WE ARE NOT NOISEMAKERS, WE ARE NEWSMAKERS!
THERE IS NO MEMORY WITHOUT SACRIFICE!
A GRATEFUL CHURCH IS KNOWN FOR THEIR PRAISE HABIT! THEIR DANCE EXPRESSIONS! AND THEIR SHOUTING LIFESTYLE!
THE CHURCH IS NOT A VICTIM! THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE NEVER VICTIMS! WE RULE IN DOMINION, WE EXPRESS OURSELVES IN GRATITUDE!
IF YOU ARE WONDERING AND ASKING, “ARE THESE PEOPLE NOISE MAKERS?” NO! WE ARE NEWSMAKERS!
ONE OF OUR MARKS IN THANKSGIVING AND GRATITUDE TO GOD IS THAT WE WOULD HUMBLE OURSELVES TO PRAISE HIM LIKE NEVER BEFORE!
THERE ARE MAJOR TIMES AND SENSIBLE, SEASONAL TIMES THAT GOD EXPECTS THAT WE COME TO SAY, ‘THANK YOU’! TO HIM!
YOU MAY NOT HAVE CASH IN YOUR WALLET, BUT THERE ARE CERTAIN AMOUNTS OF MONEY AND SAVINGS THAT YOU HAVE, THAT WHEN YOU THINK OF THEM, YOUR CONFIDENCE INCREASES!
EVERY ACT OF THANKSGIVING TO GOD SPEAKS IN THE FUTURE FOR US!
– Reverend Godwin I. ABBA on “THE FRAGRANCE OF THANKSGIVING” || Word Alive Centre International, Abuja || Combined Service
-We do not take any moment and Act of His Presence at all for granted! We give You all the praise, Master! What we’ve waited for has come to pass- See what The Lord has done! Your Mercies to families and individuals! Church Gist. Your Mercies to us as a Commission and as a people! Your Mercies to us as a nation and as citizens! We thank you Father, we do not take any of these for granted! In the Name of Jesus!
A grateful Church is known for their praise habit! Their dance expressions! And their shouting lifestyle! We are never ashamed to praise This God! Eternally grateful to Him even at the sight of the anger of satan! Church Gist. We are eternally grateful! He said, “The Lord shall go up with a shout!”- A symbol of victory, a sight that He is in-charge!
The Church is not a victim! The people of God are never victims! We rule in dominion, we express ourselves in gratitude! Church Gist. One of our marks in thanksgiving and gratitude to God is that we would humble ourselves to praise Him like never before! That’s the God we serve!
I wanna welcome us once again to the rounding off Sunday of our Word and Power Convention (WAPCON) 2022 and by the grace of God, I want to welcome us to our 2022 annual thanksgiving! God is forever a Faithful God! Church Gist. If there is nothing for me to thank God for, seeing you seated the way that you are and dressed, is enough reason for me to say, “Father, thank you!” Because I didn’t come to the hospital seeing any of you, hanging your legs with Plaster of Paris (POP).
I’m here to say, “Thank you, Father”. That we are not gathered to mourn you! I’m here to say, “Thank you, Father!” That you were not kept in prison and they are looking for who to bail or bring you out! We are here to say, “Thank you, Father!” That the devil tried all that he could but he failed woefully! Church Gist. We are here to express our gratitude to God!
Praise God! His Presence is so awesome here! How many of you have been blessed from Monday till date? Has it been awesome? Church Gist. Are you sure? Can you express it with a shout of praise! Please in case today is your first time! I was about to say something and please I wasn’t interrupted- It’s part of the service!
And in case today is your first time here, and you are asking: “Na only shout dem dey shout here?” No! Please, this shout we are shouting is as a result of what God did for us yesterday! We know where we are coming from! We know how much God has helped us! We know what God has done in our lives! Church Gist. In the Name of Jesus! If you are wondering and asking, “Are these people noise makers?” No! We are newsmakers!
Give God praise forever! For the testimonies, breakthroughs, healings and the salvation of souls! Don’t worry, you will receive a sound teaching very soon- A very short one! And then we go into thanksgiving! If I have my way, I won’t preach today! Church Gist. We will just thank God and dance like babies before him and then leave!
But it’s important that we hear the Word of God, so open up your Spirit man because your life is about to change now! So this morning, I’m going to be teaching on, ‘THE FRAGRANCE OF THANKSGIVING’. Mark 14:3-9. Permit me to behave like a Pastor today, I didn’t behave like one before now! …And they murmured against her! And Jesus said, “Let her alone, why trouble her? Is it your spikenard? Is it your fragrance? Church Gist. Is it your ointment? If you can’t give, why not let her give? Mark 14:6. No memory without sacrifice! Mark 14:9. This Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world! Even inside the pit, even under the waters! As long as it is the preaching of this Gospel, this also shall be spoken of, for her as a memorial!
The Bible told us the story of a woman called Mary. And this woman happens to have a lot of history. Unfortunately before now, her histories were all negative histories! If you read the Luke version of this woman, The Bible referred to her as a sinful woman, a notorious sinner in the city! When she came to pour the oil on the head of Jesus. Church Gist. There were Pharisees, Sadducees and the disciples of Jesus Christ themselves that surrounded Jesus as at this time.
The Pharisees were those who were considered to be without sin by human standard, they understood the Laws of Moses and understood The Book of Psalms from chapter one to one hundred and fifty. They can quote it by heart. The religious bodies respected them so much. The Sadducees have their own doctrines and their own beliefs. Church Gist. And then the disciples of Jesus were those that stayed around Him, anywhere that Jesus went, they went!
It was in the midst of these holy, righteous people that a sinner came in! Broke the alabaster box of oil and the same people now began to complain that this thing this woman has done was a waste of resources, she should have sold it for three hundred pence and then be given to the poor. And Jesus heard them and also read their mind and said, “I know your thoughts, the poor you have always with you but me, not always”. Church Gist. In other words, there are major times and sensible, seasonal times that God expects that we come to say, ‘Thank you’! To Him!
Last year or two years ago, it was a thanksgiving service like this. And a woman gathered some bundle of cash to come and give thanks. Church Gist. She said while she stood from her seat and came forward for thanksgiving, another woman who sat by her said, ” Aha! Madam! Na all these things you wan give Church? As I dey like this I never chop for three days, give me some na!” I’m not tell us home movies or mere stories, I’m telling us realities!
Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you”. When it comes to appreciating me, there are seasons that you should not play with. Church Gist. And beloved, in giving thanks to God, this is one major season that you and I shouldn’t play with!
The first question is: Who is Mary of Bethany?
i.Mary of Bethany was a known prostitute
ii.Mary of Bethany happens to be the sister of Martha and Lazarus the one that died in John chapter eleven that Jesus went to resurrect!
iii.Mary of Bethany was a well known woman, very popular in Bethany that when The Bible was to describe her, The Bible did not describe her to her Father’s name. The Bible described her to her notoriety in the city. Church Gist. In other words, she happens to be one of the movers and shakers of the city in Bethany. It’s not possible to step into Bethany and not know Mary.
Mary kind of announced the city of Bethany that when you mention Mary, people hear Bethany! When you mention Bethany, people hear Mary! That was how popular she was and that was why when she came in to do what she did, the people around there carried out all manner of negative expressions!
2.What was the nature of the perfume that Mary brought into Simon’s house to break and pour on the head of Jesus?
i.The perfume was a precious perfume. When you hear that something is precious, it’s as good as saying that the thing is as important as life itself!- That’s how precious the oil is!
ii.It was a perfume with sweet savour! Sweet smell! Not a negative odor! The Bible refers to certain offerings and sacrifices as sweet smelling sacrifices!
iii.It was the product and the sweat of her hard earned living! Church Gist. In those days, perfumes were like jewelry in our time. Like gold! When you wanna save money, what most people do today is to buy gold and keep. With the understanding that the price of the money will increase as the day goes on!
So then, what most people do is to put their treasures and treasuries in precious oil! The way we have precious diamonds, precious jewelries! Those days, it was precious oil! Church Gist. As it is in our days, people make money in the tens of hundreds, thousands and millions and use it to buy gold and either keep in the bank in the name that as time goes on, the value will increase and they will sell! That was how in those days, they bought precious oil! So the entire earnings of Mary were in this alabaster box of oil- Everything that she laboured for!
iv.It was her hope and her confidence. You may not have cash in your wallet, but there are certain amounts of money and savings that you have, that when you think of them, your confidence increases! There is an amount of money you have in your account that remembering them alone can make you cross your legs and hands! And people would be wondering, ‘Why is this person smiling like a mad man?’- There is something that you have somewhere that just gives you hope! That no matter what happens, the future is secure! In that box of alabaster oil was the hope and confidence of Mary! Like saying, ‘Every labour that I have laboured is intact in this box’! Church Gist. Anytime the ground shakes, it’s just for me to take a drop and sell to make enough money!
v.It was her future savings! Everything you see in that oil was Mary’s future. That was the future of Mary that she brought to blast at the feet of Jesus!
vi.It was an expensive oil. The three hundred pence of the amount that these people mention was just to be on the conservative side! Church Gist. You know, when you wanna drop your property as a guarantee or collateral in the bank, there is a stipulated amount that it can be sold if the market is too bad! So they meant that if the market is too bad, this thing should not be sold for less than 300 pence as at then. But the real value was far more than that, why? Because it was an expensive oil.
One of the worst mindsets of people is that when it comes to thanksgiving and giving, give God your worst! And such mindsets are upside-down. Church Gist. A mindset that if you would be remembered at all, it will be for destruction and not for distinction! Behind every thanksgiving, is a thanks giver! When it came to the appreciation of Jesus, by the blasting of the alabaster box, there was somebody that owned the oil and the person was absolutely willing to burst it at the feet of Jesus!
What is that thing that is too precious and expensive for you and I to give? When Jesus weighed what this woman did, He concluded by saying, “Any place that This Gospel would be preached, the action this woman has done shall be mentioned in memorial! Church Gist. We thank God for what He’s done for us, we thank God for what He is doing right now and we are thanking God for what He will do in future! But the clear truth is this: Every act of thanksgiving to God speaks in the future for us!
-I pray for someone hearing my voice, may your thanksgiving today speak for you in 2023, at the end of this month, your next generation and children’s children! In the Name of Jesus Christ!
How is Thanksgiving expressed?
1.It is expressed through gratitude. Many don’t understand why Mary came to blast the alabaster box of oil at the feet of Jesus! Church Gist. In John chapter eleven, it was Jesus that came to resurrect the brother of Mary when he died! Mary will know that by the virtue of history and story, to be a notorious prostitute!
A prostitute that her name become synonymous with her city. And her city name became synonymous with hers. Nobody ever believed that this woman will change one day! It was that same woman in Luke 10:38 that Jesus invested His time to mentor.
You wonder why a woman with such a negative history will, after everything she has gone through, come to blast the alabaster box of oil, her lifetime earning at the feet of Jesus, because she was mentored well. When people, family and the city gave up on her, Jesus didn’t give up on her! If we understand all that God has done for us, thanking God will not be a difficult thing! Church Gist. Expressing our gratitude to God will never be a difficult thing!
2.Through humble expression. If not the Lord who has been on our side? Let Israel say! People saw us jumping and dancing and celebrating- I knew where God had brought me from! And the things that He has helped me to escape! Letting God know that you know, that if it had not been Him on your side, that flight would not have landed! Church Gist. And possibly if it has landed, it would have crashed! The vehicle that you travelled by may not have gotten to the destination! If it has gotten there at all, it could have gotten there as a scrape, the Lord kept you!
An elder came to thank God for the daughter that went through the university, graduated and went for National Service and passed out successfully and someone is asking, “Is this the first time that someone is graduating?” No! It is not the first time graduating but it is not all that graduated alive! If you know what God has done for you, it will humble you! Church Gist. When you see people whose shoulders are high, they are people with no history in their working relationship with God!- They forget so quickly what God does for them!
3.Through the manifestation of loyalty! What is it that will make this woman called Mary to blast the alabaster box at the feet of Jesus? It takes loyalty! She has boyfriends, male friends and her own family! Church Gist. She could use it to build houses and to buy cars but her loyalty to Jesus was so strong that she couldn’t fake it! In Acts 5, The Bible gave us a story of a couple called Ananias and Sapphira, they sold their properties like other people did and then pretended to bring part of the money to the Church so that they could be seen as others who gave their all!
They came at the time when the Church was filled so that people could see them and say, ‘Wow, these are the financial sponsors of the Church and hail them!’ When Ananias came, Peter asked, “Why would you lie to me? Despite all that the Lord has done, you could still be disloyal to Him?” He said, “Well, because you lied to the Holy Spirit, your life ends here!” And he died. And then the wife came three hours later! It’s a terrible thing to go to Church late! Church Gist. Very terrible! And the woman said, “I came to bring another part” And Peter said, why would you lie like your husband? Acts 5:3-5. We can fake it before people but we cannot fake it before God!
-I pray for someone today, that God will teach you how to be loyal!
4.Through Material things. We don’t come before God empty handed. She bursted the alabaster box before God. It is time to express our sacrifice of thanksgiving! Jesus said, “Let this woman be mentioned, wherever This Gospel shall be preached, as a memorial”. Church Gist. If it were to be in our days and this woman steps in looking for favour and someone refuses to help her, somebody else will step up and say, “In case you don’t know, this was the woman that bursted her alabaster box before Jesus, she deserves a favour!
-May your thanksgiving speak for you daily! May it become your voice in the future!
——–ALTAR CALL—–
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