The church as the true midwife
THE CHURCH AS THE TRUE MIDWIFE
The policy on discipleship process is the reason we called this meeting to look at the
purpose and the operational dynamics to achieve the desired goals. Discipleship is one
of the machineries of growing a Church. So many questions have been asked that need
answers. And if we are not fast to call this meeting, certain things might go wrong. We
quickly need to explain why we need to take it through the existing Church members.
In Exodus 1:15-21 the Bible told us about two Hebrew midwives (Shiphrah and Puah)
in the camp of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt. The king of Egypt, Pharaoh, said to
these two midwives, anytime the Hebrew women get pregnant and are in labour to
deliver their babies, do not spare the male children, kill them on arrival but spare all
the female children.
This explains the importance and the role of the midwife in child bearing. At delivery
point the mother cannot help herself, she needs someone to help, and the professionals
permitted to do this job are the midwives. The midwife can determine the fate of the
innocent child to be born.
Every member of this Church, St. Joseph’s Chosen Church of God, from the leaders to
the teenagers and youth are midwives positioned to welcome and deliver every new
entrant into the Church of God. The way we accept them determines their stay or their
return to where they are coming from. Anybody coming into the Church is in need of
one spiritual help or the other. They are either invited or they are coming to the Church
on their own. The new entrant can only be comfortable when they believe they will
find genuine salvation. But a situation where someone is running from challenges out
there into a Church that is supposed to accommodate him just to find out that the
people out there are better than those inside the Church; they will go back to where
they are coming from.
1. Imagine in our harvests where we have visitors and members are fighting
over food and drinks. What do you expect of the visitors? To remain or go
back?
2. How do you explain in a Church Harvest where youth and men gather from
different branches to celebrate their harvest with different categories of
alcoholic drinks? Who will take that kind of Church serious? Any serious
intending member will turn back to where he is coming from.
3. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that he came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Every Church is meant to find and save those that are lost. The Church is not for the self-righteous or those that are already saved. A prostitute coming to
the Church with trousers on without covering her hair; what have we been
doing with them? We frustrate them by treating them as if they are outcasts.
We forget that they are the reasons Jesus died. Our unwelcoming attitude
sends them back, making them feel unwanted.
4. The way we live with our neighbours: A deaconess introduced a woman to
one of our branches and she started attending our Church. This woman
suddenly stopped coming to Church and when she was followed up, she said
in the presence of the deaconess herself, “If that Church is the Church this
woman attends and She is a deaconess there, I do not want to come there”.
This is because of her attitude and way of life. The kind of altitude that
cannot be found or mentioned among unbelievers.
5. What about our Prophets and Prophetess who still sleeps with bottles and
drinks in public places, still come to Church every Sunday morning drunk.
Bringing disgrace to their, Church offices and calling. . A sister walked into a
Church for the first time and towards the end of the service they called for
those worshiping with them for the first time. This sister got up and moved
forward, she was prayed for and after the prayers an elder walked up to her
and said his vision to the sister at a close range with the Pastor and the sister
alone. After that one service, the sister did not show up again. When the
follow up team checked up on her, she said nothing until after several calls
before she opened up. She said, ‘that day I came and was prayed for, the
visioner told me everything that was happening to me, and they were all true
but the elder from an exalted seat and corner was smelling alcohol,’ she
became afraid so that she does not complicate her issues She stayed out
because she does not understand why the visioner should drink to Church on
Sunday morning or drink at all’. She assumed that some visions can be
inspired by alcohol.
6. A new member who knows that his ways are not right with God looking for
where he would be re-shaped, enters the Church and is showered with praises
and pleasant prophecies instead of rebuke. Maybe it is because we want to
retain them but we end up sending them back because they need real
prophecies and the Word of God that would put them on their toes for God.
7. Many people come to Church to learn about God. They need the word of
God, undiluted and disappointedly the entire service was dedicated to the working of the “Holy Spirit” without sharing the word of God. Holy Spirit in
quote because we forget that God is not a talkative. The Bible said in Psalms
62:11a
, “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard”. Because we are dry
without the word to preach, we invoke the Spirit every Sunday to occupy the
time because there is nothing to share. The Holy Spirit working is beautiful,
but it must be real not invoked. It must be God speaking not a contrary spirit
or the voice of man.
8. The prophecies must be backed with manifestation through healing and
deliverance. Even after the working of the Holy Spirit, we should be able to
share the word to back the workings of the Holy Spirit for 5-15 minutes. Let
the people go home with something from the Bible. How do you see
prophesies without manifestation.
9. What about planning a programme for 7:00pm and end up starting by
10:00pm? Poor time management. Taking our services beyond 12:00pm
every Sunday with nothing edifying to go home with is capable of sending
the congregation back to where they are coming from.
10. The popular slogan of no money, no money is a clear expression that the
Church is poor and either the members are poor or they don’t have the true
giving orientation. How do you explain the claim that the Church of God is
poor? We say it publicly, undermining the implication on our image as a
Church. We forget that Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the
power of the tongue “, poverty and prosperity are also in the power of the
tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Numbers 14:28 Say
unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears,
so will I do to you:
a. If all these things are still found amongst us, it signifies one thing that we do
not have ‘The fear of God’. The Bible said that the two midwives feared God
more than the king of Egypt and did not obey the king’s voice to kill the male
children.
b. It means we don’t know why we are saved. We are saved to save others.
c. It means we don’t know the true reason or purpose of the Church of God.d. It means we don’t know why God had to release His only son to be nailed to
the cross.
e. It means we don’t understand why Jesus offered himself, abandoning the
glory in heaven to come down and die for all of us as sinners.
f. It means we still don’t understand the true meaning of redemption and
salvation.
g. By implication, we are murderers and working for Satan by preventing those
that need salvation from coming in.
h. It also means that we do not understand the true meaning of ‘The Gateway to
Heaven’
THE IMPLICATION
1. You sinned against Jesus Christ and you risk death by dawning. Mark
9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in
me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and he were cast into the sea.
2. You become a stumbling block to other people’s salvation. I Corinthians
8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak
conscience, ye sin against Christ. 13 Wherefore, if meat make my
brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I
make my brother to offend.
Romans 14:20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things
indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. 21
It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing
whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
3. If you don’t correct your members in this category it simply means you
don’t love them. Proverbs 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son:
but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (correct him with care).
Note that your members call you Daddy. They call you daddy even when
they are older than you. You owe them the responsibility to correct them with the Word of God. Proverbs 23:13 Thou shalt beat him with the
rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Proverbs 19:18 Chasten thy
son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
4. It is a source of shame to the Church of God and the supervising Minister.
Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to
himself bringeth his mother to shame. 17 Correct thy son, and he shall
give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
5. The correction is better done by the pastors and supervisors than God
doing the correction Himself. You may not like the impact and the
outcome, the side effect of God coming to correct you by himself.
Lamentations 3:1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of
his wrath.
With all these negative approach to souls and more, from all of us Members,
Officers, Pastors and Apostles, we kill the new entrants to the Church on arrival.
This is why we need to first of all train ourselves and properly disciplining the
existing members so that they can in turn discipline the new entrants.
Evangelism is very expensive. We cannot afford to spend money to bring in
people that we don’t have the capacity to retain.
An officer and worker cannot discharge his duties effectively without a sound
knowledge of the word of God.
A prophet cannot prophesy beyond his knowledge of the word of God. A Pastor
cannot grow his branch beyond his capacity. We need to improve on our
knowledge in God’s word for effective discharge of our responsibility to God.
It is by our fruits that people will recognize us, live a life with high moral
standard, integrity with each other and with people outside. Then the Church.
APOSTLE JAMES ABACHE
FOR: THE EVANGELICAL MINISTRY..
Recent Sermons
THE MAN GOD USES
August 31, 2023
PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS
January 12, 2023
2023: DIVINE RESTORATION
December 31, 2022