ECSDAC Livestream September 11, 2021 Service

[Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] do [Music] so [Music] so [Music] be [Music] a little one more [Music] good morning i'd like to i'd like to welcome each one of you to our worship service this morning whether you're here in person with us or you're watching online we're glad that you have chosen to join us in our sabbath worship and i'd like to thank ralph garno who's provided musica for us here this morning there's a number of announcements i need to make this morning first just a reminder of the programs that the church puts on through the the week whether they're virtual or physical this afternoon at uh 4 pm pastor hamstra will be having his bible class and today the topic is on images and that is on zoom then wednesday evening there's a youth power up on zoom as well as the prayer meeting at seven and the prayer meeting is a hybrid where you can either come in person or that you can join on zoom so you have a choice there then again next sabbath i'd like to invite you to our sabbath service song service starts at 9 15 the program at 9 30 we have both adult and children's classes and then again next week at this time our worship service both in person and online so be mindful of that all that information is in the electronic news letter that goes out so if you're not getting that newsletter or of any questions you can contact debbie at the church office she's in the office from tuesday to friday from 10 a.m to 3 p.m and also just a reminder if you're parking out in what we call the wendy's lot or here please display a parking pass if you don't have one the deacons can provide you with with one some other announcements i'd like to just uh emphasize tomorrow there's going to be a memorial for beatrice hemanuk so you're invited to that the program starts at 2 p.m it's going to be followed with a reception and there's they've arranged for free parking in what we call again the wendy's lot just across from the church there from noon to 6 pm in park lot 74. so if you're attending you don't have to worry about paying for parking that's been looked after for you also it's that time of year when the nominating committee needs to do its work there is first reading for the nominating committee members it was an electronic newsletter again there's a list out there in the foyer so this is the first reading and next sabbath we will be doing the second reading for the nominating committee also international sabbath is coming up in two weeks september the 25th so that's a special day you can invite your uh friends and and neighbors to to that sabbath but we're just going to celebrate i guess everybody we come from many different places many different backgrounds and we just want to celebrate our ability to come together and worship as a family here and our diversity next sabbath i just want to remind you too pastor hamster will not be having the 4 pm zoom bible class next sabbath but matthew tinkum will be filling in for him and he's going to be talking about the trinity so i just wanted you to beware of that coming up a week from now also you might have noticed that our pastors are not here today it's the pulpit exchange sabbath where we're mixing it up between the churches so we get to hear people that we don't normally hear and other churches do the same and so our pastors are at other churches but this morning we are privileged to have a guest speaker edith kagundu she is the head elder at the edmonton west church and she uh loves to serve god and prayer and so we look forward to hearing from edith this morning my last announcement has to do with impact 2021. you've heard about this for some period of time it was delayed a year because of covid it's now happening it's going to start on october the 29th and at the end of this month the end of september we expect to have advertising materials that will be ready to for distribution and at this time we're going to have a video about impact 2021. [Music] well hey guys pastor bill santos here lessons for living television just want you to know how excited i am about being part of your citywide evangelistic effort beginning on october the 29th i just want to just take some time here in sabbath morning to let you know that uh the planning is going along uh got a chance to look at some of the sample artwork that will be part of the advertising looks really nice been meeting with the pastors you know the preparation is going everything's going according to schedule uh at our last meeting we talked about advertising and uh you know what happens many times is we place i think a tremendous burden upon you know having the right advertising campaign to bring the folks into the venue and while you know the pastors are looking at maximizing the dollar amount so you get the best kind of exposure for these meetings really we all know that the real source of interest and you know bringing folks into those venues are the church members and so i want to appeal to you that you know if each church member would set a goal of inviting five individuals you know starting today praying for those individuals that the holy spirit would be touching their hearts so that when they receive that personal invitation from you to come to the meetings that they will respond positively and these could be you know neighbors co-workers friends family right pick five can you imagine if every church member in edmonton uh invited five individuals and of those five one of them actually showed up you know we would run into a really interesting problem we would fill to capacity the venue and we may have to come to you a church member and say would you mind giving up your seat so that an interest could sit in the meetings and now i know you guys well enough that you would say i'm more than happy to do that i mean this is an exciting time to to be part of this evangelistic effort so i want you to know that things are going along well we're the planning is working you know everything is is coming together under the holy spirit's guidance and so just continue to pray for the meetings pray for my family invite your friends and family to watch lessons for living television every sunday morning if you're in at 10 a.m in edmonton c-tv and that becomes a way of them establishing a connection with me and you can tell them hey that pastor is going to be here beginning october the 29th hey i'm sorry to take time from your sabbath schedule but i just wanted to get this message out to you and ask you to continue to work and pray and be excited and let people know because this in my assessment is the most important activity that our church can be involved in preparing souls for the kingdom god bless you have a wonderful sabbath i'll be back in touch again in a couple of weeks we'll see you then it's now time for our call to worship and i would like to read deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 6. be strong and of good courage do not fear nor be afraid of them for the lord your god he is the one who goes with you he will not leave you nor forsake you at the time this was written it was a challenging time for the children of israel their great leader moses who had performed or god had performed through moses the mighty plagues in egypt he'd carried the people through the red sea he'd supported them in the wilderness for 40 years was soon going to depart from them and you can imagine that there was nervousness in the congregation there was a new leader joshua what did the future hold but god promised i will never leave you nor forsake you for those of you who are old enough to remember you can probably remember where you were 20 years ago today when the planes crashed into the twin towers in new york and the world has not been the same since then and we don't know what the future holds going forward from from here either but we do know that things can just change in one day but we have a god we have a powerful god who has promised never to leave us and forsake us and that is a hope that we can hang on to let us bow our heads dear heavenly father thank you for the assurance that you give us here in this uncertain world that you are a god that we can count on a god that we can trust and we ask that this morning in our service that you would be here with us that we might receive the blessing that you have for each one of us pray in jesus name amen it is now time for the call for the offering and i would invite the deacons and deaconesses to please come forward this morning the offering is for the world budget it goes to the general conference for worldwide needs so i would ask that you remember that so what we're going to do this morning on the piano side here we're going to collect the offering as usual here on the the physical distancing side where the rows are are free the deacons or deaconesses can just walk in front of you and you can drop your offering in where that's possible um there'll also be an offering plate out in the foyer after the church service for those of you who couldn't give your offering weight at this moment let's bow our heads for prayer dear heavenly father thank you for your goodness to each one of us for looking after our needs and you've asked that we return a portion to you of our offerings and our ties so we pray that what we return to you this morning that you you will bless it that it might be used in the best way for your work we pray in jesus name amen so while the deacons and deaconesses collect the offering we'll be watching and offering video john andrews was so competent he could have become wealthy and powerful instead he put god first and sacrificed everything to take the present truth to the world what can we learn from john andrews today that will help us put god first in our own lives john andrews was a very gifted man when he was 13 years old he was converted and accepted jesus as his savior he cultivated a love for the bible early in life and he taught himself to read the bible in hebrew greek and latin when he studied the sabbath message he became convicted of its truth and decided to dedicate his life to understanding and preaching it he helped to establish many of the doctrines and structural documentation of the seventh-day adventist church by putting god first john andrews dedicated his intellect and energy to serve the remnant church of bible prophecy when the church decided to sponsor a missionary to europe john andrews was the most capable man to do it despite grieving the death of his wife andrews gave up everything he had built and answered the call to take his family overseas he understood the risk of poverty and disease he was aware of the hardship to be faced but john andrews persisted in 1874 he sailed to europe with his two children charles and mary even though they were only teenagers the children proved to be extraordinary young pioneers in switzerland editing translating setting type helping to tirelessly establish the international missionary journal the signs of the times in 1878 john andrews attended the general conference session and took mary with him because he was confident that she had contracted tuberculosis alone in europe charles wrote to his father our separation will be short and then if faithful we shall meet our loved ones so paw don't feel discouraged we pray much for you john andrews kept a vigil by her bedside during mary's last days mary andrews passed to her arrest at only 17 years of age he returned to europe but also died of tuberculosis a few years later john andrews was the foremost intellectual in the early adventist movement and his contributions were primarily responsible for the growth of the seventh-day adventist church today there are more than 162 000 adventist congregations in 207 countries and territories our hearts are grateful to this man who always put god first john andrews put god first even when it cost him his courage inspires us today jesus gave up everything to redeem us and his love compels us to put his kingdom first in our own lives as we return the tithe and our promise offering we are challenged to put god first [Music] good morning and happy sabbath everybody i hope you're all ready and willing to sing loudly even with the mass that means you have to sing twice as loud welcome and welcome to those that are online uh we still have room for you to come and worship here in person as soon as you want to but it's a lovely day today and we're happy that we can praise the lord through music we're all looking forward to that day when we will see jesus and so we're going to start with number 426 i shall see the king i shall see the key will the angels sink i shall see the king someday in the better land on the golden strength and within shall ever stay in his glory i shall see the king and forever and let's praise his sin towards some calvary jesus died for me i shall see the king someday on the land of song in the glory from where it never in his glory i shall see the king and forever [Music] jesus died for me i shall see the kings [Music] his face in his glory i shall see the king and [Music] jesus died for me i shall see the king someday amen the bible says he did not buy us with silver or gold i believe that because we're worthy in the sight of god just i was we were sharing it during the summer school lesson and i marvel at god being the owner of silver and gold and gold but he did not buy us with silver and gold he saw he thought he thought better way better to buy us with jesus blood isn't that amazing so i would think of my redeemer the one that i was bought through 3 43 [Music] i will sing of my redeemer [Music] he suffered from the curse to set me free [Music] set me free i will sing the wonder [Music] again [Music] [Music] [Music] i will sing [Music] son of [Music] is [Music] [Music] free [Music] happy sabbath are you happy amen spread the gladness all around if you're happy for jesus does what he saves right amen psalm 340 jesus saves [Music] [Music] jesus saves jesus climb the season [Music] [Music] [Applause] jesus said jesus says to deceive us far and wide jesus days jesus says [Music] jesus says jesus said the fourth verse give the raise jesus said jesus says let the nations know rejoice jesus says jesus said shall salvation full and free highest hills [Music] jesus says amen i'm going to invite you to stand so we will sing our opening hymn from way back in the garden when we sinned god came calling amen and by his grace some of us has responded and that's why you are sitting here worshiping him today but there's a special call that he makes for us and we are singing that call in hymn number 359 359 [Music] who will go and work today [Music] [Music] the he offers free who will answer gladly say here i am the lord send me if you cannot cross the ocean and i hate the land [Music] if you can speak like angels if you cannot preach like paul you can tell the love of jesus you can say he died for rome while the souls of men are dying and the master calls for you let not believe there is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] and thank quizzy for filling in today it is now time for prayer so i would invite you to kneel with me wherever possible as we approach the lord in prayer dear heavenly father it is good to be in your house this morning and we thank you for your promise that you will never leave us or forsake us that although you are the ruler of eternity and the vast limitless space of the universe and everything in it yet you care for us and you gave your life for ours we ask because you have promised that you be with us here this morning that your holy spirit be with us that we might receive your blessing we know that we are not worthy we know our hearts and our continual need of you but we thank you for your salvation and where we have turned away from you we ask that you forgive us and come again to be lord of our hearts be with everyone here whether they're here physically or watching online you know each one of us and and our needs and we thank you for being with us in the past and we ask that you continue to be with us especially with those who are under stressful times for whatever reasons and we ask that you be with our children who are in children's church this morning thank you for giving them to us and be with them in a special way we know that we live in a world where there are many temptations and they are so accessible so pray that you would watch over them in a special way and be with our pastors who are preaching in other churches this morning we thank you for them and the work they they do for us and be with all those worshipping you wherever they are in this world we know many are not as fortunate as we are and be with our speaker elder edith this morning bless her may the word she speaks be the words that you would have us hear and open our ears that we might be attentive to receive what the blessing you have for us we pray in jesus name amen today's taken from jesus um we first finally first finally he first find it his own brother john's which will be instantly thank you brother josh happy sabbath it's so good to be here the lord is so good i want to thank god for the opportunity he's given me to stand before you and i thank the pastors for allowing me to start yeah to speak to to you is such a great honor it's been some time i think the last time i spoke here may have been maybe six years ago seven i don't know but here i thank god for the opportunity and i want to acknowledge some of the people i came with i came with my son alex and my dear friends and prayer partners sister maisy service and irinia mundo i don't see sister amazing yes it's amazing thank you so much for coming and i pray that you be blessed today and for this praise leaders that was so beautiful this singing was so good that's my favorite song says while the souls of men are dying and the master calls to you today let no one hear you idly saying there is nothing that i can do and then he says gladly take the task he gives you there is a great reward and when he calls you don't give any excuse just be like his isaiah remember isaiah in there king was i died after seeing the holiness of god after being cleansed when god asked who shall i send and who shall go as i said here i am send me and that's the message it was so impressive seeing the promotion by pastor centers i can see we are really excited and i just wanted to start with the story of a little boy who went to church and when he came back he was looking very sad very disappointed and the father asked what's the matter my boy and the boy explained we were told to go out and make disciples of all nations but we just sat the little boy really understood the great commission and he had every right to be sad they were supposed to go but the people just said i believe and from what i've seen so far centro is more than ready and you are looking forward to the upcoming evangelistic series on the october 29th i think that's when we are starting and so we are all called all of us we are called to start doing the preparation work and i think this is part of the preparations what our pastors are doing visiting other church other churches is to just encourage people telling them yes there's something exciting coming and so we shouldn't think that pastor bill santos is the one who is going to do the work the responsibility falls on us we are the ones to plant and to water the seed and then he will come and just rip i think he gets even the easiest job because we would have done the hardest bit and we have different reasons i know we've been called to go out but many of us are still sitting and we have so many reasons as to why we are sitting some of us are very busy others are very tired others are still young and they're still in school others think they're so insignificant who can listen to me and so they decide to just stay put but this morning i want to consider someone who was considered a nobody in the bible his name was called andrew he is only mentioned 12 in 12 verses in the new testament but on the few occasions andrew is named he's always doing something very important he's always introducing someone to jesus first he had the joy of introducing his brother and then in john chapter 6 when the disciples were gathered and there was a big crowd and jesus had been preaching the whole day they were hungry and there was nothing to feed them while philp was wondering what are we going to feed these people we can't even afford this and then andrew came up with a solution there was a boy with two with five fishes and two loaves of bread and andrew brought that boy to jesus the third time we see andrew bringing someone to jesus is in john 12 when some greeks approached philip with a deep desire to see jesus philip wasn't so sure as what to do but he knew one who could do something so he goes to andrew and said hey why don't you help me there are people who want to meet jesus and so philip and andrew introduced the greeks to jesus we are not told if andrew ever preached any someone we don't know whether he ever told i'm not so sure whether he ever performed any miracle but we see him doing a very important task anyone any human being can do for for another person that is he opened the door to jesus for another person to go through andrew was not included in jesus's inner circle he was not among the peter james and john in fact in the sight of the world andrew played second fiddle in peter to tutupeter and in eight of those twelve verses which i talked about andrew is referred to as peter's brother he's always in simon's shadow and yet it was andrew who brought peter to jesus brothers and sisters there is no higher calling on the face of the earth than than introducing your family members to the savior here i'm saying one family member but what i've seen when pastor santos was speaking he said you should invite five so i said oh i'm being lenient here invite five and maybe out of the five one of them will come and you may be looking at yourself as an ordinary person like andrew but i just want to assure you this morning that the lord can use us in bringing others to know him and andrew is a very good example of a successful soul winner and this morning we are going to consider three important aspects about soul winning as demonstrated by andrew let's close our eyes for out of prayer precious father in heaven we are so grateful for the opportunity to be your mouthpiece we are opening why our mouth wide and we want you to feel us father please pour out your spirit in such a way that a mighty revival and an awakening to your power may break out among your children at central church who are listening to the message you've given me to share in jesus name amen what can we learn from andrew in john 1 35 john 1 35 talks about the john the baptist standing with two of his disciples and when he saw jesus in the crowd john made a bold declaration he said behold the lamb of god those words triggered something in the hearts of the two disciples and i want to believe they were moved to an irresistible impulse and they started following jesus and as they quietly followed they must have been pondering the words of john the baptist wondering is this the messiah i believe jesus knew he sensed that the disciples were following and he was very happy and so he turned and looked at them and lovingly asked them a very important and yet logical question the question is what do you seek what seeky i like the message bible it says what are you after what seek your brothers and sisters this is a question jesus continues to ask you and i today it is what do you think irene what are you after alex what do you seek are you following jesus out of either curiosity or by a real desire to know him i find that the response of the disciples very interesting they responded with another question rabbi where dwelleth thou where do you live in other words master we have so many questions there's no way we can deal with them but on the streets we recognize that there's more to life than fishing our priorities are no longer the same we want a closer walk with god we are seeking for answers and we think you have all the answers to these questions master we need to spend quality time with you away from the crowd we are not just casual followers we have rescheduled our appointments and we are revising our plans to make the time to be with you teacher where do you live of course jesus understood and so he said come and see instead of launching into a lecture on the street he invited them to an experiential learning program to be jesus's disciple they had to have some classroom instruction time with the rabbi and so he tells them come and see unlike the priests and the pharisees john and andrew did not come to jesus as critics to judge jesus's words they responded to the holy spirit's call in the preaching of john the baptist and they stayed with jesus up to 4 p.m my brothers and sisters we are all invited to come and see we do not have to push our way into the door or to have any purse to be able to get in there we don't have to pass any test to qualify to stay in god's presence that invitation comes to us as seekers who are longing for a closer walk with him when christ stands and say hey come and see there's no pressure there's no strings attached it is just a simple and open invitation to experience all that he has to offer come and see this is a big invitation my brother and when we accept it we accept the possibility that big things will be revealed and that our lives will never be the same again and this is what happened to andrew and john as they stayed with jesus until the 10th hour this was not a short session it must have been captivating for these followers observing all that jesus wanted to teach them while we may not know what jesus covered we don't know the syllables but jesus i can imagine must have sparked more than just a passing interest in these two followers there must have been some immediate connection that allowed them to talk for all those hours my friends there is power there is transforming power in spending unrest time with jesus immersing ourselves in his word and guess what if you spend time with jesus the world will know do you remember the disciples the simple men john peter as they were speaking with boldness and people were looked at them and said they the bible says they recognized that they were simple people they were not learned but then they recognized that they had been with jesus my brothers and sisters when you spend quality quality time and rush time with jesus people look at you and they'll know that you truly have been with jesus i want to thank the disciples when they finish having spent the time they came back with a renewed energy and a sense of purpose i can imagine a spring in this in their step the kind that only comes with newfound love and knowledge the disciples were eager to share what they had learned and what they did they reciprocated the learning process which they had gotten from which jesus had demonstrated so they started seeking but this time they were not seeking for jesus they were seeking for someone to share their testimony with the title of ours of our message today is the soul winners testimony andrew was transformed into an instant soul winner he sought to share the joy that filled his heart and so he goes in search of his brother simon inviting him to experience the revelation that has just changed his world brothers and sisters our first and foremost desire as christians should be to bring others to the savior you and i are called to be soul winners but what what is our task what is our task as all winners what is our testimony what is our triumph father please take over in this remaining few minutes what is the sole winners task in verse 31 we read that the first thing andrew did was to find his brother simon you know looking at those words each word in that sentence is very very important notice the word first andrew met jesus and then wanted his brother simon peter to he was simon by then to meet jesus and so the word first implies that he did not stop with simon but he first found simon and we cannot tell how many other people he invited but i believe andrew continued to be a soul winner and there's no doubt that he warned so many for christ brothers and sisters our first instinct should be a strong desire to share our experience with others this is how most people come to faith in jesus christ i want to believe that every simon has an andrew who introduces him to jesus elder crazy when we are born again the impulse to win someone else is born within us and we should nurture this impulse and see to it that soul winning becomes top priority the second thing we see in this verse is the word find we find the word find in the text we don't know how far andrew needed to go in search for peter the bible does not say but there was a great sense of urgency and he must have gone out of his way to look for his brother brothers and sisters we are called to take action and search for those around us who are lost in sin we can't wait for them here we'll never find them in our homes we have to go out just like the good shepherd does when he notices that one of the ship is lost he doesn't wait and say it will come no he goes out he leaves the 99 and so it's time for us to go out and find the lost one but then this we have to start at home it is very significant that the record excuse me i took some water so yes we need to go and find those who are lost and bring them to jesus the third word is andrew first found his brother you see he's a missionary apostle for him missionary work began where missionary work should begin and that is at home so having found the messiah he went to get his brother it is very significant that the record says his brother not someone else's brother you see it's often much easier to speak to someone else's brother but our concern should be first and foremost the members of our family circle so for those of us who are thinking of to invite someone for the upcoming series by bill pastor bill santos we need to look where andrew looked and that was in his family someone once shared and said that they um there are more empty seats in the they are less i mean there are more empty seats in the cars which come to the church and that's what is the concern we he was so concerned about the cars which are driven to church and they're empty and their people have not come up with anyone so usually we get so concerned with the empty spears in the church but we should be more concerned by the cars which are driven and you come to church when the back seat is empty so let's try to gather up our people and bring them when the time comes we find that many of us find it easy to give trucks at other people's houses instead of giving them to our own people it's easier for us to go out and preach in our communities instead of teaching our own children but the the message here is our first business should be at home we must have a call in as much as you may have been called to go out somewhere it's better you start at home and i experienced that in general my mother suffered a stroke and i had to go home i was supposed to stay there for just one month and i ended up staying for six months and as i was there i was feeling a little bit useless i said god what do i do what do i do here i think it was in the second month i was becoming restless and then a thought came to me why don't you start with your nephews and nieces in the home and so i started teaching them and the moment i finished with this with them a door opened for me and i had to go to zambia to preach so god was saying was saying no before you think of going in all these other countries why don't you start at home and no sooner had i started teaching them that a day then a door opened for me and so let our christianity begin at home let our witnessing begin at home i find that most developing countries usually export their best commodities usually the best bananas the best eggs they go to the market and the people at home eat the ones which are really small and you know not appealing but as christians we should not do that while we are called to shine for the world to see the glory of god let us put forward the sweetest fruit of spiritual life and testimony at home let's find our simons at home before we go out in the community the second aspect to consider is the sole winners testimony perhaps someone will be asking how did andrew persuade simon peter to come to christ what did andrew say to peter when he found him guess what all andrew did was to share his testimony he narrated his own personal experience in verse 41 and he said we have found the messiah just like us they had searched they they they were searching scriptures for clues that would point them to the coming of the messiah and so the moment he shared the mo those words conveyed hope uh to whoever had those the words and so andrew had had joan share the words when he went the declaration saying that this is the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world and having spent the time that time with jesus he was convinced that jesus was the messiah the long-expected savior who takes away the sins of the world and that was a changing life a life-changing decision and so i want us to look at the four things which are consisted into in andrew's testimony the first one was andrew's testimony was a spoken testimony you know we cannot keep silent about our experiences with jesus remember the man who was possessed with devils in luke 8 39 he wanted to stay and hang out with jesus but jesus sent him away saying return to your home and show great things god has done for you and guess what this guy did just that he went away and the bible says he published through the whole city the great things jesus had done unto him and i want us to take note of the word published you see most of us are more willing to talk about all other things but with our friends and families other than jesus but here we have to publish what jesus has done for you look for some excuse to inserting jesus in whatever conversation just say praise the lord this is what i've seen jesus do in my life so having spent the day with jesus andrew was now a new person and as he spoke to simon simon could already see the transformation in andrew he saw and had the excitement in his voice as he shared his testimony andrew must have been animated as he spoke big brother simon you got to hear this we have found the messiah he we hanged out with him today you've got to see him too andrew was so passionate in his appeal to peter i'm sure his eyes must have shown his face must have lit up at his words and his words my his voice must have been warm and moving and i can imagine simon looking at his brother wondering what happened to his usually quiet and self-controlled brother just like the woman of samaria when she found the messiah she left the port behind she started running come and see come and see i've found the man who just told me all the things that i'd have ever done could this be the messiah the excitement the excitement brothers and sisters as we share with our own relatives our faith and blessed hope we need to share it with excitement tell it as if it's the best thing that has ever happened to you the same way you would tell your brother or sister about your first love i strongly believe if all god's people had a testimony and gave it like andrew there would soon be a very wonderful movement of the spirit of god upon the heights and the hearts and lives of many who are dying in their sins my brothers you can never remain the same when you spend quality time with jesus being in jesus's presence results into changed lives changed attitude changed relationships changed hearts changed personality you name it change priorities you see many of us talk about the jesus we have not personally experienced we still call him the father of abraham the father of isaac no this should be the god of edith we should speak about the jesus we have experienced let's share our testimony because as we speak people don't see anything to get converted to they look at us telling them to agree to our little statements and they listen to our sheltered prayer and they say but you're not any different from any one of us what am i supposed to get converted to you don't have a testimony but i know god has done so much god has transformed us let's share what has god what god has done in our lives the second aspect about andrew's testimony was that it was a simple testimony there was nothing sophisticated or clever about it it was given in a simple heart-to-heart language even a child could have understood andrew's testimony we have found the messiah which is being interpreted the christ my brothers and sisters you do not have to be a powerful preacher just share what you've experienced of christ it is when we speak of the lord jesus as naturally as we talk of any earthly friend that god blesses and uses our testimony to the salvation of others the songwriter says if you cannot speak like angels if you cannot preach like paul you can tell the love of jesus you can say he died for you share as to how he has healed and sustained you talk about how he has delivered you burst about how he has fought and won butters for you get excited as you talk about how he has supplied your needs according to his riches in glory sister olivia have you found the lord as your savior have you proved him to be a wonderful friend has he answered your prayers can you tell others about those great things i know a few months ago where i was telling you about my trip to zambia and we we went with the discipleship team to call for revival and teach the principles of discipleship to teachers and administrators in zambia and i we thought everyone had about 30 people and in my group i was in lusaka i told the first day the second day i was teaching about making surrendering everything to god and i introduced ezekiel 36 26 and 27 where god promises to do a new thing to remove the heart of stone and replace it with the heart of of flesh where god promises to put his spirit within us and when i shared with the members i made a call at the end and said is there anyone who wants a heart surgery of course people came and i prayed and one of the people the members who came the following day as she was sharing her testimony said that as we were praying she was praying quietly that god may do something in her heart and at that moment something got out of her heart we didn't see it but she saw it she said it was in a form it was like vapor and it was it had shape and she could see it and it lingered a little bit in her presence and then it disappeared and so when she went home she continued this prayer she said god please do a new thing in my heart remove this heart of stone give me the heart of flesh give me a new spirit and it was at that moment that she was told to write a message to her ex-girlfriend i'll call her ex because they were best friends before but then after some time the friend betrayed her and she took her boyfriend and this boyfriend was literally her life because this girl had been abandoned as a young child and this was the boyfriend who was the first love of her life and he she was planning to have a life with her and now the best friend has come and taken her so what she did she decided to wage war she decided to make life hard for the best friend the best friend i'll call her jane so jane later on married the boyfriend and it so happened that wherever she would see them she would beat them up she was a small girl but she was so strong because she was possessed by an evil spirit and so she would fight with who are we with this girl she would go into their homes and she would trash their home she would find them in the supermarket it didn't matter where she was she would fight right away shelves would fall and she didn't care and they would go to the police and the police would look at them and see she's just a tiny girl what can she do and they always left the other one in prison and should be scored free and that continued for 10 years but then on that day the following day after that prayer she came and she requested that she had a testimony and she said i'm a very bad person she said no no no i was a very evil person before i came here she said yesterday when you prayed for me something happened something got out of me and i was compelled to write a message to the people who have had me and when i when she sent the message the friend looked at it and said this girl is up to something she told the mother and the mother called the police and the police went to her and warned her that we are watching you and guess what she says no i have really forgiven her and she says how come and then she said i have found jesus he has done a new thing and of course they didn't believe but she kept saying i found jesus until she said if you don't believe me why don't you come to kenneth cowanda that's the school where we were at don't come to kenneth calendar and meet the people who have introduced me to jesus you will meet jesus too and of course they didn't believe the boy came the husband now said went to her and said tell me faith are you having cancer are you dying in three weeks because they had never dreamt in their lives that faith had it in her could ever forgive them but this is the power of spending time with jesus he really touched this woman and life was not the same she was able to forgive them and so they couldn't believe so she said come and guess what on the third day we see the ex friend girlfriend coming along and she's so timid she's so scared she's wondering what is this girl going to do and sure enough she came and found me on that day i was talking about the holy spirit and she was so impressed but still she was a little bit she wasn't so committed and then she left but she continued coming until the end of the sessions but what i find interesting that after we had left zambia this girl was a very different girl she kept she was a teacher she became a different teacher she would hold devotions with with her students and she stopped beating them and one day she invited this friend to come to her home and when the daughters see so so saw the friend she went and hid under the bed because she was expecting a fight because wherever there was a confrontation between the daughter i mean the mother and this friend there would always be a fight that's what the daughter had been used to saying but now she is hiding waiting for the fight and it's so quiet after some time she came quietly and she found the two friends now laughing they were taking tea and the daughter asked are you not going to fight this is what the girl had been used to but i want you to look at the power the transforming power of spending time with jesus this woman was never and she gave me permission to share her testimony so sadly it was a sure testimony andrew intelligently explained to peter what it was he had found he did not say he had found someone who had impressed him but he and he wasn't so sure who he was no he was so exact he said i found the messiah that is christ we need to be clear in our knowledge and experience of the gospel and then we'll tell the good news to those whose souls we seek to win for jesus andrew had power over peter because of his undecided conviction he presented the good news in an unhonest manner he also knew the scriptures and he was therefore able to draw upon the knowledge of the word of god we have found the messiah which is being interpreted the christ he did not say i hope i've found you i have found christ but but i have found him his spark with certainty and that's what we should do as we share our testimony this is our testimony let's share it with certainty with conviction so that people look at us and they really see that you have jesus in you and then they would want to follow you know the scripture i meant to look for it and i didn't get a chance it says i think it's in ezekiel which says that ten men will hold on to your scout and they'll be following you wherever you go they'll be saying we have heard that there's a god in israel we want to come with you let people hear your testimony and come with you you won't have to say much just share what jesus had done for you andrew was andrew had power uh because he shared his own testimony my sisters in order to convince other people we need to get the full assurance of our own salvation and we need to be positive about our own experiences because we see andrew he was really certain and this is what the world is waiting for because in this world there's so much uncertainty you should it's like they they don't know what to believe anymore and so if you come here and you're also not confident in what you're saying you won't convince anyone but we have the word of god so if we spend so much time in the world it will become part of us we'll be able to to quote verses like the one in in job i love that one which say for i know that my redeemer leaveth and he shall stand at the letter day upon the earth second timothy 1 12 for i know whom i believe and i'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which i have committed to him against that day my brothers and sisters when we spend time in jesus presence praying and studying his word we will surely have a testimony and number four it was a sanctified testimony andrew used what was simon or what was on simon's mind as a point of contact for simon because simon like every jew was looking for a messiah it was a great event and peter must have jumped at the news just as we are now we are all anticipating the coming of jesus and this should be the key of the gospel message it is all about jesus when you are giving your testimony don't focus on you focus on what jesus has done there is great regress to great wisdom is needed in soul winning and the lord promises to give us that wisdom we need to find out what our contacts are interested in and make that the point of departure in seeking to win them for the savior if they enjoy soccer go for a soccer ball with tea whatever game with them do whatever just like faith did she knew that these friends may interest maybe one forgiveness and so that was the starting point and we see that when andrew had given his testimony to peter his work was not finished there was still one more thing he needed to do and we find it in verse 42. andrew did not just tell simon about jesus he brought him to jesus he did not tell him to come to christ he would have directed him that oh go in such and such a place that's where i met him can you go and look for him no he led him to the lord and made the introduction it is the fact that the majority of those who come to the lord and are truly converted are brought in by someone and reformed a human link between the savior and his lost brother was it was the effort of course was it worth giving his testimony of course it was i know there were times when simon peter may have embarrassed andrew but most times peter andrew was very proud of his brother for example in matthew 16 verse 13 to 19 when he responded after the question jesus asked what do you say i am and peter responded you are the messiah the son of the living god the very words peter had used what about at pentecost when he preached and three thousand people got converted what about the time when he said look at me silver and gold have we not but what we have we give you in the name of jesus of nazareth stand up and walk i can imagine when peter under god heard of that he must have been so proud he might have said i thank god for the day wherever i remember that day when i reached out to you and you followed and we find jesus and so my brothers and sisters you may feel deficient and yet you may be the means of bringing a great man or woman to christ a man or woman like peter who at the first cast of the gospel nate when christ had made him a saw fisherman called three thousand souls at just a single hall if we are to reach ed mountain for christ we need to pray that we may be like andrew we need to be prepared for the lord to use us wherever we are it may be at home it may be at our workplace we need to be willing to be just a link in the chain of god's purpose it is real that god uses one instrument in the salvation of a soul in most cases he uses many instruments we just need to be willing to do our share either prayer or conversation or gentle persuasion god will tell you what to do but when we set out to win anyone we never know what the lord will make of that one we may be winning a pastor mark finley we may be winning a dark bachelor we may be winning the pastor who is coming what's his name again bill bill santos so by what matter what matters most is that we should be trying to win one more so for whom the savior died let us think of our close family members first we need to remember that we are just an instrument in his hand and that we cannot win a soul but that he can do the work of winning others through us this is great work and it is his work remember what he they mentioned it here on the video he left heaven and went to calvary to win souls so he was the first soul winner and he's saying hey go out and make disciples will you just remain seated in your comfort zones there are so many simons all around who are waiting to be found and warn to the lord will you be a true andrew and seek to win them for jesus my prayer is that each one of us may bring someone with us during the upcoming evangelistic campaign may god bless you [Music] let us stand as we sing our closing song number 361 park is a shepherd's voice i hear 361. [Music] oh far from the shepherds falls away break them in and bring them in bring them in the fields of sin bring them in bring them in bring the water through jesus [Music] who go and help the shepherds kind [Music] from bring them in bring them in bring them in from the fields of sin bring them in bring them in bring the wonderous to jesus out in the desert hear their cry out on the mountain [Music] bring them in bring them in bring them in from the fills of sea bring them in bring them in rain [Music] amen close our eyes for out of prayer father in heaven we want to thank you so much for speaking to us this afternoon we are so tired of being touched and not changed today we want a transformation and so even as we leave this place we are not leaving your presence we pray that your presence may go with us and may we find rest further even as we go in our homes may you put in our minds the people may you prepare the way for the people you want us to speak to we realize this is not our work it is your work and so father we commit every part member of our family members who don't know you we commit them to you that your holy spirit may start doing the work so that by the time we go out to speak to them they would already have surrendered they will be saying this is what i've been waiting for and even as we part now we plead that the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit may be with each one of us here now and forevermore in jesus name amen thank you elder edith for bringing that message to us and i'd like to thank each one of you for joining us the sabbath whether here in person or online thank you enjoy the rest of your sabbath and we hope to see you again next sabbath

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Length: 84min 59sec (5099 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021