A Year in Review: The 2024 CityLight Highlights

Welcome to the CityLight Church Podcast. Thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's

Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us.

If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com,

that citylightnyc.com.

Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already

working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are

deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope

and a future for you.

Our final Sunday of 2024 is a time where we recaps some of the victories and wins that

the Lord has granted us this year, and where we show you what you've been a part of.

You know, you don't live Christianity out singularly alone. We're all interconnected.

We're all body parts in the body of Christ, and I'm grateful for church that's alive.

I really am. That's a big thing. Like as a pastor, I'm glad I get to look forward to

going to church. I really like the people that I get to pastor. It's a big thing. Not

every pastor. In fact, most, I dare say, can't say that. They're like, I love them, but

I don't like them. But I'm so glad. I actually like you. I like your zeal. I like your commitment.

I like your seriousness about the Lord, and this is what we've done together to further

the kingdom of God, to expand this kingdom. We're not just sitting idly by. You're moving

together. We're moving together, and we're doing something for the kingdom. So we're

going to recap past your own eye a few things. Number one, this year we took a team of 24

fiery city lighters to Nebah, Guatemala. Amen. So this region of Guatemala is where the

indigenous Yishio people live. They're the direct descendants of the Maya. There was zero

Christianity in this region before the early 80s. And then when the McCooms came to actually

where the first ones to preach the gospel, the first ones to bring the written Word of God

and open it up and teach from it. This is hundreds of thousands of people that heard the gospel

in this generation since the early 80s alone. We've been helping out when I say we, I mean

you, monthly supporting since 2009. So that's over 15 years going on 16 years soon. And

we have helped build over 40 churches in Guatemala. And again, when I say we, I mean you, 40

churches, how about that? We talk about seed in the ground. We're believing God for our own

building in Queens. We've helped build 40 of them in Nebah and the surrounding areas. So let's

take a look at this video of the trip that just happened last February.

So awesome. Now, that's our home, homegrown song, right? Home made anyone from the worship team?

Are they on a cigarette break? Where are they? You know how the worship team is. It's a joke.

Yeah, that's you, right? I mean, I know because I felt extra anointing on it. Just wanted to confirm,

didn't want to confirm. Put that out. You confessed your sin earlier, you stomped it out, wash your hands

because they'll tell by your finger smell. I think you can pop them in, but it's the fingers that

give you away. When you've got them a hug me and your hand lends on my shoulder. That's how a pastor

knows. Praise God. See, if I can get you uncomfortable enough and you'll expose that part of your

heart to where the Lord can come and heal it. No, I'm just, I'm just just defying why I'm cringed

sometimes. Thank you, Lord. Two, we have also since 2009 been ministering in Bajirdar, Ethiopia.

We are the primary supporter of the Grace Center. We often call it an orphanage, although it's so

much more than an orphanage. It's also a medical center slash hospital, really the only hospital in

the area. It's an orphan prevention center and they feed. I used to say 700 people daily because

the last time I saw it in person was in 2010. It's now grown to several thousand people every day

that they feed. Marcy Erickson was with us. She is a gem of a woman. She left from very comfortable

Naples, Florida. When she was 18 years old to go to Ethiopia, this you never know what God is

going to do with your life. A heart that's surrendered to the Lord, nothing is impossible to them.

And you just go where God says go and you take risks of faith and you see how he comes through for

you. She she called up and asked and she only comes a few times like or once every few years. She

said, can I, can I stop? I'd love to give the people an update. She never ever asks for money.

She receives monthly support for us. She never even asks for hotel. I mean, we pay her hotel

and all this. She doesn't ask for anything. She's like, I think your people may want to hear what's

going on. Never asks for anything. So I said, hey, we'll cover your cost and what we can do is

receive a special offering for you. And I received an offering and I just said, hey, where it's

mission Sunday and whatever you give is going to go completely to the Grace Center. It's not

going to so nothing will go to Guatemala, nothing we have for that. But I'm saying everything will go

to Ethiopia. And I just said it like that, right? If you were there, you remember. In other words,

it's not like we had a raw raw session and I tried to get as much as possible. And $34,000 came in

that Sunday for the Grace Center. I thought two or three thousand dollars and we'll just continue

with our monthly support. But I'm just blessed, again, to Pastor Church, where people hear from God

and people give in faith, which enables us to do what we're doing. So let's hear this video message

from Marcy. I pastor Boyan and everyone at City Light, we're so very grateful for you and your

amazing partnership with us at Grace Center. I want you to know we could not do this without you.

Thank you so much. I want to share with you a bit about what has happened in Ethiopia over the

last year. Grace Center is poised for significant growth within the next year with two major expansion

opportunities provided the violence and the region dissipates. First, the deputy mayor announced

on TV his commitment to allocate land in various city sections for Grace Center's new daycares.

This expansion will dramatically increase our capacity to support women and children in need.

We've also been asked many times to expand Grace Center by government officials.

This confirms our belief that our mission extends beyond a single location.

A team including my husband, Safu, assistant director, Warkoo, and new employee,

Mesfin, visited the city of Debra Marcos. There they were immediately able to meet with city

leaders sharing what God has done in Bajardar and exploring opportunities to serve Debra Marcos.

With a population of over 300,000 people, the city lacking similar programs welcomed our initiative.

They said that in the entire history of the city, not once has any organization come to offer help

to the people there. So we go on a journey to Ethiopia and then Bajardar.

You can see Grace Center and then a four-hour drive south to Debra Marcos.

Just like there weren't programs in Bajardar before 2006, now it's the same in Debra Marcos.

Until now, and this is our land where the trees are south of that dirt road.

Thanks to your support, we raised $1.1 million last year, assisting 20,000 people in Ethiopia.

Because of God and because of you, we were able to say yes to everyone who came to us in need,

and even serve the masses through water distribution and an emergency phone line.

This year, our goal is to raise $1.5 million.

This will finance more daycares in Bajardar and initiate our expansion in Debra Marcos.

Before COVID and the war, Grace Center served 3,000 people annually.

This year, because of you, we served over 50,000 people.

50,000. From our humble beginnings in 2006 with just five foster children,

we've grown beyond what we could have imagined.

Thank you so much for your partnership with Grace Center.

I want you to know that you are saving and transforming thousands of lives.

God bless you.

And thank you, City Light Church.

Thank you for making that happen since 2009, every single month,

without skipping a beat.

You know what kind of a testimony that is?

Without ever being late on our support.

That in 15 years, with any of the missionaries we support around the world,

they never had to get a phone call text or email from me saying,

we're going to be a little late this month.

Believe with us, help us to pray it in.

No, it just comes in every single month, like clockwork.

Because God is faithful and you've been faithful.

Three, we've had Eric Metaxas with us here.

In August, we did a whole summer life group based around his book,

Letter to the American Church, I years ago.

A long time ago, when I was boy on, now I'm bow.

When I was boy on, I also was very apolitical.

In fact, in my ignorance, I once said, a long, long time ago,

like early 2020, before I was radicalized.

I said, I actually said it when we shared, I said,

I'm about as political as the Apostle Paul,

which is to say not at all.

And I took great pride in that also.

Until I saw my world change, until I saw ridiculous government overreach,

until I saw that, hey, the preaching of the gospel is actually linked

to the current political climate, because we got locked out of our building.

We got put out.

I mean, culture is shifting so rapidly and changing

that it actually does matter how we vote and how we organize ourselves.

Thank you for being a part of that.

Let's take a look at this video clip.

Evil is deceiving, right?

So people can do evil things and they don't know.

Born off herself by 1935, it's over.

The church said we're not interested in this, but we don't do politics.

And he's like, well, is that a biblical idea?

A lot of people kind of assume it's a biblical idea.

I literally spoke to a pastor yesterday.

A hugely important pastor.

He's now retired, but I love this man.

This is an amazing man.

But he said to me on the phone, I didn't want to argue with him.

I didn't have the energy.

But he said to me on the phone, I would never endorse a political candidate

and would never endorse a political party.

And he sounded very pious when he said that.

And I'm thinking like, are you insane?

But tons of pastors say that.

Good pastors, this guy is one of the best, but he said that.

And I thought, here's the problem.

That's not biblical.

But where did you get that idea that that's biblical?

Where did you get that idea?

If you imagine, it's 1850, okay?

Slavery is on the ballot.

And you say, we don't get into that in our church.

We don't take a stand on slavery.

Now today, we'd be like, that's nuts.

Many, many pastors at that time, maybe because it didn't affect them.

It was very convenient to say, we don't get into that.

Well, God gets into that.

That's a moral issue, but they say, we don't do politics.

We just do church.

That's the devil's kind of church, folks,

that will not take a stand on slavery.

But we're living through something now.

It's the same thing.

Evil comes up and says, oh, well, that's too political.

So this pastor, yesterday, says this to me,

and I was like, I just didn't want to get into it with him.

Because I know he thinks right on all the issues.

But he actually said, but I would never publicly endorse a candidate,

or I would never publicly endorse a party.

I'm thinking, nobody's telling you to worship a candidate.

And nobody's telling you to worship a political party.

Nobody's telling you to make an idol of politics.

Every idol is satanic.

You don't make an idol.

But to say that you won't take a stand that you won't want to make.

Why?

Because you're afraid, you lose your 501C3 tax system.

Is that why?

You make it sound biblical.

But it's because you're afraid the government will come after you.

Do you ever occur to you?

The government is wrong.

It's occurred to me once or twice lately.

Hallelujah.

Just thinking about Ethiopia.

Last time I was there was 2010.

If you ask why, I think I'm going to give you a very christiany's answer

and just say, I wasn't led back.

But if I analyze why, I wasn't led back.

I mean, I'm willing to do and go wherever the Lord says.

In fact, the weirder, the better.

But it's got to be the Lord.

He's told me once back in 2010.

He hasn't phoned about that since.

I haven't answered.

But I have some distinct memories of when I was there.

One was taking 45 minutes to shower

because this any bitty stream of water would come.

Look like an American shower head.

Look like a normal shower.

But full blast, hardly any water.

It would look like a squirt gun.

Just slowly coming down.

And then it would stop.

And then the food, now I've been to over 50 countries.

I've eaten different kinds of food.

But this was different on a whole not the level.

So it was a real challenge.

I could get past all that.

But what was really hard for me was preaching for several days

with my whole heart, with zero effect on people.

And I thought, what is happening here?

I mean, I preached on one of the largest

Pentecostal churches in the country.

That's right there in that town.

And I'm going all out.

And you can't hear anything but crickets.

And it wasn't until days later

where I found out that their language structure

is completely different than ours.

Like in America, I would say,

the boy ran across the street with the ball.

But over there you put all the nouns first

and then you add the verb.

It would be boy, ball, street, ran across.

Now that makes all the difference when you have a translator.

Because I'm trying to preach in English,

and I'm wondering what's taking him so long to translate.

He's like reprieaching my whole.

So it wasn't my fault.

It was a translator.

He's having to reconstruct the whole sentence

and he's reprieaching my whole message.

And I felt very, very ineffectual,

ineffective.

And then once they drove us out into the bush,

far away from the town of Bar here, Dar,

where there's been minimal contact with the people.

So these are people that are literally living in the bush

in mudhuts and have not gone to school a day in their lives.

And I give an alter call after an impassioned gospel message.

I give an alter call and right at the alter call,

the whole group of them, over 100 people, stand up and go,

ah, turn around.

I'm not kidding.

I had an alter call in reverse.

That's not what an evangelist wants to see.

And then I said, what was it me?

Was it my shirt?

What was it?

Was it my off-brand comedic styling?

What drove them away?

And they said, right when you were giving the alter call,

a message came that their posing tribe

was plotting against them.

So right as I finished the alter call,

and none of them closed their eyes when I said,

I'm doing an American style alter.

I learned a lot on that trip.

Just because people are comfortable to close their eyes

where you're from doesn't mean they're going to be comfortable

out in the middle of the bush.

So they ran away from me.

Less than learned, and maybe one day the Lord will call me back.

And I can remedy those early mistakes

of a young pastor boy on.

Before he became pastor Bowen,

became a lot more mature.

Books from Eric Metaxas.

We have all these books.

And Pastor Mo, because I clocked a few people

in the head in the first service,

Pastor Mo took out insurance in between services.

Extra insurance.

So who would like some of Eric Metaxas' book?

I'm going to throw it at you as hard as I can.

Religionless Christianity.

God's answer to evil.

All right, I can't do that to you.

Can you help?

I'm out.

We're going to need a little...

Right over there.

All right.

You know what, there's a...

Marie, so why don't you have some fun with these?

You wave your hand.

And then fish out of water.

This one is three times as heavy as the previous book.

And that was nice to him, wasn't it,

to donate the remainder of his books to our church?

Yeah, you'd like fish out of water.

Fish out of water.

I'm sorry, the ones in the second are getting first dibs

because the liability is less.

Thank you, Michelle.

Thank you.

And thank you, Lord, for what you've been doing in 2024.

And we trust that we'll be even more effective in 2025.

We'll see more people come to you.

More people experience your transformative touch.

Pastor Mo, will you come on up and share what else the Lord has been doing?

Oh, we have more books.

All right, as you do that.

Michelle, I'm just going to leave...

Leave these couple of books here for you.

Well, good afternoon, church.

All right, all right.

Oh, we got one clap for Pastor Mo.

That's all.

One.

What did Denzel say?

I got eyes on all of you.

Hey, man.

But one of the things that I wanted to highlight that the Lord did in our church,

we partnered with an organization called Love Life this year for the first time.

And it was an amazing thing because they have a very radical ministry

and very old school.

They actually camp outside of Planned Parenthood

and they minister evangelistically to everyone that is coming in and out of the building.

Now, if you don't know, Planned Parenthood was started by a woman by the name of Margaret Sanger

and her whole idea and thought was eugenic.

She wanted to eliminate certain races because she was a racist.

Let's call it what it is.

Now, today, Planned Parenthood not only does abortion,

but they do some medical practices, so you would think that if you see one of these things,

it's like, oh, that's just the medical facility.

The origins are very ugly and evil.

And to this day, murder is still taking place in those buildings.

We actually have a couple of photos that you can play in the background as I'm sharing.

So basically, what they do is they stand outside old school trying to reach people

and reason with them and let them know you do not have to kill your unborn child.

There are options. There are alternatives.

So just pointing people in the right direction.

Now, can I say, a ministry like that doesn't yield thousands of results,

but I don't think that it needs to.

So in our time partnering with them, we only go out one Saturday a month on the fourth Saturday.

We saw, I believe it was three people total, completely stop and say,

I'm not going to engage in this.

I'm not going to murder my unborn child.

Now, the reason that we clap and we celebrate that is think about this.

What if somebody said that about you before you were born?

No, their life doesn't matter. No, their life can't continue.

But by God's grace, you were able to have that chance at life.

So really, we want you to engage with us.

If you're ever able, come out on one of the Saturdays.

And again, it's literally just as simple as stopping people, speaking with them, offering to pray.

Because although we only stopped three people and we saved those three lives,

the amount of people that received prayer, that received counsel in the hundreds,

like God is doing this thing everywhere, but especially stopping murder,

that's something I want to be a part of.

So I'm very grateful that City Light has partnered with Love Light.

The second thing I want to highlight this year that has been amazing is our healing rooms.

Raise your hand if you've ever been to the City Light healing rooms.

All right, look at the hands, look at the hands, praise God.

So if you don't know what healing rooms are, on the second Saturday of every month,

City Light Church opens up the same facility where we're going to be meeting next Sunday,

because we're not meeting here, correct?

All right, 4619 31st Avenue, that St. Andrews Church.

On the second Saturday of the month, we meet there every month,

and we do according to the scriptures, we lay our hands upon the sick,

and we watch them recover.

And when I say we, I'm not talking about the leadership team,

I'm talking about a group of volunteers that has been trained,

because one of the misnomers that people don't really understand is healing belongs to Christians,

and not leadership, healing.

If you call yourself a Christian, the Bible is very clear that you have the ability to heal people.

That supernatural power of God will flow through you,

come upon a sick person, and watch them get well.

I want to read you a scripture.

Mark 16, verse 16 says this,

Mark 16:16

He who believes in His baptize will be saved,

but He who does not believe will be condemned,

and these signs will follow those who believe.

Do we have any believers in the building?

Okay, just checking, just checking.

In my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues,

they will take observance, and if they drink anything deadly,

well by no means hurt them, they will what?

Lay hands on the sick, and the sick will what?

They will recover.

This is so powerful, because I believe we prayed for 96 people this year.

Now, you can slow clap on that if you want,

but understand this 96 people walking in and having the power of God fall over them.

So that they walk in one way and leave one way different without pain.

Can we give God glory?

So I'm actually going to read you two testimonies of people

that recently reached out to me about their experience at the healing rooms.

And know this, when it comes to the healing rooms, everything is anonymous.

So you might say to yourself, well, man, that sounds great,

but I don't want people all in my business.

Don't worry, they won't be.

So you can come and receive prayer, you can even come and participate as one of the volunteers.

Everything is kept confidential.

So this is why I'm not telling you their name.

Please go.

My healing rooms experience was absolutely incredible.

I went in feeling stressed, anxious, and nervous about a thyroid nodule

that had suddenly appeared and could have been malignant and cancerous.

My healing rooms experience, I felt God speak to me and let me know that I was healed.

I left knowing and trusting that God would either make the nodules supernaturally disappear

or that it would be benign.

After the healing room, I felt like I was walking on clouds.

I felt incredibly peaceful and remained that way for the next three weeks,

leading up to my biopsy and until I got my results.

I knew that God had performed a miracle and that I was okay.

I was healed.

When I finally got the biopsy results because they confirmed what I knew God had already done.

The thyroid nodule is benign, glory be to God.

So she continues, she says, God heals through these healing rooms.

The healing rooms are filled with true people of God who are connected to the Lord

and overflowing with the Holy Spirit.

Y'all were spiritually ready and willing to intercede on my behalf.

I was so incredibly blessed by the prayers for me on that Saturday

and will forever be grateful for prayer warriors that allowed the Lord to lead

and use them for his glory and honor.

Can we pray, God?

I got one more for you.

So I'm going to read you, this was the person's prayer request that they wrote down on the form

because it's like a doctor's office.

You come in, you fill out a form, you sit down in the waiting room,

then you go inside, the power of God wax you up and then you leave healed.

So this was the prayer request that they would no longer receive

nerve blocking injections in their head to prevent migraines.

It was a result of a brain aneurysm that they had that they had to get the shots.

And also there was a paralyzing nerve that was on a bump on their head left

from the brain surgery.

It said, if the pain persisted, the next step would have been to get surgery

to file down the bone.

This is all in the head area.

Yeah, you go, ugh.

We're the nervous.

Also, the last part of her prayer request said, my father relapsed on Tuesday.

He's an alcoholic.

He was sober for two months, but he fell off the horse again.

His verbal abuse has been affecting me all my life and recently has me even questioning

whether I should have survived my brain aneurysm.

This is a text message I received yesterday.

Hi, Pastor Mo.

Well, I no longer receive injections to my head.

That's how you start a testimony.

I do get an occasional headache, but a manageable one that I can use aspirin for.

But hallelujah, I'm no longer getting nerve blocking injections.

My father is no longer an alcoholic.

He has been sober and for over a year now.

God gave me my dad back.

This past October, I met with my neurosurgeon and my brain scans were completely clear.

Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He healed back then.

He healed in the healing rooms, and he's willing to heal in 2025.

So anybody who is willing to volunteer and join us, even if you just want to come and receive prayer,

if you're sick in your body, you have the ability to receive healing and also to minister to others.

Praise God.

One last thing I want to share with you guys, Brandon, you can come on up.

I want to talk to you guys about life groups.

Life groups are the lifeblood of our church, and why do I say that?

Everything wonderful happens at life groups.

We follow the model from the books of Acts, where it says that they met in the temple,

but then also they met from house to house, breaking bread, having fellowship.

See what I'm talking about?

Food is just part of it.

We call it the three Fs, food, fun, and fellowship.

But basically, what happens in these life groups is you get an opportunity for fellowship.

You get an opportunity for accountability.

You get to know other Christians.

Christians get to know you.

But here's a bigger part, too.

You actually get to minister.

On a general Sunday, it's either I or Pastor Bow, or maybe a guest speaker,

but you don't really get to do much ministering.

You receive.

But in a life group, we're asking that you would participate.

You get to pray for people.

You get to give a word of knowledge.

You get to be a minister, because that's what you are.

Amen.

Okay.

So we're just inviting you to understand how amazing life groups are.

And I figured Brandon could share with us about some of the amazing things that happened this year.

This is a freshly minted and married Brian, by the way.

Let's go.

Brandon.

I bless. How you doing?

My name is Brandon.

No, not Brian.

Good job.

So there was a time in my life where I was wild.

I was lost.

I had a lot of anger.

I was definitely rebellious.

But then I started watching in city light online,

attending churches on Sunday, but what really did for me was life groups.

So attending life groups, God was able to show me how He viewed me.

He was able to show me how He just covered me with His love to the point where I felt enough.

You know, everything I've been through, that was the past.

He has plans for me.

You know, so that was a blessing.

I'm just so thankful for that.

Through life groups, God was able to bless me and change my heart.

He rearranged it.

It was allowed me to see His people differently,

that I'm able to be more loving and interact with His children.

And even my friends and family, I didn't just restore my relationship with Him,

and restored relationships with others.

So I do recommend joining a life group.

I think it'll help you whether you have a busy schedule or not.

There's so many options.

Get plugged in.

Allow God to take the old things and get it passed away so that new things can be come to pass

by His grace and mercy.

And I'm thankful for Him.

Now I'm a man of purpose.

I have this piece that goes beyond understanding because of Him and through Him.

So join a life group, and I see you out there.

Yeah.

My God.

For some, the story is this.

All right.

I'm going to go to church.

I'm making this decision.

I'm going to church.

I'm going to come late, and I'm going to leave early.

I don't need to talk to nobody.

I'm just going to come in.

I'm going to come out and live my hand.

I'm going to go.

He made the decision that it wasn't just going to stop there.

He made the decision to engage.

And the challenge and the invite is I want you to engage.

The next semester of life group starts in late February.

It's going to be a dramatic and powerful time of food, fun, and fellowship.

God bless, guys.

Amen.

Thank God for life groups.

I can't imagine what my early Christianity would have been like if it wasn't for spending time.

And time with just regular Christians.

A lot of my, the vast majority of my discipleship didn't take place on a Sunday.

It took place Monday through Saturday, engaging with other believers.

I really appreciate that testimony.

Especially that a man gave it.

Because men seem to have a harder time.

Going to a life group.

In fact, Pastor Moe mentioned that word accountability.

Men usually just recoil physically when they hear that word.

I want to be accountable to anyone.

That's a normal feeling for a guy.

But the transformation happens with other people involved.

And God will use you to help transform someone's life.

It's the way God built it, his church, people ministering to people.

And it just can't happen when you're alone.

There are no lone ranger Christians.

Doesn't exist.

In fact, think of the weirdest, strangest Christian you know.

Yeah, you got that face in your head.

And you'll find that more than likely they're not attending a church and not plugged in.

Right?

And they just kind of tell say things like I just go where the fire is.

I mean, sound spiritual.

They're all burnt up.

I go where the wind blows.

That's why you hear it looks like that.

There's no discipleship and the boots have never grown roots.

Amen.

So another thing I want to celebrate as we wrap up 2024 is that for the last 15 plus years,

we have been having two baptismal services.

We're on average, we baptize over 30 people every time, sometimes up to 70, 80, 100 people.

This is important.

It's vital because when you look at the early church in the first century, in the book of Acts,

baptism was a normal part of what they practiced and a normal part of the salvation package as it was presented.

Something got distorted throughout the centuries where the message became just invite Jesus into your heart.

By the way, that's unscriptural.

It's unbiblical.

There's nothing in the Bible that suggests you should just invite Jesus into your heart.

The gospel message is give Jesus your life surrender to Him and trust in Him for His righteousness.

And now you have the same right standing with God as He has with God.

That's the message.

And then if you really believe that, follow through with baptism.

And there's a big problem in the American church that on average, the average American church baptizes one person every three years.

That's the average.

That's not good.

So a measure of health for church is healthy, frequent baptisms where people who actually make a decision for the Lord are following through on that decision by getting baptized.

And if, by the way, that's you and you're like, well, I've never been baptized or I heard I was baptized as a baby.

If you got wet when you were a baby, I want to just suggest this to you that you weren't baptized.

You were christened.

And you got wet.

And if you want to argue with me, please come prepared with one, just one.

Scriptural example of a baby getting baptized. Find me one.

Now some of you you're hearing this for the first time and there's not one.

A baby can't make a decision for the Lord. Your parents did that to you.

They did that to you.

They messed you up.

Made you think you were baptized.

There's not one scriptural example of it.

You have to do two things before you're baptized.

I see this is different than the first service because I'm hunting for a couple of people.

I'm like a hound in the spirit.

I can just tell somebody in this.

I didn't have to go like this in the first service, but several people need to hear this in the second service.

Because you need to get baptized.

You're wondering why it's just not connecting for you.

The Christianity and your relationship with the Lord.

You're missing baptized.

And when you're baptized in water, then come and we're going to get you baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Filled with the Holy Spirit.

With evidence of speaking and other tongues in the heavenly.

No, it doesn't make you weird.

It makes you more like Jesus.

Hallelujah.

It makes you more like the Apostle Paul.

It makes you more like the first century church.

Let's look at this video of our most recent baptism.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

By the way, when city light first started, we would baptize one or two people a year.

And I complained to the Lord about it.

And he said, well, why don't you just have baptisms as part of the annual calendar?

I said, well, there's no one to baptize.

And he said, that's because you don't have it on the calendar.

So what I was doing was waiting for people to get saved and going, you need to get baptized.

And we were baptizing one or two.

And then we just said, all right, fine.

Every fall, we're having baptisms.

And every spring, we're having baptisms.

And that was like back in 0506.

And since then, I'm just giving you this so you know that the Lord responds to faith.

So nobody's registering for baptisms, but by faith, we're putting it on the calendar.

And since then, we've had baptisms galore.

We've never had a bad baptism service.

Never where we go.

Wow, what happened this time?

Where did everybody go?

No.

God always brings people who need to get baptized and have just recently gotten saved.

Before I go to my final point and celebrate what the Lord has done in 2024, let me just say this.

21 days of prayer and fasting is starting January the 1st.

Oh yeah.

Later, after we set this date, I found out that over 90% of the churches that do 21 days of prayer and fasting are starting in January 5th or 6th.

You know why they do that?

Because people are too messed up to start January the 1st.

Not really.

It's too extreme of a shift.

How do you feel on January 1st?

You've been eating really badly.

Maybe not you because your skin is glowing.

But typically, right?

From Christmas to now, there's just too much happening.

You're visiting family.

You're eating 19 meals a day.

And then the church is going to tell you in January 1st, cut it all off.

So give you a week to acclimate a little bit and then you start your fast.

Well, we're starting January the 1st.

I want everyone to be a part of it.

Now, that does not mean you have to fast and not eat for 21 days.

Some people, many people will be doing that.

I'm telling you right now, I won't be doing that.

Well, first of all, you know how many birthdays I celebrated with just candles and no cake?

My birthday falls on January 17th.

So there have been years.

My 40th birthday I didn't eat, you know?

So I'm eating and also we have John and Carol are not coming.

So I have to take them out.

I don't want to give them a bag full of air and go have what I'm having.

I have to host them properly.

So here's what you need to do.

Get a number from the Lord of how many days you're going fast.

It could be just one day.

It could be two days.

It could be three days.

It could be one day a week.

You know, you can actually do business with God.

You can actually reason with Him.

And I found He's very reasonable, more reasonable than people.

That's why in Isaiah, Isaiah, the prophet has come now and let us reason together, says the Lord.

Though you sins be as scarlet.

There shall be as white as wool.

Though they be red light crimson.

There shall be as snow.

God is reasonable.

So for example, if you work construction and someone in your life group says,

I'm fasting for 21 days and you know that that is physically impossible for you.

Reason with the Lord, He'll still keep you two days for the whole 21.

But what everyone can do is join us for prayer every night at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

So you've all received the links unless you ignored me when I talked about the connection cards.

But it's in our weekly email.

It's on our website.

So that's happening in just a few days.

Join us.

And this is important because we want to lay the foundation for 2025.

And I've noticed the difference in my life since years ago we began opening up the year with 21 days of prayer and fasting.

It just changes things.

You center on the Lord.

You come and pray.

You add some fasting to it and watch what the Lord does.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

And finally, to just celebrate what the Lord has done in 2024, I thank God for our volunteers.

When I reminisce, yes.

When I reminisce the first years of city light, it was like one giant pool to get volunteers.

That's it was like pray, preach the word and get volunteers.

And I haven't thought about volunteers that we need them in years.

You guys are the first ones that I see.

You're the ones who show up early and leave late.

The first impressions, the ushers, the worship team, the media team, the city kids downstairs.

Thank you.

Thank you for serving.

Thank you for making city light run.

Thank you for keeping the lights functioning at city lights.

And let's just watch this video of our...

This is how one of the ways we say thank you, not just the sweatshirt for Christmas.

But we rented a boat to tour New York Harbor.

To say thank you and to celebrate you.

Come on!

You make it happen!

You make it happen!

The 20th, 24th Novo War goes through.

Great job!

Put your hands together.

Worship team, come on up.

Thank you, Lord.

If you want prayer for anything, maybe you just want somebody to pray with you and release their faith with you.

Believe God for the best year you're ever going to have.

We welcome you to come to my left.

You're right.

That whole area over there lit up in the green and red.

That's our ministry area.

People from the ministry team will meet you there.

I'm believing for big things for you.

There's no other way to say it.

I just feel it in my bones.

I feel it in my fingers.

I feel it in my toes.

There are seasons.

There are just seasons where life is life.

There are seasons where it's more difficult than normal.

And then there are seasons where years happen in weeks.

It seems like God just puts you on the accelerator.

You're in the whole lane.

You're in the Jehovah lane.

You're worried and extra fast.

And that's the season I feel that we as the body of Christ are entering into now.

A lot of the body of Christ has been beat up since 2020.

But it's like a new day.

And my faith is that you're going to have a year where you'll have to pinch yourself.

Because you think you're dreaming.

Release your faith for that.

Can you?

Let's all stand to our feet and I want to lead you in a proclamation.

The Bible says the death and life are in the power of the tongue.

So, mixed faith as you say this.

Say this in the name of Jesus.

The plans of the devil are canceled over my life.

I am victorious.

And Jesus is my Lord.

This year, 2025.

I'm going higher from glory to glory.

The abundance of God.

The goodness of God.

The prosperity of God.

The love of God will increase in my life.

Victory is mine.

In 2025.

In Jesus name.

The big amen.

Hallelujah.

If you want prayer, go to the ministry area.

But regardless, lift your hands and sing this with all of your heart.

This is the City Light Church podcast.

If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik and City Light Church,

visit us at citylightnyc.com.

That's citylightnyc.com.

Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime.

We would love to connect with you.

We pray that you have been encouraged today.

That you have been reminded how much God loves you.

And that you are surrounded by grace.

Thank you for listening.

Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.

You