The Persecuted Church

It is good to, good to see you today.

It's good to be here for what will be a very special and precious time together

as a church family as we gather together, to think about our brothers and sisters

around the world and to spend some time praying with each other as well.

Well today, as Adam mentioned,

we would normally head over to a different church, wouldn't we?

To love attack

them.

And, and this

opportunity came this year to actually spend some time

together here, love attacking

our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church.

And I want to encourage you that over a hundred thousand congregations

around the world are doing

this today.

This is,

this is in the truest form of the word, a Catholic, which just means

universal, gathering of the church to pray for our brothers and sisters who

are under persecution for their faith.

Man, man, it's so much bigger than just us, isn't it?

Isn't that good?

And so

Open Doors, as you can

see there, there they are, just under there, under Unity there.

Open Doors is a ministry, it's an international ministry, dedicated

to serving the persecuted church, and they are assisting us, with

the material and the avenue in to partner with, today in this day,

which is called the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

And it's not an accidental sort of day that they've just picked on a calendar

or it's just sort of, no, no, no, this is actually to piggyback on what the

church has been doing for over 1200 years.

And

that is, over the

last three or four days, the church, over the centuries have been gathering

together, praying and thanking God, for those that have come before us, for those

that have faced persecution for their faith, and, and for those that are facing

persecution now in our midst, they would pray for and thank God for that work.

And so this is something that is rich in our Christian tradition as

well as we do this today, so just wanted to encourage you in that.

Now I've just got

a short, short little video, from a, a

man by the name of Steve Swinson and he is at Open Doors and we're

just going to watch that now.

Hi, I'm Steve Swenson from Open Doors Australia.

On behalf of our CEO, Adam Holland, and the entire Open Doors team, both here

in Australia and in New Zealand, and in the 70 countries that we minister,

can I take a moment to thank you, Red Door Community Church, for your

partnership for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

You are joining with over 800 churches across Australia and New Zealand

this weekend, standing shoulder to shoulder as a company of faith.

in prayer for those who are suffering.

What we are a part of has supernatural impact.

Your prayers are powerful and making a real difference in the lives of

the 365 million people who are facing extreme violence and persecution

for being followers of Jesus Christ.

So thank you to everyone at Red Door Community Church for your dedication,

your support and your faith.

Let's continue to unite in prayer and support our brothers

and sisters who are in need.

God bless you.

This morning, we're going to, we're going to use

Isaiah 58, to shape

the way we think about how we're responding to this call of prayer

and action towards our brothers and sisters in persecution.

So we're going to read together.

Let's begin.

Isaiah 58 verses 6 through to 9.

Isaiah 58:6

So let's follow along together on the screens here.

Isn't this the fast I choose?

To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke.

It is not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and

homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and to

not ignore your own flesh and blood.

Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly.

Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord's glory will be your rearguard.

At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer.

When you cry out, he will say, Here I am.

So before we go into sort of learning about what is happening in the world

today for our brothers and sisters, I feel like we need to start with our mandate.

What is, what is our call as God's people when we hear these things?

What is God welcoming us into?

What is God up to?

What's His mission in the world?

As kingdom people, what, what is, what is the call?

What is the response?

So using Isaiah 58, I've got three sort of points here.

From verse six, our call is to seek justice until the oppressed are free

and to share our food with the hungry.

Now what does that look like?

How do we put meat on those things?

Well, this is yes in prayer, We can respond to seeing

justice, come to the oppressed.

Prayer is a powerful thing that we can participate in, but also there are avenues

that are at our disposal here in the West where we can petition governments to be

made known of the situation and plight of people around the world and also in

our local communities that are facing oppression, making known of the sufferings

of those around us and those afar.

Walking in relationship with people who are oppressed is

something you and I can do.

Walking with someone who is in oppression, whether it's mental

health, physically, financially, spiritually, is something we can do.

can do as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Living out a posture of generosity and sharing our resources

with those who are in need.

It's funny, the mandate in the Old Testament is to give a tithe and

the mandate in the New Testament is to give our whole selves, all that

we have, to those that are in need.

It's like, I was just thinking about this morning, man, the

call in the New Testament, it's like, Really high, really high.

You know, you see it in Acts, don't you?

Where the church gathers together and what do they do?

They meet each other's needs.

If you need something and I've got it here, it's yours.

And this is the posture that God is calling us into as people of His.

In verse 7, our mandate is to provide shelter for the homeless,

to close those who have none, and to not turn away from the body of

Christ, your own flesh and blood.

So this is, this is a call, a gospel call of embodying the hospitality

that we see in Christ's ministry.

To be interested in the needs of others, right?

To listen, to make known of their needs to oneself.

And then how does, how are we to then respond to those needs?

to respond to them as if they're my needs, your own needs.

It's, it's to make their needs now yours.

To be informed of the plight of our brothers and sisters like

we're doing today is, is a part of the response of the call.

Interceding and in prayer and, and also inviting God, to, to prompt

each one of us into the action that He wishes for us to respond in.

And then lastly, in verse eight and nine, to partner with the Lord's work in

ministries like Open Doors, and there's hundreds of other ministries around the

world as well, to witness His light in His people, and to then open our eyes and our

hearts and our hands to partner with them.

To see the opportunities that we all have.

And, and as we've talked about over the last few weeks, to, to realize

that our response to these things, these, these oppositions in the,

in regards to evil powers coming against our brothers and sisters,

is to respond with just our prayers.

No, to respond with just our thoughts.

No, it's to respond with our whole selves, yeah?

That the people who suffer, that we hear of both abroad and at home,

Do not remain just issues to be thought about, but actually come to

life as brothers and sisters, image bearers of God, to be ministered to,

with all of ourselves, as family.

And this description, as we've just gone through all this, in Isaiah 58.

of the, of the work of God in his people in the Old Testament is also described

as the type of work and posture of Christ and is central according to Luke,

of gospel believing and also living.

So let's look firstly at Isaiah 61.

Isaiah says this about the Lord's anointed, the spirit of the Lord God

is on me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has set me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives

and freedom to the prisoners.

So you got Isaiah talking about the anointed one and then in Luke

4, we have Jesus responding in the temple as this is his commission.

in his ministry.

And he quotes the same scripture by saying, the spirit of the Lord is on

me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel of good news to the poor.

In other translations, the gospel of peace to the poor.

He has sent me to, to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to

the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.

This is what God the Father was doing in and through his people in the Old

Testament, and this is what is continued in the Anointed One, our Christ.

This is core to gospel believing and also living.

Therefore, our mandate is to preach, not just in word, but also deed,

the gospel of peace to the poor of spirit and also possession.

Yeah?

To proclaim release to the captives, recovery of the, of sight to the

blind, and to set the captives free.

So these aren't just thoughts, but in Scripture are invited activities

to come and participate in.

So let's not get distracted, because when we talk about these things, I think

out in the world and out in culture, and even within church culture, we get

distracted by labels like, oh, they're, they've gone all social justice on us.

What I want us to do as a family, and what I want to encourage you in,

is let's forget about that argument.

Let's forget about that noise.

And what I want us to be is a people of God that are dedicated

to, to examining the Gospels.

Yeah?

That, that build our lives off reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Looking at the gospel of Jesus Christ, the lived gospel of Him and His disciples.

And going, may they be the things that guide us to ministry.

Yeah?

Can we also, another encouragement I want to give us all today is, is to use today.

Also to explore how we can do this type of work here in our lives.

in our communities where we live?

How can we be on mission with God whilst opportunities like this are

incredibly important, critical to our worship, to understand what our brothers

and sisters are facing overseas?

I don't want us to be tempted to then be let off the hook because we've heard some

things, we've responded in a short prayer, and then we've given a bit of money.

Does everyone feel that?

It's a temptation, isn't it?

Oh, well done.

You gave some money, you prayed for them.

And we'll think about it next year some other time, maybe.

To actually be open to where injustices like these are in place around the

world, to continually be informed, to continually to keep up to date what is

open doors actually witnessing and seeing.

So to be engaged, to be prayerful, to continue giving, to be open to

the, to the, to the Lord's spirit and guiding us and how to respond to

these things, but also going, what is happening in my neighborhood?

What is happening in my community and where can I

partner with God in this mission?

So what is the state of play for Christians around the world?

Well, as Steve mentioned, there's 365 million Christians worldwide that are

currently experiencing persecution.

Displacement like in Nigeria of around 16 million people.

That would be Christians in danger of physical violence like our Christian

brother and sisters in Pakistan, or risking execution for just

being a Christian in North Korea.

Open doors has have identified four critical regions in the world, and

they've named Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America as four critical

regions that they want the church.

to come to aware of what's going on and to be praying for.

So, I'm just going to quickly cover what's going on.

I'm not going to go into depth, just to give us a bit of knowledge

and a bit of context of what's happening around the world.

Firstly, Africa.

This year opened doors for the International.

Dave Prayer are highlighting the situation that's occurring

in, in particularly in Nigeria.

And what I thought was rather than speaking on behalf of them,

I'll just show a quick video.

So there should be about a three minute video there, Sharon,

of the plight of the church in Nigeria and what's going on there.

Here where we are, millions of Christians are displaced here in Nigeria.

Millions of Christians are displaced in whole Africa.

News don't take it, don't carry it.

Nobody talks about it.

We are remaining in the darkness.

I see we are being

rejected.

This is where

we live.

In RDP camp.

For four years.

It's getting to five years now.

Each and every one you are seeing here, we are all Christians, and we

are displaced because of violence.

We believe that they are against, Christians.

When they come to attack us, they call us capybara, that we don't have any religion.

So that makes us no standard, is they are purely attacking Christians.

I was in the farm with my brother and my late brother's wife.

We were walking.

When we heard a rapid shooting gun sound, we could not know what was happening.

It's from there we began to ask, what is happening?

They say we should run, we should run.

It was during this time that my brother was being shot

and killed by the militants.

And my brother's wife was also shot and being macheted and killed

by the militants who attacked us.

In this camp here, many people are affected, many

are injured, many are killed.

The loved ones are killed.

When you are hungry, you'll lose your confidence from God.

When you're sick, you lose your confidence from God.

They are mined as being discouraged from God.

And being as a pastor in the camp, me too, I'm displaced.

I don't have anything to give them.

We only pray together and share the Word of God together.

So far, our eyes are on Him.

So far, our hope is on Him.

We put our confidence on Him.

We believe He's great.

Another area in Africa, apart from Nigeria, that is of

serious concern is Somalia.

where an extremist group called Al Shabaab are hunting down Christians

to eradicate them from the country.

That's their

mission.

So Christians if found, by this group,

are being killed on the spot.

There's no conversations.

And then secondly, in the Middle East, Christians in the Middle East

have lived in the context of war and extremist violence for over a decade now.

Many have lost homes, jobs, family members in, are in conflict,

stuck in conflict and persecution.

Along with economic collapses, which we've witnessed, and then rising authoritarian

regimes, that,

oppose religious freedom.

Christians face discrimination in all forms, isolation, physical

attacks, and other forms of abuse.

A country that Open Doors is highlighting this year is Yemen.

It's one of the most strongly Islamic, conservative, and tribal

countries in the Middle East.

And most Christians are obviously converts from Islam.

Which puts them at really, really high risk of the strict

law in Islam and also state law forbidding conversions from Islam.

Yemen is unfortunately just one of many countries in this

region with similar dynamics.

Let's just quickly hear from a Yemeni Christian leader and he says this,

From the moment I decided to follow Jesus, I knew I would face persecution.

The more I received threats, the more I was eager to serve.

Yemen needs brave servants to go out in society and proclaim the message of God.

I could stay safe, I could remain home, and I could face no persecution.

But what good is my faith if I don't go out and deliver

the message of God to others?

Powerful, hey?

And then in Latin America, The persecution of Christians in Latin America is

growing quickly over the last few years, most severely in Central America.

Colombia and Mexico, as a lot of us would know, have seen many people fall victim,

including Christians, to the drug cartel.

gang warfare that has been at play.

In particular focus this year for Open Doors is the country of Cuba, where

Christians are being focused on and face persecution from the government.

They are victims of forced displacement.

They receive death threats from the government.

Churches are being destroyed by arson.

By the government, they experience government surveillance and the government

is using psychological abuse on them.

Government agents harass, steal, and deprive them of access

and services like education.

Christians are suffering in Cuba and they need our prayers.

So let's hear from a Cuban pastor.

There is so much work to do, so many challenges to accomplish, as we are

under constant government siege.

From the time we send resources, to the time we carry out activities, and

we ask for prayer, so the Lord's plans continue being fulfilled in our country.

And God continues giving us strength, so more and more people

may come to know Christ every day.

And then finally, and fourthly, is Asia.

Persecution in Asia is actually rapidly increasing over the last couple of years.

There are several countries where ruling governments are discriminating,

monitoring, imprisoning Christians, and even in some cases, executing them.

For Open Doors, the most concerning country in Asia

continues to be North Korea.

which is ranking number one as the most persecuted country in

the world for Christians to live.

To put it simply, it is not possible to live in North Korea freely as a Christian.

If you are discovered to be a Christian in North Korea, the best outcome

would be that you would be sent to a labor camp for life, but often.

the police and soldiers will execute you publicly to persuade

other people from doing the same.

So let's hear quickly from a church leader in North Korea.

Our missions are often very dangerous and we managed to get some believers

out of very difficult situations and this was only possible through

God's guidance and the prayers of many supporters around the world.

It is only through God's special providence, grace, and blessings that our

underground church network still exists.

There's even life of the gospel in North Korea, isn't that

So encouraging, and that we

have people, like, they

use the pseudonym of, of, for his name, of, of Timothy that, that there are people

like Timothy out there willing to risk it.

So this morning, as we have just quickly, very, very quickly reflected

on our kingdom mandate as Christ in, in response to these things,

we've heard, about some

of what the realities, we've become a little bit more

knowledgeable, of the realities

that our fellow brothers and sisters are facing in persecution, just simply

because they have faith in Christ.

So

today is, the International

Day of Prayer.

Therefore, we're going to spend a bit of time in corporate prayer this

morning.

And so what,

what we're going to do is we're going to have

a person, that represents

that region, that is from

that region, and they're

going to come and pray.

They're going to lead us into a time of prayer.

And each person from that particular region is going to

pray in their mother tongue.

And so we're going to hear their mother tongue being prayed out for that region.

And they're going to pray for no more than two minutes.

And then what we're going to do as a church is we're then going

to gather in two little groups and we're going to respond by praying for

that region just for five minutes.

And then we're going to move on to the next region.

Does that make sense?

So don't worry, I'll be monitoring time.

I'll interrupt when, when time is up and so that we can move on.

And what I want to do is I want to, I want to try and make these groups

just as as small as possible, so that over that four periods of time

of prayer together, we all have an opportunity if God is leading us to

pray.

Yeah?

So try and

keep your

prayers, somewhat

concise so that everyone can join in if

they want.

So why don't

we just, just quickly grab sort of two or three

other people, and, and

get yourselves just sort of into a group.

And while you're

doing that.

Well I'm

going to get those

four people, so I've already

got Jeremy out the front, but the rest of you who are praying this morning,

if you can come just join us down the

front here.

We've got

the flyers, so these flyers, and on the back of the flyers

have just helpful prayer points.

Now, if you don't have a flyer, or you don't have access to it, I've also written

some prayer points just on the screen.

So as we go through each region, you can either refer to the flyer, or just

quickly look up at the screen as well.

Does that, everyone okay?

Beautiful, beautiful.

All right, so why don't we just do that.

Are we all in groups?

Oh, you guys are so

efficient.

Well, we've got

our

first region, which we're

going to do first is, is the

Middle East.

And Ahmet

and I had the pleasure

of going, out Friday

afternoon and meeting with a gentleman.

Now, I can't mention his name.

You'll see his face on a video.

Can't mention his name.

I can't mention the country

he's from, because he's

still doing ministry Throughout the Middle East and so there's quite there's

some sensitivity about his involvement in what he's up to and so I'm just going

to ask if we can just watch the video.

Do not record the video.

Do not put on social media, please because The reality is the flow on

effects could be really dangerous

for those, that are

involved in the ministry he's a part of.

So I just ask you to do that.

So he's comfortable doing this.

He's comfortable to have his voice in

podcasts.

But he doesn't

want his face or, or potential name or identity out in the public.

Does that make, make sense to everyone?

Okay, so we're just going to hear from, from him now as he prays for the church

in the Middle East under persecution.

Hey church family.

I'm here with a brother in Christ from the Middle East, and

we're asking him to lead us in

prayer today.

He is a part of, many people

doing kingdom work throughout the Middle East, and we just felt it

appropriate for a brother in Christ doing that work from the region.

to lead us in this time of prayer.

So I'm going to hand it over to you now.

Lead us away.

Thank you very much.

God, for your extended hand now.

for the souls that are coming to Christ now.

God, I ask you, I ask you to protect my brothers and sisters, the believers

in the Arab, Islamic, and Middle East world from all persecution.

Protect them, God, and look after them, all their spiritual and

material needs and everything.

Protect them,

God.

Syria.

Lebanon.

The Arab

world,

God.

Egypt.

Tunisia,

Algeria, Morocco,

God.

Sudan, Somalia,

and all the Arab world.

And the Islamic world as well, God.

I pray for them.

I put them in safety, God.

And let them know that you are the one who sent Christ.

In the name of Jesus Christ.

Ah man.

There's something beautiful isn't there about hearing someone speak in worship

or or prayer as we were sitting there?

I dunno about you, ahed.

I just felt.

And I'm going, I have no idea what he's praying.

And he ended up translating it back to us.

And it's just this beautiful prayer of just pleading with God to

come.

And so I'm just

going to give you sort of five minutes now to pray for the Middle East.

So why don't you go ahead and do that now.

I'm so sorry, church.

We're going to have to move on to our next region, which will be Africa and

Dolly, who is from Nigeria, is going to pray for the continent of Africa.

Thank you.

I'm going to be praying in my mother tongue Yoruba and it's spoken

in the western part of Nigeria.

And the west that I'm from is predominantly Christian and we

experience a lot of the persecution.

So join with me as we pray.

I haven't prayed in my mother tongue in a long time.

So let's bow our heads as we pray.

Our year is in being a good for unique Bible book.

It will be a darra at the Fawry and we went to ajeen.

I want to just take you on.

I want to do it.

And we are in Africa.

I bet before we were you latch on.

You know, La la wag.

But you have one about it.

Also, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, But we can be careful.

It back.

But I'm a look.

Let's do your.

Your Roy.

one.

Are me.

Go for a church, pray for Africa.

All right, church family, we're going to

move on now, to our next

region of concern, which is Latin America.

And I have Sam here who hails from

Brazil.

So, me and my

wife are from Brazil.

In Brazil is not that bad yet, but in some countries like Venezuela and especially

Nicaragua, it's the situation is terrible.

And being honest with

you guys, it always starts, When you

vote, cast your vote, because in those places, it's not the people

persecuting Christians, it's the proper government persecuting Christians.

So, when you go for your vote next time, please check who you're voting for,

because in those places starts there.

All right, let's pray.

Father God, creator of the heavens and the earth, I come to ask you,

God, that you be with the people of Latin America, that everyone there can

follow you, God, seek you, be with you.

I can be protected by you, O God.

May your love, O God, be perceived in their lives, O God.

May they be strong, O Father.

Protected by the Lord, O God.

May they do your work, O God.

Preach your word.

May your will be there, O Father.

May people wake up

when they, May they

vote, O God.

May politicians, O God.

This is an instrument of the Lord, Father.

May they not pursue our brothers over there, Father.

May they not pursue our brothers, O God.

May you be protecting them, Father.

Giving them strength, Father, so that they can continue your work

in those difficult places, God.

It is what I ask you in the name of Jesus, Father.

Amen.

Thank you, brother.

All right, church, now you can respond in time of prayer for Latin America.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Sorry.

Sorry, church, family.

We're just going to now land on

our last, region of

prayer, which is

Asia.

And, up until

last night, I didn't

have anyone.

So the person

that we had

lined up, has fallen

sick.

And then I just, last night, I went through our whole family database, asked

everyone, and no one was available.

And I went, Lord!

You're gonna have to provide.

And I woke up at like five o'clock this morning, and I'm like, Lord,

you're still gonna have to provide.

It's a new day, and I haven't got any text messages or anything, so

And then Jeremy came today to visit.

And Jeremy does a lot of work with the Persecuted Church in Asia.

And so he's This is, this is an

area of, of great importance to him.

And he's,

he's actually a man on the ground and so he's going to lead us in our time of

prayer.

I just want

to tell you that I'm not really good in Mandarin but I pray a little bit in

Mandarin.

Then after

that in English.

Is that alright with you guys?

Yeah, so can't see any what.

Powerful woman.

Lord Jesus, we live up our name.

Your name, towards our brothers and sisters.

We pray He of protection.

Our brother and sisters in Asia.

Father law in my father law, enough Korea Father law in Indonesia, in Malaysia.

Father law in in Laos father law in Thailand and Cambodia and.

No, father.

Lord.

Lord, we pray ha of protection even for our brothers and sisters in India.

In Pakistan.

Lord, we plead the blood of Christ.

The ha of protection.

The protection over them.

We wash them.

We wash the nations of Southeast Asia.

Asia with the blood of Christ.

The Asia shall be saved.

We declare Asia shall be slave in the name of Jesus.

Thank you Lord.

Thank you so much, Jeremy.

All right.

I welcome you to spend this last moment of time praying for Asia.

Thank you.

Thank you, Church, for praying.

1 Peter, chapter 4, verses 12.

1 Peter 4:12

I just want to read this over those who are experiencing persecution today.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to

test you, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice

that so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice

and be glad when His glory is revealed.

And so, Father, We ask God for the, in the situations and circumstances

across the planet where people feel isolated, alone, and hopeless.

God, that you would shift the atmosphere of their hearts, and they would have

reason to rejoice today, because if they have you, they have everything.

And so, Jesus, thank you that your glory would be revealed through

these amazing children of God, these brothers and sisters who are hurting,

and we stand with them today, and we declare they are not alone.

And so, Father, we ask for your Holy Spirit to come.

And when they hurt, we hurt.

Break our hearts, Father, for what breaks Yours.

And we look forward to the day when all wrongs will be made right, and

Your glorious Kingdom will find its fulfillment in Your return.

In Jesus name, Amen.

There's an interesting holy hush across the course of our

morning together today and,

u that's intentional because, the Holy

Spirit's present amongst us,

actually.

And so when

a person or a family is

suffering, for their faith, It's holy.

It's a holy moment.

And the reason why it's holy is because there's a sense of weight to it.

Do you feel the weight in the room?

It's kind of

weighty.

It's an interesting

picture about God's glory having weight.

That when God's glory is being revealed through the most

tragic of circumstances, through

suffering, it's holy.

Because it's a moment that even though it's unwanted, even though it's

difficult, there's a beauty to it.

So it's important to keep our hearts and minds aware of that when we're

focusing on such a matter like we

are today.

This is not

something we're ticking off our Christian to do list like suddenly and

now I get to post something on social media about this today so I look good.

This is not about us.

This is about others, and it's about what God is doing across the globe.

And so we, it's right to come with a holy hush, actually, because it's not about us.

Does that make sense?

So it's a work of the Spirit to break our hearts for what breaks his.

And, it's, when

we talk about these topics, it always feels a bit foreign to us, doesn't it?

Because we don't, experience these types of things personally.

And so that means we need a work of the Spirit to reveal to us the weight of this.

And so in a moment, what we're going to do is we're going to end our service

on a, in a song, and it's a song of declaration, Reign Above It All.

I'm pretty sure that's the song we're doing, because in over every

nation, over every situation, Jesus still reigns, even though We

don't see it as though it will be

one day.

During the

course of this song I'd love to invite you to

participate in our offering

that we're going to be sending towards Open

Doors.

And so, as you can

see there's buckets down the front, and so during the course of this song

that we're going to sing, and it's okay if you, if you don't stand straight

away, but you want to complete your

envelope.

There are

pens at the back if you want to do

grab one.

So, it's

okay if you're completing your form as opposed to singing.

Does that

make sense?

I'd love

you to do that and I'd love you to come forward in your time.

What's that?

Well, you can put cash in them.

It's no problem.

And whatever you like.

I just wanted to give you an idea that 50 good food, give food and

clothing and hygiene products and medical care to a displaced believer.

100 a month, a month, 100 at some point could give education to a

displaced child and give them a future.

200 could give emergency housing and support for a displaced family,

providing food, shelter, and

clothing.

And so, as we bring

this moment to a close, I want to let you know that if God tells

you not to give, don't give.

But if the Holy Spirit tells you to give, ask how much.

And be obedient in that moment.

1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 17.

1 Timothy 6:17

This is written to those people who live in Western Australia, Perth.

In case you weren't sure.

It's to you.

Command those in Perth, Western Australia.

Command, that's a pretty strong word, isn't it?

What?

Yep.

Command them to do good.

To be rich in good deeds.

To be generous and willing to share.

And in that way you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

A firm foundation for the coming age.

so that they may take hold of life that is truly life.

Father, we thank You for today.

We thank You for the opportunity, not just to stand by ignorantly, but to be

informed, to be moved, to be broken.

For what breaks yours, your heart, Father.

Break us, Lord.

And Lord, we pray, Father, that the finances that are given in every

situation, from the smallest to the greatest, biggest, largest gift, whatever

the figure is, God, we pray that they would have kingdom impact for those

who are hurting, for those who are lonely, for those who have no hope.

But Jesus, you would penetrate their worlds to let them know

that they are not forgotten.

In Jesus name.

Amen.