A missional life

Let's go to the Word of the Lord Mark chapter 6 verses from 7 to 13, I want to talk about evangelical believers, I want to talk about a missionary life. Not a missionary life, although that word can be used, but a missional life, a life with an awareness that we live on a mission, we are called to a mission and that we are called to be men and women who carry the Word of the Lord everywhere. . "Go into all the world, preach the Gospel, make disciples of the nations."

The last great mandate of the Lord to his disciples and by extension to us as well. We know that the stories that are in the Gospel and in all the Word are left by the Lord there in the pages of the Bible and although they occur in the life of specific individuals at that time or groups as in the case of the twelve disciples they are put there for us to learn those things. They're put there for us to read like we do now and say, you know what? that applies to me too. Although it was applied to the twelve, for example in this case, but also by extension it is applied to me, that is why the Lord left it there so that we could meditate on these things and we would include those elements in our own lives.

So I want to speak as I say about the call to live a committed life, a missionary life and to meditate on what are the elements that make up that life or some of them because there are many but what are some of the attitudes, some of the practices, some of the characteristics that should distinguish us if we want to live missional, a life with purpose, a life that is used by the Lord to do what God wants on Earth above all, to bring many people to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Mark 6 verse 7 says that: "Then the Lord called the twelve" that is, the twelve close to Him, there were many more disciples but there were twelve who were His twelve disciples who were later called the twelve apostles, right? "Then he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority." That means in the original Greek exusia, authority, force, power over to command, to order; "He gave them authority over the spirits" the demons, the spiritual forces that want to do harm against which we were waging spiritual warfare a moment ago in our prayer. Why? because we have authority.

"He gave them authority and ordered them not to take anything for the road but only a staff. Neither a saddlebag, nor bread, nor money in their belts" one would say, neither credit cards, Master Cards, Visas, do not take them, "but that they wear sandals and not wear two tunics" a single tunic, the suitcases are left at home, no toothbrush or anything imagine ayayay simply trust in the Lord. "And do not wear two tunics. And he said to them: wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place, and if in any place they do not receive you or hear you, leave there and shake off the dust that is under your feet." feet to testify to them. Truly I tell you that on the day of Judgment the punishment will be more tolerable for those of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city" wow this is terrible, huh?

"And coming out of they preached that men and women should repent, and they cast out many demons and anointed many sick with oil and healed them." Bless the Lord His precious Word. So brother I want to share with you, I want to talk about various elements of a missionary life, a missionary life that are recorded in this passage and I remind you again, these passages are left there in Scripture for us to learn from.

We continue with that evangelistic emphasis in these times. And beyond simply speaking to the people themselves about the call to repent and give their lives to the Lord, I want to speak to our Congregation about what are some of the practices that we must keep in mind in order to be effective in the call of the Lord. Here in this passage there are some elements that I want to point out and that I am going to elaborate on in a few moments but I want you to bring your attention to these elements that I am going to discuss.

Number one, here is a call for unity, for working together. Number two, there is a call to a life of faith and an attitude of faith. Number three, a call for stability in the relationships we have, human relationships. Number four, there is an element here as well of judgment, declaring judgment, declaring the Lord's Will in terms of judgment. Number five, there is obviously a call also to proclaim the Gospel of repentance, to proclaim repentance to men and women. And finally to fulfill that call from God to a missionary life in the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Six things: unity, faith, stability in human relationships, the Lord's judgment on cities, communities, proclamation of the Gospel of repentance and finally a flow in the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Look before you go into those elements, something important that is the foundation of all these elements. Jesus calls us and sends us and everything we do in the Christian life must take place in that context of being called by God and of being chosen people, designated by God for a purpose, and that God who calls us also sends us. And we have to live brothers possessed and overwhelmed by that sense of God's call in our lives. Do you know that if you are in the ways of God, if you find yourself here today as a son, a daughter of God, it is because God has called you?

No one says the Bible comes to Christ if He doesn't invite them to come. If God left us to our own designs, we would never come to the ways of the Lord because every creature is bound by its own sin, by the Enemy who has blinded the understanding of men and women so that the Gospel does not shine for them, and God has to actively break that inertia, break that resistance that exists in every human being and issue a call to them to come to the feet of His Son Jesus.

When you felt that warmth, that call to your life from God, it was not because of your own justice, of your own initiative, you sought God, but because God told you: I have plans with you, come to My Person, come to My Presence. . We have to thank the Lord for that. And I believe that we always have to live the Christian life with that sense that God put his finger on me, God pointed to me. Here it says in the Word that Jesus pointed them to it, no one proclaimed themselves a disciple, the Lord was choosing them one by one.

And that's important because if you don't feel called then you won't feel how special you are in your life. I believe that many people enter into the ways of the Lord and then underestimate the call of God in their lives and we always have to cultivate that sense that: I belong to a class, a special race that are those who have been called by the Lord .

Do you know what the meaning of the word Church is in the original Greek? It comes from the word ekklesia, ekk, from which exhort, excess, office, whatever, means: to get something from somewhere, and the idea of Church means: those who have been called for something in particular. In the original times, the ekklesia or ekklesía was a convocation that was made to the citizens of a city so that they came to a meeting place to discuss official business of the city, be it voting for officials, resolving economic or political issues or whatever. and they were called. This Church is also called a Congregation because it comes from the word that of congregating, in the original Greek the Assembly of Israel, then Assembly of God, etc. They are people who have been called. All that sense of ekklesía, Church is that sense that we have been called.

So, brothers, we can never lose that sense that God called me and that when he called me he also sent me and God sends us. So we have to live with that special sense, God has a purpose in my life that is why he called me and that call also constitutes sending me so that I can be a bearer of the Word of God wherever I go. We have to do everything in this sense of calling and sending. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of His career here on Earth, the last great commandment says: Go into all the earth and make disciples of all nations.

Do you know that the only reason for your life now as a child of God, as a call from God, is for you to announce the Gospel? The Word says in First Peter I think it is chapter 2, I think it is verse 9, it says: "But you are a chosen lineage, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired by God" do you see how important it is to know what you are in Christ, know that you have been called to enter a family chosen by God? Then he says: "so that you may announce the virtues of him who called you out of darkness into His admirable light."

In other words, there is a call to be part of that people of God but also to live in the identity of people who have a purpose of being and that is to announce the virtues of the one who called us out of darkness into His admirable light. How many feel like this that they are called? I hope that you live your life as an agent of the Kingdom, wherever you are at work, at school, in the neighborhood, your friends, you are not neutral, no Christian is neutral. We are agents of the Kingdom of God and we have to take advantage of all the opportunities we have.

Our life is for only one thing and that is to advance the Kingdom of God. Our money, our time, our talents, our profession, whatever influence we have are all for one thing: to be agents of the Kingdom of God. If the Church of Jesus Christ at this time lived as each one of us is called, an envoy, brothers, I believe that Jesus Christ would have come a long time ago because we would have filled the entire Earth with the message of the Gospel.

We are going to get active, we are going to bring people to the Church, we are going to invite them to listen to the Word of the Lord; We are going to pray with them, we are going to speak in season and out of season that it is time for people to surrender to Jesus and that our communities belong to the Kingdom of God.

So we are called and sent and then in that call, and in that sending we have to do certain things. And the first thing I see here is that the Lord called them and sent them out, and gave them authority, and sent them out two by two, verse 7: "And he sent them out two by two." Wouldn't it have been more efficient and more effective to send them one by one and thus they would have gone to more places? but the Lord sent them two by two and that principle is there, I believe the principle of unity.

It is a principle that establishes the need for collaboration and Christian unity. No one has all the gifts needed to carry out the work of Evangelism, we need each other. The writer of Ecclesiastes says that two are better than one because if one falls, the other will lift his partner, right? And I believe that many times to do good evangelistic work, the first thing we need is a community that strengthens us. How good it is to congregate, right? How good it is to come to the house of the Lord on a day like today and feel that we are part of a beautiful family, that we are not alone. Here we come and warm ourselves like little pieces of coal that come together and we all make a great fire to the glory of the Lord.

If a piece of coal, an ember is alone, what happens? it goes out quickly but when they are all together, that collective heat increases the intensity of the heat and all the embers can be held together. We cannot stop congregating brothers, we have to seek that warmth from our brothers, we have to pray together, we have to cultivate fellowship.

And another thing that I think is important is that we have to serve and prefer each other. We have to cultivate Christian brotherhood, cultivate harmony, appreciate the gifts of others; to be humble and sincere, to be as the Word says solicitous in keeping the bonds between us. How important it is that we know how to appreciate harmony in the House of the Lord and that each of us do everything possible so that this Church will always be a united family. That we understand that one of the things that matters most in our Congregation is not necessarily that we give money or that we do this or that, but that we exemplify before the world out there a united group that loves one another.

They say the Lord Jesus Christ: May they be one Father as You and I are one so that the world believes that You sent me. I believe that one day the Lord is going to unify all the denominations that belong to Him, all the churches that belong to Him, all the churches that claim Christ as Lord and Savior and we will stop denominations and groups and we will be one family. in Christ Jesus. And we have that as a Church, brothers, a Church as diverse as ours where there are so many races and groups of different denominations and we have so many different things here, that we be very diligent in maintaining harmony and love in our Congregation.

That we when we can extend a greeting to someone we don't know. Instead of looking for people you know, get out of your seat and go to the back row and say hello to someone different. When we have special meals and: oh today it's the Caribbean's turn, well; oh but if they don't have tortilla I won't go, and the Caribbean: oh no if they don't have rice with beans that doesn't taste like anything forget it; no, wow, support your brothers, amen? support each other, enrich each other. Let's learn to appreciate each other.

Do not invite to your house only the people with whom you feel comfortable, no; invite a stranger Invite a different person, even if it's uncomfortable at first, but that way you'll exercise and expand instead of always being with the same people and that way you don't grow, you don't learn. As a Church we have to learn to celebrate and love each other in our diversity.

I thank the Lord because look: we get a little uncomfortable; look at the nine o'clock service we have to be bilingual and everything in worship time has to be bilingual and that adds a layer of complexity and complication, don't believe the service itself but how nice it is to know that we have here with us a Africans, Asians, Afro-Americans, Caribbeans from all these Caribbean islands beyond Dominica and help me from Jamaica and all these places there are people here, Anglo-Saxons, faded there is everything here (laughter) brothers what a great blessing. And also some of us who are very burnt glory to the Lord, we have tremendous diversity. There are people from an indigenous past, others from an Asian past, praise the Lord for such a great diversity.

And we have to appreciate that and we have the privilege of ministering to those brothers as well as not only being Hispanic. Ok we are a little uncomfortable but what a great privilege to spread the Gospel, right? That's why we have the Anglican brethren also here in the morning, those precious pastors with their clerical collars; one day I'm going to buy one myself, I think I'd like to see myself with a clerical collar, maybe they'll hear me a little better if I wear a clerical collar. No, for many people it is uncomfortable to see someone with a clerical collar. They think at once: oh a Roman Catholic priest.

That is used here in the United States, it is used in Europe and then many of us feel uncomfortable: oh an Anglican Church, Pastor is becoming liberal; They are God's people, they are our brothers, they are more Pentecostal than you and me, they love the things of the Spirit, they love Jesus, they believe in holiness, they believe in the Word; they are providing a different entrance to another sector that perhaps will not come here where these crazy Pentecostals are shouting at the top of their lungs at the twelve o'clock service; they like their liturgy, they like their more subtle way, praise the Lord for that. Hopefully one day we will learn to appreciate all the diversity of God's people.

Every day the more I read, the more I travel I realize that God has people in all parts of the world. Some worship in one way, others in another; because they worship in this way does not mean that they are less than us. God has people in all parts of the Earth brothers. Let's not be like Elijah: oh Lord, they have killed all your prophets, I only have remained, and the Lord says to him: don't look, there are seven thousand who have not bowed their knees before Baal yet, so you are not the last Coca Cola in the desert there are many more still out there, amen?

So let's learn to appreciate each other and seek unity. I think that is why God sent these men two by two, so that they would support each other; We can't be lone rangers. When there is harmony in a Church, the Spirit of the Lord makes itself felt and blessing comes, prosperity comes. The Word of the Lord: "Look how good and how delicious it is for brothers to live together in harmony, it is like the oil that runs down Aaron's beard and runs down his garments and to his feet because there the Lord sends blessing and eternal life."

Do you know brother that love for one another is the most powerful thing to drive the power of God? Some people believe that jumping and throwing ourselves to the ground, praise God for all these things if God does them, but I believe that the best driver of all is the love of brothers for one another. The Lord sees that love and descends and showers His grace on such a Congregation, and the world out there sees these different groups loving each other and says: wow, that is not possible there in the world, these people have it, I want to be part of it. and come to the House of the Lord.

I hope that our Church will always be a multiethnic, multicultural Church. I love my Central American brothers, I love my South American brothers, I love the Caribbean from different parts and I love all this great diversity and I celebrate it, and we want to be part of that great race that God has redeemed. So I think that is why the Lord said: go two by two and if we want to be effective in the Kingdom of God we have to be people of harmony.

When we see that an element of discord, division, gossip, gossip, criticism, resentment is coming within our Church, let us begin to pray immediately; let's lock up that virus and as white cells do when an infection comes to the body we immediately throw ourselves away and dissolve it, right?; with love but let us not be part of any divisive element so that this town can always grow in harmony and have the blessing of the Lord.

I say here: let us protect unity, let us renounce rancor, grudges, gossip, gossip, criticism, believing ourselves better than others; let us reject everything that subtracts from their union with the body of Christ. We have to work together. I celebrate that group of brothers who have worked so hard all these months to make the lunches possible each month. I want to take a moment to thank all of you, amen? Let's give a round of applause to the brothers.

This morning I was thinking of all those brothers who work on Saturday night and get up early Sunday morning each month to prepare those lunches and I see them like little ants leaving their car there in front, making it difficult for me to walk when I want to park next door. sometimes in a hurry but there they are putting down their tray and their pot of rice with pigeon peas or whatever and together they celebrate a great communion, a Lord's Supper once a month, they have blessed our Church with more than a hundred thousand dollars by now of the game, there literally granite to granite.

And how nice it is that it is a joint effort; Some bring rice, others bring beans, others bring tortillas, others bring pork, some bring roast turkey or whatever, and we all celebrate here a great feast of love for the Lord and we bless our Church. Thank you brothers and sisters we bless you in the name of the Lord let us continue to work in harmony to advance the Kingdom of the Lord as one body.

So another thing that I see here is that the Christian life is a life and the missionary life is a life lived in faith. And I see this when the Lord tells them not to take anything for the journey but only a staff, not to carry a bag or bread or money in their belts. He does this for a purpose: He was an exalted teacher, Jesus, and He wanted to teach them in a very graphic and very practical way to live and minister, and serve in and by faith. The Lord tells them when you go I am going to be your provider.

And we are going to do an experiment: leave everything that inspires you security. Sister, leave the suitcases with the seven dresses that you are going to wear one for each day and the twenty pairs of shoes and the little box with the cosmetics that you are going to use, leave all that and entrust yourself to the hands and mercy of the Lord and you will see that you will not miss anything. The Lord wanted you to stop for a moment from things that inspired you security and let me tell you, you cannot be a good servant of the Lord if you are not trusting in God's provision every day.

You can't take chances, you can't risk talking to someone at work, approaching that boss who seems to have it all together and doesn't need anything and talking about Christ if you're not committing yourself to the grace of God. Sir first. How many things do we have to undertake simply believing that Jehovah is my Shepherd and I will lack nothing? And it is an invitation to believe in Him, right? He wants to teach them to live by faith.

Months later we see a passage in the Scripture where we see that the Lord is rowing with them in a boat and says that he asked them: When I sent you without money or bag, or bread, did you lack anything? and they said: nothing, because the Lord had been faithful along the way, right? Do not worry if you do not have everything you need for the work of evangelizing your loved ones. Some of you who are starting new in the ways of the Lord and God has put it in your heart to bring your family, your wife, your children to the knowledge of God, perhaps you are the first in a generation to bring the Gospel to your home; God will teach you how to do it, entrust yourself to the Lord.

What are you going to do in the Kingdom of the Lord? God knows. Start walking by faith, do what comes to hand. Where you can serve, serve. Some say: I feel that the Lord called me to be an evangelist of the nations; Well, it starts with caring for the kids and blowing their noses up there at the much-needed children's ministry. Start as an usher. It begins by serving in so many things, there is room to serve the Lord. In the little he has been faithful in the much God will put you, He will teach you step by step and will provide for your life, He is faithful.

We have to apply this principle in all aspects of our lives, walk one day at a time and trust that God will provide for us. He told them not to take two tunics, take only one and if I don't provide the second one there will be a washing machine that you will be able to wash at night and prepare it for the next day. How good it is to learn to walk believing in the provision of the Lord. Many times God will remove all the scaffolding in your life. Perhaps right now you are going through a time of scarcity and sometimes you do not know at the end of the month if you are going to have enough to pay all the bills.

Believe in the Lord and God will not shame you. We have to trust in the Lord and sometimes God allows us to go through trying times, and years later we remember and we no longer fall so much in love with money because we know that God is faithful to provide us at all times. And I think that's why he sent them like this saying: trust. But there is something interesting.

Notice that lately I have been thinking, although I have read this passage and have preached several times about it, it says that: "He ordered them not to take anything for the journey except only a staff." It might seem like an insignificant detail but God has spoken to me. Because I believe that the Word of God has a purpose in each of its details. I have asked myself: wow, why does it say here that he told them: "I'm only going to allow them to carry a staff"? what is a staff? I looked up the definition in the dictionary.

One of the meanings of the word is: a cane with an ornate handle, maybe yes, maybe not, with an ornate handle and taller than a person. Have you ever seen those photos of a shepherd walking with a rod that is kind of curved like that? For example, bishops and high-ranking priests also use it, as something high, right? And the shepherds also carry a staff sometimes. Sometimes Jesus is presented on the icons as carrying a staff. A staff can also be the person who serves as a guide and supports another.

So I asked myself, is there any meaning in this idea of the staff? and for me it was a blessing to wonder why the Lord made that concession that they could carry a staff and here is my interpretation: perhaps because it was an acknowledgment of the humanity of these people, a concession to the fact that on those long roads, dusty with ups and downs and with stones on the road a staff helped them to support themselves and make the path a little easier.

And I think we have to be aware. The idea of the staff invites me to think about: you know what? I am human, I am made of flesh and blood and I have to be realistic with my own limitations. And sometimes I'm going to need a staff, you're going to need a staff for the road. I encourage my brothers to be very careful with this super faith of some. There are some who believe that they are so mystical that they believe that they are not in the world, and I have seen brothers that in the Christian life one always has to live in a balance between faith in God but also sometimes a bit of common sense and to be realistic too, and to know that we are still in the world and that we are not glorified yet, and that we sometimes have to temper our faith with a little common sense.

There are people who are so mystical that for everything they have to ask the Lord to tell them what to do. If they have to have breakfast, they say to the Lord: oh Lord, enlighten me if it's going to be mangoo or oatmeal with chocolate, whatever. And no, God has made us human beings, we have to use our common senses. Take, for example, the churches. There are times when the glory of the Lord is in the adoration service, we could continue adoring for two hours, but hey: you have to collect the offerings too, right? You have to present babies and bless them, you have to give the announcements, you have to preach the Word, you have to do many things that are part of the Lord's business and you have to be realistic too.

There are new people who don't understand all this hype, adoration, and you also have to be careful of them. There are also elderly people who, if we turn up the volume until our ears explode, also feel bad. So we have to be realistic, I believe even in the midst of exercising faith and that is why I believe that this little detail, right? Ok, don't take anything, exercise faith but take a staff just in case, right?

I think that sense of balance in the Christian life is important. Another thing that the Word says there is that it says that he told them not to wear two tunics, but as I said, only one. I see here an element of not worrying about tomorrow. The Lord says: do not worry about tomorrow, what you will eat or what you will drink because each day brings its own worry. It says: think of the birds of the field that neither spin nor work, and it says that even Solomon in all his glory did not dress like one of them.

There is a call in the life of faith brothers to trust in the Lord and know that each day brings its own eagerness. I always ask the Lord: Father, give me peace, the things that I cannot attend to, help me to leave them in your hands, what cannot be done today, well, we will pass it on to tomorrow. Every day when you lie down on the pillow, close your eyes and forget about what you couldn't do and say: tomorrow the Lord will allow me to move on.

When you have to rest, you have to rest. When I am sleepy and need to lie down I forget about the sick, I forget about; I pray for them as I fall asleep but I know I need to stay healthy, keep going and tomorrow will bring its own trouble. The Lord said: "You will always have the poor with you." Housewife, don't be killing yourself all the time for having an impeccable house; leave the dishes there from time to time and let the husband take care of them, the boys and lie down and rest. Get your beauty sweet, okay? My brother, give the sisters their rest, you have to find time to recover your strength also to be able to serve the Lord better, okay? and knowing that what I can't do the Lord will take care of it too.

That is implied in those two robes. Each day brings its own desire. You have to keep Saturday sometimes, you have to rest. Even if I can't do everything, the Lord will take care of what I can't do and let the Lord take care of things.

Another principle then, we have the principle of two by two, unity, not worrying about all the things we need, faith. The third principle says that: do not leave, do not move from place to place, but when you arrive in a village, stay in the place where you were originally sheltered. I see here the beginning of stable relationships. You have to win over people, you have to make yourself known; you have to take time to get to know people in order to be good evangelists.

Only when we serve and testify with our character, our behavior, our conduct, we create a good reputation can we be good evangelists. We have to bear good witness. Our Church has been winning this community over the years with our testimony of serving, in humble ways, young people, immigrants, people who do not speak English, cooperating with community agencies, working with politicians although sometimes we do not totally agree with them when they invite us to a meeting, there is Samuel, there is one of the shepherds, when there is a burial or a funeral or a marriage to celebrate.

Today many of the people that we marry or bury are not even members of the Church but that family needs a Church to shepherd them and we have to go there, we have to be part of the community. There are times when we have to marry people who look, perhaps not everything is in order and not all the points are correct on the ies but God has put us here to take care of this community, and over time to the Lord be the glory we have gained an image of being a Congregation that loves the community in which we live. And so people come and look for Christ.

Politicians often help us in our efforts, they defend us when they want to attack us for our biblical and theological positions, but we have earned that right to be the Church of Christ. At this time there is going to be a mayoral election since Menino finally decided to hang up his gloves and he is not going to run for the thirtyth time running for mayor and now there is going to be a feeding frenzy, there are going to be candidates everywhere. Some of those candidates may call and want to come here to León de Judá and say hello to the Congregation in their campaign.

Well, if that candidate is not your favorite, don't lose your peace over it. We are a public Church and we have to operate with the people. A greeting is not going to take anything away from you, you know? It does not mean that you have to vote for the person. Glory to God that people want to come and meet us and greet us, amen we listen to them, we pray for them, we bless them and we move on, right? So don't be shocked.

Sometimes brothers: oh Pastor, how dare you allow so-and-so to stand there in front because he has this position? Look, that doesn't take away or give me anything. They are children of God and perhaps by coming here to hear the Word God touches them and perhaps they can be better politicians and better heads of state. Amen.

But I believe that this is one of the things that we have to do as a Church that is in the community and you also have to do every day, you have to be a resource for your neighborhood. In the way that you can serve, present yourself. If someone needs a bag of food, take it with them. A neighbor moves into the neighborhood and you have a chance to say hello, do it. In this way you become a generous presence in the context where you are and make yourself known.

And sometimes Evangelism is going to take time. We many times see someone and at once we jump on top of them to read them the four spiritual laws and they confess Jesus and no longer. Hey, let them meet him first. If the Lord opens a door, use it, but many times we first have to give testimonies and then earn the right to be invited to share with them.

And that is why I believe that we have to serve before preaching. A great saint of the Church said: preach the Gospel and if it is inevitable use words. Very nice message, think about that, right? Then the Lord said: do not go from place to place, stay in one place. Create testimony, make yourself known and then use that place as a platform to preach the Gospel and he also said: when you enter a house, if that house is worthy of God, proclaim the peace of God in that home. And if that peace finds receptivity, that peace is going to rest in the house and if it is not going to bounce back to you.

Wherever you go, go representing the Kingdom of God, go with the authority that Christ has given you. If you go to a house where there is discord, where there are problems: pray, declare the peace of the Lord in that home. In your neighborhood declare the lordship of Christ. I was telling the brethren this morning: I am one of the bloodhounds and watchdogs that are there using that word in a good way. I'm watching the block.

We live on the second floor. From the windows of our house in the morning when I get up I see almost two thirds of our street. And when I get up many times or at night when I'm there, you know? I bless Albion Street, I declare the Lordship of Christ on that street and make war against every element of discord, ugliness, noise, violence, disorder, I am there a watchman of the Lord on that street.

And when our city over the years because we have lived on that street for twenty-six years, twenty-seven now our city has been contaminated at times by strange movements that come to that region I have been the first to pray that the city of Summerville be a city of peace, be a city protected by the Holy Spirit. I pray to the Lord: Father that there are good churches in this city, that good ministries arise. I bless the mayor, I bless the families that are around.

And we have seen how the blessing of God rests. Do that in the place where you reside, declare the peace of the Lord and stay in one place as long as you can so that it is a blessing. The same with the churches, I know that many of you have come from another Congregation or there are already people who have left our Church for other congregations, I believe in that; I believe that there are moments and times when God tells you: you have to go to another place because I have a purpose, do it; so I don't want anyone to think I'm dropping a hint.

But I also want to tell you that the best thing is to stay in one Church and in one place for as long as possible and create time, create relationships. I see my sister Rosa Benzán nodding there and sister Gloria here too and other sisters; you know? These people are twenty-something years old with us, amen? and others here, we could point out many of you, you have been here for many years and we have seen the ups and downs of a Congregation. The Church has become bigger, more diverse.

People who at the beginning of the Church played a much more prominent role have now had to take a place perhaps of less importance but they have remained and I am blessed by those people. Know what? Many times in the midst of problems and struggles, and sometimes even conflicts, one grows, but if one sets foot and leaves quickly because something happened that one does not like, one never grows. It's like marriage. If you are going to get divorced or separated because of everything you don't like about your husband, your wife will be worse than the Samaritan woman: from husband to husband, from wife to wife.

Like Shasha Gabor getting married every three, four years or Elizabeth Tailor. No. Create stability, be faithful in your friendships, don't throw people away just because there was a little complication, that builds character. A sister came up, two sisters came up to tell me at the end of the first service to tell me: Pastor, you are not going to believe it but we have decided, today was going to be the last Sunday to be here in León de Judá. I asked her: but why sister? and he told me: because there is disunity, and I told him: but how is there disunity?

I see many things, well then he qualified his comment and said: do you know what Pastor? upon hearing his message we feel that no, that we have to continue here and continue here. Because that's good right? have to create And I ask him: do you come on Wednesdays?, no. Are you coming to women's services? no, you young man, do you go to youth services? for example to university classes at 1, no. There are many ways, brothers, one has to ask the Lord to give him wisdom and position himself so that the Holy Spirit can then make us that community that we need.

But I see many opportunities, many possibilities to create awareness but do not shoot too fast, create stable and lasting relationships. I'm finishing. Another thing, the Lord says: if you do not receive his message, shake your feet and I assure you that the judgment of that community will be worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah when the day of judgment comes. And I see something important here and it is that the Gospel has a serious and dangerous aspect.

And he knows that we have been called at times to declare the Lord's judgment on the world as well and to advance God's purposes. The Church is not only here to bless and to be nice and good, there are things sometimes that the Church is going to have to declare that the Lord brings His judgment and His corrective treatment with the cities and with the nations.

And I believe that we have to understand that the Gospel also has a serious and gloomy side, not everything is just roses and smiles. The Church is here also as an element of division and definition. The Lord Jesus Christ said: do not think that I have come to bring peace but that I have come to bring division, why? because the truth creates division. When the Word of God defines what is good and what is bad, the powers that are on the side of evil get upset.

When Christ proclaims himself as Lord and Savior, many people become aggressive and resist. When the holiness of the Lord is said and it is said that this is not from God, this behavior is not from God, many people get upset. And I worry because today I see so many elements of Christianity trying to stop talking about the things that bother people thinking that this is how they are going to win over people and that is not true, brothers. We on the one hand announce the grace and mercy of the Lord but on the other hand we also declare the holiness of the Lord, and we tell people what is good and what is bad according to the Word of God and then we leave it to them to make your own judgement.

The Church also has a place to be aggressive and do spiritual warfare, to declare the truth of the Lord, to stand up so that the devil does not possess our youth and the city in which we live. And we must also have to declare that serious aspect, the judgment of the Lord. Because many times when the Lord's judgment comes, then comes brokenness and humility, and surrender. I believe that this society, so sure of itself, so resistant to the Word of God, so self-sufficient with its technology and its means of communication, and its money and its technological toys, needs a few spankings from the Lord to let them know that they are nothing more than dust and that the Lord is on His Throne.

And I believe that judgments are going to come on the nations. Times of correction are coming and perhaps those times of correction are necessary for people to humble themselves and seek the Lord. So we have to ask: Lord Thy Will be done. If it is judgment that judgment comes, if it is a blessing that blessing also comes, but it deals with our cities, it also deals with our communities so that they receive Christ as Lord and Savior.

And finally brothers we have to preach a Gospel of repentance. It says here that: "Going out they preached that men should repent." When was the last time you heard that in relation to preaching the Gospel? preaching to people to repent. Today churches don't want to preach repentance because we believe that if we tell people to repent we will alienate them. But not.

When we preach the Gospel we have to preach to the people two things: number one this of the judgment, that the judgment is coming. He says that on Judgment Day his punishment will be worse than with Sodom and Gomorrah. We have to alert people that there will be a day when they will have to give an account to the Lord. And we have to ask him: are you prepared for the day you appear before the Throne of God, what did you do with your life? The Word says that: "Every human being will have to appear before the Throne of God and they will have to give an account of everything they have done, whether it is good or bad" and many people are not thinking about that.

The devil keeps them entertained with all kinds of toys and chores in the world so they don't think that one day they are going to die and the Book will close and they will no longer be able to add anything to what they have done or what they have not done and they will then have to appear before the Throne of Grace in terms of how they have lived. And that is why the Church is set to announce to the people that the judgment is coming and that every human being has to prepare themselves here on Earth for that day when they will have to appear before God.

And the only way to be able to appear advantageously before the Throne of God is how? accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, repenting of their sins, confessing our need for God's Grace, confessing that we have offended the Lord and that only through the blood of Jesus can we be saved. So we have to preach that Gospel to people and announce it in all the ways we can.

And finally it says: "They cast out demons and anointed many sick with oil, and healed them." How important it is that we seek God's anointing in our lives brothers. I tell you every day I am more and more hungry for the anointing of God. If we take time from our services as we did today to pray and cry out to the Lord and adore him, it is because I know that it is there where the power of the Holy Spirit is cultivated for a Church. And that requires time, it requires that we have space for it.

We cannot do that in ten minutes of prayer and a five-minute sermon there, let's all go home because we already punched the card. You have to take time to worship the Lord. I have learned that there is nothing like the Church doing the work of the Church in a meeting. And I think that time is wasted here. Those twenty minutes that we invest in proclaiming the lordship of Christ in the city, in making war against principalities and powers, in praying for the schools, in praying for the youth, in praying for the new mayor who is to come so that the Lord choose a man, a woman who is truly of God, pray for the institutions of the city that is time well spent.

When we take time to worship the Lord and cultivate the freedom of the Spirit. Because one goes to Congregations: listen to me, not a fly moves. Everything is organized, orchestrated, with terrible elegance, but the demons don't even know that there is worship in that place. The people in the seats get used to a tight and mean life in the spirit and do not enter to eat all the delicacies that God has on the table.

We must show God's people how to flow in the Spirit, how to raise their hands, how to fast, how to find time to worship the Lord, how to jump and dance, how to give a good glory to God; how to shed tears before the Presence of the Lord, how to cultivate the Presence of God takes time but it is the way in which a Church grows and becomes strong, and keeps at bay the powers of the devil that want to destroy the Congregations and divide and destroy them their leaders, you have to do spiritual warfare. God has given us power and authority.

And when we preach the Gospel let us preach it in the power of the Holy Spirit. My brothers, there is a price to pay if we want to be people filled with the Holy Spirit. I have learned that I have to put my appetite for elegance and throw it away and put the lid on the safacón because there are no people who like elegance more than me but I have learned that sometimes for the Spirit of God moves you have to raise a little dust and jump, and forget about elegance and let the Lord flow and He does what He wants in our midst. If the great theologian did not like it, that is his problem.

We have to be the people that God wants us to be and when God's people move elegance has to go out the window. It is not that we are going to be messy on purpose but we must let God be God and let Him take over a place. But that is where the Spirit of the Lord is cultivated, the power of God, and that is where lives are broken. It is there that the yokes are destroyed, it is there that the devil's claw is defeated. It is there where the city advances a little more towards the purpose that God has for it. Who knows what was achieved in this time of adoration this morning or in the time of intercession, who knows if the way has already been prepared for ten or fifteen families that come to know the Lord in a month, in a week, in a century, I don't know but it is possible.

The business of the Church is to inform principalities and powers of the wisdom of God, to drive away darkness, to proclaim the Second Coming of the Lord, and to declare that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and men, and that has to be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us not be afraid of being people with an appetite for the power of God. We are Pentecostals who believe in the Pentecostal power of God. We believe in the gifts, we believe in the mystery of God and we know that we can take that power with us to our homes.

When we leave here today, know that the powerful Spirit of God goes with you wherever you go, to your family, to your marriage, to your children, the power of God goes with you. Power to build and to tear down, power to declare, to anoint, to heal, to liberate, to receive wisdom from the Lord, to advise others, the power of God, the grace of God is with you, amen?

Stand up we are going to be a missional Church. Tell the Lord: Father, I accept my call and I accept my sending as well. I believe that You have called me to be a servant of yours, a servant of yours. I believe that You have placed me in this city to be a lightning rod that receives the rays of Your Power and transmits them to others. Receive your identity now from the Lord, open your heart, tell Him: Father, thank you for making me an instrument of Yours, thank you for rescuing me because when I could not do it, You removed the chains of my Spirit, you removed the veil that covered my understanding, you opened my ears and I was able to hear the call of God and You gave me the power to access and receive Christ and confess Him as my Lord and Savior.