 Okay, welcome back everyone. Before I go ahead, I just want to ask, is everyone tracking along? Do you have any questions? Anyone would like to share their thoughts? No, I've been speaking a lot. Anyone would like to... Do you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts? Everyone okay? You're able to track along? You're able to follow? Just give me a thumbs up to whoever the others. Everyone okay? Please let me know if I'm going too fast. Or if you have any questions, just feel free to stop me. Okay, shall we continue then? Okay, okay. Alright, so let's go. We just started with the fourth point, which is methods. And we saw the Lord Jesus doing many, many miracles. In one place he says, he sat, he thought, and he displayed the power of God. Forget which verse is that. He sat with them, he taught them, and what he thought, he put it into action. Basically he practiced what he preached. So that's very important as well. Imagine as people of God, we are ministering to people, and we say, you know what, God can do this, do this, do this in your life. But if we don't believe it ourselves, if we are doubtful ourselves, it's very unlikely that the other person is going to be convinced. I'm not saying that every time we pray, we may receive healing. That's what we must expect. But there will be times people may not receive healing, or they may still be in oppression, whatever it is. But we must be convinced that the Lord Jesus has said, when you go lay hands on the sick, they will be healed. Now the healing part is done by him. But we must be convinced. Because I remember there's this one person that he's a pastor, and we got to talk and we spent a couple of days just talking, being with each other, talking about the ministry. This is many years back, and he mentioned this. He said, every time I pray for people who are sick, they have really not received healing, or it's just been the same. And they have questioned his ability or integrity as a pastor. So he was very sad about it. And what he realized was many people from his ministry or the church were going to these healing crusades or healing evangelists, and they would be part of those other churches. And eventually a lot of members from his church left. And it's very sad, especially as pastors, if we see people move out, and if they move out because they're not receiving healing, or because they're praying for something, and the pastor's not able to pray and bring healing. It's very, very painful. But we may go up to God and say, you brought them, now you didn't heal them, now they've gone back. Remember, as believers, not only pastors, but all of us as believers, that's why we started this course. We started every time we say, remember your identity in Christ. Your identity in Christ is not a pastor. That's your calling. Your identity in Christ is not evangelist. That's a calling. The Lord Jesus, His identity was not the five-fold ministry, all five of them. His identity was, He was the Son of God. And so when we do ministry out of that understanding, everything will change. Now we must pursue. Now, for example, we're in ministry, we must pursue God. Let there be healings, let there be miracles, let there be the gifts of the Spirit, prophecies, word of knowledge. We must pursue it. And we must continue to pursue it. Something that I personally am just pursuing every day is to flow in the prophetic, to flow in the gift of word of knowledge. And especially as evangelists, I've seen that word of knowledge is really helpful and it's a beautiful gift. They'll say, hey, how did you know? How did you know I'm going through this problem? And this opens doors to bring out the message of Christ. But these are things that we use. These are extra tools, but that should not become our identity. Only if there's prophecy, I can minister to people. If there's no prophecy, then I'll just keep quiet. Or only if there's healing, if I'm sure that this person will receive healing, then I will minister. That's the wrong attitude. That's where Romans, we read 1st Romans 1.16, it is the power of God unto salvation. That is the gospel, not healing. It doesn't say the miracles is the power of God to, or the testimony, your testimony is the power of God unto salvation. Does it say that? No. So the methods, or the ways in which we minister to people may be different, but the outcome will be signs, wonders and miracles. We have to pursue it. It's not just going to happen overnight. The Lord Jesus Himself set Himself. He went away every morning and He prayed and He asked God, He asked the Father to anoint Him. That is why demons came running and fell at His feet. Do you think Jesus would have gone early morning to pray and He said, okay, Father, anyways, I was with you. So, you know, just wherever I go, you just be there with me and maybe spend 10, 15 minutes in prayer and then spend the remaining time just relaxing by the beach in the Sea of Galilee. No. He would have been intense in His prayer. The Garden of Gethsemane, what was He doing? He was intense in His prayer. So, for us to see results, we have to walk and we have to go through that process, right? If you're not seeing results, one, you can change the way you're doing things, right? Or two, you just pursue on. If you're doing it the right way, you pursue on. And in ministry, you know, we all need to make changes, right? I remember, you know, I used to, the way I used to read the Bible and over the years I've changed the way to, you know, the way I read the Bible. Is the Bible the same? Yes. Is the method of reading the Bible the same? Or the process? No, it's different. I may, now I, you know, there are many tools online which we all can access. But does the same power exist in these words? Yes. I can use the NKJV, I can use the, you know, the American Standard Version, or I can use a commentary, I can use anything. But the power of that word doesn't change. The way I'm studying the Bible doesn't change. Changes, but I hope you're getting what I'm saying, right? The word does not change. And we see that going through all through in the early church, right? Jesus, you know, the disciples went about, they went everywhere. Now we have an account of Apostle Paul, Peter, and all the things that happened. But the other disciples went out. They, you know, to the Corinth, to the church in Corinth, he says the gifts of the Spirit were manifesting, every gift was manifesting. So I'm sure there were healings and miracles. I'm sure there were prophetic words and words of knowledge, words of wisdom. Oh, it was there, right? And so, as evangelists, right? As people who will evangelize, eventually we will evangelize. Let us remember that when we are empowered, like the method is, could be a little different, but the outcome must be science, miracles and wonders. I remember my teacher used to tell me, when somebody is sick, don't point them to the first medicine or to the first clinic or the first hospital, pray for them. That really struck me. I was probably 23 years old, very young. And when he said that, he said, yeah, why am I, why am I accepting things? Why am I, you know, these people are coming and saying this why don't you do this? When I can pray, pray for them, right? And expect God to work miracles. And he's able to do that, right? We must believe that. I remember there are times, there was this one time, it happened a couple of months back, just been very drained out, very tired, right? Just pushing myself. But I was very tired the next day that I woke up, I had a terrible, terrible headache. Just extreme pain. Right? I didn't know what to do. I couldn't open. I actually couldn't open my eyes. I was like, you know, just closing my eyes, because every time I opened it would pain. And I started, you know, taking these tablets and I started, I prayed, Lord, please heal me. Nothing's happening. Thought it will go in a couple of hours, but the whole day, you know, I was in that pain. I didn't sleep the whole night. It was just so painful. I woke up in the morning just, you know, that very weird feeling and the headache was even worse because I didn't sleep. And I remember just sitting and I said, God, why is this happening? And I felt the Holy Spirit tell me something. Do you have authority? I said, yes, of course I have authority, Lord. It was like, you know, the Holy Spirit was asking me, do you have authority? I said, yes. They're not using it. You have prayed for people who are sick. You have prayed for people who have got healed and they've got healed. You have seen miracles in your own eyes, but you're not using that authority. And I've sensed the Holy Spirit saying, sit, close the door and rebuke that spirit of infirmity. Now, I've got headache, paining. I said, God, I don't have strength to rebuke and all. Can you do it for me? But I have to go through it. I remember just closing the door. I said, I took authority over that oppression. That infirmity. I said, God, I command this pain to get out of me in the name of Jesus. Take authority, spirit of oppression. And all of a sudden, there was this enormous power. A enormous power, just the empowering of the Holy Spirit just came upon me and knew that the Holy Spirit was there. I opened my eyes. The pain was gone. It was just not there. One and a half days, I was sitting with headache. I realized that sometimes the enemy is so subtle that he gives us these other options. Do this, do that, do this, do that. And then it's the Lord who comes and shakes us and says, hey, do it my way. Do the method that I have taught you. Sit, rebuke and receive. And that's what we all must do. So even in our ministry, each one of us, you may be somebody who's just part of a small group or you're working or you're not in full-time there's no thing as full-time ministry, but you're not in the ministry as per say. But remember that the enormous power that has to be working. That has to be working. We need to use it to be effective evangelists. We have to use it. The Lord Jesus did it. The disciples did it. And we must do it. And how we do it? Again, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Okay, let's go to the next point. Now, the moment you say evangelist, the first thing that comes to your mind is somebody who keeps traveling. He's never at a place. So Jesus traveled. He went about preaching the gospel from one place to another, though he didn't travel more than 110 miles away from his hometown. But he traveled. You don't see Jesus saying, okay, let's sit here. Let's be here only. No, he traveled. Remember, he said, let's go to I forget that place. I think it is Judea. Yes, Jerusalem to Judea. And he says, let's go through Samaria. The disciples are angry. He said, no, no, no, no, no. Let's not go through Samaria. Let's go through a different direction. He says, no, he'll go through Samaria. Right. And he knew the reason why he was going through Samaria. Probably in the Holy Spirit would have told him, you go through Samaria and I will tell you what you do there. So, okay. And he went there. We were tired. We went to the well and the Holy Spirit said, now is your chance. Get her. Right. And she, the Lord Jesus ministered to this marital room and we know the story. Right. So, he traveled from place to place, motivation to go from one place to another from one city to another town and especially now, in a day and age that we live in, it's so much more convenient to travel. Right. We can just go trains, you got so many modes of transport. You can go, you can travel, we can reach out. But, here's the very important point. You must be led by the Holy Spirit. Now, the moment I say, hey, I like to travel. Right. I like to go on the train. I like to go on the plane. And I like to, you know, I like it when I go on stage and there are people there and they are watching and, you know, the moment that becomes the center and we will fail. Right. The Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit told him, you go here. Right. The Holy Spirit led him to the desert also to be tempted. So, everywhere when we travel, when we get opportunities to minister to people, be led by the Holy Spirit. And of course, there will be times when like, for example, in APC we have missions, APC missions. So, we get assigned. You go to this place, minister to the people. So, that's wonderful. You go there, you minister to them and come. But, the primary responsibility of an evangelist is they move from one place to another. Why do they do that? Is it because they like traveling? No, it is because they want to see many lives touched and transformed. Remember this? Jesus says a prophet is not honored in his own home. So, did Jesus not come back to Nazareth? Of course, he did. Did he not minister to the Jews there? He did. He didn't say, oh, no, I'm not honored there, so I will not go there. I'm not honored right now here. So, I'll go to another place. I'll minister. I'll come back. Right? So, when as evangelists there will be this, you know, one of the things as evangelists is it can get really tiresome because imagine traveling. Traveling itself is tiring. And after traveling, you're like, oh man, now I have to preach. I have to spend time with God. So, it's not easy. Right? But now, you know, with the comforts that are available, it's alright. But that's something that we must do. Every calling comes with a responsibility. Yes, remember that. Every calling or every gifting comes with a responsibility. If God has called you to be an evangelist or a pastor or a working professional homemaker or a businessman, whatever God has called you to be, whatever that is, there's a responsibility added to it. Now, just because we're a pastor doesn't mean we just tell everyone what to do. We come on Sunday's preach and go, no, there's so much. There's so much of responsibilities. So, we must be willing to you know, take those responsibilities even as we travel and we do the thing that God has called us for. Next one is challenges. Let's read Mark Chapter 6 was 5 and 6. Mark Chapter 6, 5 and 6. Anybody can read. Now, he could do no mighty work there except that he had that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them and he marvelled because of their unbelief then he went about the villages in a circuit teaching. Thank you, Rosalind. Let's also read Matthew Chapter 13 and 58. Matthew 13 and 58. Now, he did not sorry now he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Yeah. Now, this is very interesting, right? The Lord Jesus marvelled at their unbelief. There are very few instances where Jesus marvelled, you know. One is with the man with great faith, Lord Jesus, you don't need to come. I'm a woman centurion. I have people under me. You just say the word he will be healed. Jesus was marvelled. Right? Marvelled with great faith. Yeah, he's marvelled with the people with no faith at all. These people, how can they be with no faith? So, what is this important thing that we learn here when we as ministers of God are evangelizing and reaching out to people, we will face challenges. We will face oppositions. It is a given fact. Right? It's sad when we see the church being persecuted when we see the church being opposed. But that's a reality. That's what Jesus said, right? You will be persecuted. The church will be opposed. It is going to happen. And even now, even in this century with people who are so brilliant and are thinking has changed, we are accepting people people are willing to accept gay and lesbian marriage. They're not willing to accept Christianity. In our nation of India they're not very open. People are not very open. But they're open nowadays this whole thing of gay and lesbian is open. Right? But if you say Jesus, it's not open. No, you can't tell about Jesus. But if you tell people I'm gay, that's okay. That's all right. You know the things that are happening I was just reading the news and a couple there's a school in our nation. I'll leave the name of the city unnamed. But what happened was it was a co-ed school and during the break there were boys and girls and only boys and only girls and they were having affairs and they loved each other and all of that. And somehow CCTV cameras caught all of that and you know the principal had called I'm reading this, it's in the news principal had called the parents and the parents said I know it's okay. We have to accept them how they are because the principal was good enough to say okay you're expelled. But that's what's happening. They said I know there was no opposition but in the ministry there will be challenges Apostle Paul went through he puts a whole list there he was bruised I was shipwrecked I was beaten these are the things that happened to me and he gives that whole list and he says I'm proud of this because I boast in the Lord with all of this. So challenges will come people will not believe say no I don't believe this right? So don't worry even Jesus went through that challenges. There will be demonic encounters now let me explain this if you are doing the true work of the ministry there will be demonic encounters now when I say demonic encounters doesn't mean okay some possessed man come and stand and start troubling you no demons can use situations they can use people you know there was this one time I remember I just became a believer and I wanted to join ministry I wanted to do something in the ministry and every time I would pray no demonic encounters I could feel that there's something wrong it was like the enemy did not he tried all he can to stop me from going to the ministry there was a time when I felt here I should just go back to what I was doing or there was a time when I felt I'm not anointed enough or I'm not equipped enough now it may sound very natural but it's demonic because when God has a plan and he's against it it's from the devil right there will be demonic encounters even as we travel to places there will be people who are demon possessed now what are we going to do I'd imagine right we're going to a place we're praying for people and demons come in front and stand what will we do one we can tremble and say okay I'll come back tomorrow or two is point one if we are empowered and anointed by the Holy Spirit this demon will recognize it and this demon will leave you'll not be afraid of the demon the demon will be afraid of you I'm not making everyone scared but it's true there will be demonic activities there are times when I've gone to places in Andhra Pradesh in North India where you're just so filled with the Holy Spirit you got the whole message ready one hour of preaching wonderful and suddenly in between the preaching some person comes and stands in front of you highly possessed you can't finish preaching you have to deal with that problem you can't say okay now let's close in prayer you can't do that deal with it now if we have not spent our time in the secret place the devil will know this fellow I know where to catch him that's why the first point is very important do not go out on your own strength remember what happened to those sons of Skiwa I'll also go and deliver demons the same method the name of Jesus come out demons replied back I always read that and I think to myself help me not to be one of those demons reply back and saying hey Jesus I know he spent hours in God's presence and he has the anointing of God I know that and demons will flee at his name and address his presence all I know he has spent again hours in ministry and he's hours in prayer because the anointing is upon him he's empowered whatever I do to him nothing changes him he's too strong so Jesus I know all I know both have sacrificed who are you and the demons overpowered those sons of Skiwa why because they were not anointed they were not empowered by the Holy Spirit and I always say this remember last class I said there's a cost to the anointing there's a cost there's a price we must pay if we want anointing there's a price we have to go through sacrifice I really appreciate those who are from Africa you've woken up probably 3am I'm not sure what time it is you've woken up and you're attending this class there's a cost there's a price you're not waking up at 10am just you know cool okay let me do something no waking up at 3am in the midnight you can be sleeping right now enjoying a good night's sleep but you've woken up attending this class there's a cost to the anointing you pray and you ask God Lord anoint me these you know my learning empower me God is going to do it and these oppositions the challenges that come your way God said he's not going to stop it remember Lord Jesus never said I'll stop all your difficulties no he says I'm there with it I'm there with you I'll carry it for you cast your burdens on me and I will carry it right so opposition from religious leaders opposition from government from societies people living around us you know we were looking out for a place in Bangalore for our east location we were looking out for a venue and you know we went to so many commercial halls and we asked them you know we want the place and the moment we said church they said no oh everywhere everywhere we went the moment we said church they said no we won't give it to you so we were in a dilemma we said God what's happening all these wonderful venues that we can use it's not like we're asking it for free we will follow every guideline everything that church no I don't want and it was you know many days that this went on and I was praying I said God why is this happening why is it that we're not able to find the right place and I sense the Holy Spirit tell me Buk that spirit of trying to you know the enemy is trying to make you feel weak the enemy is trying to you know make you feel that it's not going to happen because we spent many many days we went and saw over 50 odd places nothing was happening challenges said God when are we going to do this you know there's a church and now there's no place and the members are like no just how are we going to do this and I remember that day I was just crying and praying I said God it's not because I want church to start so that I can start preaching and it's not about that but it was your body you think and I was basically complaining to God I was saying God in the whole of Bangalore you're saying there's no place for your people for your church and people the Bible says that heaven is your throne room and the earth is your footstool and you're saying in your footstool there's no place for who for your body really you know but I sense the Holy Spirit say after prayer it is done it is finished the place will get done just a sense of relief right the next day we came to office and then again we went about searching but there was peace in my heart I knew that God is going to give us something and I knew that it's going to be soon so eventually what happened was the previous place that we were in you know they called us they said you know now that we are you know things have changed the weather has changed we could consider starting because we had booked it till the end of July so we can start from August and we'll provide you with the fans the coolers and everything just as usual then we discussed as a team said we'll start August first week so last Sunday was the first Sunday and such a blessing so when we you know when we see these challenges when we see these things happening don't walk in unbelief don't let the enemy you know rattle you up you know make you feel that hey things are not working out when you go back to God God will make that you know God will make things work out right so you know let challenges be there it's good right it's good to have oppositions it's good to have challenges why we're going to go back to God we'll see more of us is anointing and say God anoint me that no matter what the enemy is doing I am empowered by the Holy Spirit right right now this morning I woke up just a couple of hours of sleep and I was like oh God I want to sleep it's nice and cold I want to cover and sleep children are sleeping can I sleep I actually went back to my bed I crawled back to my bed and I put my head on the bed the first thing that came to my mind was there's a cost to the anointing there's a price what if I come against something today and I'm not ready what if the devil comes all of a sudden and I'm not empowered I have not received my daily dose of empowering I crawled out of bed I said okay as you say I don't know I think it was 3 am or even now if there's a pillow I'm just going to fall asleep but there's a cost we pay the cost we pay the price and the devil wants to do all he can to bring opposition bring all these challenges but as believers stay strong last point support so as an evangelist what is what is support he sent others to reproduce let's read Luke chapter 9 was 1 in 2 Luke chapter 9 was 1 in 2 yes anybody can read when Jesus had called the 12 together he gave them the power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick amen thank you thank you John so he sent them out to reproduce what he did right he supported them he said okay you go and do what I have done right you go you know he calls he chooses 70 he divides them into teams of 2 and he says go and they come back and say oh Lord Jesus when we prayed for the people they were healed when we prayed for those who were demon possessed they were restored and they were so excited about what because God himself had commissioned these 70 people and he told the disciples as well go commissioning you right and remember one thing if God is calling you he also knows how to provide for you right if God is calling you to be an evangelist don't worry about how will I buy my bus ticket and train ticket God will work it out right now doesn't mean that we say okay I need to be very careful now doesn't mean that I say okay I quit my job and I say I want to become evangelist and then sit and pray at home and wait for people to transfer money to our account so that we can buy the ticket that is wrong right whenever possible we work right the Lord Jesus set an example the apostle Paul set an example right why am I saying the Lord Jesus set an example in the market says that isn't he the carpenter isn't he the carpenter so most probably Jesus was also working till 30 we know he would have been working right how do we know because he's God and he designed work I'm sure he was not sitting at home and playing with his friend brothers no no no he would have been working right so there would be times there would be seasons of financial difficulties material difficulties and during those times remember that if God has called you he will make a way to provide for you financially he will do it right and so we just have to trust God now does it mean that if God does not provide he has not called us not really but the Bible says he's true to his word he says who I have called I will also provide for them and so when we look in the early church in the book of Acts we see that people came and they gave to the church the rich people gave they gave land they gave money they gave wealth everything you know they gave why? because it was the church was anointed through church they were doing the ministry that God had called them to do so God met their needs as I said Paul writes the Lord shall supply all my needs according to his riches and glory Paul is in Corinth he and Aquila and Priscilla they are making tents Paul is probably thinking when am I going to start a church here and at that time he's receiving gifts from the church in Philippi they're sending is it Philippi or Thessalonica I think it was Thessalonica yes so they are sending the gifts the Thessalonian church they're sending monetary gifts they're sending clothes and food and money for Paul why? because they knew that hey because of Paul we have been born again we are seeing the goodness of God in our lives we are experiencing the Holy Spirit so we need to bless God will set people in your lives right and or God can just do through random people but he can do it God can provide in supernatural ways so these are the points that we learned today first be empowered know your audience the message is very important reaching the right message for his methods as an evangelist you travel around and when you travel around there's going to be challenges and oppositions and remember that your true support is from God and God will use people to meet your needs so we must model ourselves after the life of Jesus our Lord then we got wonderful examples from the Bible as well like great apostle Paul and many other apostles pray that you know that we would be good evangelists faithful evangelists evangelizing to people reaching the gospel right so let's stop here any questions anybody have any questions any thoughts you would like to share or questions everything's okay so what we'll do is next week we'll get into the evangelists in the early church so let's look at what the evangelists would do and we know that the church in Antioch reproduced many evangelists and prophets and apostles so the work just increased there so we can learn more on that next week right so I hope is it interesting are you all learning I hope it's you know I've just been talking so much so everyone okay alright so let's close and prayer maybe any one of us can just pray and we'll close anybody can pray yes go ahead sir Sada we come to the throne of grace Lord thank you for this day as you have given us a Lord Lord whatever we have learned about doing ministry of Lord Lord protect us and provide us Lord the knowledge as fast as Paul has shared with us Lord you should not be wasted but it should be used for the kingdom of expansion and all glory be given to you Lord Lord thank you for this day as we are learning about the word Lord Lord thank you for the people from whichever part of the world they have protected Lord protect them and provide them Lord and thank you for this day you have given us and the privilege we get in APC Bible school in Jesus name we pray amen amen thank you so much said thank you everyone have a great week ahead I'll see you next Thursday God bless God bless God bless bye