WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.440 Increase comes to you when you realize that nothing you own. It's not the 10% or the 15%, it's the 100%. 2 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:15.280 It all belongs to God and you're a vessel, and He owns it all, and Jesus needs your boat. 3 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:21.840 And when you give Jesus your boat, whatever that may be, for the amplification of the ministry of the kingdom, 4 00:00:21.840 --> 00:00:26.080 you can expect a harvest back. Are you telling me this is a coincidence? 5 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:31.920 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's word 6 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:37.840 and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, 7 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:44.080 feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, that's citylightnyc.com. 8 00:00:44.720 --> 00:00:50.800 Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our 9 00:00:50.800 --> 00:00:56.880 hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, 10 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:02.480 that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you. 11 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:09.840 Well, welcome. Let's jump into the word this morning. Shall we? The word is what gets us through. 12 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:20.560 The word is our food. The word is what keeps us from going off-kilter and becoming flaky. 13 00:01:21.440 --> 00:01:27.600 And then listening to an internet preacher and just jumping from conference to conference. Amen. 14 00:01:28.320 --> 00:01:35.760 Second Timothy 2.20. We'll begin here. The title of my message is a vessel of honor. 15 00:01:39.600 --> 00:01:44.320 Paul's writing young pastor Timothy and he says, but in a great house, the great house he's 16 00:01:44.320 --> 00:01:52.400 referring to is the church, the church of Jesus Christ, the people of God, the body of Christ. 17 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:57.200 That's the great house. But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver. 18 00:01:58.800 --> 00:02:08.560 Now a vessel in this case is a tool, an item of use. So it's oon, a fork, a pot, a pan, a vase, 19 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:18.720 a plunger. They're all vessels that you use. But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold 20 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:27.200 and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some vessels are for honor and some for dishonor. They're still in 21 00:02:27.200 --> 00:02:36.160 the great house. But as soon as I read that, I think, well, I want to be the vase. I want to be the 22 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:41.680 I want to be the fine shiner, not the paper plates. I want to be the vase, not the plunger. 23 00:02:43.200 --> 00:02:48.560 It's nice to be in the great house, but here I get to decide what kind of a vessel I'll be. 24 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:54.320 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the ladder, and if you read before that, he doesn't 25 00:02:54.320 --> 00:02:59.840 actually list what the ladder is, he's just talking about the things of dishonor. He will be a vessel 26 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:13.120 for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. Now if you're here, 27 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:17.920 and you've given your lives to Jesus, which is the vast majority of you, there should be a cry 28 00:03:17.920 --> 00:03:24.080 on the inside of you, where you're not just sitting still, but you want to be useful to the master. 29 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:30.640 You want to give something back to him. You want to serve him. Paul always identified 30 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:34.960 himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to help contribute, help build up the 31 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:42.000 kingdom because you're so grateful for what he's done in your life. And Jesus, he came to serve, 32 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:50.880 but he still serves to this day. He serves us in taking away all of our sin. One of the best 33 00:03:50.880 --> 00:03:57.440 scriptures to see how Jesus serves you is reading Psalm 23. He's the good shepherd that serves you 34 00:03:58.320 --> 00:04:02.880 with his providential care, by providing for you, by refreshing you, by feeding you, 35 00:04:02.880 --> 00:04:08.960 leading you, guiding you. He's constantly serving us. And so it should be a natural response to 36 00:04:09.040 --> 00:04:19.920 want to serve him back. Hallelujah. I want to give you three ways that you can be a vessel of honor, 37 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:31.040 fit for the master's use. A servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, what better honor is that? Are you ready? 38 00:04:31.280 --> 00:04:45.360 Okay. Number one, our prayers, our prayers actually serve Jesus. I want to give you this quote by 39 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:53.600 John Wesley. Pay attention now because this segment of my preaching, for a lot of you, your 40 00:04:53.600 --> 00:05:00.800 entire view of the universe, of this world, of how this whole thing works is about to get redone. 41 00:05:01.520 --> 00:05:12.720 And you need this. John Wesley said, it seems God is limited by our prayer life, the founder of 42 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:20.960 the Methodist denomination. They started off strong. If you read the, if you read the accounts of, 43 00:05:21.840 --> 00:05:25.920 I mean, it was just the power of God, blanketing entire fields. And John Wesley would come and 44 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:33.440 preach, that's another sermon anyway. Now it's gone a slightly a stray. It seems God is limited 45 00:05:33.440 --> 00:05:43.040 by our prayer life, that he can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks him, no, it can't be. 46 00:05:43.840 --> 00:05:49.280 God is sovereign, right? God is almighty. God can do whatever he wants. 47 00:05:50.640 --> 00:05:56.000 Yet when you actually take the Bible in its entirety, you'll see that although he is almighty, 48 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:03.680 there's some things that he won't do, you can even say that he can't do because God cannot 49 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:12.480 violate his own word. So the way it is right now, there are some restrictions, some confines placed 50 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:17.920 even on God Almighty because he himself put them there. He's not restricted by another entity. He 51 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:26.080 himself put them there. Did the, the gravity of that quote hit you? But that's just a human quote 52 00:06:26.080 --> 00:06:30.560 who cares about that at the end of the day. That's just the guy saying, it seems to me. Well, 53 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:38.240 it seems to me too, Psalm 115 verse 16. People love to talk about the sovereignty of God. 54 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:45.120 Any view of the sovereignty of God that makes us irresponsible should force us to go back 55 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:53.360 to the scriptures and review, review our understanding of the nature of God. The heaven, even the heavens 56 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:00.800 are the lords, but the earth he has given to the children of men. Please just, oh, get that in you. 57 00:07:01.760 --> 00:07:10.320 The heavens belong to the Lord, but planet earth he's given to people and it didn't take very 58 00:07:10.320 --> 00:07:17.760 long for people to mess it up. We don't know how long it took, but by chapter four they were. 59 00:07:17.760 --> 00:07:29.600 And so God hands over the lease to earth to Adam and Eve. He's still the owner of earth. 60 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:37.840 He's the landlord, but the lease he gives to Adam and Eve. Through their rebellion they hand over 61 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:45.920 that lease to Satan. And Satan becomes the God of this world. 62 00:07:50.640 --> 00:08:02.240 Go to that scripture in Luke, please. Luke chapter four I believe. This is the temptation of Jesus. 63 00:08:03.200 --> 00:08:07.200 Then the devil taking him up on a high mountain showed him all the kingdoms of the world. 64 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:14.400 This is amazing. What a spiritual experience. I mean you think you get tempted by the devil. 65 00:08:14.400 --> 00:08:19.600 He doesn't appear to you in bodily form. The devil appears to Jesus in bodily form and actually 66 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:25.360 whisks Jesus away. That means he had some power here on earth and actually gives Jesus a vision. 67 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:30.720 He shows all the kingdoms of this world in a moment of time to Jesus. Verse six. 68 00:08:32.400 --> 00:08:39.520 And the devil said to him, all this authority I will give you and their glory for this has been 69 00:08:39.520 --> 00:08:48.960 delivered to me. All these kingdoms, all the gold, the silver, the power, the authority. He says 70 00:08:49.040 --> 00:08:54.640 to Jesus, I'll give it to you for this was delivered to me. Jesus never says you're lying. 71 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.280 I mean if Satan was lying, that wouldn't have been a legitimate temptation. 72 00:09:01.520 --> 00:09:04.240 So here's a question for you. When was all that delivered to Satan? 73 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:15.520 In the garden when man fell, when man rebelled, the lease to earth was now handed over to Satan. 74 00:09:16.160 --> 00:09:22.800 And Paul calls him the God, lowercase G, the God of this world. Now he's not my God. 75 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:28.720 If you receive Jesus, he's not your God. But when you were outside of Jesus, Satan was your God. 76 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.720 That's why Jesus can turn to people and say you are of your father, the devil. 77 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:43.600 Now why is this so important to really get? And I'm convinced even here about half of you 78 00:09:43.680 --> 00:09:48.560 don't really get this. So if you're just nodding on where you're going with this, I'm going for you. 79 00:09:48.560 --> 00:09:55.920 I'm going for what's happening up here. Because I hear this all the time. Why would God allow 80 00:09:55.920 --> 00:10:03.280 for XYZ to happen? And you can't comprehend that maybe God had nothing to do with it because your 81 00:10:03.280 --> 00:10:08.320 view of God is that he's a giant puppet master in the sky pulling all the strings of everything 82 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:14.400 that happens. A fly lands on your nose and God broaded everything. God is behind. 83 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:25.600 And it's just not true. There is another God. And this is his domain. The earth. He's given 84 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:31.040 to the sons of men. The heavens belong to the Lord. So this when you don't understand this, it 85 00:10:31.040 --> 00:10:37.840 causes great bitterness. Just this week I was talking to a man. I just met him. He was in his 60s. No, 86 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:47.680 he said he was 73. But he was sprightly. He was active. He asked me what I do. I told him and 87 00:10:47.680 --> 00:10:52.640 noticed his countenance immediately changed. And he said, I was studying to be a priest once. 88 00:10:55.120 --> 00:11:01.280 Nothing I'm a priest, but he's telling me his story. I was studying to be a priest. And then my 89 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:06.640 brother was killed in a car accident. He said, I left and never went back to church. 90 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:14.080 And I said, really? He said, well, how? He said, I just told God, if you'll allow this to happen, 91 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:19.920 what's the point of serving you? And I reasoned with him from the scriptures as much as he had a 92 00:11:19.920 --> 00:11:24.720 capacity for. Because I can tell a couple of scriptures just blew his mind. He had never 93 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:31.280 conceived his whole life. Now avoiding God because he was convinced God did this. 94 00:11:38.400 --> 00:11:43.440 You know, one of the biggest attacks, if not in my experience, maybe the greatest that Satan 95 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:53.120 has against God's people, is to tempt them to be bitter against God because something bad happens 96 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:58.800 and he whispers in your ear, God. And God had nothing to do with it. 97 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:10.000 Jesus said, Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. So pick which one does that? They don't both do 98 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:20.640 that. God, good, devil, bad. Let's simplify it. Yet, yet, let me just say this. You know, I talked 99 00:12:20.640 --> 00:12:26.720 about going through the fire. Even though I believe this, always. I know this to be true. 100 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:32.480 When I'm going through the fire, I'll think, I'll have a thought, oh God, why is God doing this? 101 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:38.560 And then I have to shake myself out. Because you're convinced, you know, just because he's with you 102 00:12:38.560 --> 00:12:44.240 in the fire doesn't mean he made the fire. He's with you in the fire and you think, well, 103 00:12:44.640 --> 00:12:55.120 and there's some people that'll argue with you forever to make God bad. No, no. Well, in the book of Job, 104 00:12:55.120 --> 00:13:03.520 oh, the book of Job, how about in the book of Job? They live a miserable life and they're 105 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:10.640 if you're going to relate to someone, make it call, make it John, why is your hero in the Bible Job? 106 00:13:14.800 --> 00:13:18.320 Some of you you're believing God for gainful employment, you know, I'm going to the book of Job. 107 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:27.120 I'm believing for Lord, I confess this book. Let me just say this about the book of Job. 108 00:13:28.880 --> 00:13:35.280 It's the oldest book in the Bible. It's the most misunderstood book in the Bible. And you see 109 00:13:35.280 --> 00:13:43.920 early on that Job is that exactly a hero of the faith. Because every day he's a nervous parent. 110 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.080 I'm tempted to be like Job. You don't realize this until you become a parent, but you know, 111 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:54.800 they go away and you're like Lord, protect them from falling pianos, protect them from random 112 00:13:54.800 --> 00:13:58.480 lightning strikes, protect them from you know what I'm talking about. But then I got to 113 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:04.080 reel that in and just go Lord, give them into your care and I stand in faith that they're going 114 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:09.360 to be taking care of. Early on like the first second chapter of Job it says that Job every day he 115 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:16.320 sacrificed to God, maybe one of his children sinned against God. Rather than in faith standing once 116 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:21.680 and for all he kept sacrificing, you know, there's such a thing as nervous prayers that have the 117 00:14:21.680 --> 00:14:25.920 opposite effect of what you're praying for. They're not backed by faith, they're your own anxiety. 118 00:14:28.640 --> 00:14:32.640 And then when it all happened to him he said the thing that I greatly feared has come upon me and 119 00:14:32.640 --> 00:14:38.640 that which I was afraid of has occurred. So he visualized all this. It wasn't his first rodeo. He just 120 00:14:38.640 --> 00:14:49.760 experienced that it was manifested. Hallelujah. So prayer, we're talking about being coming a vessel 121 00:14:49.760 --> 00:14:55.760 of honor. I just had to fix some things hopefully. Yet I still hear in counseling. I still hear 122 00:14:55.760 --> 00:15:00.640 people who are going through it and then what comes out is, why is God, why would God allow this? 123 00:15:00.640 --> 00:15:06.160 Why is God stop blaming God for what either Satan is doing or for what is the fruit of your own 124 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:12.720 the consequences of your own bad decision making? I was always the first one to say that thing I 125 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:16.480 went through. That wasn't some great test. We left, oh God is testing. No. 126 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:26.720 He can use it as a test, but he didn't initiate the test. It's just consequences of your bad decisions. 127 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:37.760 I get a, wow, 10, 50 already. No, but I get a little because this is our father and he's lovely 128 00:15:37.760 --> 00:15:44.080 and he's wonderful. And then the way some denominations, Christians, the way they paint him, 129 00:15:44.800 --> 00:15:52.160 he should be arrested for child abuse and locked away. Oh God is in control. You hear that one? I hear 130 00:15:52.160 --> 00:16:01.040 God is in control. If he's in control, he's doing a terrible job. But it sounds so spiritual 131 00:16:01.040 --> 00:16:06.480 right with somebody who God is in control. I'll show you villages that got burned down yesterday. 132 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.800 God is in control. He's got a great plan behind that little children burning. 133 00:16:11.040 --> 00:16:20.160 God is in control is a half truth. He's in control of my life because I gave him control. He's in 134 00:16:20.160 --> 00:16:25.520 control of your life if you've given him control. To someone else, there's a lot of forces at work. 135 00:16:26.400 --> 00:16:29.120 God is one of them. There's others pulling in the other direction. 136 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:37.920 So you can say God is in control. If he's truly your Lord. But if you're now walking with him, 137 00:16:38.160 --> 00:16:43.600 he's influencing. He's loving you. He's pulling on your heart. He's trying to get you into the 138 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:54.480 good place. But you're also prone to other forces. Hallelujah. So do you know the stuff that happens 139 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:59.120 in the Old Testament like with the prophets. I might not get to the other two points, but this is 140 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:10.720 the prophets in the Old Testament. I'd say about a 15% of the time they actually prophesied 141 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:15.600 in the conventional sense that we think prophecies which is foretelling the future. 142 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:22.800 The rest of the time, 85% of the time, they weren't foretelling the future. They were 143 00:17:22.800 --> 00:17:30.560 foretelling the future. God would command them prophesy so that it would be. In other words, 144 00:17:30.560 --> 00:17:39.920 if you don't speak it and pray it, it's not going to take place. You're here right now because 145 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:49.200 somebody prayed for you. Nobody just walked in here. Somebody prayed for you. Listen, Jesus, 146 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:55.120 the Messiah couldn't come to earth until the prayers went up, a cry for the Messiah. 147 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:04.400 And the Bible says it was Anna, Anna, daily fasting and praying. And in Luke, it says she served 148 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:10.560 God. And this is why prayer is one of the ways you can serve God and be a vessel of honor. She 149 00:18:10.560 --> 00:18:17.200 served God with her prayers and her fasting. Can you believe that? Can you believe that God could 150 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:26.000 want something to happen on earth, but he needs a prayer to open the doorway? Otherwise, 151 00:18:26.560 --> 00:18:33.440 if he just did whatever he wanted, Satan could accuse him of being unjust and violating his own 152 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:38.240 word. How many of you have landed on the door? Some of you have landlords, right? Yeah. Can he walk 153 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:44.720 into your apartment at any time? No, but he's the owner. He owns it, but you got the lease. 154 00:18:45.600 --> 00:18:51.120 And he can't walk in, barging at any time he wants. I know some of you got that guy. 155 00:18:53.280 --> 00:18:56.560 You set up in any camp and you found out what was going on when you were at work. 156 00:18:57.600 --> 00:19:03.280 I've seen those videos from people I know. That's another story for another time. See, 157 00:19:03.280 --> 00:19:10.320 that's an unjust landlord. God is a just landlord. And he won't violate his own word. 158 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:21.680 Even the return of Jesus isn't until the spirit and the bride say, come. And with their prayer, 159 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:27.440 with their cry, they invite the will of the Lord in. So I'll just say it another way. 160 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:35.520 Some things just won't happen until you pray them. This is why we have a prayer team at City 161 00:19:35.600 --> 00:19:40.640 Light Church that in case you didn't know, meets every Sunday at 8.45 a.m. 162 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:48.640 and you're invited to be a part of it because we're called to shake New York City. Not to be a nice 163 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:56.720 church and never before my life have I felt and sensed and been convinced of the will of the Lord. 164 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:04.640 And he can do it. He can do it. We got a bunch of yielded and willing vessels here to shake New York 165 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:14.480 City, really shake it. Yesterday was awesome, but I'm talking about Olympic-sized swimming pool, 166 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:19.840 where there's 50 baptisms going on every minute, where we got to recruit everybody. Okay, 167 00:20:19.840 --> 00:20:29.360 you're baptizing. And these are the baptizes. Amen. But it's got to happen through prayer first. 168 00:20:30.080 --> 00:20:33.760 And those things in your life that you think about and you go, that would be nice. And then 169 00:20:33.760 --> 00:20:40.560 you're not, you're even too afraid to put them in prayer. You got to start praying, praying. 170 00:20:40.560 --> 00:20:53.200 It invites the will of God in. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I have a few other things, but 171 00:20:53.840 --> 00:21:05.280 let's go to second Corinthians 5, 17. Another way, an important way, a vital way 172 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:15.760 to be a vessel of honor, to be a servant of the Lord. And that should be our prayer. If, 173 00:21:15.840 --> 00:21:20.320 and this happens, right, you're really not contributing to Christianity. 174 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:29.040 I'm sorry, I locked eyes with you, Pastor James, when I said that. It was my safe way. 175 00:21:29.040 --> 00:21:34.000 I was like, I can't look at anyone when I say that. So I fall on someone who's greatly 176 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:41.360 contributing to Christianity. But there is something, if you're a bump on a log and you're saying, 177 00:21:41.360 --> 00:21:46.480 well, I'm just waiting, look, there is a time where you're waiting to get repaired. But I found 178 00:21:47.120 --> 00:21:53.040 the greatest healing, the greatest repair comes when you actively start giving. 179 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:58.480 And you say, what I have is so little. Well, that's, I mean, that's what the whole Bible 180 00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:03.760 shows is people with a little and then God multiplies it. Hallelujah. You just begin where you're at. 181 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:13.840 Now, here's one of my favorite passages in the Scriptures. It's so dense. This, 182 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:19.360 is probably one of the greatest verses I'm being born again. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 183 00:22:19.360 --> 00:22:25.360 he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Verse 18. 184 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:30.480 And then probably, in my opinion, one of the greatest verses I'm being a witness, 185 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:37.200 evangelism, so winning. Now, all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus 186 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:42.960 Christ. That means we have peace with God and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. 187 00:22:43.520 --> 00:22:48.080 And when he says us, he's not talking about the apostles. He means every Christian. You have a 188 00:22:48.080 --> 00:22:53.440 ministry. You may not be called, called into the fivefold ministry or the fourfold ministry, 189 00:22:54.000 --> 00:23:03.200 depending on what you believe. Because some believe pastor and teacher, I'm kind of leaning that 190 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:09.200 way myself lately. But anyway, fivefold is nice because it's a nice fist, but anyhow. 191 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:20.560 If you're not called into full-time ministry in the conventional sense of it's your job, 192 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:27.120 but you're called to ministry. What kind of ministry? The ministry of reconciliation. 193 00:23:29.120 --> 00:23:34.400 It's when you take the hand of one person and the hand of another person and you bring them together. 194 00:23:36.080 --> 00:23:42.080 He's given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Let's keep reading. Verse 19. 195 00:23:42.560 --> 00:23:51.600 That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to 196 00:23:51.600 --> 00:23:58.320 them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Let me just go for bulls-eye right now. We all need 197 00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:06.080 to be soul winners. We need to actually be people who win other people to Jesus. And you don't become 198 00:24:06.080 --> 00:24:12.080 that until you do it a lot. He that wineth souls as wise, the Bible says. So first you've got to do 199 00:24:12.080 --> 00:24:19.360 some unwise things and you learn. You know the kind of creature I meet all the time? There is this 200 00:24:19.360 --> 00:24:25.760 creature in Christianity. They want to be in full-time ministry. They're everywhere. They want to be 201 00:24:25.760 --> 00:24:32.080 in full-time ministry. They've never won a soul to Christ. Never ever won anyone to Jesus. They're 202 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:38.080 everywhere, by the way. Usually anybody who's just on Facebook and they're there posting all the time 203 00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:44.080 and they want a ministry. But you know, their whole audience is Christian and it's all their friends 204 00:24:44.080 --> 00:24:48.160 and cousins and they're liking it and they don't know what it means to reach somebody outside. 205 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:57.120 The quickest way into full-time ministry is to start winning souls. First thing when I wanted to be a 206 00:24:57.120 --> 00:25:03.920 pastor got put me on the streets. Actually since I won't say he said but I sense I will be unfit to hold 207 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:11.120 a microphone and preach the word. If I have in one people everywhere and not just on the streets, 208 00:25:11.120 --> 00:25:19.520 on the streets, in prisons, in inner city, friends, family members, because you're the only Jesus 209 00:25:19.520 --> 00:25:26.800 they may ever see. When I got saved I told everybody in several of the people I told they were saved. 210 00:25:26.800 --> 00:25:31.200 I didn't know it though, they never told me. I remember thinking you dog you. 211 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:35.920 I've known you for years and you just smiled at me while I'm going to hell. 212 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:41.520 You never once thought to tell me I should repent and Jesus took the punishment for me. 213 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:45.760 I mean the ministry of reconciliation, you know what that actually means is you saying, 214 00:25:45.760 --> 00:25:53.440 hey, God's not mad at you. The wrath of God has been fully exhausted on Jesus, 215 00:25:53.440 --> 00:26:04.320 so won't you come back to God who loves you? Come back. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 216 00:26:05.040 --> 00:26:11.600 You know what I think prevents some people from ministering. After you get up past all the excuses, 217 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:16.160 but it's because they haven't lived an exemplary life in front of their unsafe friends. 218 00:26:17.120 --> 00:26:23.360 So you messed up. You said those things you shouldn't have. You drank that drink you shouldn't 219 00:26:23.360 --> 00:26:30.960 have in their company. Everyone's super quiet. They're like first one to laugh, did it. 220 00:26:33.360 --> 00:26:41.200 You lost your temper and now you're afraid to tell them. Oh, you go to church, you're a Christian, 221 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:50.160 don't go, you hypocrite you. You know what I found? That if you're honest with the people in your 222 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:57.040 life, they'll appreciate and respect that a lot more. That if you just, you know, hey, I'm not an 223 00:26:57.040 --> 00:27:04.880 example of perfection. I mean, I've been an example of complete holiness. I'm not perfect, 224 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:10.560 but I tell you what I am. I'm forgiven. And I'm still holding his hand and he's leading and he's 225 00:27:10.560 --> 00:27:16.400 still my lord and let him know they could probably relate to that a whole lot more 226 00:27:19.040 --> 00:27:22.640 than if you were just levitating off the ground and gliding in your holiness around them. 227 00:27:25.520 --> 00:27:32.960 Hallelujah. And number three, do we have time for number three? All right, we'll do with them. 228 00:27:33.360 --> 00:27:44.000 Luke, chapter five, becoming a vessel of honor, our prayers serve God. And can I just add, 229 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:53.680 they really serve you too. Let me just go back to number one. I'll give you the best example. I know 230 00:27:53.680 --> 00:28:01.840 of it. You see God in Genesis chapter one, creating, let there be, right? Let there be. Let there be. 231 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:08.000 Like from a distance, then you see him come and get close and personal. Not like the rest of 232 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.640 creation, but he makes man with his own hands, forms him out of the dust, the mud, the dirt, of the 233 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:20.800 ground and breathes life into him. And then he calls Adam to name all the animals. What's going on 234 00:28:20.800 --> 00:28:27.200 there? Most of us have like a city kids understanding of naming the animals. The giraffe's name is Bob, 235 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:33.280 the gorilla's name is Joe, the lizard, lizard is Louis, the lizard's name is Louis. 236 00:28:34.080 --> 00:28:41.920 The lizard is a wacky character. No, that's not what that means. The name, the name is your destiny, 237 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:49.040 your character, your nature, who you are, biblically speaking. So when Adam named the lion, 238 00:28:49.040 --> 00:28:54.000 we don't know what that lion was like before Adam named him. It was purposeless. It was 239 00:28:54.000 --> 00:29:00.640 destineless. It was, and when Adam named him lion, the lion received the nature and the character 240 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:08.880 of the king of the jungle. Same with every animal. So what was God doing? God was inviting Adam 241 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:16.800 to co-create with him. You guys are ready for this. See, just when you think you're on borderline 242 00:29:16.800 --> 00:29:23.520 heresy, that's when you're getting to the meat of the word of God. That's where the truth is. 243 00:29:23.520 --> 00:29:29.440 It flirts with heresy. I can't say this on, you know, the second service because they'll take 244 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:34.720 just that clip. Not now, but as we grow and get bigger, I say, this is what he really believes. 245 00:29:35.840 --> 00:29:43.440 The heretic out of Queens. No, but what I mean is, look, Jesus empowered people so much 246 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:48.240 religion called a meheretic and wanted to kill him. And it's when you receive such an empowerment 247 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:55.600 from the word of God that you're, oh, could he have really given me that much? Yes. Yeah. 248 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:04.880 The angels don't co-create with God, but he made man in his own image and prayer in a sense, 249 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:09.600 in that way, is co-creating with God. And by the way, you know who used that term? 250 00:30:09.600 --> 00:30:18.160 Frequently, the Apostle Paul. Co, we're doing it together. He says about God, we are co-workers with 251 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:24.160 him. I don't say I work for him. He's not the dad that says to his son, get out there and 252 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:30.560 mow the lawn. He goes out there with the lawn mower and says, hey son, come along with me. I'll help 253 00:30:30.560 --> 00:30:38.000 you. And he co-laborers with you. And when you pray, you're co-creating with God. It starts with 254 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:44.640 him birthing something inside of you, a vision, a desire. He tells you what he wants to do and then 255 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:49.520 you start laboring with him in prayer. And the reason why most people don't engage in this is because 256 00:30:49.520 --> 00:30:58.400 prayer is painful. There is attention. There is attention. If you're in a cobwebiotic and he's 257 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:03.200 showing you somewhere in the future and now you're praying out of your cobwebiotic, there's attention, 258 00:31:03.280 --> 00:31:08.000 but you're agreeing with God's word where he's telling you you're going to be. Hallelujah. 259 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:15.440 All right, number three. Oh, we have no see, we have communion too. All right, number three, 260 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:20.960 Luke 5, 1 through 7. This, this I can't go through quickly to do a justice. 261 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:29.840 So it was as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God. We're going to rework the 262 00:31:29.840 --> 00:31:35.680 service schedule soon. I feel the Lord priming me. You all agree? Good, because that would mean 263 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:41.600 the first service is at 9.30. And that would give us that. All right, see the early risers. 264 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:47.200 This I hate, I've spent years not talking about the time and I'm like, oh, it's 11.06. I feel like 265 00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:57.920 like a Methodist. So it was as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God 266 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:05.840 that he stood by the lake of Ganesirat and saw two boats standing by the lake, 267 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:12.800 but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. You know why Jesus spoke 268 00:32:12.800 --> 00:32:18.320 always by the lake? Not always, but a good deal at the time. Because you didn't have one of these. 269 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:26.400 You didn't have a microphone. So we stand with the sea of Galilee. That's the lake Ganesirat. 270 00:32:27.120 --> 00:32:32.880 Behind him. And it would be a natural amplification device as that wind would carry the sound of his 271 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:40.480 words to the multitudes. So he got into one of the boats which was Simon's and asked him to put out 272 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:47.600 a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. And when he had 273 00:32:47.600 --> 00:32:53.920 stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. By 274 00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:57.520 the way, do you know what he was preaching? It doesn't say in Locke, he just says he was preaching. 275 00:32:57.520 --> 00:33:02.960 But if you go to Mark, it tells you what he was preaching. And it was discernment on the seed, 276 00:33:03.760 --> 00:33:08.240 the sores of the word. So with Jesus' teaching here is the power of seed. 277 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:18.640 And you know what Simon sowed into Jesus' ministry? A boat. Even temporarily. 278 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:27.760 You know, you cannot give to Jesus without getting a harvest in return. It's impossible. And 279 00:33:27.760 --> 00:33:32.960 you never see any example of it in scripture. But Simon answered and said to him, master, we have 280 00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:37.440 toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net. 281 00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:45.440 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish. And their net was breaking. The 282 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:53.040 third way that you can serve the Lord is with your stuff. Increase comes to you when you realize 283 00:33:53.040 --> 00:33:57.680 that nothing you own. It's not the 10th percent or the 15th percent. It's the 100 percent. It all 284 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:06.080 belongs to God and you're a vessel. And he owns it all. And Jesus needs your boat. And when you give 285 00:34:06.080 --> 00:34:12.080 Jesus your boat, whatever that may be, for the amplification of the ministry of the kingdom, 286 00:34:12.640 --> 00:34:16.000 you can expect a harvest back. Are you telling me this is a coincidence? 287 00:34:17.040 --> 00:34:24.320 That Jesus is teaching on the power of seed. And he's in Simon's boat. And immediately when he's 288 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:29.680 done, he tells Simon, hey, you've caught nothing all night long. But do me a favor. Get back in the 289 00:34:29.680 --> 00:34:37.200 water. Try it out now after you have sowed the seed of your boat into me. Now look at the return. 290 00:34:37.200 --> 00:34:43.360 And they caught a net breaking boat sinking load of fish. Hallelujah. We're going to receive communion 291 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:48.000 right now. Please pass out the elements. And I want you to just say this right now out loud and 292 00:34:48.000 --> 00:35:00.400 hold on to the elements. We'll take it together. Thank you. Just say this all right now. 293 00:35:00.560 --> 00:35:14.000 Lord Jesus, I want to be a vessel of honor. Fit for the master's use. Help me in my prayer life. 294 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:29.520 Help me in my evangelism. Help me in my giving. 295 00:35:29.520 --> 00:35:44.960 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And whatever you need, know that it's covered. 296 00:35:47.040 --> 00:35:50.880 Whatever you need is covered by the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. 297 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:55.920 And don't receive communion thinking nothing will happen. 298 00:35:56.240 --> 00:36:04.000 That's taking communion in an unworthy fashion. Don't be a biscuit eater and a stale grape juice 299 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:15.440 drinker. Be a communion taker. So I really believe as I partake of communion now, I'm partaking 300 00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:23.680 of Jesus. I believe this is medicine. This is God's medicine. Sickness and disease is far from 301 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:30.960 you. Depression, even further. The joy of the Lord is your strength and victory courses 302 00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:34.720 through every area of your life. Go ahead and partake of Jesus. 303 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:40.640 This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, 304 00:36:40.640 --> 00:36:45.200 or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City Light Church, 305 00:36:45.200 --> 00:36:53.280 visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in 306 00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:59.680 person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, 307 00:36:59.680 --> 00:37:04.880 that you have been reminded how much God loves you, and that you are surrounded by grace. 308 00:37:05.600 --> 00:37:10.560 Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you find 309 00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:16.000 your favorite podcasts worldwide.