HOW DO WE PREPARE OURSELVES TO SHINE THIS YEAR

We have said that 2015 is going to be a year to shine the Lord’s light so that when people see us, they notice the glory of God.

All of us know how gold looks good when worn. However, gold is not found in the mud shining. There is a process that it has to go through so that it can be purified from dirt and impurities.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18: "Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

When we live joyfully, praying at all times (not to ask God for things but to commune with him) and always giving thanks, we manifest the glory of God to others (we shine).

On the other hand, there are other factors that can hinder a person from shining.

The first is having a sinful nature. The Glory of God cannot be reflected by everyone. Romans 3:23 says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

It is only those who have received the gift of salvation, who are born again that can shine the light of the Lord.

The second factor that can hinder one not to shine, is walking in sin. This concern born again believers who have not stripped themselves of sin and put on Christ as we are told in Romans 13:11

" And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already comefor you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."

Just as the gold is removed from the mud, in order for it to shine, so must you also be willing to be clean so that you can shine His light.

Lastly, another factor that can stop one from shining is found in Revelations 2: 2-5. This concerns believers whose whose zeal and love for the Lord and His kingdom has gone. They feel that they are mature and know it all. They are also very judgmental. These believers cannot shine the glory of God as well.

Therefore, if you have not received the Lord Jesus in your life, purpose to do it today so that you can shine His light this year. 

If you are in the second category, you have received the Lord Jesus in your life but you are living in sin, repent and turn from those ways.

Let 2015 be a year to shine and don’t let anything hinder your light from being seen.

Extract of the sermon preached by Nahimana Dieudonne

Sunday 18^th, January, 2015

2015, YOUR TIME TO SHINE!

We wish all you friends and members of Oasis Christian Center a Happy New Year. Last year, our theme was found in the book of Isaiah 54.  We said that last year was a year of enlarging tents and for all those who believed it, you saw it happen in your life.

At the beginning of this New Year, God gave us a new theme to build our lives and activities upon as a church.  The theme is that, 2015 is going to be:

The Year of Shining

This is found in the book of Isaiah 60:1 -5

It says:

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
 and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
² See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
³ Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look about you:
    All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
    and your daughters are carried on the hip.
⁵ Then you will look and be radiant,
    your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
    to you the riches of the nations will come.”

If you go back and look at Isaiah 59, God describes the sins of the people and how they separated him from them. He says “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
² But your iniquities have separated you from your God”

When people walk far way from God, they cannot see His glory (Romans 3:23) and this also stops them from discovering their purpose.

The word “arise” is for those who are sitting, not for those who are standing up. This is not the year for you to sit down and complain but the year for you to arise- to stand. I don’t know the things telling you that it is not possible, it may be news on radio, circumstances in your life, but know that if you disobey and remain in that position, these things will harm you.

However, if you obey and arise, your family, your neighbors, the people around you will be amazed as they see shining not with your own glory. The Glory of God shall come upon you and you shall be a mirror reflecting it.

Your shining will cause nations (those who are from far or don’t know the Lord) to desire to know you because they have seen the glory of the Most High God upon your life.

There are things that are kept on the inside of you. Treasures that people around you do not know of. In you there is life as Jesus said in John 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."

This is the life that must be manifested this year. How can that happen?

 Matthew 5: 13-16 explains:

  “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

In order to let your light shine, you have to hear the word of God, meditate on it and do what it says. 

Another secret that will cause you to shine this year is to tarry (dwell) in the presence of God. This is where revelations will come from. 

Looking at 2 cor3:7-18, we see that as we contemplate the glory of God, we are transformed as well.

Glory is not beauty. The Glory of God means the presence of God. We are saying that this year, people will know that God exists by referring to you and seeing your God.

However, if we look back at Isaiah 60, you will notice that it says “See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the people”. You may think that because of this word, everything is going to be easy, but no, this is not what we are saying. Times are going to get harder. Fear will surround the world, and people will find it hard to cope with life. This is why it is during these dark times that indeed your light shall be needed.

Let your light shine!

This is your year of Shining! 

Sermon preached on  Sunday, 4 january 2015

By Pastor Nahimana Dieudonne

God, the father who provides for us and prosper us

Genesis 22:13-14, it says :" Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

As we continue to look at the topic of God being our father, today, we are going to focus on one of the most important aspects of God; found in his word. Most of us know the story of Abraham, the father of our faith. He lived in a culture and place where it was not possible for him to receive a blessing from God. We see in the word of God that he was instructed to move to another country and he obeyed. We also see that He had another problem; he and his wife could not conceive. God promised to give him a child and after many years, his wife conceived a son, Isaac. 

In Genesis 22: 2, We see that God tested Abraham  and said "take your son, your only son, whom you love-Isaac- and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you." Abraham obeyed God, as hard as this command was. He took the promise that he had waited for, for so long, to the alter. When he was about to pierce and kill his son, when he had died to self, in that very moment, he saw the provision of God... He looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns, the offering provided by God, the provision.

When we receive Christ, we come out of judgement and enter into abundant life. We live to glorify God and He provides for us. We don't do things to provide for ourselves... we learn to depend on him for provision even as we do his will on a daily basis. Serving God does not only take place at the altar but everywhere we go.As his children, God takes care of us. Just like earthly fathers provide for their children, so does our heavenly father. Jesus told us in Matthew 6:31 that we should not worry about what "we will eat or drink for the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Today, I have good news for you- your father God is a provider. He is able to cater for all your needs. Stop depending on yourself and your works, but learn to trust in him as a father who cares for you, this will activate the promise of God in your life.

Extract of the sermon preached, By Pasteur Dieudonne Nahimana,

On Sunday the 20th July 2014

WE RECEIVED A NEW FATHER WHEN WE GOT BORN AGAIN

JOHN 1:12 says “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”

We were given the right to become children of God when we got born again. We were adopted by God into his family. God the father became our father.  If we look at the Old Testament- Moses, Daniel and other great servants of God could not call God their father. They knew God as a Great God but never as their father. It is only a privilege that was given to us who have come to receive Christ in our lives as Lord and Savior. 

Some of us, because of our childhood, culture and many other factors, when we hear the word Daddy, we associate it with negative things. We think of a person who is strict, scary, distant, and all that we probably might have experienced (or still experience) with our earthly daddies.  So when we talk about God being our Daddy, we tend to think of him in that perspective. However, for others, it’s just the contrary. We might compare him to our good earthly fathers and when they are no longer alive and we have no reference to compare God with, it becomes particularly hard to continue relating with him on that basis.

Therefore, it is important for us not to compare God with any Human Being. Let God’s reference as your daddy be based on His Word. Don’t compare him with your earthly daddy or anyone else because He surpasses it all.

If we look at the story of the prodigal son in the bible, we see the mentality that the son went home with. He had decided to go back home as a slave because of the many mistakes that He had made. But He was amazed at the way His father welcomed him- full of mercies and kindness. This can also be said of our God. He is not like man and does not behave like mankind, nor does He think like us. Let us always remember that our God is neither Burundian nor white. He does not see you the way people see you.

As a father protects his children, our God also protects us. Psalm 91:1 says that: “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” When you believe in the simple fact that God protects you not based on what you do, but on the fact that He is your father- it brings the protection of God in your life. This causes you to live a life of rest. You stop fighting for yourself and looking out for yourself and instead you trust in God.

You may be one of those people who like to say: “If my daddy was around, this would not have happened to me”. Well, you need to stop saying that now, because your Daddy God is there. He is not limited and He is able to do all things. Get to know your Daddy God- He is a Daddy that protects you. 

Sermon preached by Nahimana Dieudonne on

Sunday, the 6th of July 2014

Does your calling involve you and 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 welcome 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.
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, 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, remain on the journey and be a blessing in your family.

By pastor Christophe R.

June 4^th 2014.

Beautiful Image extracted from https://www.vidanthealth.com/vidant/patients.aspx?id=116

We are called to destroy everything that Satan has built in our families

Scripture Reference:

Genesis 12:10-20:

“Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace.  He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?  Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.”

On Wednesday, we said that you should not let your past stop you from being a person of value in your present, and especially in your family. Don't allow Satan to stand on your past and hinder you from serving God in the present.

Today we are saying that We are called to destroy everything that Satan has built in our families.

When we are born again, God places us in a given place so that we can become a blessing. However, when we move from that place and go where we are not supposed to go, it causes us to stop being a blessing. Abram made a mistake and decided to lie that Sarai was his sister.

This sin of lying somehow followed up the other generations (Isaac, Jacob) as we see it in Genesis. For instance, in Genesis 27: 26 Jacob pretended to be his brother before his father Isaac and stole his blessing. Nevertheless, after receiving this blessing, he had to flee to a foreign land and what he thought was a blessing did not become a blessing because it came as a result of a lie. He was in turn cheated by Laban who gave him Leah as his wife, when he had worked for seven years to marry Rachel.

Sometimes, a person can be identified by others, to a given family because of a behaviour that they exhibit, that characterizes that family. You can tell that so and so belongs to a given family because of the way they conduct themselves and the reputation that that family has.

However, for us who have come to know Christ, it should not be like that. We have received a new identity, and we are the light in our families. Just like Leah in the bible was given to Jacob at night, even in our families bad things usually happen at night, when we are not seeing. However, we are of the morning and we want to receive what belongs to us, our “Rachel”.

Rejoice, for the night is over. You are going to see what belongs to you clearly from now on. If you have not gone back to your family in a long time, go back home and forgive your family members. As one who has been given a new name, you have the power to create new things and stop generational curses. 

Sermon preached by Pastor Christophe,

Sunday 29.06.2014

N.B: This Wednesday, we will pray for those who want to break free from any form of generational bondage. We invite you to come, the service will start at 6 pm, at Oasis Christian Center. 


Image extracted from: http://www.in-terre-actif.com/202

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.