BE GLAD - The Fountain Of Life Church

By iborotonye-edet Weekly News August 28, 2023

Pastor Rotimi Okpaise @ Sunday first service

Speaking from the theme for the month, Supernatural Turnaround, Pastor Rotimi Okpaise told the congregation during the August 27 Sunday first service that the purpose of God for them in this month is to be glad.

While sharing from Psalm 126:1–3, he encouraged the congregation to seek gladness despite challenges, issues, or what people see so as to come out victorious. He said, “Seek gladness in the presence of issues; some of us have been going through things that just look too impossible to turn around; they just seem to be a stamp of life, but a turn comes, a change comes.”

He stated that God is changing situations around and that the church is moving into the next stage, and he further encouraged the congregation, “Bleakness is not our portion; Jehovah will make a way where there seems to be no way. The path for us is straightened; we may not understand now… We are going to look back and laugh, and people will testify that God lives in the Fountain of Life Church.”

He emphasised that God would reveal Himself more in the coming days and that He “will create a way, a breakthrough for everything that concerns us.”

Pastor Okpaise further stated, “The Spirit of God is taking us to a higher place, and we are going to testify and, in the near future, be better people.” He advised the congregation to not be weary but be glad and trust in the Lord, and that God’s promise for the church is a supernatural turnaround, as Pastor Taiwo Odukoya experienced and has moved into eternal life.

He therefore urged them in Ephesians 6 and Matthew 28:19 to stay in the race and remain standing, as that is the purpose of the church and what Pastor Taiwo Odukoya would want. “Pastor wants us to shine; when you shine, you become visible; when you shine, you attract attention; when you shine, you become a beacon, a lighthouse,” he urged.

The full message is available on the Church’s Youtube channel, The Fountain TV https://www.youtube.com/live/8OCT1Ua3vKs?feature=share and TOM TV (Taiwo Odukoya Ministry). It is also available on CD and DVD at The Fountain of Life Church Digital Media Store.

BREAK YOUR ALABASTER BOX

Pastor Lara urges Fountaineers @ Sunday second service

Pastor Omolara Adesanya has urged Fountaineers to break their alabaster box. She said this at the August 27 Sunday second service.

Speaking from John 12:1–8 and Luke 10:38–42, she said an alabaster box symbolises total surrendering, love, sacrifice, and service, noting that there are different gifts and talents deposited in the people by God, and it is in breaking the box and not admiring it that the fragrance of the box can be diffused to others in the form of blessing.

Referencing the sacrificial life of the deceased senior pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, the clergywoman noted that he broke his own box and it became a blessing to all, leaving a legacy for generations to come. “Humanity will be blessed when the fragrance of the box reaches others. Pastor Taiwo Odukoya left a legacy because he did not contain and enjoy his box alone but distributed it by emptying himself for the benefit of all.”

Pastor Adesanya therefore urged her listeners to launch out by living the life that God has deposited in them and be busy about the work of the Master, as Mary did in Luke 10:38–42. “Always stand out and allow your fragrance to be a sweet-smelling savour rather than a bad odour. Let your life make a statement and live a life that attracts souls to the kingdom,” she said.

The clergywoman further said that Christians need to always ask themselves whether God knows them, if He is impressed with their labour, and if their service in God’s vineyard is truly unto the Lord or for human praise. “God does recognise each person’s labour. If you cannot give God what will cost you everything, then you have given nothing,” she said, using 1 Kings 17:7–16 to buttress her point.

She concluded by telling Fountaineers that there will be true freedom in the unhindered release of control once they break their alabaster box because it is by doing so that they will find purpose and vision for their lives.

CONTINUE THE RACE

Pastor Nkeonyelu Malaolu @ Thursday Showers

Pastor Nkeonyelu Malaolu, during her message at the August 24 Thursday Showers service, opined that believers are not to get tired of running their Christian race, irrespective of whatever happens to them. She said this while noting that the death of Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, the senior pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, should not hinder them from continuing the race. “The baton has been passed to us to continue the race, as it were. So, this is not the time to be distracted or look back,” she said.

The assistant pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Amuwo-Odofin branch, continued by saying that the Holy Spirit is at work in the church, adding that it is time for inactive members to be awakened and be active. They can accomplish this, she said, by joining any department or unit. “It’s a wakeup call to the brethren, both in prayers and in the study of the word. Pastor Taiwo has done his bit; now is the time for the church to carry on from where he stopped and do their own bits,” she noted.

Quoting Luke 18:1 to buttress her point on prayers, she said this is the time to be given more to prayer and not slumber, because when men slept, the enemy came in to sow thorns in the field. Also making reference to 1 Corinthians 3:6, the clergy said the work is a team effort; even as Paul had said, he planted and Apollos watered, but it was God who brought the increase. “So, this is not the time to be moved by what’s happening around you but rather to stay focused on the course set out by God,” she said.

Making reference to the promise for the week as found in 1 Corinthians 15:58, Pastor Malaolu went further to tell the brethren not to be shaken but to stay steadfast and unmovable, not to be discouraged or downcast. She stressed that this is the time to pray more and do more, as Pastor Taiwo Odukoya is in heaven cheering the church on. She then concluded her sermon with a prayer session, charging the brethren from the book of Isaiah 60:1.