0:43 [music] [music] 4:03 [music] [music] [music] 4:29 [music] [music] [music] 5:54 [music] [music] [music] 6:36 [music] [music] [music] 7:24 [music] [music] [music] [music] 7:59 [music] [music] [music] 8:25 [music] [music] [music] [music] 8:59 [music] [music] 9:27 [music] [music] Revelation 4:10 and 11 says, "The 24 11:06 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne, and they will worship him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, [music] "Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory 11:23 and honor [music] and power will in heaven will be given crowns not to wear it on our heads but to lay 11:40 them at the feet of Jesus. [music] And we don't have to wait for heaven to do that. We can do that even here in our lives. And we can do it right now. So would you stand with us if you're able [music] 11:57 and join the singing of him who died for you and me our [music] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [music] [music] 12:18 with many [singing] Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] 12:38 [singing] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [singing] Heat. [music] 13:05 [singing] [music] Heat. [singing] [music] Heat. 13:26 [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [singing] [music] Yeah. [music and singing] Heat. 13:47 [music] [singing] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] [music] [singing] Yeah. Heat. 14:09 [music] [music and singing] in the Lord. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [singing] [music] 14:32 [singing] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [singing] [music] 14:55 [singing] Lord and magnify [music] to thee. To [singing] thee be endless praise. For thou for us has died. 15:13 Be [singing] thou Lord through endless days adore [singing] and magnify. May our prayer be this morning that we'll ask Lord Lord speak 15:33 through [music] your word. Speak to us and minister to us through your spirit so that the truth of your word may be planted deep in us and be deeply rooted so that [music] we can be conformed to the likeness of our 15:52 savior Jesus. So as we sing this song, may that be our prayer that Lord speak to us. [music] [music] Speak [singing and music] 16:16 Lord as we come to you [singing and music] to receive the food of your holy [singing] word. Take [music] your truth, plant it [singing] deep in 16:35 us, [music] shape and fashion [singing] us in your lightness. [music] that the light of Christ [music] might be seen today [singing] 16:51 in our eyes of [music] love and our deeds so [singing] [music] speak oh Lord and fulfill us [music] all your purposes [singing] 17:10 for your glory Jesus Lord [music] full [singing] of obedience through humility [singing and music] 17:33 [singing] [music] and in the radius [singing] of your [music] pure eyes to see [music] your majesty 17:56 [singing] and [music] I can fail. [music] Let the truth prevail over. [music and singing] [music] Speak 18:21 Lord and renew [music] our lives. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] and change [music] from [music and singing] Heat. 18:49 Heat. [music] as you are [music] speak [singing] your church is filled and the [singing] 19:12 earth is [music] filled with your glory. And [singing] by grace will stand on your promises. and my faith [singing] 19:29 will walk as you walk [singing] with us. [music] Speak, oh Lord, till your church [music] is filled and the [singing] earth is filled with your glory. 19:48 [singing] [music] >> Amen. Ephesians 3:16 says about Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith and that being rooted and grounded in love, we may be able to 20:05 comprehend the width, length, the height and the depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge and surpasses all understanding. We cannot comp the heights and depths of our love. But 20:23 we know this as it says in 1 John 3 1. See how great a love the father has given us that we would be called children of God. And we are. As we sing this song, 20:42 let [music] the truth of the love of God speak to us and the hope that we are the children of God. Amen. >> [music] 21:13 >> How deep [music] the Father's [singing] love for us [singing and music] beyond all measure [music] that he [singing] 21:31 should give his only son [music] to [singing] make a riches. [music] >> [singing] >> How great the 21:48 seing us [music] the father his face away [singing and music] as which chosen one [singing and music] bring 22:10 to [singing and music] glory. >> [music] >> Behold 22:28 the [music] man upon the cross. My [music and singing] s upon his shoulders. [singing] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] 22:51 [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] Yeah. Heat. [music and singing] [music] 23:11 [singing] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] 23:38 >> I [music and singing] will not boast in anything. [singing and music] No gifts, no power, no [singing] wisdom. [music] 23:53 I will see [singing] Jesus Christ. [music] [singing] [music] [singing] Heat. Heat. 24:16 [music] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [singing] >> [music] 24:36 >> Why [singing] should I gain from this [music] world? I can not give [singing] but this I know with all [music] 24:55 my heart. His [singing] wounds have paid my ransom. [music] >> Thank you, Lord. [music] 25:22 And I'm forgiven because you were forsaken. >> [music] >> and I'm accepted. You were condemned [music] and I'm alive and well. Your spirit is within [singing] 25:41 me [music] because you died and rose again. [music] I'm [music] forgiven because you were forsaken [music] 25:58 and I'm accepted. You were condemned and I'm alive and well. Your spirit is within [music and singing] me because you died and rose again. [music] How can it [singing] be 26:26 [music] that you my king would die for me? [music] Amazing [singing] love is true. [music] It's my joy to [singing] 26:45 you [music] in all I do. I [singing] [music] forgive because [music] you were forsaken. [singing] I'm accepted. 27:07 You [music] [singing] [music] amazing. 27:28 How can it be? Cuz [music] you my king would die for me. Amazing love I know [singing] is true. 27:47 [music] Is my joy to [singing] you [music] and all I do. I [singing] honor [music] you. You 28:06 [music] are my king. [music] You [singing] are my king. Jesus, [music] you are my [singing] king. [music] 28:26 Jesus, you [singing] are my king. [music] [singing] [music] [singing] 28:44 Amazing [music] [singing] I know is true. [music] It is my joy to [singing] you. [music] 29:01 In all I do. I [singing] honor you. [music] In all I do. [singing] I honor you, >> Lord Jesus. 29:19 May your name be honored, Lord, in this place. And all that we do would bring glory to your name, Lord. As we listen to your word, speak to us and minister to us, Lord. Holy Spirit, we invite your presence here. To you be all 29:35 the glory, honor, and praise, Lord. We pray in Jesus precious name. Amen. Amen. Good morning. 29:58 Um, we would like on behalf of ACFC, Austin CFC, we'd like to welcome you. Um, of course, our families here and we also probably have new guests and we have to acknowledge those who have joined us for 30:15 the first time as well as on Zoom. Uh, and for those who coming from Dallas and Houston as well. So, thank you. Thank for joining us this morning. [clears throat] uh we began this conference or this weekend uh informal and Friday but the 30:33 main message for yesterday and Saturday. So for those who were not for the benefit of those who were not able join us yesterday I'd like to remind what the theme for this weekend is and that is okay I hear you 30:54 God has prepared provided something better for you know what the reference is if you remember where that reference coming from Hebrews 11:40 the last verse of chapter Hebrews the chapter of the hall of fame of the heroes, right? 31:12 And at the end, I am very encouraged because it says because God had provided something better for us. It's a promise. So that apart from us, they would not be made perfect. I like that second phrase as well in that sentence. Not only did he plan something 31:32 better for us, but apart from us, without us, it would not be made perfect. He had us in mind when he made that plan, and we have to claim it. We have to believe with faith um along to be in that part of the plan. So, 31:51 let's do that today as we hear God's voice. [sighs] Um [gasps] [snorts] a couple announcements. If you don't have a sticker, please uh have your name where you're from. One of the main things that I was um that we'll do 32:07 after brother Santos comes up and shares the message, we'll have a special announcement, [clears throat] we have five brothers and sisters who are getting baptized. So, right after the uh message, we'll go out outside and we'll 32:22 have the baptisms. So, please and then after that, we'll have lunch. So, please uh be prepared for that baptism. [clears throat] It's just outside this building. Uh we'll provide more instructions afterwards. Um and if you can, please 32:37 disconnect from the Wi-Fi, silence your phones, and even if the children makes a little noise, it's okay. We're a family-friendly church. We'd like to stay together as a families. Don't feel um obligated to silence your children. 32:52 Um and just another reminder, there are a lot of children playing on the parking lot. So when you drive, please be watchful for them as um and we have um offering box in the back. We 33:10 like to give in secret as well. Please read the signs of the requirements before you give as well. And with all that, I'd like to welcome brother Santos to share the word. this morning. Let's pray again. 33:42 Dear Father, I pray you'll send the Holy Spirit now. We need you, Lord, and we need your Holy Spirit. I pray that each of us will be like 33:59 a branch that's completely helpless, hanging on to the vine. Forgive us, Lord, for where we have tried to do things in our own strength and in our own ability. 34:23 Forgive us for trusting in our own ability so much that when we have reached the end of ourselves, we become anxious and full of worry and fear and unbelief. Make us more like the branch in the vine 34:40 that can do nothing on its own. Apart from you, we cannot speak. We cannot listen. So Lord, will you send your Holy Spirit please? We hang our helpless souls on the asking you Lord. But thank you that 34:59 there is hope. There is joy in your presence. Let there be a reverence Lord as we sit here even this morning. And let there be joy. The joy of the Lord that is our strength. I pray you will pour out your Holy Spirit aresh in each one of our 35:15 hearts. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, for this time. Thank you that you've met our needs. You've gone above and beyond what we could have asked or even imagined. And you've answered our prayers. And you've answered them in ways that we 35:29 don't even see yet. You're going to do a mighty thing. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Yeah. We heard 35:45 uh yesterday about the hope of righteousness that we have and the journey of walking by faith and uh the power of the Holy Spirit that gives us the strength to do that. 36:00 And as I closed last night, I encouraged all of us to continually seek for the filling of the Holy Spirit. This is so key. And I even shared from my own experience about how this has transformed my life. 36:18 And I mentioned a book I want to mention again. It's called They Found the Secret. a tremendous uh wonderful book with testimonies of many godly people who had a good testimony of a Christian life but knew 36:36 they were missing something. And when they experienced that baptism of that Holy Spirit, that um filling, it boosted them into another level of spiritual life. I've seen this as my own in my own life with this 36:56 picture. From what I understand about how rockets work, rocket ships work is there's different segments to uh a rocket ship and it blasts off with a lot of force. But then once it gets towards the stratosphere, beyond the earth's 37:13 atmosphere as it were, some portions of that rocket ship fall off uh and that causes the sh the ship to be boosted, the satellite, the rocket to be propelled as it were into the next level where then it's 37:33 completely free to uh go through space. And that's what the filling of the Holy Spirit will do for you and has done for me. But it will involve the Lord cutting away certain things from your life. 37:51 There are certain things that must be stripped away for the Lord to be able to boost you into that next level of experience with him. Certain things you'll have to give up. Certain things that you've been attached to that you 38:04 didn't realize you were attached to that you'll have to let go of. good things, even perhaps, not sinful things, but things that are a hindrance, things that will an indication of um or or a test of whether God is really 38:23 all you want. And the one of the best examples of that in the Old Testament was the example of Abraham was a good man, a friend of God, a relationship he had with God. And God called him his friend. And then God gave him the very thing 38:41 that he had promised him. And that was Isaac. And after Isaac was after 15 or 18 years of having Isaac, God said, "Hey, Abraham." God is thinking in his mind, I imagine. I want to see if if this man who has walked with me for so faithfully 38:59 all these years, whom I've blessed with the very blessing I promised I would give him, I want to see that that blessing has not become more precious to him than me. Cuz there's one thing God is jealous over. God wants to bless you. He's a giving 39:15 God. There's no shortage of riches with which he can bless you. But there's one thing he wants most of all. is that you that he is the most important to you really. And I'll honestly tell you dear family 39:33 that the longer you walk with God, the more you'll realize that this is not a once for all test. This is a constant thing. And there's layers and layers and deeper and deeper layers where you realize I thought God 39:51 was I sang Christ is enough for me. What more have I in heaven and all that sounded good and then a test came I realized Christ wasn't enough for me. Do you know that the root of all anxiety, all worry is that Christ is not 40:11 enough for you. That's the root. If you ever are anxious for even one minute, you're worried in any situation for even one minute, you should be honest with yourself that Christ is not enough for you. You sang it so beautifully on 40:28 Sunday, but on Tuesday when you were anxious, you said, "Lord, I lied on Sunday. Now, I didn't mean to lie, but thank you for showing me Christ is not enough for me. If you take it that seriously, dear brother, dear sister, you will be freed from anxiety. 40:48 I believe it. And I'm experiencing a greater freedom from anxiety because I said, "That's not just a little scratch. That's cancer." When I saw the little evidence of it in a moment of worry and unbelief and anxiety, I said, "Lord, that's that's a 41:07 deeper problem here. This isn't just a little boil that, oh, put a band-aid over it and hope it goes away. Maybe it'll go away, but it'll crop up somewhere else in a couple weeks." And after a while, you can't ignore it. 41:22 And I hope you won't ignore it, but you'll say, "Lord, there's a problem here. You're not enough for me. Christ is enough. And he'll he wants to prove that. And so when the Lord takes away things and strips away things from 41:37 your life, oh, it's because he loves you. He wants you to ascend into a higher plane of fellowship with him. So I hope you'll take that to heart. Dear brothers and sisters, I spoke about um faith and hope, hope 41:56 and faith. And today I'd like to speak a little bit about love practically about love. We're told in 1 Corinthians 13 that um or the end of uh chapter 12 that um the there remains faith, hope, and love, but the greatest 42:13 of these is love. We're told in second Peter 1, for example, um those verses where um you he builds on different things and the final destination of that, I hope you've seen it. Maybe we can turn there briefly. 42:32 Second Peter 1, the progress in the Christian life looks like this. The goal is partaking of the divine nature. We read in verse 4, 2 Peter 1:4. We speak, I spoke about that yesterday. And the last page on the book that God 42:51 has written for your life, don't ever forget that, dear friends, is Santosh is conformed into the image of Jesus. That's in my book and in your book. I hope you see your name written there. But that's that verse four. It says, 43:05 "Partakers of the divine nature." I heard that phrase many years ago when I was a young boy and it just became part of my lingo. Partakers of the divine nature. Okay, that's great. And then over the last few years, he's really sunk that word in. Do 43:23 you know what that means, Santo? You be a partaker of my divine nature. God has had angels in his presence for millennia, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years. And not to a single one of them, as he said, you can have my 43:41 nature. Angels long to look. We read in the book of Hebrews, I tell you, if you could see it, dear brother, dear sister, any one of the angels in heaven would trade places with you. You think what a comfortable life angels 44:00 have. You know, they've never they they're there always in the presence of God. They're there. But I tell you, they would trade places with you in a moment. It's just you haven't seen it. The glory that you and I can be partakers of the 44:15 divine nature. You heard it often in this church. Our goal is not to go to heaven. Let that be for all the other Christians who want to live self-centered, selfish, moneyloving, worldloving, self-loving lives here on this earth. If you come to 44:31 this church, I hope you've heard it from the very beginning. Our goal is to be a partaker of the divine nature. What a tragedy it would be if after all that you heard, you're like, I made it to heaven. And one of those angels will call you, 44:46 do you know what you missed? Yeah, you're here. I'm here, too. But you had available to you something far greater than just being in heaven. God offered you to be a partaker of his divine nature. And you uh I want ministry that's more important to me. I 45:04 want money. I want a health. I want a comfortable life. I want you to provide for all my children. And the angel was saying, do you realize you were what you were playing with the tradeoff you made? And sure maybe you got what you wanted 45:18 but you missed out on divine nature. And so that I started to see things in that light and say Lord you are offering me your divine nature and the tradeoff is so small. He says just give me your body give me your will. 45:36 I'll give you my divine nature. Is that a fair trade? Now in the moment of temptation when you say, "Oh Lord, it's so hard. I really want this and I want you to I want to understand this or all do that and I I wish you know it's hard for me to give 45:51 up. I I I just that that lust is so pleasing to me or that gossip is I enjoy it so much or I I want this. I want a little bit more money. And he says, "What are you playing with dirt?" when he's offering you the gold of his 46:06 divine nature. And our job as teachers is to shine the light on heaven as much as we can to see the glory of these things like his divine nature so brightly that it changes the way we 46:22 live. Partakers of his divine nature. And then he says this is how you get there. He makes it very simple. Verse five, be diligent. you be be a hard worker in this. Spend time with God's word. Deny 46:40 yourself the pleasure of watching that movie or going out with your friends or something. Not saying you can never do that, but listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He says, "I know you've watched movies every night so far. Just 46:52 take some time out and spend some time with me in my word. Get off your phone for a little bit and spend time in my word." Apply all diligence in your faith. Supply moral excellence and then knowledge, self-control, 47:11 perseverance, godliness. Well, you think is anything more than godliness? Is there something beyond godliness? You would think, well, that's yes, there is brotherly kindness and love. 47:29 And you you know if you had to come up with your own ranking of these things you'd say godliness has got to be above brotherly kindness surely right you would think well according to this brotherly godliness brotherly kindness so clearly we have 47:46 not understood brotherly kindness clearly we have thought brotherly kindness is oh you want me to come help you shift things in your house sure I'll do that or uh you need a ride to the airport sure I'll do that or oh you 47:58 you're you're you're sick, so I'll bring a meal to you. Clearly, it's more than that. If brotherly kindness is a step above godliness according to this, there's something more to it. And if love is the highest of them all, then clearly 48:16 we have been using cheap things to describe love. We say, "I love you, brother. I love you, sister. So good to see you." Let's be a little bit more careful before we say that because this is the pinnacle of it all. I mean, when I say I love you, I say I 48:33 love you down here. And that's the problem. The devil has devalued this. What is we're told in 2 Timothy 1 verse 7 or 5 uh is the goal of our instruction. Love from a pure heart. This is the ultimate destination. 48:52 And so when you say, "Brother, I love you." Really, have you really reached that goal, which is the goal of our instruction? Or, uh, I like you really, that's what I really mean. You know that verse, right? 2 Timothy chapter 1. 49:09 No, it's in 1 Timothy. That's why I had the reference wrong. 1 Timothy 1, verse 5. The goal, the goal of our instruction, the goal of weekend of fellowship, the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good 49:28 conscience and a sincere faith. We've heard about some of the things those things already, but he says love from a pure heart. I really believe, dear family, that we ought to be a little slower to use that word love, lest we devalue it like everybody else 49:46 in the world does. You hear people say, "I love you," on the wedding day, and then days later they're already thinking about divorce. And uh people say, "Oh, I love you. Had that happened to me. I love you, brother." Come to find out, they're 50:03 really don't love me. They're scheming behind my back to do this. And you've probably experienced that, too. And it's not about others, but let's judge ourselves. I say, "Lord, I've used that word love myself. I've said to my 50:17 wife, "Honey, I love you. I love you." and then said words in a harsh way or with a bad attitude with a or you know had negative thoughts about her and say Lord I I lied when I said love 50:35 I used that goal that most precious thing of all the greatest of all that word I used that to describe some just emotion passing feeling that I that and how much more I'm here to speak today about the church. What does it 50:54 mean to really build love in the church? And if you don't take this seriously, if we don't take this seriously, what we will build will be a club. And there have been many times in my life, there have been times in my life 51:10 where I was like, surely we are a church. And the Lord peeled back layers of lack of love and showed me, you know, in the true church there's love that which is greatest of all and your motives, your attitudes, the way you 51:29 responded in that particular situation. The way you handled that matter, the way you treated that brother, that sister or spoke about them behind their back while you were saying love. what you had was just selfishness and self-centeredness. 51:46 Love has no selfishness of self-thought in it at all. Because that's what he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 13. Love does not seek its own. If there's any situation in which you sought your own in relationship to others in the church, 52:03 even once you just have a club relationship. That's a characteristic of club relationship. I want this. I want this. Now, sure, I might be nice to you. And there's an aspect of niceness. I mean, we're in a lion's club, which is uh they do nice things. 52:23 You know, these clubs, Rotary Club, Lion's Club, the Masonic Club Lodge, and all these things. They they do nice things to other people, but they're in it for themselves. They're going to get something out of it while they do good 52:34 to others. And let's not be CFC club meeting in a club building. We want to be the church. A simple test, dear family, that we're really building the church is there's no selfthought. 52:52 There's no thought of what about me. That's the proof that we've understood the church and the mark that we're growing. Many of you have been a part of this local church or other local churches represented here for some time, 53:09 months, years, even decades perhaps a decade or so. And the mark that your faith is growing if you turn with me the previous page to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Now when if you read this letter 53:30 to second to the Thessalon the church in Thessalonica they're a suffering church. they're going through a lot of difficulty. Like he says um uh in the middle of verse four, he says or verse four, he says, "Listen, I speak proudly of you among the 53:48 churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you are enduring." So this is a church that's being afflicted, persecuted. They're going through a very difficult 54:00 time. But why could Paul speak so highly of such a church that as they were going through a difficult time in their as a church? What does he say in verse three? He says, "I should always give thanks to 54:21 God for you church in Thessalonica because it's fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged and the love of each one of you toward one another grows even greater." So as they were going through this trial, as they were facing this 54:41 persecution and this difficulty, this affliction, they were like, "Let's not focus on the affliction and the difficulty. Let's focus on love. Let's not try to figure out why who did this and what do that and the facts and 54:56 the I want to know this and know that other thing." No, let's love. And that's what God was after. When God allows you to go through a difficult time in your marriage, dear married couples, he's after one thing, not that 55:10 you'll work it out. That will come secondary. Will you strive for love? Lord, let my love grow. For those of you in the local church here in Austin, you've been through a difficult time in the last 3 months. Now, look back. Has your love grown 55:28 for the for the Lord, first of all, but then also for the brothers and sisters in the church. Has it grown or are you still sort of like um sort of still trying to figure this out? You might have missed the chance. The best time for your love to grow is 55:45 during affliction. That's contrary to human thought. Uh human thought says, "Well, let me get through the affliction and once things sort of settle down, then we'll work on love." No, for that you don't need the Holy Spirit. But if you want to attain 56:02 to the [clears throat] high calling of God in the midst of that affliction while your marriage is on the rocks as it were as they say or while your relationship in the church is on the rocks is just like it could go either way you say but I'm going to seek 56:16 for love. [snorts] Say Lord I'm not going to lay a lose sight of that vision. Will you let me grow in love? And what a wonderful example. I don't know a single name of anyone in this church. At least maybe I maybe there are. I don't know. I don't 56:31 remember a name of a single brother or sister in the church in Thessalonica, but I can't wait to meet them in heaven. And I say, "Brother, how is it that when you were going through this trial and this affliction and you had a lot of 56:44 questions and you were perplexed, your love grew. We don't know their names because they were nobodyies integrated into a body." And dear brothers, dear sisters, your calling in the local church that God has placed you is not to have a ministry, 57:01 not to have a name, not to be known for this or for that, but to love. [snorts] Will you find your place in the body of Christ in some hidden way? And if God chooses to hide you somewhere where you have zero ministry, zero public 57:16 ministry, but you love from your heart, you will have no regret in heaven. 99% of the people in a church have no public ministry. Very few get up and speak or lead the singing or make the 57:34 announcements and all that. Very few. But all must love. And the church, the strength of the church is comes from everybody grasping this and laying a hold of this and saying, "Lord, I want to love. I want to be one who 57:53 loves. If you turn with me to Psalm 68, there are many pictures that you can think about when you think about the church. Um, some years ago, I saw this uh picture as I shortly after I became an 58:12 elder and I shared this with the church there in Colorado. And a lot of a lot of churches are like restaurants where I'm sure you've all been to a restaurant and um nowadays you can pick and choose which restaurant you go to 58:29 because they've got reviews and you can see oh this a good restaurant that's a good not a good restaurant. Oh here the food is good order this because I've had it tastes good or yeah the food's good but the service is bad. uh you see all 58:41 these reviews, right? And you know, interestingly, that's how people rate churches too nowadays. You can find Yelp or or Google reviews for churches and like ah go to this church because they're like this or like that and uh 58:56 that other church, the preaching is good, music's a little too loud, or I read I see all these reviews popping up for the churches in my area. And um that's that's how Christendom is. What will I get out of coming to this? 59:12 In the same way that I mean what's the purpose of the review? We want if you are looking for a particular combination of things then you look through all those reviews. Ah yeah I like that. Let me go there. Now nothing wrong with 59:25 that. We you know our churches have websites and God has led people to our churches through those websites and all that. But I'm sure some of these of our churches probably have reviews as well. Those mean nothing because the Holy 59:38 Spirit must lead people to be planted into the church. So I got saw the I I thought Lord is it like a restaurant where well we want people to be fed fed spiritually. Do we want to give them the best spiritual food and then give them the best 59:54 experience make it comfortable? Welcome them at the door. Have a an usher. This is how most churches operate. have an usher there kind of like you would expect a host or a hostess at a restaurant. Welcome you. How's your day 1:00:05 going? Nice smile. Here, come and let me have you have a seat. Here's a brochure. Here's a a bulletin and here's where you can put your money and all that. It's just like a restaurant. And the problem with a restaurant is you 1:00:19 come, you expect to be served a good meal, and if you don't like it, we'll give you something else or have your water brought out to you and make you comfortable. Uh churches nowadays have uh you know coffee shops at the entrance 1:00:32 and uh what what would you like? Yeah, let's give it to you. And I heard about a church recently that set up a tattoo parlor in the at the entrance as well. You want to get your tattoo before you come and worship the Lord? We can do 1:00:43 that also. It's sad. This is going on in churches today. I'm not here to judge a single person but to judge myself. Now that's easy to see, right? the the tattoo shop at the entrance of the church and the the coffee shop and all that. I'm not here 1:01:02 to judge any of that. But that spirit of Babylon is here if you're not watchful over it in some way. If you come to a church and decide what church you want to be a part of because of how it will benefit you, you have the 1:01:17 same mentality. Just call it what it is. Now maybe you don't want the tattoo, but you want something else. something that will build self up, that will make you feel a little bit better. You want to be treated a certain way. That's why you're 1:01:32 coming to this church or not coming to this church. You you have some expectation of what what will you will what will you will get out of it, what your children will get out of it. That's why you choose to come to a church. 1:01:47 And in that case, you might as well get the tattoo. Um, but after you eat at the restaurant, you you're served a good meal. You leave and somebody will you will just walk out the door and pay your money. As long as you pay your money, you can walk out the 1:02:02 door. No obligation. You don't have to take the dishes back. You don't have to clear your own table. You just leave the mess where it is. You spilled a whole bunch of stuff on the floor. Sure, just leave it. Yeah. You walk out the door, pay your money, and 1:02:16 leave. Clearly, the church is not that. And I thought about another place. Maybe the church is like a hospital. Got people in need. Yes, there we want to be. We want to welcome people in need. Jesus said, "Come to me all of you who 1:02:31 are weary and heavy laden. You who are sick, you need a doctor. Come." Is the church like a hospital where we just welcome anybody who comes and just come. You're got you're bleeding. Sure, come. We'll bandage you up and send you 1:02:45 on your way. come back the next time you get into an accident and we'll do the same for you. Is that how we are supposed to be? Some churches are like that. People come, they've made a mess, got arrested for DUI and all that. Like, 1:02:57 I need to go to church, I guess. So, okay. All right. Don't do it again. You know, you need to lay off the alcohol a little bit perhaps. And you get a pep talk, go out, and 6 months later you fall into the same thing and come back. 1:03:11 Man, I should have gone to church. And you get people coming there because they are just constantly falling, getting into accidents, constantly getting DUIs. Spiritually, I'm talking about constantly getting into accidents, 1:03:24 constantly falling. And you know, every time you go to a hospital, even if it's the hundth time in a month that you fell down and uh gashed your head, they will bandage you up and you pay your money and you go back. They won't say may 1:03:37 maybe a good doctor will say, "Man, are you getting the point? like you come in here every other day with your head bleeding, what's going on? But if you say no thanks, just bandage me up and I'm good to go. That that's 1:03:51 all they are obligated to do. That's not the church. The church, if you read here in Psalm 68 verse 6, is a home. God makes a home for the lonely. 1:04:09 Beautiful verse. This is what the church must be, a home. Now, a home will give you a good meal, uh, a healthy meal, uh, with because it's done out of love. And the difference between a restaurant 1:04:27 and a hospital and a love and a home is this. In the home, you have real love. Yes, there's aspects of love in the hospital. Oh, I I believe almost all doctors, if not all of them, operate out of love. They genuinely love the 1:04:43 hypocratic oath. They say, "Do do the best you can to care for this individual." That's some aspect of love. In the restaurant, yeah, they love they love food. They love giving good food to people. Anybody who starts a restaurant, 1:04:56 I've heard it's it's a nightmare of a business to try to run a restaurant. And uh but they do it out of love. They love giving people food and of course they love money. So, but but they they they want to do a treat you well. 1:05:10 So, there's some love in a restaurant. There's certainly some love in a hospital, but that's nothing compared to love in a home. But the difference between among all of these these three examples that I gave you is in a home after you eat your meal 1:05:24 or even before you eat the meal, you can't just show up and expect to be walk to a table and here's your seat and you sit there and wait. No. If you're part of a home, you have to set the table. You might have to wipe down the table 1:05:37 and get the plates. I mean, I have even my littlest children from the time they were 2, three years old. Come on, help the family. You're part of this family means you got to set the table. You got to do some work. Fill up the cups with 1:05:50 water and help mom get the dishcloths and whatever. Set the put the forks and the knives and set the table and let's get ready to eat. Help, if you're older, you can help mom cook. and you eat and there's love around that 1:06:05 table and after you're done you don't just get up and say thanks I'm going to my room no y clear the table clear your own plate and clear some of the other plates clear the dishes help with the dishes at the sink this is a home 1:06:21 and the church is a home yes if you fall down and get hurt and there's blood coming out of your head or mom will help bandage you up or take you to a hospital, but they'll teach you how not to make the same mistake anymore. 1:06:37 They're invested in you. The church is not even a school where you learn things. You know, for some people, for some Christians, churches are like a school. I get a good good teaching on theology like I would get about math or 1:06:52 Yes, there are some good teachers in schools who love their students and love education. I've had teachers in my life, but they're not love like my dad and mom. My mom would sit up with me till past midnight. I'm sure she was tired 1:07:08 after um working hard, making the meals, cleaning the dishes, and all that. And after that, I still have to sit with Santosh and get him to learn his biology. And she would sit there and I'd be the one falling asleep. I'm sure she 1:07:23 was more tired than I was. And yet, she stayed up. She she was vested in me. Is that teaching? Sure it is. But it's love. That's what the church is. It's a home. And I hope, dear family, dear brothers and sisters, that you haven't lost sight 1:07:42 of that. And when we go through trials, when we go through difficult times, it's easy to lose sight of it. A home is messy. When there's a problem in the restaurant, you as the client are never aware of it. You walked out the door 1:07:58 once you finished eating, you didn't realize that there was so much else going on behind the scenes. The food was burnt and they had to remake it and you didn't see that. What you saw was just a nicely made meal. Or if you didn't like 1:08:09 it, you sent it back and the cook back there who's already stressed out had to remake your meal because you didn't like something about it. But you don't care. It's a restaurant. You go to a hospital and you realize that that doctor who who 1:08:22 came there and was nice and took time with you has not slept in 2 days. You didn't know that, but you went on your way. You complained about the fact that it took them 30 minutes to let you in. But that's because he was falling 1:08:35 behind schedule. You don't know about that. You didn't realize that that teacher had to go through whatever they had to to teach you. In a home, you start to relate to these things because you're vested. You're committed 1:08:51 to staying there and being a part of the solution, not to criticize. Criticism is for the restaurants and the hospitals and the schools. There's no place for criticism in a home because it's us. If a crit if I criticize you, my brother, I'm 1:09:11 criticizing myself. We must see it that way. In order for us to see that it that way, we must realize that we're not called to be many. We're called to be one. Let's turn to Acts chapter 2. As long as we hold on to this mindset 1:09:29 that I am me and you are you and we're two distinct people then you cannot have love because I am vested in my own interests and you being different from me are vested and interested in your own 1:09:47 interests and if our interests are aligned we're we get along but the moment our interests are slightly misaligned, we start to have conflict. I'm seeking my my own interests. You're seeking your own interests. And if they 1:10:06 happen to align, things seem to be well. Now, I hope you're seeing that this is how most churches in the world operate. That they're togetherness, they're being in the same churches because they happen to align. And oh, just give it a little bit and a 1:10:23 little bit of a uh no, I'd see it a little bit differently. Split, explosion, division. The problem wasn't that with the alignment. It was that they were never made one. If you're really made one, then your 1:10:41 interests are always aligned. And this is the secret. On the day of Pentecost, again, we go back to the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, you can never experience this. On the day of Pentecost, you read that 1:10:58 they were filled with the Holy Spirit. These up to the day of Pentecost, these 11 disciples, if you take out Judas's chariot, if you looked at those men, 13 men walking around through Galilee and Israel, Jesus and the 12 disciples, 1:11:12 you'd always see them together for those three and a half years. It's like, man, that's a tight-knit group of people. They're always together. They stay in the same place. They travel. Every time you go, they're always together. I'm 1:11:24 sure the people in those areas knew Jesus in his death. Man, that looks like a close-knit group of people. Is that what our church is, a close-knit group of people? When people look at us from the outside, they see, man, that 1:11:37 looks like a close-knit group of people. But those 11 disciples were not one. They were 11. Hours before Jesus was to die, they were fighting to see who is going to be the next leader. Jesus says, "Hey, listen. I'm not going to be a leader anymore." 1:11:55 How ridiculous is this? They're all thinking, "Okay, now somebody's got to take over. I'm sure it's got to be me." Jesus is stepping down. So, who's going to take over? This is literally hours. After 3 and 1/2 years of listening to 1:12:06 Jesus teach and being a close-knit group of people, all they could think about was who's going to take over? What is my ministry going to be? They weren't one. And then they were baptized with the Holy Spirit 50 days later. 1:12:23 And once the Holy Spirit came, you see in Acts 2:42, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostle teachings and to fellowship. Dear brothers and sisters, God has provided something better for you, and that is true 1:12:42 fellowship. I have a feeling, I'm not saying this in a negative way or anything like that, that many of us have probably not really come to the place of experiencing true fellowship. If you're not experiencing true fellowship, which is selfless love, 1:12:59 love in which there is zero of self, zero demands of my own things. If we haven't come to that place, then you don't have fellowship. You must have love in order to have fellowship. But you can have anything else. Club relationships, different levels of 1:13:17 club relationships. But if you want fellowship, it has to be selfless love. Love in which there is no room for self. Love does not think of its own. Zero. Thinking of one's own. That's love. 1:13:35 So what happened on the day of Pentecost was that these disciples finally became one. And now you never hear again that Peter is fighting with John about like, man, I need to be first. How come you're first? Or no, it's gone. 1:13:52 All of that self-centeredness and what about me is gone in a moment, as it were. Now, I'm sure they still had to deny themselves, but the filling of the Holy Spirit did something for them. And I invite you again, dear family, dear 1:14:09 brothers, dear sisters, and dear children. The promise of the Holy Spirit is for our children as well. Acts 2, I think it's verse 38 or so, somewhere towards the end of Acts 2, the promise is for you and for your children. I 1:14:22 pray, brothers and sisters, before I move on, I want to say this. family. Uh parents, I hope you're praying that your children will be baptized in the Holy Spirit along with you praying for yourself. Pray that for your children. 1:14:36 Think about it. A young 4-year-old boy, six-year-old girl baptized in the Holy Spirit in this church. What a difference that will make. Imagine a little girl getting up, 6 years old, full of the Holy Spirit and simply saying her memory 1:14:50 verse in front of you or whatever, just saying her memory verse. child baptized in the Holy Spirit whose only ministry is to say the memory verse that she's done all week, but she's full of the Holy Spirit. Oh, that will change the meeting. 1:15:06 She may never get up and lead the singing or preach a sermon, but she's full of the Holy Spirit. Pray this for your children. I pray that for my children. I pray that for the children at our church that they will be filled with the Holy Spirit at a 1:15:18 young age. They don't have to live a spiritless life until they're 40 years old and finally finally got the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the age of 40. Sure, maybe you didn't have that teaching and you were misled or all that and you didn't seek 1:15:34 for it like you should have. That's fine. But don't pass on that curse to your children, do you? Pray for them. Pray with them. Lay hands on them. You have authority as parents to do that. Say, "Father, I pray that you'll baptize 1:15:48 this young girl with the power of your Holy Spirit. Baptize this young boy with the anointing of the Holy Spirit." Some of you parents have probably never done that. Okay? Don't feel guilty. Do it now. Pray for them. Pray with them. 1:16:02 Pray for each other, brothers and sisters, that we will be filled. The baptism of the Holy Spirit will transform everything about us like it did for this church. And I think about it like pieces of gold. Individual pieces of gold. You put 1:16:17 them in a bag. You know, here's individual pieces of gold scattered around. You collect these. On that day, there was 120 of them. You gather them together into a pile of 120 pieces and put them into one bag. And here we are, 1:16:30 one bag. Think of that as a picture of the local church. Local church, one bag. All meeting in the same place on a Sunday. And we're connected. We're attached to each other. I'm a member of this church. Okay. But you know, at any point are those are 1:16:48 those pieces of gold one? They're in one bag. They're there together. But at some point, if one of these pieces of gold decides, I don't like this really. You kind of bump me too much a little bit and it's a little cramped in here. I 1:17:03 don't like this about I don't like that this and that. I've got my own agenda. I refuse to be made one with you. I'm tired of this. Let me out of here. At any point at that that piece of gold could have been in that bag for 20 years 1:17:18 and finally say, "Ah, no. This is not the place for me." It gets out of that bag and goes its way. But something happened on the day of Pentecost. Those 120 pieces of gold were immersed, baptized into the fire. How do you make 120 pieces of gold? One, 1:17:36 do you put them in a bag or attach some glue to it to make them one? No. That's still two pieces of gold that are tight-knit like the 12 disciples were tight-knit group of people. Tight-knit pieces of gold tied together really, 1:17:53 really tight. Yeah. Nobody can separate it. All you need is a power that's a little bit greater to untie that and separate you again. And the devil is a master at doing that. breaking apart tight-knit groups of Christian believers. It's not the 1:18:10 church. It's a group of believers that are tight-knit for some period of time. And as long as you remain tight-knit group of believers in the local church, one day it's going to fall apart. So, how do you make those 120 pieces of 1:18:26 silver one? As tightly knit or as much glue as you put them together, you put them into the fire. And those 120 pieces now are broken and melted and molded into one piece. 1:18:44 This is why we seek we preach constantly about the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And if you want to be a true member of the church of Jesus Christ, including a member of the local expression of that body, true body of 1:19:00 Christ, you must be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the world is full of churches with people attending those churches who don't who aren't filled with the Holy Spirit and go on their lives without that filling of the Holy Spirit. And my 1:19:15 purpose in sharing this, dear family, is not for you to say, "Brother, I've not been filled with the Holy Spirit, so should I JUST QUIT?" NO. CRY OUT FOR IT. If you know honestly in your own heart, Lord, I have to admit it. I'm not filled 1:19:28 with the Holy Spirit. Clearly, I don't have this selfless love. My love is tainted with selfishness and thinking of my own self in some way. I don't have it, Lord. But I want you to shed abroad your love. Romans 5:5 through the Holy Spirit into 1:19:43 my heart. Give me your divine love. So there's zero of self in my love for my wife and my love for my husband, love for my children, and love for brothers and sisters in the church. I want zero of self in it, Lord. And for that you 1:19:55 must fill me with your Holy Spirit. He will. That thirst, it's not about you beating yourself up because you're not filled with the Holy Spirit today. It's about let that translate into a unwavering thirst to be filled. And I tell you, dear brother, 1:20:15 dear sister, you will be filled because God has done that for me. He's doing that for me, I should say. And he wants to do that for every single one of his children. Jesus said it often. If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your 1:20:31 children, how much more will the only good father give the Holy Spirit to them who ask him? He said it so plainly. And if you've been asking and you feel like Santos, I I've been asking but I I haven't received, don't stop asking. 1:20:48 He wants to pour out his Holy Spirit within you. In Colossians chapter 2, we're given another picture. Paul begins this chapter or this 1:21:10 sentence, this phrase you can say by saying, "I want you to know church in Colasse, how great a struggle I have on your behalf." And for those who are at Leodysia, Paul is saying, I have a great struggle. I'm burdened about this. He church tells 1:21:27 the church in Colasse, I'm burdened. What? Verse two, that their hearts may be encouraged having been knit together in love. This is true love. Love that results in 1:21:45 your being knit together. I'm sure some of you knit and you've probably seen what knitting looks like. It's multiple pieces of yarn that are taken [snorts] and weaved together into a blanket or wool cap or something like that. And 1:22:04 sometimes as I've seen that, I get a picture of this is what building the church looks like. And I picture myself like that one yarn and that other brother like another yarn and my wife like one of those yarns as well. And God 1:22:17 is taking and it begins with a needle sort of grabbing a piece of yarn. And that yarn could say, "Hey, no, what are you doing? I I I was going I was just fine right here. What are you doing grabbing me and putting me into this 1:22:31 situation?" If you want to build a church, if you want to be a part of the knitting that the Holy Spirit wants to do in the church, you have to be willing to be picked at by the needle of the Holy Spirit, as it were, and then 1:22:45 twisted this way and twisted that way and interwoven with another piece of yarn and taken through trials and and turnings and you don't know what's going on. Oh, I'm going this way now. Oh, wait, we're not going this way now. And what's going on? 1:22:59 You're being knitted, brother. And that yarn could say, "Hold on, hold on, hold on. Explain to me where we're going. You need to give me the vision and all that." Let that be for the other churches. My vision is, Lord, I want to 1:23:11 be made one. I'm not here to demand how you do it. But I believe that if I yield to you, you will make me one. We knit together. And so, Lord, I'm not here to explain why are you going turn right now or turn left again. I mean, you carefully watch 1:23:28 somebody knitting. I mean, I've watched my wife do. She can do it without even looking. Like her hands are just going like this. And you picture yourself like that yarn, that string of yarn is just going like this and like that, like 1:23:39 that, like that, like that, like that. If you feel like that in the church, it's not that the elders don't know what they're doing. The Holy Spirit is knitting you. Take it to heart. Now, at any point, the Holy Spirit will give you 1:23:52 the freedom to say, "I don't want this." And you'll miss out. You miss out on the home that God is making. that blanket that is warmth for the world. The church is pictured like a blanket that's intended to bring warmth 1:24:08 in the cold, sinful world around us. How are we going to do that? If we remain a close-knit group of people that are here today and gone when I'm decide I'm done with this, you'll never bring warmth. The Lord won't be able to to knit you 1:24:21 together. If you turn with me to uh 1 Samuel, I want to give you the example of this knitting that we see in the Old Testament. You 1:24:37 all know about David who killed Goliath and defeated the Philistines many times. But there was a young boy his age who did that before even he did. And you know that story probably and that's Jonathan. You read in 1st Samuel 1:24:53 13 and uh and 14 many times that Jonathan defeated the Philistines. This is before David even came in the picture. At this time, David is still with the sheep, I think, occasionally defeating a lion or a bear that came to 1:25:11 maul, one of his sheep, writing a bunch of songs with his harp. And um there he is, you know, sure, cleaning up a bunch of sheep dung is what he's doing while Jonathan is defeating Philistines. I mean, whole garrisons of them. You 1:25:28 read, you read 13 and 14, multiple stories about one time in chapter 14, there was this crag on both sides and Jonathan scaled it with his hands and legs, just climbed up that crag and then with his armor bearer behind him. In one 1:25:44 place you read that Saul, his father, who's the king, took 2,000 men with him and sent his teenage boy with only a thousand. That's how much Jonathan was trustworthy. Like I'm only giving him a thousand. I the king who should take 1:25:59 less. You know, I'm going to take 2,000, but Jonathan here, only a thousand for you. Jonathan's fine. Okay, Dad. He didn't do the math and say, well, Lord, dad, what are you doing? I'm here 16 years old. you're 30. You get 2,000 and I get a 1:26:15 th00and. Jonathan says, "It's fine. I'll just take my armor barrel with me." And the two of them defeated the Philistines. I love that story about Jonathan, right? And you read that in 14. He climbs his crag. He and his armor 1:26:27 barrel follows him. They go and defeat a bunch of Philistines. And then sometime later along comes David. And David kills one big giant. And as a result of that, the Philistines, you know, the Israelites all together then beat the 1:26:45 Philistines. And now all the ladies are like, "David, ah, David, David this, David that." And what do you think Jonathan is thinking? How come nobody sang about me when I killed? Do you know nobody was there when when I killed all 1:27:00 those garrison of Philistines? And here you are singing about David. David's his own age. David's this young upstart, some shepherd boy from Bethlehem. Like, what could can come out of Bethlehem? This 1:27:16 Bethlehem, I'm the I'm the king's son, Prince Jonathan, and I've already done a lot of great things. Now, here's this David coming along, and now they're the ladies want to make him king. They're saying that he's even greater than my father. 1:27:32 Nobody's saying when I kill those Philistines. Then you read about uh Jonathan 1st Samuel 18. This is right after David has killed Goliath and the ladies are singing. Saul has slain his 1:27:47 thousands and David is 10,00ands and uh look at this verse 57. Um, David was still holding the Philistines's head in his hand. Little 1:28:06 17-year-old boy walks in with Philistine's head. And then the next thing you read, it says in verse verse one, Jonathan's watching all of this and it says that the when he had finished speaking to Saul that the soul 1:28:23 of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. It's the same word that we read in Colossians 2:2, a picture of the church. Paul had that burden that the Holy Spirit would be able to knit together that group of believers into a church 1:28:41 into one. [snorts] And here we see the soul of Jonathan was knit together with the soul of David. And Jonathan, there's this word, love, loved 1:28:59 him as himself. I hope you'll take this story to heart, dear brothers and sisters, in terms of what it means to be a part of this local church or the local church that you're a part of. Loving my brother as myself because we're made one. The only way to 1:29:18 do that is if you see you and your brother as two different people, you and your wife as two different people, you and your sister as two different people, you can never love them as yourself because that's them and that's me. Two 1:29:31 pieces of gold. Never be able to love them because we're not one. But the moment the Holy Spirit is able to knit your heart into one, how easy it then then you when you say love them as myself is because we are one. I they are 1:29:45 me and I am them. That's it. We're one. Just like if if these if my arm this arm and this arm were separate for a while and then they were integrated into a body. Now how how difficult is it for my right arm to love my left arm? The 1:30:00 moment the left arm does something, makes a mistake or does something, the right arm immediately comes and helps and says, "Okay, come on. We got this." You've ever had a pain in your shoulder, immediately your right arm comes and 1:30:10 holds it and say, "I got you, brother. I got you, sister. I'm here to help. Let's remain one. I'm not, well, you did this to me or I did that to you or why did you do that. It's I want to help you. We're one. I love I love you as myself. 1:30:27 That's what it means to love in the body of Christ. It's not I love you as myself and we are two different beings. And so many churches are trying to do that without seeking for love. When you really come to the place where you 1:30:42 receive love, the love of God is shed abroad in your hearts through the Holy Spirit. Now you're made one and you love others as you love yourself. Verse continue reading. Saul verse two took him that day and did not let him return 1:30:55 to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. He says it again and says this is real love. Imagine Jonathan going to David and saying, "David, I love you. You're my brother." 1:31:12 What did it cost Jonathan to say, "I love you." You know, we hear often in the church, "Lord, I don't want to offer to you anything that costs me nothing." The Lord is looking today for those who will build his church through this 1:31:24 mentality of sacrifice. Lord, I don't want to offer offer you my membership in this local church that costs me nothing because I get to do this and I get to do that and I get my own way and I'm allowed to be my own self-centered self. 1:31:37 I want you, Lord, to prove that I will offer you my membership in this church at cost. It's going to cost me something. I'm going to have to give up this and give up that and let let down my own agenda and wanting things my way 1:31:53 and wanting to understand things and all of that. I lay it all down, Lord. It's going to cost me something. It cost Jonathan everything to love David. You read the rest of the story. Uh we we'll keep reading a little bit. Let's 1:32:08 look at this. Um verse four. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. He gave him everything. That would be like um you know, somebody 1:32:22 saying, "Hey, we're going to ask this person to take care of this now." Okay, here let me let me empower you to be better because we are one. It's not, well, how come you're taking that away from me? It's here's somebody whom God 1:32:34 is calling to be used. Okay, look at Jonathan taking off all of that his um the robe, which is the the the rights to be king, you can say. He took off his robe and his armor and his sword and his bow and his belt and says, "David, it's 1:32:54 yours. God is calling you now to to serve my my time. I I did what I need to do and God will do something else for me. But now it seems like you it's it's your time to serve this way. This is how the church is built." This is what happens 1:33:10 when your soul is knit together. This is real love. Let's not say we love each other unless we're prepared to say, "Lord, I really love them as I love myself." In the next chapter, chapter 19, we read um again, now it's interesting. Saul, 1:33:29 while while all this is going on, while the while while David is kind of being rising up to be who God wanted him to be, here's Saul and Jonathan watching this happen. 1:33:46 And while while all this is going on, in Saul's heart, jealousy is growing. I'm jealous of my brother. And jealous that God is blessing him. And in Jonathan's heart, who had even more reason to be jealous cuz he was the next king to be 1:34:05 the next king. Love is growing. What a beautiful contrast. When you face these trials in your life, when you face circumstances in your life, what will grow in your heart, brother, sister, when you see God bless another, this is 1:34:19 this is building the church. This is practically building the church. And God will allow circumstances to come up where you'll see God anoint another somebody else and he to test what will you allow to grow in your heart. 1:34:32 How is it that Jonathan, I mean, he he didn't even have the power of the Holy Spirit that we have available to us. While he's seeing David being blessed of God, love grew. The more David was anointed, more love sprung up within Jonathan. 1:34:50 Meanwhile, in Saul, jealousy. Now, Saul was able to keep it wrapped up for a while. when he saw David, he was just kept it in his heart, but it festered and festered and festered. Here's where we pick up the story. Chapter 19, Saul told Jonathan his son, 1:35:05 and all his servants to put David to death. Now, that jealousy has grown and grown and grown. Now, it's starting to come out with his words. He's like, "Jonathan, we got to put David to death." But no, this is Jonathan's own dad 1:35:19 telling him, "Hey, let's put David to death." If there was a root of jealousy in Jonathan, he would have latched on to it and says, "Yep, let's do it." If there was a secret selfish ambition in Jonathan's heart, David's Saul's words 1:35:36 would have latched on to it and Jonathan would have responded. How does that happen in the church today? If you have a root of jealousy or bitterness towards somebody, some sister will come to your house and say, "Hey, do you know about 1:35:49 this uh that's going on?" and it will latch on because you have a root of jealousy or some brother will come and say hey did you hear about what's going on here and I just want to I want you to be in prayer about it brother that's how we 1:36:04 cover gossip often prayer requests humbug hypocrisy but if there's a root of jealousy that gossip that little tattletailing that little spreading of rumors and all that will latch on to you and it'll drag you away calls it a root 1:36:22 of bitterness by which many are defiled. A root of bitterness will spring up and many are defiled. Why were the many defiled? Because there was a little bit of jealousy in them as well. Here's Saul trying to defile Jonathan 1:36:36 with his jealousy. And Jonathan says, "I've got love by the old covenant standard that he had. He had love." And so Jonathan defends David, the man who is replacing him. He says, "I'm going to fight for you, brother. I love you. I love you as myself." 1:36:55 Jonathan, but Jonathan Saul's son, look at this last verse in verse, last verse one. Jonathan, Saul's son, greatly delighted in David. Greatly delighted in this brother who's taken over my ministry. This sister who's being asked to do that 1:37:11 which I used to be asked to do. Greatly delighted. This is the church. Do you want to build a church or you just want a club? So Jonathan told David, saying, "Saul, my father, is seeking to." And then Jonathan goes and tell David, "Hey man, 1:37:26 you got to watch out. Saul's trying to kill you now. Therefore, please be on guard in the morning and stay in the secret place." Then verse four, let's skip down verse four. Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, "Do 1:37:40 not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you. for he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine. Here's D Jonathan singing the praises of 1:37:51 David. No thought about, well, remember when I did this and I did that other thing and have you forgotten? No. No place for self in love. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without 1:38:10 a crime? And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. And look at Jonathan actually turns Saul away from it for a little while. Skip down to verse 20. Chapter 20. Uh in chapter 20 you read David and Jonathan make a covenant. 1:38:30 And then but Saul, okay, he's good for a while. He's just Jonathan calmed him down, but he's still festering. He hasn't dealt with the root of bitterness inside. He's talked out of it, but he didn't deal with the root of the 1:38:41 problem. And dear family, dear brothers, dear sisters, dear children, if any of you are have been, you know, kind of just stuffed down that jealousy or that root of selfish ambition for a little while and you're kind of laying low, 1:38:55 it's going to come out. You must deal with the root. You must let the axe be laid to the root of the tree like Jesus said he would. This is what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Matthew chapter 3, the when you when you 1:39:07 baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, the axe is laid to the root of that bitterness, the root of that selfish ambition. Let it go all the way through. Otherwise, in a couple of weeks, couple months or a couple years, it's going to 1:39:19 come back and surface. Deal with it completely. No selfish ambition, no jealousy. After some time, Saul can't hide it anymore. But first, it was thoughts. You know it says that when he was in the chariot and the ladies were singing Saul 1:39:35 has slain his thousands, David is 10 thousands. He was inside John Saul. He didn't say anything about it. Continues all for a while. He doesn't deal with it and like in married situations the husband is upset with the wife and just fuming. Give her the 1:39:52 silent treatment for a while. A wife's upset with the husband and then fers. But one day you don't deal with it. So it comes out and you say something in a moment of irritation. I can't believe you're always like that. It's just the 1:40:05 you burst your top, kept it down for a while. The pressure cooker was okay for a while, but then it exploded. And then he didn't Okay, put the lid back on, hit that button that they have on the pressure cooker to quiet the 1:40:20 thing, but he didn't deal with it. It's still boiling inside. 1st Samuel 21 20:30 Saul's anger burned against Jonathan now and he said to him you son of a perverse rebellious woman do I not know that look at that now he's 1:40:37 yelling at his own son he's so mad and Jonathan says to his father still now Jonathan is facing the anger of his own father TOWARDS HIM THAT'S HOW MUCH HE loves David Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him why should he be put to that 1:40:54 what what he's done and finally Saul has had it. He wants to actually kill his own son. Throws the spear at Jonathan. And Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down. And Jonathan knew that his father decided to put him to death. 1:41:09 Sad story. We'll skip down. Here's this verse. Finally, Jonathan goes to David and says, "David, I I I can't do anymore. Uh David Saul's just out to kill you." I think this is the last time that Jonathan and David see each other. 1:41:24 Jonathan's later killed in battle. David goes on to become the king. And Jonathan said to David, 1st Samuel 20:42, a beautiful picture of the church, relationships in the church. You read in verse 41 that they kissed 1:41:44 each other and wept together. David wept. The more I mean, what was going through David's heart? for sure. He said, "Man, how much this brother loves me that he's seeing me, God, blessing me and lifting me up and he's just coming 1:41:57 underneath me and adding to that." When you see God lift up a brother for a purpose in the church, will you come underneath and lift him up too when you know that it could have been you that God wanted to lift up? This is the 1:42:08 church. This is otherwise anything else. You might call it a club church and all that stuff, but it's just another club. The church is where every one of us sees the move of God through the Holy Spirit and says, "I want to come 100% behind 1:42:23 that. I'm going to promote that and be underneath lifting up that whom God has called." Jonathan said to David, verse 42, "Go in safety in as much as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, the Lord will be between me and 1:42:40 you." Wonderful phrase. Think about it, brothers and sisters. Let the Lord be between me and you. It's the Lord that's holding us together. The power of the Holy Spirit. Go home husband and tell your wife today. Let the Lord be between 1:42:53 me and you in everything. That all my interactions with you will be through the love of God. Tell your husband that. Tell your children that. Tell your sisters in the church that. Tell your brothers in the church that the Lord be between me and 1:43:07 you. That means I have nothing to hide from you. I have no ambition. I'm not some secret thing I'm going to do behind your back. and speak about you this way or speak about you that way. No jealousy, no harm, no taking advantage 1:43:18 of you. The Lord be between me and you. Let the Lord be witness of my heart towards your heart. Oh, that you will do that. Pray for it, brothers and sisters. Pray for your marriages that way. Pray for your children that way. Pray for 1:43:30 this church, these churches here, that it will always be the presence of the Lord that knits our hearts together through the Holy Spirit. Before I close, let's turn to Ephesians 2. >> [snorts] >> I want to encourage you as a follow on 1:43:45 from this message to go home and read the book of Ephesians. There's wonderful things. He says in Ephesians 5 that this the the church is a great mystery. Many mysteries you read about in the new covenant and as far as I know only one of them is called 1:44:02 a great mystery and that is the church, the Lord and his church. Ephesians 5 verse 32 and speaking about the church. But [snorts] if you go to chapter 2, you read here Ephesians 2:14. For he himself is our peace 1:44:21 who made both groups or you can say many groups, all the groups, all the individual pieces of gold into one. made all the pieces of gold into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing 1:44:41 wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity. See this is why Jesus had to die on the cross. This is why he had to walk here in his when he walked on this earth and denied himself. denied himself every situation when he was tempted he denied 1:44:54 himself and did the father's will not my will but yours not my when it says he abolished in his flesh the enmity every time Jesus what I understand that to mean is that every time Jesus was being tempted and he denied himself and denied 1:45:08 himself denied himself and then he hung on the cross and his father forsook him and then he died what was going on there he's like through this I can make these brothers and sisters won. That was the purpose. It wasn't just, oh, so much happened on the cross. 1:45:26 So much happened in Jesus lifetime here on this earth. It wasn't just like most of Christendom thinks, oh, my sins are forgiven. I'm on my way to heaven. No, it was to make you one in your marriage. It was to make you one in your home. It 1:45:40 was for you in that local church to be one. And we can sing amazing great love. How can it be that thou my king should die for me? And um behold the man upon his cross, my sin upon his shoulder. It was my sin that held him there until it was 1:45:57 accomplished. Um how deep the father's love for us. He was forsaken. The father's turns his face away in his wrath. For what? So that you and I would be one. And as many times as you've sung those 1:46:15 songs and remained two, remained five, we've missed it. We missed what God wanted to accomplish. After you've sung that song and gone back home and fought with your wife or your husband or argued with them in the car on the way home, 1:46:30 that's why Jesus died is to make you one. For you to give up yourself, deny yourself and love them as you love yourself because you're made one. I've said it like that in our church. I said, I'm not interested in our church growing 1:46:44 from 10 to 50 or 10 to 100. This is what they write books about in Babylonian Christendom. Our church grew from 100 to thousand in one year. Here, follow our program, buy our book, invite me to come and speak in your church and pay me so 1:47:00 much money and you can do the same. It's the same thing the corporate world does that the church is copying. It's not the church. It's Christendom. It's Babylon. in the church. I'm interested in going from 10 to one. If we're 100, let's become one. Before 1:47:18 we add one more person to our church and convince them to come and be a member of this church, let's make them one. If you join this church and this church went from 10 to 11, you did a disservice to this church. I want to tell you that. 1:47:32 I see it that way. If you're interested in adding yourself to the church so that the church increases, that's you have it wrong. Brother, sister, ask the Lord to add you so that you become one. God sees, oh, this church has grown from 1:47:49 10 to 11. Uh, they're going in the wrong direction. This church has grown from 10 to five because the other five have been knit together in one. The other six, four, other six have been knit together in one. Now we've got four more that still 1:48:04 need to be integrated but at least they're five now. Six of them have been made one and these four are still stragglers. They still have their own agenda. They're want to argue about this and why is this and why is that and all 1:48:14 the other thing but at least we've got some that are one and that's what God call considers the church. The others hopefully they'll be made one. But for now if they remain there they can remain there. And this will always be the focus 1:48:27 of us as a church is that the many will be made one. Come in brother, sister into the unity that God is building in the church. God has something better for you. Not just the church becoming now 100, 200, whatever. God stops counting 1:48:44 at one in your marriage. Maybe you haven't been married 20 years, but are you still two who have stuck together for 20 years? It's not growth. Lord, make me one. And if it took me 20 years to figure that out, Lord, at least now make me one. And 1:49:02 I tell you, you will have no regret. The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former. Why? Because you've been made one. Your latter years of marriage will be the best years of your life. The honeymoon phase, as they 1:49:13 were, because you've been made one. And the latter years of this church will remain will be greater than the former. Why? Because the church has finally been made one. This is our calling, brothers and sisters. There's many much more you'll read in 1:49:29 Ephesians 1 about the eyes of our heart being enlightened to see that the verse that was quoted during the praise time you being rooted and grounded in love. Paul says in chapter 3:14, I bow my knees before the father that you would 1:49:44 be rooted and grounded in love and that you would know the length, breadth, depth, and height of the love of God, the love of God which is in Christ Jesus together with all the saints. so much more in that chapter. Sometime 1:49:57 you should meditate on it and ask the Lord to make it a reality in your life. Let's pray. I hope that in what I've spoken through this weekend, I've shown the light on what it means what what a good father we have. A father who has provided 1:50:15 everything that we need. He who did not spare his own son but gave him up freely. Romans 8:32 for us. How much more will he not give us that which he has already provided? I would say cuz he's already prepared for it. He's 1:50:29 prepared a table for you in the presence of your enemies. Psalm 23. So you're going into a battlefield in the next few days, the next few weeks, the next few months, the next few years individually in your marriage, in your 1:50:43 homes, and in the church that you're a part of. You're going into a battlefield where there are enemies. Here's the secret. Ask the Lord to make you one. If you're part of that church that Jesus is building against which the gates of hell 1:50:56 will never prevail, no weapon formed against you can prosper. Not even one. The devil's got all kinds of weapons prepared for you this week. Do you see it? Ask the Lord to open your eyes to see the vision of the enemies that are 1:51:10 that of the weapons that have been formed against you. But ask him to open your eyes to see the church that he's building that is taking down all the strongholds, tearing them down and defeating every weapon. Pray that for your homes that 1:51:25 you won't no no longer be you and your husband or you and your husband and your children, three, five, whatever, but that you'll be one. Say, "Lord, baptize us in the Holy Spirit. Pray for your wives. Pray for your husbands. Even if 1:51:37 you have husbands that are unconverted, pray that the Holy Spirit will come even right now and do a work and open their eyes, pray, pray, pray, brothers and sisters, that God wants to do more than he's done here in our in your in your lives yet. 1:51:52 He wants to do the the greater things, but he wants to see if you're really thirsty and what you're willing to give up for it. Pray. May this drive us to our knees for the things that God wants to do in our church. It's not just going 1:52:04 to happen through more conferences and more meetings, brothers meetings to figure things out. No, we're done with that. We'll have them if we need. But let's pray. The next time you're you're you feel a burden to go and talk to one 1:52:17 of the elders to ask an explanation for one of the decisions they made, instead go spend that time in prayer. Oh, you'll be made one. God will do a work of uniting you with the way this church is going through the elders that he's given you that you 1:52:30 won't need the meetings anymore. I was like, "My I I don't know the answer, but I've been made one with you." Brothers, I urge you, local church, ask the Lord to truly baptize you in the Holy Spirit and make you one with the church that 1:52:44 he's building here and in the different parts of this country, represented here. He wants to do it. I think I I I can't stress this enough. My fear is that some of you will walk out from this place and remain your own individual being because 1:53:01 that's what you're used to. You're not really willing to give it up. I hope it won't be the case that you'll really experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit where you won't have to be convinced to be integrated into the 1:53:13 church. If you need to be in convinced to be integrated, if I have to sit with you and tell you, brother, you should be integrated in the church. Sister, you should really be integrated in the church, then something's not right. You 1:53:23 haven't been filled with the Holy Spirit. That's plain and simple. Once you are, it will drive you in there. You will be one. You'll be vested with your brother. You'll be vested with your sister. Thank you for listening to me 1:53:36 these last few days. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I cry out to you with all my heart, Lord, that you will fill me with your spirit. And I pray for each one of the brothers and sisters here that's praying with me. Pour out your 1:53:46 spirit, Lord. I pray we dare not leave this place, leave this weekend without an outpouring of your Holy Spirit in our midst. Lord, we don't want a stirring. We don't want an emotional stirring or a physical stirring, Lord, but we ask for 1:53:59 that deep work of the Holy Spirit that you will do in our hearts, Lord. We open our mouths wide, believing that you will fill it, that you will really pour out your spirit, Lord, in our midst. We've prayed for it often. We continue to pray 1:54:11 for it, believing, Lord, that you will do it. You said thirst and faith is all that we need, Lord. And we come to you thirsty. Thirsty because we're in need. Thirsty because we've seen our own selfishness in what we thought was love. 1:54:24 Thank you for opening our eyes to see it, Lord. And I pray that you will pour out your spirit upon us. Thirsty, believing people here, helpless as we are. We've tried for so many years, Lord, to build your church, to build 1:54:36 godly marriages and godly homes. But we see now, Lord, how far we've fallen from it. So, Lord, will you do a work that is impossible by human means? Pour out your spirit and do a supernatural work in our midst. We thank you, Lord, you've heard 1:54:50 our prayer. And I believe, Lord, I pray that you'll preserve the word that we've heard and that we'll go from this place into stronger marriages, stronger homes, stronger churches, Lord, full of the Holy Spirit. This is the church that 1:55:02 you're building. Thank you, Lord, that you are rich. You are strong, Lord. And even in our weakness, we are strong because you are with us and you give us your spirit. Bless this church, Lord. I pray here in Austin. Play pray for the 1:55:14 other churches represented here. Will you pour out your spirit and let your presence be in our midst, Lord, going this day forward that will be propelled, Lord, into the stratosphere of your our spiritual walk with you. Thank you. 1:55:27 Bless our children as well, Lord. Watch over them. Let them, Lord, come to know you. Open the eyes of their heart to see you. turn on the light in their hearts that they will be your disciples. I pray for our young people, Lord, teenagers 1:55:38 who may be wandering from you. I pray, Lord, that you will shine your light into their hearts. Open their eyes to see your calling, your purpose for their lives. That they won't waste another day with the trifling, filthy things of this 1:55:51 earth. That they will be gripped, Lord, to be your disciples from a young age. Bless our young boys, Lord, as they struggle, as they are tempted with lust, as they tempted with the attractions of this world, our young men. Bring them, 1:56:03 Lord, into a life of victory. Help them to overcome. I pray for our young women, Lord, that you'll preserve them from the attractions of the world. Pour out your spirit upon them, Lord, that they will be taken up with heaven and eternity. 1:56:15 Your coming is soon, Lord. I pray that not one of these children will be lost. I pray, Lord, that you will preserve them, that they will grow up to be another generation of young men and women who know you, who know your word, 1:56:27 who are men and women of prayer, who have authority in prayer, authority over Satan. They're strong and they've defeated the evil one. Make that so, Lord. And pray for all of us from the youngest to the oldest that we will 1:56:38 truly know you and be and walk in this fullness of power, Lord. Never to turn back. I've decided to follow Jesus. Though none go with me, the world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back, Lord. Make it so. We believe you 1:56:54 will in Jesus name. Amen. God has clearly spoken to each one of 1:57:13 us. I believe so powerfully. Let's not uh forget. Let us not be forgetful hearers but take whatever we heard today the truths 1:57:32 take them to our hearts and not let the enemy snatch them away. Yeah it is difficult to conclude a powerful message like what we heard today. Um 1:57:50 there are so many things um Santosh has poured out his heart with a burden for our church and I I was just um noted down few things I thought I would use to conclude this. Uh first thing is from 1 1:58:10 Chronicles chapter 22. Yesterday he was mentioning about David was not given the task of building the house of God, temple of God but it chose Solomon his son. In 1 Chronicles 22 there is an expression that comes 1:58:28 uh from verse 5 David even though he was not given that honor of building the temple. He says in verse five, last part. So David made ample preparations before his death. Um God has prepared had prepared something 1:58:47 better for us. He has prepared everything for us to build his church. And if you come down a few verses down, it says [clears throat] in verse 9, "Behold, a son will be born to you who 1:59:04 shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days." The expression of man of rest. David was man of war. The previous 1:59:22 verses, you have shed much blood and wag great wars. But Solomon was a man of rest. And it also reminded me of Psalms 131. We saw that expression of a weaned child who is content with his mother not seeking anything but just be content. A 1:59:41 man of rest. Uh what this is one qualification I want to see in myself and in all the members of the church. Let us be the men and women of rest. Rest in the Lord. Seeking nothing but the honor of the Lord and the reputation 1:59:55 of the Lord. Nothing out of selfish ambition or empty conceit. Nothing of our personal agenda but only for the glory of God. Let us seek to be the man and woman of rest as this verse says. And verse 12 it says again if you go 2:00:11 further down only the Lord will give you discretion and understanding and give you charge over Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. So much of discernment so much of wisdom and understanding we all need and it 2:00:25 comes to the power of the Holy Spirit. And when we seek to be connected to the head and seek to obey and submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, God will give us the wisdom and understanding. Um and then verse 16 of the gold and 2:00:40 silver and the bronze and iron there is no limit. Arise and work may the Lord be with you. There is no scarcity of resources from God. There is nothing he has withheld. He has given everything to us. the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 2:00:56 when the church began in Acts chapter 2 and as Santo so beautifully explained people who are fighting who is going to be number one who is going to take over the leadership after Jesus dies they were made one they were made one when 2:01:10 Peter was speaking he was just the tongue of the body of Christ and um God has given us so the power of the Holy Spirit to be one and to build his temple or the church and the verse 19 U it says, "Now set your heart and your 2:01:30 soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise therefore and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord." 2:01:46 I pray that this verse will challenge all of us. Setting our heart and our soul to seek the Lord your God to seek the Lord your God in prayer. Prayer we can build a church first thing to seek uh uh to pray and seek the Lord and God 2:02:01 will give us everything that we need to build the body of Christ. That's when when Solomon follows his example and we see the glory of the Lord descending upon the temple. What it the most important person in every church in 2:02:16 every meeting is the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. If without his glory without his presence our meetings are in vain. So may and then in Hagi 2 also I just want to quickly uh open these verses. Uh if you [clears throat] 2:02:34 Hagi um chapter 2, he also says that uh verse 5, as for the promise which I made you when I came when you came out of Egypt, my spirit is abiding in your 2:02:52 midst. Do not fear. Um and also he says in verse 8, the silver is mine and the gold is mine declares the Lord of the hosts. And finally the concluding verse, the later glory of this house will be greater than the former. And uh before 2:03:09 that he challenges the people who are left among you. In verse three, who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory and how do you see it now? uh when we taste the glory of God, we want to Lord, we are not satisfied. 2:03:24 We want more. May the later glory of this house, of our individual walk with life, uh with God, in our in personal walk with God, in our family life, in our church life, may the later glory, the later glory, the glory in the coming 2:03:39 years be greater because we are going to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit because God says, "My spirit is within you and do not fear." And as we follow all his instructions and um God will fulfill his promise and and 2:03:55 [clears throat] at the end it says in verse nine and in this place I will give peace declares the Lord of hosts. Uh dear brothers and sisters let's pray that these verses will be true in our local churches we are part of and as we heard 2:04:10 this uh powerful word and thank God we have YouTube messages I we can go and listen again. There's so many things Santos covered over this last three sessions and uh as a church in Austin CFC we heard the messages he spoke in 2:04:25 2024 exactly a year ago uh over last 3 months and we felt this those uh messages were more prophetic for these times than those times. There's a power uh when the messages are spoken with the power of the Holy Spirit and they are 2:04:41 they minister to us um when we hear them again and again. So I encourage all of us to really listen to those messages because definitely we cannot retain everything in one uh session one time listening at least it's not for me I I 2:04:55 need to listen at least two three times um and at the end I want to just I think Santo mentioned this let the lord between be between you and me and may the love may the knitting happen through the power of the holy spirit as we are 2:05:09 connected to the head as we seek individually being filled with the holy spirit and the lord comes and we can love one another through the Lord and our love with instead of loving others my wife or brothers and sisters through 2:05:21 a human life if I can love through the Lord if the Lord is between you and me that love is more pure and free from all selfish ambition and it will be uh it that that's the love that god desires and that's a love that can build the 2:05:33 church uh may the lord help all of us uh let's just pray a quick prayer and then I have few announcements heavenly father we are so thankful to you for your faithful fulness for your mercy for your love and care for our 2:05:47 church. Thank you for Lord opening up the heaven and giving us the word that we needed for these times. Thank you for using brother Santosh uh so powerfully in our midst. Lord, thank you Jesus. And I pray that you'd continue to anoint 2:06:01 him, bless him with your holy spirit and use him much more in the days to come as a blessing to many people. Thank you for everyone Lord for bringing everyone uh today to this meeting and to this conference. I trust that you have spoken 2:06:14 to all of them and I pray as we go back that we take this word and bear much fruit for you in the days to come that you will fulfill all the promises you have given to us Lord the later glory of this house will be greater than the 2:06:27 former. I trust you will do it Lord and help us to be continuously be filled with the Holy Spirit and seek you in prayer and uh seek to be one with others through the Holy Spirit's power. Thank you. We ask all these things in the 2:06:41 mighty and glorious name of our Lord and our savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Okay. Uh I have few announcements. Um we have few people for you brothers and sisters who are taking baptism. Uh so soon after this meeting we are going to 2:06:56 go out and we're going to be the witnesses for the baptism and please pray for them. Uh as you u uh so I'm going to before that I'm going to ask all of them. So it's going to be in this order. I request the brothers to come 2:07:09 and share their brief testimony. We ask them minutes um uh Ralph and uh brother Rodney and Brittany and then followed by Rebecca and then followed by sister Rama. So all five of them in that order please come and share your testimony 2:07:26 what the Lord has done how the Lord u convicted you of your sins and uh your testimony basically of your conversion. Uh one brief testimony in the Bible says I was blind but now I see the Lord has opened my eyes and um so before we go 2:07:41 and do the public u uh before we immerse them in the water for baptism uh I request them to come and share their testimony. After that I request Santos to come and share brief exaltation about baptism and then we will all go out and 2:07:58 then uh after after the baptism we'll have lunch. Uh so please help with setting up of the tables after after the baptism is completed. Okay. So brothers uh who are yeah are you ready to come and share your testimony? I don't know 2:08:12 where brother Ralph. Okay. Can you come please? After that Britney, Rodney and Britney and then Rebecca and then Rama. So, uh, my name's Ralph Truck and, uh, 2:08:42 from Aberdine, Mississippi. But uh you know uh I think my my journey uh this new journey with the Lord uh began sometime back in September October of last year. 2:09:01 Um I I know I have to kind of keep it brief. I don't I don't share everything but uh I [sighs and gasps] I feel that the uh Lord led me through u some connections with uh CFC through uh I 2:09:24 think my daughter uh Britney and Rodney uh speaking with them and hearing some of Zach's messages uh on the Holy Spirit working and living within person uh was God helped me to see that that was something that I was 2:09:42 lacking u in my previous life uh where I was uh raised and born and raised there at White Rock. Um, so I just was um had a addiction to something that was 2:10:02 not good and it was you know I was um I I was I was not able to get over it myself. I was like I would try to you know I wanted to do better with this but I would I would constantly fail. So, uh, I 2:10:20 want to thank the Lord for the power of the spirit have been bringing me that u u the control of that out of my life like it's no that it's not I feel like it I'm not in bondage to that and that I 2:10:38 I am feeling the you know the power of the spirit in my life to uh to love my wife uh that I feel like was was not really there before. And so I just I I want to give all the glory and honor to God for bringing me to 2:10:57 where I'm am now. And I want to say a word for anyone that is, you know, in a place of of transitioning or like that they're, you know, they're trying to they're coming 2:11:15 to a new light in the scripture. um to to hang on to whatever God is showing you the and the truth of his word and the promises of Jesus to to to not let go of that. Hang on. As my aunt told me, hold 2:11:32 on to it for dear life because it is life. The promises of Jesus are life. And so whatever that he shows us in that and I just thought I might share a couple of scriptures. Oh, I don't know for sure. It's St. John 2:11:51 1 uh five or six I think verses that it speaks of Jesus spoke of. He came unto his own but his own received him not. But as to many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, the children of God. So, uh, that was 2:12:10 one scripture that I, you know, I saw that the spirit, you know, he spoke to me through this, you know, that Ralph, this is for you. Um, and you know, where where I was raised or grew up, it was 2:12:27 like you didn't was prideful to say that you were a child of God, that you knew you were a child of God. And that promises of you know if I receive what Jesus pro is given is offering me then he will give me power to become his 2:12:45 son. So I I think that and then the the promise of whosoever believeth in me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters. I was like you know what is this Lord but this is your promise. Whoever believes in me in Jesus 2:13:04 out of and I feel like that's a process or sanctification or whatever I don't know but that will come. I feel like if I my my desire and focus is upon Jesus. So I just want uh uh and I I feel like the 2:13:20 the b the the receiving of so I was sprinkled with b in baptism when I was like 12 but I believe that you know the true baptism is immersion as it speaks of being buried with Christ and baptism and raised in his likeness raised in 2:13:38 newness of life. So that's why I want to receive this today uh baptism. I'm very immersion and to be raised in newness of life in Christ and um I don't know I just thank you all and thank 2:13:57 for praying and for encouraging us and we just need prayers at Aberdine if y'all remember us. Thank y'all. >> [applause] >> Hey family. Um, sorry I'm not great at 2:14:32 public speaking, so I did take write some things down. Um, [clears throat] so I am uh I'm Rodney for those who don't know me. Um, so um I was uh I was sprinkle baptized when 2:14:50 I was 15. Um but I it was not it was not because that I was giving my life to the Lord. was it was solely to fit in with the church that I was going to and it was I felt it was expected of me and so I followed through with that. Um 2:15:09 but I did uh I did receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior about about four years ago and it uh it completely changed my personal life uh and it it um it literally saved my marriage. um through it. Uh Jesus has uh he is the 2:15:29 reason that my relationship with my wife has been restored. And so I praise God for that and uh his kindness and faithfulness in in all that. Um and um as I look back over the last four years, I see the faithfulness of the 2:15:47 Holy Spirit, Jesus, and the Father in my life. And I can see that he was he's been leading me step by step even though sometimes I couldn't see it then. Um but since um since accepting Christ as my savior, I have I have wrestled with 2:16:03 should I be rebaptized or not? And um I talked to the I talked to the pastors at the church I was going to there in Aberdine at the time. I was still in the old church and they they didn't really know. So it kind of got left there. And 2:16:22 um then about a year ago after coming to hear CFC teachings and I was starting to listen to brother Jack Zack and some of the messages from Josh and different ones that I was starting to understand that it was baptism was supposed to be a 2:16:37 complete immersion in water. Um, and then around um, 6 months ago or so, I started understanding that that I was actually dead in Christ and needed to be buried with Christ through baptism and to be raised back into new life. Uh, as 2:16:57 it speaks in Romans 6:34, and I may just read that. It says, this is in the NIV version. Um, it says, "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ, Jesus, were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through 2:17:16 baptism into death in order that just as Jesus was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life." And I I confess that I have not in in the past year I have not taken the step 2:17:35 seriousness that I needed to on this step. And I do feel that it has it has held me back and hindered me. So, um I uh I can't change the past, but I thank God 2:17:53 for the day of grace that today uh I want to humbly walk in obedience of the commandment to be repent to repent and be baptized. And I pray also that I can be baptized in the Holy Spirit, that he may baptize me 2:18:12 with a fire of the Holy Spirit, that I may that the that the axe may be laid at the root of myself, that I can love the church and others with a with a selfless love. I pray anyway. Thank y'all. 2:18:31 >> [applause] >> Hi church family. Um 2:18:51 and grace and peace to all of you. Uh my name is Britney. I am from Aberdine. Um so over the last couple years uh God has taught me many different things. Um one of the sins uh one of the things 2:19:07 that God revealed to me was uh I had an ungrateful heart. Um I was this is let's see probably uh about a year and a half ago. I was really struggling where to be where did God want me in life. 2:19:24 Um, sorry I'm short. Um, so yeah, and I was like, "God, what what is your will for me?" And one morning I was listening to a devotion uh from Zach and he asked the question cuz this question was bouncing around in my 2:19:42 head. And he asked the question, "Do you want to know God's will for you?" And I was like, "Well, yes, I do. That's great. Tell me." and he was like uh he went to 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and it says, "Give thanks in all circumstances 2:19:57 for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." And I started to think about that, meditate on that, and I really um God showed me just how ungrateful I was um in the lot, the place, 2:20:15 and the circumstances he had me. So I praise him for showing me these things and I have come to know and see God in a different over the last couple years. Um from a distant unrelatable God to a lover who is 2:20:33 invested in my day-to-day life. I have learned that I must overcome sin with the help of the Holy Spirit as Jesus overcame. I have also come to see that baptism should be a full immersion and I want to follow Jesus and I want I have 2:20:51 chosen to take baptism today to obey the commandment uh to repent and be baptized as it talks about in uh Romans 6:4. Uh we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead 2:21:07 through the glory of the father we too may live a new life. Um so I thank God for that. Um and another verse I want to mention John uh 668. Uh Jesus had several disciples leave 2:21:24 him. Um he asked the remaining disciples if they also wanted to leave and Simon Peter responded Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and I want this to be my heart and intentions as well that following Jesus 2:21:41 is the highest priority. Um, I want to thank uh the ones who are performing the ceremonies today and I thank uh all of you ACFC uh for all the encouragement and fellowship over the last year. You guys have truly been a blessing to me. 2:22:00 [applause] I'm short, too. Good afternoon, family. Um, so most of 2:22:18 you know me. I'm Rebecca Wilson. I'm originally from Aberdine. I'm from Texas now. Uh, so I was also baptized with the sprinkling when I was about 13. Um, and I I at the time I felt like I I loved 2:22:35 him as much as I knew how. Um, and I I did want to um to obey that commitment just to to be baptized. Um but after um about 3 years ago when God wished uh through 2:22:53 brother Zach and Austin CFC just showing me um that just seeing God as a as a father and not as a taskmaster. And I feel like I've grown in so many areas, but just one big thing that impacted me was just seeing him as my father, 2:23:13 as a loving father, and um how I could overcome anxiety and anger and uh selfishness and all those things. Um so about 2 years ago, I think um the the top someone was talking about whether we 2:23:32 should be rebaptized. I think maybe Pauline was talking about it and I always come to the conclusion like that when I was sprinkled in my heart I I did feel like I was doing what I knew how like it was the only baptism I knew of. 2:23:48 I had never heard of immersion. So in my heart I felt like I was being baptized and so I would just leave it and be like no I don't need to be baptized and then every time the question comes up um I question it again and again and then 2:24:07 someone was saying like it's like it's not even just a heart condition it's also obedience like the sprinkling isn't baptism it's fully immersed in water so I to just obey that. Um cuz I know if I if I obey those small things that God 2:24:26 tells me to, I can slowly grow in him. And that is becoming more and more of a desire of mine just to grow in him. Even if I don't see it, just but those small acts of obedience, I know he will slowly slowly change me to be more like him. So 2:24:40 that's why I've decided to be baptized today. Thank you so much for y'all's love and yeah, everything. [applause] Hello everyone. Uh my name is Rama. Uh I 2:25:14 wanted to share my testimony with you. called. So something better is coming for you. Yes, God planned something better in my life that is salvation. I born and brought up as a Christian from my childhood but still 2:25:34 you fell in while you are while you are growing spiritually. So so that is my bornag again moment in my life. So God he know me when I'm in my mother's womb. So before I used to travel all the 2:25:52 unknown ways which is totally opposite to God's direction. So then uh I don't know like this uh I used to ask my friends okay this is the way to travel. So I chose that one. uh and 2:26:10 when I'm in pain like which is totally um opposite way to God. So then I got to know I I cried a lot to like while I'm praying why God this is happening why this and that. I used to ask many 2:26:29 questions to God. So but everything God put in front of you only you need to see when like when the eyes open then only you can see what God planned for you. So that's what happened 2:26:46 in my life. But God opened my eyes. Then I got to know where I am at. And then I realized at that moment I felt like I was born again. And I changed and I left everything which is 2:27:04 not belongs to God. And I started prioritizing God first and the only things earthly things in my back and he cleansed me with his holy blood and I wanted to enter into 2:27:22 salvation gate and he opened doors for me and God is leading me and directing me whatever he planned in my life. So today I'm really glad and I felt joy in my heart regarding salvation and I wanted 2:27:42 to say thank you Lord and thank you all [applause] baptism. is a burial service for a death 2:28:07 that has already happened. When we are born again, the old person called an old man in Romans 6 is crucified with Christ. Some of those verses were already referenced. And that's what happens when you're truly born again. That's why 2:28:24 it it's it's meaningless to have any kind of quote unquote baptism service or baptism event unless the person is born again. That would be like burying a person who's not dead. 2:28:43 And that's why people who have supposedly had been baptized but haven't really died, that old man comes back out of that, digs his way out of the grave as it were because he's still alive. So all baptism must be must happen after 2:28:58 the death has actually happened. When you are truly born again, when you repent of your sins and Jesus blood cleanses you from all sins as he promises to do and you say, "Lord, I never want to dis I want to live my life 2:29:12 for you." That old man is by faith. That old man is crucified with Christ. An event that happened 2,000 years ago on the cross. Your old man was crucified with Christ. And you experience the reality of that in your life today on 2:29:27 that day when you're born again. Now you've got this person that's dead. What are you going to do with him? Bury him. And if you've been lugging around, if you say, "Well, I'm born again. Why do I need to be baptized?" That would be like 2:29:38 lugging around a dead body of somebody who's died. And if you were walking around town with the dead body of somebody who had died, they'd say, "Why haven't you had the funeral service? Bury him." That's what baptism is. 2:29:51 Galatians chapter 2, if you turn with that with me briefly, verse 20. Galatians 2, verse 20. Paul says, "I have been killed with Christ, crucified. I was put to death." When Christ was put to death 2:30:10 and the result of that, it is no longer I who live. That's what baptism is saying is I'm not alive anymore. It used to be that Santos did what he ever he wanted to do. Put your name there. But it's no longer I who live, but Christ 2:30:25 lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, which I'm still alive physically, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So from now on, you brothers and sisters 2:30:43 who testified, from now on, you're not going to live depending on your own knowledge or your own ability, but by the faith of the son of God who loved you and gave himself for you. When we have baptisms in our church, we often 2:30:58 like to sing this well-known chorus. I have decided to follow Jesus. Um I don't know if you the sto know know the story behind it. From what we know, some of the facts are a little sparse. Uh but from what we know, the the hymn 2:31:13 was actually put together compiled by a well-known godly man in India named Sadhu Sundar Singh. Some of you may have heard of him. But he put the song together based on a story he had heard from some years before him even of um an event that 2:31:30 happened in northeast India either Asam or Megalia some states in the northeast of India. There was a a revival in Wales many years ago, over 100 years ago. And the outcome of that revival was that many missionaries, Welsh missionaries 2:31:47 left Wales to go to India to go to different parts of the world. Some of them went to India and some specifically went to northeast India and worked there. Now in that part uh of the forget the name of the tribe um they 2:32:04 were notorious head hunters and the men established their wealth and eligibility for marriage if you were a single uh man by how many heads you collected and the more heads you have the more eligible you were as for marriage. 2:32:22 Today men collect cars and other things. Back then it was heads. It's the same thing really. And these some some of these Welsh uh missionaries felt burdened to go to this these head hunter tribes at the risk of their own lives. 2:32:39 And u but somehow this this this I think it was a couple that went there. I don't know the names of them and I don't know if anybody knows the names of who they were went to this tribe and lived among them and worked among them and finally 2:32:53 one family in that tribe was born again gave their lives to Jesus and then they started to influence some of the others in that village and others started to be introduced to Jesus Christ and were starting to see their lives changed and 2:33:10 became Christians. And the chief of this village saw this as a threat to his village and the religion of his of their ancestors that had been passed down. And so uh he called up this this family, this 2:33:29 man and his wife and his two sons, young boys, children listen to this as well. Um and they they were the first ones to be converted. And he called them up and he says, "Uh, do you know what you're doing to our village? You're destroying 2:33:42 it. I'm going to give you one more chance to renounce Jesus Christ and come back. Otherwise, uh, give me one more chance." And this man said, "I have decided to follow Jesus. I can't turn back." And the man said, "Okay, well, we're 2:34:01 going to uh we're going to kill your two sons then, right in front of you, two little boys." And sure enough, he shot the arrows and killed those two boys right in front of the eyes of this father and mother. And the man said, the the chief said to 2:34:21 this man, "I'll give you you see what we we're serious. Not just messing around. We're serious. you I'm giving you one more chance to turn around Jesus. Turn around from following Jesus. Others are going to kill your wife too. 2:34:36 And the man says, "Though none go with me, I will still follow. I've decided to follow Jesus. I can't turn back." And so they killed his wife as well, shot arrows through her. And as he watched his family laying there in front of him, 2:34:52 they said, "This is your last chance. You can save your life. We are serious. It's going to cost you your life. And then he said, "The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back. I have nothing to live for in this world 2:35:07 anymore. I've taken my whole family. It's okay. I when I decided to follow Jesus, I was prepared to put everything behind me. I don't want anything of the world left." And they killed him, too. But something happened at that moment 2:35:22 and the Holy Spirit was moving in that event and spontaneously in this chief's heart. The Holy Spirit had been saying if he was perplexed that a man would be willing to watch his own sons die in front of him, his own 2:35:40 wife die in front of him and give up his own life for a man who lived 2,000 years ago or at that time I think it was 1900 years ago. That's real faith that he would be willing to die for some man. He had to be more than just a man. 2:35:57 And spontaneously this chief said I believe in Jesus too. And the result was that entire village was converted to Christianity and is uh is Christian at least a name to this day in northeast India. 2:36:14 Now we live in a world in a in a in a in conditions where getting baptized is well if I if the water's too cold we'll warm it up for you and all that. Okay, there's nothing wrong with that. But I wonder how many of us who have been 2:36:28 baptized have really lived this way. If that's uh every time I see a baptism, it's a reminder for me. It's not a one-time event. It's a daily taking up of our cross and following Jesus. If you're not baptized 2:36:47 and you call yourself a Christian, I want to tell you, you're missing something. uh uh you must be baptized if you're going to take baptism. I want to be honest with you. This is the life that's ahead of you of truly putting the world 2:37:04 behind you. And if you have been baptized, but you've still been living a self-centered life. You don't have to be rebaptized if you really meant it when you've been baptized. But determine from this day forward that you will live like that man 2:37:19 nameless man in norththeast India who decided to follow Jesus though none go with him and putting the whole world behind me him I hope you'll decide today to put the world behind you everything it will be worth it all let's pray for 2:37:38 these brothers and sisters uh who are about to be baptized heavenly father I thank you for the decision that these brothers and sisters have made to follow you. Thank you for reminding us that this is what it means to follow you and 2:37:52 no sacrifice we could ever make comes even close to the sacrifice that you made Lord Jesus for us. The ask you have of us is very small. It's minuscule, tiny compared to what you gave up for us when you hung on that cross when you came down first of all 2:38:10 and humbled yourself and lived on this earth in the despicable condition spiritually that were here on this earth. And when you died on the cross and were forsaken by your father, Lord, that's the greatest sacrifice of all. 2:38:24 And I pray Lord that you will make us all live this way. Never counting any sacrifice as great in view of what you have done for us. I pray Lord that you will baptize these dear brothers and sisters in the Holy Spirit and fire 2:38:40 baptize all of them. But but like you did Lord when you like you experienced when you were baptized as well. Will you send the Holy Spirit here and fill each of their hearts? Fill all of our hearts Lord and we'll follow you. Thank you for 2:38:54 this se burial ceremony we're about to experience and thank you for the resurrection ceremony we're going to see at the water resurrected raised up into newness of life and I pray Lord as we've even heard in the testimonies now 2:39:07 that you will continue to set them free from all addictions all sin sin will have no power over them we believe it because they're no longer under law but under grace pour out the spirit of grace in their lives and for all of us Lord 2:39:22 may we live free for as free men and women, Lord. Free brothers and sisters, no longer bound by the things of this earth, bound by bad moods, by complaints, by grumbling and murmuring and love of money and lust and anger, 2:39:35 jealousy, bitterness, unforgiveness. Set us free loose, Lord. I pray everyone here we ask in the name of Jesus. You came to set us free and when you set us free, we are free indeed. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you brother Santos for that 2:39:59 exhortation and for all the testimonies we heard. Every time I witness the baptis baptism, my heart is uh filled with joy because Bible also says uh likewise I say unto you. Jesus is saying there is a joy in the presence of the 2:40:13 angels of God over one sinner that repents and we can also partake of the joy of the Lord today. um that what he experiences when one sinner repents and it also reminds us of our commitment to the Lord that we made on the day we got 2:40:29 baptized and examine our own hearts. Are we still true to that commitment the to the wows uh we made to the Lord that we will follow him uh the cross before me the world behind me and uh so before we disperse out I wanted to uh say a few 2:40:46 words of appreciation to brother Santosh on behalf on behalf of all of us uh thank you so much uh Santosh for coming and blessing us and giving us a spiritual feast over the last couple of days and it has been a joy and it has 2:41:01 been um the word that you have shared has been a challenge and a blessing to all of us and may the word bear much fruit in the days to come and u I thank you for the care you have for Austin CFC and brother Santos he's our overseer uh he 2:41:19 oversees our church along with brother Zach and um it comes with a great responsibility and which he takes it very seriously and I have witnessed some of it over the last few months when we went through difficult times and how 2:41:32 much he cared for us uh for the elders and for the church. How much he interceded for us and prayed for us and encouraged us and shared his wisdom in many difficult decisions we had to make. And for more than a decade he has been 2:41:45 coming every year and sharing his heart with all of us and blessing us. nothing but pouring his heart for and uh without expecting anything from us and even for this trip for this conference he directly flew from uh UK on his business 2:42:01 trip and without jet lag without anything I mean if I were traveling I will say I need few days of rest and all of that to overcome jet lag but he came directly from the airport and from the moment he entered he has been talking to 2:42:12 people encouraging and encouraging and I I'm so uh blessed to see that heart brother Santos and I pray that I would also grow in that area. Um, thank you very much and um, so we will all go out uh, please assemble around the gravel 2:42:27 area and so around the baptismal tank. I want all the people who are going to be baptized to be close to that and rest of us can go quietly, leave your stuff here. We all go out and we'll gather there and we'll have the baptism and 2:42:41 then we can come back and set up the tables and we will have lunch and for the rest of the day this is what we are thinking. uh after we'll have lunch we'll I think it will take maybe around 2 2:30 then we'll have time of sports and 2:42:55 fellowship you're free to stay here as long as you want and we have some we will have some leftovers from afternoon lunch um and then also we have some leftovers from last night so we will plan to have some early dinner like 2:43:09 maybe four uh sorry 5:00 uh so please feel free to stay and u uh have fellowship and seek to encourage and bless one another. Um so if there is anything that we organize maybe some informal time of Q&A with brother Santo 2:43:24 we will let you know but uh that's a plan uh that we are thinking. Okay. Thank you very much for all uh
