Sermon

274 ~ ECCLESIA ~ CALLED OUT AND CALLED TOGETHER ~ ANDREW SUDHINDRAN

We Are Zion - Sermon Podcast

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  1. We welcome you to the Via Zion Sermon podcast.

  2. We are a church based out of Chennai, India.

  3. We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will

  4. be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear.

  5. Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of

  6. purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.

  7. We are thrilled to have a guest speaker, Pastor Andrew

  8. Sudindran, with us who encourages us to be the

  9. priesthood that we are called to be as the body of Christ.

  10. As you listen in, we pray that you will find your calling and

  11. purpose as you serve God in your local church.

  12. Thank you for this opportunity, Pastor Gershom and Pastor Tina

  13. and Silva, who is Nirmala, who has recommended us that I preach

  14. here? I come from a town in New Jersey

  15. called Plainsboro. Plainsboro is where Pastor

  16. Tina's parents were and the people who come from Plainsboro

  17. are either amazing or they do amazing things.

  18. So they started a home called Amazing Love.

  19. And now we have another couple who've come from Plainsboro,

  20. Silva, Raj and Nirmala. Then we also have another person

  21. called Amazing Grace Cruz who also lives in Plainsboro and her

  22. brother Sam is here. The only exception is me.

  23. And I think at this point of time the reason is 24 years ago

  24. if somebody had told me that I'll be ministering in this

  25. church, I wouldn't have believed it because this is the same Rd.

  26. I commuted for four years when I studied my engineering in Satya

  27. Bama and nobody would have given me a chance that I will become a

  28. preacher one day. But somehow my sister-in-law was

  29. prophetic in 2012. She said, Andrew, I think you're

  30. going to become a pastor from the way you're reading the

  31. Bible, that that's when God touched my life.

  32. But God's been amazing three times in the last 14 years.

  33. I walked away from God. The sins I rebuilt and God, you

  34. know, just like we all rebel, Adam and Eve rebuilt at the

  35. Garden of Eden. Then you have the Tower of

  36. Babel, Then you have Israelites walking out.

  37. I have a similar experience in my life.

  38. But what I can tell you is this, once I came to understand the

  39. love of God, like 1 John says, for my fingers have handled him,

  40. for I have seen him, I've heard him once I've come to that

  41. experience and the encounter of Jesus, I had to submit to his

  42. love and there was no turning back from that point on.

  43. So I want to encourage you, God has great plans for your life.

  44. Over the last few years, God's been placing something in my and

  45. my family is here. Sorry, my wife's here.

  46. My daughter and my son are also here.

  47. I think they are in the Sunday school, but, but, but I bring

  48. greetings again from all of them as well.

  49. So in this last season, God's been placing something in my

  50. heart. I know I've always been a

  51. traditional churchgoer. I started going to church when I

  52. was a kid. I went to the Immanuel Methodist

  53. Church in Viperi for a long time, Then I went to Andrews

  54. Kirk. So I'm a local boy.

  55. I'm not, you know. And then something changed in my

  56. life where God showed me what this church actually is.

  57. And what is designed for the church is the very gathering of

  58. where you are right now is a is the work of God.

  59. The Bible says that uses the word ecclesia.

  60. As you know for the church, ecclesia simply means called out

  61. and called together, called out and called together.

  62. That's why the Bible we read where two or three are gathered

  63. in my name and there in the midst we always read that as

  64. when 2-3 people come, God is there.

  65. The Bible actually says when two or three are gathered, gathered

  66. by who? By the Holy Spirit there, Jesus

  67. is there in the midst. So ecclesia is called out and

  68. called together. So what is the difference

  69. between the church and the club? Dance club 20 minutes from here?

  70. What is the difference between it's a group of people, right,

  71. who are called together? What is the difference between

  72. the church and the political assembly that meets in

  73. secretariat? Group of people come together.

  74. What is the difference between the church and the soccer club

  75. maybe 5 kilometres from here? It's all a group of people.

  76. A soccer club, a political club, or any gathering of people shows

  77. us what man can do. Only a church can demonstrate

  78. what God can do. Let me say that again.

  79. Any other gathering, The best of men coming together, the best of

  80. women coming together. PCs is 5 miles from here.

  81. All these big organizations coming together can show the

  82. world what men can do, but only the church can show what God can

  83. do. And that is why the church is so

  84. precious. Amen.

  85. So I want to talk to you a little bit about the church.

  86. When Nehemiah heard, he, you know, he just was meeting

  87. somebody from the land of Judah. When Nehemiah heard from the

  88. people who came from Judah in a biblical church, how is the

  89. church doing there? How is the wall?

  90. How, how are our people? We were all meeting in the third

  91. floor in the upper room. Every, everything is in ruins.

  92. The church has been destroyed. The wall is down.

  93. The walls have to be rebuilt. Our people are not doing well.

  94. Naomiya begins to weep because he knew what the presence of God

  95. could bring to a specific place, right?

  96. So God's, I also think that the church is the most undervalued

  97. enterprise. How many of you here invest in

  98. stocks? All of you, I think because none

  99. of you want to reveal the secret.

  100. So church is also the most undervalued enterprise and the

  101. underpriced stock. I'll tell you why, because think

  102. about it. The best of hospitals cannot

  103. cure cancer, cannot cure some diseases.

  104. But suddenly they come to a church service, somebody lays

  105. their hand on them and prayed and they're cured forever.

  106. No amount of medical ability could cure a man or a woman.

  107. But I've we've seen them come to meetings, we've seen them get

  108. healed. Somebody's children are a

  109. constant nonsense in their lives.

  110. They've gone, been sold to the enemy, gotten into all illicit

  111. habits. They've flared, Mummy Daddy have

  112. tried counselling, they tried different things.

  113. Nothing worked. But they start coming to youth

  114. service. Something happens.

  115. There's a family who is struggling financially between

  116. jobs. I don't know what to do

  117. financially. Not there.

  118. HR has tried counselling, their CT OS have tried to recommend

  119. them for a job. Nothing worked.

  120. Somebody lays their hands on them and prays in church

  121. service, they get a job. So I think church where God

  122. works sometimes is very undervalued because it's able to

  123. show people what is impossible with manner.

  124. The church also is God's design to overcome the enemy.

  125. Church is God's design. I know that we are living in a

  126. time of you gospel. Everything is about you, right?

  127. You hear a turn, turn the mega churches channel on, you'll hear

  128. it's about you. But church is the design for God

  129. to overcome the enemy. What does the Bible say?

  130. Jesus told Peter and the disciples, I will build my

  131. church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

  132. All of us suddenly think, well, the Catholics think Jesus told

  133. Peter, and so Peter is the father of the church.

  134. The Protestants think Jesus was talking about himself.

  135. He's the rock. The rock will stand against the

  136. church. But the location of the

  137. destination is very important. Location where this incident

  138. happened is in a place called Caesarea Philippi.

  139. Caesarea Philippi is in the foothills of a place called

  140. Mount Hermon. This is where the situation is

  141. actually happening. This mountain is where Genesis 6

  142. one to four talks about where the sons of God descended and

  143. came into the daughters of men and they were demons who were

  144. born. So this is that location,

  145. Genesis 6, one to four Cesare Philippi and the whole Judeo

  146. world at that time knew this place.

  147. The gates of Fell to be at Mount Caesarea, Mount Hermon.

  148. So Mount Hermon where Jesus is talking to his disciples is

  149. where the gates of hell was supposed to be that day.

  150. Jesus statement was not random you know, he just didn't choose

  151. a place. He took them to Mount Hermon

  152. where the gates of hell was supposed to be.

  153. And on the gates of hell he tells his disciples, I will

  154. build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against

  155. it. Which means the church is not

  156. the defender we always think. We are always defending the

  157. assault of the enemy. The church is the aggressor.

  158. If a church is planted here, it means God wants to invade this

  159. place. If a church is planted here, it

  160. means God wants to bring the restitution for what is lost,

  161. called people, from the land of the lost to the land of the

  162. living. There is no other way.

  163. There is no other reason for a church to be planted in a

  164. specific place. So church is where we are able

  165. to overcome. We also see that Revelation

  166. talks about Jesus who walks among the lampstands, the seven

  167. lampstands, right? Revelation 17 lampstands.

  168. Have you noticed that it doesn't say Jesus walked among the

  169. hospitals to cure the sick. It never says Jesus walked among

  170. the prisons to set the He says he walked among the seven

  171. lampstands, seven churches right And lastly, the church is the

  172. manifold wisdom of God to the powers and principalities.

  173. What is the manifold wisdom of God that you and me who are

  174. Gentiles to the juryeo world will come into the family of God

  175. through the wisdom of God that is given to our times.

  176. Amen. So church is the manifold wisdom

  177. of God that it's to the powers and principalities.

  178. No, that's the church. Church is very important.

  179. It is critical in God's plan, in design to bring the Gentile

  180. world inside. Without the church, it's very

  181. difficult to operate all that. But today, if you ask an average

  182. Christian, hey AMPA, what is a church?

  183. An average Christian will tell you a church has a pastor.

  184. He'll tell you a church as a worship team, church has Sunday

  185. school. What else does a church have?

  186. I've I've told, I've told the basic three things.

  187. What else does a church have? If I ask you this question, just

  188. tell me anything that comes to your mind.

  189. There are no wrong answers. In the Kingdom of God, church is

  190. a building, OK, where people gather to worship.

  191. Anything else? Sorry, sorry.

  192. People, people, people, churches of people.

  193. So people, pastor, worship team building, anything else it's on

  194. Sunday, Sue said. Sunday, wonderful sister.

  195. Sunday, Yeah, good Sunday mornings, right.

  196. But how many of us understand that what comprises of the

  197. church, the way God looks at the church is he looks at you and me

  198. as priests. Priests of God.

  199. See, the church is always taught about sons of God.

  200. Church has always talked about servants of God, but the church

  201. has not taught about the priests of God.

  202. The Bible looks says that you and I are a royal priesthood.

  203. Are you with me? You're a royal priesthood.

  204. Exodus 19 six I'm going to quickly give some references,

  205. but we'll go past it as quickly as possible.

  206. Exodus 19 six The mandate given to people of Israel when Moses

  207. encountered God, the mandate given to them was that they will

  208. be to God a Kingdom of priests. They will serve me as a Kingdom

  209. of priests, one Peter 2/5 For you will be unto God a holy

  210. priesthood, right? Then if you look at Revelation

  211. 1, when the John the Revelator talks about Jesus, he says, For

  212. he has accomplished you, have made them a Kingdom of priests

  213. and kings. Are you with me?

  214. So Jesus, God brought the people of Israel and told Moses, for

  215. they will be a Kingdom of priests to me.

  216. Here Peter says that you are the royal priesthood and then

  217. Revelation says Jesus completed the mission of making them

  218. priests and kings. Priests.

  219. Stay with me on subject, priest. So all of us think that some of

  220. us think at least priest. I used to think priesthood has

  221. stopped with the Levitical tribe.

  222. We always think the priesthood has stopped with the Levitical

  223. tribe, but what we see, we see a picture of the priesthood

  224. continuing just that the sacrifices of animals are not

  225. there. The sacrifices of wheat

  226. offerings and grain offerings are not there, but the

  227. priesthood still continues. Priesthood continues.

  228. How are we sacrificing now? By the blood of Jesus that been

  229. shed for us once for all. The blood of animals was able to

  230. rescue and redeem us from unintentional sin.

  231. That's why the Hebrew writer says.

  232. But the blood of the lamb is able to rescue and redeem us

  233. even from intentional sins. So it's much more, much more

  234. than the blood of animals that were shed.

  235. So you and I are priests offering sacrifices of praise on

  236. the altar for God. And why is it so precious?

  237. I'll tell you 5 things about priesthood.

  238. The Oneness priest too tells you and me that you are valuable in

  239. God's eyes if you have to become a Hindu priest.

  240. Anybody who has come from a Hindu religion here, if you have

  241. to become a Hindu priest, you have to go through long schools

  242. of training. You have to be born at a certain

  243. sect. Similarly for Muslim leaders,

  244. you have to be elected as by the community.

  245. They don't even keep imams as elected because if somebody

  246. falls, they don't want the mosque to fall with them.

  247. But God says you are to me a Kingdom of priests to minister

  248. to me. Think about it, Priests and you

  249. and I have done nothing. That Levites did nothing to get

  250. it. God simply has called us to be

  251. priests unto him because we are valuable in His eyes.

  252. So priesthood without priesthood, you can never

  253. understand the value that God has placed in our lives.

  254. OK, number one, what did he tell the Levites?

  255. I will for every tribe of Israel and Judah, there'll be land, but

  256. I will be an inheritance for them.

  257. There'll be inheritance. There'll be some tribe of Judah.

  258. There'll you know, Judah will have this, you know, Manasseh

  259. will have this. All this will have.

  260. But for Levites, I will be your inheritance.

  261. So you and I have God as our inheritance.

  262. That's why the Bible says we are a special people or royal

  263. priesthood. The second thing is priesthood

  264. is critical, is critical for a reason.

  265. Without the ministry of priesthood, there is no altar

  266. ministry. Brother who was was reading the

  267. worship said let's come to the altar and kneel down.

  268. Without the altar ministry, the Christian life was a joke.

  269. It is the altar ministry that enables us to connect with the

  270. spiritual realm. Without the altar there is no

  271. spiritual realm. Only in the altar, by the blood

  272. of Jesus Christ that is shed, you and I connect to the

  273. spiritual realm. Without the priesthood ministry,

  274. there is no altar ministry. Without the altar ministry,

  275. there is no ministering to the presence of God.

  276. We are come, we come here, we sing, we worship.

  277. It's wonderful. But what we are doing is we are

  278. ministering to the presence of God as the priest.

  279. And that's why all the worship songs that have been so

  280. beautifully laid out this morning was ministering to

  281. Christ, exalting him, because as priests you and I are to do

  282. that. Without the ministry to the

  283. presence, there is no ministry from the presence.

  284. Lot of times we see churches without power.

  285. Why we see them without power? Because there's no ministry to

  286. the presence. If there is ministry to the

  287. presence, there is. There will be ministry from the

  288. presence. What is the ministry from the

  289. presence? The Bible says Moses met God and

  290. engaged with them at the tent of the Tabernacle, and then he

  291. left. But Joshua stayed in God's

  292. presence. Joshua never left.

  293. It says. It is like this upper room where

  294. the Zion church met at 10/9, 9:30 in the morning.

  295. The worship team come, came and worshiped.

  296. If I have to paraphrase it for today, the worship team came and

  297. worshiped. They did a great time of praise.

  298. The pastor came and gave a wonderful message.

  299. There was healings in the altar. Sunday school went on, kids were

  300. there, and then people fellowshipped in the fellowship

  301. hall for some time, and then it was 2:00 in the afternoon.

  302. Everybody began to leave one after the other, but Pastor

  303. Geshom stood in the presence of God.

  304. There came times in the afternoon.

  305. One family was having biryani, but Pastor Geshom stood in the

  306. presence of God. There was night people were

  307. getting ready for the next mornings work.

  308. Pastor Gershom stood in the presence of God and when nobody

  309. was noticing, he made his way home.

  310. That's what the white paraphrase says.

  311. Moses went after meeting with God's presence because Joshua

  312. knew my friends, if 400 years of slavery and bondage, people of

  313. Israel were beginning, beginning to see miracles after miracles.

  314. If they were able to see, it is because one man was able to

  315. engage with the presence of God. So Joshua knew if I have to do

  316. something, if God has to move in Israel today, I need to stand in

  317. and engage with the presence of God today.

  318. I'll tell you, the church which is able to engage with God's

  319. presence will be the church that God will choose to multiply.

  320. Are you with me engaging with the presence of God?

  321. Joshua knew the value. What does psalmist write?

  322. Cast me not away from your presence of God, and take note

  323. your Holy Spirit from me. The psalmist knew the value of

  324. God's presence. What does Paul write in

  325. Ephesians 5? He says by singing of psalms and

  326. hymns and making a melody to the Lord, Always walk in the Spirit.

  327. Paul knew the importance of being in God's presence.

  328. What does what does Brother Lawrence write in the 18th

  329. century talks about practicing the presence of God.

  330. So it is in the presence of God that we are able to minister.

  331. What does the presence of God do in my life, In your life?

  332. Altered ministry. Altered ministry brings

  333. presence. Presence brings our our hearts

  334. to love Jesus. OK, so #1 #2 priesthood is a

  335. ministry of deliverance. So first is priesthood is a

  336. ministry which is critical. Second, priesthood is a ministry

  337. of deliverance. Please turn on me the Two

  338. Chronicles 13 verse 8 onwards. If somebody can read it, Two

  339. Chronicles 13 verse 8 onwards. So you see, it's, it's a battle

  340. between Judah and Israel. Notice something very unique

  341. here. It's so important.

  342. All of us talk about winning battles, overcoming battles.

  343. Without priesthood, you and I cannot win battles without

  344. priesthood. See what is happening here.

  345. If you have to paraphrase this today, this one king is telling

  346. the other king, Abuja is telling.

  347. Jeroboam, Jeroboam Nayarathrema. It's a very famous phrase you'll

  348. hear in Chennai. You know who I am, you know who

  349. you're dealing with. You're dealing with a tribe who

  350. has not forsaken the priesthood. You have driven the priesthood

  351. out, so there is no chance you can win the battle.

  352. Whereas we in our city are priests of our prayers.

  353. They sacrifice at the altars. There is engagement with the

  354. presence of God continuously. There's no chance you're going

  355. to win the battle. So priesthood is vital for

  356. overcoming battles and deliverance.

  357. Deliverance, sister brother, without the positioning of

  358. priesthood over our lives, unless we come into the

  359. positioning of priesthood over our lives, deliverance is going

  360. to be a challenge. Winning battles is going to be a

  361. challenge. Priesthood enables us as priests

  362. of God. Why is the church important?

  363. Because it's made of priests. Why is priesthood important?

  364. Because only through priesthood, deliverance comes.

  365. Then the next one is ministry of reconciliation.

  366. What does the Bible say? What does Jesus say in Matthew

  367. 5? Blessed are the peacemakers for

  368. the other children of God. Blessed other peacemakers for

  369. the other children of God. One verse that always gets me is

  370. this in 2-2 Corinthians 4-5. When we think about peacemakers,

  371. we of course know that, you know, we have to reconcile the

  372. relationship between the outside world and God.

  373. We know we understand that. One verse that gets me is 2

  374. Corinthians 4-5. Paul talks about being a bond

  375. bond servant. What is a bond servant?

  376. A bond servant is somebody who has no rights.

  377. We have, we are, you're, you're from, you know, India, US.

  378. We don't have the facility. You can't hire servants.

  379. If you hire servants, they'll come in a better car than you.

  380. So to save yourself the trouble of you know, looking at that you

  381. but India were very, very custom servants come if they want,

  382. they'll show up. Driver for you will decides

  383. whether he wants to come that day or doesn't want to come that

  384. day. He'll call you and say sorry, my

  385. milkman didn't show up. You do manage driving the car by

  386. yourself. Servant will someday come and

  387. say no, sorry, I'm not able to come today.

  388. My husband is, you know, had a drinking problem.

  389. So they have a choice, a bond servant to somebody who does not

  390. have a choice, a bond servant to somebody who absolutely has no

  391. choice on the master's will. They have essentially no will

  392. for themselves. They have no rights for

  393. themselves. Now I understand if Paul says

  394. I'm a bond servant to God, but he says I'm a bond servant to

  395. you as well. If the church has to thrive.

  396. One thing I've noticed is this in my 15 years of ministry, the

  397. ego between people, the ego that we have sometimes in the church.

  398. So I walked in, somebody didn't smile at me.

  399. Paul says bond servant. My side was not given a role in

  400. the Sunday school. Paul says bond servant, oh,

  401. pastor didn't speak to me properly.

  402. Paul says no, you're a bond servant.

  403. When the church becomes bond servants for each other, then

  404. the peace of God prevails, the priesthood of God thrives.

  405. Now the most exciting thing for any pastor standing here and

  406. ministering, I'm sure Pastor Gashom will agree, is just

  407. seeing a bunch of young people who can be ministered to, who

  408. can go into the world and be the mission force.

  409. Because usually people decide to follow God when they are 6065.

  410. But seeing young people in the marketplace come on a Sunday

  411. morning with kids is amazing. And as you're growing, I want to

  412. encourage you, no matter what happens, no matter who offends

  413. you, do not let offence get in the way of your ministry for the

  414. Lord. Think of yourself.

  415. You're a priest, but you're also a bond servant.

  416. In my days when I was growing up, if a Bishop comes, you had

  417. to carry the suitcase for him. If a pastor comes, there was

  418. designated places for the people in the church to sit.

  419. Nobody can sit there, but the Bible says that you and I are a

  420. bond servant to each other. So do not let offence get in the

  421. way so the ministry of God may prosper.

  422. And the last one I anybody here was from Hyder, Andhra Pradesh.

  423. You've heard about the apostle? Yes.

  424. And now I heard this man's testimony.

  425. This blew my mind. Talking about bond servants.

  426. This man walks into a house and as he walks into the house

  427. there's an old lady. The old lady tells him Sir, I

  428. want you to. The old lady attends his church.

  429. Sir, I want you to have lunch with me.

  430. As Apostle Aesana says no, no I'm already full.

  431. I have other places to go and visit.

  432. She's compels and she's just have some dull rice which I made

  433. hot and fresh little bit. This man says no sister I have

  434. to go to other places, I'm really late.

  435. She says just freshly cooked some dull rice have which is

  436. this for the love of the lady. This man sits and he she serves

  437. him in a plate. The man's husband comes.

  438. This apostle was a young man at the time.

  439. This man's husband comes. He worked in the farms and he's

  440. coming. He's a little older man as this

  441. apostle was about to put the food in his mouth.

  442. This is on YouTube on the testimony.

  443. The man looks at him and just spits next to his, spits next to

  444. his plate and says as a young guy, you should be out there

  445. working instead of pillaging people of food and eating of

  446. them. This man has food in one hand,

  447. spit on the other, doesn't know what to do.

  448. And as he's thinking about what to do and how to retaliate, the

  449. spirit of the Lord is working with him.

  450. Maybe he was reminded of bond servant, but then he put the

  451. food in his mouth and he began to chew.

  452. The man spit again next to his plate and said, you should be

  453. really ashamed of yourself. The old lady was the man's wife,

  454. Couldn't say much. OK, Apparently the man was a

  455. macho man, and you know, so after the difficulty, after all

  456. this insult, he continued to chew the food, eat it.

  457. Somehow God gave him the grace. As he was walking out, he

  458. stopped by and told the old man, I said I have good wealth.

  459. You know, I'm I don't come from a background which is very poor.

  460. I have decent wealth. I was not hungry, but the love

  461. of your wife compelled me to stay back and eat.

  462. So that's why I ate. So please forgive me if it has,

  463. forgive me. And the man continues going

  464. about his journey. This old man was not a believer.

  465. The wife was a believer. So the old man calls the wife

  466. and tells her in the Juristani Sunday Anapuriya in the pastra,

  467. the old lady says I'm Anadapura. So after Sunday I want to come

  468. because only the gospel and the bond servant nature can get you

  469. and me to humble ourselves. The flesh comes out me and say

  470. Nayar Drima, that will come out. So I encourage you bond servant,

  471. be a bond servant and the lastly ministry of reconciliation and

  472. lastly ministry of bearing fruit.

  473. Two Peter Peter writes 2 Peter 1.

  474. He says church, you be careful that you don't become

  475. ineffective in bearing fruit. Matthew 2143.

  476. What does Jesus tell the Israelites because you did not

  477. bear fruit. The Kingdom has been taken from

  478. you and given to the Gentiles. So we always get excited about

  479. the word calling, calling, calling, Calling is exciting

  480. because it's God's call over your life.

  481. But can I submit to you without submitting to the calling of the

  482. collective, which is the church? It's very hard for God to ask us

  483. for that individual purpose. Some of us may will still be

  484. struggling with what does God really want to do with my life?

  485. That is because you have not submitted to the calling of

  486. God's design for this church. I'll tell you, I've seen

  487. families who've served church, who've served the church, I've

  488. seen people who've served the church with all their heart, and

  489. I've seen God call them into their own purposes.

  490. They've gone on to build ministries.

  491. They've gone on to change the world upside down so there is no

  492. individual players in the Kingdom of God.

  493. That wave is already done. Abraham was called.

  494. But today the calling is for the church, the collective.

  495. When you submit to the calling of the collective, when you make

  496. Pastor Geshum and Pastor Steenas calling your calling.

  497. Hey, Pastor Gershom, what can I do for you on a Sunday morning?

  498. Pastor Tina, how can I come and help you on a Sunday morning?

  499. When you make the calling of the church, your personal calling,

  500. your calling begins to get active in your life as well.

  501. Are you with me? So the calling of the collective

  502. and I, I was talking to my daughter 2 days ago.

  503. We are all in jet lag. So we woke, woke up at 4:00 as I

  504. was getting ready. Luckily, she's not here.

  505. She's not here, right? No.

  506. There are so many young people. I don't know whether she's

  507. sitting. I'm not wearing my glasses

  508. either. So if you come and say hello to

  509. me, don't get offended. I may be looking at you, but not

  510. be looking at you after the service, no.

  511. So 2 days ago, I woke up early in the morning, you know, 4:00

  512. jet lag and 4:15 I got freshened up and I was walking into the

  513. prayer room inside my in laws house.

  514. I go there to see my daughters as teenagers, as 14 years.

  515. And don't tell her I told you this.

  516. So I go inside at 4:15 in the morning.

  517. She's got her Bible open, She's got her notes open.

  518. She's halfway through writing what God is speaking to her.

  519. She's having a quiet time and devotion.

  520. I was stunned, you know, I was stunned because I knew what she

  521. was a few months ago, you know, going through a lot of

  522. depression because she told me. She comes and tells me home.

  523. Daddy, I don't know how to talk in school because they talk very

  524. differently. They talk stuff that you know,

  525. just to say it in a simple way, unholy way when I don't engage,

  526. they think I'm strange that our generation is very struggling.

  527. Really our generation is struggling.

  528. The generation after us. They're facing challenges that

  529. we have not we have not faced in our generation.

  530. But I believe that, you know, where sin abounds, grace around

  531. much more where enemy tries to attack the generation after God

  532. pours out much grace. So I've never seen in our church

  533. as well a generation like that which has been on fire for God

  534. ever, ever in my lifetime. 24 hour prayers.

  535. We have her youth teams begins to start worship at evening

  536. 6:30. We have 5 batches of worship

  537. around the clock, pray sushi. They were begin to worship at

  538. evening 630. She was there.

  539. Few of her youth members finished the prayer there.

  540. Stayed for the second batch which went from 11:30 to 2:30 in

  541. the morning, then slept for two hours.

  542. Came and again prayed with the third batch of people, small

  543. groups. Then again pray to the fourth

  544. group of people. And I was thinking, what is

  545. going on? I maybe it's all the initial

  546. Jewish you know of getting saved.

  547. But then we had another prime meeting.

  548. After a few months, same pattern repeats.

  549. I've never seen a generation, that generation which was

  550. hopeless and written off are on fire for God.

  551. New York Times released an Article 3 months ago.

  552. They said the decline of Christianity in the US has

  553. plateaued. I was like, what?

  554. Because it's declining constantly and it's suddenly

  555. plateaued for the last five years.

  556. And when I went into the article, it says the people who

  557. are in Gen. Z generation are coming to the

  558. lot in so many numbers that the dropouts at the top, the Gen.

  559. X and at the top, these people are offsetting it.

  560. So they are, they are plateaued. It's almost a flat line.

  561. Can you, would you? And I have given them a chance.

  562. That is what happens. And then, then five AM, 5:30 AM,

  563. we all worship together and all that.

  564. Why am I saying this as a priesthood?

  565. We are called a royal priesthood.

  566. It is a ministry of blessing people.

  567. It is a ministry of blessing people.

  568. You're put in a place of your work because you're called as a

  569. priest to your colleague. You're you're a priest to your

  570. father and mother, but you're also a priest to your sons and

  571. daughters. You're a priest to your

  572. neighbor. And as the priest, Pastor

  573. Gershom, I was watching one of his YouTube videos series, he

  574. beautifully spoke about how Melchizedek, King Melchizedek,

  575. who had no genealogy, blessed Abraham.

  576. So royal priesthood is where we bless people, we bless people,

  577. we release the blessing of God into their lives.

  578. So as you think about these things, the ministry of

  579. priesthood allow God to speak to your life, take, you know what

  580. he says to be true because whatever he says to be true

  581. comes out to be true. And I pray that your church will

  582. be blessed next time we come. I pray that you'll have bought

  583. all the three floors. The clinic downstairs would have

  584. been gone. I believe that you'll buy the

  585. other buildings here too and multiply in churches.

  586. So to young people on fire, we would like to see you grow,

  587. expand and grow the knowledge of God and the sweet aroma around

  588. this place. Amen.

  589. God be with you and thank you for this opportunity.

  590. Pastika Show. Thanks for listening to this

  591. message. We hope you were blessed to hear

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  598. Remember, whoever finds Jesus finds life.