CRUSADE IN GWERI SUB-COUNTY SOROTI DISTRICT.

The Beauty of Marriage.

Theme: The Beauty of Marriage.   Preacher: Pastor Obwanga Samuel    Church: Awoja B.C    Date:3/11/2018

Text: Ge 2:18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable (Equal) to him."

Marriage is one of the most powerful covenants in the world today. It has the power to bring untold joy, happiness, peace, satisfaction, companionship, intimacy and love to us. No other human relationship can go as deeply as the marriage relationship. At the same time, marriage can also bring more pain, more misery, more isolation, more frustration, more grief and more sorrow than any other human relationship.

As some in this crowd would tell you, sometimes marriage doesn’t end up the way that we want. But that’s not a reason to avoid marriage. That’s just a reason to make sure we have the proper expectations of marriage.

Too often we fall victim to a cultural expectation of marriage that far exceeds anything God ever created it to be. We look to marriage to be the end all of happiness and purpose in life. We expect our spouse to be ‘the One,’ to be completely perfect, put together, to completely submit their needs and wants to ours, to assist us in the achievement of our goals, all the while filling us with the love, purpose, and fulfillment we have yet to be able to find. We expect our spouses to give us what only Christ can give us.

Joyce Mary, Samuel’s good looking, but he’s not Jesus. He’s going to let you down. He’s going to make mistakes. If you’re looking for him to complete you, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Only Jesus can give you the happiness and purpose that you’re looking for. Samuel, Joyce Mary is an incredible person, but she’s not Jesus. She’s going to make mistakes. She’s going to show her imperfections. Only Christ can give you the hope and purpose that you ultimately crave. Bretheren, when we set our spouses or potential spouses up with expectations that only Jesus can fulfill, then we set them up for failure.

If marriage isn’t about finding the one person who will make you complete and take all your problems and loneliness away, then what’s the purpose of marriage? Marriage is about happiness, about companionship, about oneness and reproduction, but ultimately, it’s about God. God created marriage to give us a living picture of Christ’s love for the church. That’s why the Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church,” and “wives submit to your husbands as the church submits to Christ.” Marriage, ultimately, is a spiritual endeavor. Without Christ’s help every step of the way, we will fail.

When you pursue marriage merely as a means to be happy, you’ll eventually be disappointed. But if you approach marriage with the idea that it’s more about making you holy than making you happy, you’ll discover the true meaning of marriage. One thing marriage is great for is showing your faults, your selfish tendencies, the little parts of you that you can hide from everyone else except your spouse. As you struggle as two sinful human beings trying to make a marriage work, you’ll continually realize your dependence on God for success.

As you continually invite God into your marriage to change you (not your spouse), to change you into the husband or wife you need to be, you’ll experience his presence in ways you never thought possible. You’ll begin to be a better husband or wife, you’ll begin to look more like Jesus, and in the process, you’ll discover that deeper joy and purpose that you’ve been looking for all along.

Marriage is the most beautiful experience in the world. Samuel and Joyce Mary, I rejoice with you as you begin this journey together.

Things to Take Note in Marriage.

Husband/Wife

Proverbs 5:15 Drink water from your own cistern (reservoir,) and running water from your own well.,

Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

Wife

He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD. Proverb 18:22

She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. Proverb 31:12

An excellent (admirable, Outstanding) wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. (wife) Proverbs 12:4

Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. Luke 14:20

Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 1Ti 3:11

Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own (personal, private, specific) husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,

 1Pe 3:1

Husband

When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. De 24:5

So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. Ephesians 5:28

Wife, never call your husband my man, and Husband never call your Wife Woman for

v  Man is (Bloke, Guy, chap, male, fellow, casual friend)

v  Woman is (lady, female, casual friend)

v  Wife is (partner, companion, spouse, helpmate etc.)

v  Husband is (other half, partner, companion, Significant other)

The Urgency of Christian Fellowship

The Theme: The Urgency of Christian Fellowship

Text: Acts 2:42-47 connected to 1Corithians 12:12-31,

Preacher: Pr. Obwanga Stephen    Date:11/11/2018

Fellowship

The story begins in Acts 1:4-11 when Jesus was in fellowship with his Disciples then they witnessed him Go to heaven.

The term Luke uses for “fellowship”6 in our text is a much broader term than our English word. Essentially, “fellowship” means “joint participation” or “sharing something in common.” It is thus a kind of partnership. In Philippians 2:1, the term is used of a common sharing in the Holy Spirit. In Philippians 3:10 and 1 Peter 4:13, it is used of sharing in Christ’s sufferings. In Galatians 2:9, it appears to be a sharing together in ministry.

And as you Philippians know, at the beginning of my gospel ministry, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in this matter of giving and receiving except you alone (Philippians 4:15, emphasis mine).

Fellowship in Greek is known as koinonia (fellowship) Acts 4, *****John 17:21 Jesus prayer of Oneness,

What do we find? When we read Act 2:42-47 Simply this:

The early church was a learning, fellowshipping, praying, awe-filled, power-demonstrating, radically generous, consistent, glad, praise-filled, well-thought-of, growing body of Jesus followers.

Let us take a brief glimpse at each element and we expound on the Meaning of Christian fellowship.

1. Learning

42a And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching

We may think primarily of Church today in terms of relationships and family. These are absolutely true components of what it means to be the Church. But it must be recognized that at the heart of the Church is the truth of the gospel, and the heart of the gospel is Jesus.

They “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” They would accept no substitute for apostolic teaching, for the apostles were those who had seen the resurrected Lord and who had passed on the truths of the gospel, “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints,” as Jude put it in Jude 3.

WHAT IS CHURCH?

The Church is defined as a group of people who know the gospel and are devoted to growing in it, who are, in fact, born again Christ-followers.

2. Fellowshipping

42b and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread

But there learning was not mere learning. It was, in fact, community-forming learning. As they gathered around the word, they gathered together and they fellowshipped, living life together. They “devoted themselves” to “fellowship, to the breaking of bread.”

Many suggest that this reference to bread is a reference to the observance of the Lord’s Supper. I actually suspect this is the case, as Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:17-33, seems to suggest that the Lord’s Supper was observed in the context of ordinary meal time.

3. Praying

42c and the prayers.

Prayer opened the floodgates of divine power in the early Church. It does so in the life of the Church today as well. Prayer is the power of the church;

4. Awe-Filled /Respect-filled

43a And awe came upon every soul,

The word “awful” was originally a good word. It meant “full of awe (awe means admiration, respect).” In this sense, then, the early Church was an awful Church…meaning a great church! Awe fell upon the believers and many of the watching unbelievers as well. Their fellowship was marked by power, by the Spirit of God, and by the awe that comes with these things. They were not bored. They were not watching the clock and timing the Preacher. They were filled with awe!

5. Power-Demonstrating

43b and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

And powerful things were happening through the apostles. People were being healed both physically and spiritually. Relationships were being mended. Marriages were being restored. Friendships were being reclaimed. Bad habits were being abandoned. The chains of sin were being loosed. The gospel was being proclaimed. All of these are signs and wonders.

6. Radically(Very/Completely/Deeply/Fundamentally) Generous

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

They were also marked by radical generosity. What an amazing picture! They “had all things in common,” sold what they had, and gave it to those in need. This is a challenging passage, but a critical passage.

7. Consistent

46a And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,

It needs to be understood as well that this kind of fellowship does not just happen. It happens when life is consistently lived together. “Day by day,” Luke tells us, they were “attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.”

This is important to understand: if your connection to the Church is occasional, chance, and inconsistent, you are shortchanging yourself of those truly deep and meaningful relationships that only arise from a life lived together.

8. Glad

46b they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

Luke also gives us a glimpse into the nature of the early Church. They had “glad and generous hearts.” This, too, does not happen in a vacuum. All of these elements are connected. Gladness is almost inevitable when you live life together in this way.

When we Connect to the body of Christ we will be glad. Invest your life in the great cause of the advance of the gospel in and through a local Christian congregation and you will find something to rejoice about. But keep your commitments weak and your connections shallow, and you will be amazed at how unhappy you become.

9. Praise-Filled

47a praising God

Hand in hand with joy is praise. Out of “glad and generous hearts,” praise comes.

We should indeed praise our great God at the beginning and end of each day, as the early Church did! The early Church praised Him because of what He had done and was doing through Christ, but they also undoubtedly praised Him because of the miracle of their emerging life together. In other words, the life of the Church itself is an occasion for praise, for only a miracle-working God could bring a people together in such a way and make this kind of family of them.

A Church that has Christ at the center will be a Church of passionate praise.

10. Well-thought-of

47b and having favor with all the people.

Perhaps most miraculously, those outside the Church thought well of them because of what they were doing and becoming. Surely not all felt this way, for the early Christians met with persecution too, as Luke will record very soon in Acts. But it is still the case that many who saw what was happening were amazed at it, respected it, and marveled, even though, for whatever reason, they did not join. This is the case in the world. Some want to destroy the Church, but some (secretly, perhaps) are jealous of the strengths they see in the Church when the Church is being the Church.

11. Growing

47c And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

In conclusion, we see the Church growing. They do not grow because of their own wisdom Here I mean (Secular and Theological Knowledge) or skills. They grow, Luke tells us, because “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” It was God-driven growth. This does not mean the Church was inactive. No, this was a gospel-proclaiming Church. But God was at work, drawing men and women into the family of faith!

More study on the matter of fellowship

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41 NASB)

But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, (Ephesians 4:20-21 NASB)

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35 NASB)

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. (Galatians 6:10 NASB)

And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13:16 NASB)