Evangelist and Educator

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”‭‭1 John‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭

God is working in Chicago!!

God is working in Chicago! It is an honor to partner with Youth for Christ and New Begginings Church of Chicago! 

Respectfully 

Pastor James Owolabi 

May 2018 Ministry Update from Pastor James Owolabi

May 2018 Ministry Report

 

Dear Family and Strategic Prayer Partners.

The month of May brought many great blessings and revelations. It is making me look forward to what the next few months have in store. I am writing this email to update you and inform you about the newest changes that are going on.

As you know in March 2017 I began my ministry partnership with Youth For Christ (YFC). I have thoroughly enjoyed the partnership and all the opportunities that this organization has given me. At the beginning of this year they honored my faithfulness and commitment to them by doubling my salary and giving me additional hours to spread the gospel on their behalf throughout the week! Even though we finished the year strong and I enjoy this ministry relationship it has been difficult financially. The salary they give me only makes up 40% of my overall need.

Because of this I am now pursuing other ministry opportunities to supplement my income or fully support me. My desire is to stay in Chicago to continue my work with teens on the Southside and YFC, however I am applying to "ministry positions" in the greater Chicago area.

Please pray for me as I embark on this new and exciting chapter. I am not sure what it will hold, but I am optimistic and looking forward to making another church my home.

 

Below I have listed 10 things that God has done through our efforts on the Southside in the past 12 months:

 

 

1. Raised 5 student leaders who have assisted me in leading their peers during our after school sessions. Opened multiple clubs on the high school and middle school levels in the Auburn Gresham neighborhoods.
2. Our after school clubs attendance has grown from to over 50 kids consistently every week on our Perspectives Leadership Academy campus. We saw over 100 students attend at least one of our events this year.
3. Since September 2017, God has given me the opportunity to preach to over 2000 teens and adults across the country.
4. Our partnership with New Beginnings Church (NBC) has allowed us to see at least 25 kids come to Bible study on Sunday mornings when discipleship class is hosted.
5. 80+ students attend the Friday evening outreach that is in partnership with NBC and Project H.O.O.D.
6. God opened doors for me to speak at 3 camps and retreats this summer in Washington Illinois and Florida
7. I am still alive while I live on the SouthSide of Chicago.
8. Over 20 kids have made the choice to become followers of Jesus and we are seeing more students attend church on Sunday mornings.
9. Students are requesting that Christian clubs be planted in more schools.

This was all accomplished with your support and I am extremely grateful! As you are reading this I am in Africa preaching and reconnecting with my family. I pray that God continues showing me how to connect with teenagers on the Southside and that He will keep providing for my needs. Thank you all for your support. Please feel free to email me with your personal prayer requests as well!

 

Respectfully,

Pastor James Owolabi

Praying Throughout the Day Keeps the Devil Away

This class will meet every Sunday for the next 2 weeks. We won’t meet in June, 2018

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6:18 (NLT)

PRAYING THROUGHOUT DAY KEEPS THE DEVIL AWAY!

“Now, when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.” ---Daniel 6:10-14 NIV
                  

5 ways to make prayer a part of your life!

1. Start your day by sending a “text” message to God in the morning while walking to school.
   1. Pray before you take a test!
   2. Pray before you post a response on social media.
   3. Pray before you respond to a comment on social media.
      
      
2. Start by scheduling on your phone, and by events, prayer time with God.
   1. If God is important to you. You will make time for God.
   2. Each time your alarm sounds, stop what you’re doing and pray.
      1. Wake up (1x): Instead of starting your day with grumbling, gripping, or groaning, start it with prayer.
      2. Each time you eat (3-5x): Before you eat anything, thank God for your food.
      3. Before you go to bed (1x): Thank God for your day. Tell Him about what went well, what went not so well, how you feel about that, what you’d like to change, and everything else in between.

3. Write a thank you note to God and read it during lunch.
   1. Thank God for your family and friends.
   2. Thank God for your future.
   3. Thank God for His love, and for Jesus
      
      
4. Refuse the power of guilt over your life.
   1. Confess all your sins to God before you sleep.
      1. Ask God to forgive you before you go to bed.
   2. Receive God’s forgiveness by turning from your sin, and to Him.
      1. Rebuke anything or anyone that tells you you’re not forgiven

Closing thoughts: Praying all day keeps the devil away!

Discussion Questions:

1. How many times a day would you say you pray?
2. Looking at the Ephesians text, how does it say we should pray, and how often?
3. There’s a lot going on in the world today, and our lives aren’t always going as we would like. In the passage, we learn that when Daniel learned that when things got really tough for him, He prayed. How does the scripture tell us that Daniel prayed?
   How difficult do you think it would be to pray like that when things aren’t going well in your life?
4. So in both passages, we learn to pray at all times, at every occasion, when times are good and when times are tough, and always include thanks to God in them. Why do you suppose this is? Why is constant prayer so important in the life of a Christian?
5. (Close out in prayer, praying as we just learned to pray)

 

 

Preached to a group of teenagers at New Beginnings Church on Sunday, May 6, 2018.

Preached and written by Pastor James Owolabi

Edited by Andy Gehron (http://DefendingTheLord.com) 

Download Session 6 - 40 days of prayer - praying all day keeps the devil away

God Answers Prayers That Are Passionate and Personal

This class will meet every Sunday for the next 3 weeks. We won’t meet in June, 2018

God answers prayers that are passionate and personal.

2 Kings 20

Sometime later, Hezekiah became deathly sick. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, paid him a visit and said, “Put your affairs in order; you’re about to die—you haven’t long to live.” Hezekiah turned from Isaiah and faced God, praying:

Remember, O God, who I am, and what I’ve done!

I’ve lived an honest life before you,

My heart’s been true and steady,

I’ve lived to please you; lived for your approval.

And then the tears flowed, and Hezekiah wept.

4-6 Isaiah, leaving, was not halfway across the courtyard when the Word of God stopped him, saying, “Go back and tell Hezekiah, prince of my people, ‘God’s Word, Hezekiah! From the God of your ancestor David: I’ve listened to your prayer and I’ve observed your tears. I’m going to heal you. In three days, you will walk on your own legs into The Temple of God. I’ve just added fifteen years to your life; I’m saving you from the king of Assyria, and I’m covering this city with my shield—for my sake and my servant David’s sake.’

 

In the Bible, God describes Himself as a Father. If you have never had an active father, nor a perfect father, in your life, then it is hard to understand God as a father.

 

What are some common effects of not having an active father?

• 5 times greater chance of committing suicide.
• Chances of depression and anxiety are dramatically increased
• Lower job security.
• Sexual Identity issues
• Boys don’t learn a proper definition of how to be a man
• Girls don’t learn a proper definition of beauty, love, and respect
• Higher chances of child becoming non-heterosexual
• Often sexually active at an early age
• Increased rates of divorce and relationship issues
• Lower self-esteem/self-confidence
• Often bullies and have anger management issues
• Substantially increased rates of substance abuse
• Increases in social and mental behavioral issues

A father is a man who:

• Loves his children and demonstrates real love to them
• Provides (financial and/or emotional) support for them
• Is married to the child’s mother
• Is actively involved in the daily affairs of the family
• Lovingly disciplines his children when needed
• Praises his children when needed
• Is compassionate, consistent, reliable, encouraging, demonstrative of God, wants the best for his children
• Demonstrates holy love to his wife in the presence of his children
• Prepares for the future of his child.

A father is not

• Someone who simply makes a baby with a woman (most anybody can do that)
• Someone who comes around once in a while when he wants
• Someone who is always in trouble with the law
• Someone who is not reliable
• Someone who beats/abuses the mother’s children (for any reason)
• Someone who beats/abuses the children’s mother (for any reason)...
• Someone who encourages children to do wrong or evil
• Someone who puts the woman’s children in danger

God is a Father who

• Loves us and uses other godly men (and women) to provide support for us.
• Disciplines and corrects us when needed
• Encourages His children
• Protects His children and keeps them from harm
• Provides for His children
• Demonstrated real love through His (Firstborn) Son
• Is actively involved in your daily lives (if you invite Him to be)
• God uses the Church and its community to provide correction, inspiration, and correction.
• Loves to communicate with His children
• Loves to listen to His children
• Loves to answer His children’s prayers.
• Provides us with salvation through Jesus Christ.
• Is always with us, and will never leave us.

Prayer is:

• Listening to God
• Waiting on God
• Talking to God.
• Prayer does not have not be a professional speech.

We pray because we have a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

• God wants our prayers to be like a child having a conversation with a father.
• God is a father to us.

 

God answers prayers that are:

• Personal to the person who is praying
• God wants us to be completely honest with Him.
• Humble, like a child who needs direction.
• Direct, like a child who knows their dad appreciates them.
• Passionate about what they are praying about in life.
• Put some feeling into your prayers!
• “I’ve got to have this!”
• Imagine God asking, “how are you doing?” Then once you tell Him everything, imagine Him again asking, “No, really, how are you doing? What’s going on?”
• Partnered with the Holy Spirit.
• Sometimes you don’t know how to express what you’re feeling in words. In that case, just sit and pour out your feelings, hands up to the sky (or beating your chest), allowing the Holy Spirit to pray in your deepest emotions, on your behalf.
• In His Name
• God will provide for what you need, but not always what you want. Be sure that what you’re praying for is something that will give Him glory, or that is in line with His Will.

 

Closing Thought: God answers prayers that are personal from a passionate heart.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you suppose it was about Hezekiah’s prayer that God decided to prolong his life another 15 years, and also give Israel victory over the king of Assyria?
2. How do YOU pray?
   Looking at what prayer is, how does that compare to the way that you pray?
3. Jesus often mentions praying in His name. What do you think that means?
4. Look at the list of “God is a Father who…” Pick 2 that stand out to you, and discuss why they stand out.
5. Why do you think God uses the image of a Father?
6. (End in prayer)

 

 

Preached to a group of teenagers at New Beginnings Church on Sunday, April 29, 2018

Preached and written by Pastor James Owolabi

Edited by Andy Gehron (http://DefendingTheLord.com) 

Download Session 5 - 40 days of prayer - God Answers Prayers That Are Passionate and Personal