Pastor Gail – Introduction and prayer
1. Good morning. We’re glad for those of you who are here. Is it raining more outside? Well, praise the Lord. He is a good, good God, Amen. And we are so honored to gather in His name. No matter the weather. You know, in the presence of God there is just wonderful joy.
2. This past week, I was reading about heaven in the book of Revelation. And I’m reminded of it today, because there is no night there, the streets where the gold is so pure, you can see through it. It’s just so amazing. And there is never any night; there will be clouds, and there won’t be any rain. Although there are going to be trees, that every single month will have a different fruit on them. Heaven is going to be amazing, isn’t it? It’s going to be so wonderful.
3. So, today we draw our strength from Him. Because, whatever is going on around us, oh goodness, if we look to Him, we have strength. Amen. Let’s worship. Would you like to stand.
4. Please remain standing for the reading of the Word. If you’d like to take a Bible, we have Bibles all around the room. We’re trying to encourage people to begin to read in their paper Bible again. So, that they can remember where the books of the Bible are.
5. Philippians 4, we are going to read two sections today. Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
6. 2 Corinthians 4:15-16, “All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
7. Let’s give the Lord a praise. Let’s pray together, Amen. Father in the name of the Lord, Jesus, Hallelujah, we thank You Father, though outwardly our bodies may grow weary, and tired Lord, and we may age God, but as we keep our eyes on You, the strength of who You are, it will rise in us God. We wait on You; we love You Lord. Lord, we thank You for who You are, that You delight to bless Your children, Lord. Let’s lift our voices to the Lord. We lift our voice to You today, we thank You for who You are, God. Lord, we think on what is lovely Lord, what is glorious and beautiful, God. We give You praise, in the name of Jesus, Lord, Hallelujah. There is no one like You, God. We come to You, our Rock. We come to You, the Lord, that intercedes for us in the name of Jesus, Lord. Thank You so much. In the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. Amen.
8. Greet someone who made it in the rain today. Turn to someone and say, ‘I’m so glad you made it in the rain today.’ We are glad for those of you that are online.
9. And as they continue to pray, I want us to pray for Greece. For a great awakening. And I want us to pray for the wars that continue, Ukraine, Russia, Palestine, Israel. We want to pray for these things. The heart of the Lord, is that we would know that we are His Body, all around the world, Amen. So, we need to have a heart for them. Our brothers and sisters in various areas are suffering. Today we wait for a great awakening in the name of the Lord. God, we pray that this land, oh Lord, praise You. Praise the Lord God, from Whom all blessings come.
10. We praise You, oh Lord. We pray, God, that there will be such presence, the trees of the field will clap their hands, oh Lord, oh Lord the land will go oh God, that there are saints here Lord, that they carry Your Name Lord. You ae the Savior of mankind, oh Lord. You are the Way-maker God. We praise You, we give You glory oh God, for the soldiers who know You in Russia and Ukraine, on both sides, oh God. That Lord, they will even call on Your Name, and trust You God, in a very dark time for them Lord. Help us to carry the weight of that to You Lord.
11. Oh God, for Israel, in Palestine, in the Palestinian area, for Gaza and for Lebanon Lord, for Sudan God. Lord, we pray, oh God, Hallelujah, Your glory and Your answers, God, for You alone God are the great God, that can help. We give You praise in the name of the Lord. Amen.
12. You may be seated. It’s good to be with you today. I wasn’t here last week and I missed you, but I thought of you a lot. I actually would not normally do this, but I feel like it’s important to us to all be on the same page. Some of you know that I was invited to the apostolic, prophetic counsel, and I would say that probably the most well-known prophetic voices in the world were there. But yesterday, they issued a warning and it’s the first time in 22 years that they have been together, so it means that it’s quite serious.
13. I won’t say any names, but there was a prophetic word that went out, that there’s going to be fire and blood and nations are going to be destroyed, and that it is the judgement of God. But I was very thankful, and you can see the rebuttal of the prophetic counsel on Youtube, because they declared, yes, sometimes the Lord gives us a hard word; we know that there are some hard prophecies in the Bible, we know that. But they always come with the open arms of the Lord – and ‘if you’ll just come to Me, I will take care of you.’ There’s always a place for repentance.
14. I really want to share this today, because in that word that’s going out all over Youtube, that there is no call, it’s just going to happen, give up, the world is going to be destroyed, and that’s not of God. So, if you see it, go to the other site, where the prophets declare that can’t be the voice of the Lord. OK. Amen. We live in an age where we must be very wise before the Lord. Amen.
15. So, we’re very glad you’re here, and we want to share a few quick announcements with you. We want to remind you, the first Sunday of December, that advent begins. Every Sunday we will have a special Christmas devotional, and of course, we will have more announcements in December, but be sure to mark it on your calendars, the 15th is our Candle Light Service in the evening, Sunday evening.
16. And we’ve been trying to have, not an American thanksgiving, but a thanksgiving time together, because it’s such a beautiful thought to share thanks together. So, December first, plan to stay after, we’ll have a very special thanksgiving coffee together.
17. Don’t forget our regular services, Wednesday nights we have prayer and Bible study.
18. Our special guest today. I think we’ve known each other since the early nineties. The first time we may have met at a family retreat, in Boula, and I just loved Anna and her smile immediately.
19. Anna Hadziliadis is married to Xenophon Hadziliadis, they pastor on the other side of Athens. We’re very honored that Anna is with us today. She, I’ll tell you yes, she is a coach, if you need a coach. The Lord has directed her, and I’m going to promote her, for a minute. It’s a little different in Greek, but it’s an amazing thing if you need help with your business, with your career. She is amazing; God is anointing her to do this.
20. Jolene, I think I’ve known you since the eighties. I want to welcome Jolene who is with us today, because I’ve known her probably longer, except for Leto, than anyone in this room, and we’re honored that you are here today, Jolene.
21. And Ilias, I have to thank you. He is, I love our translators, but Ilias you have an anointing. If I can steal you from Anna and Xenophon, we would steal you. Now, turn to somebody else and say, ‘You’re special too.’ So, I’d like to welcome Anna. Praise God.
Anna Hadziliadi – Main Message
1. Good morning. Oh my God, it is good to be on the other side of town. It is truly a joy. Where do we begin? God is so good. Let’s just start, come on lift up your hands. Jesus, we love You and we thank You, for Your presence here. I know that I know that I know, that You are in the midst of us. Hallelujah, and where You are there is freedom. And we will continue to enjoy the freedom in this place. We bless You Holy Spirit, our teacher, our guide, the coach of all coaches, You are. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.
2. Oh Hallelujah, I do want to honor the leadership of the house here, and though we’ve been friends for years and years, it is such an honor to come along side other leaders and build for the glory of God. So, thank you pastor Gail, thank you pastor Brian. And I do want to thank my dear sister, Eugenia, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here, so, thank you for just coming along side.
3. You know, not only have we been friends with pastor Gail, and having been working together, in ‘Beautiful’, but I’m also a graduate of the Vision International University. On February 2019, with a Master’s Degree in Leadership, yeah, that’s something to be proud about. And actually, it was during that time when I started to sense a real shift happening in my life, in the way I do ministry, and in my role in the Kingdom of God, and I understood, that even if though my purpose and anointing remain the same, the method was changing.
4. So, to cut a long story short, I found myself graduating from the Global Academy of coaches, which is also here in Greece, in 2020 and then got certified as a professional coach in 2022 by ICF (International Coaching Federation), which is global.
5. So, when you’ve been serving in the ministry for 30+ years, and then you transition from ministry to industry, you better know it is God, and it’s not circumstances and it’s not challenges from other people, you know, it must be God. And this is what I’d like to share with you today.
6. A message brought to you from a heart of someone that loves God, serves as a minister, and guides as a coach, just offering you some encouragement that I’ve learned, just walking with Him, the Holy Spirit, the Coach of all coaches.
7. Are you ready? Can you tell your neighbor, ‘Are you ready for the black lady?’ I’m very proud of my origin, I’m actually Ethiopian, part Greek and part Ethiopian. So, are you ready for me?
8. If you take notes it’s called, ‘The Secret Place’. Yes, that’s the place where we discover purpose, and living with a vision. Why is it so important to discover your purpose, and living with a vision that is around your purpose? Why is that such a big deal? Because time is short. Tell your neighbor, time ‘Tick tock, tick, tock, tick tock.’
9. You know, even though we’re eternal beings, and we came out of an eternal God, we have been put here on earth. As eternal beings, in a space of something called time. You know, the average person, it is said, lives about 70-80 years. So, God eternal gave you a suit called the ‘Body’, and placed you here on earth, and He said that, ‘You’re going to be here for an average of 70-80 years.’
10. Why? What in the world am I doing here? I want you to imagine, that this right here (a tape measure of about a meter long), is your 70-80 years. So, if maybe, you’ve lived 20 years (and we shorten the tape appropriately), can you think when we were 20 years old, we used to say, ‘Ah, we’ve got time now come on.’ But if you’ve lived 40 years (again shortening the tape measure accordingly to its half-length), or 50 years, 60, 70, wow, only a little length remains on the tape measure. This is getting serious now.
11. No time to waste, because life is short. And the only One who knows why you are here, is the One who created you; from whom we come. Mant times we look into ourselves and we look into the world around us, ‘Why am I here?’ People spend thousands and thousands of dollars in seminars, trying to figure out, why am I here, but only He knows, because He created and shaped you. And you will find Him at the ‘Secret Place.’
12. Because that is the place of intimacy. That is your home. It is a place that you create. It’s a space; it might be a corner in your room, it might be in the balcony, it might be in kitchen. But there is a spot, a place. It’s a dedicated place, it’s where you go and meet up with Him. Where you lay down every distraction, which is hard. If we are going to be real, it is so hard, with so much noise, going around us in our lives and in our brains and our minds. But there is that place, where you can connect with Him. That is the place where we are given His purpose. It is a space where we are ever so honest, that we meet Him heart-to-heart, looking for that deep connection with Him.
13. Matthew 6:6 says, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” I have to stress how tough it is to not be distracted in that quiet place. But it is possible, because right there, is where purpose is discovered. Where He reveals His identity to you, and your identity, how He sees you. And how He sees you in His specific plans.
14. In Ephesians 1:17 says, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” Because you know, this daily time with Him, grounds us on who we are in His eyes, what makes us unique and who we are called to be. You are more; much more than your circumstances.
15. One day, when I was spending time with Him, I saw this picture; you know the story of Cinderella, she was the ‘servant girl’ when her step mother and her step sisters, were living up in the palace, she did all the dirty work, cleaning. And here I am spending time with the Holy One, and I see this picture, and He says to me, ‘Why are you the servant girl? Why are you not up in the palace?’ I thought, ‘Huh?’ And then I realized what He was saying. He was saying, ‘You’ve been abusing yourself. You’ve been treating yourself as if you As slave girl, when you should have been a princess. Come on up.’
16. Liza Dever says, ‘True intimacy with God always reveals something of who we are in Him.’ It’s so important to see how He sees us, not how our mothers saw us, our fathers, our siblings, our boss, our friends, but how He sees you. And then align yourself, living for purpose.
17. Isaiah 43:7 says, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” We’re live for Him. Living for purpose is all about living for His glory. The world talks about how it is so important to serve, the importance of giving, for a good cause, and something beyond you. But living for Him, is everything that is worthy in life.
18. When you are a child of God, your best life is truly lived when He gets the glory. ‘Let your light shine before others, that they might see you good deeds and glorify the Father in heaven.’ it says in Matthew 5:16. Living for purpose is reflecting back who I am, to Him. Living on purpose, say on purpose, living intentionally, every day, choosing how you’re going to spend your day, your time, intentional every day (remember the tape measure), living in a place of alignment, with Him.
19. In every area of life, that includes your wealth, your career, everything. Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” So, He is calling us to redeem our time, by understanding our purpose. When you have a clear vision, you’re seeing what He sees. And you purposely choose to say ‘no’ or ‘yes’. From the smallest thing to the biggest thing, why? Because you are living on purpose. Not just spending your time, but investing your time.
20. Mark Twain said, ‘The most important days of your life are, the day you’re born, and the day you find out why.’ Living for purpose, on purpose, living with purpose, living with a vision, having a clear direction and motivation. Purpose is God’s answer to a problem in the world, that you are designed to address. Turn to your neighbor and say, ‘You are designed to address.’ You are a solution to a problem. You may not look it, but you sure are the solution to a problem.
21. That is where vision begins to have direction. You know, apostle Paul was the last person in the world, to even think that he was a solution to a problem. But he was the right tool to bring the Gospel to the gentiles. The servant girl, in Naaman’s household, when Naaman had leprosy, she was the answer to his problem. Jonathan’s armor-bearer, he was the answer to a problem. He helped kill the enemy, twenty-some Philistines and they attacked and defeated about 20 of them. Just him and Jonathan, and that brought panic to the enemy’s camp. You are answer that brings panic to the enemy’s camp. Amen!
22. Jesus was the answer to the problem of sin. Mother Theresa, oh my God, was the answer to millions and millions of lives. You are God’s investment on earth. You’re it. Tell your neighbor, ‘You’re it.’ Say, ‘I am it.’
23. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, people perish; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” A vision gives us direction, but purpose gives us strength to pursue it through adversity. If you want to paralyze the devil, how many of you want to paralyze the enemy? Be determined to see what your purpose is, because he is threatened when you see what God has for you. He’d rather have you be busy, busy doing everything or nothing, just busy. But if you see what God sees, this paralyzes your enemy. Amen.
24. Vision: Vision is what you can see in that secret place. And it’s created on a foundation of purpose. Let me tell you a couple of things more about vision. In Habakkuk 2:2-3, it says, “Then the Lord replied: “Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the vision awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not lie. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
25. Once your purpose is clear, vision becomes the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of that purpose. It gives us a clear picture of where our purpose is taking us. Is it in business? Professionally? Is it family? What is it? Is it marriage? Is it ministry? Is it missions? It is seeing the destination, where God is leading us; a clear picture of the future. And that begins to motivate us.
26. You see, like Caleb. Caled had a vision, to take that mountain. He was 40 years old when he saw that mountain, and it took about forty-some years until he actually conquered it. You see age is just a number. One, two, three amens. Here’s what vision will do for you. It is going to give you, as I said direction, but it will always take you beyond your current circumstance. What you see in your business right now, or in your marriage, or in your relationships, in your finances, in your studies… Hello? There’s more to that than what you see. The struggle is good.
27. You’ve got to see what He sees. Because vision, helps you go through that struggle; go through those challenges. Somebody said that, ‘Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.’ Hello? I wish we had more time.
28. Why does vision matter so much? Because when you have that vision, you’re motivated. In Philippians 3:13-14 says, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” When you know why; why behind your vision, that ankers you.
29. Ask yourself, ‘What do you want to see in the future, for this area? Your business, your finances, your profession, whatever it is. Why do I want it? You’ve got to have a good strong why. What difference will it make in your life and in the life of others, if this vision is not fulfilled? Why? Is this too deep? Tik tock, tik tock. (Not the social media site). Remember where we started from (the tape measure).
30. Here’s another thing vision will do for you. You will begin to partner with the Holy Spirit in a deeper way. It’s like a dance. I love dancing. Every African, loves dancing. If you’re an African and you don’t like dancing, you’re not an African. Moving towards vision with the Holy Spirit. You see, we bring our faith and our discipline and our work, but He brings, Hallelujah, the divine guidance, the timing, the growth. Because you see in this dance, we’re not supposed to be doing things alone. We work together. We each have our space, our place, rather. Amen?
31. My part is discipline, my part is the planning, my part is the goal setting, and His part, Hallelujah, is to guide me, is to open doors. His part is to do the growing. We act in faith, but only God is responsible for the results. That’s why it’s a divine partnership., where we lean on His strength. You see in the dance; I got to lean in Him.
32. But let me give you one other thing about the vision, that it is an act of faith, but faith without action is dead; it is incomplete. And so, there is a gap between where you are and where you want to be. And this gap, I call the ‘growth achieving process’. Because where you want to be, is going to take you to change mentally, physically maybe, because who you are today, is not enough, to take you to where you want to be. I’ve got to grow; I’ve got to change.
33. Let me tell you one thing about Caleb. Caleb had this thought in his head, I’m going to take that mountain. He was 40 years old. Guess what he was doing between 40 to 80, no matter how long, he was going to wait. He had a plan, and his plan was, ‘I’m going to get stronger.’ How am I going to climb that mountain? I’m going to get stronger; I’m going to physically fit.
34. Do you think that he started lifting weights from day one? 300 kgs, or doing legwork, because he needs to climb that mountain? From day one, 300 kgs, oh no! It started step by step, day by day, little by little, growing; growing his muscles, eating well, because we are going to get that mountain.
35. The Scriptures teach us a lot about growing and changing and transforming. But it’s not just for nothing. Changing into the image of Christ, is not just for the glory of God, because God has a plan and He needs us to change and be transformed, because the plan and the purpose He has for us, will take us, demands us to change. And that is why the Secret Place is so important. The Secret Place has to be my home address.
36. Where can I find you sweetheart? Beautiful lady. Your address cannot be Glyfada, or wherever you live. It has to be at the Secret Place. That place is not only my place of rest, but it is my headquarters from where I get my direction, where plans are executed. The Secret Place is the place where surgery is happening, healing, restoration, seeing what He sees, where His thoughts become my thoughts and His will becomes my will. His choices become my choices and thus, I begin to live a supernatural life, so naturally.
37. I want to close with this Scripture, Proverbs 16:3, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” But I much prefer the Amplified Bible version, “Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.”
38. Commit your vision to Him; commit your life to Him. Allow Him to lead. God has a dream and vision for you. And He doesn’t play hide-and-seek. Oh no. He’s very easy to find. He’s in you. And if you’re not sure that God is in you, I’d like to invite you to just open the door to Him.
39. Let’s close our eyes a moment. If you’re not sure He is in you, or even if He cares for you, but you want Him, just open your heart to Him and embrace that love that He has shown on the cross to you. Unconditional love, just as you are, and just tell Him, ‘Here I am. I offer up my life to You.’
40. He is the safe place. Tell Him, ‘Lord, I make You Lord and Savior right now.’ That’s how simple it is. Thank You Lord. If you know Jesus, as your Lord and Savior, say, ‘Father, I want to see what You see; I want to feel what You feel Lord. Holy Spirit, You’re the guide and You’re the coach, You’re the trainer, you’re the teacher. Help me live my life daily, in the rhythm of heaven, in the rhythm of Your grace. In the name of Jesus.’ Amen.
41. Praise God. I didn’t want to leave you without giving you something that will really help you reflect some thoughts regarding the Secret Place, and everything that we talked about today. And so, I do have a QR code, and we’ll leave it somewhere upstairs and here as well, and all you have to do is scan it and download a PDF. Take it with you to the Secret Place to your spot and talk through it and talk to the Holy Ghost. He will reveal, He will guide, He will direct. Because, you are God’s investment on earth. Amen.
42. Thank you, pastor Gail.
Pastor Gail – Close.
1. Be sure to check out the QR code. This was a really good word for us. Thank you, Anna, and maybe a little different and that’s good. I’ll be honest, most of my life, I never had anybody really talk to me about my purpose and really to spend time with the Lord about that. I think this is great, just great, because the number doesn’t count. Remember, Anna said that, so, obviously I’m not 20 anymore, but God always wants to speak to us about out purpose. Amen. So, believe and get into that Secret Place. Let’s stand and as we worship the Lord, praise Him, and thank Him, because it is His desire to lead you to know why you are here, Amen, and plans for the days ahead, Amen.