SERVING GOD

Taty Okuan

Description

The importance of a local church.

God did not create man to live alone. For the born again believer, the church of God is, and always will be the family established by God to ensure our spiritual growth to the fullest. Despite the abuses that may have occurred, it remains indispensable. Therefore, every Christian should belong to a local church, a unit of the universal Church, and be traceable by God and men.



Yet still, questions like, “is serving God in a local church still necessary? Can I not serve God from the isolation of my home?” are been asked or have asked either innocently or in the face of several factors that have tainted the image of the church. This book propagates not only the importance and significance of serving in our local church, but also how, as plainly as it can be understood based on the word of God.



For we are saved to serve! Read and be blessedly inspired to serve God in the family of God.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Spiritual Growth
• Christian Living
• Philosophie et théologie
• Service

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 25 juillet 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664299665
• Langue: English

Extrait

SERVING GOD
IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
 
Edition 2023
 
 
 
 
 
TATY OKUAN
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2023 Taty Okuan.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9964-1 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9965-8 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9966-5 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023908684
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 7/5/2023
CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
 
Chapter 1     Saved to Serve
Chapter 2     Faithfulness
Chapter 3     The Importance of the Local Church
Chapter 4     Timothy, A Servant of God Under Paul’s Authority
Chapter 5     Disloyalty
Chapter 6     Maturity
 
Conclusion
Bibliography
Biography
About the Book
About the Author
DEDICATION
I dedicate this book to:
Anyone interested in Christianity and would like to learn more about the redemption in Jesus;
All Christians in the world, who love the Lord and would like to see His work expanding;
Anyone desiring to find a true Christian family in which to serve God with joy and love;
All pastors and church leaders who have experienced or are actually facing tough times in the exercise of their ministries, thus exposing their lives and families for the unique cause of the Gospel;
All my pastor friends and children in the faith, who are fighting the good fight of faith with me;
My beloved wife, Emmanuelle, and my treasured daughters Rachel, Tatiana, Kérène and Marie Rose OKUAN, along with my family members; I deeply love you all. May the grace and peace of God be our portion.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank my Redeemer and the Master of my life, the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him, I give thanks for the call to the pastoral and apostolic ministry He has given me. It is by His will that this book was written. I am grateful for His providence in my life.
My acknowledgments also go …
– To my dear wife Emmanuelle MULEKA, to whom I owe a deep consideration for the writing and full involvement in the elaboration of this work.
– To all my mentors, Bible school teachers and elders, for their unforgettable contributions in the shaping of my ministry;
– To my daughters, for their significant support during tough times in the ministry;
– To the whole community of Centre Évangélique
– “La Restauration,” for their support and consideration;
– To my family, especially Cotine OKUAN, my elder sister
– for her encouragement;
– And to my Pastor friends, for their support and advice.
FOREWORD
For the more than thirty years that I have known Pastor Taty Okuan, it has always been in the service of the Lord. He was song leader, Choir member, Intercessor, English to French interpreter for me both in Nigeria and in many Churches as he accompanied me to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ both within and outside Nigeria. He has always lived his teaching in this book.
It is comforting to know that just as a child is born into a natural family to receive identity, be nurtured, reared, trained and prepared to face life ahead in a balanced manner, the church exists to provide the same for a child born into God’s family. The local church is the spiritual family intended by God for the growth of every Christian. And just as every child identifies her role or is given a role to play within the family, and does so, the Christian/child of God should not be less engaged within the family framework of the church.
Pastor Taty Okuan, in this book, puts it succinctly that we are saved (born again) to serve, and stresses the importance of doing so in our local churches, bearing in mind the mission of the universal Church which are - evangelisation, edification and worship. He emphasises on the concept of servanthood and acceptable service to God as better enabled by discipleship and submission to the Holy Spirit who empowers us for ministry or service in His body.
He highlights the qualities of the kind of servant (worshipper) that God seeks as well as the pitfall to watch-out for and avoid in the life-long journey to serve, as God is looking for good and faithful servants, vessels of honour, useful to the Master. The kind that will trigger the manifestation of His power on this earth, those who do His will, not their own. God, who is the Builder of the Church, is Spirit, and needs us in order to materialise Himself. He wants to use our eyes, our hands, our feet and talents to accomplish His work. The question however, is, “Are we willing to do so?”
In this piece, Pastor Taty Okuan provides a manual that takes us through relationship between the believer, the local church and their responsibilities towards one another as intended by God, that should strike a genuine interest and hunger to do what pleases Him and ultimately, the preparation of the saints of God both for the harvest of souls and for the coming of the Lord!
This is a must read for every believer who truly wants to serve the Lord, it is a book for Church Leaders who want to build an Army of Loyal Workers, it is a text book for Bible Schools - for the training and equipping of Church Leaders.
Dr. Dare Olao luwa.
Senior Pa stor
Harvesting Faith Minist ries
Lagos, Nig eria
PREFACE
In this book, the first of what I hope will be a series, Pastor Taty Okuan invites us to enter the doors of the sanctuary. With an experience of several decades working for the Lord, he shares with us the teachings received at the feet of the Master and collected here for the sake of His Church.
What he experienced and transmitted to his faithful children at the Centre Évangélique “La Restauration” of Ghent, the Church as a whole, can bene t from it today through this opus. Finding the importance of a locdevotedal church in this book, will also reveal to us the heart of a father, that of a shepherd who is always feeding and taking care of the herds, as well as urging them to the divine service; and that of the heavenly Father seeking to shape Christ in the hearts of His children.
The call of a local church is by then, nothing less than that of a family serving as an environment in which we are offered safety, and where the love surrounding our first steps in faith is assured. It is also the place where we learn how to serve the Lord according to His will such as was mentioned in the five-fold ministries. Consider then this invitation to serve, as a call from the One who said: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Pastor Mark MASY, a doulos of Christ 1
INTRODUCTION
The main idea of this book came about as we were training the leaders of our community.
We came to realize that the people of God need to be educated about what the Lord is calling them to do, namely, to serve Him. This is exactly what God is looking for, from each believer. Yet, what should we understand by serving God? What does it imply? How do you proceed? Where do you do it?
From the concept of service, comes the importance of the place of service. There is a need to understand the role and the importance of being part of a local church in serving God. Why did the Lord establish the church for Christians? Why does the Lord recommend to each believer to belong to a specific community and never leave it? Should we serve God in a group or alone? What are God’s expectations from each and every one of us, and more specifically, from us as it regards to our church?
The answers to all those questions are to be found in the Word of God, the Bible, which is nothing less than our preeminent reference. A good servant always seeks God’s will and not that of man.
This book is intended to be one among many other thoughts on “the good servant” whom the Lord is looking for. It is an additional practical study for every Christian who desires to serve God by offering Him a marvelous service. The good servant serves God in his local church.
Presently, we are witnessing communities forgetting the importance of a local church. In other words, we are forgetting about the coordinated and effective service for God. In Matthew 28:19 , Jesus gives His disciples the mission to “make disciples of all nations.” This is the famous Great Commission given to the Church. We can see from the understanding of this directive issued by the Lord, that the priority lays on making disciples and not on simply winning souls, attending a congregation or multiplying seemingly “spiritual” activities.
It is important to understand that it is impossible to be a discip