A Participatory Service - Audio
This episode appears to contain dynamically inserted ads. Transcript timestamps may be approximate.
Good morning. I don't know if you got the good news there. Doug mentioned it briefly in his prayer at the end of the songs. You, Sif, not Arkani, the pastor that's listed in your bulletin, open your bulletin. On the right-hand side, at the very bottom, second from the bottom on our prayer requests, this has been on our bulletin for almost three years. It reads, "Provision of religious liberty in the world." We're praying for the provision of religious liberty in the world, in North Korea, Syria, Egypt, and especially Iran where you, Sif, not Arkani, faces execution for his beliefs and in parentheses there, September 8th, court date. Well, today is September 9th, and I'm very pleased to announce that yesterday, actually 48 hours ago, Iran released pastor you, Sif, not Arkani, and dropped all charges against him. Amen? Incredible. In fact, they didn't drop the charges. They considered it time served. They took what was the charge of speaking blasphemy against Islam or converting to Islam, and that carried with it a death sentence, and they converted the charge to proselytizing to Muslims, which carried with it a three-year sentence, which in fact, you Sif had actually already served those three years, and so he was released just 48 hours ago, and he was a symbol, a symbol of the persecuted church. Amen? And we looked at this man, we prayed for him for years, and now he's been released, and it is just, it's a moment where we should rejoice as a church, where we should just be thanking God for what a miraculous event this is. I mean, it wasn't even months ago that we thought he was surely, surely, days from execution, and God has intervened through the prayer of his saints, through political action, through the work of many, and not least your prayer, so I want to thank you and praise God for it. We also have good news, too. Our school, somebody brought Christian school, received the very distinct award. They received the National Blue Ribbon Award. Yes, very awesome. And just so you know, that is wildly rare. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private schools that are academically superior in their states. Nationally, 219 public schools, and only 50 private schools were honored with Blue Ribbons this year. So congratulations. In fact, if you are an employee, a teacher or on staff, an administration that's showing a book, would you please stand? We wanted to recognize you. Congratulations, Marilyn Floyd, God, it's a real big accomplishment. Congratulations. Let's all stand together, and let's pray, okay? Let's pray together. Father God, we just start this moment now, giving you praise and thanks. We cannot believe, Lord, well, actually we can, because you're the God of the impossible, that Pastor Yousif Nada Akani has been released, and God, you know, he has been a symbol of all those around the world who are persecuted because of their faith, whatever faith that might be. And Lord, now you've released this man and demonstrated that the prayers of your saints and the work of so many people and organizations has caught your ear. And Lord, you've seen fit to work his release. We thank you for it, God. We praise you. We pray now, Lord, that the Christian church would be bolstered by this, especially in Iran, that they would know assuredly that it is you who has done this, and that you would begin to deconstruct the powers of darkness in Iran and around the world that seek to hamper those who name the name of Jesus. I pray, God, that this would spark a revival in Iran and in so many places, and it would also God spark perseverance as those who are imprisoned, who are persecuted, who are in hostile environments because of their faith that they would look at this man and his story and know that they can stay the course. Thank you, God, for what you're doing. Even for the praises here locally with Stony Brook in this award, and we pray that this award would bring recognition to this school and that the school would then bring recognition to you. That's what we're all about here, Lord, it's just to look to you and bring you all the honor and all the glory. May that be done now as we carry out the rest of this gathering. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. If you have a Bible, open up to 1 Corinthians 14. 1 Corinthians 14. I would like everybody to turn there, and we're only going to be there briefly. In fact, I'm only going to be speaking briefly this morning, and I want to try something a little bit new and unique today. But turn,
Transcription truncated.
Illustrating a model of the early church, Pastor Neil called upon leaders in our congregation to share impromptu messages as they felt led.