THE MINUTES OF ALL OF OUR MEETINGS (SINCE INCEPTION) ARE HERE TODAY IN HANDWRITING OF THE SECRETARY WHO IS STILL ALIVE
SERVING GOD IS BUSINESS
YOU DON’T TREAT GOD’S BUSINESS WITH LEVITY AND EXPECT HIM TO TREAT YOU WITH DIGNITY
KINGDOM BUSINESS DEMANDS DILIGENCE FOR MAXIMUM DELIVERY IN TERMS OF RESULTS AND REWARDS
FOR OUR SERVICE TO BE ACCEPTABLE, WE MUST SERVE GOD RIGHTEOUSLY WITH INTEGRITY OF PURPOSE
SERVING GOD WITHOUT JOY IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
MANY CHRISTIANS HAVE NOT KEYED INTO KINGDOM STEWARDSHIP BECAUSE THEY ARE YET TO ENCOUNTER THE POWER (SPIRIT)
EVERY BODY NEEDS EMPOWERMENT FOR UNTIRING, FAITHFUL, FRUITFUL, EVER INCREASING STEWARDSHIP
THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE SPIRIT INTOXICATES PEOPLE. YOU SAY THE UNSAYABLE, THINK THE UNTHINKABLE
WHOSOEVER DESIRES A CHANGE OF LEVELS MUST BE DEDICATED TO FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP WITH THE FEAR OF GOD AS A LIFESTYLE
LIGHT IS SWEET BUT ITS EFFECT REQUIRES EMPOWERMENT. THE LIGHT YOU DON’T WALK IN CANNOT ADD VALUE TO YOUR LIFE
THERE IS NO ONE WHO HATES GOING FORWARD IN LIFE
MOST OF THE TIME WE COME TO THE WORD TO LEARN THE PRINCIPLES BUT THE SPIRIT DIMENSION OF THE WORD IS NEGLECTED
IT IS NOT MATTHEW 6:33 PRINCIPLE THAT ENTERED ME, IT WAS THE POWER (SPIRIT)
ENCOUNTER WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE WORD DOES NOT ONLY SHOW YOU THE LIGHT OF THE WORD BUT EMPOWERS YOU TO WALK IN IT
WE NEED TO BE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE SPIRIT TO PICK WHAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS SAYING TO EMPOWER US TO WALK IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURES WITHOUT STRUGGLING
KINGDOM ADVANCEMENT ENDEAVOUR IS GOD’S AGENDA FOR OUR DESIRED CHANGE OF STORY
– Bishop David Oyedepo on UNVEILING THE BREAKTHROUGH POWER OF KINGDOM STEWARDSHIP 6 at Midweek Communion Service || 27th March 2024 || LFC Canaanland ||
– Something is going to be turned loose in everyone’s life tonight in the name of Jesus
Pray: Lord give me my own pre-Easter encounter tonight!
From Scriptures we understand that Kingdom Advancement endeavours is God’s agenda for our desired change of story. So it’s not mere religious activities – Exodus 23:25-26 – you shall serve and I will change your story – simple! There’s no one who hates a change of story. Church Gist. There’s no one who hates going forward in life. Everybody wants it, but that’s the platform upon which it’s delivered. My prayer tonight is that the Spirit of Stewardship will come upon your life and set each of us on a new realm of faithful and fruitful stewardship.
UNVEILING THE BREAKTHROUGH POWER OF STEWARDSHIP. We are in the last part of this teaching today. That subject implies: breakthrough power resides in Kingdom Stewardship, that Kingdom Stewardship is a covenant platform for commanding supernatural breakthroughs in life. Malachi 3:17-18; Malachi 4:1-2. So Kingdom Advancement Stewardship is the platform for commanding supernatural breakthroughs in the Kingdom. Church Gist. But while standing before the Lord I came to this understanding: most of the time we come to the Word to learn the principles – that’s the ordinary side of it. John 6:63. That’s why I said earlier, may the spirit of servant hood come upon each one afresh tonight!
The Spirit dimension of the Word is neglected, is forgotten. Ezekiel 2:2. So what you call, encounter in the Word is encounter with the spirit of the Word that does not only show you but empowers you to walk in it. Acts 10:44. The light of the Word is not enough, empowerment to walk in it is the issue. But you can’t catch the Spirit of the Word without sitting on the edge of your chair. 2 Kings 2:10, 15. People are not concentrating, people are not sensitive, people are not sitting on the edge of their chair, they’re too comfortable. Church Gist. “Oh yeah, yeah yeah, that’s Acts 10:44, I read it 2 days ago.” Acts 10:44 – they were all sitting on the edge of their chair or with their feet hanging in the sky. They caught it, the Holy Ghost came on them. We have seen quite some light by the help of the Holy Spirit in the charismatic movement but we now need the power of the Word – the power content of the Word, the Spirit content of the Word to come on us to enable us walk in it. John 10:17-18. The Father knows that we need power to operate in the light of the Word that we receive. John 6:63. We’ve been running about … without the power to operate it.
One day many years ago, a man was ministering and 2 Corinthians 3:7 came out alive from his Word as he was preaching. 2 Corinthians 3:7-8. So, this is more glorious than what Daniel carried, more glorious than what Joseph carried. Sir, I was experiencing sparks in my brain – pom pom pom (demonstrates sparks). It was the power not the principle. 2 Peter 3:9 (RSV) – “God is not slow…” how can you be carrying that about since 1970? The power to walk in the realm of patience without apprehension. Church Gist. I saw this Church ministry grew from 6 to 9 to 10, no pressure, from what happened 1970 from 2 Peter 3:9. RSV was the Bible (version) we were using then. “God is not slow” – it entered me and stayed there – that’s the power content. It’s not Matthew 6:33 principle that entered me, it was the power; that made me sell out all that I may ever be or have. No, that can’t be principle.
If you encounter the power of Stewardship, it becomes a seamless engagement. You’re not driving it, you’re now being driven. That becomes a most majestic ride. You’re not pitying yourself, you’re just enjoying the fun of Stewardship. Isaiah 42:3-4 – ever self encouraged. I can tell you this: what God does and doesn’t do, does not affect me. Church Gist. But he’s a Covenant Keeping God, so if I will be faithful to my part of what is commanded, I can be rest assured of his part. There’s no point you say, “God don’t forget.” No, he’s too smart for that. We need access to the Spirit of the Word to walk in the light thereof.
How do I encounter the Spirit?
Now listen to me: I know God is asking me to say this -: Revelation 1:10. So you can’t be roaming about town and hear. You have to be a man, a woman of the Spirit. Church Gist. You’re consciously in the Spirit, every time you’re in your devotion, every time you’re sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearing his Word like this, every time you’re studying, you’re in the Spirit.
I was reading, “Following God’s plan for your life” February 1995, I lost a very dear friend and I need to recoup myself and you know, get back on my feet. So I was reading that book in that little hotel room in Ghana and then God just showed up: “why are you asking me for another land when you have not used the one I gave you?” I wasn’t asking, but I was tuned in and he showed up to give instruction and direction on what to do. Please be in the Spirit. Church Gist. One word stirred up our Church growth. Yonggi Cho said, “growth means change.” You can’t grow without embracing the place of change to effect the growth you’re looking for. So we came up then and said, “the only permanent thing in this Commission is change.” Change of level requires change of stand, change of approach, but one Word. Ezekiel 2:2. We need to be men and women of the Spirit to pick what the Spirit of God is saying. That’s what empowers us to walk in the light of Scriptures without struggling for it.
Luke 5:17; Ecclesiastes 8:4. So His word is not just about life applicable principles but about empowerment to realize those principles in our lives. What I saw in 1980 reading Kenneth Hagin’s book is not the principle – “himself took my infirmities,” it’s the last statement of that book. Certain times you need to go to the end; that was the last thing he quoted in 7 Keys to Divine Healing. Church Gist. Matthew 8:17. …and as if I saw him carrying those things on his head. I never saw him return it, so I screamed, “yeah, I can never be sick.” – August 31st 1980. Encounters are not easy to forget. Encounters stick themselves to you particularly when you are walking in it. So the encounter is not just the light but the power that comes along with it. There is no way to teach stewardship; without being empowered for it, you just get entertained. “Oh yeah, some people have the gift, others don’t have. I don’t have the gift and God knows I don’t have the gift. I can’t imagine myself going out. I mean, what will I say when I go out?” (One may say) – He has not been empowered.
The empowerment of the Spirit intoxicates people. When the Holy Ghost first came, they said they were drunk. Did you not read that? Real, raw empowerment intoxicates people. Ephesians 5:18. It intoxicates; when you find a Christian walking normally he has a problem. It intoxicates people – you say the unsayable, think the unthinkable – the encounter driving you. Can a normal man come around and say, one billion witches cannot stand on my way? No! It takes you off the normal realm. Just by saying that “we are raised together with him and made to sit together with him in heavenly places… – Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians 1:21,” I didn’t hear, I saw. Church Gist. I didn’t only see the light, I encountered the power. You will be running a risk Sir if only you saw the principle and you’re inviting witches for salvation. That’s the day you will be saved. They stood up in numbers – my God I said, “okay, you come in, tell me what you do with the devil.” You have been empowered over them, not by any particular skill but by encounter with the power back of the Word. If there’s anything tonight, my thinking is, “please pray for a one time encounter with the Spirit of Stewardship that will keep driving you from one realm of glory to another.”
We’ve taught quite a bit on stewardship in this Church: I mean Covenant Hour of Prayer, WSF- Winners Satellite Fellowship, Service Unit, every day every day. So why are people still not moving? They have not encountered the power. They are yet to encounter the power. Church Gist. I told some of my associates at work and said, “I’ve gotten to a point that even if I don’t want to work, work is working me. It’s not that I don’t want to work. If I say I don’t want to work, it doesn’t mind, it’s working me. The thing working is inside.” But to watch opportunity pass you by, it’s not normal. It’s the power we lack and that power is in the Word.
Can I say something? There’s a ministry – a close ministry to us and then she read, “Wonders of Stewardship” and they planted about 100 Churches. That is, power in the Word got it up. Others are saying, “(sighs) Papa can talk. Who can do this thing? Who can? Huh? We should be sociable?” I mean, she bought copies of it, gave to all their leaders – eruption! Light is sweet but its effect requires empowerment. The light you don’t walk in cannot add value to your life. Light is sweet but empowerment is a must for light to live out maximally. Church Gist. What if I saw that and I couldn’t act on it? I will still be under their pressure but now I walk through the valley of the shadow of death and no fear and you hear me say, “light never fears darkness, it’s darkness that fears light.” …when you’re walking in it.
Every body needs empowerment for untiring stewardship, faithful stewardship, fruitful stewardship, ever increasing stewardship. 1 John 5:7. It’s just like you have your mango fruit: you have the skin of the fruit, the fruit itself – the tissues and then you have the seed inside. Church Gist. It’s one. We need the power. Tonight being the last teaching in our series, receive fresh empowerment for tireless stewardship, foe ever increasing stewardship, for profitable stewardship, for faithful stewardship.
The Commandments for acceptable stewardship:
Not every service is acceptable – we’ve been dealing with that since the month began. Hebrews 12:28. There are requirements for acceptable stewardship.
In the foundation of it all is the fear of God as a lifestyle. What is acceptable stewardship? Acceptable stewardship supernaturally changes believer’s levels. Our stewardship cannot be acceptable and we remain at the same spot. Peter with all his heart gave his boat to Jesus, his story changed forever – Luke 5:5-10 and he was named the Rock. He stood as a rock on the day of Pentecost. Church Gist. Whosoever be among us that desires a change of levels must be dedicated to faithful stewardship. Luke 19:12-13. “I’m coming to reward you quickly; make sure you’re there when I come, no one can receive it for you.”
– May you not be off your duty post a day to the time he comes!
– May you not be off your duty post an hour before he comes!
– May you be found on duty when the rewarder shows up! – That’s why we need empowerment.
But for our service to be acceptable, we must serve God righteously with integrity of purpose, no games, no gimmicks. Church Gist. Hebrews 12:28; Matthew 7:21-23. The value of stewardship can only be secured through the raw fear of God as a lifestyle.
2. We must serve him willingly. 2 Corinthians 8:12; 1 Corinthians 9:17; Isaiah 1:19 – no coercions, no pressurisations, only willing stewardship is acceptable to God.
3. You must serve him faithfully. It is required of stewards that a man be found faithful. Church Gist. 1 Corinthians 4:2. It’s a great qualifier for stewardship to be profitable. Proverbs 28:20.
4. We must serve him heartily: Ephesians 6:6. We saw that illustrated in Jeremiah 30:19-21. Change of level requires stewardship from the heart.
5. We must serve him joyfully: God loves a cheerful giver, a cheerful labourer – 2 Corinthians 9:7, not a stone faced labourer, not a reactive labourer. Joel 1:12. Whenever joy withers, harvest is destroyed. Church Gist. Deuteronomy 28:47-48. Serving God without joy is counterproductive. The Lord gave me this gift 1977. It stuck to me. I’ve been reading that chapter long time but those 2 verses stuck to me and it was so real, so tangible.
6. You must serve him diligently: Hebrews 11:6. He’s a rewarder of them that “diligently” seek him, not casually, diligently – business likely. Not fighting as one that beateth the air – what will happen will happen – no, business likely. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. You hardly find a careless student during the exam – do you? They say he’s wayward, this time he is workward. Church Gist. If he is studying he won’t answer you. He’s the greatest fighter in that school but you say, “you’re very stupid” – (he won’t answer you) “hmmm, when I finish this exam I will show you. He is disciplined by it, he wants to make it.
You don’t treat God’s business with levity and expect him to treat you with dignity. Proverbs 22:29. Kingdom business demands diligence for maximum delivery in terms of results and rewards. Galatians 6:8-9. So spiritual investment has life everlasting package for those who do it acceptably. Church Gist. 1 Corinthians 15:58. Jesus did not come to play, he said, I must work… John 9:4. Several times are not time for food and his mission is to save his people from their sins – that’s why he came. Matthew 1:21; John 18:37; Luke 2:49.
In the natural if you don’t face your business as business, you will soon be out of business. If there’s no difference between income and capital, you just finish everything one day and say, “Ehhh I don’t know what happened.” You happened! Your unbusinesslike approach finished it. Won’t you be glad today to see that there was a time we were #12 in a month? Church Gist. We had a flourishing teaching ministry by the grace of God before we started Church ministry. We were not taking offering in our meeting – we just tell you, “there’s a box out there, you brought things for the Lord, drop it.” They just pass. Giving was not known as part of our covenant responsibility, we don’t even know covenant yet we never lacked. Business like! The minutes of all of our meetings are here today in handwriting of the Secretary who is still alive. Do business as business. You say, “I was doing last year, well I just thank God.” So many are afraid to bring auditors to their account because there is something you will find there: he has grabbed money to go for burial, to go for naming ceremony, if he has a clerk he just says, “come, bring how much o…20,000.” He says, “the sale we have made is 49 (49,000).” “Okay, bring the 49.” Is that now capital or profit? Everything!
If you are in our Executive meeting you will be wondering whether we are making decisions for UNO – (United Nations Organisation now United Nations). We will be driving that meeting till 1 am in the night, we will be rendering account of how the month went. Church Gist. You better do business as business, serving God is business. I caught it early, many have caught it in this Church and it shows in their lives – please catch it. In conclusion, for everyone whose heart is open, the Spirit of stewardship has descended on your life!
Watch out from today, you will not be easily discouraged anymore!
Your patience will reach the sky in the name of Jesus!
Give him thanks
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