The Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, has outdoored the 2018 theme of the Church.
The 2018 theme: “Remain In Christ And His Basic Message,” is chosen from 1 John 2:24-25: “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us— even eternal life.”
It was outdoored during the opening session of this year’s November Heads’ Meeting at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.
The five-day event which is being attended by Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Area Heads, National Heads, Ministry Directors, among others, is a platform for the leadership of the Church to strategize for the coming year through fasting, prayer and sharing of the word of God.
Expounding on the new theme, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah said it seeks to take the members of the Church back to the basics of their belief in Christ.
“I consider it [the 2018 theme] as most appropriate for me as I prepare to retire. Throughout my ministry, I have advocated for the poor, the needy, and the vulnerable. I hate to see pastors extracting money from these weaker ones.
“My cry has been that we must teach our members and pray with them so that they are not used as prey by false prophets and teachers. I am worried to see people moving from one place to another seeking help from ‘savage wolves’, whereas they have churches and pastors,” he said.
The Chairman explained that the apostle John wrote the letter to the church for them to know that they had eternal life (1 John 5:13). He said John wanted the Christians to know that the word that they had preached to them was the real word of God full of eternal life.
According to him, John wanted to assure them that indeed Jesus was God who came down to the world. “He came as a human being, he saw him, touched him and fellowshipped with him. He died and was resurrected. Believing in Him offers one eternal life. They had received the Holy Spirit (anointing), and did not need any other person, claiming to have superior knowledge to teach them,” he stressed.
John’s message, he explained, is similar to what is going on in the world now, saying, “The gospel message is simple, but people still want something bigger, stricter, complicated and mysterious than the gospel we preach. There is nothing apart from this basic message.
“I believe that the tenets of The Church of Pentecost carry this simple message of the gospel. It is my desire that as we digest it and pray on it, we will touch the spirit of the ‘letter’ so that we will minister life to our people. Teaching it alone is not enough. We must eat the word and let it grow in us to become part of us so that we will be able to minister life to people.
“Many people can minister the word of God at its lowest level. That is preaching for people to understand. We must preach for the preaching to lead to repentance and action that will lead to others glorifying God with their bodies and substances.
“In view of this, I would like us to have time in the meeting to pray and worship the Lord as these are essential parts of our Pentecostal spirituality. It is hoped that through these exercises we will have a deeper fellowship with the Lord that will yield to the brokenness of hardened hearts, in order for us to serve Him well.”
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