Empowering Grace - Rev. Samson Alawode

God’s command was plain: go to Nineveh. Jonah disliked the calling and sailed the opposite way. Opening a study through Jonah under the theme “God of Boundless Compassion,” this message traces the path from command to contravention to consequences, and asks the question the whole book is driving at — are you a type of Jonah?At its heart are four wrong attitudes. Toward God’s will, which Jesus called food that satisfied Him but Jonah swallowed like medicine that choked him — forgetting that obedience is where we find spiritual nourishment, enlightenment and enablement, and that God’s will is an expression of His love for Jonah and for Nineveh. Toward God’s word, which Jonah treated as take-it-or-leave-it, effectively resigning an office God never revoked. Toward circumstances, where the right ship was waiting and the fare was affordable — because you can be running from God and still sleep soundly in a false sense of security. And toward the Gentiles, hating not only the Assyrians’ sin but the Assyrians themselves.Then the reckoning: the lost sense of God’s presence, lost peace of mind, lost ground to plead God’s promises, and lost time — because he went to Nineveh in the end anyway. Christian, do not imitate Jonah. It is far harder to run from the will of God than to yield to it immediately.

A tree survives the storm because of what you cannot see. Marking 25 years of Foursquare VGC, this anniversary thanksgiving message walks through Colossians 2:7 and its four pictures of a church and a believer: rooted in the soil of Christ with no desire to be transplanted; built up on a foundation no one abandons; strengthened by the undiluted word, because Satan struggles to deceive a Bible-taught believer; and overflowing with thankfulness like a river that meanders, goes around every obstacle and refuses to be held back — becoming the heart of every town it passes through. Along the way, an honest word about why this church's strength has been in being quiet: depth over noise, time in the word, in prayer and in obedience. Where roots run deep, drought cannot destroy fruitfulness.

As our church approaches its 25th anniversary, a simple question came up: if God looked at our 25 years, would He give us a pass mark?In this closing message of the Stewarding God's Way series, we look honestly at how we measure ourselves. We tend to be generous when we grade our own performance and strict when we grade other people. We bring that same habit into our relationship with God.Drawing from Matthew 25, Luke 19 and John 15, this message covers:What God expects of us as stewards: accepting His ownership, valuing His trust, faithfulness and fruitfulnessThe four levels of fruitfulness in John 15: no fruit, fruit, more fruit and much fruit, and why the Father is glorified only by much fruitThe scores in the parables: the servants' returns work out to 1,000%, 500% and 100%. Jesus never gave an example of a servant who just scraped a pass.Why God's high expectations are justified, explained with a support-vs-expectation parenting framework. God has given us enormous support through creation, redemption and His promises.How we meet His expectations: by abiding in Christ, because "apart from me you can do nothing"Whether you serve in church, work in the marketplace, or are raising a family, this message will challenge you to dig up your buried talents and aim for much fruit. Prayed the prayer of salvation today? Text FORGIVEN to 0706-400-3124. We'd love to walk with you on your faith journey.

A man guarded a locked box all his life and let no one near it. The day he died, his sons took the key off his body and opened it. If it had really been his, he'd have taken it with him. In this message on stewardship, we look at what it means to hold everything in trust — and the five areas we'll give account for: our trust and positions of leadership, our time, our treasure, our talent, and the body we abuse by refusing to rest. Then the practices that keep us honest: accountability partners, mentors, a praying group, clear priorities, intentionality and real feedback. Because the day of reckoning is coming — and the first question is whether you've yielded your life to the One who owns it.

Everything you hold, you hold on trust — and God has never relinquished ownership. As Foursquare VGC approaches 25 years, this opening message on stewardship from Matthew 25 and 1 Corinthians 4 asks four searching questions: who is a steward, what are you a steward over, what is God's way of stewarding, and why does His way matter? Rather than hand you a list, it makes you build your own — your time, gifts and calling, but also your employer's hours, other people's property, and the influence you wield over others. Then it sets out God's way: value what you've been given, prove faithful, keep eternity in view, bear fruit instead of burying it, and stay awake — because a sleeping watchman is of no use. Including the greatest trust of all: what are you doing with the gift of salvation?

Paul was caught up to paradise — and then given a thorn in the flesh. He prayed three times for it to go, and God answered with something else entirely: "My grace is sufficient for you." In this closing message on empowering grace from 2 Corinthians 12, we discover why God often meets our needs by transformation rather than substitution, why a promise serves us better than an explanation, and how grace proves sufficient for every kind of need — always being made perfect in weakness. Hear Rev. Peter Ameadaji tell, in his own words, of the accident that reshaped his family's ministry — and six lessons for anyone in pain: not all sickness comes from sin, there is something worse than sickness, and affliction can become a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.

The same grace that saved you is the grace that changes you. In this message from Titus 2:11–12, we unpack the two-sided coin of grace: justification, which makes us righteous before God through Christ alone — never through good behaviour or church attendance — and sanctification, which is just as much God's work as our salvation was. Like yeast in flour, grace causes what God has already placed in you to rise. You carry the family name from the day you're born; the family likeness is formed over a lifetime. And on that long journey, His grace is sufficient for the weakness you're afraid to admit, and abundant for the assignment that's bigger than you. Not by effort — by grace.

Grace does not always choose the qualified — it qualifies the chosen. In this convocation message from 1 Corinthians 15:9–10, we're reminded that the man who called himself the least of the apostles became the writer of half the New Testament, and that God still picks people whose past disqualifies them: a persecutor, a fugitive, a farmer. Discover why empowering grace displays God's sovereignty, why it makes you productive rather than passive, and how an ordinary life becomes a reference point. If you've cried until you couldn't cry again, there's rest in the Father's arms — you're not at your destination yet, you're only in transit. And you are too loaded to fail.

We know workaholics, alcoholics and sports fanatics — people consumed by something. Paul calls believers to be that consumed by prayer. In this message from Colossians 4:2–6, we're challenged to drop the "prayer contractor" habit of paying others to pray for us, and to pray like Daniel under a death decree, Nehemiah for his nation, Hannah in her agony, and Jesus through the night. Along the way: practical helps for a real prayer life — praying alert and aloud, the ACTS pattern, praying Scripture back to God, and why your spouse should be your first prayer partner. And the other half of the charge: what happens in the prayer closet must show up in your conduct — wise toward outsiders, speech always seasoned with salt. Paul completed his letter; will you complete your part?

In this concluding 'Slay the Earthly' message on Colossians 3:5–9, we name what Paul told believers to put to death: the sexual sins we hide, the greed that quietly becomes idolatry, and the "social sins" we've learned to excuse — pride in anger, malice that grieves at another's success, gossip dressed up as prayer concern, caustic words, and lies (half a fact is a whole lie). But this isn't condemnation — it's exposure, and what is exposed loses its hold. Today is a day of lifting: confess it, drop the burden, and walk free.