*Weekend with Rev. Ulf Ekman! 24-26 Feb '06
Finally got the sermon up! So let's start the messages from the first service.
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Preacher: Rev. (Dr.) Ulf Ekman
Title: Founder/Senior Pastor
Word of Life Church (Ulf Ekman Ministry)Country: Swenden
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Know the Time and Season (24/02/06)
Acts 1:6,7
It is very important to know the seasons.
Eccl 13:1
Timing is everything. Success comes at doing the right thing at the right time at the right place with the right person.
And timing is understanding the season. We must know and understand the seasons. When there is going to be a change in the season, we must prepare for it with a sense of expectancy. There is different things to do during different seasons.
E.g. You cannot farm during winter, this is when you should be maintaining your tools so when summer comes, you start to sow and harvest during spring.
Always seek to know more of the Holy Spirit for He is the one who will guide us into the different seasons.
Gal 6:7-8
The seasons take charge of you. We cannot try to control the season or the Holy Spirit but only to flow with it. And when we know the timing and learn to flow with it, God will bless us.
When you try to do any other thing when the time isn't right, you will find yourself frustrated.
Have you ever seen someone who is always doing/saything the wrong thing at the wrong time at the wrong place to the wrong people? Don't you feel like slapping them sometimes? Then don't become like them!
Jesus is the Lord of the seasons. So as Christians, we are called to be man of every season! When we are sharp in the spiritual realm, we can always be in peace and not troubled by the change in the seasons.
Changes is based on the decision you made. When you make the wrong decision, you will have bad changes.
Zech 10:1
Making the right prayer at the right time is important too. Ask for rain in the time for the latter rain. God assure us that He will move when we make the right prayer at the right time.
Prayer also prepare us for the change in seasons.
The Prophecy: Our church is moving on to the next season!
In the Middle East, there is a time of the Former Rain and a time of the Latter Rain. In between will be a period of Dry Season. Everyone will be looking forward to the coming of the Latter Rain as it will be the time for harvest.
The Former Rain represents the beginning of something in our life. The Latter Rain represents the Maturity. The Dry Season represent a time where everything slows down and times of trials and testings.
We are now in the Dry Season but the Latter Rain is coming! We must not give up now but be prepared when the Latter Rain comes. We cannot be caught unprepared when the harvest is ripe!
The Church is the Body of Christ. It is important that every member will flow together with the season or we will hold each other back. Let us all play our part, be sharp in the spirit, pray together and progress together! Amen!
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The Healing Mnistry of Jesus (25/02/06)
Mt 4:23-24, Mt 9:35
The ministry of Jesus is to
1. Proclaim the Gospel
2. Teach the Word of God
3.
HEAL THE SICK!God will see to it that the Church will always perform the ministry of Jesus. The Lord has called us to continued His ministry and even promised that we will do MUCH MORE! Therefore, we have no rights to dilute the ministry of Jesus.
Some churches don't believe in the supernatural. Some believe that healing is not for today. However, HEALING is a large part of Jesus' earthly ministry. It is really a great sin for churches to down play the ministry of Jesus.
Remember, God is the same yesterday, today and forever! He doesn't change! Which is why whatever He promised, whatever he had done before, we can believe and we can also do it. In Christ, we are also the anointed ones.
And the reason why God heals? It is because Healing is base on
compassion. (Mt 9:36)
Remember, we are called to love people!
Mt 10:5-8
Jesus told His disciples "not to go the way of the Gentiles but go the the Lost Sheep of Israel". He was refering that the disciples should seek the HIGH WAY and not the ways of the world. We know Jesus is not saying that healing is not for the Gentiles because Jesus also healed the Samaritians and the gentile servant of a Centurian during His earthly ministry.
This verse also made it very clear that Jesus not only command His believers to preach and teach the Gospel. He commanded us to also HEAL THE SICK!
If anyone do not obey and accept everything that Jesus says, then he is not for Him. He is a REBEL!
The Gospel is the power of God. We cannot try to rationalize it and diminished it's power.
Remember, it is never wrong to pray for someone when he is sick. Most people are more than welcome to recieve a word of prayer in times of sickness.
So what the healing never comes? What if the person you prayed for died?
Well, it doesn't mean that God isn't healing just because you prayed and the person isn't healed. The problem with people is that they will stop doing something just because nothing happens. The fact is God's Word will never fail! If nothing happen for a time, all of it is just a TEST! Keep praying and eventually, you will see God move on your behalf.
Know that it is our duty to pray and to lay hands on the sick. Whether will the healing comes, it is all up to God. But the moment you stop trying, then you can be sure, GOD is not going to heal through you. Simple logic.
So in SUMMARY, why is healing needed?
1. Healing is the central of Jesus' ministry
2. People need healing
3. We are command to heal!
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The Calling Upon My Life (26/02/06)
Phil 3:7-14
The testimony of a man called Saul, who became Paul.
Everyone of us have a high calling in our lives and we will not want to miss it.
There are THREE things which we are called to:
1. We are call to be like Jesus.As Christians, we are not called to do things all the time but to called to be like somebody, and that is Jesus!
We are to allow Christlikeness to manifest in our lives. In our speech , in our deeds and in our thoughts. We are to be fruits of Jesus.
2. We are called to one day live in eternity with Jesus.Our lives here on earth is only temporary. It is only a preparation ground for us to get into a life of eternity in heaven.
Therefore, as we prepare ourselves on earth, we must always hold the right perspective; be heavenly-minded.
What is perspective? One may ask.
It is to see things at different angles.
So really, perspective is everything in life. Having the wrong perspective can ruin your life. Never ever be moved by the circumstances, especially money! A situation last for a while but a moment of wrong decision can affect your life. Learn to see things with the right, positive perspective.
3. We are called to bear the fruits of Jesus!God is always preparing us for the next phase of our lives. We are meant to keep progressing and moving on. If anything is stopping my process of salvation and grownth, that thing will have to go away. It may not be something bad, (e.g. finding a girlfriend, buying a car etc) but it is just not the right thing to do at that point of time.
The thing is we don't end up reaching for something else and lose what is really important in our life; that is our salvation.
All our experiences, our failures and victories are God's way to prepare us and mold us into the person we are meant to be.
In
CONCLUSION:
When the Spirit leads you, don't go against it but flow with it. Never let any circumstances, a closed door or money stop you. If the Lord has spoken to you, He will provide for you and see you through the situation.
Sometimes, an opportunity or an easy way out may come along. However, we are to be moved by the Spirit and not by what we see. There may be time when something good seems so close within our grasp but if the Lord is stopping us from having it and ask us to do something else, always remember that in God, we are bigger on our inside than on the outside. When God has something for us, it is always better than what we think we could have.
Perspective is a form of vision. What are you seeing today as you face your circumstances?
