SGCC ABUJA: Recent Episodes
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The Believer’s Allegiance in a World of Kings centres on Abram’s unwavering devotion to God in a world full of tempting alliances. When Lot, his nephew and resident of Sodom, is taken captive in a regional war, Abram courageously steps in to rescue him—not for reward, but out of love and conviction.
After the victory, Abram encounters Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness and Peace, who blesses him and offers bread and wine. This sacred moment strengthens Abram’s heart. So when the King of Sodom offers him riches, Abram boldly refuses, declaring, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord.” His satisfaction in God leaves no room for compromise.
The sermon ends with a charge: live with clear, joyful allegiance to God. We don’t resist temptation through willpower alone, but by seeing Christ as better. True obedience flows from being full—full of faith, full of conviction, and full of God.
Trusting in God vs Trust in Earthly Possessions presents a dichotomy where the believer is not to be at odds with the right choice. Pastor Martin Obono further explores how true prosperity is being where God is and material blessings—though not inherently evil—can reveal the true posture of our hearts.
Abraham, shaped by earlier failings, responds to conflict with humility and renewed faith in God’s provision. He graciously offers Lot first choice of the land, defying cultural norms and modelling Christlike trust. Lot, by contrast, chooses based on appearance—drawn to land that resembled Egypt—revealing a heart still drawn to worldly comforts.
Lot’s choice to “journey east” echoes a biblical pattern of spiritual decline seen in Adam, Eve, and Cain. His progression—from living near Sodom to dwelling in it, and later sitting at its gates—illustrates how compromise often begins subtly. His story warns believers that not every appealing opportunity is God-ordained. Without discernment, unchecked desires can gradually draw us away from God’s presence and purpose.
The message concludes with a sobering call to vigilance. Whether choosing a spouse, a job, or what we consume in media, our decisions must be rooted in God’s Word. Lot’s failure came not from ignorance, but from neglecting truths he likely knew. Believers are encouraged to guard their hearts, cultivate spiritual awareness, and return—like Abraham—to the altar, the place of first devotion. For even now, the Spirit moves among God’s people, seeking those who will fully surrender to Him.
Our journey through Genesis, aptly tagged the Book of Beginnings by Pastor Adeola, took a further turn today as we considered the matter of God's unflinching faithfulness to His people in times of great fear.
Ezekiel Adetunji preached from Genesis 12:10–20, showing how Abram’s faith was tested by famine and fear. Though God had promised him land and descendants, Abram fled to Egypt without seeking God, and lied about Sarah being his sister—actions driven by fear rather than faith.
Brother Ezekiel highlighted how believers today often face similar tests, tempted to rely on human logic when God's promises feel distant. Abram’s choices endangered his wife and compromised his witness, showing the dangers of acting without prayer or trust in God’s sovereignty.
Despite Abram’s failure, God remained faithful. He protected Sarah, exposed Abram’s deceit, and brought him back to Canaan. The message closed with a reminder that our hope lies not in the strength of our faith, but in the unwavering faithfulness of God.
In continuation of the Genesis series, Oluwajoba Oroge traced how God’s redemptive plan moves from Shem to Abram. It showed that God's election is intentional, not based on human merit but rooted in His covenant promises. God chose Abram out of many, shaping history to bring about His purposes through one man.
Abram’s background in Ur — a land of idols and false gods — highlights the radical nature of God’s call. He was asked to leave behind his land, people, and identity in exchange for God’s promise of blessing and a new purpose. His obedience, though imperfect, was marked by faith and worship, showing how true faith responds to revelation.
The sermon concluded by pointing to Jesus as the fulfilment of this covenant. Just as Abram obeyed God’s call, Christ answered the ultimate call — stepping out of glory to redeem humanity. Now, we are the people of this covenant, called to respond in faith, lay down our lives, and follow Him.
In our ongoing series through the book of Genesis, Ezekiel Adetunji reflected on Genesis 11:1–9, showing how the tower of Babel exposed humanity’s prideful resistance to God’s command to “fill the earth.” Instead of obeying, the people settled in Shinar, determined to build a city and a tower reaching to the heavens. Their goal wasn’t just safety or progress—it was self-exaltation. They wanted to make a name for themselves, rejecting God’s plan in favour of their own.
Though their rebellion was bold, God’s response was merciful. Rather than destroying them, He confused their language, halting the project and scattering them across the earth. This act of divine intervention prevented even greater corruption and reminded us that God’s purposes will always prevail, even when human ambition stands in the way.
Ezekiel reminded us that what sin divided at Babel, God restored. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit united people of many tongues to proclaim God’s glory. And in Revelation, we see the promise fulfilled—every nation and language gathered around the throne of Christ.
In today’s message, Enyinna Abazie shows us that while Genesis 10 may look like just a list of names, it tells a much deeper story—one about how God shaped the nations.
Moses presents the spread of the nations as a fulfillment of God’s command to Noah in Genesis 9:1: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” And through Noah’s three sons, the nations are born. But this expansion isn't free from rebellion from the same family line.
Figures like Ham’s descendant, Nimrod strove for political and wordly conquest and later birthed empires that opposed God, reminding us that behind history lies a deeper spiritual conflict between God’s kingdom and human rebellion. Yet God enters a world of rebels to save not just one family line, but all nations.
This lavish grace demands a response. Brother Enyinna addresses history, historiography and hierarchy in this chapter of genealogy to ask: what legacy will your life write into the story God is telling? Will your spiritual descendants recall a life surrendered to Christ, shaped by prayer, love, and faith?
In the second part of “A Second New Beginning” (Genesis 9), Pastor Adeola emphasizes that salvation is entirely God’s doing—human righteousness, even in figures like Noah or David, falls short. No one can earn heaven; only God’s redemptive plan through the promised Saviour offers rescue from sin and death.
The sermon outlines nine parallels between Adam and Noah: both were fathers of humanity, worked the soil, fell through misuse of God’s creation, and faced shame, consequences for their children, and the need for covering. Noah’s fall into drunkenness illustrates how seeking comfort outside of God makes us vulnerable to sin, especially after moments of spiritual victory.
Despite these failures, God’s promise remains. Though Canaan is cursed, Shem’s line carries the hope of redemption, leading to Abraham and eventually Jesus Christ. Noah’s death reminds us that no one escapes the grave alone—true salvation and eternal life come only through Christ, who defeats death and welcomes us under His grace.
In Genesis 9, Noah responds to God's salvation with a grateful sacrifice. God receives it and makes a lasting promise never to judge the earth in the same way again, symbolized by the rainbow—a sign that also appears around God's throne in Revelation. God graciously assures His people through covenants, revealing His commitment to preserve and redeem humanity
The covenant with Noah both sets and continues the pattern for how God deals with mankind. Noah’s family is called to steward the earth, multiply, and honour human life as God's image-bearers. God Himself defines the terms, blessings, and signs, showing His deep love and desire to dwell with His people..
In this sermon, Pastor Adeola reminds us that God still calls us to value every human life. We must guard our hearts against bitterness, hatred, tribalism, and classism, among other ills, and instead honour the image of God in all people. Therefore, we must pray for sensitivity, teach the worth of life, stand for justice, protect the vulnerable, and share the gospel—all in faith, love, and obedience to God.
In this Good Friday sermon, Pastor Martin Obono reflects deeply on the centrality of the cross in the Christian faith. He reminds us that Jesus Christ came into the world for one ultimate destination — the cross. Every moment of Christ’s earthly life was a journey toward that pivotal sacrifice. The sermon begins by asking a fundamental question: Why was the cross necessary? Pastor Martin takes us back to the Garden of Eden, where the fall of man brought sin and death into the world. Because of God’s holiness, and humanity’s sinfulness, there had to be a sacrifice — a way for God to save sinners without compromising His justice. That way was the cross.
Drawing from both the Old and New Testaments, Pastor Martin shows how the mystery of salvation has always pointed to the cross. He highlights the questions of Job, the intercession of Eli, and the fulfillment in Jesus, the only Mediator between God and man. Focusing on Galatians 6:14 — “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” — Pastor Martin unpacks why Paul, despite his heritage and accomplishments, chose to glory only in the cross. He explains how false teachers in Galatia were attempting to downplay the cross in favor of outward religious acts like circumcision. But Paul insisted: the cross is the true source of transformation, identity, and power.
Pastor Martin walks us through every chapter in Galatians to show how Paul kept returning to the cross — as the source of justification, sanctification, substitution, and reconciliation. He also paints a vivid picture of the brutality and shame of crucifixion — reminding us of the physical and spiritual suffering Jesus endured. The term “excruciating” itself comes from the cross, he points out. Jesus was beaten, mocked, stripped naked, and hung in agony. Yet in all of this, He was accomplishing the greatest work of all: It is finished.
This sermon is a call to return to the heart of our faith — the cross. It is the power of salvation, the foundation of our peace with God, the source of true Christian identity, and the only reason we can be called blessed. Through Christ’s blood, we are justified, forgiven, and brought near. Pastor Martin reminds us that the cross is not just a historical event — it is the power of God for today. A Christian who truly grasps what Jesus accomplished on the cross can face every circumstance with confidence, knowing that everything has already been paid in full.
In this Easter Sunday message, Pastor Adeola explores the glorious mystery of the resurrected Christ—the Lamb who was slain and now reigns victorious. Drawing from the book of Revelation, the sermon takes us into John's vision of heaven, where the throne of God is surrounded by worship and wonder, and where the scroll of history is held firmly in divine hands.
Pastor Adeola reminds us that while Jesus is our personal Savior, He is also the King of Glory. The one who holds ultimate power and authority over history, nations, and the Church. In a world that often feels chaotic and uncertain, this message calls us to lift our eyes above the confusion of our present moment and behold the sovereign Lord who is seated on the throne.
The sermon emphasizes the worthiness of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who alone was found worthy to open the scroll and execute God’s redemptive plan for all creation. It challenges believers to remember that God is still in control, even when we face persecution, false teachings, or cultural pressure. The victorious Lamb invites us into deeper reverence, worship, and confidence in His lordship.
Pastor Adeola speaks with conviction about the need for the Church today to rediscover the majesty and authority of Christ. In the midst of moral decline, spiritual confusion, and a weakening of the faith in many places, we are called to look up—beyond the noise—and see Jesus for who He truly is: the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the one who triumphed and redeemed us by His blood.
This is not just a story of long ago; it is a living reality for us today. Christ is victorious, and because He lives, we have hope. Let this message reignite your faith and stir your heart toward bold worship and unwavering trust in the Lamb who reigns forever.
In this message, Pastor Adeola Ogundele continued our study of the book of Genesis, emphasizing that the book is not a collection of dramatic tales or moral lessons, but a deeply theological and purposeful narrative about God—His will, His glory, and His eternal plan.
Too often, we read Genesis like an epic storybook—creation out of nothing, Joseph rising from slavery to power, or messages like “Dare to be a Daniel” or “Pick up your five stones like David.” But if we are honest, we are not Joseph or David—Jesus is the true David. Genesis is not a collection of heroes to emulate; it is a divine revelation of God’s eternal purpose, activated from the very beginning.
Genesis, like every book of the Bible, is ultimately about God, not us. From creation to redemption, it unfolds the mystery of His will (Ephesians 1:9)—the eternal plan designed to glorify Jesus Christ. Before time began, God purposed that all things would come together under Christ. Every event in history, every page of Scripture is building toward this divine crescendo: God being glorified in Christ.
God Remembers. We see this pattern throughout Scripture. When God remembered Rachel, she conceived. When He remembered His covenant, He delivered Israel from bondage (Exodus 2:24). And on the cross, the thief beside Jesus uttered a powerful plea: "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom." Jesus responded with immediate assurance: "Today, you will be with Me in paradise."
God’s remembrance is not passive; it is covenantal. If you are in Christ today, it is because God has remembered you—not because of your worthiness, but because of Jesus’s finished work. Just as Lot was saved for Abraham’s sake, so too we are saved for the sake of Jesus. God not only remembers His people but also gives them new beginnings. After the flood, when the earth was washed clean, Noah stepped out as though he were the new Adam.
When God said, “Let there be light,” He initiated not just physical creation but His eternal purpose. Jesus, the Word of God, is the light and power that brings beauty and order to our chaotic lives. Genesis isn’t just history, it’s a revelation. It gives us a glimpse into God’s cosmic plan: to unite all things in Christ, using both joy and suffering to shape us for His glory.
In this sermon, Pastor Adeola Ogundele explores the state of the world in the days of Noah—a world marked by deep wickedness and corruption. Drawing parallels to our present time, he reminds us that humanity is fundamentally broken, and God sees not only our actions but the intentions and motivations of our hearts.
Despite the widespread depravity, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). God's grace toward Noah was not based on Noah’s perfection, but on God’s sovereign choice to show him mercy. This sets the foundation of the Christian faith: that God treats believers not as their sins deserve, but as He would treat His own Son, Jesus Christ. This divine favor isn't earned—it is granted by God's eternal wisdom and mercy.
Noah was the outlier in his days, living righteously and being marked by God for preservation from the impending destruction of the world. God, having put up with their rebellion, decided that enough was enough and he was going to purge the world and sort of, reboot it through the only righteous man that remained on the earth. Noah and his family were marked for salvation while the doors of God's mercy, having been open for long enough, were to be shut against the sinful multitude that lived in the earth.
Referencing Hebrews 11:7, Pastor Adeola emphasizes that true faith is inseparable from obedience. If a Christian claims to have faith but lives in disobedience, that faith is not genuine. Spiritual stagnation often stems from a refusal to obey God. Peace and spiritual growth come through walking in alignment with God’s will.
Noah’s faith led him to live counter-culturally. While the world around him mocked and scoffed—people who could not imagine rain falling for 40 days and 40 nights—Noah believed. These mockers, much like today's atheists, agnostics, and self-proclaimed intellectuals, rejected the message of salvation.
Importantly, Pastor Adeola warns that religious activity is not a substitute for faith. One can be involved in building the ark and still be shut out when the rain begins. When judgment came, God Himself shut Noah in—a powerful picture of divine protection and separation.
The lesson for us is that God's patience though enduring, eventually comes to a head when men resolve to remain in their rebellion. He suffers long, but not for so long. For his day of reckoning comes and it is without reversal for the unbelieving.
For the people of Noah's world, it eventually became too late. The same applies to this day to everyone who lives a life that is defiant against God's laws. Eventually, mercy's doors get shut and then it is too late.
In today's sermon, Pastor Adeola emphasized that Genesis is foundational to understanding the entire Bible, providing the context for creation, sin, and redemption. It is frequently referenced in the New Testament and presents the framework of God's plan for humanity. The book is not just historical but reveals the overarching story of salvation, leading to Christ.
Genesis 6 highlights the reign of sin in the world, where humanity turned away from God, leading to widespread wickedness. The union between the people of God and the world resulted in corruption, idolatry, and moral decline. True goodness comes only from God. It is the fear of the Lord in the hearts of men. Sin distorts our perception of good and evil, drawing people away from God, even in times of civility and prosperity.
While God’s judgement through the flood is severe, God's grace is evident. In the midst of corruption, God looked upon Noah and showed him favour, not because Noah was better than others, but because of God's grace — His undeserved kindness. This favour made Noah righteous and preserved his family. Just as Noah carried sin onto the ark, Christians are saved by grace despite their flaws. If we are in the ark of Christ, no matter how turbulent life is, the waters of God’s judgment will never reach us. Next week, we will examine the actual flood of judgement that fell upon the world.
In today's sermon, Pastor Obono emphasized that as children of God, we are called to bear fruit, for God is glorified when we do so. Citing John 15:8, he reminded us that fruitfulness is evidence of true discipleship. Jesus commanded us to love one another, demonstrating our faith through action rather than mere words. Good works, therefore, are a fundamental part of our Christian walk, as faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Our spiritual journey should be marked by growth and the assurance that the Holy Spirit is working within us.
The theme of good works is central in the book of Titus, where Paul repeatedly calls believers to devote themselves to them. Not all works are good works—true good works are those produced by the Holy Spirit. In Titus, Paul highlights specific good works, including meeting urgent needs of others both spiritually and materially, obedience to civil authority, doing honest work, and bearing one another’s burdens—all of which are summed up in loving one another.
A crucial aspect of good works is identifying and meeting urgent needs. This can be done through observation, conversation, or direct inquiry. Examples in scripture include Andrew noticing the boy with fish and loaves (John 6:8-9), Nehemiah recognizing the broken walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:3-4), and Jesus asking blind Bartimaeus what he needed (Matthew 20:30-34). Pastor Obono stressed that we must avoid assumptions about people’s needs and instead seek to understand them fully.
God Himself set the ultimate example of good works by addressing humanity’s greatest need—salvation. He sent His Son to redeem us, demonstrating His love through visible, sacrificial action. Philippians 1:6 assures us that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion. While our good works do not save us, they are the evidence of a transformed life.
Today's sermon explores the profound responsibilities of a Christian husband, emphasizing that true love and leadership within marriage are only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. The call to love one's wife as Christ loves the Church is not a command that can be fulfilled through human effort alone—it requires a man to be deeply rooted in God’s love, experiencing it firsthand before he can extend it to his wife. True marital love is not based on mere performance or duty but flows naturally from a heart transformed by the gospel.
A husband’s fulfillment comes through sacrificial love, not self-seeking. He is called to lead his family as Christ leads the Church—not as a ruler, but as a servant who initiates, provides, cares, and protects. His leadership must be spiritual, guiding his wife in faith, prayer, and holiness, ensuring she flourishes because of him, not in spite of him. He must also safeguard his home from harm—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—disciplining his children with love and keeping his marriage free from external pressures.
Provision and cherishing go hand in hand. Just as Christ gives freely to the Church, a husband must give generously to his wife, honoring and valuing her in word and deed. His love must be exclusive and unwavering, reflecting the covenantal nature of God's love. Ultimately, a husband’s calling is not about power but about self-denial. True satisfaction and joy in marriage come not from seeking one’s own comfort but from laying down one’s life in love, just as Christ did for His people.
Today's installment of the Spirit Filled Husband series focuses on the Duties of Love. Love compels a husband to a life of duty to his wife and ultimately, a man's greatness is measured by the kind of man he is not just in public, but particularly at home.
In expounding the subject, Pastor Adeola presented seven different ways by which husbands can demonstrate their love to their wives. He stated that a husband has a duty to his wife:
- To fight his selfishness. 2. To be present. 3. To take initiative. 4. To lead spiritually. 5. To protect. 6. To provide. 7. To cherish.
He taught that selfishness is the source of disorder in the world and is also what causes chaos in marriages. However, as Christians we have been freed from the control of selfishness and get to practice leadership and authority as exemplified by Christ who in loving service washed the feet of his disciples and showed that to love is to practice self denial.
Christian husbands need to rely on the Holy Spirit continually and seek godly accountability to do this. God calls husbands to be kind of men that are present in the lives of their families. The love that the Christian husband displays must be founded on the personal and ongoing experience of Christ's love for his bride.
In today's sermon, Pastor Adeola continued the Spirit-Filled Husband series, exploring the sanctifying and sustaining love of Jesus for His church. He explained that Jesus intercedes on our behalf to deliver us from God's judgment so that He can sanctify us.
His Word is the instrument of this transforming love, and true transformation requires us to immerse ourselves in it and walk in obedience to it. The body of Christ is inseparably connected to Christ—His love is not out of obligation but of necessity.
The redeeming sacrifice of Christ was made unconditionally and as an example for us that we may draw power from it to extend same to one another.
In the first part of this series, we considered that the love between a man and his wife is meant to be a mirror of the love of Christ for his bride, the church. It can be nothing less than this.
In this part, Pastor Adeola took some time to labor over the context of God's love for the world as a whole and for his children in particular. He drew from several texts of scripture to show how the selective love of God makes the believer a special breed. God loves his children in a markedly different way than he loves every other human. It is a covenant love that appropriates something beyond the temporal trappings that support life in the earth. God loves his children in a way that guarantees they will enjoy an eternity in his unspeakably perfect presence. This is not the state of people who are not God's elect children.
In laying a further foundation for an full understanding of the implications of Christ's love for his church, Pastor Adeola highlights four elements this love so that by understanding them, we can be well equipped with the knowledge of God's expectations on husbands and their wives.
Marriage between a Christian man and woman is ultimately not for their sake, but it is meant to serve as a human portrait of the relationship between Christ and his church. Marriage is a mirror of Christ's love for his church. The overarching theme in this marriage relationship therefore, is love. The admonition for a Christian couple to submit to each other is predicated on the understanding that this submission must be driven by nothing else but love.
But this love could mean different things depending on the lenses you're looking through. Love has several facets or "types" if you like. And while this is so, the christian universal concept of love is not found in picking one of these facets as it is rooted in the expression of true love as imbibed and expressed by Christ.
The entire essence of love is understood only through the lenses of Christ and what he has done for the church. Every other expression of love that leaves out the Christ-kind of love, is not true love.
In this new series, Pastor Adeola teaches that a husband’s love—not authority—defines his role, mirroring Christ’s selfless love for the church. This love flows from the perfect unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, making husbands both stewards and recipients of a divine, sacrificial love. True leadership in marriage, he emphasized, is not about lordship but about loving as Christ loves.
Exploring the topic "Effectual Calling" from the 1689 London Baptist Confession Of Faith
God has saved us for a purpose. A purpose that transcends what benefits we enjoy from the salvation we have received. A purpose that looks not on ourselves but to the realization that we were saved to serve others.
In Ephesians, Paul writes:
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
We've been saved to become a city on a hill, a light that cannot be hidden, a lamp that shines the light in the darkness for all to see the light of God's mercies. Christ saved us and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. For as long as every believer remains on the face of the earth, their lives are to be expended in an ambassadorial capacity; steering the hearts of the lost towards to salvation that the gospel alone brings.
We are the salt of the earth, here to give sense and reason to the earth. But as the scriptures tell, we must be careful not to lose our saltiness as that nullifies our witness.
Every Christian must be outward looking. Every church must be outward looking, putting itself in the frontline of the battle for the souls of men. Listen and learn what God requires of you as a part of his church.
What does it mean to be a relevant church? Or a biblically relevant church? In an age where people who profess to be christians are constantly seeking to align with the trends of the age and aligning with the culture in a bid to be relevant in a sinful world, we must ask ourselves what the mind of God is concerning the outlook of the church as far as the times we live in is concerned. Are we called to adapt to the culture, modify our worship and liturgy to be friendly to the world we seek to draw to Christ? Absolutely not! The scriptures supersede all things, all knowledge, all concepts, all culture. It sets absolute standards for everything else and demands alignment from all things, not the other way around. The Word of God is the ultimate rule for life and living and does not bend to the changing faces of a flawed world and its people. Because the scriptures give only life, it does not bend to what does not give life. It sets cultures right, it teaches, it reproves, it corrects and it trains, so that a consistently failing world and its cultures can find bearing to the path of what is true and just. A biblically relevant church is the church that sets the Word of God above all else and seeks to conform everything to what God has revealed. Therein is life!
Resolutions are good. By God's merciful design, he has ordered the world to operate in time, space and seasons. A text of prayer in the scriptures says "teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom". God intends for us to live conscious of time and seasons and so our progression in our walk with him is predicated upon the passage of same. So it is good to make resolutions that help us live as God wants us to.
Believers are called to a life of growth, not just in time but in the quality of our walk with God. While other forms of growth that pertain to our lives is recommended, the growth that the Lord esteems above every other is a growth in grace; the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In Psalm 16:8, David notes about the Christ, "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken"
In the first installment of the series "Our Core Values", pastor Adeola highlights two ways we can grow in grace.
Have a listen and be blessed as you apply all of yourself to growing in the grace of our Lord the Christ.
The love of God is everlasting. It is without a beginning and an end, as far as our finite minds can comprehend. It is unfathomable. It transcends beyond reason and feeling. It is unconditional. It beats every sense of imagination.
All of these immutable attributes of God's love are encapsulated in one central fact; God's love is true!
The unconditionality of God's love means he loves us without anything we can do to merit it or anything innate in us. And he has done so before the beginning of time as we know it. This is Incomprehensible.
When you think about God's love, you do not cast your mind on things seen and unseen or what you call your reality or estate in life, you simply ponder upon the truth as revealed in His word.
While we journey through the checkered paths of this earth, in is inevitable that we look to find affirmation of God's love in our lives outcomes and experiences but we must know and believe that the true pointer of God's love for his children is the cross of Christ's death. There we received full access into God's love and how that it's faithfulness means it will endure till the end when we will be glorified in his heavenly kingdom.
As a child of God, the primary purpose of your life and calling is to serve the Lord.
This is the consistent theme of the demands upon the life of the people of God from the very beginning. The people of God were called to a life of service to God, nothing less.
The first chapter of the Gospel of Luke details the birth and purpose of the life of John the Baptizer. John was sent by God to "go and prepare His ways", speaking in reference to our the imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This call, while it was specific to John as a herald of the Lord Jesus Christ, is not limited to him and his context. This is the call upon every believer. Every one who names the name of the Lord is called into the task of preparing the hearts of people to receive the salvation of the Lord.
There is no greater duty and indeed it is a privilege we bear when we share in the commission of the Lord. This Lord is coming back, and it is entrusted in our hands the duty of preparing his ways.
Listen to learn what this means to you as a child of God and how you can commit your lives to this privilege.
What a merciful God!
Writing in the first chapter of his first letter, the Apostle Peter says of God's mercy to sinners,
"According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
These are profound and deep words, bearing the heart of God concerning the promise of a" living hope" that He has promised and fulfilled in Christ for all who will believe. The hope that Peter speaks of is deeper than merely the positive expectation of a desired outcome; it is a hope that is rooted in a promise that is sure and cannot be thwarted by anyone and anything outside of itself.
Jesus is the hope of the believer and all who are yet to come to faith can share in this hope if they believe. His resurrection, preceded by his life and death, was the unbreakable seal of this hope, guaranteeing that nothing can detail the eternal destiny of his children.
Listen and hear what hope we have received through the resurrection of Christ.
Why did Jesus perform the miracles He did? What was he trying to achieve when the gospel accounts tell of the compassion He had on the people when He fed thousands and healed multitudes of their infirmities. If Jesus objective in doing was not to merely meet a physical need, what else could He have been aiming at?
Jesus was trying to show not just His ability but His sufficiency. It was an expression of His deity; that He was able to meet these needs but more importantly, that He was God, their Lord. Jesus was underscoring His divinity. He is the bread of life and while He fed these thousands miraculously, His actual aim was to show that He was the true bread they needed; the bread that gives eternal life.
Deacon Martin Obono's sermon, predicated upon Jesus' disciples' stormy experience in Matthew 14:22-33, seeks to draw our hearts to the overarching aim of Jesus life and works on earth, to show that He Is Lord, not just over storms and life tough experiences, but over the hearts of men.
The salvation of God is not restricted to the nation of Israel. And even though it came through a Jewish lineage, it is a promise for all of God's creation and it is effective and efficient for what it achieves in the hearts of men, able to convict and draw men to a saving knowledge and experience of Christ the redeemer.
In Acts 28:28, the scriptures write:
"Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen."
All people, throughout history and all over the world have received the privilege to believe and receive the salvation of Christ.
It is by this conviction that the Apostle Paul, bound in chains, entreated and proclaimed boldly before the Roman council, the redemptive story of the messiah and how all men ought to believe it.
In this sermon Kwaw Andam delved into several contexts in the scriptures that emphatically declare the preeminent power of Christ's salvation and how that it is able to save and restore all people to God.
When God made Adam and gave him charge over the rest of creation, He looked upon Him and pronounced that this significant task cannot be done by Adam alone, he needed a helper. God in his all-wise design, made all the creatures in twos, the man was to be no different if he must fulfill his mandate. A helper was made for the man so he can do what he cannot do alone. This is telling. It signifies how critical the role of the wife is in God's creation plan. Understanding this role through the lens of scripture is the only way to live and enjoy the full privilege of working alongside the man to fulfill God's intent for his creation.
The context of the wife's role as a helper is likened to the role of a military general who commits to defending the cause of his territory alongside his comrades, giving all of himself as though the entire victory depended on him. Such is the enormity and blessedness of the status of a wife that nothing worthwhile is achieved when she's restrained from her God given role.
Living as God has ordained is a powerful and transformative tool that brings order and beauty out of the family experience and by extension, all of creation.
As you listen to the concluding part of the Spirit Filled Wife series, you will see what it takes to for the man and wife to be an expression of God's beautiful design in marriage.
As a christian wife, what does submission to your husband look like?
Submission to her husband by a wife is a good thing and it is good for the woman. God has ordained it to be a good thing and this good thing is only understood and enjoyed when it is embraced and lived as God has designed it.
When we keep God's commands, we are actually operating according to our internal design as God had made us to be and that is why scriptures emphasize that His commandments are not burdensome.
The third part of this series sees Pastor Adeola expound on a few ways a christian wife should submit to her husband according to the will of God and what beauty that brings to both spouses and their home.
"Holding up to the truth is not always easy but it is always right."
We live in an age that has grown weary of the truth and and principles of God. Even in the church, there is a noticeable decline in our affinity to wholesome Godly living. Christlikeness is no longer as clear-cut as it should be. This is a real problem and we're not allowed to wade our way through it. It needs an outright measure to get ourselves back in line with how God has ordained that His children must live.
In his gracious way, God has not left these things to ambiguity. By his grace he has through his word and his Holy Spirit, made clear and attainable provision for how we must live for him.
This truth is what we must adhere to unflinchingly and it we must declare. There are no half measures or allowances for watering it down, especially as the culture evolves. Godliness is cast in stone; we are not allowed to modify it as it stands above all that we see or perceive.
In this sermon, we will learn how we must never relent in our bid to walk in Godliness as God has prescribed.
What does it mean when we read in Ephesians 5:23 that the husband is the head of the wife? The apostle, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was expressing God's design as he had intended when he created the man and woman. God set an order for the relationship between all of God's creation, including in the dispensation of leadership between the man and the woman. And this design is good.
When God commands the husband to be the head of his home, He's done it because he knows it is the best. He's done it because he desires marriages amongst his children to be a reflection of Christ's love for them. There is no deprivation or bias. Understanding God's intent and embracing His wisdom in how he has designed this relationship to be is the way to find true fulfillment that guarantees the enjoyment of our marriages.
The abuse of this relationship, caused by sin, has not altered God's intent or diminished the beauty of his plan.
As we listen, we will learn what true biblical submission is and how this brings God's rich blessing to our homes and by extension, points many to the love that Christ has for his children.
There's so much to unpack from Paul's letter to the Ephesians on the matter of leading a Godly family. Everyone was addressed; the husband, the wife and the children. A clear understanding of the intent of the scriptures on these matters is very crucial to being a family that lives as God has directed.
In previous sermons in this family series, Pastor Adeola has addressed the family unit as a whole and now proceeds to cast his lens on the sub-units, in this case, the wife.
A Christian wife is a spirit-filled wife. A spirit-filled wife is one who unreservedly submits to the will of the Lord concerning her place as a wife and a part of the family unit. This expectation of the wife has not been left to ambiguity; the scriptures speak clearly on this.
In this sermon, we learn who a spirit-filled wife is and all that the Lord has provided for her to conform to the image of Christ in her home.
Pastor Adeola continues The Spirit Filled Family series in this sermon. He beams his light on the innate and visible evidences of a life that's been filled with the Spirit of God. Individuals make up families and Spirit Filled individuals make up Spirit Filled families.
Jesus spoke many times about selflessness and dying to self as inevitable markers of a person who desires to live by the Spirit. In the fellowship of believers, we're required to put aside our own desires and esteem the good of others above our own. This is the life that Jesus lived, it was the very driving force behind His coming in the flesh to die for our sins and this is an example we can't toss aside and still profess to be his children.
Selfishness is the sinful opposite. The heart that seeks its own good first is not one that is living a Spirit Filled life and this permeates the fabric of christian fellowship to poisonous effect. And indeed, loving others does bring us an enjoyment of love ourselves as we enjoy the unfettered delight of God's love.
As you listen, may God's love dwell richly in your heart as you learn to give of yourself to the good of others that the blessing of the Lord may rest upon you and your family.
Salvation is like a treasure. It is the pearl of great value. It is worth a man's every penny. One will scarcely sell all of their possessions to acquire one possession. But when salvation comes to a man, everything pales in value.
One who has been convicted of salvation is willing to give up everything to possess it. Salvation will cost you everything if it's true but it will give you the one thing that trumps every other.
Jesus said that anyone who will come to him must deny himself, take up his cross and follow him. When you give up everything for the kingdom of heaven, you lose nothing; indeed, you gain everything.
Pastor Adeola gives an introduction to what it means to be a Spirit Filled Family in the first installment of this series. A godly family is mirrored in the scripture. Vast amounts of texts of scripture have implicitly and explicitly shown what it means to be a family after God's will. Because of how highly God esteems the place of the family unit in redemptive history, it is imperative that we seek to learn directly from Him how we must lead a family as He has designed it to be.
Through the rest of this series, we will be learning God's design for the family so that we will submit to this design as we seek to glorify God with every facet of our lives.
God has spoken! What has he spoken and where has he spoken?
In Hebrews 1:1-4, the writer made an explicit statement; that God has spoken to us! Also unequivocally stated is how he has spoken to us. Other texts of scripture have severally made clear why God has spoken to us.
God speaks to us simply to fulfill the purpose for which we were made. The very purpose of our creation and all of the ways by which we must live, have been nicely wrapped in all of scripture; explicitly and implicitly, and handed to us, along with the provision for understanding and applying to our lives.
In this sermon, deacon Kwaw sought inform or remind the saints that God has spoken cumulatively throughout history and ultimately in his son Jesus Christ, and that he has preserved a written record of his word, all with the aim of reconciling man to God in an everlasting union. He outlined this in three significant points:
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The permanence of what God has spoken: His written word will never pass away.
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The purpose for which God has spoken: To reconcile those who had become his enemies through the fall.
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The person through whom God has spoken: His son Jesus Christ, the ultimate and eternal expression of himself to man.
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9
The purpose of Peter’s writing in 1st Peter: is to encourage the church and to do this, Peter found it necessary by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to remind the church of their identity and their purpose. One thing that can stabilize you in the midst of turmoil is the knowledge of who you are (identity) and why you are (purpose).
As children of God, why is our identity and purpose so important? This is the question that this sermon sought to answer. Deacon Martin Obono posited that knowing your identity will help you affirm certain things, refuse certain other things and form a basis for sound theology and doctrine.
The light was beamed on the four elements of 1st Peter 2:9 and we were invited to learn what it means to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a peculiar people.
One of the saddest periods in redemptive history is narrated or chronicled in the thirty second chapter of Chronicles. King after king of Judah is recorded as doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord. The entire council of the nation of Judah and all the people were exceedingly unfaithful, perverse in their ways and turning against every law of the LORD.
Sin is powerful. It sits deeply rooted in the heart of all men and will find expression in the most unrelenting ways it can devise. It drives the thoughts and actions of kings, rulers, men, women and children in all nations and through all generations. Left without restraint, it goes on and on, unto certain destruction. Indeed, destruction is the certain end of the sin trajectory.
We see the trajectory in the thirty second chapter of Chronicles as many kings progressively turned against the LORD, the God of Judah. In his mercy, God provided a means of turning away and making an escape from the destruction that lay ahead. But the people had other ideas. In their rebellious ways they carried on, mocking the very God that had offered them a way of escape until there was no remedy.
God is compassionate and merciful, not wishing that any should perish. And he has made a way of escape. In this sermon, Deacon Kwaw Andam took us through this narrative as he beamed the light on the consequences of unrepentant rebellion against God, but very importantly, the power of God's mercies to save us. A remedy has been provided for us in Christ.
How do we find fellowship with God? From where do our conviction and knowledge of God come? By what means does God execute his redemptive plan?
The answers to these pertinent questions form the bedrock of the biblical faith; faith that is predicated only upon the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This same Christ who is the word of God, instituted the very means by which his people will receive the gift of his salvation. Through godly men called the apostles, the foundations and doctrines of the christian faith were laid and presented to the redeemed, all richly encapsulated in the written word.
Christian fellowship stands on the eternal purity, holiness and righteousness of God. This is the Apostolic doctrine, it is the source and foundation of the christian faith. There is no other.
We can only fellowship with the God of Light when we have been convicted and purified by the Apostolic doctrine, given by Christ himself to faithful men through whom he gave us his written word, sufficient for our salvation and sanctification. There can be no fellowship with the God of Light by one who walks in darkness.
"If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." (ESV)
1 John 1:6
There are so many voices out in the world, fashioned into countless schemes aimed at giving you a false sense of faith and hope that is not in and from God. But not every voice that is bidding you come, is bidding you come from God. And the scriptures, speaking through the apostle John gave this warning;
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1st John 4:1)
It hardly gets more emphatic than that. In as many times as the scriptures speak about the true gospel, it also even more sternly, warns against false teaching. There are many false teachers out there today, just as there were when our Lord and his apostles walked the earth.
Who are false prophets/teachers and how do we recognize them and what to do with them?
Listen to this sermon as our deacon, Martin Obono delves into the word to show us as he outlines a few steps to help us on our way.
"but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ."
Ephesians 5:18b-21
The scriptures are replete with indicators that show a life has been filled with the Spirit. Writing to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul enumerated some of these as our attitude toward our worship of God and fellowship with one another. It is evident in how we approach our Lord and how we treat other believers if we are filled with the Spirit.
The Spirit fosters reverence to God, humility and small selflessness that esteems the good of others above ours. If we want to live the life of the Spirit, we must seek to be filled with Him by drawing nearer to Him and leaning on Him as we are unable to do any of these by ourselves.
You'll hear about three key implications of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of one who has been filled by Him.
The command of God to submit is to all his children; that they submit to one another. Individualism is not sanctioned by the Lord and it stands in opposition to God's desire for his children in fellowship. Out of love for one another, believers are expected to put away self and esteem the needs of others above their own, just as Christ in his life and death exemplified.
When the scriptures command that we be not drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit, it is drawing our minds to comprehend the implications of this kind of control.
Our pastor begins this mini series by casting the light on what it means to not walk in the Spirit.
"But I walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh"
~ Galatians 5:16
This is a promise. The one definitely leads to the other. The Holy Spirit begins our journey of holiness by reminding us of who we are in Christ. He enables us to live the holy lives that God requires and this we can never do by ourselves.
If you try to fight sin in your own effort, you will never experience inward change. It is only the Spirit of God who produces the kind of change that transforms our hearts and enables us to live in accordance with God's laws.
God has made an assured provision for believers to live by the Spirit, thus fulfilling God's law. The one who submits himself, unrestrained, to the Holy Spirit will live a life that pleases the Lord, as he's able to put to death the deeds of the body by the power of the Spirit.
In the second part of this series, we consider the power of God in our weaknesses. Indeed, we are a weak people, made so by the limitations of our fallen humanity. We are weak in our spirits and weak in our bodies. We are unable to muster the strength to navigate the demands life places in us, in spite of our best efforts.
Children of God are weak. That is why our savior came. He came to save us from our weakness-in-chief; sin! And while he has ultimately done that and left us in these weak bodies, he has not left us without a help for our ongoing inhibitions borne by the flesh. We are unable to truly live as God expects us to and to confirm to his holy standards.
God is in ultimate wisdom has gone ahead of us and provided a way out. In this sermon, our pastor cast the light on God's provision for his children in their ongoing battle with weakness. His Son had guaranteed our ultimate victory and while we await his glory, his Holy Spirits strengthens us and helps us along the way.
"The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."
Romans 8:16
This is a remarkable truth that should elicit awe and assurance in such measure that nothing is able to usurp it. When the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to pen those words, he meant to etch into the hearts for God's children that they are esteemed by God in like measure as his son the Christ.
Christ himself taught us to pray "our father". This is instructive. Scriptures are replete with such pronouncements and narratives that indicate the kind of relationship we have with God. It is a father and child relationship with all the attendant privileges available to children.
We must affirm and assume this as our reality as children of God, that we may enjoy the full measure of his love for us. The confidence we need to thrive as God's children has been graciously dispensed to us in Christ, as co-heirs with him in the kingdom of his father, who is also our father.
All power in heaven and on earth belongs to God. There is nothing that exists outside of his will. He displayed this power in the work of creation and throughout the course of history, he has continued to display his absolute power and control over the created world in various ways.
Our God both displays and restrains his power as he dispenses his rule over the universe. No one else is able to do what he does. In a very remarkable way, he displayed this power over sin and the devil through the life and death of his son our Lord the Christ.
This power has been made available to us as believers. The power to be the bearers of God's power and participate in the dispensation of it upon the face of the earth. We do not often see the evidence of this in our lives because we're looking at the wrong places; inward at our deficiencies instead of outward at what God has done for us and in us. We ought not to think of ourselves but upon the Lord and what he has done and is able to accomplish through us. Our pastor will help walk us through what it means to be a powerful believer in this series.
What does it mean to be a boastful believer? The word boast itself will jump off as connoting a vice. Why then does the Bible admonish believers to boast?
The word translated boast in English versions of the Bible is synonymous with the word rejoice. When the Bible asks us to boast in Christ, it is asking us to rejoice in the fact of what Christ has done for us, not in anything we can ascribe to ourselves. Being justified by faith, we have faith in God through Christ Jesus. We can boast in the glory of God because we have been justified by faith. In Christ we have a sure hope in God; a hope that enables us to rejoice because we can trust in his finished work and the justification he has extended to us not because of anything we can do to earn it.
In this sermon, our Deacon, Kwaw Andam highlights four major points about our boast in Christ – the cause, certainty, capacity and the centre of our boast in Christ as he aims to show that Christ is the centre of our boasting as we have nothing to boast about.
A remarkable encounter in the home of Simon the Pharisee depicts the weight of God's forgiveness. There was the Lord Jesus, Simon his host and the woman scriptures record as being a sinner who came with her alabaster box of expensive ointment. One of the most popular exchanges in scriptures shows the heart of a publicly notorious sinner who saw her need for mercy in spite of how great her sins were. Smitten by her sinful state and realization of the savior in front of her, she wept and released her most prized possession to show her penitence, while Simon looked upon her in derision, consumed by his pride and lack of estimation of his own sinful state. He invited the savior into his home, but not into his heart.
The realization of the reality of God’s forgiveness must sink deep enough into our hearts to allow us to be transformed by it. Mary Magdalene realized this and she was transformed into a disciple of Christ. When sinners allow the truth of God’s forgiveness to really sink into our hearts, it produces a loving devotion to Christ, one that emanates from a heart that understands how great a forgiveness it has received.
Indeed, whoever has been forgiven greatly, loves greatly.
We live in a world dominated by marketing and messaging and all sorts of strategies designed to sell a good, service or idea. But in a world where there can be as many preferences and consumer biases as there are cultures, these marketing gimmicks never suffice across the board and are then subject to changes and modifications to fit consumer preferences because in our human reality, one size doesn't always fit all.
Not so with the gospel. We cannot modify, adapt or embellish the gospel so that it aligns with or appeals to the sensibilities of our varying cultural, social and political realities. This is because the gospel, being a matter of life and death, addresses something more fundamental. The gospel addresses life's biggest question; how are we saved?
Our deacon, Martin Obono, in delivering this sermon, sought to point our heart's
attention to life's most fundamental question; am I saved and how am I saved? He established that it is the gospel that saves and this gospel is overarching in its efficacy, the tampering of which, renders it ineffectual in its true ramification.
Listen to find out what the gospel is and why, unlike the world's offerings, it is enough in its true form for all mankind in all places and at all times to address the one problem we all have; sin.
Self righteousness is a pollutant; it pollutes the heart of the self righteous one and the ones it comes in contact with. It is driven by a spirit that trusts in itself as upstanding and able to meet by performance, the unattainable standards of a holy God. Jesus identified this kind of heart when He told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector in Luke 18:9,
"He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:".
He told this parable to highlight the dangers of a heart that trusts in itself as righteous and the futility of such a venture. Self righteousness, as seen in the posture of the Pharisee, leads only to God's disapproval and eventual destruction. A contrite heart, as displayed by the tax collector, is one that God delights in. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. The one who considers their wretched state and finds no ability in themselves to fulfill the righteous demands of God is the one God lifts up and grants the gift of righteousness. Jesus came into the world to live the perfect life we could never live so that our righteousness is rooted only in him, not in ourselves. When we ascribe righteousness to our own deeds, we reject Christ and his sacrifice.
In this sermon, pastor Adeola points to the dangers of self righteousness and the blessings of a humble heart.
The Gospel is all powerful. What this proposition means is that when the Gospel makes its home in the heart of a person, it affects every aspect of their lives and changes their entire worldview so that every of life's question finds answers in the truth of the gospel. And it does so not by a set of rules but the its sheer power to take the heart of a person and transform it in a way that enables them to live the life that pleases God. In three subforms, Pastor Adeola posited that:
The gospel is for Christians. The gospel is the ultimate source of transformation and The gospel is what God has done for us.
The power of the gospel brings salvation to your soul and delivers you at the very core from the raging drawbacks that keep you bound to the issues of life. It transforms your view of what is needful and sets you on the path to a truly fulfilled life that can only come from God's all powerful gospel. In this sermon series, Pastor Adeola intends to show us the transforming power of the Gospel.
If you have ever wondered what it truly means that a group of people are called a church and how that group fits into the larger context of the church of God, then this sermon will be helpful in bringing clarity, particularly as it derives from the undisputed source of all truth; the scriptures. As you listen, you will learn that the church of God is the only institution that the Lord Jesus Christ founded for his people to be joined to and for the protection and spread of the gospel. The church is both local in organization and global in its scope. More specifically, you will learn that the church of God is the church of God, the church of God is the local church…a specific group of people in a specific place and the church of God is the universal church…all the people everywhere, throughout history, who have believed in Christ.
If you’re a Christian, you should love the church of God and be glad that it’s the church of God, not of man. It should give you cause for thanks that God has ordained for his church to be the local church, a specific group of people and a specific time in a specific place, in which he brings all the comforts of the gospel to his people in their own context.
The devil's greatest weapon is deception. We see his deviousness in display when in Genesis, he successfully deceived Eve and by consequence, Adam into disbelieving what God had told them. That one event set that pace for his trade of deception throughout the course of human history; seeking to sway the hearts of men away from the truths God has established in his word with the sole intent of turning as many away from their creator. Not resting on his laurels, he went on the tempt the Lord himself, showing the full weight of his war against the one true God. It was from this encounter that the tides were turned and the Lord himself provided our way out of whatever the devil throws at us in seeking to turn our hearts away from God. This ammunition is found in the scriptures and Christ's example shows us that no temptation has overcome us that is not common to man.
Our Lord himself experienced the whole gamut of temptation and showed us how we can overcome. This sermon points us to the power of Christ through his word to enable us stand against any temptation that comes our way. We have our strength firmly rooted in God's written word.
How are Christians expected to engage their minds in a fruitful way? In the third and concluding part of this timely series, pastor Adeola answered this question by expounding on five effectual godly practices; We must learn to meditate on God's word, we must often preach the gospel to ourselves, we must avoid ungodly information, we must live in unrestricted obedience to God's commands and we must spend quality time praying to God.
We must make these practices a pattern in our lives if they must bear fruit. Persistence in fruit bearing is what leads to transformative fruitfulness in the Christian life. Be blessed by the concluding part of this most edifying series.
Satan is at work every single day to try and lead you away from God. He seeks to drive the vehicle of your will power, looking to control and influence your thoughts so that he controls your actions or lack of them. When your thoughts are not controlled by God, they're invariably controlled by Satan. In Philippians 4:17-18, the apostle Paul speaks to the state of a mind that's not controlled by God. It is unfruitful. Scripture is replete with demands and admonitions for Christians to employ their minds in considering the things that God requires of us. God demands for us to use our minds as the foundation of our communication and interaction with him. A Christianity that does not promote the act of reason, of examination, of logic, of careful thought, is a false and disingenuous Christianity. Building from the first part of this series, our pastor panned his thoughts towards showing us that the bedrock of all our sins is our mind. Christian warfare essentially begins in the mind. When our finds have become so fortified that Satan finds it impossible to penetrate it, then we can enjoy the life transforming power of God.
What does it mean to be blessed? The answer to this query will vary from person to person or context to context. But we are not left in the dark about what it really means to be blessed. We have the one true giver of blessings to glean from, He only is able to give the true answer and experience of what it means to be a blessed person. Speaking in Matthew’s gospel chapter 5 verses 1 to 12, Jesus Christ began to teach his disciples and by extension, all of God’s covenant children what qualifies as a blessing as far as the true giver of blessings is concerned. Anchoring his teaching from that text of scripture, Pastor Sam Oyeyinka, visiting from The Excellent Church in Lagos, took the time to draw our minds to align with God’s definition of a blessing. Man understands blessings differently from God’s view but only one view is correct. This is what we will learn from this sermon and assuredly, God wants his children to be truly blessed.
On the subject of the christian mind, the book of Proverbs tells us that "as a man thinks, so is he". The use of the mind is essential to our christian life and what we feed our minds with sets the pace for our walk with God. Our worldview is shaped by what we know.
Through the pages of scripture, we see the Lord make appeals to the use of the mind in the experience of our relationship with him, that it is through the instruments of thought and reason that He will guide us through life. What he desires for us to be, he will teach us and we will know as we think on them. Even loving God requires the use of our mind. In this sermon on the matter of the godly mind, our pastor emphasizes that truth, carefully thought through, must be the foundation of all our feelings and experiences. As believers, it is a grave danger to take leave of our minds in our quest for a closer walk and experience of God.
In raising Jesus from the dead, God wanted to demonstrate that what we see in a living Jesus is nothing short of a miracle. Through the sacrifices of Jesus and the blood shed on our behalf, God and man now walk together in peace. This unity was accomplished with finality when Christ’s tomb was made empty by His resurrection; a fulfilment of God’s divine ordination as foretold in scriptures. In this Easter Sunday sermon, pastor Adeola Ogundele raised several points about the implications of the resurrection of Christ to the body of believers at the time and the ones to come in the future.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
The five solas of salvation, (or of the Reformation), which form the bedrock of our faith in Christ, include sola scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone). These concepts were gleaned from the biblical positions on the ramifications of salvation, being careful to thoroughly capture the very heart of God concerning how his salvation is dispensed to his people. In this sermon, Deacon Andam explained the biblical principles behind the solas as well as the implications of each of them to the one who has received the salvation of Christ. It is imperative that anyone who professes saving faith in Christ, has a working knowledge and understanding of the five solas so that their faith is predicated upon the true principles as clearly stated in the scriptures. A salvation that is true is a salvation that is rooted only on the five solas.
Throughout the course of human history, efforts have been and continue to be made towards reconciling differing people, culture, ideologies and so on in an attempt to find common ground for peaceful existence as a precursor to progress. Men believe that reconciliation between people will bring lasting solutions to the problems of the world. But the greatest reconciliation, and the most effectual, which the world needs, is reconciliation between man and God. Only this can bring eternal peace and security in the hearts of man. And in Christ, God has reconciled men unto Himself and extended the privilege of ministering same to the world through the instrument of his church. We are still here because we are meant to be ministers of the gospel of reconciliation. We must search and prove in our hearts that we have received true reconciliation and extend this privilege to as many as it pleases the Lord to bring our way.
The greatest problem we have; the one that we cannot remove at will, is sin. This is the problem that is internal to us and draws all other kinds of problems into our lives such that no matter what level of sanity we can muster by trying, the problem of sin inside of us always comes to taint this sanity in varying measure. Therefore, in the eyes of God, the one problem that trumps every other is the problem of sin. And until God by his mercies washes and cleanses us from the leprosy of iniquity, we will find that our lives remain miserable in this world and most certainly, the world to come. Sin, like Naaman’s leprosy, begins deep within us and only God can deal with this disease by the washing of the blood of the lamb.
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:4-7
The scriptures are clear and emphatic; the Lord has granted His children uninhibited access to His throne of grace and mercy where we can find the kind of peace that passes all human sense, one that thrives far above our circumstances, bringing answers to our every prayer and guaranteeing that we joyfully live above every situation as the Lord takes us through. When we "take it to the Lord in prayer", we draw from the only inexhaustible well of abundance where we find the answers to our every prayer. At the feet of the Lord, all His children are guaranteed all things pertaining to life and godliness.
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Our Lord spoke these words to highlight the importance of the state of the heart when we profess our love and worship to God. He sought to establish that true faith and worship starts necessarily from the heart and proceeds to our professions such that any profession that is not rooted in a heart that has been redeemed, is deemed false and abhorrent to God. The scriptures teach that the heart of man is desperately wicked and so only one that has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit is capable of offering true worship to God. In this sermon, our pastor, Adeola Ogundele, labored to steer our hearts to these truths so that we may reevaluate our hearts and prove that we truly love the Lord.
What does it look like for a woman to be a laborer for Christ? God made all things for Himself, to fulfil His plan in the midst of His people and He has made both male and female equal but distinct in order to reflect who He is. God’s design is for women to reflect something of who God is in a way that men cannot and likewise for men. And this is not subjective; scriptures have made it unambiguously clear what distinctive roles God has assigned to women within the context of the church so that they can express themselves as co-laborers in God’s kingdom in a way that glorifies Him. In this sermon, being the second part in the series, our pastor, Adeola Ogundele delves into the scriptures to flesh out with great clarity, what the intent of God is concerning the remarkable role of women in the body of believers.
The role of women in christian ministry is a significant but restricted one. There are spiritual implications attached to the exercise of roles within the church and all believers are called to labor for the sake of the gospel; male or female. The creation story in Genesis shows that God has made male and female male in equality but we also see throughout scripture that He has assigned specific roles to both, a pattern established in creation and restored in the church. In this series, we will see what these specific roles imply and how God has designed that we function in exercising our duties to one another as a body of believers.
Spiritual unity in the body of Christ is more than just getting along to be productive. Rather it is about relationship, characterized by God's perfect love. In this sermon Pastor Adeola Ogundele explains that God loves and desires unity. He is at work in the universe to unite and redeem all things to himself just as He is triune and there is no one like him in the universe, being a perfect union himself. God's people must reflect the reality of who he is in oneness and He has chosen christians as a demonstration of what He can do with a fallen world, bringing people together who apart from the grace of Jesus Christ could not be brought together. Therefore, Christians should remember we are all united to Christ and that we can fight our sinful nature through the power of the Spirit, prayer and mortification of the flesh and with gentleness we can fellowship with one another.
Without God, our lives are vanity upon vanity. There are no good options for satisfaction in life ‘under the sun’ outside of faith in Christ. The pursuit and acquisition of possessions, power, popularity and pleasure is tantamount to despair and emptiness because life must be viewed from ‘above the sun’ with God in mind. It is only when we consider God in reverence, acknowledge Him and desire to please Him, will we experience peace and contentment. Our Deacon, Kwaw Andam takes us through two conclusions, two commandments and two convictions to explain we were created by God, are beings with temporal bodies and an eternal soul to save and will meet God as judge before whom we must give account for the life we lived.
Satan is a crafty and cunning adversary, lying, plotting and distorting God's commands and goodness to tempt believers to sin against God. When Adam fell into sin in the garden of Eden, Satan was further empowered in his rebellious defiance of the one true God as he carried on his attempt to turn many away from God through his tempting ways. But in Jesus, we have a savior who resisted and overcame temptation in the wilderness by knowing the Word, living and walking by the Spirit, and through prayer. Because Jesus overcame sin, we too have victory through his full obedience to God's command. Armed with this truth, believers in Christ are able to overcome and his ways. Brother Wole Akande labored to bring these truths into our hearts as he preached from Genesis 3.
God made a promise through the prophet Isaiah to establish a cornerstone that will never fail. This cornerstone is Christ, the rock upon which the salvation of men is rooted and established. There is no other way by which our lives can enjoy the security of an eternity with God apart from being anchored upon the rock that is Christ. He is the chief cornerstone and that is what this sermon by our deacon, Martin Obono, seeks to establish.
In the second part of this sermon, our pastor continued to labor to admonish us to beware of ourselves and our motives and conduct in our walk with the Lord, that we may consider if we are truly serving the Lord for his sake or for our gain. Are we participating in the graces given by God as his children or as impostors seeking to gratify ourselves and be a stumbling block for true believers? We must be circumspect about our devotion that we may truly tell if we belong to the Lord.
Based upon James 4:13-16, this sermon sought to draw our attention to the futility of a life not entirely hinged upon Christ and his will for our lives. Being blind to our own pride, we are prone to carry on as though we have control of even the next second of our lives. James admonishes that we ought not to like that, but instead to always consider that our lives and outcomes are entirely in the hands of our maker and Lord, knowing which we must then cast all of ourselves fully on him.
The importance of spiritual discernment cannot be overstated as God desires that His children develop a deep capacity to discern what is true from what is false and who is true from who is false. Not everyone who says they are christian, truly desire to know and love Jesus Christ. An enemy of the cross is someone who professes to know and to love Christ but under the influence of the devil, has rejected the way of the cross.
God has chosen his only begotten son Jesus Christ to occupy the central place in the grand scheme of the salvation of sinners. The apostle Peter confirms that this Jesus, though a rejected stone to the builders, the religious leaders of Israel, is the chief cornerstone in God’s living temple. Will you accept him and become a living stone in the temple, or will you reject him and die eternally separated from God?
Continuing his journey through Paul's letter to the Philippian church, our pastor did not relent in rehashing the importance of trusting completely in Christ alone for all things pertaining to our salvation and life. We are to trust him and esteem him far above everything else, placing no one and nothing beside him because our very lives consist in him and we can never know enough of these truths.
A review of our last sermon titled Saul of Tarsus: The Salvation Experience, as delivered by our pastor, Adeola Ogundele.
The mark of a genuine conversion in salvation is in a life that has been interrupted by Christ in absolute measure. When Christ saves, he stops us fully in our tracks and completely alters the course of our lives, taking total control of all that concerns us. We see that demonstrated in the life of Paul on his way to Damascus and the life he led after his conversion experience. In this sermon, Pastor Adeola sought to bring these truths to our hearts in the most unambiguous way.
A review of our last Lord's Day sermon titled Experiencing the Indwelling of Christ as delivered by Pastor Osagie Azeta from our sister church, Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Lagos.
As believers, we are not only indwelled by the Holy Spirit, but by Christ himself, whose life became our lives when we were united with him in his death and resurrection. Pastor Osagie labored in his sermon to emphasize the pre-eminence of Christ in the life of the believer and how that his life is truly the life of Christ and every step we take is Christ living his life through us.
A review of our last sermon titled The Afflictions of the Righteous & The Sure Comfort of God, as delivered by our deacon, Martin Obono.
Taking his text from Psalm 34:19 where we are promised that "Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him from them all", our deacon, Martin Obono, labored to drive home the sure comforts that God's children have in Christ through whatever afflictions they are sure to encounter in their walk. It is refreshing to be reminded that God is in the details and that our travails are but momentary.
A review of our latest sermon which was titled Accepted by God with textual focus on Philippians 3:3-9 as delivered by our pastor, Adeola Ogundele.
The emphasis on the strict basis of God's acceptance can never be enough; we need to be constantly reminded that we bring nothing to the table to be accepted by God and we can do nothing to sustain this acceptance. It is by faith in Christ alone and this is a gift given in spite of our estate in life. Our pastor labored to affirm this position as he continues in our walk through Paul's letter to the Philippian church.
A review of our latest Lord's Day sermon which was the second part of the series, Religion Without Righteousness, preached by our pastor, Adeola Ogundele.
In the second part of this sermon series titled Religion Without Righteousness, our pastor sought to draw our hearts to the primacy of faith in Christ and Christ alone. That salvation is Christ alone and never Christ plus anything else we can bring to the table. Knowing this, we must place our trust fully in the righteousness of Christ imputed freely into us and to stand in firm opposition against any belief that rises against faith in Christ alone.
We spent our time at our weekly Bible Study meeting to review the sermon we heard on the past Lord's Day which our pastor titled Religion Without Righteousness. Encouraging contributions from everyone present showing just how much the ministry of the Word is continually a blessing to us in our church and beyond.
Leaning on Philippians 3:1 in continuing the series on the book of Philippians, our pastor labored to admonish us to incline our hearts to finding true joy that comes only from a true relationship with Christ and is capable of helping us live above every circumstance and creating a kind of stability in the soul that the world cannot produce.
In our latest Bible Study meeting, we reviewed the concluding part of the sermon series titled The Heart of Ministry. We considered the overarching theme in Philippians 2:19-30 and agreed that abandoning self is a prerequisite for truly committing ourselves to the service of Christ and our brothers and sisters. This was exemplified in the lives of the Apostle Paul and his two protégés, Timothy and Epaphroditus.
In a world detailed with evil and sin, will God's will be done? We're called to pray that which God's heart is inclined to - all good. And we're made confident that he purposes all things for final good.
Helpless sheep we; loving Shepherd he. He knows us, leads us, pastors us. Are we listening, following and feeding? John 10:1-6
The Spirit pours into our hearts an experience of what Christ's death has done for us, and of what his life will complete for us. Ours is a God who lived, and died, and lives again for his people. Let such a people rejoice! In their God!
That Kingdom which both indwells the saints, and is in Heaven, is at the same time, already here, and yet to come. God waits to answer our prayer - Thy Kingdom come - in our hearts and in His world.
What is the Cross? What is Christian ministry? What in the Cross makes this ministry Christian?
The privilege to His name name drives us to praise. Indeed, access to God must draw out adoration. And this must be the fountain of our prayer, and the stream of our life - "hallowed be thy name."
If Christ is not raised, we are of all men most to be pitied. Then, Christ's death did not accomplish life for us, our sins are not atoned for, the Father's righteousness still demands justice, and we are without hope in this world. The Gospel is good news because it is complete in the great news of the Resurrection!
Join our brothers, Adeola Ogundele, Joshua Abutu and Martin Obono as they consider the questions of the necessity, and impact, of the Cross, and what response, if any, we must have to it, in this Good Friday panel discussion led by Kwaw Andam.
The Son invites us - sinners made siblings - into communion conversation with our Father.
The completeness of our Salvation rests on the sufficiency of Christ in the Gospel. Is there something remaining for us to do to secure our Redemption?
A pursuit most worthy, it is to be our very life. He who has granted us to be able to make this pursuit is also our example of it.
(We apologize for the audio quality of some portions of this recording. We hope that it remains a blessing to you.)
What is prayer when it is not directed by the Spirit? This matters, as our claim to Christ is at stake.
If Christ's Gospel doesn't humble us, we have no hope to function as Christ's church, in service of one another, and in unity.
The humiliation of Christ is the means to our redemption, as well as the example for our redeemed life.
The Holy, Majestic God of the universe becomes Father, grants us the access of children, and pledges to give us far more than we ask - Himself.
Nature portrays God's power and provokes our praise. God's Word reveals his righteousness and our redemption. How do we live when we can't escape beholding God?
Under the pressure of confrontation, conformity and intimidation, only faith in the all-able God can lead us to act and live and die in rational worship of His Majesty.
The Christian experience of any suffering is not had outside of the Christian identity as Pilgrim or of the Christian hope of a heritance. This changes everything, Christian.
Those who are elected for eternal life are selected for sanctifying suffering. On whom and on what, are our eyes fixed when (not if) we go through suffering?
Human decrees and earthly scarcities seemed to toss about the Creator as He made a most humble entry into the world of men. Yet it was God purposefully painting the picture of the Gospel seeking entry at the human heart.
How do we approach a God who takes no chances to guard his own name, yet commands irreverent sinners into His presence?
A message so urgent, for a need so dire. It's a grace so precious to a waiting world of God's unredeemed elect. The Spirit is poised in power. Are we poised to preach?
The desire of a hell-burning man to warn his family jolts us. Yet his strategy is far from God's means to turn men from death to life. Does the Gospel we each claim in our hearts give us desires for those without it? But, does our Gospel move us to God's means, or to ours?
How does a criminal come to identify the dying, disfigured man executed next to him as his Saviour? Or know him as the King whose end was not death? Granted double vision in his dying hour, robber turns brother, and knows that death will not be his end either.
The majesty of the Creator-King, the worthiness of the Son, the bellowing praises of angels and glorified saints... John offers a reorienting peak into the rational and explosive worship of Heaven's courts.
What kind of blessedness is marked by poverty? Our Lord has staggering things to say about a particular kind of poor.
The mark of God upon us, the promise of God to us and the partnership of God with us, is God Himself. God the Spirit in us is our irrevocable seal of Redemption, guaranteeing us a full possession of God in eternity.
The Spirit by whom Christ is in union with the Father, is the Spirit that regenerates us, indwells us and brings us into the same union with Christ. How shall we then violate such great divine blessing and grieve the Spirit?
We, who have been made new by the word of a gracious God, and continue to be transformed by the same word of grace, are called to grace on our lips, but first, not without grace as the abundance of our hearts.
Behind theft is a heart of greed - a desire that seeks to justify our wants as mandatory needs, and, in turn, the ungodly means to getting them. But we're called by a generous God, not just to quit stealing, but to a radically different disposition of mind
We are members of each other, brothers and sisters, and beloved children of a God angry at a world of sin. In Christ, we have an example of righteous anger without sin, and we have the mercy of God protecting us from the anger of God in spite of our sin. Beloved, how can we then bear to offer our own anger to serve sin, rather than righteousness?
Romans 6:1-14
Reckon yourself as what you have been made IN Christ - dead to sin, alive to God. The Christian is in union with Christ. And so is his only life. But how can we hope to live this truth if we do not reckon as true what is true?
"Gospel obedience has a specific source, namely, a heart gripped by the Gospel, a mind controlled by Christ's love, a life reckoned as crucified on his cross and resurrected with him."
Christ did not: enter the world as a humble helpless human, live a sinless life in the strength of the Spirit, or die a death he didn't deserve, all just in case some sinners discover the blessings of Salvation. For every motion of God in every moment of His saving work, each elect soul was in the Divine mind. Behold a God who acts for us!
Holding on to the promises of God, the Christian in any circumstance can say, it is well. God through His work in us produces what it takes for us to rejoice even in the midst of trouble
The Maker of all things became the greatest nobody. The treasure trove of the riches of grace became poor. This causes one to wonder, what does it really mean that He became poor and we rich? And how did His poverty result to our becoming rich? Seeing this picture beautifully painted in our hearts, how then must we respond?
It is a fact that sin remains in our lives and the greatest dread is to stand before God's wrath and not have one who has atoned for you. Only One has uniquely and perfectly atoned for us and that is what we need.
Something capable of condemning the soul is being trivialized. In Christ however, it has been dealt with it, is being dealt with and will ultimately be dealt with it. Oh! what a glorious thought and comfort this is to the believer that one day, his faith will turn to sight!
O weary, needy and anxious pilgrim, do you truly believe God wins in the end? Or better still do you believe that He has won? Here is hope for your restless soul; the winner of the fight is not determined at the end, God goes in as The Winner. God always wins! Rejoice!
By grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, those who are justified have everlasting, unbreakable peace with God, and are made able persevere in hope.
The choosing God appoints His Son, elects sinners to be tethered to Him, and works out all of their Salvation by the work of the Spirit, according to an eternal plan seen and experienced in Christ. What does this mean for our faith and worship?
We will be shaped by what we fear and by what we desire. But there is a fear that would save us from all our fears. And there is a desire that we wouldn't know if we're not tasting and feeding on God.
Why does the Christian life sometimes, or even often, feel like a shrub in the desert rather than like a tree by the stream? What is the remedy, and how does it come to us?
In our life of faith, we tend to move the Gospel which is a matter of first importance to the fringes. Majoring on its outcomes rather than the Gospel itself. Is it what man does or what God has done in his Son? What is the Gospel? What is the Gospel not?
The flock of Christ need feeding, care and healing which only flows from the riches of the Gospel. This blessed task is placed upon men who realize their fallenness and need, yet care for the fallen and needy. As God conforms His church to the image of Christ through the ordinary means of grace, what sort of men should be considered to take the lead?
Likened to the work of herdsmen, elders are called to a spiritual duty to tend to the spiritual needs of Christ's flock. This task is unattractive when divorced from the Chief Shepherd's example and enabling. Our Good Shepherd has become the model for the elder and His great concern is for the good of the flock over which Christ has made him overseer
For the discerning, sensitive servant, pursuing the people of God in love and practical care, Paul is listing qualities that are to mark deacons who will reflect the servanthood of Christ in his ministration to the church. Not by mere possessing natural skills, abilities and talents, but a character rooted in how Christ has taken hold of the life of the man.
Servants are God's tangible goodness to his people, chosen among the Church, and integral to her flourishing. Deacons are God's beacons, which through multiple cracks, shine nonetheless, the light of Christ and care of the Church.
What are the implications of the Doctrine of Justification? How does the Gospel destroy the twin evil of legalism and licentiousness? Is Faith alone in Christ equal to Faithfulness to Christ?
Is the Gospel still free if we must bring our faith as though in exchange to receive it?
A faith that shatters every ground for works in our Salvation, including the ground of faith itself; a faith that trusts only and only in what God has done, this is the instrument by which God saves sinners. Will you look away from yourself and believe in the Savior?
Why did Jesus die on the cross? At Easter, our God-Man did something, for us. But no less did he make us become something, which we previously were not. What we are and who we have in our death-and-life unity with Him... what shall we say to these things?
Righteous, holy and good is the perfect law of God to us and over us. Required and unnegotiable it is, to bring us to God. But what in all of God's world can make the indispensable become "useless" for our Salvation?
The meat of justification is that God provides the spotless Lamb of righteousness for us, a righteousness which we do not have and which he requires of us - His.
A declaration, a reckoning as righteous, those who were foreign to the state; they receiving as theirs, an attribute of their Maker that is alien to them, yet purchased for them - divine righteousness! O the wonder of justification, not by one righteous work of ours, nor by our greatest faith, but by an act of God alone.
When the light seems to be hidden beyond any effort of sight, what is the hope of the saint? Will our faith be found to be anchored to the Sun of Righteousness?
The mighty love of God arising from within the Godhead to us is as great as God is, and is as sure to us as his holy pursuit for his own glory. What happens when we come to know this love?
No matter what changes, or doesn't change, but should, as we think; no matter how low life dips, or how high we soar; no matter what we part with in this life, even if with life itself; what do we know for sure, now and always?
Lack, loss and ill-health will not signify our separation from God’s love for us, rather they have been included in the things his love predetermined to work out for our good. But who are we? The entire population of the world? Or those who, in and by his love, He has caused to love Him?
Like everything else that we feed and exercise, if we feed and exercise our faith, it will grow. It is a fact waiting to be a reality for those who will do all they can to immerse themselves in the object of our faith - God. This continual immersion, is the feeding and exercising. And the reward of this growing faith is more, of God.
The boundless, inexhaustible resources of God for His children are not the evident experience of many. But how can a child run who has never walked, or known the feel of the ground under his feet standing?
What glorious mystery that the Creator God is pleased to dwell in us, his redeemed creatures! What a loss if we don't have God to our fullness, and have our fullness increase. What wild imagination we must have to think we can receive and comprehend anything of the infinite God, without His strength first in our inner man...
Portraying sin's greatness in a parable demands hyperbole, for how do we make sense of it by measurable things, such as monetary debt? But sin, our debt to God, could not nearly be exaggerated. Yet, often, we either forget how great a forgiveness we have received, or we imagine that we can begin to pay our debt back. But what heart disposition of the forgiven reproduces God's forgiveness to others?
From start to finish, we are called to a journey of looking. There's a glory to behold - one that both sustains us through this life and serves as a taster of the life to come. Gladly, our glorious object is also our example for looking and our necessary help. Do we see Him?
In the perplexing distress of sin, the saints may feel overwhelmed until we know the staggering greatness of the forgiveness of God. One prostitute knew it and her faith brought her to Christ.
Apart from his memorable name, Melchizedek the priest-king doesn't seem to leave enough of an impression in the Old Testament, that is, if we're not reading the Bible realizing that all of Scripture is weaving for our minds, things intended for us to see and embrace about our own King and High Priest. With more ink now devoted in the letter to the Hebrews to the elusive OT figure, the writer elaborates on a new priestly order, a new law and a new kingdom.
~ Hebrews 7
The Christian Life is not mechanical; it's organic, full of ups and downs, twists and turns. God, however, in his forbearing love, is faithful to keep each of us who trust in Christ to the end. And through his covenant promises, He graciously condescends to reassure our often weak and wavering hearts that He is worthy of our trust. Will we not have faith in the Faithful One?
~ Hebrews 6:13-20
The most dangerous place some are today is the church, with other saints, merely tasting the heavenly gift, but being self-deceived that they have it. Their perdition is evidenced by a life void of repentance. But beyond his terrifying (though loving) warnings and rebuke, this Bible writer-pastor has solid encouragement for God's people. His admonition in all is a call to Christian maturity, which does not come from looking to our experiences, but a maturity which rests upon, builds upon, and does not remain static upon the foundation of the Gospel.
Hebrew 6:1-12
The Gospel brings all its weight into every department of our lives, including our relationship to government. With our dual citizenship - of earth and of the Eternal Kingdom - how are we to live under present human rulers, including the wicked, God-defying ones? Is our King still in charge? Does He charge us to surrender? Does He charge us to war? What are our weapons? Is our King still in charge?
Exodus 6:6-7 Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the Lord ... I will deliver you from slavery ... I will redeem you with an outstretched arm ... I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
As things haven't turned out as expected, Moses is back, confused, lamenting the sour twist of events to God, who responds, not with an explanation, but with a resounding declaration of His LORDship. Will we anchor our lives to unpredictable circumstances or to the unstoppable Sovereign Lord?
Exodus 5:1, 22 Moses ... said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" ...Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?
With unprecedented courage, the formerly timid messenger, Moses, armed with his first knowledge of I AM, meets the enslaver of God's chosen people and demands freedom. But the Divine mandate meets disdain and ridicule, and Israel is thrown into harder labor. The Pharaoh has responded to God; how will the enslaved respond? How will Moses? And in God's hard, dark providences, how do we?
Exodus 4:1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”
Moses has been briefed on his mission and I AM's introduction now seem to have lost lustre on him. Unbelief reared its doubtful head and instead of having the shepherd become the next burning-but-unburnt-bush; The Good Lord teaches unbelieving Mo' some graceful lessons with his staff, his arm & God's Nile.
Exodus 3:14 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Moses is bewildered by an uncanny sight. He finds a speaking but not human, burning but unburnt bush. Unbeknownst to him, he was before the thrice-holy, sovereign, triune God of his forefathers. This sermon reenacts Moses' encounter and reminds us of how our 'here i am' meets the great 'I AM'
John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
In fulfilling the covenant of redemption, we consider 5 lessons from Christ’s earthly bearing. We see the true measure of a Child of God and unearth what fueled His resolve, kept Him confident and motivated from His cradle to our cross.
Luke 15:20 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
Jesus reveals the heart of our heavenly father in the narrative of the prodigal son. We often find it easier to keep our gaze on the self-loving brother and ignore the self-righteous son. Christ exposed the lostness of the older brother to whom grace appeared scandalous and the immutable love of God towards both sinning siblings.
Philippians 3:8 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
1 John 5:13 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
Exodus 3:2 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
Psalms 10:1 1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Luke 2:10-11 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Exodus 3:7 7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
Mark 5:1-2 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.
Psalms 1:1-2 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Exodus 1:12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.
Exodus 1:1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:
EXODUS
/ˈɛksədəs/
noun 1. a mass departure of people.
"We've arrived right in time from the book of beginnings to witness the EXODUS of a few who have become a great nation. " Our lens necessarily must be Biblical, Historical, Theological and definitely Christological.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
An expository teaching on arguably the most recited Bible verse, John 3:16. Going beyond the passage as a mere memory verse to unearth timeless Gospel truths. We review 3 visible themes, The Love of God, to whom it was expressed and the embodiment of His Love. Listen in.
Genesis 50:19 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?
Oh, what comfort for the sinful wretch
With pails drawn and no good in fetch
As they stare the stairs that Jacob hath gone
And fear the fears their sins hath borne
To now hear with ears the evil they meant
The savior sent did good invent
For their wretched souls to hear repent.
Genesis 49:11 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.
GEN 49 - We ponder on Jacob the patriarch’s parting cryptic prophecies to his sons. Remarkable statements preceding the birth of Israel’s tribes. Particularly noteworthy is the prophecy concerning the tribe of Judah from whence our Lord shall come. So… “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father."
Matthew 5:18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Its frequently argued that since the life, death & resurrection of Christ, the law has no importance to the Christian. For some, it's just an archaic historical narrative with a huge disconnect from our present realities.bIn this sermon, we learn that nothing could be further from the truth. We consider the authority, infallibility, inerrancy, transformative and all-time relevance of all of God’s word.
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Matthew 5:1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
We're back to Matthew 5; Sermon on the Mount... a compendium of kingdom culture, lifestyle and impact, authored by the Father, taught by the Son and imbued by the spirit. A revelation of the Christian character that counters earthly norms and counterfeit moralism. These teachings reveal how our Christian lives can & should reflect the Glory, Grace, and Goodness of God. Be inspired.
Genesis 48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
GENESIS 48: Jacob, the sage of his age, a Godly man, leaves an inheritance. Not the grain pyramids of Egypt or all the wealth of Pharaoh, neither the good land of Goshen nor the lasting legacy of his own name. But with crossed hands, he blesses his posterity with the covenant blessing, the true gem of inestimable worth, that transcends the limiting gravity of this age to the weightlessness of the next. Have we been left any inheritance?
Genesis 47:27 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.
GENESIS 46 - Providentially, The Israelites though an abominable people to the Egyptians find favor with Pharaoh. Led by God to Egypt with a Kinsman at the seat of power and the plushest of lands, what could possibly go wrong? Captivity maybe? How can we still see God as good when circumstances around us are brutal and unbearable? Let’s retrospectively consider the narrative of Israel’s migration.
Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
If you're a Christian, be encouraged by this teaching on the implications of our justification as heirs of God through Christ, a biblical view of Christian suffering and the comfort God's Word accords. If you're not a Christian, herein lies the Goodnews for your weary soul; listen.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
The decree of Romans 8:1 spring a refreshing fountain of joy in the believer. An ever-potent balm that soothes the stings of a sin-laden world infested with doubts, fears, worries, pain et al. Not guilty! Free in Christ forever! The decree of Romans 8:1 erupts lavas of torment in the unbeliever. A poignant reminder that cuddles whatever, success, fulfillment or pleasure this parched earth has to offer. Guilty! Slaves of sin, death & hell. One verse, two implications....listen!
Genesis 46:3 Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.
God is working His purposes out. He leads Jacob with his sixty-plus family members to be forged into a great nation in great Egypt. As Jacob and Joseph reunite the Genesis of Israel's Exodus gets underway.
Adeola Ogundele teaches on four roles of the law in our lives, the doctrine of sanctification and How the holy life which we long to see is produced by God's promised Spirit within us. Enjoy!
Questions and Answers on suffering, sanctification, salvation, covenant, law, and much more.
Pastor Abutu, takes on a historical review of what the Law is and its purpose, God's Covenant relation with man and The Covenant of Grace. A breakout Q&A session ensues.
Our local assembly, Sovereign Grace Community Church, Abuja had her first Back 2 Basics 2019 outreach on the 20th of July. These meetings though non-denominational and very interactive are strictly biblical. Our topic of discourse was on The Law and The Gospel with Pastor Chris Okogwu, Pastor Abutu Peter Joshua & Adeola Ogundele.