Date: 08-02-26
Preacher: Ps Bambang
Title: To Continue the Work of Jesus
To Continue the Work of Jesus
It wasn’t just a Sunday message but a testimony of a church and the man who founded it. Yes, I stated the church first and then the man because one could sense that Ps Bambang was careful he wasn’t robbing God of His glory when he was giving his message. For someone who started a church with 3 and to see it grow to 700, and especially in Indonesia, where he was asked to close down the church 3 times, one can understand Ps Bambang’s humility.
Still, he kept to the annual theme of the church and he mentioned that for a church to grow, it should be motivated by purpose and not need. That purpose should be undergirded by compassion. He said that whatever our roles are in the secular world, all of us should be soul winners.
Ps Bambang reminded the congregation that the accumulation of assets should not be our goals and shared a few anecdotes of the futility of being asset rich but soul poor. He said when we die, God is not interested in how much money we have, the kind of house we have lived in, the car we have driven but will ask us ‘what did you do with the salvation given to you?’ It is a solemn question.
Ps Bambang said nothing on earth is forever except souls. He acknowledged that soul winning is no easy task and we can be fearful of persecution and being ridiculed but we can all pray to God for compassion and more love to do this work. God’s compassion can help us deal with rejections.
He reiterated that the world is not a resting place for Christians as saving souls was the heartbeat of Jesus.
He then shared how a member of his church prayed for a woman who had blood issues for 17 years and she was healed. As a result of that healing testimony, 12 family members were saved. Also, an illiterate female member of his church asked for permission from a dead man’s family to pray for that dead man who had been dead for hours. He rose from the dead after being prayed for. These are powerful testimonies from members of his church and Ps Bambang can only acknowledge the hand of God behind all these.
Before he ended to chain the hands of the congregation in prayer, he reminded the members that Heaven doesn’t celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries and other events but when a soul is saved, the whole of Heaven rejoices.
