Truth Matters - Practice the Habits of a Spirit-Filled Church - Peter Tanchi

i was raised up in a christian home but i was stubborn hard-headed naughty and very disobedient child in high school i got into drinking womanizing gambling and other things that does not please the lord despite my sinful ways the lord was gracious to me one time i had facial paralysis after a taekwondo sparring the only doctor who could administer the surgery said that the chance of success is one in a million i pleaded before the lord and asked him to forgive me i promise to obey obey him and surrender my life to him miraculously the operation was a success since then the lord blessed me with many things like being able to graduate and have a good career in 1997 i met my girlfriend oni i fell in love with her pursued her and asked her to leave in with me she resigned from her job and we put up trading business which did very well we had money we parted here and there drinking and smoking from sunset to sunrise we had sex outside marriage i had completely forgotten and broken my promise my commitment to the lord my sister invited us to attend ccf in 2003 although we consist consistently attended we continued living an immoral life filled with lust and worldliness one sunday we saw an announcement for a men and women's encounter which we decided to attend during that retreat god's word convicted our hearts and repented of our sins and accepted jesus christ as our lord and savior after the retreat we joined discipleship that was very intentional in mentoring us and helping us mature in our faith and walk in christ likeness they listened in our struggles and prayed for us we were like a family around this time our business started to suffer our seven stores closed one by one i was terminated for my job it was the lowest point of my life and i wanted to walk away from god my disciplers encouraged me to pray and read god's word and the lord spoke to me through matthew 6 20 33 but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you it was clear what what god wanted my girlfriend and i were living in together in disobedience in his design for marriage and god wanted us to make things right the lord used my disciples brother leia and sheila to help me propose to oni through this a pre-marital seminar we learned god's design for marriage and raising family we wanted to get married but did not have money for a wedding but god miraculously provided what we needed to our church family our disciplers mentors and small group more than that god even gave me a job to provide for our needs and eventually pay our debts since then we prayed for god to use us so that we could also be a blessing to other couples just as our disciplers and small group we are were a blessing to us following the example of our disciples we reached out to help our more couples to follow his design for their lives after after pre-marital counselling program many couples expressed their desire to be married at the same time so in 2009 we had the first large group wedding ministry which now called ccf mass wedding the mission is not just the wedding but also to bring jesus into the center of all the couples that participate by god's grace the support and sponsorships for the mass wedding come from those who had actually participated in the past looking back at this is looking back all this started when a small group leader mentored us to make sure that we work in christ's likeness to follow god's mission in our lives and be a blessing to others ccf mass wedding has helped create many christ-centered married couples the groups which the leaders are those who participated in the mass wedding not only that csf maswedi is rapidly expanding the kingdom of god in the satellite churches i am vanilla vlada once a working vessel but now made whole and useful through the saving power of christ all glory and honor belong to one to king jesus christ praise god we've been discussing the importance of truth so last sunday we discussed the first sermon ever preached and what was that sermon ever preached acts chapter 2 it was preached by the apostle peter and why is that message so important so that you will know what is the most important thing people need to hear in order to be saved in order to go to heaven what must they need to hear let's read this together peter said everybody this jesus god raised up again to which we are all witnesses in other words the resurrection of christ is the foundation of why you believe what you believe if you don't believe in the resurrection forget christianity christianity rises or fall depending on the jesus rise again from the dead is it true is the bible true resurrection proves it therefore let all the house of israel know for certain that god made him both lord and christ so jesus is not just a man he is lord he is christ the messiah this jesus whom you crucified in other words god did not want the people to know they play no part in the crucifixion of jesus in a sense you and i have crucified jesus also why because jesus died on the cross because of your sins and my sins once you understand the love of jesus the love of god it will do something to you what will it do it will ask you a simple question if god loves you so much that he died for you what are you going to do with your life so the bible tells us the people when they heard this they were pierced to their heart and said to peter brethren what shall we do last sunday i praised god there were hundreds of you literally hundreds first service second service hundreds who came forward to pray in fact i heard the prayer meeting did not end even up up to three o'clock already you know why they have to start singing because many of you were touched by the lord you see when god does something he speaks to you and you know what you guys did this is what you did everybody read how do you become a christian ready read how do you become a christian repent each of you be baptized in the name of jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the holy spirit we discuss this you need to repent you cannot have salvation without repentance how can you come to jesus without repenting repentance means a change of mind you were once upon a time your own boss and now you realize i am no longer a boss jesus is my boss i now follow him and that's why the bible says you got to repent and many of you repented you know the stories i heard make me cry i heard of couples confessing the adultery singles premarital sex all kinds of things that are painful to the heart of god but you guys repented problem is this after you repent what do you do how do you sustain your christian life that's the message today what did the first church do to sustain the people guess what happened everybody saw them those who received his word were baptized baptism is the proof that you have come to jesus baptism is the proof of repentance that you die to your old life and you come out a new person so baptism does not save you but it is the evidence and that's why in the new testament it is always believed baptized it is never baptized and someday when you grow up you believe you never see that in the bible baptism follows after repentance after you come to know jesus and then the bible tells us that day they were added notice added how many three thousand i wanted to imagine i think the ground floor sits around maybe three four thousand i wanted to imagine in one day in the first sermon all of these people different background mostly jewish background with their own religion you now come to jesus you now repent now what are we going to do how do you follow them up have you thought about it so would you like to know what the first church did because on that day the church was born it is very important you understand so you will know how to choose a good church how do you choose a spirit-filled church why is church important now praise god many of you have chosen ccs but if people ask you why are you choosing ccf you better know the answer would you like to know why better find out the characteristics of a spirit-filled church what do they do what are we supposed to do to understand the importance of following people up you need to understand the command of jesus to the early apostles this is his command everybody if you don't mind read together ready go go therefore and all right what is the main verb of matthew chapter 28 the main command make disciples how do you make disciples baptize them how do you make disciples teach them what do you teach them teach them to observe observe what all that i commanded you and then he gives you a promise i'm with you always the hardest part if you ask me the hardest challenge of discipling people is to teach them to everybody read to observe all you see many christians think they're christians why do i put a question mark because a real father of jesus will want to obey all if you don't want to obey all you just pick and choose what to obey then you are the lord of your life it's called religion religion is the art of manipulating whoever is your god to do what you want your god to do for you that's religion christianity is different you do not manipulate god you cannot manipulate him you surrender to him you obey all of his commandments and that my friend was my struggle but i decided one day jesus will be my master and my lord have you made jesus your lord if you have my job is to teach you to disciple you how to everybody one more time how to teaching them to observe all that i commanded you so what did jesus command us number one after you come to him he wants you to do certain things number one be baptized if you are not in baptize you sign up watch out for announcement we will give you information next you need to grow spiritually i'm going to share with you what they did in the meantime what is the mission of ccf what's our mission where are we together do you know the purpose of ccf we exist for one primary reason everybody read to honor god and make christ committed followers who will make christ committed followers that's it we want to honor god in your business at home in your school wherever you are you honor god with your life with your decisions every time i'm supposed to make a decision i ask myself will my action honor god or dishonor him i'm not perfect but that's my direction in life i honor him and how do i honor god make christ committed followers and that's all we do here all the pastors all the leaders we spend our time helping a few people to commit to follow jesus are we communicating make disciples who is a disciple a committed follower that's all you must learn you must understand when i say that's all i don't mean forget the others but that's the primary purpose so let me ask you a question who are you discipling this year who is discipling you you need both i am part of a group i am accountable to a group and there are people under me who are accountable to me that's the system so what did they do would you like to know how they discipled 3 000 people yes or no you know many people complain they complain i don't like big churches it is so impersonal i want to be part of a small church excuse me the first preaching of peter how many came to jesus three thousand that's a mega church so what did they do this is what they did my friend they were number one continually devoting in other words look at me now you need to train the people to now transfer their focus and their attention before it's all money before it's all about popularity before it's all about me once i come to jesus something happens the holy spirit will now change my desire and my priorities so for this young people young believers they needed to do the following number one continually devoting themselves to apostles teaching it's called bible study to fellowship it's called small group breaking of bread the breaking of bread worship and prayer these are certain spiritual disciplines in the book of acts chapter 2 from verse verse 42 down i'm going to give you seven practices seven practices what are they as you read the rest of the verses these are the seven habits that you must learn you must practice number one study the scriptures number two fellowship with small group number three worship number four prayer number five generosity number six joy and lastly witnessing you find the early church a good church a spirit-filled church is composed of spirit-filled people and what do they do that's what they do in my case every day i try to study the bible i meet in small groups i worship god privately at home i worship god together i pray daily generosity i was not generous i'm still learning to be generous joyfulness can you turn to your neighbor tell your neighbor smile please be joyful that's what you need to learn and witnessing why are we making the title habits of a spirit-filled church in fact my title is practice the habits let me tell you why how many of you have made new year's resolution raise your hand and most of you probably it's about losing weight am i correct it's about being healthy yes or no no listen to me just because you make a goal does not mean you'll be successful because most people have goals but they don't know how to accomplish the goal so if you want to lose weight there are certain habits you must develop no sugar no soft drink no cakes huh exercise sleeping these are principles of being healthy the problem is this you think by giving yourself excuses because you are discouraged okay some of you after doing all of this for two weeks you go to the weighing scale you mean i only lost two pounds i know you're gonna excuse me you have been gaining weight for 10 years and suddenly you want to lose all of those in two weeks it doesn't happen like that you need to understand never underestimate the power of doing something consistently i call it habits you must develop good habits because by practicing good habits consistently over a period of time you will see amazing results on the contrary if you begin to compromise you will think it's okay nothing happens you know if i stop reading the bible oh it's okay if i stop attending worship service oh it seems to be okay but over a period of time all of those compromises will become disaster on the contrary if you begin to practice prayer reading the scripture consistently after 10 years you look back in your life wow i am no longer the same person but are you practicing good habits i want to focus on the importance of consistency in let's start with the first one what is the first one practice the habits of spirit filled church okay what are the habits of a spirit filled church well first of all let me explain to you what is a church ecclesia the word church comes from the greek word ecclesia repeat ecclesia so when you see the word exit that's from the word ecclesia exit it's called up so i want to give you an example i want to ask all of those who were born after 1980 all the millennials all the gen c stand up you were born after 1980. now everybody look around you are we a young church yes or no young church hallelujah praise god no listen to me young church [Applause] i will not recruit you 1980 and up you must go outside but just example don't go outside now i will ask you to go out there and join the army because there's a war on going now you need to join the army what i have just done is this when i asked you to stand up you stood up you responded to the call so you are now called eclecia you are a particular gold people the bible tells us one day you heard about jesus and you repented and when you repented of your sins and you came to jesus the bible says that day you become part of the ecle cia you are part of the called out people so a church is not a building a church is about people called out people so on sunday the church gathers in ccf center comprende on monday tuesday wednesdays the church gathers in houses but on sunday most of us gather together in particular ccf centers because a church is about people called out people so can i encourage you you are the church tell your neighbor you are the church excuse me sit down tell your neighbor now everybody even the old people you are part of the church okay you are the church why is this important a spirit filled church is made up of spirit filled believers let me repeat if you want the church to be healthy if you want ccf to be healthy then ccf has to be composed of healthy believers healthy disciples and who are the healthy disciples you must practice at least the following number one study the bible number two coinonia be part of a small group number three you must be worship after worship what's next prayer after prayer generosity after generosity joyfulness and be a witness so let's start with discipline number one they were continually devoting they were practicing certain spirit filled habits listen to me it's one thing to repent how do you sustain your spiritual life i want to teach you no secrets no shortcuts if you want to stay spiritually healthy and you want to grow you follow these guidelines number one what do they do continually devoting themselves to the what is the apostles teaching the apostles teaching is teaching the scriptures old testament plus the teachings of jesus how we should behave that's called the apostles teaching they used the old testament and they wrote down the teachings of jesus that's why you have the new testament if you want to grow no excuse no shortcuts you got to know the scriptures now listen to me today young people would like to make decisions on their own what is right and what is wrong for many young people today including adults the idea is this if it feels good i'm gonna do it my friend that's not the way you got to study the bible the bible will determine for us what is right what is wrong that's why you need to study the bible to be healthy many of you know this gentleman do you know his name manny pacquiao on the national bible day which was a few weeks ago he invited me to speak and he gave his testimony this was his testimony he said once upon a time i was a womanizer i was a gambler and his wife was beside us and he said one day the lord touched my life when the lord touched my life i began to have this desire manipula had read the bible he memorized scriptures and he said the word of god will transform our lives and i attest to that truth because it was through the bible that he learned about jesus and he learned about how to be an honest politician how to be an honest fighter praise god for people like him amen but what made him grow scripture so the bible tells us you must develop a desire to study the bible like newborn babies long for the pure milk of the world so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation notice if some of you have no desire you have no hunger for the word of god is it possible listen to me now is it possible for a newborn baby to have no hunger for milk is it possible only two possibilities one the baby is dead there's no life perhaps some of you have no desire no hunger for god's word you have no appetite for god why you don't have the holy spirit you see christianity is god coming into your heart into your life jesus and he will give you a hunger manny pacquiao was laughing when my friend invited him to bible study before he was joking them he was making fun of them but when he came to jesus he asked who can teach me bible and then my friend told him i know somebody i want it every day my goodness this guy wants bible study every day why something happen there's an appetite another possible reason if a baby does not hunger it's because the baby is sick if the baby has fever usually they don't have appetite no i don't know about you whether you have the life of christ in you or you become spiritually sick i don't know i don't judge you first habit what's the first habit study the scripture share it with me study scriptures look at the early church paul tells his disciple until i come give attention to the public reading of scripture in big group study the bible exhortation and teaching next habit continually devoting themselves to fellowship now what is fellowship fellowship is an amazing word coinonia the word coinonia has the idea of the ideal relationship it is giving it is helping each other it's like a picture of heaven koi no nia now fellowship cannot happen unless you are in a small group what do i mean look at what the bible says in acts chapter 2 what did they do these 3 000 people guess what they did day by day continuing with one mind in the temple big group they gather together and i can just imagine peter john preaching teaching big group and breaking bread from house to house taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity in small group ccf did not invent the small group we just copied the bible years ago when we started ccf we prayed i prayed lord we want to have a new testament church that is very biblical i want to copy other church models and the lord impressed upon your heart you need to have small groups to care for each other that came from the bible it is not our genius we'll just learn that from the bible they met they met in the temple the church gathered but on weekdays on other days what did they do the early church gathered daily in the temple and in the house small group now there are commandments in the bible you can never obey until you are part of a small group that's why to me small group is mandatory let me give example you have at least 47 commandments of one another one another example encourage one another example love one another example serve one another example be devoted to one another example admonish one another correct one another example if anyone is caught in any trespasses any sin you who are spiritual restore such one let me ask you how can you do this alone tell me how can you do it alone encourage one another oh i encourage myself i'm me myself no no no unless you are part of a small group you cannot obey many commandments and because you are not obeying the commandments of god you are not living in harmony with god's plan you are no longer spirit filled to be spirit filled it's a gift of god he feels you but once you stop obeying him you're no longer spiritual and that's why you lose the joy you have no power so this is god's provision example the full text everybody i want to show you an example of a verse complete verse ready go let us consider you need to think let us think let us consider how to stimulate the word stimulate means what how do you provoke how do you force how do you do something with one another to do two things number one to love and good deeds so my job if i'm in a small group listen to me the antidote for selfishness when i join a group i think how can i bless these people how can i encourage them how can i provoke them to love and to good deeds the antidote for selfishness is the invention of the lord ecclesia the church the big group and the small group if you are not part of a small group how are you going to do the following continue breathing please read not forsaking our own assembly together as the habit of some but encouraging one another how do you encourage one another excuse me how can you encourage one another if you are not part of a small group let me repeat do not underestimate the power of consistency you do something right daily it's going to transform you if you do something wrong daily is going to affect you for example for most christians they neglect bible study one day oh it's okay there's no effect they stop going to the small group oh seems to be okay ah pretty soon you'll be shocked what has happened to your spiritual life when i see people i said what happened to you you used to attend bible study it's one little compromise to the next one i remember the story of a friend of mine stop attending our gathering weekly gathering slowly but surely remember this quotation about sin compromises sin will take you further than you want it will let you stay longer than you expect it will cost you more than you think that's the problem of sin a little compromise here stop attending a small group stop attending worship service and pretty soon the impact in your life is so dramatic you have no idea what has happened so gentlemen i don't know about you but god has given us his people we need one another you need to be part of a small group may i ask all of you who are small group leaders and part of a small group please stand up right now you are joining a small group or you're a small group leader you are part of a small group stand up stand up now what's your assignment those of you who are standing up you are part of a small group praise god but look around you look at some people they are seated down what must you do with these people who are sitting down i will tell you what you must do you must smile and say how are you every week listen to me next you say may i know your name and then you tell them your name and then you ask them would you like to join a small group now if you think they don't fit your small group because you're of your age group of whatever it is you feel hindi bad guy you say i cannot help you join a group that is suited for you comprende so that's your assignment now let me tell you this assignment is so crucial because every sunday i know where you sit okay more or less i know like my friend somewhere in this corner you sit there now what you need to do now from now on you look around you every time you see a new face every time you see a new face what is your job you welcome them so i'm already giving you permission you own that place okay that's already your place but but there are many people around you oh example look look at this road there's a lot of people there that are just sitting down so what you will do now is this listen to me your job every time you see new faces provided new the old faces that are already with you don't even bother them anymore okay you you are always together so long but the new one what will you say hello my name is so so what is your name it's mine it's mine and what else do you do how can i pray for you it will be amazing at the end of the service if you guys just say prayer meetings right wherever you are how can i pray for you and then you ask them the next question are you part of a small group would you like to join one if they say no i don't like to join one what do you say no problem but i hope you will consider do you understand you can't force people to join they'll say what's wrong with you don't say that everybody sit down sit down so what's your assignment those of you who are not part of a small group may i humbly ask you to consider it is never god's design for you to be a lone ranger it is never got designed for you to be alone you need a family i like to show you a video of a girl who got involved with small group and how her life was dramatically changed she is blind how can a blind girl be part of a small group in ccf how can that be do you want to watch her video let's watch her video in my 30 years of existence here in this world i've been through so much pain i've suffered setbacks and terrible losses i've tasted many times of bitter moments but most of which produced the best in me my heart was in tears each time i remember and as pain and sadness echo through but i know that the lord has a wonderful purpose and plan for my life i was born prematurely at six and a half months weighing only 2.8 pounds i am a totally blind my parents was too young then when i was born they were only 17 years old they left me under the care of my maternal grandparents and they already have their own family i had a best friend when i was in elementary and i kept on asking myself why does she have loving parents while i don't why did my parents leave me and each has their own family was just because i'm blind i never chose to be born this way in this world but because of that recurring memories in my young heart and mind i even attempted to end my life but because the lord have different ways and plans for me i'm just here in front of you testifying his goodness and testifying his unfailing love and amazing grace when i reached college i took up bachelor of science in psychology at the trinity university of asia and after i finished my four-year course in the university i am now working as a rehabilitation staff of resources for the blind incorporated my office mates once invited me to night to shine 2016 through night to shine i will just experience what it feels like to have a dinner someone will accompany me but i never expected that it will pave the way for me to have an extended family here in manila it's not easy for me to be far from home though my family is not perfect so my buddy told me that being bodies does not end in every night to shine it just keeps going so indeed night to shine was god's instrument for me to have a d group and an extended family here wherein i can share my experiences and wherein i can hear their testimonies as well and really they're a blessing to me a sister a friend and i'm so thankful for for the opportunity to be in the group i know that there are still lots of challenges along my way but i'm not afraid and i will never be afraid because i know that god will never leave me nor forsake me in jeremiah 29 11 that says for i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope in the future i bring back to the lord all the highest praise honor and glory praise god i heard her testimony last night i was here in the saturday night service i was just thinking there was this blind girl without a spiritual family she will never meet the lord and now look at her she memorizes the bible she has no eyes but she is able to read the bible something happened what about you do you have the lord and that's why if you don't have the holy spirit you will not hunger for the things of god all of us have passion you are devoted to something some of you are devoted to your career nothing wrong you are devoted to your family but are you really devoted to the lord you will not be devoted to the lord if you have not met the lord you see the early believers 3 000 of them in one day they met the lord they got baptized and they began studying the bible and they began meeting every day house to house in small groups friends you got to practice certain habits only the holy spirit can help you they were continually devoting themselves not just to the apostles teaching not just the fellowship but to the breaking of bread and the prayer notice it's worship da breaking of bread what is the breaking of bread when you see the article da breaking of bread it is not just eating it is in particular the lord's supper now do you remember the lord's supper when jesus instituted this practice when he broke the bread and said this is my body which is for you do this in the remembrance of me it's worship is all about jesus in the same way he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes again you see in ccf we do this once a month in big groups in small groups it's up to you for some people they do it once a month for some small groups they forget to do it it doesn't matter if you want to do it every week no problem but the bible tells us it's worship so what did they do this is what they did notice they met and they converted their house to a house of worship they ate they made from house to house notice what they did from house to house they what what did they do they continued the breaking of the bread and to prayer so what i'm learning is this if christ becomes central in your life you need to practice certain discipline first scripture study the bible to know about jesus and then you are part of a small group for encouragement because you need help you are never strong enough to be alone some of you who are not part of a small group you may think they don't need you or you may think you don't need them but can i tell you something you may not need others but others need you so sometimes if you ask me the antidote for selfishness the antidote for just living for yourself is to join a small group in a small group i get to hear the problems of others i get to pray for them i get to help them and that's why in ccf we like all of you to be part of a small group to serve to love to care to give in a small group to help people prayer how can i pray for you if i do not know your problem group will help you and that's why we believe in prayer look at what happened the early church while peter was kept in the prison prayer for him was being made fervently by the church of god by the ecclesia of god ecclesia church assembly it's all people but they were praying fervently and because they prayed fervently you will notice characteristics of spirit filled church the presence of god is real everyone kept fell in a sense of oh and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles question do we still have signs and wonders today what's the purpose of signs and wonders to manifest the presence of god for example in the early church the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance by signs and wonders and miracles you have to understand the first apostles needed authentication how do we know you were sent forth by god to tell us about jesus how do we know you need signs and wonders to prove that they were apostles today my question to you is this are there still signs and wonders what's your answer rather of course however you cannot command signs and wonders at your will it depends on god it depends on the situation i hear a lot of things that's happening in ccf for example during our last prayer and fasting there was a couple who came to my son they asked for prayer and my son said what's the problem our child is in the hospital he needed an operation there is a hole in his lungs okay so can you pray so the parents they prayed a few days later they got a text my sanger text back the doctor could not believe it because the hole is gone and they x-rayed my child three times three times so my son said your son will die of x-ray radiation and not whatever it is you know why for a doctor it's impossible but can i tell you something with men it can be impossible but with god nothing is impossible amen so you need you need to have a prayer group people don't realize i pray a group i have prayer partners before coming here i texted them with a member who was sick we visit in other words guys if you are not part of a small group you are forfeiting the design of god god never intended you to be alone and yet today i have to humbly appeal to the millennials and to young people today we are so fan of being independent you don't like to be accountable to anybody that's not god's design god wants you to be accountable to a group of brothers and sisters why because i have blind spots there are certain things in my life i cannot see i need your prayer i need your love understand my daughter is a recipient of your love through a small group you want to hear her testimony she gave it this morning but because of the baby she requested if we use the video are you ready to hear her testimony about small group let's hear her testimony you know last december and i think my husband shared this as well as my dad that i'd given birth to our sixth child and everything was normal at the beginning and easy but a few days after i gave birth i experienced excruciating pain and i didn't know it was wrong about a month later uh christmas eve we found out i had a 13 cm cyst in my uterus and it had to be removed immediately so i was operated on december 26 and it was supposed to be an easy surgery maybe two to three hours but then it became very complicated it extended to eight hours and and they had to remove my my ovaries my uterus my cervix my appendix and part of my intestines had to be cut removed and reconnected and then they had to take out the cysts which had a 1.7 liters of plus and blood and so you know it's really god's grace that i survived that surgery but afterwards i really struggled in my faith i knew that i of course i knew that god is good that he loves me but a part of me was like did it have to be like this you know and of course i knew he still had a plan for me um but i did struggle i i struggled to understand how to define and understand god's love i praise god that my husband was there for me was very supportive of course i really read god's word for encouragement but it's very interesting because when i went through surgery my entire family was in the u.s we were all supposed to go on this vacation together and god so designed it that they were away and normally they would be my my spiritual support uh apart from edric and so it was interesting that they were gone i think god really intended it because what happened was he used our d group to really demonstrate to us that he was present and that he really loved us one of the things that i really struggled with as as a mom was i really wanted to breastfeed my baby but the doctor said you will not be able to breastfeed her for several weeks because of the surgery all the antibiotics you are on and so i was like lord i'm a breastfeeding advocate how do i make sure that my baby gets breast milk and my d group one of them was still breastfeeding and she said i will give you milk i will donate my milk and other people who didn't who were not breastfeeding they found suppliers for me so my baby became really fat she looks like a shop out you know god is amazing and normally my milk is like skim milk but this milk that was donated like full cream so my baby became really healthy it really is amazing and then i remember the night that we were discharged it was it was new year's eve and we were thinking how are we going to bring all our stuff home from the hospital because our driver was not available and our one of our d group they came and they said you know we will bring your things home for you so that when you check out it'll be very easy so it was just little things like this and a nut and then that same night we were gonna go home and there was nobody to cook in the house and i was like lord i can't i can't cook in the state i'm in i'm too weak and and not well and one of um the d group members of my mom's d group she sent over a feast like all this chinese food for us to eat so we got home it was our first meal together as a family since i had been hospitalized and there was so much food and it was just the timing of it god used that d group member to show us that he was really thinking about us and then so many women offered to give me la poulapo soup if my dad had been here he would have eaten it but just they said you know to help you heal it was so special and then some of them they came over to my house and they said we're going to cook we're going to cook for you so that we can store all this food that you'll have in your freezer so that every time you need to eat you can just you know defrost it because i was having digestive problems so everything i ate it would just come out and i was really losing a lot of weight so they helped me by just coming over to cook for me and then some people from my dad's d group also they came over to visit us in the hospital and just to be with us to pray with us and and one of them from his extended d group family gave us a significant amount of money and it was such a surprise and we were so embarrassed to accept it but it was really perfect timing also because the expenses did pile up i had so many doctors that we had to pay for so these were some of the ways that god showed us through the degree family that he was mindful of us and when i was struggling with lord you know i know you love me but it hurts it hurts to know that as a father you allowed this to happen but he showed us you know i'm still thinking of you and through my other children the d group family you're going to experience my love and edrick and i i was sharing this with my family i said you know we've always been on the more on the ministering side of things where we're the ones giving to people and serving people i think this is one of the first times in a very long time that i really felt um like what it really meant to be part of a greater spiritual family in christ and to have a spiritual family that looks out for you and cares for you and that's really god's design for all of us that we would be connected to a small group where we experience what it means to be part of his family because that's how we can really love each other by god's grace i'm going on uh my seventh week already post-operation the doctor has allowed me to be out so praise god i can i'm much stronger now and i can breastfeed my baby also so he continues to heal me every day and i want to thank you all for many of you were praying for our family and i really felt god's love also through those prayers so i praise god and i pray that we all experience what it means to be part of god's family by also being connected to a smaller group where we can grow in our love for god and for one another to god be the glory praise god do you now see the genius of god how he designed the church big group a healthy church will have to keep growing there's no such thing as we don't want to grow anymore if you are a healthy church a spirited field church you attract people you will grow but as you grow bigger you need to grow smaller and that's why we have small groups so in behalf of our family i really want to thank you because we were up our whole family were out of this country and i was thinking who will take care of my daughter and i praise god because we have you guys the small group the family you rally together can you imagine christmas eve christmas day where will you find mother's milk in the grocery oh i want to buy milk for the baby i don't cost them milk bran mommy's milk where would you find that only in god's family is god amazing so please understand god's design that's where the word generosity comes from because look at what the bible tells us all those who have believed not this all those who would believe that's the church ecclesia all those what believed were together they gathered together they love each other and all things in common they began selling their property possessions or sharing them with all as anyone might have need now you may think this is communism no no no the selling and giving is voluntary it is never by force example two chapters later in acts chapter 5 yup ananea ananias said peter said why has satan filled your heart to lie to the holy spirit and to keep back some of the prize of the land you see in the early church people gave voluntarily ananias pretended to be generous he sold but he pretended and the bible tells us the sin is not because he did not sell or what this is the sin well it remained unsold did it not remain your own you own the property you you don't have to sell it and after it was sold was it not under your control you don't have to donate understand like in ccf look our offering boxes are there we don't even pass it around because we believe in generosity if god has touched your heart you realize everything belongs to him and you guys will give on your own it is never compared the church never compelled people to give it's out of their free will and then why is it and then peter said why is it that you conceived this deed in your heart you have not lied to man but to god and when he heard these words ananias fell down and breathed his lust and great fear came over all who heard of it you see god disciplined the early church for lying i wonder what will happen if god will do that today in ccf how many will be around alive why are you laughing you know why praise god is he merciful to us yes how many of you lied this week don't raise your hand you know giving is voluntarily i testified according to their ability and beyond their ability they gave me generosity is the work of god's spirit god's grace you cannot force people to be generous the bible tells us each one must do as he has purpose in his heart not grudgingly or under compulsion god loves let's that you forgive so one of the reasons why god has blessed ccf is because of many of you you have practiced the discipline of generosity and the bible tells us the balance of not abusing people's generosity is diverse when we were with you we used to give you this order if anyone is not willing to work is not to it god's economy small group where to help each other but god is very clear people are lazy people who don't want to work don't even help him you know why anybody can work yes or no don't choose your work if you are jobless look for any work any work no matter how minion because god does not want us to be lazy at the same time god tells those who have money you help those who are in need praise god that's the amazing genius of god and the bible tells us day by day they are meeting in the temple meeting from house to house what were they doing they were taking their meals together with gladness my friend there is joy ccf is famous for eating i know all of you in small group do you eat i tell you we're number one in eating what do you discuss when you're eating together i hope it's not about shopping here shopping there i hope you talk about jesus amen you convert your house into a place of worship lord supper you pray a small group is to encourage one another my friend are you encouraging one another today i pray you will encourage each other all right be part of a small group that's the genius of the early church full of joy now how can you be happy everybody read this the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the holy spirit you see it's a byproduct of joy holy spirit let's read this together the christian owes it to the world to be supernaturally happy you owe it to the world you know why you every reason to be happy a person who is happy is not happy because everything is right no he is happy because his attitude towards everything in his life is right so are you happy today you need to practice joy listen to me when i come to your house and i talk to your children to your helpers or whoever i'm going to ask them is this family predictably happy are you predictably happy by the grace of god if you come to our house you can ask our helper you ask our children our family is predictably happy why is the joy of the lord be thankful be prayerful whatever problems you may have you surrender that to the lord and sometimes the best answer to your prayer is an answered prayer what do i mean let me tell you what i mean the bible tells us they were praising god no matter what having favor with all the people their lives were so attractive that the unbelievers people who were seekers were so attracted to these christians and the lord added to their number daily those who were being saved notice those who are being saved assumption once upon a time they were not saved they were lost but god is adding why praising god and having favor with all the people let me ask you a question are you your family your office the way you work do you attract people to jesus now what do i mean and answer prayers can be the best as i close one of our pastors one of our pastors was put in jail a few weeks ago he was flying out to attend our idc but while he was in the airport they detained him in the middle east country scary to be locked up in jail of course we were praying that he will get out and he will be able to make it on time but can i tell you something because he was a spirit-filled christian a spiritual disciple what did he do in jail he started a d group seriously he got a group and then he's not allowed to witness i mean to evangelize you so you know what he did he talked to 19 people mostly muslims he talked to them how how can i pray for you you see that the prophets pray care share how can i pray for you see the early church were witnessing and you can witness all over the place this is not the church this is the place where the church gathers but the church is all over offices wherever you are in prison the guy was in prison can you imagine he taught me peter while i was in prison i read the entire bible from genesis to revelation so i've done my assignment i plenty of time he read the bible but this is the most amazing thing there was a filipino who converted to the muslim religion and told him you pray to allah and your sentence will be cut in half my friend said no no my god jesus christ is very powerful while he was talking he heard his name called so he went you know what the police officer said the gerald warden officer your case is dismissed you can now get out of this jail wow my goodness people don't realize all of us were praying for him the power of prayer and so he went back to his friend and told his friend you see what i told you jesus is more powerful i'm leaving goodbye is god amazing praise god my friend are you a spirit-filled follower of jesus if you want ccf to be healthy we need to practice those seven amazing habits yes or no what are those habits number one study god's word number two be part of a small group worship privately publicly people ask me do i need to come to ccaf can i not just have stream you know live stream have you heard this word live stream you're asking the wrong question i will tell those people who are live streaming why not come if you love jesus you will come if you love jesus you want to be part of a big family however i know we have many people who really cannot find a fellowship like this okay maybe they're in countries that are forbidden whatever it is perhaps you are sick it's okay but my whole point is this you begin to practice this okay prayer generosity what else practice joyfulness and practice witnessing and i guarantee you god will use you to be a blessing to others you want to bless others yes or no allow christ but there's no escape from these principles don't compromise let's bar heads and pray if god has spoken to you that you need to be part of a small group as you leave this place there's a place outside you can register secondly if you are convicted today that perhaps you don't know jesus that's why you don't have hunger for god's word you don't have the hunger for god you don't care about him he's not central and you want to be changed you want me to pray for you will you raise your hands anybody else praise god you don't have hunger for god you want me to pray for you raise your hands higher higher you know why i want to pray for you lord jesus i want to pray for this group of men and women who have raised their hands they don't have hunger for you perhaps they don't know you i pray for them right now that you will make yourself very real in their lives allow them to repent of selfishness repent of self-sufficiency repent for desiring independence and give them a humble heart to surrender to you and i pray for those who are not yet part of a small group that through today's world you will teach us not to be selfish but to be a blessing to others by joining a small group not just to receive but to give speak to all of us in jesus name we all pray amen amen god bless you

Channel: Christ’s Commission Fellowship

Views: 36,253

Rating: 4.8041959 out of 5

Keywords: CCF, Christ's, Commission, Fellowship, Sunday, Service, Sermon, Speaker, Message

Id: BSsArmZsrRc

Length: 72min 16sec (4336 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 17 2019