“And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there would be great dearth throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea, which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.” - Acts 11:27-30.
For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to
make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It
hath pleased them verily and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have
been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister
unto them in carnal things. - Romans 15:26-27.
For as
touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to
you: For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them
of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked
very many. - 2 Corinthians 9:1-2.
And whether
one member suffer, all the members suffer with it or one member be honoured,
all the members rejoice with it - 1
Corinthians 12:26.
My Thesis
Because the
Lord’s Church is universal: what concerns one congregation affects other
congregations, either positively or negatively. Church of Christ anywhere is
Church of Christ everywhere. It takes cooperation of local congregations to
harness the Church’s collective power to advance the Cause of Christ. Gone were
the days when each congregation played the “Island.” Time has come for
congregations to mobilize resources to advance beyond their frontiers without
compromising their local autonomies.
EXORDIUM
About fifteen years ago when I hosted MOMENT OF
TRUTH Radio Broadcast on LION FM, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, lack of
cooperation was our bane. While the broadcast tormented Hell and depopulated
it, our denominational neighbours were not at ease and sought every opportunity
to see that we were bought out of air time.
While Brethren were fighting over whether we should cooperate to keep
the broadcast afloat, our neighbours were mobilizing resources to see that we
were kicked out. While we were arguing whether to cooperate or not, the
broadcast died. To date efforts to resurrect it remains futile because we
failed to do what we should have done when we needed to have done them. Charles T. Dudd wrote:
“Some want to live within the sound of church and chapel bell; I want
to run a rescue mission shop within a yard of hell.”
It seems to me that we cooperate more when it comes to mourning than
when it comes to rejoicing. We cooperate during burials, but less when it comes
to what will enlarge the borders of God’s Kingdom, increase our individual and
collective capacities. To me, we often major in minors and minor in
majors.
As we page through Scriptures, beautiful tapestry of cooperation amongst God’s people are woven for us to appreciate the beauty of unity of purpose that prevailed amongst God’s people as they sought to accomplish God’s Will and strengthen themselves; to weaken, and if possible, destroy their common enemy. At Exodus 17:8-13, we find this example of three men of God cooperating to accomplish a purpose and to defeat their enemy:
“Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, ‘Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.’ So, Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” (KJV).
These men of God cooperated with one another to accomplish God’s Will. No one would have done it alone without the contributions of others. By cooperation, they brought their respective strengths to bear. The result was victory for the Lord and to His people. Isaiah 41:6-7 paints a picture of what cooperation entails:
“They helped everyone his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, ‘Be of good courage.’ So, the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he who smoothed with the hammer him who smoothed the anvil, saying, ‘It is ready for the soldering,’ and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.”
CONCEPTUALIZING
COOPERATION
By simple definition, Cooperation is the act of joining forces together to achieve a purpose. It is act or practice of one person or a group of persons complementing the deficiencies of another person or others. This is the essence of the message, which Apostle Paul sought to convey at II Corinthians 8:14 – 15:
“… Let your abundance at this time make up for their shortage, so that their surplus may go toward your lack, and thus conditions may become equalized, as it is written, ‘The one who got much had nothing over and the one who got little did not lack.’” (Revised Berkeley Version)
Charles Osgood told the story of two ladies who lived in a convalescent center. Each had suffered an incapacitating stroke. Margaret’s stroke left her left side restricted, while Ruth’s stroke damaged her right side. Both of these ladies were accomplished pianists, but they had given up hope of ever playing piano again. One day, the director of the Center brought them together and encouraged them to cooperate with each other. So, the one whose right hand was alive cooperated with the one whose left hand was alive and they became a great band of pianists.
The beauty of cooperation is seen among sports men and women, especially in the field of play. No team which ever desires to win ever trifles with cooperation. In the world of business, business men and women often cooperate to win contracts and to execute them successfully.
On Monday, September 26, 2022, Evangelist Dr. Imoh Atakpa, Minister, Church of Christ, Kubwa, Abuja called me to follow up on a man who had viewed the television Gospel program aired on a television channel here in Abuja and needed to be followed up. Because I live in Enugu, I had to contact Evangelist Felix Aniamalu, Minister, Church of Christ, Okpoko, Anambra State to complete the evangelistic work initiated by the Brethren here in Abuja.
Just imagine the web of activities that led to this
prospect’s interest in the Gospel Message – started by Abuja Brethren, conveyed
to me in Enugu and then I relayed it to a Minister of the Gospel in Onitsha,
Anambra State. How was this possible? COOPERATION! Who benefited from this web
of activities? Our Lord Jesus Christ! Did we sin when we cooperated? Obviously,
NO!!!
God has not called Congregations to Compete with one another, but to Cooperate with one another.
Throughout Scripture, God’s desire has been that His People should demonstrate high sense of responsibility towards the needs and concerns of one another either as individuals or as body corporate. When God’s people cooperate by pulling their resources (human, material, theological and spiritual) together, they do exploits. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 affirms:
“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who is alone when he falls; for he does not have anyone to help him up.”
In God’s economy, no one is an island. Collectivism is preferred above individualism. Painting a picture of the power of cooperation, Leviticus 26:8 says:
“And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.”
In God’s scheme of things for His Church, His desire is that Congregations should be autonomous in leadership, but should bond through cooperation. In other words, Congregational autonomy should not constitute a hindrance to Church cooperation. Any teaching that seeks to divide the Brotherhood by emphasizing that each congregation should not extend her hands of fellowship in moments of needs or celebration, is a doctrine from Hell. Even though congregations are self-governing, they are not altogether islands unto themselves.
PATTERN: HEART OF SCRIPTURAL
TEACHINGS ON COOPERATION
Writing on the need for Pattern, Reuel Lemmons, former editor of Action (a World Bible School publication) in an article published in “One Body” (Summer 1988, page 4) wrote:
“We must go to pattern theology for our very concept of the church….
Everything we read in the Scriptures enforces the pattern concept… Redemption
follows a pattern or it doesn’t. Worship follows a pattern or it
doesn’t. Church government follows a pattern or it doesn’t. The
Christian life follows a pattern or it doesn’t. If there is no pattern,
then one way to be saved is as good as another; one may worship anyway he
pleases, govern the church anyway he chooses and live any kind of life he
wishes to live.”
Pattern theology simply establishes for us how things should be done. At Hebrews 8:5, we read:
“Who serve as example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern showed to you on the mount.’”
To prove any statement as Biblically true, as well
as to establish a given Biblical pattern, we must show that it is taught in God’s
Word. To isolate one truth against the rest is a grand redefinition of
theological rascality and recklessness. In his article, “Departures from the Faith,” published by Grace and Truth Magazine (June, 1999:16), T. M. Clement, Jr.
observed:
“Those who set a truth
apart, have truth in part and from the Truth depart.”
Isaiah 8:20 says:
“To the law and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them.”
Sound Biblical Hermeneutics demands that as those who are
willing to do God’s Will, we should stick to what we are told, not live by our
own assumptions. To this end, I Peter 4:11 says:
“If any man
speaks, let him speak as the oracle of God; if any man ministers, let him do it
as of the ability which God gives; that God in all things may be glorified
through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
There
are three distinct ways in which Bible teaches:
§ By direct command or
prohibition.
§ By approved example (in this
case the example must be exclusive).
§ By necessary (essential) inference (implication), that is, logical conclusions reached from a Biblical text or texts.
IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC PATTERN OF CHURCH COOPERATION?
I must admit that there is lack of specific command or prohibition in regard to church cooperation in evangelism or edification. The absence of such a command proves at least that church cooperation is not forbidden. Second, there is no exclusive pattern of church cooperation taught in the Bible. The following may be properly considered examples of New Testament cooperation:
1.
Cooperation Between
Individuals.
At II Timothy 4:9 Apostle Paul said to Timothy:
“Do thy diligence to come
shortly unto me.”
This is a case of cooperation
between two individual preachers.
2.One Individual and Several Other Individuals. At Romans 16:1-2, Apostle
Paul wrote:
“I commend to
you, Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church at Cenchrea: that ye
receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in
whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of
many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ
Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I
give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.”
This is an example of an individual Christian
cooperating with other Christians in across spectrums to accomplish God’s Will
in their climes.
3.
A Christian Family
Cooperating With Individual Christians. 1 Corinthians 16:15 says:
“I beseech
you, brethren, (you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of
Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.”
4.
“Disciples” Cooperating With
“Elders”
(Acts 11:27-30).
“And in these
days came prophets from Jerusalem to Antioch. And there one of them named
Agabus stood up, and signified by the Spirit that there would be great famine
throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Then the disciples, everyone according to their abilities, determined to send
relief to the brethren who lived in Judaea. This, they did and sent same to the elders through
Barnabas and Saul.”
5.
Several Congregations
Cooperating With One Another. II Corinthians 8:1-11 tells us:
“Moreover,
brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of
Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy
and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to
their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of
themselves; praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and
take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they
did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us
by the will of God. Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he
would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in
everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and
in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by
commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the
sincerity of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that,
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his
poverty might be rich. And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for
you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will,
so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.”
6. A Congregation Cooperating With Several Other Congregations (Acts 15:4-23; 16:4-5).
7. Individual churches supporting a preacher in the field while he labours with other brethren. II Corinthians 11:7-8 say:
“Have I
committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have
preached to you the gospel of God freely? I robbed other churches, taking wages
of them, to do you service.”
8. A preacher receiving
support from an individual. Galatians 6:6 says:
“Let him who
is taught the Word communicate to him who teaches him in all good things.”
Which of the above is the exclusive pattern?
Since there is no exclusive pattern of church cooperation taught in the
Bible, church cooperation in evangelism and other expansion programmes cannot
be forbidden on the grounds of an exclusive, approved example. The basic
principle of cooperation is found in Romans 12:15:
“Rejoice with those who are
rejoicing and mourn with those who are mourning.”
If we can cooperate with other congregations when it comes to burial,
it is also imperative that we should cooperate with them when it comes to evangelization
and other value-adding activities. At Acts 16:9-10, we read:
“And a vision
appeared to Paul in the night; there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him,
saying, ‘Come over into Macedonia, and help us.’ After he had seen the vision,
immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the
Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
Two major obstacles when it comes to cooperation are laziness and selfishness. Unfortunately, we often hide under autonomy to
display these.
In Nigeria, all Congregations of the Lord’s Church are cooperating with one another to ensure that the Church remains. About twenty years ago, Churches of Christ in Nigeria were threatened when the issue of Registration and Board of Trustees cropped up. Initially, Congregations of the Lord’s Church across Nigeria cried blue murder, pointing that cooperating to have a Board of Trustees would impact negatively on Congregational Autonomy. The Church was caught between the rock and a hard place – would She cooperate to remain alive in Nigeria or refuse to do so and be banned from existence in Nigeria? Some persons even suggested that the Church should join Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). In fact, the Church was already tinkering with that idea. I remember that it was at a meeting held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State that Brother Barrister Dr. Christian Chukwumankeonyeneme Churchill Obeagu, former Head, Department of Law, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) rose to the occasion and told Brethren not to. It was at that meeting that lawyer-brethren who were present were requested to come up with a policy document. They did and today, there is a Board of Trustees and the Church is in existence. Thus far, no congregation’s autonomy has been violated. Without this effort at cooperation, it would be against the Law to exist as Church of Christ, Nigeria.
Sometimes we are afraid over nothing. Some of us believe that because the Church is not centrally organized, we would be running foul of Scripture if we should cooperate to undertake huge projects initiated in one area of the country or the other. What should concern us is whether the name of the Lord is glorified and His Cause sustained.
In 2022, all congregations of the Lord’s Church in
Southeastern Nigeria overcame the pettiness of autonomy to cooperate to recover
Trans-Nkisi, off, 3-3 area near Onitsha, Anambra State. For over forty years,
the Lord’s Church received seven (17) plots of land from Anambra State
Government under the administration of His Excellency, Jim Nwobodo. “Should the Church cooperate or not” to
take advantage of this provision? We were dilly-dallying until some Brethren
took the bull by its horn, initiated moves and today, Churches of Christ in
Southeast, Nigeria have cooperated to recover what belongs to her. This is a
location where a plot of lands sells for between N25 million and above. A number of Projects have been planned for
the Trans-Nkisi Project.
REPOSITIONING THE CHURCH IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND MINISTERS’ WELFARE
Most times, we talk about repositioning the Church and leave behind ministers’ welfare. There is no gainsaying the fact that as preachers go, so go their respective congregations. Preachers are catalysts. An empowered minister is an empowered congregation. A weak minister will always have a negative effect on the congregation he serves.
Brethren, truth be told – Ministers are doing Ministry at the expense of their own lives and of the welfare of their families. II Kings 4:1
“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, ‘Your servant, my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take to him my two sons to be bondmen.’”
Preachers’ work are tasking and energy-sapping. In fact, the more cosmopolitan an area a preacher serves, the more complex his activities and demands placed on him become.
Preachers have been described as, “Wounded healers.” In spite of their personal challenges, they must provide hope to the “hopeless” and strength to the weak. They must be at the scene where a Christian Brother or Sister is hurt, someone dies, in hospitals, at police stations, at attorneys’, etcetera. At II Corinthians 11:27-29, Apostle Paul describes what an average preacher does in the course of carrying out his daily work:
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?
Preachers seek to build faith in people and to prepare them for life beyond this realm. It never fails to surprise me that while preachers seek to make people earthly and heavenly useful, some people actually want preachers to be earthly useless. At II Corinthians 6:10, again, Apostle Paul describes some of the sterling contributions of Ministers in people’s lives:
“As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”
Preachers have invested and are investing lots of resources in people through their teachings and preaching. Often great ideas emerge out of preachers’ teachings and preaching which the audiences apply to become great in societies. Preachers have to dig deeper to be able to make lessons applicable and achieve their intended meanings. In their book, Pastors At Risk, London and Wiseman (1993:21) observed:
“Unfortunately, few people stop to think about how much difficulty, how much depression, and how many obstacles he faces to serve in this way.”
At most, some of the things we should do to preachers who serve in our congregations is to provide encouragement and financial supports. Galatians 6:6 enjoins:
“Let him who is taught the word communicate to him who teaches him in all good things.”
While congregations should endeavour to adequately support their preachers, preachers themselves should cooperate to enhance their welfare. Preachers can cooperate in various ways to empower themselves. This is what we do in Enugu State. In Enugu State, we have set up what we call, Progressive Preachers’ Forum. Our motto is: “Preachers for Preachers.” In PPF, preachers are cooperating to take care of their welfare. We pool resources together to buy plots of land to resell and engage in various productive economic activities such as farming, etcetera. This is a classic case of cooperation amongst preachers. Our guiding Scripture is Genesis 49:14-15:
“Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.”
This cooperative efforts are yielding great dividends for preachers in Enugu State. In Ogoja area of Cross River State, preachers are cooperating to establish a school. Nothing stops preachers in Abuja and its environs to begin to cooperate amongst themselves to empower themselves economically and materially.
In Eastern Nigeria, most of the landmark institutions associated with Churches of Christ are efforts of cooperation and collaboration amongst Brethren. One of these is Nigerian Christian Hospital, Nlagu, Abia State.
A preacher who is economically empowered is a preacher who can take care of himself and his family without unnecessarily depending on his congregation and others for sustenance.
REPOSITIONING
THE CHURCH IN THE 21ST CENTURY: ROLE OF BRETHREN
One of the greatest resources at God’s disposal are His people. For this reason II Corinthians 4:7 says emphatically that God’s “Treasure is in earthen vessels.”
God did not leave the responsibilities of enlarging the borders of His Kingdom in the hands of angels, but to men. God has entrusted this responsibility to us. He wants us to use who we are, what we have and what we can do where we are to reposition the Church. God is counting on us!
“Hey, UNCLE SAM NEEDS YOU!”
This was a popular advertorial in America of yesteryears, which sparked off a plethora of responses in volunteerism, which went a long way to reposition America to what she has become today. God needs me. God needs you.
Psalms 110:3 says,
“In the days of His power, His people shall offer themselves willingly.”
Again, at Psalm 68:11, we read:
“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.”
We cannot reposition the Church in the 21st Century if we are not willing to make sacrifices. At Isaiah 6:8, when the question was asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah said, “Here am I: send me.” If we have this attitude, we can reposition the Church.
A number of factors will help us to reposition the Church. Next to the God-factor are men and materials. The catalyst remains material resources. Without material resources, our plans will only thrive on imaginations and wishful thinking, full of dreams but no action.
The place of money in repositioning the Church cannot be overemphasized. It remains to a great extent the pivot upon which every plan and action revolves. What can we really accomplish without money? We need money for evangelism, edification and benevolence. We need money to adequately support preachers, fund mass media evangelism, buy plots of land, build meeting halls, set up orphanages, etcetera.
It costs us nothing to become beneficiaries of the grace that Jesus brought down to us. However, it cost those who brought it to us and will equally cost us great resources to have it published so that others could become beneficiaries also. To reposition the Church, the Biblical Statement at Ecclesiastes 10:19 comes handy, “…Money answers all things.”
The money we need to reposition the Church is with us. This money will not come from unbelievers, but from us. Interestingly, God has already made available all the resources we need. What remains is our willingness to offer ourselves and what God has blessed us with. We must possess sacrificial attitude. At II Samuel 24:24, when Araunah offered a piece of land to King David to build an altar to God, King David said:
“Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.”
As recipients of God’s grace and resources, God expects us to become dispensers of the same largesse. At I Corinthians 4:7, Apostle Paul asks most rhetorically:
“Who made you different from others? What do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you had received it, why do you glory as if you did not received it?”
Obviously, when we stop to count our blessings, we will see that God has been very mindful of us and that the only way to appreciate Him is to serve Him with what He has blessed us with. This was what King David and all Israel did. At I Chronicles 29:12-14, David said as he prayed:
“Both riches and honour come from You, and You reign over all; and in Your Hand is power and might; it is in Your Hand to make great, and to give strength to all. Now, therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious Name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come from You and of Your own have we given You.”
God gave you a house (houses). God has blessed you with wealth and placed you in positions of relevance. Now that He has so blessed you, what does He expect from you? At Luke 12:48 our Lord Jesus says:
“But he who does not know and commit things worthy of beatings, shall be beaten with few strokes. But whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”
It is a given that the more we invest into God’s Work, the more we enrich our eternal accounts. At Philippians 4:17 Apostle Paul wrote to Philippian Christians:
“Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.”
There is nothing that we invest here that will last, but whatever we invest into God’s Work will last forever. At Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus says:
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
For this reason, wealthy Christians are enjoined to deploy their resources to enlarge the borders of God’s Kingdom. At I Timothy 6: 17-19, Apostle Paul says:
“Charge those who are rich in this world, that they should not be high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the Living God, Who gives us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
There is no gainsaying the fact that we have a lot of Big Boys and Big Men and Women in various congregations of the Lord. These men and women are powerful resources for God and His Church. Rather than deploy their resources to intimidate others, they should humbly and sacrificially deploy their vast resources to be of benefits to the Lord and His Church.
IN WHAT AREAS SHOULD CONGREGATIONS
COOPERATE TO REPOSITION THE CHURCH?
Acts 17:6 tells us,
“…These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
Even though the above comment was intended to malign the Brethren who were labouring in Thessalonica to advance the Gospel, however, it was a powerful comment on their cooperative dexterity. This feat would not have been possible were it not for cooperation.
Cooperation is a critical factor in the advancement of any Cause. If Brethren in the First Century could cooperate to positively upset their environments without the technological advancements at our disposals today, then we owe the Gospel a better deal.
The Church can cooperate to establish a media organization. Why be a SERVANT when you can play BOSS? The Church can cooperate to establish an estate. Why play TENANT when you can play LANDLORD?
Philippians 4:8 provides guidelines of where and how the Church should cooperate:
“… brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
CONCLUSION
Cooperation was designed by God to bring Brethren together and accomplish things that will bring praise and glory to Him.
Since we cannot do anything against the Truth (II Corinthians 13:8), let us come together and cooperate to become Helpers of the Truth (III John 8)!
Cooperation is God’s idea for His work to progress. Let us become co-labourers in God’s Vineyard! At Matthew 13:30, our Lord says:
“He who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters.”
May God richly bless us all in Jesus’ name!
Hilary Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah
CHURCH OF CHRIST
New Haven Secondary School,
Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Phone: 0803 - 9596 – 919.
E-Mail: hilaryjohnsonc@gmail.com.
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