Theology

 *31/01/2021* *ANOINTING, HEALING AND COMMUNION SERVICE* THEME: *JESUS CHRIST* TOPIC: *JESUS* (Gk. Iesous) Isaiah 11:1 A rod from the stem of Jesse (1 Samuel 16:10-13) represents the new and greater David. As David inaugurated a kingdom of righteousness and peace, the *new David*, the "rod" or "root" from David's line (Isaiah 53:2), will establish an incomparable greater Kingdom. The words *Rod* and *Branch* are *messianic* terms. They are figurative words for *the great descendant of the household of David, the seed of the woman promised in Genesis 3:15, Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 1:17).* *Copyright 2021* *The Ecumenican Church Nigeria* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#TEC#*

 *27/01/2021* *MID-WEEK SERVICE* THEME: *JESUS CHRIST* TOPIC: *JESUS* (Gk. Iesous) Psalms 132:11 The words the LORD has sworn are a poetic recasting of the central words of the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7:8-16 (Psalms 89:3,4,26-29). The ultimate fulfillment of these words is in *Jesus Christ*, the Son of David (Luke 1:32,33; Acts 2:30). *Copyright 2021* *The Ecumenican Church Nigeria* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#TEC#*

 *24/01/2021* *FOURTH SUNDAY SERVICE* THEME: *JESUS CHRIST* TOPIC: *JESUS* (Gk. Iesous) Acts 13:23 SALVATION HAS BEEN GIVEN THROUGH ISRAEL Paul turns to the salvation that was to come to the people through David's descendant and announces that God has kept his promise and sent the Saviour, Jesus. His coming had been announced by *John the Baptist who was a forerunner who had insisted that he himself was not the Saviour* (Acts 13:24-25). But now the Saviour has come and the message of salvation is being sent out to all who fear God - whether they are Abraham's descendants or God-fearing Gentiles (Acts 13:26). *Copyright 2021* *The Ecumenican Church Nigeria* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#TEC#*

 *20/01/2021* *MID-WEEK SERVICE* THEME: *JESUS CHRIST* TOPIC: *JESUS* (Gk. Iesous) Acts 4:18 The Sanhedrin knew that the miracle of healing of the Lame (Acts 3) was real. The apostles offered their explanation: *The miracles were the work of the resurrected Christ*. But instead of believing, the members of the Sanhedrin concerned themselves with "damage control". They tried to intimidate the apostles by warning them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. *Only by placing faith in the historical Jesus - the One who came, died, and was raised again - can a person be saved* Acts 4:12. *Copyright 2021* *The Ecumenican Church Nigeria* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#TEC#*

 *17/01/2021* *THIRD SUNDAY SERVICE* THEME: *JESUS CHRIST* TOPIC: *JESUS* (Gk. Iesous) Acts 2:36 Joel prophesied that the Spirit would come; Jesus fulfilled that promise when He sent the Spirit (John 14:16). If Jesus was dead, He could not have sent the Spirit. Therefore, He must be alive. Furthermore, Jesus could not have sent the Spirit unless He had ascended as Lord to heaven. *Therefore, Jesus is both our Master and our Savior* Peter knew that no one could dispute the point he was about to make from Psalms 16:8-11, in which the Messiah is described as not decaying. Because David had been buried and had not come back to life, the psalm had to be speaking about someone else, David's heir. Peter pointed out that this heir is Jesus, who was put to death and resurrected. Not only had Jesus been raised from the dead, He is now at the right hand of God. As further proof of this Peter quoted David again. According to Psalms 110:1, the Messiah would sit at the right hand of God. David h

 *13/01/2021* *MID-WEEK SERVICE* THEME: *JESUS CHRIST* TOPIC: *JESUS* (Gk. Iesous) Luke 1:31 Luke's account of the announcement of Jesus' birth tells the story from Mary's perspective, while Matthew 1:18-25 focuses on Joseph and cites Isaiah 7:14. The announcement in Luke parallels similar announcements in the Old Testament (Genesis 16:7-14; 18:1-15; Judges 13:3-23). *Copyright 2021* *The Ecumenican Church Nigeria* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#TEC#*

 *10/01/2021* *SECOND SUNDAY SERVICE* THEME: *JESUS CHRIST* TOPIC: *JESUS* (Gk. Iesous) Matthew 1:21 Matthew 1:1-17 establish Jesus as a legal son of Joseph; verses 18-25 deny that Joseph was Jesus' physical father. The first was necessary to establish Jesus' lineage to David and His royal right to be King. The second was necessary to establish His qualifications to be the Saviour of all people: *Jesus was God's Son and not merely Joseph's* Matthew elaborated on Jesus' Kingship while Luke detailed His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:26-56). *Copyright 2021* *The Ecumenican Church Nigeria* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#TEC#*

 *06/01/2021* *MID-WEEK SERVICE* TOPIC: *A MUSTARD SEED FAITH* Text: Matthew 17:14-21 Luke 17:5-10 *"True faith in God is undamageable, it can only be tried"* Pastor J.D. Ifesanya When Moses returned from the mountain, he found turmoil and failure in the camp (Exodus 32:15-17); so too did Jesus. He returned from the Mount of Transfiguration to find a crowd had formed around the rest of the disciples. A man from the crowd approached Jesus and asked him to heal his son, who had seizures caused by demonic activity (Matthew 17:14; Mark 9:17-18). This does not mean that all cases of seizures are caused by demons. The man had brought his child to the disciples for healing, but they failed to cast out the demon (Matthew 17:16). *He approached Jesus reverentially and knelt down. In that culture, kneeling before someone symbolized respect and, often, pleading. The gesture has the same significance in many African cultures today* With an air of impatience, Jesus called his contemporari

 *2021 NEW YEAR MESSAGE* The previous year was a challenging year for the world. The COVID 19 pandemic started in the month of February from the country of China, spreading to the Americas, Europe and eventually Africa. Millions of humans were infected while thousands eventually died. There were other threats of disasters, terrorism and humanitarian crisis including flooding, earthquakes, famines, disease outbreaks. While Africa and other less developed nations were not badly affected unlike Europe, America and China. They were not exempted from political and social crisis. In Nigeria, there was a Lockdown and public protest against the anti-robbery unit of the Police resulting in deaths of police officers and protesters, and loss of public and private properties worth millions of dollars. Despite the ups and downs, the people of the world remained resilient and determined throughout the year. Joseph Biden was elected president of United States. Vaccines were produced amidst the second

 *03/01/2021* *2021 ANNUAL THANKSGIVING SERVICE* TOPIC: *A MUSTARD SEED FAITH* Text: Matthew 17:14-21 Luke 17:5-10 *"True faith in God is undamageable, it can only be tried"* Pastor J.D. Ifesanya When Moses returned from the mountain, he found turmoil and failure in the camp (Exodus 32:15-17); so too did Jesus. He returned from the Mount of Transfiguration to find a crowd had formed around the rest of the disciples. A man from the crowd approached Jesus and asked him to heal his son, who had seizures caused by demonic activity (Matthew 17:14; Mark 9:17-18). This does not mean that all cases of seizures are caused by demons. The man had brought his child to the disciples for healing, but they failed to cast out the demon (Matthew 17:16). *He approached Jesus reverentially and knelt down. In that culture, kneeling before someone symbolized respect and, often, pleading. The gesture has the same significance in many African cultures today* With an air of impatience, Jesus called

 *2021 NEW YEAR SERVICE* TOPIC: *2021: A BEGINNING OF INCREASE* Text: Genesis 1:1-2 Isaiah 43:19-21 John 1:1-4 Topic verse: *"Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful"* Revelation 21:5 In Genesis chapter 1, the focus is on the creation of the material world - the heavens and the earth. *God*: This standard Hebrew term for deity, *Elohim*, is in the form called the plural of majesty of the plural of intensity. In contrast to the ordinary plural (gods), this plural means "the fullness of deity" or "God-very God". Even though the word for God is plural, the verb for *created* is singular. It means "to fashion anew". This off-used word in the Bible always has God as its subject. Here it means that God renewed what was in a chaotic state. *God changed chaos into cosmos, disorder into order, emptiness into fullness* The two words *without form ...void* express one