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Sept. 3, 2024
Journey to Mature Faith: Trust, Guidance, and Spiritual Growth
Unlock the secrets to deep spiritual growth and discover the key traits of a mature believer in Christ. Join us as we navigate the journey from elementary doctrines to profound faith, reflecting on Hebrews 6:1 and drawing from personal experiences and scriptural wisdom. You'll gain insights into the necessity of unwavering trust in God, even when past experiences challenge your ability to rely on Him. We'll share seven essential characteristics of a mature believer and invite you to let God's grace nurture these attributes within you.
Explore the pivotal role of trust and divine guidance in a believer's life, especially during personal crises and moments of doubt. Through heartfelt anecdotes and biblical teachings, we illustrate how life's challenges are part of a larger, victorious story orchestrated by God's faithfulness. Learn how seeking God's will and being led by the Holy Spirit are fundamental to maturing in your faith, and acknowledging His consistent guidance through every season of life.
Join us and be inspired to grow in faith, supported by the grace and love of our Lord.
For more information and resources, visit www.citylightnyc.com
(00:00) Characteristics of a Mature Believer
(04:06) Journey to Mature Faith
(09:43) Seeking God's Will in Decision Making
(26:35) Prayer Life and Community in Faith
Chapters
00:00 - Characteristics of a Mature Believer
04:06:00 - Journey to Mature Faith
09:43:00 - Seeking God's Will in Decision Making
26:35:00 - Prayer Life and Community in Faith
Transcript
00:00 - Speaker 1
Because when it's time to pray, I can see, I know it You're condemned. That's why you don't have a prayer life. You're condemned Even though, under this new covenant, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That means not now, nor can there ever be. It's impossible for you to be condemned when all of your sins were condemned in his body on the cross.
00:26 - Speaker 2
Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you that he has a real hope and a future for you.
01:10 - Speaker 1
I want to read something to you from Hebrews, chapter 6, verse 1. Thank you, lord, just taking my time here. What a song. Hallelujah. Thank you, lord.
01:29
The writer of Hebrews says therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity. That's one of the things we're after as a church. One of the things any're after as a church, one of the things any healthy church is going to be going for, is maturity in its believers, that they're no longer children, go so far as to say, not being children and tossed around like a little ship by every wind of doctrine, but having grown up into the fullness and to the stature of Christ, having maturity, a strength in you, where now you're even able to teach others. And so I want to just share with you seven characteristics of a mature believer. Amen, none of these things you should read and go. I got that. That's me. Oh, I got four out of seven, not bad. These are all things that we're trusting the Lord to work out in us, and this is the wonderful thing about grace it is up to us to participate, but you always keep your eyes on him, knowing that he even gives you the grace to participate with him. And then, whenever you feel any kind of pressure, put the pressure back on God. He can handle it and the Lord will work these things out in you. The Lord will do it. Number one several characteristics of a mature believer is found in Proverbs, chapter three, verses five through six. And that's your trust in the Lord. When you're a mature believer, you just have an unwavering trust in God. You trust him that he is who he says he is, that he's got your best interests in his heart and that he's going to work it out in your life Amen.
03:33
When I first was being ministered to to become a Christian, they kept telling me to trust God. Well, just trust him, trust God. And they were right. Except I couldn't trust him. I hardly knew him yet. I didn't have any of his word in me and I didn't experience much of him. So it was a big ask, wouldn't you agree, of a new believer and I know we ask that at church all the time Somebody's six months in the Lord, they're just. Everything's just starting to make sense to them and you slap them on the back and say trust the Lord, won't you? They're like. I've been living with anxiety for 30 years of my life. Everyone I ever trusted did me dirty. And now you're asking me to trust in the Lord, who I barely even know. But as you mature, you're. Is this just me or not? I didn't feel much of an amen there. This is what I think when I see it happen, even if I've done it. I just told him to trust the Lord. I wonder how deep that's going to go, because you have to have some experience with God to realize that he is trustworthy. I mean, you can always have a mental ascent, but when it drops down those precious 18 inches from your head down into your spirit and now you know that comes through some experience. Amen, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.
05:04
So something I often do with Emily is we reminisce about God Holy reminiscings and I particularly like to go back to the dark points, the points where I was experiencing a crisis. Now, let me just say I've had moments like that. Those are just pictures. That's not the movie of my life. The movie of my life is one of God giving me victory and giving me peace Amen. So many people like to turn a picture into a movie and then you get a distorted view of God in Christianity, where everything is morose and depressing and you might meet somebody and they're like well, you talk on prosperity, but look at the apostle Paul's life. He was shipwrecked, he didn't have food. He said he was forced into fasting. Those are photos. Like that happened. But that's not the movie. Amen. The movie is one of him moving in the grace of God, with the power of God, spreading the gospel to the four corners of the then known world. Amen of God spreading the gospel to the four corners of the then known world, amen.
06:11
So I've had pictures where I experienced the crisis of faith. Something just came out of left field that hit my life and it I mean hit my life hard. I'm not talking about like a little speed bump. Hit, I mean T-bone collision, just my car spinning, spinning around, that kind of a crash where my faith is shaken. And all I did during those times, thank God, was hang on and just not let go of Jesus and not let him let go of me. I can't even say that I I responded in best ways. I would love to say that something terrible happened and immediately, every single time, I threw my hands into the air and said oh God, you are worthy, you are great. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I didn't, but I hung on to him and I just spent that time. And now, as the years have gone by and I can look back to those photos of crises moments, I can honestly and I believe you can too, from my heart say the Lord redeemed every single one of those things, every single one of those things. I'm better off now than I was before. Amen, amen.
07:24
I can trust him and so trust it's a necessary ingredient if we're going to be mature believers, and this is where we're heading to. This is seven characteristics of the mature slash, maturing believer. Number one trust. Do you trust him? Do you that he's going to see you through, that he's going to see your kids through, that he's not going to forsake the work of his own hands that he promised to be good to you? Hallelujah, you can trust him.
08:02
Number two found in Romans 8.14. Number two is seeking his will. This is a sign, an important sign, of a maturing believer. You actually seek the will of God. You're not doing whatever is right in your own eyes. That phrase, doing whatever is right in your own eyes that's the phrase multiple times used in the Old Testament to describe Israel in a state of rebellion. They're doing whatever they want to do, whatever they feel like doing. Well, your life is not your own. It's been bought with the precious blood of Jesus and, thankfully, now you belong to another, so seeking his will and being led by the Holy Spirit.
08:48
So what separates a mature believer from an immature believer is an immature believer will just go about life as though they have no accountability, as though they don't have a God who's in their corner, who wants them to succeed, who actually will whisper advice to them in their spirit, who will lead them and guide them. They claim they have a shepherd, but they act like they're shepherdless until they go their own route long enough and they fall down and then they go. Oh Lord, my shepherd, some get up and go, lord, why did you allow this to happen? He didn't allow it to happen. You made it happen. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God. These are the sons of God, these are the children of God, those that are led by the Spirit of God, amen.
09:43
Let's look at a companion scripture in James, chapter 4, 13 through 16. Come now. I wonder how he would say that differently today. Come now, go on now. You who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit. You look at that and you're like what's wrong with that Sounds I mean, sounds good, especially to a New York Christian you mover, you shaker, you what's you know. And the problem here isn't that they want to make money. He never rebukes them, for that Sounds like they're really fulfilling a lot of biblical mandates of being not burying their talents, being industrious. But there's a problem they never involved God, they didn't go to him.
10:45
You know, the Bible talks about a young king, king Uzziah. He was 16 years old when he became king and it says Uzziah set his face to seek the Lord, to inquire of the Lord, to just take every decision he was going to make and submit it to the Lord in prayer. And the Bible says that King Uzziah sought the Lord and God made him to prosper. And as long as he sought, the Lord inquired of him. God made him to prosper and he prospered so much and this story actually doesn't end well that then he prospered so much he stopped seeking the Lord and then his kingdom was wrecked and the prosperity he had gained Verse 14. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, to these wheelers and dealers and businessmen, he says instead, you ought to say if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.
11:52
Now, christians being Christians, because we're prone to religiosity, we took this very important biblical truth and we just made a sentence out of it and tacked it on the back of whatever we say. And we just made a sentence out of it and tacked it on the back of whatever we say. Not so much here, but anybody raised in a Spanish Pentecostal church. Did they not tack this? Because we had this in the first service? He was raised in that church and, just like, laughing his head off in the front, and I remembered, yeah, that was all my Spanish Pentecostal friends.
12:21
Did you want to meet for lunch? Yeah, lord willing. Hey want to catch a lunch? Yeah, lord willing. Hey, you want to catch a movie? Sure, lord willing. Like. And you just tack it on the back of every sentence.
12:31
That's not what that means he's saying when you inquire of the Lord. You want to move cities, you want to switch careers? Any decision that can alter the path of your life, like going into another town, buying, selling, trading, bring that before the Lord. You're seeking him. You're in quiet. This is the sign of a mature believer, because if you don't do that, what you're saying in essence is I got it down on my own, I don't need you, god. I've had that attitude before and I've always ended up flat on my own. I don't need you, god. I've had that attitude before and I've always ended up flat on my face, not in a good worship way, just hurt, just flat on my nose. Let's keep reading.
13:17
Instead, you ought to say Lord, if the Lord wills, I'm taking my life plans and my decisions. I don't go left or right without the Lord leading me. But now you boast in your arrogance. So if you're not inviting the Lord into your plans, you're actually arrogant and you're boasting and you're behaving as though he's not the Lord of your life. All such boasting is evil. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
13:49
So, number one trust in the Lord. As you spend time with him, as you walk life with him, he will show himself to be trustworthy to you and you can trust him with your whole life. You can trust him with your family. Trust him to see you through. I mean, eventually. You're trusting him to save your soul in that day and you'll appear before him and spend eternity with him. Number two as a sign of a mature believer is you submit your will to the Lord. You submit your plans before him. You wanna be spirit-led, not led by yourself. Number three You're skillful. A mature believer is skillful in the word Hebrews, chapter 5, verses 12 through 14.
14:46
You know, one of the biggest things that's plaguing American Christianity today is biblical illiteracy. A friend who's ministers and is actively involved in a large charismatic Bible school, she said and I knew it to be true, but she said so many of our students and even the graduates. They don't have a foundational knowledge of the Bible. What they can quote is sentences from their favorite preachers. So you've memorized what men of God have said about God, but the actual word of God hasn't gotten into you.
15:33
Because you're not taking the time, because we're running around with attention deficit disorder now time, because we're running around with attention deficit disorder now and when you oh, it's true, I've been on a social media kick lately, I just but I got to say but when your brain is fried from watching 612 second videos, and then you open up the word of God, even if it's on your phone. It requires it gets lonely, doesn't it? It requires some solitude. All of a sudden, it's pretty raw. There's no bursting colors, nobody making you laugh every three seconds. You're not waiting for some punchline, you're allowing the word of God to wash over you. That's what pays big dividends. The word of God will never come back to you void.
16:19
Every time you get the word of God in you, it's like you're taking God's holy seed and putting it into the soil of your heart, and it will yield fruit. This is what will keep you strong. This is what will keep you from getting deceived. When talking about the end times, jesus, in one passage, four times, he starts by saying take heed that no man deceive you, and he mentions getting deceived four times. The antidote to deception is truth and, by the way, let the Bible define the Bible.
16:49
The psalmist said Lord, your word is truth. The antidote to deception is the word of God. The psalmist also said Lord, your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. You want to break free from addiction, break free from struggles, experience the beauty of holiness. His word hid in your heart will get the job done. His word works. Did you know that? Like, actually it works? I don't mean his word works, his word works. Did you know that? Like, actually it works? I don't mean his word works, his word works. That word works in the Greek is energio. It energizes, it's dynamic, it gets the job done. You can ingest his word on a Monday morning and that thing will be working in you all week. Hopefully, it's not just on the Monday morning there's some coming in on Tuesday and Wednesday too but it's working in you.
17:44
For, though, by this time you ought to be teachers. He's writing the church, and that's my heart that every single person get to a place where they're teaching others, that you come to a place where you realize that I have enough word in me now. This doesn't take long, by the way. This doesn't take 10 years, because there's people that you're surrounded with right now. They would love just to be near you, and you have something that they don't have, and you have more word of God in you than they could ever imagine.
18:22
The young lady that led me to Jesus was saved for 24 hours, and she brought me to her group, her youth group. Everybody there was saved two years and under. They're the ones who led me to the Lord, for by this time you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. He's rebuking them because they're not ready for me. They've just been sipping on milk and you have come to need milk and not solid food For everyone. Who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
19:01
Hey, how long do you want to be a babe? For You're always going to be a babe, but I mean how long. How long do you want to be a spiritual babe? I read that when I was a teenager. I thought I don't want to be a spiritual babe. I want to be strong in the word. I want, when evil doctrine comes my way, I want to be able to blow it away. You're not getting in the way of my salvation. You're not taking me down some other path, and it begins with you, daily in the word. I don't want a religious church. I don't want a religious church. So I'm not giving you some systems and some formulas how to do it. Figure out between you and the Lord what works for you, but get in the word every day.
19:56
The only time I give, I tell new people that just come to City Light, that have no Bible background, I say, hey, start in the gospel of Mark. You know why? I tell them that Because Mark is the power gospel. Very few parables, lots of miracles, lots of exciting things, and it's only 16 chapters. And Mark is actually the first gospel that missionaries translate when they go overseas, because it's known as the power gospel and it's only 16 chapters. So I tell them, if you read two chapters a day, you'll be done in eight days. And if you are done in eight days, you have now ingested one of the four gospels, which unfortunately puts you in the top 5% in America when it comes to actual biblical literacy. Where did I get that stat? Like every stat, I made it up, but you know what I mean Seems right, top 5%, it'll put you up there.
20:57
Most people haven't read even the Gospel of Mark in the country, you know, and I tell them that. So they have a good place to start, because when people get saved, they either want to start in the book of Genesis, but nine out of ten times they want to start in the book of Revelation and get to all the crazy. Even I was just reading the word. We're reading the Gospel of John, my son and I just this week, and remember, you asked me so, dad, when's the end of the world? Everybody wants to know and I gave him a very wise answer. I said, son, no man knows the day or the hour. My point is this hang on to Revelation. It's the last book for a reason. My point is this hang on to Revelation. It's the last book for a reason. Get in the word that pertains to you right now.
21:49
Oh, another big thing is actually pick a book and read it. Like there is so much I don't know where it comes from, but just like I'm going to do a little Isaiah today. Tomorrow I'll do that, mark you mentioned Then the next day a little Jeremiah. Then, of course, I'm feeling down by Thursday. So I got to get in the Psalms, because Psalms, always when I'm feeling down, they're just so emotional in nature, they make me feel good and I'll hit one of the epistles and that's how most of us read it. I encourage you, read the whole book.
22:20
There's actually a theme to an entire book, otherwise you're like I understand. A bowl of mixed nuts is delicious at a party, but you don't want to be a bowl of mixed nuts christian, because I've seen, if you spend years like that, you you don't get the concepts thematically and it never really goes. Everything is like a potpourri basket of various scripture flowers. Say this I'll be strong in the word, skillful in the word of righteousness. Hallelujah, number four a sign of a mature believer is they have a prayer life. They have a prayer life.
23:05
Now, when I first got saved, one of the most popular books was the title was Could you Not Tarry With Me One Hour, do you know it? But the title alone, right, the title alone immediately condemns you and makes you feel like I mean. Your first thought is I'm not praying enough. And if you read the book, they'll tell you exactly that. No, you're not, sir. No, you are not Because the title comes from what Jesus told his disciples, you know, when he was in the garden of Gethsemane and he asked them to keep watch with him and they fell asleep. And he says could you not, even, terry, pray with me, wait with me for one hour? And so the whole premise is you need to be praying at least one hour a day. That's a noble goal, but I mean what happens when you do it Monday, you do it Tuesday, you do it Wednesday, then you don't do it on Thursday. You only do a measly 20 minutes On Thursday. You're like well, I owe God 40 minutes. So now there's all these religious trappings that all they're going to end up doing is making you condemned.
24:18
Another teaching that was very popular when I first got saved was how do you approach god? It can't be as simple as saying, father in the name of jesus, no, no, no, no. So they would take you back to the old testament and how you got to enter his courts with praise, and they would take you from the outer courts to the inner courts and then eventually you get into the holy place and the whole process was like an hour and a half. Who's got got time for that? I mean, I do because it's my job, but I'm talking about you. I have time for that, but you've got a whole life to live, raising kids, going to work, fighting the subways. So I have never, ever, I've never, ever given formulas out.
25:05
But this is what I encourage you to do every single day talk to God like he's your best friend, open up your heart to him, ask him for the things that you need. I've had some people say does it ever bother God that I ask him for so much? No, he loves that because he's showing you're showing your dependency for him. To him he doesn't get tired of you asking, just like I don't get tired of my kids asking me. And talk to him until he warms your heart. Say, what does that mean? Exactly what I said. How do you describe it to someone? Talk to him until you sense his life has come into you, until he's warmed your heart and you've connected with God, and just stay there for a little bit, and then you can repeat that again throughout the day, or you can do it the next day. But have an intimacy with the Lord, a real friendship, that's what he wants to build with you. That's what this whole thing is about why Jesus came To die on the cross To forgive us all of our sins. So that intimacy that we had back, when Adam would just walk through the cool of the garden with God himself talking to him as though he were a friend, that's been restored through the blood of Jesus.
26:35
Hallelujah, you know it's possible to come to church every Sunday and not have a prayer life. I'm fascinated by that. There's people here right now and when I say I'm fascinated by it, I'm not looking down on you. I just I'm fascinated by how the enemy has deceived you, because when it's time to pray, I can see, I know it You're condemned. That's why you don't have a prayer life. You're condemned, even though under this new covenant, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That means not now, nor can there ever be. It's impossible for you to be condemned when all of your sins were condemned in his body on the cross. So you got a buzz of flies swirling around your head condemning you. You feel condemned, you feel bad about yourself. You're not doing enough. You messed up over here. You messed up over there. You come to church to get some relief, but the answer is gonna be in your communion with God.
27:44
You say, oh, I just don't feel like I do it right, it's supposed to be clumsy. It always is clumsy. You're chuckling. You know what I'm talking about. Lean into that clumsiness. Lean into that. Yeah, people who don't feel a little awkward in prayer terrify me. It's always different. You're approaching the Lord, god Almighty, and he's a lion at the same time he calls you a friend and you know you have the right to approach him. But it's different each time. That's why the Bible says in the Old Testament keep your foot when you enter into the house of the Lord. Keep your foot. That just means take care of yourself, watch yourself. And there's an awkwardness there, but you need not feel condemned. Hallelujah, and there's an awkwardness there, but you need not feel condemned. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
28:43
Number five Romans 6, 1 through 2. Number five is in a maturing believer there is an outworking of grace. You know what that means. There's holiness in your life. Hallelujah, thank you. Thank you, pastor, for talking about holiness. There's an outworking of grace. That means that your life is different.
29:29
Listen, the greatest proof to an unbeliever for the existence of God is a transformed life. That's why I led so many people to the Lord when I got saved. Because I was nasty before I got saved, because I was nasty before I got saved, every other word was a curse word and I got saved and the Lord took that away, just, and my friends noticed and they were intrigued because they knew that I could not do such a thing by my sheer willpower. There's got to be an outworking of grace. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? That grace may abound? God forbid, certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? I'll sum that up Grace calls you righteous.
30:19
Grace calls you righteous. Grace says you have right standing with God. Grace says you're the apple of God's eye and he finds no fault in you. Are you catching this? If you're a Christian and you're in Christ, there is no sin on your account. Yeah, you're forgiven.
30:39
If you're a Christian and you fall, you don't fall and now need to get born again again. You're still the righteousness of God in Christ. You're still holy and without blame before him in love. None of that changes. It's important to know and to remind yourself daily and as you receive that truth and welcome God's finished work into your life that's the grace of God there will be an outworking of grace where now, your values, the way you plot your life, the way you live your life, is more Christ-like, which will stand in sharp opposition to the world. Yeah, amen, and that's the sign of a maturing believer. You know what I found? Mature believers experience less pain and heartaches. I just think of that when I'm preaching, because the Bible says the way of a transgressor is hard and full of sorrows. Hallelujah, number six, found in Romans 12, 4 through 5.
31:52
Community and fellowship, community and fellowship. Aside of mature believers, they welcome being in community and welcome being in fellowship. They don't shy away from accountability, church life. They're not Lone Ranger Christians it's always funny saying this because I say it to the ones who are here. So you're not that. For the most part, I guess I mean, yeah, you're not. Maybe one or two slipped in, I don't know, maybe they're just visiting this Sunday and we're the fourth church. They're visiting this month and they'll continue. They're on assignment. See, some of you don't even know. There's some Christians that are always on assignment. That's code, for I hop around. I don't even know where I live. I just hop around from place to place because I'm like God's holy commando. I'm on assignment. It just means that when I need a government ID and they ask me for a utility bill, I can't provide one Because I'm so unstable. Hallelujah, hallelujah. No lone ranger Christians, no lone wolf Christians, because you were designed to be in community. It's just how God made it.
33:23
And listen to this verse from Jesus. He said given it, shall be given unto you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, will I sovereignly give you from heaven. Is that what he said? No, give you from heaven. Is that what he said? No, he said good measure pressed down, shaken together, will men pour into your bosom? Men, for those of you who just got triggered because you're ultra woke, what Jesus meant was human, not just men. Human, but see sometimes the Bible. But see sometimes the bible, because it was written in this patriarchal society. He uses the masculine, but he meant human. In other words, god's delivery system for blessings into your life is people, and if you cut yourself off from people, you're thwarting his delivery system.
34:16
Yeah, when I think back to all of the wonderful things that have come my way, I mean I can't, off the top of my head, think of something that came sovereignly like as a hand from heaven, from God. It always came through a courier service called a person. Hallelujah, hallelujah. And one of the greatest delights is God using you to be the courier. Hallelujah. Hey, I don't mind that kid crying at all. I want you from my heart. No, really, I'd rather have that than this silence. Any day. Dude, toss him, tickle him, bring him up to the front. I'm taking that as my biggest amen-er right now. What it's all good. Hallelujah, all right, worship team, why don't you come on up First Corinthians 14.1. I want to let the Lord just minister to you and bring this word home to you. Thank you, lord.
35:34
There was a time in college where I I don't know what I went through. You know we all go through goofy seasons. You know sometimes you can amen too hard. That didn't feel right. I gotta tell you, my feelings are a little hurt. A little hurt there.
35:58
No, but in college, you know, I had a lot of Christian friends, but I was the only one going to full-time ministry. So I told myself it's a little hard to relate because I'm so special. You see, I'm just different. I mean, they're regular Christians, I'm called into the five-fold, you know. And the devil is so quick to help you get these vain imaginings going. Because then, immediately, you know, you start picturing yourself like yeah, that's right, I'm like an Elijah, I'm like, I'm just, it's just like. And you, you know, you romanticize it. God, it's just you and me. And that lasted for a couple of months until I ended up on the floor Again, not in a good worshipful position, but just God.
36:47
Why did you allow this to happen? I didn't allow anything to happen. You pulled yourself out of community. You pulled yourself out of the body of Christ, thinking that that was going to be holy healthy. When everything in the scriptures commands you to be intertwined with other believers, the wine is in the cluster. Amen, hallelujah, hallelujah.
37:11
And number seven is a mature Christian is open to the supernatural. You're open, you long for the supernatural, you welcome the supernatural here. The apostle Paul is just encouraging all of the Corinthians to pursue love and desire what the supernatural Desire, spiritual gifts that you would be open to it. I put that on that list because there are Christians. The moment you mention anything supernatural, they freeze up, they immediately recoil. They prefer a logical frontal lobe in Christianity.
37:52
The only problem is that Christianity isn't biblical Christianity and it doesn't get the job done. We need an invasion of God's supernatural power. I know with my family, I know there is a protective barrier over our home. I want you to know that too and welcome that. And should something for some reason cross that barrier, we stand our ground and I believe that we're to live in divine. I believe that we're to live in divine health and we're to live in divine prosperity and god, the maker of heaven and earth, his power, is behind that and we welcome the supernatural power of god. Amen, hallelujah.
38:33
Father, I thank you that we're all on a journey here. We're in different places and at different levels, but you have told us to leave the elementary things behind and go on to maturity. God, I thank you for a church where people's roots run deep, where they're pillars, they're mature, they're able to teach others. Thank you, lord. As life groups begin in the fall that, they will be our best life groups. Ever More people will be discipled, the gospel will be multiplied and your kingdom will be expanded. Thank you In Jesus' name.
39:13 - Speaker 2
This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.
Because when it's time to pray, I can see, I know it You're condemned. That's why you don't have a prayer life. You're condemned Even though, under this new covenant, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That means not now, nor can there ever be. It's impossible for you to be condemned when all of your sins were condemned in his body on the cross.
00:26 - Speaker 2
Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you that he has a real hope and a future for you.
01:10 - Speaker 1
I want to read something to you from Hebrews, chapter 6, verse 1. Thank you, lord, just taking my time here. What a song. Hallelujah. Thank you, lord.
01:29
The writer of Hebrews says therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity. That's one of the things we're after as a church. One of the things any're after as a church, one of the things any healthy church is going to be going for, is maturity in its believers, that they're no longer children, go so far as to say, not being children and tossed around like a little ship by every wind of doctrine, but having grown up into the fullness and to the stature of Christ, having maturity, a strength in you, where now you're even able to teach others. And so I want to just share with you seven characteristics of a mature believer. Amen, none of these things you should read and go. I got that. That's me. Oh, I got four out of seven, not bad. These are all things that we're trusting the Lord to work out in us, and this is the wonderful thing about grace it is up to us to participate, but you always keep your eyes on him, knowing that he even gives you the grace to participate with him. And then, whenever you feel any kind of pressure, put the pressure back on God. He can handle it and the Lord will work these things out in you. The Lord will do it. Number one several characteristics of a mature believer is found in Proverbs, chapter three, verses five through six. And that's your trust in the Lord. When you're a mature believer, you just have an unwavering trust in God. You trust him that he is who he says he is, that he's got your best interests in his heart and that he's going to work it out in your life Amen.
03:33
When I first was being ministered to to become a Christian, they kept telling me to trust God. Well, just trust him, trust God. And they were right. Except I couldn't trust him. I hardly knew him yet. I didn't have any of his word in me and I didn't experience much of him. So it was a big ask, wouldn't you agree, of a new believer and I know we ask that at church all the time Somebody's six months in the Lord, they're just. Everything's just starting to make sense to them and you slap them on the back and say trust the Lord, won't you? They're like. I've been living with anxiety for 30 years of my life. Everyone I ever trusted did me dirty. And now you're asking me to trust in the Lord, who I barely even know. But as you mature, you're. Is this just me or not? I didn't feel much of an amen there. This is what I think when I see it happen, even if I've done it. I just told him to trust the Lord. I wonder how deep that's going to go, because you have to have some experience with God to realize that he is trustworthy. I mean, you can always have a mental ascent, but when it drops down those precious 18 inches from your head down into your spirit and now you know that comes through some experience. Amen, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.
05:04
So something I often do with Emily is we reminisce about God Holy reminiscings and I particularly like to go back to the dark points, the points where I was experiencing a crisis. Now, let me just say I've had moments like that. Those are just pictures. That's not the movie of my life. The movie of my life is one of God giving me victory and giving me peace Amen. So many people like to turn a picture into a movie and then you get a distorted view of God in Christianity, where everything is morose and depressing and you might meet somebody and they're like well, you talk on prosperity, but look at the apostle Paul's life. He was shipwrecked, he didn't have food. He said he was forced into fasting. Those are photos. Like that happened. But that's not the movie. Amen. The movie is one of him moving in the grace of God, with the power of God, spreading the gospel to the four corners of the then known world. Amen of God spreading the gospel to the four corners of the then known world, amen.
06:11
So I've had pictures where I experienced the crisis of faith. Something just came out of left field that hit my life and it I mean hit my life hard. I'm not talking about like a little speed bump. Hit, I mean T-bone collision, just my car spinning, spinning around, that kind of a crash where my faith is shaken. And all I did during those times, thank God, was hang on and just not let go of Jesus and not let him let go of me. I can't even say that I I responded in best ways. I would love to say that something terrible happened and immediately, every single time, I threw my hands into the air and said oh God, you are worthy, you are great. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I didn't, but I hung on to him and I just spent that time. And now, as the years have gone by and I can look back to those photos of crises moments, I can honestly and I believe you can too, from my heart say the Lord redeemed every single one of those things, every single one of those things. I'm better off now than I was before. Amen, amen.
07:24
I can trust him and so trust it's a necessary ingredient if we're going to be mature believers, and this is where we're heading to. This is seven characteristics of the mature slash, maturing believer. Number one trust. Do you trust him? Do you that he's going to see you through, that he's going to see your kids through, that he's not going to forsake the work of his own hands that he promised to be good to you? Hallelujah, you can trust him.
08:02
Number two found in Romans 8.14. Number two is seeking his will. This is a sign, an important sign, of a maturing believer. You actually seek the will of God. You're not doing whatever is right in your own eyes. That phrase, doing whatever is right in your own eyes that's the phrase multiple times used in the Old Testament to describe Israel in a state of rebellion. They're doing whatever they want to do, whatever they feel like doing. Well, your life is not your own. It's been bought with the precious blood of Jesus and, thankfully, now you belong to another, so seeking his will and being led by the Holy Spirit.
08:48
So what separates a mature believer from an immature believer is an immature believer will just go about life as though they have no accountability, as though they don't have a God who's in their corner, who wants them to succeed, who actually will whisper advice to them in their spirit, who will lead them and guide them. They claim they have a shepherd, but they act like they're shepherdless until they go their own route long enough and they fall down and then they go. Oh Lord, my shepherd, some get up and go, lord, why did you allow this to happen? He didn't allow it to happen. You made it happen. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God. These are the sons of God, these are the children of God, those that are led by the Spirit of God, amen.
09:43
Let's look at a companion scripture in James, chapter 4, 13 through 16. Come now. I wonder how he would say that differently today. Come now, go on now. You who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit. You look at that and you're like what's wrong with that Sounds I mean, sounds good, especially to a New York Christian you mover, you shaker, you what's you know. And the problem here isn't that they want to make money. He never rebukes them, for that Sounds like they're really fulfilling a lot of biblical mandates of being not burying their talents, being industrious. But there's a problem they never involved God, they didn't go to him.
10:45
You know, the Bible talks about a young king, king Uzziah. He was 16 years old when he became king and it says Uzziah set his face to seek the Lord, to inquire of the Lord, to just take every decision he was going to make and submit it to the Lord in prayer. And the Bible says that King Uzziah sought the Lord and God made him to prosper. And as long as he sought, the Lord inquired of him. God made him to prosper and he prospered so much and this story actually doesn't end well that then he prospered so much he stopped seeking the Lord and then his kingdom was wrecked and the prosperity he had gained Verse 14. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, to these wheelers and dealers and businessmen, he says instead, you ought to say if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.
11:52
Now, christians being Christians, because we're prone to religiosity, we took this very important biblical truth and we just made a sentence out of it and tacked it on the back of whatever we say. And we just made a sentence out of it and tacked it on the back of whatever we say. Not so much here, but anybody raised in a Spanish Pentecostal church. Did they not tack this? Because we had this in the first service? He was raised in that church and, just like, laughing his head off in the front, and I remembered, yeah, that was all my Spanish Pentecostal friends.
12:21
Did you want to meet for lunch? Yeah, lord willing. Hey want to catch a lunch? Yeah, lord willing. Hey, you want to catch a movie? Sure, lord willing. Like. And you just tack it on the back of every sentence.
12:31
That's not what that means he's saying when you inquire of the Lord. You want to move cities, you want to switch careers? Any decision that can alter the path of your life, like going into another town, buying, selling, trading, bring that before the Lord. You're seeking him. You're in quiet. This is the sign of a mature believer, because if you don't do that, what you're saying in essence is I got it down on my own, I don't need you, god. I've had that attitude before and I've always ended up flat on my own. I don't need you, god. I've had that attitude before and I've always ended up flat on my face, not in a good worship way, just hurt, just flat on my nose. Let's keep reading.
13:17
Instead, you ought to say Lord, if the Lord wills, I'm taking my life plans and my decisions. I don't go left or right without the Lord leading me. But now you boast in your arrogance. So if you're not inviting the Lord into your plans, you're actually arrogant and you're boasting and you're behaving as though he's not the Lord of your life. All such boasting is evil. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
13:49
So, number one trust in the Lord. As you spend time with him, as you walk life with him, he will show himself to be trustworthy to you and you can trust him with your whole life. You can trust him with your family. Trust him to see you through. I mean, eventually. You're trusting him to save your soul in that day and you'll appear before him and spend eternity with him. Number two as a sign of a mature believer is you submit your will to the Lord. You submit your plans before him. You wanna be spirit-led, not led by yourself. Number three You're skillful. A mature believer is skillful in the word Hebrews, chapter 5, verses 12 through 14.
14:46
You know, one of the biggest things that's plaguing American Christianity today is biblical illiteracy. A friend who's ministers and is actively involved in a large charismatic Bible school, she said and I knew it to be true, but she said so many of our students and even the graduates. They don't have a foundational knowledge of the Bible. What they can quote is sentences from their favorite preachers. So you've memorized what men of God have said about God, but the actual word of God hasn't gotten into you.
15:33
Because you're not taking the time, because we're running around with attention deficit disorder now time, because we're running around with attention deficit disorder now and when you oh, it's true, I've been on a social media kick lately, I just but I got to say but when your brain is fried from watching 612 second videos, and then you open up the word of God, even if it's on your phone. It requires it gets lonely, doesn't it? It requires some solitude. All of a sudden, it's pretty raw. There's no bursting colors, nobody making you laugh every three seconds. You're not waiting for some punchline, you're allowing the word of God to wash over you. That's what pays big dividends. The word of God will never come back to you void.
16:19
Every time you get the word of God in you, it's like you're taking God's holy seed and putting it into the soil of your heart, and it will yield fruit. This is what will keep you strong. This is what will keep you from getting deceived. When talking about the end times, jesus, in one passage, four times, he starts by saying take heed that no man deceive you, and he mentions getting deceived four times. The antidote to deception is truth and, by the way, let the Bible define the Bible.
16:49
The psalmist said Lord, your word is truth. The antidote to deception is the word of God. The psalmist also said Lord, your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. You want to break free from addiction, break free from struggles, experience the beauty of holiness. His word hid in your heart will get the job done. His word works. Did you know that? Like, actually it works? I don't mean his word works, his word works. Did you know that? Like, actually it works? I don't mean his word works, his word works. That word works in the Greek is energio. It energizes, it's dynamic, it gets the job done. You can ingest his word on a Monday morning and that thing will be working in you all week. Hopefully, it's not just on the Monday morning there's some coming in on Tuesday and Wednesday too but it's working in you.
17:44
For, though, by this time you ought to be teachers. He's writing the church, and that's my heart that every single person get to a place where they're teaching others, that you come to a place where you realize that I have enough word in me now. This doesn't take long, by the way. This doesn't take 10 years, because there's people that you're surrounded with right now. They would love just to be near you, and you have something that they don't have, and you have more word of God in you than they could ever imagine.
18:22
The young lady that led me to Jesus was saved for 24 hours, and she brought me to her group, her youth group. Everybody there was saved two years and under. They're the ones who led me to the Lord, for by this time you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. He's rebuking them because they're not ready for me. They've just been sipping on milk and you have come to need milk and not solid food For everyone. Who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
19:01
Hey, how long do you want to be a babe? For You're always going to be a babe, but I mean how long. How long do you want to be a spiritual babe? I read that when I was a teenager. I thought I don't want to be a spiritual babe. I want to be strong in the word. I want, when evil doctrine comes my way, I want to be able to blow it away. You're not getting in the way of my salvation. You're not taking me down some other path, and it begins with you, daily in the word. I don't want a religious church. I don't want a religious church. So I'm not giving you some systems and some formulas how to do it. Figure out between you and the Lord what works for you, but get in the word every day.
19:56
The only time I give, I tell new people that just come to City Light, that have no Bible background, I say, hey, start in the gospel of Mark. You know why? I tell them that Because Mark is the power gospel. Very few parables, lots of miracles, lots of exciting things, and it's only 16 chapters. And Mark is actually the first gospel that missionaries translate when they go overseas, because it's known as the power gospel and it's only 16 chapters. So I tell them, if you read two chapters a day, you'll be done in eight days. And if you are done in eight days, you have now ingested one of the four gospels, which unfortunately puts you in the top 5% in America when it comes to actual biblical literacy. Where did I get that stat? Like every stat, I made it up, but you know what I mean Seems right, top 5%, it'll put you up there.
20:57
Most people haven't read even the Gospel of Mark in the country, you know, and I tell them that. So they have a good place to start, because when people get saved, they either want to start in the book of Genesis, but nine out of ten times they want to start in the book of Revelation and get to all the crazy. Even I was just reading the word. We're reading the Gospel of John, my son and I just this week, and remember, you asked me so, dad, when's the end of the world? Everybody wants to know and I gave him a very wise answer. I said, son, no man knows the day or the hour. My point is this hang on to Revelation. It's the last book for a reason. My point is this hang on to Revelation. It's the last book for a reason. Get in the word that pertains to you right now.
21:49
Oh, another big thing is actually pick a book and read it. Like there is so much I don't know where it comes from, but just like I'm going to do a little Isaiah today. Tomorrow I'll do that, mark you mentioned Then the next day a little Jeremiah. Then, of course, I'm feeling down by Thursday. So I got to get in the Psalms, because Psalms, always when I'm feeling down, they're just so emotional in nature, they make me feel good and I'll hit one of the epistles and that's how most of us read it. I encourage you, read the whole book.
22:20
There's actually a theme to an entire book, otherwise you're like I understand. A bowl of mixed nuts is delicious at a party, but you don't want to be a bowl of mixed nuts christian, because I've seen, if you spend years like that, you you don't get the concepts thematically and it never really goes. Everything is like a potpourri basket of various scripture flowers. Say this I'll be strong in the word, skillful in the word of righteousness. Hallelujah, number four a sign of a mature believer is they have a prayer life. They have a prayer life.
23:05
Now, when I first got saved, one of the most popular books was the title was Could you Not Tarry With Me One Hour, do you know it? But the title alone, right, the title alone immediately condemns you and makes you feel like I mean. Your first thought is I'm not praying enough. And if you read the book, they'll tell you exactly that. No, you're not, sir. No, you are not Because the title comes from what Jesus told his disciples, you know, when he was in the garden of Gethsemane and he asked them to keep watch with him and they fell asleep. And he says could you not, even, terry, pray with me, wait with me for one hour? And so the whole premise is you need to be praying at least one hour a day. That's a noble goal, but I mean what happens when you do it Monday, you do it Tuesday, you do it Wednesday, then you don't do it on Thursday. You only do a measly 20 minutes On Thursday. You're like well, I owe God 40 minutes. So now there's all these religious trappings that all they're going to end up doing is making you condemned.
24:18
Another teaching that was very popular when I first got saved was how do you approach god? It can't be as simple as saying, father in the name of jesus, no, no, no, no. So they would take you back to the old testament and how you got to enter his courts with praise, and they would take you from the outer courts to the inner courts and then eventually you get into the holy place and the whole process was like an hour and a half. Who's got got time for that? I mean, I do because it's my job, but I'm talking about you. I have time for that, but you've got a whole life to live, raising kids, going to work, fighting the subways. So I have never, ever, I've never, ever given formulas out.
25:05
But this is what I encourage you to do every single day talk to God like he's your best friend, open up your heart to him, ask him for the things that you need. I've had some people say does it ever bother God that I ask him for so much? No, he loves that because he's showing you're showing your dependency for him. To him he doesn't get tired of you asking, just like I don't get tired of my kids asking me. And talk to him until he warms your heart. Say, what does that mean? Exactly what I said. How do you describe it to someone? Talk to him until you sense his life has come into you, until he's warmed your heart and you've connected with God, and just stay there for a little bit, and then you can repeat that again throughout the day, or you can do it the next day. But have an intimacy with the Lord, a real friendship, that's what he wants to build with you. That's what this whole thing is about why Jesus came To die on the cross To forgive us all of our sins. So that intimacy that we had back, when Adam would just walk through the cool of the garden with God himself talking to him as though he were a friend, that's been restored through the blood of Jesus.
26:35
Hallelujah, you know it's possible to come to church every Sunday and not have a prayer life. I'm fascinated by that. There's people here right now and when I say I'm fascinated by it, I'm not looking down on you. I just I'm fascinated by how the enemy has deceived you, because when it's time to pray, I can see, I know it You're condemned. That's why you don't have a prayer life. You're condemned, even though under this new covenant, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That means not now, nor can there ever be. It's impossible for you to be condemned when all of your sins were condemned in his body on the cross. So you got a buzz of flies swirling around your head condemning you. You feel condemned, you feel bad about yourself. You're not doing enough. You messed up over here. You messed up over there. You come to church to get some relief, but the answer is gonna be in your communion with God.
27:44
You say, oh, I just don't feel like I do it right, it's supposed to be clumsy. It always is clumsy. You're chuckling. You know what I'm talking about. Lean into that clumsiness. Lean into that. Yeah, people who don't feel a little awkward in prayer terrify me. It's always different. You're approaching the Lord, god Almighty, and he's a lion at the same time he calls you a friend and you know you have the right to approach him. But it's different each time. That's why the Bible says in the Old Testament keep your foot when you enter into the house of the Lord. Keep your foot. That just means take care of yourself, watch yourself. And there's an awkwardness there, but you need not feel condemned. Hallelujah, and there's an awkwardness there, but you need not feel condemned. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
28:43
Number five Romans 6, 1 through 2. Number five is in a maturing believer there is an outworking of grace. You know what that means. There's holiness in your life. Hallelujah, thank you. Thank you, pastor, for talking about holiness. There's an outworking of grace. That means that your life is different.
29:29
Listen, the greatest proof to an unbeliever for the existence of God is a transformed life. That's why I led so many people to the Lord when I got saved. Because I was nasty before I got saved, because I was nasty before I got saved, every other word was a curse word and I got saved and the Lord took that away, just, and my friends noticed and they were intrigued because they knew that I could not do such a thing by my sheer willpower. There's got to be an outworking of grace. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? That grace may abound? God forbid, certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? I'll sum that up Grace calls you righteous.
30:19
Grace calls you righteous. Grace says you have right standing with God. Grace says you're the apple of God's eye and he finds no fault in you. Are you catching this? If you're a Christian and you're in Christ, there is no sin on your account. Yeah, you're forgiven.
30:39
If you're a Christian and you fall, you don't fall and now need to get born again again. You're still the righteousness of God in Christ. You're still holy and without blame before him in love. None of that changes. It's important to know and to remind yourself daily and as you receive that truth and welcome God's finished work into your life that's the grace of God there will be an outworking of grace where now, your values, the way you plot your life, the way you live your life, is more Christ-like, which will stand in sharp opposition to the world. Yeah, amen, and that's the sign of a maturing believer. You know what I found? Mature believers experience less pain and heartaches. I just think of that when I'm preaching, because the Bible says the way of a transgressor is hard and full of sorrows. Hallelujah, number six, found in Romans 12, 4 through 5.
31:52
Community and fellowship, community and fellowship. Aside of mature believers, they welcome being in community and welcome being in fellowship. They don't shy away from accountability, church life. They're not Lone Ranger Christians it's always funny saying this because I say it to the ones who are here. So you're not that. For the most part, I guess I mean, yeah, you're not. Maybe one or two slipped in, I don't know, maybe they're just visiting this Sunday and we're the fourth church. They're visiting this month and they'll continue. They're on assignment. See, some of you don't even know. There's some Christians that are always on assignment. That's code, for I hop around. I don't even know where I live. I just hop around from place to place because I'm like God's holy commando. I'm on assignment. It just means that when I need a government ID and they ask me for a utility bill, I can't provide one Because I'm so unstable. Hallelujah, hallelujah. No lone ranger Christians, no lone wolf Christians, because you were designed to be in community. It's just how God made it.
33:23
And listen to this verse from Jesus. He said given it, shall be given unto you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, will I sovereignly give you from heaven. Is that what he said? No, give you from heaven. Is that what he said? No, he said good measure pressed down, shaken together, will men pour into your bosom? Men, for those of you who just got triggered because you're ultra woke, what Jesus meant was human, not just men. Human, but see sometimes the Bible. But see sometimes the bible, because it was written in this patriarchal society. He uses the masculine, but he meant human. In other words, god's delivery system for blessings into your life is people, and if you cut yourself off from people, you're thwarting his delivery system.
34:16
Yeah, when I think back to all of the wonderful things that have come my way, I mean I can't, off the top of my head, think of something that came sovereignly like as a hand from heaven, from God. It always came through a courier service called a person. Hallelujah, hallelujah. And one of the greatest delights is God using you to be the courier. Hallelujah. Hey, I don't mind that kid crying at all. I want you from my heart. No, really, I'd rather have that than this silence. Any day. Dude, toss him, tickle him, bring him up to the front. I'm taking that as my biggest amen-er right now. What it's all good. Hallelujah, all right, worship team, why don't you come on up First Corinthians 14.1. I want to let the Lord just minister to you and bring this word home to you. Thank you, lord.
35:34
There was a time in college where I I don't know what I went through. You know we all go through goofy seasons. You know sometimes you can amen too hard. That didn't feel right. I gotta tell you, my feelings are a little hurt. A little hurt there.
35:58
No, but in college, you know, I had a lot of Christian friends, but I was the only one going to full-time ministry. So I told myself it's a little hard to relate because I'm so special. You see, I'm just different. I mean, they're regular Christians, I'm called into the five-fold, you know. And the devil is so quick to help you get these vain imaginings going. Because then, immediately, you know, you start picturing yourself like yeah, that's right, I'm like an Elijah, I'm like, I'm just, it's just like. And you, you know, you romanticize it. God, it's just you and me. And that lasted for a couple of months until I ended up on the floor Again, not in a good worshipful position, but just God.
36:47
Why did you allow this to happen? I didn't allow anything to happen. You pulled yourself out of community. You pulled yourself out of the body of Christ, thinking that that was going to be holy healthy. When everything in the scriptures commands you to be intertwined with other believers, the wine is in the cluster. Amen, hallelujah, hallelujah.
37:11
And number seven is a mature Christian is open to the supernatural. You're open, you long for the supernatural, you welcome the supernatural here. The apostle Paul is just encouraging all of the Corinthians to pursue love and desire what the supernatural Desire, spiritual gifts that you would be open to it. I put that on that list because there are Christians. The moment you mention anything supernatural, they freeze up, they immediately recoil. They prefer a logical frontal lobe in Christianity.
37:52
The only problem is that Christianity isn't biblical Christianity and it doesn't get the job done. We need an invasion of God's supernatural power. I know with my family, I know there is a protective barrier over our home. I want you to know that too and welcome that. And should something for some reason cross that barrier, we stand our ground and I believe that we're to live in divine. I believe that we're to live in divine health and we're to live in divine prosperity and god, the maker of heaven and earth, his power, is behind that and we welcome the supernatural power of god. Amen, hallelujah.
38:33
Father, I thank you that we're all on a journey here. We're in different places and at different levels, but you have told us to leave the elementary things behind and go on to maturity. God, I thank you for a church where people's roots run deep, where they're pillars, they're mature, they're able to teach others. Thank you, lord. As life groups begin in the fall that, they will be our best life groups. Ever More people will be discipled, the gospel will be multiplied and your kingdom will be expanded. Thank you In Jesus' name.
39:13 - Speaker 2
This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.
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