afetikas started sharing her with her about 381 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:45,760 Jesus Christ. 382 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:46,760 She said, I don't want any of that. 383 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,600 She said, I didn't come here for any of that. 384 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,240 I don't want it. 385 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:52,600 Don't try to give it to me. 386 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,040 I'm here to be healed. 387 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:59,200 And Afetikas said that he decided he wasn't going to pray for her because she had that 388 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:00,200 wrong attitude. 389 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:06,760 But he said the Lord pricked his heart and said, pray for her. 390 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,720 He said they gathered around her and they prayed for her. 391 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:14,760 She asked where the restroom was and she went to the restroom. 392 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:23,240 In a little bit there was a scream, ah, come see, come see, preacher, come see. 393 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,320 He said, I couldn't go into women's restroom. 394 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:30,640 So he said, I sent some of the women that were there, I sent them in there. 395 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,000 I heard all of them. 396 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,960 Come pastor, come. 397 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,600 He said, I guess it was all right if all those women were in there at the same time. 398 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:46,120 So he said, I went in and he said, laying on the floor was a bloody mess that she had 399 00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:48,240 passed. 400 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,960 And she began to cry. 401 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:56,680 And when they left that restroom and went back into the sanctuary, she said, what must 402 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:07,120 I do to know this Jesus Christ? 403 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:12,480 And not only did she receive salvation, but she went out into the marketplace and began 404 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,520 to show, look what Jesus has done. 405 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:20,400 And many others came to Jesus Christ. 406 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:25,280 I shared that with you and I could spend the rest of the day sharing these kinds of things. 407 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:30,800 You see, when Jesus promises something, He keeps His promise. 408 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:37,480 If we will go in the power of the Spirit, if we will go in His power and in His name, 409 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:44,680 we will see things that will happen that we will have only dreamed about. 410 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:50,280 I want to bring you one last passage of scripture, Acts the first chapter. 411 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:54,040 He's going to put this on the screen. 412 00:28:54,040 --> 00:29:00,800 But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall 413 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:10,240 be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost 414 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,480 part of the earth. 415 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,480 Let me spend just a moment here. 416 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:23,040 Because I believe this is the crux of this message today. 417 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:28,040 After the Holy Ghost comes on you, what will you do? 418 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:37,440 You shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Bradley County. 419 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,200 You see, don't think about the rest of the world until you've thought about Bradley 420 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,800 County. 421 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:51,000 I'm a missionary, have been for a long time, had a missionary's heart since I was 17 years 422 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,000 old. 423 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:58,360 Didn't get to go until I was 51, but had that heart. 424 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:03,280 But I'm here to tell you that if you just look to Africa and you forget about Bradley 425 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:09,440 County, you've missed the instructions of Jesus Christ. 426 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,180 We reach out to this county. 427 00:30:12,180 --> 00:30:13,920 I like the ways we're doing, Brian. 428 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:17,680 We're talking about helping the homeless and feeding the homeless. 429 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:23,040 We're talking about those mothers that need help, those single mothers and so on down 430 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:24,040 the line. 431 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:31,880 All of these things are reaching out to our county and reaching out in the name of Jesus. 432 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:36,920 Then when you look at the next one, it says, and all Judea, that was their nation. 433 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:41,480 We need to look out to the rest of the United States. 434 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,080 We're fastly becoming a heathen nation. 435 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:46,560 I hate that. 436 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:51,240 I hate to have to say that, but when you speak truth, you must speak truth. 437 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:56,440 And we're fastly becoming a heathen nation. 438 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,440 They don't even want you to talk about God. 439 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,160 Oh, Lord, help us. 440 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:08,280 That we as Christians will stand up in the face of all of the opposition that is around 441 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:18,720 us and we will spread the gospel to everyone we can. 442 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,640 You say, preacher, I don't know what to do. 443 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,480 I'll tell you what to do. 444 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:24,480 Easy. 445 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,440 This part is very, very easy. 446 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:31,080 You don't need to learn the Roman's road to salvation. 447 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,740 You don't need to learn evangelism, exposure. 448 00:31:33,740 --> 00:31:34,740 Those are all good. 449 00:31:34,740 --> 00:31:35,740 I'm not knocking them. 450 00:31:35,740 --> 00:31:41,000 I'm simply telling you there's an easier way every morning when you get up, say, Lord, 451 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,000 give me a divine appointment today. 452 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,880 Easy. 453 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:52,560 When I prayed that prayer, I've come to the end of my day and I look back and say, Oh, 454 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:53,560 there was the appointment. 455 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,280 I didn't even know I was in the middle of it. 456 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:58,480 I just said a word for Jesus. 457 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:00,400 I just give a word of encouragement. 458 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:01,600 I just sowed a seed. 459 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:06,840 I didn't have to stand there and berate and try to pound the word into them. 460 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:13,000 Just a divine appointment that I can say something for Jesus Christ. 461 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:17,600 That lady sitting back there, my wife, is one of the quietest women you'll ever be around 462 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,560 except when she's around me. 463 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:27,720 But she is a witness for Jesus Christ, especially when she was in the workplace. 464 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:33,200 The president of her company when she was leaving said to her, came to her office and 465 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:38,960 said down, you said you have been a witness to me just working here. 466 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:40,040 And she's a quiet woman. 467 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:41,420 She don't say a whole lot. 468 00:32:41,420 --> 00:32:44,760 She is certainly not a preacher. 469 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:48,960 But that man said, you brought me back to the Maroots when I was just a child and I've 470 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:55,320 started going back to church and she don't even know what she's done. 471 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:56,760 To this day, I've asked her, what did you? 472 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,840 She said, I don't know what I did. 473 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,080 You see what I'm saying? 474 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:08,440 This thing is something that we need to be aware of here in this county, here in this 475 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:09,440 country. 476 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,580 We need to stand up for Jesus in the face of the enemy. 477 00:33:13,580 --> 00:33:22,160 And then the next part of that says, and this one we don't like, Samaria. 478 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:27,840 You see what Samaria was, the people that the Jews didn't even like. 479 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:33,080 As Randy so aptly put one night in a couple of weeks ago and showed us on the map how 480 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:37,820 that they would leave Jerusalem and they go way up the coastline and then come across 481 00:33:37,820 --> 00:33:38,820 her. 482 00:33:38,820 --> 00:33:42,920 They would go way down south and then come back up just so they didn't have to go through 483 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:43,920 Samaria. 484 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:44,920 They didn't like them. 485 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:46,800 They called them dogs. 486 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:53,360 Let me tell you something, my friend, you need to think cross culturally. 487 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:54,880 Right here. 488 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,160 You need to go to people you don't even like. 489 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,280 You don't even, you don't like the smell of them. 490 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:01,960 You don't like to look of them. 491 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:06,480 Several years ago, my brother-in-law who is a preacher, he was holding a revival out in 492 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:08,940 Kansas, which is where he was from. 493 00:34:08,940 --> 00:34:11,800 Just a young guy, probably 19 years old. 494 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,800 He said he was preaching and he said the congregation, it was just a small congregation. 495 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,840 They said they looked there and just fold their arms and they just snared at him. 496 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:21,840 He'd ask them to come pray. 497 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:24,820 Not a person in the church would get up and come pray. 498 00:34:24,820 --> 00:34:28,040 He said one day he was in the church and he was just praying. 499 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,160 He said, God, just send anybody. 500 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:31,640 Just send them off of the street. 501 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:33,440 Just anybody. 502 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,960 And sure enough, middle of the service, here come this old drunk stumbling in the back 503 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:39,440 door. 504 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:44,960 Stunk, dirty, hair just greasy. 505 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:50,000 And he said everybody kind of moved when he come in and sat down. 506 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:54,440 He said when it come time to ask for people to come pray, he said that drunk come down 507 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,000 and he knelt. 508 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:57,840 He said I asked for people to come pray with him. 509 00:34:57,840 --> 00:34:59,840 Not one person would get up. 510 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:04,160 He said so I went down to the altar, but he said I got on this end because I could smell 511 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,520 him from where I was standing. 512 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,320 And he said I'm down here praying with him and for him. 513 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,480 He said this one was, God was down here on this end. 514 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,320 He said I thought as I prayed, Lord, please save him. 515 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:21,760 He said the Lord kept telling me you go down there and you put your arms around him. 516 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,280 Go down there and put your arms around him. 517 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,680 He said I finally obeyed what the Lord said and I went down there. 518 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:32,440 He said it was all I could do to hold my supper in because he stunk so bad. 519 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:36,180 He said but I put my arms around him and I began to pray for him. 520 00:35:36,180 --> 00:35:40,200 He said tears began to flow down that drunk's face. 521 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:45,560 He said snot began to fall on to the mourner's bench that was there and he said that man 522 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,200 said he got saved. 523 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:52,160 He said I rejoiced and I thanked the Lord, but everybody else got up while I was praying 524 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:53,840 and left. 525 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,920 He said I didn't know what was going to happen the next night, but he said that old drunk 526 00:35:57,920 --> 00:35:58,920 come in. 527 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:00,220 He wasn't drunk anymore. 528 00:36:00,220 --> 00:36:01,720 He had on clean clothes. 529 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:08,320 He had gotten a shave and a haircut and he brought in 10 of his family with him. 530 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:13,940 He said I went home this morning and knocked on the door and they didn't even know who 531 00:36:13,940 --> 00:36:16,680 I was when I knocked on the door. 532 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:21,680 He said because I had changed so much, my family allowed me to come back into the house 533 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,680 and I shared with them about Jesus Christ. 534 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,640 He said when I shared with them about Jesus Christ, they got excited and said let's go 535 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:30,240 to church tonight. 536 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:35,840 He said all 10 of them came down that night and gave their heart to Jesus Christ. 537 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:39,720 The other parts of the congregation just sat there like bumps on the log. 538 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:44,680 I'm telling you what happened was the last we heard from that church was that family 539 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,240 began to go out and tell people about Jesus Christ. 540 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:49,660 They filled up the church. 541 00:36:49,660 --> 00:36:54,440 The old grumps left the church and they took over and the church just kept on going. 542 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:59,600 I'm here to tell you, you need to look around you and say I don't like that person. 543 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:03,440 Well then pray Lord somehow open the door that I can talk to that person. 544 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,680 I can share with that person. 545 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:06,920 I may not like them. 546 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:11,800 I may not like the way they look but let me tell them about Jesus. 547 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,200 They need Jesus. 548 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,880 Hallelujah. 549 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:23,400 My goodness time is getting by me or has gone by me. 550 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:31,240 But let me share the last one and it says unto the uttermost part of the earth. 551 00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:41,360 I was pastoring in Hawaii outside the city of Honolulu at this particular time. 552 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:47,240 I got alone with God and began to pray. 553 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:53,100 God told me to evangelize. 554 00:37:53,100 --> 00:37:57,800 I was happy where I was man and I'm telling you I love Hawaii. 555 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,360 Love the people. 556 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:01,760 Love working for God there. 557 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:02,760 I loved it. 558 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:06,120 And the Lord said I want you to go into all the world. 559 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:07,600 I said okay. 560 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:09,080 I can do that Lord. 561 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:13,760 But you know what the next thing was he told me. 562 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:18,160 He said move to Cleveland Tennessee. 563 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:26,880 Now I accepted the call to evangelize around the world in about an hour. 564 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:33,760 But it was the rest of the night before I gave in to moving to Cleveland Tennessee. 565 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:34,760 Nothing wrong with you folks. 566 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:35,760 Nothing wrong with the city. 567 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:36,760 Beautiful city. 568 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:37,760 Love it. 569 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:39,440 Just never wanted to live here. 570 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:43,280 Never wanted to be near headquarters. 571 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:45,440 But the Lord told me to move. 572 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:50,240 But one of the things I said to him but Lord I'm at the uttermost now. 573 00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:56,640 You get you a globe and look where you know look where Jerusalem is and look where Hawaii 574 00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:57,640 is. 575 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:02,480 You're about as far away as you can get without turning around and going back. 576 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:07,800 But the Lord said go to the uttermost. 577 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:17,560 When I was asked to go to Africa I wasn't sure I wanted to go. 578 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:19,240 I'd been in South America. 579 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:20,760 I'd been in Asia. 580 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,640 I'd been in Europe. 581 00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:32,880 Had some things scheduled to go down to Fiji and New Zealand and Australia. 582 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:36,160 Had some trips scheduled. 583 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:41,280 And I was asked to go to Africa. 584 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:47,120 You see I've been praying for two or three years. 585 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:52,200 Brian I don't know why but the Lord just laid this on my heart to say to you. 586 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:57,480 I've been praying for two or three years Lord don't leave me on the sidelines. 587 00:39:57,480 --> 00:39:59,280 Put me right in the middle of what you're doing. 588 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:07,800 I don't know why the Lord wanted me to tell you that but take it for what it's worth. 589 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:19,160 You see we can become so complacent that we miss what God wants in our lives. 590 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:22,440 I'm not here this morning calling anybody to go to the mission field. 591 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:23,560 I'm not here. 592 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,760 That's not the intent of my sermon whatsoever. 593 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:32,680 You see because I believe we all have our place in the kingdom of God. 594 00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:33,680 You have your place. 595 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:37,040 I have my place. 596 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:41,680 This man back here found his place in the Navy. 597 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:48,400 This one over here found his place in the educational and then we go around the room. 598 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:50,480 We have our place. 599 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:56,680 In fact Brother Milton said to me the other day that's your gifting that's your calling. 600 00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:01,040 We were sharing something that I'm very weak at extremely weak at. 601 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,400 He said but your calling is here. 602 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:04,520 Your gifting is here. 603 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:09,560 We all have our giftings. 604 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:15,840 Some of you the Lord has placed on your job right where you are just to be a light in 605 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:18,920 that darkness. 606 00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:27,000 Some of you God has gifted you with a way to make financial wealth. 607 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,520 Maybe not as wealthy as some but you're able. 608 00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:32,960 God has gifted you that way. 609 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:38,440 I'm thankful that I'm where Sandra and I are now but I can tell you that was not one of 610 00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:42,000 my giftings. 611 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:47,600 So that you could not only have an easier life and pleasure in this life but that so 612 00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:55,520 he could send it through you to get the message out. 613 00:41:55,520 --> 00:42:01,000 The work into the uttermost is difficult. 614 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,720 It's not easy. 615 00:42:03,720 --> 00:42:08,040 These brethren are going to see some things when they go. 616 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:11,360 They're going to understand the difficulties. 617 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:12,960 It's a living day by day. 618 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:17,960 It's not easy because you're in a different culture and you don't have the things you 619 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:20,160 used to here. 620 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:22,040 You have to make do. 621 00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:23,560 I don't say that for pity. 622 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:27,480 I just say that as descriptive to let you know. 623 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:32,180 We all some of the food. 624 00:42:32,180 --> 00:42:33,600 Wake up Brian. 625 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:39,040 Wake up Randy. 626 00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:43,680 God gifted me to be able to just put it in my mouth. 627 00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:45,000 That's a gift. 628 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:46,000 Not everybody has. 629 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:47,920 My dad said, son, how in the world? 630 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:53,920 My dad was a good pastor, a great pastor and loved the Lord but he told me, he said, son, 631 00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:57,440 I'm glad the Lord sends you and not me. 632 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:03,080 Because when it come to eating food he had just these things that he liked and it would 633 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:04,320 have been difficult for him. 634 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:11,560 I'm just saying these things to let you know God puts you where you are or he leads you 635 00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:15,320 to where he wants you to be. 636 00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:24,480 And when you get there he will enable you to do what he has called you to do. 637 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:33,080 I'm glad our pastor has a vision for missions locally, statewide. 638 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:36,040 I've been in some of those states. 639 00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:38,240 I know how difficult it is. 640 00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:41,880 You need some help from time to time. 641 00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:47,520 And now the missions, you've been doing that in South America, Central America and now 642 00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,080 to Africa. 643 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:55,960 He's going to come here in just a moment or two as I close. 644 00:43:55,960 --> 00:44:00,080 He told me this and I'm going to jump the gun on you, pastor. 645 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:04,480 I want Randy and Brian to come up here if they will right now. 646 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:12,840 I'd already spoke to them before service and had them ready to come. 647 00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:16,480 I believe God has put this team together. 648 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:20,960 I don't believe this is just happenstance. 649 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:25,640 Some of you retired preachers, you just get out and get ready. 650 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:31,320 Next trip I'm going to talk to you a little bit. 651 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:35,560 But I believe God has put this team together. 652 00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:41,280 This guy is one of the best teachers I've ever sat under in my life. 653 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:47,360 I've sat under some doctors degree with professors. 654 00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:51,380 And I know that embarrasses you but it's the truth. 655 00:44:51,380 --> 00:44:56,160 And I just one day I leaned over to the senator and said I'm going to ask him to go with me 656 00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:58,600 my next time. 657 00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:02,160 And she said that's a good idea. 658 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:05,600 Pastor got a hold of Brian here. 659 00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:10,880 I think he kind of coerced him into it. 660 00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:15,000 Made him his proxy as he just said. 661 00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:24,080 Brian has some gifts that I see as unusual gifts. 662 00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:31,680 And I know, I hope I'm not speaking out of turn now, but I've done it before. 663 00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:34,680 I believe Brian is searching his way. 664 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:37,240 I believe he's hunting for his way. 665 00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:44,880 I believe, I'm not saying he's going to be called to Africa, Erica. 666 00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:48,920 But I'm saying that I believe this trip is going to do something for him that will help 667 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:54,920 focus what he's supposed to be doing with his life. 668 00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:56,360 Great gifts. 669 00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:57,840 Great gifts. 670 00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:05,000 I'm going to throw them in, feet first, head first, whatever it is on this trip. 671 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:08,520 They're going to find their way. 672 00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:13,120 They've never preached or spoken through an interpreter. 673 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:17,320 Brian's never been on a plane. 674 00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:19,400 He's going to take the shortest and the longest. 675 00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:24,240 We're going to fly to Atlanta in less than an hour and we're going to fly 17 and a half 676 00:46:24,240 --> 00:46:27,300 hours to Johannesburg, South Africa. 677 00:46:27,300 --> 00:46:34,400 So he's going to be baptized immediately. 678 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:39,880 And I'm being a little bit on the humorous side here, but I hope you hear my heart. 679 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:42,960 I'm excited about them going with me. 680 00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:46,840 I'm excited about us being a team. 681 00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:48,800 And I'll share this and I'm going to turn it over to you. 682 00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:59,480 This yesterday afternoon late, I got a text from Ezekiel Ciccola, the provincial overseer. 683 00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:03,360 And I had sent him a couple of things that we had talked about that we were going to 684 00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:05,480 teach on. 685 00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:16,640 And he said to me in this new text, he said, could you please include or add on a teaching 686 00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:22,280 on Pentecostalism? 687 00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:25,200 God knows what he's doing. 688 00:47:25,200 --> 00:47:27,420 Two weeks ago, was it? 689 00:47:27,420 --> 00:47:36,400 We sat down in a restaurant here in Cleveland and they're going to be teaching on the baptism 690 00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:42,080 of the Holy Ghost and the gifts of the Spirit. 691 00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:43,080 Both of them. 692 00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:46,880 That's what they're going to be teaching on. 693 00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:49,020 God's in it. 694 00:47:49,020 --> 00:47:50,020 God is in it. 695 00:47:50,020 --> 00:47:52,680 Pastor, come on. 696 00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:55,280 One thing I want you to do. 697 00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:57,520 We'll be leaving four weeks from yesterday. 698 00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:06,600 It is we're leaving on a Saturday from that date until we get back on a Tuesday evening, 699 00:48:06,600 --> 00:48:09,800 which will be about a week and a half later. 700 00:48:09,800 --> 00:48:19,400 Keep us in your prayers for protection, for guidance, for everything to go smoothly with 701 00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:20,520 flying nowadays. 702 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:22,880 You never know what's going to go on. 703 00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:26,520 I don't mean that in a dangerous sense, just simply you don't know where the plane's going 704 00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:27,520 to take off. 705 00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:34,720 Am I right, Ron and Dwight? 706 00:48:34,720 --> 00:48:35,720 We don't know. 707 00:48:35,720 --> 00:48:37,480 So pray that that'll go well. 708 00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:41,160 And then pray for anointing for all three of us. 709 00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:43,680 That this will be the most fruitful time. 710 00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:48,200 Because you see what we'll be teaching, they're going to take out to thousands. 711 00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:55,000 We may be teaching about 120, but what they take from us, they're going to go back and 712 00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:58,600 preach it in their churches and preach it to their communities. 713 00:48:58,600 --> 00:48:59,960 And it'll be in the thousands. 714 00:48:59,960 --> 00:49:08,240 So when you help us, you're going to ultimately be reaching thousands of people on the continent 715 00:49:08,240 --> 00:49:11,440 of Africa. 716 00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:14,400 Give the Lord praise, would you? 717 00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:22,000 Come with me all over the house as we're getting ready to send these three into Africa, we're 718 00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:24,320 releasing another one. 719 00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:27,680 Sisters of Anna, just come on down. 720 00:49:27,680 --> 00:49:38,360 We're sending another one in, spreading wings, flying, leaving the nest, following God, led 721 00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:39,360 by the Spirit. 722 00:49:39,360 --> 00:49:40,360 Amen. 723 00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:45,080 Did she do a wonderful job leading us in the presence of the Lord today? 724 00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:49,000 We're going to be praying over her. 725 00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:53,960 Yes, Sister Kim, go ahead and play. 726 00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:59,000 Pray that the door stays on their plane. 727 00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:06,560 And that they're not on an exit row. 728 00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:12,040 I know we're taking time today, but we're a family. 729 00:50:12,040 --> 00:50:16,160 And from time to time, we get in too big a hurry. 730 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:24,520 And we got lunch here, so you're not going to have to go wait. 731 00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:34,240 All that you give today, as Brother Mills said, is going to reach out to thousands. 732 00:50:34,240 --> 00:50:38,400 As we pray over them, ask God to know on him. 733 00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:42,120 No telling that the lives Sister Savannah is going to touch as the Lord leads and guides 734 00:50:42,120 --> 00:50:50,760 and directs her in this next phase and next season and next time of what he has for her. 735 00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:57,360 And just let you know that God is at work. 736 00:50:57,360 --> 00:51:02,760 And I jest with you this morning, but God knows if I heard him say Zambia, I'd be getting 737 00:51:02,760 --> 00:51:05,040 a late ticket if I could get it in time. 738 00:51:05,040 --> 00:51:07,520 And if he sent me, I'd go. 739 00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:12,320 My feet's been on more foreign soil. 740 00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:16,200 The Lord knows my heart. 741 00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:28,800 But I think for the majority of us, it's that engagement with our Jerusalem, our city, our 742 00:51:28,800 --> 00:51:34,880 Cleveland, your neighborhood, our county, right? 743 00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:41,160 But then, whether it be the meagerest of means or an absorbent amount, whatever the Lord 744 00:51:41,160 --> 00:51:48,520 lays on our heart, to send those that he's dispatching into the uttermost parts. 745 00:51:48,520 --> 00:51:49,880 Amen? 746 00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:59,160 And now, I don't know if Brother Mills has ever traveled with two shemediums or not. 747 00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:04,960 Two shemediums, protection. 748 00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:06,440 They know what I'm talking about. 749 00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:10,240 I'll explain to you later. 750 00:52:10,240 --> 00:52:17,160 But if I had to go, I'd take James and John with me anywhere. 751 00:52:17,160 --> 00:52:19,400 Amen? 752 00:52:19,400 --> 00:52:21,640 I need some of you to stretch your hands this way. 753 00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:22,760 I need everybody to do that. 754 00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:28,520 But I'd like those, I won't ever preach the gospel in the house to come. 755 00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:30,040 And I want you to stand down here with me. 756 00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:33,240 Then we're just going to kindly enclose around them. 757 00:52:33,240 --> 00:52:34,240 Amen? 758 00:52:34,240 --> 00:52:40,560 They're going into different areas, different missions, but it's the same harvest. 759 00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:41,560 You hear me? 760 00:52:41,560 --> 00:52:44,360 It's the same harvest. 761 00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:48,880 Different giftings, different talents, different callings. 762 00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:50,560 From God. 763 00:52:50,560 --> 00:53:19,680 And God's going to use them for His glory.