The Aflao Area Head of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Michael Agyen Brefo, has advised Christian leaders to make every effort to stay on course in ministry if they aspire to achieve commendable results and success.
He gave this advice on Friday, September 8, 2023, during a one-day retreat organised for the Aflao Area pastorate and their wives.
The event, held at the PIWC-English auditorium, also served as an orientation session for new ministers and wives transferred to the Area.
Speaking on the topic “Take Heed to Your Ministry in All Diligence with 1 Timothy 1:12-17, 1 Timothy 4:11-16, and 2 Peter 1:5-10 as Bible references,” Apostle Agyen Brefo charged ministers and their wives to see ministry as a responsibility for service, stewardship, and servanthood.
“We are not a mistake in the ministry. God intentionally called us. We must, therefore, reciprocate this and be diligent to Him. As Christian leaders, we are to take care of God’s flock through consistency and attentiveness,” he stated.
He explained diligence as a “means of giving a certain degree of care to what has been entrusted to someone.”
Diligence, he further noted, also means exercising carefulness with persistence and determination to an endeavor or to achieve a goal.
He stressed that Christian leaders who are diligent give themselves wholly and entirely to a particular cause.
“They are very meticulous and carefully organized. Such people pay attention to details. As industrious people, they set targets and break their own targets. Diligent Christian leaders are not careless, negligent, lazy, and sloppy in life,” he stated.
Citing 2 Corinthians 8:22, Apostle Agyen Brefo narrated how the Apostle Paul testified about a brother who proved to be diligent to the churches at Corinth during the period they were collecting offerings to support the needy Christians at Judea.
He, therefore, encouraged Christian leaders to be diligent in the vocation for which the Lord has called them.
He added that God Himself is very diligent in nature and, therefore, expects His servants to also apply diligence in their dealings.
This, he said, was why God instructed the Israelites to diligently teach their children His word and also keep His commands (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, 17).
“As Christian leaders, we must diligently keep what God, through the church, has instructed us and also teach His people. We must also apply diligence to our prayer life, devotional life, and any other spiritual exercises that apply to us as ministers. When we heed to these virtues, we shall not fail,” he said.
He further emphasised that “Jesus diligently finished His work on the earth before leaving. We must likewise do the work the Lord has given to us till we have finished our tasks.”
Apostle Brefo also advised the pastorate to consistently improve themselves through the study of the Word. Such people are approved of God since they can rightly divide His word of truth.
The Aflao Area Head encouraged the ministers to listen to other spirit-filled sermons to sharpen their ministries, read good Christian books, take time to read the church’s constitution and manuals, and ensure that their ministry is driven by the grace of God.
He concluded by charging the pastorate to make their calling sure by living diligently, stating that: “With proper planning, hard work, and diligence, the Aflao Area will break barriers and make strides in all her endeavors.”
The retreat was also interspersed with prayers for grace and strength for the task ahead, intercessory prayer for the church, bi-monthly report reading, and discussions on issues of concern.
Report by Pastor Francis Lamptey (Aflao Area Reporter).