Sermon
274 ~ ECCLESIA ~ CALLED OUT AND CALLED TOGETHER ~ ANDREW SUDHINDRAN
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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We welcome you to the Via Zion Sermon podcast.
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We are a church based out of Chennai, India.
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We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will
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be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear.
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Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of
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purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.
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We are thrilled to have a guest speaker, Pastor Andrew
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Sudindran, with us who encourages us to be the
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priesthood that we are called to be as the body of Christ.
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As you listen in, we pray that you will find your calling and
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purpose as you serve God in your local church.
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Thank you for this opportunity, Pastor Gershom and Pastor Tina
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and Silva, who is Nirmala, who has recommended us that I preach
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here? I come from a town in New Jersey
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called Plainsboro. Plainsboro is where Pastor
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Tina's parents were and the people who come from Plainsboro
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are either amazing or they do amazing things.
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So they started a home called Amazing Love.
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And now we have another couple who've come from Plainsboro,
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Silva, Raj and Nirmala. Then we also have another person
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called Amazing Grace Cruz who also lives in Plainsboro and her
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brother Sam is here. The only exception is me.
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And I think at this point of time the reason is 24 years ago
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if somebody had told me that I'll be ministering in this
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church, I wouldn't have believed it because this is the same Rd.
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I commuted for four years when I studied my engineering in Satya
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Bama and nobody would have given me a chance that I will become a
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preacher one day. But somehow my sister-in-law was
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prophetic in 2012. She said, Andrew, I think you're
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going to become a pastor from the way you're reading the
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Bible, that that's when God touched my life.
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But God's been amazing three times in the last 14 years.
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I walked away from God. The sins I rebuilt and God, you
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know, just like we all rebel, Adam and Eve rebuilt at the
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Garden of Eden. Then you have the Tower of
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Babel, Then you have Israelites walking out.
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I have a similar experience in my life.
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But what I can tell you is this, once I came to understand the
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love of God, like 1 John says, for my fingers have handled him,
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for I have seen him, I've heard him once I've come to that
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experience and the encounter of Jesus, I had to submit to his
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love and there was no turning back from that point on.
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So I want to encourage you, God has great plans for your life.
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Over the last few years, God's been placing something in my and
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my family is here. Sorry, my wife's here.
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My daughter and my son are also here.
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I think they are in the Sunday school, but, but, but I bring
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greetings again from all of them as well.
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So in this last season, God's been placing something in my
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heart. I know I've always been a
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traditional churchgoer. I started going to church when I
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was a kid. I went to the Immanuel Methodist
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Church in Viperi for a long time, Then I went to Andrews
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Kirk. So I'm a local boy.
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I'm not, you know. And then something changed in my
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life where God showed me what this church actually is.
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And what is designed for the church is the very gathering of
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where you are right now is a is the work of God.
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The Bible says that uses the word ecclesia.
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As you know for the church, ecclesia simply means called out
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and called together, called out and called together.
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That's why the Bible we read where two or three are gathered
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in my name and there in the midst we always read that as
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when 2-3 people come, God is there.
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The Bible actually says when two or three are gathered, gathered
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by who? By the Holy Spirit there, Jesus
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is there in the midst. So ecclesia is called out and
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called together. So what is the difference
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between the church and the club? Dance club 20 minutes from here?
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What is the difference between it's a group of people, right,
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who are called together? What is the difference between
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the church and the political assembly that meets in
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secretariat? Group of people come together.
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What is the difference between the church and the soccer club
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maybe 5 kilometres from here? It's all a group of people.
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A soccer club, a political club, or any gathering of people shows
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us what man can do. Only a church can demonstrate
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what God can do. Let me say that again.
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Any other gathering, The best of men coming together, the best of
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women coming together. PCs is 5 miles from here.
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All these big organizations coming together can show the
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world what men can do, but only the church can show what God can
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do. And that is why the church is so
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precious. Amen.
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So I want to talk to you a little bit about the church.
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When Nehemiah heard, he, you know, he just was meeting
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somebody from the land of Judah. When Nehemiah heard from the
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people who came from Judah in a biblical church, how is the
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church doing there? How is the wall?
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How, how are our people? We were all meeting in the third
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floor in the upper room. Every, everything is in ruins.
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The church has been destroyed. The wall is down.
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The walls have to be rebuilt. Our people are not doing well.
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Naomiya begins to weep because he knew what the presence of God
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could bring to a specific place, right?
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So God's, I also think that the church is the most undervalued
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enterprise. How many of you here invest in
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stocks? All of you, I think because none
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of you want to reveal the secret.
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So church is also the most undervalued enterprise and the
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underpriced stock. I'll tell you why, because think
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about it. The best of hospitals cannot
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cure cancer, cannot cure some diseases.
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But suddenly they come to a church service, somebody lays
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their hand on them and prayed and they're cured forever.
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No amount of medical ability could cure a man or a woman.
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But I've we've seen them come to meetings, we've seen them get
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healed. Somebody's children are a
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constant nonsense in their lives.
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They've gone, been sold to the enemy, gotten into all illicit
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habits. They've flared, Mummy Daddy have
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tried counselling, they tried different things.
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Nothing worked. But they start coming to youth
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service. Something happens.
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There's a family who is struggling financially between
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jobs. I don't know what to do
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financially. Not there.
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HR has tried counselling, their CT OS have tried to recommend
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them for a job. Nothing worked.
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Somebody lays their hands on them and prays in church
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service, they get a job. So I think church where God
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works sometimes is very undervalued because it's able to
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show people what is impossible with manner.
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The church also is God's design to overcome the enemy.
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Church is God's design. I know that we are living in a
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time of you gospel. Everything is about you, right?
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You hear a turn, turn the mega churches channel on, you'll hear
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it's about you. But church is the design for God
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to overcome the enemy. What does the Bible say?
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Jesus told Peter and the disciples, I will build my
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church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
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All of us suddenly think, well, the Catholics think Jesus told
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Peter, and so Peter is the father of the church.
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The Protestants think Jesus was talking about himself.
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He's the rock. The rock will stand against the
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church. But the location of the
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destination is very important. Location where this incident
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happened is in a place called Caesarea Philippi.
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Caesarea Philippi is in the foothills of a place called
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Mount Hermon. This is where the situation is
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actually happening. This mountain is where Genesis 6
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one to four talks about where the sons of God descended and
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came into the daughters of men and they were demons who were
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born. So this is that location,
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Genesis 6, one to four Cesare Philippi and the whole Judeo
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world at that time knew this place.
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The gates of Fell to be at Mount Caesarea, Mount Hermon.
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So Mount Hermon where Jesus is talking to his disciples is
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where the gates of hell was supposed to be that day.
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Jesus statement was not random you know, he just didn't choose
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a place. He took them to Mount Hermon
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where the gates of hell was supposed to be.
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And on the gates of hell he tells his disciples, I will
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build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against
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it. Which means the church is not
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the defender we always think. We are always defending the
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assault of the enemy. The church is the aggressor.
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If a church is planted here, it means God wants to invade this
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place. If a church is planted here, it
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means God wants to bring the restitution for what is lost,
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called people, from the land of the lost to the land of the
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living. There is no other way.
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There is no other reason for a church to be planted in a
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specific place. So church is where we are able
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to overcome. We also see that Revelation
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talks about Jesus who walks among the lampstands, the seven
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lampstands, right? Revelation 17 lampstands.
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Have you noticed that it doesn't say Jesus walked among the
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hospitals to cure the sick. It never says Jesus walked among
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the prisons to set the He says he walked among the seven
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lampstands, seven churches right And lastly, the church is the
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manifold wisdom of God to the powers and principalities.
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What is the manifold wisdom of God that you and me who are
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Gentiles to the juryeo world will come into the family of God
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through the wisdom of God that is given to our times.
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Amen. So church is the manifold wisdom
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of God that it's to the powers and principalities.
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No, that's the church. Church is very important.
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It is critical in God's plan, in design to bring the Gentile
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world inside. Without the church, it's very
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difficult to operate all that. But today, if you ask an average
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Christian, hey AMPA, what is a church?
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An average Christian will tell you a church has a pastor.
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He'll tell you a church as a worship team, church has Sunday
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school. What else does a church have?
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I've I've told, I've told the basic three things.
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What else does a church have? If I ask you this question, just
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tell me anything that comes to your mind.
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There are no wrong answers. In the Kingdom of God, church is
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a building, OK, where people gather to worship.
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Anything else? Sorry, sorry.
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People, people, people, churches of people.
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So people, pastor, worship team building, anything else it's on
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Sunday, Sue said. Sunday, wonderful sister.
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Sunday, Yeah, good Sunday mornings, right.
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But how many of us understand that what comprises of the
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church, the way God looks at the church is he looks at you and me
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as priests. Priests of God.
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See, the church is always taught about sons of God.
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Church has always talked about servants of God, but the church
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has not taught about the priests of God.
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The Bible looks says that you and I are a royal priesthood.
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Are you with me? You're a royal priesthood.
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Exodus 19 six I'm going to quickly give some references,
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but we'll go past it as quickly as possible.
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Exodus 19 six The mandate given to people of Israel when Moses
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encountered God, the mandate given to them was that they will
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be to God a Kingdom of priests. They will serve me as a Kingdom
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of priests, one Peter 2/5 For you will be unto God a holy
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priesthood, right? Then if you look at Revelation
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1, when the John the Revelator talks about Jesus, he says, For
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he has accomplished you, have made them a Kingdom of priests
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and kings. Are you with me?
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So Jesus, God brought the people of Israel and told Moses, for
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they will be a Kingdom of priests to me.
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Here Peter says that you are the royal priesthood and then
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Revelation says Jesus completed the mission of making them
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priests and kings. Priests.
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Stay with me on subject, priest. So all of us think that some of
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us think at least priest. I used to think priesthood has
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stopped with the Levitical tribe.
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We always think the priesthood has stopped with the Levitical
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tribe, but what we see, we see a picture of the priesthood
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continuing just that the sacrifices of animals are not
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there. The sacrifices of wheat
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offerings and grain offerings are not there, but the
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priesthood still continues. Priesthood continues.
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How are we sacrificing now? By the blood of Jesus that been
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shed for us once for all. The blood of animals was able to
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rescue and redeem us from unintentional sin.
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That's why the Hebrew writer says.
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But the blood of the lamb is able to rescue and redeem us
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even from intentional sins. So it's much more, much more
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than the blood of animals that were shed.
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So you and I are priests offering sacrifices of praise on
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the altar for God. And why is it so precious?
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I'll tell you 5 things about priesthood.
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The Oneness priest too tells you and me that you are valuable in
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God's eyes if you have to become a Hindu priest.
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Anybody who has come from a Hindu religion here, if you have
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to become a Hindu priest, you have to go through long schools
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of training. You have to be born at a certain
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sect. Similarly for Muslim leaders,
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you have to be elected as by the community.
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They don't even keep imams as elected because if somebody
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falls, they don't want the mosque to fall with them.
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But God says you are to me a Kingdom of priests to minister
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to me. Think about it, Priests and you
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and I have done nothing. That Levites did nothing to get
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it. God simply has called us to be
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priests unto him because we are valuable in His eyes.
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So priesthood without priesthood, you can never
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understand the value that God has placed in our lives.
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OK, number one, what did he tell the Levites?
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I will for every tribe of Israel and Judah, there'll be land, but
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I will be an inheritance for them.
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There'll be inheritance. There'll be some tribe of Judah.
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There'll you know, Judah will have this, you know, Manasseh
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will have this. All this will have.
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But for Levites, I will be your inheritance.
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So you and I have God as our inheritance.
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That's why the Bible says we are a special people or royal
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priesthood. The second thing is priesthood
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is critical, is critical for a reason.
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Without the ministry of priesthood, there is no altar
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ministry. Brother who was was reading the
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worship said let's come to the altar and kneel down.
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Without the altar ministry, the Christian life was a joke.
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It is the altar ministry that enables us to connect with the
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spiritual realm. Without the altar there is no
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spiritual realm. Only in the altar, by the blood
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of Jesus Christ that is shed, you and I connect to the
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spiritual realm. Without the priesthood ministry,
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there is no altar ministry. Without the altar ministry,
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there is no ministering to the presence of God.
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We are come, we come here, we sing, we worship.
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It's wonderful. But what we are doing is we are
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ministering to the presence of God as the priest.
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And that's why all the worship songs that have been so
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beautifully laid out this morning was ministering to
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Christ, exalting him, because as priests you and I are to do
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that. Without the ministry to the
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presence, there is no ministry from the presence.
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Lot of times we see churches without power.
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Why we see them without power? Because there's no ministry to
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the presence. If there is ministry to the
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presence, there is. There will be ministry from the
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presence. What is the ministry from the
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presence? The Bible says Moses met God and
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engaged with them at the tent of the Tabernacle, and then he
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left. But Joshua stayed in God's
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presence. Joshua never left.
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It says. It is like this upper room where
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the Zion church met at 10/9, 9:30 in the morning.
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The worship team come, came and worshiped.
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If I have to paraphrase it for today, the worship team came and
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worshiped. They did a great time of praise.
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The pastor came and gave a wonderful message.
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There was healings in the altar. Sunday school went on, kids were
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there, and then people fellowshipped in the fellowship
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hall for some time, and then it was 2:00 in the afternoon.
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Everybody began to leave one after the other, but Pastor
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Geshom stood in the presence of God.
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There came times in the afternoon.
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One family was having biryani, but Pastor Geshom stood in the
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presence of God. There was night people were
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getting ready for the next mornings work.
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Pastor Gershom stood in the presence of God and when nobody
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was noticing, he made his way home.
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That's what the white paraphrase says.
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Moses went after meeting with God's presence because Joshua
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knew my friends, if 400 years of slavery and bondage, people of
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Israel were beginning, beginning to see miracles after miracles.
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If they were able to see, it is because one man was able to
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engage with the presence of God. So Joshua knew if I have to do
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something, if God has to move in Israel today, I need to stand in
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and engage with the presence of God today.
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I'll tell you, the church which is able to engage with God's
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presence will be the church that God will choose to multiply.
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Are you with me engaging with the presence of God?
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Joshua knew the value. What does psalmist write?
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Cast me not away from your presence of God, and take note
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your Holy Spirit from me. The psalmist knew the value of
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God's presence. What does Paul write in
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Ephesians 5? He says by singing of psalms and
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hymns and making a melody to the Lord, Always walk in the Spirit.
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Paul knew the importance of being in God's presence.
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What does what does Brother Lawrence write in the 18th
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century talks about practicing the presence of God.
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So it is in the presence of God that we are able to minister.
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What does the presence of God do in my life, In your life?
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Altered ministry. Altered ministry brings
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presence. Presence brings our our hearts
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to love Jesus. OK, so #1 #2 priesthood is a
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ministry of deliverance. So first is priesthood is a
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ministry which is critical. Second, priesthood is a ministry
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of deliverance. Please turn on me the Two
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Chronicles 13 verse 8 onwards. If somebody can read it, Two
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Chronicles 13 verse 8 onwards. So you see, it's, it's a battle
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between Judah and Israel. Notice something very unique
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here. It's so important.
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All of us talk about winning battles, overcoming battles.
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Without priesthood, you and I cannot win battles without
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priesthood. See what is happening here.
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If you have to paraphrase this today, this one king is telling
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the other king, Abuja is telling.
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Jeroboam, Jeroboam Nayarathrema. It's a very famous phrase you'll
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hear in Chennai. You know who I am, you know who
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you're dealing with. You're dealing with a tribe who
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has not forsaken the priesthood. You have driven the priesthood
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out, so there is no chance you can win the battle.
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Whereas we in our city are priests of our prayers.
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They sacrifice at the altars. There is engagement with the
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presence of God continuously. There's no chance you're going
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to win the battle. So priesthood is vital for
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overcoming battles and deliverance.
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Deliverance, sister brother, without the positioning of
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priesthood over our lives, unless we come into the
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positioning of priesthood over our lives, deliverance is going
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to be a challenge. Winning battles is going to be a
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challenge. Priesthood enables us as priests
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of God. Why is the church important?
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Because it's made of priests. Why is priesthood important?
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Because only through priesthood, deliverance comes.
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Then the next one is ministry of reconciliation.
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What does the Bible say? What does Jesus say in Matthew
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5? Blessed are the peacemakers for
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the other children of God. Blessed other peacemakers for
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the other children of God. One verse that always gets me is
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this in 2-2 Corinthians 4-5. When we think about peacemakers,
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we of course know that, you know, we have to reconcile the
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relationship between the outside world and God.
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We know we understand that. One verse that gets me is 2
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Corinthians 4-5. Paul talks about being a bond
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bond servant. What is a bond servant?
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A bond servant is somebody who has no rights.
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We have, we are, you're, you're from, you know, India, US.
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We don't have the facility. You can't hire servants.
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If you hire servants, they'll come in a better car than you.
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So to save yourself the trouble of you know, looking at that you
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but India were very, very custom servants come if they want,
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they'll show up. Driver for you will decides
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whether he wants to come that day or doesn't want to come that
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day. He'll call you and say sorry, my
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milkman didn't show up. You do manage driving the car by
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yourself. Servant will someday come and
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say no, sorry, I'm not able to come today.
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My husband is, you know, had a drinking problem.
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So they have a choice, a bond servant to somebody who does not
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have a choice, a bond servant to somebody who absolutely has no
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choice on the master's will. They have essentially no will
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for themselves. They have no rights for
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themselves. Now I understand if Paul says
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I'm a bond servant to God, but he says I'm a bond servant to
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you as well. If the church has to thrive.
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One thing I've noticed is this in my 15 years of ministry, the
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ego between people, the ego that we have sometimes in the church.
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So I walked in, somebody didn't smile at me.
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Paul says bond servant. My side was not given a role in
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the Sunday school. Paul says bond servant, oh,
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pastor didn't speak to me properly.
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Paul says no, you're a bond servant.
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When the church becomes bond servants for each other, then
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the peace of God prevails, the priesthood of God thrives.
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Now the most exciting thing for any pastor standing here and
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ministering, I'm sure Pastor Gashom will agree, is just
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seeing a bunch of young people who can be ministered to, who
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can go into the world and be the mission force.
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Because usually people decide to follow God when they are 6065.
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But seeing young people in the marketplace come on a Sunday
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morning with kids is amazing. And as you're growing, I want to
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encourage you, no matter what happens, no matter who offends
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you, do not let offence get in the way of your ministry for the
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Lord. Think of yourself.
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You're a priest, but you're also a bond servant.
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In my days when I was growing up, if a Bishop comes, you had
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to carry the suitcase for him. If a pastor comes, there was
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designated places for the people in the church to sit.
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Nobody can sit there, but the Bible says that you and I are a
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bond servant to each other. So do not let offence get in the
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way so the ministry of God may prosper.
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And the last one I anybody here was from Hyder, Andhra Pradesh.
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You've heard about the apostle? Yes.
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And now I heard this man's testimony.
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This blew my mind. Talking about bond servants.
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This man walks into a house and as he walks into the house
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there's an old lady. The old lady tells him Sir, I
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want you to. The old lady attends his church.
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Sir, I want you to have lunch with me.
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As Apostle Aesana says no, no I'm already full.
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I have other places to go and visit.
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She's compels and she's just have some dull rice which I made
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hot and fresh little bit. This man says no sister I have
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to go to other places, I'm really late.
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She says just freshly cooked some dull rice have which is
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this for the love of the lady. This man sits and he she serves
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him in a plate. The man's husband comes.
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This apostle was a young man at the time.
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This man's husband comes. He worked in the farms and he's
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coming. He's a little older man as this
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apostle was about to put the food in his mouth.
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This is on YouTube on the testimony.
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The man looks at him and just spits next to his, spits next to
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his plate and says as a young guy, you should be out there
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working instead of pillaging people of food and eating of
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them. This man has food in one hand,
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spit on the other, doesn't know what to do.
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And as he's thinking about what to do and how to retaliate, the
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spirit of the Lord is working with him.
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Maybe he was reminded of bond servant, but then he put the
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food in his mouth and he began to chew.
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The man spit again next to his plate and said, you should be
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really ashamed of yourself. The old lady was the man's wife,
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Couldn't say much. OK, Apparently the man was a
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macho man, and you know, so after the difficulty, after all
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this insult, he continued to chew the food, eat it.
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Somehow God gave him the grace. As he was walking out, he
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stopped by and told the old man, I said I have good wealth.
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You know, I'm I don't come from a background which is very poor.
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I have decent wealth. I was not hungry, but the love
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of your wife compelled me to stay back and eat.
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So that's why I ate. So please forgive me if it has,
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forgive me. And the man continues going
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about his journey. This old man was not a believer.
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The wife was a believer. So the old man calls the wife
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and tells her in the Juristani Sunday Anapuriya in the pastra,
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the old lady says I'm Anadapura. So after Sunday I want to come
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because only the gospel and the bond servant nature can get you
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and me to humble ourselves. The flesh comes out me and say
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Nayar Drima, that will come out. So I encourage you bond servant,
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be a bond servant and the lastly ministry of reconciliation and
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lastly ministry of bearing fruit.
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Two Peter Peter writes 2 Peter 1.
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He says church, you be careful that you don't become
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ineffective in bearing fruit. Matthew 2143.
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What does Jesus tell the Israelites because you did not
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bear fruit. The Kingdom has been taken from
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you and given to the Gentiles. So we always get excited about
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the word calling, calling, calling, Calling is exciting
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because it's God's call over your life.
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But can I submit to you without submitting to the calling of the
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collective, which is the church? It's very hard for God to ask us
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for that individual purpose. Some of us may will still be
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struggling with what does God really want to do with my life?
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That is because you have not submitted to the calling of
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God's design for this church. I'll tell you, I've seen
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families who've served church, who've served the church, I've
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seen people who've served the church with all their heart, and
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I've seen God call them into their own purposes.
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They've gone on to build ministries.
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They've gone on to change the world upside down so there is no
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individual players in the Kingdom of God.
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That wave is already done. Abraham was called.
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But today the calling is for the church, the collective.
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When you submit to the calling of the collective, when you make
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Pastor Geshum and Pastor Steenas calling your calling.
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Hey, Pastor Gershom, what can I do for you on a Sunday morning?
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Pastor Tina, how can I come and help you on a Sunday morning?
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When you make the calling of the church, your personal calling,
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your calling begins to get active in your life as well.
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Are you with me? So the calling of the collective
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and I, I was talking to my daughter 2 days ago.
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We are all in jet lag. So we woke, woke up at 4:00 as I
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was getting ready. Luckily, she's not here.
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She's not here, right? No.
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There are so many young people. I don't know whether she's
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sitting. I'm not wearing my glasses
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either. So if you come and say hello to
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me, don't get offended. I may be looking at you, but not
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be looking at you after the service, no.
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So 2 days ago, I woke up early in the morning, you know, 4:00
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jet lag and 4:15 I got freshened up and I was walking into the
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prayer room inside my in laws house.
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I go there to see my daughters as teenagers, as 14 years.
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And don't tell her I told you this.
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So I go inside at 4:15 in the morning.
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She's got her Bible open, She's got her notes open.
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She's halfway through writing what God is speaking to her.
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She's having a quiet time and devotion.
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I was stunned, you know, I was stunned because I knew what she
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was a few months ago, you know, going through a lot of
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depression because she told me. She comes and tells me home.
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Daddy, I don't know how to talk in school because they talk very
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differently. They talk stuff that you know,
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just to say it in a simple way, unholy way when I don't engage,
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they think I'm strange that our generation is very struggling.
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Really our generation is struggling.
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The generation after us. They're facing challenges that
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we have not we have not faced in our generation.
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But I believe that, you know, where sin abounds, grace around
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much more where enemy tries to attack the generation after God
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pours out much grace. So I've never seen in our church
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as well a generation like that which has been on fire for God
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ever, ever in my lifetime. 24 hour prayers.
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We have her youth teams begins to start worship at evening
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6:30. We have 5 batches of worship
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around the clock, pray sushi. They were begin to worship at
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evening 630. She was there.
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Few of her youth members finished the prayer there.
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Stayed for the second batch which went from 11:30 to 2:30 in
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the morning, then slept for two hours.
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Came and again prayed with the third batch of people, small
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groups. Then again pray to the fourth
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group of people. And I was thinking, what is
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going on? I maybe it's all the initial
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Jewish you know of getting saved.
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But then we had another prime meeting.
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After a few months, same pattern repeats.
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I've never seen a generation, that generation which was
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hopeless and written off are on fire for God.
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New York Times released an Article 3 months ago.
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They said the decline of Christianity in the US has
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plateaued. I was like, what?
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Because it's declining constantly and it's suddenly
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plateaued for the last five years.
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And when I went into the article, it says the people who
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are in Gen. Z generation are coming to the
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lot in so many numbers that the dropouts at the top, the Gen.
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X and at the top, these people are offsetting it.
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So they are, they are plateaued. It's almost a flat line.
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Can you, would you? And I have given them a chance.
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That is what happens. And then, then five AM, 5:30 AM,
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we all worship together and all that.
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Why am I saying this as a priesthood?
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We are called a royal priesthood.
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It is a ministry of blessing people.
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It is a ministry of blessing people.
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You're put in a place of your work because you're called as a
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priest to your colleague. You're you're a priest to your
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father and mother, but you're also a priest to your sons and
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daughters. You're a priest to your
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neighbor. And as the priest, Pastor
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Gershom, I was watching one of his YouTube videos series, he
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beautifully spoke about how Melchizedek, King Melchizedek,
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who had no genealogy, blessed Abraham.
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So royal priesthood is where we bless people, we bless people,
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we release the blessing of God into their lives.
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So as you think about these things, the ministry of
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priesthood allow God to speak to your life, take, you know what
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he says to be true because whatever he says to be true
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comes out to be true. And I pray that your church will
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be blessed next time we come. I pray that you'll have bought
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all the three floors. The clinic downstairs would have
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been gone. I believe that you'll buy the
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other buildings here too and multiply in churches.
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So to young people on fire, we would like to see you grow,
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expand and grow the knowledge of God and the sweet aroma around
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this place. Amen.
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God be with you and thank you for this opportunity.
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Pastika Show. Thanks for listening to this
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