Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr at CHoP
Lift your voice this morning and give thanks to Him. Appreciate the name of the most high God and do it from the depth of your heart. Don’t mutter your words, give quality thanks unto God. Give Him the praise and glory due unto His name. Thank Him for this awesome testimonies, they’re the acts of God, the wonders of God, the faithfulness of God, give glory and give thanks.
Also begin to thank God for the answers He has given to your prayers.
Every one of those intercessions that you offered unto Him, give praise unto Him for the answers. Also for those matters you offered thanks for, according to prophecy He’s turning them to testimonies. Therefore give thanks for the testimonies that are coming your way as a result of your thanksgiving.
Now begin to ask Him to speak to you, I’ve come to hear from You Lord.
Luke 21:38
Speak to me today. Blessed be Your holy name in Jesus precious name we have prayed.
Our Father and our God we have come today with voices of thanksgiving for all that You have done. We thank You for the testimonies we’ve heard. No one could have done these things and for it we give You all the glory. For answers to our prayers we say thank You, for the matters You’ve turned into testimonies we say thank You.
Now Lord our eyes are upon You this morning. Speak to us again. By Your Word let each one of us be changed. We give You all the praise and all the glory in Jesus precious name we have prayed.
Now according to Scriptures we’re made to understand that whenever the Church stops giving thanks, the Church stops growing.
Jeremiah 30:19
Yesterday we defined thanksgiving as acknowledging the acts of God. So it is recognizing that behind every good thing, we see the hand of God at work. The growth of the Church is desired by God and therefore if it’s a God thing then it’s a good thing. If we want to see the Church grow then we must continue to give glory to God.
Malachi 2:1-3
It is the act of thanksgiving that makes sure our blessings are secured.
We must therefore continue to acknowledge the acts of God lest we go into captivity.
Jeremiah 13:15-17
Refusal to acknowledge the acts of God will always yield into captivity.
Today I see grace coming upon each one of us to maintain the attitude of thanksgiving. So our exhortation for this week is titled
THANKSGIVING IS A MUST TO KEEP THE CHURCH GROWING
Let’s recognize this today that everything today about Church growth from start to finish is the hand of God. According to Scriptures our God is the God of addition.
Acts 2:47
Who added to the Church? God. So there’s no man that can add to the Church. It is God that adds to the Church.
John 6:44
It is God that can add, it is God that draws.
1st Corinthians 3:6
Wherever you see addition to the Church, it not human strategy, It is not human capacity, it is simply God at work.
Acts 5:14
There is no Sunday we gather that we don’t see first timers, no Sunday we gather that we don’t see new comers. It is not the strategy, ability of man. It is the hand of God at work. Additions are the products of the hand of God.
Psalms 28:5
If it is God’s hand that is bringing addition then you and I must offer appreciation to God, thanksgiving to God in order to see His hand keep building on our behalf.
He is the sender of the Holy Ghost who is the Lord of the Harvest. So not only is our God the God of addition, He is the sender of the Holy Ghost who is the Lord of the harvest.
John 16:7-11
Scripture makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is the one that brings conviction. That is why it is not explanation that leads to conversion, it is conviction that leads to conversion. You can give a compelling explanation and not see the conversion of any soul. It is the Holy Spirit that pricks the heart of men and causes them to respond to the gospel.
Acts 2:1
It was the Holy Spirit in operation and by His operation suddenly there was a reaction to the gospel.
Your expectation lacks potency in convicting any soul. It is the Holy Ghost that convicts the world of sin of righteousness and of judgement, so the Bible makes it very clear to us that if we’re going to see conviction, it is by the Holy Ghost. So it is not your explanation, it is not your grammar, it is not your examples, it is the Holy Spirit that gives this channel of conviction that brings about the conversion of a soul. Shout hallelujah.
I’ve shared the story of a woman that I know who would go out, we would all go out for evangelism and she would come back with a list. The list would be full, front and back with names of souls and I began to wonder what was happening. We went out the same time, we came back the same time so what did she do in-between? So I decided I wanted to see what she was saying because as far as I was concerned as that time I believed that there was something she was saying that was bringing that much result. I thought it was with explanation so I began to shadow her without her knowing.
So I saw her talking to a group of people, I slowed down because I wanted to hear what she was going to say because as far as I was concerned if she said something that was working for her, if I say it it will work for me. She was talking to a group of people about five or six people thereabout and she began to speak to them and everything she was saying did not make any sense to me. Everything she said was not sensible so I said I want to see the end of this matter because as far as I’m concerned even if they preach to me like that I will not be born again. By the time she finished and asked, do you all want to receive Jesus? All of them lifted up their hands to a message that did not make sense but every one of them was convicted. It was then I knew that it was not by explanation, it was by the operation of the Spirit.
When the Spirit of God begins to operate through an individual, that is when there is conviction and that is what leads to conversion. If the Spirit of God is not working, they may even pray with you and as you go they will just say look at that useless person. They only pray with you so you’ll leave them alone but when the Spirit of God is operating that is when you have genuine conviction and that leads to the conversion of souls.
So please hear this and hear it very well, when you hear such number of souls were won it is not the persons ability, it is the Spirit of God that is at work. So never allocate glory to yourself. Be careful about the description of the operation of the Holy Ghost. Make sure you are conscious about it.
Some time ago I went out with my team and when we came back we saw the amount of souls God gave us, and someone said we tried today and I said we didn’t try. There was nothing we did that contributed to this except the Spirit of God. It is only the Spirit of God that convicts the souls of men so. Everytime you go out and you see souls won, recognize that it is the Spirit of God at work.
May God grant us the grace to maintain this heart of gratitude in the name of Jesus Christ.
Therefore thanksgiving is a requirement for destroying the gates of hell against the continuous growth of the Church. Whenever thanksgiving is offered, barriers are broken.
Acts 16:25-30
- I see the barriers of our next level of supernatural growth broken in the name of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 16:18
It is our thanksgiving that keeps the builder building and when you’re giving thanks to God who is the builder of the Church He cannot but help to build your life.
Jeremiah 30:19
God cannot build His Church and not build your life. As you offer continuous thanks I see Him building your life into next levels of glory.
Lift your hands and your voice and expressly give God thanks. You are the one behind the conviction and the conversion of souls. Lift your voice and give quality thanks unto God. Give glory unto God from the depth of your heart, give praise unto His name from the depth of your heart.
My Father and my God I have come to celebrate You, to celebrate Your faithfulness. You’re worthy of glory, You’re worthy of honour. Unto Your name we give the glory and we give the praise. For the additions, for the convictions we say thank You. Blessed be Your holy name. You’re worthy of all the praise, You’re worthy of all the glory in Jesus precious name we have given thanks.
- For you it will be a season of change of level.
- As you’re thanking God the builder of the Church, He will keep building Your life.
- Your life shall be an open testimony in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s not forget the prophetic instruction that came to us via God’s servant yesterday. Turn the issues of your life into thanksgiving and God will turn them into testimonies. That means that this is your season of testimonies. The God of this Commission will surprise you.
Now speak to the day and make your declarations concerning the day because what you decree is what God will deliver. Thank You mighty God in Jesus precious name we have declared.
- This day is declared open on your behalf as a day of testimonies.
- It’s a new week, it shall be loaded with new blessings.
- Favours from every angle in the name of Jesus Christ. So shall it be in Jesus precious name.
