Once God told His people: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Fatherhood is understanding. I heard a saying: It is easy to understand another person, it is difficult to understand him correctly. Fathers are able to reconcile with their children's weaknesses and to understand them. Fatherhood, as a whole, is love and acceptance, despite the shortcomings and faults. My pastor Ivan Danilovich Tryuhan had the greatest impact on my life: I could open my heart to him and was not afraid of all my shortcomings.

When we read in the Bible about people who have touched the heart of God, who have served the Lord and the people, we will not find a single one who would not have been committed to what he or she was doing. Each one of them sacrificed a lot and always found time for communion with God. These people followed his steps.

Today we will continue the discussion about the wonderful condition of growth in our faith that has a direct concern that we call “the authority.” We will continue our discussion which we have started under the general name “Faith and Authority”.Unfortunately, during the atheistic and communist propaganda and blood revolution in Russia, the idea of authority was vulgarized and became dirt in people’s minds. Authority was given to certain people, after which it was easier to deceive people.

Many believers are familiar with 2 Cor. 12:9 which says, “My grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” The life of the apostle Paul was not easy because his body was weak and his ministry was strenuous. But the Lord told him that His grace is sufficient. And the grace that the Lord gives to believers nowadays is sufficient, too. But sometimes our hearts do not see, hear or understand this precious grace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is really an amazing gift from eternity.

Why do so many believers experience weakness, feelings of despair and emptiness, as if they can’t go on? It is because they do not have the revelation that the Spirit gave Paul—a revelation of all the provisions God has made possible for those who would claim them by faith!

“The lessons from the book of prophet Jonah or the return ticket” — that was the title of minister Rustam Nasyrov’s sermon at the Sunday meeting of the church “Philadelphia” on 14 November 2010. “Do you consider yourselves to be happy?” — he asked the audience. He followed the life story of a “Hebrew who worshipped the Lord” who got a calling from his Lord to sail to Nineveh full of sin. Jonah as the majority of believers was a person who was ready to pay the price, but was it the full price? He disobeyed God and went to the opposite direction.