Pastor Gail – Welcome
1. You’re all beautiful, wonderful. It’s good to see you. It’s always wonderful to come and be in the presence of the Lord. So, we are glad you’re here on a rainy day, too. Is it still raining upstairs? No? Because, goodness, I dressed for winter. I was so cold this morning. But it’s always wonderful. Winter, summer, spring, fall, it doesn’t matter to me. I love to be in the house of God to set the tone for my week.
2. It’s just good to begin the week with your family, to encourage one another, and that’s what we’re here today to bless the Lord and then to encourage one another. If you have your Bible, or if you don’t, on the back of each chair there is a Bible, and we’re going to actually sing, it’s also going to be on the PowerPoint, but we’re going to sing a song from the Word today to begin our service today.
3. 1 Timothy 1:17, it says, “Now to the king eternal.” Isn’t it wonderful to know right now, we have in this very room, in this small room, in this room that doesn’t necessarily look so full, the King is here? We’re in his presence here. That is so amazingly wonderful, and actually the room is extremely crowded. It’s because the host of heaven, angels are looking in, wanting to watch and listen as we worship the king. To the King eternal…
4. There’s a challenge in 1 Timothy 2:8. “I want men everywhere, to lift up holy hands, in prayer, without anger or disputing.” I want men everywhere, people. We struggle, it seems like sometimes, to lift our hands to the King, to lift our hands to him. It’s an awesome privilege to lift our hands to him. And when your palms are up, it’s like saying, I empty them of anything I want.
5. I only want you, Lord, oh Lord, today I give you honor. Could I invite you, to join me, to lift your hands, as we sing this one more time, to let the King see, you give him honor and glory, and not just today, but you want to do it, from now on, to all eternity. To the King of glory…

Pastor Gail – Reading the Word and Prayer
6. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. If you’ll take your Bibles, and we’re going to read for just a second, at 1 Timothy 1:12. We’re going to kind of jump around. “I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.”
7. 1 Timothy 1:15. “Here is a trustworthy saying, that deserves full acceptance, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason, I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience, as an example for those who would believe on him, and receive eternal life. Now, to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and forever, amen.”
8. Feel free to join me as we pray today. Heavenly Father, King of Glory, Lord of the universe, the Lord who made each one of us. We love you, we’re here to worship you. Lord, we read in your Word, you love to see your children come together, and to give you all the glory. All we worship you, you are here, you are here, you are not far away. So, even as we come into service today, into this church time of worship, we welcome you to heal, we welcome you to deliver, we welcome you, God, to release from burdens that have been too heavy, we welcome you to anoint us with the spirit of thanksgiving, we welcome you to take us deeper in love with you. Lord, we thank you, that you are here, so I pray oh Lord that all together this morning, we will just close out the things of the day, we will take this time to worship you, to worship you, to worship you In Jesus’ name. Would you stand. Thank you, Lord, that you’re here.
9. There’s a real, very real sense of the presence of the Lord. The Lord is here, and the amazing thing is here for each one of us, whatever we might be this morning, what we need this morning. Is your heart hurting, are there hurts in there today, if you want to be free from them, there’s some difficulties, you don’t know how to handle them. The Lord is here, and as we sing this one more time, can you just place that need in your hand, you’re here, Lord, I worship you. Turn my life around Lord. Mend my heart, Lord today. Change me, Lord, today, change me, Lord.
10. Lord, if we ever needed faith to stand, we need it now, Lord, certainly there are a lot of mysteries in front of us, so many things we don’t have answers for, but Lord, you will not take us, we know this, or you cannot keep us, today, Lord, there is a very special invitation for you to trust you, to be covered with your life, the life of Jesus. Lord, we accept your invitation to go deeper.
11. If you’re here this morning and you need healing, would you just lift your hand where you’re at. We want to see Kata healed. We’ve praying for a long time, for Arman, for him to get out of the wheelchair. Can we just right now say, Lord, as we go deeper in you, let us see your healings. Father, right now we pray together, Lord for Kata, we pray for her healing, Lord, we pray for Arman who is at home, Lord, confined to that bed for these many years. Lord, we know God, as we go deeper, we’re going to see more of your presence in all that needs, Lord, God, more of your presence just for us to love you more, God, to see you more. Lord, we believe, we believe, we believe. We thank you today, God, even for those who have a burden for our families. We pray for our families, Lord, to be released from the darkness, God. O God, from their doubts and questions and things that bind them. Father, we lift you up, we lift you up, you are the Lord of eternity. Today, take us deeper that we can lead others deeper in you, in the name of Jesus, amen, amen, amen. Hug somebody’s neck or say hello or give away a kiss. Do something, let them know you’re glad to see them, hallelujah.

Pastor Gail – Announcements
12. Everyone looks good, and it is brother Ummu, we’re going to see you back from Turkey after Easter. If you haven’t met brother Ummu, pastor Ummu, at coffee time today, meet him, he’s a pastor of an amazing church in Turkey, and we’re so glad you’re here with us. And if you didn’t know, this is his daughter, hello, we’re so glad to have they here with us.
13. I’m just kind of welcoming a lot of people, I’m so glad to see Billy and Eva-Lena, they’ve been gone a long time, yes, yes. And I’m just, I say the German way, but it’s Henrik, right, how you do it, oh God, it’s Henrik back, we’ve missed so many of you, and we, Leonardo, and Camilla, I just, and the family, we’ve missed you, it’s good to see you.
14. I just pointed out the ones I haven’t seen in a while, and we’re so glad to see you, we’re so glad to see you, amen, amen. And I forgot your name, but we’re so glad you’re here today, some of you, what is your name, remind me? Yes, Fanya. Okay, some of you may not know, but I’ll just tell you this really quickly, she actually was in a fire, they lost everything. Some of you may not be aware of it, but God took care of their lives, her and her baby, amen. And so Fanya, we praise the Lord, and we give the Lord glory for you being with us and him taking care of you and the baby, amen. Be sure and speak to Fanya after church today.
15. So, Easter has come and gone, it’s May, I don’t believe it, yesterday was Christmas. This year has gone really, really fast. But just a few announcements, I want to remind everybody the church is open, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday morning for prayer. Every Thursday night we have youth group, you can ask Stavros, he’s the youth coordinator.
16. Next Sunday is Mother’s Day, but we celebrate all women, all of you are mothers, so come though. And if you’re part of a home group, a care group, please see your care group leader, but Wednesday night at seven o’clock we will be having a prayer and look in the Word here at 7 pm, it’s lots of fun, we’ve been having a good time.
17. So, I’m excited, next Sunday, we’re going to be having a baptism, and Anastasia, can you wave your hand Anastasia? Anastasia, praise God, it’s going to be baptized, that’s so exciting, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m so excited.
18. If you have not been baptized, and you would like to be baptized, just speak to me after church or Leto, because we would love to be with you, when you just declare I’ve decided to follow Jesus, He’s, my Savior. It’s so amazing, it’s like licking an envelope and sealing it. I belong to Him. So please see me today or talk to Leto.
19. We’re so glad that you’re here, we want to receive our offering and tithe for the Lord, and I want to remind you, one of them is carrying a little jar around, this is, it’s a bucket, or it’s a bottle, that thing, lift it up, Leto, what do you call that, a bottle, a bottle. That, that, if you have extra change, please just put it in there, we’re saving money to go on a church trip. Yeah, we want the whole church, we want us all to go together, so whenever Nicholas passes by, I empty all your pockets, put all your extra change in there, all right, is that, oh sorry Emmanuel, and Nicholas is going to come up and help receive offering this morning. If you don’t know these two guys, they’re great, I really love them, amen.
20. And also, we do have prayer request sheets that Leto has, if you would like to leave a prayer request with the church, you could just get a form from Leto, or go online to prayer, what is it Brian? Is it prayer@glyfadacc.org, and you just send in your prayer request and we’ll be praying, okay? So, I’ll ask Stavros to pray for us. Amen, amen.
21. Giving is such a wonderful worship to the Lord. I would like to just invite all of you also, for you to invite somebody to church. I don’t know about you, how many of you, if you come to church, does it help set a beautiful tone for the whole week, amen.
22. Raise your hand, I know you Cecilia, so you, oh good, good, yeah, it’s just kind of a very good tone for the week, but, and if you don’t think they’ll come to church, invite them to your house, and invite me over, or Leto, and we’ll have coffee and talk about Jesus. You can’t read the Bible without it, many places saying, ‘Awake, be alert, time is short. Many are dying without Jesus,’ And what we do for Jesus, will count when we reach heaven, amen.
23. We’re so, we’re so glad you’re here. Christ is our foundation that when nothing else stands, he stands, we stand on him, he never fails.

Pastor Brian – Main Message
24. I’m going to have to look over here today. It’s a little empty in the space. I’ll just look at you, Christine. It’s good to be in the House of the Lord. Good to be together. And it’s best to be together in the House of the Lord. So, I want to welcome you all, but I have to take these off so I can see you. And then I have to put them back on so I can see my nose.
25. Age is a terrible thing. It’s a horrible thing. Which is very apropos for today? We’re turning back today to our discussion of having a Christian, a Biblical Christian Worldview. We’ve been running through the English alphabet to find words that inform this.
26. And today we have reached the letter K. Where all of us Anglophones stands today for knowledge. Everybody knows and believes that knowledge is a good thing, yes? But biblical knowledge has a little bit of a different perspective than just knowledge. A lot of people believe if they accumulate facts, and they accumulate pieces of information, that that’s knowledge.
27. But you can have all of the intellect in the world, and still be off base when it comes to biblical knowledge. In fact, sometimes they work against each other. Because we think we know, we act out of that, but we may not actually know, what God has intended. I had a teacher when I was in high school, and he taught us this phrase, it has stuck with me for life. The more you know, the more you know that there’s more to know.
28. It never stops. The more you know, the more you know, there’s more to know. The more you know, the more you know, the more you know. He also was the first teacher to teach me the word discombobulated. Yeah, find that one in Greek. To be discombobulated means to be all confused. I don’t know why he couldn’t just say confused, he had to say discombobulated. I guess to prove his knowledge, which brings us back to the point.
29. Biblical knowledge is a deeply relational thing with God. I’m going to quote a bunch of Scripture to you today. We’re not going to take the time to turn to it. And it’s not going to be on the screen. So, you’re going to have to write it down and check it for yourself.
30. Today we’re going to be like the church in Veria. We’re going to study to see that these things are true. Sorry, for the English people in the room, that’s Berea. The British scholars taught us how to speak ancient Greek completely wrong. Take that one into your numa. There’s no such word as numa. So, we’re playing with words a little bit today.
31. But biblical knowledge according to Proverbs 1:7, begins with “The fear of the Lord.” You cannot gain biblical, godly, spiritual knowledge, until you set your heart on honoring God. It does not begin in the mind, but it begins in reverence. It begins with the honor.
32. A little science lesson this morning. Do you know what two organs in your body share the same cells? Evy got it? George, good to see you, my friend. The brain and the heart. The heart contains brain cells. Or at least the periphery, the stuff around the heart. It contains brain cells.
33. That’s why it’s a deep issue when the Bible talks about your heart. Because your heart encompasses the whole of it. And so, it’s only when we come to God in that honor and in that reverence. When we come to Him in humility, is where we begin to gain knowledge.
34. We often talk about the difference between knowing about God and knowing God. They are not the same thing. I can know many things about somebody and never know them. And it is the same with the Lord and the wisdom that He brings.
35. The world often defines knowledge as power. You’ve heard that phrase, knowledge is power. And in a sense, that is absolutely true. It’s helpful to know more. It’s helpful to gain facts and figures. Because it helps to understand. But when we define knowledge just as power, it becomes something just to be acquired. Something to be controlled and to use for our own purposes.
36. But the Bible gives a completely different framework. Because it’s not just about knowing about Him, but about knowing Him. In Hosea 4:6, God actually has a moment where He mourns. He prays a mournful prayer. He cries out. He says, “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” But that’s not a lack of information.
37. They had the information. They were destroyed because they didn’t have the relationship that went with the information. They knew the Law, but they had forgotten the God of the Law. And we can fall into those same traps.
38. Maybe like me, you’ve met people. They can quote this to you. Like they know it, but then treat you or treat other people, like they know nothing. And the reason for that is because they have information but not knowledge. You can quote Scripture to me all day long. But if it doesn’t come attached with a sense of love coming out of your heart, I don’t care to hear it.
39. And I use myself. But I suspect you’re much like me. If all people are doing is quoting information to you, it loses its value. My simple little illustration, when my teacher said to us, the more you know, the more you know there’s more to know. You know why that stuck with me? It wasn’t because it’s cute and easy to remember. It stuck with me because I knew that man wanted the best for us. The only reason I still remember the word discombobulated. Not a word I’ve used very much in life. But I’ve remembered it because a man really wanted us to know.
40. Biblical knowledge transforms the heart. It’s what biblically separates, here’s two good words for you, wisdom from obedience. But at the same time, it’s unattachable from either of those. It’s what biblically transforms the heart. Let me show you James 3:17. Listen to these words. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere”.
41. That sounds quite different than a lot of the people we know who are acquiring knowledge. It’s pure, knowledge that comes from God produces change. It doesn’t just give you something to know. Knowledge that comes from God produces change.
42. It shapes how we live. It shapes how we love. It shapes how we serve others. And yes, it comes out of words on a page and words spoken to our hearts. But until it becomes something that is living, until it changes something, it is not godly knowledge.
43. We have another phrase in English that I think a lot of Christians globally live by today. You don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t know what you don’t know. Which means that something has to be revealed. But when it becomes revealed, it must then produce change.
44. Otherwise, you’ve just left it as knowledge in the mind, not knowledge in the heart. Knowledge that comes from God is not inactive. It’s not just a thing. It’s not a fact. It’s a living reality. This is almost like a philosophy class in the morning, I know.
45. But I really want this one principle to sink deeply in us. Knowledge is not knowing. Knowledge is living. And too many of us are just gaining information. And not actually letting it change us.
46. John 8:32. Jesus calls it out. He says, “You will know the truth. You will know the truth.” But then what does the truth do? “Sets you free.” Makes you free. Truth from above makes things change. And that freedom that he’s talking about isn’t just… How do I say lie? It’s not just intellectual clarity. It’s not just, oh, I know. It’s spiritual liberation. It’s being actually made free.
47. Why? Because what does it mean here to know the truth? Again, is it just information? No. It’s a person. You will know the truth. “The truth, the way, the truth, and the life”. And when you know the truth, that will set you free.
48. It’s to encounter Christ. So, knowledge, true knowledge, leads us into freedom from sin, leads us into freedom from fear, leads us into freedom from being deceived, because we have begun with the fear of the Lord.
49. But the Bible also warns us, knowledge that comes without love is dangerous. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:1, he said, “Knowledge”, does what? “Puffs up. But love builds up.” One is about me, and the other is about how I treat you. That’s back to that illustration of knowing people who can quote the verses, but do things possible to tear you down.
50. So, true biblical knowledge, has to be accompanied by humility, and it has to be tied to compassion, or it risks becoming empty and prideful. None of us want to be around those people. Therefore, none of us should want to be those people.
51. Biblical knowledge is not a destination, it’s not a degree that you earn at the end of something. It’s a journey. Sometimes I feel like we use that word too much. Everything’s a journey. And actually, that’s true. But the more you use the word, the more watered down it becomes. And in this sense, I want to somehow bring deep meaning to the word journey. It’s a traveling together, with the Holy Spirit, in a very meaningful way.
52. I’ll give you a simple example. When I was a child, Pastor Gail can tell you this is pretty much true. None of my family liked being together. The children in particular, Mom and Dad, I don’t know if they liked being together either. But they’re still together after 58 years.
53. Some families would go on vacation, and it was a journey. Pastor Gail tells stories of when she was a child, she and her brother and sister, they had journeys together. My family, we took trips. And as soon as we could get out of the car, different ways. There was no journey. We were just stuck in the same place, going the same direction. And disappointingly, some of us treat our relationship with the Lord that way.
54. Biblical knowledge is not you on a trip to learn something. It’s you on a journey. Involved with the Holy Spirit. Growing in your understanding of God’s character. Yes, growing in your knowledge of His Word. But it’s also finding His will. That’s this journey.
55. The end is not God, ‘What do you want me to know?’ It’s God, ‘Who do you want me to be?’ In just a moment we’re going to take communion together to end this service. That act is the most significant thing we can do. To remind ourselves of the journey.
56. Because Jesus didn’t just do the stuff, He didn’t just give out the bread and the wine. He didn’t just say, you’re going to do this for the rest of life until I come back. Because it’s something to remind you, even though He does say, “When you do this, remember me.”
57. But that word, remember, is not there, in the mind. It’s there, in the heart. Because He finishes by saying, “As long as you do this, you declare me to the world.” This is never the end point. I am not my alpha, and I am not my omega. I neither gave myself the beginning nor the end.
58. But the one who did, said, “Come with me”. Remember when Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his followers, “I have to leave. But because I have to leave, it’s so I can send another, who will be better for you.” Did you ever think about that? How strange are those words that Jesus said, “I’ll send another, who is better for you.” He said, “He will lead you into all truth.” He will do it, because Jesus said, “I came to you, and I walked with you, but he will be in you.”
59. Knowledge is not outside. It’s not learned externally. It’s not to us, it doesn’t just come to us, it’s not just with us. But biblical knowledge is in us. And it’s when we turn into that, when we begin communing with Holy Spirit inside, and the conversations begin and end there, Alpha and Omega.
60. That doesn’t mean I don’t get information from different places. But it means the only way I can interpret that information is through the lens of the Holy Ghost. The writer of Ecclesiastes 1:14 said, “We can run around. We can gain all that stuff. But in the end, it’s just chasing after the wind.”
61. Let’s not be wind chasers, let’s be God chasers. Spirit lead me, where my faith is without borders. Yes, let me walk on waters. But only the ones where you call me. Wherever you would call me, but only when you call me. And the good news is, “And I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
62. Lord I just take a moment to pray. Holy Spirit, words are words. But when your Word comes, it is life. And so, Lord, I speak to our hearts this morning. Be open to the Word of the Holy Spirit. Lord help us to gain knowledge. The knowledge to live, the knowledge to love, the knowledge to serve, that you said is our calling. Lord I know there are things in my life, my spirit, that you must change. And yes Lord, I know that I have my part. But Lord, I’m wise enough to recognize today that I cannot change myself. So, I invite the partnership of your Spirit. Teach me more and more, the fear of the Lord. So that they can begin the journey of wisdom in me. I pray in your name. Amen.

Pastor Gail – Holy Communion
63. Camilla, would you bring your daughter up here? Would you mind? Your little girl, the little one. As Brian was finishing the word, I was thinking about Holy Communion this morning. And I’m sorry, Camilla, I don’t even remember her name. Zoe. I should remember that. And Zoe was over there, kind of bouncing around and talking. Hello Zoe. And Leonardo and Camilla were a little worried they were bothering us, that she was bothering us. Hi Zoe.
64. And then I begin to think about the day of the Last Supper. Matthew 26. They were sitting at the table eating. And I am absolutely certain those disciples, when they went to that dinner that night, were a lot like Zoe.
65. We don’t know what’s going on, but we’re going to go eat something. It’s a celebration. We want to go. Made a lot of noise. They were probably talking around the table having fun. It’s Passover. They’re having fun. They’re remembering when they got free. But in their understanding, they were like Zoe.
66. Zoe, you don’t know a lot about Jesus yet. But I know a little bit more than you. But one day, we’ll stand in front of Jesus, and we will know exactly perfectly the same. Isn’t that something? I was thinking about that. But never worry about her if she causes it. All you parents, never worry if they cause a little noise. This is God’s house. It’s okay, right? Do you all agree with me? Do you agree? Yeah. Yeah.
67. Last week, I don’t know if you saw, but Kari and Tina’s little girl, she wanted to come dance for the Lord. And they were worried. They were worried and offended somebody if we want our children to know God. To know Him. We have to understand sometimes they don’t know everything just like that. It’s the day the disciples came to celebrate the Last Supper. But as He came forth out of the grave, their eyes began to be opened more and more.
68. Leto, if you’ll begin to pass around, or whoever’s passing out, and if you’ll just hold the communion elements, please. Thank you, Zoe. Thank you, Gracias. She waved at us.
69. In many ways, we’re all at different levels of really knowing Jesus. For some of us today, as we remember the supper that He said at His last supper here at Earth, our hearts our understanding, we’ll be bursting with thanksgiving and tears of thankfulness. And maybe for some of us today, it’s just something we do because that’s what you do. But the Lord is inviting all of us to know Him and the power of His resurrection.
70. Don’t remain like little Zoe. You’re going to grow up Zoe. I’m not sure who the oldest person in the room is today. I’m not going to say, but hopefully we’re growing to be as wise as the oldest one in the room today with the life of Christ, with the life of Jesus. And then, Matthew 26:26. “While they were eating, Jesus took bread. And when He had given things, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, take and eat. This is my body.”
71. Hello, Valeria. Jesus loves. Did everybody see that? Valeria, can you tell everybody, does Jesus love you? Yes. She shook her head, yes. We’re the family of God here. We need to encourage our children. We think it’s wonderful. We think it’s wonderful. When they talk about Jesus.
72. Matthew 26:26, one more time. “While they were eating, Jesus took bread and when He had given things, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, take and eat. This is my body. Then He took a cup, and when He had given things, He gave it to them, saying, drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sin.”
73. If you’re here today and you’ve never asked Jesus into your life. This is a meal we share with Him. And you can start passing out the elements, Rebecca, and just hold them for just a moment, please, for everybody. That we share with Him because we’ve accepted Him and we want to sit at His table.
74. And all you have to do this morning if you don’t know Him personally. I invite you into my life. I invite you into my life. I want to know you personally in a living way. What a wonderful Savior. Thank you, Lord.
75. And while we’re waiting, Cecilia, will you put on, you call me out upon waters. Victor, feel free to come up if you’d like.