MOVING FROM SPIRITUAL BABE TO MATURITY - TSC LEADERS CONFERENCE 2012

 Let’s face it, as believers everything we do is for two main reasons:

·         To please God by doing what he says and helping to spread the word

·         To benefit from the blessing of being born again and to live the life we were meant to live 

Matt 9:37-38 says - Then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. This lets us know that the issue of not enough workers in the church is not a new thing and dates back to when Christ still walked this earth. It further tells us what to do i.e. to pray therefore to the lord of harvest that he will send forth labourers to his harvest.

The super church has been continually praying for more labourers, more workers in the church and believe it or not we are these workers we have been praying for. All we have to do is to take our rightful place as leaders in the church. I know many of us cannot picture ourselves as leaders. I myself if I had been told a few years ago that I would be active in the church not to mention being a leader I would have laughed. But here I am. Believe me if I can make it everyone can.We know it is not by our strength that we would accomplish this because if we knew how to or what to do we would have already done it by now.

The way to take the bold first step is to make sure we are at the leader’s conference, listen attentively and make sure we begin to practice everything we learn

Hebrews 5:11-14 says - Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

The question then is how does the above apply to us?

This tells us there is a lot more God has in store for us but as he says we if we are still spiritual babes still taking milk are dull of hearing i.e. there is a limit to our understanding.  Why? Because our growth is stunted. Many of us have been born again for some time and by now should be eating the meat of the gospel but are still acting like those in need of milk. I.e. we are still behaving like babies when we should be grown by now.

Are we not tired of being newborn babes in the lord still seeking for milk. As with humans as Reverend said if you see a 5 year old boy still craving for milk alone and not eating solids yet won’t we be alarmed. So why then are we not alarmed that after all this time we are still almost basically on the same or close to the same level we are. It also tells us that by now many of us should be teaching by now, many of us should be PCF Leaders, Cell Leaders, Assistant Cell Leaders and departmental heads but we still remain as mere members acting like spiritual babes who are still in need of more teaching which should not be the case at all.

This situation is like having access to a million naira in our bank accounts but we have been told in order to get access to this money we need to be mature enough. Until we are mature enough we would only have access to N 100,000. If this was the case I am sure we would do whatever is within our power to ensure we become mature enough so that the N1,000,000 that is ours would be given to us.  Why then is the case the reverse spiritually for most people?

We have access to a lot more but are satisfied with much less.  The bible tells us there is a lot more that we need to know,  a lot more that we need to benefit from, a lot more due to us but because we are not ready , because we are still taking milk we are dull of hearing and we cannot have access to it.

In Summary there are two issues that have been pointed out to us right now. First is that God need labourers for the harvest and we are the answers to the super church’s prayer for workers and second is that there is still a lot to benefit from God but we are still babes spiritually unable to eat the meat of the word. The next logical step is thus arriving at the best way to accomplish these two things.

Fortunately that is exactly what the leader’s conference would do for us. To solve the above problems because as workers we would need training and retraining to function effectively in our stated roles and more than that we have been told the only way to grow spiritually is to continually renew our minds with the word and specifically with regards to assuming our positions as leaders in the TSC the special leadership training that is required.

I therefore implore every single one of us in TSC Worldwide to make it a point of duty to make sure we beat whatever odds and make sure we come to the Leaders Conference because the devil would like nothing better than to throw distractions at us no matter how logical these distractions or excuses may be it is important we see them for what they are. MERELY DISTRATCIONS.

So do whatever is necessary, make whatever plans you need to, sow whatever seed you need to and pray fervently that nothing whatsoever prevents you from being at this conference because at the end you would not return the same.



TSC LEADER'S CONFERENCE: ARRIVE A BOY AND LEAVE AS A MAN- LEADERS CONFERENCE – NOV 7 –11, VENUE – OMOKU, RIVERS STATE. ANYWHERE ELSE YOU ARE AT THAT TIME IS THE WRONG PLACE. SEE YOU THERE.

 

SPEAKING IN ECSTACY - ADDRESSING THE ONLY IMPERFECTION IN THE PERFECT NEW CREATION

THE PERFECTION OF THE NEW CREATION

When we receive salvation, it replaces the sin nature that we have and makes us new men, born again.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold all things are become new.

Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to receive this salvation and become new creations. All we have to do is

   Is believe that someone (Jesus Christ) died for you

That He was raised from the dead by God

Confess Jesus to be your Lord i.e. Pledge allegiance to Him with your mouth

The moment we do this we receive Him into our lives and we become born again. We become new creations. 

So the question now is what is a new creation?

The New Creation is a new breed, a new species, someone that has never existed before. He is not refurbished or cleaned up. He is a totally new being.

The bible tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that we are God’s workmanship

^{KJV 10} For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

^{AMP 10} For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), ^[a]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

^{COMMON ENGLISH 10} Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.

We see us being described as God’s workmanship, God’s own handiwork and God’s accomplishment. These words are not used lightly and signify the fact that we are a perfect masterpiece, God’s show piece and his accomplishment meaning we are flawless, perfect complete.

Everything God has the new creation which is us has.  The bible tells us in Genesis that we are created in God’s image we are further told in 1 John 4:17 that as he is so are we in this world. The question then is – Is God perfect? If yes then we have no choice but to believe as new creations, created in the image of God and being God’s workmanship and accomplishment we can be nothing but perfect.

In every area of our lives we are perfect and without flaws. Glory be to God. Except for one area where the bible tells us we have a weakness and thankfully also gave us the solution to this weakness and how we can circumvent being paralyzed by it.

OUR ONLY WEAKNESS

Let us take a look at Romans 8:26-27

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

²⁷ And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

It says likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities: Here the spirit the bible is referring to is the Holy Spirit. Here the bible does not refer to man the spirit it refers to the Holy Spirit helping the new creation (man the born again spirit) with his infirmities. Wait a minute – does that mean the perfect new creation, God’s excellent masterpiece, God’s accomplishment has infirmities? YES and this is the only singular infirmity the bible records the new creation as having. In every other area of life we are perfect but here the bible say we have an infirmity also referred to as a weakness, a short coming.

What are these infirmities: The bible tells us for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. This is another loaded statement and if we don’t take care the true meaning might fly over our heads. The most important word there is as we ought to. The word ought is derived from  “to owe” and is used to express obligation i.e. we do not know how to pray as we are obliged to do, as we owe it to God to pray. So it is not something we have a choice in, it is not something we do if we want and not do if we don’t want to. That’s an obligation.  We all pray we all think we know what we are praying about but the bible tells us we don’t know how to pray as we owe it to God to do. All we have been doing is if we are not praying according to the word of God is just doing our own thing.  If we take nothing away from this we must understand that when it comes to prayer we do not know what we should pray for (one) and we do not know how to pray as we ought to.

Solution: As with every other thing is life God can and will never leave us with a solution. The bible tells us we have been provided with the spirit who maketh intercessions for us.  Maketh intercession for us i.e. prays on our behalf because we are naturally incapable no matter what we do to do this for ourselves.

Jesus said in John 16:7 when talking to his disciples before his ascension -  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.  It always amazes me how the words used in the bible just hit the nail on the head for instance the word expedient not only stand for the fact that it is important but it also means it is for your own interest and not just for your interest but to give you an unfair advantage.  So it is important Jesus Christ left so that we can have an unfair advantage of the devil and his wiles by the presence of the comfort in our lives.

The word comforter was derived from the Greek word paracletus which means another of the same kind, a counselor or an advocate. The word advocate is in keeping with the job description of the Holy Spirit given in Romans 8:26 where it says the spirit would make intercessions for us i.e. speak on our behalf as is seen in the court of law. It further goes to say “with groanings which cannot be uttered …. (In our understanding) This we also see in 1 Corinthians 14:2 where the bible says - For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. These mysteries are not for us to understand because the spirit speaks directly to God and not unto men as so the issue of what am I saying, does it make sense should never ever arise.

Continuing with the analogy of the court of law with the Holy Spirit being our advocate (lawyer). The following similarities can be seen:

<1.  In a court of law the client is usually seen but not heard, at times he may not even be present hence when speaking in holy ghost our input or presence is not necessarily needed that is why we see in 1 Corinthians 14:14 - For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. Meaning the discussion is between the spirit and God (Lawyer and Judge) and my understanding is unfruitful (I have no part to play in it because I do not understand anything that is going on)

2.    We also see in Romans 8:27 - And he (being the Holy Spirit) that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. This means the holy spirit searches our hearts and knows exactly what we want whether we know about it or not and puts in the best light in the presence of God according to his word. This is also exactly what happens between a client and his lawyer. The lawyer is well versed with the constitution of the land and is also well acquainted with our case and pleads our case in accordance with the laws which he is very knowledgeable in. So we see that there is no other way for us to pray the perfect will of God than through praying in the Holy Spirit.

3.     Finally even after the advocate has spoken for us or the lawyer for his clients there might be times when we feel we would still like to say something, we would still like to go into the witness box and say our peace. We want to Judge to hear from us in our own words. Paul took note of this and provided us with 1 Corinthians 14:15 where he says – “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” This tells us there might be a place for our praying in our understanding i.e. praying in our earthly tongue but this is qualified by the word “ALSO” meaning first and foremost we must pray in the holy spirit and if need be after words we can pray in earthly tongues also.

As ridiculous as it is to try and argue your case in court by yourself and communicate adequately with the Judge without adequate knowledge of the constitution and the process and procedures in the court that is the same way it is ridiculous for us to continuously try to pray in our understanding. 

CONCLUSION

What I need us to take away from the above is that we as new creations are perfect in every way except for in the area of prayer where God tells us we have an infirmity/weakness and not just that we do not know what to pray for but that we do not know how to pray as we owe it to God to do.  

So who are we to think we can pray on our own, who are we to even consider praying without praying in the Holy Spirit, who are we to even consider praying in our understanding when God himself as told us we are doing it wrong. We have been clearly told in 1 Corinthians 14:15 that if we must pray in our understanding it must be after we have prayed in the Holy Spirit.

The fear that holy spirit may not be saying exactly what we want also should be stamped out totally because the word tells that he (being the Holy Spirit) that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit (real man, hidden man), because he maketh intercession for the saints (us) according to the will of God.  So when we pray in the Holy Spirit we are praying the perfect will of God in our lives.

So henceforth I do not expect any of us to forgo praying in the spirit because every other thing is just touching the surface of prayer as we know not how to pray as we ought. 

LIVING A LIFE WORTH LIVING

Before I begin I would like to ask u all one question - Apart from God who is the most important person you know?  Does anybody have the answer?

Well the answer is – YOU ARE. You are the most important person and the most worthwhile person you know.  You should not only know this but you should also know that you are important to those around you and most importantly to God himself.

Have you ever wondered how the world around you would have been if you never existed?

Think about it. How would your family have been without you, who would have married your wife and would your child have ever existed? What impact would your absence have had on the lives of those you have touched?

The magnitude of your importance on this earth cannot be over emphasised. And knowing this should help us understand even more than before how important we are in the future of these lives we affect and our Importance to God.

If we still have any doubts about how important we are, let's consider we determine the importance or worth of anything.

How many of us have had the privilege of handling or being in touch with the famous blackberry porshe phone?

Being a tech geek or junkie myself I have had the opportunity to play around with it and I must tell u that all the hype about the phone is just hype and there is nothing special about it. And to add to that it is a very ugly phone. Having said all this ordinarily the phone should be considered of little worth or importance but despite this the phone is notoriously important and a sign of prestige because one handset cost about 450,000 naira. WOW!!!.  After hearing this, whatever impression u had in mind would be changed forever. When you see the phone you would have respect for it and the person holding it.

So basically D amount people r willing to pay 4 something shows or is a sign of how important it is.

Now how much is a human life worth? Can u put a figure on it? No Sir. Let's increase the stakes abit. Am sure you would confirm that though your life's worth cannot be put into monetary terms the life of your children is worth even more than yours and if you have only one child that life is even more and more important.

So if the value of something is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it, and we have determined to an extent an approximate value of worth of an only child, if God the father himself paid the price of sacrificing his only son as ransom for us then it is clear without a shadow of doubt, uncontestably that our lives are immensely important to God and as such should be of immense importance to us also so we need to ensure we do all we can to make sure we live a life worth living, a life pleasing to God.  The bible tells is in the popular bible verse John 3:16 that God so loved the world that he gave us his only son.

I know some of us might be confused when I say live a life worth living or a life pleasing to God. Fortunately the bible never leaves us without answer and so the bible gives us a clear picture of a life that is pleasing to God.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Psalm 35:27

Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

3 John 1:2

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

(To name a few)

So one of the ways by which we can live a life worth living or a life pleasing to God is to live a prosperous life not just materially but as the word tells us in health also and by our souls being prosperous.

So what exactly is prosperity? Prosperity is defined as wellness and wholeness that is nothing missing and nothing broken in every area of our lives including our finances. In Bible verses this is written for us to clearly see...2Cor.8:9...“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” So God’s will for us is to prosper.

Many people have been struggling with various issues and are in desperate need of the touch of God in our lives. The prosperity that God so much wants for us. They are tired of trying various things all to no avail. The reason for this is that in the presence of God they are dead,  they do not exist.

We have to understand that we are born sinners because of the disobedience of Adam and there is nothing we can do to change this. No matter the amount of good works we do, even if we never commit an act of sin in our lives. The bible tells us all our good deeds are like filthy rags.  And since we are all born sinners we are damned to death as the bible also clearly tells us in romans 8:23 that D wages of sin is death.

The issue here, what we need to understand is that death here does not refer to death as we know it as in to cease to live but death as a separation from God. And if we understand that God is the source of everything good then we would understand the magnitude of this separation in our lives.

So what then is D solution?

How do we become alive to God and begin to live D life we r meant to live?

The solution is so simple that it baffles me that more people having known this do not take advantage of this opportunity. To begin to live a prosperous life both here on earth and for eternity there is only one thing to do.

The bible says in Mark 10:29-30 that: And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,³⁰ But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

This makes it clear that the misconception that we would only be rewarded and live prosperous lives in the life to come is a bold faced lie as the bible tells us that we shall receive a hundred fold in this time………and in the world to come eternal life. So reward both on earth right now and in the world to come.

We are told the one and only way to receive this free gift of salvation in Romans 10:9-10

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  ¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

It is that simple – all you need to do

•        Is believe that someone (Jesus Christ) died for you

•        That He was raised from the dead by God

•        Confess Jesus to be your Lord i.e. Pledge allegiance to Him with your mouth

The moment you do that you will receive Him into your life and you will be born again.

Finally before I end I would like to tell u guys a short story because I know in our hearts we all would like to take advantage of this but some fears of what we might miss are holding us back. Each of us within us know what these fears are and I assure you I had these fears myself but when you give your life to Christ you find out it is much better than you could ever imagine.

The story is about how some African monkeys are trapped by hunters. It can be very difficult to catch these intelligent creatures, so hunters have used a more inventive method…trapping a monkey by enticing him.  A small jar is placed at the base of a tree with nuts or other items which may attract the monkey’s curiosity. 

The opening of the jar allows the monkey to place his hand in, but when he tries to withdraw it, he is unable to do so without letting go of the contents of the jar.  Believe it or not, some monkeys will stay there with their hand in the jar until the hunter comes back to trap them! 

They are trapped because they are unwilling to let go of something they are doing which is working against them.

I am sorry to say that many people are like these monkeys caught with their hands in the jar unwilling to let go of the things of the world. Even though they know and it is clear to them that the path would only lead to destruction. They hold on fast to it seeing imminent danger coming but refuse to let go.

Please do not be like these monkeys. Let go of whatever u r holding or whatever is holding u and become born again.

If you are tired of living the life God did not intend for you to live, If you want to be alive in the presence of God, if you can now see how important you are to God and understand that prosperity is what you were made to enjoy. Then pray the prayer below and give your life to Christ once and for all. Become a born again believer.

HEAVENLY FATHER, I COME TO YOU IN THE NAME JESUS. YOUR WORD SAYS, “WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD, SHALL BE SAVED” AND “IF I SHALL CONFESS WITH MY MOUTH, THE LORD JESUS AND SHALL BELIEVE IN MY HEART THAT GOD HAS RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, I SHALL BE SAVED.

I THEREFORE DECLARE JESUS AS MY LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOUR. I PLEDGE MY ALLEGIANCE TO JESUS AND JESUS ALONE. I THANK YOU FATHER FOR SAVING ME. I AM BORN AGAIN. IN THE NAME OF JESUS. AMEN.

Praise the Lord. You are now born again. Welcome to the fold of God.  Please if you gave your life to Christ right now we would like to hear from you. You can send a mail to reverendwalter@gmail.com or go to The Super Church Group on facebook. Leave a message and someone would be in touch with you. May the lord continue to bless you.

SATISFYING GOD'S NEEDS - SOUL WINNING

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER

It is important that as believers we understand that we have a relationship with the father. God is our Father and we are his children.  Many believers have not come to understand that they have a part to play in their relationship with the father. The average or sometimes so called excellent believers don’t even understand that they have a responsibility toward God.

In every relationship, for it to be a success there has to be give and take. No relationship is ever one sided, It is always a two sided affair. In this relationship you have your part to play the other person has his own part to play. The bible tells us two cannot work together except they are in agreement.  They need to be in agreement before a relationship can function. Without this it would not be all that it is supposed to be. 

When you get involved in a relationship you lose the right to act how you want to act or just do anything you want to do because you are in a relationship. Some relationships involve more than two people, it could involve 3 or 4 or more people as can be seen in a business relationship. In a business relationship you can’t just act as though you were the only one. When spending money you have to take into account that there are others to consider you have got to be accountable.  Also before you got married there are things that you would have done freely that once you are married you can no longer do.  If you are not ready to do these things, the relationship will never function optimally as it ought to. And it would actually be better if you left the relationship that to try and take advantage of your partners.

The same thing when we come into a relationship with the father, we lose the right to do anything we want and act anyhow we like.  As in every relationship as I said earlier on is a two way thing, so just as God the father has a responsibility towards us so do we have a responsibility to him.  The problem is not many believers have understood their parts towards God. Most times the teaching is geared towards Gods responsibility towards us but many times we do not realize that God himself also has needs the same way we have needs. And nobody else can meet his needs other than us and his part towards us no one else can also meet.

Let’s take the situation of we as humans who give birth to children and all the children do is ask and ask and take and take and do not want to do anything in return. They do not want to participate in doing any house chores; you send them on errands they don’t go. All their focus is on what they can get from you. Will that relationship work?? NO SIR. We would consider these children as wayward and irresponsible. This is the same exact situation with God when all we do is ask and ask and do not play our own parts in attending to his needs. We are seen as wayward and irresponsible children.

CAST YOUR CARES UPON THE LORD

The average believers prayer life is mostly about himself or herself same with their thought life. One thing that stands as a barrier to our winning souls is our problems, needs, issues e.t.c. and we are constantly concerned about them. This is not bad but are legitimate i.e. concern about finances, about our house rent these are all legitimate needs. If we don’t think about these things in the eyes of man he seems totally irrational.

The bible says in 1 Pet 5:7 – Cast you care upon Him, for He cares for you. Ours is to learn to cast our cares on God and not to carry the cares. As long as we are thinking about these things there is no way we would be able to focus on soul winning. There is no way we can evangelize, there is no way we can think of others when we are weighed down by our own problems.  So what are we to do? We are to learn to roll our problems unto God. We are to learn to do what Jesus told us in Matthew 6:25-26 it might sound so ridiculous to the mind of men, it might sound like utter and total irresponsibility but the word says –

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will but on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing 26. “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet you heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

What a statement! This clearly tells us not to bother about our lives because it is in his hands. He says if he can cater for the birds who play not part in ensuring their survival how much more us his children.  With regards to our trust in the lord to provide our sustenance in abundance we should be like children. No child wakes up in the morning and wonders what he would eat or what he would wear. He knows he would eat, he knows he would have clothes to wear; he knows whatever he need s would be provided for him by his father. Same it should be with us we need not worry about anything because the lord has clearly told us to cast our cares on him and not to worry about him. And we are well aware that that by two immutable things God cannot lie and so his word is enough for us.

So focusing on our worries is a needless thing. This reminds me of a story:

Two men took their boats out to sea to fish. After a very good catch, they rowed their two boats back toward the shore, only to discover that while they were fishing the tide had gone out, leaving their cars quite a distance from the water. For those of us that have lived in riverine areas we would remember that usually as the day goes by the water recedes or goes back and returns later in the day. That is what is meant by the tide going out.

The first man decided to wait for the tide to turn and started cleaning his fish. However, the second man became very frustrated because he had many things to do and didn’t have time to wait for the tide. So he jumped out of his boat and started dragging it over the long stretch of beach. It was exhausting. His boat was very heavy and laden with fish, but being a stubborn man he was not easily deterred.

It soon became clear he was getting nowhere fast, so he decided to lighten his load. He threw out his oars, lines, nets and all the fish, then kept dragging. Step by agonizing step he advanced. Every few metres his boat caught in the sand or wedged on a rock. In anger, he lifted it free then heaved it further up the beach. Ever so slowly he advanced closer to his car. Finally, with the last of his strength, he dragged his boat to the top of the beach. He laughed in exhilaration and shook his fist defiantly at heaven.

Then, to his complete surprise, he noticed the tide had come in behind him. He watched, speechless, as the other man rowed his boat effortlessly to his car, placed his oars, nets and cleaned fish into the boot, then lifted his boat on top and drove away. The second man fell down exhausted - he did not have the strength left to lift his boat.

God has told us there is a time for everything, when delayed, we should be patient. If we trust in God, He will turn the tide at exactly the right time. All our stubborn efforts, worries and fears are just a waste of energy and will leave us frustrated, discouraged and exhausted.

We are to cast our cares upon the lord. Especially now when most of our ISAACS have been placed on the alter.  We should not worry about it. Our man of God has spoken in length about this so I wouldn’t go into this. But what we need to take away is that if God can cater for the birds of the air how much more us. We know his word never lies so we should quit focussing on our issues and problems and roll them unto God. 

MEETING GOD’S NEEDS – OUR REASON FOR EXISTENCE

Now that we know it is fruitless to worry about our problems what then should our primary focus in life be? What should we focus on? We should focus on fulfilling God’s need.

Just as God is the only ones that can satisfy our needs we are the only one that can satisfy his needs. And what are his needs that we are the only ones who can meet - SOUL WINNING. Angels cannot win souls for God we are the only ones who can do this.

So he is utterly dependent on you and me to do it. This is our part in our relationship with him.

Matthew Chapter 28:18-19 – And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth 19. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

So here we are given the great commission to go and make disciples of all nations. This is the great need in the heart of the father which not God nor angels can meet. So he gives us the authority of his name to go and make disciples of all nations. Then he says you are not going alone am with you and I would be with you till the end of age. We need to understand that that’s the reason we were left here on earth to win souls for him.

If all he wanted was for us to be saved why then didn’t we die or why then weren’t we taken to heaven the moment we gave our lives to Christ because as we have learnt that is the only prerequisite for making it into heaven. But no he left us here for one purpose and one purpose alone which is this great commission of making disciples of all nations which we only can do. Do you know that angels cannot win souls to Christ? They don’t have the authority to preach, they don’t have the commission to do so. Another reason is Jesus Said I am the shepherd and you are the sheep. A sheep can only give birth to sheep, an angel can only give birth or raise forth other angels and we are the only ones that can produce more souls for God.  The bible tells us that now are we the sons of God.  Angels are not the sons of God, they are not born again believer so cannot produce other born again believers as we can  and so preaching the gospel and getting more children to God is only the prerogative of the sons of God.

Let’s look at Ephesians 4:11 –12

¹¹ And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

¹² For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Why were we given this people?  To perfect us for the work of the ministry. We need to understand that we all have a ministry which is the edifying of the body of the Christ. Edifying refers to establishing or building up. And we are told edifying the body of Christ. For those of us that remember from foundation school what the body of Christ is we would understand that the body of Christ refers to all believers worldwide. We by edifying it means to build up to increase or establish the number of believers all around the world.  The pastor’s work is to equip us to carry out this task and our sole purpose is to ensure we win souls and edify the body of Christ.  And God knew ordinarily we won’t be able to do it. So God decided to give us these gifts of pastors, teachers, and apostles, evangelists to perfect us and equip us to enable us to carry out the sole reason why we are on this earth.

So to clarify further on this ministry we have been called to. Let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 5:17 – 19

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.

¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

The ministry Paul was referring to in Ephesians 4 has been made clear to us here. He is referring to the ministry of reconciliation.  To reconcile men back to God, to bring men back to God. We call it soul winning. 

LET’S DEFINE SOUL WINNING – it is defined as the art evangelising and discipling souls. Why art? Because an art is something you get better at doing the more you do it. It is a learned skill that is improved with practice. No one goes out the first time and is perfect at soul winning.  It is not a science which is precise and something that is perfected before it is done.  It like preaching, singing etc. those are arts. Things you get better as you do it.

THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION

2 Corinth 5:19 - We were given the ministry in verse 18 and in verse 19 we were given the word to be used to reconcile. It’s not everything that is preached that is a word of reconciliation. There is a particular word of reconciliation and we have been told what it is.  NO LONGER INPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES AGAINST THEM BUT HAS COMMITED TO US THE WORD OF RECONCILLIATION.

Wow this clearly tells us that people do not go to hell for their actions, they don’t go to hell because they stole, or because they fornicated or because they sinned, No sir. They go to hell because they do not receive Jesus Christ as their lord and saviour. This is the word of reconciliation. It says no longer imputing their trespasses against them.  What are these trespasses? Their sinful acts. So the word of reconciliation is getting people to become born again not going to tell them this thing you are doing is not good. That is not the message of soul winning that is not the message of reconciliation.  Is that what he is asking us to go and tell people – YES.  What we should be telling people is that all these things you have done God would not hold it against you which would beg the question how come then you answer by providing them the word of salvation, the word of reconciliation that whoever gives his life to Christ is a new creature old things are passed away and behold all things have become new.

Soul winning involves two things: Evangelism and discipleship.

Evangelism is the act of communicating the gospel to an unsaved. Remember Jesus did not say go an evangelize the nations. He said go and make disciples. The first step is discipleship.  Evangelism is just telling them and not helping them to grow not discipling them.

A disciple is a “taught one” He is not just an “evangelized ones”   but a “taught one” That means one who has been taught or schooled  in the ways of another. Though winning souls to Christ is the essence of evangelism it is still just half the task because without proper discipleship without properly schooling him in the ways of the lord we are in essence committing spiritual abortion or infantile death.

A soul that is newly won as we know is like a new born babe who has just been conceived and without adequate nurturing and nourishment which for a fresh born again Christian is the word of God he/she is bound to die either just after conception (abortion) or while he is still a spiritual babe (infantile spiritual death).  As a human child is born into the world into a family whose duty it is to ensure the child grows the right way so is it our duty to ensure those that are won to Christ in our ministry either directly by us or indirectly are catered for in the right manner to ensure they grow properly spiritually.  We must never ever win a soul and abandon him because we would account for the loss on the judgment day. 

CONCLUSION

Now we know the following:

• ·      That we are in a relationship with God and it is not one sided and that we have to attend to the needs of God.
• ·       We have identified the need of God as Soul winning and have determined the word of reconciliation
• ·       We have also noted that it is not enough to just evangelize we also have to make sure we disciple then.

 The next thing to note is who exactly we should evangelize to as it is not possible for each person to just evangelize to everyone.

Jesus said we should go and preach the gospel to all nations. We learnt that the word nation mean ethnic; those around us as in ethnic group i.e. people you have something in common on with not tribe like it is used to describe today.  If you are an engineer you have something in common with other engineers, if you are a doctor you have something in common with other doctors. If you are a business man you have something in common with other business men and so on and so forth.

So we have a commission to preach to those in our offices and those in the same vocation as we because wherever we see ourselves is not by coincidence. So in this month of May go out and win souls in your nation (your ethnic group) and make sure you try to drag them to church

Let’s remember what the lord said in Matthew 28:19 which say - 19. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen