Pastor Sunday Adelaja: GOD OF ORDER AND RESPONSIBILITY
(theses of the anointing service for March)

In our church March bears the name “My pastor. My leader”, and today I would like to speak on the topic: “God of order and responsibility”.

Exodus 39:42-43: The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

This Scripture reveals amazingly well the fact that God is the God of order and control! God knows the nature of humans and realizes that no work can be done without a system of control. Every idea and plan comes from the Lord, and Chapter 39 of Exodus reveals how God passed His plan to Moses. In turn Moses entrusted this work to the sons of Israel.

The importance of order and control was revealed to Moses. “Moses inspected the work.” We can see that he examined how people were carrying out his assignment. By simply setting a rigid system of control, Moses was able to take responsibility for God’s purpose and fulfill it. “…they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them” (verse 43). As we can see the system of control allows us to reach the ideal result and, after all, receive the blessing. In his letter to the Corinthians Apostle Paul tells us that God is the God of order, but often we neglect the truth that God’s perfect order is not possible unless there is a system of control in place. I personally had not deemed it necessary to control people and their work, and for that I paid a high price. Remember the situation with Kings Capital? – I trusted everyone, because I thought that if people were believers, then it would be insulting to them if I checked and controlled their work. But if there is trust, there must be control; it’s not without reason that the Russian proverb says “Trust, but verify”.

In the 2nd book of Chronicles chapter 34 we read the story of the restoration of the walls of God’s temple: “The workers labored faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah…” (Verse 12). Notice that people were able to do their work faithfully, the right way, because there was someone to direct them. When we do not control people, we expose them to temptation, unfaithfulness and cheating. However, when people know that their work is being checked, then they work with all responsibility, faithfulness, in a right way, and honestly. They “had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job” (verse 13). God gave them watchers, who directed and controlled any work assigned by the Lord.

It is not by accident, my friends, that God created the five-fold ministry. According to Ephesians 4:11-12 He made some apostles, others prophets, some evangelists, pastors, others teachers, and some – leaders. God created leadership in church to carry out control and direct His assignments on earth and spread His Kingdom. Let us treat our pastors with understanding, with due respect and reverence! Pastors, leaders – are those people who must give account to God for the fulfillment of God’s orders, but this is impossible without a system of control. We have to learn this quality. I was building the Embassy of God on a different principle: the main thing was to teach people, to inspire them to do something, and then let everyone do want they want and believe. But in fact, there was a measure of irresponsibility in that. It is not enough to open people the truth and encourage them to do something – it is very important to check how they are moved to the point of execution of what they heard. Due to lack of control the devil was able to strongly attack the Embassy of God during all the crises, especially financially. I taught about finances all without selection, because I thought that everybody wants to glorify God in this area of their lives. In fact, it turned out that that was not the case, there were people who thought more of their own, not of God’s. After that, I repented of such levity and simplicity. I have made some conclusions, made an important decision not only to teach people, but to give them the motivation and inspiration to do God’s work. I have developed a system to help people not to lose the Word they heard, but to be responsible for its execution. That’s why we started to give homework and tests after the leader’s schools for people to give an account of what they heard, and to enable them to examine themselves on how they execute what they heard.

A pastor should always receive feedback from his congregation, because it is what God requires. Romans 13:1: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Here, the Bible tells us that all authority is established by God, therefore, if we are not submitted to the authorities, the leader, the pastor, we oppose God’s plans and intentions. Submission, humility, accountability, and obedience should be implemented in the church in fullness. Juniors must be obedient to seniors, and seniors should require from juniors execution of what they heard in church. If we teach people how to be good husbands, wives and true believers, we cannot be indifferent regarding how they behave themselves outside the church. Pastors and leaders should require from people that they live according to the doctrine which is preached in the church. If a person does not want to be humble under the mighty hand of God, then it is better to let him go.

That is why now in the "Embassy of God" church I have decided to work personally with people who take responsibility for each of my teachings for each school. By their assignments I can analyze their spiritual growth and how much they live in accordance with the teachings that we give. The system of feedback and control in the church helps us to practically demonstrate Christian principles.

Thanks to this revelation, Pastor Sunday’s system of home groups was created, as well as home groups of other pastors of the church, which closely follow the implementation of tests, private devotions to God, and other tasks. To remain in the pastor’s home group, you should not be a forgetful hearer but a responsible doer.

An important factor in becoming a true Christian is obedience. Surprising as it may be, Jesus himself "Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered " (Hebrews 5:8). Even Jesus, in order to become what He became, it was necessary for Him to develop the skill of obedience. Acquiring a skill is often a difficult process. Painful, unpleasant, but necessary. God will not be able to carry out His will with the help of a man who has no humility or obedience.

Joshua 11:15: As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.

We can see here 3 Levels of a control system. 1) God gave the task to Moses, who would account for its execution. 2) Moses, in turn gave this task to Joshua, and then controlled his disciple. 3) And Joshua worked with people and directed what they were doing. Only through such a system of control and order can one get a predictable result. Life is predictable when a control system is in place.

I am teaching you about the control system in the month of "My pastor. My leader" for us to learn to respond properly to the demands of our leaders and pastors, and to declare our obedience by taking the relevant actions. After all, pastors will give an account before God for the people entrusted to them. (see Hebrews 13:17) If church leaders do not control their flocks, then firstly, there will be no blessings, and secondly, God will judge them for their irresponsible attitude to the entrusted task.

We already know what it means to pay a heavy price for lack of control. That is why I want to support pastors and church leaders in their intent to provide oversight over the execution of the church teachings. I also want to encourage church members to meet pastor’s requirements: systematically provide reports on tasks, to execute tasks with pleasure, etc., realizing that it is the direct responsibility of leadership to check, to correct, to give right direction and to help to reach the heavenly Jerusalem.

In this month of "My pastor. My leader" we need to understand that obedience to the pastor, to the system of order and control is a Christian system of governance. I pray for us to be obedient not only to the higher authority, but to become the people with the help of whom God can realize His will on Earth. God will trust only to meek, the humble, those who are under control, and those who are able to control the execution of works entrusted to them by the Lord.

Pastor Sunday Adelaja: THE MONTH OF THE CHURCH: 17 YEARS OF THE EMBASSY OF GOD IN UKRAINE
(theses of the anointing service for February)

February is the month of God’s Church and today I would like to preach about the goal and purpose of the church.

Genesis 1:28: And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heavens, and all animals that move upon the earth.

The goal and purpose of the church is to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth with God’s glory. God’s glory is His principles, God’s glory is His order. God’s glory is His truths, His standards, and His values. This is the glory and these are the qualities that we should fill the earth with.

How do we fill the earth with the glory of God? We take God’s principles – holiness, righteousness, mercy, peace, forgiveness, and all other values and principles, which function within the Kingdom of God, - and spread them throughout the earth, filling it with the culture of heaven. When we fill the earth with the substance of God the Father, the earth then acquires the image of heaven. The more we change the sinful image of earth to the image of heaven, the more successfully we fulfill God’s assignment in filling the earth with His glory; that means every believer has a purpose and a destiny, a calling from God, which is to spread the Kingdom of God in all spheres of their influence.
We have been created and called to bring heaven to earth. The same way Jesus did it: He left heaven (the place of His comfort), to sacrifice Himself and bring God’s values, principles and the reality of God’s presence to earth. This is what Jesus teaches His disciples about the way they should pray in the Gospel from Matthew 6:9-10: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven” (verse 10). Fulfilling this will is the greatest calling and purpose of a local church.

Therefore, no pastor or church can measure themselves and their success in terms of external factors. We must measure our ministry and success based on the abovementioned criteria. We as ministers are as successful as we manage to bring God’s will, His principles, His character and His presence to earth. However, if we do not change the values of this earth and do not transform the culture of our society, we only waste our time, we are just playing religion, and in this case church turns into another club. Also you cannot measure a church by the number of its members, because you can have many people, but still have no influence. Church is not measured by its financial health, because you can have plenty money, but never change the culture and the values of society.

For an administration of the fullness of times, to head up all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:10). Therefore the defining factor in the evaluating activities of a church is the following: does the church bring heaven to the earth? That is why in our church we pay so much attention to ministry outside of the church, for God saves people not only for the sake of people, and the church’s purpose does not end with the saved people. Church is created to be salvation, the pillar, and the truth to the society.

On the 6th of February our church, Embassy of God, turned 17 years old (it used to be called “The Word of Faith” and we used to gather in the conference hall of present NAU). Of course you all know that we are going to celebrate the anniversary from March 31 to April 3, 2011; however, let us see what the Embassy of God church is all about today, and how it carries out its mission as a church.

1. According to Genesis 1:28, undoubtedly with God’s help, the Embassy of God is spreading God’s glory all over Ukraine.

An example of that can be seen in the response of one of our critics, who immigrated to Canada in the 1990s. When he arrived back in Ukraine, he was annoyed and upset that ”everywhere, in every region of Ukraine, from Ivano-Frankivsk to Donetsk, from Chernigiv region to the south point of Crimea, people call everyone, who is not an orthodox believer, a Sunday guy”. According to him it is supposedly the greatest evil that has occurred in Ukraine since it gained independence. He explains this phenomenon by saying that Sunday has advertised himself well… but what seems to be the greatest evil to him, is the greatest compliment to us.

Actually no advertisement can make the whole country believe itself. God is faithful to His word: we have managed to spread the news about God, the living God to all the ends of our country. And this fact shows that we not only need to be fruitful, but also multiply and fill the earth.

2. Nowadays it is hard to find a person in Ukraine, who will not have heard about the Embassy of God.

Even though the rumor may be false, because this is a natural law which no one can avoid. People have spoken ill about all new movements which were in their prime, whether they were religious, social, or political movements, but after a while the persecuted becomes generally accepted, nationally. The same thing will happen with us! The rumor about the Embassy of God has transformed into national folklore, into jokes and anecdotes, and that helps us to spread even more and become a national church.

3. Undoubtedly, millions of people have gone through the Embassy of God.

Many of them now attend churches of other denominations, some do not attend any church at all, but they have all been introduced to God thanks to this church in Ukraine. Only a small part of us has gathered now in Kiev in this hall for the anointing service. At the same time churches in all 300 centers of the population in Ukraine are holding church services. Those are people who used to live outside of God’s principles and therefore were going to spiritually die, but who today are spreading the Kingdom of God in all places.

4. The Embassy of God church plays a concrete role in the formation of the society’s culture.

All the time I hear the youth say that they did not see an example of a happy, healthy family, nor did they possess the right values, until they came to the church; and some of them admit that they believed that drinking and smoking was a norm for our country! However, today it is not a norm anymore; now we have a nation that stands for the healthy lifestyle. Recently, (Praise God!) also not without the actions of the Embassy of God, smoking in public places became prohibited by law. And this year the government banned obscene words in public places. The values of the Kingdom of God are planted in this government in spite of all persecutions. We are creating a new generation (new gene fund), and through the truths of the Kingdom of God, through raising children and adults on the principles of the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ is building His Church in Ukraine and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

It is the same way it happened in the life of some Swedish missionaries – two families, who went to Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century. Today these two families have multiplied so much that according to the latest statistics 50 million Pentecostal followers came out of the church started by these missionaries. At that time those missionaries also suffered persecution, but time puts everything into place. People spoke ill about Jesus, they persecuted Him, and killed him as a villain, though He was not one. But you can never destroy the truth!

Look at Genesis 1:28; it says that church is called to fill the earth with His glory. Here I’d like to give an example of the lives of two people who lived in the same generation (I describe this story in one of my books). One man was called Jonathan Edwards, he was an evangelist, and the other one – Mark Jooks, a successful man, who did not believe in God and was a die hard atheist. After 100 years a study of these two men was conducted. They found out that the descendants of Jooks multiplied only up to 560 people; 310 of them died of alcohol, 50 of them were convicted of robbery, 100 became alcoholics, 50% of the women became prostitutes, and the American government spent 1 million 250 thousand dollars on their treatment. Jonathan Edwards had 1300 descendants; 295 of them graduated from university, 100 of them became missionaries, 13 – chancellors of universities, 65 – professors, 3 – judges, 3 – senators, 3 – governors, 100 – lawyers, 56 – doctors, 75 – generals and officers in the army, 80 took high positions in the government, one of his descendants became a director of an institute. The difference is obvious – the family of Jonathan Edwards continues to this day, because its existence was built on the principles and values of the Kingdom of God, and they dedicated their lives to ministry and spreading the Kingdom of God on this earth.

So, today we also have the honor not only to spread the principles of the Kingdom of God, but also to fill the earth with them. And these principles of the Kingdom of God will change any nation; so after all only the holy remnant will live on this earth, just like in the case of Jonathan Edwards.

Today is the 17th birthday of the Embassy of God, and I prophesy to each of you that your descendants will be a blessed seed, they will continue for centuries, thanks to a righteous lifestyle and righteous principles, on which we build our lives.

We recommend the following books to study this topic deeper:
“Praise God I suffered!” by Sunday Adelaja; “The Final Quest” by Rick Joyner; “Jesus Freaks” Volume 2 by dc “Talk”; “God’s Generals II” by Roberts Liardon; “Driven by eternity” by John Bevere.

May the Lord bless you and your family!

With love and prayers for you,
Senior Pastor of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations
Sunday Adelaja