You will be called a wicket repairman

Isaiah 58:12 lays the foundation for our meditation. And it says: “…And yours – that is, our family, our loved ones, our descendants, those who are close to us – and yours will build the ancient ruins, you will build the foundations of generation and generation, and you will be called the repairer of gates, restorer of roads to inhabit…”

And there is the key to our text "and you will be called a repairer of wickets." I want to talk precisely about that idea of being wicket repairers. And I want to tell you that I feel from the Lord that this is a rather prophetic sermon, a sermon that I really should have left to preach on the 31st, because I think it is a good vision for our church. But I also have other things that I want to share on the night of the 31st, with a word of vision for our church. So that's another reason why I would love for you to come so that you don't miss this commission, this challenge from the Lord for us in this coming year.

But I believe that these two sermons could be part of each other, of a set that together constitute a vision for your life and also for our congregation. This morning in the early hours of the morning that idea came to mind, that image, that message that was not really on my mind at all, “gate repairers.” And I clearly felt from the Lord that this was the theme that he had for us this morning, that we be repairmen of gates.

It is God's call both collectively for us as the Lion of Judah congregation, and for each one of us, for you, for me, for your family, individually in this new year, and actually for all our lives, but that this year Let's see it like that word, that call from God that comes to our hearts to be porthole repairmen.

If you look at this chapter 58, which is actually a well-known chapter in scripture, you read the previous verses and you realize that God is speaking to you in a severe way, in a sort of correction to a people, to the people of Israel, which had buried itself and mired in an empty religious ritualism. They had settled for a religious routine, a religious formality that did not reflect a true emotional, spiritual feeling, a true commitment to the Lord.

They had given God simply empty rites so as not to give God their heart and what God truly wanted. They had forgotten what constitutes a true spirituality that pleases the Lord. And as a consequence of their neglect and indifference to God, of having plunged into an empty religiosity, they had reaped the bad consequences of their behavior.

But look a little bit at how God describes the attitude of these people at the beginning of chapter 58 in verse 2 says:

"... you look for me every day and want to know my ways, as people who have done justice - there is the theme of that entire chapter, justice towards men, towards others, social justice, but more than social justice – as if they were people who had done justice and who had not left the law of their God. – They ask me for fair judgments and want to get closer to God – “Why, they say, we fasted and you didn't listen, we humiliated our souls and you didn't understand? And God answers him, "Behold, on the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure - selfishness, self-centeredness - and you oppress all your workers."

They believed that just good with fasting, you know that the Hebrew people declared fasting days and that day they afflicted their souls, and they stopped eating during the day, and they believed that if we do that on the external level, we don't have to worry about the fact that when we returned to our homes we oppressed our servants, we treated people badly, we did not pay our debt, because we already fasted, we already went to church.

How many people live in that kind of spirituality? We believe that by going to church, punching out the evangelical card, we can now go home and live as we want and God has always said, "No, it can't be like that," your life, your experience, the way The way you treat others must also reflect what you do at the religious level, at the ritual level, at the formal level. The two things have to be linked. It is not that God does not want us to go to church, it is not that God does not want us to participate in going to the temple and worship and serve him and have a congregational life, on the contrary, the Bible clearly says that we should not stop congregating like some people out there is customary, but we must be in the house of the Lord. But what God is saying is that in addition to that we have to unify our experience, the way we treat others.

I think for example, in our own nation of the United States, in the 18th, 19th century, when so many people went to church here, especially in the southern United States, and they served God, everyone went to church in those times, but later they returned to their homes to oppress their slaves, to whip them, to rape them, to denigrate them, to rob them of their humanity, and they thought that there was no division between that horrible and cruel and dehumanizing behavior of their neighbor and the fact that that they went to church and praised the Lord and did everything that a supposedly pious person would do. and for this reason this nation suffered the terrible consequences of the civil war where hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Americans died and the nation was divided between the north and the south.

Because it is that God hates an empty religion. And it's not that God doesn't love religion, God wants us to worship him, God wants us to seek him but he wants there to be unity in the way we treat others, our posture, our generosity and kindness to others and that God whom we love.

And then he tells him in verse 4: “…Behold, for strife and debate you fast, and to strike wickedly with your fist, do not fast as you do today so that your voice may be heard on high…”

In other words, let us always remember, brothers, that when we come to the house of the Lord we are supposed to come to be spiritually enriched so that our inner being is worked on so that our behavior towards others in our homes, in our marriage, with our children, our friends, in our work, reflect that high spirituality that we confess every day.

God is always calling his people to what is a truly deep and total, unified spirituality, where there is no separation between what you are and what you do when you are in church.

We have the words that our sisters, the women, used at their retreat this past fall. In Micah, chapter 6, verse 6 to 8. God is asking a question as rhetoric, as if one would ask that question:

“…With what shall I appear before Jehovah and worship the Most High God? Shall I appear before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?"

In other words, one wonders, well, how can I please the Lord, making sacrifices, giving him money, walking to church on my knees and walking up the front stairs on my knees, bleeding myself or making a big sacrifice? The second verse says:

“…Will God be pleased – another rhetorical question, that is, a question that one knows the answer to – Will God be pleased with thousands of rams – as the Hebrews used these animals to sacrifice them in honor of Jehovah – or with 10,000 streams of oil, – not barrels, but streams of oil – I will give my firstborn for my rebellion, – in other words, there were pagan tribes who sacrificed their children to false gods in sacrifice, – I will have to give my firstborn son, the most valuable of my family, for my sins, or the fruit of my entrails or any other son for the sin of my soul? – And here is the Lord's answer to those questions of extreme sacrifice. – Oh, man, – in other words, oh Christian, gosh he says – he has declared to you what is good, you know what the true worship of the Lord is, what truly pleases the Lord and what God asks of you, only do justice and love mercy and humble yourself before your God…”

In other words, what God is saying is that God does not necessarily expect great and terrible sacrifices from us, but what God wants is a heart that humbles itself before him, a heart that loves him, a heart that wants to please him, a heart that is sincere towards God and that does justice to others and loves mercy.

Now, notice something that the Bible is not necessarily calling us here to a religion of works, where if you do what is good, you are saved, because we know that salvation is through Christ Jesus, having received Christ as Lord and savior. It's not about one or the other, it's not about either going to church and serving the Lord and giving to God or just having a good heart. No, what the Bible says is both are important. If you only limit yourself to doing good and doing good deeds and giving to God and sacrificing yourself for him, but you don't give your heart to him, if you don't treat your neighbor in a proper way, then it's worth nothing to you. But it is best that you do both.

Christ once said, it is important that you do that while continuing to do that as well. So, it's both. As you see in that verse of Micah, God is really a simple God and ultimately, brothers, all the apparatus of religion, all the ritual, all the laws, all the things that we have every day when we come to the church, can be summed up in the words of Jesus Christ when he asked a Pharisee, "Which is the greatest of the commandments?" He said, "Well, you will love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself." And the Lord said to him, “You have answered well.

This has both things, to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself, and the Lord said, in that all the law and the prophets are summed up, because God is a God that what he is looking for is the heart, the simple things, the person who has given himself to him and who loves and serves others, because it is a heart that he can be pleased with.

In this coming year, brothers, God is calling us precisely to that. First deal with ourselves, first examine ourselves. God is calling us as individuals, as a congregation, myself as the main pastor of this congregation, God is calling us to purify ourselves, to sanctify ourselves for what he wants to do through us, to smooth our rough edges and love him with everything. heart and love our neighbor with all our heart.

The first thing I call upon you and myself this year is to make a redoubled resolution to be better this year than we were last year. Amen. I know that if you search within yourself and examine your heart, your human relationships, your family life, there are many things that you could put on a little list, that is, things that you can improve, or am I the only one? I think we all have areas we can work on, right?

And I believe that we can even present to the Lord three or four things on which we are going to concentrate this year to be better. I'm not going to kick the dog as much as I did last year, for example, I'm going to treat it better this year. My mouth is going to speak edifying things, I am going to treat my wife or husband better, I am not going to yell so much at my children, I am going to be more generous, I am going to gossip less, I am going to read the Bible more, I am going to be more committed to my church financially, there are many good things…

God is calling us to prepare ourselves, to prepare the vessel, to prepare the instrument, to prepare the channel through which his blessing will flow for this community and for this world this year. We have to start with ourselves.

How is my spirituality before God? Is my spirituality simply something superficial, plain, of works, of external actions or am I allowing God to form me, God to treat me, God to break me, God to purify me, sanctify me, cleanse me, heal me, heal me? make a man, a woman, worthy of his name? That is the first thing we have to do at this time.

This is a year to get closer to God, to try to be more like Christ and to make the word of God incarnate with more vigor within us. Let's try to improve our marriages, to restore our relationship with our children, to be a blessing to our co-workers, to our bosses, and to all the people around us, let's try to be more like Jesus Christ. And that will prepare us to fulfill the mission that God wants from us. And you know what? That will also train us to be happier. To the extent that we are a blessing to others and our heart pleases the Lord, and our kindness blesses others, to that same extent we too will be happier and the power of God will manifest more in our favor.

Because God wants us to be porthole repairers, to sanctify ourselves, to purify ourselves, because I really want to talk about those two things. First, that we prepare ourselves, that we prepare the vessel, that we are not superficial Christians, that we give everything to the Lord so that he can then do with us what God truly wants to do.

Because that's what I see here in the same chapter 58, in verse 6 he talks about what is the true religion that he is looking for, what is the true fast. Fasting is simply a symbol of any kind of religiosity. In verse 6 he says:

“…Is it not rather the fast that I chose to loosen the bonds of impiety, loosen the burdens of oppression, set the broken free and break every yoke? Is it not that you break your bread with the hungry and that you shelter the wandering poor at home, that when you see the naked you cover them and do not hide from your brother?

God is saying, don't you see that those are the things that I am asking for? May your life be a blessing to others, may your heart be a noble and generous heart. And look at what verse 8 says:

“…Then, – say everyone then – your light will be born like the dawn and your salvation will be seen soon and your justice will go before you and the glory of Jehovah will be your rearguard. Then you will call and the Lord will hear you, you will cry out and he will say, "Here I am," if you remove from your midst the yoke, the threatening finger and the speaking of vanity and if you give your bread to the hungry and satisfy your afflicted soul, then in the darkness will be born your light and your darkness will be like noon…”

You see, brother, that there is a very close correlation between the way we treat others, that behavior, that attitude of generosity, of love for others, of being a blessing to those around us, of constituting ourselves into channels through which God's grace flows freely to the world. And that should be the agenda of every believer, Lord, every day I want to be more and more like Christ, every day I want to smooth out a little, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the rough edges that are in me so that I can truly be a source of blessing.

But what is interesting is that as we become more and more channels of God's blessings, our own light shines. God hears our prayers. God bless our lives. God grants us the desires of his heart. God blesses our homes, our health, our emotions because we are being channels. When you serve to bless others then God blesses you too. The problem with many human beings and many Christians is that we are so concerned with our own good that then God cannot bless us.

I have learned that if I forget myself and serve to bless others, God blesses me more too. Forget yourself a bit and serve others and give to others and give to God and you will see how God blesses you too.

What is a gate? Sometimes we think that a gate is a door, a tiny door. Do you know what a gate is? And maybe there is an image of a wall with a crack in the middle. A gate is a hole in a wall, it is like a crack. It is as if someone takes a hammer in a wall and breaks a hole in the middle, that is a wicket. Or it may be a large crack in a wall. It's like the holes that are made in a piñata when hit with a stick, those are gates.

So, God tells us that he wants us to be wicket repairmen. I read verse 12 again:

"... and yours will repair the ancient ruins, the foundations from generation to generation you will raise and you will be called repairer of gates..."

In other words, that will be your core identity. When you do certain things in your life and you purify yourself, cleanse yourself, become more and more like Christ Jesus, God blesses you greatly and then you are known as a source of restoration, healing and blessing. for everyone around you. How nice.

I always thought, brothers, that this constituted the central calling of the Lion of Judah congregation from its very beginnings here in the city of Boston and before in Cambridge, that was not necessarily our essential identity. God put us in Cambridge as if to prepare us, to strengthen us, but when we arrived here in Boston as a missionary, when we changed our residence, and we came to this destroyed area of the city of Boston almost 20 years ago, God brought us here to Boston to be gate repairmen, to be a congregation, a church, a community that will help to heal the city where God has placed us.

And I rejoice when I see, not only because of our exclusive influence, but how God has blessed this community and how it went from being a place of terrible crime and vacant lots and ruins, to being one of the most sought-after areas in all of the city of Boston. How nice it is to grow with a city. We came here and we planted ourselves here and you could say that this neighborhood around us has flourished in so many ways and I believe that a little bit has to do with our prayers, a little bit has to do with influence.

And that is how many of the legislators of the city of Boston and many of the people of this area understand it, because León de Judá has been a blessing. And that is why I believe that God, when we arrived here, prophetically put us to repair buildings and prepare them for the Kingdom of God.

I have always seen… the first two buildings that we occupied, which are on the other side of those doors, were ruined buildings that we took over, destroyed them from the inside, hollowed them out, ripped out all the entrails and did it again. And through the years I have grown a great love for buildings like these because there is a little bit of my blood, I think, embedded in those buildings and many of us who work as volunteers for those buildings, to repair them, and the money that you gave sacrificially, and all the effort that it cost our church with its scarce resources that we had, especially at that time.

To come and repair two buildings that had been completely ruined. The one on the corner was a pharmacy downstairs and apartments upstairs, which had been in ruins for many years, it had no windows, all the water had gotten into it, everything had corroded, we even had to repair bricks and straighten beams and floors and a number of things, because it had taken a lot of damage because all the water had been running for a long time. And the first building at 68 Northhampton, where the original sanctuary is, was also quite a dilapidated building, and you know all the work that went into repairing it.

It is also interesting, as an additional note, that then I believe a lot what the word says, in the little you have been faithful, in the much I will put you. After those two buildings, God gave us a brand new building like this one here. This one we did from scratch, completely from scratch. But it was like God said, well, I want to see what you do with those two buildings first, I want to see what you are going to do, if you are faithful in taking destroyed buildings and have the vision to renovate them and then I will put them in something brand new, out of the box, new.

Because it is that when we believe God and we get to work God blesses, and God gives you abundance then. But I have always believed that this act of renewing destroyed things and restoring them for the use of the Kingdom of God and the advancement of the Kingdom of God is a prophetic image for the Lion of Judah congregation. That can definitely be a wicket. And so, in fact, there were walls in those buildings that we had to fill in. Brother Roberto Naranjo did a lot of work filling in holes like those.

But I believe that it had called us from the beginning and I did not fully know it when we arrived here, to be precisely a congregation that repaired ruined walls. In Isaiah, chapter 61, verse 4 is what I would call the Lion of Judah congregational motto, it says:

"... They will rebuild the ancient ruins and raise the first desolations and restore the ruined cities, the rubble of many generations..."

Glory to the Lord. I think that deserves to read it all again. Read it all with me. "... They will rebuild the ancient ruins and raise the first desolations and restore the ruined cities, the rubble of many generations..."

I believe that this is God's call, that is the vision for our congregation, it has been like this for many years and it must be the vision for our church in the coming years more than ever. We have to be a refuge congregation. God has put in my spirit that word, refuge. We have to be a haven for the helpless souls out there. We have to be a refuge for drunk people, we have to be a refuge for neurotic people who are alone, eating a cable out there, we have to be a refuge for the elderly whose children are living in other cities and are alone there watching through a window all day. We've got to be a haven for drug addicts, we've got to be a haven for the crime-ridden neighborhoods of the city of Boston, we've got to be a haven for single moms, we've got to be a haven for teens full of violence and meaningless to the life and believe that their community should be a bargain that hurts others, but at least they have the warmth of some human company.

We have to show them a different alternative. We have to offer this community Christ Jesus as a repairer of lives and souls. God wants this congregation to be a refuge congregation, a place for the restoration of human openings, social openings, community openings, holes in the walls of this city, that we come and repair them with our daily experience, with our generous work , congregational. We have to be a congregation of good works, of good testimony before unbelievers, so that people see our good works and say, wow, there are merciful people and kind people there.

We have to be generous with God and with men. I was speaking to you a few weeks ago about the importance that if we are going to contribute to the advancement of the Kingdom of God in this city and in this nation, we have to be a generous congregation because I cannot do this alone and neither can we. done with pious prayers only, we have to contribute our money. I need a congregation that supports the vision that God has given me, not mine, but God's vision for us. And I encourage you this year to be detached with your time, with your talents, with your physical energy and with your money also so that this church can be the repairer of leaks that God wants it to be.

When we change our hearts, our minds, our attitudes, when we detach ourselves, when we love God above all things and love our neighbor, then God can use us to carry out his work of repair in this city, to be able to to be that truly repairing congregation of portholes.

Our kindness, brothers, should be known by all the men and women of the Boston community. The Lord Jesus Christ says so in his word, in Philippians, he says that your kindness be known to all men. Our desire is each day more and more for this community of the Lion of Judah to be known in the city and in New England as a Gentile congregation, a generous congregation, a congregation of good testimony and good works.

This morning I was thinking about the homeless people of the city of Boston, the so-called homeless in this city, and that homeless community is one of the great challenges for the Lion of Judah congregation. God has been bringing them into our church. Right now as we celebrate the service here, there is a service in English that is being given in the original sanctuary, on the other side of that door, and this morning when I was coming to park my car, when I was bringing it in here, there were 3 brothers from That community, a North American, an English speaker and a Hispanic, the 3 of them came together and were there. And when I saw them my heart was glad to see them, because I knew that they had come to hear the word of God.

And when I walked through the front doors there was an African American sister sitting down, having coffee, also from the homeless community. And I was glad that this space was a place where she could calm down, before going in to worship the Lord, perhaps that would be one of the quietest moments, because when they sleep in the shelters of the city that is terrible. They have to practically sleep with their belongings in their hands because they can be stolen in the middle of the night, and there is noise and there is abuse and there is bad language. I said, wow, how cute.

I could have two reactions when I saw her sitting there, one was the reaction of the Pharisee, why are you having coffee at the entrance of the church? that annoys people. But no, on the contrary, my heart was filled with tenderness, how good that this soul feels qualified to be there.

The same thing happened to me the other days in the lobby, where the elevator is at the entrance to this building, there were two people there with a donut in their hands, on their knees, drinking coffee. And again, my reaction could be why are these people here dirtying the floor, drinking coffee? No, for me they are tender souls that we have to take care of for the Lord, they are fragile beings that God entrusts to us to see if we are going to take good care of them. And then he says, after I see how you treat me, I'll send you more.

Do you want to be a gate repairman? Let's see what you do with those humble wickets. And I want us to make a pact, it is a very challenging community, sometimes they can be mischievous too and create their problems but we have to love them because I believe that if Lion of Judah can help restore those lives, we can do anything because those they are human debris many times.

And to that God has put us. When I walk by, on Albany Street, [inaudible], or Massachusetts Avenue, I see dozens and dozens of these people who are having a difficult time in their lives. I say, Father, bring them to church, bring them to our church, that the Lion of Judah may help bless and heal them. I ask the Lord to give us the wisdom, the power, the anointing, the mercy, the love to bless those lives. May the church be filled with them and may we be able to give them the food they need to put their lives back on their feet. Because the city can't do it, the secular human authorities can't... the only thing they can do is support them, give them food and a bed to survive, but restore their souls, their spirits, their minds, only Jesus Christ can do that, the Holy Spirit working in their lives and God's anointing on us.

A generous heart, a kind heart, a heart that exemplifies the grace of God. That is why we have to say, Lord, wherever there is a need, be it a child, a young person who comes to the shriners to be cured of a burn, be it with homeless people, be it with families that need help in some way, be it these young people who go to build those houses in Tijuana, be the thousand ways in which this congregation serves the Lord throughout the year helping young people to study, to go to university through HIRC, immigrants who are needing different types of assistance here in the city . May God make us a congregation that repairs gates, repairs souls.

May God help us as a church also this year to offer this city an alternative that is Christ Jesus, that the confused mothers who do not know what to do with their adolescent children, that the broken and lonely people, that the people who are going to leave to hell if they do not receive the announcement of the Gospel, they can come here and be restored, that they find a congregation qualified to restore gates in this city of Boston.

The last word that I share with you is found in Ezekiel, chapter 36, verses 33 to 36, I leave you with this vision of the Lord for us, which is a slightly different version of the same idea that I just announced. Says:

"...Thus says the Lord, the Lord, on the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities I will also cause the cities to be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt..."

You see how interesting that is, that equivalence that I say, because this message is in two parts. The first part is us who have to start with ourselves, asking the Lord to cleanse us first, to work on our hearts, to smooth our rough edges, to heal our personal wounds, our character deformations. Says:

"...on the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities I will also cause the cities to be inhabited and the ruins to be rebuilt..."

I tell you, brothers, the day that we begin to purify ourselves more and more, the day that we let ourselves work more and more, that our priorities are in the right place as a congregation, that day God is going to do a great miracle in this region. The day that León de Judá surrenders more and more to the Lord and commits himself more and more to God, that day we will see the glory of God manifest over this city.

And as God works in us, because I believe that what happens, brothers, is that when the church of Jesus Christ stops cutting the grass, the grass grows and vermin come, evil comes. The problem with this city and these parts of New England is not really the people, it's not really the evil, it's that the church of Jesus Christ hasn't done its job, it's that the people of God have let their guard down and have ceased to be the people of God. But when a people decides to live according to the word of the Lord and decides to live as missionaries, as kings and priests in a city, in a region, the power of the Kingdom of God comes to that people and blesses them and makes them a source of restoration and blessing and life.

So the first thing we have to do is that, that God cleanse us and then he will cause the cities to be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt. “…And the ravaged land will be tilled instead of having remained ravaged in the eyes of all who passed…”

You know that this part of New England many years ago, centuries ago, was the cradle of the Gospel. It was here in Massachusetts that the Gospel was born for this nation, where the Puritans came in the year 1620 to establish a colony. They came from Europe, from England and from Holland to what was simply America, it was not even called America at that time, to establish a community that could live according to the values of the Kingdom of God. They came here seeking spiritual freedom to live the life they knew they had to live as children of God. In England they were not allowed to live their faith as they believed they should live it. So they came here, they left everything, they sacrificed everything to come to this nation to establish a community that would be a showcase for the Kingdom of God.

That was what encouraged those first English immigrants who came here to this nation. For centuries that vision of theirs animated and nurtured and grounded this nation until it became the most powerful nation on earth, a respected nation, a nation that was never perfect but loved God and feared God most of all. They made many mistakes, but the law of the land was the fear of God and the fear of the word of God and there was respect for the things of the Lord and the government reflected in many ways the fear of God.

But the church of this nation let its guard down, allowed itself to be hypnotized by the erroneous doctrines that came from Europe about Christianity and lost its power and lost its anointing. And this area that was a spiritual garden today is a spiritual desert, where intellectualism, rationalism, secularism reign, where the churches are minimal, where heresy is preached from a very large number, at least, of the pulpits in this region of New England, from Maine to Connecticut, is a spiritual wilderness. But you know what? It does not have to be like this forever, brothers, I believe that God can still restore this region and we can be part of that restoration effort.

We can take the loopholes of New England spirituality and this immigrant community can be a resource for the Kingdom of God and we can bless the gringos of Maine and the African Americans of Boston and the Asians of China Town, and be a blessing to our own Latino community. Amen.

We can be repairers of gates and then as we bless ourselves and change ourselves and become true channels of God's power, verse 35 says: "... and they will say, this land that was ravaged - in other words, this land of New England, this the city of Boston, which was a spiritual desert – will have become like the Garden of Eden. And these cities that were deserted and ravaged and ruined will be fortified and inhabited.”

What a beautiful vision for us to be a part of it. “…And the nations that remain around you will know that I have rebuilt what was demolished and planted what was desolate, I, Jehovah, have spoken and I will do it…” Glory to the name of the Lord. Amen.

God is committed, brothers, I have no doubt that the best years of this congregation are ahead of it. God is going to use it in extraordinary ways, but a people is required that each one of us is a column of that powerful machinery that will be advancing as the Kingdom of God to bless this region.

Where are your priorities? Where are your values? What do you live for? Who are you? Are you a person who simply lives to grow your bank account and have a miserable retirement when you reach 65? Or do you want your life to make a difference? You want to be a wicket repairer. When you leave, may there be two or three lives that reflect your generous life here on earth.

I prefer a vision like this a thousand times over to the vision of piling up little coins just to die later and leave no difference in the world. I want this congregation to make a difference in the city of Boston, for us to be known as a gate repair congregation and for your life to also reflect that value and for people to know you as a gate repairer. Wherever you are you bring the light of the Kingdom of God with you. Amen. And may you be recognized as a resource for the Kingdom of God. That is our call this morning, gate repairers as a church and as individuals. May the Lord bless you.

We're going to lower our heads or stand up for a moment. Or rather raise your head, Father, give us wisdom, give us anointing, give us understanding, give us power, give us authority, pour out your spirit on us, Lord, on this congregation, pour out the power of your spirit, Father. May this year be a year of evangelism, may this year be a year of conquest, Father, may this year be a year of restoration like never before, may this year be a year for us to be salt of the earth and light of the world, Father .

May this year the Lion of Judah Congregation shine in the city of Boston, not for our glory but for the exclusive glory of the God we serve and his Son Jesus Christ. Not to us, Lord, but to you be the glory. We want to live for you, we want to be resources in your hands, Lord, purify us, cleanse us, prepare us, hollow out everything that has to be uprooted from our hearts, Father, everything that is carnal, human, earthly, selfish and a noble heart. and generous to bless this city, bless our community, bless those around us, Lord.

And may your glory be manifested in this place. We adore you and we bless you, Father. We thank you Lord Jesus. Before finishing, I feel the Lord do a little… there is a couple, brother Fernando, come here quickly, I know… tell him that I gave you permission to leave the chamber for a second, but come here for a little while. You have said that you are going to help a couple, that you are raising funds for their daughter who needs help. I want to encourage you if someone wants to leave an offering this morning, the hujieres can put a couple of baskets on a table there so that if someone wants to leave something, a small offering for them.

tell me quickly. I have a couple of Chilean friends, from my homeland, they are in need right now because one of their girls is having a problem with a lung transplant and for insurance purposes it has not been possible to perform. So, there is a need to get an X amount of money to be able to carry out this operation. This girl is currently in a hospital breathing with the help of machines. So, I can introduce them to you later, we're going to stand back there for a while and whoever feels in his heart can cooperate with us. Amen.

One way to be wicket repairers is a way that God gives us. There are two things that we are going to have there. Are the brothers going to be there, I think it's today, from Alfa? They are going to be providing something for the construction of a little house in Tijuana and we can also bless this family with an offering, if you feel it in your heart and if not next Sunday you can leave it in an envelope and allocate it to that, make it clear that it is for that and we can be a blessing.

But they are symbolic forms, what I want is that this morning God gives us the opportunity and if we can bless in this way, glory to God, and put into action what we are doing.

Father, in the name of Jesus we embrace this vision. Glory be to God, we embrace this vision in Jesus name. We believe that you constitute our church for the exclusive glory of your name, as a congregation that repairs leaks, a congregation that blesses others, a generous congregation with its goods, a congregation that we are going to let ourselves work for you, Holy Spirit in our character, our temperament, our way of being, because we want you to be able to use us as your instrument and for that we know that we have to clean ourselves first so that you can then use us as you want. We sanctify ourselves, we want to sanctify ourselves, Lord, for you and for your glory, and we want to be a people of good works in all those dimensions that we have mentioned today.

Thank you for what you have already allowed us to achieve in this city and for everything you have done and for everything we believe you will continue to do in the future, Father, we thank you in advance. And this sermon, Lord, this word we embrace as God's call for our lives and we believe that we will see this vision come true to the glory of your name, in the name of Jesus and we say amen. God bless you, my brothers, may the grace of the Lord be with you.