#Watoto | Who We Are - Julius Rwotlonyo

[Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] welcome welcome welcome every single one of you whether you're joining us online or on air we want to say welcome to a total church today now i know that as we gather to celebrate christ some of you are joining in for your very first time listen there is a link that has appeared on your screen if you're watching on youtube or on facebook click that link and let us know who you are we want to say welcome to a total church but also you might be joining us on 104.1 power fm welcome to church as well we're going to have a great time together in god's presence listen if you have a home church do send 11 greetings if you're looking for a church family to belong to what total church has been waiting for you for the last 37 years so welcome now this is what the bible says enter his gates with thanksgiving and come into his courts with praise so get up to your feet right now and let's celebrate jesus together [Music] you will [Music] going deeper are you ready come on come on come on come on get up get up get up everybody [Music] on let's foreign we lift you up come on we'll never stop [Music] are you ready come on come on come on one more time come on [Music] [Music] keep those hands moving oh i know you love this song already so we're gonna sing i march i'm watching too bad no doubt in my mind that my god is with me and victory is mine [Music] oh [Music] are you ready [Music] sing it again [Music] [Music] yes [Music] do it like you know you have the victory in the name of jesus do you have the victory all right come on if you do let's declare to the enemy i'm not afraid come on i'm not afraid i'm not afraid [Music] i'm not afraid bigger bigger bigger city [Music] [Music] [Music] oh god you are and our strength our very help in this time of need of god our source of joy and our souls and in this season of god we choose to trust you and choose to believe that it is well with my soul [Music] [Music] and redemption that covers my shape [Music] lord i'm reminded i'm reminded of your sacrifices [Music] i'm reminded i'm reminded [Music] oh [Music] you jesus all the victory [Music] is oh [Music] in my [Music] is [Music] is it makes me [Music] [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music] is amen amen come on clap your hands come on clap your hands and celebrate jesus hallelujah yes lord it is well with our souls and we can say that because you have been good to us you've given us joy when we've cried many tears you've given us peace when our hearts have been anxious and we have this confidence that you who's been with us all along the way you will be with us even in the days that lie ahead so our portion will be joy it will be gladness for mourning yes lord our portion will be peace and not fear and not anxiety because you are with us we give you the praise and we give you the glory listen friends peace is such a powerful thing and peace comes from the lord we go through stuff that's really difficult and our hearts and our minds become anxious but one of the things we do in order to receive peace is we turn to the lord in prayer and this is what paul said in philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 to 7 he said don't worry about anything instead pray about everything tell god what you need and thank him for all he has done then and only then will you experience god's peace which exceeds anything we can understand his peace will guard your hearts and your minds as you live in christ jesus and friends that's what we're going to do right now we're going to pray we're going to choose to trust jesus with our situation and i believe as we pray and thank him peace is gonna guide our hearts and our minds come and let's pray together jesus you are so faithful you have been with us every step of the way and you've done great things for us you've provided for us you've protected us you've seen us through some difficult times and we have peace because we know that nothing we go through is impossible for you to handle so we put our faith and we put our trust in you jesus lord i pray that not only will you meet your children at their point of need i pray that you will exceed their expectations we are crying out for a miracle today in jesus name supernaturally come through for your children and i pray that they will testify each of them they will each say look what the lord has done for me indeed it is marvelous in my eyes we choose faith over fear we choose to fix our hearts and our minds on you so that we may receive peace knowing that there is nothing that you cannot handle we surrender everything into your hands and we know you have already gone ahead of us it shall be well with us in jesus name and everybody says amen and amen come and clap your hands and celebrate jesus he is so faithful amazing listen friends it is a privilege to gather together like this and worship jesus i don't take it for granted and i know you look forward to this moment every single week we get to worship together but the other thing i love is we get to hear god's word the most important word we'll hear any day of our lives so get ready get your notebook get your pen and i want to take this opportunity to introduce our associate team leader here at watoto a man who i love and i respect is a brother he's a mentor and his name is pastor julius rolono will you clap your hands and welcome him as he shares god's word today [Music] [Music] welcome again to our church service today what an amazing worship session we have had today always great to be in the presence of jesus fantastic worship station and also great series we've just concluded faith on display in the book of james amazing teachings if you missed any of them please find them on our website or you can go to our youtube page and i know you will be absolutely blessed now one of life's big questions is a question on identity so every now and then you need to pause reflect and ask yourself who am i very important question this is true for individuals but is also true for organization certainly true of the church as well we need to pause reflect and ask ourselves who we are you see identity is such an important thing and with time as we grow and begin to do many things we can easily get lost in our identity we begin to think we are what we do the things that we do or what we are known for and when we begin to lose our identity we begin to lose focus on our purpose or even our mission and at the end of the day you end up with an identity crisis which is a big thing around the world so we gotta pause reflect and ask herself that very important question of identity we see jesus doing exactly that in matthew chapter 16 and verse 13 to 19 amazing portion of scripture it says when jesus came to the region of caesarea philippi he asked his disciples who do people say the son of man is they replied some say john the baptist others say elijah and still others jeremiah or one of the prophets what about you he asked who do you say i am simon peter answered you are the messiah the christ the son of the living god jesus replied blessed are you simon son of jonah for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by my father in heaven and i tell you that you are peter and on this rock i will build my church and the gates of hades will not overcome it i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven what a powerful portion of scripture here jesus is having a conversation on identity and he starts by asking his disciples who do people say the son of man is and of course their responses were based on what they knew the people they knew john the baptist other powerful prophets because many times people confuse your identity by uh equating what you do to others and think you are like them but jesus shifts the attention from what other people say and he asks them but you who do you say i am because that's where it matters and simon peter said you are the christ not just the son of man but you're the son of the living god and jesus said that cannot come from flesh and blood only god would have revealed that and because of that revelation that jesus is the christ the son of the living god jesus says would build his church and the ghetts of hell will never be able to stop it so who are we as watoto my friends we do very many things and some people know us for what we do in caring for vulnerable children or they know the children's choir or the work we do with vulnerable women and some people know us for the events we do but at the core of who we are friends we are a church that's who we are we are a church and we are not ashamed to be the church of jesus christ one time a friend of ours is an evangelist from the uk actually part of the church of england he's called jay john he shares a story of how he was on a plane and they are sitting next to this woman and so he starts a conversation with this woman asks this woman what do you do and she tells jay john what she does and so she asked john what do you do j john began to think how do i introduce the fact that i'm an evangelist i actually walk in the church because many times when i introduce it some people are just uh turn me off they don't want to talk to me and so jay jones thought about it and turned to this lady and said i work for the biggest enterprise on planet earth wow she said what is that and what do you do and john thought said you know what we are literally in almost all countries every single community you will find us there i mean we run education programs we have hospitals and hospices and i i mean we are involved in taking care of people from birth to death our operations are even intergalactic and this woman goes like wow what enterprise is that and j john responds it's the church have you heard of it j john is right you know what my friends the church of jesus christ is the hope of the world and the church of jesus christ is the most powerful institution by far when it comes to life transformation nothing can come close to the church of jesus christ and from the portion that we read it says some things about the church number one jesus is the owner of the church he said i'll build my church the church does not belong to human beings it belongs to jesus second is jesus who is building his church he's the builder man just happens to be the sovereign building but the other truth from this portion that we've just read is that jesus is ultimately the sustainer of the church in the times we are living in where we're not gathering in the buildings some people think the church is close the church can never be closed the church is more alive jesus said not even the gates of hell shall be able to stop the church we are the church of the lord jesus here in waterloo church we celebrate christ because he's the center of everything we know he owns water we know it is jesus who is building water we know it is jesus who will sustain water through the days that lie ahead so my friends who are we we are a church as what turtle we never ever take that lightly that's how we started that's who we are today and that's how we will continue to be the church now this truth that jesus is the owner is the builder and sustainer of the church has three implications and i'm going to talk about one of them today but here are the implications it is only in christ that we have our number one identity but it is only in christ that we get our authority and it is only thirdly in christ that we receive our assignment only in jesus today i just want to talk about the first one our identity as a church my friends as we're talking our identity is in christ alone our identity my friends never comes from our tribes or race or nationality doesn't come from political affiliation or even our social status our identity is in christ alone that's a very important thing because that's what brings us together christ he is the center of everything we do and he is the one who gives us our identity we are not ashamed to be called followers of jesus that's why it's all about and will always be about jesus that's our identity as what total we are the bride of christ we are the body of christ we are the church that's who we are to keep thoughts that i want to live with you when it comes to our identity that comes from christ number one is this in christ we become children of god what an amazing thought we become sons and daughters of god john chapter 1 and verse 12 says yet to all who did receive him to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of god sons and daughters of god and i'll continue to verse 13 children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will but born of god in christ we become sons and daughters of god we become born again it's only in christ let me tell you my friends you do not become part of the children of god by just being part of a particular church it's good to be part of church but what makes us children of god is christ in our hearts receiving him embracing him bowing to him and calling him the lord of your life that's what makes you a child of god has an amazing identity first john chapter 3 and verse 1 to 3 says see what great love the father has lavished on us that we should be called children of god and that is what we are the reason the world does not know us is that he did not know him so dear friends now we are children of god and what we will be has not yet been made known but we know that when christ appears we shall be like him yes that's where identity comes from for we shall see him as he is and all who have this hope in him purify themselves just as he is pure we are sons and daughters of god in christ that's our identity and as sons and daughters the bible says we become coheirs with christ my goodness we have inheritance like christ has in the kingdom of god that's an amazing truth don't you ever forget this that you are a son you are a daughter of the most high king because you've received christ in your heart that's our identity and now the second thought that i want to leave with you today is this now that we are sons and daughters of god what does it mean second thought in christ we become family you are my brother you are my sister we have the same father so we become part of a family you've had us say this and it's a court that someone mentioned sometime back that church is not an event we go to church is a family we belong when you become a son and the daughter of god he places you into a family and that family is your local church i have had some people say that me i'm a kingdom citizen and anywhere i go that is church for me listen you are a homeless saint you need to find a home church where you're accountable where you're contributing where you are actually a part of that's god's desire you have to be part of a spiritual family a local church and as we're told we are a local church yes we have all these campuses and those are different uh centers where we celebrate christ we're a local church so in christ we become sons and daughters of god but in christ we become family in matthew chapter 12 verses 46 to 50 and this is jesus talking about this spiritual family says while jesus was still talking to the crowd his mother his biological family his mother and brothers stood outside they wanted to speak to him someone told him your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you he replied to him listen carefully jesus said who is my mother and who are my brothers he was about to unpack a powerful truth pointing to his disciples he said here are my mother and my brothers for whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother jesus was emphasizing the place of our spiritual family he was saying yes the biological family is important but the spiritual family is even more important why the spiritual family is an eternal family it's the one you'll spend eternity with that's why we pray for our families so that they can get born again and then we'll spend eternity with them you know when jesus comes back the bible says man and wife will be asleep in bed and one will be taken on the other left behind not even the closeness of biological family can make you a child of god only christ makes you a child of god and in christ we become that spiritual family so how do we practice this idea of family because when we come together in the big gatherings which we love to do is a powerful witness it's hard to really be brother and sister and do life together so here at watotu we are a cell based community church we practice this powerful truth of family through small groups we call themselves and these small groups are authentic communities of believers who are committed to doing life together that's why we are not afraid to say hey if you are a part of watoto you need to be part of a small group let me tell you if you're not yet part of a small group you are missing out on a lot there's so much that god does in small groups someone once said when we come together we get inspired we enjoy the worship we get fed with the word of god and we get to hear great things that god is doing but if you want to see firsthand god at work become part of a small group that's where you will witness life change and community transformation in a small group that's where god begins to use the gifts that are inside of you and small group that's where you begin to feel the full impact of what it means to be part of the family of god just like jesus was sitting with his disciples and when they came to him what we just read he turned to the disciples and says here my brother here's my sister here's my mother is in context of small group with those who are doing the will of god so we are a small group church we do family through small group there are four pillars that define our small groups and i want to give them to you i want you to think about these four pillars just like a table with four legs because we meet in houses when we're doing small group and we eat together around the table that top of the table is about doing life which we all love to do and here the four legs for our small group which are pillars for our small groups number one in small groups you will experience meaningful relationships we were never designed to do life alone in a time of loneliness it has become very clear to us how important other people are in our lives so in small group you get to do life with others and you get to do life beyond just the surface it's deep relationships that are built in there meaningful relationships because we're a family but the other pillar in small groups is this you get to experience spiritual growth because in small group we get to discuss about life from the bible and then we begin to pray for each other you will grow spiritually the bible says iron sharpens answer there's one man sharpen another my friend spiritual growth yes when we come to church on the weekend and then we are fed we yes we get something spiritually but in small group where we do life together beyond the meeting we are always encouraging each other and growing you want to grow spiritually become part of a small group the other pillar the third pillar is leadership development you have gifts you have talent you have huge potential and the small group is a great environment for your gift to be identified for you to discover your potential and grow that was true for me i got to discover my leadership abilities in small group i started being part of small groups here at puerto as a teenager there were teen cells and that's where you're given opportunities to lead i began to lead small group of teenagers then we used to come together as many small groups and we became a fellowship and we became a leader there we joined university continued to be involved in small groups and when we wanted to grow and expand the small groups beyond the university boundaries to the hostels that were coming up around the university i was asked to lead that a particular venture of growing small groups outside of the university i mean i began to learn how to manage my time began to learn how do you get the right leaders how do you find hosts that's leadership stuff i learned it in small group in small group your potential is developed but the other final pillar of our small groups is this community engagement our small groups don't exist for themselves just for the members they exist in community so they can engage the community share the word of god with the community do practical things to help the vulnerable community and even address some physical challenges in the community because the community problems become our problems as small groups and we begin to spark community development and small groups are such an important part of who we are that's how we get to do family as water so what have i said today jesus is the owner the builder the sustainer of his church that's a key truth from what we read in matthew and as we're told we are a church that is owned by jesus being built by jesus and is sustained by jesus we are not ashamed to be called a church we are a church another church we get our identity from christ not from what people say not from the labels people give us our identity comes from christ and in christ we become children of god in christ we become family that's who we are my friends next week i'll talk about the other thing but let me end by asking you this question are you a child of god do you know jesus as your personal lord and savior if you don't i want to give you an opportunity to make jesus the lord of your life when you do that john chapter 1 says he gives you the right to become a son and the daughter of god and then you can become part of the family of god the church of the living god if that's you would you repeat this prayer after me say dear jesus i thank you that you love me today i have heard your word and i confess that i'm a sinner forgive me of all my sin and make me your child in your name i pray amen amen amen if you prayed that prayer welcome to the family of god we are so excited that today is the first day of the best of your days ahead as a child of god as a coheir with christ please we want to be in touch and help you in whatever way we can write to us connect at what total church dot we would love to be in touch with you and if you are not in a small group or you have you had a small group before and you you had sort of dropped off get back call your small group leader say i want to be a part of the small group but if you are searching for a small group a spiritual family to do life with we would like to also help you write to us sell atwaterchurch.com and we will connect you to a family of believers who you will do life together thank you for being a part of church god bless you have a fantastic week thank you so much pastor julius for sharing god's word it's been an amazing message reminding us who god has called us to be and what god wants us to do i'm so excited for the season we're in and the days that lie ahead god is up to something well we're total church it's now time for us to give yes time for us to give and as you get your tithes and offerings ready i'm reminded of that moment in first chronicles chapter 29 verse 14 the children of israel have raised and given a great offering to the building of the temple and david is leading them in prayer and he says to god everything that we are giving has come from your hand and you know what friends everything we're gonna give right now has come from god to us and he's trusting us to use it to build his kingdom to support the preaching of the gospel so that many more people who are lost can come into a relationship with god the father through jesus christ his son and what total church thank you for your generosity and my challenge to you is let's continue to give so that we can build the kingdom of god and now as we get ready to give our tithes and offerings i want us to watch this video that's going to give us instructions on how you and i can give together you can give using mobile money direct bank transfer or any banking agent within your community but also if you live close to any of our celebration points you can simply walk over and slip your cash offering into one of the gift boxes now for those using mobile money let me walk you through the steps you would take for mtn dial star 165 star three hash and the merchant code is one four eight seven seven five that is one four eight seven seven five and for airtel you dial star one eight five star four star nine hash and the business number is seven hundred thousand that is seven followed by five zeros for more giving options check out our website watotochurch.com forward slash give [Music] but you can also use your phone to scan the qr code which will take you straight to the different giving options and for your watota child sponsorship dial star 165 star 4 star for hash then enter the merchant code wccm in capital letters the merchant code is wccm in capital letters now as a reference type the sponsor's full name only fill in the amount to be paid and finally fill in your mtn mobile money pin thank you for your generosity [Music] so [Music] [Music] every [Music] every life [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] my life is yours my love is yours [Music] [Music] all of you [Music] holy spirit is [Music] is jesus here i am [Music] here i am here i am i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my life is yours my life [Applause] [Music] my life is yours my life is yours that is our prayer right here at watoda church our lives belong to you fill us with your holy spirit and send us out into our communities to touch people with the love of jesus so that there may be healing and transformation for the glory of your name amen you know what total church we're alive at the greatest time in history i believe that jesus is pouring out his spirit upon us as water church and he's sending us out into every community every city every nation so that we can touch a broken and hurting world with his love and see him do a work of transformation a work of healing for the glory of his name let us remain hungry for the power of the holy spirit so that god can do a special work in us and a special walk through us for the glory of his name wow it's been an amazing service the presence of god has been so real in every moment and i want to say thank you so much for being a part of the service today and listen would you invite a friend next sunday and let us celebrate jesus together now as we come to the end of our service i just want to let you know in case you need prayer or counseling call the number that's on your screen right now or take a moment and write to us connect with church.com all of our pastors and our counselors will be ready to get in touch with you now in case you want to keep up with all that's happening here at watoda church follow us on all our social media platforms for those of us watching on youtube remember to like share and subscribe so that you never miss an upload from wattoto church now make sure that you listen to 104.1 power fm the station that's all about love great programming for you and your family throughout the week it's going to be a blessed week and our prayer is that god will grant you such an incredible week from us to you and your family it is god bless you and have a great week [Music] you

Channel: Watoto Church

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Length: 55min 15sec (3315 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021