The Landmark Church

The teaching of the word of God is one of the means of grace in a local assembly. That is, the Holy Spirit communicates more grace to believers by the instrumentality of the word of God within a local church. Grace is multiplied through the knowledge of the word. How then do we teach the word? Should every believer aspire to the office or function of a teacher?

Sacrifice is the voluntary giving up of something precious for the sake of another. The thing about sacrifice is that while you are giving out something precious, somebody else is benefiting from it. It is not for yourself. Jesus sacrificed his life for us. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

The word “gospel” means good news. But Jesus did not preach just any good news, he preached the Gospel of the Kingdom or the Good news of the Kingdom. There are many types of gospels today - motivational gospel, gospel of conformism, historical gospel, gospel of love etc. In this message, we explore the true nature of the gospel of the kingdom, what it means to evangelize and reasons why we should all be evangelists.

For this is the will of God, YOUR Sanctification...1st Thess. 4:3. Sanctification is a progressive work of God AND believers that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in actual lives. Three ways to be sanctified: the word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and your personal decision.

The shape of the spiritual world is more legal than anything else. And this idea is littered all through scriptures. “Come let us reason together…” “God is a righteous judge…” “Satan is the accuser of the brethren” “Jesus is our advocate…making intercession for us” Even the idea of “prayer” is legal. To pray is to appeal to a legal court…to seek an injunction in a matter. 

Jesus is our Cornerstone and the work of redemption is the cornerstone of our Christian faith. Without a proper and exact understanding of the work of redemption which Christ did, anything else we build on our faith will be on shaky ground at best. In this teaching, Pastor Akin begins walks us through the four parts of the work of redemption and their implications and applications for our faith.

Jesus did not count equality with God as something to be grasped but he humbled himself even unto the death on the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him. Ego is one of the primary destroyers of friendships and we see no iota of ego in or between the trinity. There is a height that may remain elusive in a marriage/home when ego is present and both spouses haven't embraced the demands of pure friendship.

In the beginning, God said let "us" make man in our image and after our likeness..."us" meaning the trinity - God the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God subsequently put man in a family. In this teaching we look at mutual submission as one of the characteristics that make the Trinity function in harmony and how it must show up in a marriage that God will bless.

As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby.When you look through the Bible, you’ll see that there’s a similarity in how the Bible talks about spiritual development/growth and physical development - from babyhood to childhood to adulthood. We look at the characteristics of each stage and then consider the similarities with the corresponding spiritual stage with the goal of helping us locate ourselves. 

Association breeds assimilation. There is no such thing as a casual relationship. All relationships are consequential. They push us forward or hold us back. They either propel us into purpose or push un into pain. Relationships will be your greatest source of joy and relationships can also be your greatest source of sorrow. 

When it comes to dating, purpose should guide who you decide to partner with. You must become keenly aware who you are, why you are here in order to choose the right person. Knowing God's will about romantic relationships and being the right person are other elements that would help Christians date intelligently.

What does it mean to serve acceptably? Does God accept every kind of service and what is the connection between service and the blessing and how do we activate lasting irrevocable blessing via the instrument of kingdom service? Find out in this episode.

Matthew 16:18 - "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." This verse indicates Jesus' plan to spiritually develop his people, the certainty of spiritual opposition and the guarantee of ultimate victory. In this transformative teaching, Pst. Akin shows us how Jesus is the Lover, Shepherd, Owner and Head of the church. 

In the Old Testament, mercy means the willingness to show favor or act in favor of a person, group of people, or nation based on God’s character of goodness. In the New Testament mercy means compassion. Compassion means acting to remove the punishment, oppression or pain based on God’s covenant loyalty. Covenant is what gives us the assurance and confidence in approaching God for mercy as new covenant believers.

God has prepared a great year ahead for you and your family. 1st Corinthians 2:9 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” While God has prepared a glorious future for you and your family…you and I have the responsibility to prepare ourselves for the glorious future. 

A new year brings with it the opportunity for new beginnings and a restart. The fact that many people lose motivation for pursuing their goals by the second month of the year is not a valid excuse not to set goals for yourself. At the end of the day, goals met, decisions made are the primary tools for transforming and changing our lives. 

New Year's Resolution have gotten a bad rap in many quarters. However, that is not a reason for not setting goals. Perhaps there is a better approach that can guarantee goal achievement and eliminate the frustrations that come from nonattainment.

Man is designed to be very resilient. He can make do with minimal food, water, sex and even sleep. However, man was not designed to go without hope. Without hope, man loses a reason for living. We had no hope and were without God in this world but the birth of Jesus was a game changer. Because he came, now we can say Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Grace - God's benevolence to man - is at the heart of the gospel message. The Apostle Paul makes this clear in his greetings in all his letters. A proper understanding of grace is important if we would enjoy God's peace and cease from striving. What are implication of this truth for relationships and what we give ourselves to?

The church is a gathering of people who have placed their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God (1st John 3:9). How can you keep this seed alive and what is God's provision for believers to grow within the church?

The gospel is the power of God to all that believes, to the Jews first and then to the Greeks (Rom. 1:16) But what really is the gospel and is it only needed by sinners? To be effective witnesses for Jesus, we must have a good grasp of what the gospel really is.

The greatness of God is not in question. He has done so many great things that leaves no room to doubt his greatness. The question most people have is "Can I do something great as well?" or "Can God do something great through me?" In this podcast, Pst. Akin encourages us and teaches us that greatness is still possible for YOU.