Sunday, 28th July 2013

Scripture Reference: Matthew 9:35-38

Pastor Dieudonne Nahimana

Planting the Word

Throughout this month of July, we have been studying on the Principle of Sowing and Reaping. This is a powerful principle that can bring great rewards in our lives, not just temporarily here on earth but also eternally. When you ask God for something in your life: whether it is good health, a good family, money, or whatever it is, He doesn't open the skies of heaven and gives it to you physically.

He will instead give you one thing: His word. He will give you a word that shows you what you are supposed to do in order to see your prayers or desires come to pass.  In Mark 4:14 Jesus talked about One seed, the same we see from Genesis, It is the Word of God. Jesus is the Word and it is a seed that cures all problems. Someone can have many treasures and they can all end, but the treasure of the word of God is the biggest.

In 1 Peter 1:22-23, we see that the seed that brought salvation to us is the Word (of God) that we received. Today, God wants His own seed, His word, be planted into people’s lives so that they can be saved. This is His business and main Agenda. You can’t say that you love God without having the same burden that He has or the same preoccupations that He has.

For the word of God to bring forth fruits, Hearts have to be prepared in advance. Different activities (like singing, praying, preparing the area where the word of God is going to be received etc.) take place in order to prepare people’s Hearts, so that when the word is planted, it can bring forth transformation and fruits. In 1 timothy 2:3-4 the bible says that It is the Will of God that ALL men be saved. This is why the rapture has not taken place and the Holy Spirit is among us.

Therefore, as believers we ought to give ourselves fully to see people being transformed by the Word. If you know how to preach, preach to others. If you don’t know how, support at least those who do. It can be through translating their messages, inviting your friends to services, buying a CD of a sermon and giving it to others but whatever you do, you should aim to bring as many people as possible into the Kingdom of God. And remember, when you have an opportunity to sow into ministries reaching out, do it ! Because everything else will follow you, as Christ said in Matthew 6:33.

INTEGRITY:

By our guest speaker, Pastor Christian Murengera from Crosspointe Fellowship, Toronto, Canada.

Sunday 21^st July, 2013

Paul told the Corinthian church in 2 Cor 3:2-4: “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ before God.”

As a Christian, you are a letter of recommendation, read by everyone. How you look and what people see preaches better than anything else. You should purpose in your heart to live a life of integrity before God, because He sees the heart and not the outside.

Remember as an ambassador of Christ, you are not called to be thermometer but a thermostat. A thermometer measures and indicates the temperature of a given place where it is placed. A thermometer also adopts the temperature of the place where it is positioned. It changes according to where you place it. But a Thermostat regulates the temperature where it is placed. It changes the temperature of the room. Hence, as a Christian you have the power to change the environment around you. Our heavenly father is disappointed when he looks down and sees a bunch of Christian-thermometers, telling him how this and that is not working. But when He sees a thermostat, it pleases Him.

In addition, we see in Mark 4:26-27 that the Word of God always accomplishes what it was sent to do. God is faithful and that’s why you need to be faithful towards him and walk in integrity before him. A man or woman of integrity is the one who can change things. Because our integrity towards God is so important, you find that the enemy also attacks us in this area by showing us that things are not working in our lives so that we remove our eyes from Jesus and look at our problems and resolve to help God, thinking that He is not able; a bad attitude.

Remember, when we talk about integrity, we also talk about boundaries. Daniel and Job although tempted, refused to sin against God. Job said “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face” (Job 13:15). This is because He understood that His integrity was the key to His Victory. Integrity is what will bring you into the promise land. If you can seek something, seek integrity.

“What can I do for you God?”

John 3:16 says that “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”God demonstrated His love for us by giving us His son as a seed that brought forth salvation and a harvest of new believers into the family of God. As a result, 1 John 3:16 reminds us that “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

Many of us (especially in the third world) have adopted a dependency mentality – whereby we tend to think that receiving is better than giving. Even in our service to God. We don’t want to sacrifice ourselves for others.

One story is told in the bible (Matthew 8:18-20) of a teacher of the law, who after Jesus had just given orders to cross to the other side of the lake came to tell Jesus how he will follow Him anywhere He will go! However Jesus Christ, somehow, started talking about Foxes... “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Because He knew His heart: he could perceive that this man was probably looking for shelter and food and was not committed to the point of sacrificing Himself.

Many follow God, looking for the good things that they can receive, but never asking themselves “What Can I do for Him? How can I honor God by serving Him?” Serving God is not easy. Sometimes it means giving up/sacrificing yourself. One of the reasons that stop us from serving God, is our lack of commitment to Him: A part of us is still in the world and another part is in the Kingdom. If we look at the story of Matthew chapter 9:9, we see how Matthew did not hesitate to follow Christ unlike the disciple in Matthew 8:21-22, who wanted to go bury first His father and then follow Him, an expression used to say: let me first get my portion of heritage then I will follow you. But Christ told Him, Follow me first and I will give you an eternal Heritage!

Likewise, we should not hesitate to follow Christ and serve God with a willing Heart, not to be saved or get to heaven by our works, because the price has already been paid by Jesus Christ. We should also ask ourselves: “Where do we want to get in the Kingdom of God and what are we doing or sowing towards it?” We should not always sit and expect others to serve us in church but we should also take some responsibilities and serve others.