This sermon was given at the Sunday Service, March 1, 1998, at the Norwegian HQ, Oslo. Based on unofficial notes by Pastor Knut Holdhus.

Today there seem to be more children here than adults. In such a case, who should the preacher focus on, the adults or the children? If the message is geared towards the adults, the children won't understand. If you are just focusing on the children, the adults can't receive it. How can we make a good Sunday service? Many adults didn't come today, but the children did. We have to take time to reflect on this. If the children can understand our sermons, it's quite amazing.

The purpose of the service is to understand the message of the sermon. If you can't understand the sermon, you won't have a heart to come here. If you hear a message that can help you in your life, you will automatically come back. A sermon is different from a lecture in school. A sermon is able to reach our heart and because of that we are able to attain a higher spiritual level. A sermon doesn't just convey knowledge. If we can't get liberated or resurrected or are not reborn through the Sunday service, we can't easily attend it. Please, think about this.

When Father used to give sermons in Korea, he really prepared a long time. The late Rev Hyo Won Eu used to prepare his sermons by writing everything down. He had to prepare the whole week for the sermon. Father told him he should pray for three times as long time as his sermon would last. Christian ministers often prepare three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, for the Sunday service. They read the Bible and many books as well. Father is different! He has prayed so much for Heavenly Father, our members and all mankind. Many times Father spent all night in prayer in preparation for next day's sermon. Father used to take his place in front half an hour before the service began. Many times he would get his topic five minutes before the start. Then he would speak without any notes. During Sunday services with Father many would receive revelations from Heaven.

Father speaks according to what kind of audience he has. He adjusts his message when he sees who is present. Father is also able to point out who has prepared with prayer and other conditions for the Sunday service. Father would suddenly point at that person and ask him to say a representative prayer. During the prayer that person would sometimes go to the spirit world. Suddenly he would become quiet. We waited for five minutes for him to end his prayer, but nothing happened. Then Father would tell the person to stop the prayer. The person would regain his consciousness and would complete his prayer. Only Father would know that the person he had asked to pray had been in the spirit world during the prayer. That person had actually prepared with his whole heart and in deep prayer before attending the Sunday service. That is why those kind of phenomena would happen during the service.

Father took responsibility for the whole service and would himself be MC and give the sermon. Really he showed us how to hold Sunday services. Now he does not organize services any longer. The Church leader (minister) does it. He must therefore prepare in prayer for the whole service, but different persons may take responsibility for the prayers, the MC-role, the collection, music, etc. They should however all prepare with prayers. If they really prepare in advance, the congregation will change a lot. The atmosphere will change. Don't you think so? If we don't prepare for meeting Heavenly Father, we may get hurt instead of receiving grace. This is like a spiritual hospital. Here spiritual sickness may get cured. When Father would go up on the podium, he thought about curing people who in a sense are like criminals. He felt he was carrying out an operation. If his mind was not clear, he might kill the patients. If the doctor kills the patient, who should indemnify that? The doctor has to take responsibility.

If Father couldn't prepare well for the service, he would straight away start to repent. Father used to teach us that if the minister came late to the service, he should be very serious about his mistake. If 100 persons waited for him, and he was ten minutes late, 1000 minutes would be wasted. If an operation is scheduled to begin at 10 o'clock, and the surgeon is ten minutes late, the patient might already be dead. Please, consider this if you're late. If everyone has the right attitude, the atmosphere will be so different. In the Bible we read that when two are gathered in the name of God, our Heavenly Father will be there with them. If one or two in a congregation has such an attitude, the other members too can inherit that kind of spirit.

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