Transcription
e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e [Music] praise the Lord. Okay. Um, yeah, might still be a few out there watching the sunset. Maybe it's pretty much going down, gone down now. So, son's in here at the moment. Okay.
Um, I want to try and be faithful to the time because I know Cus has amazing words to share with us tonight to bring this Saturday evening, um, and continue, um, exploring and declaring God's word on Liberty. So, let's start. And I'm going to do the same prayer as I did at the start of the day. Um, so I invite all of you to join it. This is the same prayer we say at the start of all of our Line of Judah meetings as well. So, let's do that.
Behold the cross. Flee, you adversary, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered. Hallelujah. Amen.
So, God is great all the time. God is good, and He's our King. And God, you know, He's the God of the oceans, He's the God of the deepest parts of the world and the highest peaks and mountains, and it's all His. He is our King, and it all belongs to Him. And we, as His people, as His servants, you know, we belong to Him as well. And our praise is something we give back to Him, and that's what we try and do in this time of praise. So, be free. You've heard all about Liberty and freedom today, you know, praising God. Um, He dwells in our praises, and that is the hope, and we are declaring it as we sing to Him. So, let's sing with energy, sing with vigor to the King of Kings and declare His name. Amen. Let's sing.
Did you feel? Thank you, Lord. Praise You, Jesus. Did you feel? Did you feel the mountains tremble? Did you hear the oceans roar when the people rose to sing of Jesus Christ, the Risen One? Let's clap together. Thank you, Lord. Did you feel the people tremble? Did you hear the singers roar for when the lost began to sing of Jesus Christ, saving One? And we can see that God, you're moving. Be R through the nations, and no one will turn to Jesus. Fling wide, you Heavenly Gates, prepare the way of the Risen. [Music] Lord, open up the doors and let the music play. Let the streets resound with singing songs that bring your hope, songs that bring your joy, and dancers who dance upon injustice. [Music] Do you feel the darkness tremble when all the saints join in one song? And all the streams flow as one river to wash away our brokenness. [Music] We can see that God, you move, moving a mighty river through the nations when young and old will turn to Jesus. Fling wide, you Heavenly Gates, prepare the way of the Risen. [Laughter] [Music] Lord, oh, open up the doors, let the music play. Let the streets resound with [Music] singing songs that bring your hope, songs that bring your joy, and dancers who dance upon injustice. [Music] Praise Your Name. [Music] Jesus, Holy One, holy Lord, we lift Your name. [Music] Holy. [Music] Lord, bless Your name. Thank You, Lord. Praise You, Jesus. Song of [Music] Hope. All things bright, all things bright, wonderful you are. All things wise and wonderful you are. In my darkest night, you brighten up the skies. Song will rise, I will sing, I will sing a song of hope. Sing along. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Just to know you, be loved is enough. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Thank You, Lord. All things new, all things things new, and I can start again. Create God calling me your friend. Sing praise, my soul, to the maker of the skies. Song will rise, I will sing a song of hope. Sing along. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Just to know you, be loved is enough. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come now. While we sing a song of hope, sing along. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Just to know you, be loved is enough. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Sing. Hallelujah. Sing. [Music] Hallelujah. Sing, sing, sing a song of hope. All God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Just to know you and be loved, there's enough. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come now. While we'll sing a song of hope, sing along. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Just to know you, when love is enough. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come now. While we sing a song of hope, sing along. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Just to know you, when be loved is enough. God of Heaven, come down. Heaven come down. Thank You, Lord. Praise You, [Music] Lord. Thank You, Lord. We lift Your name, bless Your name. In this, in this whole, in this room, in this magnificent place, in Your presence, Lord, we stand and sing, 'cause You are [Music] holy.
Let's just start to raise our voice and lift our voice to our King, our Savior, Lord Jesus, our Redeemer, who all glory we give to You. [Music] Thank You, Lord. Praise [Music] You, Lord. You made [Music] all, and You made us Your most beautiful creation, and You made us in Your image, and You made us for You. So tonight, as we lift our praise and raise our voice, we bless Your name and say, You are our God, You are our King, Your Creator. It all comes back to You. To You, lift praise. To You, won't You sing to Him? [Music] [Music] Hallelujah. Oh, thank You, Lord. God of creation, God of Heaven, God of H, God of all, to You, You, You. Praise You, Lord. Praise You, Lord. [Music] Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. I want to see You. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. I want to see You. Say it again. Open the eyes. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. I want to see [Music] You. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. I want to see You. See You high, see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory. Pour out Your power and love as we sing, Holy, Holy. [Music] Holy. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to [Music] see. I want to see You. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. I want to see You. See You high, see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory. Pour out Your power and love as we sing, Holy, Holy. See You high. To see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory. Pour out Your power and love as we sing, Holy, Holy. See You high. To see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your [Music] glory. Pour out Your power and love as we sing, Holy, Holy. [Music] Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. I want want to see You. Thank You, Lord. Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. I want to see You. Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. I want to see You. Holy, holy. [Music] [Music] Holy. [Music] Oh, sing to You. [Music] Voices to the heavens. The earth dees You, Lord, our King, our [Music] [Music] Oh, thank You. [Music] Lord. Thank You, Lord. Let's bask in God's glory. Sing to Him. All the angels and all the people sing Your m in this [Music] place. Spirit, come. Spirit, come. We invite You into this place, into our plots, as we come before You. Spirit, Jesus, thank You, Lord. Thank You. [Music] Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, fall afresh. Give us this life, this new life we've been yearning for. We've been listening to. Thank You, thank You, thank You. Spirit, come. Spirit. [Music] Come. Spirit was moving over the. Spirit, come. Move over us. Come, rest on us. Come, rest on us. Spirit was moving over the. Spirit, come. Move over us. Come, rest on us. Come, rest on us. Come down. Come now, Spirit. When You move, You make my heart pound. When You feel this room, You're here, and I know You are moving. I'm here, and I know filming. Come now, Spirit. When You move, You make my heart pound. When You feel the room, You're here, and I know You are moving. I'm here, and I know You will fill [Music] me. Thank You, Lord. [Music] Spirit was moving over the water. Spirit, come. Move over us. Yes, come, rest on us. Come, rest on us. Spirit was moving over the water. Spirit, come. Move over us. Come, rest on us. Come, rest on us. Fire and wind. Fire and wind. Come and do it again. Open up the gates, and Heaven on it. Come, rest on us. Come, rest on us. A fire and wind. Come and do it again. Open up the gates at Heaven on in. Come, rest on us. Come, rest on us. And come down, Spirit. When You move, You make my heart pound. When You feel the room, here, and I know You are moving. I'm here, and I know You will fill me. Come now, Spirit. When You move, You make my heart pound. When You feel the room, You're here, and I know You are moving. I'm here, and I know You are fill me. We lift our praise. We give You thanks. We lift our praise. Holy Spirit, come, rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come, rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, come, rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come, rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. To come, come down, Spirit. When You move, You make my heart pound. When You feel the room, You're here, and I know You are moving. I'm here, and I know You will fill me. Come now, Spirit. When You move, You make my heart pound. When You feel the room, You're here, and I know You are moving. I'm here, once again. So come now, come down, Spirit. When You move, You make my heart pound. When You feel the room, You're here, and I know You are moving. I'm here, and I know You will fill me. Come down, Spirit. When You move, You make my heart pound. When You feel the room, You're here, and I know You are moving. I'm here, and I know You will fill me. Thank You, Lord. Praise You, Lord. [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh, Holy Spirit, how good it is to be, just to be, to be [Music] You. Let's just take a moment and give, give all of ourselves to the Spirit resting us. [Music] Too often, Lord, we go about trying to fulfill our day and carry out our will. This weekend, we've heard about how our purpose is fulfilling Your [Music] will. So, in some way, Lord, we want to wipe that slate, start again, make new goals, and walk in Your path, the road You made. So, lead us. We give You that authority. Lead us. Take us on this path, on this journey, on this pilgrim, on this Jubilee. Thank You, Lord. Praise You. In this great time that we've had praising God, so great it is, but we're going to be faithful as well to the mission that God has called us, and specifically this ministry, that it doesn't just rest with us, it doesn't stop with us. We need to take this word out. So, in a moment, we're going to pass our offering bags around. And again, like we did last night and every night, I just ask that you give, knowing the work that we have done and still need to do, which is to spread the news, to announce the gospel, to break open the word, to bring the sick healing, to bring the downtrodden, set them free, to give new hope, hope, new life to this world. So, let's just do that. Let's pass the offering and give through that cause. Thank You, Lord. Glory to God. Glory to God. Thank You, Lord for Your goodness, for Your [Music] generosity, for this weekend, for this amazing venue, for the means to do this Congress. Thank You, Lord. So, let's pray over this offering. Lord, take this humble offering from the sincerity of our hearts. We give to You and ask for Your blessing that the walk that we have started, no matter which stage of it is at, Lord, we believe and trust that You are leading us, and we believe and trust that You are leading this ministry and have continued to do so. 35 years more to carry out the mission of announcing the gospel, breaking free those who have been bonded, who have been tied down, to set their lives free, to set their lives on fire, to know the fullness that they can have of life, true life in You. And so, I pray that blessing on everyone here as well. Those who have made the sacrifice to come, young and old, strong or weak, they have come tonight. Few as they may be, but they have come. So, bless them, Lord, and bless their families as well. Anyone they may be thinking of, bless them as well, in every way they need to be blessed. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus' [Music] name. Hallelujah. Amen. Glory to God. Glory to God. Thank You. Okay. All right. Amazing. So good to be in the Lord in this way. Um, we've heard Sar speak. I'm not going to introduce him as such, but really just want to ask, you know, for your continued prayer for him and the sacrifice he puts in. You know, even as he speaks, you can see he's such a man of passion, and he does this, you know, like he said earlier, we, we are all doing this voluntarily, but he has a true heart for God, and God blesses him with the wisdom. And I've seen that grow so much over the last two or three years, and I hope you're absorbing as much as you can because they're gems, some of these that are coming out of his mouth. So, um, be open to what God is going to say tonight or do, and, um, let's just, let's just do that and welcome Sarus up. Thank you, Sarus. Praise the Lord. Can't see anyone. I shall preach by faith, not by sight. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Now, on the theme of Liberty, we all know, uh, one thing the scripture teaches us as Christians: Christ has set us free. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He has set us free from sin. And that's the Liberty we have from sin. In scripture, it refers to, uh, in the Book of Romans, the Book of Romans, chapter 6, verses 20, 23. It says, "The wages of sin is death." That's a statement. And as human beings under original sin, the wages that we have faced is the wages of death. Eddie Russell used to mention this, and he said, sickness is a degree of death. If you get too sick, you die. And so, sickness, in a sense, is related to the wages of sin. And the wages of sin, original sin, is not our sin, but sin that has come from our forefather, Adam. And so, sin, the wages of sin, the effects of sin, is transmitted by, uh, actions. And so, someone who could be innocent, but yet they could be sick as a consequence of someone's sin. For example, the sin of greed, uh, we could take various forms of corruption, uh, and out of people's corruption, the greed, there are consequences that other people suffer, even to the point of losing their life. And so, the effects of sin, the wages of sin, is death. And that is something we should understand. Not my sin, but someone's sin could cause me to die. Or someone takes a gun and shoots me, it's their sin, but yet the effects of that sin, I can die, but I am innocent. But that's the point I'm making is the consequence of sin has an effect. Sometimes it's directly proportionate to our actions, and sometimes our actions could affect someone in some way or the other. And so, as Christians, yes, we believe in the forgiveness of sin, but yet there we face and live the various consequences of sin in this world. And that is something we must understand. In regard to sin, there, there is a consequence to it, whether it is, uh, our doing, or whether it is the action of someone else. The consequences is death. And there are many people who are facing the consequences of someone's sin. Many are ill, many are dying, some are dead. Uh, one example that comes to mind, if we look at World War, the Second World War, and we all attribute it to one person, Hitler. One man's action, one man's greed, one man's power, but yet the consequence of his decision, of his actions, many, many, many suffered and died. And it was not just soldiers on the field, it was innocent women, it was innocent children, all caught up by the wages of sin. And I'm making this point to say that wherever there is sin, there are consequences, and sometimes we are victims of those consequences. And this we should be aware of. We should be aware of. Now, in regard to our personal sin, what has happened? Jesus died for us. Now, another example I'm going to give you is in the Book of Matthew, chapter 9, verse 1. I'm going to read to you. He entered a boat, made a crossing, and came into his own town. And there, people brought to him a paralytic man, lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?" But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." He then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. And here we see an example of sin and sickness have a relationship. So, Jesus, instead of telling the man, "Be healed," He said, "Your sins are forgiven." And as a consequence of his sins being forgiven, he was healed. He faced Liberty. He faced freedom. And Jesus came and died for the forgiveness of our sins. In the Book of Ephesians, chapter 1, chapter 1, I'm going to read from verse 3. It says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. As He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love. He destined us for adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of His will, for the praise of the glory of His grace that He granted us in the Beloved." Verse 7: "In Him we have redemption by His blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of His grace that He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. He has made known to us the mystery of His will, in accord with His favor that He set forth in Him as a plan for the fullness of time, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth." So, we have forgiveness of our sins by the blood of Jesus, by His redeeming blood, our sins are forgiven. And scripture says God lavished it upon us. And so, in His forgiveness of our sins, we have that freedom, that healing, as the paralytic man had, to get up from whatever, uh, illnesses may be, whatever our circumstances, and to walk free. And that is what the sacrifice of Jesus has done for us. It has forgiven us our sins and broken the consequences of sin in our life. And that's why we are free. That's why we are liberated by the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And we should be so fortunate that by the blood of Jesus, by His sacrifice, we do not face or undergo the consequences of sin. And that's why we have redemption through Jesus, through His blood. And so, that is our grace. That is our gift that we have to live free of the consequences of our sins, of original sins, because Jesus paid the price and has set us free from those consequences, from those effects. And that we should grasp. That is our belief. Jesus forgave us, and we should be happy, and we should be joyful that our sins have been forgiven because there is no sin bigger than the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Calvary. So, whatever our guilt is, whatever our shame is, let us put it aside and acknowledge that the sacrifice of Jesus is bigger than any sin that we have committed. And accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is accepting His sacrifice over our sin, accepting our life in Jesus Christ by the power of His Spirit as free people, as free children of God, set free from sin. Amen.
So, how many of you believe your sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ? Good to see many hands up. It's good to have that faith that your sins are forgiven. It's good to have that belief that Jesus's sacrifice is bigger than your sin, no matter how bad it is, because that is who Jesus is, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And yes, we accept that forgiveness that cancels out the consequence of any sin. So, we do not pay the wages for sin, which is death. And we should be happy and joyful that we are liberated, we are free from sin through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hallelujah. And we're so happy. Praise the Lord. But then God gives us instructions in the Bible for our good, instructions for our protection, instructions that we live a life of abundance, because God knows what is right, what is best for us. So, you all say you believe God has forgiven your sins. Now, I'm going to read a story in the Bible, and I'm going to ask you this question again: Do, do you believe your sins are forgiven? You said yes. Now, I'm going to read a story from the Bible just to make a point. This is not a trick question. I'm going to read from the Book of Matthew, chapter 19, verse 21. It's on the parable of the unforgiving servant. Verse 21: "Then Peter, approaching, asked Him, 'Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I say to you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.'" Now, he, the word "seventy times seven" is not numerical, and so you don't need your calculator to see how many times you need to forgive, but it is a figure of speech. And what does it mean? It basically means as many times as needed. So, when Peter is asking how many times he should forgive, Jesus is telling him, as many times as needed. And that's what He meant by seventy times seven. Then, verse 23: "That is why the Kingdom of Heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.' Moved with compassion, the master of the servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When the servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started choking him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe me!' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back his debt. Now, when his fellow servants saw what happened, they were deeply disturbed and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you, I forgave you your entire debt before you begged me to. Should you not have pity on your fellow servant as I had pity on you?' Then, in anger, his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt." So will my heavenly Father do to you unless each of you forgive his brother from his heart. And if we believe our sins are forgiven, yet if we have unforgiveness, now the question is, does God forgive you if you have unforgiveness? The scripture says no, because God will do to you as the master did to the servant. And it is so important for us in living in that grace, in living in that peace that Christ has given us, in living in that Liberty that Christ has given us, it is so important for us to also forgive as Jesus forgave, so our sins could also be forgiven. And unforgiveness is a block to God's forgiveness in our life. And if our sins are retained through unforgiveness, what happens? We, we face the consequence of sin, the wages of sin. And so, unforgiveness could lead to sickness, to various ills, even to physical disabilities. And that is the wages of sin. And Jesus is pointing out the fact that it is so important to forgive others for their sins so that we are in a state of grace, we are in a position to receive forgiveness and healing in our lives. Just as the paralytic man, Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven," and he was healed. In the same way, when we believe, we should be in that place of receiving that forgiveness in order to be healed and liberated for the things that make us sick, for the things that keep us in bondage. And that is the power of forgiveness. Forgiveness heals. And many of us, we have to ponder for a moment, ponder for a moment and think, yes, Jesus died on the cross for my sins, but do I hold something in my life, a bit of unforgiveness, that can block that grace, that healing in my life? And that is where, uh, it is in our control. It is in our power to live a liberated life, to live in the freedom that Christ had died on the cross for. It's in our power, it's in our control, it's in our choice to live free because Christ died on the cross and has given it to you. But it is for you to exercise that Liberty, exercise that freedom by being obedient to God's word, by being obedient to what God wants to do, that is to forgive whoever has committed a sin against you, whoever has offended you, whoever has hurt you. And Jesus says that for a good reason, that we are set free from sin, that we do not suffer the consequences of sin. And that is such an important part for us to understand in living a liberated life, to living a free life that Christ died on the cross for. As Christians, as children of God, praise the Lord. You know, um, I say this very often, um, on this subject, we go to church, church on Sunday, and we say, we pray the Our Father, and we say, "Father, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." What are we doing? We are praying to God and asking Him to forgive. But what does that actually mean when you are repeating those words that Jesus gave you? "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." It basically means you're asking God to forgive to the degree you forgive others. If you forgive 50%, Lord, please forgive me only 50%. If you forgive 75%, you're telling the Lord, Lord, I forgive 70%, and forgive me 75%, 75%. And we pray that every Sunday and say, Lord, forgive me my sins to the same ratio I forgive those who sin against me. And we say that, we repeat those words every Sunday, maybe daily. And what is God going to do? He's going to listen to your prayer because it falls, falls in line with His word, that if you do not forgive, He will not forgive. Now, I must clarify something. He's forgiven all your sins, and unforgiveness is a block. And so, it is your actions of moving out of that place of forgiveness. It's not that God, uh, is waiting for you to forgive in order to forgive, because Jesus has already died on the cross for all your sins. So, it's already been paid for, it's already been forgiven. It's you receiving that forgiveness, it's you receiving that Liberty, it's you being free from sin. And so, in this topic of Liberty, it is important to understand in the condition, in the circumstance of forgiveness, we have things in our control to live free or to live under the consequences of sin. And as a person, I, as I read scripture and understand, I, I believe I want to live in the blessing, not in the curses. I want to live in the forgiveness so that my sins are forgiven, because I don't want to put my life at risk, my eternal salvation at risk, because my eternal salvation is more than forgiving sins of others, it's eternity, it's for eternity. And that is the value of Christ's suffering for us, that all our sins are forgiven, no matter how big it may be or how guilty you may be, God forgives. And so, rather than this being, uh, a condemnation, it is an encouragement to move yourself into the place of receiving God's forgiveness in your life, to being in the place of blessing. And how we do it is by forgiving those who sinned against you. Praise the Lord.
Now, there is something I've learned from Eddie, and I've demonstrated this a lot in Africa, and I'm going to ask for a volunteer. Can I get a volunteer on stage? That's a step of faith. Please come on stage. Now, this is a demonstration that Eddie used to demonstrate, and I thought it's very effective, and that's why I would like to repeat it. Now, imagine this is my offense. It's a sin that I've committed. And can you put your hand out, please? And so, I'm offending her. And just hold on to it. And I've sinned against her. Now, where is the consequences of my sin? Where does it lie? It lies in our life, my sin. But now, who is suffering from the wages of that sin? She is. But it's my sin. It's my sin, but who is suffering? She is suffering. And Eddie Russell used to say, imagine that as a hot coal. What would happen if you hold on to that? Yes, that would be the good idea. But a lot of people do not drop it. They hold on to it. And for those who hold on to it, what happens? The longer you hold on to it, what happens to the hot coal? It burns deeper and deeper, and it takes longer to heal. My sin, who's suffering? Is she. And that is what unforgiveness does to your soul, and it manifests physically. And many are sick due to unforgiveness, because that hot coal, that sin, is burning and burning in their lives. So, what do you do? Do no, you do it. What do you do? Drop it. She's done it very gently, but I would have thrown it. Thank you so much. And forgive me for my [Laughter] offenses. And that is what the consequence of our, of sin does, or the consequence of unforgiveness does to ourselves. So, who is gaining from forgiving? She is, or I am, or the person who is forgiving? And so, in forgiving, we are not doing that other person a favor. We are helping and healing ourselves. And we help and heal ourselves, we are liberated, we are set free from the wages of that sin. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now, how many of you are holding on to someone else's sin? But this is a reality that happens. And there are many people who are living in deep unforgiveness. They are deep, deeply grieved and injured and sick because they are unable to forgive. And what is this forgiveness? It's not a feeling. And I tell people this, if you wait to, to feel like forgiving, many of us, yes, we have good intentions, we know what the Bible says, but we are waiting to feel like forgiving. And if you wait, you will be waiting all your life, because forgiveness is not about feeling. It is about choice, a step of faith. You don't have to feel it, but you do it in the name of Jesus. I forgive. In the name of Jesus. Praise the Lord. And when you do that, who is set free? You are set free. Who gains? You gain. And that is the power of forgiveness. That is the Liberty and the freedom that we have, the forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ, that we receive in forgiving others. So, when Jesus tells forgive, it is for our own good. We are not doing anyone a favor. We are doing ourselves a favor, because we need the healing. Now, we know when Jesus was on the cross, one of the beautiful prayers He gave us before He died, He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And that is a beautiful prayer that Jesus gave each and every one of us. In accordance with the parable of the unforgiving servant, He's given us a prayer, He's given us a way out of that. The prayer of forgiveness: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Don't worry, don't try to analyze. And I mentioned in my previous, uh, session about the mind, the mind reacts to the hurt, and so you will always have a reason not to forgive. And that's why you have to take a choice, not the feeling. We take the choice to forgive. And it could be easily said, "Oh, Jesus was the Son of God, and it was easy for Him to forgive on the cross." But then, let me take you to another person who followed in Jesus's footsteps with the same power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had, St. Stephen. He was being stoned to death. He knew that he was facing death. So, instead of cursing, he could have said, "Oh, I'm a Christian, faithful Christian, I curse you, go to hell, you ISIS, or you terrorists." He could have easily said it. No, he said, by the same Spirit that Christ had, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He forgave. And why I make this point is because I hear Christians cursing terrorists, wishing them that they go to hell. And that is not the gospel that Jesus preaches. That is not the gospel that Jesus preaches. Christians, charismatics, they are caught up in this elitism, ego, that they are above everyone. And that is dangerous, because you bring unforgiveness into the situation, and you're putting yourself in a very dangerous position. I'm not saying you all people like that who are unforgiving to terrorists or whatever. We are called to forgive, and we are, we are called to demonstrate the gospel through our actions, through forgiveness, through love. And that is the, the Liberty that forgiveness gives us, to forgive our enemies, to love our enemies. Forgiving and loving our enemies is to be a child of God, is to be like Jesus Christ, is to be holy, to be set apart. Because unless you're set apart from this world, can you forgive like Christ? How many of you have prayed, "Lord, help me to be holy"? Then God gives you a reason to be holy. And we are called, you know, to be faithful. We're called to live in that Liberty, the truth that sets us free. A knowledge of the truth sets us free. And this is in our power. This is in our choice to live that liberated life, to live in the freedom of God's forgiveness. And yet, a simple thing like unforgiveness can take us out of that place of receiving God's grace and healing in our lives. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. I remember this, uh, I witnessed this actually. I remember many years before, uh, I would say, yes, I did have my conversion experience of experiencing God. And this was my early stage in my life of conversion, or being baptized in the fire in the Holy Spirit. I'm not talking about sacramental baptism, I'm talking about the outpouring of God's power in my life. Baptism is the infilling, and the fire is the outpouring of that baptism. So, we live witnesses in this world, and some of us are struggling to be a witness because there's no outpouring. We're not allowing that outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the empowering and the outpouring. Anyway, getting back to my story, uh, it was in the early days, and there was this big, uh, healing rally in my parish, and there was this priest who had the gift of healing, and he was going around having these healing rallies. So, this one of those healing rallies was in my parish. So, I did go there, of course, to pray for healing, and, uh, I happened to witness and be close at hand while he was praying over people. Now, one of the persons that he went to pray for was someone I knew who lived in the town. I didn't know the person personally, but I knew the person was in a wheelchair. And yes, the person came in a wheelchair. And as this priest was praying, he went up to this person, uh, this lady, and he started to pray for a, for a healing. And during that process, uh, I could hear him tell her, "You have to forgive." Now, he's praying for healing, but he also stopped and mentioned, "You have to forgive." And he led her in a prayer of forgiveness. And when she, uh, repeated that prayer of forgiveness, he continued to pray for her. And then he raised her out of the wheelchair. And it was a, uh, unforgiveness, or whatever the situation was, that was holding her in that wheelchair. And when she forgave, she was healed, like the paralytic man. She was set free. And I make this point because there, there are many of us who end up in a wheelchair like that lady, but it's not a physical wheelchair. It's an emotional wheelchair. It could be a spiritual wheelchair. And we are suffering. And in, in course of time, that may manifest in the physical. And if we want to get out of that wheelchair, we need to forgive, no matter what. We need to forgive as Christ forgave us. Praise the Lord, because healing comes through forgiveness. So, forgiveness brings healing into your life and my life. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. And so, it is so important. A simple subject like this, which I don't know how many times people have spoken about it, it is so simple, but it is so important to live a liberated life, to live in the freedom that God has given us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Praise the Lord. So, what is a choice? A choice is a decision to do something. And as I said, it's not a feeling. Now, I asked for a volunteer, and she chose to come up, and it's just as simple as that. It's a choice to do something, and it's not about feeling to do it. And what is a choice? A choice is taking that step in Jesus's name to pray to the Father, say the same prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." You've got the words, and you have the choice. It's left up to you to live that liberated life. And this, and this is what God has empowered us through the sacrifice of Jesus. It has already been given, as I read in, in the Book of Ephesians, chapter 1. He has given us every spiritual blessing before the foundation of the world. And it is our lifestyle. It, it is us who could be a block to those blessings in our life, just as in the case of unforgiveness. So, God has given us that Liberty. God has given us that freedom. God has empowered us to receive it in our life. And we should will it, and we should make that choice. I am going to break through. No more of this. No more of this burden. No more of this pain. No more of the suffering. I want to live free. And that is the choice of living a forgiving life. And it is the experience of freedom in forgiving. You experience the freedom. You experience the Liberty because, because it, it is you who is forgiving. Praise the Lord. Now, I'm going to get Carlos, and Carlos is going to give us, I don't want to say background music, it's wrong to say background music, he's going to minister musically. And what am I going to do? I'm going to lead you all into a prayer of forgiveness. And how many of you would love to be led into a prayer of forgiveness? Praise the Lord, because you will be liberated today. You will be set free today. And I declare that in your lives, because you have already taken the choice to forgive. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. So, I'm going to take you all to different stages of forgiveness, or different times, or different people who we may need to forgive. And we'll ask the Holy Spirit to help you all as well, to bring, to recall to mind if you need to forgive. And you could repeat after me prayers of forgiveness, and we will go through that process of forgiving, of being set free, of being healed through forgiveness. Praise the Lord. You can sit down, you can stand up, please be comfortable. But one thing I ask, don't be distracted by the person at the side of you, whatever they may be going through, or don't worry about what the person may think about you. You and God is all that matters now, because this is your prayer to your heavenly Father. And so, let it be about you and God. It is my words, but it is your prayer to God. Praise the [Music] Lord.
And Father God, I invite, Lord, Your Spirit, the power of Your Spirit, to empower and give courage to each one, You, Lord, that they make the bold step to stand up, take that step of faith to forgive. Father, Your people are here who seek that Liberty, the power of Jesus' death and resurrection, the power of His death and resurrection in their life. And Father, we pray that, Lord, that Your Spirit may remind them, Your Spirit may help them and empower them to forgive. And so, let us start, uh, from our early childhood. Perhaps a lot of us need to think about our parents, perhaps, or uncles, aunties, when we were kids, perhaps the people who we trusted the most, we were vulnerable, and yet we were hurt by the people we trusted, by the people who we were looking forward to taking care of us, by their actions, by their words. It has grieved us, it has hurt us. And this is a [Music] burden that has been there for a long, long time, and it has caused emotional paralysis. But today, we make the choice to be healed, to get out of that wheelchair, to live in that freedom that God has has given us. And so, repeat after me: Father God, I forgive those who offended me, those who hurt me badly. I choose to forgive, Father. And I forgive them in Jesus' name. I forgive them, for they do not know what they did. And I choose to be set free from all these effects of this [Music] wound. And I declare in Jesus' name, I am free, for who the Son has set free is free indeed. And I thank You, Father, and I ask You to heal me [Music] Father, of all these wounds, that I may live free in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, let us look at younger people in our lives, maybe children, nephews, nieces, neighbors, young kids on the street who have said hurtful things, who have hurt us deeply, who did not show us respect. And this has wounded, it has wounded me deeply. But today is the day the Lord has made, and I make a choice to be free from these wounds. And I choose to forgive. And please repeat after me: Father God, I stand in Jesus' name and I forgive and I forgive all those who have sinned against me. I forgive them in Jesus' name because I choose to forgive. And Father God, I pray that You heal me of these [Music] wounds, that I be set free by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Now, let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us recall those we need to [Music] forgive. Maybe people who have deceived us, or stolen from us, have said things against us that were not true. And yet, these things have been a burden. It has become too heavy to carry. But today, I choose to let go. I choose to be [Music] free. I choose to forgive. And so, repeat after me: Father God, I forgive those who have offended me. I have, I forgive those who have grieved me deeply. I choose to forgive, Father. I forgive them in Jesus' name. I
Let go, Father, in Jesus's name. And Father God, I ask you to heal me. Heal my wounds, heal my heart, heal my body, heal my mind, heal my spirit, that I may be free. And I ask in Jesus's name. Praise the Lord.
And I invite you to repeat after me: Father God, I reject Satan and any spirit of unforgiveness, any spirit of resentment. I renounce them and reject them in Jesus's name because I choose to be a child of God. Jesus has set me free, and I am free indeed. In Jesus's name, I pray. Father, amen.
Hallelujah. Just sit in that anointing, God's presence, God's healing that is happening. Let it soak. Let the power of the Holy Spirit work in you. Don't worry about anything. Just allow God to work. Expect big things from God at this time. Expect the unimaginable because that is who God is. I spoke about hope earlier and I said it's a confident expectation. So have a confident expectation of something good that God is working right now in your life. And invite the Holy Spirit to bring it forth in your life, to manifest it in your life.
So Carus is going to lead us in a song. And let us mean it from our heart as we sing this. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. Like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, Amazing Grace.
The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures. My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. Like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, Amazing Grace.
My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. Like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, Amazing Grace.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. 'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. Like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love, Amazing Grace.
Lord, He set us free. He set us free.
We give you, oh, thank you. Thank you, thank you, Lord. Thank you. The God of hope, He comes to us. We live, we surrender, we bow down, we bow down, oh, to You, to You.
As Carus leads us in a time of worship, receiving God's grace, God's healing, God's forgiveness. If anyone needs hands-on prayer to be prayed over, please come forward.
Thank you. Praise You, Lord. Praise You, Lord. In the darkness, we were waiting without hope, without light, till from heaven You came running. There was mercy in Your eyes. To fulfill the law and prophets, to a virgin came the Word. From a throne of endless glory, to a cradle in the dirt. Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one. God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of Kings. To reveal the kingdom come, and to reconcile the lost. To redeem the whole creation, You did not despise the cross. For even in Your suffering, You saw to the other side. Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus for our sake You died. Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one. God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of Kings.
Praise the Father, praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one. God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of Kings. And the morning that You rose, all of heaven held its breath. Till the stone was moved for good, for the Lamb had conquered death. And the dead rose from their tombs, and the angels sang for joy. For the souls of all who come to the Father are restored. And the church of Christ was born, and the Spirit lit the flame. Now the gospel truth of all shall not kneel, it shall not fade. By His blood and in His name, in His freedom I am free. For the love of Jesus Christ, who has resurrected me. Praise the Father, praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one. God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of Kings.
Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one. God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of Kings. Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one. God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of Kings. Praise forever to the King of Kings. Praise forever. Praise forever to the King of Kings.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Oh, we thank You, Lord. Oh, we thank You, Lord. Oh, with the angels, we say thank you, Lord.
Pray in the spirit. Thank you, Lord. Jesus is good. Our Lord is good. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our King, the one who has conquered. Praise You, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lord, You are amazing. You have given us all that we need. And we just thank You for this time tonight of really not just explaining but showing us what freedom is. And the demonstration we've seen of what we need to do. So as we go our way and have our rest, we want to continue just being with You and taking all that we have received. Because it's so much. Your love is so much. Too much. It's unending. It doesn't give up. Praise You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We receive. Just be with You a little while more. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
We believe. We believe.
It forgiveness. Receive. Amen. So let's, um, sing a song of victory to close tonight. That Jesus has conquered, that Jesus is awesome, that Jesus is mighty. And we'll finish there. Thank you, Lord. Let's stand. Let's give God what little energy we've got left, because He deserves it. Thank you, Lord.
You are mighty. You are holy. You are awesome in Your power. You have risen. You have conquered. You have beaten the power of death. You are mighty. You are mighty. You are holy. You are awesome in Your power. You have risen. You have conquered. You have beaten the power of death. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We will rejoice. Hallelujah. We will rejoice. You are mighty. Come on, let's clap. You are mighty. That's it. You are holy. Amen. You are awesome in Your power. You have risen. Oh yeah. You have conquered. And You have beaten the power of death. Once again, mighty Lord. You are mighty. You are holy. You are awesome in Your power. You have risen. You have conquered. You have beaten the power of death. Oh yeah. Hallelujah. We will rejoice. Hallelujah. We will rejoice. Hallelujah. We will rejoice. Hallelujah. We will rejoice. You are mighty. Hallelujah. Amen. Hallelujah. Indeed, we will rejoice. So powerful in the Lord. He's always good. Um, yes, tomorrow we come back, um, again. We start praise and worship at 9:30, and our first speaker is at 10:00. Adam will be gracing us again. And Mass is at 11:30. So anyone who wants to bring their family and friends, Mass is at 11:30. And, uh, we'll go on after that with lunch. So have a great rest. Safe journey. We'll see you again tomorrow for.