Religion
Easter Retreat (Plenary 2) Friday, 29th March, 2024: Topic: Faith
Pastor Nkechi Ene
Review of WOFBEC 2024 (Faith that Moves Mountains: Doing the Impossible)
Topic: Living in the Impossible Zone
Text: John 6vs1-13
Impossible is something that is not able to occur or exist or done.
Three foundational things to establish:
1. God doesn’t deal with the word “impossible”.
Mark 10vs27
2. In Jesus Christ, God has opened up a portal for some people not to deal with the word “impossible”.
Mark 9vs23
3. The tool to move from the impossible to possible is faith.
Every situation you have in your life is either in the Impossible Zone or Possible Zone.
The Impossible Zone is open to both the believer and unbeliever.
The Possible Zone is the right and privilege of the believer.
Everyone has got some mountain (polus oculus) of some sort coming towards the them.
What mountain (polus oculus) is staring at you? What mountain are you responsible to solve?
When these mountains come to you, they don’t choose a convenient time.
Even when you are emotional exhausted, mountains will come for you.
Mountains don’t respect your time zone.
You must disregard your feelings many times to face mountains.
The only thing you are legitimately allowed to tell God about your life that is not fair is his favour.
If you will be a faith warrior or champion, put your emotions where it should be.
Mountains don’t care how you feel.
John 6:5 NLT
[5] Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?”
God doesn’t ask questions because he needs help. God asks questions to test you.
Jesus needed to know what Philip was seeing and understood of the situation.
What you see in a mountain is where you find your answers.
Teachers ask questions to find out what their students know.
Every mountain that comes against has one thing it is demanding from you which is Faith!
If you are a child of God and any task, any mountain comes towards you, it makes a faith demand on you, therefore you cannot afford the luxury of being devoid or bankrupt of faith or you will never dissolve mountains.
Faith is the currency you need.
2. Realize that Jesus already has the answer but needs you to trigger it.
3. Remember that faith is a spiritual force so natural reasoning will not pull any triggers.
Logical trigger: If you pull a logical trigger, you will never dissolve any impossibility.
Logical triggers don’t dissolve mountains.
You can’t dance with the Holy Spirit logically, sometimes you dance offbeat but it’s his dance.
Matthew 14:15 NLT
[15] That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
Philip was dodging his faith responsibility by acting like he cared.
It’s your responsibility not God’s to dissolve the polus oculus (mountain).
Faith is believing what God has done, not what God will do.
Luke 9:13-14 NLT
[13] But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” [14] For there were about 5,000 men there. Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
They got defensive, they missed their answer right in front of them.
A faith demand is not meant to accuse you.
If you get defensive with God, faith has left you and you have stopped relying on grace.
John 6:8-9 NLT
[8] Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. [9] “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
The disciples didn’t know it was a faith demand on them. They had the answer in front of them but went back to logical reasoning.
Release the answer God has for you by pulling the trigger in the spiritual realm.
The trigger you must understand is the faithfulness
A group called the Virtuous Women of Delta (VWD) has given the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, a 14-day ultimatum to tender an unreserved apology to Mrs. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The group made the demand in a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by its Coordinator, Deaconess Eguolo Oghenekevwe.
In the statement, the group expressed their outrage over Akpabio’s alleged disrespectful behavior towards Mrs. Akpoti-Uduaghan, describing his actions as sacrilegious according to Delta’s cultural traditions.
The statement read, “We have patiently watched as the Senate President has dragged our sister through the mud. In our tradition, such actions are considered sacrilegious and carry severe consequences.”
The group further emphasized their disapproval of Akpabio’s behavior, particularly his decision to have Mrs. Akpoti-Uduaghan removed from a public space, which they found deeply disrespectful.
“The fact that he had our wife walk out of a public place is enough to make us march to the National Assembly in protest,” they stated.
The group gave Akpabio 14 days to issue an unreserved apology, warning that if he fails to do so, they will be compelled to take action and express their anger in person at the National Assembly.
The controversy stems from previous comments Akpabio made, including the use of inappropriate language referring to a nightclub, despite the fact that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is married to a prominent Delta man.
Akpabio had earlier apologized for his remarks, acknowledging their sacrilegious nature.
“Such words are unacceptable, especially when a married woman is involved. Our men are like lions and will not tolerate such disrespect,” the statement continued.
The Virtuous Women of Delta emphasized that, as Akpabio hails from the same geopolitical zone, he should be aware of the importance of their cultural values and traditions, which cannot be disregarded.
“We politely ask the Senate President to apologize, or face the consequences within the next 14 days,” the group said.
Religion
Sunday Worship Service (16th February, 2025): Topic: The Concept of Love: How to Make the Right Choice
Pastor Kola Oyekale
Verses of God’s promise to us:
Isaiah 30:19 NLT
[19] O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
Jeremiah 30:19 AMPC
[19] Out of them [city and palace] will come songs of thanksgiving and the voices of those who make merry. And I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also glorify them, and they will not be small.
Meaning of Love
There are different dimensions of love
1. Eros Love: Love between man and woman
2. Philia Love: Love between brethren in church
3. Storge Love: Love between family members
4. Agape Love: God’s love. It is a love that has no condition attached to it. This is the love that is in the kingdom. It is the love that flows from the life of God (Zoe).
When the Bible was talking about marriage, God brought in this love.
For this kind of love to be experienced in a relationship or marriage, it has to be deliberate and intentional.
Marriage is a business. A successful marriage does not happen by chance. It is not cheap. If the only thing you carry into marriage is your physical appearance, you will get no result.
If you make wrong choices you will have troubles. Even when you don’t make the wrong choice, there are still troubles you will experience in a marriage relationship.
Factors to Consider When Making the Choice of a Marriage Partner:
1. Be the right person
You cannot be the right person if you do not know yourself. Knowing yourself is crucial to the kind of person you want to marry.
Singleness helps you discover who you are. Knowing yourself helps you know who you can marry.
Most successful single people find their purpose before they get married.
So when you get married, you have a helper who can help you fulfill purpose.
You need a purpose for your life before you can pick a marriage partner.
Do you have the things, qualities and virtues you are seeking in a spouse?
The journey to finding someone is to first find you.
Find yourself first so you can know your value. If you don’t value yourself, you will sell yourself cheap.
To find the right person, be the right person.
Nobody will increase your value except you. The value you put on yourself is your investment. Don’t wait for a man to add value to your life.
2. Choose the right person
There are marriages you must qualify and prepare for before you enter it.
Don’t be desperate when it comes to marriage. Desperation can make you fall into wrong hands.
There is a plan for your life and a choice for your life.
When you identify your purpose, you will know who to choose.
A woman who chases after a man reduces her value.
3. Do and keep doing what is right.
Galatians 6:9 NKJV
[9] And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
When you marry, you will not get all you want, however you should keep on doing the right thing.
Start doing the things you want your spouse to do.
Don’t marry with the mind that you will change your spouse. Nobody has any power to change anybody, only God does.
Song of Solomon 1:16-17 NKJV
[16] Behold, you are handsome, my beloved! Yes, pleasant! Also our bed is green. [17] The beams of our houses are cedar, And our rafters of fir.
The word ’green’ means refreshing, life, a relationship that is renewed, not dirty and not defiled.
There must not be defilement of bed when a relationship starts.
Every relationship must begin and end pure.
The only test you can do before marriage is the test of character not the test of sexual compatibility.
Every relationship begins with Friendship, then Courtship then Marriage.
Believers are encouraged to be friends without ulterior motives.
When you are friends, you can see each other better than when you are in a romantic relationship.
Friendship opens you up to see each other clearly without hiding.
The whole essence of marriage is so that you will produce godly seeds.
Your knowledge of God will help you out in married.
Marriage is an act of faith.
By Pastor Kola Oyekale
God is after making you who he wants you to be. God isn’t so much interested in meeting your needs because your needs can take you away from God. God is concerned with making you align with the purpose of your existence.
God’s primary goal upon your life is to make you who he has destined you to be.
If your purpose doesn’t come to pass, then you are a wasted vessel on earth.
If you have fulfilled your purpose at the end of your life, the angels will salute a man or woman who has lived and fulfilled God’s purpose.
Matthew 9:35 NKJV
[35] Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
You have to be in a place where you are taught.
Matthew 9:36 NKJV
[36] But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
God doesn’t want you to be confused in life.
A shepherd whose life is not in alignment to God cannot be a blessing to his sheep.
You become a disciple by transformation. God is after discipling people who will be in alignment to his kingdom.
The lesser your knowledge of God, the more prone you are to become a victim of the devil.
Devil loves ignorance. He takes advantage of your ignorance of God and his word.
Matthew 9:37 NKJV
[37] Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
The blind cannot lead the blind, they will both fall into a pit. You need the knowledge of God and his word to make you able to draw souls to God’s kingdom.
Psalms 1:1-3 NLT
[1] Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. [2] But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. [3] They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
In this year, let your passion for God and trust in his increase.
Pursue God will all your heart and he will make a difference in your life.
Qualities of a Good Shepherd
1. A shepherd sets boundaries.
2. They are trustworthy and reliable.
3. A shepherd makes provision for his sheep. He brings transformation to your life.
4. A good shepherd sacrifices even his life for the sheep.
5. A shepherd invests in the life of the sheep through nurturing, direction, instruction and teaching.
The Holy Spirits influences your thinking. He changed your value system
Prayer: May the Holy Spirit shepherd our lives through his instruction, guidance and mentoring this year in Jesus name.
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