AUSTRALIAN GOSPEL CHURCHES

• True to the Faith!
• True to the Commands!
• True to the Spirit!

Our Vision is to preach, teach and heal as demonstrated by Jesus Christ with emphasis on Salvation, Healing and Deliverance.
Our Mission is to raise up Gospel Churches and Ministers that seek to continue the vision set forth by Jesus Christ and the Apostles.
Our Mandate is to always be...True to the Faith. True to the Commands. True to the Spirit.

The most fundamental importance of any leader in the kingdom of God is that you become a part of the BIG PICTURE and the BIG PICTURE is the GREAT COMMISSION of our Lord Jesus Christ filtered through the VISION of your Local Church.

An AGC Minister must be committed to first and foremost to exactly what Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to do. This is our philosophy. It's what we believe our fellowship stands for.

It is imperative that we are focused on EXACTLY what Jesus commanded us to do FIRST and FOREMOST. We must be champions of the Gospel taught in the scriptures.

Everything else we do must compliment, enhance and support the preaching of the full Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is Church leadership that gets things done and then there is Gospel leadership which is focused on the BIG PICTURE.

Gospel leadership is focused primarily on 3 very important things - are you ready?

• SALVATION
• HEALING
• DELIVERANCE

We can be doing so many things in the Kingdom of God that are noble, constructive and necessary but if we are not primarily focused on S.H.D then everything else is simply secondary or I would go so far as to say meaningless in the light of the GREAT COMMISSION.

I have already said that we must all become a part of the BIG PICTURE and the BIG PICTURE is the GREAT COMMISSION of our Lord Jesus Christ filtered through the VISION of your Local Church.

So what is the GREAT COMMISSION? The Great Commission is based on MATTHEW 28:18-20 and MARK 16:15-20.

MATTHEW 28:18-20
18. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20. teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

MARK 16:15-18
15. And He said to them Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16. He who believes and is baptised will be saved but he who does not believe will be condemned.
17. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues.
18. they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Now notice what verse MARK 16:19-20 says...
19. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
20. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Clearly we see Jesus instructing His disciples to be primarily focused on the following...

1. PREACHING THE GOSPEL
2. BAPTISING IN WATER
3. CASTING OUT DEMONS
4. BAPTISING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT & SPEAKING IN TONGUES
5. LAYING HANDS ON THE SICK
6. MAKING DISCIPLES

The disciples continued with the same ministry that Jesus did and this made them Apostolic.

The Book of Acts testifies to the continuation of this ministry focus. A careful study of early Church history will also reveal that this was the emphasis of the Church.

And all of this continued until Church became a world wide phenomena and people began to have their own opinions on what the Church should be doing.

Now you might think well doesn't every Church champion these ideals? Well the simple answer is NO they don't. The emphasis to the Great Commission is slipping away and it's beginning in the Sunday public meetings and rapidly drying up behind the scenes.

There is a desperate need for the Gospel as demonstrated by Jesus Christ and the Apostles to be made manifest. That's what Australian Gospel Churches is all about and that's the kind of Ministers we want in this Fellowship.

Probably the arch enemies of any Gospel Church is TRADITION and the spirit of UNBELIEF. Both are insidious to the power of God being demonstrated.

One is corrupted by the cultural opinions of men and the other is the demonisation of leadership. In both cases they nullify the power of God in much the same way the Jewish establishment in Israel did during Jesus day only now it's not Jewish corruption but Christian corruption.

But there is another enemy at play that is really emerging and that is a COMPROMISING spirit to worldliness and political correctness.

It's time to come back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1. PREACHING THE GOSPEL
2. BAPTISING IN WATER
3. CASTING OUT DEMONS
4. BAPTISING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT & SPEAKING IN TONGUES
5. LAYING HANDS ON THE SICK
6. MAKING DISCIPLES

Let me say a few things about each of these because I believe it's important that you study these areas in more detail according to scripture. Remember this is what Jesus commanded His disciples to carry out so it should be our focus.

Over the years Churches have become more BENEVOLENT orientated at the expense of being SPIRITUALLY orientated believing that by being benevolent they will gain more acceptance.

Now there is nothing wrong with being benevolent and we should be. Being benevolent means being community orientated like feeding the poor, helping the homeless or providing clothing etc.

I am all for being benevolent but we must never forget the primary commands that Jesus gave.

1. PREACHING THE GOSPEL is much more than telling nice stories or providing a motivational message to win people's approval. Preaching the Gospel is confrontative and clear cut.

Firstly if you don't even know what the Gospel is then you won't be able to preach it. The Gospel is not the Ten Commandments, feeding the poor, loving people or the Sermon on the Mount.

When the Gospel is preached... the power of God will come.

ROMANS 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.

The power of God is evident with Salvation, Healing and Deliverance. SHD is not the Gospel but the fruit of the Gospel because it's all about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul said:

1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-4 1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

2. BAPTISING IN WATER It amazes me just how many Christian's have not been water baptised but it also amazes me how water baptism is not taught much either. How it is critical to a person conversion.

Jesus said in MARK 16:16 He who believes and is baptised will be saved. The Apostle Peter under clear instructions from Jesus was very direct when asked what a person must do to be saved.

ACTS 2:38 Then Peter said to them, Repent and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Repentance means the person must be aware of what they need to repent of. Therefore they must know what SIN is. 1 JOHN 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

I'm all for preaching what we are FOR but equally we must know what we are AGAINST and be fearless to the world in declaring it.

The Law of Moses teaches us what SIN in the light of God's Holiness and this is the Glory of the Old Covenant but the Glory of the New Covenant is that our sins are forgiven because of the shed Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

3. CASTING OUT DEMONS is perhaps the one command that is most commonly excluded or reserved only for mission trips to third world countries as if living in a prosperous nation excludes a person from being demonised. Quite the contrary actually.

And the major stumbling block is the misguided argument that some ministers make, and that is that a Christian can not have a demon.

One only needs to look at any Church congregation and the behaviour and condition of many Church members and leadership to know that demonisation is everywhere among the Body of Christ.

And it is like this because it's not addressed. Demons are simply not being resisted or cast out.

Jesus made a very powerful statement about casting demons out in LUKE 11:20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Jesus also gave a very strict command to His disciples in...

MATTHEW 10:5-8 5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Notice Jesus said 'Go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel'. These are the God fearing people, not pagan worshippers. It's little wonder that most of Jesus deliverance ministry took place in the Synagogues. Please read and meditate on the folowing verse...

MARK 1:39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out demons.

A Christian, and by that I mean person who is truly Born Again, water baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit and living for Jesus can not be possessed by a demon spirit because they are owned by Jesus and their spirit belongs to God. However their soul (mind, will & emotions) and body can be demonised, which is the correct English word from the Greek word daimoniziomai, which means to be demonised or afflicted and harassed NOT possessed which implies ownership.

It's in the soul and body where Christian's suffer with demonisation either externally or internally. I urge you to read THEY SHALL EXPEL DEMONS by Derek Prince as a guide to help you understand deliverance more and observe my ministry.

4. BAPTISING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT & SPEAKING IN TONGUES. Once again it's amazing just how many Christians are not speaking in tongues. Why? Because it's not taught much anymore nor demonstrated in Church and in some places forbidden to take place in a public meeting for fear of unbelievers being present.

And yet the Bible says in 1 CORINTHIANS 14:22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers.

I encourage you to read my booklet on the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT to familiarise yourself with how to pray for a person to be filled with the Holy Spirit but in a nutshell.

1. Know what the Bible says about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. 2. Explain how tongues are a heavenly language. 3. Demonstrate praying in tongues. 4. Explain that praying in tongues is by faith. 5. Baptise the person in the Holy Spirit and ask God to fill them. 6. Expect them to pray in tongues and encourage it. 7. Encourage them to repent of any sin if there is a blockage.

5. LAYING HANDS ON THE SICK. Now this is carried in some churches which is encouraging but not enough. The Bible is clear about this command.

Jesus said to His disciples in MARK 16:18 lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

The Apostle James also taught in JAMES 5:14-15 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

We should always be quick to pray for the sick. Jesus was specific He said 'the sick' saved or unsaved but James was specific too 'Anyone among you' the Church.

6. MAKE DISCIPLES. Not just believers but followers of Jesus Christ and this requires the most consistent work. All the other commands can be done in an instant but discipleship takes time, effort, patience, persistence, long-suffering and a lot of love. The best way to carry this out is through encouraging a person to be planted in a Church where they can be discipled with other believer's and find their place in serving the Lord.

At Awesome Church I am committed to demonstrating the Gospel every Sunday by focusing primarily on the exact commands of Jesus Christ.

Now when it comes to MAKING DISCIPLES... ARE YOU MAKING DISCIPLES? OF ANYONE? Even one person?

Church leaders are disciple makers first and foremost because this is our clear mandate from the Lord. We can do this at large but it must also been done individually as well taking an interest in another person's spirituality and teaching them the Gospel.

There is an excellent study book which has been a source of tremendous ministry revelation for my ministry. It's by Pastor Leo Harris who was the Founder of the CRC Movement Christian Revival Crusade in Australia.

It's called LEGACY and if you are serious about ministry then I would encourage you to read and study this book which is his life works. It's a good old fashion Full Gospel Pentecostal power book. You can order it from CRC Churches in Australia.

My prayerful desire is that you take hold of the Gospel truths outlined in this message and apply them to your life.

If you would like more information about the AGC Australian Gospel Churches Fellowship then please contact me on info@australiangospelchurches.com

And remember always stay.... True to the FAITH, True to the COMMANDS, True to the SPIRIT.

Many Blessings! GARY & LISSA COSTELLO
Founder and Senior Pastor Awesome Church Sydney