"Which tree are you eating from?" Sunday, First and Second services

It was a blessing to have another time of fellowship with the Lord and His children at House on the Rock, Asaba.

Both first and second services were communion services.

The first service was declared open after intercessory and open prayers by Ministers Ejiro and Ebere. After a brief call to worship led by Minister Saviour.

Praise was an amazing time and it was led by Ministers Paulnams, Mariam and Mercury with the song titles like, "Sweeter" and "Oh Halleluyah." The worship session was a time we touched heaven and it was led by Minister Maryann with wonderful songs like "Majesty," and "Jehovah, we praise you."

After the beautiful praise and worship session, Pastor Dexter gave the following announcements during first service:

1. CITH [Church in the Home] will take place today at 5 p.m.,

2. On the 26th of May, the two services will be children's services,

3. The week-long prayer and fasting will end on Tuesday, with prayers held daily at 5 p.m.,

4. Kindgom partners are enjoined to redeem their pledges,

5. Woman to woman conference comes up from the 31st of May to the 2nd of June, 2013.

The announcement was preceded by a special song by , "De Masterpiece" titled, "Turning around for me."

Chinwe welcomed the newcomers in our midst during first service and encouraged them to prayerfully consider making HOTR Asaba their home church.

Second service was similar with the exception of the welcome of newcomers that was handled by Pastor Chikelu.

After the newcomers were welcome in both services, our senior pastor here at HOTR Asaba, pastor Cosfinney N. Udoka, came up to deliver the message of the Lord.

The message in both services was titled, "Which tree are you eating from?"

Bible Verses: Gen. 2 vs 9, 16, Luke 24 vs 25-33, Rev. 2 vs 7, 22 vs 14, Gen. 1 vs 29, Proversbs 15 vs 17, Daniel 4 vs 10-12.

"The health of man was considered when God told man the kind of food to eat. The wrong food shortens a man's life span; it was eating the wrong food that caused Adam to fall.

"Any man that has communication and relationship with God does not need any other knowledge, because God is his knowledge. There will come a time in the life of an individual when his/her body will no longer be able to carry the soul and spirit of that individual. The tree of life was intended for man to eat from, at God's time, according to His perfect design. However, Adam and Eve were in haste and couldn't wait for God's time. Hence, the fall of man.”

"We live in a knowledge-based world, where almost everything is done on that basis. However, God didn't program us to walk solely by knowledge, but by faith. The God-kind of knowledge is instruction-based. The knowledge of the world can distract you and make you doubt the knowledge of God, but no matter how much distraction comes with the knowledge of the world; God's knowledge supersedes that of the world.”

"The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is comparison-based, it is the tree of self-satisfaction, self-aggrandizement. It has a content of good, but it is evil. It opens our eyes to shame; we need the tree of the knowledge of God, the tree of life, not that of the knowledge of good and evil. We are nothing without God; fulfillment is in Him and Him alone. Our lives should be based on and rooted in the tree of life.”

"The tree of life was a tree of promise from God to man and even after they ate it without God's permission and fell as a result, God began to make necessary arrangements for their redemption and salvation. He had to push Adam and Eve away from the garden so that He could distract the devil as He made the arrangements.”

"The holy communion, the body and flesh of Christ is symbolic if from the right tree, is symbolic of the tree of life, of salvation. The tree of life will open your eyes into glory, to who God is to you. Each time you partake of the [holy] communion, symbolic of the tree of life, your eyes will be opened to who God is to you. The communion was introduced to us by Christ to sustain the flesh and to keep us connected to the Father, through Him, with the enabling power of the Holy-Spirit."

He concluded by saying that every food you eat has the capacity to open your eyes. Just like the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened in shame when they ate from the tree of good and evil, the eyes of the disciples were opened when Jesus appeared and broke bread with them after His death and resurrection.

He prayed over the congregation and the communion was administered.