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Pat Mesiti
Christian City Church, Rockingham, WA.
Sunday 22 April 2007
Evening Service.

http://www.cccrockingham.com.au/pat.evening.wma

 “……………..I made a whole mess of my whole restoration process in the first year with Pastor Brian …I don’t know how on earth he still talks to me to this day…but he does..he’s a great man.

But you know ..my life got so frantic.

And then one night ..it just got really worse, ’cause I switched on the news in the middle of the Hillsong Conference…and there was a radio announcer called Ray Hadley ..going off at Brian and me.

I mean..just going off…about nothing.

“Who are these guys….all this Hillsong Church ….rahhhhh…rahhhh… it’s all about money ..blah blah blah…’

Let me tell you something about Hillsong church, it’s not all about money..it’s about people.

And anytime you read something negative..let me tell you about those people, they’re good..Godly wonderful people. You won’t find a greater, honourable, loving, caring church environment in this country, except for this one, than Hillsong Church.

It’s a great place, you ought to support it and get behind ‘em.

And when those media people write negative stuff, you write ‘em right back and say “that’s not true in Jesus’ name.”

You read..they whinge about us asking people to give 10% of their income.

Good Lord! You pay 10% every time you go eat somewhere…….G-S-T.

If you took the church out of the community today, 95% of the welfare would collapse in a heap.

But the media will criticise. They won’t criticise when a yacht falls apart at the Sydney to Hobart yacht Race……they spend 25 million on one of those things..

But a little church spend whatever on something…..or a little preacher have a nice car…nice watch.. maybe given to him….or even if he buys it ..

Do you know what? Can I make a statement? Let me make a statement while I’m here. Why not?

You know what…..If a preacher can drive a nice car, why not?

Why should a drug dealer drive a nice car and not the Man of God?

Why can’t the preacher have the nice clothes, and why can’t the preacher have the good stuff.

‘He’s supposed to be a Man of God.’

That’s right, that’s why he should have it …because when you read this Book, God’s man and God’s woman weren’t all running around broke. There was a few of them that had poverty …but a few of them……but a lot of them had a lot of nice stuff.

Why should it be that a man or a woman of God that works for 20 or 30 years …should have nothing to show for it?

Right, you ought to pay your pastor well.

Bible says…’give him double honour’.

Well, that went down well..

He ought to receive double honour.

Why? Because he cares for your soul.

This is really quiet all of a sudden in here. I might just stay here for a little while.

He deserves double honour.

‘Well, what about me?’ We’re not talking about you ..we’re talking about him.

We’re talking about…if you look after God’s man. Look after God’s woman. When you look after them, God looks after you. It’s a principle of the Word of God. You look after ‘em, you bless ‘em.

And so many people out there in TV, on news and media, they want to criticise the Man of God ’cause they got a nice watch or drives a nice car..my Lord.. after working 40 years you ought to have something to show for it…if you didn’t …you ought to be criticised.

That’s how I figure it……………..”

Christian City Church, Oxford Falls
6pm service, Sunday February 19, 2006

(Phil Pringle) “I know a lot of you were not in this morning’s service…and I need your attention ….I need your full attention people…I need you to be looking this way ..and listening….thank you very much.

Because this morning I made an announcement …and in last night’s service..that I need to make again and .. it’s a great announcement …a very joyful announcement.

About four-and-a-half years ago …there was an evangelist in this country by the name of Pat Mesiti.

Most of you I think will know of him.. some of you may not.

He had a television program and was regularly conducting crusades ..where through..500/1500 people would come to Christ.

He was an initiator of many great youth programs, including Youth Alive here in New South Wales… and accomplished a huge number of things for the nation ..in the realm of evangelism and.. touching people’s lives with the gospel.

However, four-and-a-half years ago, Pat had a terrible, terrible tumble….a moral collapse which resulted in his marriage breaking ..and ..was a sad moment.

He was taken out of ministry…and ..stepped down.

He was an ordained minister in the Assemblies of God ..and after attempting to retrace..recover ..and after a year…it seemed it wasn’t going quite how it was anticipated.

So Brian Houston and myself..who are good friends ….I said….look…I’ll put my hand up…I’d like to ..help…and I’ve known Pat ..forever and he’s good friends with a lot of the people on this staff …and has been…..and I thought this’d be great if he came..and was in our church…and we would seek to see him standing on his feet again.

A number of years ago…I said to the Lord….’I'm so busy being a pastor….I don’t feel like I’m being a Christian.’

And…that just meant I was so busy leading and preaching ..doing all the stuff I wanted… I felt like…going and handing out pizzas to the homeless in Hyde Park ..or visiting people in old folks’ homes or reading books…or people in prison.

I’ve done all that..and used to teach in a school for handicapped children ….and …I go and visit prisons …just tell them to send up a prisoner if they didn’t have a visitor ..and I’d be there….and they didn’t know me…so.. when you get to be a pastor…you get a lot of other things going on ..

But He said to me …’no you’ve got a church full of people who can do that’……so I pray you do it man…

And He said….’no..no..no..what I want you to do is reach out to people that other people can’t reach out to..and that’s pastors …who are having troubled times…

And so…I try to do that…and there’s a few …who…I have no judgements on men and women who’ve found their life in trouble ….

Who knows what pressures they’re facing and what things they’ve gone through …but I do know they need to be recovered and restored.

And there is a pathway for that…repentence …restoration…restitution ..and making things right.

So Pat came….and I said to him…’Pat ..I want you to do several things…..one….turn up to church..’

And even with the shame and the awkwardness and the emotional difficulty of all that …I said ..’that’s what you’ve gotta do’.

Because the church is the best place you can be…rather than a counselling room ….just being in the worship…being in the local church …being involved in some ministry …of serving in the House.. all of those things are the best healing processes you will ever find yourself engaged in….because you’re forced to modify your behaviour and get things right and overcome …and all kinds of things….and relate to people…

And then just the Spirit of God working amongst us..

I believe in the power of the local church …it is the most powerful thing on Earth …to actually affect all sorts of things in people’s lives.

So Pat did that..and one year after his marriage had broke…he met a lady called Andrea ..and I was happy to participate in their marriage …three….two-and-a-half years ago …two years ago? Two years ago ….and that was a really joyful occasion.

And Pat and Andrea served in the visitors’ lounge …helping us there …and have continued to be involved… in our church over that time.

And he’s been relating to Greg French….Simon McIntyre ..Mark Kelsey and myself …over that period of time.

We’ve had times where we’ve needed to say things…or help him understand things..or whatever ..and Pat has been exemplary in all his ways of handling it.

I have tried this with a number of ministers and leaders over the years ..and I’ve got to say not without a lot of success.

It’s been unfortunate..because people find it difficult ..find it tough to recover…old steps.

But Pat has really displayed a repentent attitude ..and a commitment to a pathway ..that will bring him fully back into that way…

And the ministry team…we’ve all talked to each other…..and quite satisfied that he has fulfilled all those obligations.

The Assemblies of God asked him to do three years of restoration……it’s actually been four-and-a-half years now…that he has been out of ministry…and …as I said…we are happy that…

….So in the 10 o’clock service this morning… we laid hands on Pat and Andrea…and restored them to the ministry that God has called them to…(applause)..

In those services……well..actually…only in the 10 o’clock service….I asked Pat just to share something briefly..and he did… and so…I said…I want you to share in that service just briefly…..but what I really want you to do is preach in our church on Sunday night….

So…I want you to welcome Pat Mesiti as he comes…” (applause/cheering/Mesiti hugs Pringle)

From http://202.125.166.74/ramgen/ccc/1902066pm.rm