A Call to Embrace Divine Power

Filled by the Spirit | Matthew 25 | Pastor Pavel Goia

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

In a captivating sermon by Pastor Pavel Goia, he underscores the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit for transformation, emphasizing that human efforts alone cannot achieve the divine mission laid out for believers. The sermon, based on Matthew 25, urges the congregation to focus less on worldly distractions and more on fostering a deep, prayerful relationship with God, similar to how the disciples sought divine strength in their mission after Pentecost. Pastor Pavel parallels personal experiences and biblical teachings, highlighting the necessity of prayer and surrender to God's will for true spiritual impact.

Highlights

Pastor Pavel emphasizes the futility of human efforts without divine intervention. 🙏
The disciples' Pentecostal experience serves as a model for relying on the Holy Spirit. 🔥
Understanding and appreciating Christ’s sacrifice leads to ultimate surrender. ✝️
Prayer and unity among believers is key to a successful spiritual mission. 🤝
When believers unite in prayer, extraordinary outcomes can manifest. 🙌

Key Takeaways

True transformation comes from the Holy Spirit, not human endeavor. 🔑
Dependence on God is crucial for spiritual missions. 🙏
Prayer unites believers, creating a stronger community. 🙌
Understanding the sacrifice on the cross compels us to surrender all to God. ✝️
Embracing prayer leads to miraculous changes and personal growth. 🌟

Overview

Pastor Pavel Goia's sermon delves into the profound necessity of the Holy Spirit in achieving spiritual growth and accomplishing divine missions. Drawing from biblical examples, particularly the experiences of the disciples post-Pentecost, Pastor Pavel illustrates the limitations of human effort absent God's power. He highlights how reliance on the Holy Spirit can lead to incredible spiritual victories and personal transformations.

The pastor shares personal anecdotes, including a humorous yet insightful story about a problematic van, driving home the point that surrender to God’s plan requires letting go of our control. It's through these personal and biblical narratives that he stresses the overwhelming power of prayer and unity among believers in fulfilling God’s mission on earth.

Concluding with a call to action, Pastor Pavel invites the congregation to prioritize prayer, both individually and collectively. He insists that prayer is not just a personal discipline but a communal practice that invokes the presence of the Holy Spirit, leading to transformation, unity, and ultimately, the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Chapters

00:00 - 10:00: The Foundation of Salvation: God's Power vs. Human Effort The chapter titled "The Foundation of Salvation: God's Power vs. Human Effort" emphasizes the crucial role of divine power in Salvation. The speaker aims to capture the audience's attention by stressing the vitality of understanding this concept, not just for individual Salvation but also for the well-being of families, churches, and personal growth. The message underscores the idea that without God's power, human efforts amount to nothing, highlighting the essential dependence on divine intervention in all aspects of life.
10:00 - 20:00: The Disciples' Need for the Holy Spirit The chapter discusses the limitations of human power and the necessity of relying on the Holy Spirit. It emphasizes that any good that occurs is solely by God's power. The speaker reflects on personal experiences of trying to control situations and the realization that letting go of control leads to a happier life.
20:00 - 30:00: Understanding and Praying for the Holy Spirit This chapter explores the human tendency to want control over situations, even when it comes to spiritual matters. The author highlights a common behavioral pattern where individuals redo work done by others to feel in control. The discussion extends to a spiritual context, where this control-seeking behavior translates into a preference to trust one's own actions over divine intervention. It challenges readers to reflect on their trust in God's actions and the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
30:00 - 40:00: Example of Moses and the Importance of United Prayer The chapter discusses the importance of divine intervention and united prayer, using the example of Moses. It emphasizes that without God's guidance, plans may falter, but if one adheres to divine plans, even difficult situations can be navigated successfully.
40:00 - 50:00: Surrendering to God and the Lesson of Personal Sacrifice The chapter begins by discussing themes of surrendering to God's plan and recognizing the importance of personal sacrifice. The speaker emphasizes that while individuals may try to follow their own plans, ultimate success comes from aligning with God's intentions. A humorous moment occurs when the speaker requests to remove his coat, adding a light-hearted touch by offering prayers for anyone who might object. The narrative then shifts to reflect on the disciples, acknowledging that they recognized the impossibility of fulfilling Jesus's mission through sheer human effort alone. This serves as a contrast to the current human condition, where people continue to struggle by relying solely on their capabilities rather than divine guidance. The chapter thus encapsulates a spiritual lesson on the necessity of divine intervention and humility in the pursuit of one's goals.
50:00 - 60:00: The Impact of Grasping the Meaning of Calvary This chapter discusses the importance of understanding the significance of Calvary. It highlights the perspective that every year more people are born, and the challenge of fulfilling the mission to reach them continues to grow. The chapter emphasizes the need for the 'promised power of the comforter,' referencing Ellen White's views on the early rain and the miracles achieved by the disciples beyond human power. It underscores the urgency and necessity of divine assistance in completing the mission efficiently, something otherwise impossible by human means alone.
60:00 - 70:00: Sharing God’s Blessings and the Power of Intercessory Prayer The chapter discusses the significance of the Holy Spirit in the initiation and continuation of God's work, highlighting the distinction between the 'early reign' and the 'latter rain.' During the early reign, the Holy Spirit was sent to commence the work, yielding great results. However, the latter rain is described as being even more plentiful and significant, suggesting an even greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit's power and blessings as the work progresses.
70:00 - 80:00: Examples of Faith and Miraculous Outcomes This chapter emphasizes the critical importance of focusing on the Holy Spirit within the church. It outlines how minor distractions often capture attention, diverting from this central aspect of faith. The chapter highlights a specific argument suggesting that the Holy Spirit is the only power capable of aiding in spiritual success and completing divine work. It also discusses how Satan is aware of the potential success that comes with receiving the Holy Spirit, thus preferring to shift focus away from it. The culmination of the chapter underlines the outcome of inviting the Holy Spirit as instrumental in achieving miraculous results.
80:00 - 90:00: The Power of United Prayer in Community Transformation The chapter explores the power and impact of united prayer within a community, using historical and biblical examples. It begins with a reflection on the disciples' united prayer in the upper room. The text then introduces the story of Moses during the battle against the Amalekites, where united prayer and support were pivotal to the battle's outcome, symbolized by individuals holding up Moses' hands. These examples illustrate how communal prayer can lead to significant transformation and success in overcoming challenges.
90:00 - 100:00: Personal Stories of Prayer and Church Revival This chapter delves into the role of personal stories in the context of prayer and church revival. It highlights a narrative involving Aeron and Har, emphasizing the power of communal prayer. The key message is drawn from a biblical reference where Jesus mentions the power of two or three people praying together, suggesting the significance of collective faith and prayer.
100:00 - 110:00: Call to Action: Praying Together as a Church Community In the chapter titled 'Call to Action: Praying Together as a Church Community', the theme focuses on the importance of communal prayer within a church. The chapter emphasizes the obedience of the disciples who followed Christ's command by remaining in Jerusalem to pray for the Holy Spirit. This act illustrates a divine strategy where certain blessings are granted to the faithful only in response to their prayers, affirming the power and necessity of communal prayer.
110:00 - 114:00: Final Thoughts and Prayer The chapter "Final Thoughts and Prayer" emphasizes the importance of asking and praying to receive blessings from God. It suggests that asking is essential in God's plan for granting answers to prayers. The text reiterates that if one has the voice to pray, God will have the voice to answer. It encourages faith and collective prayer, highlighting that if two people come together in faith, their prayers will be acknowledged.

Filled by the Spirit | Matthew 25 | Pastor Pavel Goia Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 I want to get your attention to this message because I believe this is absolutely by far not only the foundation or the key but this is vital for our Salvation vital for our families for our churches for our growth for everything there is nothing how much is nothing nothing nothing is nothing
00:30 - 01:00 there is nothing we can do in human power unless we want to make a mess if something good happens it happens only only by God's power alone am I right but we do have a tendency to do it in our power I am a controlling person I don't control my wife I try that in the beginning 39 years ago and it didn't go good I gave up to be happy
01:00 - 01:30 but if somebody comes and does some work for me fixing something in my house after they leave I go and do it again because unless I touch it I don't feel good about it I like to have control am I right we think that God should do it but we have a tendency to do it ourselves and a tendency to trust what we do more than what God does
01:30 - 02:00 does and unless God does something is not going to be good and the results are going to be terrible and God elen says listen carefully I have the quotation later today I mean today we don't mean later anyway any she says that if we plan God is going to leave us in our own plans and mistakes but if we follow his plan even if we get to a narrow place he's going to get us through if if we
02:00 - 02:30 follow his plan but if we plan he's going to leave us in our own mistakes now let me continue from last night uh I hope you don't mind if I take my coat off if you do mind I'll will pray for you so let's continue the disciples realized that they could not do the mission that Jesus gave them they could not in human power they could not as we cannot do it we are getting behind every
02:30 - 03:00 year there are so many people born every year and we are getting way behind every year we cannot fulfill the mission the disciples needed the promised power of the comforter eleny says the early rain and then she says quote and I do have the quotation in a few slides they did in a few years what they could not have done in human power in a life and then she says and this is key
03:00 - 03:30 God sent the Holy Spirit as the early Reign to help them start the work and then she says but the latter rain now listen carefully God sent the Holy Spirit as the early Reign to start the work and she says great are the results but then she says the latter rain will be even more abundant she says I know the paragraph 4 by word it's going to be even more abundant and she says why
03:30 - 04:00 don't we pray for the Holy Spirit and she says minor matters minor matters occupy our attention in the church and she says we deal with this and this and this and this and this but we don't talk about the Holy Spirit and then she says that's the single power that will ever help us finish the work and Satan knows that if we receive the Holy Spirit we will be successful and Satan wants us to talk about anything but the Holy Spirit and then says the Holy Spirit comes as a result
04:00 - 04:30 to United prayer as the disciples prayed in the upper room so that's what we sto last night let's continue let's continue as we continue I want to to to to to give you couple of examples we talk about prayer you remember Moses when Israel was fighting amalec and then who came to hold his hands who remembers
04:30 - 05:00 Aeron and Har you have a name minus you need to say the second name fast and then you get an A+ I'm I'm just so they kept his hands up how many of them were praying come on you don't know mathematics three what does Jesus say Whenever two or three two or three pray together pray together pray together
05:00 - 05:30 pray together now let me say this the disciples we said last night in obedience to Christ's command it was a command they waited in Jerusalem and they prayed and they they they pray for the Holy Spirit now listen carefully as we continue from what what he dropped it is God's plan to grant us in answer to prayer that which would not bestow if
05:30 - 06:00 you didn't ask you don't ask you don't receive ask and you shall receive knock you remember why don't we ask why don't we ask if you find voice to pray God will find voice to answer it is our part in God's plan to grant us in answer to the prayer of faith that why you would not beow if we didn't ask again I say to you if two two of you
06:00 - 06:30 [Music] agree about something it will be done for them forever two or three are gather together I am there and now I want you to listen to this the disciples devoted themselves to prayer to fellowship and prayer the promise of the holy spirit is made on one condition what is that the United prayer of the church
06:30 - 07:00 listen the United prayer has more power than the private prayer the power is proportionate to the unity of the members did you know this when we unite God says yes now I'm going to answer well let me tell you what they prayed this is very very interesting very interesting and as we continue I want that's the reason I wanted song I
07:00 - 07:30 want to focus on something that is absolutely important listen the disciples were in the upper room they were scared that they will be killed by the Pharisees the disciples in the corner there can you see me because I cannot see you wave God bless you it means you can see me you'll receive the same reward in heaven like this here don't worry about it same there listen carefully the disciples were afraid about the Pharisees uh persecuting
07:30 - 08:00 them they gathered in the upper room they prayed in the beginning because they were afraid and wanted protection as they prayed by praying together they got United closer to God closer to one another the more they prayed the more they realized the more they realized the more they prayed listen carefully the more the Holy Spirit open their mind and they realized what Jesus told them I'm going to die so oops you know what he told us that he was going to die why
08:00 - 08:30 are we in shock he told us that we'll be persecuted why are we in shock he told us all these things the more they prayed elen says the Holy Spirit illuminated their mind and then the Bible says that they were together listen repeating devoted to the teachings to the fellowship the breaking of the bread and prayer the teachings and elen says in in in the book of Acts of the Apostles that they repeated Jesus
08:30 - 09:00 teachings and the prophecies and they prayed and PR and prayed and read and prayed they probably didn't read they repeated they repeated Jesus and prayed and repeated and as they did that praying for the Holy Spirit and repeating Jesus teachings and the prophecy they realized he is God he was not a prophet he was not a human being he was not somebody big he was not a teacher he's God himself God the holy one that Angels cover
09:00 - 09:30 themselves and they say holy holy holy God that if he showed up we would melt right away God walked with me ate with me we slept in the same room we talked God can you imagine if God came personally here I mean whoa remember Isaiah whoa I'm done because I've seen the Lord Daniel he just died he dropped powerless the angel had to touch him and
09:30 - 10:00 give him strength you remember God God the Creator the Mighty the powerful the most holy the the Angels listen the universe listen to him he says Be Still God was with me Emmanuel God With Us and the disciples whoa God the one who split the sea the one in the cloud the one in the pillar of fire the one that that that gave us Jericho he actually was eating with us
10:00 - 10:30 breakfast you understand and then they processed God came here for me he would live his Universe his throne of Glory his command his power and come here for me and he took my sins all of them and your sins and your sins and your sins God himself took your sins and God was on the cross suffering taking
10:30 - 11:00 the sins of the whole history he took our sins and God died on the cross so I would not die when they realize that God died for me Ando says and I'm going to give you the quotations they follow right now I'm going to give you the qu she says the their hearts melted when they processed God God
11:00 - 11:30 died for me who am I a miserable human being that God himself would come here and die for me God would die for you not for us for you personally for you personally God would die for you who are you that God would die for you and that grabbed their hearts melted their hearts to the degree and now listen carefully she says that they
11:30 - 12:00 loved him like never before more than anything ready to joyfully sacrifice everything nothing she says quote No sacrifice was too great no sacrifice was too great to joyfully sacrifice all and consider it a privilege consider it that is too little compared to what God has done for me whatever I do is too little and then she says they finally loved him with all their heart you know
12:00 - 12:30 what that means it means that until now they didn't love him with all their heart you follow me oh they did sing Kumbaya they did eat tofu they did go to c meeting and do Sabbath school and kept Sabbath and they did all of these wonderful things but they didn't love him with all their hearts they did think oh how I love Jesus they
12:30 - 13:00 did think I'm we are walking up to Zion but they are not walking they are not marching they are not going to Zion they're just going around and around in the wilderness you follow me until they saw Jesus on the cross and then they ready to love him more than job more than health more than life and
13:00 - 13:30 no sacrifice was too great if somebody said would you give your house to Jesus Take it let me tell you about sacrifice I thought I love Jesus when we got to Andrews 100 years ago we wanted to buy a car but I didn't have the money so instead of buying a car I went with my friend to auction and I go to auction and and if you have a TV in your car it's not a big deal deal but in 1998 or
13:30 - 14:00 1999 to have a TV in your car it was a big deal it was a luxury car so we went to auction and I see a Dodge Grand Caravan a van man all the whistles and bells TV big screen TV video games bumpers with sensors in the B all the good stuff and I said to my friend I want that car and he says that car
14:00 - 14:30 should be 15 20,000 second hand it's only 2,500 cannot be so cheap something is wrong with that car let's do some research he went on Carfax and he says broken transmission he says don't buy it he said let's let's try it and we we go to the car we try it you know it works he says don't buy it man I'm going it has TV
14:30 - 15:00 he says don't buy it I'm going to buy it I bought it I drove it three months and then I was driving to Andrews and it got stuck in second gear like and then instead of HE it do not it to not switch and I was like come on I was driving on the Interstate in second gear and it was
15:00 - 15:30 driving only 15 mil per hour and everybody and they would blowing the horn and showing me terrible signs to their finger said get off the road get off the road I said it's the VIN it doesn't go faster and I got angry and frustrated and I got off on the shoulder and I got angry and kicked the wheel and my eyes says calm down you are a pastor okay
15:30 - 16:00 and then I prayed and guess what happened when I prayed over the van nothing I said Jesus please would you heal my VIN and God said why did you buy it I sent you somebody to tell you not to buy it if you don't obey me now drive it I said but but I believe in grace but Jesus said I love you too but
16:00 - 16:30 I'm not going to heal the V man I drove that way got home went to junkyard purchased a secondhand transmission paid 450 I paid another 500 to one of my elders who was a mechanic he replaced the transmission all together 950 I drove it about a month or less and it broke again oh I hate hat the V from
16:30 - 17:00 the heart I went back to the junkyard I paid another 450 or five I paid another five for labor by now I spent 2,000 basically I bought the venue 2,500 and I spent another 2,000 to replace the transmission twice I spent if you have a Dutch Grand Caravan I will pray for you I I I spent another almost a th000 replace the transmission and got smart did not dry the van I put it in front of
17:00 - 17:30 Walmart big sign luxury van it has TV inside nobody called it's like everybody knew it I prayed Lord help me sell the junk please would you help me sell it please send somebody who doesn't know about cars just send some nobody called I put it on Facebook I put it on Twitter I put it on eBay I put it on Amazon I put it on Craigslist I put it in front of the shopping center I put it in the
17:30 - 18:00 newspaper nobody called I prayed I even had Faith nobody called because sometime we use Faith to manipulate God to do what we want instead of using faith that God would manipulate us to do what he wants and so I even fasted and I never fast I mean I fast every day but never more than four hours I even fasted I even fasted because we use fast as a hunger strike so God would hear our voice instead of using fast to clear our mind so we hear God's voice so I fasted
18:00 - 18:30 nothing happened so I said what am I going to do with the V I'm going to drive it until it breaks and throw it away I took it Wednesday night I drove to church for prayer meeting and here I am preaching if you love Jesus not if you say it but if you actually do love Jesus listen carefully folks if you love if you really love Jesus
18:30 - 19:00 you would have no problem to sacrifice anything and whatever you are not willing to sacrifice or to surrender that's what you love more than Jesus that's your God that's what you worship because if you love Jesus more than that you would give that up for him you follow me if you don't give it up it means that you love that more than him so I told them if you really love Jesus
19:00 - 19:30 you sacrifice everything whatever you are not willing to sacrifice that's actually what you worship you may think that you worship God but you actually worship the Beast because there is something in your life that you cannot surrender and after I told them that I get in the v and say driving home Jesus help me sell the junk would you please and God says to me in my mind do you love me I said absolutely with all your heart yes are you sure oh yes more than anything
19:30 - 20:00 oh yes okay give me the V I said you know it's not Mercedes I could give it to you but what do you give for it what do you pay for it I mean I need some money to buy a car and he says do you love me more than your V I said yes give it to me said Lord I love you but I cannot give you the V because I need to drive it do you see how we do it oh I love you
20:00 - 20:30 but I cannot you follow me and God says do you trust in my love I gave my son for you do you trust in my love and I was ashamed of myself as being a pastor easy to teach difficult to live you follow me and I said I'm so sorry Lord please forgive me I love you and you can have
20:30 - 21:00 the V you do whatever you want if you want to give me a car give me a car if you don't you don't you know best I'm going to decide to surrender all and to trust in you as soon as I gave up the vanin listen carefully folks whatever you keep you lose whatever you give up that's what you keep because who wants to save his life is going to lose it and who is willing to lose his life is going to save it because whatever you keep is
21:00 - 21:30 cursed whatever you surrender and give it to God he alone can keep it for you and bless it and multiply it so you feel that you may lose when you surrender no that's when you win and so he said do you trust my love I gave my son for you I said yes I'm so sorry Lord you can have the V do whatever you want in that moment when I surrendered somebody called me hello
21:30 - 22:00 Pastor how are you doing good this is so and so she told me one of my church members said I know do you still have the V yes I want to buy it from you no absolutely not I would sell it to a stranger not to you you would never come to church again you would hate me she says Pastor you should not sell it to anybody before you fix it I said I fixed it but it's going to break again she says I know my brother is the
22:00 - 22:30 mechanic who fixed it for you I know that's the reason I called you I don't have 20,000 to buy a new van all I have is 2,500 I was planning to get at least 4,000 to recover the money that I put in it she says all I have is 2,500 would you give it to me for that money I said tell me why would you buy a junk she says I don't have money to buy a new one pastor and when you said that you should surrender and serve serve I prayed I said Lord I want to surrender but all I
22:30 - 23:00 have is 2,500 and the Lord impressed me what would you like to do for me I said Lord I would like to drive for you that's my gift I love driving and God impressed me she said to drive the people that don't have transportation to church the kids that don't have transportation to our church school and my car it's a little little little I don't know if you know that little car is called um it's it's a um I'm trying to remember a senior
23:00 - 23:30 moment I'm sorry it's go or however go you know what I'm talking about is like Mr binar you keep your knes in your mouth and she says all I have is a Geo and she says I cannot even get two persons in the car is so small and she says I need a van but I cannot afford one so I'm going to buy yours in faith and I am going to buy it for Jesus I'm going to use it for Jesus I said take it long story short after 9 years I moved from that
23:30 - 24:00 District after so many years more than 10 years I met her I was driving from Kentucky through Wisconsin going to Montana I met her I said how are you doing good your family good she says you know I'm still driving the van ah I hated it and she said as long as I keep using it for Jesus I can use it also for myself it doesn't seem to break folks we
24:00 - 24:30 think that we love Jesus because we go through the routines now if you don't surrender you don't love Jesus it just we like to think that we love Jesus when the why don't we love Jesus why don't we surrender why I tell you precisely when the disciples understood the calvary no sacrifice was too great she says they
24:30 - 25:00 ready to die joyfully and to consider it a privilege now listen carefully they knew she says that their testimony is going to cost them their life nevertheless they preached with boldness let me tell you the reason we don't surrender is because we have not seen the calvary the reason we don't surrender is because we have not seen the calvary we don't understand the cross eleny says it
25:00 - 25:30 would be good for us to spend at least now one hour doesn't say so he says one thoughtful hour because it's one to SP I read five chapters and it's something different to to to eat his flesh and drink his blood you know what that means to digest what you read and and and chew it and and dig de deeper and deeper and try to understand what he
25:30 - 26:00 has done for me to to go deeper until it goes into your like like Mana like because the people don't live only with bread but they live with every word to live with it to let it go to your body into your cells into your blood to feed you to the degree that is air and food for you it's water for you is life for you you follow me to not only to read but digest it think it reflect on it behold it Behold the Lamb of God look on the cross and see what God has done for
26:00 - 26:30 you how much oh how much he loves you Angels cannot understand his sacrifice Angels cannot understand we in eternity will not understand a drop of his love can you imagine Paul says and to know the love of God that surpasses any understanding how can you know some something that cannot be understood basically he says to just dig deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper every day
26:30 - 27:00 every day forever and ever and just go deeper and deeper and understand God because to know God is life and the reason we don't surrender is because we don't understand the cross when you understand the cross you love him to the degree that you have no problem to surrender you consider it a privilege and a joy nobody has say would you come to evangelism nobody would you come to work be n I'm busy you
27:00 - 27:30 jump you say it's too little Lord you have died for me what else would you want me to do I'm going to jump Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son Moses was ready to give up everything am I right the Reason God cannot use you and me is because we are not willing to surrender and to the degree that you surrender listen carefully to the degree that you surrender to that degree God can work whatever you control he cannot
27:30 - 28:00 work you are in control whatever you surrender and he is in control that's what he can use and if you surrender all he's going to use it all and the reason we don't experience God's in powerful ways like the great people of faith is because they surrendered all and we don't surrender and the reason we don't surrender is because we have not yet understood the calvary the love of God the love of God God the love of
28:00 - 28:30 God listen folks back to our story because we got stuck to slide 11 we did go from slide 9 to 11 praise the Lord now listen the disciples praying together repeating Jesus teachings and the prophecies eleno says they praying together the Holy Spirit illuminated their mind and she says they finally Jesus has been telling them for 3 years and a half but they never got it finally they UND tood the cross when they understood the cross it says is
28:30 - 29:00 melted their hearts and they ready to sacrifice everything and then she says they had a passion for the lost they could not help it was like like like burning you know oh I got to do something it was burning eating them from inside they could not help but just go and tell everybody because when you understand God's love you jump up and down and scream and
29:00 - 29:30 dance a holy dance and you are happy and if you are not happy Oh How I Love Jesus if you are not happy it means you don't understand the cross because if you do you are going to scream and jump Jesus loves me this I know you follow me when you understand that you are to tell everybody you are joyful you have
29:30 - 30:00 peace you have power now listen carefully when the disciples understood that when the disciples understood that what happened next they when they understood that God has died for them and has forgiven them forgiven you know what means to be totally forgiven you now many people go to prayer they ask forgiveness and then
30:00 - 30:30 they are still struggling because they don't believe they are forgiven you understand what I am saying I asked them why don't you have joy well I'm I'm not sure if I'm forgiven have you prayed for forgiveness yes then what's the problem I'm not sure if I'm hello he says if you confess that's your part God will forgive and cleanse that's his part if you did your part why would you doubt that God does his
30:30 - 31:00 part you don't have a sin problem you have a faith problem you don't know Jesus you don't trust his love you don't trust his blood somebody told me my sin is big I said hey your sin is smaller than the cross because Jesus blood is sufficient now listen they as soon as they understood the cross they hum hum themselves and they went to one another
31:00 - 31:30 and they asked forgiveness they asked forgiveness and they became one no more arguments no more division in the church no more conflicts in the church no more conflicts in the family no more conflict between parents and children they were just United God forgave me and I don't deserve it I'm happy to forgive you though you don't deserve it and you forgive me though I don't deserve it it why because to the degree you understand
31:30 - 32:00 God's forgiveness for you to that degree you are ready to forgive others and if you don't forgive others and yourself it means that you have never understood God's cross you follow me you cannot give what you don't have if you don't receive forgiveness you cannot give forgiveness if you don't receive Grace you cannot give Grace you need to receive it in order to give it anyway and so they forgave one another and they became one thus they prepare the way for the Holy Spirit to come I'm not going to go through the steps
32:00 - 32:30 but I want to say I want to say very important the disciples didn't pray for themselves that's where people have a problem with me Pastor are you kidding you tell me that I cannot pray for myself no because the Bible says that cast all your needs upon him I am not saying that you should not pray for for yourself I am saying that you should
32:30 - 33:00 have right priorities God comes first you come second look in the Lord's Prayer it starts Our Father in Heaven hello be die Kingdom Come die will be done what word was repeated three times die second part give us today our daily bread forgive us and do not lead us what word was repeated three times us God comes first you come
33:00 - 33:30 second in the prayer you focus first on God and after that you focus on self and even then you don't hear give me today forgive me do not leave it's give us because God never wants to give you something unless you want to share it because God never intended to bless you it's a greater blessing to bless than to be blessed it's a greater blessing to give than to receive elen says that to the degree that we share the blessings we can receive more
33:30 - 34:00 Abraham in the Bible if you watch carefully and I have a series of sermons on that if you watch carefully he says there is no time when God wants to bless somebody it says Abraham God blessed Abraham so that why so that he may be a blessing for all nations why did God bless him why so he he would pass it on and I could give you a ton a ton a ton
34:00 - 34:30 of examples so basically even in the Lord's Prayer it doesn't say my father he says our father he doesn't say forgive me he says forgive us he doesn't say give me he says give us our daily bread he doesn't say don't lead me he says do not lead us it's all about Community you follow me okay let's continue let's continue the disciples didn't ask for a blessing for themselves they forgot themselves they put God first his honor his mission
34:30 - 35:00 they pray together for the Holy Spirit they pray together for Jerusalem Judea Samaria they pray together to reach the world and when they forgot themselves is when God gave them power and bless them too this is what I have learned folks it's pretty strange the more I pray for myself when I have a problem the more problems I seem to have I pray and God doesn't solve it but then I I have a second and the third and the more I pray the more discouraged the more depressed
35:00 - 35:30 the more stressed I get and I decided with my wife to just ignore the problem because it's going to kill us we get depressed the more we pray for problems the the more discouraged we get it doesn't seem to help so we decided to give up ourselves what happens happens and to start praying for others and what we discovered the more we prayed for others the more God solved our problems though we didn't address them we presented them and said it's your business let's focus on others and so
35:30 - 36:00 you know it's pretty good to pray for others you know don't do that for interest let me give you an example I tried to put a garden I tried to put a garden in Maryland it was solid Bedrock we don't talk about rocks we talk about flat concrete rock it was like a piece of rock as big as the property and in some places it came above the grass above the dirt in some places the dirt was only 2 in deep I could not put a
36:00 - 36:30 garden I was trying to drive a steak in the ground and tin it hit the rock how do you put a garden there and I tried one two three years nothing and I went in the garden Lord would you please help me to get a garden nothing happened and I put a garden and it died in a as soon as sun came he died and I put another garden and the bugs ate it and I put nothing happened so my wife said why don't you do what you preach I said stop
36:30 - 37:00 preaching to me I'm the pastor and she says why don't you give the garden to the neighbors so God would Bless The Garden so I went in the garden and I prayed Lord if you bless my garden I'm going to give 50% not 10 50% half of it share with the neighbors and give them books and pray for them as soon as I pray that God inspired me in my mind put dirt in the garden so I went to a nursery you know and the guy says he they had terrible
37:00 - 37:30 yellow clay and they called it dirt they called it compost horrible thieves you know and I I said how much is it 650 per trailer 650 and I measure my garden I need 11 trailers I can buy a lot of tomatoes I don't need to work in the garden for that money 651 trailer 11 trailers you do the ma I said no thank you bye I went to a second Nursery 650 I went to
37:30 - 38:00 a third 600 I went to a fourth far away in Virginia 550 I could not find anything I said I give up so I pray Lord you told me to get dirt and I keep driving and God says look to the right and I look to the right and I see big bales of hay big gigantic round bales I said man they are good for the garden you know you cover you know so the weeds don't come you put paper and then hay and so on and so forth so I stop and there a menonite guy how are you doing good how are you I am
38:00 - 38:30 I am pav he said I am Dwayne I said hey I would like to buy some hay some some some Bales he says these are fresh these are for my cows but I have old Bales two years old three years old I can give them to you I said how much because in Tractor Supply a small one is $11 a big one is over 50 I said how much he said well I throw them away anyway $3 I said done before he would change his mind done and then I say do you somehow have dirt for the garden he says
38:30 - 39:00 no I have only manure say what I said that's gold you said you don't have dirt but you have manure he said yeah I have 250 cows and I could see the fields 250 cows eating grass and he says come behind the house he took me behind the house we look two mountains fresh manure and old the menure two mountains bigger than the house said wow I said how how much do you charge I expect him to say 1,000 per
39:00 - 39:30 trailer he says well I don't have how to use it I give it to you for free I said what he says well I'm going to charge for loading it you know for my diesel said how much he says $10 $15 per trailer I said I don't want to steal it from you brother you sure he says yeah I said okay 1 2 3 in 3 days I got 11 trailers 11 or 12 I don't remember trailers put in in the garden put cinder blocks around the garden I put so much manure
39:30 - 40:00 brother sister I have pictures the tomatoes 10 ft tall 50 60 Tomatoes per plant each tomato one to two lound some of them over two lound heavy one tomato watermelon 1 m.2 1 m 1 me 3T watermelon can you imagine I have pictures four pounds an eggplant I mean my garden exploded neighbors would come and look and say I've never this is like like in Canaan I've never seen so gigantic
40:00 - 40:30 peppers I mean eggplants like this 10 15 eggplants per plant 30 35 to 40 Peppers per plant have you ever seen that God blessed the garden it exploded we gave 50% to the neighbors gave books pray to the neighbors we can't we we we we how you say froze put in three freezers and still we had too much I had to call people to to have a tomato fight because I could not use the
40:30 - 41:00 tomatoes when we decided to share the garden God blessed the garden more than we could use and then we kept giving and we kept giving and we kept giving and God kept growing it to the degree that we could not Harvest it anymore we said just leave it alone what if everybody would become a blessing stop asking for a blessing you'll never receive it start being a
41:00 - 41:30 blessing hello and so back man our time is up and so go back the disciples didn't pray for themselves the disciples prayed for the mission that Jesus gave them they didn't ask a blessing for themselves they had the burden of the souls the burden of the souls they are so filled they are so filled
41:30 - 42:00 with love for God their hearts are melted imagine I'm not going to go through this because you already talked about it as they meditated upon his life his sacrifice no toil would be to her no sacrifice too great listen carefully folks to this paragraph there is no what is the next
42:00 - 42:30 word what does it mean what does it mean can you grasp it infinite unlimited power there is no limit to the usefulness of one who putting self sacrificing self surrendering self aside makes room for the Holy Spirit and lives a life fully consecrated the reason we have no success is because we Never Surrender there is no limit if you fully surrender to the degree
42:30 - 43:00 that you surrender to that degree God can work in you and through you what if everybody surrendered fully can you imagine what God would do can you grasp it can you imagine it I remember a story I remember a story when the from Romania a friend of mine told me the story he is a pastor and he in that time he was an engineer
43:00 - 43:30 and he was a choir director and he led the youth choir and it was right During the Revolution and you don't know you have probably no idea how it is to live under communism but if you move to North Korea or to China in short time you learn it's absolutely terrible and listen in for instance in our homes we could not talk freely because everything was wired if you would talk against the government within minutes they would come pick you up
43:30 - 44:00 everything every telephone my father had a pillow over the telephone and if we wanted to talk politics we took a walk in the forest we didn't talk in the house my aunt said this watching the TV and the president the dictator chaes was on the TV and said I got tired of this dictator 20 minutes later they picked her up she never came back that's real story they killed over 4.5 million people in
44:00 - 44:30 about 45 years there was no Freedom whatsoever to talk people were in fear shaking when the police came to your door people would shake and cry and so going back going back going back to the story during Revolution tanks rolled over people tanks rolled over flesh many were killed the dictator ordered
44:30 - 45:00 the police and the Army to shoot everybody in the streets people were shot in the head my father-in-law came home crowling between dead bodies because if you would get up you would be shot and during the revolution while the protesters are on one side and the Army and the police on the other side and the protesters were screaming and singing and throwing sometime those Butters with gas I don't know how you call them moloto
45:00 - 45:30 whatever English throwing them and army shooting them and people dying this group of young Adventist youth Adventist they were preparing for the Christmas program they have been practicing for about two three months getting together and singing and they said what do we do here we sing inside and God told us not to go inside but to go outside you don't do church between the four walls you don't do harvesting in the
45:30 - 46:00 barn you do harvesting in the field and bring the Harvest in the bar Jesus didn't tell you go in the church he said go from Jerusalem Judea Samaria to the whole world Jesus sent you out you follow me you don't do Church inside you do church outside and so they said what are you doing here people are dying and we sing inside and they said why don't we fulfill our mission and they started to pray Lord what do you want us to do and God impressed them
46:00 - 46:30 to go in the streets and sing and they said we cannot do that we are going to get shot moreover during communism I've never heard a religious song in public on TV or radio if you would go in the market and you would say something religious or sing a song within a minute You' be arrested no song on TV after revolution first time when I when I heard a religious song on radio I started to cry it was a miracle for me to hear
46:30 - 47:00 something religious on public media and so and so this young choir decided what shall we do and God impressed them go outside and sing and they said uhuh we are going to get arrested or shot and they prayed again and God impressed them again go outside and sing and they said what happens to us and one of them said we need to surrender and they said but we will die and the person said but Jesus died for you why don't you die for
47:00 - 47:30 him tough decision it's easy to talk about it not easy to be there and do it so they prayed and prayed and prayed and decided to go outside and sing so they got outside and it happened that they were right between the protesters and the police and the Army right in the crossfire you know basically secure death they got outside and they started to sing a song for Christmas that talks about Messiah as the hope for everybody when they started to think in a
47:30 - 48:00 communist country publicly During the Revolution when people are dying everybody for a few seconds froze like what because that's very unusual in a communist country moreover during the fight during the revolution people stopped froze and then the police came picked them up and took them on the next building that was the shopping center on the top of the tall Shopping Center Center on the flat roof and they knew they are going to throw us off the roof
48:00 - 48:30 because it was a habit in the University students that protested were thrown off the windows I took one in my car was thrown from the fifth Story when he hit the conrete he exploded I took one in my car and before he got to the ER he died in my car the Communist Party would throw the protesters out the windows from tall buildings it was terrible so they took the police
48:30 - 49:00 took the choir the Adventist youth choir took them on the roof of the shopping center and they said this is it they are going to throw us off the roof and then the chief of police says to two police officers take the RV I'm sorry take the SUV take the SUV go to the police station that was two blocks away go to the police station get the bigger speakers and the sound system as quick as you can and the police officers what do it they took the SUV the car they went to
49:00 - 49:30 the police station came with about a few three four I don't know big speakers put them on the roof and then the chief of police says I want you to sing to the whole city he says I've never in my life heard or seen anything like that when you started to sing I wanted to arrest you but then I saw the police and the Army stopping and the protester stopping and it was just a miracle these songs can work Miracles everybody stopped shooting I want you to sing so this city would
49:30 - 50:00 stop killing each other and they would have peace so sing for the city and they started to sing from the rooftop and when they started to sing they watched the whole people that they could see on the streets unbelievable in a communist country they all kneel down and they rais their hands hundreds and hundreds and thousand thousands of people raised their hands up and started to
50:00 - 50:30 sing in a communist country and then they got up and they went to each other police and army and the protesters and hugged each other and started to cry on each other's shoulder and in that City they stopped killing each other why because a group was willing to surrender why because they prayed together when people pray together in
50:30 - 51:00 families when people pray together in church it does that to you it does that to you what if you would get together with your family every evening what if groups of people in the church would get together in the church in that home in that home in that home get together and pray imagine the unity imagine the changes imagine what would
51:00 - 51:30 happen prayer would bring unity prayer would bring surrender prayer would bring power would bring the Holy Spirit things would happen like never before I remember one more story and then we eat don't worry I'm hungry too I remember you probably heard the story on the internet I I in 2004 I went to Spain and preached and and good people wonderful people but nobody moved they were kind of you know I mean I preached and they would not even move and I said breathe do something so I
51:30 - 52:00 know that you are alive do this say Amen do something so I know that you don't sleep on me you know nothing happened and I pray Lord I it's not easy to to travel because it's you know all the time junk food on the plane No Sleep back pain you get there jet leg day is night night is Day You Preach for two three days and and and when you finish preaching then you get on the plane by the time you start to adjust you go back and start to adjust but then you live again and it's crazy anyway so I said
52:00 - 52:30 Lord If I sacrifice and and and I don't stay with my family please bring some results nothing happened well I was discouraged but I said you know what God bless them bye went back home that was in 2004 2005 2006 2017 how many years later you don't know mathematics okay 13 years 200 17 I go to Czech Republic to the division meetings
52:30 - 53:00 and somebody from the division says to me pav you know what happened in bergam Italy I said where I've never heard of the city in my life where Bergamo I said I don't know you know what they did because of the message on prayer I said they could not I've never been there oh you don't know the story I said no unless you tell me he says well when you preached in m in 2004 there was an old lady from Bergamo visiting her children
53:00 - 53:30 and she recorded the whole thing and on her cell phone did you know that old ladies know how to record on the cell phone because I don't I have to ask my kids how to do it and so she recorded the whole thing and then she went home and listen and listen and listen and listen and then she wrote it and then she gave it to a few ladies in the church and they all read it and then they all got together and listen and they said we got to do something so they decided to get together one day a week and pray together then two days then three days long story short they got together
53:30 - 54:00 eventually every morning from 6:00 to 6:30 to pray together at the church is it easy what do you think no it's not comfortable to wake up every morning to be at the church and pray together you could you could sleep you know and so they got together every morning and by the way one of them called me and I didn't connect the story until late he says we are from Italy we are praying together and nothing happened I said then keep praying and she said how long I
54:00 - 54:30 said how long do you breathe she said she says I said how long do you breathe and she says well if you put it that way I said pray until you receive the Holy Spirit and she says why doesn't God answer faster I said very simple because God has to work with people if he were to Bricks he would do it but people are stubborn remember what Gabriel said to Daniel it took me three weeks because I
54:30 - 55:00 had to fight people you have to fight with them God works with people God has to prepare you God has to prepare the community God has to prepare the church got you follow me and it's difficult to work with people because people are selfish self-centered busy tired whatever you know and God doesn't have a small plan God has a crazy big gigantic plan and in order for you to be ready God has to prepare you because otherwise nothing would happen has to prepare you like God
55:00 - 55:30 had to prepare Noah for the ark to save the world God had to prepare Moses to save Israel that's a big plan so it takes God time to prepare you for a big plan and because we never take take time to pray we always do small things so she said how long I said until God prepares you for his plan I mean it took Moses 4 years to prepare you follow me and so the lady said okay that's that's not good news you know then we never connected again
55:30 - 56:00 anyway so the man from the division says they got together and they prayed eventually every day from 6:00 to 6:30 after about 3 months of prayer a neighbor knocks in the door at 6:00 a.m. folks what are you doing here every day I work night shifts and when I come home I have no parking you used to come one day a week Saturday morning there was nothing wrong for me when you came one day a week but now you come
56:00 - 56:30 every day I never have parking what are you doing here every day and they said well we get together and pray well I don't believe in church in Italy people most of them hate church because the government takes by law 3% of everybody's salary and gives it to the Catholic church and unless you write a petition that your 3% would go to your church it goes automatically to the Catholic Church so people just don't like it and nobody goes to church except
56:30 - 57:00 tourists and elderly so he said I don't like the church too many politics too much money but then he said but I do believe in prayer and he said my wife has terminal cancer fourth stage last stage the doctor sent her home gave her about two three months would you pray for my wife they said okay they prayed for his wife a week later he comes with his wife hand in hand and says we want to be baptized and they said
57:00 - 57:30 uh we don't worship Sunday he says I know you worship Saturday and I don't care I worship whenever you worship we don't eat pork I don't care I eat whatever you eat but we need to teach you about the state of the dead I don't care teach me whatever I believe whatever you teach me just baptize me they say why do you want to be baptized when you don't even know what you believe he says I don't care what you believe I care that you have God the other churches have the theory
57:30 - 58:00 you have the real presence of God they said why do you say that and he says you prayed for my wife we went to a doctor appointment yesterday and the doctor said what have you done she's cancer free no trace of cancer and he says we have done nothing except that that church gets every morning they take the whole street parking and they pray they pray they pray they pray they pray listen they pray my house shall be they pray for the city they pray that's what they I asked them what are you
58:00 - 58:30 doing here and they said we pray for the city we pray for the city we pray for the city they pray for us so he says I want to be part of this but then he told his neighbor so this neighbor came would you pray for my kids that they take drugs I want them to stop and then that told another the word of mouth and another six months later every morning there was a long line going around the block the city coming at 6:00 a.m. to be prayed for my house shall
58:30 - 59:00 be for for for the church for all nations what would what would if your church became a church that prays for the city why don't we do it we are responsible for them watch man you remember if you don't give the sound you know okay they from a 40 members church not all
59:00 - 59:30 coming maybe not even half I don't know the details I don't know from a a small little church they went to 250 and had no more room they went to a second Church planted a third a fourth they and that's not in Africa that was in Italy and they planted three other churches all packed why because they got together and prayed the power of United prayer Whenever two
59:30 - 60:00 or three pray in one Accord it shall be given to them and God we got to finish we did make progress we got praise the Lord to slide 19 157 left over I mean no all together listen listen my brothers listen my sisters listen listen listen carefully don't be listeners be
60:00 - 60:30 doers you hear me you receive the blessing When you pray together tonight get your family together and pray for one another and then get two or three at your house invite two or three of your
60:30 - 61:00 friends and pray together even one day a week is better than zero I remember in my former church after preaching about six months on Prayer by the way people sometime you preach and they say Amen but it goes like this we say in Romania it enters here and it exes there like it doesn't stay in I preached about six months to be honest the same Sermon Just different stories
61:00 - 61:30 illustrations and after six months a lady comes to me and says Pastor I've never heard that before I said that's a good idea why don't we start praying I said finally it clicked praise the Lord it takes time for our human brain to process and to decide to act on it we are slow she says why don't do we act on it so I kept preaching until a second a third until the whole church said pastor
61:30 - 62:00 let's act on it so I said okay and I didn't make an appeal from the pulpit because everybody says amen and Nobody Does it I went to them I said would you start a prayer would you start and I talk to the people that I knew that they are committed to prayer would you and they started seven prayer groups a doctor started the prayer group with the doctors and nurses an retired lady started that doctor started Friday night a retired lady started every Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. with the retired people a teacher a chemistry teacher started with the students on Wednesday night and so on and so forth they
62:00 - 62:30 started different days different times seven different groups and then the groups multiplied more and more people and then you could see it in the church because on Sabbath the groups were like families the more they pray together the more united they became they knew one another they knew everything about one another they were praying for one another they knew when somebody is sick when somebody's in divorce when somebody die they were crying together supporting one another when somebody died I was offended because they didn't call me as usually they called the group when I got
62:30 - 63:00 there to the to the to the funeral house the group was there I said why didn't you call me well we called our family that's what they said about the group because they became a family people that pray one together they become one it brings Unity as the disciples became one and so I could give you more examples we don't have time I'm hungry but listen folks the the more they pray together you could see it in the church
63:00 - 63:30 you could see Unity the church was divided in three groups fighting one another when they started to pray there was no more Division I didn't have any board meeting to solve the problems when the SES k When the Saints the Saints don't eat meat but they are some of them cannibals because they eat each other when they stopped eating human beings when they started to pray together there was no more cannibalism in the church there was no more conflicts no more tension no more problems we did not address any problems they just pray
63:30 - 64:00 together and problems evaporated disappeared because prayer brought humility brought God's presence brought the awareness of God that prayer brought a different environment in the church and not only that but they started to pray in the church with one another you could see them on the hallway let me pray for you what do you want me to pray for and when they pray for one another they stopped judging and criticizing one another more than that
64:00 - 64:30 they started to pray with the visitors people would come to our church and tell me we have never seen such a Praying church this is the most praying church we have seen in our life and then the church became a friendly loving church and the church started to grow started to grow it doubled it almost tripled it went from 90 to 340 and that was an Anglo Church you know Anglo churches are kind of cucumbers grow I mean cold they don't grow they started to grow they started
64:30 - 65:00 to grow and people would come to our CH what's going on here because this church is exploding I said we are praying together imagine if every Church would do that why don't you do it folks why God is calling you today to act on it pray with your family pray with the church
65:00 - 65:30 start a prayer Whenever two or three start don't say oh my church is small Jesus never said everybody two or three get two or three committed to prayer and start praying pray for one another pray for the Holy Spirit pray that God would baptize your children and your family with a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit every day is the duty of the parents to cover their children in prayers pray for your church pray for the Neighbors pray for the city pray for
65:30 - 66:00 the country there is nothing too heavy too difficult too big for God it's our fault because we don't pray and we don't believe we limit God's work the bigger you pray the more you pray the more God can do God has no limits pray together pray together amen would you do that ask God for help because he can do above and beyond your
66:00 - 66:30 expectations amen okay let's finish we don't tell any more stories is late who it is late I understand that tonight we have concert am I right we don't continue tonight but we continue tomorrow hopefully we can do at least half because I want to talk a little about the Advent history how they
66:30 - 67:00 prayed together and what happened and the little about revivals how they happened and then give you the steps how to do it let's pray together as we close Father in heaven we repent we ask forgiveness that sometimes we just get busy with other
67:00 - 67:30 things Satan knows how to distract us we have time for Netflix we have time for Facebook we have time for internet and we don't have time for prayer to commune with God With Our Savior Please forgive us please forgive us that while we say we love you we actually have other priorities and please help us because we want to do it and Satan knows that when we pray
67:30 - 68:00 things happen and he wants to keep us distracted so we don't pray please help us to pray more alone and more together father we ask this in Jesus precious name and thank you for answering amen