UNDERSTANDING THE DEMANDS OF SUCCESS 5: THE SACRIFICE FACTOR

MANY CHURCH PEOPLE WHO HAVE GLOBAL POTENTIAL HAVE NO EXPRESSION BECAUSE THEY ARE IN THEIR COMFORT ZONE.

THE COST OF IMPACTING YOUR WORLD IS SACRIFICE

SPORTS STARS DON’T OPERATE AS CONVENIENT, THEY OPERATE AS DEMANDED.

AM I SURPRISED THAT I PROSPER? NO! FOR 44 YEARS, I HAVE ENGAGED WITH THE DEMANDS OF GOD UNABATED

MY LESSONS AT THE FEET OF JESUS LAST YEAR WERE 900 TYPED PAGES

NO WORLD CHANGER LIVES A NORMAL LIFE.

DON’T THINK D€ÂTH, DON’T THINK AFFL!CT!ON; DISCIPLINE YOUR THOUGHTS.

WE ARE NOT PERMITTED TO GO THROUGH ANY HASSLE BEYOND A WHILE.

THE WAY SICKNESS IS GOING AROUND TODAY, IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYBODY ANYTIME.

YOU ARE ALREADY INVITING IT. BRIDLE YOUR TONGUE TO SUSTAIN YOUR HEALTH.

GET RID OF PRIDE. IT BLOCKS ACCESS TO MARITAL FAVOR.

NOBODY HAS EVER MADE IT WITH PRIDE. WHETHER IN MARRIAGE, IN CAREER, IN BUSINESS.

NOBODY HAS EVER MADE ANYTHING OUT OF PRIDE. BEWARE OF IT.

STOP FIGHTING BACK YOUR MOCKERS, FACE YOUR MAKER.

STAY JOYFUL. FRUITFULNESS DEMANDS JOYFULNESS.

GOD DOES NOT REWARD PEOPLE SECRETLY.

Bishop David Oyedepo on UNDERSTANDING THE DEMANDS OF SUCCESS 5: THE SACRIFICE FACTOR at Covenant Day Of Settlement Service || 29th March 2026 || Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland || First Sunday Service

The prophetic focus for the month is I AM REDEEMED FOR THE TOP. We are redeemed as a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. So we belong to the top by redemption. It is not our ambition, it is our birthright. It is not the ambition of a baby elephant to be big. It is in his nature. Church Gist. We are children of the Most High God and we belong to the high places of life and that means no one shall be found at the bottom again. As you engage with the truth of God’s Word, He said I will set you above all nations of the earth. It will start from one corner, it will keep moving, covers a community, it moves, covers a town, it moves, covers the state and it moves, covers the nation.

So the top is our birthright, we are just growing into it. There is no adult baby ever born. Every child is born as a baby, some a few centimetres and he begins to grow and suddenly, he is a heavy weight wrestling champion. Church Gist. He began as a baby. We belong to the top but we grow into it.

For our Sunday teachings, we have been looking at UNDERSTANDING THE DEMANDS OF SUCCESS. We are on part 5 of it and today we will be dealing with The Sacrifice Factor.

Let me start by saying every child of God is born or redeemed a global citizen. We have been redeemed as priests and kings to reign on the earth. Church Gist. As the seed of Abraham, kings of people shall come from him and we are those kings He is talking about. So we have global genes in us but it demands sacrifice to realize it.

Luke 12:49-50. No matter how talented an athlete is, if he does not stretch, he will never win a medal. Sports stars don’t operate as convenient, they operate as demanded. If you see an Olympic gold medalist, I have one of them – one of my daughters is an Olympic gold medalist, you can see the rigour of stretch. Church Gist. Church people like their comfort zone too much. Let’s eat and drink and tomorrow we die. With global potentials in them but no expression. The cost of impacting your world is sacrifice. The good news today is that God is changing your story.

Hebrews 12:2. Faith is not a substitute for sacrifice. Sacrifice is a non-negotiable baptism for world changers. Church Gist. Acts 17:6. Believers are redeemed to turn things around in the world but at the cost of sacrifice.

What is sacrifice? It is going the extra mile and paying the extra price in accomplishing your given goal. It is burning the extra midnight oil to accomplish your task. Church Gist. It is paying the utmost price for access to the topmost place in our endeavours. It is not a thing to wish, it is a thing to pay for.

As I have often said, there is no star without a scar and the scar of every star is sacrifice. One can make a living by operating as convenient, no one can make an impact without operating as demanded. Church Gist. John 12:23-26. There is absolutely nothing extraordinary on its own, it is man’s extraordinary input that makes it so.

1 Corinthians 15:10.

Grace is there, engage with it. So, grace does not make great on its own, it is the labour that we are engraced to engage that makes great. Church Gist. Grace does not make great on its own. People sit down and say, “grace will do it”, grace will do nothing. Grace will help you to take responsibility to deliver.

A minister asked me many years ago, he said, “sir, in a nutshell, what does it take to succeed in ministry?” I said, “what? Nutshell? There are many nutty shells” (laughs). One nutshell? I’d have been resting all my life. There are many nutty shells. Church Gist. They show up every day and you need to have what it takes everyday to deal with them or they deal with you. There’s no free lunch in life, the Americans will say. You can’t get out of life more than what you’re willing to put into it. Free money does not add value sir. It doesn’t. Church Gist. Check all those who go about lottery and playing games, they end up as mockeries in most cases, you can’t trace them. Proverbs 13:11.

The endtime Church is ordained a Church of world changers. The Church is not a building, the Church is a people. Church Gist. It shall be said of the Church of the last days, “let us go to them, they know the way, let them teach us the way to go”. Micah 4:1-2. The doings of God among His people will humble many nations. “It’s working, we see it working in their lives, businesses and endeavours. Let’s go there oh, put pride aside, let’s go. Nation, are you ready? Let’s go. We’re going to the Church to find out how they’re doing it”. Church Gist. They knock on the door of your house and say, “please, tell us how you’re doing it”. “Hello, Mr. President is looking for you sir, he needs your attention”. Church Gist. That’s the age we’re coming into. So, please, be awake and be willing to enjoy the demands of making it happen.

One of our very precious ones in Church had a little challenge in their family that was difficult to diagnose and she heard me saying, “no matter the question, the answer is in the Book, the Word”. Church Gist. So, she took the Bible and began searching from Genesis Chapter 1 because that problem has no definition. But she got to Jeremiah before she found the answer. You know the journey? From Genesis to Jeremiah, you’re not reading for fun, you’re reading for a search, she was searching for an answer, she got it. Beautiful home, settled home, glorious home, she paid the price. Church Gist. There are those in this Church, the only thing they do in their lives is to hear the preaching in Church on Sunday, throughout the week, nothing!

I asked my Secretary yesterday, I said, “check this something, how many pages?” He said, “900 pages”. My lessons at the feet of Jesus last year, 900 typed pages. Church Gist. You better wake up! This thing doesn’t happen by wishing and wearing coat up and down. I don’t know any part of Lagos till now oh, apart from the Airport in case one is going to his village. But you want me in a place, you carry me there. I don’t know and I don’t ask, I’m not a tourist. You better wake up sir, nobody can pay the price for you to win a prize. No. Church Gist. That your father is a professor emeritus does not make you academic. You may fail School Cert and never pass it if you won’t work.

So, when I say I’m not surprised, I know what I’m talking about. Now, the demand was defined and I subscribed to it, so I must deliver. God is too faithful to fail. You’re going places! Am I surprised that I prosper? No. Church Gist. 44 years of unabated engagement with delight, nobody has ever reminded me of tithe in my life. Reminded me? How? You never come across a star that appears there by chance. Just like you come across a World Wrestling Champion and he says, “I just woke up and they said I’m a champion”. Church Gist. No, you didn’t wake up, you were punching bags day and night. “I don’t feel like..” you have to feel like. It’s not that “I don’t like it”. You must like it to have it.

You know something very bad in Scripture, Amos 6:1. Zion means Church oh. Woe unto those ‘jeneke’ people who don’t do nothing, they just want anything to happen. “Papa will lay hands on me”. I can’t lay hands on you, Charles, to become a pilot. Church Gist. Can I? You’ll now go to the airport with a bag, they’ll say, “who are you?” You’ll say, “I’m a pilot. Papa laid hands on me”. They’ll arrest you and lock you up as an highjacker. They don’t lay hands on you to become a pilot, you go and train. Church Gist. The Word says, “study if you don’t want to ashamed”, now, you’re not studying, then whose fault? Somebody’s story has just changed.

Nothing of value is ever free. I said here before, no world changer runs a normal schedule. John 4:32-34. Church Gist. Jesus sent his disciples to go and buy food and they came back and met him engaging actively ministering to a woman by the well. John 4:32-34. It was delicious to him, it’s satisfying to him like eating food. Doing what He was sent to do was like eating food to him. Church Gist. There’s this humourous story about Isaac Newton, that great physicist. The wife called him and said, “your food is ready”, he said, “okay, I’ll be coming”. He was busy joining his wires and all that stuff, so at a point, he said, “okay, I need to go and eat”. So, he went to the table and discovered that the food was no longer there, he said, “oh, I forgot I had eaten”. Church Gist. The wife had packed the food to keep it warm but he was so busy in his lab that when he got down to the dining and discovered that the food wasn’t there, he said, “oh, I forgot I had eaten”. It was like food to him.

One of our daughters came home yesterday with the husband. Now, you see, they came to my office one time, herself and one of her colleagues and stood there for about 10 minutes, I didn’t know anybody entered and I wasn’t sleeping. Church Gist. They said I was writing and I was smiling. So, I now called and said, “What of this person?” “They have been inside since” People engage to deliver. You don’t wish watch to deliver. You don’t wish to, you engage to.

Somebody’s story is changing.
The good news is, many world changers are here. Grace to take responsibility, receive it now!

I said there also, no world changer lives a normal life. No world class athlete lives a normal life. Church Gist. When it’s time for him to engage, “excuse me, I’m gone” They can have 20 naming ceremonies, it doesn’t matter, “I’m gone, time is running”

No one here will end his journey as a liability.
Many destinies are tied to you, none shall regret in the name of Jesus!

We have the example of Paul the Apostle, a living sacrifice indeed. He emerged a leading Apostle of Christ, wrote half of the New Testament. Unusual energy, unusual soundness, unusual robustness of the Spirit, all at the cost of sacrifice. Church Gist. It’s the biblical trigger for supernatural turnaround, no shortcuts. Psalm 50:5-6. You make a covenant by sacrifice, Heaven respond. It’s the Altar of supernatural turnaround. Psalm 126:1-6. Sacrificial living will always lead to a turnaround.

and in the name of Jesus, as you engage with Jesus and with your various endeavors, the best in you will start manifesting in the name of Jesus.

—Prayers—

What turned Abraham to a generational celebrity? Sacrifice. Genesis 22:16-18. It happened on the Altar of Sacrifice. Something will burst out in everyone’s life this year as you engage sacrificially in anything you do, not casually, not conveniently, not “let’s do it when you are ready” Church Gist. You engage sacrificially and God lavishes His favour on you supernaturally. That’s the way it happens. John 8:39. Sacrifice gave Abraham his place.

Your place will not be lost!
Your place and my place will not be lost.

Isaiah 51:1-3. Just walk the Abrahamic steps, you’ll enter into Abrahamic realms of generational impact. It’s the way it works, sacrifice! Sacrifice is the cost. As I stop, it is not a gift, sacrifice is not a gift, it is not a calling, it’s simply a choice, a choice that comes along with responsibility. Church Gist. Sacrifice is a choice. John 10:17,18. “The power to lay down is in me, I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again”

May each one succeed to make this choice as a new way of life. You believe that, let me hear your loudest Amen.

Paul said, “I die daily” and he’s still alive today, because everyday “Paul said, Paul said” as if we woke up together this morning. Church Gist. He’s still speaking today, but he was dying daily in pursuit of the mandate given him. Philippians 1:21. That was Paul and he’s still living today.

We are getting there!

On this Covenant Day Of Settlement, the first thing I want you to please acknowledge is that you are due for settlement. Church Gist. You are due for settlement! Your days of ups and downs have come to an end! Your days of uncertainty are ending here today!

Proverbs 3:27,28. Does God have the power to settle you today? So, He won’t ask you to come tomorrow if you are set today. So let your faith come alive. God will settle your health today. He will settle your family concerns today. He will settle your children today. He will settle your career today. God will settle your business today. Church Gist. So, keep your faith alive as the Word goes forth. Keep your faith alive, because God has it by Him today, if you’re ready today, He won’t ask you to come tomorrow. 2 Corinthians 6:2. So, your unsettlement is ending now. Your settlement is starting now!

Now listen. If anyone is asked what time he wants his or her grown up son or daughter to be settled in marriage, in career or in business, the answer will be obviously now. How do you think God whose name is Love wants you to be settled in some years to come? Church Gist. If you want your graduate son to get a job now, why would God now say “I think I need for him to just suffer a bit” No! Matthew 7:11. So God is more willing to make it happen than our earthly parents want. God is more willing to make good things happen to us than our earthly parents will want.

That’s why today is your day!
You will be hearing testimonies from this day!
Testimonies of settlement!

By redemption, no child of God is permitted to suffer beyond a while or a moment before he’s settled. 1 Peter 5:10. Church Gist. We are not permitted to go through any hassle beyond a while. No! That is Heaven’s verdict.

So whatever has gone beyond a while in anyone’s life, the God of all grace will settle you today!

2 Corinthians 4:17. For a moment…it’s not permitted to go beyond a moment. Church Gist. Light affliction not heavy harrowing affliction – light affliction!

In the name of Jesus, every unwanted situation that has lasted beyond a moment in anyone’s life is cut down finally today!
It’s your day!

What Are Some Of The Requirements For Supernatural Settlement?

Be born again. 2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 32:17, John 14:27. So we are entitled to settlement by redemption. Please, don’t assume your salvation. Be real and be true to yourself. Every truly born again child of God enjoys the peace of God that passes all knowledge. I can tell you this; many people will tell you this – “their peace is not circumstantial, it’s not by reason of happenings or no happenings” – peace like a river. Church Gist. A river doesn’t know anger, it’s just flowing. It doesn’t know bitterness, it doesn’t know gang up; it’s just flowing. Peace is one of the vital fruits of the Spirit (and) one of the vital proofs of salvation. Settlement begins with new birth.

For every saved soul here today, this verdict shall be established in your life!
You are leaving this Service, supernaturally settled!
For all that would give their lives to Christ today, you are leaving this Service supernaturally settled!

Engage the power of faith. Hebrews 4:9-10, Hebrews 4:3. So when faith comes alive, rest is part of the outcomes. Keep your faith alive to lay hold on your settlement because God never lies and faith comes by hearing the Word. Church Gist. I mean the Word has gone forth, “I have it today, I won’t ask you to come tomorrow; if you are ready today, come and get it.” Everyday is God’s day, the day you believe is your day.

May today be your day!

Demand for your settlement in prayer. James 4:2, Isaiah 56:9, 2 Corinthians 6:2…so let Him hear you. You are due for settlement, let God hear you. Church Gist. “This is beyond a while, so it’s contrary to your Word. This is beyond a moment; it is contrary to your Word. I’m due for settlement.” Let Him hear you this morning and He will settle you supernaturally.

God will settle you supernaturally!

Enter into a covenant to serve God and the interest of His Kingdom to sustain your settlement. Church Gist. 2 Chronicles 15:12-15,19.

Throughout this year, today’s encounter will bring you into a war free zone of life!

So, to sustain your settlement, enter into a covenant to keep serving God and the interest of His Kingdom as a lifestyle. All these things shall be added to you, including your settlement; you don’t miss it serving God. Church Gist. Job 36:11…so it’s one way to sustain your settlement – to keep serving God with delight as your new lifestyle.

Your settlement will not be lost!

For example, to secure rest in your health, keep serving God; He will take sickness away from your body. Exodus 23:25-26. A faithful ambassador is entitled to healthy living. Keep representing Jesus and His interest as a lifestyle. Church Gist. We are redeemed to be ambassadors for Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20…reconciling the World back to God, you are entitled to sound health doing that.
Keep away from sin. John 5:14. You sustain your rest in health by keeping away from sin.
Keep thinking healthy thoughts. Proverbs 23:7. Church Gist. Don’t think death, don’t think affliction. Discipline your thoughts.

Keep speaking healthy words. Psalm 34:12, “What man of you that desires life and loveth many days that he may see good?” Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. Church Gist. Why? Life and death are in the power of the tongue. The way sickness is going around today, it can happen to anybody anytime. You are already inviting it. Bridle your tongue to sustain your health.

Do you desire timely marital settlement? Now listen to this. Keep serving God and the affairs of His kingdom because in Psalm 34:10, The word says, “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” And marriage is a good thing. He that findeth a wife, findeth a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. Church Gist. So, serving the Lord does not permit you to lack any good thing, just keep serving Him, He will keep bringing good things your way and that’s why everyone serving God in this church, this is your year of marital settlement.

Get rid of pride. It blocks access to marital favor.

Get rid of pride because marriage is about an expression of God’s favor towards His children. It is an expression. He that findeth a wife, findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor from the Lord. Church Gist. Favor means grace. But God resists the proud and He gives grace to the humble. Get rid of pride. Get rid of pride if you want to be settled in marriage. You only know the present, you can’t define the future. Allow the one that holds the future to guide you.

Don’t design the kind of husband you want. He must be five feet six. He must be light in complexion, fairly dark. He must have a car that is brand new. Now, he must have at least a Master’s. That’s my standard. For me, the man must have at least a Master’s. Church Gist. He can’t master me if he doesn’t have a Master’s degree. Small, small things have tied people’s destinies down. Small, small things. They just resist your access to a future. I remember someone was approached many years ago when we were growing up in ministry. This man went to this lady and said, “Can I have your hand in marriage?” She looked at him up and down. I don’t know, but I’m not sure she’s married yet. That’s forty years plus.

Don’t talk rough to a redeemed child of God. Moses called them stiff naked. They couldn’t enter the promised land. Be careful. That can’t be my wife. Never. This one, husband? You want to marry his degree, why not? Marry his town because most people came from villages. They have no address. I can’t marry anybody from the village forever. Church Gist. No. I must marry a white woman. No. Sir, I saw it in the vision. My husband must be in IT, nothing else. If he’s not in IT, no. He said he is an engineer, no, no, no, IT. He said he is a teacher, eh? ……. IT. Nobody has ever made it with pride. Whether in marriage, in career, in business, nobody has ever made anything out of pride. Beware of it.

That word has settled somebody. The word that came out has settled somebody else. Amen. Church Gist. Can I hear your amen? Amen. And so, parents, caution! You say you want to marry that person, where is he from? He’s not from my area, our area………. Is it area marriage? ……. Now tell me exactly, what degree does he have? Chemistry. Chemistry? No, no. She would say why? No, I said no. She would say why sir? I said no. Chemistry? in my family and you read Engineering so you’ll be laboring for him? Parents, caution! Caution! You are not competent to find a wife. He that findeth, not they that findeth a wife. He that findeth a wife, findeth a good thing and has obtained favor from the Lord. Stop doing this thing that is not your job. Face your job. Pray for them. Lord, “lead them to the right person.” Pray the prayer, and not to sit down and say, no, you, no, you must marry in this country. You say the person is from where? From Ghana? No. ……… She will say, ah, sir, he is a pastor in our church, it doesn’t matter. From Ghana? No. You can’t get anybody from Niger Delta?

Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Praise the lord. Do you desire to be settled in your career? again keep serving God and the affairs of His kingdom and God has a plan set in place to give you rest in your career. Can I hear your amen? All these things that you are dying to get shall be added to you. Psalm 35:27. Be faithful in your dealings where you are, it is the way to secure your future in assessing what belongs to you. Church Gist. Be faithful. A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. Don’t start cutting corners where you are. Don’t stop your future from having full meaning. Be faithful. Stay humble as God begins to enlarge your coast. As you keep going up by grace, just stay small in your eyes and He won’t stop lifting you.

The good news is every unsettled area of anyone’s life is declared settled today. In the name of Jesus Christ. For those of us on the line for miracle children, today is your day. Refuse to be offended in God. Can I hear your amen? I preached that message and had a teaching on it back in 83’ and someone was rescued from the siege of barrenness. Church Gist. Blessed is he who is not offended in me. I never knew she was there. But Jesus opened her womb when her offenses cleared off. Holding anything against God is not wisdom, who will help you? If you accuse your helper, how will you get your help? Refuse to be offended in God. It is your year. The year has been named your year of open doors which includes the opening of your womb. You are breaking forth.
Stop fight!ng back your môckers, face your Maker.

It’s your turn!

Hannah took bread and her countenance was no more sãd. Stay joyful. Fruitfulness demands joyfulness. Can I have you say that with me? Fruitfulness demands joyfulness. Church Gist. He says, “Sing O bårren, she that did not bear; break forth into singing.” He says, “Sing aloud,” your many children will come. “Sing aloud,” refuse to cast down your head, you have at your disposal the joy of salvation, you have the joy in the Holy Ghost, you have the joy of revelation, so you are an embodiment of joy.

I therefore cûrse today every s!ege of dēpress!on that’s röbb!ng you of the coming forth of your many children in the Name of Jesus!

When sâdñess ended, in the life of Hannah, fruitfulness came. “And God remembered Hannah,” and she said, “Ye, his name shall be called Samuel, for I have asked him of the Lord.”

Your Samuel is arriving!
Your Samuel is here!

Therefore, “Sing, O bårrên, break forth into singing, sing aloud.”

Your day has finally come!
Everybody called barren under the sound of my voice in this church is set free today!
Everyone connected to this service around the world today that’s called bārren, God has settled your fruitfulness today in the Name of Jesus!

May I say this before we pray, God spoke to me. It’s forty-nine years back. Church Gist. “Behold, I have touched your tongue with the coal of fire. From henceforth, as you say it, you’ll see.”

Everything declared on your life today, as you choose to believe, you will see!
There shall be amazing release of miracle jobs this week!
Separated family life shall be reunited this week!
The s!ege of marital delây is finally over!

You are now a member of God’s own family, whatever represents a generational cûrse in any area of anyone’s life, because your family lineage has changed; by redemption you are now members of the family of God, members of the household of God.

Every trace of generational cûrse hanging over anyone’s life is declared broken today!
The s!ege on your head is over!
Every tr@p of dêãth is shattered!
Anyone appointed to dêäth under the sound of my voice, I declare your rescue now in the Name of Jesus!

Now let me say this and then we move to the next one and close. The common denominator for sustainable settlement is serving God. Church Gist. I didn’t have time on that but you check through all the lines of areas of interest of man’s adventure on the earth; the common denominator that sustains your settlement is an unfettered commitment to serving God and the interest of His kingdom as a lifestyle.

Therefore grace to keep doing that (serving God and the interest of His Kingdom as a lifestyle), as individuals receive it now!

God who sees your labor in secret has vowed to reward you openly; God does not reward people secretly.

You shall be openly rewarded this year!
It will be your experience all the years of your life in the precious Name of Jesus.

When God settles you, no d3v!l can unsettle you.

So every attempt of the w!cked one to unsettle you upon being settled by God is rendered null and void!

Now if you are in this service this morning, and you are not born again yet, I’d like to pray with you. That is the starting point to a life of glorious settlement. Not only to be settled here, but to secure a place for yourself in eternity. You pay nothing for it; it’s already fully paid for by Christ. All we need is to receive that according to the dictates of scriptures. “What shall we do? Repent and be converted,” “And the time of refreshing shall come,” to prove that you are saved. Church Gist. The fruit of the Spirit will start manifesting to prove that you are saved. So wherever you are this morning, Jesus save my soul, forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life please stand to your feet.

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