Thanksgiving (Rev. John Audu) 09-11-2014

Annual Thanksgiving Service 

★ MY SERMON NOTES
@ Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) 

Area 1, Garki - Abuja, Nigeria

9th November, 2014 

 

* Guest Speaker: Rev. John Audu

* Topic: Thanksgiving

* Service Leader: Mr Igwe Augustine

* Text: Luke 17:11-19

 

* Thanksgiving begins by admitting that God is a great God

 

* If you want to understand and offer unto the Lord thanksgiving, you must begin with a reflection about yourself

 

* You must learn to reflect upon the goodness of God to your life and you must count your blessings

 

* Think about how far God has brought you

 

* If not for God, you will not become what or who you are today

 

* If you forget your roots, you will fail to give thanks to God

 

* The best way of celebrating harvest thanksgiving is to reflect on your roots and on God's faithfulness

 

* It grieves God when we fail to come back and give Him thanks (v.17)

* Assignment: Read this Psalm 136 and reflect upon it as a family at least once every month

 

* Do not wait for when an annual thanksgiving Programme is organized in Church before you give God His due honour

 

* Thanksgiving Should be a way of life on a daily basis

 

* If Christians can learn to thank God in all circumstances, we will experience His power

 

* Daniel 6:10 - "Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."

 

* There is power in thanksgiving

 

* Today, most Christian's prayer is full of complaints & petitions

 

* Don't spend all your time going from one prayer house to another seeking for miracles  - You are a child of God & you have direct access to the throne of Mercy

 

* The Benefits of Thanksgiving for the Healed Leper:

1. The distance between Jesus & the Samaritans was closed

- When you begin to reap the dividends of thanksgiving, you are drawn closely to God

 

2. He was completely healed (v.19)

 

3. He enjoyed a hand of friendship & forgiveness of sins (v.19) 

- Our relationship with God is not possible where there is sin

- We must always thank God for Salvation & the forgiveness of our sins

- Remember that You were saved by grace

 

* NOTE: God complained that His people were thankless & do not fulfil their vows 

→ Psalm 50:14 - "Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfil your vows to the Most High"

 

* NOTE: A vow is voluntary & when you make it, you must fulfil it.

 

*Two examples of people who fulfilled their vows even when it was difficult to do so:

⇒ Hannah  (1st Samuel 1:11; 27- 28)

⇒ Jephthah (Judges 11:30-31; 34, 39)

 

* God is honoured when you make a vow and you fulfil it.

 

★ God is always ready to bless you especially, when you show Him that you are grateful for all He has done for you and you fulfil your vows

 

The Place of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Home (Pastor Francis) 05-07-2014

★ MY SERMON NOTES

Wedding - Umushe Jane Matta & Naanlong

@ ECWA Plateau Church, Laminga Road,

Jos, Plateau State - Nigeria

5th July, 2014

SERMON

* Speaker: Pastor Francis  

* Topic: The Place of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Home

* Christian marriage is based on sacred promises & vows

* Today, many couples have abandoned their marriage vows

* There is a call on every Christian couple to go back to the basics - which is the Word of God

* We must get back to the original plan of God for marriage

* The world has been trying to redefine marriage by introducing and promoting strange perversions in the marriage institution with a view to undermine God's standards

* The Christian home is under attack from the secular movement and carnal philosophies

★ Colossians 3:2 → "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

★ Ephesians 4:1 →"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."

★ Ephesians 4:17 →"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind."

* Our values as Christian couples/families must portray the light of Christ

* We must not be influenced by the world

* Only the distinction that we have in Christ can draw the World to Christ

★ Ephesians 5:18 → "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."

* What is lacking today, making Christians a far-cry from what God wants us to be is the fact that the Holy Spirit has been relegated to the background in our personal affairs

* It takes the Holy Spirit to be able to love someone outside of yourself

* The "Adamic man" (the unreformed heart) is naturally selfish

* Today, there is no difference between Christians & those who are not

* The hope of this Country is not in political ideologies but in Christians who live up to the calling of God upon their lives

* We are often too preoccupied with living life and pursuing our businesses to live in the Spirit

* When the Holy Spirit controls a man, He Submits to his wife in love; When the Holy Spirit controls a woman, she submits to her husband with respect & without compulsion

* NOTE: Bacchus is the god of wine & intoxication

-When a person is drunk, his body is open to control from the demonic influence of Bacchus to do his will

* When the Holy Spirit controls you, your hope will be established in righteousness

* 1st Corinthians 12:13 →"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

* The Holy Spirit indwells only persons who have accepted Jesus as their Lord & Saviour

* The 'in-filling' with the Holy Spirit is different from being "baptized" with the Holy Spirit

* God is looking for those who are constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit

* When The Holy Spirit is in control, Jesus has a say in the family affairs

* When you are truly submitted to the Holy Spirit, He gives you what to input into Your marriage, so that you're not just looking for what you will get out of it.

* The Holy Spirit must be the centre of attraction in your home & marriage

* The Holy Spirit can reconcile and restore all that is lost

How to know Whether a Person is controlled by the Holy Spirit:

1. Joy (Christian Joy is internal stability despite external instability)

2. Gratitude & thankfulness

3. Submission

★JOY

* Joy is the evidence of a true Christian home

* Joy regulates the spiritual atmosphere of a situation

* Joy insulates your heart against being carried away by the circumstances of life

* Alcohol is a temporary depressant which brings no permanent Solution

★THANKFULNESS

* Ephesians 5:20 →"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

* A person who comes to terms with the fact that he cannot become what he now is without the help and input of others is never grateful

* You must learn the principle of constant gratitude in the Christian home

★ SUBMISSION

* One institution that humbles a man is marriage because it offers plenty opportunities for serving each other selflessly

* Ephesians 5:21-22

* The man is actually called to submit to his wife in love

* The wife is called to submit to her husband in respect

* Christian couples are to submit to Christ out of reverence

* Submissiveness does not disturb the established order of authority

* Serving the interest of another is anti-world system where selfishness is the order of the day

* How is your home today?

* What is the place of the Holy Spirit in your home & life?