This Excellent Church - TEC

Figs in the Vineyard Kingsley | Luke 13:1-9

Learning From the Corinthians (Part 26) | 1 Cor. 14:19-40

The gift of tongues is regarded as superior and essential in certain Christian circles. However, this position stands in contrast to Paul's actual teaching.

Paul urges the church to especially desire the gift of prophecy because it builds up the entire church, including the one who prophesies — unlike uninterpreted tongues, which only build up the speaker because nobody else understands what is being said.

While the gift of tongues does exist today, God never intended it to be our primary means of prayer and personal edification. This is because all spiritual gifts are given for the common good of the body of the Christ.

Instead, He calls us to:

1) Pray in our understanding, as enabled by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us — which is the true meaning of "praying in the Spirit".

2) Be filled with His Word, remaining steadfast in the truths we have been taught.

If we are to desire the higher gifts, prophecy like Apostle Paul describes in 1 Cor 14, what then is prophecy and the role of prophets in the church

Learning From the Corinthians (Part 25) | 1 Cor. 14:1-19

The gift of tongues is regarded as superior and essential in certain Christian circles. However, this position stands in contrast to Paul's actual teaching.

Paul urges the church to especially desire the gift of prophecy because it builds up the entire church, including the one who prophesies — unlike uninterpreted tongues, which only build up the speaker because nobody else understands what is being said.

While the gift of tongues does exist today, God never intended it to be our primary means of prayer and personal edification. This is because all spiritual gifts are given for the common good of the body of the Christ.

Instead, He calls us to:

1) Pray in our understanding, as enabled by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us — which is the true meaning of "praying in the Spirit".

2) Be filled with His Word, remaining steadfast in the truths we have been taught.

Does the bible teach that man is tripartite in nature?

Learning from the Corinthians (Part 24) 1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13:13

In this sermon, Pastor Sam emphasised that the essence of the gifts of the Spirit is to express love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul highlights a hierarchy among the gifts and introduces a superior approach: love. He explains that speaking in angelic tongues, wielding prophetic powers and insights, or showing extreme generosity, even to the point of martyrdom, is meaningless without love. Such acts, devoid of love, are mere noise, amount to nothing, and yield no reward. The true purpose of these gifts is to serve and love God’s people.

Love reflects the attitude that Christ has toward the church, seeking the good of others regardless of personal cost. This love originates from God, and apart from Him, it does not exist. Without God, man cannot love, for God is love. Just as God loved us without waiting for our actions, our love must be proactive. The gifts God grants us will be judged based on how we use them for the benefit of others, not for personal gain or selfish ambition.

Paul further describes love as patient, kind, trusting, hopeful, and enduring, while free from envy, boastfulness, arrogance, resentment, or delight in evil. In essence, love seeks the well-being of others, not their harm or pleasure.

God embodies love, and love is eternal. While other gifts will eventually lose their purpose, love will endure forever. The ultimate goal is to be with God, where love will remain supreme. Until then, the church should be a foretaste of heaven by loving one another as Christ loved us. Paul concludes that while faith, hope, and love endure, love is the greatest, as our faith and hope stem from God’s love for us.

On this scholarship Wednesday, Mohammed Sule briefly explores the reception of the spiritual gifts in the historic church.



He gives a comprehensive summary of how the spiritual gifts have been recognized and utilized in the Pentecostal church. He focuses on the early organization and belief of the classic Pentecostal Church about the spiritual gifts.

Learning from the Corinthians (Part 23) | 1 Corinthians 12

In this sermon, PSam reminds us not to go beyond what is written, just as Paul had earlier instructed. Paul clarifies certain words so they are not read through pagan lenses, showing that spiritual gifts are freely given, administered by God’s sovereignty, and meant for the edification of the church.

The gifts are not for display or self-importance but to glorify Christ and draw men to Him. Though diverse in form, all gifts are gracious and empowered by the same God.

Paul stresses that the gifts are for the common good, modelled after Christ’s service to the church. This common good means being conformed to Christ’s image and walking in the good works God prepared for us, which is simply godliness lived out.

It is God who works these gifts in us as we serve the church. Paul makes no hierarchy among gifts, whether miraculous or ordinary by our standards. Each comes from the same Spirit and is vital to the body, with even the less visible parts given great honor in God’s design.

On this scholarship Wednesday, Mohammed Sule briefly explores the reception of the spiritual gifts in the historic church.

He gives a comprehensive summary of how the spiritual gifts have been recognized and utilized in the historic church from the Ante-Nicene Fathers down to the Reformation

James 4:1-3

In this charge, Samuel Oyeyinka reminds us about the beauty and power of prayer.

He also addresses what effective prayer is and how we can pray effectively.

Finally, he addresses two things that hold people back from praying – complacency and giving up