Pastor Gail – Opening Prayer
1. Amen. Please remain standing, for the Word of God. Like I say every week, in August, I’m always excited to see who I’m going to see in Church. So, it’s always a surprise, every week, people I’ve not seen before, it’s so good to see you today. Amen, so, we’re so glad to be here to worship the Lord and I just want to say, it’s so good to see Leonardo and Carla. The baby, when is the baby coming, soon? Two months, you still have two months. Well, we’ll keep praying.
2. If you will turn to your Bibles, and if you don’t have a Bible, we do have some paper, Bibles. The book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. Malachi 4. I don’t know about you, but these days, especially with the threat that Iran was going to bomb and Israel was going to bomb. So, my mind has been thinking a lot about the days in which we live. So, every day I’ve been looking a little more at different passages in the Bible. Malachi 4:1-3, “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.”
3. Lord, we live in a very unusual time and I’m just thankful that we can come today and celebrate that You are Lord, no matter what is happening in the world. Lord, things might be crazy on the earth, but we know when we read Your Word, when we listen to You Lord, we know oh Lord that You are at work. And Lord, You’re calling us, to know that surely we are Your treasured possession. Lord, You’re going to rise with healings and blessings such as we have never known. No matter what is happening around us, God, we are sure, that You will take care of us, that You win. Lord, You are looking for a people, that draw nearer to You. Lord, for just a moment we want to pray for the situation in the Middle East. Oh God, we pray for the families, there’s been more deaths. Sometimes it’s hard to understand. We pray for the mothers and fathers who have lost children in the past weeks. When we pray for the Ukraine and Russia situation. Lord, there are many there that have to say goodbye to loved ones, but today we want to say thank you Lord, there’s coming a day, oh Lord when we will see You face-to-face and all the sorrows and the wars and the difficulties will be gone. We than You Lord that You love us through it all. You are worthy. Oh Lord, hallelujah, You’re fighting for Your children today. Lord, reveal Yourself to many, God. Thank You Lord.
4. He’s a good, good God, Amen. You may be seated. I’m really excited today. Stavros is preaching today. And Vassili is with us today as translator. Come Vassili. We’re so excited, well I am.
Stavros – Main message
1. Good morning again. The Lord is good. And the people, say what? Amen. Always. I’ll say it again, the Lord is good, all the time. Indeed, what can we say about this God? We heard these hymns, which said everything. The Lord is good, and He continues to be good. He has shown us His goodness in many and various ways. Hallelujah, I thank You heavenly Father.
2. Each and everyone of us has his own way of seeing God’s goodness. Each one of us has his own character. He has his own eyes of the heart and is able to see the goodness of God. Whatever you see, I may not see. But the from the moment you feel right with God, then it is real, it is a reality.
3. We see His beauty everywhere. In the blue sky, in the sea, in the forest, in the mountains and even going down to the smallest of things, we can see the beauty of God. We can glorify Him for everything that He has created on earth. Sometimes we have a good time, and we say, ‘Yes, the Lord is good.’ At other times we go through hard times, situations are difficult, however, if we open our eyes, we’ll see that even then, the Lord is good.
4. The Lord is just. I don’t know of any other way we can describe God. We say that He is a God of love. I say, He is a good God. I believe that He loves us due to His goodness. Others say, He is good because He loves us. But the Lord is good. Always.
5. Lord, You have given us so many good things to enjoy on this earth. Not only the things seen, but also the things we can experience, and the things we can live out. You have given us joy. But one thing above all, that You require of us, simply to be humble in Your sight. To give our hearts to You, Lord God. And, You never stop asking us for our hearts, so that You can hold them in Your hands.
6. So, no matter what situation we find ourselves in, You always ask us for our heart. You are always present, to say to us, ‘I love you My child.’ ‘Yes, heavenly Father, but I have made so many mistakes in my life. Many times, I have disappointed You. Many times, I have not done Your will. But You, oh Lord, continue to knock on the door of our hearts.’ ‘My child come close to me. Open your heart, and allow Me to enter. Allow Me to work with you. Allow Me to work in your heart.’
7. It doesn’t matter how many times we have disappointed the Lord. He persists again and again. He brings us to the point where we are ashamed for the things we have done. And in this way, He allows us to open up to Him, to ask for forgiveness, so that, that something inside of us may change. It doesn’t matter how big the change will be. He knows our hearts; He knows our characters and even if a small thing is fixed in our hearts, it will be a big victory for us. It will give us the strength to continue our lives.
8. Thank You heavenly Father that You never quit the battle. I thank You Lord God, that You always care about me. It makes no difference from which country I come from, it doesn’t matter where I am now, the only thing You require is my heart, to touch it, so that I may become good the way You are. And believe me, we still have a long way to go, to reach heaven. Our hearts have many things that need to change. But He is patient. He is good. And He continues to build our hearts, stone upon stone.
9. Do not lose heart. Don’t allow the enemy to keep you back, to keep you away from the Lord. It may be the same problem – the same prayer. Lord God, I repent. I want to be with You Lord. And He is there, ready to forgive. And at the appropriate moment, He will give us the strength to overcome this obstacle. To have the strength, so that in our turn to help others.
10. This is the God in whom we believe; this is the good God. And believe me, each one of us, has many and varied things to see in God. Each one has different experiences with God. However, all these things come out of the goodness of God. God is good. Keep moving forward and all together, we can give glory to God, to become good, to become kind, and to work for His glory. The Lord is good. He is always good. Praised be the name of the Lord. Thank you, pastor Gail. The hymns that we sang, said it all. There is nothing that I can add, genuinely.
Pastor Gail
1. Stavro, I actually had the same thing. It was interesting when you got up here. People in the room might have thought that we talked about your sermon. And we didn’t. We didn’t talk at all. We did not. Stavros is just stepping out. He’ll be preaching for us some, and you got a… you know. So, I thought, ‘Just let him whatever God tells him to speak, I’ll not going to worry about it.’ And not all of you were here, but at the beginning, I was just talking about the sky and the sea, and talking about what God had given us. And then Stavros started talking about the same thing. The theme this morning, we didn’t talk about it, but the theme is the same. God is good, all the time. All the time, Amen.
2. You know, there’s a lot of sickness in the world, because, instead of thinking of the goodness of God, in a bad situation, we look at the situation. And when we look at the bad things, it’s like taking poison into our body. When someone hurts us, and we think about the hurt and concentrate on the hurt, rather than thinking about God understands it all, He understands why my hearts hurts, so I’m going to look to Him. He’s good. And He’s wanting us to be whole and healthy and strong and full of joy, Amen.
3. This morning, as I sat on my balcony, having an early time with the Lord, and I haven’t seen my father-in-law in a long time, and you don’t know, but he died yesterday. As I looked out at the sea this morning, I just thought, how great, how great that now he’s walking in a most beautiful place. I think the sea is beautiful, but he is now forever walking in beauty, in beauty, Amen. And for all of us, maybe what the Lord is wanting to say to us today, ‘Trade all the ashes, all the dirt in your life, all the hurts, let it go.’ Let it go, because He has prepared for us, a place where there’s no more night, where it’s bright and shining always, where we never get sick again, and we are never separated from those we love ever again.
4. And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of feeling bad. I don’t like feeling angry. Do you? I don’t like thinking about how you hurt me. For some reason, the devil keeps us in that cycle. But at the foot of the cross, when I remember, what He did for me, Hallelujah, I think the song is so powerful, Hallelujah, He did it all, He paid it all. So, Stavro, it’s true, God is good, all the time. All the time, every moment. Don’t give the devil room, Hallelujah, to be sick, to be worried, to be angry. Don’t give the enemy room, but instead, give God the glory. Give God all the glory, Amen. Because heaven is a wonderful place. Heaven, it’s filled with the glory about God.
5. So, I don’t know if you need prayer today, but George can you put up that song, ‘At the foot of the cross,’ we’re going to sing that again. And you know, you don’t really need me or pastor Brian, Stavro or Leto, you don’t need to lay hands on you, or Anton. You don’t need that. It’s wonderful. It kind of signifies we agree. You know it’s wonderful that we do that. But you don’t need it. Right now, as we’re singing, as we’re getting ready to sing this hymn, if you have a need, or some ashes, in your lives, that you just want to blow away. Just blow them away. Because, at the cross every victory was won, Amen. And if you want to grab somebody’s hand, and say, ‘Help me blow them away.’ Because, ‘Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.’ (John 8:36)
6. Do you see the crown on each other? I think we need to see that. Vassili, you’re wearing a crown, Hallelujah. Leto, you’re wearing a crown. I’m wearing a crown today, Hallelujah. He took all the junk and washed it away. Amen, and He gave me the most beautiful crown. Rebecca, you’re wearing a crown, today.
7. You know, somebody might say, ‘Boy, service is short today.’ It has nothing to do with the length of the service. It doesn’t matter if it’s long or short. What it is, is that we have come into the presence of the Lord. Amen. Cecilia, I see a crown! Mohammed, I see your crown. Lars, I see your crown. Hallelujah. So, I want to challenge you, when the enemy tries to throw ashes on you, reach up, touch your crown. I’ve traded my ashes for a crown.
8. So, Father, we thank You in the name of the Lord, Amen and Amen. In the name of Jesus, we have the victory, Amen. God bless you. You’re dismissed.