Showing posts with label Single. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Single. Show all posts

Sunday, 26 April 2015

Relationships (Mrs Patricia Chollom) 26-04-2015

★ MY SERMON NOTES
@ Jesus Revelation Assembly (JRA)
Tudun Wada Ring-Road,
Jos - Plateau State
26th April, 2015

JRA WOMENS' CONVENTION 2015
Theme: Excelling Through Every Season of a Woman's Life 

☆ SUMMARY OF TEACHING
FOR SATURDAY 25th April, 2015
* Speaker: Mrs Patricia Chollom (Lecturer, University of Jos)
* Topic: Relationships
Mrs Patricia Chollom

* God wants you to excel in your relationships

* God has set a standard for us (for relationships) in Jesus Christ

* If you do not have a vertical relationship (with God) you cannot have a horizontal relationship (with people around you)

* If your relationship with God is not complete, you will always have frictions in relating with people around you

* Do not be like the Galatians. They accepted Christ by faith, but they want to work out their salvation by self-effort (Galatians 3:3)

☆ Ingredients for Achieving Successful Relationships:

1. Faith
★ Rom 1:17 → "For in the gospel God’s righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.”

* Successful relationships Cannot be established and maintained by self effort. It is by faith

* Self effort has limitations, and it will ultimately fail

* By knowing that we are partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)

2. Love
★ Ephesians 1:4 → "just as he chose us in the Messiah before the creation of the universe to be holy and blameless in his presence. In love."

→ The love being referred to here is Agape love (pure, unconditional love)

* God expects us to love unconditionally and to also love the unlovable
→ We love because we have received unconditional love (1 John 4:19)

* For a relationship to be sound, there must not be any iota of suspicion

* Your love should not be like the ones politicians display in Nigeria
→They join a political party and pledge their love and allegiance to that party, but when they Cannot realize their personal (selfish) ambitions, they decamp to another party

* God's love is constant and does not change

★ Galatians 5:6 →"for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love."

→ Faith works (and its expressed) by love

* If the basis of your relationship not love, it will ultimately fail

* Do not love because you are expecting something
→ The moment you don't get what you are expecting, the love will die out naturally

* Always ask God for a dose of His love

* You cannot give what you don't have
→ If God does not fill your heart with love, you become incapable of showing genuine love to anyone

* 1 Corinthians 13 → Describes God's kind of love

* The greatest weapon on earth is love
→ Love is more effective than any known man-made weapon of destruction

* Trust God in faith and allow Him to fill Your heart with His love

* Pursue love as your highest goal (1 Corinthians 14:1)

* Try by faith, not by effort

* Husbands have a responsibility to love their wives
→ Follow Jesus' standard of love (Ephesians 5:25)

* Women: Love unconditionally, whether you are appreciated or not

☆ Counsel to Singles:
(a) Do not fall in and out of relationships (looking for love);

(b) Keep yourself pure;

(c) Remain lovable

☆ NOTE:
→ God made us for relationships

→ God wants to relate with us, and for us to relate with others

→ If you do not want to love, you must relocate to another planet!

Saturday, 25 April 2015

Building Blocks for a Successful Marriage (Rev. James Stephens) 25-04-2015

★ MY SERMON NOTES
Wedding between:
Margret Nuhu Dashwep & Longji Sunday Gunat
@ Covenant Word Christian Centre International (CWCCI),
Plot 2389, Breweries Road,
Opposite Jos Steel Rolling Mill,
Old Airport Road,
Jos - Plateau State
25th April, 2015

SERMON
* Speaker: Rev. James Stephens
* Topic: Building Blocks for a Successful Marriage
Rev. James Stephens

→ Marriage is filled with ups and downs & it usually comes with plenty 'distractions' such as: making time for each other, additional responsibilities, kids, parenting, in-laws, etc.

* Young (single) people should take advantage of their period of singleness to serve God and develop themselves before getting married

* When you get married, you will discover that you do not have as much time as you used to have when you were single

* The Building Blocks for a Successful Marriage
1. Build your home on God's Word
→ Make God's Word The final authority in your home & life

→ You must anchor all your dreams, hopes, educational experiences, logic, personal preferences, beliefs etc. on God's Word

→ Everything must find expression through God's Word

* As a believer God's Word is your ultimate standard, not your educational training, cultural beliefs or societal expectations

→ Submit to one another
★ Ephesians 5:21 →"...and you will submit to one another out of reverence for the Messiah.

→ Be humble; put the interest of your spouse above your own
★ Philippians 2:3 →''Do not act out of selfish ambition or conceit, but with humility think of others as being better than yourselves."

* Whatever your cultural beliefs are, they must be subject to God's Word; if not so, there will be a clash of interests

→ Ensure that you deal with the issue of anger in your life
★ James 1:19 → "You must understand this, my dear brothers. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."

* The Word of God must always come first before (and take priority over and above) your feelings and temperament
→ Your feelings, opinions and temperament must be subject to God's Word

* A man that will not submit his heart to the Word of God will never submit to any man or woman!

★ Proverbs 4:7 →"Wisdom is of utmost importance, therefore get wisdom, and with all your effort work to acquire understanding."

* Make time to study God's Word and teach each other as a couple (before and after marriage)

* Regardless of the beautiful physical characteristics a person possesses, without God's Word a man or woman is empty and vulnerable to satanic manipulation

* God's Word is the ultimate restraint that keeps a man from sin
★ Psalm 119:9 →"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word."

★ Josh 1:8 →"This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success."

2. The Fear of the Lord
★ Proverbs 1:7 → "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction."

→ You need the wisdom of God to navigate your path through life

→ The fear of the Lord is the restraint that keeps a man in check

→ It is impossible for a person to keep away from sin because of fear of his or her spouse. When such a person is away from his or her spouse and there is an opportunity to sin, without the fear of the Lord, such a person will succumb

☆ Advise to Single people:
→ Instead of looking for a spouse with beautiful physical characteristics, impressive educational achievements or sound financial standing, look for a person who fears the Lord

→ It is the fear of the Lord that keeps a person from abusing his or her spouse physically, emotionally or verbally

→ It takes the fear of the Lord to keep ungodly urges in check

3. Preserve the Original Vision
→ What vision do (did) you have?
→ You must have "seen" something for you to decide to marry your spouse.
→ Keep that vision alive!

★ Proverbs 29:18 →"Without prophetic vision, people abandon restraint, but those who obey the Law are happy."

→ The reason why many marriages are crumbling today is because they lost their original vision

→ If you have lost your original vision, there is second chance - for a second touch (See: Mark 8:22-25)

4. Keep it simple
→ Some people are too 'serious' (in their relationship with their spouse), that is why life is serious on them!

→ Simplicity will help your marriage

→ Your home should be a place of joy: the ambience should be welcoming

→ Lighten up your relationship and home with healthy jokes

→ Play with each other

→ Laugh together

→ Enjoy each others' company

* By all means, keep it simple