Pastor Tosin Sowemimo @ Sunday first service
Pastor Tosin Sowemimo has reminded believers of the nature of their relationship with God, describing it as blood-bought. This reminder came in her message during the first service at The Fountain of Life Church headquarters on Sunday, August 7th, 2022.
She took her main text from Hebrews 6:13, explaining to the congregation that their relationship with God was secured by the blood of Jesus. This, she said, makes it different from any other form of relationship. “It is not an ordinary covenant paid by something that cannot suffice,” she said.
Also, reading from Psalm 89:34 and Deuteronomy 7:9, Pastor Sowemimo told the congregation that God is committed to fulfilling His promises. She said that the prayers of the righteous will always get to God.
While people change, she said God remains the same for all ages. “He is God. The faithful God cannot go back on what He said. Circumstances and situations cannot cause Him to change,” she said.
According to the clergy, the various names people identified God with were their experiences with Him. She reminded her listeners that though Nigeria is facing challenges, they should be of good cheer because the country will overcome them. “It is not only Nigeria. It is the whole world. Everyone is being affected, but our God remains God,” she said.
She continued, “Know therefore that the Lord our God is God. He is in full control of all that is happening. It is not taking Him by surprise. But I want to encourage us this morning to be assured that it can only be well with us. Why? Because we belong to a covenant that cannot be broken! We are safe in that covenant.”
Therefore, Pastor Tosin Sowemimo urged the worshippers to get back into the word of God and stick to the promises therein.
Earlier in the service, Pastor Kunle Oshokunle read the Promise for the Week taken from Hebrews 10:23 and told the worshippers to hold fast to God’s word.
He said God will always fulfil His promises irrespective of the situation.
In his words, “What is that thing that you believe God for? God is saying, “hold fast; don’t waiver, focus on me.”
PRAYER AND GOD’S WORD
Pastor Ladipo Babatunde @ Sunday Second Service
Just as the congregation was admonished in the first service, Pastor Ladipo Babatunde also urged the congregation of The Fountain of Life Church to make prayer a lifestyle. The cleric, while ministering during the August 7 Sunday second service, explained that prayers could be curative or preventive.
Taking his main text from Psalm 20, the preacher stated that praying when there is no trouble is a preventive measure, while doing the same in the midst of challenges is curative. He told the worshippers that while curative prayers are said in emergency situations, the best form of prayer is preventive, adding that preventive prayers are essential to building a lifestyle of prayer.
“Prayer can be preventive and it can be curative. When prayer becomes curative, then there is an emergency, and that is never the best time to pray because you are under pressure,” he explained.
He continued, “But when prayer is a lifestyle—when you wake up in the morning and the first thing that occurs to you is to spend the first few hours or even the first few minutes with God, then prayer becomes preventive.”
Pastor Babatunde, who re-echoed the importance of prayer, said it is what makes the difference in men when they face challenges that are bound to come. “What usually differentiates the man who will win or lose is his response to that adversity.” He added, “You are better prepared if prayer becomes your lifestyle.”
Earlier in the service, Pastor Bisoye Okwoli read the Promise for the Week, which was taken from Hebrews 10:23. In expounding on the text, she said Christians should never be defined by the challenges they are facing. Instead, the cleric told them to focus on God’s promise to them, stressing that He is faithful regardless of the believers’ state. “As long as you can find it in the word of God, hold onto it like your life depends on it,” she added.
Pastor Okwoli urged them never to bother about how God’s promise to them would happen because “the word of God is sure. “What I see does not define God,” the preacher stated. “What defines God is what I have found in the scripture.”
She also led the congregation to pray for the grace to remain unwavering amid difficulties.
PRAYERS
Pastor Oyindamola Soderu @ Thursday showers
Pastor Oyindamola Soderu has urged believers to get detailed in the place of prayer so as to get a personal revelation of God. She said this while ministering at the August 4 Thursday showers, which she tagged a reward service. “Do all your acts of service in the house of God as unto the Lord, for God is your exceeding great reward,” she said.
According to the clergy, one of the reasons believers ought to always remain fervent in the place of prayer is because God is never exhausted of hearing their prayers, adding that they should never judge God based on facts or the world’s standards. She noted that believers should not grow weary in the place of prayer, for no one could tell when the eve of breakthrough would come.
In her words, “If we constantly meditate on the character of who we are praying to, prayer will become meaningful to us.”
Citing Psalm 107:1, Psalm 71:22, Psalm 89:14, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Psalm 18:30, 1 John 1:5, 1 John 4:16, Psalm 11:7, 2 Samuel 22:27, John 4:24, Isaiah 9:6; the Cleric expounded on the characters of God; stating that God is good, holy, just, faithful, perfect, light, love, righteous, pure, the unchangeable Changer, the Truth and the Prince of peace.
She reminded believers that God does not need any comparison for Him to be God, for He is God all by Himself. “For us to connect to our reward, the Bible demands that we acknowledge that God is good. Reminding ourselves about the characteristics of God allows us to stay rooted in faith,” she said. She continued, “If you can think or talk about a problem, then you can pray about it.”
Pastor Soderu then advised believers to always meditate on the goodness of God and never to worry over any issue but rather to take them to God in prayer, adding that they should not lose hope like the world does but to always stay in faith based on the word of God.
She said, “We should confess positively always that we are a proof of grace. You also need to take authority over your thought patterns and plant the word of God in your heart.”
