19th October 2021
Text: 1 Corinthians 4:8-13
Ministering: Pst. Bola Bello
The current Church can be likened to the Corinthian church that was rich not in material things but in things that the Father has enabled them to achieve. The Church and its leaders at that time are staples for the present church. The fathers then built a philosophy that is sustaining the current church. The fathers have laid the foundation, it is now the responsibility of the sons to sell these noble ideas to the unearned. The church is like a marketplace where the Gospel is given out undiluted and the fathers are the service providers.
Churches ought to be kingdom centres, places interested in the expansion of the kingdom. A typical kingdom centre will not hold people captive. They build, train, equip and send forth. Unfortunately, in the current structure, there is not enough capacity for church leaders to build correctly.
It is important to understand what the church is according to Matthew 16:18. The church is not a building or a structure built by men; it is to be built upon the rock by God Himself. This implies it will require a lot of strength and energy from both the builder and the one being built. A man built on the rock cannot be moved because he is already rooted.
Fathers can get frustrated. From the experience of Paul, he had laboured but his effort was not recognised (1 Corinthians 4:8). This is presently a major problem with the church, fathers labour but their followers may fail to appreciate their efforts.
Fatherhood is more than discipleship. It is more than chatting and laughing. It is a mix of pampering and scolding. Fatherhood is a response to spiritual callings and the responsibility of the father is to train and equip.
Fathers take note of the potentials in you and make you put them to work. Fathers have gone through a lot of pain and struggle in raising you in the kingdom and you ought to maximize their labour for the advancement of God’s work.