0:00 Good morning dear brothers and sisters, welcome to this wonderful Sunday and sing our first song. 0:21 Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer. Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangels in glory. Strength and honor, give to His holy name. 0:46 Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children. In His arms He carries them all day long. Oh, He saves that dwell in the mountains of Zion. Praise Him, praise Him, ever a joyful Son. 1:13 Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer. For our sins He suffered and led and died. He, our rock, our hope of eternal salvation. Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the crucified. 1:37 Loving Saviour, weakly enduring sorrow. Crowned with horns that cruelly pierced His brow. Once for us rejected, despised and forsaken. Prince of glory, never triumphant now. 2:02 Put your voices and sing. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer. Heavenly portals, cloud with Hosanna's reign. Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever. 2:22 Crown Him, crown Him, crown Him prophet and priest and king. Death is vanquished, telleth with joy ye faithful. Where is now thy victory, boasting grave? Jesus lives no longer, thy portals are cheerless. 2:47 Jesus lives the mighty and strong to save. This is the day that the Lord has made. 3:12 I will rejoice, I will rejoice and celebrate. Clap and sing. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and celebrate. Sing it for once more. 3:33 This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and celebrate. 3:58 He goes before me. He goes before me. He goes before me. He walks beside me. He lives within me. He is the lover of my soul. He's my defender. He's my defender. He's my provider. 4:19 He's my provider. He's my provider. His overflowing mercies are brand new every day. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and celebrate. 4:42 This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and celebrate. I will rejoice, I will rejoice, I will rejoice and celebrate. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, The Lord reigns. 5:20 Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, The Lord Almighty reigns. He has shown His awesome presence. He has triumphed finally. 5:41 He is the victor of all the darkness and the grave. He has broke the chains that bound us. He has set the prisoner free. By His own great mercy, By His own great mercy we are saved. 6:02 Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, The Lord reigns. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, The Lord Almighty reigns. 6:31 Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, The Lord reigns. Lord, we come before your throne, humble and amazed. Your greatness overshadows every idol of this age. 6:52 For all the treasures of this world, Lord, cannot replace. The greatest joy of knowing you and walking in your grace. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 7:14 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you, Lord. 7:35 Lord, we come with thankful hearts, and to your force we raise. Rejoicing in your favor, delighting in your race. For all we've lost cannot compare, Lord, to what we need. 7:55 There is none like you, O God, in the name of all names. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 8:17 We will worship you, there is none beside you, Lord. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 8:43 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 8:47 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 9:04 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 9:17 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 9:27 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 9:34 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 9:39 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 9:46 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 9:51 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 10:00 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 10:06 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 10:11 We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. We will worship you, there is none beside you. 10:17 The King of kings, we bless the name of the Lamb of glory. We bless the name of the King. And with our hands lifted high, we will worship and sing. And with our hands lifted high, we come before you rejoicing. 10:40 With our hands lifted high to the sky, when the world wonders why. We will just tell them we are loving our King. We will just tell them we are loving our King. We will just tell them we are loving our King. 11:05 We will worship you, Almighty God, there is none like you. 11:26 We will worship you, O Prince of Peace. That is what I want to do, I give you praise. 11:50 For you are my righteousness. I worship you, Almighty God, there is none like you. 12:11 I worship you, Almighty God, there is none like you. I worship you, O Prince of Peace, that is what I want to do, I give you praise. 12:52 For you are my righteousness, for you are my righteousness. I worship you, Almighty God, there is none like you. 13:19 Let's all stand up and sing our last song, Behold the Lord upon His throne. His face is shining like the sun, with eyes blazing fire, and feet glowing bronze. 13:48 Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy. 14:15 We stand in all of you. The first, the last, the living one. And down is life for all the world. 14:37 Behold, He now lives forevermore. He knows the keys of death again. Holy, Holy, Lord our Almighty. 15:03 Holy, Holy, we bow below. We bow before your throne. So let our praises. So let our praises ever ring. 15:23 To Jesus Christ our glorious King. On heaven and earth, worthy is the Son of God. Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. 15:46 Holy, Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, Holy, we fall down at your feet. 16:13 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 16:32 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 16:39 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 16:47 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 16:54 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 17:11 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 17:18 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 17:25 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 17:42 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 17:49 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 17:56 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 18:13 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 18:20 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 18:27 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 18:44 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 18:51 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 18:58 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 19:15 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 19:22 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. 19:30 Holy, we fall down at your feet. Holy, we fall down at your feet. A day to reconcile with you. A day to glorify you. A day to hear from you. A day to repent. 19:50 A day to give glory. And we want to see you glorified and magnified this day, Lord. Thank you. Thank you very much. Lord, as we hear your word, Lord, encourage us. Thank you for your servant. Anoint and bless and strengthen our dear brother, Lord. 20:11 Thank you. As we hear your word, give us grace to understand your heart's burden, Lord. Yes, Lord. Understand what you are building in our midst, Lord. And your purpose and plans, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. 20:29 You are interested in each one's life. And Lord, those who hope in you will never be put to shame. Thank you very much. Thank you for your magnificent, precious promises, Lord, which can transform our life into a likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. 20:46 Commit ourselves and trust in you. And pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. Now we look into our memory verse. Last week, we had a promise, a wonderful promise to claim for our children from Isaiah 54. 21:14 Let us repeat. And remember, Isaiah 54 verse 13. All your children will be taught of the Lord. And the well-being of your children will be great. 21:36 That was a promise, wonderful promise, which we can claim for our children as they grow up, as they face so many temptations and influences of the world. We can ask the Lord to help them. 21:56 And then this week, we have a command from Matthew chapter 22. Please repeat. Matthew 22 verse 37. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 22:28 As we come around God's word. we are so privileged to hear you. Let us pray. Let us repeat again. Let us repeat again. Matthew 22 verse 37. Matthew 22 verse 37. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. 22:48 As we come around God's word, we are so privileged to hear from, hear God's word from Brother Zach. And we give thanks to the Lord for giving us word week by week, speaking to our hearts, and reviving us, challenging us, comforting and strengthening us. 23:16 And today's message title is God wants us to build fellowship. God wants us to build fellowship. As we read in Ephesians 4:16. For because of Him, the whole body, the church in all its various parts, closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and the ligaments with which it is supplied, 23:48 when each part with power adapted to its need, is working properly in all its functions, grows to full maturity, building itself in love. Yeah, we praise God for the Lord's working. 24:11 And the Lord is not just asking, expecting us to come and listen to His word and go and live individual life. We must understand God is building a body, body which is built together in love, a family of God. 24:31 As we hear in 1 Peter 3:8, a Living Translation says, "And now this word to all of you, you should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy towards each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds." 24:51 Yes, fellowship, to grow in fellowship with one another, it requires efforts from each one of us to get to know one another and to bless one another, build one another, pray for one another. That is what the Lord is working, building Christian Fellowship Church. 25:14 And let us cooperate with the Holy Spirit, what the Holy Spirit is doing in our midst. And as we hear His word, may the Lord grant us grace to understand God's heart and to see what the Lord is doing in our midst. And also cooperate with the Holy Spirit, so that God will be glorified in each one of our lives. 25:39 May the Lord help us. Amen. The reason why we sometimes have a picnic on a Sunday, which is quite scandalous for most Christians. 25:59 They think that the only thing, proper thing to do on Sunday is to hear a message. But in a day like ours, where a lot of people, particularly in Bangalore, have an Internet connection, 26:19 you can listen to a message every day of the week. And you can listen to a CFC message every day of the week. It was not like that in the old days, where in the first century, they didn't even have a Bible when the people came to church, 26:42 because there were no printed Bibles. And one of the things you read in Paul telling Timothy is to ensure that they read the scriptures publicly in the meeting. They used to read long passages of scripture, maybe a whole chapter or two chapters, 27:01 because it's only when they came together that maybe one copy of those parchment scrolls of God's word people had, or a few copies of Paul's letters were circulated. So it was necessary to read it from the pulpit, because that was the only way people could hear God's word. 27:23 The reason why we don't read two, three chapters from the pulpit today is because everyone has got a Bible at home. So we need to adapt to the circumstances, not go by ritual. And I believe that the main purpose of our coming together on Sunday is not just to hear the word of God. 27:47 And not just for teaching. There's a lot of teaching. I mean, if you want to study the Bible, you can go to our CFC website and we've got a plan there for getting to know the whole Bible in three years if you spend half an hour a day. 28:05 And you'll know it better than people who go to a Bible school. So, the main purpose of our coming together on Sunday is to build fellowship. And in many churches, fellowship is not an important thing. Music is an important thing, and the preaching of the word is important. 28:28 I believe these are important. I mean, music is not as important as preaching God's word. But, as I said, since we have the opportunity to, you know, not only listen to the internet, in the first century, they didn't have Christian books. 28:44 We have such a lot of Christian books today. I don't know whether all of you read them. But, if you are serious about your Christian life, I would encourage you to avail of the resources we have to study God's word in books and on the internet. 29:02 Because that will give you a solid foundation in your life, especially those who are young. But what you can never get on the internet, and what you can never get at home, is fellowship. And fellowship is a very, very important thing. 29:16 And fellowship means getting integrated together as a body. And that can only happen as we come together. It requires two things. That we walk in the light in our personal life. See, if you are not walking in the light in your personal life, 29:37 and if I am not walking in the light in my personal life during the week, what we come together and have will be just friendship, not fellowship. And a lot of Christians have only friendship. And sometimes if something goes wrong in that relationship, that friendship turns to hatred. 29:54 It's pathetic. That's not the way it should be. The great prayer of Jesus was, turn with me to John 17. It's the only prayer of Jesus, by the way, which is recorded at such length. What we call the Lord's prayer, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, is not the Lord's prayer. 30:21 That is our prayer. That's what Jesus taught us to pray to the Father. You can call it our prayer. The Lord's prayer is in John 17. That's the prayer that Jesus prayed to his Father. So, there are so many wonderful things in this chapter, but you know how when you pray, 30:44 whenever you pray with a burden, you would have noticed that, if you pray with a burden, that sometimes you repeat something again and again and again and again. Because that's a burden in your heart. It could be when you are praying for somebody who is sick, you don't just say it once. 31:02 Jesus had such a burden in his heart, in Gethsemane, that he prayed the same thing for one hour. Can you imagine that? Praying the same thing for one hour. Father, take this cup away from me, but not my will, but thine be done. 31:15 That's basically what he prayed and he was praying that for one hour. So, if you want to know what was the burden of the Lord's heart just before he went to the cross, you see it in John 17, there are a few things he says here which are mentioned only once. 31:32 Those are important. But there are certain other things he says here which he repeats again and again and basically it is that his disciples will become one with each other. For example, it says in verse 21, this sort of sums up what he repeats more than once. 31:51 That they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that thou didst send me. Now, if you stop and think about that, one way, it's not the only way, but one way in which the world around us is to believe that Jesus Christ was sent by the Father and he was not just a religious teacher, 32:23 somebody who started new religion but someone sent from heaven, is when they see God's children united. I mean, just read that again and see. That's how we had to show the world that Jesus was sent by the Father and not just some religious teacher. 32:41 That they may be one so that the world may believe that you sent me. And how closely are we to be one? It's an amazing challenge. Just like in our personal life, the Bible says we must press on to perfection. 33:01 We must never be satisfied till we are perfect. That means exactly like Christ. In our thoughts, in our words, our attitudes, in our motives, in every area, exactly like Christ. 33:22 And a person who has that passion will never, never be satisfied. Every day, every day, I find I judge myself, I'll tell you honestly, I judge myself every day. Because I want to discover, I don't look inside myself, I look at Jesus and seek to see, as the Holy Spirit shows me, 33:43 areas of my life where I'm still un-Christ-like. I hope you recognize that there are many areas in your life which unconsciously, not consciously, if you've got victory over sin, you're not living in conscious sin. But you must acknowledge that unconsciously, there are many areas in your life you are not behaving like Jesus Christ. 34:10 And someone who is more mature than you can see that. But he may not tell you about it because you may feel condemned. And I don't believe that we should go around telling each other where we see un-Christ-likeness in others. 34:27 I don't do that anyway. Because I feel it's much better than the Holy Spirit tells them. And if they're not serious to listen to the Holy Spirit, they'll just get offended if you point out some un-Christ-like area in them. 34:40 I mean, if it's very glaring in a way that it offends others, or is causing some problem in the Church, then I would definitely speak about it and tell a person, "Hey, you should stop doing this." Because it's hindering others, and he doesn't seem to get any light on it. 34:57 I've seen that many times, that people just don't have light on something they're doing, which is not God's best. But otherwise, there are areas we'll see in each other which are un-Christ-like. And we're not called to go around telling everybody, "Hey, this is wrong with you, and that's wrong with you." 35:15 We should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and if we are walking in the light, God will show us. God doesn't show us everything at a time, we'll just get discouraged. He'll show us a little bit at a time, and I believe, I mean, that we should get light on something every day. 35:31 And there are two passages of Scripture from which I get that. One is Genesis chapter 1, where God said something every day. God didn't skip a day. No, right through those six days, every day. Remember, the final goal was on the sixth day where man became in the image of God, and that's our final goal too, to become completely in the image of Christ. 35:54 But every day God said something, which was one step forward. The next day said something, one step forward. There was not a single day that was missed in those six days. Then man was made in the image of God, and then God could rest, because he'd finished his work. 36:10 Now, I see that for myself, that God has something to say to me every day. And I must hear it. And I must respond to it. In Genesis 1, the earth and the skies and all just responded immediately. And if I'm willing to respond, and I'm first of all eager to hear, and willing to respond, something will happen in me every day. 36:36 And more and more, I will become like Christ, the glory of God, which is full of grace and truth. Some of us are more imbalanced towards grace. Some of us are more imbalanced towards truth. But we need that perfect balance, which only the Holy Spirit can show us. 36:57 And particularly in hidden areas of our life. In our external life, I think most of us are pretty clean. Like the Pharisees, the outside of your cup is clean. That only makes me a good Pharisee. But it's the inside of the cup, which the Lord seeks to clean. 37:16 And like Paul said, the inner man is renewed every day. It's a great verse, 2 Corinthians. That's the second passage, 2 Corinthians 4, where it says in verse 16, "Our inner man is renewed every day." Make that your goal. 37:32 And if you do that, turn with me to 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7. If we walk in the light, that's how we get light on ourselves. If you walk in the light of God every day, and even when you come to a church on a Sunday morning and hear God's word, 37:56 your aim must be to let God's light shine into some area of your life where you get some light, some corner, some dark corner. And if we walk in that light, as God gives us light, we will have fellowship with God first of all, and then with one another. 38:23 In verse 3, "What we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you, that you may have fellowship with us." And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. So, just like the two arms of the cross, there's a vertical fellowship with the Father and a horizontal fellowship with one another. 38:47 And our horizontal fellowship with one another is dependent on our vertical fellowship with the Father. So, if you walk in the light, and I walk in the light, then as we come together, we can build fellowship with one another. 39:03 And that's one of the main purposes of our coming together, not just to listen to a message. And that's why I feel a Sunday is spent together without just listening to a message the whole time. But in fellowship with each other is a very, very profitable thing. 39:24 And, you know, as we play games together or do other talk together, there's a relationship built up between us, which, remember, we're going to be family for all eternity. And some people think that the Lord is not so interested in our playing games. 39:50 I want you to turn with me to the book of Zechariah, chapter 8. In Zechariah, chapter 8, where it speaks about a time when Jesus is going to set up His throne in Jerusalem. The Bible says that when Jesus comes back, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, the same mountain from which He went up. 40:13 And when He stands there, that mountain will split into two, you'll read it later on in Zechariah. And then He'll reign for a thousand years in Jerusalem. And the whole earth, the devil will be bound in a bottomless pit for a thousand years, and there'll be peace on earth. 40:28 And here's a picture of that time. Then the word of the Lord came to me, chapter 8, Zechariah 8. I'm exceedingly jealous for Zion, great wrath, I'm jealous for her. I will return to Zion. And I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. 40:48 Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth. And the mountain of the Lord of Hosts will be called the Holy Mountain. It will never happen till today, but it's going to happen. And thus says the Lord of Hosts, old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, 41:04 each man with his staff in his hand because of age. That means people are going to live to a very long time, long life. I mean a person who's a hundred years old is going to be considered a kid. It's something like that in those days. 41:18 And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing. Can you imagine? Jesus enjoying seeing boys and girls playing. I like that verse. It's one of my favorite verses. They're not praying. Remember, it's not R, it is L. 41:39 Very one letter can make all the difference. Holy people say that's a misprint. It must be R. It must be praying in the streets. And Jesus is just delighted to see everybody praying in the streets. No. He's delighted to see children playing in the streets when he rules in Jerusalem. 41:59 Now a lot of religious people think that's wrong. And that's how people become Pharisees. You see, God has created so many things in life. I mean, he could have made, for example, the world full of black and white. No color. 42:16 All flowers black and white and sun. I mean, the sky is just white and the sunset just black. Everything black and white. Or gray. Can you imagine how horrible the world would have looked? When God has made things, there's something about, I mean, there's nothing spiritual about color. 42:38 Why has God allowed so many multitudes of colors in the world? Or think of the fact that he gives us a taste for so many different things in our mouth or taste which we enjoy. These are little evidences of God's goodness. 42:53 And if you don't want to be a Pharisee, you've got to learn to enjoy the good things that God has made in the world. You know, to enjoy the scenery, for example, or enjoy just playing games. If you're too spiritual to enjoy playing games, you're probably pretty close to being a Pharisee. 43:16 And I don't know how you'll fit into the time when Jesus reigns on this earth. Because when everybody's playing, you'll be in some corner praying and fasting or something. And you'll get left out, I'll tell you that. Because Jesus will be on the streets playing with the children. 43:32 I want to be there. We're preparing people for eternity. And we want to go by every word there is in scripture. And I'll tell you something. When we play, we not only build fellowship with each other, but... Supposing you play a competitive game, even if it is... 43:55 Whether it's football or musical chairs, if you're really serious about playing it, you will discover something in your flesh, which you never discovered before. I'll tell you that. How you have such a desire to sit in that chair before somebody else sits in and getting a bit upset with something. 44:14 And you get light. You get a lot of light playing games. I know that because I've discovered it in myself. And at that moment, the thing we can do is cleanse ourselves. You know, whenever I was in the olden days, when I was organizing football games, soccer games, and picnics like this. 44:35 You know, half-time we turn around to play from the other side. They change sides after half-time in soccer. I found that there was a great lust to be the winning team. So how to eliminate that? So at half-time, I would take half the members from one team and put it in the other team. 44:58 And half the members from that team and put it in this team. Then who won at the end? It would be impossible to say we won. Because the whole purpose of our coming together was not to win. The whole purpose of our coming together was to play. 45:11 And enjoy it. I'm looking forward to the time when Jesus comes to earth. And I don't know what all games we'll be playing in that time. But even if there are games like cricket and soccer, I'll tell you, it'll be the most decent, upright way that we're going to play. 45:27 Certainly in a competitive spirit, but without any, you know, glorying that I beat you or something like that. Sometimes people are a little like little children, can teach us something. I remember my son, Santosh, he worked with, you know, mentally challenged people, that means mentally backward or retarded, of different ages. 45:56 And he showed me a video once of these mentally challenged people of different ages. The only common thing about them, they were not mentally balanced. 46:19 But they could play football and he was teaching them that. He showed me a game where they were playing. And there was this man dribbling the ball and he was driving towards the goal. And on the way he collided with a person from the opposite team. 46:39 And the ball went forward and he collided with the opposite team. And you know what he did? He didn't go to score the goal. He stooped down to pick up this person from the other team and who had fallen down and forgot all about scoring the goal. 46:52 He said, "Lord Jesus, make me like that. Make me like that." I mean, the average person would forget about somebody pushed down to the ground and say, "I've got to score a goal." See, that guy, it's because he's more like a child that he behaved like that. 47:09 And there's something wonderful about that. You'll see that when Jesus comes again and you see the games being played and somebody is not so interested in scoring a goal. If he accidentally knocks somebody down, he'd pick him up before he takes up with the ball. 47:24 And I'm not saying you should do that now. We haven't yet come to the millennium. But what I mean is you should have that spirit where you're not so competitive that you lose your salvation. No. So there are many advantages, and I was just saying, there are many advantages in playing games. 47:45 We discover things in our own life and we also can build fellowship with each other. And I want to encourage you in our times of fellowship, you know, one of the most common things that has been characteristic of Christians all through the centuries is when they become very close friends. 48:08 And they speak a long time. They move over into gossip. Speaking about people and usually not very good things. That's called gossip. Just like in some places you see a board saying, "Thank you for not smoking." 48:28 For some time I had a board on my front table saying, in the front room saying, "Thank you for not gossiping." Because I'm not really interested in hearing gossip. It's very important in your personal conversation that you don't descend to the level of speaking about people. 48:45 Speak about one another. Speak about what the Lord showed you in your own life, where you judge yourself. That's the way to build fellowship. You don't build fellowship by speaking about somebody else. We are all tempted to gossip. 49:00 I've been tempted myself. And I've sometimes thought, when I've been tempted to do that, I said, "If some member from that person's family were sitting here right now, would I say that?" No, I wouldn't say it. But I'm saying it now because there's no member from his family sitting here right now. 49:17 So ask yourself this question. Is your fellowship only centered around speaking evil about others? Do you sort of find some delight in speaking evil about other people? Then you need to cleanse yourself and it's a habit to get rid of before Jesus comes. 49:36 Don't wait for the Lord to come and find yourself still with that filthy habit. So that's one thing we have to be very careful about. Eliminate speaking about others. And if you find someone else is doing that, one good way to stop it, I'll tell you, I've found that sometimes. 49:55 That when this person is talking about how bad this person is, try and say some good thing about that person that you know. And then that'll be like putting the brakes on that person's conversation. It's very important because we are here to build up one another. 50:11 I don't remember who it was, whether it was John Wesley in the early Methodist churches where he was very strict on holiness. He encouraged people to visit one another. And he said, if you have that habit, then don't stay in a house more than 30, 40 minutes. 50:29 Because beyond that, you'll gossip. Now, if you're an overcomer, you can stay much longer. But most people, when they stay too long, and John Wesley said, it's particularly a problem with women. When they come together and they sit and talk about all types of things which are unnecessary. 50:46 And he says that too, in 1 Timothy 5, they go from house to house and talk about all types of unwanted things. It's not just women, I think men also have that habit. But make sure that fellowship doesn't descend to gossip. 50:58 It's very good to be able to come together and we can talk about, I'm not saying you've got to always quote scripture or talk about spiritual things that God blessed you with. We can talk about many ordinary things. But the whole purpose is that we get more integrated to one another as a family. 51:16 God wants to build us together as a family. It's very difficult when we're such a large number. It was much easier when we were very small, when we knew everything about each other. And we could pray for one another more and help one another more. 51:32 It's not so easy now. But it's still possible to build a relationship as a family. And that's the purpose with which we come together occasionally. Not just to have a meeting, but to have a picnic. And I pray that we'll have a good time together today. 51:51 Let's bow in prayer. Heavenly Father, we just want to pray that your presence will be with us, Lord, throughout this day. Keep us in all that we do to be pure. 52:13 To glorify you and keep us from our children and others from getting hurt in anything we play today. And we pray, dear Lord, that you will really make us one body in this church. A greater understanding of the fact that we are one family. 52:35 And increasingly to have a care and a concern for one another. Increasingly being sensitive that we don't take advantage of one another in any way. 52:55 That we seek to deny ourselves as we seek to build fellowship with each other. And we will be sensitive at all times to the selfishness that is so deeply rooted in our flesh, which hinders fellowship. To the pride and arrogance that is so deeply rooted in our flesh that hinders fellowship. 53:21 Help us to have light on these things, Lord, that as we come together, we can put these things to death. And build up a relationship with one another and also get to know one another as your children. To get to know one another and to know more about how you brought these wonderful people to yourself. 53:44 Sovereignly. People from so many different backgrounds and religions. Thank you, Lord, for bringing us together. And we pray that you will give us a very, very blessed time today. And help us to honor you that at the end of the day, above all, you will be pleased in what has been accomplished today in this church. 54:07 In building one another up. In building a closer relationship between brothers and sisters. A forgiving, loving relationship between brothers and sisters. Between families. That you will break down prejudices and any distance that has come between any families here. 54:33 Any distance that has come between any brothers or any sisters. Help us to do something to break that down and build relationships. We know we cannot achieve perfection, Lord, but we want to press on to perfection. And we believe that it will be much better by the end of this day than it is right now. 54:57 You are going to do something. You will pray that your Holy Spirit will move in our midst. And make this a very blessed day for every single one of us. In everything that we do. For you have taught us. Whatever you do. Whether you eat or drink. 55:10 Whether you play games. Whether you speak. Do all to the glory of God. And we want to do that. We know that you enjoy your people coming together. Not just listening to messages and singing songs. You enjoy seeing your children. 55:24 Fellowshiping with each other. Just like any earthly parent will rejoice to see their children. Fellowshiping with each other in love and goodness. We pray that we will bring joy to your heart. Today. As we fellowship with each other in love and goodness. 55:44 We will not grieve your heart by anything Lord. But at the end of the day you will be delighted. That something has been accomplished. Which was not accomplished with weeks and weeks of preaching. Help us to see that today. 55:58 We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Blessed home in the church I have found. Blessed brotherhood holy and pure. Blessed poor taste of heaven on earth. 56:22 Blessed fellowship pure with the same. Blessed love in the church I have found. Blessed love in the church I have found. Blessed love in the church I have found. Blessed love in the church I have found. Blessed love in the church I have found. 56:32 Blessed love in the church I have found. Blessed love in the church I have found. Blessed love in the church I have found. Blessed love in the church I have found. 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