It was a glorious occasion in Bayelsa State as three church auditoriums were dedicated to God’s glory. The International Director, Pastor Isaac V. Olori was present to carry out this task on 2nd February 2018. He dedicated the Etegwe Church, Okutukutu Church 2 and Akenpai Church.
Pastor Isaac Olori admonished and encouraged members of the different churches. Reading from 2 Samuel 7, he challenged the brethren towards building for God. He explained that after David had fought and won wars, he built a house for himself of cedar, which is quite expensive. However, a time came, that David realized that he lived in a house of cedar but the ark of God was within tents. This made David uncomfortable and burdened.
Pastor Isaac V. Olori admonished every individual to have a burden in their hearts for God. He said, we must have a dream for God just as we have big dreams for ourselves. We might accomplish our own dreams, but will leave it here on earth one day. The dreams we have for God however, would inflate into eternity.
Other excerpts from his sermon:
The prophet Nathan gave David a go-ahead but God appeared unto him and made some statements. God was pleased with the fact that David thought about Him and His house even without Him complaining or requesting for a temple. Due to this deep love and proactive thinking for God, God promised to build a house that was not made with hands for David. That was how the promise of David’s lineage seating on the throne came to be and that is why up till today people refer to the throne of David.
God stopped David from building a house for Him because David had fought so many wars and his hands were stained with blood. That's another mystery, it means you cannot build for God with stained hands. Everyone that must be of service in the house of God, must have “clean” hands. Thank God today, we have the blood of Jesus, even if your hands are stained, that blood can wash and cleanse you.
Do you know today when you have opportunity to do something like this (build a church), you have done what David could not do. Today we have the opportunity to build for God. May we never miss that opportunity because when you build for God, you are building a heritage not only for yourself but for eternity.
David gathered the materials and Solomon, his son, built the temple. During the dedication of the temple, (1 Kings 8), the glory of the Lord came upon the temple. Solomon prayed that anybody who came into the temple and called upon God, God would answer. Even if you prayed and looked towards that temple, God would answer. God fulfilled Solomon’s prayer. The temple is the house of the Lord, a dedicated place, a devoted place, when you come in with a burden and pray, God will take away the burden and answer your prayer.
Finally, he challenged the church by saying, “You've built a physical church and it's beautiful. There is a second stage which is to build a spiritual church. There is another work to do and it is to fill the Church that is, the spiritual building. That would make God happier. The church is meant to be a place to gather souls, so everyone of you especially those who were not opportune to buy a block, you can get a spiritual block, get a soul and the soul will be part of the spiritual Church.”
