On behalf of the entire Abundant Life family, I welcome the Guest Minister – Pastor Adekunle Daniel, all invited Ministers of God – my co-laborers in His Vineyard and all brothers and sisters who have gladly accepted our invitations and are rejoicing with us on the 11TH year Anniversary of the inauguration of this Parish. May the Almighty God, THE IAM THAT I AM continue to reign in your life till eternity. We praise and honor the Almighty God who has made us to celebrate the 11TH year Anniversary.
EXODUS 3:13-15
13Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”
Moses – a 80-year-old man was tending to his sheep upon Mt. Sinai when he noticed something very strange. He saw a burning bush that wasn’t being consumed by the fire or disintegrate into ashes. And a voice speaks to him and says, in Exodus 3:9 “the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me. I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them” and in Exodus 3:17(a) “I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt”. Some of us might have been oppressed and tortured by “powers that be”. God is saying the end has come to your oppression and suffering and He will liberate and promote you. God chose Moses as His instrument to deliver the Israelites from the cruel bondage of Egypt and lead them out. Moses made excuses for why he isn’t the man for the job. He wanted to know something of the nature of this God who was sending him to oppose the mightiest ruler in the world. In Exodus 3 verse 13 Moses asks God the question, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, what is his name? what shall I say unto them? Exodus 3 Vs. 14 says, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you”.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, when God says “I AM,” it means “I exist.” As Christians, we believe that there is one true living God, The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The existence of God is the most important concept of our faith. If there was no God then there would be no reason for us to believe that there is a heaven and hell, no need for salvation, then Jesus would still be dead and there would be no return to look forward to. The Bible says that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Psalm. 33 says, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.” My God is real, my God exists, He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He alone is God. Before time began He was, when time as we know it stops He still will be. He always has been and He always will be God. So, when God says “I AM” He is saying “I exist.”
I AM THAT I AM, implies self-existence. There is being of Himself, no beginning, no end. Thus, it implies eternality and immutability. Although we live in a constantly changing society, we are serving a God who says in Mal. 3:6, “I am the Lord, I change not.” We are serving a God who Hebrews 13:8 says “is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” We are serving a God in whom James said “there is no variation or shadow of turning.” He was God yesterday, He is God today and He will still be God a thousand years from now. PRAISE THE LORD. When God says “I AM,” it means “I will be everything you need – financial, physical, relational, spiritual or whatever the need is. What better way is there for God to describe Himself to people with various needs than “I A M”. We can depend completely upon Him to supply our every necessity. He is the Almighty for the one who needs strength, He is our Rock and Fortress for the one who needs a place of refuge and the great Physician for the sick and disable. Paul says in Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” and in 2 Cor. 9, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work”.
God asked Moses to be the deliverer for His people, but Moses couldn’t understand how God could use him. But God said, “Moses, I AM that I AM. I will be everything you need to do what I have asked you to do. I will be the One who protects you from Pharaoh and the One whose power frees the Israelite nation”. Moses obeyed and allowed the statement to be proved true that says, “When you have nothing left but God, then you become aware that God is enough”. He became aware of the sufficiency of God and He understood that God was all He needed. Your efficiency without God’s sufficiency is only a deficiency.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate the 11Th anniversary of our Church in this new Church Building at 5885 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus, OHIO, The Great I AM wants you to know that He can meet your every need. He is the Omnipotent, Omniscience and Omnipresent and ALL that you need.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.