Sunday 15 December 2013
Sunday 24 November 2013
BUILDING A LIFETIME MARRIAGE.
BUILDING
A LIFETIME MARRIAGE.
A LECTURE
DELIVERED BY MOTHER CELESTIAL A. A ADEWALE (JP) AT THE CELESTIAL
CHURCH OF CHRIST, YEMETU PARISH, IBADAN ON THE OCCASION OF THEIR
WOMEN’S PROGRAMME, AS PART OF THE 50TH
ANNIVERSARY AND ADULT HARVEST CELEBRATION
ON THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 7, 2013.
Marriage
is a divine institution and a process by which two non-biologically
related people who love each other make their relationship public,
official and permanent. It is a union designed by God to tackle the
problem of loneliness and backed by a sacred vow in the presence of
God and man kind.
‘I
call upon this person…’
FOUNDATION:
Everything in life both living and non-living has its source i.e.
origin. Whoever forgets its source will dry off. Christ is the
foundation.
And the Lord
God said, it is not good that the man should be alone,
I will make
him a help meet. (Genesis 2:18)
If
you buy an electronic gadgets today, there will be a manual attached;
this is to guide you on how best to enjoy it if followed properly,
otherwise, you may lose the equipment.
God
saw the incompleteness of man, hence the need for a help meet. Then,
it is wrong for any man to say I can stay without a woman. Likewise,
a woman is to be a help meet in WHATEVER
form she finds herself.
Furthermore,
the Lord God said in Genesis 2:24
Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave
unto his wife
and they shall be one flesh.
How
many of our men hearkened to this instruction?
ADVICE:
Let us stay within the instruction of God about marriage and enjoy a
blissful marital life.
The
following are the tips to help a marriage last a lifetime:
- BUILD ON CHRIST
- Allow God’s word to guide you
- Understand that God originated marriage. Therefore, it must not be put asunder.
- Refer every marital problem to Him (God).
Prayer
is the only weapon we have as Christians to fight the agents of
darkness. Do not wait till problem come, learn to pray when you have
no problem or trouble.
NOTE:
The family that prays together stays together. (Proverb 14:1,
Ephesians 5:16)
- LOVE
With love, you can
do anything to sustain your marriage. During courtship, the type of
love that existed between the two lovers cannot be over emphasized.
Let us call that kind of love agape love. It is this type of love
that graduated to the call of both parent in wedlock. It is advised
that this type of love be kept alive THROUGHOUT
your relationship.
Look at the love
that existed between Jacob and Rachel (Genesis 29:20). It made him
serve 14 years instead of 7 years.
The book of Songs of
Solomon chapter 8 verses 7 says;
Many waters
cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it…
Love never
fails, therefore let us be patient in love.
Proverbs
10:12
So ought men
to love their wives as their own bodies.
Ephesians 5:28-29
- COMMUNICATION
This gives room for
transparency and it gives strength to a relationship, thus
eradicating doubt.
Where there is
no counsel, the people fall but in the multitude of counselors there
is safety. Proverbs
11:14
- BE FOCUSED
Focus means a thing
of interest which one strive to achieve. If your focus in your
marriage is to make you, so shall it be and if otherwise, you shall
reap it. As you set your mind on things that interest you, then it is
very evident for you to strive and get them all in spite of the
obstacles and challenges of life liable to come across your way.
To achieve this,
don’t be a copy cast, try and be yourself. Don’t give room for
third party, live a life of contentment, do not copy the standard of
your friends but try and make God’s standard on marriage your
watchword.
NOTE: Third
party people are marriage destroyers. Therefore,
BEWARE of
them.
- SEX
It has been observed
that the nature of the African culture has worsened the effect of sex
in marriage. Several houses have torn apart as a result of this. Paul
said in 1st
Corinthians 7:2-5
Nevertheless,
to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife and let every
woman have her own husband.
Sex is not only for
procreation as most women believe but serves as an avenue for
intimacy and a tonic that nurtures every relationship.
Our
husbands should not see their wives as horses to ride and latter
drop; but they (husbands) should try and give room for romance to be
able to enjoy sex especially where age is not on our side or when
menopause set in. This is vital in any union.
NATURE
OF WORK
The
job (work) each other does must be supported for a stable home. Most
homes have fallen apart because they refuse to understand the nature
of their work.
Do
not marry the physical being alone but also all that will make each
other function in your chosen career. This will allow peace to reign
supreme and portray your home as God’s given and for others to
emulate.
In-laws
from both sides are very important and relevant in your home. Do not
exercise the attitude that will send them parking.
DOMINEERING
ATTITUDE
Experience
has shown that men have the tendency of being domineering. It is also
true that wives are to submit themselves unto their husbands as unto
the Lord (Ephesians 5:22) yet the Bible challenges both (husbands and
wives) to submit themselves to one another. (1 Corinthians 7:3-4)
It
is clear that there is no ideal wife or husband neither is there a
perfect home BUT
we must be determined to make success of our marriages.
NOTE:
If
you
fail
in your marriage, then regard failure in your entire life and very
liable to miss HEAVEN.
HYGIENE
Cleanliness
is next to Godliness. Both parties are advised to keep hygiene live
in their home. Most women have lost their divine husband due to
uncleanness on the pretence that my husband should understand. No man
is happy to live with a dirty woman.
CONCLUSION
Obedience
they say is better than sacrifice. Let us sacrifice everything
in regards to our deliberations today to build a lasting
relationship.
Thank
God for the grace we all are enjoying in Celestial Church of Christ,
worldwide. It was due to Pa
S. B. J Oshoffa’s
obedience. 50 years is a journey that worth celebrating. May God keep
us all under HIS grace to celebrate more years on earth.
Thank
you.
Long
live women forum,
Long
live Celestial Church of Christ, Yemetu Parish,
Long
live Celestial Church of Christ, worldwide.
AMEN.
Sunday 3 November 2013
THE ROLE OF CELESTIAL CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE CHRISTENDOM
THE ROLE OF CELESTIAL CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE CHRISTENDOM
A LECTURE DELIVERED BY SUPERIOR EVANGELIST (DR.) EMMANUEL O.
ADEWALE OF C. C.C. APETE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (IMC)OF
C.C.C. WORLDWIDE AT PANDA EVENTS COMPLEX SABO YABA , LAGOS ON SATURDAY 2ND
NOVEMBER 2013
INTRODUCTION
I am highly honoured to be in this exalted
position to deliver a lecture on the significance of our church in the midst of
all other churches in the universe at this crucial time in the history of our
beloved church. This becomes important
and relevant as an exercise to assess the objectives, the performance etc. of
the church in the contemporary world. I want to equally greet the members of
the IMC for making themselves available as useful tools for the progress of our
church. I guess that God put it in the mind of our Pastor Founder to set up
this committee about 30years ago as a result of the geometric increase in the
number of parishes and the need to have a 'pastoral administrative eye' on the parish that is set
by him at the International Headquarters Ketu , Lagos. Without this arrangement,
what belongs to all could have belonged to nobody. I pray for further strength
for you all in Jesus name.
This topic, the role of Celestial Church of
Christ in the Christendom requires a review of the concept of the Christendom, the
essence of Cele and a discussion of the role of the church in relation to
others. All these will be touched before we make our recommendations.
“Celestial Church of Christ is part of the
one spiritual, world-wide, united, indivisible Holy Church which came into the
world from heaven by DIVINE ORDER on the 29th of September 1947 in PORTO NOVO,
REPUBLIC OF BENIN (formerly REPUBLIC OF DAHOMEY) through a single individual, a
man who is the founder of the Church, the Reverend Pastor Prophet Founder
SAMUEL BILEHOU JOSEPH OSHOFFA.” (Article 1, Second Schedule, Celestial Church
Constitution).
Christendom can be described as the worldwide body of
Christians. According to the free Wikipedia Dictionary, Christendom is an old
religious term which is now replaced with Christianity. The Oxford dictionary
defines it as a worldwide body or society of Christians. Hence, for the purpose
of this lecture, we can paraphrase the theme to be the role of Celestial Church
in the body of Christ or the role of Celestial Church in the society of other
churches.
THE HISTORY
OF CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA
Christianity was a foreign religion to
Africa. Our fore fathers were known for the practice of the religions that
involved deities often represented by stones, trees, rivers and all other
“special” creations. They believed in an almighty with specific attributes that
make them honour, fear, obey and follow the deity and their practices. Christianity
however, came to Africa through Egypt in the middle of the first century
(Wikipedia). But the establishment of Islam in North African countries made it
difficult for Christianity to penetrate fully there. Hence, the interests of the early missionaries
shifted to the southern and western Africa where Nigeria became a huge
beneficiary.
The Roman Catholic Mission, the British
Anglican Church, Methodist Church and the Baptist Church were the first of
churches in Nigeria. Later, some African Instituted Churches sprang up to
support the mission of gaining people into God’s kingdom. One of these African
Instituted Churches was Celestial Church of Christ.
The essence of these early churches were
mainly to draw Africans away from idol worshipping, human sacrifices, Slave
trade, the killing of twins and other mystical beliefs that did not glorify God
and Jesus as His son. These efforts of
the early missionaries were quite successfully as they brought along with
religion things like education in the 3 Rs , scholarships and overseas
training, health, commerce etc. . These made the reading of the Bible available
to people with improving attitude towards cruelty, civilization and godliness.
The number of church goers kept on increasing with churches spreading to the
localities. Yet these churches with their tenets did not produce a 'perfect
man'. There was a need for yet another church that will have a tenet relevant
enough to deliver man completely from the powers of darkness into the kingdom
of God.
WHY
CELESTIAL CHURCH?
Before the advent of Celestial Church of
Christ, some African Instituted Churches like Cherubim and Seraphim through
Moses Orimoade and others through Ayo Babalola, Oshitelu etc. had being in existence. Such ministries had
made waves particularly in Nigeria in the 1930s and 40s. Yet God chose to send
Celestial Church of Christ into this world. It becomes a thing of worry to see
this happen. Why will God send Celestial Church again? Could it be that the
first black evangelists were fake or that they were not efficient? Better
still, could it be that they lost their calling or what? The answers to these
questions are not far-fetched.
By the record of the church constitution,
an angel of the Lord told the founder (Prophet S.B.J. Oshoffa) that; "It
is the wish of God to send you on an errand of preaching to the world. Many
nominal Christians there are who, when confronted by difficulties and problems
of this world, they run after fetish priests and other powers of darkness for
all kinds of assistance. Consequently, on their death, they cannot see Christ
because, by their action, Satan has left his spiritual mark on them. To assist
you in your work so that men may listen to and follow you, miraculous works of
Holy divine healing will be carried out by you in the name of Jesus Christ.
These works of divine healing and God's spiritual mark on you will testify to
the fact that God sent you". (Celestial Church of Christ Constitution,
Article two, Second Schedule).
Hence, Celestial Church did not just come
into existence out of selfish wish of an individual or group of people. God himself
purposed the church differently from those of earlier existing denominations.
Cele was meant to improve over the weaknesses of the early churches. Those
nominal Christians upon slight difficulties run to the idols for help
consequently inscribed the mark of the devil on them (Revelation 14:9-11). When
they die they have no inheritance with God. What does it profit a man if he has
the whole world but loses his soul (Read John 15:5-6). For the redemption of
mankind therefore, God used the blood of His only son - Jesus to repossess man
to Him and for the total liberation of all.
THE ROLE OF
CELESTIAL CHURCH IN THE CHRISTENDOM
If
God has specifically fashioned out this church then it may be necessary to
understand her purpose and particularly as it differs from other Christian
body. Let us begin by studying the role of Christianity in general.
There are diverse opinions about the role
of the church. Such roles vary with denominations and in many regards they
determine the emphasis that each church places. For instance, the Roman
Catholics emphasis on roles that are related to school education and charity
for the poor whilst Anglican and the Protestant pay more attention to issues
that draw worshippers to God more according to the National Church Life Survey (NCLS).
The Grace Communion International (in her website)
states that there six functions/roles of the church and they include:
Worship 1Pet. 2:9; Eph.5:1
Spiritual discipline
Discipleship 2Tim2:2; Col. 3:16
Fellowship Romans 1:12
Service Gal. 6:10; 1 Cor. 12:7
Evangelism Mat. 28:19 -20
Any church or organisation will always find
its role or function in the reason why it is created. Myles Munroe says ''when the purpose of a
thing is not known, the abuse is inevitable.'' This is true of our church.
What
then is the role of Celestial Church of Christ in the Christendom? Honestly a
look at the public impression about this church or a survey of what people
think about the significance of Celestial Church of Christ will produce a mixed
feeling. What members do or say make the world think that the church is not
worth the salt. But haven taken time to study the wish of God for mankind and
what this church has produced so far, l come to submit the following as the roles
of Celestial Church of Christ:
1.
The church is an organ of
spiritual awakening. God sent Cele to the world at a time when churches are no
longer strong enough to meet the spiritual needs of the people. Hardly can Christians
behave without recourse to other fetish powers but the strong spiritual gift in
the church has brought people back.
2.
Cele is a major source of
spiritual succour for others. It is clear that almost everyone at all points of their spiritual needs irrespective
of which church they go, run to a parish of this church at one time or the
other for results.
3.
She is a reservoir of musical
inspiration to other churches. l am not aware of any major spiritual song or
singer that does not have a link with celestial songs and or instrumentalists.
The impact of music in life cannot be over stressed.
4.
The church provides
opportunities for talents to spring up and grow. Many renowned evangelist,
preachers, pastors and singer have the roots of their success stories traceable
to Celestial Church of Christ.
5.
One of the enviable pillars of
the church is LOVE. Many churches have credence of this for their growth from
the church.
6.
Like in the days of Elijah and
the other prophets, Celestial Church provides divine guidance to people in
power hence helping in nation building and reducing reliance on diabolical
powers.
7.
The church is fashioned to be
the last ship of salvation purifying the soul of people and preparing them for
eternal glory irrespective of their religious affiliation.
8.
As one of the most populous
churches, celestial Church of Christ by her membership provides a source of
strength for the whole Christendom.
Going by the above, it is clear against
popular belief that God has made Celestial Church a torch light and a source of
inspiration as well as a place of refuge to others in the Christendom. A lady
spoke to me one day and said ''Dad, you know l have been to various churches in
this country, l am not sure if there is one that l have not visited, so l can
tell you that there is nowhere else where the gift of prophecy is paramountly
effective more than Celestial Church of Christ''. The efficacy of this gift
gives Cele the distinction in the Christendom.
CELESTIAL
CHURCH OF CHRIST AND HER ROLE IN CHRISTENDOM
It is crystal clear that God has a special
assignment for this church inspite of all distractions. God said that it is
decreed from heaven that this church continues to grow till all afflictions of
the world disappear and till Jesus comes the second time. All the five
ministries required to function have been given by God As the last boat of
salvation, she is supposed to use all the God provisions to ensure the goal
getting. But experiences show that this leadership role of the church was only
achievable for the first forty years.
Thereafter, integrity, sincerity,
commitment, orderliness, love, and all the glorious virtues of the church are
now doubted by everybody. Imagine the number of quality members of the church
that have found it convenient to start afresh elsewhere. The discipleship principles
and practice of the church has now turned to PREPARATORY. This is because when
people have issues they run to the church for assistance and as soon as their
problems are over they see that there are Bible believing churches around.
Before you know it they proudly tell you that they are now born again and that
they are now candidates of heaven. Some
of such people are not ashamed to come back to Cele at the least spiritual
attacks. We need a change. God cannot be a liar.
HOPE FOR
THE FUTURE
No matter what might have gone wrong with
the fold, God can still build us up from the pieces of our yesterday. One
interesting thing that is worthy to note about God is that He will not forget
His covenant. Although, He may change the operators to be used but certainly He
will fulfil it. God promised to take the Israelites to the promise land through
Moses but He only did through Joshua and Caleb.
God will not forget His promise for the Church
If the future is this bright and sure, then
we should all take positive steps to restore the glory of Celestial Church of
Christ. I want to suggest an action in the following directions:
1.
Our ministry of teaching must
be improved upon. People perish for lack of knowledge. The high volume of grace and love that the
church started with made people pay
less attention to teaching, discipline and control. Instead we acted on 'we
have Abraham
as our father '.
2.
Let us sanitize ourselves on
the purpose of the church.
3.
Let us pray ceaselessly less
the devil takes advantage of us.
4.
Let us sheath our swords and
forge ahead into the future.
Taking drastic steps at this time is not
negotiable. Heaven is waiting and Christ
is watching us. The responsibility is that of all of us. May God help us.
Sunday 27 October 2013
GROWING IN CHRIST WITH FAITH
Christians are
Christ followers who are expected to behave in Christ-like manner. Faith is the basis of Christianity; no wonder the
Bible says that the just shall live by faith. Hence it is a sin not to live in
faith (Hebrews 10:38). The dictionary defines faith as an unquestionable
confidence or believes in divine truth without proof. As a matter of fact,
Faith is a living thing, so it has the capacity to grow
(Hebrews11:1).
Effects of
not growing in Christ with faith
·
Stagnancy
·
Non experience of miracles
·
Limitations from all sides
·
Spiritual deafness and dumbness
Stages of
the growth of faith in Christianity
·
Beliefs: this is a feeling that
something is real and true. An important example was the man at the pool for
38years (John5:3-7). This man had the belief that unless he is being assisted
into the pool, there is no other means of healing. The problem of this stage of
faith is that it may be totally wrong at times, just as it is in this case.
·
Reluctant faith: this is a kind of faith
whereby a Christian reluctantly believes what he hears. Prayers rarely get
answered in this case except God is determined to do it notwithstanding one’s
belief. The healing of Naaman, the Syrian army was a typical example (2Kings5:11-15).
·
Religious faith: this is the kind of the
Pharisee’s kind of faith that promotes self-righteousness and man induced
doctrines above the will of God.
·
Staggering faith: this kind of faith
that is not consistent due to disturbing external factors. This level of faith
does not give a consistent good result. Peter’s case is a perfect example (Matthew14:29).
·
Mountain moving faith: the Roman
Officer’s faith (Luke7:6-8)
·
Persistent faith: this is the kind of
faith that a Christian put into practice constantly notwithstanding any
disturbing external factors. Christians at this stage of faith do not care if things
seem to be going on well or otherwise, they just belief all the way and their
faith often make them whole (Matthew15:21-28).
·
Violent faith: this is the highest level
of faith that can be exercised by a Christian. Such people at this stage
violently ask and often receive. A good example was Bartimaeus of the Bible
(Mark10:47-52) and the paralyzed man who was taken to the presence of Jesus via
the roof top (Luke5:17-24).
= how can we grow our faith in
Christ?
Our faith in Christ can be improved through the
diligent practice of the following
·
Reading, meditating and using
the word of God consistently
·
Always mind your company of
friends: move with optimists, discard the pessimists
·
Constantly get accustomed with
Testimonies; share your own and listen to other people’s Testimonies.
Sunday 29 September 2013
It is a great opportunity that God has raise up prophet for us in CCC like our late pastor founder (OSHOFFA) who laid a spiritual legacy which numerous people like you and me , prophets, prophetesses, Dreamers, Visioneers and host of others are benefiting from today. Jer29:15
To we Celestial in general, and prophet and prophetess as a whole, it is high time we stop all negative and malicious though concerning the church as a body and his founder but we should acknowledge the positive contribution of the pastor founder in individuals life, family, organization, e.t.c without him this kind of gathering and celebration can not be possible
curled from Covenant Echoes
CCC Apete wishes us all Happy celebration.....
long live Celestial Church Worldwide .........
long live Celestial Church of Christ Apete......
Long live You and me.......
Amen
To we Celestial in general, and prophet and prophetess as a whole, it is high time we stop all negative and malicious though concerning the church as a body and his founder but we should acknowledge the positive contribution of the pastor founder in individuals life, family, organization, e.t.c without him this kind of gathering and celebration can not be possible
curled from Covenant Echoes
CCC Apete wishes us all Happy celebration.....
long live Celestial Church Worldwide .........
long live Celestial Church of Christ Apete......
Long live You and me.......
Amen
Sunday 1 September 2013
WALK BUT AS WISE
WALK
BUT AS WISE
E
MA RIN GEGE BI OLOGBON
Texts:
Leviticus 11:1-11 & Ephesians 5:1-20
- INTRODUCTION
- Service is all about ATTITUDE (Ephesians5:10)
- God is perfect, clean and righteous; so He wants us His children to follow Him in His path of righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 5:1, Psalms15:1)
- To be perfect, we need to understand and be wise. Ephesians5:15b, 17
- You need to remember that man consists of the body, soul and spirit. Ephesians 5:9
- Hence, for the body to be perfect you have to be clean. Leviticus 11:1-11
- Man in flesh cannot please God.
- WHAT WE NEED TO AVOID!
- Fornication, uncleanliness or covetousness (Ephesians5:2).
- Filthiness (Ephesians5:3)
- Foolish Talking and Jesting (Ephesians5:3)
- Idolatry (Ephesians5:5)
- Fellowship with unfruitful work of darkness (Ephesians5:11)
- Walking as fools or like the unwise who do not understand the will of God (Ephesians5:15). To be wise is to understand the will of God.
- Being a drunkard (Ephesians 5:18).
- WHAT WE NEED TO DO: God requires that we follow him as his dear children (Ephesians 5:1). So like the wise, we must learn to:
- Walk in love at all times (Ephesians 5:2, 1John4:7, 8, 16 and 20).
- Walk as children of light (Ephesians5:8). Avoid unclealiness.
- Reprove all unfruitful work of darkness (Ephesians5:11).
- Redeem the TIME in prayers (Ephesians5:16, 1Thes5:17).
- Understand the will of God (Ephesians5:17)
- Make ourselves happy in the Lord by singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Life is meant to be enjoyed not endured. This attitude of praise will gladden your heart, strengthen your body and heal your soul. Ephesians5:19
- Give thanks to God for all things always (Ephesians5:20, psalms103)
- MY CHARGE
I
therefore charge you as sojourners on this planet who desires a place
in heaven above: Awake, thou that sleepest and arise from the dead
(slumber) and Christ shall surely give you the light (Ephesians
5:14).
sup.Evang. Adewale
Sunday 25 August 2013
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