Category Archives: Jesus
Before and After IV
‘So let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good’ Job 34:4
It is my earnest prayer that we will cause our community to say, ‘those people at God’s Favourite House are so passionate about Jesus. The way they tell the story of their God makes you want to join them. In fact, I am going to their church next Sunday’ [say amen]. Between things that used to be and the things that are now, there is usually a turning point. And that turning point is the cross of Read the rest of this entry
Build Trust
‘The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” John 4:9
I came across Bill Hybels’ model for leading people to God. We have actually been doing it but he articulates it perfectly. It is called the 3D model. I am sure we have come across the word 3D before. To help us remember this simple model and deploy it on a daily basis is the word 3D. So what are the 3D’s of breaking the ice?
Introduction 104
‘”You are the salt of the earth. But what good is the salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless’ Matt.5:13.
I have had different people who want to start a business contact me with a name or a slogan for the business. Sometimes it reads something like this “Jesus is Lord beauty salon”. And they want me to affirm their slogan or business name; they want to know if it is good. And I say no because it is not a good name. When you put up or put forward a name like that, you are alienating some people. In Read the rest of this entry
Where Power Lies II
‘You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name’ John 15:16.
I was an apprentice under one of my Pastors in the north who is now a missionary in the Sierra Leone. I used to go with him to evangelize. His approach in those days was brutal. Let’s say, he enters a community to preach and everyone ignores him. Then he switches and requests for the blind, lame, crippled, deaf, or dumb to be brought out. At this point I’m surveying the exit points Read the rest of this entry
Attuned To Jesus
‘‘Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit” Matt.28:18-19.
Today, we will start with a thinking exercise. Think, who are the people that are close to you but far from God? You know them, you meet them at work, or in your house, or in the market place, and some even attend the same church with you but you know they are far from God. They are close to you but far from God. Think about them, who are they? Those are the people that Jesus has sent Read the rest of this entry
Experience Jesus
‘…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age’ Matt.28:20.
People usually have three reasons why they feel they cannot evangelize. The first reason is ‘I don’t know enough scripture’. The answer to that is what set the early church apart. It is not about the amount of scripture that you know but rather it is about the person of Jesus that you know. The people in the early church didn’t have Bibles like we do; they just had parchment of the Old Read the rest of this entry
Keep Moving Forward
‘Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit’ Matt.28:18-19.
Ekklesia stopped being a movement and it became a location [kircha]. The shift in vocabulary signaled a dramatic shift in emphasis and direction. The church now became a tool for politicians to control the people because the church ensured that the people were united and loyal to the political sect. That was a major problem because that was not the church of Jesus Christ. We are Read the rest of this entry
Ekklesia not Kircha
‘But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light’ 1 Pet.2:9 [NIV]
Once the church was legalized, the church that started as a movement became frozen. What was once unpredictable became predictable. What was once unexplainable, the Christians that no one could understand or predict became predictable. And the movement became an establishment. When you say the word church today, what comes to people’s minds is a building because the Read the rest of this entry
Ever Near
‘…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matt.28:20
When we do church and Jesus is not present, that is not church; it is just a waste of time. But thank God Jesus is always present. Ekklesia never referred to a physical building. The church is an assembly, a congregation, a community; the church is not an individual. You have heard people say ‘you are the church’. You are not the church; you are part of the church. The same way your finger Read the rest of this entry
Unique Presence
‘Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matt.28:20
Jesus is the foundation of the entity called the church. The original Greek word translated church is the word ‘Ekklesia’. Please follow me carefully; I would not throw a Greek word at you if it is not significant. The word ekklesia simply means a gathering or an assembly of people summoned [called out] for a particular purpose. For instance, citizens called out and gathered together for Read the rest of this entry
