John Bevere encourages Christians to be relentless in the face of adversity by standing on God’s grace.
Contributed By Jeremiah Tan
Bevere preached a Relentless message. CN PHOTO: ALBERT SOH.
Internationally renowned speaker, John Bevere, was at City Harvest Church last weekend on Nov. 12 and 13, to minister its weekend services. Bevere is also an author and a pastor at The Springs Church in Colorado Springs. He has written bestsellers such as The Bait Of Satan, Drawing Near, and Driven by Eternity. Also, Bevere, together with his wife, Lisa, is the founder of Messenger International, a ministry that uses his materials to teach and reach pastors and churches in over 200 nations.
At service, Bevere announced that his latest book, Relentless, was going to be released worldwide in December 2011. But CHC had the privilege of getting the books before launch—this drove crowds to Attributes bookstore, where he signed copies after service on Saturday.
Bevere is no stranger to CHC, having first visited the church in 1996 and many more times over the years. He was also this year’s speaker at the Festival of Praise in Singapore, where he preached to more than 15,000 people over a weekend. His love for the Word and his passion to minister to believers all around the world makes Bevere a well-loved preacher, widely regarded for his inspiring, faith-filled messages.
Last weekend in CHC, Bevere delivered a powerful sermon from Philippians 1:29, to explain a person’s mentality while experiencing hardships in life. Bevere exhorted the congregation to learn from Paul and to regard suffering as something “to delight in,” so that whatever comes out of it would be for the glory of God, and that a believer would recognize that there was work needed to be done in a his or her life.
According to Bevere, it is when we have experienced a paradigm shift—a radical change of thinking—that lives will begin to transform. Believers need to equip themselves in three ways to be victorious in their walk with God. Firstly, believers need to know that adversity and hardship will happen inevitably. Secondly, they have to know that there is strength from God to overcome hardships. Lastly, every believer needs to know that he or she will never lose—because of what God has already done through Christ.
Sarah Yeo, 47, a financial adviser, was deeply impacted by the message and felt faith arising in her heart to change her mindset about some areas in her life. “Pastor John Bevere has certainly shed light on a mental struggle that most people face. Everybody faces obstacles in their life. The sermon reminded us that God wants us to be more than conquerors and that Christians can truly reign over bad situations,” she shared.
Bevere then encouraged the congregation that it is only through hardship that believers grow spiritually stronger. “God will never allow anything to happen to us if He knows that we cannot handle the pressure,” explained Bevere.
The following day, Bevere built on the previous day’s sermon and preached on God’s gift of grace and its empowerment on the Church. Bevere enlightened the church on how grace is commonly mistaken as forgiveness alone. He emphasized that grace is empowerment—and that God gives grace to all His sons and daughters so that they can overcome whatever stands against them. The message moved many hearts in the service that day and members received strength and encouragement.
“To me, grace was always about forgiveness of sins. It never occurred to me that grace is God’s empowerment to do beyond what is natural,” commented Joseph Sian, a 19-year-old student. “I’ve learned now that through His grace, we can do things we normally would not have been able to do!”
Relentless retails at Attributes Bookstore for an exclusive price of S$29.44.
http://attributes.com.sg.
