Pastor Gail – Opening Prayer
1. Let us listen to the prayer. Father in the name of the Lord Jesus, we thank You. We praise You. This is the day You have made. We have never lived this day before, but we thank You that today, we get to live for You, and in the joy of who You are. Amen. Praise God. Would you stand with me? Water You turned into wine.
Pastor Gail – Reading the Word
1. There is no one like the Lord. We’re going to be reading from Luke 21, and we have Bibles around the room. We welcome our guests today. Amen, we’re glad to see you with us today. And I think it is so great to meet you this side of heaven. And just by way of advertisement, we encourage people to read from a paper Bible; it’s just that we have found that people don’t know where the books of the Bible are anymore, because they only use their phones. So, if you’d like a Bible there’s one on the chair next to you.
2. So, Luke 21:29-33, “He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Pastor Gail – Welcome
1. God, we worship You. I’m going to ask you, if you’re in this room and you know Jesus, look to the person to the right and to the left of you this morning, and just pray for that person, to really live in the promises of the Lord, for this hour in which we live in. The promise of the Lord, never fails. Can you just pray for that person to the right or to the left of you, amen, in the name of the Lord.
2. Father in the name of the Lord Jesus, I pray for Stavros today, I believe that You are a great God, like no one else. We believe today, that Your promises never fail, Lord. We believe that You are here with us Lord, and that You will perform bigger things than we expect tom see. And God, we believe Lord, the best is yet to come, because, God, You are already in our tomorrows, you are already in the rest of our today. And we praise and thank You Lord, for what You are doing, almighty God.
3. Now greet that person with a handshake and say that you are glad that they are here today next to you. Let’s just worship for a few more minutes. All of our gathering is worship, whether it’s a sermon or it’s a song and an offering is worship.
Pastor Gail – Announcements
1. Amen, let’s clap our hands, let’s not be afraid. We believe in the same God. We might be a little louder than you, but that’s OK, I just want to shout louder for Jesus at the football. I always find it very interesting that people can get so excited – be the real you at a football game, when it’s a piece of leather with a bunch of air inside. We’re always just so hesitant, to let the whole world know how much we love Jesus. How many believe He is a great God? Amen, that’s good.
2. We’re so glad that the Praying Pelicans are with us today. This is an interesting time here in Greece today, we have you, and we have people from Bethlehem Bible College, that are here today. It’s just a lot of people who have come to visit Greece today and we love it. Really quickly, before we make announcements this morning, then receive an offering from the Lord. I know those with Anton will hear this, but a lot of people don’t realize that we are basically an unevangelized country, since the time of the apostle Paul. We’ve never had a great awakening, the reformation with Martin Luther never touched Greece. So, we want to tell you, who are visiting with us today, wherever you place your feet, you’re taking this land, for Jesus Christ, Amen. So, we’re so glad you’re here today, amen.
3. We want to share the announcements this morning. Next week, is going to be a really great week, because it begins Holy Week next Sunday, of course it’s Palm Sunday. We are going to be having worship and a time of fellowship upstairs; we’ll all be upstairs. We want the whole community to see us worshipping the Lord. So, please plan to be here, all the Glyfadiotis. And please speak with Leto, she has a form for you to fill out what you would bring next Sunday
For the rest of the announcements please watch the video.
Billy – Main Message
1. Well, we’re going to speak about David. And I think there are roughly 54 chapters in the Bible about David’s life, and he’s written at least 73 psalms. So, it’s going to be a long sermon. We won’t read all of it. So, don’t worry too much.
2. For those of you who are not usually here, we have had a season speaking about the Holy Spirit, and in the last few weeks, we have looked at different characters, in the Old Testament and how the Holy Spirit was at work in them and through them.
3. I’m not going to try to talk about everything that happened to David. You can read that for yourselves from 1 & 2 Samuel and into Kings as well. I’m going to quickly look at 3 different things, that are important in his life. And Eva-Lena is going to look at one aspect that is very important and blesses us a lot, in even in these days.
4. The first thing I want to say is that ‘David was a man after God’s heart.’ Last week, we heard about the first king of Israel, that was anointed and appointed, whose name was Saul. And it says about him that he failed and did not keep the Lord’s commands. So, the prophet Samuel received the task to look for and anoint a new king of Israel. The Lord led him to a family with many sons. I guess at least 8 sons.
5. So, he went there and asked the father to bring the sons to him, to see who the Lord had chosen. This is what the Lord said when Saul was still in the picture, and the Lord gave this message through Samuel to Saul, 1 Samuel 13:14, “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
6. A man after God’s heart. What does that mean? Does it mean that he was perfect? In the last few weeks, we’ve looked at some people that turned out to be that good actually. All the people in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, were ordinary people. They did many good things but also did some very bad things. And we can learn from the good, but we can also learn from the bad things they did.
7. But they were important for the history of God’s dealing with mankind, and in the story of salvation. The Lord blessed David and he had victories wherever he went. Many of us remember the story of him defeating Goliath, the giant. He was extremely successful. He was a king after God’s own heart.
8. He brought back the ark to Jerusalem. He celebrated the victory. But one thing I think we can learn, is in victory we are often vulnerable. David was not on his guard. He saw a beautiful woman, that was married. But he called for her, and he actually slept with her. She became pregnant. This was a problem, and he solved it in a terrible way. He arranged to have her husband killed.
9. Is this a man after God’s own heart? It doesn’t look like it. But remember he was an ordinary person. But I believe he had something with his heart. He had a soft heart. And in the midst of all these terrible things that happened, he repented, with the help of a prophet. And he cried out, “Create in me a clean heart Oh God. Do not cast me from your presence oh God. Don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:10-12).
10. He talked about a broken spirit. He said, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away. For day and night, Your hand was heavy upon me.” (Psalm 32). He was a man that was touched by God’s Spirit. He turned to God. He had tasted what it meant to have the Spirit in his life, and he couldn’t face living without God’s Spirit in his life. So, in the midst of messing up more than we can even imagine, he repented, turned to God, and God forgave him.
11. Let’s look at a second thing. Anointing, because we are talking about the Holy Spirit. So, Samuel the prophet was supposed anoint a new king. And the Lord led him to Jesse, and asked him to bring out his sons. So, he brought his 7 sons, to see if one of them would be the one that God had chosen. Probably a bit like Saul, we heard about last week, tall, strong guy, like Stavros, but he wasn’t one of those that the Lord had chosen. Samuel probably got a bit confused, and he asked, ‘Do you have any more sons?’ And it turned out that the youngest was out watching the sheep in the fields. The one that was easy to forget about. But Samuel asked them to bring him.
12. He was probably not as impressive physically. A young boy. But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t look at the outward appearances.’ God looks at the heart. And then it says here in 1 Samuel 16:13, “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.”
13. The Spirit came powerfully on David. The young boy that they didn’t even bother to bring in. But God saw his good heart, and he had skills, he had gifts. And the Spirit came upon him, and he was anointed to be the king. He was anointed for that purpose, but we see that it spills over in his whole life. He was successful as a warrior; he sang and made music; he prophesied and even had power over evil spirits. And this was recognized, and later he was crowned as king by the people.
14. During this time, as he was waiting to be appointed for what he had already been anointed for, he remained faithful to Saul, eve34n as Saul tried to kill him several times. So, the anointing, to be king, to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, was a key moment in David’s life.
15. The third thing. There are many more that could be said. You know about the Covenants? And we are thinking about the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, promises that God gave, that would be fulfilled through their seed.
16. Through the prophet Nathan, the Lord speaks to David, and says, ‘Your house and your kingdom, will endure forever before me and your throne will be established forever.’ This is a covenant where God promises a descendent of David to reign on the throne over the people of God. This happened as David was coming towards the end of his life and there were many who were trying to get the power to rule and reign in Israel.
17. So, this was a promise for his son, but it was also a promise which went much further, a promise that we are included in today. God promises David that the Messiah would come from his house, to establish a kingdom which would endure forever.
18. What began as a promise that Solomon, David’s son, would be blessed, and build a temple, since the Lord did not allow David to build the temple, as a consequence, because he had blood on his hands. But this promise about Solomon, reaches all the way down to Jesus. Another Son of David would rule forever and build a house that will last forever. And Matthew calls Jesus the son of David, and we can trace the family tree back through His mother Mary, to David.
19. So, David’s life had a huge significance as part of God’s wonderful salvation plan, and it was made possible through his anointing by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. It didn’t make him perfect, sinless, but it changed him and took his natural strength and his heart after God, and enabled him to do God’s work. Amen.
Eva-Lena – Continuation of Main Message
1. Well, David was a remarkable man in many, many ways. And I think that people who are not believers would have heard about king David. But I think the one thing that was the most remarkable about David was his relationship with God. And the interesting thing is, I think David is the one person in the Bible that we can get to know the best.
2. By reading about him in the books of Samuel and the Kings, but more so in the book of Psalms; it’s like we are invited into David’s heart. And then we don’t just see the good days, we can see everything that goes on with David. We do see through all these things that David was a person who worshipped God. And maybe God allowed us to be so much invited into David’s life, because our first calling is to worship God, and He wants us to learn what that is like. There are many things we can learn about worship by learning about David.
3. But before we go into David, I just want us to establish what is worship. Sometimes we may think that worship is just singing songs. But it is not. It’s much more than that. I found a definition of what worship is like, I’m sure you can define it in so many other ways. But here is a trial on how to do it. ‘Worship is a continual attitude of bowing down in reverence and humility before the supreme Lord and Creator of the universe.’ And ‘Worship is the heartbeat of the believer’s existence, a lifelong celebration of the worthiness of God.’
4. And, ‘To Worship is to respond with one’s whole being, in adoration, exaltation, humble submission, and obedience to God.’ In other words, worship is about our whole life. It’s about our heart attitude, it’s about our actions, it’s about our goals, and of course about our understanding of God.
5. I think, with David, we can see that this was true. We can see worship in David’s life in so many ways. And we can see that worship was important to David throughout his whole life. All the time, from when he was a little boy, tending his sheep, and when he was not chasing away a lion and a bear, it says that he sat out, brought out his instrument, and worshipped God; he sang to God.
6. It was not that he went to a special time, when he went through a worship time. He did it as part of his daily life. And we can see, that as he grew up, when he became a young man, he still kept on doing this. And other people must have heard about this because somebody told king Saul. You know, Saul was troubled. He probably was struggling with mental illness, but it also says that he was suppressed by evil spirits. Somebody said to Saul, ’Get this boy, he sings. Maybe that will help you out.’
7. And David came to the palace and he sang, and Saul could see that this heaviness, the depression, the oppression of the evil spirit left. It looked like the whole atmosphere in the room changed when David sang. And to Saul, these may just have been beautiful songs, but to David, it was worship to God.
8. And I believe that it is so true for worship, that when we worship God, we invite God’s presence to come. It does not just change the atmosphere, it changes us, because we get to meet with God.
9. You know the story that Billy mentioned briefly when David went out to meet the giant, Goliath. I’m sure that when David was standing there in front of the giant, he knew, I’m small, you are big, you have lots of weapon and armor, I have none of that, I just have a sling and some stones; he was aware of that. A huge power difference here. But he was more aware of the other One who was there, it was the King, the God of Israel. And when David spoke to Goliath, he said, ‘Who are you to speak against the Lord of Israel, the greatest One, the One who has said He is the God of Israel? I will beat you with God’s help.’
10. But not only that, he spoke in a way that spoke out his worship. He declared who God was. Through his actions. He also showed and worshipped God, he showed that what I say, is that God is the greatest. He is trustworthy. I believe it. I’m risking my life in saying that I believe that God is trustworthy, and He is going to deliver us. And trusting God through our words, but also through our actions, we’re worshipping God.
11. We can also see through the rest of David’s life, that he kept on meeting all kinds of enemies. Many challenges and disappointments. Th prophet Samuel had anointed him to be king one day, but right now he was running around in a field trying to just survive. We can see in the Psalms, that some days, he is so frustrated about this. He’s afraid, he’s angry, sometimes he feels that God has totally deserted him.
12. The interesting thing is, that when he has gone on like that for a bit, he brings it back and he says, ‘I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that my deliverer is going to deliver me. I know that God is trustworthy. I know that I can trust that the promises He has given will come to pass.’ David shows, to praise God, even when life did not always turn out as he had hoped for.
13. Another thing that we can see in the Psalms, is that, David talked to God a lot. It was not only that he told Him all the things that were happening in his life, he also says, ‘God teach me Your ways. Let me understand Your ideas, Your thoughts, Your plans. Tell me so that I can follow them.’ And God answered him. Because worship gives us this possibility and opportunity, not only to share our hearts with God, but for Him to speak to us.
14. We know, each one of us, that there are things that we need to know from God. Sometimes, it is guidance. It is to know what to do next. Sometimes, there are just questions, where we need to have some answers to some things. And sometimes, we just need to hear that He loves us. That He cares for us. And I think that when God speaks to us, we know that many, many times He speaks to us personally, but many times He speaks to us about things that concern others as well and maybe even the church. So, worship and even the whole thing with the prophetic, with prophecy with God speaking to us, it goes so closely together.
15. There were many places in the Bible where we see how David worshipped God. He was a very expressive sort of person. A bit like pastor Gail. He was singing, he was dancing, he was leaping and sometimes he was falling down on the ground on his face.
16. There is one special time where you can really read about it, and it was when they were bringing back the ark to Jerusalem. Then he was really going for it. He was singing, he was dancing, and he was even not dressed properly, but he was so excited. But is says that in a house, in a window, his wife saw him, and she did not like what she saw. She was embarrassed, I think. She was irritated and angry, and she mocked him.
17. I think there are some interesting things we can learn from this story. One thing that I think, is that actually God cared and was pleased with what David was doing and even though he was behaving a bit strangely. Because He knew that it just came out of David’s love and excitement about God. But we also see that God saw Michal, and He was angry, and He actually punished her. And it says that she became barren and she had no children, in the rest of her life.
18. There is something we can learn from that too, we have the freedom to express our worship, in any way we want, as long as it comes from our hearts. But we also need to respect the way other people choose to do it. And I think this is an area where we can trip easily. In our excitement about having found our own way, how we can express ourselves freely to God, this little thing can sneak in, that this is best or right way to do it and that everybody else has not got it right. But you know, when we do that. it is actually pride coming into our hearts. And we know that pride is a sin. And basically, it ruins our worship. Because we cannot worship anymore with a pure heart.
19. And finally, we can that David kept on having this attitude of worship towards God throughout his whole life. He kept on talking about God’s faithfulness. Reminded the others how God had kept His covenant. He left a huge treasure of the Psalms, the songs he had been writing. He helped to prepare the building of the temple, which was a place of worship. And again, I think there is something we can learn here, to pass on our love for God, our love for worship, to those who come after us. And maybe not only to those who come after us, but those who are here, who don’t maybe yet know and understand and have experience so much of God yet.
20. David was a man who worshipped God. Let us be men and women, people who worship God too.
Billy Hellmark – Closing off the Main Message
21. Yeah, well, I’m not going to say much more. But what can we learn from David? It was a very condensed version of his life. Well, David was not perfect. He actually sinned gravelly, but he had a tender heart. A man after God’s own heart, and it is a treasure for us to have the Psalms that he wrote. From the good days, from the bad days, from the really terrible days he poured out his heart to God. He was not from an important background; he did not have an impressive stature. But God saw his heart.
22. So, for us today, God is still looking for people that He can anoint, that He can pour His Spirit upon, to serve Him, to live for Him and today, it is not just a few that are equipped in this way. As followers of Jesus, He wants to bless all of us with power, with wisdom, all that He has for us. Equip us. We can learn from David, even when we fail. We can allow our hearts to be soft, to repent, to turn to Him. There’s always a way back. David was restored and the Spirit was not taken from him.
23. So, let us be people of God’s heart. We have a choice, choosing whatever is on our heart that is selfish is not of God. Maybe very attractive, but let’s have a heart after God, and let us reach out for the anointing of God. David was an unlikely candidate to have this role, in his kingdom, in God’s Kingdom. And most of us are as well. Who would choose us? Maybe a few of you think that you should be chosen. But most of us would be that person that was forgotten, that was not even called. But God is looking for us.
24. So, let’s pray and take communion in a few moments. Let us just commit ourselves to God. Lord, we want to be people of Your heart, that have tender hearts, that would search for You, that would desire to have Your Spirit in our hearts, and to desire for the Spirit to never depart from us. Come and fill us with Your power. Help us every day to turn to You, and not think that we can do it by ourselves. But give us all that we need to serve You in the way that You have called us to. Touch our hearts, Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Pastor Gail – Communion
1. We’re getting ready to do something extremely wonderful. We are going to share the amazing victory of Jesus together. For those of us who have asked Jesus into our lives, today, I think we can have this image of a huge table, where He invites us to sit together, and to celebrate. We’re not worthy, but the love of God is so amazing, so rich, that whatever we’ve done with our lives before this moment, when we ask Him to come in, and forgive us, it’s all washed away.
2. It’s not remembered anymore. I love that so much, don’t you? I can go and ask Him, ‘Do You remember when I was mad this morning?’ ‘I don’t remember that!’ He is so much greater than we are. I remember, but He doesn’t. What a wonderful picture, I don’t know most of you today, but because we share the life of Jesus, we sit at the table of victory together. We sit at the table of life forever more together.
3. I’m going to ask everybody to stand. We’re going to sing a song, and as we do, we’re going to passing out the elements of communion, and you will take and hold them all together, and we will take communion together today, alright? Amen.
4. You know how you get grape juice or wine, you have to crush it, don’t you? And sometimes we feel like our lives have been crushed. But when we give it to Jesus, He makes it into new wine. Amen.
5. In Luke 22, the Lord Jesus, this is the night before He is going to go to the cross. He is sitting with His disciples, those that have chosen to follow Him, and again today, if you’re here and you haven’t decided to follow Jesus, you can decide right now, invite Him in. As we share this cup and this meal together.
6. Luke 22:14-18,20, “When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the Kingdom of God. After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes… In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
7. It’s a New Covenant. You and I don’t have to work anymore and labor to be accepted by Him. Isn’t that beautiful? He did it for us. I’m so glad, because I couldn’t have done all those things. But today, as we lift up the cup of His blood, representing His blood. Amen. I live under a New Covenant; the Son of God has set me free. Amen, we are free. In the name of Jesus, we’re free, because of what He did for us. It is not a sad thing this morning. It is a joyful victorious thing, isn’t it? Hallelujah, right now I celebrate with you, we’re set free. Let’s take and drink.
For the rest of the communion, watch the video.
1. As we’re closing and your free to go up for coffee if you want. But before, if there is anyone who wants to pray this morning. Yesterday, I heard a report about my son. The doctors say that his entire skeletal frame, is disintegrating, and there’s nothing they can do about it. But I know a man, His name is Jesus. I know somebody that carried the weight of the world, and I believe that God can do what doctors cannot do. If you’re here in this room today, and you have someone you love or someone you know, that the report is, there is nothing they can do or it seems difficult. We want to believe together, Amen, that God can do the impossible. Hallelujah. So, as we sing this one more time, tell Him, ‘God, for You are great. You do miracles so great. There is no one else like You.’ My son is going to be healed. In the name of the Lord, I tell Jesus, I believe in Him.