Theology

 *30/07/2023* *ANOINTING HEALING AND COMMUNION SERVICE* TOPIC: *THE GRACE OF GOD IX* Text: Acts 4:33 Acts 14:26 THE MEANING OF GRACE The most common understanding of the word "grace" is "God's unmerited favour" - in other words, even though we were sinners, deserving judgment, God looked upon us in love and forgave us. This, however, is only half its meaning. It also means "God's enabling power" according to 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Not only does His grace make us accepted in the family of God, but it also provides the power we need to live the Christian life. *©2023* *Ecumenican Church Nigeria ®* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp/Telegram: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#ECN Ibadan #* Powered by *JDIS*

 *26/07/2023* *MID WEEK SERVICE* THEME: *UNNAMED PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE* TOPIC: *WOMAN WITH TWO MITES* Text: Luke 21:1-4 There were various places around the temple where people could leave contributions. Thirteen such locations were in the forecourt. The receptacles were made in the shape of trumpets. Each represented a different kind of offering. There was also a treasury room near the court of women. The poor widow contributed two mites, small copper coins which were the smallest currency available. Jesus contrasted the giving of the rich with the sacrifice of the poor widow. The widow did not refuse to give even when she needed more to live on. Her devotion to God through her contributions was her first priority. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5; 9:6-9 *©2023* *Ecumenican Church Nigeria ®* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp/Telegram: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#ECN Ibadan #* Powered by *JDIS*

 *23/07/2023* *FOURTH SUNDAY SERVICE* TOPIC: *THE GRACE OF GOD VIII* Text: Acts 4:33 Acts 14:26 In the New Testament, the word *Charis* usually signifies divine favor or goodwill, but it also means "that which gives joy" and "that which is a free gift". This is a noteworthy occurrence of the word grace, because while it was one of Paul's favorite words for God's free gift of salvation, Peter uses it here in the same way. Why was the grace of God so important in the experience of the early Christians? Why did the church in Antioch pray the GRACE of God would be upon Paul and Barnabas, and later on Paul and Silas, as they set out on their missionary journeys? *©2023* *Ecumenican Church Nigeria ®* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp/Telegram: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#ECN Ibadan #* Powered by *JDIS*

 *19/07/2023* *MID WEEK SERVICE* THEME: *UNNAMED PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE* TOPIC: *THE SYRO-PHOENICIAN  WOMAN* Text: Matthew 15:21-28 The woman was a Gentile who would have had no natural claims on a Jewish Messiah. Christ is committed to Israel, whom He called lost sheep. Jesus would always give the Jews the first opportunity to accept Him as their Messiah. The "children" that Jesus referred to were the people of Israel. The little dogs refers to Gentiles. *©2023* *Ecumenican Church Nigeria ®* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp/Telegram: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#ECN Ibadan #* Powered by *JDIS*

 *16/07/2023* *THIRD SUNDAY SERVICE* TOPIC: *THE GRACE OF GOD VII* Titus 2:11 "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men"... Paul realizes that the advice he has just given can easily be transformed into burdensome and constricting laws, and so he turns from a discussion of how we should live to how we can find *the ability to live this way* The answer lies in the grace of God that was made evident by the coming of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to all. Twice in this context, Paul speaks of Christ's appearance in history. The first time Christ came in grace to save men from their sin, the second time He will come in glory to reign. Titus 2:13 *©2023* *Ecumenican Church Nigeria ®* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp/Telegram: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#ECN Ibadan #* Powered by *JDIS*

 *12/07/2023* *MID WEEK SERVICE* THEME: *UNNAMED PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE* TOPIC: *WOMAN WITH AN ISSUE OF BLOOD* Text: Matthew 9:20-22 Jesus consented to go and lay hands on the child in order to raise her from dead according to Matthew 19:19 But their progress is interrupted by the appearance in the crowd of another desperate person: a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years Matthew 9:20 This bleeding would have made the woman and everyone and everything she touched unclean. Leviticus 15:25-27 She was effectively isolated from society. Marriage was out of the question, and without the normal support of a husband and children, she must have been very needy. She was also burdened with the expense of seeking cures and the regular washing of all her belongings and clothes. Her desperation and need drove her to Jesus, but her fear of being rejected led her to approach him from behind. Matthew 9:21 Her faith seems to have been more in some magical power than in the person of Jesu

 *09/07/2023* *SECOND SUNDAY SERVICE* TOPIC: *THE GRACE OF GOD VI* Ephesians 2:5 "even when we were dead in trespasses, made as alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved)," Because of Adam's sin, the entire human race is spiritually dead. Only God can grant new life and save us from this predicament. Out of His mercy, God gave His Son for us while we were yet His enemies. He loved us long before we loved Him 1 John 4:9, 10 In addition to making us spiritually alive, He determined that we would sit in heavenly places with our Saviour Jesus Christ. God desires to demonstrate His kindness throughout eternity through Christ Jesus, His Son. This has nothing to do with our own merit, it is only because He is merciful and kind that He reaches out to save us. *©2023* *Ecumenican Church Nigeria ®* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp/Telegram: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#ECN Ibadan #* Powered by *JDIS*

 *05/07/2023* *MID WEEK SERVICE* THEME: *UNNAMED PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE* TOPIC: *THE WOMAN WHO ANOINTED JESUS IN SIMON'S HOUSE* Text: Luke 7:36-50 A meal with a religious figure in the ancient world was arranged so that the invited guest was at the main table while others were along the outside wall of the room listening to the conversation. The woman's sin is not specified. This woman is not Mary Magdalene of Luke 8:2 since in that passage she is introduced as a new figure. The woman's anointing of Jesus was in response to Jesus ' message of compassion for sinners. Luke 7:41-43, 50 An alabaster flask was made of soft stone to preserve the quality of the precious and expensive perfume. There is humility and devotion in the woman's act of service, as well as a great deal of courage, as she performed the deed in front of a crowd that knew her as a sinner. Although the woman does not say a word in the entire account, her actions speak volumes about her contrite heart. The

 *02/07/2023* *MID YEAR THANKSGIVING SERVICE* TOPIC: *THE GRACE OF GOD V* Romans 5:15 "But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many". In acting as the representative of all humanity, Adam was in a sense a model (or prototype) of Christ. But the actions of the two men were very different. Through one man, Adam, death came. Yet through one Man, Jesus Christ, grace and the gift of God, eternal life, was given. The works of the two men, Adam and Jesus, are not merely antithetical. *Christ's work is greater, for it brings God's grace to those stuck in the sinfulness which originated in Adam* *©2023* *Ecumenican Church Nigeria ®* Instagram: *@ecumenicanchurch* WhatsApp/Telegram: *+2348052366039* Email: *johnifesanya@gmail.com* *www.johnifesanya.blogspot.com* *#ECN Ibadan #* Powered by *JDIS*