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RCCG HOLY GHOST CONGRESS 2023
THEME: DIVINE REPOSITIONING
MINISTERING: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE
TOPIC DAY 1 MAIN TALK: FROM WEEPING TO GARMENT OF PRAISE
DATE: 4TH DECEMBER 2023
BIBLE TEXT: ISAIAH 61:1-3
Thank You Father!
Well let Someone Shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah.
The first Night of the Holy Ghost Congress is a Praise Night – That is why you find the Choir singing and the Young ones singing and dancing.
That was Part one.
And I am interrupting the Praise just to let you know why you should join them when we come to Part two.
I Stand before you tonight trembling with Joy, Particularly for those of you who came the first Night.
You see, because I can tell you on behalf of my Daddy that there is Somebody here tonight or reading now on the Label of DMC who will never know Sorrow again – Amen.
You see, Israel could shout after Goliath has fallen. But while Goliath was still Standing, David was already Testifying.
He was already saying: I have a God who took care of a Lion, a God who took care of a Bear. As for this Goliath, his head is going to be off tonight.
For just five (5) Minutes, think of a Song on your own that can talk about the Greatness of God – Talk about the Power of God, talk about the Ability, the Mercy of God, the Omnipotence of God and sing unto Him now.
Praise Him with your own Song, so that your Goliath will know that he cannot survive tonight.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name we have Worshipped – Amen.
Also see;rccg-holy-ghost-congress-2023-hymn
SONG
I have a Father
Almighty Father
He is King of kings,
And Lord of lords;
I have a Father (what about you)?
Repeated!
OPENING PRAYER
King of kings and Lord of lords, the Unchangeable Changer, the Alpha and Omega, the One who was, and is and is to come, the Almighty God.
Oh! Glory be to Your Holy Name.
Daddy we are Proud of You!
We Thank You for what You’ve done in the Past, we Thank You that You are about to do something now that You’ve never done before.
We give You all Glory, we give You all Honour, because this is going to be a Week that the world itself would never forget.
Father accept our Thanks, in Jesus’ Name.
Tonight we are just here to Praise and Worship You.
And as we do so Father, Please come down and Reposition us – So that for the rest of our lives, we will never know Sorrow again.
Thank You Almighty God!
For in Jesus’ Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.
Let Someone shout a Big Hallelujah – Hallelujah!
Well, Prophesy to Somebody on your right hand and on your left and say – Brother/Sister, my Joy is going to be Greater than yours, you know!
You are all welcome, in Jesus’ Mighty Name – Amen.
Let me very quickly go to the Word of God, so that you can have the opportunity to Worship God.
Isaiah 61:1-3,
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to Preach Good Tidings unto the Meek; He hath sent me to bind up the Brokenhearted, to Proclaim Liberty to the Captives, and the Opening of the Prison to them that are bound;
2 To Proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the Day of Vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the Oil of Joy for Mourning, the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness; that they might be called trees of Righteousness, the Planting of the LORD, that he might be Glorified.
When the Lord gave me the Theme for this Year’s RCCG Holy Ghost Congress, at first I didn’t quite understand – “DIVINE REPOSITIONING”.
… Those are big words! I Prefer simple words that market men and women can understand.
But then as He began to break it down – Oh! how I rejoiced. And when He said that we are starting the very First Night with “From Weeping to Garment of Praise” I knew my God wants to do something Great.
WHAT IS A GARMENT?
A Garment is something you wear to cover your Nakedness.
So what you would be wearing from now on would be Praise – As a Garment.
Let Somebody shout Praise The Lord – Hallelujah!
I want you to Please believe me: it is not Pastor Adeboye who thought this thing out; who just dreamt of a Topic – I got it directly from my Daddy in Heaven. And when He speaks it is done!
You see, Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that, To every thing there is a Season, and a Time to every Purpose under the Heaven:
Then he went on to Ecclesiastes 3:4, he tells us that, A Time to weep, and a Time to Laugh; a Time to mourn, and a Time to dance;
That is Good News because it means Weeping cannot Last – It is only for the Season.
And I know quite a few of us have one (1) or two (2) things we are crying quietly about. But the Word of God made it clear in Psalms 30:5 – For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is Life: weeping may endure for a Night, but Joy cometh in the Morning.
What is coming in the Morning? Joy!
… Say it loud and clear – JOY!*
And I decree in the Name of the One who made Heaven and Earth, by the time the Sun rises tomorrow, somebody would be begin to Rejoice forever – Amen.
Weeping cannot Last – It is only for a Season.
And there is a God who Changes Times and Seasons (Daniel 2:20-21).
And He can terminate Sorrow Appropriately, Unexpectedly and Permanently – Amen
In Luke 7:11-15; the Bible tells us of a Widow of Nain.
If anybody knew sorrow, that woman did! – Her husband had died, left her with only one son. And now the son was dead.
They were going to bury the son and the Unchangeable Changer came on the scene, stopped the Procession to the Graveyard, raised the boy from the dead.
And for the rest of the Life of that woman she never wept again.
I decree in the Name of the One who called me – There is Someone listening to me today or reading now on the Label of DMC, you will never weep again – Amen.
I know some of us would say, “hold on Pastor, you know the Bible says we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep.” That is true!
But Weeping can be in two (2) Categories:
– There is the Weeping you are weeping for the one who is Weeping;
– And that is different from the Weeping when it is you who is Weeping.
I was talking with a son of mine not too long ago; he said, when Somebody loses his child; Sympathizers come (both true and false Sympathizers). And some of them will weep while they are with you, some of them will roll on the ground.
But as soon as they leave your house, they go back home to eat Pounded yam. It is you who knows where the fire is burning you.
Oh! I Pray in the Name that’s above every other name, there someone here tonight or reading now on the Label of DMC, you will never know Sorrow again – Amen.
That is the Purpose of tonight.
Those of you who have never known Sorrow, you will never know Sorrow – Amen.
If you have known Sorrow, in a way that only God can do it, after tonight you will never know Sorrow again – Amen.
Within Minutes, the Almighty God can bring you from the very depths of Soul and put you on the Mountaintop of Praises.
In John 11:35-45, (Particularly Verse 35) the Bible says, “Jesus wept!”
But by the time we get to Verse 45, the cause of Weeping had been removed, the irreversible had been reversed and the one who had been dead four (4) days had been revived.
I wasn’t there then, but I am sure there must have been some dancing and Praising God that day.
FOR HOW LONG CAN JOY LAST?
If it is God that gives you Joy, the Joy can last forever.
Why? Psalms 30:5 says Weeping belongs to Night, Joy belongs to Day.
And according to Psalms 90:4, the Almighty God can make your Day Last for a Thousand Years.
I am going to tell you what to do. And I am sure by now Somebody knows that this is not an “Ordinary Night”. And this is not an “Ordinary Congress’ – This one is going to be different.
When I was Studying Mark 10:46-52, and I suddenly realised that Bartimaeus was Repositioned – From Darkness to Light, from Sickness to Health, from Poverty to Wealth as he never begged again.
From Stagnation to Promotion, from Loneliness to becoming the talk of the Town.
And I discovered that it wasn’t really the Prayer; it wasn’t how loud he shouted; it was what he said. Bartimaeus said “Jesus, Thou Son of David…”
At least among my Tribe – The Yorubas; when you want to get something big from Somebody, you begin to eulogize him by telling him a little bit of his History.”
You are the son of “so-and-so”; when your father went to war he defeated so many People, he captured so many slaves, etc.”
That was exactly what Bartimaeus did that day – Jesus I know You: You are the Son of David, Your father was a Giant killer. My Problems are Gigantic, but You the Son of the Giant killer can solve the Problem.
Oh! When Your father David sang, Darkness moved out of the way. Your father sang for a King who was Possessed with a Semon. And when Your father was singing even the Demons left that man alone because the Demon wanted to hear that Music.
Jesus, I am being held Captive by Darkness; do what Your Father did!
Jesus, Your father gathered together riffraffs – In 1 Samuel 22, your father (David) gathered together all those who were distressed, Poor and Hopeless. And he turned all of them to Mighty Men.
Jesus I am a Nobody, do what Your father did – Turn me to Somebody.
Jesus, when Your father sang, the King sent for him.
I am alone here I have no friends, do what Your father did – Whatever You have to do to bring me to the Presence of the King, do it.
I know who You are – You are the King of kings, send for me.
Jesus heard and said, this fellow knows me. I think I will send for him.
Somebody is going to Worship God tonight in such a manner that the Lord Himself will look down from Heaven and say: This boy/girl knows me. He/she knows my History.
One of you Angels there, go and bring him – We must Reposition him tonight – Amen.
You are going to Praise God tonight – And let me appeal to you; I have said this before, I want to say it again, “if you are Grateful to God for what He has done in the Past, He will do more”.
And the Greatest Evidence of Pride is inability to Praise God.
That is the Greatest Evidence of Pride! And God resist the Proud.
When it is time to Praise God, time to sing, and dance; God would look down from Heaven and see the way you are doing your own. And He would say, “No! That one is too big to be helped. That one is too important to need help”.
And He would look at another fellow, He would see the way the fellow is singing and dancing; and He would say, “that one needs to be Repositioned!”
God is about to Reposition Somebody tonight Permanently away from Sorrow – Amen.
… If you are the one, let me hear you say “It is Me” – It is DMC FAMILY MEMBERS!
But before we go ahead to Praise God; because I have already said all He wants me to say.
The Word of God makes it abundantly clear that you cannot continue to Praise Him if you are living in sin – He doesn’t want your Praises.
The Word of God says in Proverbs 15:8, The Sacrifice of the Wicked is an Abomination to the LORD: but the Prayer of the Upright is his delight.
If you have not made up your Mind to stay away from sin, God does not want to hear your Praise.
ALTAR CALL
That is why if you are here tonight or reading now on the Label of DMC and you have not Surrendered your Life to Jesus Christ:
I want to give you an opportunity to settle the case of Salvation first before we can then go ahead and Praise the Lord.
So if you want to give your Life to Jesus Christ, do so now!
Okay! Cry to the Almighty God and say: Lord; have Mercy on me, save my Soul. Whatever would not allow my Praise to be acceptable to You, let Your Blood wash it away today.
I want to be one of Your Children, I want to be able to Praise and Worship appropriately.
Please, save my Soul, let Your Blood wash away my sins and I would serve You for the rest my Life.
And the rest of us Please, let’s Stretch our hands towards these our New Brothers and Sisters, and intercede for them:
That the Almighty God would forgive them, that He would save their Souls and that His Blood would wash away all the sins.
Intercede for them.
Thank You Father! Glory be to God.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.
PRAYER FOR SALVATION
Saviour, I want to Thank You for Your Word.
Thank You because all Your Promises are Yea and Amen!
You are the One who Promised that whosoever will come unto You, You would in no wise cast out.
These People have come to You now – Father, Please receive them! Save their Souls, let Your Blood wash away their sins.
Please Lord God Almighty, receive them into the Family of God.
So that from now on, even when they are Worshipping and Praising You; it would be acceptable to You, in Jesus’ Name.
And I Pray that when you are Repositioning People tonight – From Sorrow to Joy, Please include them.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.
I rejoice with those of you who have come forward to Genuinely Surrender your Life to Jesus Christ.
Let me hear you shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah!
By the Grace of God I Promise to be Praying for you from now on.
So I will need your names, your Address and your Prayer Requests.
God Bless You! Congratulations.
…. And if you are clapping, Please, clap as if you mean it.
Thank You Father!
Tonight I am going to Pray for you first before you go to the Second Session of Praise.
I am going to ask my Father in Heaven to Uproot everything that has been causing you Sorrow. And then I am going to ask Him to make sure you never know Sorrow again.
After I have Prayed for you, the Band will begin to lead us to sing and dance.
And I will appeal to the Band to make this Session to be at the level – Especially for those of us who are old (like myself).
Because we want to dance to God and we want to show our Appreciations to God.
So Band, Please go at our Speed, okay?
God Bless You – Amen!
If you don’t want to know Sorrow anymore for the rest of your Life, Stand on your feet and shout a very big Hallelujah – Hallelujah!
CLOSING PRAYER
My Father and my God, the Ancient of Days, I Thank You very, very, very much for this Year’s RCCG Holy Ghost Congress.
Thank You because I know that whatever You say You want to do is already done.
And I Thank You especially for those who are listening to us right now or reading now on the Label of the DMC this Day One.
Father before the Sun rises tomorrow, let Sorrow be far gone from their lives!
When the Widow of Nain was going to bury her son, You met her and You said, “Weep not!” It is because you went right to the root of her Sorrow and you’re Uprooted the Mountain.
Everything causing any of Your Children Sorrow here tonight, Father Uproot!
Whatever they think about that dample their Joy (whatever it may be); terminate it tonight – Whatever it is, Small or Big.
Some of us (like myself) have known the Bitterness of losing a Child; some of Your Children here too, they know what is called “Bitter Sorrow” – Things they can’t even explain, sorrows that they cover with a Strong bold face, so that why they are Smiling on the Surface they are Weeping inside.
Whatever it is that has caused us Sorrow thus far; my Father and my God, deal with it tonight.
Some People look around to see their Classmates and Colleagues – Those who are not even Worshipping You the way they are Worshipping You.
They see them apparently, making Progress; having everything that is supposed to make Life worth Living. And then they look at themselves and they say Oh God.
Whatever it is Lord, in the lives of Your Children that is not allowing their Joy to be full, deal with it tonight.
And then in Your Own Miraculous Way; the way only You can do it – From the lives of all of us, anything in the future that can cause us sorrow, remove Oh Lord.
As we Worship You tonight, that Garment of Praise, that Garment that we would wear with Pride, that Garment that People would see in our lives and say, “No doubt about it, God has favoured this fellow”; my Father and my God release unto us.
My Father and my God, once upon a time, there was one of Your Children – He is resting with You in Glory now; everyday you see him beaming with Joy. He is always having one Testimony or the other.
His name became Mr. Testimony!
My Father and my God, I Pray tonight concerning every one of Your Children – The Garment of Praise that only You can give, give to all of us.
And forever Oh Lord, let our tomorrow be alright!
Thank You Almighty God
In Jesus’ Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.
Are you ready to Praise Him?
So the Band will go ahead – Praise till you are satisfied.
And I know that by tomorrow, you will be singing a New Song – Amen!
Over to you Brethren!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
