5 Catalysts for Spiritual Growth And Maturity || 3rd Service || 07112021

and welcome to our second transmission for this morning this is the covenant nation and we're really glad that you have allowed us into your space to have church this morning if this is your first time would like to know please put it in the comment section and let our online community give you a warm covenant nation welcome all right we would also like you to go to our website at www.insightforliving.org forward slash new to church and fill the form there share your experience with us and somebody will get in touch with you in the course of the week you know so we can get to know you better but better than that we would love for you to come into the auditorium and fellowship with us so if you are in nigeria if you are in the city of lagos there are several campuses of the covenant nation all over the city of lagos we have center in abuja and we have two centers in ibadan we have in uyu and actually there just might be a center coming close to you very soon so please follow us on all our social media platforms um uh covenancy center on instagram and on twitter and the covenant nation on on facebook and then of course please follow pastor podju as well at pastor podju is his instagram and twitter handles and then of course paso cody made on facebook and with that you can stay abreast of the information that is coming out so you know which center is opening very soon but i got people get ready center will be opening very soon so when there's a center close to you we actually like for you to come in and fellowship with the brethren and if you do choose to join us to put your hands to the plough you know we would love for you to come here but we would love for you to actually come and fellowship with us so um stay tuned for more information on that but today um we're gonna have service today before we go into the service have you invited somebody if you haven't invited somebody send a message to them right now like i could normally say you know invite someone ahead of time make up your mind today who you are going to invite for service next week let them know invite them to to tell them about service you know against next week and then remind them in the course of the week and then invite them on sunday morning send the link to them so whatever platform you're on right now share with your friends and your family and have them join us for church because as usual we're going to receive deep insight for living today right so we're live on facebook on on on youtube on twitter depending on wherever you might be all over the world and of course uh uh on facebook and then on our website at www.insightforliving forward slash live stream and um you can have our you can have our live stream ongoing on going there all right so we like for you to to be part of that so but before we go into this service there are a few announcements that i would like to share with you for us ladies how many of us were part of the b conference yesterday the abuja edition held yesterday and it was phenomenal it was beautiful just like the bada edition was a couple of weeks ago and the lagos edition is holding this weekend so we like for you to register if you haven't registered and so that you can get the pre-conference information and you know how to prepare for the conference you can receive that and it will be um it will be useful to you and of course join us online if you're not able to join us physically for the b conference this weekend if you don't want to listen to the um sessions that's already held in ibadan in abuja they are still up on our on on youtube so go to our youtube channel and you can access those and listen to them they were they were really insightful they were phenomenal that's the just the minimum way to describe it they were live transforming there was a lot of nuggets you know coming out from those meetings yesterday from the speakers because you see um it was it wasn't an ordinary meeting it was a meeting we prayed and prepared for and the lord always speaks to his people and speaks to us that just might be an answer to the question in your heart a question that somebody else asked might be the question that you want to ask and you receive answers from those administrations so please go listen to them and we hope to see you this weekend the other important um information that you need is here at the covenant nation um when you're part of the family we want you to actually be embedded in the family there's a there's a preparation we have at the end of the year and it has commenced since the 1st of november we've been we've entered what we call a planting season we've been doing deliberate planting of the word of god towards birthing a powerful 20 22. you know we're sowing seeds of the word of god concerning our 2022. so that started on the 1st of november and we've been having three hourly watches starting from 6 a.m all right so um you want to join us today held at 6 a.m because of services today the next session today will be at 3 p.m okay and so every day that's you it lasts for just about 5 minutes it won't take much of your time but it's an exercise that you want to be focused on and be part of it and and you know make the confessions make a list of the things that you desire for the for 2022 and so we can start declaring the words of god powerfully concerning those things and then at the end of that um the the um the this con the confessions are going to continue but at the beginning of december from december the first we're going to have our annual fast from december 1st to 24th that's one of the most exciting times at the covenant nation for me and i believe that it's for many people as well so join us for the fast from december 1st 21st then we get into christmas season watch night service will hold at zafar valera square and it will be streamed live and then wave back you know it's going to be a phenomenal world that is going to be the 10th edition of the west african faith believers convention we hold from the 2nd of january 2022 and we're looking forward to that powerfully and we want you to be part of all of those things and you see to to partake of what beg you it's also good to to be part of the preparation for what back and so from the from next week we're going to start confession about what back with every service you know towards preparation for workbeg and we just want you to be part of all of that you must seem like a lot but listen to this again and um you you can you can flow with it it's actually very easy to be part of all of this and then and really benefit from all of these things um in jesus name so now today we're going to go into this service and pastor is starting a new series is an insightful series it is essential and you know like i said earlier here at the covenant nation we receive insights for living on the go you know there are many um um resources that come out of the covenant nation which is why i also ask that you follow us on our social media platforms so you can be part of all of these things personal teaching sometimes on saturday mornings you know and all of that but but today's teaching is very insightful and is essential for christian growth and it's tied to the five catalyst for spiritual growth it is not enough for us to receive spiritual knowledge to receive information to just know the word of god but it has to transform our lives and we actually practically grow and that is what is in store for us today that god has prepared a massive table before us and we're here to partake of it and so invite your friends and family before we go on and let's go into the service put away all distractions um get your writing materials and everything that you need but before we go into to receive the word we're going to worship god today is thanksgiving service across all of our campuses including our online campus including you right here at the covenant nation and so we want to give thanks to god we're grateful people with the heart of gratitude you want to worship god for his faithfulness you know he's a good father and we acknowledge that and so today is our thanksgiving service and there's a lot of praise and things that's going to be going on here and so put on your dancing shoes and be get ready to worship and praise god today and then we'll receive the word so let's go have church welcome to church thank you for your goodness heavenly father will bless your holy name oh god we declared this morning that for our shame we have received double in the name of jesus like the prayer of jabesh we declare oh god that you have enlarged our costs in the name of jesus father you have set us upon our high places this morning in the name of jesus heavenly father we declare that we receive wisdom and understanding we declare that we have a mind of christ therefore we have an excellent spirit on the inside of us and we thank you that everything that we set out to do prospers in the name of jesus amen hallelujah [Music] father we bless your name this morning come on just leave those hands to the lord this morning and begin to adore him because he's amazing he's wonderful oh beautiful god yay we bless your name oh glorious god beautiful kingdom you're an excellent [Music] before your throne [Music] we say glorious god we say you're a beautiful beautiful king you're an excellent god and we bow before let me can you say glorious [Music] [Music] hey [Music] you do beautiful things [Music] excellent [Music] you know [Music] glorious guys [Music] you're amazing [Music] [Music] lord [Music] [Music] before [Music] [Music] that's why we've come to declare [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] hey [Music] right [Music] one more time [Music] he keeps doing it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] because you've done it again and you keep doing and doing and surprising us hey [Music] thank you jesus [Music] let's give the lord a shout of praise hallelujah [Music] where are you who can come back [Music] oh is [Music] [Music] [Music] god [Music] hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] is me me [Music] hello [Music] [Music] you'll kill me foreign me [Applause] is [Music] hallelujah [Music] god is good and is everybody look around and see what god has done for hey everybody look at me around ah okay if god has done it for you you are going to just turn to one neighbor and we are going to do that song together again hallelujah everybody [Music] okay foreign hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] we serve a god that is mighty and powerful god who is able to do exceedingly abundantly [Music] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] tribute [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah in the morning when i wake up i can sing my praise unto you my god i go forever [Applause] hey [Music] [Applause] is and this message is forever hallelujah oh yeah you ready are you ready [Music] everybody okay in my life in your work in your business in your family in your ministry are you ready say look at the financing everybody's saying last time around oh [Music] praise the lord for the last time hey are you ready [Music] is [Music] we may be seated you're welcome to church this morning are you excited to be in the presence of the lord today say to your neighbour you're welcome to thanksgiving sunday ask them are you aware today's thanksgiving ask them is there anything you're giving thanks to god for wait for response wait for response did they respond did they respond all right it's thanksgiving sunday so we're good we're going to be giving thanks to god we have 16 babies we're dedicating today [Applause] the lord is doing good things in our midst amen and we see the men are walking amen all right so we're going to have pastor preach to us this morning he's starting a new topic on five categories four spiritual growths five categories four spiritual groups it's a powerful message it's a very very powerful message very short precise but please ensure that you take away all forms of distractions every time we say that that's when you hear a phone ring all right so please do not do not assume that your phones are on vibrate or silence or you have completely turned them off please check them all right some of us are alarms will go up off by 12. please ensure you see those things amen all right are we ready are we ready for the word of god all right we're set to be blessed amen welcome to the chechen section of this service and uh we'll take our declaration this morning and then we'll get into the word of god one to go as i said to listen to the word of god today a door of utterance has been opened unto me and i hear the voice of god clearly speaking to me this is the way to go walking in it i listen under the influence of the spirit of god and i am not distracted by anything or anyone the word of god is food to my spirit i am strengthened by it this morning it has wine to my heart creating joy within me it is oil to my face causing my life to shine given me victory in everything that i do as my eyes make contact with the scriptures used in this message the spirit of god opens new things to me he also brings to my remembrance things jesus once showed me i come to understand god's system on the earth and i receive instruction encouragement correction and the enablement to live out god's will amen all right this morning we start a new series that deals with uh spiritual growth five catalysts that facilitate all right spiritual growth within a believer uh what's this issue about spiritual growth why is it so important because when we look at the book of romans chapter eight i think i'll start from verse 28 it tells us about all things working together for good to them that love god to them who are called according to his purpose what's that purpose for whom he did for no he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the first born among many brethren now when he says first born all right among many brethren so the goal is let's go back again to verse 29 the goal is that we might be conformed to the image of of his son jesus that he might be the firstborn among many brethren so first one doesn't mean the first child and then he has junior brothers and junior sisters firstborn means he is the firstborn among many other firstborns so as we get confirmed to the image of jesus we arrive at that first born status so he is reproducing first borns on the earth and it is people that have aligned themselves with the purpose of the father which is all things are working together for one central purpose and that is conformity to the image of jesus so that we also can be first born just like jesus now in this message i'll explain what that means but keep that in mind somewhere that we might be first born just like jesus not just children but first born then we have again in ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 to verse 15 about spiritual growth it tells us that he gave some apostles some prophets from evangelism pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry for their define of the body of christ till we all come in the unity of faith and the knowledge of the son of god onto a perfect man that's a mature man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of christ that's why he gave ministry gifts that's why you come to church that we henceforth be no more children so he's talking about levels of maturity that they are children and they are people that are mature who have come to the fullness of the stature of christ which means they look exactly like jesus on this earth and so to become mature we take responsibility for our lives we are able to get things done in and for god depending or right on jesus christ alone spiritual growth is a reality first peter chapter two and verse two tells us about desire the sincere milk of the word as newborn babies desire the sincere milk so it tells us how growth occurs by feeding on the word of god desire the sincere milk of god's word that you may grow thereby now let me address something here because people pray suppose and it's just something people throw around because when we get into matters of religion people are not scientific about it when we say scientific we're not talking about your science is that the way of thinking is not research oriented and data driven so what happens is assumptions are just flying around and if it sounds nice people accept it as the truth and go and build their lives upon it now there is this assumption that once all right a church begins to grow externally which means numerically speaking then it is at the expense of the depth of the quality of life of the christians that are there in other words the impression is if you belong to a large congregation i want to show something here all right then we can cast expressions which means the quality of a christian life right may be shaky but if you belong to a small need congregation then there will be real spiritual growth and there will be death and that reason why churches are growing externally is because they are compromising that issue of spiritual growth and depth now people that say that must first answer this question what does it mean to grow spiritually which means after that what really are you talking about when you say we want to grow spiritually here number two what are the exact process in other words what will you tell a person who is born again or has been a christian for a few years and say well within the next two years you are going to come to a place of maturity in christ you'll move from babyhood all right to childhood and you become a son all right and a mature christian what will you take that person through the process you'll take that individual through now numerical expansion all right does not equate to right inferiority when it comes to the quality of life or is not a detriment to spiritual growth neither all right is a small congregation does it mean quality nowhere inside the scripture does it suggest that in fact what you are saying in effect is that if you have all right a big nation then it's likely the people are not educated and if you have a small country all right then it means the people are highly educated that's the way you think it if you live in a small village all right then it means that you will be educated and if you live in a large urban city then it's likely that you are not educated now we understand that the process of getting educated means schools are built and people attend to schools therefore if you are in a small town and there are no schools there then you will not be educated if you are in a large urban city there and there are several schools that are built then the chance that you will get educated so is the presence of the schools all right all the absence of schools that will determine not the size there's a point i'm getting not the size of the city or the size of the nation same thing when it comes to issues of church it is not the size of a church that determines anything is whether those structures are in place which they may be absent in a small church and they may be present in a large church so we are looking at the five catalysts things that intentionally must be put in place in order to deepen the quality of lives of people and to cause there to be spiritual growth among god's people now let me give an example here before i get into it all right of numerical increase and at the same time quality of life being deepened acts chapter 1 and verse 15. what were the numbers of the disciples acts 1 15 it tells us that in those days peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said the number of the names together it gives us the number where 120 people they were described as keep the scripture back up in the midst of their disciples all right and who are disciples jesus said to those that believed on him if you continue in my word then are you my disciples indeed and the truth you shall know the truth and it will make you free so disciples are people that are pursuing all right god's word and practice in the word of god so the number of disciples were 120. now acts chapter 6 and verse 1. the bible tells us acts 6 and in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied so disciples numerical strength can be multiplied that there is a multiplication and growth doesn't mean that they are no longer disciples let's take one step further act six and verse two the next verse and then it tells us then the twelve called the multitude there were 120 with the 12 there with the 12 there they were 120 now the 12 in acts chapter 6 verse 2 had now gotten a multitude of disciples doing the same thing the 120 were doing unto them and said is it is not reason that we should leave the word of god and to serve tables and then look at what happens here we have a multitude of disciples in verse 2 then we get to verse 7 all right 6 7 and the word of god increased and the number of disciples multiplied greatly there were already a multitude from 120 to a multitude then from a multitude there was a multiplication of the multitude but at the same time the word of god increased and it was the increase of god's word in that place that brought about the number of numerical strengths of the disciples to be multiplied and then look at what he says and a great company of the priests while obedient to the faith so please do not say that where there is numerical strength then it means that depth has been jupiter that thought is not scriptural now what you've got to understand is what are what is the exact process in order for people to grow spiritually why most people grow what does it mean all right for people to grow spiritually and this is what we want to look at spiritual growth is the formation of christ within a believer now let me explain this when you got born again all right man is a tripe being spirit he has a soul he lives in the body the soul constitutes the mind the wheel and the emotions where he makes decisions where he shows emotions of say all right kindness or jealousy or anger whatever it is or all right he showed certain things from his soul right that's where he thinks the thoughts are now when you get saved it is your spirit that becomes a new creature in christ the soul now goes through a process there all right receive the engrafted word of god that is able to save your soul you are transformed by the renewal of the mind so when we say a person is growing spiritually now the body does what is in the soul and not what is in the spirit so it is how well your spirit your soul has been saved or your mind has been renewed that will determine what expressions that we have from you in the flesh it's not the state of your spirit it is the state of your soul that's how you describe a person when you say this person is this way you are describing the soul of that particular person now when christ starts getting formed in a person it means the divine nature that is inside the spirit of that person that is perfect now begins to influence and for want of words is getting deposited within the soul in larger quantities and as christ is being formed within the soul then the body begins to give perfect expression all right so that which lies within the spirit of that individual so we are talking about the formation of christ within that person all right that's what spiritual growth is that you might be conformed to the image of jesus christ the immediate benefit of that spiritual growth is that you have the supernatural at your fingertips in other words you're not running a healthcare skelter to try to look for help from somebody with spiritual growth you partake of your inheritance with cities you have the spiritual all right the supernatural there that's why the church should emphasize because that's the goal that's why you come to church all right not just to get one blessing but for the formation of christ within that particular person and this comes just taken this way as more of the divine nature of god is deposited within the soul of that person so you reflect in greater all right measure the character the power and who jesus christ really is classes do not lead to spiritual maturity let me repeat what i said classes do not relate to spiritual maturity classes led to theological education you can say a person should go for spiritual growth classes and you gave the person 12 classes and you assume that at the end of the class or the series of classes he has matured knows her what he has gotten is a theological fact about spiritual growth spiritual formation is not a cognitive now can you put up that cognitive definition here let me just put it up all right when i say cognitive here cognitive definition is of relating to or involving conscious mental activities such as thinking understanding learning and remembering so i memorize the scripture now it's good but that's about doesn't mean i have grown spiritually that i understand a message doesn't mean or i read a book and i understand something doesn't mean christ has been formed within my soul all right that i think about something doesn't mean that so many do not know the process here and we need to teach this and then give people opportunities there to grow for we should be concerned i will say this in this church about christian maturity and not christian activity we are not an organization that suffers from attention deficiencies syndrome where we are just doing activity trying to draw attention to ourselves christian maturity is a quiet process as the spirit of god deposits more of what we call the life and the nature of god within the soul of that person and the amount of power that that person will have on the spot will be determined that is released through the words of that person is determined by how much is deposited within the soul of that person at that particular point in time why is maturity so important galatians chapter four verse one two three it says an heir as long as is a child it says different nothing from a servant though he belonged over all so you can have all things in christ but if you are still a spiritual child then you will not be different from a servant on outside even though potentially you have access to these things so those that teach or are just potential we have potential will only lead people to frustration now that's important without telling people that there has to be spiritual growth so that you can take possession of that verse 2 tells us but they are placed on that two church and governors until the time appointed by the father the three tells us even so when we were children we were in bondage under the elements of this world so you find people get into bondage when they are spiritual children as you begin to mature there you overcome these things and it's the formation of christ within the soul of that individual that brings about that now so we've seen a child cannot receive an inheritance all right it takes spiritual growth well we might say well in verse four he put up verse four he talks about the fact that now are we sons and the fullness of christ god sent his son i made him a woman under the law and then he goes in and says in verse 5 to redeem them the one that lord that we might receive adoption of sons and then he talks about the fact that and because you are sons god has sent forth his spirit whereby you cry abba father now it's talking about what happened in the realm of the spirit but all of this has to still take shape within your soul or else all right you remain right legally free but as we say vitally in bondage that's legally you're a free person but practically you are still in bondage so we must understand that what has been given to us legally in christ throw his shed blood and then understand that the spirit of god is within us to translate our legal rights into christ into practical realities within our lives by taking control of our soul and the process of the formation of christ so you may have something potentially in christ but it's still not formed on the inside of you and people are trying to do things and god is saying you need to be a particular type of person and those things will happen within your life all right where there is a formation of christ then there will be a behavior all right like christ where there is no formation of christ then you will pretend to be something that you are not so this is what spiritual growth is all about and we're looking at this series it's not about the fact that god gives us more because he has given us all things in christ jesus is that we receive more of what he has already given so these things have already been given now we are the ones that are receiving this into our hearts galatians chapter 4 verse 8 to verse 9 speaking about this i'm going somewhere habit when you knew not god you did service unto them which were by nature no gods but now after you have known god or rather known of god it says how taunt ye again to the weak and beggarly in other words legally you are free but you are still behaving that way where until you desire to be in bondage now look at what he said in verse 19 my little children of whom i travail in birth again until christ be formed in you now they were born again but paul said i'm traveling in prayer for the formation of christ on the inside of you because it says we have received it tells us in verse 3 abduction assaults now what does adoption mean of us too here it talks about adoption there on the time appointed verse four sorry it says and when the fullness of time god sent for the sword and then in verse 5 it says to redeem them that they might receive adoption as sons now remember we started with first ball romans chapter eight and verse nine i wanna explain this adoption thing romans eight and then we'll get into the practical for the next 12 minutes romans 8 sorry verse 29 sorry all right it says romans 8 29 quickly for whom he did for no he did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be first born among many brethren so first born doesn't mean you are the first that was born it means that it's talking about this you are a mature soul so that he wants to reproduce what he calls first born children now what does it mean by that now you have to understand judaism and the family structure of jews back then to understand this now in deuteronomy chapter 21 verse 16 to verse 21 deuteronomy 21 verse 16. he says then it shall be when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he have that he may not make the song of the beloved first born now this inheritance is first born that gets inheritance before the son of the hated which is indeed the firstborn by 17 but he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn by giving him now so the first one gets a double portion of all that he has for he is the beginning of his strength the right of the first born is his now these rights and privileges we're talking about are for first borns no another person can just take those rights you see what esau lost was his first born right he was he didn't lose the right to be the first child of isaac nor did he lose his right to be a child of isaac or son of isaac he lost the right of first born which was access to the inheritance that was coming down the lineage in other words there was going to be a transference of spiritual inheritance and jacob got it and esau did not have it and it became evident in the lives of both of them that jacob was the firstborn now in other words he is the one that took the inheritance now he wasn't the first son but his mother was saying that listen jacob should be first born and not esau now here's the reason why now let's go on in verse 18 quickly it says verse 18 detroit 21 18 and if a man has a stop on and rebel your son which will not obey his voice not the voice of his mother and when he has chastened him he will not hacking unto them then shall his father and mother lay hold on him and bring him out to the elders of the city onto the gates of the place next verse and they shall say this our son is stubborn to the eldest rebellious will not obey a voice a glutton and a drunkard and the men of this city shall stone him with stones and he'll be put away now let's look again at verse 19 verse 19 quickly it says then shall his father lay hold and bring him out to the elder elderly in the gate verse 20 and he says and they shall say all right there's our son was stubborn sorry let's look at verse 18 let's start from verse 18 verse 18. that's it if a man have a stomach and rebellion some will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother then and when they have chastened him he will not hack into their voice now he talks about chastisement now if you look at hebrews chapter 12 verse 8 it tells us this if you be without chastisement where of all the particulars there are you bastards are not so so it was either you got into the first born or you became a bastard a bastard doesn't mean you are not born into family it just means that your cold not get the rights of the family because if they gave the inheritance to you they're like the younger brother you'll go and squander the inheritance and the wealth will be cut off from that family so the parents had to be careful who they were going to transfer the inheritance to and that inheritance could only be transferred to those who were first bought and first bonds were those who came to a place of maturity by hacking onto the voice of their father and mother while they trained them at home and they said these ones now have taken training they are first born so jesus was saying it's not just about getting born again it's about being conformed to the image of him so that you're a first born so that you can carry the inheritance because without that first bond status you can carry inheritance now the ceremony where they brought out the child and said this is my child in women well place he is the firstborn in this family that ceremony was called adoption that's what he was referring to in galatians so we said deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 2 they were very serious about this this is how they protected their society and civilization a bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the lord then why not that the parents said this wonders they won't allow into the congregation of the lord even to the tenth generation he shall not enter into the congregation all right he comes and defiles and destroys everything so what are the five catalysts for spiritual formation we want to look at in this series number one practical teaching number two private discipline number three personal ministry number four providential relationships or divine relationships number five all right we talk about pivotal circumstances now quickly run through them and then we go next week more into it five things that you should watch out for that's why when we talk about a large or small church that's not the issue these are the five catalysts for spiritual growth this is what you will find in the life of people who are growing spiritually and steadily number one they are open to practical teaching of god's word please hear this this is very important now i might say well practical teaching does means where the word of god is not no practical teaching of god's word is an explanation of scripture with a definite call to action where the value is in the application and not in knowing in other words people that grow spiritually are taught that their value is in application and not in knowing now if you are just taught to know then what will happen is you will just be acquiring knowledge and just be criticized christ will not be formed in you you get critical you judge people you say all kinds of things because you were not taught with the right spirit matthew chapter 7 verse 24 jesus said to those quickly therefore whosoever heareth these saints of mine and do with them i will liken him to a man who wise man who built his house on a rock verse 26 verse 26 it says and everyone that heared the saints now both of them had both of them had knowledge and doeth them not shall be likened to a foolish man that built his house in other words you are told there is no value in the acquisition of knowledge that is not applied directly to your life so when you are listening to teachings it's where the adjustment supposed to be made within my life so jesus taught for a response for a life change and that's what i talked about practical teaching it wasn't about cognitive recognition of truth but it was a call direct call to action colossians 1 and 9 to 11 says that god may fill us with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding for a reason a call to action that you might work worthy that every knowledge i receive translates into a better work and that i'll be fruitful in every good work it translates directly into something practical within my life now that i sit down as a fat thought and what i'm saying politely and i'm just criticized and judging people based on the knowledge that i have that is not spiritual growth that would bring it about so jesus never chastised anybody for lack of knowledge but what he chastised them for was lack of faith which means application of truth which means he would see them and say how long am i going to be with you aren't you going to learn to speak to this mountain i ain't going to learn to speak to things practical teaching emphasizes living do the right thing faith and not just mental ascent to facts he taught pray so that you can pray now that you can explain what prayer is so for example you come to service you have the notes what are the things i'm going to do what's the call to action in this message what's the call to action what are the things i'm going to do now differently within my life so you have come to a place of transformation of life change and not just an acquisition of knowledge that's the first one all right the second one here is private disciplines and now this translates talk about it what are the private disciplines what do we mean by private disciplines matthew chapter six and verse five to seven everybody who is growing spiritually as private disciplines matthew 6 from verse 5 to verse 7 quickly it says and when thou prayers thou shalt not be as the hypocrites for they love to pray standing sick that they may be seen verily i say unto you they have their reward verse 6 but thou when thou prayers enter into thy closure that's private practice here and when thou has shot the door prayed to thy father which is in secret and the father that is in secret shall reward you openly so there are private disciplines that you carry out every day all right you approach the word of god practical thoughts then private disciplines we look at it mark chapter 1 and verse 35. jesus tells us something was private and in the morning rising a great while before day he went out and departed into a solitary place and there he prayed which means there are things you do every single day and this creates and because prayer is not something you use all right when you're in trouble and everything about prayer is just trouble it's communication with god it's fellowship with god it's about the private disciplines that you have every single day in your life number three personal ministry all right now this i got a bit but personal ministry now everybody that grows spiritually has some form of personal ministry that they are doing personal ministry is very powerful god calling you out of your comfort zone stretches you to do something in ministering personally to others command that you have time to go out on mission trips you go out on evangelism and you get into uncomfortable spaces where you are stretched this is important stretched there in order to be able to minister all right to people and you are doing this it's called their leading all right a mission strip it's called the having leading a small group or a cell something that takes you out of your comfort zone don't ever ever react moment to that you're giving assignments for personal ministry that takes you out of just you being self-centered here to help other people this ministry here next teaching i'll talk about class one leaders and class two and class three leaders and you must endeavor for you to grow spiritually to be to have some class three and class two and three form of leadership within your life all right for there to be spiritual growth but you get into places that are not comfortable you go out there all right you volunteer uh for personal ministry that is life transforming now why is this so important in spiritual growth please listen to these an evangelical minister said this in terms of ministering to people he said this he said adults learn on a need to know basis experience has taught us that the sooner we can get people into ministry environment the better even if people are not trained fully once they are in these environments where they are called to minister several things happen first they are confronted with what they don't know instantly you know you you are confronted if you sit down just in charge and you're not confident you're confronted they said pray for the sick you're confronted with it i don't know how to pray for the what do i do all right what if i lay out you're confronted with that but you need to know and then you become extremely teachable you open up yourself on like classroom training all right nobody falls asleep he said on the job when they when you're in an apprentice in all right environment the fourth are providential relationships and you have to watch out for this god sends people they don't have to prompt them people into your life and these people define relationships and god uses them to speak into your life all right to help you and to open up doors to the next level all right in your spiritual growth there that's why he said i've sent prophets and i've sent people you killed the prophets you stoned them i will not be where i am today now god will have arranged maybe with somebody else but i will not be if there wasn't somebody i met in the university of lagos and i wasn't even a christian but it was a providential relationship go into your life people step and treats those people well treats those people well under no circumstance disrespect those people the seasons are over things change but never disrespect never disrespect these people i mean he came to me and was smoking i was invisible i was you know that i remember jesus and he there would choke i mean he took me in he will take me before i became a christian he would take me to where they are praying i would see them meditating on scriptures i would see them so i understood things even before i was saying when i got saved like god saved running providential relationships i've said this before when he was down his time was over and leadership was time to hand over he was president the founder of the fellowship he told everybody in the version when we were choosing that somebody in the exhibit told me town he said we felt where you are just too young we were born again three months they shouldn't have put you in the executive the guy told them take he said i should pick the next president of the fellowship it's in my prerogative to pick the next president he said i will give up my rights as the founder of this fellowship to pick the next president in order to give this man a chance in the executive and he said let him hear evangelism now i've read some books about this that was a smart spiritual move the person who is closest to the world should head the evangelistic team i'm telling you this providential relationships where people all right step in and help you and then finally pivotal circumstances now what are people tell circumstances we'll talk about this in detail because we've got people black slide the most from not understanding and interpreting pivotal circumstances well listen self present backsliding left the things of god pivotal circumstance they don't know how to handle it defining moment whether extremely good things happen to you or bad things have happened that's in quotes now a positive event can adversely affect your faith or strengthen it as an adverse circumstance can damage an individual's faith or deepen it kenneth hagin said the number one reason why people move away from god is the loss of a loved one and that's why when any person loses somebody that is close to them go into intersectional prayer for that person it is the most difficult particularly if you've been praying and believing god for that person it almost goes to the foundation of what you believe and i'll give two examples here people can lose their faith in both situations they can get so blessed something happened and they lose that because they don't know how to interpret it they feel that this is why i was going to church and i was going and then they don't interpret it properly now one of the richest man in america this is true i'll just don't call his name built an international media distribution companies alive today all right you can check this out grow up wanting to be a missionary while young a sibling of kids contracted leukemia they prayed he the entire family and prayed but that sibling died he was told it was because that was the interpretation he went to meet a pastor and this is why leadership and how you interpret things is so important went to meet a pastor and said why did it happen and the person said because you didn't have enough faith and he decided that if there was a god then he couldn't be trusted that's what that's the conclusion he came what he said say we may not have enough faith and we pray this man fasted he interpreted her death as either god is weak because i just mind god is non-existent or god is inattentive to prayers it is the interpretation when we talk about pivotal circumstances we give to events those who speak into our lives at that point those moments can either do good strengthen or do harm and damage let me tell you what happened to steve jobs steve jobs experienced a similar crisis of faith on the cover and this has to do with nigeria of july 12 1968 all right the edition of life magazine was a disturbing picture of two children from the civil war going on in nigeria at that time at the age of 13 he found it impossible to reconcile that picture with the lessons he was being taught in his lutheran church he took the magazine to sunday school confronted the church pastor and asked him this question someone there put this out if i raise my finger will god know which one i'm going to raise before i do the pastor answered yes god knows everything he pulled out the magazine and said does god know does god know all right about this and what's he doing and what will happen to the children the answer he received from the pastor the interpretation of the events was less than acceptable and that was the last day steve jobs ever entered into a church two great people were lost from the church because there was that pivotal circumstance that could either strengthen or deepen their faith it depends on the interpretation that is given to that situation father in the name of jesus christ i pray for every single person under the sound of my voice in this auditorium or online watching this lord this will be one of the most important deposits of truth into their lives i ask in the name of jesus that your grandson to them the spirit of wisdom and revelation that the eyes of the understanding be opened up that the knowledge of god be deposited into their hearts as we go into this series in the mighty name of jesus christ amen and amen god bless you all um announcement please the 20th of november all right from on 20th of november we have our workers meeting and all workers in lagos and the environment will be meeting in at the gomer center time is 7 30 a.m put up open up the registration all right for covenant members only and we want to teach all right concerning all right what's the goals that we have and the strategy going forward very important we meet and have this kind of training session and alignment session all right there november 20th 7 30 a.m to 10 a.m all right our confessions are going on every watch that's every three hours all right six a.m nine a.m 12 noon 3 p.m 6 p.m 9 p.m and 12 midnight we're speaking into 2022 don't forget first to the 21st of december fasting all right annual first watch night service we'll be at the tafa bali square 31st and then from the second we're going to have one of the most powerful conferences in the history of this nation and continent wife back 2022 kicks off on the 2nd of january to the 9th all right of january okay all right then next week we'll start taking our confession after every service for wolfbeck 2022 depositing life ahead of that meeting god bless you all and have a wonderful week in his presence shall we stand up to our feet shall we stand up to our feet we're gonna have a totally different approach to prayers this morning or this afternoon okay now listen last week sunday i think was on on the morning of monday 2 a.m somebody sends me a message online and you know i mean for somebody to wake up to send you a message by 2am you know that it is serious all right and then he says after saying all the things that he said he says pastor i need answers now we can come to church with the beautiful faces come to church raise holy hands and then go back home to face certain realities all right we i mean we do that we're here right now all right a lot of people who are going to go through those things paul also in the scriptures went through that same situation where he had to be sought to the lord three times and the lord said to him there was an answer to him which calmed his soul so this morning all right we're praying essentially for every single person who is in a pivotal circumstance if you're in a pivotal circumstance you know in your noah that you need the lord today you need him on this particular situation that this thing is is going out of hand and you need the lord i like you to come forward we're praying for you tonight this this afternoon if you are in a private circumstance and you know that you need the lord's prayer you need a hand you need the lord to do something today not tomorrow today that it needs to speak to you concerning a particular situation it needs to speak to you concerning whatever it is that you might be going through just come forward come forward the lord is here and this has been the instruction from the beginning the lord is here this morning and it is in obedience that some of these things are going to be resolved in obedience to the word of god so this morning we're going to be praying ephesians 1 verse 16 all right to you and this is a prayer that prayed to the church in ephesus which is a mature church he said to them he says i do not cease to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers it says that the eyes of your understanding will be enlightened that you know the hope of your calling in christ jesus now we we will receive the particular prayer yesterday all right well during the 90 minutes with jesus and one of the the prayer was this i mean i'm good i'm going to share that after we we pray this prayer so we're going to stretch our hands towards every single person here if you're on the other hand and you're you're not here just stretch your hands towards them that i am in a private situation i need the wisdom of god i need the wisdom of god mention that situation mention that situation under your breath mention it and say i need your hand in this particular situation on this one i need you that your light will shine fault in my heart today that your light will shine false in my in my heart that light is not light it is information you will know exactly what to do as you leave this place right now even in this moment the lord will speak to you the holy spirit will speak to you on what to do the holy spirit will speak to you specifically on what to do that as you go forth today he's telling you exactly what to do he's ministering his word is light to you you're going to come in contact with people who will tell you exactly what to do one two three four five six steps that you need to take pray that prayer right now that the heist of your understanding is enlightened you know exactly what to do concerning that situation concerning that situation receive the peace of god that you have received is peace in this moment you have received this peace in this moment you know exactly what to do in jesus name we have prayed in jesus name we have prayed he had the word of the lord and he's saying to you instead of your former shame you will have a double portion instead of humiliation your you people will shout for joy over your portion in the name of jesus christ that in your land you will possess double in the name of the lord jesus christ everlasting joy will be yours all the days of your life in the mighty name of the lord jesus christ that the light of god will shine forth in your hearts in the name of the lord jesus christ as you go today you know exactly what to do you are no longer confused you know specific things to do you you are attentive to the things of the spirit men will come a call will come you would see news you will see specific things in in the books that i hope will happen to you what to do has been given to you in the name of the lord jesus christ we decree and we declare that you will come back to give god praise documenting the testimony that he has rescued you today and forevermore in the name of the lord jesus christ we decree and we declare that these words will not be reversed in the name of the lord jesus christ angels have gone before you and they have made available provisions to rescue you out of this situation right now in the name of the lord jesus christ as it is a private circumstance this situation turns for your good for the rest of your life in the name of the lord jesus christ father we give you praise we give you thanks in jesus name amen put your hands together for the lord put your hands together very quickly we are going to celebrate um every person born in the month of november and you have a landmark testimony in october please come forward all right if you're here and you're born in the month of november you have a landmark testimony in october please come forward levites please help out is good he has done me well oh my soul rise up and praise the lord god is good he has done me well oh my soul [Music] rise up and keep it free rise up and praise the lord [Music] [Applause] [Music] we give glory to the lord he reigns we get glory to the to the lord we give glory to the lord [Music] [Music] all right before we pray for them please all the babies that are going to be dedicated please come over to this side as we pray for them just come over to the to my right hand side all right let us stretch our hands towards them let us stretch our hands towards them every person born in the month of november stretch your hands towards them and you have a landmark testimony in october our prayer this afternoon is that the lord will perfect your testimony in the name of the lord jesus christ that every single person born in the moment of november that as you remark this celebration in your life we decree and we declare that the lord will teach you to number your years are right in the name of the lord jesus christ as you apply your hearts to wisdom in the mighty name of the lord jesus christ hear the word of the lord this is the word of lord concerning you in this moment and throughout the year end of this year this month shall be the beginning of months for you in the name of the lord jesus christ that is steadfast this steadfast love of god never cease his mercies never comes to an end they are new every morning all the days of your life and through the end of this month and through the end of this year you will say every morning great is your faithfulness because of the things that he has wrought in your life in the name of the lord jesus christ you'll remember not the former things you would not consider the things of old because the lord is doing a new thing in your life today in the name of the lord jesus christ you will perceive it you will touch it it is tangible it will register in your hearts in the name of the lord jesus christ because the lord has made a way in the wilderness for you in jesus name we decree and we declare that even the things that we haven't said by the reason of yourself laying your hands on your head that the lord will transfer his grace his mercy and multiply you and in every single way multiply the work of your hands multiply every single thing that he has handed over to you in the name of the lord jesus christ go in power go in god's grace and go in god's mercy in jesus name amen let us put our hands together for them [Music] we keep you praying [Applause] [Music] you are highly [Music] is [Music] come and see [Music] come and see what the lord [Music] let us stretch our hands to towards these babies let us stretch our hands if you are the father of the baby just and you're here just lay your hands upon your child all right lay your hands you are the priest of your house begin to speak the right words concerning this child begin to speak the right words concerning this child every child has a name that has a meaning deeply rooted in the word of god begin to speak to this to this child make both confessions affirmations professions concerning them see into the future even to the point where they get married that they are marrying the right set of people in the name of the lord jesus christ that they will marry the bone of their bones the flesh of their flesh in the name of the lord jesus christ that if jesus diaries they will do the same for their children and children's children in the mighty name of the lord jesus christ as it was said of jesus that he increased in wisdom in knowledge and of statute it will be said of these ones in the name of the lord jesus christ in jesus name we have prayed father we thank you because the scripture is fulfilled in the life of these wounds that the fruit of the reward of the the fruit of the womb is the reward of any marital union today the scripture is fulfilled in the life of every family represented here father we give you all the praise and all the things for that lord we thank you because of your grace that is fulfilled in their lives today in the name of the lord jesus christ that as words are being spoken concerning them those words are irreversible on the face of the earth in the name of the lord jesus christ that even as they grow they grow in wisdom they grow in statue they grow in knowledge in the name of the lord jesus christ lord the scripture says that as arrows are in the hands of a mighty man so are children of the of their youths we decree that all these children their arrows in the hands of their parents in the name of the lord jesus christ that whatever it is that has been that as there has been they are sent to do things they will fulfill those purpose on the face of the house in the name of the lord jesus christ any evil high that looks upon them is blinded forever in the name of the lord jesus christ we decree and we declare that any thoughts that is contrary to the will of the father those thoughts fall down dead and ineffective in the name of jesus christ that we use them as a point of contact with every single person who is seeking for the fruit of the womb that because today is established in their life we decree double portion for every single one who is seeking for the fruit of the womb today in the name of the lord jesus christ in nine months time we are dedicating more twins than ever before in the name of the lord jesus christ father we bless your name we give you praise that all that it will take to raise these children from infancy to maturity spiritual material you have provided for their families in the name of the lord jesus christ intellectual togetherness is theirs in jesus name none of these children will be found in the hospital world running around seeking for help in the name of the lord jesus christ you have granted them divine help in the name of the lord jesus christ father we give you praise we give you thanks there is a transference of your grace multiplication of your mercy in your lives in jesus name blessed be your holy name in jesus name we have prayed how we say unto the lord all we have to say is thank you lord what shall we say do is [Applause] you lord all we have to pay thank you thank you watching thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord all we have to say is thank you good afternoon church all right so can we take the confession after the message word to media please help us with that okay the confession after the message is this it okay i declare this week the lines have fallen on to me in pleasant places my steps are ordered by the lord every day i open my mouth wide declaring the things i believe calling into existence those things i see with my inner eyes as though they are and god in return daily loads my life with benefits advancing my position morning by morning he opens my ear to hear his voice and has positioned me by his instructions such that others call me fortunate lucky and blessed by what has occurred every day i declare wisdom is the principal thing therefore i have gotten wisdom and with her understanding i call wisdom my sister and understanding my closest friend i have exalted wisdom and she has promoted me making my life glorious she has brought me to the place of honor because i have embraced her i have listened to her and received her sayings and so by the decisions i make years are added every day to my life god has taught me in the way of wisdom he has led me in right paths when i go out this week my steps do not end in dark narrow passages nor do i waste time making wrong turns amen in jesus name amen how many of us were blessed by today's message yes and how many of us will commit to listen to it again okay all right it's fine some of you didn't put up your hands but i want to encourage us to please make the effort and listen so that we hear and we hear again there are portions of that message that really would influence certain past parts of our lives and with the help of the holy spirit he'll highlight those things to us in jesus name amen so let's prepare to give our tithes and our offerings hallelujah if you have a tight envelope on your chair you can use that and if you do need an envelope maybe you don't have one please ask the ushers will give you one now it's um today's thanksgiving sunday and that means that we have many reasons to be grateful to god and as we give our offerings let's use this opportunity to also thank god you know at times when we think about all the things and the needs that we have we almost forget that we have so much to be grateful for at times we're chasing tomorrow so hard that we forget about today all the blessings that has brought our way so let us um package them ushers are we here are we ready all right father in the name of jesus christ we thank you lord for the opportunity to give yet again we thank you lord because we know that you have blessed us and so we can be a blessing we pray oh god that as we give our tithes and our offering that blessing seen in the life of the giver and in that of the tithe be evident in our lives and you also increase the fruit of our righteousness in jesus name amen amen god bless you as you do so we can also give um electronically i think that was up in a let's take our offering confession and i think the electronic giving um slide we put up again words media please okay offering confession all right while we're waiting for that okay let's do that now want to go and god is able to make all grace and every favor and earthly blessing come to me in abundance so that i always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation amen in jesus name amen so um yes those are the details if you want to do bank transfers or you want to you know do the transfer later on god bless us as we give now we're going to welcome our first timers as the ushers continue with offering can we identify our first timeout if you are worshipping with us at tc enegomo for the first time please indicate with a show of hands just wave your hand we want to know you want to meet you anyone in the house worship with us for the first i see that hand thank you my brother i see another hand thank you my sister can you be brave enough and just rise up so that we can really celebrate you stand up if you're with us for the first time aha there are so many people we thank you we celebrate you we're blessed to have you in our midst we thank you for worshipping with us today make them feel welcome we can do better tcenegomou come on thank you we thank you for worshipping with us okay and we know that god has started a new work in your lives through this world that you've heard today we'd like you to please take everything that you came with and come to okay they said you should come to the right side of my my right hand please just come to this i will meet with you very briefly we're not going to keep you please make them feel welcome and encourage them we're just going to meet you for a few minutes god bless you and please come again and come along with someone god bless you thank you for coming thank you for coming we love you we appreciate you [Music] thank you god bless you god bless you [Music] and all that welcome was really all made on behalf of our senior pastor pastor pojo yamate and his beautiful wife pastor tony we're grateful to have you in our midst god bless you um we do have a few recorded announcements we'll go through them very quickly and word to media can you please share thank you [Music] one of the greatest realities that faces widows after the dust of grief are settled is growth they ask the question what next how do we move on from here [Music] well the original idea behind a project wrap which is something that was established to help widows to also help the children of people who have served this country in terms of the military and the police force the concept came from the fact first and foremost that god has a soft spot for widows he also has that for orphans the scripture tells us that true religion is to keep yourself unspotted from the world and also to visit widows and the orphans who are people groups that have peculiar needs i used to spend a lot of time studying about governance and politics in more developed countries and i discovered that they had made great provision for people who had served the country in the area and the military and the police so we decided to zero in on that and to make it sustainable and also to make it impact driven we said that the women will not just be given handouts we are going to empower them that is by giving them finances identifying business opportunities and then giving them soft skill and supporting them with infrastructure and the knowledge that came out of the church and then to give the most valuable assets to their children which is education because once you educate someone you have given that person something that can never be taken away from that particular individual even if a person borrows money to gain an education you have to find a way of getting your money back all right because you cannot withdraw that capital is within that person so it's a permanent thing of giving to that individual i mean the way i go about leadership is that i clarify the vision to people i identify people that are capable of learning with the vision and then i give them the independence and space and they have interpreted the dream and expanded it beyond the original idea and beyond even what we imagined at the concept so it has been 10 years of great strides and many successful stories we've seen tears turn to laughter sorrows turn to joy mourning turn to dancing and chaos turn to celebrations the vision of project rap is social but more importantly spiritual for 10 years god has helped us make a difference in the lives of many and we trust god for another 10 more years to make more impact to everyone who's made it possible we say thank you well done and we look forward to doing more with you we have seen that the module that we have put in place has worked we're taking the stake a bit higher after 10 years of perfecting what we've done primarily in lagos we're going to every single place where the covenant nation is now present we're going to a community near you and we can only do this by the grace of god and also in partnership with you we'd like to ask you to partner with us on this journey to fulfill the scriptures happy 20th year anniversary to project trap to every volunteer to every single person who have donated a dime this is the next place this is the next level i'd like you to join us again and god bless you i should do so thank you very much thank you projector for giving me the opportunity thank you very much [Music] congratulations congratulations congratulations pastor thank you god thank you project wrap widow's relief and assistance program lagos are you ready it's the third edition of the b women's conference to hold in lagos nigeria on saturday the 13th of november 2021 join ayo mig boca leila said matthew daniel jumoke adrenal and tony for giulia made for a powerful time of planting routine and uprooting those who were planted in the house of the lord shall flourish in the courts of our god they shall still bear fruit in old age they shall be fresh and flourishing venue is the covenant place egomun time 9 am attendance is free to register go to www.thewomenconference.org forward slash lagos b women's conference powered by the covenant nation [Music] here are the announcements calling all the ladies the new date for the b conference latest edition will be november the 13th 2021 you don't want to miss this ladies our midweek service holds on the 9th of november at 6 30 pm prompt this will be a communion service and another opportunity to hear god's word the marriage enrichment team is calling for new members who have been married for five years and above kindly visit the info desk to fill a form after the service if you would like to join the tcn ushering unit please send an email to c3ushers gmail.com or meet one of the ushers to get a form after the service the snapshots department of the covenant nation is calling for new members to join the department as it prepares for its december production snapshots department is the creative arm of the covenant nation with a vision to preach the gospel to the world through theater and performing arts on all media channels kindly send an email to snapshots ninja at gmail.com the online prayer meeting will be streamed via mxilar on the 13th of november at 7 pm prompt click the link in the bio to be part of it have yourself a great week praise the lord okay sorry about that we've come to the end of the service i just want to remind the women that it's going to be a very powerful conference if you have ever attended the be conference and you're in the hall can you wave let's see okay so some of us have experienced it and i'm sure we'll recommend that other women you know make efforts to do so and you will not remain the same the other thing that we need to know is that the other ones that have been done in abuja and ibadan it's there on youtube you can actually check it i watched you know the abuja one yesterday and i was so blessed and i promise you it will be worth your while can we rise up as we share the grace all right i'm reminded that we have tcn snaps does anyone know what that is yes some of you have been posting thank you very much for that and it's usually very encouraging please you know try it out take a picture after the service tag us with your most important take home message and post it on instagram and tag tcnegomo and i suspect that you're going to be a blessing to someone when you do that god bless you as you do so can you turn to your neighbor and share the grace with them in fellowship may the grace of our lord jesus christ the love of god and the sweet fellowship of the holy spirit rest and abide with you now and forevermore amen and surely god's goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life and you shall dwell in the house of the lord forever and ever amen god bless you have a wonderful week you

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Length: 112min 6sec (6726 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 07 2021