WHO IS MY WIFE BY PST. COSFINNEY UDOKA

It was a day the Lord made, and we rejoiced in it, in His presence. It was another blessed and refreshing Sunday here at House on the Rock, Asaba.

The second service started with intercessory and opening prayers led by Ebere.

Praise was led by Knowledge and Ufuoma with the songs, " Rejoice," "Lord you are good," "Blessed be the name of the Lord," and "Friend of God."

Worship was led by Ada, with the songs, "You are holy," and "Idi mma Ezi Chineke."

Pastor Dexter came up to make the announcements. The Monthly Vigil will hold this Friday, the 29th of March at 10 p.m.

The Benevolence department will be embarking on a trip today to minister to widows, the sick, disabled, the elderly, the jobless, and students.

Water Baptism will hold on the morning of April 6th, and baptism classes will hold this Friday, March 29th, next Thursday, April 4th and next Friday, April 5th consecutively.

ELITES, the ministry for single christians in the house were scheduled to meet this Sunday at 5 p.m. There was a presentation by the drama ministry that further encouraged the singles to be present at the meeting. Woman to Woman fellowship would hold this Thursday, March 28th at 5 p.m. To this effect, all the women were asked to wait and meet with the first lady of the house, Pastor Ada Udoka.

"De Masterpiece" came up to minister with the song," "You are God alone," led by Saviour.

After the splendid ministration, Chioma came up to welcome all the new comers in our midst. As usual, she mentioned that there are lot of Bible believing churches in the area, but she encouraged them to prayerfully make HOTR Asaba their church home.

Next, she welcomed our host pastor, Cosfinney N. Udoka to deliver the word of God. He came up as "De Masterpiece" sang, "Humble Adoration."

Before he went on to the message, he made the final announcement of the weddings of Paulams and Nonye, Josephine and Gregory. Both will take place on Saturday, March 30th from 10 a.m. to noon, and noon till about 2 p.m.

The message he had for the congregation was titled, "Who is my wife?" (Part II). It was part of the larger series he started a few weeks ago, titled, "The content of marriage."

Main Bible Verse: Genesis 24 vs 1-10

The main character in Genesis chapter 24 is Rebecca. The name Rebecca means "Enchanting," "Charismatic," "Captivating."

"One of the first things a man encounters in women is their charisma. After charisma attracts you, wait to hear many more things that the woman's life says. Charisma is the last thing that any man should base his decision on. Character is what to look out for in a woman. Charisma will give you popularity, but character is what will give you identity."

Things you need to look out for in a woman whom you want to marry:

1. Kindness-  Genesis 24 vs 17, 18, Proverbs 31 vs 26.

                        "You should not marry a woman who is not kind. If she is not kind, she is not fit to be your wife; except you the man is also not kind. The kindness should come in                     words and deeds."

2. Unselfishness- Genesis 24 vs 20

                        "Just like Rebecca, any woman who wants to be a good woman for a wife, must be willing to be selfless, with her time, energy, resources, etc. Statistics have shown                     that most marriages that break up have done so on the platform of selfishness." A good woman must be ready to do more than required.

3. Endurance- Genesis 24 vs 19

                         "A good wife must be ready to endure the challenges and rocky roads that are bound to come with marriage."

4. Hard Work- Proverbs 31 vs 14-16

                        "A woman of today must be hard working and ready to support her husband. On the extreme, men should also be careful of so-called career women who have no                time for their families."

5. Humility-     Genesis 24 vs 18, Matthew 5 vs 5

                        "The woman you want to marry must be humble, with a broken spirit. Do not marry a proud woman. Life will offer you what it has if you humble yourself, God will                       exalt the humble. Marriage is an exaltation to a woman, if she humbles herself. Humility is not of the flesh, it is a fruit of the spirit."

6. Charity-      Hebrews 13 vs 2

                        "Your charity should extend to all, so should that of the woman you want to get married to. The fastest way to come out of hardship is to give and be generous. She                  should be able to extend love to all, not just family and friends."

7. Good Attitude- Genesis 24 vs 25

                        "(Good) Attitude is everything. It can be developed and learnt, no matter what is happening around you. The woman you want to marry should have a good mental,                     social, emotional and physical disposition. Attitude determines how far you will go in life."

8. Discipline- "Do not get married to a woman who is not disciplined, who does not have a format or a structure. Such a woman will be breaking rules all the time, and will be                      prone to act anyhow."

9. Home maker- Proverbs 31 vs 27

                        "You should visit the house of the woman you are dating in order to find out how organized she is. Women should learn to be organized and neat, especially when                       they are single."

                         

10. Friendliness- Proverbs 31 vs 10-12

                        "Men should marry their friends. Do not get married to a stranger that you cannot have comfortable and natural conversations with. Friendship is an important                     sustainer of marriage."

11. Background- "Check the background of any woman you want to get married to so you know what to expect and pray against."

Three Lessons to learn from Delilah/Gospel according to Delilah:

The name Delilah means "lustful."

1. Delilah made her house a resting place for Samson. Her environment, her person was too comfortable for Samson that he could not or did not want to look for any other woman. Women should make their houses and persons resting places for their husbands, so that they will look forward to coming home to them. The man gives the woman a house, but the woman should turn it into a home.

2. Delilah talked to Samson, not at him. Proverbs 5 vs 3. There is a boy in every man, women should learn to call out and talk to the boy. Once you do that, you can get him to do almost anything for you.

3. Delilah knew how to touch Samson. Proverbs 31 vs 10, 11. Women should learn to touch their husbands with what matters most to them. This kind of touch is more valuable than the physical kind. It gets the man to open up and reveal his heart to you.

In conclusion, a woman should:

1. Listen to her man.

2. Try and understand his concern (s), so you know how to help him.

3. Have a realistic expectation of how you can contribute to his life, learn the area where he wants you to contribute. Every man has a particular area where he wants your contribution the most.

4. Always tell your man how much you value him. There is a king in every man who appreciates the celebration a woman, particularly his, gives him.

In conclusion, he reminded us that marriage is serious business, and should be taken as such.

                       

Pastor Chikelu prayed and made the call for tithes and offerings.

Closing prayers and benedictions were said and the second service came to an end.