THE CITY OF GOD CELEBRATES HER 20TH

PA G E

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JESUS

PA G E

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CELEBRATION 26 THE ROLE OF A FATHER PA G E

PA G E

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MOTHERS ON THEIR KNEES UNLOCKING YOUR TREASURE

PRESERVING YOUR MOSES...

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contents.

A PUBLICATION OF RCCG THE CITY OF GOD SUMMER 2018

EDITORIAL TEAM EDITOR IN CHIEF Pastor Tutu Sofowora EDITOR Sayo Ogunlaja CONTRIBUTORS Pastor Tunde Sofowora Oluwatoyin Aina Deji Ogunlaja Dr. Akin Akintola Gboye Sodeke Yewande Ajayi Sayo Ogunlaja DESIGN & PRINT

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THE JOURNEY Pastor Tutu Sofowora

Trinity Multimedia Studios 07932 505 926

the City of God 193 Crayford Road Crayford. DA1 4HD www.rccgcityofgod.com

admin@rccgcityofgod.com

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THE ROLE OF A FATHER Pastor Tunde Sofowora

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MOTHERS’ CLUB INTERNATIONAL Party for Mums 2018

16 05 OUR CALL 09 COG @ 5 When The City Praise

MOTHERS ON THEIR KNEES Unlocking Your Treasure

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13 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration 21 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Jesus Celebration 25 DOCTOR’S DIGEST Do You know Your GI? 30 BUSINESS DIGEST Brother Deji’s Testimony

PRESERVING MY MOSES Toyin Aina

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From Pastor’s Desk

The

Journey SO FAR SO GOD

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he journey of a thousand years begins in a day. And so, the journey of The City of God began on Sunday 27 January 2008. What a glorious day it was and looking back now 10 years after, I can only say that it has been God all the way. A journey that started by faith, sustained and upheld by unshakeable faith in a God that cannot fail.

So today Lord, I don't even know how to begin to express my thanks. You are just simply AWESOME and AMAZING. We could not have made it this far without You. What can I say about moments of doubt, despair and discouragement?

You always come through my soul like a rainbow in the sky surging me on. Thank You for all the great people You have brought alongside me to walk and work with me on this journey. Thank You so much for my husband. A man like no other. He is such a tremendous blessing to my life and this work. My Treasure indeed. Lord, all I ask for him is that eternity in Your presence shall be his gain in Jesus name. What can I say about my sons? They are such a delight to my soul. They made ministry work easy for me.

They never complain. They have brought me such peace.

I'm immensely grateful.

And my family in The City of God. You are all simply that, my family. You are the best people any pastor could ask for. Thank you for all your contributions to building the house of your Father. Your sacrifices have come up as a memorial before God and He would certainly reward you in Jesus name. I cannot end this without mentioning the immense contributions of the people and families that have been with us and moved on, your works are still speaking for you. You have not been forgotten. My

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PASTOR TUTU SOFOWORA PASTOR IN CHARGE

gratitude also goes to our Pastors, friends, families and partners who have supported us all the way.

So 10years have gone by and we look forward to the future. My most heartfelt prayer is that what God would do in, for and through us, would blow our minds. It would just be simply beyond belief in Jesus name. For He can do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond what we could ever ask.

So, unto the King Eternal, Immoral, Invisible, the Only Wise God, I give all my praise. My Ebenezer. Yes. SO FAR SO GOD.

OUR CALL E

RAISING TRUE WORSHIPERS, IMPACTING COMMUNITIES

BY PASTOR TUTU SOFOWORA

very church has got a call. Often, the call is usually born out of the passion of the shepherd of the church.

My passion is clear. Worship God. Teach others to worship Him. Make Him known within and outside the boundaries of the church. Our purpose is: To raise true worshipers To carry out great exploits To connect and impact our community.

Daniel 11:32b is our scripture and it says “But the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”

From this scripture, we cannot be strong and carry out great exploits for Him if we don’t know Him. So, in raising true worshiper, we are teaching members: To know Him To know His will To fulfill His will.

Jesus said in John 4:23- “But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him”.

offered Him sacrifices that cost him so much, danced extravagantly and unashamed before His presence and His people and finally made abundant provision for the building of the first temple of God.

Seek connotes something that is rare. You must be in quest of it as one in search of a great treasure. It is awesome to know that the Almighty God is seeking for something, a true worshiper. Our pursuit and earnest desire is to be found in Him as such.

Stories of their pursuits of God and that of Enoch, Noah and others are great inspiration for us at The City of God.

After all the miracles, signs and wonders that God had performed through Moses, he was still asking God to show him His glory. Moses knew that there is a great difference between the acts of God and the person of God. Knowing God for who He is far outweighs all miracles, signs and wonders put together. I believed God’s heart was gladdened on that day. God must have said to Himself “Yes! he finally got it!!!

David was the same. A shepherd boy that God made into a leader of His own people. David never had anything to boast about before God. He knew where he got to, was never a function of his background but a function of His grace, mercy and favour. His own father did not even reckon that he could ever be the person Samuel came seeking for, but he was. When he came in after Samuel had demanded that he be brought, God spoke to Samuel and said, “this is the one”. God lifted him and made him a king forever. Throughout the journey of David, he passionately pursued God, continually sought His counsel,

Through our knowledge of Him and position in Him, we are carrying out great exploits of faith and impacting our community and world in His name. We are serving in various capacities within our community, connecting with other churches within the community and organizing various projects to serve our community.

We are a vibrant church where every member can express his or her God-given gifts and talents.

We are a family orientated church. We strongly believe that the church starts from the home and so our corporate worship is an overflow of the love we are already experiencing within our various homes.

We have a vibrant children and youth churches where they are nurtured, and leaders are raised.

We are empowering our members and members of the community through our business school especially those that have interest in IT. We have an ongoing training in software testing and oracle packages.

The cry of our heart is “Lord, we are available to You”. Use us more and more for Your glory.

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S L D A R A E O T H S PA PASTOR TUNDE SOFOWORA Co- Pastor in charge & Men’s Lead- Men of Valour

MINISTER DEJI OGUNLAJA Minister in Charge: Workers

DEACON GBENGA FALOMO Minister in Charge: House of Fellowship & Evangelism

MINISTER TOYIN AINA Minister in Charge: Children’s Church

DEACONESS TITI FALOMO Minister in Charge: Teens Church

MINISTER YEWANDE AJAYI Minister in Charge: Women’s LeadDestiny Builders

WORKERS TEAM LEADS WELCOME AND FOLLOW UP GBOYE SODEKE USHERING DARLINGTON OMORUYI

SANCTUARY KEEPERS GLORIA OMORUYI MULTIMEDIA OLAMIDE AJAYI ADMINISTRATION SAYO OGUNLAJA

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FINANCE KEMI SODEKE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT KEHINDE AINA

WO ↗↗ ADEDEJI OGUNLAJA ↗↗ OLUSAYO OGUNLAJA

RKE

RS TEA M

↗↗ OLUWATOYIN AINA ↗↗ KEHINDE AINA

↗↗ OLUWASEUN AJAYI

↗↗ BAMGBOYE SODEKE

↗↗ GLORIA OMORUYI

↗↗ OLUWAKEMI SODEKE

↗↗ DARLINGTON OMORUYI

↗↗ YEWANDE AJAYI

↗↗ DEACON OLUWAGBENGA FALOMO

↗↗ OLAMIDE AJAYI

↗↗ DEACONESS TITILOLAYO FALOMO

↗↗ FOLASADE AJAYI

↗↗ FOLASADE AKINNULI

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When The City

Praise

PRAISE EXTRAVAGANZA

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T

ESTIMONY

Pregnancy Scan

Result Miraculously Turned Around from Evacuation Procedure I want to thank God for my life, my family and mostly for the life of my new born baby. God was with me right from conception, through the pregnancy and the delivery of my baby.

In the first stage of my pregnancy, I was told that my pregnancy might not be viable because I was bleeding.

After series of test, my pregnancy was termed not viable. I was considered for evacuation. But just before the last scan before they decide on the evacuation, I came to church, shared my testimony in advance and I asked Pastor to pray for a successful scan. Pastor invited the church to agree with me in prayers on that Sunday and I then went for the scan. The scan result confirmed that my baby was fine and that I only had a minor bruise around my womb. This was after I have had 5 different scans. Right there, I knew it was God doing HIS miracle. God didn’t stop there, He gave me a baby boy and that cute blessing would be 4 months old in a couple of weeks.

All glory belong to God .

Mrs B.B.

Breakthrough into a new Career and Job I have been out of job for a while and have been believing God to give me a professional job where I can use my Masters’ degree and Prince 2 certificates. About 2 years ago, a brother in the church introduced me to training on Software Testing. I completed the training in 2015 and started looking for job.

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I was called for job interviews but after some unsuccessful outcomes, I gave up. I became terrified of job interviews.

However, recently, when my husband’s job was put on hold, I decided to go back searching for jobs. I told God that I wanted a job but didn’t want to go through rigorous interviews. I want to thank God that after two years, I have been offered a role as a Software Tester in an insurance company.

During the interview process, God made it possible for me to answer all the questions I was asked and made the interviewer to prefer me to the other applicants. I want to thank God because He made me the “unqualified “ qualified. I also want to thank God for putting me in the church amidst destiny helpers and encouragers.

Lastly, I want to thank God for keeping my family and I through the storms of the last few months and bringing us into a place of enlargement. Praise the Lord.

Sis G.

Delivered from Premature Death To God Almighty be all the glory. I was delivered from premature death in a forensic unit where I work in 2016.

God used me to deliver one of my Health Care Assistants who was being stabbed. In the course of my intervention, I was stabbed 14 times with a big knife. The Bible says in Proverb 18:10 that the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. I remember calling on the Holy Spirit to deliver me when the reality dawned on me that my colleagues were not coming to my aid due to fear. The Holy Spirit delivered me from the Lion’s den. God is forever faithful. Deacon Gbenga.

MEMORY LANE >>

Celebrating Mother’s & Father’S and children’s Day

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MEN’S DAY OUT

COMMUNITY AWARD

family DAY OUT

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QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY

santa @ cog on christmas day

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Women’s

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Retreat

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C e le b ra t i n g Di ver s i t y MULTICULTUAL DAY

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Mothers’ C

PASTOR TUTU SOFOWORA

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he vision for Mothers Club International was birthed in a criminal court room. Unusual place to birth a vision like this right? Not quite. Courtroom is like a stage where anyone plays their part in a drama except that this drama is real. A criminal court room gives you a snapshot of what is going on in our society, in homes and in the lives of individuals charged with an offence.

You wonder what was I doing in a criminal court room? I am a Consultant Criminal Law Advocate. I prosecute as well as defend.

The offenders that gripped my heart and led to the birth of Mothers Club International were the youths. Each time I see them in court my heart bleeds. Before sentencing them, enquiries are made into their backgrounds. What sort of homes do they come from? Who are their parents?

Are they still in their lives? With such enquiries, it often come to light that their parents are no longer together, the youth is in a foster home because parents have given up on them as they can no longer cope with their delinquencies. There are instances where the youth would have supportive parents and that usually makes a massive difference.

Oh, I see the impact of supportive parenting when parents drop off their children in school, attend their school

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assemblies, parent evenings and events especially sports.

The impact of these cannot be overemphasised especially when a child’s interpretation of love is TIME. In as much as we want to be there for our children, many mothers are working mums. How do we juggle mothering with careers?

How do you cope with the challenges of both worlds?

Then the thought started to brew in my heart that what if there is a forum where mothers are appreciated and reminded of the enormous contributions and impact they are having in the lives of their children. How about having a party for them? How about having various categories of awards just to acknowledge their sacrifices and selflessness? How about seminars to educate them on how to bring the best out of their children? How to build better relationships with them? How to jungle careers and motherhood? How about gathering mums to pray for their children?

As with every vision, you cannot do it alone. I shared the dream with a friend and then we went to work and pulled a team together. And as they say, the rest is history. The Team has been growing stronger ever since.

Mothers Club International kicked off with Party for Mums on Saturday 09 May 2009 and we have been holding this every year a week after Mothering Sunday. It has grown in audience, acceptance and quality.

s’ Club International

VARIOUS SECTIONS OF MOTHERS CLUB INTERNATIONAL

PARTY FOR MUMS The job of a mother in this generation is really challenging.

There is so much to contend with and many balls to juggle together. Encouragement is a lifter and a good boost to keep all the balls going without any of them falling. So, Party for Mums started to do that.

This occurs every year and precisely the Saturday after Mothering Sunday. It is a night of celebration and appreciation of Mothers. A night simply to say thank you to Mothers for all their selflessness, love and dedication to their children and family. We usually have a custom of parting each other on the back as a gesture of “well done”.

I believe mothers make so much sacrifice that we take for granted. The aim of Party for Mums is to correct that. Our aim for the night is to make sure every mother that attend leaves feeling inspired, encouraged and appreciated.

We take extra care in preparing the venue to ensure the ambience of the place convey the message we are trying to say, “You are valued and appreciated”. The food is sumptuous, and the tables are laden with good things.

The evening is usually as relaxing as possible, so they can let their hair down and truly enjoy themselves for a change. We have many activities to engage them and truly amazing Comperes who coordinate the night to make it truly memorable for them.

Then we have the awards. This is our Big Brother moment where mothers who have been nominated for the awards are caught unaware. We usually ask the person who nominated them to write out what these mothers have done and read it out to inspire other mothers and present

“The job of a mother in this generation is really challenging. There is so much to contend with and many balls to juggle together.”

them with their plaques. Many are brought to tears as they receive their awards.

WE HAVE FOUR CATEGORIES OF AWARDS AND THESE ARE: Extraordinary Mum - This award is for single mums who singlehandedly raised or are raising their children and had or are having extraordinary results despite every challenge.

Super Mum - This award is for married mums who have done or are doing an extraordinary job of raising their children and the results were/are outstanding Heart of Gold - This award is for mothers or mothers’ to be that have done or are doing extraordinary job of raising other people’s children Golden Granny - This award is for grandmothers who have done an extraordinary job of raising their children and are now raising their grandchildren and other people’s children.

We also like to encourage mothers in what they do with our Business Showcase. This start off the night where mothers showcasing their businesses. This usually create leads to many more businesses.

Overall, there is no dull moment. It is usually a night to remember.

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Party for

Mums PHOTO GALLERY

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J C

PASTOR TUTU SOFOWORA

MOTHERS ON THEIR KNEES

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his is the annual prayer time when mothers come together to pray for their children, home and family. It is usually on the second Saturday of June.

Charles Stanley said prayer is the greatest investment you can ever make. Charles Spurgeon also said prayer is a slender nerve that moves the muscle of the Omnipotence. Wow! great words indeed. These words are the great foundation for mothers on their knees. Mothers come together and seek God’s face for the destinies of their children and overturn the plan and agenda of the enemy over them.

Testimonies abound. Many mothers have testified that mothers on their knees have helped them to develop a continuous and consistent lifestyle of prayer not just for their children but also for their own lives.

Only eternity can tell what impact and difference our prayers can make in the lives of our children. The

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prayers chart the course of their lives and goes ahead of them into their future. Oh! what a great investment indeed.

UNLOCKING YOUR TREASURE A child is a mother’s greatest treasure. Children are a bundle of gifts, abilities and talents that are waiting to be unlocked. Many stars that we celebrate today were first discovered by their parents. Examples like Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Ben Carson and the list goes on.

Their parents have helped to stir them into their destiny and they would not have been where they are today without their parents.

Unlocking Your Treasure is an annual seminar in September where we create awareness about the importance of our contribution to the fulfilment of the dreams and aspirations of our children.

It is always informative and empowering.

feature

Community Outreach

JESUS CELEBRATION

D

BY PASTOR TUTU SOFOWORA

isney World, Florida is truly a magical place. All the cartoon characters come alive and are paraded throughout the resort. You are truly captivated by the place no matter your age. I guess it is true that we are all children at heart with a vivid imagination and dreams. I was enraptured when I was there. One of the highlights of the place is the Disney Parade. Many of the characters would be on carriages and travel through the resort. People lined the streets. Adults sitting on the road at vintage position just to catch a glimpse of the characters as they go pass. The sound of music fills the air. Their start up song is usually Celebrations by Kool and the Gang. As the carriages go pass, Mickey and Minnie Mouse lead the way, waving at us as we sit enraptured by their magic.

Then I began to think. I looked around me and saw thousands of both children and adults watching the parade. I then said to myself, these characters are just figments of our imaginations. They are not real. Not real heroes. But there is a real Hero, Jesus Christ who died and rose up from the dead. He went to hell and took the keys of hell and grave from the devil. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and matched them naked through the streets (Colossians 2:15 MSG). The day He rose up was the greatest day in history. I then asked myself? How have we celebrated this victory? Do all these people know? When our sport heroes made landmark achievement, they go on a parade and we all cheer for them and celebrate them. How about Jesus Celebration? How about going on an open-air bus and having a Jesus Victory Parade through the streets? To reenact His victory as clearly stated in Colossian 2:15 MSG. So, on Easter Sunday 2017, we started Jesus Victory Parade themed JESUS IS ALIVE. We travelled on open roof red bus and paraded Jesus on the street from Crayford to Dartford.

From Dartford to Bexleyheath. From Bexleyheath to Welling.

From Welling to Woolwich. We stopped at each area for 20minutes sharing the love of Christ, singing, ministering to people and telling everyone that Jesus is Alive. It was a

colourful sight. It was inspiring and really, really uplifting.

It was a success. We put the pictures of the parade on Facebook and we had quite a lot of responses from other parishes within RCCG and outside showing keen interest and promised to join us for the next event.

And truth to their words, on Saturday 31 March 2018, a day before Easter Sunday, several parishes of RCCG- The Centre of Joy, Dartford; River of Love, Woolwich and King of Glory, Dartford and another church outside of RCCG, Alpha and Omega, Swanscombe joined the Victory Parade.

God was truly glorified as we joined together to make Him known. The faith of the brethren was strengthened, and they really enjoyed witnessing. Many testified that evangelism can really be fun. It was even more fun when others began to catch the vision and God began to use it to unite churches.

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jesus VICTORY parade jesus parade 2018 photo gallery

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>>>jesus VICTORY parade jesus parade 2017 photo gallery

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world women’s PRAYER day photo gallery

turkey for christmas @ Dartford Food Bank

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photo gallery

feature

Doctor’s Digest

Do you know about

Glycaemic Index (GI)?

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he glycaemic index (GI) describes the capacity of a food to raise blood glucose compared with glucose in normal glucose-tolerant individuals.

Do you know the Risks?

Foods with a high GI may be associated with an increased risk of obesity and the post-prandial hyperglycaemia associated with such foods may also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Classification and Examples

The glycaemic index is shown in brackets. Glucose, by definition, would have a glycaemic index of 100.

Occasional High GI is enough for the wise. Keep healthy and God bless!

By Dr Akin Akintola

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feature

Parenting PASTOR TUNDE SOFOWORA

the role of a T

father

he Society we live has many different ideas about what the role of a father should be.

A father’s role is intended to be one of loving authority and not a harsh authoritarian. And as a loving authority, a father is accountable to God for the welfare of his family— physically, morally, spiritually and emotionally.

In 1 Peter 3:7. A husband or father is instructed to “dwell with them [their wives] with understanding, giving honour to the wife as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life.”

Brief Duty of a father When a man marries, and children start coming along, he enters a different phase of life. So, it is important to ask: What is a man’s duty toward his children?

A DUTY TO TEACH The major duty of a father is to teach his children and most importantly to teach them the ways of God. In both Deuteronomy 6:7 and Deuteronomy 11:19 we find that parental instruction should be an ongoing process.

The father should live God’s way of life and teach it to his children through everything he does and says all day long!

Abraham was commended by God because of the example he set and the way he led his family. God knew Abraham would “command his children and his

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household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice” (Genesis 18:19).

A DUTY NOT TO PROVOKE WRATH Ephesians 6:4 gives instructions for fathers to not provoke their children to wrath. This verse does not mean that a father will never annoy his children or that he should not correct them. It is impossible to teach without offering at least some correction!

A DUTY OF PROVIDING FOR THE FAMILY It is also important to note that a father should take the lead in providing physically for his family (1 Timothy 5:8). To the best of his ability, a father is enjoined by God to do all he can to make sure his family has the necessities of life: food, clothing and shelter.

My prayer and desire are that God Almighty will provide all we would need to be great fathers to our children, and grace shall continually be upon us and our family in Jesus name.

God knew Abraham would “command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice

PRESERVING YOUR "MOSES" AGAINST ALL ODDS Toyin Aina

Minister in Charge: Children Church

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W

e all talk about how God used Moses to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptian slavery but many times we forget that without the fearless choices made by some women, there will never be a Moses.

One person’s choice can affect the lives of numerous others - this recalls the story of Charles Finney, lawyer and evangelist, who was speaking in a New York church in the 1830s and at the end of each evening, he would give people the opportunity to come to the front of the room and commit their lives to Jesus. A great many lawyers came to hear him. One night, the Chief Justice of New York sat way up in the gallery listening to Charles Finney.

As he listened to him proclaiming the gospel he became convinced that it was true.

Then the question came into his mind: “Will you go forward like the other ordinary people?” Something within him made him think that it would be inappropriate to do so, because of his prestigious social position (at the top of the legal hierarchy of New York State). He sat there pondering the choice he had to make. Then he thought, “Why not? I am convinced of the truth…. Why should I not do like any other person?”

So, he bravely got up from his seat in the gallery, went

down the staircase and came up the stairs at the back of where Finney was preaching. Finney, in the middle of his sermon, felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around, The Chief Justice said, ‘Mr Finney, if you will call people forward I will come’. Finney made a choice stopped his talk and said, ‘The Chief Justice says that if I call people forward he will come. I ask you to come forward now’.

The Chief Justice went forward and almost every lawyer in Rochester, New York, followed him! It is said that 100,000 people were converted in the next twelve months in that area just because of one person’s choice. Finney could have continued his talk and failed to save a Moses! The Chief Justice could also have held on to the fear of what people will say but no, he chose to stand up.

What is that choice you need to make to raise up your Moses? Are you fearful or fearless? II Timothy 1:7 says that "For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid: instead, His Spirit fills us with power, love and selfcontrol.

How many people's destiny have you preserved by the choice you have made of whether to be fearless or fearful?

Are there others somewhere out there whose lives can be preserved by choosing to take that bold step of faith today?

The scripture above makes it clear that God's Spirit "fills" you with power, so utilise this power and preserve a Moses.

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WE WILL BE TAKING A CLOSE LOOK AT FIVE WOMEN IN THE BIBLE TO WHOM MOSES OWES HIS LIFE: The two Hebrew Midwives - Shiphrah and Puah These two women defied Pharaoh and preserved the lives of hundreds of male babies including the greatly talked about Moses. They both chose not to obey the enthroned King of Egypt but the Heavenly King who enthrones earthly kings. Who do you fear?

Jochebed - Moses’ Mother In the book of Exodus 2: 2–3, Jochebed preserved the life of her son against all odds. She was brave enough to defy the king's command after she saw how "good" her son looked. The question here is that "did the other women in her time not see anything good in their sons?" Of course, some of them did and some might not but they made a choice of not being brave enough to preserve their sons.

Not only was she brave she was also wise and hardworking, she patiently prepared a basket made from bulrushes and coated it with tar to make it water resistant. She then placed him in the basket and put the basket among Nile River reeds.

What risks are you willing to take to save your Moses?

Jochebed risked her life, the life of Moses and that of her daughter because she believed that there was something special about her child.

Are you prepared to get your hands dirty to save a whole generation of "your Israelites"? Jochebed patiently covered the basket with tar – not a very clean task, not knowing that she was not only preserving her son (Moses) but also generations of Israelites.

Jochebed not only saved Moses from death in the Nile river but she alongside her husband passed on great faith to their three children (Moses, Aaron and Miriam) as stated in Hebrews 11:23 that "It was faith that made the parents of Moses hide him for three months after he was born”.

They saw that he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid to disobey the king's order. If the king's orders are ungodly then you must fearlessly disregard them.

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What example are you laying for your child or children?

What are they seeing in you – a fearful or fearless parent?

Miriam – Moses' Sister The book of Exodus 2: 4, 7–9 describes the act of boldness displayed by this young girl who was probably less than seven years of age. Miriam had the task of guarding the baby in the basket that had been left among the reeds in River Nile. What a dangerous task, knowing fully well that various predators (like wild animals, crocodiles, snakes etc.) lived in and around the Nile River reeds.

However, as earlier said Jochebed was willing to risk

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the lives of both her son and daughter, no wonder Miriam was willing to take on this dangerous assignment as she has learnt this great attribute from her mother fearlessness. What is your child learning from you? The book of II Timothy 1:5 says, “I remember the sincere faith you have, the kind of faith that your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice also had. I am sure that you have it also". Does your child have your faith or your fear?

Miriam stayed patiently to see what would happen to Moses until Pharaoh's daughter came and she boldly stepped out of where she had been hiding and asked Pharaoh's daughter "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you". What a brave young girl who acted cleverly in fetching Moses' own mother to nurse him all because she had witnessed the act of faith shown by her parents right from her tender age.

What kind of training are you giving your child? Are you a positive role model to these "Moses" and Miriam" of our time?

One person’s choice can affect the lives of numerous others

Pharaoh's Daughter: The anonymous female saviour of Israel This heathen woman was destined to be the woman who would save Moses from a terrible death, adopted and care for him even though he was a Hebrew. She basically, laid the foundation of Moses' great work for God and cared for him at the risk of jeopardizing her favour with her father.

Most surprisingly, Pharaoh’s daughter – a heathen had compassion on Moses, rescued him and raised him as her own child.

One thing is common to these five women – the choice they made. They chose fearlessness over being fearful.

mother made in my life, I am still living out that difference as a man”. Ben, is known for separating conjoined twins, some of his surgeries were successful while others were not, but this “Moses” (Benjamin Carson) preserved by a “Jochebed” (his mum - Sonya) has been instrumental in saving conjoined twins as well as establishing the Carson Scholars Fund – a foundation that grants scholarships to student and promotes reading in the younger grades.

Your Moses in the case of Miriam, could be your siblings. Siblings that when you impact them, they will in turn be a blessing to thousands of lives in different fields of life.

They defied all rules to save Moses the deliverer. Men and women who fear the King who enthrones all earthly kings can only make deliverers in all fields of life.

My final question to you will be:

WHO IS YOUR MOSES?

And below are my answers based on the five women who helped to preserve the live of Moses as listed above: Your Moses in the case of Shiphrah and Puah, could be people connected to you in your field of discipline, your subordinates, people you are mentoring, someone whose life you will touch or save who in turn will be a blessing to other people. Example is the Chief Justice as stated above.

Your Moses in the case of Jochebed, will be your biological child or children. I will like to remind us of the story of a woman who made a choice to overcome hardship, poverty, single motherhood and depression to work hard to raise two sons. In turn, these boys grew up to be successful men and deliverers in their chosen field of study, as she believed they would be, because she lived out her motto, “Learn to do your best. God will do the rest”. This woman is no other person than Sonya Carson who singlehandedly raised the renowned neurosurgeon from John Hopkins University– Dr. Benjamin Carson.

This famous Philanthropist, Politician, Author and neurosurgeon said that his mother – Sonya Carson is the reason for his success in life.

Finally, in the case of Pharaoh’s daughter, your Moses, might be that child you have been or will be privileged to adopt! What will you do with that opportunity given you by God to mould a destiny?

The truth is that we really do not know which of our “preserved” Moses will reach out to a single person, hundreds, thousands or even millions of people? So why don’t we ask ourselves - “Are our day-to-day actions preserving the destiny of these Moses?”

This could be how you model a fearless life to your “Miriam”, making a basket and covering it with tar, hiding in the reeds of life where there are various predators but knowing fully well that “he who keeps Israel neither slumber nor sleeps”, defying the Pharaohs’ of your life, risking the wrath of the king and jeopardizing your position as the “princess” of this earth.

In conclusion, Psalms 127: 3 says that “Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a real blessing”. I pray that all the Shiphrah, Puah, Jochebed, Miriam and Pharaoh’s daughters of our time will arise to preserve the destinies of our Moses’ - all the great deliverers that we have been and will be gifted with. Amen

How many people’s destiny have you preserved by the choice you have made of whether to be fearless or fearful? Are there others somewhere out there whose lives can be preserved by choosing to take that bold step of faith today?

Ben said, “I not only saw and felt the difference my

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feature

Business Digest

Testimony - Deji Ogunlaja Founder/CEO- Giftrete ..........................................................

GIFTRETE

Giftrete.com: An app and site for giving and getting free gifts ....................................................................................................................................

On

this fateful day in 2005, an email came into my inbox and to my amazement; it was a scholarship from European Commission to study MSc Informatics at both the University of Edinburgh, UK and the University of Trento, Italy.

I was filled with excitement and joy as it included a full tuition, travelling, accommodation and living expense.

This can only be the work of the living God. I began looking forward to the challenges of studying in two leading universities across Europe. At that time, University of Edinburgh was a leading institution in IT with many

successful and ground-breaking researches in Artificial Intelligence. I stayed one year in the ancient city of Edinburgh, a lovely city but could be very cold, windy and wet. I always braced up from the wind, so It doesn’t

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sweep my little body away. I have now added a bit of weight though, thanks to my wife!

The one-year stay at Edinburgh was quite challenging. After a year I took a trip to the Trento, a mountainous town in the North of Italy, to complete the second year of the programme. I enjoyed the delicious Italian cuisine and serene environment for the next nine months. I had options to learn Italian language and culture. At the start of the 2008 winter, I had finished my programme in Italy and it was the time I went back to Edinburgh. I started packing my luggage and on

weighing the luggage I found that it was over the 23kg threshold that was required on the flight to the UK. I found there were some items, which I did not need or might not be able to take to the UK. I also found out that

THEJOURNEY SO FAR SO GOOD - SUMMER 2018

there were other students in similar situation too, with things they did not need. All of us looking for other students who needed these items.

This experience birthed, LiberalEstates.com in 2009 as a hobby to create a network of valuable green assets (estates), for environmentally liberal people who want to give unwanted items to whoever needs it rather than binning it. The number of users on the site grew to more than 220,000

over the years. Though it started as a hobby, it has grown and is evolving into a digital business.

I applied for an Executive MBA to turn my passion into a profitable business. I was also offered a part

scholarship to study at this prestigious Cass Business School in London. During the programme, I changed the name of the website to Giftrete.com and registered it as a business. A ‘rete ‘is an English word meaning “Network”.

Giftrete.com is a network (rete) of free reusable and new gift posted by individuals, companies and associations.

Resources are continually wasted, and reusable goods are sent to landfill which increases the greenhouse gas produced. Households and offices have goods that could be reused by another person or organisation, and these items are not passed across to someone who needs them. The main challenge is locating those people in need so that people with goods in their houses or offices can offer it to those who need them. These are the gaps that Giftrete fills. We connect people who have items in their house with those who need them.

Giftrete also promotes responsible consumption, where we only buy gifts that are needed by those we are buying them for. Most often we receive unwanted gifts on our special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries or celebrations which ended up in the bottom of the wardrobe, never used, sold for lesser prices or even thrown in the bin. To solve this global problem, Giftrete users create a Wishlist and then send the link to your friends who will then give them the gifts they needed.

Our researchers found that 22 million tonnes of waste generated annually in England alone and £207m worth of unwanted Christmas is returned to stores with £200 million worth of Christmas gift will be thrown. Giftrete is reducing this waste by creating a website and mobile app where users can objectively identify the gift items to give their friends on their special occasion. We aim to reducing the time used in searching for gifts. According to the Telegraph, during the Christmas time, average British workers spend at least three hours online searching for gifts even during working hours totalling to 96 million hours across the UK’s working population.

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the City of God

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• Conferences • Trainings • Musical Concert • Corporate Meetings • and more...

At the City of God, we offer our church auditorium for hire. We are very happy to host your business events in our modern facility at competitive rates.

For your booking and further information, please contact the Admin - Sayo Ogunlaja on

Tel: 07427 579709 admin@rccgcityofgod.com

193 Crayford Road, Crayford DA1 4HD

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T

About the book

This book is a summary of Tutu's half-decade journey through life. Her life's journey reads like a fiction, yet ever so real. It is a journey fraught with challenges as she grows from childhood to adulthood. It is a real testimony of God's faithfulness and the important role that people play in the fulfilment of one's destiny. This story is a great comfort indeed that all things do work together for good.

Obtain your copy today from tutusofowora.com or Amazon.

Available in paperback or kindle.

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THEJOURNEY SO FAR SO GOOD - SUMMER 2018

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THEJOURNEY SO FAR SO GOOD - SUMMER 2018

BLUE SKY CITADEL

(BSC)

INTRODUCTION Blue Sky Citadel is a non-profit educational institution founded by the church to offer free courses in different disciplines. It was founded with the objective of educating and empowering the community in business and careers.

SUCCESS STORIES We have made a significant progress with over 80% of our students getting jobs after taking the course. Some of the students have no IT experience, while some have never worked in the U. K, but they got their first IT jobs after completing the course. Four students from our last course on the Automation Testing in C# got a role within the first month of completion.

COURSES

All our tutors are professionals in their fields with lot of experience working for blue chip companies in the UK and they offer their services freely as volunteers. Based on our success stories and the passion at which we teach, our courses have been popular as we get referrals from our previous students. We currently have over 100 students in our current class of the Automation Testing.

MODEL OF TEACHING

Currently, we offer the following FREE courses: →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→

TUTORS

Introduction to IT Using the Microsoft Excel Using the Microsoft Word Introduction to Software Testing Automation Software Testing with Java Automation Software Testing with Java with internship placement Automation Software Testing with C# Automation Software Testing with C# with internship placement BDD with Specflow BDD with Cucumber Oracle HSM Enterprise Database Management Your Money and You Basic Accounting Mentoring and Coaching How to break into IT discipline CV and Interview Skills Basic Sound System Training EDUCATE . EMPOWER . EXCEL Project Management

We offer both in class and online trainings with workshops and mentoring. We offer internship placements for most of our courses and this has really proven successful as our students have opportunity to work on live projects and gain experience on the course.

For more information about the school or to register for any of our courses, please contact the School Administrator, Gloria Omoruyi on

07557 056 460 or email:

Bluesky@rccgcityofgod.com

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Invitation to Church

Worship with Us @

The City of God SERVICE TIMES SUNDAY SERVICE ↗↗ WORKERS’ MEETING & SUNDAY SCHOOL- 9AM-10AM ↗↗ SUNDAY FAMILY WORSHIP: 10AM- 12NOON FRIDAY SERVICE ↗↗ WEALTHY MIND: 7PM-9PM ↗↗ NIGHT VIGIL: SECOND FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH

for more information:

07818 488 520 07584 668 475

193 Crayford Road, Crayford. DA1 4HD

the City of God

the redeemed christian church of god

admin@rccgcityofgod.com www. rccgcityofgod.com R.C.C.G The City of God @TheCityofGod

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THEJOURNEY SO FAR SO GOOD - SUMMER 2018