Govern

00:00 Shall we do the confessions together? I believe in the almighty God our father and creator. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ God and my savior. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He suffered, died, and rose again. He ascended into heaven. He shall soon come again. I believe in God the Holy Spirit who is worshiped and my guide. I believe in holy fellowship, faithful giving, and service to God in this church. I believe the Holy Bible is the perfect word of God. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. And I can do what it says I can do. Today as I learn the word of God here in my spiritual family, I am blessed, healed, and anointed for a holy and victorious living. I will never again be the same in Jesus' name. Amen. The Lord bless us. Please be seated. So nice to see all of us on a cold Sunday morning. Man, Bangalore's temperature has been dipping. It's becoming colder and

01:03 colder. Our pastors, the whole team, is not here today. They have gone for a beautiful conference. They should be back in Bangalore in another 2-3 days, but we keep them in our prayers. And we've been studying this month on abounding. The whole year the theme is abounding. And today we want to continue studying on God's word on the fact that God wants us to increase. He wants us to grow and and therefore we must govern. Let's use the word together, govern. Governance of our lives should be with Christ our Lord in our life. Don't hand over the governance of your life to negative emotions or friends or people that want to dictate your life. You must take over the governance of your life. And another way of saying the word governance of your life is to say the word faithfulness and fruitfulness. We got to be faithful not only to ourselves but also fruitful. Faithful and fruitful. God wants us to

02:08 be And and when you put those two together it's called governance. To govern, to reign, to rule, to handle ourselves in a way that God wants us to. Another word in the New Testament for that is self-control. It's actually a fruit of the spirit. It's self-control. The ability to handle ourselves while we are under pressure and people are watching or when we are all alone and no one knows what we are doing. The ability to be who God wants us to be. And so when we when you look at faithfulness and fruitfulness, uh one of the things the Bible makes us understand is it's not built on entitlement but on responsibility. God is gracious. God is very gracious, but he's not careless. I'll say that again. God is very gracious, but God is not careless. He blesses what we stiver not what we ignore. God blesses what we handle wisely not what we carelessly throw away to chaos.

03:14 God is careful in the way he does things. That's why in the scripture in the Bible nobody got blessed accidentally. Nobody became fruitful accidentally. It was always fruitfulness that came as a result of faithfulness. Fruitfulness that came because God trusted them that they will handle it wisely. Now many times they did not handle it wisely and they destroyed the fruitfulness. But yet it didn't come as an accident. It came because God had a plan for them. God empowered them. Whether they handled it wisely or no, faithfulness always caused fruitfulness. I'll say that again. Faithfulness always caused fruitfulness. That's why the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 10 and verse number 22, "The blessings of the Lord it makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it." Hallelujah. Many people they they are upset when you hear the word

04:17 fruitfulness, increase, prosperity, success. They say, "Oh, they are all prosperity preachers." What to do? God is a prosperity God. God is saying when I bless you you will become rich. You please check your own Bible. You please read in your own Bible. Check your own Bible. What is written there? Read that again. The blessing of the Lord it makes rich. What is the meaning of the word rich? That's what will happen. The blessing of God it makes rich. And he adds What then what about poor people? I don't know. I'm telling you what Bible says. Amen. He adds no When God blesses you, God doesn't add sorrow with it. In the world when someone bless you they will add trouble with it. They will add manipulation with it. They will add

05:19 expectation with it. They will add things with it which you can't bear. But when God blesses you he will not mix any evil in it. It is pure. It is holy. His blessings make you rich. And there will be no reason for sorrow in it. Amen. Every child of God you can ask God, "God, where am I not able to handle your blessing? Which is the area of my life where I'm not able to walk in your blessing? Show me because I don't want to die poor. I don't want to live poor. If you want me to be rich, I I like to be blessed. And if your blessings is going to make me rich, it simply means I'm not rich because somewhere I'm not able to handle your blessing. Where should I be more faithful? In what area should I be more faithful?" And God will help you. And you will come out of the curse. You'll come out of the poverty. You'll

06:21 come out of lack of responsibilities. Amen. Show me one verse in the Bible that says, "And the Lord will bless you and you shall be poor." Show me one verse in the Bible that says, "The Lord will bless you and you shall be unholy." Wherever God blesses it makes you holy. It makes you rich. It makes you healthy. It makes you victorious. It makes you righteous. That is the blessing of God. Amen. And all these words that I just spoke about is attached to the word faithfulness. It causes us to be faithful. God wants us to be faithful. Now we're living in a India and I was just reading up on Indian attitudes and character of the Gen Z generation and and not just Gen Z but even even people who are older. But today's, you know, social media has changed the world. Come on, that's the reality. And so what is happening? So I was just

07:25 looking at some stats and trying to figure out the demography of our country, of our great nation. And what surprised me is in India, let's say about 25 years ago, you know why people took personal loans? The number one reason why people took personal loans was for children's education or for marriage, conducting a marriage, etc. Those were the top reasons. But today, do you know why most people take personal loans? For buying a new phone. I just don't understand this. They take loan for buying a new phone to go on a short vacation somewhere and take photos and put on the social media to show people whom they are challenging and don't like. And third main reason is to go for expensive events, to buy tickets which are expensive, and go for events which are 90 minutes, 2 hours, that's it. Which they will forget after one alcohol. Top three reasons to why people are

08:27 taking personal loans. Why? Because there's no concept of faithfulness producing fruitfulness. We live in a We live in a world where values are completely skewed, are completely wrong. And and it's it's not like we are not affected. Their behavior affects all of us. Everybody tends to get affected because everyone's going on a vacation. Why not go on a vacation? My question is why not make our home so beautiful that you're already in a vacation every day? Enjoy your life. I mean, going on a vacation is great, but taking a loan and going doesn't look like it's the blessing of the Lord. It looks like you're blessing the bank. The cultural thinking is blessings without obedience to God's word. The cultural thinking is get blessed by manipulating your core values.

09:29 The speed, the hype, the self-promotion, the plastic, the artificial. But kingdom thinking, God's word says blessings comes through faithfulness. Blessings flow through smart work. It happens through a process of life. It happens through depth of your roots that produce fruits that last. In God's economy, the thinking is very very different. The thinking is absolutely different. God thinks, plans differently. And God's children must walk in divine success. Hallelujah. Amen. Uh uh you know, just to on a personal reference, the other day my wife was reminding me. She said, "In our home, you know, all the things are old." And I was saying, "It's such a blessing." And then we have new things, but generally uh well, that was in reference to uh we we were She was reminding me that

10:33 this is something we got during our marriage, and it's still there, you know. Uh it's been some time ago. We got married, and and everything is still nice and good, though we've been using. And I was thinking, "What a blessing it is." What a blessing that we don't have to keep breaking things and spoiling things, that that we respect what we have, value what we have, handle it carefully, so we don't have to waste our money on buying new things all the time. You know what I'm saying? You get what I'm saying? You know, there's a way way of handling yourself in the blessing of the Lord, because God intends to add no sorrow with what you have. But if you are not careful in how you handle God's blessings, you can add sorrow to what God has given. And many people are adding such sorrows to their life. Avoid such sorrows. This year many people are already excited that there are long weekends, holidays with Saturday, Sundays. Well, you got the message. Faithfulness is connected to fruitfulness, and fruitfulness is definitely built on faithfulness. Yes, you can be fruitful, you can look

11:37 fruitful by being unfaithful, but that doesn't last. It doesn't take you into victory that will be consistent. You know, happy-go-lucky people have their own struggles. In Matthew's gospel, the Lord Jesus shared the story of uh the parable of talents. The Lord was showing there is inequality in the world, but faithfulness will always be rewarded, and unfaithfulness will be punished, and that's the kingdom of God, and that's how the principles of God's kingdom work. What's the story? So, Jesus our Lord gave a parable of a wealthy big man who gave five talents, five gifts, to one servant, two to another, and one to another, three servants. You see, talents are not equal. One gets five, one gets two, and one gets only one. And that's the reality of life. Everybody doesn't have the same measure of time, talents, and treasure. Some people have more time for themselves,

12:39 some have more treasures for themselves, some have more talents for themselves, and that's a fact. Not everybody has the same. But what you do with it depends on how you develop your character, who you are, how you develop your competence, how you handle your skills in excellence, and how you handle your personal uh chemistry, relationships with people. It's so important. Your character, chemistry, and competence is going to determine what you do with your time, talents, and treasure. These five three fellows who got five talents, two talents, and one talent, and the Lord Jesus said, "After a long while, when the master returned to take an account," he asked the three servants. The fellow with five said, "I put what you gave me into the market. I worked it out, and here is five extra for you." And the master said, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." The second fellow comes and says, "You gave me two. Now, I created two more. I used what you've

13:41 given me in a profitable way, and here is the reward. Here is the award. Here is the returns. It's yours, master." Look at what the reply the master gave. In Matthew's gospel chapter 25, and the Bible says, "You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you a ruler over God is saying to these two characters, "You've been faithful in the little I gave you. Now, I'm going to give you greater." This is the principle of how God works. If you're faithful in little, you will get more. You know, this is something I learned as a pastor, and I stuck to it. This works everywhere, in business, in relationships, in ministry, but in finances, it works everywhere. If you're faithful in little, you will have abundance to handle. In the in the back in the days when we had 10 people, 20 people in church, I would prepare, pray, fast, and come as if I'm preaching to a 10,000-member crusade. You know, because I knew one

14:44 thing, if if I'm faithful to the 10, God will make me faithful over many more. Hallelujah. We See, we we shouldn't forget one thing. Your destruction doesn't come from outside. Your destruction comes from inside. And in the same way, your construction doesn't come from outside. Your construction comes from inside. How you handle depends on who you are becoming. And if you're careful to become what God wants you to become, God will make sure you're blessed in abundance. This works everywhere. Faithful in little, you will be made faithful over much. One when the last character comes, and he says, "Master, I know your character, but I was scared. I know your character. You like fruitfulness, you like abundance, but I was scared. I was timid. I was shy. I was lazy. So, what you gave me, I kept it safe in traditions. I kept it safe in

15:49 comfort zone. I kept it safe in lethargy. I kept it safe in doing nothing. I kept it safe in good reputation. I kept it safe so no one will talk anything about me. I hid it and kept. And some will even say I kept it like that because I'm humble." And the master punished him and said, "Get out. I'm throwing you out into punishment because you have cheated what you got." And I pray to God that nobody will fall in that category. Use what you have. What God has given you, take risk, take effort, obey God, and use what you have, and God will bless you in abundance. Amen. When you when you talk about faithfulness, what is faithfulness? To be faithful is not passive waiting. It is active obedience to what God has given you to do. Fruitfulness is not some random blessing that happens. Fruitfulness is God's response to your faithful stewardship. Before God can inspect the fruit of our

16:53 lives, he examines how he we handled how we handled our time, talents, and treasure, how we developed our character, our competence, and our chemistry with others. God looks at these things. When your faithful is proven, your fruitfulness is granted by God almighty. Hallelujah. You know, our when you talk about faithfulness, it's our daily responsibility. Being faithful is our foundational thing. Faithfulness is heaven's first requirement. It is not It is faithfulness is not just the intention or the potential or the attitude, but it is the consistency and obedience that you show even when you think it doesn't matter. Faithfulness is built both under pressure in public places and in the pleasure of privacy. It's It's about who you are not only when everyone is watching.

17:56 It's also about who you are when no one is watching. See See, that's faithfulness. That is the real who you are, and that's really what God is looking at. Faithfulness is the ability to be obedient to God repeatedly over time without fluctuating. It is the ability to spend time in prayer when there is no one else to say amen with you. It causes spiritual depth. It causes deep relationship with God. It is the ability to be disciplined even when you don't see any reward. It is the ability to keep good habits and good attitudes even when you don't see any returns coming. It is It is having integrity even when no one is paying you for it. That helps you become stable. It helps you develop trustworthiness. And that's why this this concept of faithfulness is called roots. Like a

19:01 tree having roots, it's called roots in the scripture. It grows slowly, but it produces stability. And everything above the ground depends on what you do underground. Hallelujah. Faithfulness requires a sense of direction and a sense of repentance. See, faithfulness is not perfection. Oh, I'm imperfect, so that means I'm not faithful. No. Faithfulness doesn't mean you're perfect. Faithfulness means you have the direction towards repentance. Every time you do something wrong, the willingness to repent and self-correct yourself, saying, "God, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I want to get back on track." And the willingness to jump back in track and get up again and start walking again. Hallelujah. That is called repentance. You know, small children, when they learn to walk I come on all of us when we learn to walk. Please don't say that when you were born you came out walking high. Of course no. We all fell down. One place where almost every human has got some marks is on

20:05 their knees. Because everybody fell down while trying to walk. But you know the reason you're walking? You didn't stay there. You got up and tried again. That's called repentance. The willingness to get back into the will of God. The willingness to get back into the plan of God. That's repentance. Hallelujah. Feeling sorry for what you did is a part of repentance. But the fullness of repentance is getting up and saying God, I'm back on track with you by your grace. Amen. Faithfulness is the habit of repentance. Getting that divine direction from God. Because unrepented heart and such sinfulness blocks fruitfulness. And it stops you from greater purpose of God. It hardens the soil of your heart. Repentance enriches the soil of your heart. Repentance will make sure blessings are faster. And an unrepented heart delays the

21:09 blessings. You know, I was praying for somebody who said I want to get married. Pray for me. My marriage is not happening. I felt so bad. I said God, this person is so, you know, passing the age of marriage. Do a miracle. I felt something in my heart. I stopped prayer and I said uh I want to ask you something. You want to get married? Are you sure? Yes, pastor. Okay, I want to talk to you personally. So I requested the parents to just move away. Then I asked this person You said you want to really get married. Yes, pastor. Then why is it I feel that you're not happy about marriage? Why is it I feel like that? You're saying you want to get married, but I feel in my heart while praying that you do want to get married. You You have You have some fear about marriage? You You You have some negative thoughts about marriage? And the person says yes. I loved the person and they betrayed me few years ago. From that time I can't accept anybody. I can't trust anybody. I can't forgive anybody. I said then you why you wasting all our time? God will not come one day and catch you

22:13 and get you married to somebody just because pastor is praying with your parents. No. God will not send some angels with guns and chase a guy and get you married. Doesn't happen like that. Many people they say one thing in prayer, but they deep in their heart maintain another kind of attitude. It doesn't work. Your prayer should match the genuine faith of your heart. Hallelujah. Many people talk I want to get married, but what they're looking forward is I want to have pleasure. I want to have someone serving me. Baby, wake up. Marriage is where you serve someone else. It's so important that we repent. Get up from where we keep falling with wrong ideas, wrong expectations and come back into what God has for us and keep saying God, I want to be faithful.

23:17 Amen. You know, look at Joseph. Joseph was in the pit for a long time. He was in the prison for a long time. He was not fruitful all the time. Look at David. He was running from cave to cave. He was being chased by the king. He was not fruitful all the time. Fruitfulness is seasonal. It happens sometimes and sometimes you're not fruitful. Sometimes you're not able to have the kind of success that you want to have. Sometimes you go through delays and you go through some tragic conditions. But faithfulness is not seasonal. Fruitfulness is seasonal. Success can come and go depending on the season. But faithfulness is character. The timber of a tree does not change with season. Only the fruits change. Fruitfulness can change with season, but faithfulness is who you are. Look at Joseph. Whether in the pit or the prison, he was the same. Look at David. Whether running from cave to cave or on the throne, he was the same. God says faithfulness is the same no matter

24:21 where you are. Fruitfulness keeps changing and this is what is called governance of your life. Don't let climate govern your life. Don't let conditions govern your life. You govern your life by the grace of God that God has given you. Hallelujah. Faithfulness is the consistency. Fruitfulness is the visible increase. Faithfulness is active obedience to God in both good circumstances and circumstances of persecution. Fruitfulness is God's blessing in the right season at the right time. Faithfulness is a human responsibility. We got to be faithful. But fruitfulness is a divine reward that God commands. Hallelujah. Therefore, please understand God doesn't expect fruit from your life all the time. But he expects faithfulness from your life all the time.

25:24 Amen. Am I helping anybody? Fruitfulness. Fruitfulness is not passive. From the book of Genesis onwards, look at Genesis 1:26. What's the gist of that? Genesis 1:26. Bible says be fruitful and multiply. When God created human beings the first thing he said is be fruitful. In other words, even before you are born, there was a verdict from heaven above you that you will be fruitful. Amen. But pastor, I was born during Shapa. I was born born during Dosha. My star is Dosha. My number is bad. My color is bad. I tell you in Jesus name, you are a good product. God made you with a good future. No matter what others say in the name of Jesus. Even if Even if the way you were born had problems with it, the day you receive Christ and you are born again,

26:26 everything got canceled. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Go ahead. Give God a big hand, I tell you my friend. You are a new creation. Expect fruitfulness in life. Expect fruitfulness in life. You know, almost every Sunday before I come here to preach in my personal prayer. Not only here, before I conduct weddings and Whatever I do, go for house inaugurals, uh dedications or office inaugurals, I pray and go and and I I expect that God will do something through the ministry. I have a good expectation. So when I finish my preaching or finish prayer, even though I don't ask how do you feel? Do you feel better? Hand pain is there? Headache is gone? Did God answer your question? Even though I don't ask those questions, deep in my heart I expect those things to have happened. God would have Walk in expectation of what God has promised. Hallelujah. Even if you don't hear good reports, you know your God is able to

27:30 generate good reports. Walk in expectation. Don't walk in fear. Don't walk in doubt. Don't walk in confusion. Walk in good expectation. Pastor, how can I expect good things? Because from generations we've been having only bad things. Fair enough. Fair enough. From generations you've been having bad things and uh no one was successful in your life. Well, I want to tell you this in Jesus name, you're going to be successful. You're going to be successful. So I recently I did went for a housewarming and that family was crying with joy. They were crying with joy. And they said we you want and and their grandfather had come from both the sides. The boy side and the girl side. I said the husband and the wife, their father had come, their grandfather had come. So it was a big family reunion for their housewarming. It was a flat in one of the apartments here in the city. So when I went there, they were crying and when testimony time they were

28:32 crying. And I was very happy for them. I mean they were happy, so I was so happy. God bless them. Then they said their testimony. They said their story to me personally, which really touched me. They said pastor, you know, um my grandfather is here and her grandfather is here. Me and my wife's grandfather, even today they live in a rented house. They could never own a house. My parents, her parents, couldn't own a house. We are the first in the entire ancestral history to own a house. Now you won't understand. Pastor, you won't understand how important it is for us. Because in our culture, in our tradition, we come from a different caste. We can't own a house. We can't own a property. You know, we came to Bangalore and we knew we are going to be poor. Because that's our life. We were married, but we came to church and we heard you preaching and we understood in Christ we have the right to be blessed. Something changed inside us.

29:38 We became We became faithful to the church. We became faithful in our life. We became We began to pray with faith. We began to trust God. We began to handle our finances differently. You know, we change we waited for things to happen. We both got good jobs. Then we started you taught us about how to handle money. So we became careful. And today Pastor, we wanted you only to come and dedicate the house because it is through the church God changed our lives. And today we have broken the curse of ancestors. You know, when they said that testimony I just felt in my heart that's what I've always expected to happen. For me when I come here to preach, I know God is changing minds. I know God is changing hearts. I know God is healing people. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen. Some people come sit grumpy like chosen frozen. Called but useless. I tell you keep coming. Your life will change.

30:45 God will transform your life. Fruitfulness is expected and God empowers it. It is our assignment and our strategic responsibility. So when you're faithful, please understand miracles don't come as a substitute for obedience. Miracles come as a result of obedience. When God gives you miracles, see when people obey faithfully what God does is he removes barriers. He removes resistance. He overrules evil and powers of darkness. He releases favor on your side. When you're faithful, God begins to do supernatural things on your favor. He increases your capacity to handle things. Amen. When you cultivate excellence, God adds miracles to your life. He reverses curse. I'll write that I've written down four five things. I'll read it for you. He reverses curses and removes negative interventions. Second, God exposes and destroys evil

31:48 plans against you. Number three, he heals what humanly cannot be fixed. Number four, God accelerates the outcomes and releases provision for you. Number five, God multiplies when obedience is what you do. Number six, God prunes you. God prunes you. God removes the wastage of your life. God transforms your thinking. God corrects your life so that you'll have better focus and greater impact. Three things that I want to touch. Number one is excellence. It is a primary thing that you require in fruitfulness. To be excellent. To do the thing you do today better than you did yesterday. Be excellent. Give your very best. In fact, the Bible says whatever you do, you do as you're doing to the Lord. Amen. But God, I can't see you here. God, I can't see you in my office. God, I can't see you in my studying my subjects. God, I can't see you in the business I do. Well, you can't see God but you believe that he is watching you

32:51 and you do whatever you do as unto God Almighty. Hallelujah. Because when you neglect when you neglect, it invites losses. But excellence invites increase and influence. Influence is authority. It increases your integrity and creates a platform for greater increase in your life. Be faithful. Why should I be faithful, Pastor? They are not faithful. You be faithful. Whatever language they talk, you talk your mother tongue. Hallelujah. I mean in this case father tongue. Okay. Whatever. You talk the language of your heavenly father. Amen. Let them talk whatever they want. If they are unfaithful, it's okay. You be faithful. But in the name of faithfulness don't be foolish. I'll get to that. I'll get to that. In the name of faithfulness don't be foolish. When you're faithful, you are also should be clever. Your faithfulness should be geared towards

33:54 fruitfulness. Amen. And and that's where the concept of giving comes. Giving is a way of triggering your multiplication. When you give your time, when you give your Now I'm not talking just about work. I'm talking about as a volunteer. When you go outside the area of your responsibility and you start giving out your time, talents and treasure, God says that he is going to bless you because generosity breaks fear. It aligns you with heaven and proves God can trust you. It proves God can trust you. Giving is very important principle in the kingdom of God. I I wrote down the scripture for us. Romans chapter 15, let's read verse 27. For they were pleased to do it and indeed they owed it to them. For if the Gentiles that's talking about us, okay, Gentiles. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material things. God is saying, "Guys, you got to learn to give out the

34:57 blessings you have in your life." For the spiritual blessings you receive, don't be ashamed. Don't be afraid to give out financially. Don't be afraid to give out but be wise in how you serve. That's why the Lord Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be a master, whoever wants to govern more than themselves must be willing to serve and become a servant." Amen. You know, one of the one of the Okay, let me explain this. This sounds like political science but this is Bible. In the Bible, the word minister minister means servant to serve others. Now in Judeo-Christian culture, in societies when there is democracy and you elect somebody and they become minister for petroleum, minister for finance, minister for revenue, okay, minister for whatever about 60-70 portfolios, minister for whatever, they understand we are not

35:59 here to serve ourselves. We are minister. We are serving others. But outside of Judeo-Christian culture, the word minister means ruler. It means to rule. Minister of petroleum means I rule. Minister of finance, I rule over it. It's not that I serve. It's I rule. The definition itself is different. The understanding is different. In Judeo-Christian culture, societies are built in a very different way because the meaning of definitions itself are different. And no matter what you do, you can polish something and make it look like something else but inside timber cannot change. If that has to change, there has to be a inner change of understanding. That's where the scriptures come in. And the scriptures tell us that you got to be a person who serves. And when you serve, you will have influence. Service leads to influence. If you are serving and it's leading you to be treated as a

37:02 doormat, it's because you're serving carelessly. You're serving foolishly. You got to serve as a servant but they cannot treat you as a servant. You must be respected for what you serve. Now you can't demand that respect. You got to serve as a volunteer but serve with a sense of dignity. Serve in a meaningful way. Many people they take this word serve and they stretch it to a point where people kick them around and they continue to serve. You know, and then they say what is the point of serving? I got punished. That's because you know, just don't Some people obey one verse and forget all the other verses. When you when you follow the Bible, you must take the fuller meaning of what the Bible talks on one topic in every direction. And and that is how you walk in success. The Bible is telling us you got to serve. You have to serve. Don't just live for yourself. Being selfish is demonic. It is evil. It is not God's nature. You got to be more than selfish. You got to be unselfish. You must serve others even if they can't give you

38:05 return. But you do not serve in a way that they can hurt you. You don't serve in a way where you expose yourself to damage. You serve in a way where you're respected for what you do. This is important. When you're faithful, you got to be faithful in the direction of being fruitful. Am I helping anybody here? Look at Matthew's gospel chapter 7 and verse 6. What did the Lord Jesus say? Do not Ayaya. Animal rights people don't get mad at me. Do not give to dogs what is holy. This is why I say don't go shout at everyone about Jesus. You wait for an opportunity. Pray for them where they are transformed so they can hear and understand what you're saying. This whole thing about just distributing Bibles to everybody, giving tracts to everybody doesn't help. I'm not against it but I'm definitely not for it. I'm for praying for people.

39:09 Asking God to give you a valid opportunity to touch them. And when God provides that, share the gospel. There'll be respect for what you do. Take one place and put up loudspeakers and shout at all the neighbors and create a police complaint. That's not the way you do ministry. You do ministry in a way that is meaningful. Do not put up that scripture, bro. Do not give dogs. I'm not calling anyone dogs, but the Bible is. Do not give dogs what is holy and do not throw your wife. They'll do two things. Number one, they will destroy the service you did and second, they'll come back and attack you. Because of you they got the promotion. Now after promotion they come back and attack you. Because of you they finished the

40:10 project. Now that they got the project, instead of recommending you they attack you. Why? Because they were the first two category. Discern. When you serve, you got to discern. Don't sit there like the first two category. You are a child of God. If you don't serve, you cannot have dominion. You should serve, but serve meaningfully, serve intelligently. Hallelujah. Serve as a child of God. Serve as a man of God, a woman of God. In that office you are a child of God. Don't forget that. No, no, no, I'm a typist. Who told you you're a typist? You're only typing, that is your job. You're not a typist, you're a child of the living God TYPING THERE. AMEN. PASTOR, I'M A SECURITY OFFICER. OKAY, THAT'S YOUR JOB. YOU'RE NOT A security officer, THAT'S JUST YOUR JOB. YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD IN THAT AREA. You serve with the wisdom of the serpent

41:14 and with the purity of the dove. Amen. That's why we should have forgiveness in our character. We have to forgive people because if you don't forgive people, God cannot forgive you. And trust me, if you're living among human beings, now even computers you have to forgive. Sometimes they don't work, but but among human beings for sure you have to forgive because all will make mistakes, all will promise things they cannot fulfill. And so the willingness to forgive is so important, otherwise it blocks your blessings. The willingness to be obedient to God is so important. I'm going to close with one scripture. Governance. God wants us to govern. God wants us to be faithful and fruitful. In Jesus' name, all of us who are walking with the desire to be faithful, you are going to see fruitfulness in your life. Divine resources are going to open up. Healings are going to happen. Miracles of God are going to happen.

42:17 Be faithful. Be faithful in your friendships. Be faithful in the way you handle your time, the time God has given you. Be faithful how you handle your money. Be faithful with the church. Be faithful with the church. God is watching your faithfulness. And be faithful in a way you can be fruitful, you can be useful and God will make sure your life is blessed. Isaac is an example. I'm going to close with that. Isaac, the son of Abraham. Isaac means laughter. When he was born in the house there was so much laughter. Fellow was born when father is 100, mother is 90 years old. Mother is old enough to be great grandmother. Actually, she's old enough to be promoted to glory, but anyway, now she's become mother. So all are laughing, full town is laughing and therefore they called him laughter. Who is coming? Laughter is coming. Who is batting? Laughter is batting. It's the second ball. Laughter. Laughter made a score. Laughter took four runs. All are laughing, not clapping. This fellow's name was laughter. Isaac means

43:19 laughter. The problem in many of our houses are our children are called stress and another liability. Oh my God. In Jesus' name stop these things. They are joy, they are laughter. They are love. When another baby is born, don't look at oh, one more school fee. No. Man. Why is it that after my time is over I start preaching good? I just don't understand. But anyway, Isaac was born. When Isaac was born, whole family was laughing. They called him Isaac, which means laughter. Now father is dead and gone, mother is dead and gone. This fellow is old fellow, Isaac. He went to stay in a place called Gerar. When he went to stay, there was famine in the land. So all were packing up and leaving. Today, if there is famine, it doesn't matter because you get products from different places, but back in those days,

44:22 if if there was famine, if there was no rain, if agriculture was bad in a certain place, everybody moved from there to where rain is there, where water is there. So people moved based on weather. So Isaac also, because all the neighbors are moving. So Isaac decided, okay, we'll go. Just before he could go, God spoke to him and said, stay here. I'm going to bless you. You know, sometimes God will talk counter culture. But if God doesn't talk, please go. Okay? If God doesn't talk, you move. But while he was packing up, God said, don't go. I'll bless you. And the Bible says the fellow sold in the land of famine and he received a hundredfold harvest. Look at Genesis 26:12. And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year. I tell you one thing, the blessings of God is greater than rainfall. Amen. Our God is a miracle working God.

45:31 Hallelujah. You know, when I go to villages and I preach, nowadays it's very less. Back in the days I used to do a lot. I used to see terrific healings and miracles, blind eyes opening, deaf ears opening. So many things I used to see, healings. But when I come to Bangalore city and preach, miracles are very less. Then I was very upset and I was praying, God, why this is happening? And it hit me. I don't know if God spoke to me, but something inspired in me and I realized when I go to villages and preach, they are poor people. They don't have money for medicine. So they are depending fully on God and God does miracles. But in the cities people have insurance, they have money. So they are not saying I want a miracle. They are saying pray that medical procedure will be a blessing. You get what I'm saying? So God blesses medical procedure. Okay, you got it. Let's pray. Let's pray. Don't say, God, only if that happens I can be blessed. No, say, God, however,

46:34 I'll be faithful to you and I know you can bless me. I know you can prosper me. I know you are a faithful God. Hallelujah. Nothing is impossible with you. Thank you, Jesus, to govern my life with faithfulness and fruitfulness. A faithfulness that doesn't make me foolish. A faithfulness in wisdom that makes me fruitful. A fruitfulness that is not built on sin. A fruitfulness that's not built on manipulation. A fruitfulness which is not built on secular values, but a fruitfulness which is built on faithfulness to God. A success which is built on integrity, on value systems. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Shall we rededicate our life to God and say, yes, God, I'm ready to be blessed so that my influence will be for your glory. I'm ready to be blessed so that my success

47:37 will bring more people to you, Lord Jesus. I'm ready to be victorious so that my victory can be used to serve others. Hallelujah. I tell you, Bethel AG Church, you are chosen by God so that you will be faithful and fruitful. Your faithfulness will not lead you to destruction, but to victory by the power of the Holy Spirit. Receive that by faith today. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. It doesn't matter how you were born. When you were born again, everything changed. You have become a new creation in Christ Jesus. His touch is on your life. Receive that grace from him. Hallelujah. Sometimes wrong relationships, wrong activities, compromises lead you to come under demonic influences. But when you come back in repentance and you become faithful, all those darkness will leave and the light of God's favor will shine

48:40 again. Hallelujah. Come back with a heart of repentance. Come back with a heart of gratitude and say, God, my success, my pleasure, my victory, I place it at your feet for your glory. Heavenly Father, this beautiful morning we want to thank you for your word that came so strong. Thank you for your word that came alive. You've called us to be faithful. You've called us to be fruitful. Help us that we will not be tempted to become fruitful without faithfulness and help us, Lord, that we will be wise in the way we are faithful so that instead of being insulted, we can be fruitful in our service. That combination to speak, to behave in wisdom, in humility, in love, in generosity. Let it be poured out into our lives.

49:44 To you be all the glory and honor. Thank you for your blessing on each one of us. In Jesus mighty name we pray and the people said, "Amen." Shall we stand? We'll sing a song and we'll pray and close. Standing on the promises of Christ my king, through eternal ages let us praises ring. Glory in the highest I will shout and sing. I'm standing on the promises of God. Oh, standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my savior. Standing standing, I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises that cannot fail. When the hour comes of doubt and fear I sing,

50:46 "By the living word of God I shall prevail." Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing Standing on the promises of God my savior. Standing standing I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I now can see. Perfect grace and cleansing in the blood for me. Standing in the liberty that Christ makes free. I'm standing on the promises of God. Oh, standing, standing Standing on the promises of God my savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises of Christ the

51:51 Lord. Bound to him eternally with love's strong cord. Overcoming daily with the spirit's sword. Standing on the promises of God. Thank you, Lord. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my king. Oh, yes. Standing, I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promise. Come on, church. Let's do it, everyone. Spirit's call. Resting in my savior as my all in all. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God. Lift your hands and tell him, "Yes." Jesus, I'm standing, standing on your promises. Standing on the promises of

52:56 God. Go ahead, church. Take a few minutes to praise God. Hallelujah. Worship him for some time. Worship him with all your heart. Praise him with everything within you. Our God is a faithful God. Our God brings fruitfulness in our lives. He is a faithful God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Faithfulness and mercy. Oh, your faithfulness is new every morning. Oh, your faithfulness, oh God, is new every morning and hence we don't perish. Your loving kindness is new every morning. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You are not standing on collapse. You're not standing on defeat. You're standing on the promises of God almighty. You're standing on the word of the living God. Oh, the miracle working, the miracle

54:10 working, the miracle working, the miracle working, the miracle working. Hallelujah. Oh, we thank you, Jesus. Come on, lift up your voice in praises, in thanksgiving. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Heavenly Father, we just want to say thank you, Lord, for your divine grace and your presence in this place. Thank you, Lord, that you spoke to our hearts so beautifully through your word. And we pray, oh God, that you will give us the divine grace and the strength, oh Lord, to be fruitful, to be faithful in our calling, Father God. That faithfulness that leads to your blessings. We just want to say thank you, Father. Thank you for your word and may it, Lord, bring forth its divine blessings in these days. We bless your precious holy name. Dear Lord, we pray for those who are here for the very first time. Thank you so much that you brought them here into your presence and we believe, oh Lord,

55:13 that you have ministered to their hearts where their lives will never be the same again. Lord, we pray for those who are traveling this week. May your hand of grace and your presence go with them. May your protection be upon them. We also pray for those who are celebrating their birthdays, their marriage anniversaries this week. Thank you so much for adding another year into their lives. May the years ahead be prosperous and blessed by you. Father, we pray for the tithes and the offering that people have given to you with a sincere heart that you would bless them. May they will never lack any good thing. May your provision be upon them, Father. Dear Lord, at this time we also remember those who are going through a time of pain of losing someone. We pray for your hand of grace, your comfort to be upon them. And those who are going through a financial struggle or maybe waiting for a job to come through or maybe a promotion. Father, we pray for your divine blessings to abound over their lives. We thank you. We praise you. We lift up your name. In Jesus' most holy name we pray. Amen. Now, may the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of our heavenly Father, and the sweet abiding presence of the Holy Spirit rest and be with us from now and forevermore. Amen.

56:16 Amen. God bless you all once again. We want to take this time to welcome all of you who are here for the very first and come on, church, give them a very warm welcome. Those who are watching us online today, those who are here, we would love to meet you in our guest lounge that is outside. And if you need prayers along with me, our prayer coach from the prayer group from from our prayer groups, they are here to pray with you. So, kindly come forward and they will pray for you. God bless you and have a blessed week.