Phil.3:12-14; 2Cor.5:17; Heb.12:1;
Isa.43:18-19; 46:9-10
Remember vs
Remember not: The quotation from Isaiah 43 18-19 and 46:9-10 are not in
conflict. When a year is passing and a new one is coming in, there are things
we need to remember and there are things with need to forget. But what we must
not fail to do is look ahead. The past is gone. It may have been filled with
victories, with failures, with bruises and disappointments. But the future is
ahead. It is all new, unexplored, waiting to be discovered. There are victories
to be won, gains to be made, grounds to cover, battles to fight, territories to
possess. What we should do is to look ahead, prepare ourselves, lunch into the
New Year with God and great expectations (Prov.23: 18-19). There is a hope.
There is a future. Your expectations shall be fulfilled.
Looking Back
to 2013 (Phil.3:12-14;
Isaiah 43:18-19)
Why do we
have to review things in the past? (1) To find things for which we would praise
God; (2) To learn from our mistakes or even the mistakes of others; (3) We also
see things we would like to continue doing; and (4) things we would discontinue
doing. What were the three prayer items I gave to you a few weeks ago? (i) To
thank God for what He did for you and for the Church in 2013; (ii) To ask what
He expects of you in 2014 and (iii) What He expects of us as a church and what
direction He would like us to go in 2014. The questionnaire you have received
was designed to help you look back and also look forward with respect to the
Church.
Looking
Forward To 2014 (Prov.6:6-8;
30:24-28; Mat. 6:26-28; Luke 6:8-9)
Isn’t it
strange that we are instructed to “Go to the ants and learn wisdom”? What then
is the wisdom of the ants? What can we learn from them? Jesus teaching against
worry said, “Behold the fowls of the air”, and “Consider the lilies”. Again we
are instructed to learn wisdom from these seemingly insignificant part of God’s
creation.
(i)
From The Ants
a. Discipline –
without an overseer they carry on with their duties with order and seriousness.
b. Industry – they
gather their food
c. Forward planning
– they gather their food in summer
d. Dedication –
they have no overseer yet that did not make them to do what they felt good in
their own eyes.
(ii)
The Rabbits (Conies): They are feeble but wisely build
their houses in the rocks
(iii) The Locusts:
They have no king but they move in orderly swarms
(iv)
The Spider: Industry (Read Prov.30:28) – Hard work
makes the spider to dwell in kings palaces.
Wisdom is
therefore the principal thing. In 2014 we must get and apply all the wisdom we
can find in our personal lives, in the ministry, and in serving God. Discipline
is an invaluable virtue needed at work, in study, in managing our resources, in
managing our time.
Time and
money management involves great discipline. Why is it that 20% of the world
population owns 80% of the wealth? It is because of discipline in time and
money management, industry, forward planning, dedication to duty.
For our
Church to make necessary progress in 2014, for you and your family to make the
necessary progress in 2014, we need discipline in time and money management,
industry, forward planning, dedication, hard work and faith in God.
Success,
advancement, excellence and achievement do not come by chance. There is no
genius without hard work.
As a Church
our purpose in 2014 is (i) to obey the Great Commandment (Mat.22:36-40) and
(ii) engage in the Great Commission (Mat.28:18-20). Our banner for the New Year
should read ‘Holiness and Love’. The Holy Spirit of God will be our Guide. A
Church cannot grow by chance or by members just attending Church during the
week and then going home and doing nothing to invite people to the Church. A
Church cannot grow without a concerted effort at evangelism.
Whatever happened
this year, good or bad, encouraging or discouraging, success of failure,
appointment or disappointment, is to be left behind as we look forward by faith
to 2014 (Phil.3:7-14).
Wisdom For
The Work Force (1Tim.4:8-9,
12; Gen.5:22, 24):
(A) A Life of Godliness: Godliness is
profitable for all things because it holds promise for the present life and the
life to come. But what is godliness (elicit answers from audience)? Let the
Bible speak to us (Tit.2:11-13). From this passage we see a number of things
the grace of God leads us to:
(i)
Shun ungodliness and worldly lusts (these are
blatantly promoted
(ii)
Live soberly (self-controlled living)
(iii) Live righteously
(iv)
Live godly
(v)
Look for the blessed hope
(vi)
Be zealous for good works
To
understand godliness we look at the brief statement about Enoch in (Genesis
5:22-24). It says, “Enoch walked with God”. What does that mean? In Hebrews
11:5, it says that he pleased God. So Enoch lived a godly life. That fellowship
was so good that God would not let him die. Enoch walked with God, he pleased
God, and was devoted to God. He was godly. Godliness with contentment is great
gain (1Tim.6:6-7).
For the
godly person, God is at the centre of his life. Everything about his life
revolved around God (1Cor.31-32). If many Christians were to be honest to you
they would say, we don’t really feel like pursuing godliness.
(B) A Life
of Obedience: (Heb.13:7, 17; 1Thes.5:12-13). The workers in any Church are the
pillars of the Church. They are the mirror of what the Church is like. They
lead the Church in everything. If there is to be obedience in the Church, it
will start with the workers.
You will
start from your own local Church and honour the person God has placed over you
– hold him in high esteem for the sake of the work, for the sake of his prayers
for you (2Chro.20:20).
Then we
honour one another, esteem one another, and differ to one another. We love one
another, pray for one another, and support one another.
GOING A-FISHING IN 2014
Mat. 22:36-40; 28:18-20
As a Church
our purpose in 2014 is (i) to obey the Great Commandment (Mat.22:36-40) and
(ii) engage in the Great Commission (Mat.28:18-20). Our banner for the New Year
should read ‘Holiness and Love’. The Holy Spirit of God will be our Guide. A
Church cannot grow by chance or by members just attending Church during the
week and then going home and doing nothing to invite people to the Church. A
Church cannot grow without a concerted effort at evangelism.
Our
evangelism this year has not been the most effective. But thank God for many of
our sisters led by sister Bunmi who come together every Saturday whether it is
raining or not to go and preach. The Lord has been rewarding their effort…
(A) The Great Commandment (Matt.22:36-40)
(1) Love God
with your whole being (1Cor.10:31-32). Our lifestyle is God. Consider the
Muslims, how in everything they do, even if they murder an innocent person they
say they did it for their God. If we believe that what we believe is the only
eternal truth, why should not we exceed their zeal by loving God with all our
lives! Our life belongs to God and he has the power to expend it how it pleases
Him.
(2) Love
your neighbour as yourself. Who is your neighbour? Anyone who is in need and
whose need God has given you the means to satisfy (Luke 10:25-37). At the end
of the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus said to the Layer, “Go and do thou likewise”.
One of the greatest helps we can offer people is to preach the Gospel of Christ
to them. It is the power of God unto their salvation.
(B) The Great
Commission (Matt.28:18-20)
Though we
must preach the gospel, we need to know how to do it. I want to note some facts
about evangelism.
Decision-oriented
evangelism – aggressive sharing of the gospel with pressure for an immediate
decision. The problem with that approach is that most people do not decide
immediately (elicit sharing of experience).
The
Worldwide Discipleship Association noted certain facts in the Western culture.
(a)People no longer assume that there is a God. (b)They no longer believe that
the Christian view is correct. (c) Christian values are incessantly attacked by
society. (d) The younger generation is looking for authenticity and genuineness
in people.
How do we
tackle scepticism today?
(i)
By upholding the Word of God (Heb.4:12-13)
(ii)
By dependence on the Holy Spirit (Matt.10:19-20)
(iii) By faith in the
power of God to save (Rom.1:16-17)
How do we
approach people during evangelism?
Approach
people respectfully. Do not invade their privacy. Depend on the Lord to turn
them around.
Appearance
and presentation are important. We should dress decently, sensibly and cleanly,
not in a way to distract the people we are trying to win.
Bear in mind
that although people say they don’t believe in God, they seem to know what
standard we should be following.
Where the
condition is ripe we can develop friendship with the person with the goal of
winning them to Christ – under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Know the
basics of effective soul winning.
We must
follow some basic principles – (a) Be sure of your own salvation. Do you have
confidence beyond doubt that you are saved? You cannot give what you do not
have; (b) Make effective use of the Word of God; (c) We must get out where the people are; (d)
Build relationships where necessary.
A simple but
straightforward way would be to use what has been daubed “the Roman Road”, just
because all the bible verses are taken from the book of Romans
(i) Romans
3:23; (ii) Rom.6:23a; (iii) Rom.6:23b; (iv) Rom.5:8; (v)Rom.10:13; (vi)
Rom.10:9-10; (vii) Rev.3:20
Reviewing
Christ’s methods of Evangelism.
(1) Parables
(Matt.13:1-9, 18-23)
(2) Conversations
with people (Luke 14:1-14; John 3:1-21; 4:1-30; )
(3) Healing (Mark
2:1-12)
(4) Miracles (John
11:1-44)
(5) At Social Events
(Luke 7:36-50)
Evangelism
was the lifestyle of Christ and it should be our lifestyle (John 12:14). We
must believe that we can do these great works if Jesus said we can do them.
Always be ready to share your faith and defend what you believe (1Pet.3:15-16).
They only power of salvation for the world is the Gospel of Christ
