Posts in category: The Shepherd’s Blog

Many great men of God have described the Church as a team that has great similarities to team sports.  This is because many characteristics of sports teams are also present in the Church team.  We have a goal, we work together, there is great energy, and there must also be energy for the Church to win just like sports teams must do to win.  Again, just like in team sports, members of the team participate in different ways.  Many Christians choose to play the role of bystanders while at the same time being part of the team.  They never get in the game and do not make any effort to get in the game.  They are satisfied staying in the stands.  They come to Church, they join the worship, and they go home.  They forget they are part of the team, they come the same way as spectators will come, stay in the stands and watch.  They are not part of any ministry, and the idea of sharing Christ is completely alien to them.  They cannot be bothered to do any Church work, after all the Pastors and Lay Leaders are there to do whatever needs to be done. These folks are in the team but not in the game.

We have often heard the phrase, “we are stronger together”, which has the same meaning as the African proverb about the resiliency of the broom not being in the power of a broom stick but the unity of several sticks.  When we all get active in the Christian ministries, we have the advantage of synergy where our combined efforts are greater or better than the addition of our individual efforts. God has blessed each of us with talents, but our talents are different from each other.  When we come together as in a Church team or ministry the combined effect of our different talents applied synergistically will avail much more than each of us using our talents as individuals.  A sports team, a Church, or Christian ministry for that matter, will only be effective when they work together as a team, a team in synergy.  It must be clear to all of us then that a team where more than half the team members are either on the sideline or in the stands cannot be in synergy because synergy presupposes that everyone is giving their best effort.  When God established this team, His plan was for the Church to work in a team where everyone plays.

Anyone of us who is interested in accomplishing God’s divine purpose in this world, must understand the need to be part of God’s team, and once in the team, must understand that the action is in the game, not on the sidelines and not in the stands.  How do you get in the game? The nature of Church, the nature of Christian ministries, creates a lot of opportunities for everyone to get in the game.  We must know that our goal is to win souls for Christ and help them to become matured Christians who can turn around and disciple others for Christ.  In this endeavor, there are ample opportunities.  There is teamwork in praying, there is teamwork in praising God, there is teamwork, in the evangelism, there is teamwork in the children ministry, there is teamwork in ushering, media, Christian education, hospitality, welfare, membership, mentoring, etc. To get in the game be a member of any of these ministries and more.  Understand the vision and be active so your team can be effective.  Help to recruit and mentor people in these ministries. Disciple them.  Remember you are fruitful when you reproduce.  Do not put one leg in and one leg out, because that is akin to being on the sidelines.  You are in the game, but you have taken yourself out.

Remember, in our game everyone on the team plays.  We are not limited by numbers.  No one should be in the stand, and we do not expect anyone to stay on the sidelines either.  There are no bench warmers in this our game of winning souls for Christ.  The more of us that are playing, the more successful we shall be.  The more playing time we get, the better we also become.  In our team all roles are important because whatever your role is, it is because the Lord has called you specially for that role.  So, my brothers and sisters, take your position in your team, take pride in your God-given role, get in the game.  In our game, winning is when we have made disciples of all nations, and the only way to win is when everyone on our team is playing.  Are you in the game?

The last instruction our Lord Jesus Christ left for the disciples was to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20).  When it is read in the English language, it is a very straight forward directive about what He wanted the disciples to do when they do not have Him anymore. There have however been controversies over whether the “Go” in this imperative command was properly translated from the Greek word.  Scholars have said that the word used in the Greek version could have been translated as “go” or “as you are going” or even “being already on the go”.  The idea then is, the statement should have been to the effect that “since we are already going somewhere, we should make disciples as we go”. Sounds reasonable, but several people of God have said that it is an attempt to change the Word of God.  How about we leave the Greek interpretation aside for a minute and just think about the modern-day Christian.

The modern-day Christian typically has a 9 to 5 job.  Some modern-day Christians have two or more jobs they do just to be able to put food on the table.  It is therefore becoming more and more difficult for Christians to be able to make special time to go out there and evangelize or make time to disciple those who have already been converted.  In any case, in our daily lives, we come across different folks, believers and unbelievers alike.  It stands to reason then that rather than plan to set time aside to evangelize or disciple, why don’t we plan to make disciples as we go about our daily lives?  Why don’t we make discipling or evangelizing an integral part of our daily routines?  Making disciples as we go means that making disciples will become a way of life for us. Whether we are going to work, to school, to shop or to play, we are to be making disciples. This changes the way we look at our lives. We become aware that every relationship is a potential opportunity to talk to them about Jesus and invite them to respond to Him by becoming one of His disciples.

No matter how busy our lives may be, we can obey the instructions to go and make disciples by recognizing that we have become Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) anywhere we go.  Making disciples as we go is akin to being an everyday missionary. This mindset of being a missionary on the go is not new, in fact, it is like the mindset Apostle Paul had when he lived among the Thessalonians and ministered to them at the same time.  “Because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake” (1 Thessalonians 1:5–7).  So, our mindset must change from compartmentalizing, into knowing fully well that wherever we are, we are there for the Kingdom of God.  The confession that we are wherever we are for a reason garners more meaning when we have this kind of mindset.  The making disciples as we go perspective on mission work now brings up the realization, we can also be missionaries without the need to move to another country.

There is no doubt that some folks have some special call on their lives to travel the world and reach more people for Christ.  Some others might just be short trips here and there.  It is a special calling.  However, for the rest of us, we can make converts as we go, we can make disciples as we go, we can be part of that great commission even as we go.  Just remember that reaching people for Christ is not only done with words, it is a kind of life we also have to model.  Jesus Christ lives a model life for the disciples; Apostle Paul modeled Christian living for the Thessalonians.  That is what we are called to do.  We must live the Christian life by putting truth in action and when our paths cross those of some unbelievers as we go, let our lives, our words, our truths glorify the Lord in their presence.  That is how we pass on the truth of the gospel and that is what it means to make disciples as we go.  So go out there, and as you are going, make disciples for the Lord.  Be blessed as you do the work of the Father.

Deuteronomy 30:19 “This day, I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings, and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live.

The difference between us in life is our choices. We make so many choices every day. Every choice we make has responsibilities and consequences. Your choice may bless you or it may hurt you.  When we get up in the morning, the act of making choices begins as follows; should I pray or study, should I eat today or fast, should I go to work or call off and rest etc. God created us with potentials, free-will, and abilities to make choices.

He gave us free will to choose and decide what to do for ourselves, for God, and for others because He is not a dictator. In the Bible passage above, God said “choose life”; He did not impose His choice on us. God loves everybody but it is our choice to love Him back or to accept His love or not. When we make choices outside or against His will, and it turns out not favorable, we play the blame game. Adam blamed Eve, Whites blame blacks, husbands blame wives, and verse versa. God allows us to choose between good and evil; it is up to us to choose good; it is up to us to repent and be winners or continue in sin and remain losers. Our choices affect people, even our children, so as Christians let us make good and godly choices like Joshua did in Joshua 24:15. He said, “for me and my household, we will serve the lord”. He made a good choice for himself and his children.

Just as there was the tree of good and evil in the garden of Eden, so we have good and evil, narrow and broadways, to choose from. We have good and bad characters, good and bad lives, good and bad fruits etc. My prayer is for God to help us to make good and right choices in 2022. Right choices are hard to make but right choices lead to success. Our choices determine our destiny, and our choices determine our future. Before making choices consider the following: does it please God? Is it the will of God? Is it profitable? Is there any reward or blessings, not just profit? Will it bring honor to my family, my church, and myself? This choice that I am about to make, will it hurt me or others, does it fit?

Let us avoid making decisions or choices when we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Each of these conditions causes us to experience emotions that change how we think. Finally, choose to serve the Lord; choose to change from better to best. The call for discipleship in Matthew 28:19-20 is not optional and I pray that we all will obey. It is my prayer that our choices will not hurt us in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

The authors of our current Bible Study textbook stated that the Church in America is in decline. They went further to say that good Christian people are lost as to what to do about this problem.

The Latest Pew Research conducted in the year 2010, by Gregory Smith, Todd Wilson, and Ron Edmondson confirmed the author’s statement above. According to the Pew Research, Church attendance is down by 10%, only 49% of Millennials identify themselves as Christians; the number of Americans who classify themselves as “religious nones” has grown by 30% in the past decade; only 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians, down by 12% over the past decade. The article concluded by asking whether these numbers concern you and if so, where do we go from here?

Jesus said in the book of Matthew 16: 18 – “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hades will not overcome it.” (NIV)

We Christians know that the Word of God is true and permanent. But how does Jesus plan to accomplish the task of building His Church when He is no longer here in person to do so?

Well, we all know full well that Jesus is the Master Orchestrator and as such He never did anything without extensive planning. In order to accomplish His goal of building His Church, He established the higher institution of learning otherwise known as Discipleship University. The Bible recalls that He trained His twelve disciples at this institution for three years. His plan, as we now know it today, is that each of His disciples upon graduation would engage in discipling other people, one person at a time. Apparently, you and I and every Christian today is a disciple of Jesus Christ and as such, He desires our unflinching commitment of discipling other people one person at a time. This is the only way the Lord can multiply His disciples in our time.

Jesus said in the book of John 17: 4 – “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (NIV).  Jesus is saying in this passage of the Bible that He completed the project of discipling His disciples and He is handing over the baton to them (to us) to go out and disciple other people in the world.

Jesus commanded us in the book of Matthew 28: 19-20 by saying “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It is obvious from the above Bible passage that the business of discipling other people is a command, therefore it is not an option. It is also clear that the work of discipling others is not set aside for Pastors and Ministers only but for every Christian! And that is why, I believe that Christ International Community Church is ready and committed more than ever before to make disciples of other people in our world, one person at a time.

God Almighty said in the book of 1^st Samuel that “But Samuel replied: “does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as obeying the voice of the Lord. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” There is a dead sacrifice and there is a living sacrifice!

What are you and I going to do about the Lord’s command in Matthew 28? Are we going to join the winning team by discipling others for God or are we going to sit on the fence and watch others engage in the business of soul-winning? I pray we will not lose our position in Him.

May the Lord of Hosts quicken our hearts and enlarge our coasts to be a committed living sacrifice.

Blessings!

There is a lot of confusion out there in terms of what our faith teaches us.  People are being confused daily because of false doctrine.  The warning of our Lord Jesus Christ about false prophets (Matthew 24:4-5) is coming to pass and many of us are still too complacent about it.  I just watched a video where a preacher was trying to prove that anyone who greets another person with the word “Hello” will go to hell.  Her proof?  The word “Hello” is formed with a combination of “Hell” and “o”. This is just one example of the confusion out there.  These have led to too many Christians struggling with what they believe.  In fact, there seems to be many who still do not understand precisely what they believe in.  It is our responsibilities as followers of Christ to make sure that the good news is spread undiluted and unadulterated.  Therefore, every Christian must make sure that they are well discipled.  What we hear on Sundays in many Churches is just not enough.  Studying with other brethren offers the opportunity to discuss and ask questions about your faith.  This is the place where we get clarity when brethren jointly look at different life topics and their significance to our faith and our lives. 

It is also important that a Christian has someone to look up to.  Someone to ask questions about the Word.  Someone who can help lead them to maturity. The Word of God in Ephesians 4:13 states that we all need to be built up “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” The idea, as the same chapter states in verse 14-15, is so that “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ….” 

There was a story I heard a while ago about a snake handling Preacher in Kentucky, who was killed due to snake bites he received during a Worship Service.  The Pastor belongs to a sect where they routinely handled serpents during their Worship Service.  Their belief that the serpents will do them no harm is based on Psalm 91 where it is stated in verse 13 that “You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.”  The Pastor and the Church members believe that if they have “God’s power”, the snakes can do them no harm.  They also believe that if they worship without the snakes, then they are not following the Word of God.  I am not really sure about this belief of theirs, but I would think that if these people know the Lord they serve, and if they know the Christ they believe in, they will understand that this same Psalm that they quote for their foolishness is the same one that Satan quoted when he decided to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ.  If they had learnt just a few things about the Jesus Christ they are supposed to believe in, they will know of His answer to Satan in Luke 4:12 where He said, “it is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”  One wonders if these people know their actions in handing snakes amounts to nothing but testing the Lord?  I think they spend so much time perfecting their tricks with the snakes that they do not even have time to study the Word of God. Incredibly, their leader, the Pastor, died from snake bites!  What message does this then send to the believers?

There are different doctrines out there in the World today.  Many of them do not even have any basis in the Word of God, a lot of them seek to turn the Word of God on its head, and there are also many that try to stretch the Word of God too far.  We need to be prepared by studying the Word of God.  Let us prepare ourselves by making time to study His Word.  Gather with the brethren and study.  The idea is to make sure that in unity of faith we do not get tossed around by waves or winds of doctrines that are out there; and to make sure that we live our lives in His Will because when we are discipled, we can turn around and disciple others with the right message.

All Christian belief must culminate in service or else the belief itself will wither away. Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  It is when we let our light shine before men that our service, which is itself a form of worship, will be obvious to people and God will be glorified.  Have you however noticed that when it comes to serving God, we always manage to come up will all kinds of excuses? It did not just start; this has been human nature for a long time.  The interesting thing is that, call to service for us is not just a simple request.  When God gives a task, it comes in the form of a call, not a request.  When we begin to give excuses, we tend to forget that the God who made the call knows our abilities and our short comings before He called us.  Sometimes you ask folks to pray, and they tell you they do not know how to pray.  Turn around and see the same person at the scene of a fruitless argument and you wonder what the excuse was all about.

In Exodus 3, when the Lord first called Moses for the task of delivering the Israelites from Egypt, his immediate thought was that God was asking Him to be the deliverer.  His response was “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”  What he thought of was all the excuses why he will not be the right fit to do the job. Many times, we get ourselves in this kind of situation.  We forget that whatever the Lord calls us to do, He is only asking us to be instruments in His hands.  What power do we have of our own?  What knowledge do we have of our own?  We belong to God and every knowledge, wisdom, and power that we may think we have come from the Lord.  So, when we give excuses, we do so because of our own sense of inadequacy or insufficiency.  The Word of God in 2 Corinthians 9:8 however says, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”  God promised Moses He will accompany him on the task.  It still was not good enough for Moses because when God told him what he should say to the Hebrews, he still argued about not being eloquent and being slow in speech (Exodus 4:10).  God however answered him and said, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute?  “Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:11-12).  We, too, might doubt God’s abilities, but by His Spirit, we will be given exactly what we need at the exact time we need it.  He never sends us on a task to abandon us.

The call to serve that is placed on all of us is a divine call.  Sometimes we may feel like we have insufficient skills for the task at hand.  We must remember that the Lord who called will not abandon us, rather He will equip us for the task at hand.  We must not be the people whose response to every call from God is excuses upon excuses.  We have heard it said many times that following Christ comes at a price, but we have already committed to this path, so we should have no excuse for excuses.  The call to service for Christians means that we must come wholeheartedly and be ready to give all of ourselves to God’s service. It may be natural for us to sometimes feel very inadequate for the job that God calls us to do; we must however remember that “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).  The excuses we give sometimes speak to our lack of faith or low view of God.

The most untenable reason we give excuses when called to do God’s work is because we are simply unwilling.  We are caught up with a load of care and in the web of nothingness that we become unwilling to do God’s work.  When our heart is not there, then the burden to serve God is not there.  Too many of us are too comfortable in our own lifestyles that we are unwilling to give up the ease, conveniences, and predictability of our schedules to relinquish control to the Lord.  We prefer our past-times to serving God.  There is nothing wrong with having past-times or relaxation times, but if we are committed enough, we can plan our time to give us time to serve the Lord.  Remember the Word of God, “If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Luke 14:33). 

The old year, 2021, is behind us now. Its record is made, as difficult as it was, and cannot be changed. Doubtless, there is much in it we would like to change, some things we wish we had done differently, some things we left undone, some regrets, many things we hoped never happened and, hopefully, there were some good too in that year.  As difficult as the year may have been, those of us here have been privileged to crossover to a new year, a privilege that comes with a lot of responsibilities.  As we stand here in the beginning of a New Year, it is a good time to reflect on the year that has just ended and look forward into the year that has just begun. It is also a good time for God’s people to take inventory of their walk with the Lord. We should take a very close look at where we are in our relationship with Him. We need to examine ourselves and see where we have been, where we are, and where the Lord wants us to be.

There have also been challenges in the past year.  The year may have been whatever it was for you.  For some it may have been disappointing.  For some others it was the best year they have ever had.  Whatever last year may have been for you, I am asking you this year to keep the faith and keep your mind open for what the Lord is about to do.  For those who thought last year was a failure, the good thing about a new year is that we can begin again.  Living through a difficult year has its elements of discouragement but trusting in a God that routinely turns things around should be enough encouragement for us to hang on.

In Matthew 1 we read about the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Four of the five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ had bad foundations.  Rahab was a prostitute, until she helped the spies and later married one of them, Salman; Ruth was a Moabite, a product of incest, and God had banned Moabites from His congregation. She married Boaz and the rest like they say is history; Tamar was the woman who had a child for her own father-in-law, Judah.  Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah.  Remember she committed adultery with David; did not go unpunished but gave birth to the wisest King in Israel.  Let us thank God that we are alive at the beginning of a New Year and, like these folks we have the opportunity for a new beginning.  Beloved, the Bible says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, the old things have passed away, and all things are new (2 Cor. 5:17).    God in His love has given us another chance for our stories to be rewritten.  Let us take the challenge and obey our God and Creator, let us allow Him to rule our lives.  Let us focus on Him completely and our lives will not be the same again because they will be lived for Him.

For a while now we have meditated on how to love God with the whole of our hearts and how to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  The question we must ask now is “are we transformed?”  How have these things changed our lives?  Are we living our lives for Christ now?  The Word of God in James 1:22 asks us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  Are we doing what we are hearing?  More than doing what we are hearing, are we bearing fruits for the Kingdom?  Christ wants us to be doers of His Word, people who walk the talk.  Christ Himself left a legacy for us, a legacy He fully expects us to follow.  What are we leaving for our children and what are we leaving for future Christians?  Our purpose as Christians is to fulfill the task of the master.  His Word for us is to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”.  How much of that have we done? Can we claim to love the Lord if we have not obeyed the instruction of the Son?  If we have not told our neighbor about the good news, can we claim to love them as we love ourselves? 

If we are to master the scriptural principles of true biblical fellowship, we must master this truth that true greatness in the Kingdom of heaven consists in serving one another. Jesus said, “… whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Mt. 20:26).  We must also learn that when God calls you to himself, he also calls you to be a servant, an instrument in His redeeming hands. We will serve God by serving God’s children and the most crucial part of that is making sure all of His children hear the good news. We have been transformed to serve.  The message of reconciliation has been committed to us (2 Corinthians 5:19b).  All God’s children are called into ministry, and each of them needs the daily intervention this ministry provides because God’s plan is that through the faithful ministry of every part, the whole body will grow to full maturity in Christ.  Thus, each of us needs to tighten our belts and be ready to be about our Father’s business.  Let the discipled be ready to disciple others because our call as followers of Christ is only perfected when a disciple becomes a discipler.  This is where the rubber meets the road; it is a brand-new year, and we must all get to work.  

January 2, 2022 – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya

Christmas Day 2021 has come and gone, but the Spirit of Christmas is still with us.  In many hearts Christmas is not just a day but a season.  A season of joy, happiness, and manifest love. Christmas is the season when abundant love flows freely in everyone’s heart. In fact, the Christmas season is a time of overflowing love.  Love suddenly comes alive at Christmas as if it is a gadget that can be switched on and off.  It fills every home, every workplace, and every Church.  It is the time of the year when the prayers of Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 3:12 rings loud and clear in every ear and is answered in every heart.  “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”  This is a prayer for love to fill every heart even as it is extended to everyone.  We thank God for this season because it is a season when God’s desire for His children to love one another as they love themselves is most manifested.

There are other people out there who do not get this love at Christmas thing.  There are folks out there who have turned Christmas into the time that people are exploited.  The crass consumerism of many of us aids this exploitation.  We must however continue to remind ourselves as children of God that the reason for this season is Christ Himself.  It is the unmatched love the Lord has for His children that led Him to send His son to reconcile us with Him.  The reason for the joy in the air should be because we know that without Christ’s coming, we will not know what would have become of our relationship with God.  Where will our hope be? Where will our salvation be?  Knowing these therefore, we must develop a new discipline as children of God.   Let us develop a spirit of contentment with what we already have and look outward to see what other people need with the desire of helping meet them.

Yes, the Christmas Day may be gone, but can we in the spirit of the season continue to spread love to all people as the Lord desires of us?  In 1 Thessalonian 3, Apostle Paul first praised the Church at Thessalonica because he saw their faith as part of the apostolic mission of the Church.  He then proceeded to pray for them that their love may abound and overflow because he also knew that faith without love is nothing.  If the love within us must be seen as overflowing, then it requires us as children of God to step up and step forward in faith loving everyone and helping to meet the needs of God’s people.  We must make our love known to the world by fleshing out our love, and not just thinking about it, or saying it, but acting on it.  If we must make the love of Christ known to all people, it will take more than words – it requires action. Every love shared must show tangible results.  Every love shared must involve some sacrifice on our part.  Many times, the act of love on our part are dangerously sacrificial.  It is when we still engage in these love acts, despite the dangerous sacrifice on our part, that we can claim the love of Christ is overflowing in our hearts. 

Our love is overflowing when it leaves a great impact or impression.  When something leaves a lasting impact, then it lives in the memory beyond the normal length of its days.  My brothers and sisters, rather than share your love to those who do not need it this season, seek out the poor, the sick, those who are looking for someone to hold them, those who are yearning for a listening ear, and show them your love.  We all are able to make lasting memories when we love, the only impetus is that our hearts must be overflowing with love.  The point I am trying to make is that there is more to Christmas than the carols, the gift exchanges, the sumptuous dinners etc., but it takes a heart overflowing with love to see them.  The day is gone the season is still here, so, it is not late to reach out and touch somebody with overflowing love.  The love that Christ brought to our hearts at Christmas should also not be limited to this season.  Let it flow abundantly throughout the year and throughout our lifetime.  That is when it can be said that we are truly followers of Christ.

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else this season and always!

The Christmas season has always been a time of manifest joy and hope.  The people of God rejoice in the great celebrations of the birth of our Lord and Savior.  He is not only the reason for this season, He has also come to rekindle hope, living hope, in the hearts of His people.  The Christ we celebrate came into the world heralding joy and peace as He came, even as He was born in a place meant for raising horses.  The humble beginning of our Savior, born in a stable, did not in any way diminish the dignity and honor that is accorded His name all over the world today.  Angels heralded His coming and shepherds gathered in holy adoration as they worshipped a child King who was born in a manger.  Wise men followed a star to offer gifts and pay homage to the King that was born in a stable.  This is a great lesson for us children of God, that humble beginnings do not nullify our God-given dignity.  The conferral of dignity is of God, and our station or lot in life does not remove this dignity. 

All of us children of God have an inherent dignity that is a-priori conferred on us because we have been created in the image of God. “We have been fearfully and wonderfully made” – Psalm 139:14. Being poor, being sick, becoming an alcoholic, or running out of our luck does not remove this grace given by God Himself. Our human nature tends to respect and acknowledge the dignity that we ourselves develop through our earthly struggle and neglect to recognize the dignity we have by the fact of our being created in God’s image.  We spend time and effort trying to develop our own dignity and once we attain success, we tend to look down on others who are not as successful as we are. We strip them of their God given dignity.  There is nothing wrong with the dignity we build for ourselves, but we must remember that it is individualistic.  However, when we also help to build others, we fulfill God’s instruction to us to love others as we love ourselves and also help to improve self-worth and dignity.  Helping others to succeed is helping to develop or restore dignity.

One of the songs we like to sing is “Everywhere He went, He was doing good, Almighty Healer, He healed the leapers, When the cripples saw Him, they started walking. Everywhere He went my God was doing good.”  Our Lord gave attention to all these people and in so doing conferred dignity upon them.  Our mission as followers of Christ is to do the same.  We must give adequate attention to the sick and the broken hearted, and in so doing also confer dignity and honor on them.  The Word of God teaches us to “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” – 1 Peter 2:17. Honoring all people presumes that we recognize the dignity in all people.

One thing is sure about us Christians.  We do know the right thing to do, but something gets in the way, and we do not do them the way we are supposed to.  The Christian founding fathers of America recognized the inherent worth in every creation of God which they said is self-evident.  They so much believed in this self-evident dignity that the Lord has blessed each of His creation that were created in His image with that they included these words in the declaration of independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  They are in essence saying everyone has the right to live in dignity. We all have a role to play in ensuring that this indeed is the case.  Christ said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” – John 13:34-35.  This is what we have been called to do.  Loving one another involves recognizing the dignity in one another, and where the dignity is already affected, we do all we can to help restore it.

People of God, especially in this season of hope and joy, let us help to restore hope and joy by recognizing the inherent dignity of our fellow men and treating them with that esteem.  The angels, shepherds, and wise men of the Nativity story respected the dignity of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, even in their humble circumstances.  His immediate needs were met by various visitors who came bearing gifts.  We are called to do no less as we seek and serve Christ in all people.  The lives we live are supposed to reflect the heart of God and the Word of God teaches that our God is a God of compassion, mercy, and justice.  So, we must in all circumstances strive to show compassion and mercy to all people, while we also seek justice for all people regardless of their station in life.  May the joy and peace of this season remain with you now and always.

There is one subject I always like to avoid talking about, money.  This is not because money is not important in Christendom, but because of how it has become the main focus of many in Christendom.  And I know what the Word of God says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” – 1 Timothy 6:10.  I do not want to be pierced with evil at all.  However, the same Word of God enjoins us to give generously.  While money is not my main focus, it is still one of the lessons we must learn, especially the part about giving.  It is Christmas season, it is a season of love, hope, and peace.  It is also a season of giving.  This is the season we all reach out to friends, foes, and family alike in the spirit of giving.  May we receive as much as we give, and even more, in this season.  The Word of God teaches that there is a direct relationship between what we give and how much we are blessed.  In any case, money is a necessity in the Christian ministry.  A lot of the things that the Bible instructs us to do require money for the actions to be meaningful.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus said “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Whenever we give God pours out blessings in return. Giving is not limited to offering at Church.  There are many ways we can give. Giving to a friend in need, giving to a brother in need, giving to the helpless, and to those who are out on their luck are all part of giving.  Any time we give in this way God will always bless us in return, but it is never a one-to-one correspondence. God will normally bless us back in multiples.  This is a principle that even non-Christians understand.  Moslems may even understand this God’s law of giving better than we Christians do.  When I was growing up, many times we saw the Moslems in our neighborhood gather children in the neighborhood and cook a lot of food for them.  In my language, it is called “saara”, a process whereby you give in the expectation that God will bless you in return.  Then there are also Islamic acts like “Zakat” and “Sadaqah”, whereby one gives alms voluntarily to those in need in order to please God.  If these folks understand the importance of giving, how much more those of us who know that we have received the greatest gift of all.  “Give and it will be given to you” is a law of God that works, but we must remember that every law of God functions only from the standpoint of righteousness.  We must give because we trust God and because we obey him, not as a sacrifice for a get-rich-quick scheme, only then, will God bless us in return. 

“Give and it will be given to you…”  Looking over this statement one sees that giving encompasses the two keys to Christian living: faith and obedience.  “Give” is an imperative word.  This means it is a command.  Then it is followed by a promise of God, that if we obey the command, God is faithful, and He will bless us.  So, this is about trust and obedience.  Believe God’s promises and obey His commands.  In either of these cases, not to give is a sin.  It is a sin against God when we do not give. It means we do not trust Him to do what He says He would do.  It is also a sin against God because we are not obeying His commands. 

This same principle is in 2 Corinthians 9:6 – “He who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully.”  God will measure out to us according to what we measured out in our giving.  If we give a lot, we receive a lot.  We also read in Acts 20:35 that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”.  In other words, what we give away brings us a greater blessing than what we receive.  That should be enough.  Do you want to be most blessed?  Then give without reservation.  Give with all your heart.  Not to me or to any Pastor out there, but to the work of God and to those who are in need. 

There are folks out there who have a good understanding of God’s law of giving better than some others.  They give unreservedly and are blessed unreservedly.  It is very straightforward.  Generosity in giving results in a greater reward from God. So, if you want to be blessed beyond your wildest imagination, then give.  But I want you to remember, “each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”.  Don’t go and borrow money to give to God; God’s kind of giving is not a money-doubling or gambling kind of giving.  Give according to how you have been blessed, if you tell a lie, God sees every lie.  Give the way you have been blessed and God gives back more. Then you give more again, and He gives even more.  It is simple.  It is straight forward.  You give, He gives back more, good measure, until it overflows.