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CHURCH SERVICE
SUNDAY :20/08/06
MEN’S DAY
PREPARED BY: Sako M. Mwakalobo in the divine presence and influence of the
Holy Spirit.
IN THE HANDS OF THE FATHER, A RESOURCE CENTRE
Praise the Name of the Lord!
I feel great honoured by men’s fellowship to stand here and deliver the
message of God, thanks to church administration and the senior pastor in
particular.
When the leadership of men told me of a privilege to preach, number of
questions came to my mind as to the subject of the message. Later I decided
to calm down and pray to God through Jesus in the Spirit and got a message
for us together.
The Holy Spirit immediately helped me to remember the book of Judah that we
need to keep on reminding each other as the days draws near.
Our message today is titled IN THE HANDS OF THE FATHER,
We thank God almighty who has favoured us and given to us this wonderful
and miraculous day. I saying about FAVOURED because many are asleep today
and others are sick but you have received unmerited favour to be arrive.
What should we say then, if God be for us who can be against us? Is it life
difficulties, financial crisis, marriage problems, hunger? What then?
When the Father FAVOURS us, nothing can separate us from him BUT many times
we don’t realise his favour and loving kindness. We are more than
conquerors through him who loved us.
I thank God who has given me this privilege to deliver his message as a
vessel for his glory. Thanks to Men’s Fellowship and church’s leadership
for this grace and honour.
Brethren, this morning, I would like us to share the word of God titled IN
THE HANDS OF THE FATHER
The Bible says, it is an awesome thing to fall out of the hands of the God
(Father).
Lets pray, Heavenly father, thank you for blessing and honouring us in
Jesus, who sacrificed his life for us. We don’t deserve such a precious
gift, but receive we receive it by trusting in Jesus today. Thanks for
welcoming us home with open arms! Where we believe we will rejoice and
receive help in time of need. May your Holy Spirit take control of this
service this morning in Jesus Christ might name. Lord, minister to us this
morning as a father and renew our lives as we are heading towards eternity
Day by day. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
Our scriptures today comes from the book of Luke 15:11-24 (NKJV) “But when
he came to himself, he said, ” How many of may father’s hired servants have
bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will raise and go to
my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and
before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me
like one of your hired servants. 20 And he rose and come to his father.
But when he was still a great way off, his father say him and had
compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son
said to him, ” Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and
am no longer worthy to be called your son. 22 But the father said to his
servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his
hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring fatted calf here and kill it ,
and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again
; he was lost and is found. And they began to merry.
Jesus illustrates some of God’s wonderful qualities of our heavenly father
in this parable.
This is a good lesson today as we share the men’s fellowship day, brethren,
men are the fathers and today we are challenged on qualities of a good
father through this scripture. The bible gives us some characters of a
father
. He was compassionate (feeling sympathy for people who are suffering,
nice, considerate, thoughtful, sympathetic, benevolent (kind and
generous), compassionate, gentle)
These qualities also helped our father of faith, Abraham to serve the
angels of God when they visited him.
We have a word we use in psychology called mentoring, thus, the qualities
of someone can be used to hold a younger person to portray the same
characteristics. We have one father and it is expected all of us to mentor
from our father of his compassionate qualities.
A good Christian father will do his best to portray characters, which will
help to mentor his family in faith to the son of God.
How often we have lacked faith and say for example you know we are poor and
we cant afford this or that, remember Abraham, when Isaac asked him as to
where is the sheep, he told his child God shall provide.
Who is going to provide to you? Is it your own effort or God’s Grace and
mercy
The Bible says in the Book of John, I have written to you fathers because
you have known him who is the truth. So if we have known the father, what
is expected of us is to portray the characteristics of the father.
This is not natural gift but a learning process so no one should have an
excuse for this. FATHERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE COMPASSIONATE AS THEIR HEAVENLY
FATHER IS
When I was a little boy, I thought that no man is like my fleshly father, I
considered him to be powerful, strong and very intelligent in every
circumstances and that is what every one of us thought of his parents.
But when my father passed away on a road accident when I was just 19 it was
a tragedy. I thought it will be impossible for me to cover the gap.
But, thanks God, that gap made me to realise that I have another even
everlasting compassionate and loving, all mighty God, the true father of
our lives in this word and eternal. From whom we were born not of flesh and
blood but of spirit. We have a compassionate, gentle, kind and generous
father.
There is a story of a very rich young man in a certain village who came
back to his home village for marriage. When he arrived there, there was
this dirty and sick young woman
What is our role to the father, remember, just like a wise woman can
control his husband by understanding his key areas so we children of God
can grasp the maximum blessings from him. We need to know whaT is our role
or what the father would like us to do or what is our father’s will.
. Keep on learning the scriptures since it is the source of power
confess its words day and night in your coming in and coming out
whatever you do think or feel let it be guided and led by scriptures.
The Bible says my people are being destroyed because of lack of
knowledge.
. Never give up (just remember, our children keep on asking us for good
things like bicycles) hold on by faith. The bible tells us a story of
man called Israel, he never gave up in all his life and the same
qualities and characteristics are exhibited by his son and daughter (
the nation of Israel). In the Book of Genesis Israel said, I will not
leave you until you have blessed me.
o Why did he have to ask for blessing, God knew him and he knew
that he needed the blessings and still waited until he asked for
the blessings. Every day and moment you have to ask for Your
father’s blessings
o Our Lord Jesus Christ many times he was asking people as to what
you want me do for you? Don’t you think that Jesus knew every
body? But still he asked what do you want me do for YOU?
o You are the chosen generation, a royal priesthood family , YES,
very good , but until you claim it YOU WILL BE LIKE A PERSON WHO
HAS BEEN ASKED TO COLLECT AS MUCH WATER AS POSSIBLE FROM THE
RIVER BECAUSE THE DRAUGHT COMES AND TOOK JUST A CUP OF WATER,
ACTUALLY PEOPLE LOUGHED AT HIM OR THAT WOMAN WHO WAS OWED MONEY
EVEN TO GIVE HIS CHILDREN IN COMPENSATION, WHEN A MAN OF GOD
ELIA CAME SHE DIDN’T SAY THAT I DON’T HAVE MORE JARS BUT
REQUESTED ADDITIONAL JARS FROM HER NEIGHBORS. You are the
children of the most High God.
. Know the sources of blessings
o Ministry
. Those of you who attended the men’s seminar we don’t need
to overemphasize on this. In summary
. We must minister in the church of God in one way or
another; never sit in the church of God as a back
bencher; not all of us will be pastors, deacons,
teachers or bishops but there are number of
opportunities available such as
o Using your finances to support men and women
of God in their ministrations
o Secret agency services; thus praying for men
and women of God in their endeavour
. You need to know the lifestyle of men and women of
God in the rural areas; may be what you think is your
worst cloth is the best to them; therefore find
opportunity to visit them once in a while and you
will touch the heart of the father.
. Let me share with you of my testimony; some times I
was in need of money for building and acquisition of
a car; actually every door was closed; then one day I
went to my local church in Dar and after morning
services I boarded a bus to go nowhere, I mean a
place I didn’t know; later I was told the bus was
going to kongowe and in my mind I though I was going
to kongowe of Mbagala just to realise later that we
were going to kongowe of Kibaha. All the way long I
was asking the spirit of God to give me peace as to
where to go. When we arrive at Kongowe; I went to the
first church but there was no peace of God there; the
second church no peace ; when I arrive at the third
church , there was abounding peace in my heart; ...
mind you the amount of money was too small.
o When the time was due for me to change my job;
also it was very difficult; but I saw it
clearly that the cloud was no more with me in
that place ( I believe you remember Israel used
to be lead by a cloud of fire by day and
night). So I was to seek for another job; every
time I applied for the job I usually find it
hard to deliver my application; you know always
pharaoh will want to retain us. Later I went to
visit a man of God in Bagamoyo .
. Never get satisfied
o Last week the Bishop read scriptures form the book of
Philippians and quoted apostle Paul saying, it is not that I
have already won but I am pressing on, actually what I am doing
is to forget the immediate past and press on forward towards the
rest
o The reason of many people failure in this world is to be
satisfied with the past, do you remember that rich man, when he
harvested his crops and filled in his stores, he said, oh now
relax my soul let you enjoy of your labour, BUT immediately the
Lord said today they need your soul
o Never say enough is enough because we are pilgrims on our
journey to heaven, our 70 years here on earth is non sense than
the might more glory with the Lord which we will live forever
o The day you will say, oh I have given so much for the Ministry,
you know I have sacrificed a lot or I have preached so much or I
have done so and so IS a day of your calamity and troubles; do
you remember Job, he was real successful and from no where,
unprepared the enemy attacked him and he was brought to square
one
o Our father of faith Abraham was rich and prosperous and become
very prosperous, the bible does not say when he got his Mercedes
Benz and built his house he was satisfied . NO NO NO at all he
kept on pressing for more and more
o the main reason as to why many of us are failure today is
because we are satisfied too soon. When the bible says holiness
and satisfaction is a good thing it does not mean as a father
you have to keep on providing your children with ” Porridge
without rice” no to that , if such thing happen it should be
temporal and not permanent , do you remember those servants who
were given talents one ten, another five and another one one;
then that one who was given one didn’t do any thing but put the
talent under the soil, every body remembers what happened later.
o You need thing big as a father and mother , you know since the
woman is the helper of her husband the same mind set we expect
in men should equally be exhibited by women. Work hard and
hard, two weeks age a servant of God preached here on UNLOCKING
YOUR HIDDEN TALENTS, he told us not to sit idle and wait for
miracles, press on. I am telling you in Jesus name , from
experience all those people who pressed on towards the way of
success by faith they have become successful. Change your mind
set and attitude and no success is your BIRTHRIGHT and no one
should take it form you. BUT, BUT please I do repeat this NEVER
RICH A POINT OF SATURATION (FEELING SATFIED YOUR SELF) YOU WILL
BE MAKING AN APPOINTMENT WITH FAILURE. Men should work hard and
hard. If you are a student don’t be satisfied with the B you
have got press on to get an A+, don’t say , oh after all I am
old enough , no we want young men and women of God to take lead
in every thing they do. How come you sleep a peaceful night with
your C, how possible? What testimony will you tell after your
studies, let me tell you , your prosperity does not depend on
your I.Q. and call it whatever name! You are more than blessed
in him we believe, Open up you eyes the enemy is robbing you of
your super blessings giving you only the trashes and funny
enough you are just satisfied and happy! Oh you know, this is
the will of God in Jesus Christ, brethren, YOU ARE WHAT YOU
THINK YOU ARE! If you are not carefully you will be just like a
log, which no matter how long it stays in the water it cannot be
a fish. Think great, become great and live great! No matter of
the circumstances, no matter what is happening around us , we
are more than conquerors through him who loved us. The Bible
says, our father know the thought he have for us, that is to
provide us with the good future both in this world and the world
to come.
o Apostle Paul told the earlier church that you have not yet
struggled to the point of shedding your blood, keep on pressing
hard, the father have good things in storehouse for you and me.
You know the child of the President will keep on being oppressed
by puppets and other people who will take advantage of him
unless he KNOWS HIS RIGHTS, PRIVELDEGES, IMMUNITY AND POWERS. I
challenge you this morning, IN JESUS CHRIST MIGHT NAME, that
unless you keep on studying the scriptures through personal
reading, church gathering and meditating on the world you will
never UNLOCK YOUR UNLIMITED POTENTIALS.
In one of apostle Paul’s mission tour , he was challenged by the
people of Bedoa who used to search the scriptures for every word
that he preached. How many times you have taken your private
time to search for scriptures basing on the message we get in
the house of the Lord? In this year alone what HOW MANY CHAPTERS
IN THE BIBLE YOU ARE PLANNING TO READ? YOU HAVE 365 DAY GIVEN TO
YOU LIKE ANY OTHER MAN IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. SOME OF US WILL
READ THE WHOLE BIBLE FOR TWO OR THREE TIMES AND OTHERS WILL WAIT
TO THE TIME WHEN THE LORD COMES BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID. Any
person who is afraid to listen to his father’s directives is
like a bastard son, he is not a joint heir of the kingdom of
God. You cannot operate a machine without an instruction manual,
whether documented , implicitly or explicitly. THE BIBLE IS OUR
INSTRUCTION MANUAL TOWARDS SUCCESS. BUT IT MUST BE UNDER THE
LEADERSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRITY. LIKE IT IS DANGEROUS TO DRIVE A
CAR WITHOUT OIL SO IS TO READ THE BIBLE WITHOUT PRAYER AND THE
HOLY SPIRIT.
. Sin should never be mentioned in midst of you. The bible says
righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a shame to every nation.
o Most of men they would like their children to be model of good
character and virtue. We expected our children to live what we
tell them to do. Our hearts are highly pleased when we see our
children are people we can trust and share with them in a truth
and mutual understanding. We really thank God when a child grows
up in the way we think is good for our Christianity. Especially
during teenage.
o But, is very disheartening and demoralises us when you get news
of our children evil behaviour many times we react by saying, no
it cant be so, and it might take months for us to believe the
reality. I remember one friend of mine was told of his child’s
infidelity at school, and he kept on not believing , YOU KNOW IT
IS BETTER YOU BELIVE ABOUT THAT AND START PRAYING FOR GOD’S
INTERVENTION, THAN BE CHEATED BY THE FATHER OF LIES AND ACT WHEN
IT IS TOO LATE. He realised the truth after the child completed
form six and scored division one but was HIV positive. You
parents know what this man experienced in his heart, mind and
soul. YOU CAN RUN MENTAL YOU KNOW
o So this is the same to our heavenly father, you can easily
acquire Spiritual Immunodeficiency Virus (SIDS) and be swayed by
all manner of filthiness and sin. Do you remember what Ephesians
6 says, please brethren stand firm because we wrestle not
against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in
heavenly places). Sin, whether adultery, fornication, lies,
backbiting or greed put you vurnarable to enemies’ fiery darts.
But God is faithful who have sent unto us the Lord Jesus Christ,
our elder brother to redeem us from all manner of sin. You know
we are in God’s household family.
. Work very hard, the bible says whoever does no work should not eat,
never sit idle anywhere in your lifetime, always find a way to do
something. You are all aware that an idle mind is devils workshop.
o I warn those people living with fellow Christian brothers or
sisters, don’t be a burden to your brother but be a blessings.
In the Bible all men and women who lived to either heathen or
fellow brothers in Christ had bundle of blessings to them.
Remember Israel, Moses, Abraham, Elijah and many others time is
not enough to describe each one of them
. When I completed my form four. I taught tuition to my
neighbours children and get some stipend money in Mbeya,
but You cant teach if you have not been smart at the
beginning and after form six I taught English to some
classes in Dar. Young men at school be very serious and
God’s grace will supplement your dear effort.
. No body is born to be nobody, change your mindset. There
are no curses in Israel so don’t say. Oh I need deliverance
and you know in our family there are curses stop it! The
day you accepted Christ Jesus to be your Lord and saviour
heaven blocked every course and forces affecting you life
. If you are not careful, you will be cheated by taken
advantage by so and so deliverance school. Brethren the
food we are getting here is more than sufficient for your
breakthrough. Don’t be cheated by peddlers, so called
financial prosperity prophets or ministries. Money is
useless if your spirit is dead. Ask those people with money
they have become slaves to themselves
. Success is in you hands by hard working but you need to be
carefully, which hard working. A story of Henry
Ford…........... There must be Gods favour. The bible
says he gives sleep to his anointed.
. Remember your role and fathers role works only if you have fellowship
with one another. If we walk in the righ as he is in the right , we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanse us from all unrighteousness (John 1:7). Those who are
ready now to start walking with our heavenly father lift up your one
hand and hold one hand on you heart.
. Lets pray, ....
. Any one who want to join the family of the living most high God ,
please lift up your hands.. The pastor will pray for you after this
service.
God bless you in Jesus Christ name.
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