2018 North America OLI Program Concludes with the Great Commission for All Students
The 2018 OLI program concluded successfully on June 22nd with the closing service delivered by Rev. John Vivian. He encouraged them to follow the leadership of Jesus Christ in their lives as they go on to serve ministry locally in their churches or with WOA ministries. The message highlighted the service of Jesus and how this was an integral part of his ministry and example of leadership. To be the most effective leaders possible, those who graduate from the OLI program must realize this in order to successful capture the vision of what it means to build the Kingdom of God.
Pastor John delivered the sermon from Matthew 28:16-20 on the Great Commission. He taught, “This passage really speaks to the Leadership of Jesus Christ, and how he taught his disciples to be leaders. He not only gave them commandments to follow, and gave them this great commission to carry out, but he also did this by encouraging them and lifting them up. Even after his death were he gave out everything, pouring his entire life into sacrificing himself for these disciples and for all of mankind, still he teaches them deeply and shares the great love he has for them again and again. Jesus never stopped teaching, never stopped serving, never stopped loving.”
He continued, “Those who know the word well, they have fellowship, and then that fellowship turns into serving. It is the reason that we spend so much time in the word each week, and that we have fellowship constantly throughout the day. So it becomes clear what kind of path we need to take if we are going to grow. We have done this program with the intention and desire to see this message planted in your firmly, that you will also go out and serve wherever it is that you go, and I deeply pray that we will be able to carry that out. As a result, I hope that this image of the Lord will be passed down, and those that we are serving will in turn wash each other’s feet. I want to encourage all of you to continue this great standard and tradition of our church in this regard.”
