0:00 Above the golden streams, above the golden streams We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion We're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God 0:24 Come, please, let's sing Let's sing Let's sing Let's sing Let's sing Let's sing 0:48 Let's sing We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion We're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God 1:10 We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion We're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God We're marching to Zion 1:30 We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion 1:56 We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion We're marching to Zion divine that never can fail heavenly sunlight heavenly sunlight flooding my soul with glory divine 2:19 alleluia i am rejoicing singing his praises jesus is mine shadows around me shadows above me never conceal my savior and guide 2:44 he is the light in him is no darkness ever i'm walking close to his side heavenly sunlight heavenly sunlight lighting my soul with glory divine 3:08 hallelujah i am rejoicing singing his praises jesus is mine in the prime life ever rejoicing pressing my way to mansions above 3:32 see me his praises gladly i'm walking walking in sunlight sunlight of love heavenly sunlight heavenly sunlight flooding my soul with glory divine 3:56 hallelujah i am rejoicing singing his praises jesus is mine my heart is overflowing my love keeps on growing 4:27 my heart keeps on growing my heart keeps on growing I will praise You, Lord. I will praise You, Lord. I will sing of all that You have done. The joy that no storm limits, a lightness in my spirit, during the grace of God I stand. 5:15 I am a new creation, no more in condemnation. You're in the grace of God I stand. My heart is overflowing, my love just keeps on growing. You're in the grace of God I stand. 5:43 I will praise You, Lord. I will praise You, Lord. I will save you all that You have done. The joy that no storm limits, a lightness in my spirit, during the grace of God I stand. 6:15 Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. 6:39 Lord, be all else to be saved that Thou art. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Waking, O sleeping, Thy presence my light. 7:06 Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 7:13 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 7:19 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 7:25 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 7:31 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 7:39 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 7:45 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 7:51 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 7:58 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:04 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:12 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:18 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:23 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:29 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:35 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:41 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:47 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:53 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 8:59 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. 9:05 Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my best of Thy day or by now. Be Thou my King of Heaven when victory's won. And I reach Heaven, O bright Heaven's sun. 9:25 Heart of my own heart, whatever before. Still be my vision, O Ruler of all. The praise is rising. 9:55 Hosanna, You are the God who saves us. You are worthy of all our praises. The praise is rising. Eyes are turning to You. 10:17 We turn to You. Hope is stirring. Hearts are yearning for You. We long for You. 10:37 Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day. In Your presence, all our fears are washed away. Washed away. Hosanna, Hosanna. 11:03 You are the God who saves us. Worthy of all our praises. Hosanna, Hosanna. Come have Your way among us. 11:23 We welcome You here, Lord Jesus. We welcome You here, Lord Jesus. Hear the sound of hearts returning to You. We turn to You. 11:44 In Your kingdom, broken lives are made new. You make us new. Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day. 12:07 In Your presence, all our fears are washed away. Washed away, washed away. Hosanna, Hosanna. You are the God who saves us. 12:29 Worthy of all our praises. Hosanna, Hosanna. Come have Your way among us. We welcome You here, Lord Jesus. Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day. 13:00 In Your presence, all our fears are washed away. Washed away, washed away. Washed away. Hosanna, Hosanna. You are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. 13:14 We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. 13:22 We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. 13:33 We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. We are the God who saves us. 13:41 We are the God who saves us. Hosanna, Hosanna, come every way among us. We welcome you here, Lord Jesus. You have been given the name above all names and we worship you. 14:11 Yes, we worship you. 14:40 We are your people. 15:09 We're made for your glory and we worship you. Yes, we worship you. We are your people. We are your people. We're made for your glory and we worship you. 15:30 Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. We worship you. Yes, we worship you. You have redeemed us from every nation and we worship you. 15:55 Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. Yes, we worship you. 16:25 Let's all stand up and sing. You are holy Lord beyond description. And I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all our praise is due, I stand in awe of you. You are holy Lord beyond description. Too marvelous for worth. Too wonderful for comprehension. 17:10 Like nothing ever seen or heard. Who can grasp your infinite wisdom? Who can fathom the depths of your love? 17:32 You are holy Lord beyond description. Majesty enthroned above. And I stand, I stand in awe of you. I stand, I stand in awe of you. 18:03 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. You are holy Lord beyond description. Too marvelous for worth. Too wonderful for comprehension. 18:36 Too wonderful for comprehension. Like nothing ever seen or heard. Who can grasp your infinite wisdom? 18:56 And I stand, I stand in awe of you. You are holy Lord beyond description. Who can fathom the depths of your love? You are holy Lord beyond description. You are holy Lord beyond description. Majesty enthroned above. And I stand, I stand in awe of you. I stand, I stand in awe of you. 19:18 And I stand, I stand in awe of you. And I stand, I stand in awe of you. I stand, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 19:49 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 20:11 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 20:24 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 20:39 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 20:46 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 20:50 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 20:54 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 20:58 Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of you. 21:02 our minds and hearts before him he is the most most important person let's keep away all our distractions 21:29 he deserves our attention God looks at our hearts man looks at external appearances 21:56 yes we get ready to come to church but it's good to take time to get our heart ready before him he is compassionate king before him we are nothing zero 22:19 we are less than dust in his eyes but still he chooses to show compassion for us he is a good God let's think about his love his care and 22:42 his concern scripture says in Psalm 96 splendor and majesty are before him strength and beauty are in his sanctuary ascribe to the Lord all families of peoples ascribe the Lord glory and strength ascribe to the 23:12 Lord the glory of his name bring an offering and come into his courts worship the Lord in holy attire holy attire other translation says worship the Lord with holy lives 23:34 tremble before him all the earth say among the nations the Lord reigns let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice let the seas roar and all it contains before the Lord for he is coming 23:56 for he is coming to judge the earth he is the righteous and compassionate judge for he is coming to judge the earth he will judge the world God in righteousness and the people in his faithfulness 24:17 all praise and glory to him he is a good God he will never show any partiality he will never despise the humble he is in our midst he is here to 24:38 help us he is a mighty warrior victorious warrior let us give him praise and thanks brothers and sisters Father we thank you Lord Jesus we praise you praise you thank you thank you you are mighty God indeed thank you Lord Jesus 25:00 it's Lord it's beyond our understanding to know that you loved us with an everlasting love you gave yourself Lord you humbled yourself Lord thank you thank you you took the punishment Lord to show us mercy show us compassion 25:17 Lord you had to pay high price Lord thank you thank you Holy Spirit for your moving thank you Heavenly Father thank you all heaven rejoices we rejoice in you we praise you and thank you for what you have done and what you are going to do 25:34 praise you praise you dear Father we thank you thank you for your compassion and love care and concern especially your presence today yes Lord you look at our heart and you choose to have compassion over us you want to speak to us 25:55 thank you anoint your servants Lord give us listening ear pierce our hearts pierce our ears so that we can hear your voice we know Lord you are mighty but still you hide from us 26:16 but you show all goodness to us thank you thank you Lord you have good things in store for us today Lord we turn to you we turn to you Father all glory and honor to you build your church Lord build your people Lord that our hearts be concentrated 26:34 to you that our hearts can bring pleasure to you Lord give us faith give us humility give us tender heart unfold your words to our ears our hearts so that our hearts be touched and transformed commit ourselves Lord in Jesus name we pray 26:54 Amen brothers and sisters please be seated we look into memory verse last week we had a promise from Zechariah chapter 8 please repeat after me Zechariah chapter 8 verse 13 I will save you 27:18 that you may become a blessing do not fear let your hands be strong wonderful promise that he says I will save you and do not fear I will make you a blessing yeah this week we have a command 27:38 from Luke chapter 6 please repeat after me Luke chapter 6 verse 38 give it will be given it will be given it will be given to you they will pour into your lap a good measure let's say it again 27:59 Luke chapter 6 verse 38 give and it will be given to you they will pour into your lap a good measure we are seeing this manifesting the life of Christ when we think of this 28:21 the whole world thinks about money and riches or authority or fame favors but when we children of God when we think about God's favor God's blessing we think of about life of Christ coming into us in good measure 28:42 so that we will be able to pour it into others life may the Lord help us today we are happy to hear God's word from brother Paul Williams he is one of the facilitator I have known him for many years and I have been blessed 29:01 by every time he shares the word many times I have heard him and I think of this verse where Psalmist says in Psalm 25 Lord opens his secrets reveals his secrets to those who fear him every time I think about brother Paul 29:21 I think somebody who has walked with God and in fear of the Lord the Lord has blessed him and we are so happy to hear him today brother Paul over to you thank you so my topic today 29:55 is mercy so I am just starting to learn to share full length messages in English so I request all of you to be merciful to me let's turn to Romans 15 8 Romans 15 verses 8 30:18 and 9 for I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers and for the Gentiles to glorify God 30:40 for his mercy one of the reasons why Jesus came down to earth and became a servant is to show mercy to the Gentiles that is all those who are not Israelites so that the Gentiles which is all of us who are here can glorify God 31:00 for his mercy we were strangers to the covenants we were under no covenant we were without hope we were without God in this world but we have received God's mercy one of the first things we have experienced from God is his mercy 31:20 God knew all about us all about our sins failures our weaknesses and faults and he decided to show mercy to us and it is God's mercy towards us which made a relationship with him possible and this is true 31:40 of our relationship with others also initially a relationship or a friendship is formed based on some common interests but if that relationship is to continue both the people in that relationship should be willing to show 31:58 mercy towards each other they should be willing to overlook each other's faults and shortcomings and a relationship will be broken if one or both of the people in that relationship decide to stop showing mercy towards each other 32:16 and that is what leads to breakup of friendships or families in many cases and a relationship can be restored when they decide to show mercy towards each other once again and if it is a relationship between a stronger one 32:35 stronger person and a weaker person it is usually the stronger person who has to show a lot of mercy consider the relationship between a mother and her newborn baby the baby is weak the baby cannot do anything right it cannot 32:52 feed itself clean itself take care of itself the mother has to do it all and the mother is willing to do it all and that is how that relationship is sustained if the mother ever decides not to show mercy towards the baby 33:07 that will be the end of that relationship and it will be the end of the baby also so how can a baby survive without the mercy of the mother and my relationship and our relationship with God began when he decided to show us mercy 33:23 now God had shown me mercy all my life and right from my birth from the beginning of my existence that is how I was even born into this world but there came a time when I recognized my need for mercy my need for forgiveness 33:38 and that is when he showed me mercy and that is what resulted in me being born again let's look at this verse 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3 33:58 it says here blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the 34:19 resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead so we who are without hope in this world at one point of time were caused to be born to a living hope because of God's great mercy and in Lamentations 3 verse 22 in the King James Version 34:38 it says it is because of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not they are new every morning great is thy faithfulness we all know that God is a consuming fire Hebrews 12 29 but it 34:58 is because of his mercy that we are not consumed and his mercies are new every morning God is not tired of showing me mercy and he shows me mercy every day as if he is showing it to me for the very first time and that is what 35:17 keeps my relationship with God intact if God ever decides to stop showing me mercy that will be the end of my relationship with him so we need God's mercy all through our lives the other thing is that mercy is not free mercy 35:37 is free to the one who is receiving it but it is not free to the one who is showing it God had to pay a great price to show us mercy he could not show us mercy without being just without doing justice and to do justice and 35:56 show mercy to us at the same time he had to pay a great price and we know that price was his very own beloved son and God had to endure that break in fellowship with his own son to show us mercy so mercy is expensive it 36:15 it's costly to the one who is showing it remember the parable that Jesus told about the king who forgave his servant Matthew chapter 18 Matthew chapter 18 we know this parable from verses 18 to 35 from 36:35 verses 23 to 35 chapter and we know what happened and let's look at verse 34 and the lord moved with anger handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him earlier in verse 27 36:55 we know what happened the king forgave this servant a lot of money in today's value today's currency it is about a thousand crore rupees the king showed mercy to the slave and forgave his debt so the forgiveness of debt 37:15 was free to the servant but it was not free to the king it cost the king a thousand crore rupees but the slave also had to show his fellow slave he had to forgive his fellow slave a certain amount of debt and it would have 37:35 cost him also something but nothing compared to what he had received from the king but he was not willing to show mercy he was not willing to forgive even such a tiny amount so what happened in verse 34 it says that the 37:52 lord moved with anger handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him in verse 27 we read that he was moved with mercy the lord of the slave felt compassion and released him so so so so he was 38:06 moved with mercy but now he was moved with anger now the question is how can this man who is being tortured by the torturers repay his debt he could not repay it before how could he repay it now so 38:27 when he could not repay it when he was not being tortured and there is no chance that he will be able to repay it when he is being tortured so the only hope for this servant who is being tortured is that that king will forgive 38:41 his debt once again and this time the king will forgive him only after he forgives all his fellow slaves the first time the king forgave him he did not check and verify whether the slave had forgiven all his fellow slaves 38:59 the king must have thought well he is in great need of mercy and when he receives that mercy he will show a little mercy to every other slave but he did not do that so that is the reason the next time the king forgives him 39:13 he will ensure that he forgives all his fellow slaves first so this applies to us also this is not just some theory it applies to us and here we read about the torturers and we need not think that these torturers are someone 39:31 who come to torture after death in hell they can torture us even now and the demons can torture us if we don't forgive and one of the torturers can be our own conscience because when God removes the forgiveness of all the 39:50 sins from us our conscience will trouble us very much before when we are born again our conscience is awakened and every sin that we don't confess and that is not forgiven will trouble us and what will happen if God decides 40:06 to remove all the forgiveness then our conscience will trouble us very much and the demons will very quick to remind us of all our sins and we will be tortured so we have to be careful so when we forgive we are actually 40:24 doing good to ourselves and when we don't forgive we are actually harming ourselves let's look at this verse in Proverbs chapter 11 Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 17 Proverbs 11 17 the 40:47 merciful man does himself good but the cruel man does himself harm all of us want good to happen to us none of us intentionally want to harm ourselves but the one who refuses to show mercy to others harms 41:07 himself he thinks he is harming the other person by not showing him mercy but he is actually harming himself and when we show mercy to others we are actually doing ourselves good so the longer we refuse to forgive the harder 41:25 it becomes to forgive I just want to repeat that the longer we refuse to forgive someone the harder it becomes to forgive so it is important to let go of our grudges and grievances quickly in English we have this expression 41:42 called nurse your grievance sometimes we don't just have a grievance we nurse that grievance that means initially the grievance was very small but we refuse to let go of it we refuse to forgive and we nurse it that means 41:58 we feed it we nourish it we think about it we dwell on it and that small grievance has become a big grievance so what was once a minor grievance has now become a major grievance then we will not be able to forgive so it 42:15 is important and it is easy to forgive right at the beginning but the Lord can help us no matter how big a grudge or a grievance we have the Lord can help us to forgive and one of the ways he helps us is by showing us what 42:32 our grievance or grudge is compared to what happened on Calvary so whatever people have done to us how does it compare to what people have done to the Lord we know what people have done to the Lord they whipped him they mocked 42:51 him insulted him they stripped him of his garments and then they crucified him so that involved great pain physical pain great shame and death so have we ever been subject to such a treatment have we ever been whipped stripped 43:10 and crucified none of us have been like that and what was Jesus response Jesus said in Luke 23 34 father forgive them let's look at that verse Luke 43:32 23 34 father father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing let's look at the second part the first part he said father forgive them that means even as he hung on the cross Jesus forgave he did 43:53 not wait for the things to get better for the situation to improve he did not wait until the resurrection to forgive those who harmed him even as he hung on the cross he forgave them so we don't have to be in a position 44:07 of strength to forgive others we can forgive them even in a position of weakness so when we look at this verse it says father forgive them but they do not know what they are doing so let's look at the second part but they 44:21 do not know what they are doing so why did Jesus say these words was it really needed for Jesus to say these words we can understand Jesus saying the first part father forgive them because that is how he lived all his immediately 44:42 but what is the point of the second part it's almost as if Jesus is excusing their behavior he's saying they're not doing it deliberately they're not doing it on purpose they don't know who they are doing it to but if you 44:58 ask the people who crucified Jesus if they knew what they were doing they would have said yes we know what we are doing we know who this as far as to say his blood be upon us and upon our children so they took total 45:18 ownership of their actions they certainly knew what they were doing but Jesus said they do not know what they are doing so this is a beautiful attitude for us to have to people who hurt us in some way they don't know what 45:34 they are doing they are not doing it deliberately they don't know who they are doing it to suppose when we are in a crowded place someone steps on our toes we forgive them because we think they did it by mistake but if someone 45:50 crucifies us we will not think that they did it by mistake because you can't crucify a person by mistake crucifixion is deliberate it requires planning time effort and if someone does something bad to us as bad crucifixion 46:09 as deliberate as the crucifixion can we say these words so Jesus said these words to show us that even if some people have hurt us very badly we should not be quick to condemn them but if we have anger in our hearts then 46:26 we will be quick to condemn them and we will be quick to attribute the worst of motives to them but Jesus shows us this way the way of mercy and compassion and that is why he spoke I believe he spoke the second part but 46:41 they do not know what they are doing so when we choose the way of Jesus then we find that however major the grievance is however big the grudge is we will be able to forgive so Jesus spoke these words to teach us to have 46:57 the same attitude now some of us may say that it is not just physical pain or shame even words can be very hurtful it is true that words can be very hurtful but there is a promise for those who have to face hurtful words 47:13 let's turn to Mark chapter 16 Mark chapter 16 and verse 18 Mark chapter 16 and verse 18 it says here they will pick up serpents and 47:33 if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them I heard of some missionaries who were poisoned by the locals but they survived the poison did not hurt them Sadhu Sindhu Singh's own family poisoned him but he survived 47:53 the poison did not hurt him but most of us may never go through such an experience so how does this apply to us there is a certain kind of deadly poison that we all have to drink we all have to face that is mentioned in 48:12 James chapter 3 let's turn to James chapter 3 this is the deadly poison nearly all of us have to drink and some of us have to drink on a regular basis so James chapter 3 and verse 8 it says here 48:32 but no one can tame the tongue it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison so the tongue is full of deadly poison and whenever people speak to us to hurt us they inject this deadly poison into us we know the poison 48:52 the snakes have poison and when people speak to hurt us it's like deadly poison it's like a snake striking to inject its poison into the body of its victim in the world we know what happens when a person strikes like a snake 49:10 and injects his deadly poison by speaking hurtful words the other person retaliates and he injects his own deadly poison into this first person and this goes on back and forth so it's like a competition between the two as 49:27 to whose poison is more deadly and who will kill the other person first with his deadly poison but we are not to be like that and as followers of the Lord we are not supposed to return evil for evil and insult for insult 49:43 in 1 Peter 3 9 we read that it says not returning evil for evil and insult for insult but giving a blessing instead for you are called for this very purpose that you might inherit a blessing so 50:05 we don't respond to deadly poison with deadly poison but what about the deadly poison the other person has injected into us for that we have the promise of the Lord if you drink any deadly poison it will not hurt you so 50:19 it will not hurt us whether the deadly poison comes from our loved ones from our own family members or from those who hate us it will not hurt how much deadly poison he had to drink how many times and in how many ways people 50:39 mocked him insulted him and said all sorts of things about him they accused him even when he was on the cross they continued to mock him and insult him but he drank all the deadly poison and he did not respond in the same 50:54 way I once made a list of all the insults and accusations and mockery Jesus had to face that are mentioned in the gospels there's a unique kind of bible study and there were dozens and dozens of insults he had to bear and 51:14 there were two some of them were most of them were included I believe but some of them may not have been included because they were so offensive and all that was deadly poison and how did Jesus flowed in response to this 51:30 deadly poison living waters so out of him flowed living waters and James goes on to say in James chapter 3 the same chapter let's look at that James 51:51 chapter 3 verse 9 James James 52:11 says that we use the same tongue to bless God and curse men made in the image of God can the same fountain send out both fresh and bitter water can we send out deadly poison and living water at the same time no so one of 52:29 them is not genuine either blessing the Lord is not genuine or cursing men is not genuine so we have to examine ourselves and see which is genuine am I cursing men men genuinely or am I blessing the Lord genuinely so cursing 52:46 men means anything we say to them or about them to hurt them that includes any kind of insult or slander or accusation or gossip so if we want to send forth living water we need to get rid of the deadly poison Ephesians 53:07 4 32 message Bible it says be gentle with one another sensitive forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you so we are commanded to forgive quickly and thoroughly so let us do that we should 53:24 not wait for the grievance to fester and we should certainly not nurse that grievance because if we let the grievance fester even worse things can happen not only will we find it difficult to forgive but it will affect the 53:38 lives of others around us for example something happens in the place of work we are falsely accused or verbally abused and we get very upset and angry we can't take it out on anyone there and we don't forgive we hold that 53:55 anger we bottle up that anger all day and we take it home with us and when we return home what happens who do we take it out on we take it out on those who are subject to us look at this verse in Hebrews 12 15 we know this 54:13 verse Hebrews 12 15 it says that see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and by it many be defiled here we see that the root of bitterness which springs 54:28 up causes trouble so bitterness has both root and fruit and here we are warned about the root the fruit can be an outburst of anger and the fruit we have somehow controlled when we were at our workplace but it was waiting 54:45 for an opportune time to show up and when we return home we are no longer guarded in our speech and then it shows up and the husband may take it out on his wife and if the wife is not careful she may take it out on the children 54:58 so the root of bitterness which has first defiled the person has then defiled the others also defiled his family members that is why we are not to allow it to take root now if this is true of verbal abuse it can be true 55:15 of other forms of abuse also that is why whatever we may have suffered from others it is important to forgive quickly and not let bitterness take root consider the example of Jesus he did not have a trace of bitterness in 55:30 him all through his life he did not let bitterness take root so it never bore fruit even when he was on the cross it did not bear fruit what came out of him was always clean and living so that is how we are supposed to live 55:47 when Jesus walked the earth he walked the earth as the personification of God's mercy that means when sinners saw Jesus they saw God's mercy when they saw Jesus walking toward them they saw God's mercy walking toward them 56:01 and that's why they did not run away and that's why sinners could go near him the worst of sinners could go near him as it says in Luke 15 1 and even sinful women could approach him no sinful woman would have dead approached 56:16 a scribe or a Pharisee or a rabbi but they could approach Jesus whose righteousness exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees and rabbis and that is how we are to be as well see we are not holy like Jesus at 56:31 best we are saved sinners saved by mercy and grace so other sinners should find it easy to come to us to approach us because we were like them in the past and since one of the first things we have experienced from God is 56:44 mercy one of the first things others have to experience from us also should be mercy they should know that we are merciful so the question we have to ask ourselves today is are we quick to forgive are we thorough in our 56:58 forgiveness if not how long will we hold on to these grudges and how long will we nurse our grievances dear brothers and sisters we don't have much time the Lord is coming soon and we have to be ready and we can't be ready 57:13 for his return unless we have forgiven everyone in the world and if there is even one person in the world we are not forgiven we are not ready for his return Jesus spoke about the wise and the foolish virgins the wise virgins 57:28 are those who were ready for his coming and what made them ready was their wisdom and what is one of the marks of wisdom let's turn to James 3 once again one of the marks of wisdom James 3 17 but the wisdom from above is 57:45 first pure then peaceable gentle reasonable full of mercy and good fruits unwavering without hypocrisy there are seven qualities of wisdom listed here and out of the seven qualities there is one quality which is mentioned 58:01 that we should be full of that is mercy full of mercy so we can't really be wise if we are not full of mercy and we can't be ready for the coming of the Lord if we are not wise if we are to be in that group of wise virgins 58:19 who are ready for the coming of the Lord we should be full of mercy the Lord is coming again very soon and this time we know he is coming to judge in James 2 and verse 13 it says for judgment will be merciless to one who 58:37 has shown mercy no mercy mercy triumphs over judgment merciless to those who have shown no mercy I don't want Jesus to be merciless towards me and for that I have to be merciful to others so we all learn 58:58 to be merciful by experiencing God's mercy first hand in our own lives we have experienced great mercy because of our great sins and God lets us repeatedly fail in many areas so that we can experience his mercy time and 59:12 again and in that way we can be prepared to show others his mercy and we can be merciful to others so to conclude if your relationship with someone is broken it can be restored God can help you restore it but for that you 59:32 have to show a little mercy and in some cases a lot of mercy but nothing compared to what the Lord has shown you so don't wait for the other person to take the first step you take the first step don't think that oh he also 59:48 heard this message let him take the first step so see how much God has shown you mercy and how he has shown you he took the first step so take the first step talk to that person and even if the person is on the other side 1:00:03 of the globe today we have the technology to reach them so make that phone call or write that email and don't worry about how the other person will you forgive the person from your heart you 1:00:23 make a sincere effort to reconcile and then something wonderful can happen the relationship can be restored but in any case God will be merciful to you and you may even be healed of some of your ailments because God's mercy 1:00:40 sometimes can include healing also so when we show mercy God will show us mercy so let's conclude with the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 7 we are all familiar with this verse Jesus said blessed are 1:00:56 the merciful for they shall receive mercy blessed means happy happy are the merciful we can be happy if we show mercy and then we can receive God's mercy as well may the Lord help all of us God's 1:01:47 let's 1:02:08 sing there's a whiteness in God's mercy like the whiteness of the sea there's 1:02:37 a whiteness in God's mercy like the whiteness of the sea there's a kindness in his justice which is more than liberty there 1:02:59 is welcome for the sinners and more graces for the good there is mercy with the saviour there is healing in his 1:03:19 blood for the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind and the heart of the eternal is 1:03:41 most wonderfully kind if Allah were but more simple we should take him at his word and all lives would be your sunshine 1:04:02 in the sweetness of our Lord there is plenty for redemption in the blood that has been shed there is 1:04:23 joy for all the members in the sorrows of the hell he for long but 1:04:48 more simple we should take him at his word and our lives would be your sunshine in the sweetness of our Lord is 1:05:34 the Lord for what we heard we heard many things in the conference many many many things but the foundation for all we heard is mercy it is the first thing it is the basic 1:05:54 thing I remember brother Zach talking about this verse that's here right behind me he says we have high standards in this church and the big danger is that we will not be merciful to one another and we will forget the great 1:06:11 mercy that we have received from our Lord Jesus yeah we heard many things in the conference that without Christ I can do nothing with Christ I can do all things but the foundation the starting point is 1:06:31 that God has been merciful to me and I must be merciful to others and it's only when we look at have a revelation think about Jesus on the cross that we can come to 1:06:51 the fullness of mercy that we heard about that is part of God's wisdom there's a story about Corrie Ten Boom I think many of us would have heard it where she talks about meeting a German guard who you know was 1:07:11 so cruel to her and her sister they both suffered in a concentration camp and this guard was there the women they were humiliated they took their clothes off and this man said I have accepted the savior I am a Christian 1:07:29 can you forgive me and he reached out his hand and Corrie Ten Boom was she had just preached the gospel and her hand was frozen and she said Lord help me and this is what she says I 1:07:49 cannot do this but you can he can you know the Lord gave her strength and she with her whole heart she reached out forgive him brothers and sisters we speak about pressing on to forgiveness you know the things that we have 1:08:04 to forgive are not are not great things I especially want to talk and apply this to forgiveness in the family forgiveness at home I remember this and brother Zach may have spoken the same word to many other married couples 1:08:22 he said be quick to forgive and ask forgiveness there is an order a priority in that first forgive then ask forgiveness I think it's a wonderful thing even as we heard today the first thing that Jesus said when he was hanging 1:08:40 on the cross fulfilling the father's will perfectly every point of time in his life the first thing he said father forgive them they don't know what they are doing that is the basis on which we can press on to perfection 1:09:01 yeah and I want to apply this at home especially brother Victor was saying in his mind maybe all our minds our neighbor is the one who lives in the house next to us no no no that's not the right way to think about it our 1:09:18 neighbor is the one who lives right next to us in our house that that love my neighbor as myself be merciful as God has been merciful to me show mercy 1:09:39 you know Jesus when he spoke about the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10 he said so who was the one who proved to be his neighbor the one who showed mercy to him the Samaritan didn't just look at him decide not to 1:09:56 judge him no no no he was in need and he you know paid a cost and put aside his own program and you know said whatever else it comes to I will pay for it he poured out the oil and the wine there 1:10:17 is a fullness of mercy of God's mercy that we have experienced brothers and sisters and that is the sort of mercy that God wants us to show starting in our homes with our wives and with our children a fullness of God's mercy 1:10:37 pour out the oil and the wine oh yeah I think of this story we can just quickly turn there I just want to contrast you know how things were in the Old Testament David David in 1:10:58 2nd Samuel chapter 6 and verse 20 it says he returned home to bless his family it's a good intention they had a great sacrifice a feast 1:11:18 you know like we had in the last couple of days and he returned home to bless his household that was his intention it was a good intention but we see what happened there there was an argument a difference of opinion between 1:11:38 the husband and the wife in this situation definitely you know Mikal was wrong she did not see things as she should have but the standard of the Old Testament is so different from the standard of the New Testament brothers 1:11:54 and sisters and we are called to love our wives and lay down our lives for her and this is a very great standard it's a high standard and yeah we can be in 1:12:15 the right according to the word of God and stand on that but the result is that there was a curse that came upon Mikal you can say it's her own fault you know she did not see things as she should but that is the old standard 1:12:30 old testament way our burden is that the Lord should help us and as the husband as the head of my household I want to have a burden that Lord help me help me to be a source of blessing to my family because that was my intent 1:12:49 I came to bless my family how can we do this we can look at Matthew chapter 12 Matthew 1:13:12 chapter 12 Jesus talks about those who are with me and those who are against me those who are gathering with me and those who are scattering Matthew chapter 12 verse 30 1:13:32 if somebody is against Jesus we can say he is antichrist okay what does it mean to be with Christ what does it mean to be antichrist I think our desire is that our family should be gathered should be gathered unto Jesus 1:13:48 it should not be scattered what is Jesus saying therefore I say to you any sin blasphemy shall be forgiven people sin against the spirit shall not be forgiven but whoever speaks a word against the son of man it shall be 1:14:06 forgiven him so if you say anything against me I will forgive you I will forgive you in advance and if you want to be with me and you want to gather with me and you don't want to scatter then have this attitude have this 1:14:22 heart the same heart that I had you speak anything you want against me I will forgive you I have already forgiven you that is the heart of Jesus yeah and then he goes on to say he talks about a standard 1:14:42 setting a standard Matthew chapter 12 and verse 36 he says every careless word and you know in some translations it says idle word that people speak they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment there 1:15:02 are multiple ways we can take this you know we have to take responsibility for our words we have to think about whether they are honest whether they are loving but it also says by your words you will be justified by your 1:15:18 words you will be condemned that that I am setting a standard by my words you know if I lay a certain standard if I accuse somebody else and I say oh you should be doing this then that is a standard I am holding by which 1:15:37 I will be judged or I will be condemned and we can look at this in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 2 Matthew 7 verse 1 says do not judge so that 1:15:57 you will not be judged for in the way you judge by your standard of measure it will be measured to you if you put a high standard of burden on other people by your words this is how it should be done brothers and sisters 1:16:14 we should be really really careful about this idle words no it's easy to talk but my words are not backed by my action I am putting a standard for others that I am not following myself I am not adhering to myself and what 1:16:34 am I doing I am putting bringing condemnation and bringing judgment on myself and what does the word of God tell me to do says be merciful just as your father is merciful don't apply a high standard you judge yourself you 1:16:50 apply a high standard to yourself don't apply a high standard to someone else and sisters and it's it's good for us to you know make a difference between standard and area okay let me try to explain this as simply 1:17:11 as I can yeah we can turn to James where this is a verse that brother Paul just now read where he talks about judgment being merciless to the one who has shown no mercy James chapter 2 verse 13 says judgment will be merciless 1:17:29 to the one who has shown no mercy but mercy triumphs over judgment I I I I want mercy to triumph over judgment in my dealings with God this is my cry I say Lord don't judge me according to my actions you know all things 1:17:45 be merciful and the Lord we know is merciful he's been merciful to us in this context it says in verse 10 whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all okay so 1:18:05 and it gives a very clear example it says the same person who said do not commit adultery said do not commit murder now if you do not commit adultery but you commit murder you have become a transgressor of the law sisters 1:18:22 we struggle in different areas we struggle in different areas I you know I thought I had given example of a husband and a wife so there is a husband he is tempted in the area of sexual lust there 1:18:43 is a wife she is tempted to be upset angry you know this is I think of that what they say in movies any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely intentional I believe 1:19:03 the same story plays out in many households so what is going on in the husband's mind his wife gets upset angry and she starts saying things and he is like oh this is exactly what brother Paul shared on Sunday poison look at 1:19:24 how can she how can what is she saying how can she say these things and then he says yeah I am a man like it is natural I have you know natural tendencies weaknesses brothers sisters this is deception this is deception and 1:19:43 the wife says I don't know what sort of animal this person is yeah no why does he behave like this why does he act like this why does he have these tendencies I don't have these tendencies I don't have these problems naturally 1:19:55 I will get upset what else do you expect me to do brothers and sisters judge ourselves he who transgresses in one area is a transgressor of the whole law and by the standard of measure it will be measured to you so 1:20:17 judge ourselves as far as it comes to the other person we must say Lord forgive them they don't know what they are doing yeah when it comes to my own nature I have a hope I believe we have a hope that God will change us 1:20:36 no it says about love the love of God love is patient love is kind love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things if I'm struggling in some area I believe God is able to change me he's already 1:20:54 working my life he's forgiven me he's able to change me he's working on me then should I not have hope for the other person that God will change her as well he will do it in his time I will be yeah 1:21:16 we you know it's good for us to when there are parallel verses in the Bible it's good for us to read both of them so that we can understand what they are saying we know this verse in Matthew chapter 5 verse 48 we don't have 1:21:30 to turn there where it says be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect in front of this pulpit it says we are pressing on to that perfection but it seems like a great challenge 1:21:46 heavy burden but when we read the parallel passage in Luke we can turn there this is Luke chapter 6 it says be 1:22:12 merciful just as your father is merciful do not judge you will not be judged do not condemn you will not be condemned pardon and you will be pardoned yeah so we are pressing on to perfection we want to be perfect as our 1:22:29 heavenly father is perfect but we start by being perfect in mercy being merciful forgiving freely forgiving as my father has forgiven and and and and and look at what it says over there this is the memory verse we have for 1:22:46 today give and it will be given to you they will pour into your lap a good measure pressed down shaken together running over by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return this is how we want to be merciful 1:23:00 how do I be merciful you know how I can be merciful you know my wife gets upset with me she comes back and says sorry yeah okay sorry fine thank you forgive you but tomorrow you will do the same thing that is that is not 1:23:18 being merciful as my father has been merciful to me that is not full of mercy that is not the wisdom of God that is full of mercy that is not giving so that it will be given to you a good measure pressed down shaken together 1:23:34 running over sisters we must forgive we must learn to be merciful as our father has been merciful give give mercy give freely yeah these you know parallel verses 1:23:54 the same way it says in Ephesians chapter 5 we know this verse husbands love your wives just as Christ loved and gave himself this is a great challenge I know it is weighed on us many of us we press on we say Lord help me 1:24:12 to grow in this area give myself as Christ loved the church love your wives give yourself for her okay pressing on to perfection the Lord will help us what is the parallel verse in Colossians say let's look at that Colossians 1:24:29 chapter 3 and verse 9 3 and verse 19 husbands love your wives do not be embittered against them that's the starting point do not be embittered against them you take that bitterness and throw it out of 1:24:49 the window you have no business in the light of the great mercy of God you have no business being embittered towards your wife the Lord yeah I know brother Zach says you know both of you think you are spiritual you should 1:25:07 be running into each other's arms that's how it should be that's how it can be I think about the prodigal son he says be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect and we said you know that means be merciful think of the 1:25:22 prodigal son coming to his father and how today you are coming like this you are hungry tomorrow you may go again he didn't say that no he got up and ran and gave him the best robe put a ring on his finger sisters this is 1:25:41 the mercy of God that we have received the Lord is saying be merciful as I am merciful yeah we should be running back into each other's arms the Lord will help us this is this is what you know the grace of God calls us to 1:25:57 do Amen yes let's bow our heads in prayer loving Father Lord we thank you and praise you thank you for this precious precious word oh Lord we never want to forget your great great mercy Lord to us how loving how forgiving 1:26:13 how wonderful you've been Lord help us to judge ourselves and recognize that that all that you allow is meant for our good the bitter is sweet the medicine is food you've placed us in families for your glory you're doing 1:26:31 all things Lord working all things together for the good of those who love you we want to thank you Lord for the wives and children you've given us and for the words that we hear Lord we believe that you help us to press 1:26:44 on to perfection in every area we thank you and praise you Lord we ask in your precious name Jesus Savior Amen we want to ask Brother Keethi to please come and share a brief word of Geeting Brother Keethi is one of the elders 1:27:02 in the church in London he's been with us last week and this week thank you thank you brother 1:27:23 in there minded of yeah I was reminded of Brother Ian because one of his favorite words is from James 2 13 about mercy triumphing 1:27:43 triumphing judgment and the way he explained that verse and the way I learned it from him was as we pursue holiness and victory over sin and we tend to become legalistic and we put on 1:28:04 burdens on others and we can become critical judgmental and the way he interpreted that was if you are given a choice you would be merciful you will be merciful and mercy will triumph over judgment and I was reminded of 1:28:21 that and he helped me brother helped me so much in that area to not become critical not to become legalistic you can have 101 rules for yourself but don't push that on others don't make that as an expectation on others and if 1:28:39 you are given a choice to be critical then let mercy triumph over judgment and one of the best examples of that is a woman caught in adultery Jesus had every right to throw a stone on her on the 1:28:59 woman caught in adultery and he yet said go sin no more I'm not there to throw a stone on you and that's mercy triumphing over judgment thank you brother for reminding me of what brother Ian taught me on that thank you brother for 1:29:19 giving me an opportunity to come here and share the greetings I come from London we are about 120 40% of our church is children and I give you the greetings from our church thank you so much this church in Bangalore 1:29:40 has invested in us whether you know it or not we started in 2011 and we were just about five families and brother Ian and brother Zach brother Zach and brother Ian spend a lot of time encouraging us and building us up and even 1:29:58 brother Santosh and I understand you know brother Ian can be so caught up with a lot of things and yet he would make time for us and also brother Zach we are really really grateful to both of them and while you all have heard 1:30:16 a lot of messages you know even in the last three days I don't want to give you a message but I want you to take back in time and tell you what the church was and why why did we want to have another London CFC why couldn't 1:30:34 you not just simply go and be a part of another church whether or not good church is there you know it's like this you know you you've got a taste of London of Bangalore CFC and then you yearn for it you say Lord I won't really 1:30:52 have this I'm missing this I'm homesick I want this Lord I want the same church I had in Bangalore and same church in Velo or the same church that I was a part of it was my family I didn't have it and I want to have it and that's 1:31:08 what started for us because I left here 2001 I've been to different churches and it's not that they are bad churches they're okay but it's never been a family it's like you've experienced something that you're missing 1:31:30 there and I'll just give an example right and for me I was 17 when I came to CFC and I was 18 when I when the Lord took away my father and there was a big hole and I I felt so vulnerable and it was the church that took me 1:31:50 in it was like a fortress the church would be everything to me but then my mother father it was my church it was the church that nourished me and made me who I am I'm not a self-made person I'm a product I'm a product of 1:32:07 Bangalore CFC and I was encouraged to come and testify in the meetings and I would you know I would have brothers kneel with me and pray when I was at my down in the dumps and it's not always brother 1:32:27 Zach and brother Ian it's these other brothers the other shepherds in the church who took me in and helped me and be a real family for me and that's what I missed when I went to London and I went abroad there was no family 1:32:46 there was nobody whom I could just leave my guard down be myself and make myself vulnerable and so others can correct me make me you know tell me things that I needed to know and beloved brothers and sisters if you have 1:33:02 you know you are very very blessed if brothers come and help you tell you things that you need to hear so that you can grow in your spiritual life I'll even tell you other things you know you will never hear in any other 1:33:19 church you heard of brother Zach speak so strongly about you know about pastors taking money and so on have you ever come across a pastor who gave you money I was I was quite poor not poor I was kind of not 1:33:39 well off in that sense and there were times when I did not have enough money and I would go to brother Zach and I would ask him only for spiritual advice I never told him anything about my needs and there was once or maybe 1:33:56 a couple of times when brother Zach put money into my pocket and it would be almost if I were to convert it it would be around one seventh of my income so here was a brother who would even help me financially and I'm telling 1:34:15 this so that you would know when brother Zach speaks so strongly against all these men who take money it's not for no ordinary purpose he embodied what it means to help somebody and to be so faithful in money and also help 1:34:31 you know people like me and I I'm grateful for the things that I've learned and the many other things that I've learned that I missed and I wanted to be a part of our church is you know a brother's house is never far away 1:34:46 it's never far away if it's 200 kilometers it's also never far away we could go anytime and we could go and have fellowship with them and that brother will be available for us and I long for those type of things Lord how 1:35:00 can I have this where I could go to somebody's house knock on them and get help and I would have that and so we started as five couples in London and we all went to different churches brother you know 1:35:20 you heard of brother Jeffrey who came last week or so the previous week and he was actually a pastor of a church or he was having responsibility in a church and Raj he was a pastor of another church but when there was only one 1:35:38 thing common when we wanted to start the church was we wanted something like CFC we wanted we wanted to have a family not a restaurant in a way you can get good food in a restaurant but it's never served with love it can 1:35:55 be imperfect sometimes the food is imperfect but it's served with love and that's your family that's what your house is and that's what we wanted a family that's you know a church that's like a family and I encourage you 1:36:13 my dear brothers and sisters to ask yourself this question is this church your family do you feel like it I hope it is I hope it is and you don't have to wait for somebody else to make it your family be a grown up son a grown up 1:36:30 daughter where you do things on your own you're not like those who need a nappy change you know those are children small children but you become an adult and say irrespective of what others can make that conditions or not 1:36:44 I want to make this church I want to be a part of the church that's like a family I leave you with only one thing and that's to put a fear in my heart and I always look at it and that's something that brother brother shared 1:37:04 last week and last Sunday it says in Zephaniah 3 verse 11 and this is a condition for I will remove from your midst your proud and exalting ones and you will never again be haughty in my holy mountain you know there's only 1:37:21 one condition for you to be in the church it's not that you have to please somebody you can have whatever ministry you want you can do a lot of activities you want the only thing that's really important is humility and pursue 1:37:37 humility my dear brothers and sisters to be a part of the church to be and the Lord will ensure that you are there you don't have to do anything but if you're doing every other thing and not pursuing humility you'll lose 1:37:52 your place and I fear that for my own life Lord I want to be in your church where I pursue humility and I want to be humble Lord where you will keep me and irrespective of your title your position what activities you do 1:38:07 if you don't pursue humility you'll be gone I pray I pray and I leave that thought as I work on it myself and I encourage others in my church to you won't get you won't get offended on some and I see a lot of people who come 1:38:25 into our midst who just get offended by very small things and that's only because they are proud somewhere in their life and I would encourage you I would encourage you earnestly pursue humility and you will have you will have 1:38:40 the best place you will have you will be strong you will be a pillar in this church thank you thank you so much and I give you the greeting and also gratitude gratitude thank you brothers and sisters for investing in our church 1:38:55 for helping our church to be where we are and we are really grateful thank you so much thank you 1:39:20 brother kirti we will have the announcements you
