The Mankessim Area Head of The Church of Pentecost, Pastor Isaac Kofi Annan, has advised ministers and wives to constantly pray for the grace to contribute meaningfully to the “possessing the nations” agenda.
“Any minister or minister’s wife who depends on his or her own strength and avoids grace is heading for disaster,” he opined.
Pastor Annan said this during a three-day Mankessim Area Ministers and Wives Residential Fasting and Prayers retreat held from September 2 to 28, 2022, at the Zion Prayer Centre in Enyan Denkyira District. The programme, which was under the theme, “Great Grace to Possess the Nations,” was the first of its kind since Pastor Annan assumed stewardship as the Area Head for Mankessim in September this year.
Speaking on the main theme, the Mankessim Area Head revealed that the grace of God is available to everyone who believes and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour.
“The grace of God cannot be monopolised. God’s grace is the same towards everyone who believes because the grace of God is not based on or tied to what you do,” he said.
Reading Acts 4:33, Pastor Annan asserted that the Apostles of Jesus Christ received, carried and ministered with great grace to possess their world and we cannot do otherwise.
He said that grace has many benefits for the believer because, “we are saved from sicknesses, calamities and deaths by grace; our sins are forgiven by grace; and we are sustained by the grace of God.”
Referring to Ephesians 2:8-9; 3:7; Philippians 4:13; Matthew 11:28-29; Romans 22:16, he further noted that “we are liberated by grace, given gifts by grace, transformed by the grace of God, used by God and mature in ministry all by the Grace of God.”
The Area Head, therefore, advised ministers and their wives to remain and work with the grace of God.
He buttressed his assertion with the quote of J. Gresham Machen, an American Presbyterian New Testament scholar and educator in the early 20th century: “The very core place of the Bible is the doctrine of the grace of God. Grace is the most important concept in the Bible… the love of God showed to the unloved. Grace moves with mercy, but mercy has no power over grace.”
Pastor Annan also asserted that Christians could sustain the grace of God in their lives, marriages and ministry through the fear of God, self-control, holy living and incessant confession of prayer.
There was an intensive time of prayer, meditation and group Bible studies at the retreat and the powerful manifestation of the various spiritual gifts.
Present at the retreat were Elders Enoch Owusu and Isaac Spurgeon, the Mankessim Area Deacon and Mankessim Area Accountant, respectively. The event was also graced by Pastor S. B. Paintsil (Rtd) and Mrs. Alberta Effua Annan (Wife of the Area Head).
Report by Pastor Joel Beddim (Mankessim Area Media Pastor)