St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Wakama Parish

23/01/2025

With ONE TOP MEDIA – I just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉

22/01/2025

19/01/2025

THE SIGNATURE

SUNDAY 19TH. JANUARY, 2025.

THE NEW COVENANT Hebrews 10:11-18.

Hebrews 10:16, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them."

The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews makes a direct reference back to the prophecy of Jeremiah 31, which God gave to Israel. For centuries, they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. They had broken their covenant with Him and had followed after other gods. The northern kingdom had been defeated by Assyria, and many in the southern kingdom had already been deported to Babylon. But God, in His mercy, promised to make a New Covenant with His people and instructed Jeremiah to deliver an amazing prophecy concerning this new and better covenant.

God promised that despite their apostasy and though they broke their covenant with Him, He would make a New Covenant with His people, "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt - my covenant, which they broke." The first covenant given on Mount Sinai contained 613 laws. God's promise to bless His people was conditioned upon Israel keeping their part of the agreement.

Because God knew fallen, humanity could never keep His perfect Law. He ordained that Israel would offer sacrifices to atone for their sins. The LORD wanted His people to recognize that they were sinners in need of salvation, and the Mosaic Law was God's tool to help His people recognize this. Indeed, Apostle Paul tells us that the Law was "our schoolmaster to point us to Christ." God had promised that if Israel honoured Him by keeping the conditions of the covenant, He would multiply blessings upon them in every area of life.

But He also warned that if they broke their covenant with Him, they would be cursed, and He would scatter them among the nations. And so, when Moses took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, they said, "everything that the LORD has said we will do, and we will be obedient." Sadly, however, the people quickly broke the terms of the covenant. They refused to learn the lesson God was teaching them. They did evil in the sight of God and followed after pagan deities, and God had to punish His people for their disobedience. But, as Jeremiah prophesied, the LORD promised that despite our disobedience, He would make a New Covenant with His people.

Prayers: Gracious Father, write Your Law on the tablet of my heart, and give me the grace to daily obey Your Word. In Jesus' matchless name, I ask this. Amen.

Rejoice!

+Enoch
Okrika.

17/01/2025

THE SIGNATURE

FRIDAY 17TH. JANUARY, 2025.

PERFECTED FOREVER Hebrews 10:11-18.

Hebrews 10:14, "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."

Christ's one offering of Himself on the cruel cross stands in stark contrast to the ongoing, perpetual, daily sacrifices that the Old Testament priests were required to carry out day by day in order to cover the sins of humanity. For by the one offering of Himself has the LORD Jesus Christ perfected for all time, all those who have trusted in the blood of the Lamb for the forgiveness of sins and the redemption of their soul. We were positioned in Christ and sanctified in Him once and for all at the point of rebirth. We were placed in union with our Saviour and set apart for Him, which is an act that can never be changed in time or in eternity.

We are positionally sanctified. We are one with our Saviour. We are accepted in the Beloved and made members of His Body once and for all. But we are also being sanctified during our sojourn on earth. We are positionally sanctified and are progressively being sanctified by Christ's one sacrifice of Himself. We are being changed from glory to glory as we mature in the faith and grow in grace, for He who began a good work in us the moment we were saved by grace through faith, will continue to transform our new born-again life in Christ, into the image and likeness of Himself.

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and a knowledge of God's Son, that we will become mature in the LORD and measure up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Christ's single offering of Himself on the cruel cross has perfected all those who are being sanctified. Christ's one sacrifice has made perfect all who are saved by grace through faith in Him. When our Saviour cried out, "It is finished," the sacrifice for sin was completed. The work of the cross was done. The payment for all sin had been paid in full forever.

Sadly, today, there are some Christians that continue to offer up the LORD Jesus as an ongoing, perpetual, sacrifice each time they celebrate His death on the cross in their services. Sadly, these Christians are oblivious to the fact that: "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." The Old Testament sacrifices produced a remembrance of sins, but Christ's once-for-all sacrifice on the cross has provided remission of sins. Let us rejoice and be glad in the one finished sacrifice for sin and praise our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for His grace and favour!

Prayers: Heavenly Father, how I praise and thank You for Your glorious plan of salvation. Help me to live a life that honours You. In Jesus' precious name, I ask this. Amen.

Rejoice!

+Enoch
Okrika.

12/01/2025

THE SIGNATURE

SUNDAY 12TH. JANUARY, 2025.

SANCTIFIED BY CHRIST Hebrews 10:5-10.

Hebrews 10:10, "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Everyone who has trusted Christ as Saviour has been set apart by God through what He did for us on the cruel cross of calvary. Every true believer in Christ Jesus has been cleansed of their sins, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and consecrated to God, because Jesus became our substitutionary sacrifice for sin and breathed into us His own perfect, abundant, and eternal life. Every Christian is sanctified by God. Saved, by grace through faith in our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ. His one, perfect, and eternal sacrifice stands in stark contrast with the many imperfect and temporary sacrifices that were offered under the old covenant.

The Law itself may have been perfect, but humanity's ability to keep the Law fell far short of the flawless standard of excellence that God requires from all who would seek to please Him and enjoy fellowship with Him. If God's justice were to be satisfied without Christ, we would have no choice but to remain dead in our trespasses and sins and be forever separated from our Father in heaven. But God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish and be forever condemned but be saved, set-apart, sanctified, and made righteous.

We could never have been sanctified and made holy through our own good works or worthy merit. We could never have been set apart by God and forgiven of our sins through our own vain efforts to keep the perfect requirements of the Law. But in accordance with the will of God we have been made holy, and it is all because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross of calvary. We are now set-apart, consecrated, and sanctified for God's good pleasure through Christ's substitutionary offering, which was made that one time on the cross. His sacrifice paid the price for all sin and for every person who will trust in His atoning sacrifice.

It was God's will that sent Christ Jesus into the world. Christ then accomplished what God willed Him to do. Our sanctification - our being set apart to God - is founded on the will of Jesus, not our own will. It is founded on the offering of Jesus Christ, not on our own offering or sacrifices for God. The one sacrifice of Christ Jesus does the work that the many sacrifices the many animal sacrifices failed to do. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, He paid the full price of the righteous requirements of the Law in blood on a wooden cross. He did it for you, and He did it for me!

Prayers: Heavenly Father, thank You that I am positionally sanctified in Christ. Help me to abide in Him and He in me so that I may grow in grace and live as You intended me to live. This I ask in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

Rejoice!

+Enoch
Okrika.

12/01/2025

✝️🇳🇬 CHURCH OF NIGERIA
(ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DAILY FOUNTAIN DEVOTIONAL

Date: 2025-01-12
(Epiphany 1)

✝️ TOPIC: GOD HAS NO FAVOURITES

📺 WATCH THE DEVOTION VIA THE LINK BELOW 👇
https://youtu.be/tP7oFxp1dQY?si=D-FGQA8D7B2bAo2D

✝️📖TEXT: Acts 10:34-38(NKJV)
10:34. Then Peter opened [his] mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.
10:35. "But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
10:36. "The word which [God] sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ -- He is Lord of all --
10:37. "that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:
10:38. "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

✝️📜 .STUDY: The statement of Apostle Peter in today's meditation shows the new dispensation of salvation revealed to all peoples, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. As Apostle Paul states in Galatians 3:24,"The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." For Peter, it took some time before he could be convinced that the salvation message was for all and that God was not partial. It took a vision from God (Acts 10:9-16) and the subsequent events that led him to the house of Cornelius, for him to realise that the Gentile world is part of God's salvation plan. The great event that occurred on the cross of Calvary is open to all who draw near to God. The gospel is still available today for everyone who sincerely calls on the name of Jesus and seeks to know Him. Dear friend, God sees and knows of your faithful walk with him. He sees your strivings in prayer, the Word, and in good works. He is not partial and will not withhold his blessings from those who diligently seek him. Your labour of love will never be in vain (Hebrews 13:16). He has no favourites, but honours all who honour Him.

✝️🙏PRAYER: Lord, thank you for the gift of salvation; help me to diligently seek you and to spread your Word everywhere Igo, Amen!

Thank you...

Advent Cable Network Nigeria is the Televangelism arm of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) with a focus on keeping the orthodox faith alive through ...

11/01/2025

THE SIGNATURE

SATURDAY 11TH. JANUARY, 2025.

COME TO DO HIS WILL Hebrews 10:5-10.

Hebrews 10:9, "The He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second."

Our text for today is meant to draw a direct contrast between two things. In this case, they are the ideas mentioned in Psalm 40:6-8. This passage was quoted in Hebrews 10:5-7. The Psalmist referred to God's formation of the human body, especially the ears, while pointing out that God was not ultimately interested in sacrifice. Instead, God's desire was for His will to be done, indicating that the use of that body was the real fulfillment of God's will.

The point, so says the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews, is that God specifically intends to "set aside" sacrifice, instead highlighting the earthly performance of His will. That meshes with the other Old Testament quotations that have been given to prove that God has always intended for a new covenant to come. The old Covenant's sacrifices, then, were only meant to be symbolic of the "real" resolution for our sin, which came through the incarnation and death of Christ Jesus.

Our text for meditation contrasts two things. In this case, the ideas from Psalm 40:6-8. Our text's meaning is that God removed the Levitical priesthood and its sacrifices - "the first" to replace them with the sacrifice of Christ Jesus - "the second." Our text means that God abolished the law to establish the Gospel, or He caused the first covenant to vanish to make room for the second covenant. Our text also means that God took away the offerings, sacrifices, and the burnt offerings prescribed by the law to establish the offering of the body of Christ Jesus.

The sacrifice of Christ Jesus is so powerful and valuable that it covers all sins and doesn't need to be repeated. The law was a shadow of the great design of divine grace and shouldn't be doted on. The Old Covenant and ils law were incomplete and insufficient to save and bring total cleansing from sin. Rather than to offer a sacrifice for sin, the writer of Hebrews tells us that Christ came to do the will of God. Let us endeavour to do the will of God at all times. The LORD bless us all!

Prayers:Gracious LORD, help me to do Your will at all times. In Jesus' peerless name, I ask this. Amen.

Rejoice!

+Enoch
Okrika.

08/01/2025

THE SIGNATURE

WEDNESDAY 8TH. JANUARY, 2025

SACRIFICES FOR SIN Hebrews 10:5-10.

Hebrews 10:6, "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. "

Burnt offerings - actually, the word 'holokautoma' signifies not just a burnt offering, but a whole burnt offering and sin offerings were prescribed by the law. In fact, detailed meticulous instructions were given in the law in order to properly conduct the entire rite, from selection of the animal through to its final disposal. And yet our text says they weren't pleasing to God. There are two reasons for this. First, they only anticipated Christ's sacrifice. They were found pleasing only in the sense that they looked forward to Him, but of themselves, they brought no pleasure to the LORD.

And secondly, fault rested with the people because of how they presented them. This is seen, for instance, in the words of the prophet Micah in Micah 6:6-7, "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Here, the prophet asks the people a set of rhetorical questions. The questions included those things prescribed in the law to be given as offerings - in massive quantities. Then he adds in his firstborn as a potential offering.

Our text for today is a continuation of the quote from Psalm 40:6-8. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews is here pointing out how the repetitive animal sacrifices of the old covenant could never truly cleanse humanity from sin. Instead, they only served to remind humanity that he/she was a sinner in need of a Saviour. The real resolution for sin came in the form of Christ Jesus, who offered Himself as a single, once for all payment for sin. The various rituals and symbols of the old covenant were meant to foreshadow the new covenant and explain our need for the Messiah - Hebr. 9:8-10.

This particular Old Testament quotation supports the idea that God's plan for our redemption was never meant to lie in burnt offerings or animal sacrifices. Instead, God's intent revolved around the creation of a body - a veiled reference to the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Just as God made the ears - and body of the Psalmist in order for him to do the will of God, so did God intend to fulfill His plan through the body of the Messiah, not through offerings.

Prayers: Blessed LORD, may the perfect sacrifice of Your Son atone for me. In Jesus' matchless name, I ask this. Amen.

Rejoice!

+Enoch
Okrika.

06/01/2025

THE SIGNATURE

MONDAY 6TH. JANUARY, 2025.

ANIMAL BLOOD CANNOT TAKE AWAY SINS Hebrews 10:1-4.

Hebrews 10:4, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins."

Our text states directly what the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews has been implying for several chapters. The animal sacrifices offered by the priests of the Old Testament had to be repeated often - Hebr. 9:6-7. Logically, this means that those sacrifices were not actually obtaining forgiveness for sins; they were only covering up those sins temporarily delaying judgment. Through many quotations in the Old Testament, however, the writer of Hebrews has shown that this was always God's intention. The old covenant was meant to symbolize the new covenant to prepare humanity to accept the ministry of Jesus Christ.

The very flaws that have been pointed out, in fact, were meant to draw humanity's awareness to our need for a single and perfect sacrifice - Hebr. 9:8-10. In Hebrews chapter 9, it was mentioned that animal sacrifice can assuage feelings of guilt but can not truly change the conscience. In this context, this means animal blood can only solve a ceremonial problem: something physical and external. Our real problem with sin, however, is internal. This is why God promised to establish a "new covenant" written on the hearts and minds of all people.

There is a necessity of sin being taken away, otherwise it will be remembered; and there will be a conscienceness of it, and it must be answered for, or it will remain marked, and the curse and penalty of the law must take place: but it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins; which was shed on the Day of Atonement: sin is a breach of the moral law, but these sacrifices belong to the ceremonial law which are less acceptable to God than moral duties; sin is committed against God, and has an objective infiniteness in it, and therefore can never be atoned for by the blood of such creatures.

It leaves a stain on the mind and conscience, which this blood can not reach; besides, this is not the same blood, nor of the same kind with the person that has sinned; yes, if this could take away sin, it would do more than the blood of the human being himself/herself could do; such blood shed can never answer the penalty of the law, satisfy divine justice, or secure the honour of divine holiness: but what the blood of these creatures could not do, the blood of Christ has done, and does: that takes away sin from the sight of justice, and from the conscience of the saints.

Prayers: Almighty God, may the blood of Your Son cleanse me from all sins. In Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen.

Rejoice!

+Enoch
Okrika.