Sermon
Always Give Only Your Best To God | Pr Kenneth Chin
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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You're listening to a message to go from as church. We hope this message
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will light up your day. Today. In Malaysia, it's also Father's Day,
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so I want to wish all the amazing fathers a very blessed happy Father's
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Day. Amen. I pray that God will bless all our fathers with strength
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and with peace and with wisdom. Even as you lead your families and even
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your work places. May the Lord bless you. Let me not tell you
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how this message came about. I was asked by the Tuesday Espil to speak
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for June the eighteenth, and they said to me, Pasta, this will
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be to all the ex churches and therefore it needs to be recorded as well
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so that we can show across here at the local churches in Malaysia as well
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as the global churches. So I felt a little bit nervous because you know,
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I've not done this for some time, and I thought to myself,
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Wow, one message, what would that message be? It is an important
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task and I take it very seriously. So I started to pray. I
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said, Lord, give me that one message that could be timely word for
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your church on June eighteen. So this is what happened some of you know
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that recently Benji and Michelle came back from Osaka for a two week break.
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So while I was with Benji over I think it was breakfast, he started
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to share with me about the progress in ex Osaka. He told me many
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wonderful things that God was doing in Osaka. He explained how homes started and
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then how our Sunday worship services started. I was so excited when I heard
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how he explained to me God's favor, especially when he told me how they
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found a venue at the YMCA in Osaka and how even though it's supposed to
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be pretty expensive the rental, but they received favor after favor and God not
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just one time discount, but twice. YMCA came back to Benji Michelle saying
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that we want to actually charge you cheaper than what it is. So that's
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what you call a double portion event. No, it's so good to ex
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Osaka. And then Benji told me that they are about probably five to seven
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regulars on a Sunday. So I was thinking, right in my mind,
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even though with such a good discount that YMCA gave, could they still afford
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could our people out five to seven people a four the weekly rental. And
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this is where Benji excitedly explained to me, Pasta, we can afford the
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weekly rental because even though there's just very few of us at this point in
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time, they are good givers. And Benji added, Pasta, we haven't
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even taught on tides and offering yet. How cool is that you don't even
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have to teach yet on tides offering and giving, and people who are new
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to the church are already giving enough for the rental and half of that number
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it's not even Christian yet, how does it happen? So Benji explain,
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he said, Pastor, when these people come for homes, he said,
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me and Michelle, we always do our best. You know, we cook
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a meal, we you know, buy desserts or whatever it is that we
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do, we always do it for the whole homes without asking them to even
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pay for anything. So you know, they've been watching Benji Michelle Friday after
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Friday. They are watching Benji and Michelle give their best. And so they
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started also bringing good things like desserts and fruits and ice cream and cookies.
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And they also will not ask Benji Michelle for any money to claim, Benjie
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told me pasta. We actually asked them, you know, can we pay
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you back? Can we raise up money? Can we ask the people to
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give an offering? And they said no, No, Benji, Michelle,
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you do this every time we come for homes, and we just want to
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give back. Because you do it, you give your best, we now
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want to give our best. And so that's the way you disciple, right.
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You just show from your own life what's important, what's right, what's
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good, and people will be watching. They're always people watching, and they
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will be able to catch not just from your words, but from your life
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and from your action. And that's where I felt God drop a simple basic
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message into my heart for you today. I told Benji, Benji, it
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seems like when you give your best and when you live your best, and
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when you always you know, just display that attitude. You don't even have
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to although it's important too, but you don't even have to teach people about
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tithe and offering, and people will already know how to give not just enough,
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but more than enough to be able to pay not only for a weekly
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rental, but for anything that is needed in serving the Lord. Don't get
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me wrong, it's good to teach on tithe. It's good to teach on
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offering, but listen, just from Benji and Michelle's story, do you hear
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do you hear this important truth that as so long as people know how to
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give their best, they don't even need to hear the teaching on tithes and
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offering before they give. You get that. That's the important point I want
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to get across. Now, could that even mean if you stretch that thought
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that we don't even have to teach about prayer and people will know how to
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pray. You don't even have to teach about community outreach and people will still
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you know, be able to care for the poor. You don't even have
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to teach about serving in the House of God because people, you know the
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heart of wanting to give God the best, will want to serve and want
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to give their best to God. Think about it. If people really knew
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how to give only their best to God, you don't even have to teach
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them to honor their parents because they will. You don't even have to teach
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them to be good wives or good husbands, or good parents or good neighbors.
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You know almost everything that we are teaching from the Word of God.
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If people can just catch the spirit of all always only giving their best to
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God. You know they would rise up to the occasion even if they've never
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heard the teaching. You don't even have to teach about missions. You don't
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even have to teach them, you know, about being a good citizen of
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Malaysia. You don't have to teach them, you know, to come early
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to church. You don't even have to teach them to dress their best for
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God. What would be that one teaching that the Lord would have us all
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know, understand, accept and to live by. If I can summarize the
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whole Bible, I would say, always give only your best to God.
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From Genesis to Revelation, give only your best to God. Summarize the teaching
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of Christ, and this would be it, always give only your best to
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Jesus. This was what and is what acts church was founded on. I
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came out of good churches to found X and you know, I have learned
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many good things from these churches, and I wanted to repeat them in X.
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And there were, of course also some things that I wanted to do
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better. But no matter what it was, whether it was things I've learned
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before or things that I want to do in the future. Everything was based
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on this one foundational truth, and it is this, Always give only your
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best to God. If you want to serve God, give your best.
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If you want to give to God, give your best. If you're wanna
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love God, love God with all your heart. If you want to change
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society, do the best for society. If you're wanna pray, pray your
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best. Oh, there's so many things on my mind. If you want
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to clap, clap your loudest, shout your loudest, shump your highest,
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don't hold back, give God your all, Give God your best. Jesus
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deserves nothing less. This is a summary of ex Church. This is the
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DNA of DNAs. If you forget anything else and everything else, just remember
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this. Everything we are, everything we do, we do with all our
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heart to God. Anything less, it's really not worth doing. Some of
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us may have forgotten this. Some of us are still wondering what is the
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vision of X? What are we really about? You're asking what's our difference?
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What's our cutting edge? This is it. Always give only your best
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to God. Don't forget that God also gave us his best. John three
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sixteen says for God so loved the world that He gave his only be God
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and Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
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God doesn't know how to do anything less when God does something, when
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God gives something, you can be assured that God always gives and does his
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best. And we were made in His image as he is, so are
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we. Let me give you three others scriptures. First Corinthians ten thirty one
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says, therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
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do all to the glory of God. Second verse is found in Collosians three
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seventeen, and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the
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name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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And the third verse is this Collosians three twenty three. And whatever you do,
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do it heartily or with your whole heart, as to the Lord,
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and not two men. I believe if we all can live like this,
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this is this is a simple truth. And if you can live daily like
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this. Now, remember, don't compare yourself off with others. Don't say
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but they didn't do their best. They you know, are not even putting
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in their contribution, and so od and so forth. And your eyes are
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looking at other people. Don't look at other people. Just look into your
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own heart and ask yourself every morning, every day, even every night,
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ask yourself, did I live my best life today? Unto God, not
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unto men. Abraham did not look to men, He did not look to
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anyone when he offered Isaac his best to God. I think if Abraham told
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anyone else about what he was about to do, they will say he's crazy.
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But it was God who asked for Isaac, and Abraham understood that God
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deserved nothing less than his best. And Abraham trusted God and believed God and
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had faith in God to be able to offer his best, his only son,
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Isaac, to the Lord who gave him Isaac in the first place.
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I believe, you know, giving our best to God is really a matter
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of trust and faith. King David was about to offer a sacrifice to stop
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the plague from happening in Israel. God showed David specifically where that sacrifice was
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to be made. It was to be made on the land of owner called
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Rona. When around saw King David, he was so honored, he was
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so pleased. He said to the king, you know what is my king
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doing here? And King David of course, explained that you know, I
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need your land and I need to offer the sacrifice. You know, would
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you give this land to me? And Arouna was so happy that he offered
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to the king. He says, King, take the land, take you
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know the sacrifices, Take whatever you need. You know, everything is yours.
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And he wanted to give everything free of charge to the king. And
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then we hear the famous words from King David. He said, no,
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but I will surely give to God that which costs me something. I believe
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King David lived by that principle. I will never give anything free to God.
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I would never give anything that does not cost me anything. I will
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always give my best. And that's why throughout David's life, you see,
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from the time he killed the lion and the bear, you know, to
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the time he dies before the Lord, and all that he did, he
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was always only giving God his best. Is not a surprise. Why the
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Bible teaches us and tells us how much God loves David. How even in
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the Book of Acts, you know, it says that God wants to restore
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the days you know of David. You know he loves David because God David
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loved God. And as God gives his best, David also gives his best
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to God. And God said, right, this is a testimony God it
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that God had about David. This is a man after my own heart.
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How many of us would like that testimony from God? You are a man,
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you are a woman after my own heart. God says of you,
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I've got good news. We all can have this testimony. And it's very
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simple. Just live every day, every night, to give only your best
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to God all the time. Don't do anything half hearted, do everything with
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all your heart. God deserves nothing less than out all. I want to
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remind you of Elijah, how when he was challenging the prophets of Ba and
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you know how he you know, he said, you take one bull,
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and now I will take one bull, and we will offer the bull to
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the Lord. But Elijah did something extra, something different. Towards the end.
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He actually offered water, and he said pour it out once, not
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just ones, but pour out twice. Not just twice, but pour it
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out three times. And why because water, in that time of drought and
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family was even more precious than the normal bull. You know, sometimes the
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danger is we just want to do enough for the Lord, just just enough.
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You know, he says ten percent, So you will just do ten
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percent. You know, some of us do nine point eight, nine point
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nine jazzy nine point nine nine, you know, and sometimes you just want
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to do traditional things, uh, traditionally accepted. Oh because you know,
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okay, my grandfather did this, my father did this. You know.
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Now I just you know, just do enough. You know, they will
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say here in Malaysia, cho chukob, you know, jazz enough. You
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know, traditionally a bull is accepted. But I don't want us jazz to
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go enough. And don't just go tradition, you know, seek God's heart,
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seek to really, you know, make God become amaze. You know.
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There's a there's a scripture. It says he was astonished even at the
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cent children, who who who said wonderful things? He said, Oh.
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The Bible says Jesus was astonished at what at the face of the centurion.
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So I want you, all of you watching, to go the second mile,
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not just enough, but go the extra mile with God. When he
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comes to giving the Lord, Jesus teaches us to go the second mile.
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He is the God of the second mile, the God of abundance, the
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God of the extra He's not the God of ordinary, He's the God of
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extraordinary. So Jesus is our perfect example. He gave his own life.
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Remember his prayer, he said, Father, if it be possible, let
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this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be
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done. The Bible says there is no greater gift than when a man lays
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down his life for another. Jesus was, and is, and forever will
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be God's best gift to us. I want to tell you about the Macedonia
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in church. Now. They were poor, but they knew how to give
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their best, and the Bible saw it fit to record their story. Let
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me read to you now from Second Corinthians, chapter eight, verses one to
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seven. Moreover, Brethren, we make known to you the grace of God
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bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, that, in a great trial of affliction,
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the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of
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their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes,
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and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency
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that we should receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the Saints
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verse five. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave
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themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. So we
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urged Titus that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace.
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So giving is a grace in you as well. But as you are
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bound in everything, in faith, in speech and knowledge, in all diligions,
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and in your love for us, see that you are bound in this
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grace. Also. The highlight is found in verse five, where the Bible
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says, they first gave of themselves to the Lord. I believe you can
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only give your bears to others when you have first given your all to God.
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I believe sacrifice comes only after surrender. There are many who will say
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I've made sacrifices and yet have not surrendered. But I tell you now with
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all my heart that I have come to believe that true sacrifice, sacrifice that
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really makes the difference, comes only after you have truly surrendered to God.
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Today, on this Father's Day, give your hearts to the Father of all
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fathers. Remember, the Bible teaches us obedience is still better than sacrifice.
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When you give your best to God, don't keep some back for yourself.
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I know we are sometimes tempted to do that. You might say to yourself,
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wow, wow, this is a lot, a lot in my hands.
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You mean, give so much. You might say, oh, this
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bonus is so big, Wow, I'm so blessed. But really must give
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ten PERCENTNA, And we will be tempted, tempted to hold back in times
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like that. Is when you take our eyes of God, who can give
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us everything, and who has given us everything. And we think that,
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you know, is all about this gift, and our focus is on the
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gift rather than the giver. Final Bible reading for the day, Acts,
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Chapter five, verse one to four. Let me read it. But a
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certain man named Adonias, with Safia his wife, solo possession, and he
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kept back part of the proceeds. His wife also being aware of it,
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and brought a certain part and laid it at the puzzle's feet. But Peter
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said, Adonias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy
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Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself while it
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remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was
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it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your
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heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. I understand
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that some of you could feel tired. You know, we are limited beings
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and there's only so much we can give. Some of us are older,
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and our bodies get tired easily. Some of us are very busy at work.
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Maybe you're running a business, and you know your business is so blessed.
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Time is really a challenge. Maybe you have a newborn baby, or
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maybe you have three kids. You'll be tempted to hold back. Now you're
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tempted to tell your leader you want to step down. You want to keep
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part of this energy for yourself. You want to hold back some of this
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time for your own enjoyment, keep back some of his blessing for me,
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for me, for from some me time. Maybe you've burned out before because
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you've gone all the way. Now you go like, no, no,
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no, I'm scared to burn out again. And so I think I've wised
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up. Now I won't go all the way. I'm no longer so foolish.
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You say, you know I've wised up. I'm matured, and now
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I know what to do. I'll just give half and let other people,
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you know, burn out if they want to. You say, I'm older,
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now, let the younger people do it. I'm richer now, let
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the poorer people do it. I'm weaker, now, let the stronger ones
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do it. Oh, I've done it all in my younger days. Now
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is retirement. But you know when you know, when you know there is
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no retirement in God, and in every season you can be fruitful that God
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has the best for every age group. There's the best when you were a
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child, the best when you were a teenager, the best when you were
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a campus student, the best when you were young working adult. There's such
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a thing as having the best and giving the best. When you are married,
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whether or not you have children, you can say, as for me
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and my house, we will serve the Lord. There is the best when
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you just started work and the best way you are now a business owner.
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And maybe now you're in your fifties, your sixties, or your seventies,
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and you're retired, and yet God says there is still the best. Why
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don't we give our best till we go to our rest. I believe that's
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the summary of this whole Bible, everything that Jesus ever wanted to teach us
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about the Kingdom of God, about heaven is about the best. If we
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start living like that here, then I'm telling you right now we are ready
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for eternity. I just spoke a message recently from the Ten Virgins, and
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it says in the Word of God that only those who are ready entered.
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That means if you're not ready, you might not be able to enter.
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Jesus came to make us all ready because only those who are ready will enter.
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So my question to all of us as I close, is are we
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ready? How do we make ready? How do we live? At Church?
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Always give only our best to God, Father God, in all that
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we do, in all that we think, in all that we say,
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from the time we wake up in the morning to the time we close our
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eyes to sleep, every single day, every week and month, as one
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year passes after the other. What is the reason for this life? What
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is the purpose for me to be alive? What is the real power of
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ex Church? Help us? Lord, lead us, Lord, strengthen us,
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Lord, anoint us, Lord to give you always and only our best,
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nothing less for God, because you God never gave us anything less.
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May our lives be so blessed from today. May everything that we do and
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say come to life May they be meaning and purpose and power in everything.
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May EX Church be more life than ever before. Where we clap, we
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will clap with all our hearts. Where we sing, we sing with all
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our voice. We dance, we dance with all our heart. Where we
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give, we give it all our might. Where we serve, we serve
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with all our hearts. Where we go, we go without ever looking back.
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Life is never going to be the same again. Industries that never going
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to be the same again. Church is never going to be the same again.
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Our marriages, our families, our work is never going to be the
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same again. We make a commitment. Help us slour Without you, we
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can do nothing. We love you, Jesus, annoying ex Church, a
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fresh bless ex Church Anew. Thank you God for always giving us your best.
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We love you Jesus, God, bless you till we meet again.
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We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more information on our church,
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please visit x Church Org. We are also active on Facebook and Instagram.
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We're believing that this week is going to be a good week, a
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hit for you. God, bless