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Welcome to 2004. Welcome to a new year. I want to open up the Bible in just a minute and I am going to introduce the theme of 2004 for Acts Ministries Christian Evangelism. Let's pray. And not only that but let's dedicate the ministry to reach thousands of souls for Christ in 2004. Father God we thank you for 2003. Lord God the year is done and a new year has begun. Father in Jesus' name I pray that the ministry would be laid down flat before you in humble surrenderance and in Jesus' name I pray that your kingdom would expand. We lay down our lives. We lay down all that matters and the cares of this world and take up the cross of Christ. We set our priorities straight. Jesus you are first and there is no other. Father God do what only you are able to do in our lives and in the lives of the ministry in 2004. I call on Heaven to provide financial provision to be released from Heaven at this moment over the lives of your children. Father God I pray that you would step in and heal bodies and even cure cancer in 2004. Father God we rebuke fears and everything that says you aren't Lord or you aren't enough. Jesus do what you are able to do. You alone are God. We surrender to you. We give you the praise and the glory. Now and forever. We commit our lives to you. In Jesus' name. Amen I want to introduce to you 2004's theme. It is this : "Empowered To Witness". This is the topic of today's message. The key Bible verse for 2004 is And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and Earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages. Matthew 28:18-20 NASB I want to talk to you about these things. We have a commission from the Father in Heaven that was delivered to us through Jesus. It is this : To share the gospel around the globe. When we go to do this He already told us what to focus on - It is to teach them what He has taught us. In this year - in 2004 - the teachings are going to be focusing on living out our lives for Christ and baring fruit with Christ. I want to tell you something. I have seen the miracles. I have prayed over the sick bodies and the Lord has healed them. I want to tell you something. You know what? That is great. It is great that the Lord heals. But this one thing remains. We have these bodies and these bodies are temporary vessels. We are only going to be on this earth for so long. What matters is what is done for eternity. When you say "Yes" to Christ and when your brothers and sisters say "Yes" to Christ and the members of your community and people from around the globe they are making a life time commitment to follow Jesus and live out His life and purpose in their life. There is something about saying "Yes" to Jesus that goes beyond our lives on this earth. In this year I want to challenge you and ask you to pray daily for souls to come into the Kingdom as a result of the ministry of Acts Ministries Christian Evangelism. I don't want you to do it out of ritual or routine but to come daily in a fresh way before the Lord and ask for what is eternal and what is going to happen. When Jesus was commissioning Peter Jesus said that the Kingdom of Hell would not prevail. We were given a promise that has withstood 2000 years of trials, temptations and testing. The Kingdom of God is not going away. It is here to stay. Some of you need to begin to lives your lives this way. You aren't saved for 10 minutes and then need to go run for your smokes and get out your drugs. There is power in the shed blood of Jesus to set you free now from that addiction and deal with the matters in your heart so you don't turn back. There is power in the blood of Jesus to free the spiritual oppression of drugs, alcohol, sex and every perversion that comes again the body of Christ off of your life and if you will hunger after the things of God you will see the hand of God in your life. But I don't want you to stop there. That would be chasing around Jesus' hands all day long and all week and all month long. What you would find out is that there are holes in Jesus' hands that held Him to the cross so that you may know Him personally. What I want you to do and have your focus on is His face and knowing Him and out of that you will see His provision in your lives. That there is enough to propel you forward in 2004. You see this isn't a message to get you pumped in January and February you are doing ok but in March the fire is dwindling. There is a response that Christ calls for. I could tell you right now that some of you are playing church. Some of you are playing Christian and you never said "Yes" to Jesus other then to comfort you from the fear that this God thing might be right. I want to tell you right now that there is more then "Get out of Hell" insurance with Jesus. The heart beat of Jesus is that you know Him. The heart beat of Jesus is that you would come to Him and that you are welcomed. Jesus openly displayed His love and affection for you by enduring the cross. It isn't that we need to be 10 feet or 20 feet from Jesus but that we are able to be up front and close to Him. It isn't that we have everything right in our lives and then come follow Him but that we would come and follow Him the best that we can and without us trying He would come and change us into His image. What did He ask us for and to do? Come meet with Him each day. When I want to go to talk to my Grandma I call her on the phone or else I go to where she is and get near to her. I want her to hear my voice. Standing 10 feet away doesn't cut it any more. I need to be near and I need to speak up. Some of you need to come to Jesus and be real and be honest and not view Him from afar. There was a tax collector we read about in the Bible. He wanted to get a good view of Jesus. I need to tell you that the tax collectors were the outcast. He went out of his way to see Jesus. He went and climbed a tree. Jesus paid attention. He wanted to meet with Christ. Some of you right now need to ask yourself what is stopping you? Do you love the world more then you love Christ? If you are starting to weep right now it is because the Holy Spirit is drawing you nearer to the heart of God. Or are you out there following Him? I want to ask you right now to lay down your life to follow Christ. The teachings of 2004 are going to be about living in the truth of God's Word and living out His standard in your life. We say "Yes" today - what is your response tomorrow? What Jesus wants to do in our lives today is that we would acknowledge Him as Lord and come as we are. What tomorrow and the rest of your life is about is living it out. We come today. You can come with as much baggage and as much addition, bondage and spiritual oppression as you have to and you are welcomed by Jesus and Jesus is going to doing something with your life. But you need to follow it up. This isn't about saying "Yes" to Jesus today and doing your own thing tomorrow. What it is is saying "Yes" to Jesus today and tomorrow start reading the Word of God, praying and seeing what the commitment you made today involves and laying down your life so that Jesus will be alive in you. I want to ask each of you right now one question - Where do you stand before Christ? Some of you are able to say to me right now that you are living it. Don't doubt your salvation. But some of you need to come clean and confess Jesus as your Lord so you may come out of the mess and the financial bondage that you are in. You know something? When Jesus is the Lord of your life your financial situation is going to turn around. Don't turn your life to Him for that reason alone. Meet my friend. Come know Jesus. He will work things around. Come find the peace and joy of having Him as your Saviour and not living in bondage to your possessions. Can we pray together? Pray this with me. You know deep down if you are needing to pray this. Father God here I am. I am coming to you through Jesus your Son. I thank you now that I am received into your Kingdom. Teach me and fill me with your Holy Spirit. Jesus I commit my life to you. In your name I pray. Amen I want to invite you to join the weekly teaching list of the ministry. This message is on our web site to share what the ministry is about in 2004. To join the teaching list and take the next step in your Christian life visit http://www.actsministrieschristianevangelism.org/discipleship/ . This is the next step in your Christian life. If you have said "Yes" to Jesus there is one more thing you need to do. It is to go join a local church and be part of the body of Christ in that gathering. I want to ask you to pray right now a prayer and ask the Holy Spirit who is your guide and deposit guaranteeing your inheritance to come to lead you to where you will grow, be nurtured and may share your talents and time with other Christians in your community. Right now there is an opportunity for me to go to Kenya in 2004. The weekly teachings have been going there now since March 2003. They have been mailed to a pastor who distributes them around. I have been invited to speak at a pastors training conference they will organise. All I need to do is arrive in Kenya. The details will be taken care of by the pastors in Kenya. They will cover my living expenses while I am there but don't have the money for plane ticket. It is about $2,000. I would like each of you to make a sacrifice and give towards this ticket. You aren't putting the money into my hands. What you are doing is expanding the gospel to thousands in Kenya. By training the pastors and teaching them to love Jesus first and by spending time praying with them and speaking at some of their services you are placing your money into the lives of thousands. I would like to ask at the prompting of the Holy Spirit if you are able to plant a seed and send a donation to "Acts Ministries Christian Evangelism" and clearly indicate "Kenya" so the money will be used towards this. I am going there to serve. Our ministry mailing address is Acts Ministries Christian Evangelism Box 87040, 2942 Finch Avenue East Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1W 3Z1*** If you have PayPal and would like to make a donation through PayPal our e-mail address is donations@actsministries.org . Please indicate the money is for Kenya. The Lord bless you and shine His face upon you. Each of you are very special. *** Please note on November 1st 2005 our ministry office relocated to: Acts Ministries Christian Evangelism 12 Burton Street Belleville, Ontario, Canada K8P 1E6 |