THE PILLARS OF OUR CHURCH: DR MENSA OTABIL – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE, 27TH FEBRUARY, 2022.

SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE (38TH ANNIVERSARY THANKSGIVING) BY DR. MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)

TOPIC: THE PILLARS OF OUR CHURCH.

DATE: 27TH FEBRUARY,, 2022

TEXT: ACTS 2:41-42

Let’s rise up together as we take our DECLARATION OF INCREASE in this Year of Increase:

Are you ready? Say with me:

I confess today that Jesus Christ is my LORD and Saviour. In Him I have life, His Abundant Life.

The Lord is my Light and Strength. As He is, so has He made me. By His Spirit I Increase in Word and in Wisdom. In Faith and in Favour.

The Lord has said: “In Blessing, I will bless you. In multiplying I will Multiply your Seed.”

So, I can boldly say: My God shall Increase me more and more. What I Place in God’s Hands grows into Overflow.

Though I begin small, my end shall Greatly Increase.

In this Year of Increase, I grow in Grace and in Strength. To be all that God wants me to be.

In Jesus’ Name – AMEN!

Today is our 38th Anniversary Thanksgiving.

Acts 2:41-42, these two (2) Verses are the Foundation of ICGC.

They are the Verses on which our Church was established. And I must say that I haven’t Preached as often as I should in these two (2) Verses because there you find what ICGC Stands for.

Acts 2:41-42 (NKJV):

41 Then those who gladly received His Word were Baptized; and that day about three thousand Souls were added to them.

42 And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ Doctrine and Fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in Prayers.

Now this describes the Early Church.

If you know your Bible a little bit, you will know that in the Book of Acts Chapter 2, after Jesus had ascended; the Disciples of Jesus and the Apostles (about 120 of them) were gathered in a Place called The Upper Room.

Because Jesus said they should wait in the Upper Room and Pray, because they were going to receive a Gift from the Father.

And on that day, the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came. And they spoke in Tongues, and there were Cloven Tongues as of fire on top of each one of them.

And they stepped out for the first time, from the Upper Room into the Streets of Jerusalem and started speaking in Tongues and declaring the wondering works of God. Some people thought they were drunk.

And Peter the Apostle stood up and spoke to them about what was happening and Pointed them to Jesus Christ. And when he had finished, this is what happened:

The Bible says that three thousand (3,000) People were won and they continued in the Apostle’s Doctrine, they continued in Fellowship and breaking of bread and in Prayer.

There are Four (4) Things that happened in those two (2) Verses that are the Foundation of our Church.

Now if you look at our Church Logo you would find that it has three (3) main components.

1. First, there is a Circle – The Circle there represent the world.
2. And then there are four (4) Pillars – That’s the Second Group of Design.
3. And then there is a swell (it has no meaning). The designer put it there because it would make it look nice.

But the Circle and the Pillars have a meaning. And that’s what I am talking about today, in Acts 2:41-42.

The first thing we see is in Verse 21 – “Those who gladly received His Word were baptized; and that day about three thousand Souls were added to them.”

1. This is the first Pillar of our Church – And that is EVANGELISM.

And that is what we see in Acts 2:41 – People were added to the Church, People got saved.

And those People were baptised and added to the Church.

… So the first Pillar is Evangelism.

2. Then the Second Pillar is in Acts 2:42 – “And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ Doctrine.”

That is DISCIPLESHIP

Teaching of the Word of God; teaching Bible based Doctrine – And that creates Discipleship.

Without Bible Teaching People would not become the Disciples of Jesus Christ.

You can be a Follower of Christ, very happy, happy go lurking, running around. You can have Miracles happened to you and still not be a Disciple of Jesus Christ.

What makes you a Disciple of Jesus Christ is TEACHING.

And that is why Teaching is an essential Part of this Church.

That’s why I teach!

That’s why I take time to break the Word of God because that is how you become a Follower of Jesus.

You don’t just get Born Again through Evangelism; but you need Teaching, you need Doctrine. And that is the Second Pillar of our Church.

… What is the Third Pillar?

3. The Third Pillar says – “And Fellowship, in the breaking of bread”.

It represent COMMUNITY.

You can call it Communion, you can call it Fellowship, you can call it Relationship.

I call it Community – That means that in the Church, the Church is a Community.

It is a Place where People come together, not only to share Teachings, but to relate with one another.

That’s why early in our Church, almost from the beginning of our Church we had what is called “Covenant Families” – Church meeting in People’s homes, locations.

And that was the bedrock of our Church. Why? – Because Community is very important.

Fellowship! Breaking bread.

A Church that does not share Fellowship would not be Complete.

That’s why you can’t be Online alone and worship God – You need to experience Communion or Koinonia (in the Greek). You need to be Part!

That is why through Jesus Christ, the “Early Church” did something that was unknown in Roman Society – Unknown! Nobody thought it was Possible. Even in Jewish Society it wasn’t impossible!

Because you see, a lot of things we take for granted now in our world, we have no idea where they came from – They started from Christianity.

… Up until then, you couldn’t have Community like this!

• In the first Place, Men and Women did not mix.
• Secondly, Social Classes did not mix.

If you were a slave, you couldn’t even sit with your Master. You couldn’t! If you were from different tribe, you couldn’t mix.

That’s how the world was – British stay with British, French stay with French, Romans to Romans, Greeks to Greeks, Baberians to Baberians.

You couldn’t mix! Because everybody had to stay in his Group.

Then comes Jesus. And He says, that’s not how I want to organize my Ecclesia. I am going to form a New Group of People.

And this Group, I am going to bring People from all kinds of Places; all kinds of Social Group. And they are going to be one People, they are going to share Fellowship.

And so when the “Early Church” met and they were eating, it was a Miracle! People had never seen it before: Men and Women at Table eating together.

I. Greeks and Romans and Jews sitting at Table eating – It was unimaginable!

II. Slaves with their Slave Masters eating at the same Table.

So, when they ate Communion they were equalizing; it was a idea – That is how Christianity took over.

One of the reasons why Christianity took over is that everybody felt woooow! What a Group, that everybody can belong to – That is what is called Koinonia.

Now when we see, we talk about United Nations – Everybody belongs together. Do we think it is an easy thought?

… It wasn’t easy, until Jesus made it easy and brought People from all Groups.

Even some of His Disciples struggled with it – “Gentiles and Jews were not supposed to eat together.” But they had to learn to eat together. And slaves had to sit with their Masters!

Can you imagine, you go to Church, you are the Slave Master and the Deacon is the Slave. And he is the one instructing the Master. And the Masters has to sit down and listen to his Servant. And all of that!

The world began to Change, and respect People. And the Equality Concept that “All men are created equal on the sight of God” started from Christianity.

And our sense or Who God is. “That in Christ, there is neither Male nor Female; there is not the Greek nor the Gentile; there is not the Rich or Poor.”

When you hear Apostle Paul saying those things; today it may seem like common. But two thousand (2,000) Years ago, these were Radical Revolutionary Ideas!

So in a Church like this, if you are a Managing Director, you can come to Church; but you don’t come with your Position – You come and Fellowship together.

That is why in this Church we don’t put Special Chairs for Pastors – We sit on the same Chairs as the Members. We don’t sit on the “Thrones.” Because, before we became Pastors, we were first Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus. And He washed us with His Blood and we have to learn to Fellowship.

Yes, we give respect and we give honour. But honour should not create a distance and respect should not create a distance. And respect and honour should not create Inferiority and Superiority.

When we do that, we are defeating the Third Pillar of Community – Communion and Fellowship.

This is the Church of Jesus Christ – His Evangelism, His Discipleship, His Community.

4. And the fourth and Final Pillar – Acts 2:42 is: “And in Prayers.”

SPIRITUALITY: The Spiritual Life of the Church – Creating a Spiritual Life of God’s People.

God’s People Praying – It doesn’t mean just Praying and Praying! It represents all of our Spiritual Life. The Spirituality of our relationship with God.

Spiritual Formation: Christ being formed in us, having intimacy with God, hearing the Voice of the Holy Spirit, learning to discern the Voice of the Holy Spirit.

And that is why you cannot Outsource your Spirituality to somebody – You cannot say a Prophet should hear from God for you. You hear from God for yourself. Because that is what Christianity is all about.

If a Prophet comes to confirm it, yes. If he doesn’t, you must hear from your Father.

That is how Jesus designed Christianity – “My sheep hear my Voice.” He didn’t say: ‘My sheep hear my Voice through somebody’s else.’

… “MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE.”

Read the Bible for yourself, grow Spiritually, know God, know the Holy Spirit. Have a Relationship with God. Don’t just come to Church as say, as for me I am here. Pastor will Pray for me – No, you Pray for yourself!

I am not a “Pray for me Pastor”.

If you want a “Pray for me Pastor” this is the wrong Church.

But I am going to teach you how to Pray. So when you are at home by 2:00am and you need Prayer, you don’t rush to your Pastor for Prayer.

You have to learn to Pray – FATHER, in the Name of Jesus Christ (and Pray). And God will hear you.

…. You have to have a Relationship with your Father God.

I am not your father, God is your Father. And you must have a Relationship with Him.

… And that is the fourth Pillar!

These are the Four 4 Pillars of International Central Gospel Church (ICGC).

That is our emphasis. That is the basis – Acts 2:41-42.

… And all the Four (4) Pillars were Practised by the “Early Church”.

And we endeavour to do that! We seek to do that. We work towards that. And it is a work in Progress. It doesn’t mean we are Perfect in doing it, but it is something we are committed to. We commit ourselves to Practice these Four (4) Pillars.

I just want to Practice Pillar No. 1: Evangelism – Bringing People to Christ.

If you are here this Morning or reading this message now on the Label of DMC and you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Saviour.

Maybe you have been coming to Church for a very long time; you love coming to Church.

Some of you even love Pastor Otabil and his Preaching (and that is Good) – At least you don’t hate my Preaching.

But that is not enough! – Loving my Preaching is not enough.

You must have Jesus in your heart. Jesus must live inside of you.

Jesus must not be Somebody Who died Years ago. But Jesus must be Somebody Who is alive inside of you!

If somebody ask you: “Where is Jesus?” – You should be able to say “He is in my heart”.

And if you cannot say that – That Jesus is in my heart, that He lives inside of me. Then you haven’t come into the first step of your Relationship with Him.

So, this Morning if you are here or you are reading this message on the label of DMC, and you say “I am not really sure whether Jesus is in my heart or not”. Or some of you may say – “Oh, I used to believe I had Jesus in my heart, but of late I am not really sure. I feel like He has left!”

Whether you feel, if you are not certain that Jesus is in your heart; today you need to be certain that Jesus is in your heart.

And how do we know that Jesus is in our heart? We invite Him to come into our heart. We ask Him to come.

Jesus Christ Himself said in the Book of Revelation 3:20 – Behold, I Stand at the door, and knock: if any Man hear my Voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

So He is standing, He is knocking, but He can’t force the door open. You must open the door so He comes in!

If you want Jesus to come into your heart, it is very simple – Say: Lord Jesus, I open the door of my heart for You to come in. And He comes in, and from that time He is not an Outsider. He is now an Insider – He lives inside of you.

If you want to be sure that Jesus Christ is in your heart, and you say Pastor, I want you to Pray for me, lead me to Jesus. Help me to invite Jesus into my heart.

If that is your desire, just lift up your hands wherever you are.

Just stand up wherever you are! God bless you for Standing up.

Now put your hand on your heart – Your heart is on the left side of your chest. Put your hand there!

Now Somebody say: Pastor, why should I put my hand on my heart? It is just to indicate that the Prayer you are about to Pray, you mean it from your heart. You are serious about it.

Say with me: Heavenly Father, I come to You today just as I am. I am a sinner, I cannot save myself. I Thank You Father, that Jesus Christ came to die for me to give me New Life. And in Him I have Life more Abundantly.

And so today, I receive Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Personal Saviour. I Thank You Father for accepting me as Your Child.

In Jesus’ Name – AMEN.

Let’s celebrate the Lord everybody!

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