1 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:07,320 I know nobody does, like nobody has cable anymore really. 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,160 And nobody does like channel flipping, you know, but channel 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,720 surfing. But if you did, you would, you 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:19,280 know, once in a while you will come up, come across a, perhaps 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:21,800 a Christian broadcasting station. 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,160 And then they'll have once in a while preachers that are a 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,400 little bit different than the way we preach. 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:30,960 They're sometimes called televangelist. 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,480 They sometimes fly in personal jets. 10 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:40,080 And sometimes we call their gospel prosperity gospel. 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,680 Basically, be faithful and God will reward you with health and 12 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:51,000 wealth, right? That's why it's often nicknamed 13 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:52,920 the health and wealth gospel as well. 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,720 So the, the, the really the essence of the teaching is you 15 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:03,320 give to get, you give God money and God will multiply it and 16 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,240 then give it back to you. And I don't need to explain, you 17 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,840 know in detail why this is wrong. 18 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,920 And you know that's not the gospel, right? 19 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,400 It's the transactional thing. You give so you can get back 20 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,120 that that has nothing to do with grace and mercy. 21 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,560 It is just a system of earned blessings. 22 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:31,680 Prosperity gospel seems silly to many of us and and I'm sure most 23 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,560 of us would not agree with that type of teaching. 24 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:41,160 But I would argue despite us rejecting it, if I had a guest 25 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:46,120 speaker that was give $1000 today and God will give you back 26 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,080 10,000, you know, have faith. If I had a guest speaker like 27 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,880 that, most of you guys would leave and never come back. 28 00:01:54,240 --> 00:02:00,200 So we we reject it. But I could argue that even 29 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,080 though we reject it, we may still practice milder forms of 30 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,560 it. We wouldn't ask God every time 31 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,160 we give offering to the Lord, Lord multiply and give it back 32 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,240 to me. We wouldn't say that, but we, a 33 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,960 lot of us certainly pray for financial stability, promotions, 34 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,960 finding a job. Not that there's anything wrong 35 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,440 with those things. We wouldn't pray. 36 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,800 Prosperity gospel is big on Lord, make me the best version 37 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,040 of me. You know, Lord, I'm going to be 38 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:31,760 faithful to you. And then Lord, in return, 39 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,160 improve me. Make me the best version that 40 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,840 that is a big part of their teaching. 41 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,280 We may not pray in that way, but we may pray milder forms of it. 42 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,120 Lord, help me achieve this. Help me get better at this. 43 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:49,880 I'm not saying these things that I just talked about. 44 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:51,960 The milder forms are necessarily bad. 45 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:57,720 What I'm saying is if those prayers are the only prayers 46 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:03,800 that we give to God, I want to argue that, yeah, then our faith 47 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,280 is. Sure, it's not as drastic as 48 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,760 prosperity gospel, but it is still unhealthy faith. 49 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,160 It is a just a milder version of something that is wrong. 50 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,640 What I'm arguing is that unhealthy church only prays for 51 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:23,720 those things. Lord, help me with this. 52 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:29,560 Help me with that. So what else would a healthy 53 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,200 church pray for? That's the question we want to 54 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,600 answer today. So what does a healthy church 55 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,400 pray for? What does a healthy church pray 56 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,280 for? We'll be turning to 2nd 57 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,720 Thessalonians, chapter 3. I'll be reading verses 1 and 2 58 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:54,480 for now, one and two for now. All right, What does the healthy 59 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,040 church pray for? The healthy church prays for 60 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,200 their pastors and missionaries, verses one and two. 61 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,680 In addition, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the 62 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:11,240 word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored just as 63 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:15,840 it was with you, verse 2, and that we may be delivered from 64 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,880 wicked and evil people for not all have faith. 65 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,960 So this is Paul, Silas and Timothy asking the church that 66 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:32,640 they you could leave, leave the verses on asking the church, 67 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,000 right? They're they're the pastors, but 68 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,400 now they're always so they're also missionaries and then 69 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,480 they're asking for prayer. Pray for us. 70 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:50,000 Any topic that is not related to our health and wealth. 71 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,000 It's probably not pray for much in your personal life or even at 72 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,080 church. So even things like a Lord, my 73 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,280 friend is sick. Help help you know my friend 74 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,960 that is related to health. Asking all you know my my or 75 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:06,440 let's say our youth groups going to reach. 76 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,440 We pray for protection. Lord, keep the, you know, keep 77 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,080 the driver awake and let the kids be safe. 78 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,400 And that trip, we're praying for health. 79 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,280 Oh, my CG member is unemployed, You know, he or she is looking 80 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,480 for a job. I pray for, you know, my CG 81 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,960 member that is praying for wealth in essence. 82 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:31,400 So when left to ourselves, the vast majority of the prayer that 83 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:35,000 that we give to God are somehow related to health and wealth. 84 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:44,160 And when Paul says pray for us, that is not health or wealth. 85 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:47,720 We're praying for pastors and missionaries. 86 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,640 And even most of us don't pray for pastors and missionaries. 87 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:55,720 And even when we do, we pray for their health and wealth. 88 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:59,120 Lord, we sent Frankie and Lord help, you know, help him get all 89 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,480 his funding. And Lord, you know, be with this 90 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:05,560 missionary or this pastor Petros in Cambodia, Let him be healthy. 91 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:10,600 And again, nothing wrong with that, but we just, we don't want 92 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:15,240 to end there. And Paul gives us an idea what 93 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,080 to pray for. That's why it is essential that 94 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,080 we go to the scriptures to learn how to pray. 95 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,840 Just a couple months ago, we talked about how to pray for 96 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:24,160 sick people in the book of James. 97 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,840 So now Paul is teaching us, OK, in addition to what we usually 98 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:36,360 pray for, pray for these areas, OK? 99 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,520 So if you're not praying for, you know, anything other than 100 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,000 health and wealth, but then add praying for pastors and 101 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,680 missionaries to your list and I would argue right now it is the 102 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,200 best time. Lent started on Wednesday. 103 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,680 And I don't know how many of you guys are actively practice 104 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:59,480 observing Lent, but some of you I know are are playing too fast, 105 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:01,080 right? There's a guide out there. 106 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,440 The guide gives us suggestions. Week 1, pray for fastest. 107 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:10,040 Week 2, you know, fastest. I think the first thing that the 108 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,320 suggestion is food, not every meal, but you could fast every 109 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,360 other meal or every other day or one meal a week, whatever it is. 110 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,240 And then I think the week after it's supposed to be, I think 111 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:22,560 maybe movies and TV shows, something like that. 112 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,040 So whatever you fast, you have extra time. 113 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,560 And with that extra time, you're supposed to add in more 114 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:35,200 spiritual things, right? So this is a perfect time to add 115 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,400 more spiritual things like praying for pastors and 116 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:43,960 missionaries. OK, so how we pray for our 117 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,760 pastors and missionaries? Well, Paul gives us very 118 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,200 specific things to pray for. The first thing he says is pray 119 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,320 that the word may spread rapidly. 120 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:03,280 May spread. And I want to focus on this word 121 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,240 rapidly. Yes, it works. 122 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:12,440 By the way, I'm our media team and Pastor Daniel, I saw this on 123 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:13,840 Instagram. So I'm church doing it. 124 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:15,440 I said, hey, can you make this happen? 125 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,920 And they made it happen. I asked for this like 8 years 126 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,000 ago and we found out that you, you, you literally have to 127 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:24,520 install a computer on the pulpit. 128 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:28,120 So we're like Nah. And then technology advanced and 129 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:33,200 there were cheaper ways to do it, but they did it even like, 130 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:38,120 like way cheaper than whatever the Instagram, you know, the 131 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,240 tutorial, you know, pointed out. Anyway, thank you, media team. 132 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:50,720 Thank you, Pastor Daniel. All right, so he says, pray for 133 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,680 us again, not safety, not anything else, but the word of 134 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:58,840 the Lord. The gospel may spread rapidly 135 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,920 and be honored. Let's focus on rapidly first. 136 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,240 The actual word, the literal word that Paul uses in the Greek 137 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:13,600 rapidly literally says run fast. May the gospel run fast. 138 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,320 And why does he use such language? 139 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,960 Well, first of all, Paul likes using like metaphors that are 140 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,320 has to do with race and running. You know, I have, you know, 141 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,920 finished the race or, you know, a different passage, you know, 142 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:31,080 on a race or many runners, only one gets the crown and he likes 143 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,640 that metaphor. And this is another one made the 144 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:41,040 word of God run fast. So and I was reading up on what 145 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,080 Paul might have meant when he wrote runs fast. 146 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:49,360 And this is kind of the the, you know, this is perhaps what Paul 147 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:54,280 was thinking. So for example, my wife and I 148 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,920 have been watching the Winter Olympics and we watch sports 149 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,240 that we've never heard of, never seen, but we're like suddenly 150 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,720 biggest fans. And one of them was a 3000 meter 151 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:08,600 relay on, it's called a short track and a bunch of people with 152 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,800 ice skates running in little tiny circles. 3000 meters is 153 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:18,400 almost 2 miles. And Korea was a third place the 154 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,800 entire time, almost the entire 2 miles, third place. 155 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,880 And then in the last lap and a half left, you know, room runs 156 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:31,560 past everyone and becomes first. My wife roots for America. 157 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:35,800 I root for Korea. She's like, aren't you AUS 158 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,280 citizen now? My blood is still Korean. 159 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:40,920 What can I do? What can I say? 160 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:44,840 Of course I have root for America too. 161 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:52,160 But in the last lap, we see one skater just run past, run fast, 162 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,600 faster than anyone else. And that's just kind of the 163 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,080 idea, I think that Paul wants us to have in the world. 164 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:02,320 There are a lot of ideas, a lot of teachings. 165 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,800 There is the true gospel that Paul is talking about. 166 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:09,240 There is the false gospels like prosperity teaching, like Jesus 167 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,560 is not God. There's a lot of teachings, a 168 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:13,680 lot of ideas, a lot of value systems. 169 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:20,080 But what Paul is saying, pray for us then when we preach the 170 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,080 gospel that the gospel will run fast. 171 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:28,000 There's all these things, but the gospel run faster so that 172 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:33,440 the gospel preached will be honored. 173 00:11:39,270 --> 00:11:44,230 Couple sermons ago, it's almost, this is almost a Part 2 of that 174 00:11:44,230 --> 00:11:45,590 sermon. I said, what is a healthy 175 00:11:45,590 --> 00:11:47,470 church? A healthy church preaches the 176 00:11:47,470 --> 00:11:49,910 gospel. A healthy church accepts the 177 00:11:49,910 --> 00:11:55,310 gospel faithfully, receives the gospel faithfully, and this is 178 00:11:55,310 --> 00:11:58,590 an extension of that. Everything Paul is saying has 179 00:11:58,630 --> 00:12:02,110 everything to do with that. That's the most important thing 180 00:12:02,230 --> 00:12:05,520 Paul says. And now he says, pray for us 181 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:11,920 that when we preach that our preaching will run fast and that 182 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,760 it will be honored and people will receive it. 183 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:23,720 Pray that the gospel can run fast regularly. 184 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,440 Pray for the preaching ministry of pastors, elders and 185 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:33,160 missionaries because what the Word of God does is really the 186 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:37,640 most important thing. It's not fancy preaching. 187 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:42,240 It's not intellectual preaching, it's not entertaining. 188 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,400 It's the Word of God preach. That's what cuts through men's 189 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,640 hearts. That's what brings change and we 190 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,720 need to pray for it. When I was in Cambodia, Pastor 191 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:59,920 Petros shared with me a story. He said, I don't know the exact 192 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:06,440 details, but he said this man in his village was, he made-up his 193 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,280 mind that he would end his life. And then he was kind of making 194 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:14,080 his rounds to say not, you know, he was saying, like, announcing 195 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,920 that he was going to end his life, But he was, you know, kind 196 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,560 of on his own, seeing people and kind of saying his own goodbyes 197 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,080 without letting him know. And I guess church was one of 198 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:30,040 the stops he was making. He heard the sermon and and he 199 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,880 he, the gospel touched him like it never had before. 200 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,160 He was in tears and that man's life changed. 201 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,800 Was his sermon extra special that week? 202 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,360 I don't think so. For whatever reason, the gospel, 203 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,680 it went deep inside his heart that day. 204 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,760 And in our history of our church, I remember instances 205 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,120 like that too. I remember over 10 years ago, 206 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,000 some guy came in. I thought it was just a random 207 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,520 newcomer, but it was a Christmas service. 208 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:03,600 So I thought, oh, you know, we have some guests for Christmas 209 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,040 service. But he was really looking for 210 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:07,800 his girlfriend. He's like, oh, like she's my 211 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,080 girlfriend. She's not answering my phone 212 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:10,840 call. Oh, that's, that's why he came. 213 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,800 Thank you. And then he's, I said, we'll 214 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:15,640 just just just stay and then we'll figure it out. 215 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:18,920 He stayed. He came coming back, kept coming 216 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:24,960 back. He said, he said the experience 217 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,880 receiving the word, somehow he said it made him feel different 218 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,840 and he was interested what God had to say. 219 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:41,960 Praying that when the word is preached that people receive it 220 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:47,480 and hearts are changed. And I shared with you a couple 221 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,200 sermons ago, right? I didn't preach the gospel until 222 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,280 I was 26, although I was a pastor for four years at that 223 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,160 point. I did not preach the gospel. 224 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,920 I preached moralism. I said, hey, Jesus died for you, 225 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,240 so you guys better be good, don't get in trouble. 226 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:06,480 I was a youth pastor, so that's how I talked, right? 227 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:12,320 26. I've been a Christian all my 228 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,800 life. My parents met at church. 229 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,280 I got married at church. They had me literally from 230 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:23,960 birth. I was at church after 26 years I 231 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:25,840 finally saw the gospel for what it is. 232 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,840 It's not morals, it's that we are nothing. 233 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,800 That I am a Sinner and I deserved really nothing. 234 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:39,040 I deserve hell in fact. But that God would love me so 235 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,400 much, He will send his one, one and only son to save me. 236 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,920 And if God ended it there, you are saved and he ends it there. 237 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:52,400 That's still amazing. But He made me a child of God, 238 00:15:53,680 --> 00:16:00,320 give me eternal life, give me the right to be His son, His 239 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:04,440 child. And all of that just hit me like 240 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:10,280 I heard it for the first time. That's what we need to be 241 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:17,760 praying for, Lord. You think of a missionary, You 242 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,400 think of a pastor in one of those countries. 243 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:25,360 Lord, when Pastor Petros preaches, when Pastor Danny in 244 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:30,120 Thailand preaches, let the gospel run fast. 245 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,600 Let it run faster than any other competing thoughts or ideas. 246 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,600 When people listen, let the gospel run fast and let it 247 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,440 change their hearts so that they will honor it. 248 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,080 Pray for miracles. Pray for salvation to happen. 249 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:56,640 Pray for changed hearts. OK, so Paul says pray that the 250 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:03,920 word goes fast. In verse 2 he says also pray for 251 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:09,760 deliverance and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil. 252 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,839 He does say people here, but I think it goes broader than 253 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,880 people be delivered from wicked. What is deliverance? 254 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,240 It's a divine rescue and protection from those who are 255 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,760 trying to harm us or who are trying to obstruct the spread of 256 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:34,720 a gospel. So we want divine rescue and 257 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,080 protection from God, from wicked and evil. 258 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:46,840 Sure, pastors and missionaries, we occasionally deal with wicked 259 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,440 and evil people who are trying to be in the way of our gospel 260 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,480 ministry. That has happened. 261 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,720 I'm sure every church, every pastor has experienced it. 262 00:17:58,000 --> 00:17:59,320 But really, it doesn't stop there. 263 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,160 The wicked and evil is also the spiritual battle. 264 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:11,200 Every time a pastor preaches the Word of God, you know we have to 265 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:12,960 prepare it, right? There's about a 10 to 15 hour 266 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,640 process. And I guarantee you, doesn't 267 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:19,040 matter who's preaching that week, that preacher is going 268 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:24,040 through a spiritual battle. Satan does not want that person 269 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,920 to do a good job. Satan does not want that 270 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:33,160 preacher to be praying for the sermon, being being blessed by 271 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:36,760 the sermon, preaching with conviction, with the power of 272 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,760 the Holy Spirit. Satan doesn't want any of that 273 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:44,320 to happen, so it'll be full with distraction temptations. 274 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:47,320 Chances were the preacher could get mad and get distracted from 275 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,280 the word of God, something to upset him or her. 276 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,760 Pray for the spiritual battle that is raging in our lives. 277 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:01,240 We need deliverance from the Evil 1, and the devil knows that 278 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,720 one of the most effective ways to destroy the Church is really 279 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:14,560 to start at the top. And also so wicked evil men, 280 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,840 right? Just evil forces like, like 281 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:22,280 Satan. But thirdly, also we need 282 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:30,200 deliverance from ourselves. Oftentimes it's my pride or my 283 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,120 fear of failure or my temptations. 284 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,560 It's really me, that kind of my own way that I am my worst 285 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:42,640 enemy. You know, half of my pastor 286 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:47,280 life, I, I served at a Korean church, which means there is a 287 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:50,160 Korean congregation that that is the main congregation. 288 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:53,080 And on the side there is a smaller English speaking 289 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,400 congregation. And historically those two 290 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,080 groups, even though it's part of the same church. 291 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,640 And I've heard from my other pastor friends that that is the 292 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:03,880 same as pretty any immigrant church. 293 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:05,600 Chinese churches, Vietnamese churches. 294 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:07,880 When there is an English speaking and an immigrant 295 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:13,280 church, they always have issues and I struggled. 296 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:19,120 I struggled a lot serving at a Korean church. 297 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,320 Why? Because they never took the 298 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:25,080 English speaking people seriously. 299 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:28,400 I feel like they're always belittling us. 300 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:39,400 My pride always got hurt, like not too long ago. 301 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,440 We're renting space from our next door neighbors, TGSC, and 302 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,120 they've been so good to us. Like even beyond what we 303 00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:47,640 imagined. They've been so good to us. 304 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,400 But I don't know how many months ago it was, but one of the 305 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,400 ladies was talking to me, which was old, much older, of course, 306 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:01,800 and she referred to us as EM students English. 307 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:10,600 And I was like, just the anger was boiling steam coming out, 308 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,800 right? Like, why do you see us as kids, 309 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:15,560 right? Sure. 310 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,640 We don't have any people in their 60s, seventies, 80s. 311 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,840 And then they have my parents are almost 70. 312 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:25,760 And then they claim that they're they go there by the way, and my 313 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:27,440 parents claim that they're one of the younger ones there, 314 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:28,960 right? Sure. 315 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:30,880 They're much older than us, right? 316 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,480 What do you call it? EM kids, EM students. 317 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,880 I was like, we have like 2 students, right? 318 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,360 We have parents who have kids that are students, right? 319 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:47,320 My pride, that's why I never did well in that kind of that kind 320 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,640 of situation. My pride kept getting in the 321 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,800 way. I kept getting distracted from 322 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,120 what's really important and focusing on, oh, did you see 323 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,680 what they all they're making us do that all that just I just 324 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:07,200 could not get over it. My friend who's been the English 325 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,840 ministry pastor of the church, you know, that helped plant this 326 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:15,880 church, Global Mission Church. He is such a humble man and I, I 327 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,920 respect him so much because he's doing such a good job. 328 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,600 And the biggest difference is this, it's not like he tries 329 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,400 harder, it's not like he's, he is a lot smarter than me. 330 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,280 But other than that, he's like, come on, I'm better than him. 331 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:36,760 But he's just super smart. But the main thing is this, he's 332 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:41,560 so humble. Like when people talk down on 333 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,520 the English ministry, it just, he just kind of like brushes it 334 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,400 off. So he's younger than me, but 335 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,920 man, I look up to him because of humility. 336 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,960 Your pastors, me in particular, we are weak. 337 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:06,040 We are not this man of God. Just because I am on this stage. 338 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,240 I'm full of weaknesses. I'm full of pride. 339 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:17,080 I, I get in my own way because we're so weak. 340 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,160 I need you to pray for me. I need the church to pray for 341 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,960 us. And those missionaries, I know, 342 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,280 they seem like some superhuman beings, right? 343 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,360 They're not. They're just real, normal human 344 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:34,880 beings. They have, they're married, they 345 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,120 have kids. They have the same worries as 346 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,080 us. They worry about money, they 347 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,440 worry about health. They worry about just. 348 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:46,160 They need our prayers too. Pray for us. 349 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,800 I'll end the first point with the shameless plug. 350 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:54,320 We do have an 830 prayer meeting next door every Sunday. 351 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,280 If you want to pray for something that is beyond health 352 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:01,000 and wealth, the first thing, it depends who leads it. 353 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:06,040 But almost always the first thing we pray for is the 354 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,840 service. Whoever is in there, they pray 355 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,840 for whoever is preaching, whoever is leading prayer, I 356 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:18,000 mean praise. They pray for your hearts, 357 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,480 everyone of you. You were prayed for today by the 358 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:32,360 men and women who are next door. So 8:30 every week, 1030, what's 359 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:37,680 830? Thank you. 360 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,520 Who's at 10:30? Thank you, thank you for thank 361 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:41,920 you. You know, when there's a lot of 362 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,760 Asians, they don't speak, they don't like to speak, you know, 363 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:47,480 out. So they just, they just don't 364 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:48,640 say anything. Thank you. 365 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:50,760 Thank you for correcting me. 1030, yes. 366 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:53,680 I mean, you can come at 8:30. I wouldn't stop you. 367 00:24:53,680 --> 00:25:01,800 But 1030 OK #2 much shorter, not much shorter. 368 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:06,680 Do not fear. What else does the healthy 369 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,480 church pray for? Well, this is more of attitude 370 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:15,280 than it is something specific, but #2 healthy church prays 371 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:21,000 knowing that God is faithful, knowing that God is faithful. 372 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:27,640 So from verse 3, Paul transitions from pray for me or 373 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,200 pray for us to blessing the Thessalonian church. 374 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,000 So let's read verses three to five. 375 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:38,760 I think the next slide is just three to five. 376 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:40,520 Is that correct? Try the next slide. 377 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:43,080 Just kidding, Nevermind, go back. 378 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:49,960 All right, let's right in the middle, but the Lord is 379 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,440 faithful. He will strengthen you and guard 380 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,280 you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord 381 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:01,360 about you that you are doing and will continue to do what we 382 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:04,760 command. May the Lord direct your hearts 383 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,160 to God's love and Christ's endurance. 384 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,480 Amen. Let's go back to the other 385 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:15,240 slide. OK, leave it there. 386 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,440 So of course, pastors need to pray for the church members too. 387 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:21,600 It's not just the church members. 388 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,160 Pray for the pastors. Elders, we need to pray for our 389 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,120 flock. CG leaders, pray for your CG 390 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,040 members. But of course, even if you're 391 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:32,160 not a leader, we must pray for one another. 392 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,080 Every community group shares prayer requests. 393 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,320 It's called a prayer request so that we pray for each other. 394 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:42,840 I think sometimes it's just like, oh, thank you for the 395 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:43,840 update. OK. 396 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:45,840 It's not an information sharing time. 397 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,960 It is a prayer request sharing time so that we could pray for 398 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:57,160 each other. The joy that we have in serving 399 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,400 one another and joy of having being in this community. 400 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,080 The biggest story that we can experience, I mentioned a couple 401 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,400 of servers ago is the growth of one another, right? 402 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:10,600 What is the best thing we could do for one of those growth is to 403 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:16,960 pray for one another. But here's the thing, there are 404 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:23,320 times where it's discouraging. I said the growth of others. 405 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,040 It's the source of one of the greatest joys in our in our 406 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,520 Christian walk. Well, sometimes when the 407 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:34,640 brothers and sisters that we're praying for, they struggle, you 408 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,400 know, they've been away from the church and they come back to the 409 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,000 faith and they're like, praise God. 410 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,760 And then something happens and they leave like, oh, what's 411 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,040 going on? They come back, praise God, they 412 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,040 leave. Like sometimes caring for others 413 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,160 up and down, up, up and down struggle. 414 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:55,400 And I and, and many times people have come to me and said, Pastor 415 00:27:55,400 --> 00:28:00,240 Tim, I know so many people that are struggling in our church. 416 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,480 Is there is something wrong with our church? 417 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,320 Well, no, not that. That has nothing to do with if 418 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:10,640 something's wrong with that church or not. 419 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,360 Because if that was true, everyone I know is struggling. 420 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:16,240 Is something wrong with that? If that was true, then this 421 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:21,040 Thessalonian church would not be a church that Paul is thankful 422 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,800 for because this church was going through stuff. 423 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:26,680 We didn't preach in any of these parts. 424 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,440 But this church also struggled with false teaching. 425 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:32,200 Some people were believing in false teaching and they were 426 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:36,720 kind of going astray. There were people being, you 427 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:41,200 know, persecuted their some of their lives are in danger. 428 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:43,920 This church was a struggling church. 429 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,760 But yet Paul says, I am so thankful for you. 430 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:54,640 So it's not about whether, you know, a perfect church doesn't 431 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:59,560 mean everyone has no problems, but a healthy church. 432 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,920 It's not how much struggles you have in life, but it's how you, 433 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:10,320 how we respond, how we deal with the lack of growth, how we deal 434 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,960 with other people struggling. That's what Paul is mentioning 435 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,560 here. He says this, he says pray for 436 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,200 me. And then now he's blessing them. 437 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,400 He says, but the Lord is faithful. 438 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:29,080 The Lord is faithful. Paul doesn't say, hey, it's OK, 439 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:30,880 you guys are struggling. It's OK, I got you. 440 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:39,040 Just I will take care of you. No, he says he, he will 441 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:44,440 strengthen you. He will guard you. 442 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:48,560 We have confidence. Where? 443 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,520 Who? In the Lord? 444 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:56,720 We have confidence in the Lord in verse 5, may the Lord direct 445 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,160 our hearts. It's not I will direct your 446 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,600 hearts or direct your own hearts. 447 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:12,530 May the Lord direct our hearts when their struggle, when you 448 00:30:12,530 --> 00:30:18,970 see no, no progress, you see people backsliding, you see 449 00:30:18,970 --> 00:30:22,690 something opposite of growth. What does Paul say? 450 00:30:23,530 --> 00:30:27,650 Hey, Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you. 451 00:30:27,650 --> 00:30:31,170 He will guard you. Have confidence in the Lord. 452 00:30:31,450 --> 00:30:33,930 May the Lord direct your hearts to God. 453 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,600 What Paul's saying is, look, what we could do is keep loving, 454 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:42,040 keep praying, but the real heavy lifting is done by our Lord. 455 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:44,880 Trust in that. Our God is good. 456 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,040 Our God loves the people that you care for a lot more than you 457 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:52,280 love them. Trust in that and have faith in 458 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:56,720 that. God strengthens, God guards, God 459 00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:59,560 directs our hearts, God protects. 460 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,760 I recently read a article by Pastor Tim Morey. 461 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:09,040 He, we had him as a guest speaker once we had his wife as 462 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:13,400 a guest speaker as well. And he, he wrote an article on 463 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:19,360 taking sabbaticals and he addressed why pastors sometimes 464 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,960 have a hard time, you know, being away from the ministry for 465 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,560 a long time. And one of them, he mentions his 466 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,560 fear, fear that the church will fall apart. 467 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,280 Like if I'm gone, what if the church falls apart without me? 468 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:37,080 That kind of fear. And what Tim Morey talks about, 469 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,240 I think it's applicable to all of us, is that he says, you know 470 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:42,640 what? We need to adopt the Hebrew 471 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,800 mentality when it comes to when a day starts. 472 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:51,080 So the Hebrew people, their day started at 6:00 PM. 473 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,520 Well, it's sundown, but around 6:00 PM for us. 474 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,720 I know technically our day starts at midnight, but come on. 475 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:03,400 Nobody at midnight. Oh, it's 12010. 476 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,360 Let a new day start. Like, no, no one does that. 477 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,360 Oh, my God, let's go to sleep. OK, We wake up in the morning 478 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:13,760 and we say, ah, that's a new day, right? 479 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,280 So our day starts whenever we wake up. 480 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,400 But it's kind of weird, right? The Hebrew people like, wait, 481 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,400 oh, it's a new day. All right, let's brush your 482 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:26,000 teeth, wash our faces, go to bed. 483 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,960 That is a weird practice. Why would you start a new day 484 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:34,080 and go to bed? Well, this is what Tim Morris 485 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:37,120 says, he said. This is actually the exact kind 486 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,240 of thinking what we need every day brings. 487 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:44,800 Not sorry. Every day begins not with my 488 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:49,960 action, but with God's. The first thing I do to start a 489 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:55,920 new day is to let go. To let go of my own efforts and 490 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,600 trust that while I sleep, God is at work. 491 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:03,840 He said for the Hebrew people who are believers, every day 492 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:10,680 begins with an act of trust. And he says for the majority of 493 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:16,520 us, we only trust God when we are doing the work. 494 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:21,440 When you're actually doing the work, then you say I trust God 495 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:23,560 because you're doing something about it. 496 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:29,800 But Pastor Tim Maury is saying the best time to trust God is 497 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:37,480 when you're not doing anything. So when you are attending 498 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,720 church, you have relationships and people next year are 499 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:47,320 struggling, you do your part, pray for them, of course, care 500 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:54,600 for them, but also meanwhile trust that God is at work. 501 00:33:55,440 --> 00:34:00,400 If you think it's all up to you, like your kids success, how they 502 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,440 turn out is all up to you. That is so much stress and 503 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,760 anxiety. How what happens at your job is 504 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:12,280 all up to you. How you perform at work is all 505 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:14,440 up to you. You got to make it happen. 506 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,480 That's too much pressure, that's too much stress and anxiety, too 507 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:23,280 much fear. Paul says do your part. 508 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:30,679 Pray to submit to God's will and love on others and all of that, 509 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:39,880 but meanwhile trust that God is working, doing ministry, 510 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:43,199 thinking only I could do it. That's pride. 511 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,880 And pride only leads to someone's falling. 512 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:54,840 A healthy church has leaders, elders, pastors and church 513 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,560 members. Everyone a healthy church, those 514 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:03,280 people are doing ministry knowing that God is faithful and 515 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,400 ultimately only he could make us grow. 516 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:14,280 Main point, a healthy church prays for the gospel, Gospel to 517 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:17,560 advance and rest in God's faithfulness. 518 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,120 Take time to pray. We're going to actually 519 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:26,480 transition into communion.