Sunday, 22 May 2011 - P-R-A-Y!
1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV says "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always"
To help you remember the four parts of prayer, think of the acrostic P – R – A – Y.
P – Praise the Lord! Not sure how? Think you'll run out of words? Not if you use the scriptures. David gives us 2 beautiful example in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13. It's one you can use: 'Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom… in your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
R – Repent of your sins! Just as treat forces impurities to the surface so the metal refiner can remove them, your prayer time will reveal attributes that must be changed, habits that must be broken, and barriers to blessings that must be removed. It's not enough to tell God about your sins. He already know them. You must ask Him to help you turn away from them. This is true repentance.
A – Ask for yourself and others ! Your prayers invite God into the situation, and your faith activates His power to change it. There's no distance in prayer, no culture or language barrier it can't overcome. It's like throwing on a power switch; things begin to move when we pray. Jesus said, 'I will give you the key of the kingdom of Heaven…….whatever doors you open on earth shall be opened in Heaven (Matthew 16:19).
Y – Yield yourself to God's Will! Declaring the Lordship of Jesus Christ in your life is like signing HIS name to the bottom of a blank cheque, and inviting you to fill in the Amount.
Keep swimming in the Lagoon of His splendiferous blessings!
Have a blessed and victorious week
The Revd. Akinwale Kayode
Your Assisting Priest
Sunday, 15 May 2011 - WHEN THERE ARE TEARS
Tears are a universal language. They often tell what words will not express. Sincerely shed, they are not willing water from a handy hydrant to be turned on and off at will, but rather the natural droplets from a heart, and where there is a heart, there can be a tear.
Watery eyes have been known to see what clear eyes could not detect. When your plight seems so hopeless that you can't see your way through, take another look – through your tears. They may prove to be telescopic.
If you have tears, prepare to shed them now
– Williams Shakespeare
1564 – 1616
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
– Psalm 126:5.
Have a blessed and victorious week
The Revd. G.O. Afolabi
Your Assisting Priest
Sunday, 8 May 2011 - IT'S ALL ABOUT SERVICE
We must know and admit that our lives are given to us on loan. God is the loaner, we are the loanees. Each day, as you get out of bed to discover you are still alive, thank your maker and then set out to pay the rent you owe or the loan you took.
That rent is service know that we are born to serve; just as every loan granted by the Financial Institution is meant to run a project, every life is sent to address a need. You are sent by God as a solution to a confusion on earth. Unfortunately, Many are adding to the confusion instead of helping to reduce them.
However, to be able to pay the rent and service the need, you must discover yourself and also discover your purpose.
Render service to humanity. Your service to God means service to humanity. It means doing all you can to alleviate human sufferings and putting smiles on people's faces. No one will remember you for your material acquisitions but for the lives you touched.
Render service to your immediate family and yourself. It is important to emphasize that your first responsibility is rendering service to humanity, to your spouse and children. Do not fail at home, for charity they say begins at home.
You must also take very good care of yourself so you can live long to render the useful services your are sent here for. I command every affliction to leave your life and destiny in Jesus' Name. Stay blessed.
Have a blessed and victorious week
The Revd. Canon S.P. Mesimo
Your Assisting Priest
Sunday, 1 May 2011 - THE POWER OF RESURRECTION
This Sunday was anciently called "Dominicia in Albis" because on this day, the newly baptized appeared for the last time in the Chrisoms or white robes which they had won during the Easter Week.
The English name "Low Sunday" is supposed by some to have been applied to it in contrast with the great Festival with which the Octave opens, but it seems more probable that "low" is a corruption of "Laudes" the first word of the sequence for the day being "Laudes salvatorivoce modeulemur supplice". The Greek Church calls this day New Sunday in allusion to the renewal of the Meophytes.
Our Lord Jesus went all the way to Calvary to die, went gloriously to death, but He rose again more gloriously, and the proofs and evidence of Christ's resurrection. He declared 'death' where is thy sting, grave where is thy victory? According to Romans 8:11, the Bible says 'And if the Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead is living in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you'. God that raised Christ from the dead is still in the business of raising people. The empty grave is a sign that evokes great joy, divine visitation and divine help.
Have you suffered enough delay, failures, sorrow, pains or Satan has mesmerized your health, Marriage, Business, Finance, Destiny or Life long enough up till now? It is time to zoom like lightening into your inheritance. The grave was empty because Divinity visited humanity, and whenever this happens, there is always an Earthquake; which brings about change in Life and situation. Despite the huge stone placed at the entrance of the tomb with the King's seal and the presence of the Soldiers guarding the tomb, Jesus rose. This is an assurance that no matter the stone and the King's seal that have hitherto kept your destiny, Marriage, Carrier, Ministry, etc in the grave; the Lord is able and will roll them away.
In Matt. 28:26, the Bible says; the Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, rolled back the stone and sat upon it. This implies that whatever is difficult for man is simple and easy with God. The stone that took a battalion of Soldiers to roll, was rolled away by only one Angel. There are Angels on stand-by, ready to work on your behalf. So put your trust in the resurrected Lord and perpetually enjoy the resurrection power of Jesus!
Have a blessed and victorious week
The Revd. Akinwale Kayode
Your Assisting Priest
Sunday, 24 March 2011 - CHRIST IS RISEN
The Church universal today is jubilant, for the grave of Christ is empty, and He is indeed risen.
He had his plan in focus. To die for the sins of humanity, and present His untainted blood at the altar of propitiation, for the remission of man. The word "remission" as a replacement for "atonement" which means "to cover over, pacify" from the Greek verb "kappar", means "to dismiss, release, discharge and acquit" from the Greek word "aphesis".
His blood was the right price required to be paid, for the right prize of the soul of mankind, very dear to the heart of God the Father.
Christ went to the grave and took hell by storm. (Ps. 24:7-10, I Cor. 15:55-57). After He took keys of hell from Satan, the Holy Spirit in Him raised Him up from deadness to life (Ps. 16:10, Rom. 8:11, Acts 2:24), the same way the Holy Spirit in you, will quicken (vitalize, make alive) your mortal bodies.
He is risen and we have access to abundant life John. 14:19; His resurrection justifies the eternal release of captives from captivity (Matt. 27:52-53), as well as cure us of unbelief (Mk. 16:14), it gives substance to our Christianity and all we profess (I Cor.15: 14-17),and is the assurance of the living hope in us. (I Pet. 1:3). Christ is indeed risen and the adversary is flatly defeated (Rev. 12:11, Col. 2:15). By His resurrection, our restoration is imminent (Matt. 28:51-53), and our faith is perfected (Col. 2:9-10). Because He rose, today we are not afraid to face life; we shall rise from every situation that keeps us mute.
He is risen never to die anymore. Never again, will we be cowed and bowed down by the devil. We died rose and now we live in Him. Glory be to God in the heavens!
Happy Easter Have a blessed and victorious week
The Revd. G.O. Afolabi
Your Assisting Priest
Sunday, 17 March 2011 - THE MAJESTY OF JESUS CHRIST
"Hosanna to the son of David Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest".
Majesty, Worship His majesty
Unto Jesus be glory, honour and praise
Majesty, Kingdom, authority,
Flows from His throne unto His own,
His anthem raise.
So exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus;
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King
Majesty, Worship His Majesty'
Jesus who died, now glorified King of Kings.
The glorious Splendour of Jesus Christ's royal authority belongs to him by right and is reaffirmed through his exaltation to the father's right hand.
The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ's shared in God's majesty before time began. In John 17:15, Jesus while praying for himself just his passion began, said. And now, father glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
What then happened, Jesus renounced his majesty to become a human being. Phil. 2:6-8, says who being in very nature of God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross. This is indeed a great sacrifice we need to follow His example and to ready to sacrifice the best thing that we have for His gospel.
The majesty of Jesus Christ is seen in his earthly-ministry (1Pet.2:16) His majesty was also seen at the entry into Jerusalem which we call "Palm Sunday" which event we are celebrating today.
The people laid their cloaks on the ground and put palm branches on the road for him to ride upon. Note that the cloak for a Jew was a very expensive and important property. This challenges us again to be prepared and willing to surrender the best we have to Jesus Christ. Are you preparing and ready to surrender your best for Jesus? The first step is to accept Him in your life and continue to follow him all the days of your life.
Have a blessed and victorious week,
The Revd. Canon S.P. Mesimo
Your Assisting Priest
