The General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, has said that evangelism is the prime task of every believer and that every Christian has a divine mandate to share his/her faith with others.
“Evangelism is not just a ministry, department or an institution but the way of life (lifestyle) of every believer. It behoves every believer to share his or her faith in Jesus Christ with other unbelievers. Any professing Christian who cannot share his or her faith with others has a big problem and must reassess their Christian life,” he said.
Apostle A. N. Y. Kumi-Larbi said this on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, when he delivered a sermon titled: “The Marks of the Early Church: The Core Practices of The Church of Pentecost” on Day 3 of the ongoing Officers’ Retreat (Apostolisation) of the Downtown-Ofaakor Area.
Touching on Evangelism as the first core practice of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Kumi-Larbi noted that the forebears of the Church were committed to aggressive evangelism.
Quoting from Page 15 of the Ministerial Handbook of the Church, the General Secretary defined evangelism as the presentation of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, with the view that people will believe in Jesus and trust Him as Saviour and Lord and serve Him in the fellowship of the Church.
He noted that during the early years of the Church, the work of soul winning was not reserved for ministers or a particular group of people as observed in recent times, but every member of The Church of Pentecost consciously saw themselves as evangelists and passionately won souls for Christ. As a result of their passionate soul winning efforts, the Church grew astronomically into what it is today.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi said that the current generation of Christians also have a duty to continue the work the forebears did by engaging in aggressive evangelism and passing on same to the next generation.
He, therefore, called on Christians, and church members, in particular, to saturate their communities with the gospel message of Jesus by adopting all forms of evangelistic strategies.
He also advised Church leaders to organise stratified evangelism such as Personal Evangelism, Sports Evangelism, Beach Evangelism, Clean Up exercises, Medical Outreaches etc, so that every member of the Church could get the opportunity to share their faith with others.
Other marks of the early Church, Apostle Kumi-Larbi touched on were “Discipleship” (the act of teaching and training converts to be like Christ in character with emphasis on holiness, righteousness, faithfulness, honesty, sincerity, humility, prayerfulness and leading of disciplined and responsible lives), “Ministry Excellence” (maintaining a high standard of excellence in all things), and “Prayer” (engaging in regular prayer for Holy Spirit baptism with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues and placing emphasis on the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer).
The General Secretary also touched on the “Ministry of the Holy Spirit” (the belief in the person of the Holy Spirit and that the Christian life can be led only by His enablement) and “Leadership” (callings into leadership positions based on character, charisma and the leading of the Holy Spirit)
PENTECOST NEWS