Heaven
on Earth greetings in Jesus’ name.
Jesus once asked the Pharisees, “Is
it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days or to do evil? to save life or to
kill?” – Mk. 3:4
During the earthly ministry
of Christ, Saturday, the Sabbath day, was the day of worship. This was the
Jewish practice under the Mosaic Law. But today, Sunday being the first day of
the week, has become the worship day in commemoration of the day that Christ
rose from the dead – Matt. 28:1/ Mk. 16:2/9/ Lk.
24:1-9/ Jn. 20:10
This was further validated by the apostolic practice in
the early church after the resurrection where the disciples of Christ usually gathered
on the first day of the week being Sunday for worship –
Acts 20:7/ 1Cor. 16:2
Therefore, whatever Christ
did on the Sabbath day, the same we must have to do on Sundays because we are
required to walk in His steps – 1Pet. 2:9
If He went about doing good and healing all those that
were oppressed everyday including the Sabbath day, we are expected to do the
same today – Acts 10:38
We
will recall that:
ü
Jesus Christ healed the man with
the withered hand on the Sabbath – Matt. 12:10-13
ü
Multitudes also came to Christ on
the Sabbath day and He healed them all – Matt.
12:14-15
ü
Jesus Christ loosed the woman that
was bound by the spirit of infirmity for 18 years on the Sabbath day –
Lk. 13:13-17
But why go out in search of souls on
Sundays?
§
Non-Christians are mostly free on
Sundays and majority just hang around whiling away their time, we, therefore,
stand to gain uninterrupted audience more on Sundays with such people than any
other day. Jehovah witnesses are making the most of this window to get converts
into their faith.
§
Most ‘unchurched’ people are much more available on Sundays to listen to
the Gospel message, ask their usual questions and subsequently get convicted
and converted by the Holy Ghost. We must, therefore, take advantage of Sundays
to get them when and where they can be found.
For
example; in this part of the world, Saturdays are usually
ceremony-packed days while Sundays are worship days for Christians. On the
other hand, most unbelievers just lay-by looking for someone to engage them on
Sundays, we must go out there to engage them with the truth of the Gospel for
their rescue. We must go fishing where the fishes can be found.
Therefore, as disciples of Christ, everyday is a ‘service-acceptable’
day including Sundays. We must endeavour to make the most of this ongoing
Rescue Operation by engaging in this new operation tagged ‘SUNDAY
GOSPEL RAIDS’ for the 4
Sundays ahead of us.
I see us reaping multitudes of ‘unchurched’ people, traditionalists, cultists and what have you,
into the kingdom of Christ as we engage this window of opportunity.
We also recognize that Sundays are the most free days for
the working class in an ever-busy city like Lagos. Therefore, our engagement in
Sunday
Gospel Raids will provide opportunity for all members of the church to
be part of this great move of the Spirit in reaching out to the lost in our
neighbourhoods, shopping malls, bus stops, etc.
Therefore, we are admonished to go in twos with our covenant partners
and this includes spouses going together as a team but we can also go as
individuals in partnership with the Holy Ghost – Lk. 10:1/
Mk. 16:20/ Acts 1:8.
The testimony of one Florence Udoh
validates the blessedness of being on the go on Sundays and as an individual:
“I
got married on February 27, 2010. I believed God for the fruit of the womb, but
it wasn’t forthcoming.
In
July 2011, we had seven weeks of harvest, which I participated in. During that
time, my aunt called me and said that one of her friends reported me to her.
She told her that I disturbed them in the neighbourhood with my preaching.
She added that on Sundays, instead
of going home after church, I go from house-to-house preaching. She even said that if what I
preached was really true, then why has God not given me a child? So I said, ‘God you have heard it,
they are talking to you.’ During my quiet time, God gave me a word from
Jeremiah 32 verse 27, which says: ‘I am the God of all flesh, is there anything
too hard for me to do?’
On
the last week of the seven weeks of harvest, I couldn’t participate in the
outreach because indeed the symptoms of pregnancy had already started showing. God surprised those people who
mocked me. Today, I have a wonderful baby! Praise the Lord!”
Every one of us is required to give Christ a minimum
of one
hour of his time on Sundays to share the good news with the unsaved,
plucking them, as it were, out of fire. This should be after service on Sundays
except for those who attend later services, who may choose to go before the
service.
We have only 4
effective Sundays more to go on this Operation Rescue Agenda; we must all
endeavour to make the most of this divine opportunity both as a proof of our
love for God and the advancement of His kingdom.
Remember,
each one is targeting 12 standing souls for Christ in Operation Rescue Agenda
2015.
We should all expect our rewards as we engage
productively in this operation.
Remain
ever blessed.
Jesus is Lord!
David
O. Oyedepo
President and
Founder,
Winners’ Chapel
International
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