Pastor Brian – Opening and Prayer
1. Lord, it is so easy to sing the words of the song, and ask You to open our eyes, the eyes of our heart. But Lord, I have it in my spirit today, that Lord, You’re not looking for the words of the song, or words that have become comfortable to us, but Lord we continue to pray that Lord, You would fresh revelation to us of who You are; that Holy Spirit that as we speak of who You are and the works that You do, that Lord, whether we are new in You, or we have known You a long time, that You would bring that freshness that newness of discovering who You are, that our relationship with You would deepen, that our knowledge of You would deepen and Lord, our experience of You in Your presence, and be ever greater in Jesus’ name. Amen
2. It’s good to be in the presence of the Lord. And it’s good to be with each other. So, this is that time where we just need to kind of get out amongst each other, greet one another. Come on, go say ‘Hi’ to somebody. Amen.
3. You can be seated for a moment. We’re going to be taking communion in a little while, before the sermon today. But the communion is not just something; it’s not just a formality that we do with bread and cups. The communion is who we are together. And more importantly, who we are together in Him. So, we’ve greeted each other here, but you know your family and friends who are not here today, so, remember when you go home, give them a call. Remind them that they are loved. That they’ve been prayed for, and that they’re missed. Amen. I’m looking for some nodding heads, some happy faces.
4. Well, it is good to be here with you. I mentioned already that pastor Gail is not here. She’s still ministering in the US. She was going to come home for four days and then fly back, because our ministry has our board meeting, but for financial purposes and more, for health purposes, we told her to stay there.
5. This week she’s working hard to go through her first edit of her book, that everybody knows she’s been working on for 500 years. So, she’s meeting with the editors over the next few days, so pray for that, hopefully there will not be another lifetime of work after the edits. And then on the weekend, I will fly in and we’ll be having meetings at Oral Roberts University (ORU) and then we’ll have our ministry board meeting; minister to churches on the weekend. Then I will fly back the day after that, so, I’ll be gone just about 5 days. Pastor Gail will have another week in the States.
6. We don’t talk a lot about our mission ministry, you guys all know EME ministries, but these next 2 weeks are going to be very significantly important meetings for all we do, not just in Greece, but all around the region, and we really, really covet your prayers. We know we want to do God things and not just good things. I mean they’re good if they’re God, but we want the God thing.
7. I received a text message, to specifically greet you this morning from 2 places. Some of you will remember John Henry and Lisbet Larson, who were here with us for a few years, prior to Covid. Isn’t it a weird way to refer to time ‘Before Covid’, but they sent their greetings to all of you. They were coming back to Greece, and they still very much have in their heart, this church and this land, and I’m working very hard on getting them to make that decision and come on back. But just before they were ready to pack and come back, a little thing happened, called the Ukraine war. And so, they felt called to begin helping people, particularly not just taking aid into the country, but help qualified refugees get back out od Ukraine and into Norway.
8. So, it was my pleasure, last week to go with them on their 23rd trip into the Ukraine. We took a bunch of stuff in and took a bunch of people out, all who had been evacuated from warzones, which is the only way they can qualify to go to Norway. The bus was mostly loaded with elderly women who didn’t have husbands anymore, and there was one young family, a mother with 2 teenaged children, who had lost their father. And so, it was a very humbling privilege to travel with them out of the Ukraine and I went as far as Poland, they went the rest of the way to Norway.
9. So, the other person I bring you greetings was the pastor who was in the Ukraine. His name is Peter, who organizes quite a large ministry, but it’s just a station where many groups bring relief materials and the trucks come get that stuff and take it to the east of Ukraine where the war is. Where I was in the Ukraine, you couldn’t feel or tell that there was a war taking place, and it really did not come alive to me until I met this Peter’s brother. He and his son load the trucks and take the caravan to the east. As everything was getting packed up and everybody was telling stories, they told us about how the father and the son always ride in separate vehicles. Because if the convoy is hit, they don’t want both to be in the same place. And they had literally made hundreds of journeys like this. Largely to get relief to the body of Christ, in that region, and to those who need it, back to safety. And I was just struck by the level of commitment and the reality seeing face-to-face the Scripture alive, when He said, “No man has any greater love than this, than he would lay down his life for a friend”. (John 15:13).
10. I was also blessed to take pastor Gail’s son, Micah, who most of you know. Who has written to me just about every day, trying to arrange his next trip back. For two reasons. 1) Because I saw the impact that it had on him just personally. 2) But also, because he has decided to make a documentary. So, he’s already been sending me an unlimited amount of video footage, because we took him to help us create a video for John Henry and Lisbet’s ministry. And I’m taking this very personally this morning, I hope you don’t mind. Because many, many of you know that pastor Gail has been praying for Micah for a lifetime, and I know that the Lord is at work in his life. And I’m going to ask especially those of you that know him those that really, really pray for Micah. I believe he’s close to the Lord.
11. We had to be together in Krakow Poland, last Sunday, which you know is full of Catholic churches, some beautiful cathedrals, and Micah got me up on Sunday morning to go with him to church. And we went and sat in a place where we couldn’t understand a word, except for little sections where I could use my translator on the video. But we sat there in meditation and we left that service a little bit early, and we got about two blocks down the road, and he said, ‘Let’s go into that church’. So, we went and did it again. It was special to me. And recognizing someone that many of you have been praying for, for a long time also. Just keep him in your prayers. So, that’s today’s report. Hope you all had a good week too.
12. We have two special guests with us this morning. One of them you know; you’ll meet him later. But we have also with us a pastor from the US, pastor Craig, and I’ve asked him to say a word to you guys this morning. He comes from a fantastic church. And now, I’ll let him talk whatever he wants.
Pastor Craig from Texas, US.
1. Thank you. It’s so nice to be with you here today. Greetings from Texas. I’m a Texan first and an American second. You have greetings from my wife Linda. We’ve been married 43 years; 9 children and 15 grandchildren. Seeing you here with your boys, reminds me of that season. You think it’s never over, but it will be over. And now the grandchildren are those ages, so you get it back again.
2. But it’s been my privilege to travel all over Bulgaria and Greece this week. So, last week I was preaching in Bulgaria, but then I discovered the wonderful churches in Thessaloniki. Anyone have friends in Thessaloniki? Yeah, God’s moving there and God’s moving here and it’s my privilege to meet one congregation after another, and see God’s hand moving throughout Greece.
3. And what I’m convinced of, is that there is such a treasure in your nation. And your prayers and your ministry are so important to what God’s doing. The picture I have is one of a safe, you know, where there is a safecracker; there’s money inside the safe and there’s jewels inside the safe. I feel that spiritually, Greece has this treasure inside of it, inside of this safe that God’s protecting. And that God has given you, as believers here, the first two combinations, the first two letters to open the safe, and like a good safecracker, you’ve got to listen real closely for the click and the tumblers just falling down. And there’s one last turn and one last click, and the door is just going to open and there’s going to be such a harvest and such a treasure. There’ll be a treasure of people, a treasure of provision, and a treasure of leadership, that will be released here locally and all over across Greece. And you’re about to witness the greatest move of God Greece has ever seen.
4. So, I’m standing with you here today, and I’ll be praying with my church for Greece back in Texas, and it’s such an honor to be here with you. God bless you.
Pastor Brian – Introducing Peter Demetriou.
1. Wonderful. And I forgot one thing earlier. Our Brazilian family as you can see, they are all gone today. But Leonardo’s wife Camilla, is ready to give birth, at any moment, I think. No! She had it! Aah, I didn’t hear that. Last night OK. Well, there you go. So, Leonardo, because they’re probably watching, ‘Congratulations’, that’s number three for them (a daughter). So, I know that they’re thrilled today. I didn’t hear the news; I also didn’t read my text messages this morning.
2. Well, we’re going to go ahead and have communion, and we’re done with this, we’ll worship a little bit, pastor Demetriou will come and share the Word with us this morning. He’s without his wife and daughters today. But he’s among family here. When we communicate, they have spoken so well of you guys. He pastors in Strassburg, but we’re so happy to have him here today, to grace us with the Word this morning.
3. We’ve been in our series about the Holy Spirit, and when I spoke with Peter he said, ‘Well, what a coincidence, I just preached a sermon’. So, he’s in the same vein, of spiritual thought, and we just believe that he’s going to share the Word. But as you receive the elements today would you just stand where you are. Hold that in your hand.
Pastor Peter Demetriou – Main Message.
1. Good morning to you. Are you all well? Do you understand my Australian accent? I’ll stick to English. It fills my heart with joy and gratitude to be with you all today. And it’s always been such a special honor to return to Greece and to visit you all. I send you greetings from my wife Mariella, where as a family, the four of us are all in different cities at the moment. Mariella is in Sydney, visiting her family. Her mother is unwell, so please pray for her mum. My eldest daughter Cienna is in at home in Strassburg. My youngest, Palloma has moved to Paris to study and so that’s a new thing for us, to have a child out of the home; it’s gotten a bit too quiet for us. So, now we realize who the loud one in the family is, and she’s gone.
2. I want to take a moment to honor pastor Gail and pastor Brian, and it’s always good to visit here and hear about the work that they’re doing on their mission and your dedication and effort is incredible to see. It’s had a lasting impact. When I think of you, I think of Hebrews 10:24, which says, “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works.” And truly your lives are a reflection of this. May God bless you. So, let’s take a moment to thank them, for their work, what they’re doing here in Athens and beyond. And can we take a moment to appreciate what is Greek food – wow. I had to buy a new shirt because I’ve eaten so much. I’m joking. Yeah, how good is Greek food, moussaka, like awesome. That deserves a clap.
3. As we come around to God’s Word, let’s be expectant this morning. And come with a heart filled with gratitude for His Word and how that can impact our lives. Let’s have a great time. Let’s pray. Loving Father, we thank You for Your Word. Lord, we thank You for pastor Gail and the book that is almost at the finish line, and we pray Lord God, that it will make the finish line and Lord, that it would just go well, and that it would have impact Lord Father, on peoples’ lives. Lord, we bless You, we thank You for who You are. In Jesus’ name. And everyone said, Amen.
4. I love that you guys are in a series on the Holy Spirit. I love talking about the Holy Spirit. And this morning, I want to look at ‘Being Led by the Holy Spirit’. Now, when you think about being led by the Spirit, it’s not about being weird when we say that. And Jesus said that “He must go, so that He can send another Comforter, that the Advocate will come, another Paraclete”.
5. So, now, a preacher like me, can be a little bit guilty of preaching this sort of message in a very supernatural way. Sometimes when we tell our stories about being led by the Holy Spirit, we can make it feel a little bit weak. The Holy Spirit does work that is supernatural, that we don’t expect. And so, one of my favorite stories of being led by the Holy Spirit, comes out of Canada about 25 years ago. At the time I was in Bible college and we had a ‘Spiritual Emphasis Week’ at college.
6. We had a guest pastor who came out of Toronto, to speak at our school for a week, and his name was Guy Chevreau, and at one of the meetings, he shared a story from a church that was just so crazy. He said, a few weeks ago, after one of our Sunday night meetings, a 17-year-old girl came to the front of the auditorium for prayer. She got on her knees and she said, ‘Lord, I would do whatever You tell me to do, I will give my life to You, I want to serve You.’
7. And pastor Guy had been speaking on how to hear the voice of God. And as she’s heading home that night, she’s driving home, she drives past a petrol station and she gets a thought that burns hot, and Jeremiah 20:9 in the Bible says, “God, Your Word is like a fire shut up in my bones, that I can’t contain it”. So, she had this thought that really burned within her, and she couldn’t escape it. And the thought was this, ‘Turn the car back around, back to the petrol station, go into the shop and stand on your head next to the Coke machine’. And she did what many of you might think and she thought, ‘That’s weird!’
8. Now, the Holy Spirit would never ask us to do something crazy like that. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman, He wouldn’t do anything like that. That is embarrassing, that’s ridiculous. Maybe I’ve just had too much coffee today. God won’t ask me to do that. God doesn’t work that way. But as she drove further and further away from the petrol station, the sense of regret went really deep into her heart. So, she decided to think, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’
9. So, she turns the car around and she drives back to the petrol station, and parks in front of it. She walks out of the car, and she looks down and thinks, ‘Thankfully, I’m wearing jeans and not a skirt’. She was really hoping that this was just a test, in the same way God tested Abraham, with Isaac and that she wouldn’t have to carry it out. So, she goes to the window, hoping to see a Fanta machine, but she goes and it’s a Coke machine. She looked inside and there was no one in the shop; no one behind the counter, and she thought to herself, ‘If I’m really quick, I can go do this, and get out and no one will know.’
10. But as she opened the door, the bell rings, a man came out of the back room, and stands behind the counter. So, she took a deep breath, walked over to the Coke machine, looked back and looked at the man again. She took another deep breath and she thought, ‘What’s the worst that could happen? I’m just going to embarrass myself.’ So, she flipped herself, stood on her hands next to the machine and counted to ten. And when the ten seconds were over, she flipped back up again, feeling embarrassed and started running for the door.
11. She opened the door, she looks back and the man behind the counter was looking like, ‘Hey what’s going on?’ He says, ‘Hold on, why did you do this?’ And she says, ‘You wouldn’t believe me.’ He says, ‘No, please tell me.’ She says, ‘Well I’m a Christian. I go to a church, and at church tonight I said to God, I’ll do anything that You ask me to do.’ And she says, ‘I was driving past this petrol station and the Lord told me to do what I just did. I’m sorry to embarrass you.’
12. He said, ‘No, you don’t understand, please come here.’ So, she walked to the counter, and the man pulls out a gun, and put it down on the bench, and she freaked out. He said, ‘No, no, no, I’m not going to shoot you. You don’t understand. I hate my life. My wife has left me, my children absolutely hate me. I’m in a job that I despise, and I hate every part of my life. And in five minutes time my shift will end, and I plan on giving up. Thirty seconds before you walked through the door, I was at the back, stacking shelves and I asked and said this to God. God if You are real, make someone walk into the shop, and have them stand on their head, next to the machine.’
13. Isn’t that incredible? The way that God can lead us. And pastor Guy Chevreau came again the following year to our Bible college, for our spiritual emphasis week. And we said to him, ‘Last year you told us about that story.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, about that girl who stood on her head next to the Coke machine.’ And we said, ‘Yes!’ And he said, ‘That story gets even better. That man ended up giving his whole life back to God. If God can speak to me like that, I need to know that God.’ And he said, ‘I had an opportunity to pray a prayer with him.’
14. Now, a year later, pastor Guy said, that the man has remarried his wife, and he’s again back with his two children. And again, he’s a husband to his wife, and he’s a father to his children. And he said, they usually sit in the front row of the church. All because a 17-year-old girl was really willing to obey the voice of God.
15. Now, we hear a story like that, and I’m sure there’s all sorts of thoughts in this room. And some of you are saying, ‘No way.’ I want to tell you, ‘Way.’ And you say, ‘The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and He would never ask that.’ Really? Read the Bible sometime. And you might think I’m crazy and I would never stand on my head next to a Coke machine. Well, that’s cool, that’s OK. What happens then is we leave being led by the Spirit to the select people that you might just class as weird. Then what we think, is being led by the Spirit, that’s just not for me. That’s not my character. Because I’m not prepared to do those sorts of things.
16. But let me tell you this. God is not limited by your character. Being led by the Holy Spirit should be part of your life, because we have the Holy Spirit. And this morning I want us to look at a few verses from Romans 8. What an amazing book. Romans, are you ready for Romans? And I just want to show you a few quick things.
17. Let’s start off with Romans 8:13, “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” I love this verse. Because Paul is saying here that if you live by the Spirit, you can fight sin. Can we talk about sin today? Is that, OK? Is it OK if I step on some shoes today? And I want you to know that you need to kill sin in your life or sin can kill you. And our ability to overcome sin doesn’t depend on us alone.
18. Praise God. You know, you’re not alone in your challenges, in your worries, in your anxiety, in perhaps your depression or stress. You are not alone in your moral battles that you face. And the key part of that verse is, ‘By the Spirit.’ The Holy Spirit leads us. It’s not the other way around. He’s not in our hands, we are in His hands. And that changes everything, hey.
19. The Bible says, “To put away the misdeeds of the body, fight sin.” Fight addiction, bad thoughts, destructive habits. But remember you’re not fighting alone. Sin is anything that you put before God. Maybe it’s pleasure, regret or disappointment. Being led by the Spirit means putting God first in your life.
20. Now, let’s think about what happens when we put God first in our life. Imagine God becomes the filter for your disappointment, and instead of believing that you’re living a life of disappointment, you’ll hear God saying, ‘I love you. I have a plan for you. You can get through this. I will lead you out of this.’ And imagine with your addiction or habits, whatever you’re trying to break in your life. Whether it’s a drug habit, or a sexual habit, or something like that and you’ve been trying to stop it.
21. But what happens when you put God first, God says, ‘I can help you overcome this. I can lead you by My Spirit.’ And putting God first, means trusting in the work of Jesus. It’s what God can do to help you overcome and you don’t do it with your own strength, you do it through God’s strength. So, it’s when you choose to fight sin, you’re being led by the Spirit. And so, when you’re faced with something, a temptation or whatever it is, and you say, ‘Should I or shouldn’t I’, right there you’re being led by the Spirit. Because it’s the Holy Spirit that helps you fight sin that pulls you down and you can fight it because you’re being led by the Spirit.
22. Romans 8:14-15, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” So, Abba. I know what you Greeks are thinking. That’s a 1970’s Swedish pop group. But that’s not what Paul meant here. The word, ‘Abba,’ is a very intimate term. And it means ‘Daddy, God’. It’s an intimate term. And that’s what Paul is saying here.
23. So, the first thing being said here, is being led by the Spirit, is to fight sin. And the second thing is, that you’re a child of God. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of adoption. In ancient times, an adopting father would carefully choose a child. And so, the child would be equal to any naturally born child and often received even greater love and care. And they knew they had a family and an inheritance from the father.
24. Do you realize that God has adopted you? And when God adopted you, something powerful happens. Through the Spirit of adoption, you became a child of God. You no longer have to struggle through life alone. You can come to God and call out, ‘Father, help me with this sin, help me with my insecurities, help me with those things that I struggle with.’ And being led by the Spirit, also means walking in the ways of the Father.
25. When I was 17, I flew from Australia and visited Cyprus, where my family is from. And I went to my dad’s town to meet my uncle, my dad’s brother, and so, I walked into a café, and a man calls out, Nicolas Demetriou, and I was surprised and I looked up and I smiled. And I said, ‘Are you talking to me?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Nicolas is my father.’ And he said, ‘Yes, I guessed that.’ And I said, ‘How did you know?’ And he said, ‘Because of the way you walked in.’ I was walking in the ways of my father. I had never visited that café before in my life. But an old school friend of my father’s saw me. I just miss my dad.
26. What does that mean? It means led by the Spirit. When you walk in the ways of your Father you’re led by the Holy Spirit. And what happens is that people see who your Father is, by the way that you live your life. I love this quote from Billy Graham, which is, ‘Sometimes you are the only Bible that people will read.’
27. So let me finish with this, Romans 8: 15, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again.” And so, being led by the Spirit means that you fight fear. So, Paul is comparing the fear of a slave to a love the son feels from the Father. The Father is loving. Now, I don’t want to downplay fear, because fear is real, it’s very real. And every time you step up above, into a new relationship with God and of faith, fear will try and rob you. He will try and rob you of that intimacy with God, that new level that you’re trying to get to. And what does fear say? He will usually shout it out to you. ‘Who do you think you are? What do you think you are doing? You’re a fraud.’
28. Because every time you step out in faith, fear is in your ear. Because fear is very real; fear is not getting what we want, fear is working against what God wants us to do. And some of you here might really want a life partner. Some of you might be saying, ‘I really want a boyfriend or a girlfriend.’ And fear might be saying, ‘I don’t think I’m going to get one.’ ‘I really want a good job. But I don’t think I’m going to get one.’ ‘I really want a beautiful house., or a beautiful apartment. But I don’t think I’m going to get that.’
29. So, we live our life with the stuff we don’t have. And we’re fearful of getting what we want, and then losing it. Because whatever level you’re trying to get at, fear is always there. The Bible says that fear can bring torment.
30. But let me tell you how to be Spirit led. When you’re Spirit led, He’s taking you out of fear. The fearful ways are still there. So, is fear still shouting when you’re Spirit led? For sure. Fear will still shout, ‘Who do you think you are?’ But let me tell you this. God is still the best noise-cancelling headphones you’ve ever seen. I can’t hear you. Yeah, I see my daughters in my house, like I’m talking at them and they have their headphones on. I do it too. And you call out to them but they can’t hear you because they’ve got their headphones on. And they look at me, ‘Can’t hear you. I can’t hear what you’re saying.’
31. And that’s how we battle fear. Mr. fear I can’t hear you! Because fear is seeing without hope. You know, every single one of us, today, you are the visionaries of your future. God has put a vision in your heart, and we need to bring the Holy Spirit into that vision. God has put something in your hearts for your future. You might see something for your family. You may see something for your ministry. You may see something for your career. But instead of us seeing with hope, we’re seeing the worst. So, we’re believing the worst, until it doesn’t happen. So, as your best friend, the Holy Spirit, turns fear into faith, with confidence in the Father. And so, He looks at you right now and God is saying, ‘I have plans for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11). And if you live by the Spirit, you will live.
32. A few months ago, I travelled to Geneva for ministry. God is doing some amazing things in Geneva right now. But during the trip, I had a car accident. I was driving on a busy road, full of cars and people along the lake, and along this part of the lake there were many crossings and stops. The lake is beautiful. Even though I was very careful, the car in front of me suddenly stopped. I didn’t have much time to react. I tried my best, but I hit the car. Now, I’m not blaming anyone, but the car stopped twice abruptly, before it stopped. There was no damage to the other car, but the 2 bikes that were attached to the car damaged my rental car.
33. So, my first reaction after the accident was like, ‘Is everyone OK in the car?’ There were five of us in the car. Once I knew they were OK, I went over and checked the other car. ‘Is everyone OK in here?’ This was my first car accident in Europe. So, once I knew they were OK, I checked the other car and once the shock wore off, I wasn’t sure what to do next. I hadn’t had a car accident in Europe. Last time I had a car accident was 30 years ago.
34. So, both the other driver and I said, ‘Sorry. I’m so sorry.’ We just kept saying sorry to each other. He said, ‘I stopped because I saw something at the crossing and I couldn’t stop in time.’ Then that pedestrian came up to us and said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ She apologized and said, ‘I was having a conversation with my friend and I should’ve crossed and I didn’t cross and blah, blah, blah.’ I had a lawyer in my car and she started giving her analysis of the whole thing and said the bikes were blocking the brake lights and my sister was in the car and she’s apologizing to me because she was talking too much, and then a cat walked by and apologized to the fish that was in its mouth.
35. But there seemed to be a lot of damage. And in the end, someone had to pay. There were a lot of apologies but in the end, someone had to pay. It could be the other driver or it could be me. But either way someone had to pay.
36. And I want to finish with this. Forgiveness is when you don’t have to pay for what you’ve broken. Someone else pays for you. And that’s what Jesus did for us. Jesus said, ‘I will pay the price to fix everything that you have done wrong. I will fix the fact that you’ve centered your life on other things, other than God.’ And as we’ve heard before, Jesus paid the price by dying on the cross.
37. The Bible says that He was wounded for our sins. And why is that? It was to give us freedom. Freedom from guilt, freedom from fear, freedom from addiction. Jesus isn’t here physically, but He didn’t leave us alone. He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us. And the Holy Spirit gives us freedom. He gives us new freedom in our lives. Freedom to know God, freedom to love, freedom to change, freedom to overcome, and if you want to know more about that freedom, and perhaps you’ve never heard a message like this about Jesus.
38. We love talking about Jesus. And if you needed to have a conversation about Jesus, just to find out more, or perhaps you need prayer, we’d be happy to pray for you and speak with you. Thank You Jesus. Please don’t leave without speaking to us. You can speak to anyone on the team.
39. Can you all stand up. I want to pray for you. Loving Father, we thank You for Your Holy Spirit, we thank You for the opportunity to be led by the Holy Spirit. And Lord, we know that sometimes obeying Your Word might be quite challenging, and so, I pray for those that are struggling in that area of being obedient. I pray that You’ll give those people discernment. So, come Holy Spirit. I pray Lord, Father that You’ll bring freedom into peoples’ lives, through the power of Your Spirit. So, pray a blessing upon this church, Lord I pray that You will bless this family here. Lord You are good. And Lord God, we pray that those that are questioning, all their questions about Jesus, I pray that You would answer their questions Lord, God, and they will come to know You in a very real way. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Pastor Brian – Closing
1. We’re not going to end in prayer. I’m going to ask the prayer team to come up. That’s Ray and Katy, would you mind coming up. You’ve heard today about a walk with the Holy Spirit, that in fact it is possible to hear His voice and to respond to what He says to you. And you may be in a situation in your life this morning, where you’ve been contemplating next steps, or you’ve been wanting or needing to make choices. And the Lord has not left you alone in that process.
2. So, we’re just going to invite you to take a moment. We’re going to sing, do a little worship here. But if you feel like you want to have that prayer of agreement with somebody, Lord I want to see these things that were talked about this morning. I want to see them happen in my life. Maybe it’s Lord I need to have more courage to respond to You. That when I hear my mind telling me, ‘No way,’ I can hear the Spirit of God say, ‘Yes way.’ Because He always makes a way. I think some of us need to say Amen to that this morning. He always makes a way.
3. So, we want this opportunity for the Holy Spirit to embed this Word in us today. So, when He comes and speaks into your spirit, you respond to that today, and leave here more confident today than when you came. Because He’s here for that. Can you say Amen.