HOUSE RETREAT DAY 2 MORNING SESSION

THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH STUDENTS’ FELLOWSHIP OF NIGERIA
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN CHAPTER (TACSFON UI)
HOUSE RETREAT 2024
DAY 2, MORNING SESSION.
WEDNESDAY, 24TH APRIL, 2024.

Opening Prayer

The opening prayers started at 7:22 am led by Sister Opadeji Mayowa as she led the congregation in worship to God she then sang ‘Ese ibi tee ti bere…’ she  asked the brethren to pour out their hearts unto God with the prayer; Father, breathe on me

At 7:30 am Brother Julius Olusegun came onstage and then began with the hymn; How I praise you precious savior that thy love lay hold of me (Hymn 548) and then led the congregation in prayers:

* Everything that is left dormant is brought to life in Jesus name.

* He read from 1 Kings 19:3 while citing the significance of the retreat saying that it is a time to gather more for the journey ahead. He then led the church to pray; Let the channels of my spirit be opened.

At 7:51 am the opening prayers ended ushering in the praise and worship session.

Praise and Worship
After the opening prayers Sister Helen came up and asked the congregation first of all to pray: that our worship will be accepted. And in adoration of the Almighty, she led the church to sing the following songs

• You are alpha and Omega
• Holy are you Lord, all creation all resound…
• Ibu Chukwu
• Yahweh, Yahweh, you are glorious so glorious in your ways…
• We give you all the glory, we give you honour
• Yeshua, Yeshua…
• Eyin sha lawi mayehun, eyin sha lalewi lese, eyin sha la soro ma tase…
• We give you all the glory…
• For you are glorious and worthy to be praised, you are the lamb upon the throne
• Ah ah eh, eh eh ah, ah ah ah, ah ah aah ah, ah ah ah

The praise and worship session ended at 8:10 am.

Hymn
At 8:10 am Sister Mofifoluwa anchored the hymn. Redemption Hymn 477: Trust and Obey… was taken as the congregation lifted their voices to sing to the Lord.

Prayers
After the hymn Brother Gabriel Oluwadamola came up leading the congregation in prayers. He first raised the following songs;

Blow like a mighty wind, spirit of Victory’
‘Fowo kanmi, fowo kanmi Baba fowokanmi’
and then he enjoined the congregation to pray in the spirit in preparation of our heart and to raise expectations in our heart. After which he took the following prayer points.

• As the deer pants for the water brooks, let my soul long for you.
• 2 Corinthians 3:18. Help me to be transformed by your words. (Ancient words, ever true, changing me and changing you…)
• Grant me a receptive heart, father.

The session ended at 8:30 am

Word Ministration
At 8:30 am, Brother Isilo came up and sang the song; ‘there’s gotta be more than this’.
He then read from Acts 17:11 and Revelation 3:20 and led the church to pray the prayer point:

* “Lord, I will not miss my encounter in this first ministration of the word”.

He then introduced the minister in person of Presiding Elder O. Akinsanya.
The minister asked the church to welcome the Holy Spirit and then rasied a song: ‘Kabiyesi re’, He then goes on to pray.

Topic: The Marvellous Light
Text: John 8:12 (AMP)

Excerpts
According to the Longman Dictionary, Marvellous is something of wonder, of extraordinary splendor. It could also mean an eminent person who specializes in a particular sphere of activities while Light is a natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible
The spiritual light surpasses the natural light.

* According to the Bible theology dictionary, God called out light in darkness, Genesis 1:3-4. You can see this light with your spiritual eyes when the eyes of your understanding is made enlightened.
* Light is tied to the powerful presence of God, wherever God is working in the bible you see light (Deuteronomy 4:19). Light goes with the presence of God because God is the ultimate source of light.
Light is associated with salvation, goodness, word, His truth and life; where these things are mentioned you see light.
Exodus 10:21-23, Psalm 104:30, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 1:17
Acts 9:3; the light that came upon Saul here was a light that shone brighter than noon day.

What then is this Marvellous Light?
There are two dimensions of this light in the bible;
1. The true light that lights every man that comes into the world.
2. The light in the new creation, a metaphor for life.

• The word that created the light in Genesis 1:4 is Jesus Christ. This word is quick and powerful, He is able to activate the word of God and its intentions. The Spirit of God is the presence of God and where the presence of God is, there is light and darkness cannot stay there.
• According to Psalm 104:30 the Spirit of God was the one creating all things.
• In the account of the first creation the Spirit was the mover, He was the one who created those things the Father spoke, in the new creation He is still the one: we are born by the Spirit.
• The light that was created in Genesis 1:3 is the revelation of the love of God in Jesus Christ. Romans 5:5-8, John 3:16.
• The mystery and the glory of God are manifested in Jesus and revealed upon his face, this glory can be seen by meditating and reading of the gospel of the word of God.
• James 1:17 gave God a new name; the Father of Lights  both of the physical and the spiritual light. Jesus as the marvellous light and you as the spiritual light.
• 2 Corinthians 9:15. The undescribable gift of God here is the light of God.
• The second light is our new creation.
• 2 Corinthian 5:17. The first thing that shines in the new creation is the light of the Gospel which is the power of God and what Jesus does, he does it through the gospel. Romans 1:16

There are three dimensions of the expression of the Spirit of God:

1. He works in you.

• The Holy Spirit works in you by bringing you the knowledge of the word of God in the Spirit and this he does by the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding in the knowledge of Him.
• The eye of the Spirit is the eye of your understanding in the knowledge of him (Jesus Christ). The Spirit does this especially in the unbeliever by affecting his will and his affection.
• These things must happen before the revelation of God in your life; you have to know the hope of your calling as this is what will keep you going in hard times when temptations come. Ephesians 1:17.

2. He works with you.
According to Romans 5:5 there are four courses that must happen in the university of discipleship:
a. Glorying in Tribulations.
b. Patience in hope (Character).
c. The Love of God.
d. And the last thing is the hope of your calling.
As grace increases unto you the glory of God increases upon you.

3. He works for you.
And the third dimension of the work of God is in the work for you, this is expressed in his exceeding power toward you when you believed. Ephesians 1:19
This power of God in you is the one that will quicken you and raise you unto a life of eternal life, this is what John Piper in Desiring God calls the Resurrection Power Now; Living and dying for the glory of God.

Philippians 1:20-29.

• Jesus is the true light that possesses the power to real life.
• God’s intention for each and every one of us is to live in this marvellous light. Acts 17:28 that verse says that whatever you become, you become it in Him, whatever you do is in the marvellous light.
• All things spiritual are accessible to you through the knowledge of Him. If you want to know what life and Godliness means and you want to experience it, you must increase your knowledge of Him. When you multiply knowledge you multiply grace and when you multiply grace you multiply glory. 2 Peter 1:3.

In conclusion;

There is a difference between living in the light and existing in the light: the man who lives in the marvellous light not only wants to mature, he also wants to display the authority in the marvellous light.
In Matthew 7:21, the people here know Jesus but are not committed to doing his will.
The will of God is the power to do his will. Those who do not do the will of God are vain, foolish and thoughtless. The person who is living in the marvellous light has a purpose for living in the marvellous light, and has a purpose for living (Acts 13:47, Isaiah 49:6).
While those who exist are those whose will and thought differs from that of Jesus. The person who lives in Jesus will endure all things. The person who lives in Christ continually learns of Christ.

At about 10:08 am, Presiding Elder Akinsanya sang a song in conclusion of his ministration: “The power of God in my life.” This song was not known by the congregation because he confirmed that he sang it in the 70’s. Thereafter, he asked the congregation to pray some prayer points.

* Holy Spirit, break the stronghold of sin in my life and give me liberty.
* I receive abundant grace to experience and manifest the resurrection power now.

Prayer Session
At about 10:21 am, Sister Ayodele came up to lead the church in prayers. She began with this song
“This is holy moment….”
She read from Ephesians 1:17 and Luke 10:1 and sang the song “Imole a tan…”

Choir Ministration
Next up, the choir came up for their ministration which was led by Sister Chiamaka. They ministered the song “Imole de o, okunkun parada.”

Hymn.
At about 10:50 am, the choir ministration ended. Sister Mayowa Opadeji came up and led the church into singing hymn 536.

Word Ministration 2
After the hymn was rendered, the president came up to lead the congregation to pray and open their minds to receive from God. Presiding Elder Akinsanya was called upon for the second session of the word ministration.

At about 10:58 am, Presiding Elder Akinsanya came up to the podium and began his ministration with a song:
“Eni to gbe inu mi, oju aje ati orun lo, ko ku o, be ni ko sun, oju aye ati orun lo.(The one who lives in me is more than the heavens and the earth, He’s not dead and He’s not asleep, He’s more than the heaven and the earth”
Then he prayed before he began his ministration.

Topic: Walking in the Revealed Light
Text: John 5:35, 36, 46 (kjv)

He began by defining the terms in the topic.
Walking: To move on or travel on a moderate plane.

Revealed Light: This is the light that is not hidden.
God’s will for us is that we do not stop walking in the light but that we desire to walk in it until walking becomes a lifestyle and to achieve that God wants us to deal with the desire of the flesh (Gal 5:19,20).

What is the revealed light?

• Jesus Christ is the Light of life and light of the world (John 1:5)
• God is the father of all lights. He is the originator of light. The light flows through the Lord Jesus Christ. God did not have a way to come to man so He had to come through His son Jesus Christ in order to reveal Himself to man. (Hebrews 1:1-3)
• Jesus destroyed death and provided a way to life and eternity. He opened the way to life through the gospel. (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5, Ephesians 5:18, Hebrews 1:1-2)

Key things Abraham did before God revealed Himself to him:
-He left his properties, friends and family (Gen 12:5). As an individual, if you must see God revealed to you, you have to leave where you are and come to where God wants you to be. You have to pay the price of forsaking all.
-The revelation of light must come for you to live a distinguished life. When you encounter the revealed light, the glory of God comes.

• In shining as light, we must deal with our emotions. As Christians we are expected to burn until the bridegroom arrives.
• For those who do not believe in the light, there woud be great wailing on that day when all the secret things in the heart of a man be it good or evil will be revealed. (Revelations 22:7,13,20).

How must you walk in the revealed light?

1. Train perfectly (Luke 6:40): Discipline yourself with godliness, train yourself to be a revealer of light. 1 Timothy 4:7.
2. Be fervent spiritually. Rev 2:10, Matthew 3:7-10. Light without heat is useless. Likewise, you have to be a shining and burning light.

How do you become a shining light?

1. By submitting to the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 3:20, Colossians 9:29
2. Knowledge of Jesus Christ (John 1:29, 1 Cor 2:2)
3. When you are facing dark challenges, do not look at the shadow, look at the light. Look up to Jesus the revealed light.

The ministration ended at exactly 12:55 pm after which HE led the church to pray the following prayer points;

* Lord make me a witness for you, I want to be a star (Dan 12:3)
* Father, give me oil in my lamp that I may shine.

Prayer Session

The session was anchored by Bro Timilehin Aderoju and started at about 1:00 pm. He led the church to pray the following prayer points.
* I refuse to be dull in hearing and seeing the light.
* Lord open my eyes that I may see.

Alone With God

After the prayer session, the congregation was left to commune with God at liberty, permitting them to reflect on the words heard and to pray them in.

It began at about 1:17 pm and ended at about 1:37 pm
We shared the grace and everyone was dismissed for the break session to return by 3:00 pm.