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Giving Glory to God
Annie Poonen

Annie Poonen (December 25, 1942 – N/A) is an Indian preacher, physician, and author whose ministry has encouraged women and families to pursue godliness through sermons and writings spanning over five decades. Born in Nagpur, India, to Christian parents who served as missionaries, she nearly died at 14 from poisoning by a servant but survived, surrendering her life to Christ that year. At 16, she traveled alone 1,500 kilometers to train at a leprosy hospital in Central India, later earning a medical degree from Christian Medical College in Vellore, one of India’s top institutions, by age 23. Poonen’s preaching career blossomed after marrying Zac Poonen in 1968, a former naval officer turned preacher, joining him in ministry while raising four sons in Bangalore. Her sermons, delivered at Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) conferences and preserved on SermonIndex.net, focus on spiritual growth, motherhood, and surrender to God, reflecting her medical service to the poor without charge for over 50 years. She authored books like God Made Mothers and A Girl’s Viewpoint, offering biblical encouragement to women. Married to Zac Poonen, with whom she has four sons—Reuben, Daniel, John, and David, all in ministry—she continues to serve alongside her husband at CFC Bangalore.
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This sermon emphasizes gratitude for the blessings of health, strength, and protection from God, reflecting on the power of the Holy Spirit in daily life and the clarity of understanding God's word in modern times. The speaker shares a personal analogy of discovering hidden beauty in a booklet, likening it to the newfound depth and truth revealed in the Bible through the Holy Spirit. The importance of obedience, submission to God's will, and love through keeping His commandments is highlighted as a way to live a faithful and exemplary life.
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To come here one more time, it's a real encouragement when we come here and we see you all and see the love of God in your lives. And I always look forward to coming and seeing you all and I'm blessed by my visit here. I praise and thank God for health and strength He gave us both to travel and come here. We praise God for the protection He has given us. I don't want to take anything for granted. You know how it is to travel to different places in these days. And also at our age, but God has done such wonderful things. I want to give all glory and praise to Him. And I cannot take honor for anything about my family or children. I can say it's only God who did everything for us. Today when I was sitting here, I thought, what a wonderful grace God has given us all to live in these days. Suppose we were born before Christ, those days, we would have no idea of these wonderful things. Even in Jesus' days, they could hear but did not have the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit. Even in Jesus' days, they could hear but did not have the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit. So God has given us the mighty power not to show off to others about the gifts of the Spirit, but that we can have the power in our daily life. So God has given us the mighty power not to show off to others about the gifts of the Spirit, but that we can have the power in our daily life. And it's so wonderful to live in these days when we can hear God's word so clearly explained to us. Sometime back, one of my sons gave me a little booklet. It's a booklet with no words written in it. But every page had some pattern on it. Like the pattern on this carpet, different colored pattern. And the colors of it were just blue and green. So we can give it to some children to look at that booklet and see the different pages with different colors. So I just looked at that book and I thought, what is so special about that book? Then my son said, mommy look at that book carefully. So I looked at one page and I looked at it for a long time. I saw a 3D image of something very different in that same page. A beautiful flower was there, but I couldn't see it before at the first sight. Like that every page had something special, but when you first look at it, you don't find it. Dear brothers and sisters, when I first read the Bible, I grew up in a godly home. Reading the Bible was like looking at that book. It was just some pretty thing and some good little things I could get. But after receiving the Holy Spirit and hearing these wonderful truths which we are hearing nowadays, almost every page in the New Testament I can see this wonderful truth popping up, which I never knew before. When Matthew 5, 6 and 7, I used to think of so many commandments Jesus wanted to obey. But when I read it now, when Jesus says, don't get angry, you can have a chance to sit with me. If you are an overcomer, you can sit with me. In the epistles, everywhere I can see the challenge to live an overcoming life. Dear sisters, in this world we hear so many things about women who want to be stubborn and have their own way. And to come up in the world. But when we come to Jesus, we can see the secret to live a simple life, a life of submission. That's the life which He lived. Jesus, when He submitted and said, Father, I want to do your will, that's what God wants me also to do, Lord. I want to do your will every day. That's what I want to live, that type of life in the coming days also. I want to take God's word seriously in my life. Every big and small commandment, I want to take it so seriously. I don't want to think, oh, this is a small commandment, it doesn't matter. But I want to say, Lord, you gave that commandment, so I want to do it out of love for you. Jesus said, if you love me, you keep my commandments. We tell our children, if you love me, you can obey me. Like that, I want to love God and keep all the commandments which God has taught me. That will be an example to our children also. Our life will speak more than our words. So I praise and thank God for all the wonderful words we can hear in the church. God has given us freedom to preach and to hear such things. And the time may come when we won't be able to hear such things, but we may be persecuted. May God help us to be faithful. If we are faithful now, God will make sure that we stand faithful to Him. God bless you.
Giving Glory to God
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Annie Poonen (December 25, 1942 – N/A) is an Indian preacher, physician, and author whose ministry has encouraged women and families to pursue godliness through sermons and writings spanning over five decades. Born in Nagpur, India, to Christian parents who served as missionaries, she nearly died at 14 from poisoning by a servant but survived, surrendering her life to Christ that year. At 16, she traveled alone 1,500 kilometers to train at a leprosy hospital in Central India, later earning a medical degree from Christian Medical College in Vellore, one of India’s top institutions, by age 23. Poonen’s preaching career blossomed after marrying Zac Poonen in 1968, a former naval officer turned preacher, joining him in ministry while raising four sons in Bangalore. Her sermons, delivered at Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) conferences and preserved on SermonIndex.net, focus on spiritual growth, motherhood, and surrender to God, reflecting her medical service to the poor without charge for over 50 years. She authored books like God Made Mothers and A Girl’s Viewpoint, offering biblical encouragement to women. Married to Zac Poonen, with whom she has four sons—Reuben, Daniel, John, and David, all in ministry—she continues to serve alongside her husband at CFC Bangalore.