Let somebody shout hallelujah! Shall we pray. Our Father and our God, as a church we have come to say first and foremost good morning to You, we warmly welcome You to our midst.
Thank You for gracing this assembly with Your awesome presence, and thank You for the assurances that we have received this morning from Your word and of course from the choir ministration, our faith has found a resting place in You and there is no doubt about that, there is no any argument about it, there is no any further play about it, this gives us that confidence that we need that our tomorrow will be all right.
We thank You also because You the great comforter has come, we feel You on daily basis, we feel You right now and we know Your presence will not depart from us. Accept our praises in the name of Jesus Christ.
Thank You for the journey so far, thank You for what You have done in the past, thank You for what You are doing and thank You for what You will yet do. Thank You because You that has begun the journey, You will complete it gloriously for us, accept our praises in the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord, as we continue this journey, unto You we hand over everyone, we hand over our families, Lord Almighty, we pray that You show us the way, carry us by Your grace, sustain us, take care of us, let help not be withheld from us in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
We pray for divine engracement and we pray for divine support, because Your word says our help cometh from God, the Maker of heaven and earth, help comes from nowhere other than You, and that king said if God does not help you, (he said) who will?
Father, we pray in the name of Jesus for all Your children under the influence of my voice, Father Almighty, let help not be withheld, let help not be far in the mighty name of Jesus. Let help not be in short supply in the mighty name of Jesus, and forever oh God, we pray that You continue to be the lifter of our head. Thank You for everything.
We commit the rest of the journey this year at Your hands, take preeminence, and let this year come to an end graciously for us, in Jesus wonderful name we have prayed.
Good morning church, welcome to this glorious service in the name of Jesus. We also like to appreciate you for making CTL a place of choice, your place of worship, it is our prayers that as we fellowship on a daily basis, we’ll continue to have a glorious worship experience in the name of Jesus. Thank you for being part of this great church, and the Lord will not be far from you in Jesus name.
Today is the last Sunday of the month and we can say without any fear or contradiction that our God has been faithful. You know it takes the grace of God to survive one day to the other; there are many who would have loved to see today but somehow, we are not rejoicing over their fate but we are just thanking God for His mercy, and I pray that mercy will not be in short supply in your life and in my life and in our lives in the name of Jesus.
By the grace of God, we’ll be having prayer chain tomorrow, and tomorrow we’ll be talking about The God of Times and Seasons. Our times, our seasons are in God’s hand, so come tomorrow as we exhort ourselves in the word of God and pray together with the Holy Spirit. And I trust the good Lord will hear and answer our prayers in Jesus name.
I also want to remind us that next week Sunday is our Thanksgiving service day and it coincides with the Nigeria independence anniversary. Therefore, we encourage everyone of us, in the spirit of celebration, we must demonstrate patriotism as good citizens of Nigeria because this is our country, we have no other country than this nation.
You may go to America, you may go to the United Kingdom, you may go everywhere but you’ll find out that your rights are restricted in those places, but in Nigeria, you have a full expression of who you are because this nation belongs to you, nobody can tell you don’t pass here, you’ll ask him what do you mean by that? I’m a citizen of this country.
But there are places you cannot cross, for instance, in America and United Kingdom, simply because of your color, they look at you, they say this one does not belong and they want to do further investigation to see whether you have legal right to be in that place. But here if you walk on the street, nobody will ask you for your resident permit or whatever, your NIN or driver license is more than enough to speak for you.
So in the spirit of nationalism, in the spirit of patriotism, we are going to celebrate the independence during our thanksgiving. So I encourage every one of us to come in our traditional wears, by the special grace of God with a touch of green.
When I was announcing it in the workers meeting, some people say it’s a touch of white, I said I don’t care whether it is white or green, just let there be a touch of green or a touch of white. And as we celebrate, the Lord Almighty will heal our country in Jesus name. Remember the Bible says the just shall live by faith, God will heal Nigeria in the name of Jesus.
Genesis 26, today is our last Sunday, and a day like this we always have what we call our renewal service, we share the word of God and we pray at the end of it. I want to thank God for the choir, they’ve already launched us into the realm, the realm of worship, the realm of faith and the realm of prayers. All we need to do is to keep the momentum and I trust that the good Lord will meet everyone at the point of his or her needs tonight in the name of Jesus.
Genesis 26: 12 – 22 (it’s a bit long but we have to take it), then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundfold: and the Lord blessed him. 13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great. 14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and the store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. 15For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
16And Abimelech said unto Isaac, go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. 17And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the dead of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, the water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. 21And they digged another well, and strove for that also; and he called the name of it Sitnah. 22And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, for now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. Praise the Lord.
By the grace of God and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we declare this month as our month of divine increase. We thank God for the testimony so far, and I have no doubt that many more by the grace of God will come in the name of Jesus.
Today I will be talking to us on the subject matter of Rehoboth. Rehoboth is derived from our text as you followed, and it represents God’s promise of divine expansion, enlargement, increase, and of course, of making space for His people after a time of challenges and opposition.
Rehoboth, as we have seen in that scripture actually means open space. I pray in the name of Jesus that today, God will create space for someone in the mighty name of Jesus.
Rehoboth means open space, increase or enlargement from what we can see from the biblical story of Isaac; and Rehoboth actually encapsulates what I call survival, expansion, divine increase and settlement, particularly in a trying moment.
Therefore, talking about it, like I said, is like talking about divine intervention, providence, and God’s eternal capacity to turn things around for His own people. In Jeremiah, we are told that our God is a God of all flesh, in other words, as far as God is concerned, there is nothing like restriction, as far as God is concerned, there is nothing like impossibility.
And I pray in the name of Jesus that whatsoever it is that has been restricting your life, whatsoever it is that has constituted a barrier on your path of progress, today the Lord will take care of them in the name of Jesus.
Brethren, He has done it before and I have no any iota of doubt that He will do it again. That first hymnal we sang said ‘my faith has found a resting place’, and it continues with ‘therefore, I need no any argument and there is no need for other plea’. God will do what He alone can do.
So the story today is simply telling us on the need for us to move away from a place of struggle or cramp opposition to a space of divine increase, flourishing and abundance. And I pray in the name of Jesus that God will move us forward in the name of Jesus.
Tell your neighbor, ‘God will move you forward,’ and say it together, ‘God will move us forward’. God will move us forward and so shall it be in the name of Jesus Christ.
Now what are the key lessons from Rehoboth? Number one is the fact that you can access your expansion, you can access your increase. And this actually points to the fact that divine increase or enlargement is provoked through obedience.
We were taken through the philosophy of the church earlier today and one of the things that came up very strongly, talking about holiness is integrity, obedience and transparency. The Bible says, if you are willing and obedient, we shall eat the fruits of the land, so you can access, I can access, we can access increase.
Let nobody tell you that increase is not possible, let nobody sow any seed of doubt into your system that expansion is not possible. We can access expansion, we can access enlargement through total obedience, relentless faith and sowing at the right time and of course, engaging such spiritual platforms as deep worship, intense worship and see, you cannot do those things and God will not manifest Himself.
The Bible tells us in Hosea, it says, sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time for God to rain righteousness upon us. One of the major issues we have as Christians, as believers, is unrighteousness.
Many of us today, ask a question, no, yes or no, and a question that ordinarily should call for yes or no, you find out today that believers find it difficult to say yes or no; you want to explain. Wherever you have need for explanation, something is amiss. Praise the Lord.
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Are you going to Akure tomorrow, yes or no? When you see a man struggling to answer, he has something to cover. The Bible says the hands of God are not short, His ears are not dull to hear and to deliver, it says our iniquity.
If there is a problem we have, the truth of the matter, you know I keep saying it here, many of you may not like it, the greatest enemy of a man is himself. My prayer is that God will open our eyes and give us the courage to embrace the truth.
We say we shall know the truth and the truth will set us free, but the easiest way to offend, even in the church is to say the truth, the easiest way to offend even as we are here now is to say the truth. When I look at your face and say certain things, they say this man has come, the question is that what has this man said, is it true or not? We play lip service to our calling and that’s why we are denied of our rights. I pray in the name of Jesus that whatsoever it is that is causing denial of our rights, of our benefits, God will take away today in Jesus name.
Number two, I said key thing if you want to get to Rehoboth, expect contention. Praise the Lord. There will always be contention before expansion, there will always be contention before increase. There is a saying in the secular parlance, they say nothing comes easy, and somebody said life will not give you what you want but what you demand for. In other words, to assess your increase, you must be ready for war.
Success, they say, is a combination of hard work and adequate preparation. Before Isaac found Rehoboth, he faced opposition and strife at the well of Esek and Sitnah; Esek means contention while Sitnah means opposition.
Brethren, I have a good news for you, challenges always precede breakthroughs, you find out that the darkest part of the night is always when is about to be dawn. And the scripture tells us in the book of Psalm, it says, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Therefore, when you face your challenges, counter it by faith, refusing stagnation or distraction from hostile forces of environment, don’t take a yes or a no for an answer. A man of God said those who run away from battles will never give the testimony of victory; have you seen a man that ran away from battle coming to say we succeeded? Except he wants to read somebody’s script.
But when you come to life testimony, he said I was there, and that was what David was able to do, he said I remember when daddy sent me to that place, a bear came and I grabbed it and I broke it into two; another time, a lion came and I destroyed it, from that you’ll see his confidence was reinforced by his past experiences, the things he has seen God done and he said the Lord that did that for me is able to deliver this uncircumcised Philistines into my hand.
The Lord that has kept you this far is more than ready to take you further. There is somebody that usually send me – one of my friends in primary school days, his own kind of prayer only God can tell, ‘ah, you will not hear bad news today…’, I said stop this your loquacious prayers, the Bible says because He lives, I can face tomorrow, me that’s already looking forward to next year you are telling me you will not hear, God forbid.
The Bible says the just shall live by faith, don’t let people poison your mind, don’t let people create fear in your heart, truly those challenges will come because without them coming there will be no breakthrough. One thing you can be sure of is that victory is already yours, God has worked your victory.
In John 16: 33, it says, these things I have spoken to you, that in Me you might have peace; already God has made provision for you, He said in the world ye shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Do you know sometimes they create fear so that they can chase you away? You can imagine if Isaac had decided to run, he would not have gotten to his place of destiny. I pray in the name of Jesus that nothing will chase you out of your place of destiny in the mighty name of Jesus. The Bible says, what shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Number three, choose peace over petty fights. Isaac of that scripture chose to move on rather than engage in headless bickering and struggle with Philistines over water right.
Brethren, I need to let you know that it is not every fight that wants your attention, you don’t fight every fight. Some fights will simply delay you, it causes you delay. You can imagine you are traveling and somebody is crossing you at the checking counter and you started raking; you drop your bag, I will drag it with you, I will tell you who I am, I will tell you this one, meanwhile time is ticking, by the time you have proved to them who you are, you carry your bag, they say gate is locked and you find out that you cannot embark on your trip again.
Some fights will simply bring distraction and delay your progress. Let me beg you, save yourself some energy, it is not every fight you fight, walking away from unnecessary argument is not a sign of weakness. A lot of times we want to show them, at the end of the day what trophy will you receive? Sometimes silence is golden.
And I want to encourage us today, you want to get to the place of your destiny, talk less, act more. Be mindful of your goals and keep your eyes on the ball, don’t be like a goalkeeper that I don’t want to mention his name, ball went this way he fell the other way, you know the fellow, me I don’t know.
In Romans 12:18, the Bible says if it be possible, as much as lie in you, live peaceably with all men; save some energy, relieve yourself of some stress. Some stress are avoidable, some stress you don’t need them, it gives you health problems.
It says as much as possible, live peaceably with all men. What this scripture is simply saying is that you are only responsible for your own action, do you know as I’m here I’m only responsible for my own action, how you behave is not within my control; if somebody decides to be stupid it’s not within your control; some will go stupid and you try to say bro you know you are behaving stupid, he’ll say stop that, then it comes back to you. So as much as possible, as it lies on you, follow peace with all men.
As much as possible, take a walk like Isaac did, muscle flexing can destroy your peace and blunt your vision; letting go of toxic fights can lead you to your place of peace in record time. I pray for you this morning that your progress will not be delayed, your progress will not be interrupted in the mighty name of Jesus.
Point number four, trust God for provision. When Isaac finally stopped striving and moved to a new location, God provided room for him to flourish.
Brethren, true enlargement comes from divine favor, not human manipulation. Proverbs 10:22 says, the blessings of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it; suffice to say that true wealth and abundance come from God’s favor rather than just human struggle.
And let me tell you, wealth gain true worldly shortcuts often bring anxiety, pains, and trouble. We have heard Daddy GO talked to us about the man that swallowed something just to be rich, and at some point when the day was coming, he decided to travel to London thinking that the witches in Nigeria cannot cross the Atlantic. But what he has swallowed refused to back down and eventually he died.
The Bible says what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul; look, you are into whatever scam, this and that, it will not last. Whatever evil thing you are doing to make money will not last, for the fact that you are even causing other people pain, the curse of God is upon your life, and that’s why we need to change. Things have to be done properly.
He said the blessings of the Lord maketh rich and add no sorrow. Do you know the richest man in the world, the richest man in Nigeria may not even be Dangote, it might be someone in the corner of his room somewhere that is satisfied, he doesn’t think about refinery in Nigeria, he doesn’t think about refinery in Kenya, doesn’t think about salt, he doesn’t think about sugar.
Brethren, God’s blessing provides security and peace without painful toil or regret. In Psalm 127:4, it says, except the Lord builds the house – Dangote is our friend, he’s being a blessing to Nigeria, but what I’m trying to say is that in terms of peace of mind, if you see the man’s head, everything gray, it’s good to be rich o, but there are some riches. Let somebody shout hallelujah! Hallelujah.
Number five, perseverance is non-negotiable. Isaac did not stop digging after facing failure or conflicts twice, he showed resilience and determination, he persisted and never threw in the towel.
I want to beg you gentlemen and ladies, brothers and sisters, brethren, don’t give up too quickly. Many of you throw in the towel just at the verge of your breakthrough, there must be persistency. Don’t give up on the pursuit of your dreams, don’t give up on the pursuit of your desires, seek divine direction and I can assure you that the grace of the Lord will avail for you in Jesus name.
In 1 Corinthians 15:58, it says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And in Philippians 3:14, it says, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Press towards the mark, don’t give up.
The truth of the matter is that the bigger your breakthrough, the bigger the opposition will be, and most times the whole essence of the opposition is to dissuade you or to discourage you from going because he knows you are getting to your place of destiny, so they want to try as much as possible to prevent you.
And I pray in the name of Jesus that from today, God will work for you, God will work in you, God will work with you, God will work through you, He will work around you, and He will work against your opponents. He will grant you peace and make room for you. I don’t know how big the room you want God to give to you, so how big is your vision? Can your vision be as big as this because the bigger your vision the bigger your testimony.
So in conclusion because we need to pray very quickly, Rehoboth is a season where God gives room for fruitfulness and increase to His children. I want to say this that the room God has given us in the field that we find ourselves, we are expected to harness and transform, make the most of your professional calling and opportunities.
Leverage your talents and your skill and I can assure you the outcome can only be one, and the outcome is increase, the outcome is open space. God will make space for you, He will create room for you in the mighty name of Jesus.
God is ready to open the floodgates of mercy, increase, favor, and blessing, therefore, if you are here today and you have not given your life to Christ, I encourage you to do just the same as delay may be dangerous. How do you do this? Simply by confession, repentance and forgiveness, and it is the Lord, let me tell you that, that has a prerogative of forgiveness, no man can forgive. You can be led, you can be encouraged, but ultimate forgiveness belongs to God.
Shall we rise on our feet. Let’s just bow down our heads and talk to God this morning, you’ve heard the word of God, the topic for this morning is Rehoboth, which means an open space for God’s people.
I want you to pray to God that God will make space for you physically, spiritually and in every area of your life.
[Altar call]
Brethren, very quickly I want you to say this prayer; say Father, please make room for me at the top even where none exist before in the name of Jesus. Open your mouth and cry unto the Lord and say Father, please I beseech you this morning, You are the room maker, You are the way maker, Father please create room for me at the top in the name of Jesus.
He said we are candidates of the top, we are not for beneath, pray to God this morning, make room for me at the top even where none exist before in the name of Jesus. Thank You Father because You have answered, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
You will cry unto God and say Father, empower me to overcome every opposition known and unknown, take over my battles and crush my enemies in the name of Jesus. Open your mouth and cry unto the Lord. Father, please empower me to overcome every opposition known and unknown, take over my battles, Lord, and crush all my enemies in the name of Jesus. Make a public show of all my enemies in the name of Jesus. Thank You because it is done, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
You are going to cry unto God and say Father, please help me to follow Your divine direction and give me a heart of obedience in the name of Jesus. Help me to follow Your divine direction and give me a heart of obedience so that I can eat the good of the land in the name of Jesus. Open your mouth and pray to God. Divine direction and a heart of obedience so that I can be where God wants me to be, so that you can be where God wants you to be in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You glorious Father, in Jesus name we have prayed.
You are going to pray to God and say Father, reorder my life and restore my wasted years and efforts. God reordered the life of Isaac and of course He restored his wasted year, wasted efforts. Pray to God. Father, reorder my life from today and restore my wasted years, my wasted efforts in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You because it is done, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
You are going to cry unto the Lord and say, Father, take me to my place of destiny, my place of fulfillment, and my place of peace in the name of Jesus. Open your mouth and cry. Father, take me to the place of my destiny, my place of fulfillment and peace in the name of Jesus. My place of overflow, my place of divine increase, Father, take me there, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Lastly, you are going to pray to God, today is the 27th of September, today is the last Sunday of the month. You are going to pray to God and say Father, crown the month of September for me with Your goodness and cause my path to draw fatness in the name of Jesus. Open your mouth and cry onto the Lord. Thank You, Father, because You have answered, glory, honor, and majesty be onto Your name, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
I join my faith with yours and I declare that the good Lord will answer your prayers, He will take care of you, He will create room for you at the top. His grace will sustain you, help will come through for you, help will come through your children, help will come through all your loved ones in the mighty name of Jesus. You are covered by the blood of Jesus, you are delivered from every form of evil in the mighty name of Jesus.
I speak health into your body, I speak healing into your system, I speak health into your home, I speak healing into your business, I speak healing into everything that concerns you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
I declare that from today you will not be left behind, you will not be left alone, it is well with you now and forever, and you will carry the emblem of the Almighty from today and forever in the name of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. You are blessed in Jesus name.
