ESSENTIAL OIL | SUNDAY 30TH NOVEMBER | PS DEBBIE MCDOWELL

did.

Good morning, church.

>> It's been a while. It's been a while.

It's been a year and a half since I've

um stood on this stage. So, um I need

you to champion me on this morning. Is

that okay?

Woohoo. Love it. I just ask for the

support. I don't wait for it to come.

I'm just going to ask for it. Just going

to fix this because it's came off my

ear. That's great.

It is good to be back. Isn't God good?

>> He is good. Amen. Just watching my time.

This morning, I have the privilege.

Thank you, Pastor Aaron and Sarin, for

giving me the privilege of speaking this

morning. And uh I actually have had a

word that I've shared all year when

we've been out at different churches and

I believed it was a prophetic word. And

so we've shared it, Trev and I have

shared it together. We've shared it

individually and we believe it was a

word of the Lord for 2025.

And so I was coming back from Cambodia

to share the word and then God spoke to

me in Cambodia and he said, "Deb, I want

fresh oil. I want you to bring a fresh

word to the church." That word was

prophetic. That word was for 2025. But I

want you to bring fresh oil. And so

today, I've named my titled my message

essential oil. I'm not here on a sales

pitch. I don't work for essential oils.

God bless you lovely people who are into

your oils. I've used the oils. But I'm

going to tell you there's one essential

oil.

>> That's the Holy Spirit. You can forget

about all the other oils because if you

haven't got the Holy Spirit, he is our

essential oil. In fact, I think that was

great marketing when they used that name

personally speaking because Holy Spirit

is our essential oil. Amen.

Amen.

>> Karen thought it was good. So, that's

great.

>> You know, I thought what Lily shared

this morning was incredible and it

touched my heart. And I'm just got a

little story because I just want you to

get used to my accent. Um because people

keep saying this morning, what? So, I

just want you to get tuned in. But when

we were in Cambodia, we've just done

three months and we got to have time

with Lily and the team when they were

out and we done a short stand and it's

hardgoing and uh one night we were

meeting a friend Sophie. Sophie's from

Northern Ireland and she's a mission

missionary to Cambodia and the team all

know her and we were meeting Sophie for

dinner. And so we had found a new eating

house because you don't cook in

Cambodia. It cost us 30 bucks to cook a

meal and $2 to eat out. So what are you

going to do? And Trev's really into

eating where the locals ate. And so we

went to where the locals ate. He's a bit

of a tigers guy from Fiji. I think he

set the tigers challenge up. And so we

would eat where the locals at. It had to

be a lot of locals. Not just one or two,

but a lot because that was a sign that

it was a good place to eat. We met

Sophie. We took her there. And for a

time, I'm not going to give you all the

details. But that night, I sat and

something hit my foot. But we were so

engrossed in talking I thought it must

have been a fly. But I did do a little

girly dramatic ah and I swiped my foot

with Trevor looking at me as if to say

catch a grip Debs, you know. And then we

were sitting a little while longer and

something touched my knee and I went and

a little wiggle on the seat and then

I stood up because something really was

on my knee this time. And so I give a

wiggle wiggle and out came the most

humongous cockroach you ever did see.

But the thing was it wasn't on its own.

And when I looked under the table, the

floor was alive with cockroaches. So I'm

looking in my meal and I'm going, is

this protein? Is the protein in here as

well?

Then I feel something touch my side and

it's uncomfortable. So I lift my blouse

and sure enough there's a a big bruiser

in there. So I flicked it out and the

guy opposite me because in Cambodia you

don't necessarily have a table to

yourself. People come and join you. It's

really great fellowship. And the

Cambodian guy who was having his dinner

jumped up, shook his leg and two fell

out of his jeans. He looked across at me

and he said, "It's a really good eating

house. It's going to be okay." I wasn't

so convinced. But anyway, there you go.

You see those cockroaches, we were so

absorbed by what was going on. Those

cockroaches were in our blind spot

initially.

>> You see, things are in our blind spot.

Blind spots are very, very real. We all

have a physical blind spot in our eye.

You know, we have a natural blind spot

when we're in our car. We have to check

over our shoulder. We can't just rely on

the mirrors. And so we have a spirit, we

have a physical blind spot. We have a

natural blind spot. And I believe we

also have spiritual blind spots that God

wants to deal with in our lives. And I

believe this morning he's going to do

that. Amen.

>> We were um settled into Cambodia and one

morning I shared with Trev how um

probably the previous year some of my

colleagues in work had said to me, Deb,

you're very independent. And I thought,

what a load of rubbish. I'm not

independent. I'm a Christian. I'm

interdependent.

And but you know what? My work

colleagues love me and I love them.

They're like my family. And I knew,

okay, there could be actually something

to that. So anyway, it came up in fe in

Cambodia and I said to Trev, you know,

Trev, the girls, a couple of my

colleagues have mentioned that I'm

interdep I'm independent. Do you think

I'm independent? And he said, no. And in

my head I went, "Haha, I knew they were

wrong." And about 30 seconds passed and

he said to me, "Actually, Deb, you are

independent."

Well, it hit me like a ton of bricks

because I was just about to start and

justify. I was about to bite his head

off and tell him how he'd got it wrong,

just like the friend had got it wrong. I

was about to say, "There's no way." And

I could just almost, it was almost like

pride was starting to rise up. And I

heard the Holy Spirit clearly say to me,

"Deb, you've got blind spots in your

life. I want to deal with them." And so

I said nothing. I went away and I had

time with the Holy Spirit. And he

actually revealed to me where and when

these blind where this particular blind

spot came into my life. I became

independent because it was easier for me

to do it than ask anyone else to do a

job. Because what he said to me was your

blind, you're independent, but it's to

your detriment.

So it was only affecting me more so than

other people. It was to my detriment.

And so I spent time with Holy Spirit. I

can tell you God completely set me free.

I was able to go back to see where

disappointment had come in, where I was

let down. And so I would do it myself. I

was misindependent.

We're not called to be independent.

God's actually called us to be

interdependent. And I believe it was the

Holy Spirit moving that morning, even in

Trev, when he said, "Actually, hold on."

And so I dealt with it. Can I tell you

the amount of freedom I felt was unreal

for something I didn't even know

existed. You know, I just want to put it

out there today. I may have offended

some people in this place over the years

with my independence

because I'm Stop laughing, Caleb. Um,

no, this is actually coming from my

heart because I may have offended you.

You might have thought, well, why didn't

Deb get me to do this or why? And I I I

stand with my hands up and I say, I'm

sorry.

>> That was never my heart.

>> That's right.

>> That was never my heart. And it's only

now that God has shown me. But what I

want to ask you is, what's your blind

spot?

>> What's your blind spot? Because it

doesn't have to be pointed out by a

friend even though your friend will

know. It doesn't have to be pointed out

by your spouse even though your spouse

will know. Holy Spirit will show you if

you ask him

what's your blind spot. Mine was

independence. You know hurt is a blind

spot. Sometimes we don't know how much

we're hurting and it can be a blind spot

but it's a blind spot that also then

hurts other people. Hurt hurts. And so I

want to say to you today, maybe you've

got a blind spot and we can pop that up

if we can. And if you want to, you know,

deal with that today, that would be so

good because God wants you to be free

like I got set free. And you know, when

I've dealt with that one, there's going

to be another one waiting for me to sort

out. Great. You know, but you know, for

me it was independence. For you maybe it

is anger. Maybe it is hurt. Maybe it is

lust. I don't know. Maybe it's envy,

jealousy, arrogance. I don't know what

it is. Ask Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit

will show you

freedom will come. Because I'm going to

tell you something. Kingdom friendships

don't compete. I'm not in this to

compete with you. I'm not here to

compete with Iron and Sarah. I am who I

am and I'm going to walk my walk. And I

don't want them competing with me. I

want them to walk their walk. And I want

you to walk your walk. Because kingdom

friendships do not compete. They cover.

They correct and they call you higher.

>> That's what it's about. That's what a

kingdom friendship is. And it really got

me thinking, guys, you know, I know

we're all a work in process.

So, I thought, okay, well, where are the

blind spots in the Bible? And the first

person that hit my head was Samson. He

really got blinded. And actually, his

blind spot with Delilah actually didn't

wasn't just a spiritual blind spot. It

led to a physical blinding.

>> He had his he he got his eyes were they

gorged out

>> and actually he lost his actual sight

through it. So the blind spot was

devastating for him. You know um uh King

David, he had blind spots.

We've all got blind spots. But today I'm

going to share a story and it's a

parable in the Bible. And I thought it

was a good one because you can it's

about five foolish virgins and it's

about five wise virgins. And I thought

well let's comp compare what made one

wise and what made one foolish. So let's

have a look and see. Going into this

parable we need to know a little bit of

the custom in the day of Jewish weddings

because the re they assume the reader

knows what those customs are. The story

we're about to read isn't a fairy tale.

That's how weddings were done in the day

back in Jesus's day. You know, when they

talk about the 10 virgins, they were the

bridesmaids. The bridesmaids had to be

virgins. And uh we probably wouldn't

have 10 bridesmaids nowadays at our

wedding, but that's a whole another

story. So, let's turn let's turn Matthew

Matthew 25:1–13

25:1-13.

At that time, my coming draws near.

Heaven's kingdom realm can be compared

to 10 maidens who took their oil lamps

and went outside to meet the bridegroom

and his bride. Five of them were foolish

and illprepared and they took no extra

oil for their lamps. Five of them were

wise and sensible and they took flasks

of olive oil with their lamps. When the

bridegroom didn't come when they

expected, they all grew drowsy and fell

asleep. Then suddenly in the middle of

the night they there was an awakening

with a shout saying, "Get up. The

bridegroom is here. Come out and have an

encounter with him. So all the girls got

up, trimmed their lamps.

But the foolish ones were running out of

oil. So they said to the five wise ones,

share your oil with us because our lamps

are going out. We can't, they replied.

We don't have enough oil for all of us.

Go and buy some for yourselves. While

the five girls were out buying oil for

the brideg the bridegroom appeared.

Those who were ready and waiting were

escorted inside with him. and the

wedding party to enjoy the feast. And

then the door was locked. Later the five

foolish girls came running up to the

door and pleaded, "Lord, Lord, let us

come in." But he called back, "Go away.

Do I know you? I don't even know you."

And this is the reason we should always

stay awake, alert, and be ready for the

day the bridegroom returns. In this

whole story, the bride is the church,

and the bridegroom is Jesus Christ. And

we're going to refer to that quite a bit

today. And so for me the point first

point I saw was the wise virgins were

pre prepared. They had made preparations

for the day. You see the foolish maidens

came with their lamp and they just

walked about with their comfortable

little lamp. And it probably looked

really cool even with their little

dresses and everything else. And they

were all so pretty pretty pretty. But

the wise the difference with the wise

virgins were and I'm going to call them

maidens. Um, they came prepared. Not

only did they come with their lamp, but

they also came with a flask of oil. You

see, they were really prepared. It was a

little bit more inconvenient for them.

Maybe their dress didn't look so good

because they also had to lug around a

flask of oil. But they were prepared.

And the thing is, um, that would have

been heavy. That extra olive oil would

have been heavy. They were carrying

their lamp. But they came prepared.

You see, sometimes

when we're in ministry and we're in

church life, it's not always convenient.

You know, this wouldn't have been

convenient to carry around. You know,

it's not convenient as a leader when

every all your friends are going to the

beach and you have to prepare something

for life grip. It's not convenient when

the old blacks play on a Sunday morning

and I ain't going to go to church cuz

the old blacks. It's not convenient. But

here's the thing. Ministry isn't

convenient. Being a Christian isn't

convenient. It's not about us. It's

about him.

>> And so

the wise bridesmaids, they came

prepared. Are you prepared today? Are

you prepared? I just asked that

question. Are we prepared? The next

thing I noticed was they were diligent.

And diligence means this. hardworking,

careful and persistent in their efforts.

It implies performing tasks with

thoroughess and a steady earnest effort

to acco accomplish something. A diligent

person is reliable, follows through and

um follows through on their commitments.

Are we diligent people? Do we let our

yes be a yes and our no be a no? Because

these wise virgins were very very

wellprepared and they were diligent.

They had worked hard. They were ready.

And I love that about them. They were

ready for when the groom came because no

one knew the hour when the bridegroom

would come. You know, there were delays.

We've worked that out. There was a

delay. And I believe that the foolish

maidens, they they were in the blind

spot. They hadn't prepared for a delay.

Can I ask you today, are you prepared

for a delay in your life? And are you

prepared for a suddenly? Because it

could be a delay or it could be a su

suddenly. Are you prepared either way?

>> Because the wise maidens were prepared.

They were prepared daily for what was

going to take place. In other words,

every day, Holy Spirit, come fill me

aresh. I need a fresh and filling Holy

Spirit.

>> But you know something else which I

thought was amazing. They held their

ground because when the the foolish

maidens asked them, "Give us some of

your oil." I thought I'd probably go,

"Okay, I'll share with you." No, no, no,

no, no, no. Hold your position. We've

started um we've actually got to stop

compromising. No, no, no. Let again, let

our yes be a yes and a no. They held

their ground. There is no way they were

sharing their oil. It was just a no, no,

no. We are prepared and we've got our

own. And you go get your own. And so

they held their ground. And I actually

loved that because I actually need to

hold my ground a lot more. I don't know

about you, I need to hold my ground a

lot more.

And so

came the time where they would um trim

their wicks as it were, trim their

lamps. And it says in the word how they

came, they go, they rose and they

trimmed. And that's when they were

filling the the lamps and realized the

wise the foolish ones hadn't enough oil.

So, I want to say, are we trimming our

wick? It's just another question I'm

throwing out there today because here's

why. A trimmed wick burns clearly and

brightly. Unlike an untrimmed wick, will

burn will shine. Sorry, it doesn't

shine. It will be dim and smoky.

Trimming your wick helps the lamp

function as it was designed. Burning oil

completely and effectively. Are you

being effective? Are you trimming your

wick? Because I tell you what, I don't

want to be a smoky dim light. You know,

this is what I want to be. I want to be

shining my light for Jesus. And I think

it's absolutely incredible in in Matthew

Matthew 5:14

5:14, it says that you are the light of

the world. That's you. You are the light

of the world. You see, a town built on a

hill can't be hidden. Amen. It also says

that neither do people lamp light a lamp

and put it in a basket or under a

basket. It says, but for convenience

we'll put it in the basket. Um instead

they put it on a lampstand where

everyone in the house

can benefit from the light that shines.

In the same way, let your light shine

before others that they may see your

good deeds and they may glorify your

father in heaven. Good works will not

get you to heaven, but he's saying it

will will point to your father in heaven

and he will get the glory for it. We

need Jesus in our life. Good works will

not save you. Only receiving Jesus

Christ as your Lord and Savior will save

you.

>> And so God wants us to deal with our

blind spots so we can shine for him.

Amen. Do you want to shine?

>> I want to shine.

You know holy spirit we know in this

whole passage when we talk of oil it's

representing holy spirit holy spirit

essential oil holy spirit there are two

baptisms there is a baptism in water and

there is a baptism in the holy spirit

can I tell you it doesn't matter what

order you do that in fact if I wasn't

baptized in the holy spirit I wouldn't

be waiting till the next baptism day I

would be getting filled with the holy

spirit and there is one water baptism If

you were baptized when you were young,

God saw that. He takes it and he honors

that. But there is one baptism of the

Holy Spirit, but there are many

fillings. And I've got scriptures to

back that up. I'm not going to share

them today for time. But the thing is,

there are many fillings.

>> Keep coming every day. Father God, fill

me ah. Holy Spirit, come fill me aresh.

Because I don't want to be ministering

out of last week's oil. I want to be

ministering out of the overflow that God

has poured into me today. Amen. And I'm

sure you do, too. We don't want to be

dim and smoky. We want to be bright,

shining, and full of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

>> Come on. Get with me, people. Come on.

It's exciting.

You know, lamp trimmers. It was actually

an official position back in the day

when we didn't have electricity. In

fact, on the ships, they had lamp

trimmers. It was their full-time job.

And you know what? They knew the exact

amount of oil to put in the lamp and

they would attend to the wick and that

their wick wasn't dim and it wasn't

smoky and they would trim that wick so

it had the highest flame. It would give

off the best light. But they were very

skilled. They also knew how much oil to

put in that if for any reason that lamp

got over fell over or was broken that it

wouldn't cause a major fire because you

do not want a fire when you're on a

ship. Amen.

>> Okay. But the funny thing is years later

lamp trimmers when lamps had all gone

out and we had our electricity Josiah

Horn where is they lamp he's an

electrician but in the day electricians

were actually called lamp trimmers

trimming your wick isn't a we thing it's

actually a really big thing it is

actually a really big deal and so they

were skilled in trimming the wick

I can't trim your wick I can trim my

wick

And you can't trim my wick.

>> Only I can trim my wick. I know it's a

funny thing to say, isn't it? It sounds

a bit weird, but it's a fact. You can't.

You see, spiritual readiness, it isn't

transferable. I can't have Trevor

spiritual readiness. I need my own. I

got to dig me own well. I've got to fill

>> with my own oil because it's not

transferable.

>> So, uh, just mind that. So, I want you

while I'm having a drink, I'm going to

click my fingers and I'm going to say

and you're going to say it with me. So,

let's trim your wick, replenish the oil.

So, come with me. Trim your wick,

replenish the oil.

>> Sorry.

>> Have you got it?

>> So, what is it?

Deal with your blind spot. Be filled

with the Holy Spirit. Deal with your

blind spot. Be filled with the Holy

Spirit.

>> Be filled.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

>> Deal with your blind spot. You'll be

filled with the Holy Spirit. Deal with

your blind spot. Come on. You're meant

to join me. Come on. Deal with your

blind spot. Be filled with the Holy

Spirit. Deal with your blind spot. Be

filled with the Holy Spirit.

>> Nearly done.

>> Nearly done. I was 5 minutes late

getting up pasture iron honestly and

I've just wetted my dress and everything

else.

You see later when the five foolish

maidens came back they couldn't get in

the door. The door was locked and we

heard how the bridegroom actually said I

don't even know you.

There was only one chance they missed

it. They missed the chance. Now Trev

won't like this but I am actually going

to put some powerpoints up

>> of my hab. And I want to say to you,

>> yes, please

>> trim your wick filled with the spirit.

There's that one and there's one other

one. And I don't know if we can just

flick through them just periodically,

but I want to say, are you different

when you come to church on a Sunday than

what you are living your life out there?

Again, it's just a question

because here's the thing. It doesn't

matter. And I'm only using that because

we were in Cambodia once a week. We

would a month we would go to an English

service. Why? So we could be filled with

the Holy Spirit and we could trim our

wick so we could hear the word of God

and we could fellowship in English.

Otherwise four you know three months of

not understanding anything is pretty

tough going. But I want to say what's

your life like outside of here? What's

your life in your workplace? What's your

life when you're um in your sports

events? What's your life when you go

overseas? Does it change? because we

don't go on holiday from Jesus. And so

whether it's Timbuktu or Cambodia, this

is what he does. He worships God and he

gives high fives. It doesn't change.

Location doesn't change that. And that's

only an illustration. That's how we're

to live life. Church being the same.

Don't be a different person out there

than you are in here.

We have a thing called pullside

ministry. Joy cracks up whenever we say.

But here's the thing. Pullside ministry

when we go on holiday is so effective

because people are relaxed. They're by

the pool. They're open. They're not

stressed and they're not distracted. And

it's a great time to preach the word of

God into their lives. And it's our what

we call our poolside ministry.

I'm finishing nearly finished.

We decided when we were on in Cambodia,

we would go to the royal palace. I'm

going to read this because it's actually

really quite funny. So, we decided we

would head to the Royal Palace in

Cambodia. It's quite an impressive

place. At 10:00 a.m., we'd leave our

apartment and we would get there. We got

there about 10:40. There to greet us

were these lined up to drivers. There

was hundreds of them. And the one of

them took great pleasure in saying,

"Have you come to go to the Royal

Palace?" And I said, "Yes, we have." And

he said, "Well, it closed at 10:30."

He said, "But it was okay." because he

had a laminated sheet of paper and he

could entertain us until it would reopen

at 2:00 and he could take us on a few

trips, take us for lunch and it was all

okay. We said, "No, no, we're fine." Cuz

here's the thing, we didn't check the

opening hours. The opening hours of the

Royal Palace are 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

How ridiculous. Uh from 200 p.m. to 5:30

p.m. I thought, "You got to be kidding

me." I had dressed respectfully because

I was going to the palace. I had money

for my tickets. You know, we we couldn't

wait to get into that palace and just

see what it was like. Not only that, I

was a missionary in their country

volunteering my time. I should have been

able to get because here's the thing, my

good works won't get me into the

kingdom. Your good works won't get you

into the palace if you if you turn up

outside working hours. And so I thought,

my gosh, you've got to be kidding me.

The disappointment I felt that day

because we'd made a special trip. But

here's the thing. What really matters is

none of that mattered because we had the

opportunity to go back the next day.

However, the foolish virgins,

unfortunately for them, they only got

one chance. They didn't have an

opportunity to go back. It's today that

you make that choice for Jesus. It's

today is the day of salvation. Not next

week when you when you maybe they'll

open the kingdom doors again. No, when

the kingdom doors are shut, they're

shut. Today is the day for salvation.

>> And in finishing, I am really finishing.

Going back to the Jewish custom.

When a couple got engaged, the groom

returned to his father's house to

prepare a place for his bride.

often building. He would add an

additional building to the family home

or he would prepare a place close to the

family home where he could bring his

bride back to.

She would wait while he was away

preparing the new abode and she would

prepare herself for his return, which

she didn't know when it would be.

>> She would prepare. It could take several

months. It could take a year. All she

knew was he would come back and get her.

Here's the thing. The only one that knew

when the bridegroom would go back would

be his father because he would be the

one that's would say, "The preparations

have been made. You can go get your

bride." There's going to be a day. There

is going to be a day

>> when the father says to the son, "Go get

your bride.

>> It's time. Go get your bride. The

preparations have been done. We're

ready. Go and get your bride. Bring her

home." And that's what's going to

happen, church. And so being a friend of

the bride isn't enough.

You need to know the groom.

>> Okay?

>> Coming to church isn't enough. You need

to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and

Savior.

I'm going to say today, if you've never

known when you made that decision, I'm

going to say if you've come to church

and you do good things, it won't get you

into heaven. There's only one way. It's

through the name of Jesus. Could I ask

you to close your eyes and bow your

head? Because the father is coming back.

He's sent the son. He's not coming back.

He's sent the son Jesus to come back and

he wants to know that you're ready. And

so just as I look out today, I just want

to say,

do you know the iron day that you

accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and

Savior? Because I do. Tuesday night in

my bedroom, I received Jesus. And on the

Sunday morning, I went to church and I

publicly in front of everyone confessed

Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Maybe you've never done that and that's

okay. But do you know the hour and do

you know the minute? If you don't, I

would love to lead you in a prayer this

morning. And I would just ask while the

heads are bowed, would you just raise

your hand and just signal to me that

today is your day? Today is the day that

you would like to receive Jesus as your

Lord and Savior.

Just looking around.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you.

>> God bless you.

>> God bless you. Is there another one?

Is there one more that would just raise

their hand for Jesus? I'm not going to

beg you to do it. I'm just going to ask

you to do it. Is there one more? Thank

you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord. There's going to be an

opportunity after the service if you

want to come and have a fresh infilling

of the Holy Spirit. But for that one

person, I'd love to pray with you. Love

one of the team to be able to pray with

you. and we'd love just to walk you

through that journey and be able to

follow up on you. So, while we do that,

I'd love to come and just shake your

hand. I'm going to ask Pastor Aaron if

he would just come forward now and just

lead us in the rest in the closing of

our service this morning.