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Sunday Message · Fountain of Grace International · Pretoria North

Stop Waiting to Be Perfect Before You Matter

Most people underestimate what they can do and overestimate what they need before they start. This changes that.

Pastor Ricardo Zaal · Fountain of Grace International, Pretoria North

You feel like you're not ready yet, so you stay quiet.

Prefer reading? The full sermon notes are below.

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This message is for you if:

  • You feel stuck because you're not as talented as others
  • You keep waiting for the perfect moment to use your gifts
  • You know you have something to offer but fear holds you back
  • You focus on what you can't do instead of what you can

The Real Problem: You Know Your Weaknesses Better Than Your Strengths

Most of us are experts at listing what we can't do. You stutter, so you don't speak up. You're not as skilled as others, so you sit on the sidelines. You don't have a platform, so you think your voice doesn't matter. Meanwhile, the people around you are silently suffering because you're withholding the exact gift they need.

A man once told Pastor Ricardo he felt useless. His wife didn't respect him. His kids didn't listen. He was convinced he had nothing to offer. But when asked how long his wife had stuck by him, he said 14 years. His kids had never left. When the pastor asked what that meant, the man suddenly realized: his family stayed because he gave them something valuable. He just couldn't see it because he was too focused on what he lacked.

Being Yourself Is Not Selfish, It's How God Reaches Others

Jesus said in John 14:12 that those who believe in him will do greater works than he did. Not because they are more talented. Not because they waited until they were perfect. But because Christ is in them, and that power is greater than any weakness holding them back.

You don't have to be the best speaker to amplify Christ. You don't have to be the most skilled person in the room. You amplify him by being yourself in your unique position, with your unique gifts, right now. A woman who hated public speaking was the only one in her group who could speak the local language at a meeting with elderly residents. Her fear almost kept her silent. But in that moment, she was exactly who those people needed. Christ was amplified through her willingness to show up, stutter or not.

You Are Not Meant to Do It Alone

The Bible gives the example of Moses and Aaron. Moses had the message but couldn't speak. Aaron could speak but didn't have the message. Neither one could do it alone, but together they amplified what God was doing. Knowing your weakness is not a reason to hide, it is permission to ask for help.

Pastor Ricardo gave a message to someone who had gotten married the day before, but he didn't have the person's phone number. So he called someone who knew him. That message was amplified through collaboration. You don't need to be perfect at everything. You need to know what you are strong at, know what you are weak at, and build with others.

Fear Is Not About What's Happening Now

Fear always looks backward or forward, never at the present moment. When you see a snake, you're not afraid of the snake in front of you, you're afraid of what it might do. When you won't speak up, you're not reacting to what is happening right now, you're reacting to a past failure or a future judgment that hasn't arrived yet.

This is the chains that hold you. You're trading the present moment, where you have power, for a future that doesn't exist yet. Jesus said greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. The strength inside you right now is greater than any fear of what might happen. Stop bringing the past into the present. Act now, in this moment, with what you have.

Start Small, Take One Step, and Let Your Goal Come to You

You don't become a millionaire by thinking about being a millionaire. You become one by making a hundred, then doubling it. Then doubling that. Then doubling that. Each small action brings your goal closer to you. Sitting and planning gets you nowhere. Taking one step gets you somewhere.

When Pastor Ricardo began his journey as a speaker, he was terrified. He couldn't even stand on stage without sweating through his clothes. But he took one small step. Then another. Today he stands and speaks with confidence because he moved, not because he waited until he felt ready. You will never feel ready. The readiness comes after you start.

Let Your Unique Strengths Serve Others, Not Just Yourself

There is a difference between ambition and selfish ambition. Ambition that serves others, builds others, loves others, that ambition will take you somewhere. But ambition that is all about you will leave you empty. Jesus lived a life of love, service, and humility. He didn't do things to prove himself. He did them to serve.

Pastor Ricardo spent years carrying heavy speakers into a church hall before services, preparing everything alone, in the early morning hours. He wasn't doing it for the people who came and left. He was doing it for God. He prayed as he worked: God, lift me up like I lift this speaker. Put me down among people of influence. He turned his service into an offering. That is how you amplify Christ, not by forcing attention on yourself but by showing love and service to others.

"Your weaknesses are not reasons to wait, they are invitations to ask for help and let Christ's strength show up in your life."

- Pastor Ricardo Zaal

Key Takeaways

  1. Know Yourself and Own Your Unique Position You are gifted at something. Somewhere in your life, you are useful. Even if you have heard you are useless a thousand times, you are useful at something. Stop listing what you can't do and start asking: What am I good at? Where do I have influence right now, in this moment, with the people around me? That is your unique position. That is where Christ amplifies through you. Your location, your relationships, your specific gifts, these are not accidents. They are where you have more impact than anywhere else you think you should be.
  2. Take Action Before You Feel Ready Every excuse comes down to one thing: you have not taken action. Not yet. Not today. You are waiting for money, time, permission, confidence, skill. But action creates confidence, not the other way around. Take one step. Then another. The moment you move toward your goal, your goal moves toward you. You will never feel ready. The feeling of readiness comes after you have already begun. So begin now, with what you have, where you are.
  3. Serve Others, Not Your Own Reputation When you do things to build yourself up, you build a fragile tower. When you do things to serve others and serve God, you build something that lasts. Let your actions and reactions show love, humility, and service. Reflect the character of Christ. This is not weakness, it is the strongest thing you can do. Because when you are serving others, you are not thinking about whether you are good enough. You are thinking about whether they are helped. And in that shift, you become who you were always meant to be.

If you are in Pretoria North, come on a Sunday - these messages are preached live every week at Fountain of Grace International, 323 B Danie Theron Street.

Frequently Asked Questions

I don't feel good enough to do what I want to do. How do I get past that?

Stop measuring yourself against what you can't do. Ask yourself what you have already done that helped someone else. A man felt useless until he realized his family had stayed with him for 14 years. That was not useless, that was powerful. You are better than you think. The feeling of being ready comes after you start, not before. Take one action today toward what you want, even if it is small.

What if I don't know what my gifts are?

Your gifts are not hidden in some distant place. They are in the relationships you already have and the impact you already make. Think about the last time someone came to you for help, advice, or just to talk. What did you do for them? That is a clue to your gift. Ask others: What do you see in me that is strong? Listen. Your gifts are already at work in your life. You just need to recognize them and use them on purpose.

What does it mean to amplify Jesus?

To amplify Jesus means to make his work visible and felt in the world through your life. Jesus said those who believe in him will do greater works than he did, because he is going to be in many places at once, through many people. You amplify him by being yourself, using your unique gifts where you are right now, asking for help when you need it, and serving others with love, humility, and the strength that Christ gives you. Every act of kindness, every word of encouragement, every time you show up and be real, you amplify him.

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Fountain of Grace International meets every Sunday at 09:00 at 323 B Danie Theron Street, Pretoria North. Come as you are.

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The more you get confused, are you like your mother or are you like your father? And the more you become like your mother or your father, now you suddenly realize, I have a little bit of aunty as well. So now you say, eh, mother Rakhadi is a bit wild. I don't have the wild side but I do have the other side. So it's funny how as you grow old, you tend to ask yourself, where are you? Where are you in being you? But obviously it helps to know that we are all made in the image of God because that helps us all. You know Mamruti, sometimes when I was younger, I always used to wonder how my dad is like. When you don't grow up with your father, you always think, I wonder, how was my dad that time or how was I when I was younger? So it makes life confusing. I didn't even greet you, sorry, greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. My message today is about, let me give you the title and you will understand. The title is Amplified Jesus. Now you might be asking, how do I come up with a title like that? It's a confusing title. Do you mean that Jesus is not enough? Do you mean that Jesus is like small, small? Because to amplify Christ, you know like amplify Christ, what do I mean by that? I literally mean what the Bible said in John 14 and I'm going to read verse 12. Verse 12 says, Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do, ye do also, and greater works than this shall he do, because I go unto my father. So do I say Christ is not enough and he needs amplification or what does it mean? It has nothing to do with that, but it has everything to do with us sometimes not knowing our own identity. And when you don't know your own identity, you tend to, how do you say, you tend to, they call it, when you're not confident, what is the other word for not confident? Low self, yes, that's the one. So you tend to have a lower self-esteem because of you not having the confidence in who you are. You know, when I was younger, I didn't have confidence because I was stuttering. You know stutter is the person that speaks like, and then anytime when you speak, you're not sounding confident. So it makes people to put words in your mouth. I want to say something like, I'm, you know, but then they start adding whatever you're trying to say. And that is a difficult one. I'm looking at my kids most of the time and looking at them makes me to realize I've done this world so wrong by not being myself all along. You know, you would hold the world from so much that you can give because of low self-esteem. You can give so much, but because of your lower self-esteem, you would help them all along from what you have. So you would help them from what you have. And what I mean by this, you know, when you are an intercessor, intercessors have a tendency of praying for somebody in their closets. Intercessory is not about who can pray the loudest and who can pray the most and who can pray. You know, intercessors is background things. Do you call it? It's people that in the background pray for somebody without even letting the person know that you are praying for them. That is an intercessor. But when you are a preacher, how would you preach in the background? How do you preach? How does it work for somebody that is a preacher to now, I don't know how I can make the example, to now sit in the audience and preaching for the person next to him. You know, you know what I'm saying. So you would hold the message that was supposed to go out. And that is why I said, Amplified Christ is my is the message that the message is entitled, Amplified Christ. And you might be saying, but Christ is strong enough or or already enough. But when Christ says these words that greater things, greater works than these shall he do, because I go on to my father. But it meant that at the time of his amount of years being on the world, he have done things, but he couldn't reach, let's say, Antarctica for argument's sake at that time, he couldn't reach them. And because he knows that the world will be such a broad that everybody will be preaching or teaching or doing his works everywhere. And that is why I said, Amplified Christ. So what are we doing today? Let me let me explain what we should do. So what are we doing to amplify Christ is by number one, being yourself. Now, how do you be yourself in a world that so much is expected from you? And the nicest thing about it is that even though there's so much things that is expected from you, you are still your unique person, a unique person. When I was when I was younger, I couldn't say to anybody what's in my mind. I had such a low self-esteem that whenever I think that I have a great idea, I wouldn't share it with people because of my lower self-esteem. Even though I could I could motivate somebody so nicely, but because of my low self-esteem, I couldn't do it. And today, being yourself is one of the best reasons God has chose you to be where you are. God has chose you to be where you are. And do you know why he chose you to be where you are? It's because of where you are, you have more impact than where you want to be or where you are going. Where you want to be is still a distant place. But where you are right now is not distant. There's no distance in where you are. There's no need to wait for tomorrow. So you can do with what you have at the moment. And by doing what you have at the moment, it amplified Christ. Because remember when the Bible says, let me go to the scripture, I want to give you a scripture, Romans 12, Romans 12 from verse 6. We have different gifts according to the grace given to us. It's our gift, if your gift, I mean, is prophecy in proportion to your faith. If it's serving, serve. If it's teaching, teach. If it's encouraging, encourage. If it's contributing to the needs of others, contribute generously. If it's leadership, lead diligently. If it's showing mercy, do so cheerfully. So how does that amplify others? I mean, amplify Christ. But I mean, because by doing that, you are actually showing a amplification of what Christ has put in you. And if I can make an example for argument's sake, I might be an eloquent speaker. And maybe you are not somebody who can speak nicely or you're not confident to speak to others. By you giving me the message to say what Christ has said in you. I amplify Christ through what I said, but the message I didn't get from Christ, I got it from you. So through the two of us, it amplified Christ. I, for argument's sake, will not be able to go to the president and say to the president, look, Mr. President, something is wrong in this country and we need to do something. But somebody who's working closely to the president and daily speak to the president have that kind of impact. Now you can convey the message to that person and through that person speaking to the president, amplifying Christ, it makes it easier. So use your unique gifts to do that. Because if you want to amplify Christ, you have to be yourself. How to amplify Christ also is as individual as you are. Know that you have shortcomings. Know that you have shortcomings as individual as you are. Meaning to say that as you are a person, knowing that I can't speak. There's this two I'm thinking now in the Bible. Why I can't get to the name? I'm trying to get to the name now. Why is this guy in the Bible? Yes, yes, yes. It's Moses and Aaron. No, Moses and Aaron was the one. Which one is which one? The one was the stutterer couldn't speak and the other one was used to speak. Aaron was the one that can speak for Moses. Yes, for somehow I just got confused now. So if Moses was a person that could have spoken at that time, he wouldn't have needed Aaron. So it makes you, although you are uniquely yourself, you should know your shortcomings and then use your shortcomings by asking others for help. And that is how we amplify Christ. That is how we do what we do best by knowing that I am short of this, but I know somebody who can do better in that. So that is how you amplify Christ by being uniquely yourself. Number one. And number two is by making sure that even though you know that you are uniquely yourself, you need others as well to amplify Christ. And then as you do that, how would you how would you amplify Christ? You cannot amplify Christ if you don't know yourself. I mean, some of us has never spoken in front of people. No, not in their entire life. If they want to speak, it's like it will be the first time. I remember some years ago, my wife is not a person that likes to speak in front of people. She just doesn't like it. It's not that she can't. It's just that she doesn't like it. That's it. Period. So some years ago, it happened that they were going as a as a group of women. And as they went, so they went to this meeting. So when they went to this meeting, they realized that there was a language barrier. And you know who was the one, the only one who could speak because of language barrier. She was the only one that could speak in a woman's meeting where they went to. I think they went to see that it was the old age, old age home. Yeah. Yeah. The one that is just close by us. So if she were not the one that was present at that moment, there would have been a problem that Christ wouldn't have been seen at that time. You understand? So it makes it, although she doesn't know at that time that she can actually speak because she is, you know, how how faith comes. Faith comes by hearing and by hearing the word of God. That's how your faith get built. Now, when she read the Bible, she will read the Bible and she will make her own understanding of what the Bible says. But because she doesn't have a platform where she keeps on saying or she doesn't like to say to do it, it doesn't mean that it's not there. It just mean it just needs that opportunity once that where there's a language barrier, now you can come in and speak. You understand? So. You need to, although you don't need to know yourself, sometimes you just need to also take a leap of faith. That leap, just a little bit leap. The leap sometimes makes us better people. And I will tell you why I'm saying this. I had a conversation with my with my daughter. And for some reason, I found that she was not feeling as if she is. What do you say? That's what I'm trying to. She didn't feel like she could do what I was asking. I can't remember what it was exactly. But let me make an example. She can't play. Maybe let's say Nepal. She can't play netball like the others. But do you know that netball is a is a is a team sport? Some people has been doing netball from the day when they were like two years. They took a ball, throw it in the net, you know, like from two years. And some of us only can do it from when we are grown up, because now we get exposed to it. But because of the people that is so good in doing it, like in this case, you find she can play. Hello. So so now the others can play better netball than her. But because of they playing better, she feel like I'm not good enough to play. But do you know that when you take the netball and somebody pass you the ball, you don't have to have skills just to take the ball and throw it, pass it to somebody. So you become the middleman from here to here to the balls. So when you're the middleman, it helps that this person doesn't have to throw the ball from there to the person that stands closer to the ball. Because once you stand closer to the ball, you might miss and the ball is gone. But to make the distance shorter, you throw to the person that is closer to you. And you not being that best of netball players can still make an impact in the game by catching the ball and just giving it to somebody else. So you're a team player, although you're not the best player, but you are needed in the game to furl the gaps. So what I'm trying to say here is when my daughter was saying to me, but I'm not better at this and that and I start to explain to her, look, you are this middleman that helps the others. Without you, the game wouldn't have been a game. But this was not, I have not made the example of the netball, but it was in something else which I can't remember at this time what we were speaking about. But just to give you an idea what I mean by uniquely yourself, but still helping others. And then as time goes on, you will realize that things that you couldn't do before, you now do better. Like I was the one that I could never speak in front of people. And I can tell you now, I knew I had a message. I knew it from when I was younger. I knew I had a message. I knew I can make an impact in others' lives. Because when I speak to my friends, I will always encourage them. I will always make them feel like, wow, you can do it. And although I couldn't speak up in front of people, I still remember in standard six, we call it standard, I think it's grade eight. I still remember we were in grade eight. And we were having this concert. Now, the concert was all about Snow White and the dwarfs. So it was all about that. And you know what was my work? My work was only there to stand, not say a word, just pick up Snow White as she is in the casket, go and put her down. That's it. That was my job. I didn't have, I don't have to say a word. I don't even have to do anything. All I do is when once it's time, I will stand there the whole time. And when they go this way, I go that way. When they go that way, I go that way. When they go there, I go there. That was my job. But then it is a time where we then have to take Snow White when she ate the apple and she's now gone. We now had to go and pick her up. And as we pick her up, that was my job. But lo and behold, I got such a migraine of stress that night. I was out of it to sweat as I was just about to go on the stage because I was so afraid. I was, you know, when you want to move, but you can't because of fear. And that night, I even, and I remember we were still with Mrs. Lyall. Now Mrs. Lyall was our English teacher, and she was the one that came to me and gave me some headache tablets. And she was the one that calmed me down. And she was the one that said, even your hands are wet of sweating. That's how fearful I was. But when you're looking at me today and looking at this great eight or standard six guy, it's totally two different people. The way I grew in maturity, knowing that even though I stand on a stage, nobody can do me anything except my own fears of making a mistake. Because my own fears of making a mistake is what made me from the beginning never to want to go on stage. The identity that you have in Christ, it's all about you making sure that you know you're not standing on your own. But as the Bible says, he that is greater within me than either is in the world. And once you make that realization, so how do you amplify Jesus? Is know yourself, knowing that you're not strong enough, but still making sure that even though you know yourself, even though you make use of others, you still need to know that you are not standing on your own ability. But the Christ that is within you is the one that will help you to go further. Christ in you, he that is within me, is greater than he that is in the world. So when you fear things, it becomes all about you. It's all about you. Because the fear that you put in, fear can never be a, do you call it a feeling? Fear is a feeling. Okay, doesn't matter. Whatever fear is, it's what fear is. But fear is the being afraid of what is still to come. That is what fear is. You can never feel something in the present. You can feel it. But once you have taken that thing away, the fear is gone. Let me make an example. When you see a snake, it's the fear of what if the snake bites me? It's a future thing. It has not happened, but you're already afraid. So that is fear. Fear is something that I can say to you. Most people fear things that has not happened. And that makes them numb in where they are. And therefore, when you fear, you will always have that thing of thinking of the future, bringing the past to the now. So it's about what happened in the past, what is about to happen in the future, and you're bringing it to now. It has nothing to do with what's happening now. It's such a sad thing. It's really something that makes me worried. You know that when you run from a bear, it's always being afraid of what the bear will do to you. It's not about even though you can face the bear, it's not about what's happening now. It's what ought to happen. So being uniquely yourself, start looking at ways to take out the fear of the future with what happened in the past. Because normally what happened then, when you fear a snake, you have heard somebody was bit by a snake before. You have heard. It's all about what happened in the past. It has nothing to do with what is now. What if you are that strong that you can just take the snake like this and snap the head off? What if you can do that? Easy, you can do it. But because somebody was bitten by a snake before, now you're afraid. So let's talk about how do you amplify Christ? It's by being where others can't be. Do you know I can't be the yellow-veiled? I can't be in the whole world. But it means that if you take a car today and you drive to Jobak, you are in Jobak. I can give you a message and say, look, God is telling me, go there. In fact, God gave me a message yesterday to somebody. I don't know if you've seen the... Somebody got married yesterday. Wow. Seek we got. Okay, but the guy got married yesterday in the art. God gave me a message to this guy. I don't have his phone number. I don't have his phone number. But not having his phone number didn't allow me to call him. But do you know I have somebody's phone number that is close to him. So I can give that person a call. Amplify Christ through somebody. And that is why it's very important to understand that we are not an island. Man is not an island. Although we can stand alone, but we can't survive alone. Although I can stand alone and brag about me being alone, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be forever be like that. Now, some of us are still searching our identity. And once you are searching, do you know that you already have an identity? Somewhere in your life, you are good at something. It doesn't matter who you are. You can be the most useless person that people are calling you. But you are useful with something. You are useful with something. I was speaking to somebody one day. We call it counselling. I counselled somebody. And as I counselled the person, the person felt useless. I can't satisfy my wife. My kids doesn't like me. You know, like you gave all the reasons, everything, like what you can't do. The only thing I ask you, OK, now tell me for how long have you been together with your wife? He told me, I think it was about 15 or 14 years, somewhere around there. I said, OK, so you've been with her 14 years, good. And how old is your children? The children was probably 10 and 11, somewhere around there. And then I asked him, now tell me, with all this 15 or 14 years that you've been together, you being the useless one, did they ever leave you? Did they run away? He said, no, they stick by me ever since. So they stood by you ever since. Does it mean that you are useless? For a useless person, they would have left you long ago. What makes you that they can still stick with you? And he started, he gave it. And the way he gave me so much positive things, I said to him, oh, OK, so these things has never come up to you before. It's only now that I'm asking you. Now suddenly you realize, ah, hey, mother, I was really such a good person to these people. That is why they never left me. And I said, you see what happened is you focusing on what you don't have or what is negative in your life and not focusing on your strengths. You're focusing more on your weaknesses than what you focus on your strength. And your weaknesses is unfortunately the one that made you to stand where you are at this moment. Christ said it, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me. He said, he said, he said, who has bigger strength than me? No, he doesn't say that. Did he say, he that can speak better than me? No, he didn't even say that. He said, did he say, he that can have million rent in the bank? Ah, next, next, next. He doesn't say anything about those things that you think will make a difference in life. He didn't say anything about you who's not eloquently in English. He has never spoke about those things. He said, believeth. So what is the criteria is to believe. The works that I do, now what kind of works did he do? He healed the sick. So does it mean you can't, that is the type of work he was doing. Does it mean you can't heal the sick? Because he said, he said, the works that I do, shall he do also. Let's talk about, what's this thing, I'm not getting the name, deliverance. Let's talk about deliverance. Does it mean that I can't deliver somebody who has been demon possessed? Because he said, ye do also. You remember that the day when Christ was talking, he was talking about somebody who had a legion of demons in him. Is it him or her, it doesn't matter, tell the person. So this person was demon possessed. And do you think Christ went there and says, I see you have a lot of demons here. And he left. No he didn't. He checked, he said, hey bro, how many of you are there? He didn't even speak to the person itself. He spoke to the insides. And when he spoke to the insides he said, hey man, how many are you? And then when the guy said, ah, we are so and so and so much. So when you get confronted by demons, should you be afraid of them? No. Because greater works than he did, you will do. You will not be afraid of them. You will speak to them and ask them, Everest, how many of you are you know? Oh, so you are a lot. You are millions. The thousands and the thousands. And then when you hear thousands or millions, let me go. These guys will two-feet me. They will break my bones. It has nothing to do with that. It's about you knowing who you are in Christ. That once there's a demon, you tell them, although you are millions, I have somebody who is greater than you. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. You, you are in the world now at this moment. So let me prove to you how great is my God. Get out of there. And then you will see. It happens. Greater works than he shall he do. Because I go unto my Father. Now, when he went to his father, Jesus, who went to his father, he said that the work didn't stop. Now I'm gone. I can't be. I can't still be on earth and do things. Who must do it for me? It's yourself. So when you take this opportunity and making sure that, number one, to amplify Christ is to make sure that you know your unique self. To amplify Christ is to know that even though you are uniquely yourself, you still have to to know that you need others in amplifying Christ. And then as you amplify Christ in knowing that you need others, it's still you need to know that it's not yourself who has all the strength, but the one that is within you is greater. So you're not doing things on your own strength. You have somebody that is within you who is Christ. The Christ that is in you can help you do these things. And number four, how to amplify Christ is to do the things, not wait for others to do it. I love when people say to me, look, I would like to do one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, ten. Now you get all these things. I would love to do that. Don't I ask you, you know, I'm doing coaching, so I'm doing coaching as well. So in coaching, you ask the questions like one of the questions that you ask in a coaching session. One of the questions you ask in a coaching session. What is stopping you from being where you want to be? And the question will always be, I mean, the answer is one of the following answers. I don't have money. I don't have time. You know, like it's all the excuses to be where you want to be. But it's never about the reason why I'm not there. I have not taken the action. It doesn't, it's never, never, never have that answer comes because I have not taken any action towards it. It will always be about the other excuses. And when you ask, OK, so let's say I want to become a millionaire. Now, being a millionaire, so being a millionaire is about you making a hundred rent. And make that a hundred rent, a two hundred rent. And make that two hundred rent, a four hundred rent. And make that four hundred, eight hundred. OK, but you get the point. So if you want to become a million, a millionaire, it's not about job. It is not about making the money, eat the money. It's about doubling up the money. So how do you become a millionaire is double up what you have. You know, there was there was a guy. What's this guy? My name is Kim Chuan. What's Kim Chuan's guy's name again? Kulichana. Kulichana. Yeah. First you make a million. Then you make first you make a hundred. Then you make a thousand. And then you make a hundred thousand. And then do you know the song I'm talking about? You've heard that song before. That is such a nice song that when the way he speaks about it, he says it starts with making a hundred, then a thousand, then a hundred thousand. Before you get to know it, you are a millionaire. Million, whatever. For some reason, I can't get to the song now. But it's all about starting to do something. It has nothing to do with all the thinking and the planning. Planning can get you everywhere. But sitting on your ass and plan will get you nowhere. The plan is to get a TV. How do you get a TV? Is by going out and look for it so long. There's no money. At first there's no money. But do you know that you just taking a step to go and look so long, which TV will be a better TV? Already there's an action towards your goal. Once you put an action towards your goal, your goal is closer towards you. Your goal is closer towards you. And you know that for us to amplify Christ is to know that you cannot do anything out of selfish ambition. Not selfish ambition. I used two wrong words. Let me rather say, ambition will get you somewhere. But if it's all about yourself, it will not get you there. Ambition will get you there once the ambition had to do with something for others. Like what I mean by this, let me make an example. What I mean by this, for everybody to know Christ is our mission. Mission or vision? I don't know. Okay, but it doesn't matter. Mission. Our mission is to go and make disciples of men. That's what we are all here for as Christians. We are here to go and make more Christians. But what is the reason to get more Christians? Is to make sure that everybody goes to heaven. Now when you look at everybody goes to heaven, the plan for everybody goes to heaven has nothing to do with you. It has to do with others. And that is why I call it selfish ambition. But your ambition should be all about others. You know, there's a nice example. Because Jesus lived a life of love. He was literally, whatever he did was out of love. And he did it also out of service. And not just service, but he had some sort of humility in doing things. He was the humility. And for us we also need to have these kind of characteristics. Character, your character. So your character needs to be like Christ. If I go to Philippians 2. Let's read together Philippians 2 and I'm going to read verse 3. I mean from verse 3. Philippians 2 verse 3 says this. Let nothing be done through strife and vainglory. But in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Then it goes on. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ. You see what it says there. Look not to every man. I mean look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ. Who being in the form of God thought of not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. And was made in the likeness of men. So he took on the form of servant. So greater things we will do than what he did. So we will be more of a servant to others than he was a servant. And if you are more of a servant the things I want only for myself is what makes a difference. Non-stoping my message here by saying to you search your identity. Search for where you are strong at. Search for the things that you are best at. You are a great deliverance minister. Don't go look for how to beat up Christians. You know deliverance ministers. You know what they do. If the devil starts to hit you, you understand. You know so many deliverance ministers they don't have patience. They want the demon to come out quickly and if it doesn't come out quickly and the demon start, they don't start asking questions like Christ did. They just front up the same person that doesn't, is nothing to do with the demon. It's the demon within the person. So it's best to be the best deliverance minister not the best Mike Tyson. You know God is putting so many things in my head weighing them. And as it goes in my head I'm trying to move away from saying it harshly. But the way he said it I feel like I'm not being honest. Stop being useless in your own mind. Because you know that your own mind is already putting things there when you are higher. You know like our minds are too small. There's something God is saying that when you are having a human mindset you will never amplify Christ. Because human mindsets will only take you where you've been and will never take you where you're heading. I am used to how my father was treating my mother. I'm used to that thing. So whenever I get a woman I need to hit. You need to bring the glass there. I'm used to that thing. Because you are so used to the past where your father was treating your mother so badly. Now you want to do the same thing. And there's more to love. Because love does not allow you to abuse. Christ has not abused us in any way. The way he loved us he made us to understand that whenever I come in contact with somebody even though they gave hate I will still prove love to them. And one fire killing with another fire is going to make a bigger fire. It's no use. Let us reflect the character of Christ. Love, humility and service. What is service? Customer service. You don't understand, it's not customer service. Customer service is something different. Service is I ought to look at my sister, my brother, they are higher than me. It doesn't mean that you must make them to stand on your head and do things to you as if they... No, no, no, it's nothing. When somebody tells you, hey my friend, come here, pick up this table. And you can see the table is too big for your strength. You shouldn't be, let me take this because I know if I don't take it this one is going to give me a warm clap. No, no, no, no, it's about saying, sorry sir, I would love to take this table but my problem is this table, the strength I have is not going to be enough. I can help you. Let's take it together. You see, it proves that although you are a servant, you are not a servant to walk on. You are not a doormat. You are not a carpet to be trimmed on. You are still a servant that would love to help but only up to your ability to help. I have seen so many times. Bishop, you know I was staying in River Lee and while I was staying there I served in a church. And in this church, it's like where we are now, the church is, they were the mosques, the new mosques. That's how close I was to the church. And being that close, it was always nice for me because I love spending time with God to go to church and just sit in church for a whole day. But because I do that and while I'm there, I will think, something is wrong here. Then I fix, something is wrong here and I fix. So I started doing that kind of things as a service to the church. And when it's Sunday mornings or Friday, Wednesday afternoons, doesn't matter, but before church, I would take from here, our storage place was from here to the house across the street. So that's about 500 meters, 500 or 600 meters, but it's a distance. It's almost 500, 600, 700 meters away. I would take a big speaker. You know a speaker is, what is that thing? Baseband. Baseband is heavy. Bishop, baseband is heavy. I would take that baseband alone. I will tilt it a bit, go down, put it on my shoulder. And as it's on my shoulder, I will lift it and I will walk with it. That's 700 meters. Put it inside. When I come inside the church, I can't put it down on the floor. It's too heavy. So I had to put it on the chair and we had that, how do you call that? Let's say, but it was strong chairs. So we had that strong chairs in church. So I will come there and as I get there, I will be so tired. Then I put it down. And when I put it down, it will sit on the chair until I slide it off the chair and I will slide it from there to where it comes. But it was too heavy. And I will be doing this thing in the morning before church starts. I will put the sound up. So by the time when everybody comes, everything is done. Nobody has helped me as heavy as the speakers. I will put them on top, put them, place them, keyboards, everything. Now the reason why you had to take this out, because it was a hall for children to write their exams and whatever. So it was a school hall and you still had to take out the... What is this? Let's say chairs. You see the school chairs. You have most of the chair. The chair, I mean. And then there's something that you sit on and you had to write on. So I had to take out all those and it was about 30, 40 of them. So you first take out that thing, put it outside, put them there. Then you bring in the sound, put them there. So this was a service that I've done. And lo and behold, I have not asked once for somebody to help me. Because to me, it was a job that God has given me to do. I always say I want it to be about you, God. I'm doing it for you. I'm not doing it for any of these people that comes in here, come and sit the chair warm. Once they're done sitting the chair warm, they go home. They don't even care how is this thing going to be put away. They just go. And to me, it has never had to do about those people. It always had to do about God. And I always prayed as I was doing that, God, as I lift this speaker, lift me up. As I put down this speaker, put me down into places where there's group. Put me down into places where somebody see my potential. So I used to do all those spiritual, you call it direction, let's call it direction, whatever. So as I'm putting up, taking up the speaker, lift me up like I lift up the speaker so that everybody can see me. When I put down the speaker, put me down into people that are so famous. When they see me, they must think, hey, I need this guy some way. And these are how I used to do it because I didn't want anybody to do it because that is how I can get my blessing. If somebody does it, it takes a blessing away from me. And that is why I never ask anybody to do it. And when you're looking at it that way, you're looking at it as a servant and not as a master that would like to move this, take it from there, take it there. And by having it that way, you get a blessing that is better than others. And so as I'm closing on this message, I need you to understand that by you being uniquely yourself is the only way you can amplify Christ. It's the only way you can amplify Christ. Because if I was, let me say, you know there's a scripture, let me read the scripture for you. Roman six verse four says that we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Newness of life doesn't mean that I was a good delegator, somebody who can delegate things. It doesn't mean now I must take away those delegation and do it myself. I must still delegate to others. When I say newness of life, I get angry when people doesn't do the things the way it's right. So I mustn't be still coming in church and not get angry when things are not done rightly. You understand? When you when you are in the world and things is not correct and you get angry for things that is not right. Now you're coming in church. Now you say, I'm a new creation. I must not get angry. I must not get angry. I must not get angry. But the anger is biting you inside for people that do things wrongly. Now you say the newness of life has taken away the anger from me. And then when you read the Bible, when they were selling, Christ was even kicking tables. You know what Jesus did? He took a kata number one, kicked that. He threw those tables. He said, this is not a place of gambling. So he got angry. And you thinking that my old behavior, I must not be like that. Get angry for people that doesn't do Christ things correctly. Therefore, if anybody is in Christ is a new creation. Anybody who's in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone. The new is here. Yes, but it doesn't mean the old you as a character that has been serving you in being better must be taken out. It means that that same character that you have has become new for you to be a better person, to better amplifying Christ. I hope this message doesn't come out wrongly. Let me let me make an example for you being Big John Deade or Mike Tyson in the world. Do you know that when you're coming to Christ, you don't tell the devil, hey, my devil, you, you are a liar. Mia, just get out of here. When you are Mike Tyson in the world, tell the devil, Debra, come, let's show you. You know, so you still have that same character, but using it into the right direction, not into human beings, not where you use it in where you use it in the pub. Now you want to come and use it in the in the church and kick people. No use that now on the devil. So I hope this message get through how to be amplifying Christ in your life. When you are your uniquely yourself is how you can be amplified. Christ is how you can amplify Christ. And I leave it at this. I want you to to to to understand this. You need to always dedicate time to prayer and study and deepen your understanding of Christ. Because once you study and you pray, it's how Christ is dusting off your personality, you know, your unique self. Because when once you see Christ is how you can see who you are. You find your identity in Christ and when you do things, reflect on your strengths and your patience. I cannot be Bishop. Do you know where I come from? Somebody who's who's who's a Christian, they don't allow you to play soccer. This is from the devil. Yeah, that's what they say. It takes you out of the church. That's what they say. So your passion being a soccer player. You can't put the ship. Jesus loves you and put the ship. And then when you once you score the goal, you lift it up. You can't do that. It's not Christ like. So imagine your passion. You you love soccer with your whole heart. Now that you have given your life to Christ soccer. It also killed with Christ. So discover your gifts because that you can now use your your your soccer gift to pull more people to Christ. You know, but you also need to understand you need to love Christ like. Let your let your action or reactions. Did you hear I said action and reaction? I didn't say just action. Let your action be Christ like that shows love. It shows humility and it shows service. Because when I react, I normally react. What did you say? What did you say about my mother? My mother's what? Christ says, turn the left cheek and then the right cheek. Give the left and the right. But then you say, my mother's who? Your mother hooters also. It's not being Christ like. It's not showing love. It's fighting hate with hate. Instead of fighting hate with love. That's being Christ like. But as you embark on this journey, going through life and seeking your own specific self, I need you to listen to the voice of God. And always when he's always telling you your strengths. What it is. And remember in all this, you're never alone. The red devils, you never walk alone. Who's that guy? Yeah, Liverpool, you never walk alone. If I look at them, I'm like, you never walk alone. But wait till the coach fires you. Then you walk alone. Then I'm like, ah, when Christ said, I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you. Never leave you, nor will I forsake you. Go forth in confidence. Knowing that as you use your own unique talents, take a cloth and rub it. Like as you rub it from a genie of a lamp. You know, when the genie of the lamp is rubbed, the genie that is within you, let it comes out and prove to you that you are stronger than what you are thinking that you are. You're better than what you're thinking you are. You are greater than what you're thinking you are. You are such a blessing to others where you think that you are a curse. You're such a unique person that people love. But because of you focusing on your bed, you think they hate you. But today, as we are speaking, go forth and be confident in the identity that Christ has given you as a unique person. As a unique person, make an impact where you go. Not just a normal impact, but the lasting impact that people will always say, you know, the last time when this guy came to say something to me, even 20 years from now, I still remember that day. He just said to me, God loves you. God loves you. And that was such a great thing in my life that it changed my entire being. Be uniquely yourself. Heavenly Father, as we are uniquely ourselves, being who we are, please amplify yourself in our lives so that people can see that whoever we are, we are Christ-like. And whoever we are, we are doing what you have asked us to do because you said greater works we will do than what you have done. And everywhere we go where you have not set your foot on, let us be the one that prove that Christ is all over, that Christ has done it all for us. And therefore, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as we go out there and prove that you are Christ, and prove that you are in our lives, let us be the one that stands as the light that is set in a dark place. Let us stand as the salt that we set where there's people that don't even know the salt of this earth that is you, my Christ. Jesus, I pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, wherever we go, Father God, let our lamps not be put under the table, but put above so that everybody can see you in our lives. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as we go through this week, let this week prove that you are definitely the one that has set us out apart from others where we are uniquely made in your image, the image of God, and prove that that image is the one that has set us apart from others, that has anointed us apart from others. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen and amen. Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us all until Jesus comes. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen and amen. Amen. Amen.
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