The choir, having animated the atmosphere with faith-inspiring songs amid great dancing by the congregation, The SCOAN Sunday service of May 1, 2016 witnessed the outpouring of God’s Spirit in many ways. The testimonies, prophecies and mass prayer were all Spirit-filled. Each, in its own special way, posed a great threat to the kingdom of darkness and led to the destruction of strongholds in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
In his message captioned BELIEVING FIRST AND SEEING, the man of God advised Christians to solidify their relationship with God by believing in Him first without necessarily seeing any proof of His promises. He lamented the state of the world in which so many people build their faith more on the things they see rather than on those things they should believe in their hearts: “The thing that keeps us from despairing is not what we see but what we believe. This is why we have so many rich men today with wealth, just talk about it but yet, they are despairing. They are not happy, they are worried. With the material wealth, properties and money we can see with them, yet, no joy.” According to Prophet T.B. Joshua, in spite of our belief in God, we are not free from the troubles of this world. However, the only difference between us and unbelievers is that while their troubles may consume them, ours, as Christians, would only strengthen us and prepare us for future glory: “As a Christian, believer, born again, friend of Jesus, favourite of the Kingdom of God, lover, that you will enter the Kingdom is very sure, that does not mean you are ‘out of touch’… Sickness will test you. Hardship will test you but they cannot destroy you. Affliction of all kinds may test you, they can only test you. Tribulations may test you but they cannot destroy you.”
Concluding, the man of God left this food for thought to all Christians all over the world: “The only thing that will give you peace of heart is to consider your neighbour while looking for your way out. You neighbour can be someone who does not share the same faith with you, your enemy, friend. You who are a Christian today can be a criminal tomorrow. That is why you have to consider others. Your greatest enemy today who wants to kill you, may be your Saviour tomorrow.”
Earlier, Evangelist Olamide had nourished the minds of congregants with uplifting counsels based on the Word in her message titled THE SEED OF YOUR HEART.She admonished Christians to guard their utterances because the words that proceed from their mouths are capable of building up or pulling down.
Put differently, our words, as products of our thoughts are capable of making or marring our lives and those of others around us: “Your words have the capacity to make and unmake. With your words, you constantly paint a public picture of your inner self… it is the character of a good man that he has good treasure in his heart and from there he brings forth good things…”