Pastor Brian – Welcome
1. I’m just going to go ahead and say it publicly. It is my dream in life that we could ever start church with at least half of the people. If we could worship together, if we could ever start church with everybody here at once. And I think this is the part that people don’t understand. It’s not corrective, so people online don’t get offended.
2. But here’s the thing. Go back to Acts 2. When they were in the upper room, what was it that ushered in… Nobody here yet needs to be better than online. But what was it that ushered in the actual presence of the Holy Spirit? Well, worship, yes, but it said this, “They were all with one accord in one place.” (Acts 2:1b NKJV)
3. The problem with the worship experience in most churches today, frankly, people can get offended at me, but it’s that we never start, in one place and in one accord. We will start church today with six to ten people, and we will finish with about 80, and we will all filter in at different times. And that’s okay.
4. I believe public transportation is a whole lot of reasons. But I’m telling you, there is something powerful about being able to be together and worship in one place at one time. And though I know many people have many reasons; Henneke is sitting right here. Henneke, you come a long way to church every Sunday morning? We have people who come from an hour and a half, one way to come to church and go the other way.
5. And you can never criticize that because everybody in here knows Greek buses don’t always run, on time. Taxis are not always available. Everything is not in place. But where we are able and when we can, there is something powerful about being able to do the worship of the Lord together in one place and at one time. I don’t criticize anybody.
6. I’m supposed to be here at the latest by nine o’clock every Sunday morning. I didn’t get here today until nine fifteen because mostly I don’t know how to set an alarm-clock. Things happen. But in as much as we are able, I think the Lord looks down on that and says, when you do your part, I’ll do mine. So actually, I’m going to I want us to center out this thought.
7. So, I’m going to go to our theme today is going to be centered on the faithfulness of God. We’re returning back to after Easter now, we’re returning back to our theme of kind of trying to develop a, I don’t like the word ‘Christian’, we’re trying to develop a God-like worldview.
8. And Pastor Gail put together a whole year’s worth of sermons pretty much based on the English alphabet. So, from A to Z, we’re going through every letter of the alphabet. Because, of course, the English alphabet is the most important one in the world. You know, I always say that, you know what the language of heaven will be.
9. Of course, every people in the world claims it will be their own language. But I’m 100% convinced that the language of heaven will be English. For one reason alone. Only the Americans won’t learn a second language. So English is going to have to be. So, we’re using the English alphabet to go through this.
10. So today we land on the letter I. Pastor Gail and Pastor Billy put together the idea that ‘I’, today should be centered around the concept of Israel. I don’t know if you watched the news today or not, but that can be a touchy subject. So, they left it to me. But we’re not going to be here this morning to settle the world’s political. But what we are going to see is that throughout history, God’s word is always faithful. So, as I said, I’ll probably come back to this song later when everybody’s here.
11. But I have a very good friend and a very good friend to this church. Many people still here have met him and his wife, David and Rita Baroni. David is a Grammy Award winner. He’s won so many awards for his writing and Christian music. I think I met him first when I was 8 years old, and I thought he was Michael Jackson. He was a rock star.
12. Maybe some of you have been in church long enough to remember the group ‘Imperials?’ They sang a song, ‘Soldier of the night, soldier of the light’. David wrote that and he won so many awards for that song. He went on to be one of the most prolific, one of the most successful writers in worship music in the 80s and 90s. And everybody sings his songs.
13. David is now probably close to 70, late 60s. And he’s suffering. He wouldn’t say suffering. I’m going to take that word out. He is enduring Parkinson’s disease. We were talking in our worship practice. I watch about mine a lot. And he still did his piano singing to the world. Struggling to get out the words. But his message is always the same.

Trudy Antonellou – Prayer for David Baroni
14. And you’re faithful, O God, to David, Lord and his family. And we ask you right now, Lord, that your hand, Lord God, will be upon this family, upon David, as he continues his writing for you, as he continues meditating on you, as he continues, Lord, fighting through this Parkinson, that nothing will stop him, Lord God, to worship you and to honor you and to glorify you. And we thank you, O Father God, we thank you, Father God, we thank you for your faithfulness, O Father God, and this song that he has written reminds us so much, Lord God, of the wonderful Lord and God and creator that you are, that you have created through David this music, this gift of writing, O Father God, may it continue, Lord God, in the name of Jesus, for a time such as this.

Pastor Brian
15. I am not overly prone to emotion. At least nobody accuses me of that. If I get weepy, it happens in basically two different situations. I don’t cry at cancer movies or dogs dying in movies. I don’t cry. And then, movies about people dying of cancer or what? Or pets that die. I cry over my own pets.
16. Almost daily. I don’t deal a lot with thoughts, about immortality, about dying. I guess it happens more lately because my parents are getting close. For whatever reason, I grew up in environments where all of my best friends were like 20 years older than me. I’m a young man, but I don’t know how old you are, but I’m a little bit older than you. So, I may be 55, but my heart is 75. And I’m starting to watch my friends enter those times.
17. I went to bed last night at about 10 o’clock. I went to sleep about 3.30. I spent the day… This is going to be a strange service this morning, guys. Just stick with me.
18. In the first week of April, Pastor Gail got a request from some friends from her childhood. I knew who they were by name because I had family that grew up in churches with them. But they were stopping over in Athens on a cruise. And I don’t know how it is for the rest of you, but I feel like I’ve had about 150 people already this year stop by Athens on a cruise. And they write and say, ‘We’re going to be in town for two days. Can we spend some time with you?’
19. So, weeks and weeks ago, these people contacted. And they said, ‘We’re coming.’ Can we spend some time with you? And Pastor Gail gracefully wrote back, ‘Well, I will be gone to the USA. But Brian will be happy to see you and show you around.’ I agreed to that.
20. Weeks ago, Mary’s not here. Somehow it did not get on my calendar. And nobody said anything more to me about it. So, I completely forgot about these people. And they all know my family from years and years ago as well. So, it’s that much more embarrassing.
21. But we happened to be hosting a big conference at a hotel in Athens this week. And I had to go down yesterday to the hotel to deliver a bunch of different things that they needed for the conference.
22. Thank you to Stavros who packed the van for me. Thank you to Mary who bought all the stuff and put it all together. I was just the delivery man. Trudy came in from Kefalonia to help us out and she went with me. And we showed up at the hotel and parked out in front to start unloading all the supplies. And there were six people standing in front of the hotel.
23. Okay, now get this straight. So, we have people from this conference, their organizing team is here at the hotel. So, I’m here to see them and deliver them the things they need. But all these other people walk up to me outside at the same time. And they say, ‘Hey, are you Brian?’ So, I’m thinking they’re part of this conference team. Because actually the one who introduced himself has the same name as one of the conference organizers.
24. So, it turned out that this friend of Pastor Gail has been texting me messages as they got off the cruise boat. But it’s the same name as this other guy from the organizer of the team. So, I’m answering him as though he is him.
25. And so, everybody is confused. Keep in mind, I totally forgot and didn’t know these people were here. And so, we’re all standing in front of the hotel with the people from the conference and this other group. Everybody is introducing themselves. And Trudy can tell you, she was there. And they’re calling me by my name.
26. And after a few minutes, the organizer of the conference asked me, who are these people? This was before I left. I said, I think they’re your people. And now they’re not our people. We don’t know who they are. So now I’m trying to get rooms organized. We have visa problems with people for the conference. So, I’m spending an hour with the conference people.
27. While this other group of people from the cruise are waiting in the lobby, because six weeks ago I agreed to take them through Athens. But I didn’t remember it or know it. So finally, this guy calls me on the phone and says, we’re here in the lobby, what’s going to happen? I’m still thinking he’s part of the conference group. So, I said, well, we’re actually in the room setting things up if you want to come down. And he said, no, we’re waiting in the lobby for you.
28. And finally, things came together. Because he called me and said, ‘Gail said that you were going to meet us to do Athens and Corinth.’ And the lights went on. So, I ran downstairs, put Trudy in a taxi to go home, and spent the rest of the day in Athens with this group of people.
29. Why do I tell that story? This group of people that are here are not just lifelong friends of Pastor Gail. But are major contributors to a church that supports a lot of our ministry in the Middle East. If I had failed to meet them, it may have created a lot of problems. But by accident, we all ended up at the same hotel, in front of the same door. Nobody knowing who anybody was.
30. And yet God put the pieces together. We were able to have a great day for the rest of the day together. I’m going to leave from here in about an hour to pick them up and go to Corinth. It was lost to me. But God saved the day.
31. I called their pastor last night. ‘I’m calling you because I want to tell you this story before they come home and tell you. This is my story.’ God saved me, from an embarrassment, and a potential disaster.
32. I tell that story only for this reason. Faithful God. Faithful God. In everything that he does. He’s the beginning and the end. He’s the one who sustains it all. And I’m one of these people. I carry the weight of performance. Even on a day like today, I could speak to five people or 5,000 people. I carry this weight that says I have to bring it. I have to. I’ve got to be the best guide anybody has ever had in Athens. Or any other part of Greece for that matter. I’m just that good.
33. I feel those things. Maybe you do. In your own workspace, in your own life. Maybe you feel that weight of, ‘I’ve got to be the best performer.’ I don’t personally feel there’s anything wrong with that, it’s good. Ambition is not bad, unless it becomes prideful, ungodly, it pursues the wrong means or the wrong purposes. I personally believe that in everything we do, we are obligated to give God, our best.
34. But at the end of the day, we are not the producers. God is the producer. We were talking about this in our worship practice this morning. In my lifetime, I have worked with some amazing musicians. I am very obviously not one of them.
35. Trust me. Anybody who plays keyboard, knows I can’t play. Anybody who plays guitar knows I can’t play. Anybody who actually plays drums, knows I can’t play. I can fake it, and sometimes I fake it pretty good. It doesn’t change the fact that it is fake.
36. But it’s not the point. Because I’m not back here to play a keyboard. I’m back here to worship the Lord. I’m here to give him the best I possibly can. And sometimes it will rise to a level, and sometimes it will fall way short. But if I do what I can, He will do the rest, because He is a faithful God.
37. And for you, whatever it is you do, you give God, not your employer, not your family, you give God your best, and He will do the rest. That’s just a fact. I was giving God my best yesterday, but I had already failed. But God… But God… He showed up, and made everything right.
38. Everything in life, that’s just it, faithful God. Unfailing love. Forever, He is worthy of our praise. And we can always trust the wisdom of His ways, because He is the faithful God. Can God’s people say Amen?
39. Please be seated. Leto, don’t let me forget. We’re just going to do the announcements and offering and stuff at the end. Not because it’s less important, it’s not. But because I want to just share with you a little bit of my heart today. Some Sundays are easy for me to move through, and some are not. If you all left the room today, I’d probably just stay back here and sing for… Well, I can’t sing for an hour, I got to go.
40. But I do have some things to share around our theme this morning. I’m going to start by moving through some Scriptures very quickly. And in fact, I’m not going to read the whole passages. Because that would take us a lot of time, but you can mark them. I’m going to give you the key excerpts out of these. Because before I say anything, really that is my words… which I hope are the words of the Lord delivered by the Holy Spirit through me. I just want you to hear the Scripture. I want you to hear the Word of God say it first.
41. So, we’re talking about the ‘I’ this morning. And our ‘I’ stands for Israel. The letter ‘I’, not the eye. I don’t know how to say it. Greek is too confusing. But our ‘I’ today stands for Israel. There’s a lot of opinions in the church today about Israel. I’m not here to settle anybody’s ideas about the historical Israel versus the modern geopolitical Israel today.
42. I have my own opinions. I think my opinions are based on Scripture. It doesn’t change the fact that my opinions are my opinions. And I have many, many, many great friends who have a different opinion from me. And I do not believe that they love Jesus any less than I do.
43. So, we’re putting the politics of this away. And I would encourage God’s people around the world to put the politics of it away. And even a lot of our theology has been based on politics, on policy. The only thing we need to be concerned about is the Word of God.
44. So, I’m going to start out by saying, to our church, if you’re a visitor, take it or leave it. But to our church, we are not and will not be partisans about the current position of Israel in the world today. We’re not going to be politically divided.
45. That doesn’t speak to God’s purposes for Israel or their prophetic destination or any of that. It speaks to our position that God will work those things out even without our help. But here’s some things that we do need to understand from Scripture. I’m going to give you 11 of them. 11 is a weird number. I failed to come up with number 12. That would have been much more biblical. So, I’ll leave you to figure out number 12.
46. But here’s number one. God made covenant with Abraham. Genesis 12. ‘I will make you into a great nation and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ So, I’m doing this really nice. I’m giving you the point right away. Here’s the point. God initiated a covenant with Abraham, Promised Land and descendants, and a global blessing. That is a fact. God called Abraham. Blessed him. Gave him a family of descendants. And called them to bless the entire earth.
47. Number two. They are, were God’s chosen people. ‘The Lord your God has chosen you not because you were more numerous, but because the Lord loved you.’ I put this up here because I want you to recognize. God’s election of Israel was not rooted in their merit. It’s not because they earned it.
48. It’s rooted in God’s love. He chose a people to love. So that through them, the world could be loved. That should sound like somebody we know today. You were not chosen because of your greatness. But you were chosen by God’s love so that through you, everyone around you could be loved.
49. Number three. In the old covenant, God made them a kingdom of priests. Exodus 19. ‘You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ You should hear in that, not the echoes. We are the echo of that. When the Apostle Peter declares to us, ‘For you are a chosen people, a holy nation, a peculiar, a strange group of people.’ I love that. You guys don’t look right. You don’t look right. You don’t act right. There’s something wrong about you. But you’re a chosen people. A holy nation. A peculiar people.
50. That you would show forth the praises of Him. Israel was set apart to represent God to the world as a weird group of people that God blessed. So that they could show forth His blessings to the world. So that they could show forth His blessings to the world.
51. Number four. They’re a light to the nations. This is still Old Testament, so stick with it. The Lord said in Isaiah 49. ‘I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’ He did not say, I will make you a light so you can be a nice shining light in your little place in the world. I will make you a light that salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. From day one, Israel’s mission extended way beyond themselves.
52. Number five. They experienced failure. Judges 2. ‘They would not listen but prostituted themselves to other gods.’ And we see this pattern through history. Come to God, fail God, come to God, fail God, come to God, fail God.
53. But then number six. God’s faithfulness. Lamentations 3. ‘Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed. Great is your faithfulness.’ At every point that Israel deserved judgment and desolation. Even in their judgments and exiles and everything. Everything that God took them through was to lead them back. So, the summary, even in judgment, people of God today, even in judgment, God remains faithful.
54. Number Seven. The promise of restoration. Jeremiah 29. We like this one in church today. You can go anywhere in the world and hear this one voted. ‘For I know the plans I have for you, God says. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.’ This is one of those where it causes me some misunderstanding why we apply some things only to Israel and other things to the rest of us. Because we like this one. ‘I know the plans I have for you. To prosper you and not to harm you.’ We love it when the preacher’s out here saying, you were created to be the head and not the tail.
55. We’ve got those prophecies we like to cling to, because their are ours. We don’t so much like some of the other ones. Judgment is Old Testament. Blessing is New Testament. I hate to tell you folks, but God is the same yesterday, today and forever. But God promises future hope and restoration every time, even after exile. And I’m going to say this to every person directly today. I do not care what desert, what judgment, what exile the Lord leads you into. It will never be except for the purpose of restoration. He only has one desire. That no person should perish, but everyone come to salvation.
56. So, think of the worst person you know right now. That’s a little bit unfair, isn’t it? That one, is deserving of nothing less than the love of God and eternal salvation. We got a lot of people being condemned in the world today. And I don’t care who that image is in your mind. That person was created in the image and likeness of God. And it is God’s desire for that person to spend eternity with him.
57. Get everything else out of your mind and spirit. It doesn’t change our frustrations sometimes. I’ve told you about my neighbor. And I’ve prayed. First prayer, God save him. That would be my preference. Second prayer, if not, God remove him. And third prayer, God if he can’t be removed, just take him home.
58. Now I try to stop myself before the third level there. Because that’s just not right. But my human spirit says God save him, move him or kill him. But it never fails that God comes back with, there’s only one choice. Save him. Save this vile, vile person. God help my heart.
59. Got a little bit off there. Number nine. Number eight. Oh, eight? I skip eight. Yeah, the promise of the Davidic Messiah. 2 Samuel 7. ‘I will raise up your offspring and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.’ So, God does promise an eternal king from David’s line. To my knowledge, he will not come from the line of van Deventer. He’s actually already come, so it’s too late. But the Messiah comes from one source. That’s important.
60. Number nine. And this is where things start to get a little bit murky for people. Matthew 1. ‘Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.’ So, Jesus becomes the fulfillment of both the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants.
61. Then ten, that turns its focus out to all nations. Galatians 3:14. ‘He redeemed us so that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles.’ Now, there’s no middle step in that, except the Messiah. So, anything that comes through the Messiah, is the inheritor of the promises of Abraham. So, through Christ, salvation extends globally.
62. But this does not mean, number 11, that God has rejected Israel. Did God reject his people, Paul asks? ‘By no means. God remains faithful to his covenant people.’ But his original covenant people were not made so to be the single covenant people, but to extend that relationship to all of the world. So, from the earliest chapters of Scripture, Israel emerges not just as a geographical nation but a people who were called and chosen and shaped for a divine purpose. God’s covenant with Abram, who became Abraham, is the beginning of that story.
63. We saw it. I’ll make you a great nation so that you can bless all the nations of the earth. Which had nothing to do with what Abraham deserved, but only to do with what God did in grace. So, Israel’s identity does not begin with power and place and prominence. But it begins with promise. Put that word in your brain. It’s all about God’s promise.
64. The story moves on. Israel is formed. It becomes the vessel through which God reveals his Law. God reveals his holiness. And most importantly, God reveals his plan of redemption. So, when the people of Israel get to Sinai, and the mountain rumbles, and the voices come out like thousands upon thousands, and God gives his commandments, he does not do it as a burden. Number one, thou shalt not. Number two, thou shalt not.
65. We focus on this form. But he did not give it as a burden for the people to carry. He gave it as a framework in which people could function as the covenant people of God. By the way, if that’s true of the Old Covenant, it’s that much more true of the New.
66. We are not people of the Law. We are people of the Spirit of the Law. So, God constantly calls Israel to remember their calling. It’s like God shouting out of heaven. I should have lots of echo right now on my microphone. ‘Be a light to the world.’ Be a witness to the one true God in a world that is filled with idols.
67. People of God, you are not called to a burden of the Law. You are called to be a witness to the one true God among all of the idols we live among. And then we see the struggle and failure. Time and time again, people turn away. Even within days and months of having been delivered from Egypt, Israel was going, ‘We were better back there.’ But listen to this. As consistent as their failure was, God’s faithfulness was just as consistent. Divine mercy. Let God’s people say, ‘Thank God.’
68. So ultimately, our ‘I’ for Israel today, to look at it in biblical history, finds its fulfillment in the coming of the Messiah. From the line of David, from the land of Israel, Jesus is born, the one in whom all of the promises of God find their yes and amen.
69. Jesus took the calling that was upon Israel and extended it to the world, fulfilling the original calling in every way. So, does Israel stand at the center of the biblical narrative? Yes. Is it still God’s plan to wrap his arms around them? And say come on home? Yes.
70. He’s probably going to have to find them from a lot of places in the earth. But he called them, chose them, used them, loved them and does so to this very day. But who they are, is extended to all of us. Because it’s never an end in itself.
71. We’re sitting in this church this morning. Probably for most of us because we have a certain high level of commitment to Jesus Christ. But in the same way that Israel was not an end in itself, we are not an end in ourselves. We have become the chosen instruments through which God reveals his character. And through which God accomplishes his purposes.
72. We can accept that challenge and that opportunity. Or we can suffer the loss for not engaging it as we should. But in understanding Israel’s place, this is the key. We come to see the faithfulness of God more clearly. He is a God who keeps his promises. He is a God who works through imperfect people. And he is a God who brings salvation to the world through his divine plan.
73. That is the true story of Israel. What God says, he will do, his promises are forever. And his Word is yes and amen. And God’s people can say. Amen.
74. Faithful God, unfailing love, we can always trust the wisdom of your ways.
75. Lord, we celebrate you as the faithful God. And Holy Spirit, I’m asking you to make this very personal in this moment. Lord, there are surely some in this room. who may bow their head and say in their honesty, ‘Lord, I’m still waiting for that promise. I’m still waiting to see your faithfulness.’
76. But, Lord, I’m declaring over this house today. Your Word is yes and amen. You have proven throughout all of history that what you say is true. What You declare, will come to pass. And the promises you make will be fulfilled. So, Holy Spirit, I pray that you dig that into every one of our spirits. So that, Lord, we would go from here ready for the days of head with one declaration, faithful God, faithful God, forever you are worthy. And so, Lord, we praise. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. Amen.
77. God bless you. Leave an offering in your tithes on the way out. It’s a gift to the Lord, not to us. I will not lie and say that we don’t need your help. We do. But our partnership is with the Lord. And he is faithful. Amen. Let’s have coffee upstairs and enjoy each other. God bless you.