Rev Enoch Thompson | APRIL 9, 2023 | Matthew 28:1-10 KEY VERSE: ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." Matthew 28:6-7 (NIV) MESSAGE: Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed!! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!! We can sing with the saints of all ages: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! 1. The strife is o'er, the battle done; the victory of life is won; the song of triumph has begun. Hallelujah! 2. Death's mightiest powers have done their worst, but Christ their legions has dispersed: let shouts of praise and joy outburst: Hallelujah! The waiting-time is over, and the victorious conquering Saviour emerges triumphant over the most domineering and crippling power, death. The breaking news is here; CHRIST HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD! At His birth, the good news of His arrival was proclaimed by angels, pursued by lowly shepherds and followed by sophisticated Magi from the east. At His resurrection, the great news was not to be kept hidden. While the forces of darkness were conspiring by good old filthy financial manipulations to keep the truth of the resurrection wrapped up by giving money to the soldiers and planning to bribe the Roman leadership, the camp of the faithful is equally called upon to go and tell. The angel told the women to go and tell the disciples (verse 7), and on their way, the Lord Himself told the women to go and tell the disciples, whom He calls “my brothers” (verse 10). We must first come and see the empty tomb, and then go out to announce the resurrected Saviour to a dying world. FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Have you believed beyond every shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ arose from the dead? Do you have living evidence in your life that He is alive and rules in your heart? Do you walk with Him and talk with Him? Does He determine your tears and your joys? Then go to a dying world and shout from the top of the mountains; “Jesus Christ is alive. He wants to live in your hearts.” PRAYER: Hallelujah, thank you, Lord, that you arose for my justification, and that you live in my heart. I believe you arose, may I arise daily, from all that brings death in my spirit and all that seeks to keep me dead. May I experience resurrection power in every aspect of life and resound to all the world around me the living presence of the resurrected Saviour. Hallelujah! For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | APRIL 8, 2023 | Matthew 27:57-66 KEY VERSE: ⁶⁵"Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." ⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. Matt 27:65-66 (NIV) MESSAGE: For most people most of the time, we are awaiting the fulfilment of a promise, or the realization of a dream, a vision, or the maturing of some investment. The initial point of that hope is one thing, and the realization of the expectation is another joy, but the waiting-time, the period in-between is very often an agony, a challenge, and that is where many people fail. The religious and political leaders had heard the claims by the Lord Jesus Christ that He would be killed, and that on the third day, He would rise to life. They did not believe Him, and they called Him a deceiver. They logically feared that if anything in the semblance of a resurrection happened, it would strengthen the followership of the Lord and make them lose their grip on the minds of the ordinary people. They, therefore, sought legal authority to impose a military guard at the tomb. The seal of Rome and a guard from the Roman army were posted at the tomb, to ensure that the miraculous did not happen. How many things have been done by the Devil to make sure that our resurrection with our Master, the new life He offers, and the beauty for ashes, do not become a reality. I invite you to a deep reflection on the things that fight against us and try to keep us down. We must not deny the fact that there are people, situations, background realities, and current circumstances that all work together against our fullest realization. The Lord Jesus had more than enough factors to keep Him in the grave; the limiting space within the tomb, the large stone at the entrance of the tomb, physical weakness from the beating, the psychological pain of the insults before and during the crucifixion, the loss of blood and strength through the journey to Calvary and the crucifixion, the seal of the emperor and the guards from Pilate, all of these were to make the waiting-time for the Lord the stopping-time. But thanks be to God that for the Lord Jesus, His waiting-time remained a waiting-time. All that was done to keep Him down did not succeed. What is done against us in our Saturday in the grave should not stop us from our Sunday morning outburst. FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Are you facing a waiting-time that is being turned into a stopping-time by forces opposed to you? Cry out to the One who experienced a Saturday in the grave, with opposition forces working around Him to keep Him down. If the risen Jesus lives inside of you, no force of Hell can stop you from becoming all that God has called you to be. Stay strong in your waiting-time. Sunday is coming! PRAYER: Precious Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you showed me to learn to wait for the Father’s allotted times. May I learn to trust you in my waiting-times. Grant me the grace to stay the course and not run ahead of you. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | APRIL 7, 2023 | Matthew 27:32-54 KEY VERSE: ⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴²"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. Matthew 27:41-42 (NIV) MESSAGE: Good Friday was the darkest and most sorrowful day in the history of the universe; the God of the universe was substituted for humanity, His sinful creation, and He died a most miserable death. So sordid was the event that the sun refused to shine, and the earth quaked to receive the holy blood that was spilled. God-in-man, Jesus the Son of God, was dying for the humanity that He so loved. Around the dying Messiah His disciples were confused and disorganized, the ordinary people who had hailed Him a few days earlier had been turned around by the manipulation of the religious leaders into abusers of their Messiah. The religious and political leaders themselves had turned into the ring leaders and insulters of the Man of Sorrows. Their insult to the Lord was that ⁴²"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. Matthew 27:42 (NIV). The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders had opposed the Lord Jesus throughout His life and ministry. They were determined in their hatred and dislike for Him and all He did and taught. And yet on this day that their wishes were being fulfilled as in the Messiah upon the cross they demand the empty sign that the Lord would come down from the cross to get them to believe in Him. Thank God He stayed on the cross. A dying God or Messager of God is indeed unacceptable to the religious mind, but He was the God who had demanded that without the shedding of blood, there would be no forgiveness of sin. It would have been easier for the Lord Jesus to come down from the cross, but He chose to carry His plan to its logical conclusion, to offer His life for the life of humanity, and die fully. He would give them the harder sign, the sign of Jonah, the sign of rising from the dead on the third day; “²⁹As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. ³⁰For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Luke 11:29-30 (NIV). And when this sign was fulfilled, the same religious and political leaders found reason to reject it (28:12-13). We do not need signs to follow Christ, we need intelligent faith! FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Do you believe in the dying Saviour, or do you not believe? Make up your mind and stand by what you determine to believe. Do not believe in subjective signs that may be or not be. Jesus died for our sins. He gave His life to save you, do you simply believe? Stop looking for signs, for the deed is done! PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for taking my place on the cross, thank you for refusing to come down, and for drinking the cup of my sins to the very dregs. I desire to believe till my dying moment. Please help me to have the faith that does not place conditions or look for signs. Help me to stay by the Old Rugged Cross, and to live by the blessings of the body that was broken, and the blood that was shed for me. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | APRIL 6, 2023 | Matthew 26:26-30 KEY VERSE: While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Matt 26:26 (NIV) MESSAGE: Anniversaries and memorials help recall and immortalise important events for individuals, families and nations. In the Upper Room in the week of His passion, the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper, a memorial, a recalling of the great sacrifice that He was headed to Calvary to offer. The meal was the annual Passover Feast, celebrated by all Israel in recollection of the mighty deliverance accomplished by God in the lives of their ancestors, from the tyranny of slavery in Egypt. Through dramatic spiritual encounters against the gods of Egypt and the display of the superior power of Yahweh, the slavery of Israel to Egypt was brought to an end. God directed that, that event was to mark the first month in the calendar of the nation Israel, and they were to celebrate their deliverance in the Passover (Exodus 12:24-27). Christ had come to instate a fuller version of Passover, and in all the enactment of the prophecies throughout His life and ministry and especially in this week in which He would be offered as the ultimate perfect sacrifice He gave us the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, to help us remember and celebrate the new Passover, the deliverance from spiritual bondage, and freedom to live a new life of freedom in Him. The bread that He broke was a symbol of His body that was about to be broken. The wine He offered them was to symbolize the precious blood that was about to be shed and to remind us that His blood was able to cleanse all our sins and make us acceptable before the Father in Heaven. It is our privilege and our responsibility to take part in the Lord’s Supper as regularly as it is arranged by the Church. In that ceremony, we also celebrate the Body of Christ, the Church that emerged from that great sacrifice. The unity of that mixture of Jews and Gentiles, the new humanity that was made possible by the reconciliation with God that came about because of Calvary. What joy to celebrate the memorial of the greatest and best sacrifice ever! FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Do you partake of the Lord’s Supper? Do so gladly with true understanding. Thank God for the wonderful gift of His love in the death of the Saviour Jesus Christ. If you are not partaking of the Lord’s Supper, correct whatever concerns there are; talk to a Pastor or a Christian friend, and begin to memorialize Calvary for your blessing. PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus thank you for your body that was broken, and for your blood that was shed. May I encounter you afresh, Lord, each time I partake of the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper, may I receive a fresh grace to take up my cross and follow you. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | April 5, 2023 | Matthew 26:20-25 KEY VERSE: Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you." Matthew 26:25 (NIV) MESSAGE: The treachery of the human soul in the grips of sin was demonstrated abundantly in the events of Holy Week, so well as to make the gruesome sacrifice of the Lord in the offer of His sinless blood for our atonement understandable. Yesterday’s reflections showed us how evil a thief can be, as to be part of the Jesus Team, to steal from the Jesus Fund, to criticise the good done to Jesus and then conspire to sell the Team Leader Jesus. As if all of that was not enough, we are today confronted with something to shock us further. The Lord Jesus Christ did not mince words when He told His disciples "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." Matt 26:21 (NIV). The statement was so painful it instilled sorrow in the hearts of the assembly of followers. Because it sounded so heinous, to think that such a fact was possible among them, and just in case it could be true with any of them the disciples began to seek from the Lord one after the other if perchance it was any of them. Then Judas of all people, with all the thoughts he had harboured about the Saviour, the meeting he had had with the Pharisees, and his agreement to collect money to betray the Saviour also comes up with, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" What was happening with Judas here? We may learn a few things from Judas and his shocking question to the Lord. It is possible that Judas was deliberately lying because one sin needs another sin to cover it up, and so he was covering treachery with lies. It was also possible that Judas was joining the chorus of the disciples in order to fit into the niceness of the company. Most worryingly it is also possible that Judas was taken over so much by the sin in his heart that his mind could not accept the fact that he was on the path to such depths of sin, having agreed to place the holy Son of God into the unholy hands of unholy people, in exchange for money! Maybe, Judas was in a state of confusion and denial, and could therefore ask the Lord, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" What blindness and insensitivity make me fail to see my sins? What wretchedness of a dead soul that I betray my Lord without knowing? FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Can we recall any instance of offence to the Lord, maybe not to the extent of selling the Saviour like Judas did, but choosing anything over and above the Lord Jesus? That must be shocking to the Lord, but should be more shocking to us, in view of all the Lord has done for us. May we come to the Lord in confession and receive grace to travel the rest of the journey. PRAYER: Dear Lord, my mouth is shut, and my heart is broken, I am in shock and cannot believe that I have often sold you out for money, for fame, for human acceptance, for as little as nothing. My mind cannot understand how I ever choose to go against you in little and big things. Please forgive me, and help me to think right, believe right and live right. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | April 4, 2023 | Matthew 26:14-16 KEY VERSE: From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Matthew 26:16 (NIV) MESSAGE: It has been said in a Ghanaian proverb that the smelliness of the vulture was with it before it was hatched from its mother’s egg. The essence of the proverb is that when people are evil it is something that is a part of them by nature. Though there are other people in the Bible by the name Judas, one Judas, Judas Iscariot, has gained a well-noted bad name as “the one who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ.” Immediately following the anointing at Bethany from yesterday’s reflection, we see Judas stepping out to literally sell the Master to His enemies. The immediate manner in which the section for today follows the anointing event gives the impression that Judas was reacting to the apparent waste of the perfume poured on the Lord. In fact, John’s Gospel links the two: “⁴But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages. " John 12:4-5 (NIV). The real reason for Judas’ reaction is given in John 12:6: “He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” Judas was a thief, and he covered his thievery in the garment of a concern for the poor. Judas stole from whatever was in the coffers of the Jesus Team, and with the money that would have come into the coffers with the sale of the perfume and the deposit of a year’s wages under his control, Judas would have had the opportunity to steal more. But now, that opportunity was lost, and he had to find new ways to get more money. Now he would sell the Master Himself. Judas had the opportunity to deal with his sin. I can imagine moments when just before or immediately after Judas had taken money from the Team coffers the Lord had given him a convicting eye contact as He did with Peter. Even at the Last Supper Judas would be given opportunity to turn from evil and pursue the right path. But he was a smelly vulture and must keep smelling. His little sins must grow to bigger sins. What a disaster for the human soul! FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Let’s look into our individual souls and see if there are lurking elements of sin that seek to rule our life. There are signs we could see, traces of anger, bitterness, gossip, lies, pride, a judgmental spirit, something that seeks to move us to the dark realms and to make us disregard the Master, and where possible make us betray Him. Let’s repent today, with tears and a determination to never succumb to them again. PRAYER: Dear Saviour and King Jesus, my Lord, I come with a repentant heart confessing the sinfulness that lurks in my soul and often overtakes my holy calling. I seek forgiveness and pledged with your help to never yield to the evil that crouches at my door. Please help me break from evil and to submit fully to you. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | APRIL 3, 2023 | Matthew 26:1-13 KEY VERSE: ¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." Matthew 26:12-13 (NIV) MESSAGE: Someone has said that the reason why we give so many flowers to the dead is that we have a sense of guilt that we did not give them any flowers while they were alive, and so we seek to make up for that failure. There’s a lot of sense in that statement. People who have lost loved ones in many cases have a sense of guilt because they did not visit them enough, call them enough, give to them enough or generally, show them love enough. Our reflection today is an invitation to do for the Lord and humanity all the good we could, now, while we have the time and opportunity. A woman, identified as Mary by John’s Gospel (John 12:3), came to the Lord while He sat at table in Bethany, broke an expensive jar of perfume and poured it on the Lord. The disciples of the Lord and the people present raised concerns about why that expense had been made when the money from the sale of the perfume could have taken care of the poor (we are told it was worth a year’s wages). The response of the Lord was: “¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Matthew 26:12-13), NIV. Was the Lord promoting a wasteful way of life? Certainly not, the Lord was not a wasteful person. Do you remember the miracles of the multiplication of bread, and the command to pick up the pieces, and for nothing to be wasted? We must not be wasteful. He was only indicating that certain necessary expenses must be attended to, especially in the fulfilment of the mission for the salvation of human souls. He endorsed the action of Mary for some of the following reasons. Firstly, the sacrifice of Heaven in sending the Saviour makes any sacrifice we make on earth pale into insignificance: He had come from His throne in Heaven to accomplish the most important feat for the redemption and wellbeing of the human race. In the light of that sacrifice, the gesture of Mary was insignificant. Secondly, His mission was for a specified time frame, and as we saw yesterday, the events to bring about our salvation were being enacted according to the prophecies to demonstrate to the Jews that this was the Messiah. He was to go to the cross and die hurriedly, and there would not be time to do for Him all the ceremonies that accompany the burial customs. Therefore the action of Mary was a pre-emptive one, she prepared the living body of the Lord for His soon burial when He would have overcome our sins and Satan by the cross. Thirdly any action to move ahead the agenda of God must not be stopped because there are human needs, for human needs will never be fully provided for until the restoration of all things in the new Heavens and the new Earth. Mary, the woman who anointed the Lord in Bethany, in the week He was to go to the cross, has been remembered up to today with every telling of the Holy Week narratives, just as the Lord promised. What we do for the Master, if not valued and applauded by humans, will receive the approval of Heaven, and our rewards will not be missing. FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: What do you feel led by God to do, now, for His glory and the advancement of the Kingdom? Now is the time to change mindsets, attitudes, and behaviours that do not glorify God. Now is the time to break our jars of talents, gifts, time, financial resources, and loving hearts, to serve the Master’s glory. Identify your jars of alabaster, bring them to the Saviour, break them, and anoint the Master, before He comes again. PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, I offer my life as a living sacrifice, and pray that you will cleanse me and make me a sweet-smelling perfume that makes people give praise and honour to you. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | April 2, 2023 | Matthew 21:1-17 KEY VERSE: "The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" Matthew 21:9 (NIV) MESSAGE: We shall interrupt our verse by verse reflections in the Gospel of Matthew and pay attention to our celebration of Easter, by following the traditional reflections on the happenings of Holy Week, the records in the Gospels that sum up the events between the triumphal entry of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem through the crucifixion and Resurrection. Today the whole Christian world is celebrating the entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into the city of Jerusalem. The scene is charged with the Lord Himself riding a donkey and a colt, multitudes around the Prophet from Nazareth, clothes thrown on the road and tree branches placed before Him to show welcome and honour to their accepted Messiah. The loud proclamations of the crowds were significant; _"Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" (NIV). The people were quoting Psalm 118:25-26, they were acknowledging Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah and their King. Hosanna was a cry for salvation; the crowds were calling for the intervention of the Saviour to deliver them from what they saw as their greatest affliction, their being subject to Roman rule at the time. The Lord did not rebuke their cry for a misguided salvation. And today many are calling ourselves Christian, not because we have come to the Lord to deal with our sin disease but because we seek some solution to some challenges of life. The Lord entertained their welcome and their support because at the higher level He was bringing to pass the eternal plan of God to bring salvation, not only to the Jewish nation and for material comfort, but from the rule of Satan and to people everywhere who would accept His self-sacrifice that He had come into Jerusalem to bring about. The day on which the Lord rode into Jerusalem was the tenth day of the month for the celebration of the Passover, that great reality and picture of deliverance from oppression and misrule in Egypt. The Jews selected the lamb to be sacrificed for the Passover meal on this day, and kept it till the fourteenth day when it was slaughtered (Exodus 12:1-7). Whatever else was happening politically and socially God was making an eternal spiritual declaration, a public declaration that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the Lamb of God who was to fulfil the essence of the Jewish Passover lamb, by being selected and presented this day, to be sacrificed by the fifth day of that week. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem aroused different emotions in different people at the time. But for us and for all generations thereafter, we must see and appreciate what was done for us, the Lamb of God was set apart to shed His blood, willingly, for our new Passover. Hosanna! Behold the Lamb of God!! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!!! FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Celebrate the exactness of the fulfilment of God’s promises which brought about our salvation in the Lamb of God so graciously provided for us. Sing Hosanna with meaning, salvation from the rule of Satan and sin, and then salvation from all that afflicts us. PRAYER: Lamb of God, the King who dies for His people’s sins, thank you for the great free offer of your sinless self to stand in my sinful place. I cry “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.” Now and always to worship you, For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | April 1, 2023 | Matthew 11:1-6 KEY VERSE: . . . ."Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else? Matthew 11:3 (NIV) MESSAGE: Identity is key in every matter. You want to be sure that the person sitting in the doctor’s seat in the consulting room, when you go for your check-up, is the trained and qualified person who is supposed to be in that seat to look after you. I heard the story once of an Accra-bound public transport from Kumasi. At the rest stop along the way the driver stepped out and went to the washroom. A mentally challenged person in the vicinity, who was a driver in his normal life, walked into the driver’s seat, drove the passengers to Accra and walked away. Thank God the passengers got to their destination, but the story could have ended differently, because of a wrong identity at the wheels. John the Baptist had strong convictions about the Lord Jesus Christ as the One that was to be the Saviour of Israel, and of course of the whole of humanity, the Messiah. At the special encounter before John was born (Luke 1:41) and at the baptism of the Lord Jesus in Jordan, John received the attestation that the man of Galilee, Jesus, was the Messiah. John publicly announced that Jesus of Nazareth was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29-36), to the end that some of his disciples left him to follow the Lord. However, with the passage of time after the arrest of John, with nothing miraculous from the Lord Jesus happening to secure his release, or to punish the evil that was taking over the nation of Israel, John began to doubt if he had concluded wrongly, and sent his disciples to ask the question of Christ, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Matthew 11:3 (NIV). We must ask that question about the Lord Jesus Christ today. For it is dangerous to commit our eternal souls to following a fake Messiah. We must be assured that the One we follow in the Holy week ahead, carrying our own crosses is the eternal One who has come like He promised to set us free, and lead us through this life to our eternal abode in a place He has prepared for us. The testimony of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, the record of the life of the historical Jesus and its fulfilment of prophecies made centuries before, the person, teachings and works of the holy person Jesus all say that Jesus is the Christ. The witness of the indwelling Holy Spirit in true believers, the reactions and responses of demons in obedience to the Name of Jesus, and the transformation and elevation we experience by the Name Jesus, all conspire to announce the verdict, JESUS OF NAZARETH IS THE LONG-AWAITED MESSIAH, THE ONE ANOINTED TO SAVE HUMANITY FROM SIN AND THE POWER OF SATAN! FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Settle the question once and for all about whether Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the God-Man, the Messiah announced from of old. Yes, He is, and resoundingly so. Hold Him out as your Saviour and Master, always. PRAYER: Dear Messiah Jesus, Anointed One of Israel, God Himself identifying with His fallen creatures. I own you as my eternal King and commit to walk in your Word and in your Spirit. Anointed One, anoint me to represent you truly while I go through this world. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | MARCH 31, 2023 | Matthew 10:40-42 KEY VERSE: Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. Matthew 10:41 (NIV) MESSAGE: Ambassadors of kingdoms and nations represent their kings and national leaders, and whatever is done to them is seen as something done to their sending powers. In the concluding sections of this extensive teaching on the persecution that the Apostles, and by extension all believers will face because of their identification with and commitment to Christ, the Lord gives an assuring principle that should encourage all believers in our forward march: “Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.” Matthew 10:41 (NIV). This assurance is that when we reach out in the Name of the Lord Jesus, we have His companionship and His blessings. People who do good to us, because we are His children, His agents serving His purpose, will receive the blessing of our God and King. Our reception of Christ is understood as we are receiving the Father who sent Him. It means receiving everything that the infinite all-powerful loving heavenly Father is. It means having God come into residence in our hearts with all His attendant advantages, blessings on earth and life forevermore! When we welcome people based on their identification with Christ, and not on class, ethnic, financial standing or other such superficial bases, we court the blessings of God. FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Step out into the world knowing that you have the backing of Heaven. Touch people with the love and power of your Heavenly Father. How do you receive and treat Pastors, missionaries and other agents of the Kingdom who come your way? PRAYER: Dear Father in Heaven, I am grateful that you assure me of your presence with me For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | MARCH 30, 2023 | Matthew 10:34-39 KEY VERSE: ³⁷Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37-38 (NIV) MESSAGE: We understand peace to mean the silent co-existence of people and other creatures in a close physical relationship. The Kingdom of God with all it teaches would have been understood to mean a peaceful Kingdom in that it fitted nicely into the state of things. However, the Lord taught us that His Kingdom was going to be a source of disagreement and divisions, a force to separate close human relations. The call for total allegiance of Kingdom citizens in following the Lord Jesus Christ, and the intensity of transformation it requires will compel believers to be hated by their loved ones and rejected from the natural family bonds. Christians need not become antisocial and impossible to live with, but true discipleship will make believers unfitting in the networks in which they operated very easily in the past. Their unwillingness to worship the previous gods, to participate in the past sins, to tow the line of the past normal, which was worldly passion and the satisfaction of the desires of the flesh. All these will work and make the believer unwelcome and unacceptable. The demand of love to the Lord Christ places the believer in a condition where Christ is to be preferred above all: “³⁷Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37-38 (NIV). We are not called to literally hate our fathers and our mothers or those naturally dear to us. We are called to love the Lord Christ so deeply that in comparison our love for our natural lovers looks like hatred! Christ causes a commitment crisis, a necessary outcome of the intensity of our allegiance to Him. FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: Love the King of the Kingdom even over and above your very life. Be ready to separate from natural loves that compete with your commitment to the Lord our Saviour. PRAYER: Dear Lord, I love you more than everything else and everybody else. Help me love you more than my very life. For your dear Name’s sake, Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!

Rev Enoch Thompson | MARCH 29, 2023 | Matthew 10:32-33 KEY VERSE: "³²Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Matthew 10:32-33 (NIV) MESSAGE: One way to avoid being persecuted with the citizens of the Kingdom, those who identify themselves as believers in the message and person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who have become citizens of His Kingdom, who are therefore strangers in this world, and are therefore not part of the world-system, is to deny this identity in the face of opposition. The Apostle Peter was pushed into one such hole when during the arrest leading to the crucifixion of the Lord, while the Lord was being harassed by the shambolic trials in those early hours, he was confronted with his being a disciple of the Lord. For self-preservation, and maybe in the confusion within his mind as to why the Lord was not doing something miraculous to save Himself, Peter denied knowing the Master, let alone belonging to His band of followers. Whenever we are tempted to renounce Christ let us be reminded of what He said: "³²Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33 (NIV). In the matter of our day-to-day life we need representation before the Father in Heaven, and how we relate to Christ and own up to our relationship to Him speaks for or against us in the corridors of Heaven. When it is clear to us, and we make it a matter beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are Christ-followers, He identifies with us in Heaven, at the right hand of the Father, in the place of authority. But let us be warned in very clear terms, that when we shrink from acknowledging the Lord Jesus, He is bound by the natural rule of friendship to disown us, for He cannot be friends with those who shy away from Him before mere mortals. FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE: It is better to lose human companions because we identify with the Lord Jesus Christ than to lose the Lord’s favour because we fear humans and love their favour. Are there ways in which we tend to disown the Lord? Let’s repent. PRAYER: Lord, please forgive me for the times I have denied you. I declare now and hold to it forever, that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and my Master. Amen. THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!