Topic: No Vacuum [Teens Open Heavens 10 November 2018]

Memorise: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hills shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; Luke 3:5

Read: Genesis 1:1-3 (KJV)

Bible In One Year: Lamentations 1-2, Hebrews 7

MESSAGE:

God created us as His dwelling place. Every space inside you that is not given to God shall be taken over by something else, because there is never a vacuum in any man; every space must be filled. If you do not fill your mind with God’s Word, it will be filled with other things like worldly knowledge, the advice of men, suggestions of demons and dirty thoughts.

Everyone is born into ignorance, but as you grow up and acquire knowledge, your ignorance gets displaced by knowledge. The more you yield to God, obey Him and please Him, the less Satan will be able to have access to you. It is your duty to ensure you are filled with the right substance.

Key Point: Whenever there is a vacuum in your life, the Holy Spirit wants to fill it up

Also Read: Teen Open Heaven Daily Devotional by Pastor Adeboye

Hymn 7:

1. I am Thine 0 Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

2. Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

3. Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!

4. There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.

Daily Devotional for Teen’s guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.

RCCG Sunday School TEACHER’s Manual 11 November 2018 Lesson 11 – The Early Church: A Model for Today

TOPIC — The Early Church: A Model for Today

OPENING PRAYER: Father, let me serve You steadfastly. (Scroll down for RCCG SUNDAY SCHOOL 11 NOVEMBER 2018 HYMN)

MEMORY VERSE: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” – Acts 2:42 (scroll down for RCCG SUNDAY SCHOOL 11 NOVEMBER 2018 HYMN)

BIBLE PASSAGE: Acts 2:42-44 (RCCG Sunday School TEACHER’s Manual 11 November 2018)

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

LESSON INTRODUCTION:

A close study of the daily life of the first apostolic church reveals certain peculiarities worthy of note. This seems to run contrary to some trends noticed in some churches today. We need to examine what the early church looked like and practiced in order to realign ourselves with the will of God for His Church.

TEXT REVIEW: ACTS 2: 42-44

The believers in the early church were steadfast in the following Christian virtues and activities after they were baptized:
i. Doctrine – Apostles’ doctrines and teaching. Vs 42a
ii. Fellowship – Warm and healthy horizontal relationship with one another and vertical relationship with the Almighty God. Vs. 42b.
iii. Breaking of bread – Holy Communion and sharing. Vs 42c
iv. Prayers – Be it in supplication, thanksgiving, petitions. Vs 42d
v. Miracles – Many wonders and signs were performed through them. Vs 43b
vi. Fear upon soul right reverence was attributed to the Almighty God. Vs 43a
vii. Bonded – Oneness and unity. Vs 44a
viii. Had all things in common, similar behaviour, bowel of mercy and rendering support. Vs 45.
ix. Hospitality – Sharing from house to house. Vs 46
x. Appreciation -Thanksgiving to God. Vs 47.

LESSON OUTLINE 1: SOME SHORTCOMINGS OF THE PRESENT – DAY:

i. Human philosophies and motivational talks have replaced the Apostles’ doctrines. 1 Cor. 2:4, Col. 2: 4,8.
ii. Monetary rewards and other forms of compensations have replaced selfless services. Acts 20: 35, Gal. 6:9
iii. True, genuine and agape love has been replaced by suspicion. 1 John. 3:18, Heb. 10:25.
iv. Sacrificial giving is gradually fading away. Acts 2:45, Psalms 69: 9.
v. Pride, competition, egoistic tendencies, rivalry among leaders and followers have replaced complementary and true submission to one another and God. 2 Cor. 10:1, Phil. 2:5
vi. Envy and strife, suspicion and hatred have found their ways to the church. James 3:14, 16.
vii. Gimmicks resulting in fake miracles, lies, exploitation, intimidation, evil packaging, deception etc. 1 Tim. 6:3-7;Eph.4:14; 2 Cor. 12:16-17.

CLASS ACTIVITY 1:

Class to identify the effects of the above stated work of the flesh and the devil in addition to secular-like songs and indecent dressing to the church.

LESSON OUTLINE 2: THE QUALITIES OF THE EARLY CHURCH:

i. Steadfastness in Apostles’ doctrines, fellowship, prayers and breaking of bread from house to house. Acts 2: 42-44.
ii. Warm, truthful and loving fellowship.
2 Cor. 2:13; Phil. 4:10.
iii. True signs and wonders were common in the early church. Acts 243, 4:14; Mark 16:20.
iv. Unity in love and togetherness. Acts 2:44; John 17: 21.
v. The early church members were generous. Acts 2:45; 4:34-37
vi. The early church enjoyed favour with all people. Acts 2:44.
vii. The early church experienced tremendous growth on daily basis. Acts 2:41; 4:4, 5:14.

CLASS ACTIVITY 2:

How can the above-stated qualities of the early church return fully into the modern-day church?

SUMMARY: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever. Heb.13;8. The standard of the church MUST NOT CHANGE.

CONCLUSION: While we cannot rule out the need for innovations and creativities that make the church of God lively today, the present day church must be modelled after the early church.

EVALUATION: Mention four(4) shortcomings of the modern-days church and four (4) qualities of the early- Christian church.

CLOSING PRAYER: Father, let the five(5) of the early-Christians church return to our present day church.

ASSIGNMENT: Students should find ten(10) qualities of the early -church from Acts 2:41-47.

Read previous RCCG Sunday School Teacher’s Manual Here

NOTE:
Flatimes.com EMPLOYS EVERYONE TO PURCHASE THE HARD COPY TO SUPPORT RCCG EDUCATION (SUNDAY SCHOOL DEPARTMENT). THE SOFT COPY (ONLINE) IS JUST TO HELP EASY ACCESS. GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU DO SO.

RCCG SUNDAY SCHOOL 11 NOVEMBER 2018 HYMN

1. O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
O how I love Thee well,
I am happy, it makes me glad
To rejoice at Thy birth.

2. O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day, Thy friendship suits me well,
Both young and old will sing Thy song,
We long for Sunday School.

3. O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Christ was Thy first teacher,
The Holy Spirit, great teacher,
Does manifest in thee.

4. O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
This testimony is sure,
That God, the Father Almighty,
Poured His blessing on Thee.

5. O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Though the sun be so bright,
Or if the clouds black with rain,
I’ll be in Sunday School.

6. O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
I rejoice to see Thee,
Will thou pass over me today?
Without my being blest?

Topic: You Are Unique [TREM Devotional 10 November 2018]

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:7. KJV

Beloved, we are all gifted differently and you are unique in yourself. There are no two you on earth. No one can duplicate you. You don’t have the same fingerprints with anybody. God packaged you uniquely in a way so that you can accomplish what He sent you to do on earth. So, you don’t have any room to be insecure in your assignment and your calling. You must also not give room for jealousy.

The fact that you saw somebody doing something does not mean you can do it. And unless God empowers you to do it, you cannot. Do your part and empower others to do theirs. Insecure leaders usually become fault finders. They are always putting people down and never speaking well of others because they always want to be on top. Such leaders discourage proximity. They don’t want to tell you they also have scars.

Why do you want everything to revolve around you? Empowering others does not subtract from you rather it adds to your life. At times, you can empower somebody and he runs faster than you; that shouldn’t in any way intimidate you. After all you are the one who empowered him to run. You should celebrate it and see it as a success. So, you don’t lose focus if somebody is rising around you.

One of my greatest prayers as God keeps me alive is that I see all my pastors under me do seven times over what I have done. I will just sit down and be watching them and be happy that they are taking the nations. That is the joy! There is joy and blessing when you help or make others succeed; and a greater blessing when they excel more than you. Learn from Paul who could boldly write “I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” Value your assignment and do it with joy.

Further reading: Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Jeremiah 48-49; Evening- Hebrews 7

“If you missed yesterday devotional click HERE to read TREM Daily Devotional by Dr. Mike Okonkwo’’ 

Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.