A Member of the National Leadership Team of the Elim Pentecostal Churches, UK, Pastor Duncan Clark, has revealed that, one of the secrets of a growing church is their thanksgiving and gratitude towards God.
Pastor Clark said this when delivering the sermon at the 16th Extraordinary Council Meetings of The Church of Pentecost at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh, near Accra, Ghana on Thursday, May 9, 2019.
Giving an exposition on Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossian church, with a focus on the first twelve verses of the first chapter, the Senior Minister of Elim Coventry indicated that Paul, while in prison realised the power in thanksgiving and how it can propel a church to greater heights. Guided by this, he said, Apostle Paul then encouraged the church in Colossae to be thankful to God for all His goodness to them as a church.
Touching on the importance of living a thanksgiving life, Pastor Clark said that thanksgiving and gratitude dissolves the strength of the enemy. “With thanksgiving, we agree with the heavens that our lives are in the hands of God. Thanksgiving reminds us that our God is merciful. Thanksgiving reminds us that everything we have is a gift from God,” he said.
“One of the best things you can do in the days of disparity or anxiety is to speak words of encouragement and give thanks to God. It is amazing how thanksgiving can break the life of anxiety and despair,” he added
Pastor Clark advised that, in order to build a growing church, the words of gratitude and thanks should never depart from the lips of believers.
He expressed the need for Christians to be grateful to God, because the gospel is bearing much fruit in all parts of the world. “The church is thriving. Statistics show that the global church is producing so much fruit, and the church in Africa in particular is growing,” he stated.
Pastor Duncan Clark therefore encouraged the church to adopt Apostle Paul’s thanksgiving prayer for the Colossian church.
PENTECOST NEWS