Lutheran Church of Nigeria Holy Trinity Cathedral Youth Fellowsihp

19/06/2020

As many in our country celebrate fathers this weekend, it is helpful to know who the perfect is.

31/05/2020

The Sunday of Pentecost
May 31, 2020

Psalm 25:1-15
Old Testament Lesson: Numbers 11:24-30
Epistle Lesson: Acts 1:1-21
Gospel Lesson: John 7:37-39
Hymn: Hark the Voice of Jesus Crying (LHB 497)
Text: Acts 1:1-21

THEME: The Holy Spirit, Power of Witnessing

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our loving Saviour Jesus Christ.
Today is Pentecost Sunday and the seventh Sunday after Easter. Let us first consider what Pentecost is before we digest our text. Most Christians today have some idea about Pentecost, but considering it is not as widely celebrated as other Christian ceremonies, it is safe to conclude that many believers are uncertain about the significance of Pentecost to today's church.

In the Old Testament, Pentecost or the Festival of Weeks was one of the weightiest festivals during which God required all males in Israel to be in Jerusalem. The other festival were Passover and the feast of Booths or Sukkot (John 7:37). Pentecost in the Old Testament was a time when Jews would thank God for blessing them with grains, but overtime, it became traditionally associated with the day God revealed His law to His people through Moses.
In the New Testament, Pentecost refers to the time when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus after He ascended to heaven. However, many Christians mistakenly believe this time to be the time in a believer's life when he or she gets baptized in the Holy Spirit. But our text speaks of this experience as being "THE POWER TO WITNESS".
WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, equal with God the Father and the Son in nature but separate in personality from them, with the sole responsibility of sanctification. The Spirit teaches, guides, helps us, empowers us, intercedes for us, binds us together as the body of Christ etc. (1Cor 12:3-13, Rom. 8:26-27,Gal.5:22-25)

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 should be interpreted in the light of our text, which gives an account of Jesus telling His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit. Before Jesus was taken to heaven, He told His disciples that "they shall receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and they will be His witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."(Acts 1:8). Just as the ministry of Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit descending on Him at His baptism, so the ministry of the disciples depended on the receiving the Holy Spirit and relying on His Power. Today as Christians, we received this Power to witness just as Jesus did in our Baptism. For the Godhead is present during baptism which the Spirit enables us to live a life of witnessing as we fan the flame of God's Spirit in us daily through His word and Prayer. Jesus baptizing with water and the Spirit in Acts 1:5 does not imply that we need two Baptisms, for we have one Lord, one Faith and one Baptism. (Eph.4:5). For we are given God's life and nature and are made part of the family of God, just as God the Father spoke during Jesus' baptism and the Spirit descended upon Him as a dove, the Spirit of God indwells in us in our Baptism. In our baptism, we were washed, regenerated, renewed, empowered to witness Christ to the world. (Titus 3:5) The high point of Christ's instruction was that the disciples should wait on Him to receive POWER, when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. While waiting, they were not inactive; they were praying and studying the word. So if we relax and not fan the flame of God's Spirit in us it dies leaving us as bench warmers in our respective churches with no ability to witness. The event of Acts 2 signaled a new period for God's people in which the Holy Spirit empowers to witness to nations with the ultimate goal of glorying God. In other words, during Pentecost God's people, the church received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which empowered them to witness for Christ throughout the nations to the Glory of God.

WHO IS A WITNESS: A witness is a person who "gives evidence", basing his or her testimony concerning actual events on direct personal knowledge. The Apostles gave this kind of evidence concerning Christ's life and resurrection. No man can witness Christ or manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit without the indwelling of the word of God in him and the habit of praying. You and I can give this kind of evidence concerning the person and power of God when we have a personal and cordial relationship with Christ. It is really very unfortunate that some Christians today have limited the Pentecost experience to speaking in tongues only, rather than witnessing Christ. Hear me, it was not the speaking in tongues that brought about the conversion of 3000 people but it was the message "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.(Acts 2:14-42) that Peter preached through the power of the Holy Spirit, just as God caught the attention of Moses through the burning Bush, God also used the tongues as a mark to draw all those that were in Jerusalem that morning to the knowledge of Him.
The Pentecost experience brought about multilingual, multicultural and multiracial message (Gal 3:28). The Apostles spoke known languages but today's Pentecostals speak unknown languages and termed it "Heavenly language". Some even learn the language so that they will not look odd in church while others are speaking. But the scripture says that the Apostles spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterances. What an irony!. Apostle Paul speaks of the use of tongues as a gift(1 Cor.12:28), he also emphasized that he who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, So that the church may be edified(1 Cor. 14:5). It is rather unfortunate that that some Christians today use tongues to show off as a sign that they are better than others, Most times they quote the book of Joel 2:28-29 to support their ignorance. But the passage speaks of prophesy, visions and dreams as evidences of the outpouring of the Spirit and not speaking in tongues. The gift of tongues is to edify the speaker.(1 Cor. 14:4), also tongues are signs not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophesy is for believers and not unbelievers. (1 Cor. 14:22). Paul also exhorts that if there is no interpreter while speaking in tongues, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.(1 Cor.14:28). If this is so, why the jamboree in our congregations while praying?.

As we celebrate Pentecost today, Let us forget the fantasies of our misplaced priorities and desire the indwelling of God's Spirit to help us focus on God's purpose and plan in sending His Spirit not just for our personal lives but for the salvation of the entire world. Let us brace up into the great commission by eating God's word, praying and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in us. (Gal. 5:22-23). Let us be concerned about the empty pews in our congregations and reach out to the lost rather than focusing on building the state of art auditoriums without people. Let us rise above blaming our leaders, The Popes, Prelates, Archbishops, G.O's, Bishops, Apostles, Venerables, Reverends, Pastors, Evangelists, Elders, Deaconesses, Preachers, Seminarians etc., and reach out to the lost with the message of salvation for the great commission is for all. Let us get up from the pews that we have conditioned ourselves on with our titles and be zealous about witnessing Christ beyond our comfort zones. GOD in this dispensation of the Holy Spirit is ready to use us as agents to bring about another spiritual awakening in our environments, nations and this generation amidst this dreaded Corona Virus Pandemic. For there is no discrimination in the school of the Holy Spirit, rather God uses the available to bring about the desirable. Everyone in the upper room received the Holy Spirit's empowerment and not just the 12 disciples only. You can become that crusader in our generation.

Stanza 4 of Hymn 497 in The Lutheran Hymnal says:
"Let none hear you idly saying,
there is nothing I can do,
While the souls of men are dying
and the master calls for you.
Take the task He gives you gladly,
Let His work your pleasure be;
Answer quickly when He calleth,
Here am I, send me, send me".

Finally, the question is, DO YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOU?. This could a very difficult question for some Christians to answer, but if your answer is "YES", Arise and start witnessing now. If your answer is "NO" or "None of the Above", Christ came just for you that you might be part of this REVIVAL and also have eternal life. Remember, the 3000 persons that were converted that morning were never Christians, they were Judaizers but at the entrance of the word of God through Peter and their accepting the message, they were saved. Salvation has come to you today. As you meditate upon this message, believe that Christ came for you, confess Him as your personal Lord and Saviour, then you are saved. But remember, the invitation to respond to the gospel remains unlimited but acceptance of the gospel carries with it a very special obligation to share it with all. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. God bless you as you receive the POWER to WITNESS.

Rev. Edidiong Benjamin Archibong.

30/05/2020

28/02/2020

"LEANING ON THE WORD OF GOD"
February 28, 2020
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. ... And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1, 12-13)

Testing. Nobody likes it. It's uncomfortable. It offers the possibility that you could fail. And the consequences—well, let's not think about those!

But we all know that testing comes along early in practically every important thing we do. Moses faced it the first time he went to tell Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go free. How nervous he must have been! Imagine having to go tell a hostile king that you've been hearing voices (well, one voice), and you have a message from God that the king isn't going to want to hear. Not fun. Dangerous, even. How do you keep your courage up in those circumstances?

Moses leaned pretty heavily on the Word of God that he had heard during the episode of the burning bush. He didn't try to come up with smart ideas on his own—just stuck to God's Word and passed it along. And we can see God's own Son Jesus doing the exact same thing in His own testing, during the 40 days He spent in the wilderness being tempted by the devil.

Think about that for a moment. Here is God Himself in the flesh being tempted by evil—and whenever He answers a temptation, He says only, "It is written ..." (or as we would say, "The Bible says ..."). As God, surely Jesus could have just made something up. He had the wisdom. But He didn't do that. He leaned on God's Word, the Scripture, and used that as His sole defense—just as Moses did. Why?

I think Jesus did it for us. Because what wisdom or understanding do we have besides what God gives us in the Bible? When we are tested, there is no better place for us to find help and hope. Because that is where we find Jesus—and the Holy Spirit plants faith and hope in our hearts.

THE PRAYER: Lord Holy Spirit, help me to understand and trust Your Word, the Bible—please teach me to hear Your voice. Amen.

Reflection Questions:

* What part of the Bible do you know the best? The least?

* What part does the Bible play in your daily life?

* Who or what could help you grow in your appreciation of the Bible?

Lenten Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Testing. Nobody likes it. It's uncomfortable. It offers the possibility ... Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries LEANING ON THE WORD OF GOD February 28, 2020 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempte...

27/02/2020

"STARTING OFF RIGHT"

February 27, 2020

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:13-17)

You may remember the story of Moses and how he started his work. God found him tending sheep in the wilderness, and He spoke to him through a burning bush and sent him to set the people of Israel free. What you may not know is that Moses had already taken a whack at that job, 40 years before. He had attacked an Egyptian slave driver who was beating a Hebrew man. Moses' self-appointed rescue job didn't work out. He was accused as a murderer and he had to run for it. It was another 40 years before God called and sent him back to do it right (see Exodus 2:11-25). God's call makes all the difference.

Jesus knew that, too. And when the time came for Him to leave His quiet life in Nazareth and start actively walking the path to the cross, He didn't hesitate. He came to the place where God was calling—to the place where the prophet John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing people at the Jordan. This wasn't any fancy place—it was out in the wilderness, far from any palace or big city. But it was where God was at work. And Jesus was baptized.

To be sure, Jesus had no sin of His own that would make Baptism at all necessary. But we certainly did! And since He was coming to be our Rescuer, He submitted Himself to the same Baptism that marks our lives as God's people. It was the right start. He joined Himself to us in Baptism so that we ultimately would be joined to Him in His suffering, death, and resurrection.

THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for joining Yourself to us so that we could belong to You. Amen.

Reflection Questions:

* Have you ever started a job wrong and then had to re-start it right?

* When were you baptized? What do you know about the circumstances of your Baptism?

* In Baptism, God marked you as His own child. What kind of a start has that given you in your life?

Lenten Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.

You may remember the story of Moses and how he started his work. Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries STARTING OFF RIGHT February 27, 2020 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented Him, saying, I need to be baptized by You, and do Y...