you
come in again
come
in again
oh
what a wonderful
day it will be
Jesus
is coming
again
stand in
before him at last
trial
and trouble
pass
crowns at his feet
will pass
Jesus is coming
again
come in
again
come in
again
may be morning
may be noon
may be evening
and may be soon
come in
again
come in
again
oh what a wonderful
day it will be
Jesus
is
coming
again
amen, alright, one of the hardest
chapters to find in your Bible, Genesis chapter 1 please
Genesis chapter 1
brother
come up with a reading, Genesis
Genesis chapter 1, thank you brother
Genesis chapter 1
in the beginning
God created the heaven
and the earth
and the earth was without form
and
void and the darkness
was upon the face of the deep
and the
Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters
and God said
let there be light and there was light
and God
saw the light that it was good
and God divided the light from the
darkness and God
called the light day
and the darkness he called night
and the evening
and the morning were the first day
and
God said let there be a
firmament in the midst of the waters
and let it divide the waters
from the waters
and God made a firmament
and
divided the waters which were
under the firmament from the waters
which were above
the firmament
and it was so and God called the
firmament heaven
and the evening
and the morning were the second day
and
God said
let the waters
under the heaven be gathered
together under one place
and let dry land appear
and it was so
and God called
the land earth
and the gathering together of the waters
he called
seas
and God saw that it was good
and God said let
the earth bring forth grass
and herb yielding seed
and fruit tree yielding fruit
after his kind
whose seed is in itself
upon the earth
and it was so
and the earth
brought forth
grass and herb yielding seed
after his kind and the
tree yielding fruit whose seed
is in itself
after his kind
and God saw that it was good
and the evening and the morning
were the third day
and God said
let there be lights in the firmament
of heaven to divide the
day from the night
and let them be for science
and for seasons and for days
and for years
and let them be for
lights in the firmament
of heaven to give light
upon the earth
and it was so
and God made two great
lights
and the greater light to rule the day
and the lesser light
to rule the night and he made
the stars also
and God
set them in the firmament of heaven
the heaven
to give light upon the earth
and to rule over the day
and over the night
and to divide the light from the darkness
and God saw
that it was good
and the evening and the morning
were the fourth day
and God
said let the waters
bring forth
abundantly
the moving creature
that hath life
the fowl
that may
fly above the earth
in the open firmament of heaven
and God
created the whales
and every living creature
that moveth
which the waters
brought forth abundantly
after their kind
and every winged fowl
after his kind and God saw
that it was good
and God blessed
them saying be fruitful
and multiply
and fill the waters
in the seas and let the fowl
multiply in the earth
and the evening
and the morning were the fifth
day
and God said
let the earth bring forth
every living creature after
his kind
cattle and creeping thing
and beast of the earth
after his kind and it was
so and God
made the beast of the earth
after his kind
and cattle after their kind
and every thing
that creepeth on the earth
after his kind
and God saw that it was good
and God said let us make
man in our image
and after
our likeness
and let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea and over the fowl of the air
and over the cattle
and over all the earth
and over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth
and God
created man in his own
image
in the image of God created he
him
male and female
created he them
and
God
blessed them
and God said unto them
be fruitful and multiply
and replenish the earth and
subdue it
and have dominion over the fish of the sea
and over the fowl of the air
and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth
and
God said behold
I have given you every
herb yielding seed
which is upon the face of the earth
face of
all the earth
and every tree
in the which
is the fruit
in every
in every tree in the which
is the fruit of the
tree yielding seed
to you it shall be
for meat
and to every beast of the earth
and to every fowl of the air
and to everything that creepeth upon the earth
wherein
there is life
I have given every
green herb
for meat
and it was so
and God saw that it was good
and God saw
everything that he had
made
and
God saw everything
that he had made
and behold it was very good
and the evening
and the morning were the sixth day
let's pray
dear Lord thank you for bringing
us here
and thank you for every
opportunity that we have to share the gospel
with people that we don't
know
and people that we do know
Lord please speak through
Pastor Kevin as
he speaks to us in Jesus' mighty name
Amen
Amen, thank you
Thanks man
Okay
Sorry that I'm wearing sneakers
I don't mean to look like a youth pastor
I thought I would have time to get to my
parents house before church I think I changed my shoes
but I didn't have time for that
Anyway it's all down there you can't see it behind this pool but
praise God
Hey you know during COVID when we had the live
streaming
I was only dressed properly from up here
I was just lecturing a little secret
alright I wasn't wearing nice pants
or anything like that
in fact sometimes I'm wearing shorts
but don't tell anyone else that's a secret for you guys alright
Anyway it's just the shoes everything else is in
it's proper order
It's on YouTube now then it gets
edited down so we'll edit down the sermon
then everyone will forget
Alright so we've been working through our
Perfect Man series haven't we and I haven't
reached for you guys for some time
and within this Perfect Man series
there is a trilogy of
sermons that are really important really foundational
to this series and the first
one let me just remember what he was called again
the first within this trilogy
was knowing your station
and the idea behind that was to recognise
where you belong in society
where you belong in family where you belong
in your workplace and be content
appreciate where you belong
you know try not to lift yourself above
your station but to appreciate
where God has placed you in life and
when God sees that you're content
and you're thankful for what position
God has given you then yes the Lord
can give you more and then the next one
in this series was everything
in it's proper place and understanding
that there are boundaries again look at
at a family that there are boundaries within a
family right and sometimes people have
this idea that a pastor can just walk
over people's lives or pastors
can just get involved in other people's families
no there are boundaries there's a reason
why God's created institutions
ok there's a reason why
the manager of McDonald's cannot
walk into KFC and command the
staff around because you know
they don't have the authority
that authority is not in the right place
but there's nothing wrong with authority there's nothing
wrong with commands as long as you understand
that you are to instruct yourself
and you also have been given the privilege
to instruct and to guide and to lead
those that God has put under you
you know at church
I have the office of a bishop
you know I'm to rule in the house
of the Lord I've been given authority
within the church but once church is over
I don't have authority in your homes
that would be crossing a boundary and so that's
what the second sermon was all about
make sure that everything is in it's proper place
and when you start to try to have an influence
and cross boundaries
that are not yours to cross that's
where you're definitely going to create conflict
and that's where you're definitely going to create conflict within church
environments when people are trying to lift
themselves up or cross boundaries
that do not belong to them and so this
is the third one in this series
and it's along the same lines
but the reason I read there
Genesis 1 to be read is because
there is something within man
and we have a hard time controlling this
where we just have to give
our opinion we just
have to tell other people what we
think and we just have this
desire to pass judgement
and this is why then you start crossing
boundaries and you start to tell people
you have no authority over how to
live that life or what you believe is
right and wrong in their life but why is that
why do I have that desire
to give my opinion
is it wrong pastor
actually it's not wrong everything is right
in it's proper place but here's why
you have that in you
this is why it's hard to control
because when God created man what do we see
there in Genesis 1, Genesis 1 26
says and God said
let us make man in our image
after our likeness look at this
and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea
and over the fowl of the air
and over the cattle and over all
the earth and over
every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth you see God
created man to have dominion
the word dominion
is like the word dominate to have authority
over and so God created man
to have dominion over this earth
this is why you can't help
but give your two cents about everything
you know you struggle to hold back
your thoughts and emotions and you just want to
say something because God's actually
created you to have dominion
to have a desire of authority
God has created man
to have a desire to work hard
and find a wife and lead a better wife
and have dominion in his family
you know God's created women
with a desire to have children
because she too is to have dominion
over those little ones that God gives
see this is within man
ok, but again
everything in its proper place
and because God's given us
this dominion and this desire
to just give our judgement
you know this is empowering
you know like if someone said to you
look just you know
never seek to
be a leader, never seek to have authority
never seek to be able to be
pass judgement in a certain institution
it's going to kind of eat you
up within, it's going to eat up because
you've been created to
have the ability to lead about
you know whether it's a wife
or in a family or a mother, her children
this is within the nature of man
it's why it's so hard to sometimes
stop ourselves from giving our opinion
but again your opinion, your judgement
your words need to be found in its
proper place, alright
so the title for the sermon tonight
is The Empowered Man
The Empowered Man
alright
now this does apply to ladies as well
but I really want to talk to men because
our society is trying to
destroy man
they're trying to castrate men
and to lower men
and in fact society speaks of the empowered woman
right, the empowered woman in the workplace
or the empowered woman in
politics, I mean it's just something
that you hear you know years
you know every year you hear about some women who
rise in power and they're praising her because
oh man you're the first woman that has done
x, y and z, and look again
there's nothing wrong with a lady, there's only some dominion
this is why naturally you have a desire
to have children okay, to lead about
these little ones, to raise a children
that would love the Lord
but you know God wants us to be empowered
he's created us to have dominion
okay, but you need to figure out what
dominion God has given you
yes for Adam and Eve they were the two here
before they sinned against the Lord they were given
dominion over all the earth okay
but we have institutions
we have families, we've got churches, we have workplaces
there are different dominions
and you need to understand that hey
maybe you do have authority and that's fine
you know you might have the authority to dominate
that institution
or you have some power and that's fine
for you to pass judgement and give your opinions
but if you've been made subject, if you've got authority
over you, you need to learn how to be in subjection
to that authority because they've got dominion
over you within that institution
but I want you to be empowered
people okay, and I'll explain
to you in a minute what this is all about
you know the Bible says in 2 Timothy 1
7 I'll just read it to you, 2 Timothy 1
7 you know this one, it says for God
have not given us the spirit of fear
right, he's not given us the spirit of fear
but what, of, does anyone know
power, God
has given us a spirit of power
and of love and of a sound
mind okay, you see God
as a saved individual, you have the new
man within you alright, and that
spirit is one of power
and if we talk about being
empowered people, we must also
look at the new man that God has given us
which is powerful as well okay
it's a man that has
perfect love, a man that has a
sound mind and we have a desire
to become this perfect man, we must
understand and tap into this power
that God has given us
you know as I've been going through
this sort of mini series within the perfect man
I've been bringing up the idea that
you know it's not for me to interfere
with your family affairs right
I'm trying to explain the boundaries and
look I still get people
ringing me for, you know and look
I'm not trying to stop people to ring me
look I need you to understand, but
there's something that I've definitely learnt
is that when someone
gets too much help
they're not being empowered
in fact they're being weakened
okay they're being weakened and my desire
is that you become empowered people
okay and I'll explain
all that in a minute, so
let's talk about workplace
so if you guys have worked in an office environment
you probably know
what I'm referring to here, have you ever worked
for someone or it doesn't even have to be a workplace
like an office environment, have you ever worked for someone that you
would call a micromanager
do you guys know that term micromanagement
it's basically you've got a boss
and every little thing
you do, they're on top of you
they're checking every little thing
that you do, you know
they don't just tell you what to do
like this is what needs to be done by
the end of the day or by the end of the week
they're not just telling you what to do, they're telling you
how to do it, and if you think
oh I've got a better way to do it
they're so micromanagers
they want you to do it exactly how they want
even though you who does it
can think of better ways to do it
okay, these are micromanagers
sometimes
people want me to be a micromanager
pastor, pastor
what do I do in this situation, what do I do in this situation
some people actually like this
micromanagement level, where they're not just being
told how
sorry, not being told what to do, but how
to do it, one thing that you'll notice
me as a preacher, and not that I'm a great
preacher or anything like this, but one thing you'll notice is that
I'm more often teaching you
what God requires from you
I'm not so much teaching you
how to do it
because we've got God's word
God has given us his instructions
and there are many ways
to do what God has asked us to do
when you come to me
how do I do this, I've only got my opinion
I've only got my experience
like think about you as a parent
people look at my family
and they're like their children
sometimes they'll have a parent come up to me
pastor can you teach me how you raise your children
pastor can you teach me how you
discipline your children, or to my wife
can you teach us how you homeschool your children
but no
if you're just doing things
like the pastor, or you're just
doing it like another family
it's not going to work out for you
it's not going to work, you're going to become
dependent on that other person
to tell you how to do things
when mums and dads, husbands and wives
should come together
and say, honey
let's work out our family
how do we want to raise our kids
how do we want to have our family home
what does God's word say
and how can we align our family
how God's word teaches us
and when you start to make those decisions
amongst yourselves
it'll strengthen your marriage
remember I want you guys to be empowered
it'll make your marriage stronger
it'll make your leadership decisions better
and you'll know exactly why you're carrying
certain things out in your family
because you guys came together
you measured up the cons and the pros
and you said look, this is the best way for our family
because no one's like our family
we all have different personalities
we all have different number of children
we all have different jobs, we all start at different places
and we all have different backgrounds
so you can't just copy someone else
but when you start to copy someone else
you start to weaken yourself
because instead of becoming someone
that goes to God's word
and say, Lord direct us
you start to look at man or look at family
you start to look at some other program
and you say, I like that, I want to be like that
and Brevin, I'm telling you, it always fails
it always fails
I do not want to be a micro-manager
pastor
I just want to preach God's word to you
you guys know what God's word says
alright, now I'm going to do it, how am I going to do it?
Lord, teach me how to do it
if it's about family, okay, spouse
let's come together and work this out together
let's strengthen our marriage
let's strengthen our family
instead of just relying on some man
I'll just read the definition to you
what a micro-manager is
the definition is to manage with
excessive control
or attention to details, excessive control
I've experienced micro-management
okay, now let me just read about
micro-management to you
now look, let me explain something to you
if I'm a manager and I hire staff
the reason I hire staff is what?
so they can do the job
that needs to get done, so I have time
to do higher level things
right, but the micro-manager
it's like they're doing the job for them
they're involved, it's like
well why'd you hire that guy?
if you're going to be involved in every little decision
every way they work, why did you hire them?
no, you can't do the higher level things
because you're so involved
now within micro-management, I just read about this
to prepare for this sermon
it says micro-management is a form of leadership
that may produce
results in the short term
I would say most often than not it does produce
good results in the short term
but it hurts employee
and company morale over time
usually micro-managing
has a negative connotation
because an employee may feel
that a micro-manager is being
condescending toward them
due to a perceived lack of faith in the
employee's competency
so it makes an employee
stronger or weaker?
weaker, because they're like
well my manager doesn't trust me
I can never
experience or try something
different and see if it works
or I can't take risks
and every time I make a decision I better go check with manager
so I don't get in trouble
you see that kind of management
system makes you weaker
it may produce good results
in the short term, in the short term
it might look good
but how do I do this? I can tell you
in the short term you'll have results
but it'll just make you weaker in the long term
so you have to make decisions
yourself
you see when you make your own decisions in life
you have nobody to blame
if you're being controlled every single part of your life
and something doesn't work out
people are like well it was bad advice
it was my manager, it was my pastor
it was like
Adam, when he sinned
and God comes to Adam, who does he blame?
Eve
and then God speaks to Eve, who does she blame?
the devil
instead of taking personal responsibility
the person that is weak
would like to blame other people
because of them
well how about you be strong
how about you be empowered
and make your own decisions
this sounds good, knowing God's word
and making decisions based on God's word
but also it comes with accountability
you have to own when it works
well praise God you've done well
but when things don't work out for you
you've got to own it and say man I messed up
but you know what how do you learn
you learn from mistakes as well don't you
sometimes in life you've got to take certain risks
say Lord I think this is the right way
please help us
look if it doesn't work out well Lord I've learnt that
I want to do it like that again
but this empowers you, this gives you experience
this helps you not to make the same mistakes
again in the future
and instead of blaming someone else for it
take responsibility and accountability
for yourself
about micromanaging it says
also a manager who implements
this management style
creates an environment where the team
develops insecurity
and a lack of confidence in its work
in the absence of the manager
the team may find it difficult to function
what does it say it says a micromanager will usually
use up most of their time
supervising the work
and direct reports
and exaggerating the importance of minor
details to subordinates
time that could have been used
to get other important things done
why am I talking about this
the reason I'm bringing this up Reverend
is because God is not a micromanager
God is not a micromanager
God is a God that has given us liberties
God has given us free will
okay listen
you even have free will
in terms of salvation
when you go out and you preach the gospel
to someone and you explain to them
that salvation is by grace
through faith in Christ alone
and you ask them
do you want to receive Christ as Saviour
if someone says no
leave them alone
try to encourage them maybe give them a few more words
say look we don't know if we're going to live past tomorrow
or live past today
but if that person says no
they've got the free will to say no
God does not hold a gun to your head
and say be saved
but even the Christian life
you know
if God was a micromanager
you know every time we make a mistake
every time we sin God will just strike us down immediately
God is long suffering isn't he
God is patient toward us
and brethren when you're in sin
when you've done wrong against the Lord
and you don't oh I got away with it no
you didn't get away with it the Lord knows everything
it's just that he's not a micromanager
the Lord is waiting to see whether you're going to acknowledge
Lord I messed up
the Lord is waiting to see whether you're humble enough
to go before him and say Lord forgive me
I messed up again
help me to make the right decision in the future
but the Lord is not a micromanager
the Lord is long suffering
now what is a macromanager
a macromanager is the opposite
the macromanager highlights
what needs to be done
rather than how it needs to be done
as a pastor
this is my philosophy
to be a macromanager
so what needs to be done
rather than how it needs to be done
this is why
I let men preach
and men preach at New Life Baptist Church
and look if someone says something that I don't really agree with
I'm not just trying to shut down that person
the moment they've opened their mouth
and said something
it's fine
as long as the main
meat of that message is good
and clear
and we're not dealing with any major heresies
I praise God that people are trying to learn the Bible
and doing the best to serve in the house of the Lord
of course if something
is preached that's completely out of hand
of course I'll step in
and correct that
but this is a system that I know works well
I know this is the best way
and the issue that I have
found in church
and this is not in the Bible
you won't find a pastor like this in the Bible
there's a lot of churches where people feel
I can just take all my issues, all my problems
to the pastor
or to some person
and look
are there going to be short term results?
yes, we saw with the micro management there are short term results
but in the long term
it just weakens that person
if I get involved in your life
I can probably improve your life
if I really got involved in your family affairs
I could probably fix it for the first three months, six months
but you'll be weaker
you'll be more dependent on someone else
you'll be thinking the only way
I can make things better in life is by going to someone else
no, you can make it better
God has given you the spirit of power
of love and of a sound mind
God has given you his Holy Spirit
God has given you the Bible
so you can make the best decisions for your life
and when you make those good decisions in life
it'll make you stronger
think of a family
think of a man who's going to be given authority
in his household
and the wife constantly sees him
running to the pastor every time there's a problem
do you think that wife is going to have the confidence
in the leadership of this man?
no
okay, maybe short term results are alright
I'll tell you what to do
but I'm not going to tell you how to do it
you've got to figure it out, man
because you've been given dominion over your family
and when your wife sees you taking leadership
power, love
and of a sound mind
all those qualities within you
she'll see you as a strong leader
and she'll be easier for her to submit herself
to your authority
now
let me give you
there's a lot that I
there's a lot that I teach behind this pulpit
of my own experience
there's a reason why I brought up this management system
but very quickly
you're there in Genesis, so come to Genesis chapter 2 please
come with me to Genesis chapter 2
and just a reminder
that God is not a micromanager
okay
you've got free will
alright, I mean
if you do well in the eyes of the Lord
he's going to bless you
if you do things that displease the Lord
he's going to chastise you
he's long suffering, it'll take a while
but he'll chastise you
but God is waiting to see how you're going to respond
when you've messed things up
and just a reminder, you guys know this
but I love this principle
that you find in the book of Genesis, especially the first chapters
because it really is the bedrock
it really is the foundation to life
Genesis 2 16
it says, and the Lord God commanded the man
saying, of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat
does God give liberty?
may freely eat of all the trees of the garden
Adam?
alright, verse number 17, there's only one
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
thou shalt not eat of it
in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die
now the reason I wanted to bring that up
is God tells Adam
what to do
eat of all the trees, Adam?
does he tell him how to eat of every tree?
does he say, Adam, you've got to eat
of this tree in the morning
and make sure your portions are only this amount
and then Adam, when it comes to morning tea
you can eat of that tree over there that produces
strawberries
and then for lunch
you can eat of that tree
and make sure you get your veggies
and make sure you get some lettuce
and some cucumber as well
and for dinner, make sure you go and eat of that tree
Adam, he gives Adam freedom
out of all the trees
just don't sin against me and eat of that one tree
but you've got free will
you've got free will
God is not a micromanager
so why would I want to be a micromanager
as a pastor?
you know, sometimes people come up to me
and ask, I'm concerned about brother so and so at church
or sister so and so at church, why?
because of this or this stuff
is it your business?
or not really, I'm just worried about them
well, pray for them then
go to God and say, Lord, I'm worried about brother so and so
and leave at that
what do you want me to do?
go into their life, into their family
and get involved in their life and all their little issues
I'm just going to make things worse, I'm just going to weaken them
let me give you the example
that I want to speak to you about here
so in the workplace
there was a time when I worked in a call centre
environment
I've never worked as a call centre operator
I've never been that person that takes calls
but the department that I was
working in
I was appointed as a supervisor
even though I had no experience
they just liked my management system
and so they just threw me into the department
I knew nothing of customer service
I knew nothing how to introduce myself on the phone
I knew nothing about taking
customer complaints and
issues and problems
and I was given a team of 10 people
my memory might not be 100% correct
but I believe I had a team of 10 people
but the customer service team was about 30 people
all together so we had three supervisors
and I come in
and all the staff under me know they've got
more experience than me
of how things run
I really don't know
and so I had these staff under me
and there was one particular staff member
my first day in the job
she would come up to me
and I think my first day she gave me
four escalator phone calls
where she's taking a customer call
the customer's angry about something
and the customer's like can I speak to your manager
so she'll come and say
hey you've got a customer on the line and I'm just taking these
this is my first introduction to customer service
just taking customer complaints and trying to
cool down the situation, trying to understand
what they're saying and trying to find a solution for them
so I didn't know what I was doing
and so
I don't know, I guess this is normal
I don't know, I just came into the job, I've got no experience
and day after day
after day after day
for about two or three, maybe a whole month
it was like this, this same individual
come and bring me escalator calls
they want to talk to the supervisor, they want to talk to the manager
I'm taking these calls, taking these calls, taking these calls
alright, then I understood
this idea, this concept
this employee is becoming too
dependent on me
and by becoming too dependent on me
this employee is becoming weaker
you know, this employee
doesn't have the confidence, she doesn't have
the strength to deal with a customer
issue, or maybe she doesn't
understand the policies of the business
or the terms and conditions that exist
and when the customer is right
and when the customer's not right
because customers aren't always right
and I just perceived there was a lack of
confidence, even though she knew
this environment and this
workplace much more than I did
so I pulled her aside and I took her into an
office and we had a meeting for about half an hour
and I, you know, we spoke about
why is that so many people, why do you escalate
calls to me, which is well, these customers
are asking to speak to the supervisor, they're not
happy to speak with me and
we got talking and I started to
highlight to her where she's lacking
confidence and we looked at the company
from start to finish, we looked at the
policies of our company, we looked at
when she's allowed to give a
refund, we looked at the terms and conditions
when is the customer right, when
are they wrong, alright, when can a
customer return back a product, when can
they not return back a product, we looked at all
these things and we highlighted, so look
I'm going to give you
a level of authority, I'm going to give you
I think it was $100 or $120
where I, you know, if
you need to refund, you know
if you've done, you've
perceived the problem and you feel like
the issue is our fault as a company
I'm going to give you the authority to just
refund that customer $120
there's something along that, I can't remember, $120
alright, and she goes but I don't have
the confidence to just throw $120
back at the customer, I said look
I've got your back
just go and do it, just deal with it
okay, if the customer's not right, you know the
terms and conditions now, say look unfortunately
you know, we can't give you a
refund but perhaps we can give you a discount
on your future order, etc, etc, I've
given her the tools, you know
and by doing this, it built up confidence
and then she went back
to work the next day
and I'm expecting alright, I'm getting full
complaints a day, maybe I'll get
full complaints a week, is what I'm expecting
you know, as she continues to improve
you know what happened the next day?
No complaints, next week
no complaints, no complaints, never any more complaints
never ever, Nick I need to speak
to the manager, why?
Why? And not only that
but this employee became one of our star employees
okay, why? Because she was
empowered, she had confidence
okay, instead of being
micromanaged, she was being
macromanaged, alright, instead of being
told how to do every little thing
she's being told what to do
and she's making her own decisions
and I said to her look, even if you make a mistake
as long as I can see that you did your best
to follow company policy, I'll
back you, alright, instead of someone
blaming you, I'll take the blame on your behalf
alright, and I saw
an employee who was
lacking confidence
an employee that wasn't performing
at a decent level, all of a sudden becoming
one of the best, maybe even the best
employee within our department
and I realised wow, she's empowered
and all it required is
her to not become dependent
alright, on someone else
her to find out what her dominion
was, you know, what her authority
was, you know, how fast she could push things
you know, what were the boundaries that she
could work within, what her authority
levels were, and once she found
that, man, she became a great employee
and I learnt this, I said wow
this works
you know, and here's the unfortunate
thing, there are many people
that love to be micromanagers
there are a lot of pastors
and, you know,
like therapists that want to
be micromanagers because when they
have people come into them all the time
they feel special, oh, everyone needs me
you know what, my job
is not for you to go, man, we need our pastor
my job is for you to go, we need the Lord
I need God, Lord please
give me guidance, give me wisdom, give me
instruction, you know, I want to see empowered
people in this church, you know
I want to see empowered soul winners
you know, you know what needs to be done
I don't want to micromanage every little element
of your soul winning presentation
no, no, look, your soul winning presentation
should improve, there should
be some order to it
but if you use one verse and I use
that verse, I'm not going to worry about it
I'm not going to be like, oh, why can't they be more like
me, I want you to be empowered
you know, I want you to be empowered by
that new man that God has given you and
make the decisions, learn and gain experience
because you're going to be greater Christians
for it
I hope that makes sense as to what I'm talking
about today
and this is why, you know, I'm not a
counsellor
as a pastor in that sense
where I'm just involved in everyone's little life
and it sounds like I'm uncaring
but it's the complete opposite
the reason I don't want to be a counsellor
in all the issues of your life
is because I know it's going to weaken you
short term results, yes
but long term, it's just going to make you weaker
I know the best thing for the people
at church is to be empowered
is to tap into the Holy Spirit
that they've got living within them
to know God's word and to make decisions
that do not transgress the laws of God
and everyone's going to do it differently
every family's going to be different
everyone
I never patterned myself after another family
I never patterned myself or my ministry
after a pastor
you know, what does God's word say
and what's the best way for me
to do what I can
in accordance to God's word
I'm free to eat of every tree
just not that one, I'm not free to sin
alright, and even then God still
allows you to sin and to get right with God
and bow your head and say Lord I'm sorry I messed up
help me move forward
give me the strength to overcome that sin
that I fell and struggled with
so I want you to be empowered
can you please turn with me to
1 Peter chapter 5
1 Peter chapter 5 verse number 2
1 Peter chapter 5 and verse number 2
and I don't know, maybe I'm just like this as a person
I don't know, but I just
I don't like people
that want to control other people's lives
because I say
to me it's like you're just doing it for yourself
you're doing it to feel important
you're doing it to feel needed
but you don't really care about the person
you're so called trying to help
you're making them weaker
they get short term results
so they feel like it works
going to so and so is working
yeah the short term results
but in the long term you're going to be weaker
and I just see
a weakening of men
I see a weakening of families
in society
and I think we need to get back and become empowered
people once again the way the Lord intended for us to be
the liberties
to choose and the free will
the people that God has given us
sorry we're going to have to turn
first Peter chapter 5 verse number 2
this is instructions for pastors
feed the flock of God
which is among you
pastors, this is for pastors, feed
you know when someone hears a sermon
from a pastor
they also say, you know what, I've been fed
I feel fed
I came to church and I'm full
I came to church and I
took a bite of some doctrine
I've learnt something, praise God
alright
not only that
it says, taking the oversight
thereof, so oversight supervisor
bishop, the word bishop means
to oversee
so there is authority that a pastor has
so you can see
yes oversight, alright
there's a rule, there's authority
when it comes to a pastor
but then it says not by constraint
willingly, not for filthy
lucre, but of a ready mind
a pastor ought not to be doing a ministry
just for filthy money
I mean there's not much money really with an independent
fundamental Baptist church anyway
unless you're going to go and start a Hillsong
or something like that I guess but you know
an IFB church, you're not going to get much of that
filthy lucre anyway
but look at verse number 3
neither has been lords over God's heritage
but been ensembles
to the flock
Reverend I don't want to be your lord
I don't want a lord over you
I've been given authority when we come
together for church
then you take the lessons from God's word
and you go out in life and you put it into practice
I'm not there to just
watch and are you doing it right
brother, are you stepping up, you know why aren't you
doing what I said to you on Sunday
and I come into your life, why aren't you leading the family
the way I told you brother, that's not my position
instead of being a lord
over God's heritage
there's been ensembles to the flock
my goal is just to be a good example
to you, alright
you say well this is a man, this is a pastor that
loves the lord, or this is a man that loves
God's word, or this is the man that loves
God's people, loves the church and
look at his family, you know
his wife loves the lord, his children love the lord
and they're doing what they can as best as they can
in a fallen world, in sinful flesh
to serve God as best as they can
but it's not about being lords
you see there are boundaries
there are boundaries in life
and the best thing that you need to
learn in life, what are my boundaries
and
you know, recognise when someone's trying to
infringe, maybe they're even
well intended, but they're trying to
infringe on those boundaries
and you need to learn to say no
you're not a lord over me
okay, and brethren I'm not a lord
over you, I don't care if you
tell me, pastor come to my family, come to my house
pastor, look at my family and tell
me everything I'm doing wrong, I say to you
brother, it's none of my business
who's the head of that home
okay, that's your authority
you figure it out
you become empowered, you take ownership
for what God has given you
but there are people
that love it, they want to get involved
they want to give their true sense
because again, God's created us to have
dominion, okay, but instead of
fixing their own issues, instead of looking at what
dominion that God has given them, they want to go
and enter someone else's dominion
and feel important, look what I've done
to fix something, yeah, short term results
you can pay yourself in the back, but you've only made them
weaker, you've not helped them in the long run
brethren, the person you
go to for help is the lord
why not
go to the lord, you know, why
run to a man
I mean
look, every man is a sinner
you know what
if I knew, if I could
get a magnifying glass
and look what's in your heart right now, every one of you
I'm probably going to be like, I don't like any of you
and if you got a magnifying glass
and looked at my heart, you'll be like, I don't want a man to be on the pastime
so
why run to man
we're all sinners
we're all sinners, aren't we, run to God
who has all wisdom
run to God that has got all knowledge
that knows all your struggles
that has given you your personality
who's given you your families
who's given you your workplace
who's given you a church
run to God and say, lord, you guide me
you instruct me
lord, thank you for the examples that you've given me
in my church or hopefully your pastor
but lord, I need to set my eyes upon you
and lord, you need to give my direction
please, lord
and if I've been given authority, please make me empowered
please teach me, help me to understand
where my authority lies
and how I ought to lead
and to guide and be a good influence
and I want to make sure when I have dominion
I'm doing it the way you intended it to be
I think a man's going to give you that answer
that's why I'm not a how preacher
I'm a what preacher
and that you guys go and figure it out for your lives
I don't want to be a how preacher
if I tell you how to do things
I'm going to end up telling you
just how to live like the Sepulvedors
and you're all going to become Sepulverites
alright, and all your children are going to be
named after me or whatever
and named after my wife
and our pastors have 12 kids on the way
so we're all going to have 12 kids now
you know what?
if everyone's a Sepulveda in here
it's going to be the most boring bunch of people
I've ever preached to
I have more fun speaking to people that do things differently
and that I can learn from
you know, iron sharpener fire
we learn from one another, that's better
and you guys might do some things
a different way to me, as long as it's not sinful
praise god, go ahead and do it
you don't have to line things up
like pastors so and so
or some other favourite pastor that you might have
you're all different
just don't eat of that one tree
eat of all the trees that god has given you
but just not that one
don't sin against the lord
come with me to Matthew 28 please
Matthew 28
to be honest with you brethren, I'm all over my notes
I don't even know where I'm preaching from anymore
Matthew 28
Matthew 28 verse 18
Matthew 28 verse number 18
okay
I've kind of given you the theory
alright, I've given you the theory, let's just look at this a little bit deeper
when it comes to the new man that god has given us
don't forget brethren
we're not just another human being
walking this earth
yes we have our flesh
but you've been given a new man, you've been born again if you're saved
okay, you've got something that's very special
okay, you have that inner man within you that is perfect without sin
that is within Christ Jesus
okay, and you have the permanent indwelling of the holy ghost
okay, you can open god's word and understand god's word
you're very special
okay, you're very special, you're god's children
okay, and you can actually lead people to heaven
come on
I mean think about the power that you have
let's talk about powerful people on this earth
say well, the richest
usually the most powerful people on this earth
are very wicked by the way
okay, because the devil is the god of this world
alright
and how many stories have you heard of celebrities
or music artists that have so-called sold
they're sold to the devil
and the devil's given them power and authority
you know, even when Christ was tempted, didn't the devil
didn't satan come and say hey if you worship me
that it would give Jesus Christ power
over all the earth
okay, satan has power
but
you have the power to change the eternal destiny of a soul
from hell to heaven
who can do that on this earth but you
it's you, you've got it, you've got the words of eternal life
okay, in Matthew 28 verse 18
you guys know this great commission
and Jesus came and spake unto them saying look at this
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth
don't forget that, even though I just mentioned
the devil has power on this earth
Jesus has got all power in heaven and in earth
Jesus has all power
so when you start to get worried about how wicked our government
and it's seemingly, you know, the most powerful politicians
are devil worshippers
you know who's got the greatest power on this earth is Jesus
and you're in Christ Jesus
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth
go ye therefore, therefore
because Jesus Christ has this power
you go therefore and teach all nations
baptise in them in the name of the father and of the son
and of the Holy Ghost
teach in them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you
and lo I am with you all the way
even unto the end of the world, amen
Christ is with you all the way, all the way here
right here in Sydney, right here in Fairfield
Christ is with us
and he has all power
but everyone we need to be empowered people
we're not just another human being on this earth
you're a child of God
you've been made kings and priests
in Christ Jesus
you're going to rule and reign for a thousand years on this earth
with Jesus Christ, don't forget
it's not just a hopeful dream, it's going to happen
one day we're going to be walking Fairfield
and you and I are going to be kings in charge of this place
maybe not necessarily this place
but I'm hoping the Sunshine Coast, I don't know
I mean I don't know how much God's wrath is going to change the nature of this world
I don't know
but if I get the Sunshine Coast
that's awesome
if I get Fairfield okay fine
but you know
I want you to understand you guys are very
very special people, come with me to Acts chapter 1
Acts chapter 1 verse number 6
because I want you to be empowered
you say pastor but I'm a sinner, I mess things up
I know that
then when you mess things up you don't run to me
you'll run to some other man, you run to Jesus
say Jesus you just told us you've got all power
and Lord I need some of that power
in fact it says here
in Acts chapter 1 verse number 6
this is before Christ rises
or sends back up to heaven
it says when they therefore were come together
they asked of him saying Lord
will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel
these people that are asking
they're too preoccupied about earthly powers
Christ you're going to start the kingdom now
you know
and look sometimes I know what we're like
we get concerned
we see advancing technologies
and we see digital currencies
and we see things like mandated vaccinations
and all these things
and people start to say oh I don't know
don't worry Christ has power over all things
and how does Jesus Christ respond
is Christ so worried about this earth
and the earthly powers here
he says in verse number 7
and he said unto them it is not for you to know
the times of the seasons
which the father have put in his own power
but ye shall receive power
brethren you've got power
but ye shall receive power
why worry about the wicked powers of this earth
when you've received power
after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you
and ye
what power do we have here
and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem
and in all Judea
and in Samaria
and unto the uttermost part of the earth
who cares about the powers of this earth right now
you've been given power
to be a witness of Jesus Christ
in Fairfield
in Sydney, Sunshine Coast
Brisbane
are you going to Fiji brother?
Jackson? Fiji maybe?
wherever we go we've been given power
so focus on that power
God wants us to be empowered Christians
you know what's sad?
most believers
I'll say believers because Christians are such a general term
most believers have never won a soul to Jesus Christ
that's the truth
if you've won at least one soul
you've done more than 99% of believers
today
you've demonstrated the power of God
more than most people
and what's sad about this is that
when Christians are not preaching the gospel
they are not tapping into the power
that Christ has given them
I want you to be empowered Christians
not empowered to take over
wicked governments
but empowered to change the eternal destiny
of a soul
think about how important your soul
is to you
and how thankful you are that you're not going to hell
you're going to heaven
and you know what?
every other soul in Fairfield in Sydney
is just as important as yours
Christ died for them as much as he died for you
God's given you the power
to change the destiny
are you going to be empowered as a Christian or not?
it's up to you, free will
God's not a micromanager
He's given you the power to be a soul winner
He's told you what to do
get out there and preach the gospel
but it doesn't tell you
go for this hour on this Sunday
and at the end of this week
because all our lives are different
but still
you know what you have to do
you know what a macromanager does?
instead of controlling someone's
job
of every detail
it's not that they don't care
they of course care that the job gets done
but what a macromanager will do
is say look, employee
you've got to finish project A
project X by the end of the month
I've employed you
to get the job done
so I'm not going to get involved every single day
and tell you what to do, that's why you're there
so I can focus on other things
but
at 4pm on Wednesday
you come and give me an update every week
as to how things are going
give me an update, are we on track?
where are we ahead?
where are we behind?
if we're behind in a scenario, what are you doing to catch up
to make sure we meet the deadline by the end of the month
and then he goes away
and does what needs to be done
comes back next week, gives an update
and then when he comes to the deadline, what happens?
what happens if that employee
got nothing done?
what if that employee was just lying
the entire time about getting any work done
and project's not getting done?
well that employee's going to face disciplinary action
isn't he?
hey, but if you've got the project done, guess what's going to happen?
maybe a promotion, maybe a pay rise
a pat on the back, maybe a nice reward
something, okay
and if there's ever an opportunity for a promotion in the future
of course, the people that are getting the job done
they're going to receive that
you see, God's told us what to do
we need to preach the gospel
are you getting the job done?
are you getting it done?
or not?
are you giving Christ the updates?
Lord, you know, I've gone out
Lord, I'm going out next week
or I'm going out next month
Lord, I need your power, I need your strength
because I want to be a witness unto you
what's Christ going to say when he comes back?
is he going to say to you
thou good and faithful servant?
have you served the Lord with your life?
you don't have to serve the Lord with your life
salvation is not, salvation is
Christ's work for us, isn't it?
his death, his burial, his resurrection
his payment for sin
and look, if you receive that, praise God
praise God for that, okay
but what are you going to do in return?
what are you going to do for Christ today?
you've got free will
and I want you to be empowered, people
I don't want you to just be a church goer
because there's too many church goers
I want you to be an empowered Christian
and brethren, there's nothing greater than
seeing a soul saved for Jesus Christ
and look, even if you don't get a soul saved
just being a witness
being used to give someone the gospel
just stepping out there
you say, pastor, I went out soul winning last week
and everyone rejected me, okay
but brother so-and-so got someone saved
that means instead of brother so-and-so getting trapped in all these houses
you did the hard work and he went out there
and got the blessing and hey, we get to rejoice all together
for what was achieved, right?
I don't know, Sydney is not a receptive area
Sunshine Coast is even less receptive
sometimes it's exciting to go to the Philippines or something
look
how much work are you doing?
I personally believe
the soul winner in the Philippines
that does 10 hours of soul winning
and the soul winner in Sydney that does 10 hours of soul winning
will receive the same reward
because you both went out there serving Jesus Christ
with your time
now obviously one's going to get 200
and one's going to get 5 salvations
but you know what?
doesn't matter
when you got those 5 salvations
you'll steal the power of Christ in you
that got that work done
empowered Christians
God has given you his word
there's no greater wisdom
on this earth than God's word
honestly
the lessons in life
I didn't read my Bible cover to cover
until I was in my early 20s
but even though you experience a lot of life
I realize
when I go and read God's word
it was always there
there's mistakes that I've made in life
if I just read the Bible
I wouldn't have made that mistake
I would have had that wisdom
yes it's right
even in my workplace
dealing with people that I'm not even saved
I see the truth for God's word
it's so precious the word of God
and it's given you the ability to understand it
and to practice it
we need to be empowered people
not weak people
come with me to
March 12
to be honest with you brethren
I am not anywhere near my notes here
I don't even know where I'm going with this anymore
but I hope it's a blessing
March 12
verse 24
March 12 verse 24
let me just read it quickly
in my own mind for a minute
and Jesus answering
said unto them
do ye not therefore
err
because ye know
not the scriptures
because ye know not the scriptures
neither the power of God
you won't have the power of God in your life
what do you have to know
you have to know the scriptures
you've got to read the Bible
guys have you read the Bible cover to cover
don't show me your hands
if you haven't why not
I bet you watched the Hollywood movie
before you finished reading the Bible cover to cover
I bet you finished watching that TV series that doesn't please the Lord
before you read the Bible cover to cover
guys God wants to give you power
and it's found in his word
it's found in his word
you need to know direction in life
you want the best result in your life
you've got to read the scriptures
coming to church is good
but I can only read so much scripture to you
you've got the time to read it all
keeps going verse 25
that's basically there's no marriage in heaven
once you go to heaven there is no marriage
because marriage is till death do us part
and once you die there is no marriage
verse 26
the God of the dead but the God of the living
ye therefore do greatly err
brethren you've been given the power
to live forever
just like Abraham
it says here
he is not the God of the dead
is Abraham dead?
Abraham is not dead
Abraham is living
Abraham is in heaven
God has given you the power
to live forever
to never die
I guess this flesh is going to die
go die because it's full of sin
it's full of sickness
Lord give me that resurrected body
but we've been given the power to never perish
spiritually
one day God is going to give us a new resurrected body
we have eternal life
think about that for a minute
because I tell you now
is this a myth? You guys tell me if it's a myth
but I've heard that Disney
the guy that started Disney
has had his brain freeze or something
that one day technology will put him
into some cyborg and that
he can have eternal life on this earth
you know there are wicked people
you know spending
huge amounts of money I could be wrong about that
I don't know maybe it's just another conspiracy
internet stupidity that I've heard
but you know in reality
there are powerful rich people
on this earth that when they die
they want their heads frozen
or they want their brain data downloaded
onto a hard drive so one day
to live forever
but you're going to live forever
think of the power you've got
you're going to be here
brethren you're going to live
you're going to have a new resurrected body
you're going to be with Christ on this earth
you're going to be able to achieve more than
the people so called that have the greatest power
on this earth
you've been empowered
I mean I think sometimes we forget
just how powerful we truly are
I mean someone's walking this earth
that you know will never perish, never die
they're immortal
I mean you'd be like
well that's you
that's you, you're never going to die
can we move to Genesis 32
Genesis 32
and I'm sorry if the end of this sermon
is a bit all over the place because my nuts are all over the place now
but Genesis 32 verse number 26
I want to show you some more power that you've got here
now in Genesis 32 we're going to read about
Jacob who got his name changed to Isaac
and you may recall the famous story
that he wrestles with Jesus Christ
that he wrestles with God
okay
but it's you know obviously
this is what took place
and I believe it took place literally
but there's a greater lesson to be learned here
and it's a lesson about your prayer life
it says in Genesis 32 26
so Jesus Christ turns up on the scene
pre-incarnate Christ
we know it's God, it's a man
as well and the only God-man there is
in the Bible is Jesus Christ
and we know that no man has ever seen the Father
so this is Jesus Christ
it says
so they start to wrestle
they start to see who's stronger than the other
and of course we know Christ is strongest
but at the end of the day
Christ is saying let me go, I've got to go
this is all over and Jacob says
I'm not going to let you go till I receive a blessing
verse 27
and look I don't have time to really deepen
the whole sermon on its own
but this gives us the illustration
these guys are wrestling all night
brethren when's the last time that you've had an all night prayer session with God
when is the last time that you've taken God
and not let go of him
and say Lord I've got a lot of things on my mind
I've got a lot of issues
Lord I need a lot of answered prayers
and I'm not going to let go of you Lord until I receive a blessing
I'm not going to let go of you Lord until I see answered prayer here
that's what the illustration is really
most of our prayers honestly
a minute long and even then might be too long
probably a few seconds
we're not much when it comes to wrestling with God
let's take a hold of God and say God
I can't let you go of you Lord
because I just need an answered prayer
I need a blessing
I need you to come through for me God
and look when we see this example
of Jacob
it says here that his name was changed to Israel
because as a prince that has power
with God and with men and has prevailed
now brethren
have you ever seen answered prayer in your life
have you ever gone to God and said
God I need this done and God's come through for you
think about that power
that you just had
with God
well you've gone to God and God I need this
and God says there you go
think about that power
that you've got
and the reason Jacob has power
of a man here is because he was fearful
if you know the story
of his twin brother Esau
Esau had made a vow
that he would kill Jacob
and so Jacob needed an answered prayer
Jacob needed God to come through
for him to have power over man
and God is there to step in
and change the heart of Esau
and then they were reunited once again
as siblings
there's probably people right now that you've got conflicts with
close family friends
close family, extended family
friends
and you know that if I just came across him
he'd probably spit in my face
we might have conflicts within the church
I don't know, I don't know everyone's life
but you need to go to God
and say God you've given me this power
you've given us the power to pray
you've given us the power to come before you Lord
and to bring our requests
Lord there's a conflict with an Esau, whoever that is
Lord can you please give me power over this man
can you please help us have peace
one with another
you've been given much power
you need to tap into the power that God has given you
the new man
not a spirit of fear
a spirit of power and of love
and of a sound mind
the power to know God's word
to search the scriptures
and know what God has to say about this world
the power to speak to Almighty God
and for God to step in
and answer your prayer
and to change the natural events of the world
so he can come through and give you what you need
what more power do you need than that
to get through life
so brethren
don't be just another human being
don't be a low performer
be empowered
be empowered in your life
be empowered in the dominion that God has given you
but don't forget
you've been given the new man
which has great power
has power with God
has power with men
but we need to make sure that we sometimes just take a hold of God
that we spend a solid hour of prayer with God
and that we weep and that we cry out
and say Lord help us
you've been given power
can I get you to turn to one passage
sorry guys
Revelation chapter 2
Revelation chapter 2 verse number 26
I've already brought this up
but we know that Christ is coming back
look Christ is coming back
one day Christ is going to be walking this earth
and he's going to have power
over every government
over every king
on this earth
and when he comes back
he says these words in Revelation 2 verse 26
and he that overcometh
and by the way
who overcomes?
the one that believes that Jesus Christ is the son of God
and that's you
you're already an overcomer because you've trusted Christ
and he that overcometh
and keepeth my words unto the end
to him will I give power
over the nations
not only do you need to be saved brethren
but you need to live a fruitful Christian life
keeping his works
not for salvation
but to have greater authority
when Christ comes back to this earth
you see God's willing and able
and wanted to give you power
over these nations
I mean that blows my mind
like just being the Prince of Jesus
Christ is enough
but Christ says look I want you to be an authority
in this world
when I rule for a thousand years
you know I want you to
some of you guys potentially
or brethren that you know
and love that serve the Lord faithfully
some of them are going to be the presidents
and prime ministers of the nations
when Christ rules this earth
the mayors, the premiers
whatever authority levels
that might exist within God's kingdom I don't know how it all works
to him will I give power over the nations
look at verse 127
and he shall rule them
with a rod of iron
that's us
we know that Christ is going to come to rule with a rod of iron
but he's speaking about those that he gives the power
and he, this is Jesus Christ speaking right
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron
as the vessels of a potter
shall they be broken to shivers
even as I received of my Father
so in the same rod of iron
that Christ had received from the Father
he's going to give to his believers
to rule over the nation for a thousand years
no more
the power to rule with Jesus Christ
we're excited about Christ coming back
but don't we forget that man
we're going to be given such great authority
so brethren if you're going to have great authority
and great power
learn it today
because you've got that power today
you've got the power to change the eternal destiny of a soul
you have the power to understand the scriptures
and to improve your life
you have the power to go to God in prayer
and to see him come through
so brethren in conclusion the empowered men
be empowered with the dominions
that you've received from God
hey know your boundaries
what is your boundary
what dominion has God given you
hey be empowered within that
whatever authority that God has given you
don't let yourself be weakened
by those who wrongly desire authority over you
they might look like they're trying to help you
but really they are weakening you
okay don't be deceived
tap into the power found within the new man
and be a witness for Jesus Christ
and don't underestimate your coming importance
over the nations
okay let's pray
Heavenly Father Lord I just want to thank you for your word
thank you for the power that you've given us Lord
many times we feel weak
we feel maybe cast down Lord
by the weakness of this world
but Lord just remind us
that we're your children
Lord that you've brought us into the royal family of God
Lord you've given us a kingdom
that is within us
and a kingdom that one day will be upon this earth
and Lord Jesus Christ has all power over heaven
all power over earth
Lord help us not to be fearful
help us not to be afraid
Lord whatever developments
whether it's laws
whether it's technology
whether it's finances Lord
and people start to get worried about the end times
Lord we know it's going to happen
Lord we can't change it
Lord because that is from man
you've given us a spirit of power and of love
and of a sound mind
Lord help us to tap into that power of the new man
help us to tap into the power of prayer
that you've given us Lord
and I thank you Lord for making us your children
thank you Lord for the promise
that one day we can rule with Christ
with all authority
we pray these things in Jesus name Amen
alright guys hymn number 261
hymn number 261
so I mentioned that we are not to have our eyes on man
and try to imitate our lives
the way a man does
261 we turn our eyes upon Jesus
261 turn your eyes upon Jesus
201 turn your eyes upon Jesus
Votes came, Inaudible
retail him,
And the veins of earth
Will grow
Strangely dim
In the life of His
Glory and
Grace
carry on
Amen
I don't really have any announcements. Anything important?
Hey, be praying for Maffin Carissa's wedding ceremony.
They're already married. This is the party. This is the ceremony.
But keep all that in prayer that we go smoothly and that some of the family members would hear the word of God
and hopefully be saved by hearing the gospel.
And I'll be here again on Sunday as well to preach.
We've got full baptism so far that will happen after the service.
So we've got Sabi and Raj.
What's your wife's name, brother?
If anyone else needs to get baptised, please let me know.