I preached the Sunday Morning service at Good News Church in Riga, Latvia. The message title was “Broken to Be Used”. Good News Church is one of the largest Protestant churches in the Baltics and is a thriving church under the leadership of Pastor Andrey Chebotarev. The church was founded by Rick Renner. http://goodnews.lv
At the beginning of the message I shared a testimony of how God miraculously healed someone in my home kitchen just a few days earlier. Through the Holy Spirit, I boldly proclaimed that Jesus still heals and that there is no burden that is too heavy for God. After the service, a lady pulled me aside and asked me to pray for her friend that was with her. Her friend was in her mid-twenties, had her face buried in her hands, and was crying. Come to find out, she had lost her three children to child protection services because of her alcohol addiction. She said she had tried everything to give up drinking, but nothing helped. But as I was preaching she felt the love of the Father over her and knew that He could set her free.
Taking a page out of Jesus’ and Peter’s playbook, I told her, “Look at me. Do you want to be free?”. “YES!”, she replied. “Then be free in Jesus name. Addiction be gone”, I proclaimed. Her countenance immediately changed from one of gloom and despair, to hope and freedom. She hugged her friend and wept. She looked at me and said, “I feel so free. I never want to drink again.” As the two of them walked away I was reminded of the reality that there is no chain of addiction too strong for God not to break. Later that afternoon, I ran into her in the hallway of the church and she was still glowing from the freedom she had received.
