By Odon Bulamba (summary only)
Acts 2:44-46, all the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.
The Bible doesn’t say that these Christians shared negative things. They shared good things among themselves. Sharing doesn’t mean to collect information like a journalist does, that’s to inform. When you have something in your heart or a problem that is important for the glory of God, you have to show it to others. A man shared with me that he had been married for seven years, and only once was his wife satisfied. Personally I thought it was useless for me to know that, but he thought it was good.
If Michael tells me he has a problem and needs God in his life, I’ll go to others and ask them to pray for Michael, this is what the Bible says about sharing. Sharing is not about telling Michael that you saw Oscar with a girl in town, the glory of God is not in this, sharing means to glorify God with a situation.
Another way of destroying unity is through pride, if you minimise anybody and think you have more knowledge then others, woe to you. If you can recognise that your primary school teacher contributed to you becoming a minister or doctor, this thought will help you to respect others and not despise them, this is an example of unity.
Example: Michelle came to Jesus through Michael and Sylvie, and lets say that Michelle became more powerful than them, Michelle cannot minimise them because she may have a gift, which is higher. Why do we respect Jesus when we are doing greater things than He? Although Michelle can be more powerful than Michael and Sylvie, she has to recognise that they contributed to her spiritual life.
The Bible says that the first church use to meet and eat together in the temple with joy, so do we have joy among us or is it just flattery? Flattery is not from God. If we are not able to have that joy among us it will be hard for God to work among us. If something is wrong go to your brother and find a solution, don’t complain to others about Peter. Even though Peter maybe nasty, he will not beat you. Accept it when someone comes to you with a problem, it may be right, it may be wrong, but whatever it is accept it. It is a grace when people advise you. If someone says you are a liar and you can’t accept it, we will never build unity.
God has called us to repentance; if someone advises you to change your ways don’t justify yourself, just accept it and repent. If you have a problem with your brother, deal with it so you can be free, because if you keep it in your heart you will run away, and God never works with sinners.
Galatians 4:1-4. If someone is in a sin you have to help that person, it is not a time to criticise or judge them or show them they are less holy then you. We must help them with kindness. What is a burden? A burden can be a spiritual problem that you may have, and sometimes it can be transformed into a physical problem. It can be a sin, it can be a blessing or curse; this is a burden. If people refuse your correction after so many attempts, leave that person and wipe the dust off your feet. If there is no love among the brothers you cannot love God, you can pretend to love but when there is no joy we are wasting our time, because we will never grow.
SUMMARY
- In order to be in unity we must remove pride
- We must accept the advice of others
- We must remember what others have done for us
- We must share only information that will glorify God
- We must not judge or complain about others but talk to them in private and help them
For the full message please email: littlebethlehem@windowslive.com
Showing posts with label Unity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unity. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Unity (part I)
By Odon Bulamba (summary only - 30 Oct, 01)
The prayer that Jesus prayed before He left this world was a prayer of unity, not just for His disciples but for the whole world (John). As descendants of Jesus Christ we must live in unity because when we do - God is present.
1 Samuel 4:21, She named the boy Icabod saying, the glory has departed from Israel because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.
The name of Icabod is to signify the removal of God’s presence among the people. If we don’t pay attention to what we are crossing, God will leave us. Israel found that they weren’t strong enough to fight against the Philistines, so they decided to call for the ark of God, but when the ark was with them they were still losing the battle, and this puzzled the Israelites.
Today, we are crossing a fight against our thoughts, body, actions and activities among the church, and if we are not serious, God’s presence will be taken away from us. Maybe through Michael 5000 people will be saved, but through one bad action these souls can be destroyed and he has to give an account to God for them.
God says we must live in unity. Unity is important for our spiritual life. It is like our body parts, every part has its own function. However when these parts don’t do their job, confusion comes. A leg cannot do the role of an arm and so on, and it means we must respect our responsibilities and accept the tasks given to us.
God calls all of us, Michael is from France, Oscar is from Congo, and Peter came from Australia, so why would God gather us together to meet and share His Word in New Zealand? You must be prepared to preach the Word anywhere. God has to send us to tell people the truth about His Word in the church today because Christians need to understand the real meaning of God’s Word. We are not there to criticise or judge people, but we are there to tell them the truth.
When Jesus was on this earth many people didn’t like Him, but He never had problems among His disciples because they knew their role and respected each other. This is one of the commandants we must have. We must have obedience towards God and each other. Michelle has to obey Michael, and Michael has to obey Angela. When this happens you will respect each other and talk to one another in a good way. Before we speak to others, we have to think about the kind of reaction that person will have; will it help Angela or will it lead her to sin?
Most people in this world like to use imperative words, “do this or do that”, and it becomes like an army. To live as children of God we must be friends first, and when friendship is achieved obedience will come. But when there is no friendship in our relationship obedience will never exist.
So how do we obey others? Luke 14: 28-31. Before we do anything we must sit down and calculate it. Who is Michelle for me? Who is she spiritually? How can I know who she really is? When Jesus left this earth His disciples didn’t know what to do, so they prayed. But one day the Spirit of God was upon Peter and people started respecting him, and so on with Paul. We have to discover each other, you know Angela physically but who is she spiritually?
Eli the prophet respected Samuel even though he was a boy and Samuel also respected Eli, but do you think Samuel would have received from God if he didn’t respect Eli? In order to respect each other we have to know what level we are on, it is like the ranking system in an army. Even though you wear the same uniform you’ll know their level of ability by looking at their emblems. If you don’t see the emblems on each other’s shoulders and don’t give the respect according to their rank, it will be hard for you to give the respect that person deserves. This is the basic principal for unity. If we don’t get that opportunity to discover each other it will be just like Icabod, the presence of God will disappear.
SUMMARY
- If want God's presence, we must be in unity with one another
- We must respect each other
- We must become friends and not give orders
- We must know our own level and ability and that of others
For the full message please email: littlebethlehem@windowslive.com
The prayer that Jesus prayed before He left this world was a prayer of unity, not just for His disciples but for the whole world (John). As descendants of Jesus Christ we must live in unity because when we do - God is present.
1 Samuel 4:21, She named the boy Icabod saying, the glory has departed from Israel because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.
The name of Icabod is to signify the removal of God’s presence among the people. If we don’t pay attention to what we are crossing, God will leave us. Israel found that they weren’t strong enough to fight against the Philistines, so they decided to call for the ark of God, but when the ark was with them they were still losing the battle, and this puzzled the Israelites.
Today, we are crossing a fight against our thoughts, body, actions and activities among the church, and if we are not serious, God’s presence will be taken away from us. Maybe through Michael 5000 people will be saved, but through one bad action these souls can be destroyed and he has to give an account to God for them.
God says we must live in unity. Unity is important for our spiritual life. It is like our body parts, every part has its own function. However when these parts don’t do their job, confusion comes. A leg cannot do the role of an arm and so on, and it means we must respect our responsibilities and accept the tasks given to us.
God calls all of us, Michael is from France, Oscar is from Congo, and Peter came from Australia, so why would God gather us together to meet and share His Word in New Zealand? You must be prepared to preach the Word anywhere. God has to send us to tell people the truth about His Word in the church today because Christians need to understand the real meaning of God’s Word. We are not there to criticise or judge people, but we are there to tell them the truth.
When Jesus was on this earth many people didn’t like Him, but He never had problems among His disciples because they knew their role and respected each other. This is one of the commandants we must have. We must have obedience towards God and each other. Michelle has to obey Michael, and Michael has to obey Angela. When this happens you will respect each other and talk to one another in a good way. Before we speak to others, we have to think about the kind of reaction that person will have; will it help Angela or will it lead her to sin?
Most people in this world like to use imperative words, “do this or do that”, and it becomes like an army. To live as children of God we must be friends first, and when friendship is achieved obedience will come. But when there is no friendship in our relationship obedience will never exist.
So how do we obey others? Luke 14: 28-31. Before we do anything we must sit down and calculate it. Who is Michelle for me? Who is she spiritually? How can I know who she really is? When Jesus left this earth His disciples didn’t know what to do, so they prayed. But one day the Spirit of God was upon Peter and people started respecting him, and so on with Paul. We have to discover each other, you know Angela physically but who is she spiritually?
Eli the prophet respected Samuel even though he was a boy and Samuel also respected Eli, but do you think Samuel would have received from God if he didn’t respect Eli? In order to respect each other we have to know what level we are on, it is like the ranking system in an army. Even though you wear the same uniform you’ll know their level of ability by looking at their emblems. If you don’t see the emblems on each other’s shoulders and don’t give the respect according to their rank, it will be hard for you to give the respect that person deserves. This is the basic principal for unity. If we don’t get that opportunity to discover each other it will be just like Icabod, the presence of God will disappear.
SUMMARY
- If want God's presence, we must be in unity with one another
- We must respect each other
- We must become friends and not give orders
- We must know our own level and ability and that of others
For the full message please email: littlebethlehem@windowslive.com
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Building a True Church
By Odon Bulamba
(Psalm 133)
Here David was talking about living in unity between brothers and sisters and that it is not a materialistic unity to gain money but it is about Jesus.
John 17:23, whenever we are in unity although we might be sinners, slowly we can become perfect. If you repent and you accept to forgive, people will see you are really perfect and although problems can be among you, you can continue in unity because of forgiveness. Usually people want to avoid problems with others and so keep a distance or break the relationship altogether but God is looking at us to see if there is unity and how can there be unity if we don’t forgive (Mark 11:25) or accept the mistakes we make?
It’s very pleasant to see people in unity and it always starts with being in unity with each other and then with God and then with the Word of God. How do we make unity? By knowing the needs of others (Mat 27) it is easy to understand and to forgive and to support or lead the person in the right way.
Jesus broke the bread to share with others to bring unity and when we have something why don’t we share it? When I have many pairs of shoes why don’t I share with someone who has none or when I understand the Bible why don’t I share it with others?
If you want unity with someone you have to keep that relationship clean and how do you keep it clean? If you lose the habit of praying you will gain gossip and if you lose the habit of reading the Bible you will find information from the television and if you lose the have of being with God, you will find satan to be your friend. Most people can only make physical unity but not spiritual unity (we can visit the sick but don’t pray for them).
To meet together as a church on Sunday is good but it requires us to be prepared as priests and to accept the anointment of God on us and then people will start to see the anointment flowing down. We need the Holy Spirit acting in our lives and we must be in unity. We must love our enemies and pray for them and then God will manifest Himself among us. Don’t neglect yourself, get ready and tell God to make you ready. We are priests of God so how will we look after that priesthood? We need unity and that unity will take us to a place where the world will be shaken.
(Psalm 133)
Here David was talking about living in unity between brothers and sisters and that it is not a materialistic unity to gain money but it is about Jesus.
John 17:23, whenever we are in unity although we might be sinners, slowly we can become perfect. If you repent and you accept to forgive, people will see you are really perfect and although problems can be among you, you can continue in unity because of forgiveness. Usually people want to avoid problems with others and so keep a distance or break the relationship altogether but God is looking at us to see if there is unity and how can there be unity if we don’t forgive (Mark 11:25) or accept the mistakes we make?
It’s very pleasant to see people in unity and it always starts with being in unity with each other and then with God and then with the Word of God. How do we make unity? By knowing the needs of others (Mat 27) it is easy to understand and to forgive and to support or lead the person in the right way.
Jesus broke the bread to share with others to bring unity and when we have something why don’t we share it? When I have many pairs of shoes why don’t I share with someone who has none or when I understand the Bible why don’t I share it with others?
If you want unity with someone you have to keep that relationship clean and how do you keep it clean? If you lose the habit of praying you will gain gossip and if you lose the habit of reading the Bible you will find information from the television and if you lose the have of being with God, you will find satan to be your friend. Most people can only make physical unity but not spiritual unity (we can visit the sick but don’t pray for them).
To meet together as a church on Sunday is good but it requires us to be prepared as priests and to accept the anointment of God on us and then people will start to see the anointment flowing down. We need the Holy Spirit acting in our lives and we must be in unity. We must love our enemies and pray for them and then God will manifest Himself among us. Don’t neglect yourself, get ready and tell God to make you ready. We are priests of God so how will we look after that priesthood? We need unity and that unity will take us to a place where the world will be shaken.
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