Church of the Word Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Pastor Syd encouraged all to be careful listeners and doers. Rocky Veach: Coming back from Australia, Rocky sensed a spiritual darkness upon arriving in the USA. This is a critical time. We have become familiar with the ways things are, but we need to remember who we are and who Jesus is. We need to walk as God has laid out for us to walk. His yoke is easy and His burden is light, but it is still a yoke and a burden. We are to make a difference here and to hold back darkness, doing what God wants us to do. There are some teachers, and there are some builders. We are to build in the Spirit. Expect to finish your race. Believe that you are going to make it. There are two things happening in the world. One is the mystery of iniquity, which is the world system, which is against the body of Christ. The other is the mystery of godliness and faith. The book of Revelation talks first to the church. Church is a bad word. The right word is the call of God. We are a body. The vision of a believer is to do the will of God. Do not go with the flow but make a difference. We should be impacting issues like abortion and stop looking like everyone else. The Word is deadly. You do not play with it. God wants us to get things working and stop acting like everything is fine. Text: Ephesians 2. God, in His mercy and great love, made us alive (quickened us), who were dead in sins. He made us alive (quickened us) together with Christ. He raised us up together. He made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He fitted us together. We are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The books Paul wrote were to groups of people. God, wake us up. We are the ones to choose to walk out the call of God for ourselves. Take what you can and move with it. The opposition we may face is nothing compared to the glory. We are not to treat God as common. We should not be that easy to figure out, because we are a secret society (Ephesians1). The Ephesians 1 and 3 prayers are powerful. God wants to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. God is working with the energy in us that was in Jesus. Spiritual issues manifest in more obvious problems, such as in areas of relationships, finances, and health. Darkness is the working of Satan. The workings of God are in our coming to Him, specifically in prayer. We have to work with Him and step into spiritual things. Do we want the spirit of revelation? Find out who God is and the power He has. Expect supernatural things. If you keep coming up to a wall, come into the secret place with God and find out what is the spiritual barrier. We need to be in our prayer closet. God hears the voice of the Spirit. Pray in the Spirit. Get the armor on and get into the Spirit. Build what builds the heart of God. We need to be difference-makers. The Ephesians prayers, chapters 1 and 3, are about what should happen in us. The mystery needs to be working. Prayer is spiritual warfare. Satan copies what God does. Sadly, many in the body do not even believe in the devil. Bohemian Grove is an evil and real place. Many in the church ignore or refuse to believe the evil that is happening, BUT GOD!

Pastor Syd (Hearing and Listening for God's Spirit's Leading): Isaiah 50:4, 5. We need open ears to hear what the Lord is saying. Pastor Syd told of how he stood in faith to hear what the Holy Spirit wanted him to do concerning a school for his son, but no answer was coming. He asked the Lord about it, and he heard all the word curses he had spoken against school when he was a child. He immediately repented and put the blood of Jesus over those he had cursed. Immediately He gave him the name of the school and the first grade teacher, and so he knew which was God's choice. In Mark 4:9 Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This was the Parable of the Sower. Mark 4:22 tells about the hidden and revealed things, and also says in verse 23, "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” We have to pay attention to what we hear. He will show you more if you recognize that the Lord is speaking to you. Then be careful how you hear. We need God's Spirit to know His hidden wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:6-3:3). He has revealed the hidden things of what He has prepared for us. The deep things are the things we need to develop and cultivate. The natural mind does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. We have the mind of Christ. Paul tired to speak of spiritual things to the people, but they were too carnal to receive them.

Bob Hawk gave a word about shifting, preparation, an awakening, a stirring within us, removing weights, running with new shoes and with the Word. This is a new day and hour of God's power.

Rocky Veach: A great thing is ahead of us. There is preparation. Rocky shared how one month after he was born-again, the Lord showed him a photograph and said that she was his wife. Expect to hear. Expect Him to surprise you. Expect Him to speak to you. Put yourself in a position to hear. He said that 2016 is "The Year of the Angler". Put your line with a big hook in the water and let the Lord give you a big catch, some big fish. Jesus used parables because the ones who do not have a heart to hear, will not hear. Parables bypassed the natural mind and were meant to go to the heart. We are open to subliminal things, but open yourselves to the Word and hear what God has to say.

Ron Cohn: Secrets. Hearing. Changing. We should hear the secrets of God and then change. The secret things belong to the Lord our God (Deuteronomy 29:29). Everyday God does something to us, for us, and through us. He shared about paying attention to God connections, like seeing "Rocky" on a TV in a business he was in the same day he was going to meet Rocky Veach for the first time. The body of Christ needs to be ready to hear God's revelations. Some things God reveals to you are never to be shared, if people are not ready to hear them. There is an alignment of heaven and earth. Ron shared about a "God meeting" with a young man at the gas station and how he knows that his obedience caused that man's life to be forever changed. Are you willing to pay the price to get God's secrets? To do that you must cut some things off and consecrate yourself. When God's secrets are given to a person, they become revelations. God does not hide things from us but for us. In Daniel1:20 Daniel and the three other Hebrews were willing to pay the price and were ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers. God reveals secrets (Daniel 2:21, 28, 29). Ron shared four recent occurrences, such as words from God and open visions that he was to share with people. Can God trust you with His secrets? Will you be willing to pay the price? God knows what is in the darkness. God has His own noise cancellation system. It is not praise and worship. It is a joyful noise.

When we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Then we can know that we have what we ask (1 John 5:14). Luke 5:12, 13 is about Jesus being willing to cleanse the leper. Jesus is always willing, but the hindrance is our lack of faith. We are told in Isaiah 52:14 - 53:5 that Jesus bore our sicknesses and diseases (incorrectly translated "griefs" in some translations), and carried our pains (sometimes translated "sorrows"), and by His stripes (wounds) we are healed. Matthew 8:14-17 says that He healed all who were sick, and quoting Isaiah, he wrote, He took our weaknesses (infirmities) and bore our sicknesses. First Peter 2:24 notes that He bore our sins, by whose stripes we were healed (past tense). He already provided for our healing. We enforce His Word in our healing. We take it. Acts 3:1-10 is about the lame man who was healed in the name of Jesus Christ. He did not just stand, but he leaped, praising God. The Greek word for "saved" is sozo, meaning physical healing, deliverance, well-being, and more. It is by the name of Jesus Christ that the man was made whole (Acts 4:8-12). There is no other name under heaven that is given among men by which we must be saved. Christ redeemed us from the law (Galatians 3:13). What does that mean? Deuteronomy 28:16-68 are the things that are curses. [They are the curses we have been redeemed from.] We are to go and preach, and those who believe and are baptized will be saved. There would be signs to those who believe, such as laying hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:15-18). If you are suffering, pray for yourself. If you are sick, call for the elders of the church and let them pray over you and anoint you in the name of Jesus, and if you believe, the Lord will raise him up. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man makes great power available. We need meekness of heart to believe and receive. The humble get the grace.

(There was a word given about shakings, the church awakening, changed lives, digging deeper into the Word, and Christ as the living sacrifice.) Offering sermon: Finances are a grace of the Lord. God is able to make every grace abound to you (2 Corinthians 6:8). Sermon text: Matthew 25:31-40. Jesus separates the sheep and the goats, which means that those who are saved (the sheep) are those who believe and confess Him as their Lord. However, we are judged (not saved) by our works. Every act of service that we do horizontally, to other believers, we do vertically in spiritual service or worship to God. We are to be living sacrifices, choosing to present ourselves as living sacrifices to God, holy, acceptable, which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1). Service is spiritual worship. It is not lip-service, but it is doing, waiting on as a waiter waits on customers. We should ask ourselves: What is my personal service to God and to the Body of Christ? We are to use our freedom to serve one another through love (Galatians 5:13). Fruitless Christians are selfish Christians. The five-fold ministry gifts are for the training and equipping of the Body so they can serve one another (Ephesians4:11). Serving is work, and we can do it as onto the Lord. There should be two to three people deep in each position on the "service teams" in the body at CWI. Jesus gave us the example of being a servant when He humbled Himself and took the place of a slave by washing the feet of His disciples (John 13:4-17). Take the lowliest job and serve each other. If you know these things, you are blessed (happy) if you do them. Want to be happy? Serve others. Colossians 2:23 and Ephesians 6:7 relate about serving enthusiastically and with a good attitude as to the Lord and not to men.

Offering Message: The Word is working mightily in me. Just as your soul prospers, which is mind renewal with the Word, so will you be in health (3 John 1, 2). We believe in our heart (our spirit) and confess with our mouth (our flesh). Deliverance does not give you mind-renewal. Thinking God's thoughts in our soul prospers us. We will work Your Word, Lord. Sermon Message: Political correctness is a cancer in this nation and is trying to shut down truth. It started in the church by our allowing political correctness, and what the church allows, grows. The earth is our place, and we have God's authority here. We must repent, walk in a love of truth, and be able to discern when and what to speak. We need to speak the truth in love. Ezekiel 3:10, 11 tell us to receive God's Word into our hearts and hear with our ears. Jesus said that he who comes, listens, and does is a wise man. Speaking truth does not depend on the other person's receptivity to it. Jesus is the truth. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. His Word gives us access to His presence (John 1:1-18). His Word is the doorway and leads us into God's presence. Let's love the Word. Let's love Jesus. Matthew 8:5-13. God sent His Word and healed them. His Word brings the Presence of God. His Word and His Presence are one.

Ephesians 6:10-13. Our root nature is to win and conquer. We are victorious. Be strong in the Lord, and do not be afraid of weakness or trial. The wiles of the devil are the strategies behind the events. Follow God's plan and destroy the devils. Satan hates you and your family. You do not wrestle with a helmet, shield, and sword. Paul is talking about standing. You will never have victory over Satan by wrestling. The battle is the Lord's, and the victory is mine. Stand in what Jesus has provided so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. This is an evil day for Ukraine. A couple years ago the Lord told Apostle Dale to run as fast as you can and preach as much as you can. Now he knows why: so he could stand in the evil day. Realize the season you are in, whether it is a time of resting or learning or whatever. Any time of preparation is not wasted time. You withstand. Recognize God is preparing you so you can withstand in the evil day. He will prepare you for loss or trial, so that you do not fall. Stand for the integrity of the Word and do not compromise. What are the principles before standing? Have we done all to stand? #1 Make sure there is no wall, no sin between you and God. Check if things are right with you and God and your brothers and sisters. If not, get your relationships right. Matthew 25 tells us to get our relationships right with our brothers and sisters before worshiping God. A broken relationship will allow the evil one to win. The devil cannot steal what you are willing to give. Strife is the biggest hindrance to your standing. Repent. Cut off strife and ask God to pardon you. Forgive the other person in the name of Jesus. #2 When there is a problem, give something away. For every need, there is a seed. You are a pipeline of God. God wants to flow through you, so give. Apostle Dale told of how he was blessed by taking a hitchhiker in the other direction when his gas tank was on empty. #3 Check on your monitors, your spiritual warning gauges. What are they? They are peace and joy. Let peace be your umpire. Ask "why?" when you lose your peace. Let peace rule and guide you. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Depression is a sin and is selfish. Concentrating on yourself is looking for happiness, not joy. You get joy in the presence of God. Joy keeps you going. You must express joy.

Jesus Christ is our Lord, Savior, and Master. We can share about our encounters with God with those in godless societies. We found God and had an encounter with Him. God encountered the whole world at Christmas. Paul says that God will perform the good work that He started in us (Philippians 1:6). He loves so many individuals that it encompasses the whole world. If we are not careful, we let the world's negativity get on us, but we are the victorious! 1 Corinthians 15:57 and 58 tell us that God GIVES us the victory through Jesus Christ. We do not have to fight through it. He wants to give us the victory. Romans says that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. The closer we get to the will of God, the easier it gets. If there is a struggle in your life, ask Him if you are doing His will, because that is where the victory is. He gives us to victory, and our part is to be steadfast and abounding in the work of the Lord. The Lord wants us to have a spirit of victory, a victorious consciousness. God wants to encounter and break into our lives. It is not doing penance. He gives us the victory. God comforts us when we go through things, so we comfort others with the victory that He gave us (2 Corinthians 1:3). He brought us through victoriously. We go through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23). We do not camp out there. We have the victory. You are going to win. It is a matter of the truth of God's Word. God always causes us to triumph in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14). He manifests the savor (the taste and smell) of Himself in us. We are the Bible that people read. We represent Jesus and His victory. Apostle Dale told of going to a Ukrainian hospital with the President's wife. This is where wounded soldiers are hospitalized. Two young men, both with missing legs on opposite sides, were in beds. Simultaneously both the President's wife and Apostle Dale started crying. The wounded soldiers, so excited and honored to have the President's wife visit them, cheered them up. We serve the Lord Jesus Christ! He is still the Captain of the host. The world has always been crazy, but the joy of the Lord is our strength. Now we have much to be thankful for (2 Corinthians 2:14), because God always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Apostle Dale told of a Bulgarian pastor who was chained in a dark prison cell with an evil man. He shared his food and the gospel with his cell mate and brought him to Christ. The authorities released them into the bright sunlight, causing them to be blinded, but the pastor kept sharing the gospel. God always causes us to triumph. You have to develop a victorious consciousness. It is easy to get into the barrage of negativity. The widow said she was preparing her and her son's last meal before they died, but the prophet told her to feed him first, and she and her son did not die. The victory is in Christ Jesus. Christmas is a hard time for those who lost someone. Be sensitive to them and remember you are the victorious ones. Come through. Turn from sadness and loss. Decide to let the lost ones go, and get on with life and rejoice.

There is a common thread in the Christmas story. Mary (Luke 1:26-38), Joseph (Matthew 1:20-23), the shepherds (Luke 2:15), Simeon (Luke 2:25-29), Anna, and the wise men (Matthew 2:2-6) all received a word from the Lord, either through an angel or through a prophet's word in Scripture. It is only the Word of the Lord that leads people to the Savior. We all need to be willing to follow after the Word of the Lord. What are we following after? Do we know what is word of the Lord? If we gain everything, but lose our soul, what does it profit us (Mark 8:36)? Think about what you are doing: How is it fulfilling the will of God for my life? Shane testified to his brother's life and how his premature death on Christmas Eve 2011 was due to what he was following after. All that God has provided for, His promises, protection, and provision, are available for us when we are in His will. Where do we look for help when we are in pain? We will be subject to whatever we yield to and follow. Repent and move from whatever you are subject to. Take an inventory of what you eat, speak, read, etc. We must be willing to judge ourselves. In Matthew 16:21-24 Peter did not look at what Jesus was saying would happen to Him from the perspective of His following God's will. God's will for your life is your cross to bear. Jesus is our life source. Because Jesus has the words of life, where else shall we go? If we follow another road, we are subject to whatever is on that road. Examine your life. Is there anything in your life that keeps you from being sold out to Jesus? Follow the Word of God for your life, the unique word for you. A key of understanding everything about a great relationship with God is what it means to have a covenant relationship. Develop your covenant relationship.

Text: Matthew 25:31-46. Salvation is not by works but by grace through faith. That is what divides the "sheep" and the "goats". However, God judges the sheep, those who have received Jesus, and rewards them according to their works. Those who do not believe are cursed.The sheep are the Body of Christ, the family of God. Jesus gave the five-fold ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13) to train the Body to do the work of the ministry. We are to do the work of the ministry. Romans 12:1 says that presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is our reasonable service. We are alive and have to choose to be set apart. When we take our place, the whole Body can function. The Amplified Bible says that being a living sacrifice is "spiritual worship". Ministry is service. It is like being a table waiter, waiting on someone. Service is spiritual worship. Ephesians 6:5-8 tells servants and slaves to be obedient as to Christ. When you sow spiritually to the Lord, you reap back. Galatians 6:10 says to do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith. We are to serve God with spiritual gifts, show honor to one another, and do His will (Romans 12:2-13). Jesus came to serve and for doing that God gave Him the highest position (Matthew 20:25-28). We should not be selfish (Galatians 5:13). We should grow and stop thinking about ourselves. To become great, you must first be a servant. Jesus served the greatest. A mark of maturity is when you stop thinking of yourself and serve others instead. Look out for the interests in others. He humbled Himself to the point of death. He is exalted to the right hand of God, and Jesus allows us to sit with Him. Our homework assignment is to read John 13:1-17.

Pastor Demeke Getahun and Wagayhu Ketema shared the vision for Ethiopia. John 9:7, the name "Siloam" means "sent". In 1993 the Lord told Pastor Demeke that he would remember the poor (Galatians 2:10). The vision that Pastor Demeke and Wagayhu have in their hearts is for establishing clinics in Muslim communities, address sanitation and hygiene needs, and teach about micro-financing, nutritional support, and development of their own resources. God has given Pastor Demeke a fifteen year vision (2016-2031). He was in a Muslim elementary school. He fled Ethiopia and went through a land where he is now going to go back to. Their approach will be to show the love of Jesus to the Muslim people. Their first clinic will be in the eastern part of Ethiopia, which is a 97.5% Muslim area. A member of their church has given them this land. They have started the non-profit process and have a couple board members, one of which is Pastor Syd. In March Pastor Demeke, Wagayhu, and the woman who donated the land will meet in Ethiopia with local church leaders. They will need a team to work with them, and they will study the local government. Pastor also wants to go back to a church that was established many years ago. Wagayhu is getting rehab training. A medical team is to come from here to Ethiopia. The children there need immunization treatments and instruction in nutrition. There is much TB, malaria, and polio. Also, the girls get married when they are eleven to thirteen years old and need help with pregnancy issues. Clean water supplies are a concern, too. Pastor Demeke and Wagayhu will go to show the love of Jesus Christ. Please pray and give.