The Holy Spirit our Helper

Genesis 2: 18 says: “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

After creating man and giving him a mission,God saw that it was not fitting for him to be alone. God decided to make him a suitable helper. In the New Testament, we see Jesus telling his disciples, that He will not leave them alone. He said: "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever" (John 14:16). 

As we celebrate the day of Pentecost, we remember the day that the church began. Jesus after dying and shedding his blood, he paid the dowry for us, and redeemed us with his blood. We became His.

It is on the day of Pentecost, that the disciples were changed and clothed with power. In Acts 2: 1-4, the bible says that: "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

In the old testament, we see that the day of Pentecost, was one of the Jewish feast days. Jews celebrated this day and gave offerings to God on this day- that is 50 days after the Passover ceremony (Leviticus 23:15-22). It is on this day that the Holy Spirit chose to come. Although Jesus had breathed on the disciples and said "Receive the Holy Spirit", they had not yet been baptized into His power. Their bodies had not yet become the temple of the Holy Spirit.

It is only when you are baptized with the Holy Spirit that you are able to serve in a supernatural dimension. John the Baptist said: "I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16). You cannot serve God in your strength alone. You need the Holy Spirit. He is the one who changed Peter and all the other disciples who were so fearful, locked in the upper room. They became so bold and started witnessing for the Lord.

Today, some may think that it is ridiculous to speak in tongues. They do it hiding, in such a conservative way. It shouldn't be like that. We should let it flow! It is the right of all those who believe in Christ to speak in tongues! It is the Holy Spirit that will enable you to overcome things that used to have power over you.

God's call involves your family!

Dear friends! As you know June is a month dedicated to homes and families at Oasis.  We believe that strong and blessed families results in strong and blessed church and nation, so we invite you to partake of this month's teaching.

In tonight's exhortation, Pastor Christophe shared from the bible stories of Abraham, Gideon and Joseph to show how God is inclusive of families even at the time when He calls anyone to Himself for specific ministry or calling.

Genesis 12:

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”[b]

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.(NIV)

In genesis 12:1-4 , one can read the promise made to Abram and the command to leave his father's household to somewhere else where Abram's only choice would be to depend on the God who called him.

We know that later on Abraham had to be separated with his relative, Lot, much like some us have to continuously surrender things and people as we move forward in the things that God has called us. The promise attached to the calling is great, but the journey involves letting-go of the things that slow us on the journey and ever embrace dependence on Him.

The call of Abram revealed God's heart towards families,  where we see that obedience to God's call leads Abram to not be alone as circumstances first suggested, but become a great nation! Furthermore, the call of God does not neglect the family that is bloodily related to you; it in fact uses your family through the many challenges faced along the journey and eventually provides a way for them to enjoy the fruit of your promise as it happened in Joseph's life.

Like Joseph, understand that the wounds inflicted by your family members are not ones to be held against them, but there ones that have propelled you further along the journey of God's personal call on your life.
Whatever the calling on your life may be, vow to be prayerful about your family by always confessing God's powerful word over each member of your family.  And be assured that the Lord who cares and honors families holds out a promise to you that is meant to bless you and your family.

As tough as the journey may get, with having to lay down many things even in the times when nothing better is in sight, stay in your calling. Surely will come a time where you will have a new family of ones who are called to serve alongside you, but also a time where even your family members will have joined into your promise land.

Thus, do not fear surrendering and destroying the altars built to idols in you and your family's life, be sure to remain on the journey and by that, become a blessing channel in your family.

From Wednesday May 4th,2014

By pastor Christophe R.

image from www.gettyimages.com 

A Good family is the Hope of the church and the country

Scripture References

Genesis 6:9-12: "This is the account of Noah and his family.Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways."

Hebrews 11:7 "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith."

God Honors families. Before you seek to know the will of God for your church, you need to seek Him first for your family. The church and the country cannot exist without families. Every person comes from a given family. The family is the basis of any institution. If it is not functioning well, then even all the other institutions will not function properly.

We see in the bible that God told Noah to enter with his family in the arch, because God chose to save Noah's family. The bible testifies that Noah was a righteous person. We don't know much about the rest of his family members, whether or not they were equally righteous as He was. But God chose to save Noah's family because of the way Noah honored Him.  Even today, God needs people who stand in families and who honor Him. Through them, God is going to change things and do great things. He doesn't need everybody to be saved in order to change things. He does not need to use the majority. God only needs you alone. 

We also read in the bible that God told Noah to take in the arch all sorts of animals and things. He knew what was fitting for his family. This also applies to to us today. He also knows what is necessary for our families to live well. 

As one who knows God, you need to know the spirits that are fighting your family. In the time of Noah, we see that God destroyed the world because of the way it had become so corrupt. This is what we are also seeing today and this is why you need to be a preacher and intercessor in your family. You might have been giving people prayer requests concerning your family because you do not know the power that you have. You have to stand and command. Just like God used Ezekiel to bring back life to the dry bones, even in your family, you are the one God wants to use today. Remember, the promise to be filled with the Holy Spirit belongs to you and your family. 

Extract of the sermon preached by Pastor Christophe on 

Sunday 1/06/201

Ko vyose Yesu yabirangije k’ umusaraba, mbega n’iki dusigaje gukora?

2 Ab’I korinto 5:17 « Nuko rer’umuntu wese iy’ari muri Kristo, aba ar’icaremwe gisha : ivya kera biba bihise, vyose biba bicitse bisha. »

Iyo twakiriye Yesu Kristo m’ubuzima bwacu, tuba twinjiye m’ubuzima busha, ivya kera vyose biba  birangiye. Tuba dutanguye ubundi buzima. Yesu Kristo ahejeje kuducungura k’umusaraba, yavuze ati 

« Birarangiye » (Yohana 19 :30). Bisigura ko hariho igikorwa gikomeye Umwami wacu yasize arangije. 

Turavye mu gitabo c’Abaroma 12 :2, Paulo yanditse ati: « Ntimushushanywe n’ivyiki gihe, yamara muhinduke rwose, mugize imitima misha, kugira ngo mumenye neza ivy’Imana igomba, ni vyo vyiza bishimwa, bitunganye rwose. » Ijambo ry’Imana riratwereka ko nk’abavutse ubwa kabiri, ntitukirondera gukora ibintu bitandukanye kugira dutsinde ariko twaramaze kuronka intsinzi muri Kristo Yesu. Igisigaye cane cane tubgirijwe gukora ni guhindura ivyiyumviro vyacu.

Mu bihe bitoroshe ducamwo, niho ubuzima bw’intsinzi twahawe na Kristo Yesu bugaragara. Turi abanesha kubera twizera Yesu Kristo yanesheje urupfu na kuzimu.Tugira ingorane kubera, tutaba mw’ijambo kandi tutarigenderamwo; turiha umwanya muto cane. 

Kugira umuntu agendere mu ntsinzi yahawe na Yesu Kristo, bisaba ko yizera ivyo Umwami yakoze hama aka bigenderamwo.

Ubutumwa bw'igishijwe na Pasteur Dieudonné Nahimana
Itariki 11/Rusama/2014

How to liberate the hero in you...

Everything in this world was created by the word of God. It is the beginning of all things. The bible says that: 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1: 1-3).

 As new creatures in Christ, we became born again as a result of the word that was spoken to us. 

Joshua is a great man of God that the bible testifies about. God appointed him to conquer and lead the children of Israel to the promise land. He was given the following instructions by God: “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. » (Joshua 1:8)

For you to allow the hero in you to do great things you need to stop speaking words that are contrary to what the word of God is saying.  You need to:

-  Take time to read and understand the Word of God.

- Find out what it says about your situation

-Meditate on it day and night and

- Stand upon it (the Word) and declare what it says continually.

 It is when you do this that you will be able to see a positive change in your life. This is the only way that you will be able to overcome negative circumstances in your life and create new circumstances that match with what the word of GOD says.

Sermon preached by Pastor Nahimana Dieudonne

The Image used, was extracted from the following website:

http://www.lifewithtriplets.com/2/post/2012/08/theres-a-hero-in-you.html

When the Right time comes

Scripture Reference

Luke 5: 1-8

There is a time that a person may think is right, but there is also the right time of God. For instance, Jesus was sent to this earth to redeem us when the time appointed by God came and that is at the right time.

In our scripture reference, we can see that Simon had a problem with time. He informed the master how they had been fishing the whole night without catching any fish. He also knew that fishes are caught in the evening and not in the morning.  But he forgot that he was with the King who reigns over all seasons and times, and that is Jesus Christ.

This is the problem that many of us encounter when we are going through tough times. We measure the time that we have been going through this particular problem. We want to help ourselves or we focus on them. And we forget that we are with the One who created darkness and light and who knows the beginning and the end of seasons.

This also happened to Joseph after the dream that He had from God.

1. He was hated by his brothers

2. He was sold out

3. He was incarcerated once in Egypt

However, although he was going through all these trials and tribulations, he did not stop believing in God. And God did not need the help of anyone to remove him from prison. Joseph came out of Prison not because he was declared non-guilty by the court but because the right time of God had come.

It doesn't matter what you may be going through because the one who reigns over times is with you. Even though it took a long time for Joseph to see his dream come true, in the end, the promise of God came to pass in his life.

This also applies to you today. Hang on to what God has told you, don’t let it go. Know that at the right time, his promise will come to pass. If God has spoken to you and called you to do what you are doing today, persevere in your calling and don’t try to convince people that God has spoken to you; at the right time, your calling will testify and speak for itself.  

Message preached by Pastor Christophe

Image retrieved from :

http://thejesuschick.com/hold-on/

The Resurrection that removed us from the curse of rejection

Scripture Reference

Genesis 3: 23-24 says: “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”

When God created man, He had a good plan for him. He placed him in a garden having prepared everything that was necessary for his survival. However, one day, Adam and Eve sinned and this caused them to lose that privileged position and to be removed from the Garden of Eden. It is from this time that the curse of rejection started following mankind up to this day.

This is why, at some point, as children grow up, they will start feeling this emptiness inside of them (especially during teenagehood) and they will try to look for ways to fill it, sometimes even by indulging in bad behaviors. All of us, in one way or another have felt rejected and alone in this world.

The word of God tells us that before we were conceived in our mother’s womb, God knew us. In our day to day life, we plan and organize things before they happen. For instance, for you to be seated on a chair in this church did not happen by mistake. It was planned ahead of time, and even the type of chair you will sit on was planned ahead of time. If human beings can plan such little things ahead of time, how much more did God have a well-laid out plan for you before He created you.

This is why you should know that it is not just by coincidence that you were born in that family even though, you might have felt rejected in it at some point.  This also happened in the life of Jesus Christ, Joseph, Moses and many other great servants of God.

A great point to remember is this:

Just like in the Old Testament, where a goat would be taken somewhere in the desert carrying the sins of the people, Jesus Christ was taken outside of the city somewhere up on a mountain to be crucified for us. He became our scapegoat. He was rejected by his own, including Peter his close friend. His life was exchanged to that of Barabbas, a renowned criminal. Those who sang “Hosanna, Hosanna” for Him, now wanted to see him crucified. He carried the curse of rejection for us in him (Isaiah 53:1-6).When he was buried, they put him in a grave outside of the city as a sign of rejection again. 

But when He rose again, He resurrected with Victory over rejection. And we resurrected with Him as His disciples with Victory over the Spirit of Rejection and we have received a new nature as a result of our resurrection.  Romans 8: 15 says that: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Because of your faith in Christ, you have been accepted in the family of God never to be rejected again.
Rest in this fact, and stop trying to gain the approval of people. But rejoice, because the Most High God has approved you. And if the Almighty God has accepted you, who can reject you?

                                                                                Sermon preached by Nahimana Dieudonne

                                                             on Sunday, 27th of April 2014

Image retrieved on the internet from this website:

http://notes.envato.com/submission-tips-2/dealing-with-rejection-part-1/