THEY USED TO CALL US “THE CHURCH OF WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED”, TODAY WE CAN’T EVEN COUNT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ATTEND OUR CONVENTIONS PHYSICALLY.

GOD SPECIALIZES IN STARTING SMALL. THIS IS TO ENCOURAGE SOMEONE, DON’T DESPISE THE DAYS OF SMALL BEGINNING.

PAY ATTENTION TO SMALL GOOD THINGS, BE CAREFUL OF SMALL BAD THINGS.

We need to learn that you must not share your testimony until it is complete. In 1 Kings 18:1, Elijah was told by God Himself “show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain”. He kept quiet about it. There was a competition, God won and then Elijah opened his mouth and said he heard the sound of abundance of rain. The first contest was easy, it was easy because when He said “the God that answers by fire, let Him be God”. Church Gist. The prophets of Baal said “Okay, try your God and we try our god”. After Satan lost the first battle, He announced what he heard and kept his mouth shut until the rains fell. Ephesians 2:2 makes it clear that the devil is the prince of the air and rain falls through the sky. This time Elijah has said “this time I will win” and the devil said we shall see.

In Daniel 10:1-14, the Bible tells us that Daniel prayed and fasted for 21 days before his answer could come because there was a prince of the devil that blocked the answer. Don’t share your testimony until it is complete. That is why when women expecting the fruit of the womb come to our Convention and we pray knowing God has answered the prayer. When they return the next year pregnant. We don’t call pregnant women forward to testify. We only call forward those whose children have arrived. Many people have lost their miracles because they spoke too soon.

There are other much bigger lessons to learn and that is you must not despise the day of small things. In Zechariah 4:10 makes it clear “don’t despise the day of small things because you don’t know where God is going”. Job 8:7. Lesson 2: God specializes in starting small. The smaller the beginning, the greater the ending that is the way of God. Church Gist. How do you prove that? Mark 4:30-32, God said the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds but the moment it is planted, it will grow up and become the biggest of all trees. He said the Kingdom of God is like that. God specializes in starting small, don’t despise the day of small beginnings. In Genesis 12:1-3, the nation of Israel started with one man Abram, his name later became Abraham. God just picked one man and said “Alright I am going to bless you and through thy seed, the whole nations of the earth will be blessed”. He picked one man and years later that one man had become seventy souls in Egypt (Genesis 46:27). A nation of seventy people came to Egypt but by the time they were leaving Egypt in Exodus 12:37, the number of men alone was 600,000. By the time you count the women and children, we will be talking about millions. From one man to seventy souls to six hundred thousand men, not counting women and children.

Today according to Galatians 3:29, nobody can number the seeds of Abraham. It’s not just the nation of Israel now, it is the nation of Israel plus every Christian. God started with one man and kept on multiplying it. God specializes in small beginnings. Take the issue of the Church, in Mark 3:13-14 Jesus chose only twelve apostles and by the time he left, on the day the Church was born in the Upper Room in Acts 2:1-4, the Bible tells us that only 120 people were gathered there (Acts 1:15). When the Church was launched there were only 120 members but the day the Church was launched it grew from 120 to 3120 (Acts 2:41) after one sermon by their Senior Pastor, Peter. The Church grew rapidly. Church Gist. Few days later, after the healing of the lame man by the Beautiful Gate, Peter preached a second sermon and the Church grew to 8,120 (Acts 4:4). That is not a small growth, you start with 120 members and in less than one week, you have become 8,120 plus. Oh God please give us such Churches. In Acts 5:14, the Church had grown so mightily they were not bothering to count anymore. They simply said multitude. We have a living example with all humility and gratitude to God, the Redeemed Christian Church of God started with 12 people by the time my Father in Lord left in 1980, during the Convention the attendance at the Convention was over 600. That has grown, today by the grace of God the Mass Choir alone is more than 600, talk less of the Congregation. People ask me how many people attend the Convention, don’t let me deceive you, I don’t know the number. Why don’t you count? How are we going to do so there are about 12 entries to the Auditorium. How many ushers will do the counting. Just let us say God has been faithful.

God loves to start small, this is to encourage somebody today. They used to call us “The Church of where two or three are gathered”, my reply to them then was that little drops of water and little grains of sand make the mighty ocean and the big land mass. Materially, God specializes in starting small. In 1 Kings 17:8-16, the widow of Zarephath had only one meal, God grabbed that one meal and kept on multiplying it to feed the widow, her son and the prophet of God for three years. In 2 Kings 4:1-7, the widow of another prophet was destitute. The only thing she had was a little bottle of oil, that’s how she started. By the time God finished with her she had enough money to pay off her debt and live for the rest of her life. I am saying this to encourage those of you who are starting small. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ you will not end small because God specializes in starting small.

In John 6:5-13, the Bible tells us that Jesus wanted to feed a crowd and all that was available to him was the lunch of a small boy – five little loaves of bread and two little fishes. With that in the hand of the Almighty God, 5000 men were fed and there were left over 12 baskets full. Church Gist. That is an important lesson to learn that you might be little, put that little in the hand of God. He has a way of multiplying the cloud that is like a little hand to become mighty rain.

Another lesson to learn is that you must beware of little foxes. In Songs of Solomon 2:15, He said beware little foxes can destroy the vine. In Ecclesiastes 10:1, it says a little folly can destroy the reputation of a man of wisdom and honour. Beware of little sin, little problems, little harmful habits. Ephesians 5:25-27 makes it clear that when Jesus comes back, He is coming for a bride without spot, without stain no matter how small. Be careful with those things you say are not too bad. If it is not too bad, it is already bad. Church Gist. Kill your little wrong habits before they become big and kill you. John 12:1-6, the Bible tells us that Judas Iscariot was a thief and he was taking just a little at a time. He didn’t steal so much that the bag was empty but even the disciples knew. But gradually that thing grew until he had an opportunity for the big one. In Matthew 26:14-16, He said I don’t have to steal this one from the bag, I will get it directly from the leaders of the Church all I have to do is betray Jesus. He got the money but he never spent it (Matthew 27:3-5). Are you doing some little things contrary to the will of God?

I have told you before about the anger of Moses. Moses was a man of temper. In Exodus 2:11-15, he was defending an Israeli and defence doesn’t have to kill. He killed and he ran away. The devil took note, this man, great man with a little problem -temper. By the time we got to Numbers 11:10-25, the anger had grown to the stage that he was even angry with God. Little habits, if you don’t kill them early, will kill you. You know the end of the story, God told him that if the burden was too heavy for him, he should get 70 men and God took of his anointing and put on these men. Church Gist. His anointing became diffused. Not too long after that, in Numbers 20:1-12, he blew up again and smote the rock that God said speak to. That is why he never made it to the Promised Land. When a tank is leaking, it does so a drop at a time. If you fill the tank of your car with enough fuel in Lagos, to take you all the way to Ilorin and as you drive along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the tank was leaking just a drop at a time. You are still cruising along past Ibadan and then you get into the jungle between Ibadan and Ilorin and suddenly the car stops. You wonder what happened and someone tells you there is no fuel in the tank, you say how can that be. It was full when I left Lagos. If you don’t believe me, ask Samson. Read Judges 16:4-21, Delilah leaked his tank, one drop at a time.

Pay attention to small things, they make all the difference between succeeding and failing. If you have something working for you, pay attention to it. In Luke 12:32, He said “fear not little flocks, because it is the pleasure of the Father to give you the Kingdom”. Are you pastoring a little Church? Nurse it very well, it will become great. Church Gist. All those places they call “where two or three are gathered” years ago, many of them now are Regional Headquarters, they grew. Pay attention to small good things, be careful of small bad things. James 2:10.

That is why I am calling on those of you who say you are Christians are still sinning just a little sin. You better run to the altar now and cry for Jesus to sanctify you wholly body, soul and spirit. Just a little sin can block the way to heaven for you.