OVERCOMING BY THE WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY
 

Theresa Gaynor -  "The word of our testimony inspires men to glorify our Father in heaven?" and we our responses to the various questions asked as follows: Matthew 5:14-16 1. Why is it important that our lives reflect kingdom values? A number of points came out of our group discussion. These include the fact that we represent the kingdom of God in this world. It is our lifestyles that should be what attracts others to the kingdom of God. We can be more effective if our lives are not saying a different message from the word of God and others will see this advantage and glorify God. Also we must note that to we HAVE to give a true representation of what we stand for and impact lives of others not in the kingdom.

Pauline Pennant - "The Word of our Testimony is key in Wnning Unsaved Loved Ones". 1 Peter 3:1-3 was read and issues raised from this scripture gave way to secondary illumination as to how we could win unsaved family members. We agreed that one of the first step towards this process is to develop a relationship with them. The issue of our lifestyle should be the focus instead of "preaching". The example of living according to biblical principles will clearly represents the kingdom lifestyle. We need to show them love, always do what is right and let God work it out, do not agrue about regilion and beat them down, pray consistently for them and with them if possible, continue to share the Word verbally and do anything practical to show acceptance and kindness. integrate them into our life.
The best evangelistic tool is our lifestyle which must be an accurate lifestyle.

Shane Gibbs - "The word of your testimony guarantees victory in spiritual warfare." The discussion was very vibrant and it was good to be a part of a group discussion with everyone participating. We started out by recapping some points from Pastor Wesley's session from the previous week then went into the discussion. Some questions we explored were:
1. Why did the prince of this world have no hold on Jesus (Based on John 14:30)? First answer was His love for God and his total obedience to His Father's will. One of the implication from this was that we must continue to develop our love for God to an even higher level and through this development we can understand His will more and be more accurately aligned to make His will a reality. 2. We also looked at the word becoming flesh. We understood that this statement represented Jesus coming on earth to dwell among us in a human state and the fact that He was able to overcome humanity through a perfected lifestyle. We also could see that it represented the practical application of Kingdom Principles (theory) to the daily aspect (reality) of our lives. For us, the issue of the word becoming flesh must mean that we translate to our daily lives the principles of the kingdom. Regardless of how much we talk, Babylon is looking for lifestyle.

Clearly Defined Culture

Shane Gibbs - Culture, a very interesting concept. Culture is built one way or in most cases the other. To get a desired product culture must be deliberately built. The culture that we are building defines the values we share, our approach to God, our approach to each other and our approach to life itself. I find it interesting because it is this same culture to be exported home and will define how we raise our children, how we treat our spouses, how we conduct ourselves on the job and lots more. Culture takes time to build so hence, we must start now. A part of building accurate culture also is the uprooting of our former incorrect postures and establishing this defined culture at the foundation of all structures that we are presently building. For me, this is a personal challenge. A challenge to stand up and be counted among the high heads of Northgate, a challenge to put things in order where time management is concerned, a challenge to look out for my fellow man as we progress together in developing this new and clearly defined culture. Are you challenged?

Avia Gibbs - “There’re paradigms within our minds That govern our pursuits And shape the values we express And though some may not know the source They recognize the fruits The purity, the wisdom And our connectedness” Above are some of the words of a song that have come out of Precision Centre in Antigua. In trying to put words to the concept of culture, one of the most fitting definitions that I could come up with is as the song says: “The paradigms within our minds that govern our pursuits and shape the values we express”. A paradigm refers to: - An example or pattern especially one underlying a theory or methodology - The way in which we do things - One that serves as a pattern or model - A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them - To paraphrase, a paradigm refers to the why behind the what that we do.

Raquel John - IT IS AMAZING TO NOTE THAT HOW , WHERE AND WHAT WE ARE NOW IS AS A RESULT OF CULTURE/S WE LIVED BY WHETHER GOOD OR BAD. WHO AM I TODAY? DO THE CULTURES THAT SHAPED ME SO FAR NEED TO BE RECONFIGURED? WHAT AM I TODAY? DO I NEED TO CHANGE MY TUNE? WHERE AM I TODAY? DO I NEED TO RUN FROM THIS POSITION OR CAN I WORK WITH IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL? INTERESTING QUESTIONS, AREN'T THEY? I NEED TO GO CHECK.

Simone Lew - Culture is perpetuated (to cause to continue, to make perpetual (eternal,everlasting) whether we do it conciously/deliberately or not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So what is our lifstyle (actions: what we do or don't do) saying about us??? Are we pleased with the everlasting mark we are making in the earth? We have the knowledge (principles), are they being deliberately made real in our lives. Or are we just waiting for them to miraculosly be seen in our culture? Faith without works is dead.... Selah

G.R.O.W.

Theresa Gaynor - The present demand of God should not be strange to us. The demands for us to be productive over the past few months have now shifted to the fact that our entire mentalities must be rewired! We cannot see ourselves as small and helplessly being tossed about by "the system." We are NOT helpless!! We are more than conquerors. This morning in praise and worship I saw and felt as if we were buried under a lot of dirt, it was dark and oppressive, but then came relief when we decided to use our situation as an opportunity to grow. We can choose to be oppressed or we can choose to be seeds and find the not so obvious nutrients in the present environment to nurture ourselves and grow, pushing towards the light on the surface. So we need to go and govern ourselves and our environment, to run and rule where we are, to overcome all obstacles by using them as stepping stones and to actively be witnesses for our great Lord and Father in Heaven.

Andre John - Theresa I fully agree. I think one of our biggest problems today is knowing who we are and living what we know rather than just knowing the language. I also believe that if we see ourselves as seeds placed in the right environment NCGI or where ever the Lord has planted us, we do not have a choice but to grow. To me the choice to grow is no longer an option, God demands so I just have to GROW and this should be our position. The bible never admonishes to stay where we are. We are constantly reminded to grow to maturty, to push further, aim higher, to finish. God HATES stagnation, procrastination, and stay-in-nation. His Spirit encourages us to come up. We are no longer babies in the physical because we have grown. Let's do the same for our entire man.

Kerry-Ann Swire - I find I must agree with Pas. John and Theresa. God has called us to GROW then obviously we are no longer babies, and we should stop acting as such. God has given us the power to go out and make the world ours. What are we waiting on? He has already given us everything we will need. So, why aren't we growing? Like Theresa said we will have to completely rewire our mentalities. Without doing this the place God has called us into will be impossible. God has already given us the necessary resources to GROW. It now depends on us. God winks at ignorance. We no longer have an excuse because we can no longer say we did not know. If you are not GROWing then it can safely be said that you are indeed a straggler. I suggest we speak to each other to point out areas of growth and also write them down. What are you doing to GROW?