 Good morning and welcome everyone We've started the recording. So let's pray and we will get into today's class. I'll just begin with the word of prayer Above father we thank you Lord for your presence in our lives father we We lost the connection for a bit. Sorry about that. Let's get right into our Subject so we've been talking about In the last class we explained that the five-fold ministry offices are from God and there is Nothing in scripture that says that today. We don't have these offices so just as much as We accept the office of a prophet or a teacher or a pastor even Apostle is an office that exists and we will continue to see Apostles rise up In our midst and and that is something that we must be prepared for we've seen how God in the last 500 years has Restored many things back to the church and we know that before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ that the church as A body is being strengthened in terms of our understanding of the word the work of the spirit and so God is You know he there are all these restorative moves of God and currently the move that we are in we know that the five-fold ministry offices are being restored and We also looked at the fact that the Lord Jesus He is an apostle. He was in the in the calling of an apostle as well Or he is in the calling of an apostle as well and we understood the meaning of that word Apostle it simply means sent from someone and a good representative and since The term has come from more of a Like a military usage We also know that it has to do with kingdoms and how Establishing a kingdom kingdom culture used to happen in the past and even today in a spiritual sense That's what we are looking at when we talk about an apostolic work being done And there are categories of apostles the 12 apostles of the lamb There is the founding apostles such as you know Paul Peter John who have Worked or strived as far as the doctrine is concerned. So we have the doctrine today That can't change But when we talk about the office of a often apostle They will not be a founding apostle. However, they will have an apostolic role in whatever God calls them to do and The last point here in our note says that even women Can be apostles One of the notable apostles women apostles in scripture is a lady by the name of junior Whom Paul Commends or he appreciates her that yeah, she's a you know, she's like a What noted noted apostle among people so can women be apostles answer is yes Even women can be apostles. So now we go to understanding the apostolic ministry In the New Testament Obviously began with Jesus and his disciples the 12 disciples of the lamb and What do we see as far as their work or their ministry is concerned they They were commissioned or they they were appointed by Jesus to go and do the works of God just the way Jesus did it So we know right like in Matthew chapter 10 verses 1 and 2 Jesus tells them now you go you do the supernatural works and You minister to the people So what are apostles supposed to do they're supposed to go and Reach out to people and do the works of God. That's what we see the 12 disciples do Now when we come to the book of acts There again, you know, we see many scriptures about Peter and John and Paul and Barnabas. So I mean primarily these people who are in the Apostolic office Now what are their functions we learn from their functions? What are the things that they did the things like preaching things like teaching things like You know establishing the church then the government of the church, what is government government is like? The right things right like in terms of the doctrines in terms of the the Christian life In terms of you know, what is ministry how it should be done? Instructions and of course the demonstration of the supernatural so broadly I'm just putting it broadly if we look at our notes here. There are many scriptures for us to look at and read through so I would encourage us to go and do that and You would notice that the Apostles worked in all these areas Okay, so there's there's a whole bunch of like Like reaching out to people through preaching teaching as well as you know church administration and government. So one key Time when you see The church standing up for what is right is in acts 15 So what exactly happens in acts 15 is that there is a Rule which people are trying to make for the converted gentiles or we can use the term those who became believers Yeah among the Gentiles and the the instruction that went out was to say that They must now be circumcised So then the Apostles along with the leaders they decide and They say that look Jews are by Culture and by tradition circumcised. It's not Necessary for a Gentile to be circumcised now. I mean a Gentile. They have been brought up in their own way and now that they've become a believer Should every believer or let me put it this way anyone who is a Christian should they become? Circumcised that's a question in the church right around the acts of teen time and the Apostles make a decision and It's quite clear. They discuss they decide and We are told that decrease like a decree is sent out to the People around here cut they put it down in writing and the announcement is made. So there is no confusion So this is what church government is about meaning we are the church is is governed or guided by Scriptural principles See if on that day they would not have stood up regarding circumcision then what happens? Circumcision would have become essential But is that what Jesus said did Jesus preach about circumcision? No, it was all about believing in God by you know by faith and The aspect of grace in salvation. So where is circumcision? So they were true to the scriptures and they did not allow this whole circumcision tradition to come in So that is church government. That's very apostolic to guide the people in the right doctrine to guide the people as per the scriptures, right? So That is what their functions were about. So here in our notes We would see an enlisting of the key things observed as in the Book of Acts Teaching yes, of course, we find they were teaching where are the examples of this you would find that You know when Philip went to Samaria and there were many people who started believing in God That was just the beginning of their journey They did not know about Holy Spirit baptism They did not know about you know the power of the spirit then we see in Acts 8 that from the Church of Jerusalem They sent Peter and John to Samaria Why so that the people are taught about Baptism in the Holy Spirit Right similarly Acts 19 That's another place where about the Holy Spirit people were not aware But the Apostles bring in the understanding Okay, so teaching teaching is a key Thing to do in the apostolic why why why is teaching so important? Yeah, the doctrines Because unless we know the doctrines, you know some things which are Not not Compromisable Then how will we as believers live our lives? We need to right like it affects our worship It affects our life it affects our ministry and so teaching is very important Then we see the supernatural Science wonders and miracles Where do we see this we see? You know particularly I mean we see so many miracles starting from Acts 3 Acts 3 the lame man at the gate beautiful. He was raised up. He was able to walk Then later on we find scriptures where through the hands of the Apostles God did many miracles Okay That is a part of the anointing the apostolic anointing right so Signs wonders and miracles. It's very much a part of the apostolic Church administration. We've already talked about it preaching preaching is to proclaim the gospel So that is also part of the apostolic leadership authority We see people like Paul if we only consider the book of Acts also We'll see that he is planting churches in different cities Now what kind of leadership one is of course planting the church they go with the team They preach the gospel there are people who come to believe then what to do when they're leaving the city the work will See imagine people have believed in God Right and the the team Paul and his team are moving on from there Now if they just move on and they don't think about the people who are now believers in that city What will happen? Just think about this. They're just traveling ministers going everywhere and they just move on Yeah, they might go astray astray and remember we said teaching is necessary Establishing them in the doctrine is necessary Discipleship is necessary You know and also leading them in the work of the spirit baptism in the Holy Spirit gifts of the spirit And appointing leaders in the church when you see how the way Paul works in the Ephesian church What he does is before he goes right in acts 20 you read about him calling the leaders of the Ephesian church Where does the leader suddenly come from? Because they were appointed So that is what we call as church government right, so there are leaders because It's preaching the gospel and bringing people to Christ is one thing discipling them and raising up leaders Strengthening the body of believers in a particular region guiding them You see there's so many things to do All that is part of apostolic work Apostolic work and and so You find Paul exercising leadership authority when he writes his letters to the Ephesians. He says, you know Ephesians stand up against Like the demonic kingdom the powers of darkness put on the full armor of God so there is instruction He talked he writes to the Galatians. He says who has bewitched you Why are you listening to all kinds of new teachings? Is that what was taught to you? Who speaks like that? Right who speaks like that unless they have that authority over the people so He was concerned about the people that they may go astray with the wrong teachings So he kind of charges them in a in a fatherly way and says, please don't Leave what you have already learned. So all this is the apostolic leadership authority appointing leaders How can you appoint unless he carries that authority? Right, so are you an understanding? This is how the apostolic looks so they're establishing proper You know like a proper Government I think government only is the word government over the church So How is it different from the pastoral work? That's the question to us Because even pastor will engage in teaching discipling people Yeah, yeah, yes, yes Correct, so it's a little broader than pastoral ministry, but pastoral ministry will have these features They would teach and preach and move in the supernatural take care of the people Administration all that is there but the level at which you will see it in the case of an apostle is Way higher. Yeah Pastors is huh? Yeah, so pastoral is more like shepherding They are mostly concerned with their Their sheep. No, so the term pastor itself it it means shepherd Yes Yeah Huh, okay. No, you're saying in the context of a big church the pastor will not go to every home you're saying So then like what exactly is the question? Yeah, so see it it comes together Anand so for a pastor the overall broad objective is to take care of the sheep That's what a pastor is all about the shepherd is all about so as a shepherd, right? What are we supposed to do? We have to build them up in the word of God So then the grace of teaching is given to the pastor to some extent we can teach Right then preaching because we have to proclaim the gospel and new people are coming in so we can We have that grace to do it and also This aspect is there to take care of the people like imagine. We are only preaching and teaching, but we don't care for their lives That's where the whole mentoring comes in the caring for people comes in member care comes in You know like usual aspects come in Without caring how can a pastor only preach and teach? No, why the reason we are preaching and teaching only is for the people So we we want to build up the people so the point I'm trying to make is like even member care Interacting with the person building up the person and maybe you know visit spend time. It's all pastoral. It's pastoral. Yeah It's an aspect. It's got to be an aspect now I understand when it comes to like a mega church, right? Every mega church may have their strategy. For example, if a church has 50 members It's reasonable the pastor can visit everyone spend time with everyone Now if the church has 50,000 members tell me how a pastor can visit them cannot So then strategy so we may have a member care team But it comes under the pastoral ministry only so ultimately the pastor is the one who is kind of guiding these teams and Saying, okay, I can't visit but you make sure they are fine, you know, if they are safe If the member care team is there then okay, okay. Yeah, it Member care team Okay, so Prince your question is that even if there's a member care team then people Will seek the pastor's guidance for major issues in their lives. I agree with you That's what the most of the people want to do. So what I have seen in practice Among the many churches that I know is though. There's a member care team Generally, they will give some way to contact the pastor directly So in most churches the pastor also spends time directly with the people they can write or they can call and come and catch up Now if it becomes too many people because I've heard churches like in North in South Korea that big church, you know Our Yongi Cho Yongi Cho's church and all he talks about how He's just not able to like he does not know also how many people are there who are the people because it's it's running into You know thousands of people and he has a He's has an army of volunteers So basically they are the ones who can they go they take care they keep in touch With the people as a pastor. He just cannot I mean, he wasn't able to After the church grew so big So a church can come to a place where That might happen Which is where like good administration comes in handy when we have guidelines We have proper trainings. We have proper feedback mechanisms Then it's okay Even if pastor is not engaging directly and still maintain So yeah, so this is what the apostolic Looks like so pastor can do this to an extent I think paul apostle paul is a very good example for us to understand the apostolic He was like a shepherd but at the same time He is going to new territories. You understand like expansion That's on his mind and it's not just one church In a pastoral kind of a role A pastor may even have five churches But we may not call them an apostle Just having more churches doesn't make one an apostle Got it. Um, but can An apostle Be like a pastor. Does he have features of a pastor? Yes That can happen that can happen. So these are the differences Okay, so uh, if anyone is called to be an apostle should they be like apostle paul No answer is no Features characteristics we can take, you know things like Expand expansion of the kingdom, you know more people getting saved All that we can take but should they be exactly like paul, you know being able to um What can I say? You know all his his strengths of writing a letter And being that strong leader and all May not necessarily look like that. You know, we'll come later. There are names like um Barnabas Barnabas is called an apostle, but you don't see him doing things like paul Correct personality wise also. He's so different And uh, yeah, you don't we don't see much written about barnabas, but i'm sure He has expanded the kingdom of god and there's a certain way in which he has ministered You see there are other names actually this is the next section right here in our notes on page four Andronicus junia silas timothy titus james Right these people are also called apostles But their work was obviously Slightly different as compared to paul. So you don't have to be exactly like paul to be known as an apostle Okay, great. So now we we're understanding the characteristics, right of an apostle Fine. So a few more things to add to that is persecution. So when it comes to uh Being attacked for the sake of the gospel In the book of acts we see that It was generally the apostles who were the first target so, uh James One james is killed And then peter is imprisoned in the beginning Peter and john are interrogated Right and later on again paul finds opposition everywhere He has the leader is facing the like he's in the front lines Of persecution So it tends to happen and that's what we see in the book of acts also Those who are apostles end up getting the first You know I know what you call it like the attack of persecution And so it kind of and also see we are talking about entering new territory, right? So when it entering new territory, is it easy? It's very difficult. So we use terms like pioneer will come to it later pioneer means Somebody who's doing something for the first time That hasn't been done before So if something has been done before Like just think with me We are going into a place which is like a jungle if people have been there before we may find a road Because there are many people who have left a trail. You just walk through the road. They've already cut the trees for us They've already cleared the way for us Fine there's a trail But when we talk about pioneering, it's like saying you're the first person who's gone there And the first person has to cut the trees and deal with the You know wild beasts animals and make the path. We are making the path We are setting the trend So it's a high call. It's a tough call Can there be opposition when these things are being done? Definitely it's going to be hard not everybody can accept it So the apostolic is a little bit like that You know, like pioneering courage will come to many other aspects later Courage boldness being able to step out do a new thing And when these things are happening, we can expect opposition and even maybe persecution So that is a part of the apostolic in the book of acts Strengthening of the local church. We see that in the book of acts They strengthen the local church in many different ways If there are problems in the local church That is addressed. Have you noticed he writes to the Corinthian church Paul. He says look We should not be carnal. We truly have to be spiritual. So what is that? Strengthening the church should not become weak in any way So if there are issues addressing them, then you know, if there is a Difficult season that people are going through for example You know how there's a famine that is announced, right? But relief is sent Relief is sent from some churches to the church that is in famine So what is that helping in a physical way in a natural way as well as in a spiritual way So all that Paul was overseeing making sure in no way the church should become weak Right. So it's an amazing every call is amazing But you know the apostolic is kind of you're like, wow What a grace to have to be able to take care of so many things And so that's what the picture of the apostolic looks like strengthening the local church in every way Expand into new territories. So that's quite obvious in the book of Acts They are moving as Jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes on you You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth So they are taking the gospel out To various regions when we come to our the apostolic today, we'll have a discussion about that It does not only mean geography For example, you know, we are in a certain country and then we go to another country to proclaim the gospel and you know Um, the spiritual kingdom of God is is taken into that nation That's that's part of uh ministry, but There are other spheres To like for example, um What about impacting the sports uh area With with the gospel with biblical principles Maybe the area of sports nobody's thought about it, but when somebody, you know, the apostolic is that We take the kingdom not just to you know, like new geographical territories, but also other Zones so sports. What about entertainment? uh Like transform the world of entertainment. That's apostolic new content You know excellent content Uplifting content when people start doing these things It's new territory. What about technology? You know, so in the when we talk about apostolic today The new territories look like that it need not only be i'm leaving this country. I'm going to another country. That's one But there's more than that What about, you know, I keep thinking Kids right kids Like whenever we're doing some storytelling for my knees, never you know Some of the books that we read and I'm always hoping hey if somebody can write a better story Or give some good values in the stories the illustrations It makes such an impact on the children around the world Right These are all next or it is being explored But can you think with me? These are all the opportunities apostolic Can impact You know all these areas we can think in a different way. What about the world of gaming? You know gaming is a big deal nowadays. A lot of people engage Uh, it's just part of your Uh, you know what what people have as entertainment But there's so much of violence. There's so much of unnecessary things that go on What if uh, you know a believer Makes a mark in that area of gaming right These are ways in which we can Be apostolic in our generation Okay, uh, so there's so much actually it's very exciting to think about the apostolic in our time Yeah What Yeah You're asking me Okay Uh Okay, so for the online students The bad chair is asking me about one particular individual if I would call that person and our person Thankfully, they're not holding the mic. So you've not heard the name of the person. I would say yes I would it's my personal opinion. I would say yes Yeah Yeah, I feel like uh, there are signs of Uh, yeah, I I mean that's my personal opinion Sure Yeah, true true We can see the expansion happening, right So, yeah Okay Tough question Anyway, I escaped All right, so Now we are understanding what the apostles in the new testament did and how their function really is And to also we'll come to all this later It it sounds very grand. It sounds very powerful That human beings can be like this Having so many abilities the grace of god And engaging in so many activities and being a blessing to The people around and even for the coming generations It makes a difference, isn't it when someone has has gone into new places and established Gods doctrines and principles and all so it sounds very grand, but I want us to remember That apostles are just ordinary men and women of god Graced by god in this office So, uh, we must never really I mean we tend to do that When it comes to all Uh callings all offices Where we see the grace of god and people's lives and somewhere we put them on a pedestal Yeah, so Yes, it's the grace of god. Yes, we must honor But god must always hold the highest Honor and respect in our hearts. So they are just ordinary Men and women of god, but appointed by god. We honor that we honor that and um, you know, we we Give them that due respect. So here in our notes names of different apostles has been mentioned Paul vanavis andronicus junior Silas there are references given alongside where we can go and check it up Timothy Titus james and others a few more thoughts here about the apostolic Now that we've seen all these different names What we're also saying is that The operation of the ministry gift Can be very different So it's like The apostolic anointing Right the anointing is there And it is given to different individuals the way it It is expressed the way it Is demonstrated can be quite different Right in each case like I already gave the example when we see paul quite different from vanavis quite different from timothy um, and so We should not Think that it's a formula like every person Who is an apostle should look like You know, they should look like each other Like do they look like this? Do they do like this? Then only they are an apostle. So it's not a formula We will not be able to You know box up people in a certain system to be able to call them apostle right, so we cannot force that Operation of the ministry gifted to a formula All that we have done today is just broad guidelines very broad guidelines. So those have been established Now on the basis of these names that we listed out, uh Over and above the book of acts We've stated in our notes The activities of you know, all these people also like we now included timothy and others So what are the The works that we see We find that there is the establishing of establishing and building of local churches So people were involved in that So that is part of the apostolic Opening up new doors to the unreached Or opening new territories for the gospel We've already seen that that's also part of the apostolic Equipped with the power gifts of the spirit So that power gifts means supernatural We we are able to demonstrate the supernatural that is part of the apostolic equipped with revelatory gifts What are revelatory gifts among the gifts of the spirit the ones that are about Revelation like word of knowledge word of wisdom prophecy. Those are revelatory gifts. So we find that People in the apostolic also carry revelatory gifts. Do prophets have it? Yes But then apostles also are graced with it to a certain extent then equipped with strong leadership and administration Capabilities. So this is a very unique feature very unique feature Do pastors have administrative abilities to some extent? Yes, but we would find that the apostle Will have it to a large extent like they'll be capable of managing Like really amazing administrative responsibilities or work. And so that is Quite important in the apostolic anointing and also strong leadership Strong leadership how to be a leader to lead from the front? Right that is a part of the apostolic They're able to steer people forward. That's a good thing But it can also be a very dangerous thing because Hopefully the person is good And they are fully committed to the call of god and they they're leading in the right way Now what if they are not? See people are willing to follow strong apostolic anointing lots of people will follow But if there are mistakes It affects everyone right so All these offices and the anointing everything comes with responsibility And when it done right done well, it's such a mighty blessing. So with regard to the apostolic Strong leadership and administration capabilities are a part of it We find in first Corinthians chapter 12 verse 28 There is The greek word for government which is kuber and The apostles are the ones who who are involved in church government So what does that mean that what kuber means to steer or to pilot? Okay, those who are at the steering wheel of a car. They are the ones who are taking the car somewhere Everyone else is just following followers or pilot. They are the ones who are taking the the plane somewhere. So They have these abilities to lead many people And The governmental authority governmental authority stand is is more about Establishing the right structure Um, you know the right doctrine and all of all of those things. So That is also part of it Yeah, here it's been explained further. So as part of church government appoint local leadership That is the responsibility of the apostolic to appoint the right leaders You've done house of god Okay, okay. So, you know, so the right person In the right place at the right time right, so that is Uh, right leadership appoint local leadership then establish divine order. What is divine order divine order means There is the authority gateway Right the way things have to be done in a church We can't be haphazard if god has appointed Leaders given grace to different people There's a right way of doing things Right, so that has to be honored. That is divine order like even, uh, there's a book. I'm sure you all have Read it in some of your courses in divine order. It's about respecting authority Respecting god's government in that local church. So even when things are done, for example, let's say, uh, You know between churches We have to respect that there's an order. We have to go through the pastor of that church. We can't just do whatever we like Isn't it? So that's divine order. So Divine order who will establish this the apostles the apostles and the apostolic So when we see some of the writings of paul Sometimes it gets angry when people are disrupting order And you wonder like paul like relax. Why are you getting upset? But the apostolic is about divine order Is the right way that god has established. We can't break that Order and that's not right It's so divine order authority to bring correction to local churches and we've Discussed about it and paul did that Responsibility toward and care for the churches and that's part of what paul did and other ministers did and uh, you know These are these are all things that are done along with that teaching praying For the local church and ensuring that the church grows up and how will the church grow up along with the teaching activating the gifts of the ministry gifts of the spirit Imparting a gift if you recall the writings of paul. He says I was waiting to come to you so that I could impart a gift to you So spiritually developing the people that is part of the apostolic and um Yeah relating to other apostles and elders It's a really nice team work If you see paul's team also They all work together It's so many names are mentioned. There are other people who are apostles also who paul is working with so Uh, yeah, so all this is even relating to other leaders other elders apostles It's a part of the apostolic anointing and so we observe this and uh, it's more like ultimately if you see the picture that we get Of the apostle and we'll take paul as an example. It's more like a father Right spiritual father to many leaders grooming them up raising them up equipping them So that the work of god can go on it can impact many generations to come So that's the broad picture of the Uh apostolic in the next class we'll read a little bit about the shaping of an apostle And I'll try and summarize the other chapters. I'm trying to The summarize as much as possible that way we get more out of our discussions Huh? Yeah, yeah, we'll be done. Don't worry. Yeah, uh, and I'm yet to post the additional Yeah Videos for the prophetic Right, so any questions any thoughts as we close today Yeah, just let the apostolic sink in And uh, we'll pick it up on yeah. Oh question Yes Yeah, yeah Yes, so can an apostle have a home church like they are the like pastor of the church Yes, so a person can be an apostle pastor Can be Yeah Correct in the case of paul. It's a little different. He appoints someone to be the pastor No, it can be a combination. So somebody can be an apostle pastor also So taking care of the church, but actually the calling is apostolic. So they're constantly Trying to expand It's possible Does everyone need a home church? um For the for the minister Ministry offices Yes, um, see when we look at We'll go back to the example of book of acts. They had a home church like even paul Barnabas They used to keep coming back to anti-arc Because that's where they started out their ministry. But then the mother church was in jerusalem So initially it's anti-arc and then they start kind of connecting to the church of jerusalem like reporting to the church of jerusalem and all they are Well linked even when paul goes back to jerusalem He's in sync with the leaders of the church of jerusalem So it's uh, that's how they did it. So my answer would be yes What church? I've never heard Oh mother church, okay, so wherever you go you should come to the mother church tight Tight to the church. See we we are supposed to give the tight to the church where we are being spiritually fed Okay, so uh, I would say whichever church you are because when you say mother church, what does it mean? Is it the church where you were born? Where you started Where you started That's the mother church is it I I haven't heard about this concept Oh in your mind Yeah, yeah Okay, so see I can only tell you I think I can tell you Uh, my experience was whenever studying I had to move out of bangalore and live elsewhere And I was attending a church. There was no branch of apc Over there. So I spoke to pastor. I went there and I asked him. What should I do? He said you be planted there. You serve there And uh, don't worry like don't worry about apc. You'll be a blessing there. That's what he told me So then I went and I was working. Uh, I mean Studying all that I was serving there volunteering I was also giving my tithes to that church at that point But of course I would send some like, you know to apc also I had a commitment And uh in my heart, I felt that I am so connected to apc So that connection is there, but then my tithe as such if you ask me I was giving it there So Yeah Yeah Yeah They took care of us. Yeah Yeah, so uh, yeah, so the question is wherever we grew up wherever we were baptized wherever we came to know the lord That our commitment to that place always remains and tithe has to go there. Is it? That's a thing Uh See in the present the church that is nurturing us Uh, like I I see it that way the commitment is to that church to give the tithe, but in my heart if I am still Feeling for my other church. I can send there also like maybe a portion there also Yeah But you're saying this tradition exists It's not like We are Yeah, yeah, yeah Okay, okay. Yeah, sure. Yeah Congregation Yeah Honestly, I have never thought about this. This is like the first time I'm even thinking about it. So I have to look at Scriptures on this Oh, is it right to call people and tell? Tithe To call people and say you have to give the tithe No, no, see we can teach people about the tithe and the blessing of the tithe Right. It's uh, we are uh I know and it's left to the people to give We can teach them we can help them understand beyond that. We can't say We can't track Tithe Yeah, yeah Yeah Yes, yes Okay, I think I have to Read more about it. I I have no context Okay, so thank you. Let's pray and then we'll close Let's pray and I just want to request one of us to lead in prayer Oh either anyone Father, we thank you for this time once again And we praise you worship your father what we have learned today lord Jesus Help us to understand more deeply About all things what We learned through Nancy ma'am. Thank you father for teaching us in Jesus name. I'm amen Thank you. Thank you. God bless