 Welcome back. Let me just project the notes. We've been talking about how as leaders we must develop the ability to preach and teach the Word of God. So we're here ministering healing. So as leaders we must develop the ability to minister healing because people are going to come to us, ask for prayer requests. They're going to say, hey, you know, going through this sickness, going through this challenge, healing in the body. And so we must be well prepared, right? We must understand that it is God's will to heal everyone sick. There are different ways through which God can heal. So sometimes, you know, usually in rural areas when we go on missions and, you know, they come with maybe a glass of water, they come with a bottle of oil and say, hey, can you pray for this? And then I will, you know, put it on a person who's unwell so that they can get healed. So be open to all of that because God, we don't say, no, that happened. We will just make a new testament now in the early church. Now it doesn't happen. No, be aware that God heals in different ways. Know how to teach God's Word to build faith for healing. So for example, as leaders, maybe in your cell group or in your church, you've been assigned to preach about healing once on a Sunday, right? So firstly, you teach on God's Word, how God brought, God, what does God say about healing? Then you can build it up to how the Lord Jesus healed people and build faith in their hearts, knowing that, you know, the same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus is in us. And when we pray, God can, you know, heal people and there's a gift of healing when working on miracles. So you're building faith in them and then you pray for healing. Know how to minister healing to the sick. So you just pray over them in the name of Jesus, declare healing, you can, you know, rebuke every spirit of infirmity and pray for healing. Then as leaders, you must also know how to minister deliverance. Now for this, we must know how the devil operates. We talked about the mind, right? We talked about how the different stages of temptations which come, right? So one is, it's a thought, second becomes an argument and reasoning. Third becomes imagination, like as if you're actually involved in the sin and four, it becomes a stronghold, right? So know how the devil operates. And when we know it, we'll be able to teach others, hey, this is what the devil does. He puts a thought in our mind that thought is not rebuke or cancelled off. It goes on to become an argument and a reasoning. Eventually, you'll begin to imagine about it, then it becomes a stronghold and then, you know, it continues to overpower us. So we are teaching people, then we teach them that God is, you know, the authority of Christ, what Jesus did on the cross. And then you can preach from the word and say, you know, when Jesus was doing his ministry, there was this, you know, for example, you can say, there was this legion, this man possessed with demons and legion is, you know, thousands of demons in this person. But all Jesus said was get out of that person, right? So we saw the authority of Christ. We saw that Jesus had authority over the devil, wherever he was in the temptations came, even when he was fasting, he showed his authority on the cross. He defeated the works of the enemy. So what are we doing? We are spurting up the people's heart saying, hey, you and I are seated together. You know, sometimes people may say, hey, that is Jesus, Jesus did it. What about us? But Jesus says, hey, you're seated with me in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's where our authority is. You may be physically here, but in the spirit, you and I have authority. And we talk about the weapons that God has given us. And so we're building faith. And then we know how to minister the difference oppressed and those who are possessed. Two things, what is oppression? Oppression is usually in the mind, right? So it happens when, you know, why is it that, you know, believers feel suicidal? Believers feel, you know, they are addicted to pornography or they're addicted to alcohol. Why is it? Why is it? Because it's an oppression, right? It started off with a thought. It went on, it stayed there, lingered there and it's become a stronghold now. So we must know how to pray for deliverance, right? And then those who are possessed, now a believer cannot be possessed. So when you're ministering to people who are from other faiths, remember that they are possessed by demons that are operating in this world. So how do you minister to them? You can learn about that, right? Be prepared. And so for all of this, we need to be prepared, right? Remember, many times this has happened when usually we go on missions and many, many years ago, this once happened, I was prepared in the world, what I had to teach, we were doing a couple of, it was a youth meeting, I guess, we were doing the youth and I was prepared in the world. But as I was teaching, there was this young man, a youth who just began to scream out and shout and all of that. It really took me off guard. I didn't know what to do. I mean, I knew that I can pray. I was just new in the faith, just learning about all these things. But I just prayed, but that prayer was more of a prayer of, okay, get me out of this situation, prayer. Then as I began to minister more, I realized that, hey, the devil is a defeated four, and you and I have authority, so we can stand in authority. You don't have to be afraid of these works of the devil, right? So when we go through it, we'll be able to teach it to people as well, in your life groups, in your churches and ministries. And then we must develop the ability, too, for counseling. Now, know how to counsel people in the world. Know how to direct people in God's will, in God's ways. Now, as leaders, one of the things that we always emphasize at APC is, we will counsel you, but the decision is always yours. Never force people as leaders. Never force people under you to forcefully make those decisions. You have to do it, only then God will listen to you. No. We counsel them. We give them the word, we tell them, this is what it is. This is what the word says. So this will be the right thing that you can do. And then you can prayerfully see what God is leading you towards. Remember, you have the Holy Spirit inside you. You can always ask the Holy Spirit. You can ask God for guidance. He will give you guidance. He can speak to you through a vision, dream, through the word, through the knowing in your spirit, different ways. So when you're counseling, we must know how to counsel people in the word and the ways of God. Right. Any questions? Any questions? Everyone able to follow? Yes, Christopher, please go ahead. Yes, Pastor. I just wanted to find out what other question was really about administering deliverance. And there may be times when there could be times when it's not actually having the right right. And the outcomes are not really what one is expecting. So sometimes you're like quieting of the spirit or the person is in this particular state of screaming and screaming. So I remember there is a Bible reference where Jesus actually had to have to, I mean, the apostles were actually trying to do the deliverance and Jesus said that and they were not able to have that effect. So Jesus actually was able to do it. And he said that he mentioned something about this requires fasting and some more prayer or there were a few things he mentioned. So I just wanted to know, have you had a again, congregating situation like that? And how did that actually, what was the outcome of that? Yeah, sure. Yes. So Jesus says the disciples tried to exercise the demon possessed person. And Jesus says this would come through fasting and prayer. Now, basically what it was, if you see the context, basically Jesus is saying that you need to be, so we must understand that the Holy Spirit was not yet upon these disciples. So Jesus was trying to get them to understand that these are fighting against flesh, not flesh and blood, but spiritualities and powers of darkness. So fasting and prayer is something that is required. And now we understand that the disciples may not have understood the weapons of our warfare and the things that the devil is doing. They may not have understood all these technical terms. So yes, fasting and prayer is very important to pray and to, what does it do? It just empowers us. So yes, I can give you a couple of instances. There was this one time we were in a different state and spring, all of a sudden this person started to manifest, started screaming and shouting and saying, I'm going to destroy your life. I'm going to, just, he started breaking the legs of the chair just with his bare hands, and he punched the hole into the wall. This was hard. It's not a plastic wall, it was a stone wall. And there were five, six people trying to hold on to him, but he would just push them away with ease. And I was just, I had just gone there to do one confidence, just to teach a couple of sessions. I was not ready for all of this. But as he said, Christopher, it did, it did cause some kind of a fear inside because I'm seeing this and what do I do? So yes, I just prayed, but it didn't really have much effect. Now I'm not saying that because I was, the power of Jesus was not there, not that. I did pray. I did, as a team, there were a few of us there. We all gathered around him, we prayed, we tried casting it out, but nothing really happened. Nothing really happened. But it got me thinking when I went back home, it got me thinking, why? Why? Because the Lord Jesus is all powerful. We prayed right. We did it right. But I realized that after that whole ordeal, I was like, you see the enemy? Yes, he's a defeated foe, but he's still powerful in terms of what he can do here on earth. So that helped me realize that, hey, I need to do so much. I need to grow so much more in my faith, so much more. I need so much more of the anointing of God to overcome these things. Yes, so Christopher, there were times, especially the first two times, I prayed and I came back very discouraged, nothing happened. But over time, I started to realize that, hey, God is working. And I realized that I began to just take in that authority, understand the authority that I have in Christ, and the authority that the Holy Spirit inside me is greater. So I began to dwell on these kind of words. And of course, there's a function of, we know that God calls some into that kind of ministry, the deliverance ministry, where God has anointed them for that cause. But then all of us, it's not like I'm not in the deliverance ministry, choose somebody else. No, all of us have the authority to pray and cast out demons and pray for those who are possessed and oppressed. So basically over time, as we grow in the Lord, as we spend more time in God's presence, but to see after that, after those initial two, three instances, I began to look at it differently. I said, okay, it's not me. I'm not fighting against this devil. There's the Holy Spirit, it's Jesus who's standing next to me. And so there was this kind of a boldness. Initially, first two times, there was a, oh man, he punched a hole in the wall, we broke the chairs with his hands. I was looking at what he was doing in the natural. But now, when I'm ministering to people, especially if they are possessed or oppressed, I don't look at the natural. He may punch the wall, he may jump off a five-float building and still be fine. It doesn't matter because he was demonically energized. But I look at the spiritual, in the spiritual, the moment you talk about the spiritual aspect and you know who you are in the spirit, the enemy knows that. And when you stand in authority, the enemy knows. So over time, I realize, hey, let's not focus on what the devil is doing there. He may be screaming, shouting, yelling, hitting, doing all those things. But in the spiritual, Jesus is victorious. Jesus' authority is greater than the authority of the devil. So you stand there in that authority. The natural, it looks this way. But in the spiritual, who's stronger? Jesus. You talk about the cross. You think, so especially when you are ministering, if you get an opportunity and there comes a time when you're ministering to somebody who's possessed or oppressed, especially if they're jumping and screaming and shouting. You know, one is you do the practical of, hey, you tell them just be seated here. You have some people be seated. If they're not, it's all right. Still remember that you know you're standing. So you think about the cross. Think about when Jesus is done for you. And you know that Jesus is there. It changes the perspective on how you look at that situation. And that personally, it helped me personally. Because initially I was so fearful of what is going to happen. Oh, think about, I used to think about what people will, what if this even doesn't go and then I'm teaching the word of God and what do people think of me? All of that, I put it aside and I said, God, this is what it is. You made a public spectacle of the devil. You have destroyed the works of the devil. And now you are with me, standing with me. So the way you're looking at that situation attitude towards the situation completely changes. So these are things that have me, of course. And when I know that I'm going to a place, for example, if I know I'm going to, for a mission trip, I would spend probably, you know, a week or so additional whenever I can spend more time in prayer, because I know that these are things I'm going to face. So I'd be prepared in the Spirit as well. This additional prayer, additional, you know, maybe a couple of days of fasting and praying, these are things I can help. Christopher, I hope this helps you. Yes, thank you, Pastor. I just want to follow a follow-up question. This is on the ministering of healing, where we are praying for, you know, healing the person and there's, you know, the outcome is not immediate or it takes time. And as this is continuing or if there's another occasion to, you know, to minister healing, again, you know, the outcomes are not there. So I just wanted to try and understand while ministering of healing is done, is there any indication of, you know, the outcomes of this, of actually healing the person versus, you know, God's predestination of, you know, of what this person will actually, eventually, you know, or not eventually, but this predestination may, you know, indicate that that person may not be healed. And that person may say, for example, you know, pass away, for example. So just want to try and understand that, you know, from point of view of, you know, predestination versus, I mean, whether there's any indication of God's predestination in that particular case. Yeah, very, very genuine questions, Christopher, because these are things that I exactly the same thing, you know, I went through initially. People come up for prayer, they wouldn't be healed. They would come up again, second time or they would come other people would come up prayer won't be healed. There was a certain phase where initially, you know, about 15 years back, I stopped praying for healing. You give me the word, I will teach a good, preach a good 20, 30 minute sermon, if you'd like. Pray for you if you need finances or the, people come up for prayer for healing and say, okay, God, thank you for healing and just move on. But as we, as we just, you know, looked at Christopher, we saw that healing is something that God, in this, the previous point, ministering healing, it is God's will to heal every person. So it's not like it is God's will to heal every person between 20 to 60 years old or 30 to 80 years old. After 80, it's not God's will. One, it is God's will to heal everyone. Right. So that should be established in our heart. First thing, God's will is to heal everyone. Now, we know that God uses different ways to heal. We know that there is age. There are things that, you know, we are living in a formal world right now. And there's age, our bodies will go through the different things that we face, due to age. So we must accept that fact. But there are times there will be, you know, it's not like somebody's 80 years old and is going through a terrible sickness. Doesn't mean we should not pray. We cannot say, no, anyway, or 80, no. So I think it's old age. It's okay. Any times I prayed for last week at church, I was this elderly woman, she's 75. And she said, she came out to be and she said, you know, I'm having stomach pains. I'm having, I take a lot of medicines, my stomach burns. And, you know, immediately that thought came to me, maybe because of its old age, but then I rebuked that thought. And I said, God, it's your desire to heal everyone. I said, Auntie, let me pray for you. So I just prayed, God, just bring healing on this Auntie. I know, you know, she's old. She's going through this pain, bring healing. Thank you for healing her. Thank you for removing every stomach burns and just restoring her. And she came up to me after, you know, we had lunch that day on Sunday. And so we had lunch at church, we finished lunch, and she came up to me and she said, I don't feel any stomach burn, even though I ate such a spicy food. So I feel that God is healing me. So happy. Right now, Christopher, the whole thing of predestination, Ephesians one, it is what we are predestined in Christ Jesus. So Paul is talking about not our predestination in terms of our life. This is what you're predestined for. When you're born, you will be born as born blind. And for the rest of your life, you'll be blind. That is predestined. Right. Now, what Paul is talking about is predestined in Christ, which means what is it that we, once we are in Christ, we have all of these blessings. Right. So let's understand that little bit of a difference there. God's will is to heal everyone. And God's will is that when we pray, we must be assured that God can bring healing when it doesn't happen. We, I know it is discouraging. I know it feels like, you know, God, what is happening. But just because I only said just because God didn't heal doesn't mean God is not the healer. He is the healer. We continue to encourage the person and say, hey, continue to trust God. God can bring healing. This is who he is. Even through the trials, through the difficulties, he is God. So yes, to answer, even if you look at, you know, I was reading about Fanny Crossby, the great songwriter who wrote 8,000 odd hymns was blind. And, you know, most of our songs is about looking at the beauty of Christ. But do you think people wouldn't have prayed for healing? Do you think that she would not have desire to be, you know, to see and, but she didn't receive her healing. But it doesn't mean that, you know, God is not the healer. But what was it? Even in that blindness, God was glorified through it. Right? So, one thing we must understand that God has his way, but God's desire is to heal everyone. That is settled in our heart. So, when we are praying for people, don't worry about, you know, predestination, all of those things. What if a baby is, you know, a child may be born deformed. It's God's will to heal. It's not like he's really destined for the rest of your life, you're going to be deformed. What can he do? And so, Christopher, I hope that answers that question on the predestination part of it. Okay, we get into the next chapter. It's a very small chapter. Let's take about 10 minutes to finish that. The next one is, you know, developing specific functional skills. Like, how do we develop the skills to be a successful cell leader? Now, this can be also translated to your ministry or your church. Some points may be repeated here. Keep learning continuously. We talked about it. Keep investing time and effort to learn, to grow, to develop, to and to achieve bigger things. Problems one face as a wise man will hear, will increase learning, a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel. So, the skills can be anything, right? One of the things that I'm working on is, I think I've shared this, I don't know if it's this class or the second years, or the first years, I don't know, but I was talking to the student and I was sharing how I'm trying to learn how, you know, there are different skills involved in speaking, in public speaking, right? So, as a teacher, as a preacher, I know that I'm going to be on the, you know, pulpit teaching, preaching. So, I'm learning on how to develop skills on being an effective public speaker, right? Not only the spiritual side, but also the practical things that are involved, our dressing sense, the way we speak, intonation, rate of speech, all these things, right? So, keep learning continuously. Keep developing. Five steps to establish a cycle of learning. You've got the acronym first here. F or focus on your priorities. Identify your critical issues and development objectives. So, you see where you can, where you need to improve more and how you can develop in that. Implement something every day, okay, stretch your comfort zone. So, how you can keep learning, stretch your comfort zone. It could be reading. It could be spending more time on God's word. It could be spending more time in practical things, raising up leaders, stretch out of your comfort zone. Reflect on what happens. R for reflect. Extract maximum learning from your experiences. Now, your experiences will teach you a lot and I've got so much of experiences that I can share that I know some of the silly mistakes that I've made, some of the places that I've done really well and I take it. I say, God, thank you. Help me to better what I'm doing. There are places where I've, where I feel I've not done better. Go back. It's okay. Maybe I should have done this or some places where I have failed. So, go back. Okay. Maybe this is why it failed or whatever, the project that I took up or whatever I'm doing. These are the reasons maybe. And so, you reflect on what happens and learn from those experiences. Seek feedback and support. Learn from ideas and other perspectives. And finally, transfer learning into next steps. Adapt and learn from continued learning. So, this is the acronym for first. Focus on your priorities. Implement something every day. I mean, stretch out of your comfort zone. Reflect on what happens. Learn from your past failures and successes. Now, don't dwell too much on your success. Don't dwell too much on the failures. If you had a success previously, don't dwell too much on it. See, I was very successful last time. Yeah, but success story, good. You learn from it, you move on. Or don't look at your past and look at the failures and say, oh, I failed there. Maybe I may fail here now. And you will look at your past success and failure and you'll learn from it. Right. And then seek feedback and support transfer learning into next steps. Some specific skills to improve, again, ability to organize and coordinate the self-meetings. We talked about that as well. Now, a leader must be willing, must have the ability to organize. Right. Set up probably rosters. Okay, prayer roster, prayer leading roster. Those who have to look after the children or roster for them, preparing material for them, organizing the flow of the cell meeting or the church. If you're doing additional outreaches, organizing the whole outreach that you're doing, do regular follow-up, work with your cell pastor, networking with other cell leaders. So we also talked about these things briefly. Right. So I think we'll stop here. We'll pick up from next class. But before we close, do you have any thoughts, any questions that you'd like to share? So we'll just close in prayer. Maybe one of us can please close. Any one of us can close in prayer, please. Go ahead. Ash, how would you like to pray? Yes, Pastor. Right. Dear God, thank you so much, Lord, for this day. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to be learned about discipleship, God, and Lord, I pray that as we learned about the opening, the ability to do this to other Scott, I pray that what we have learned, we just may not just hear it, but be the doers of what we have learned, God. Thank you so much, God, for the opportunity to have learned how to disciple people and how to disciple me, me, all the children you have appointed to us, God. Thank you, Lord, for everything that you're about to do in our lives. And thank you, Lord, for each one of them, God, as they go, we reflect on what they have learned and think and ponder about the God that they will meditate, Lord, what it is to decide for what it is to take this thing in a way that is in a serious manner and not a way that they schedule, God, but may they understand the deeper level of what they have learned, God. Thank you, Lord, for each one of them, that they'll have a great day here, great. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Asha. Thank you, everyone, for joining. Have a wonderful week ahead. I'll see you next week. God bless you all. Thank you, Asha. Thank you.