MY MINISTRY VALUES – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL – 2 TIMOTHY 3:10-11;18TH FEBRUARY, 2024

SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)

TOPIC: MY MINISTRY VALUES

DATE: 18TH FEBRUARY, 2024

BIBLE TEXT: 2 TIMOTHY 3:10-11

Today I am going to do a Message about ICGC at 40. And I want to talk about, “MY MINISTRY VALUES.”

… What is important to me as a Minister of the Gospel.

And I am going to talk about: Ten (10) Important Values to me as a Pastor. I am a Pastor and it is important you get to know:

• Who your Pastor is?
• What is important to him?
• What is he hoping to achieve?
• What does he think his Life is all about?

Because it’s always good to know what the People you think are your Leaders consider Valuable to them.

I’ve put together Ten (10) Things I will be talking to you today about my Ministry Values – Not just Core Values, but things that guide me as a Minister of the Gospel and a Preacher of the Word of God.

And I hope that each one of them will get a Perspective that helps us – Amen.

My Bible Text is from 2 Timothy 3:10-11.

Just to give you a little background:

Timothy is a young Pastor who was Pastoring the Church in Ephesus. He was Paul’s Protege – Somebody that Paul was grooming and leading in Ministry. And Paul was very focused on Timothy’s Ministry and tried to help him to be a man of his own.

So, Paul wrote to Timothy as he was a Pastor and told him a few things, and also helped Timothy to know who Paul was and what he stood for. And our Bible Text today is part of Paul’s instructions to Timothy.

2 Timothy 3:10-11 (NKJV)

10 But you have carefully followed my Doctrine, manner of Life, Purpose, Faith, Longsuffering, Love, Perseverance,

11 Persecutions, Afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra — What Persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.

What I want to focus on in this Statement of Paul to Timothy is what he said about, “Doctrine, manner of Life, Purpose, Faith.”

Paul said to Timothy, you’ve observed these things about me:

• What my Doctrine is: that is what I teach.
• My manner of Life: the kind of Life I live.
• My Purpose, Faith and Love.
• And then he talks about his Longsuffering also, which Timothy has observed.

One of the difficulties we face sometimes as Pastors is that People judge all Pastors to behave the same way.

So, when they leave one Church and go to another, they think that the Pastor is like their former Pastor.

Even when they sit in the Service and they don’t see what they are expecting, somehow they still think it is so.

One of the things you learn about Life is that, People don’t experience Life as it is: they experience Life as the expect it to be.

Some times People are going through one thing, but their expectation is very different. And they focus on their expectation instead of the reality. And we live with People as we expect and not as they are.

For example, if you’ve had a bad Marriage before as a man, and marry a new wife; you somehow Project the bad habit from the Previous Marriage into the woman who has done nothing. And no matter how different she is from your Previous Partner, because the expectation is stronger than the reality; somehow in your Mind you think she is like that.

It’s the same way with a woman who goes to marry a new husband – Maybe you had a bad Marriage and the man mistreated you; somehow you bring the Projection of the past into the new.

I am going to tell you what my Values are.

And don’t try to project another Pastor’s Values on me – This is Mensa Otabil and what I stand for!

TEN (10) IMPORTANT VALUES TO ME AS A PASTOR

1. To Truly Know God as He has revealed Himself in Scriptures:

This is very important to me!

This is where everything starts: To know the God of the Bible. Not the god of my Ancestors, or the gods of my expectations and experiences. But the God of the Bible. Because the Bible is God’s Special Revelation to me, to you and to all of us.

Many times our view of God is not formed from the Bible – It is formed from Probably what we heard the Preacher say. Probably what somebody said or Probably our views of a certain Religion.

For most of us in Africa, our Ancestral Religion, in a lot of ways, determine what we think of the Living God.

But the Bible is the surest way to help us find God. And so, in my quest to know God, the Bible is central.

Not my Experiences, not my Dreams, not my Desires but what the Bible says about God – From Genesis to Revelation.

And that’s why in my Preaching, I endeavour to stay within Scriptures.

I don’t talk about certain things that have happened to me; but what the Scripture says. Because my desire is to know the God of the Bible – That’s my Number one (No. 1) Value.

… Because the God of the Bible is the True God is the Universe.

2. To Live out my Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through my Thoughts, Choices and Actions:

The Christian Life is a Life of Submission to Jesus Christ.

That means, to yield to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Early Apostles of Jesus Christ called themselves “Slaves of God” – That’s a very Powerful Statement.

In other words, when it comes to Christ, they had no choice but to obey Him.

And that is how I see my Christian Life – It is not about me trying to live the Life that Pleases me; but endeavouring to live my Life as Christ would want me to live through my Thoughts, Choices and Actions.

No matter how difficult it is to live the Christian Life, I must live it. And I must live it in my Thoughts, Choices and Actions.

It is not so much about the fanciful things – Being called a Man of God or being seen at a very high level.

But living the Christian Life; living it Personally, living it in my Marriage, in my family and among friends.

I want my wife to know me as a Christian – I don’t want my wife to first know me as a Man of God; I want her to know me first and foremost as a Christian.

Also, I want my children and friends to know me as a Christian.

And I want you to know me first, not as a Pastor, but as a Christian.

Because if I am not a good Christian, I cannot be a Pastor.

Everything I do as a Pastor is Premise on the fact that I am a Christian; and that I am a Follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is a very important Value to me – To live out my Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through my Thoughts, Choices and Actions.

3. To Learn to be Sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s Presence and Promptings:

The Lord Jesus Christ Promised to be with us through the Holy Spirit after He has Physically ascended to Heaven. And the Holy Spirit lives within us, not outside of us.

And if the Holy Spirit lives within me, then He will lead me from within – He is not going to lead me from outside me.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t live in rivers. He doesn’t live in Mountains or trees – He lives inside my Heart.

And if He lives inside my Heart, then it is from inside my Heart that He is going to lead me.

That is why in seeking Guidance, I don’t go outside, I go within. Because the Holy Spirit lives within.

It is important that I commit my Life to the Holy Spirit and endeavour to sense His Leading;

• To what He is indicating to me and what He is doing.
• I don’t Presume that everything I feel comes from the Holy Spirit. I cannot Presume that.
• Neither can I put God on the line, so that if what I said doesn’t come to pass, they would say God has lied.
• Neither do I want to manipulate People into obeying me. By attaching the Holy Spirit to my statement.

Because if I come to you and tell you, “The Holy Spirit told me to tell you something…” Instantly, you feel compelled to do it. Because I said the Holy Spirit, you are not going to think, reason and you are not going to access whether what I said make sense or not.

So I don’t use such Phrases.

Instead you would hear me use Phrases like: “I sense, I think, I believe Strongly that this is so and so.”

That doesn’t mean I don’t hear from the Holy Spirit, or I don’t feel His Guidance.

But I want you to think when I speak, I want you to reason when I speak and I want you to make a Choice that is Compatible with your own Will and your Volution.

I don’t want you to feel, “I must do what has to be done because Pastor said the Holy Spirit told him.”

You must hear the Holy Spirit, you must make your own Choices and you must take your own Actions.

It is a Choice I have made; that I would use Phrases that allow People to think, to reason and to make Choices, based on a sense of Conviction – Not Manipulation and being Compelled.

… So I have learned to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s Presence and to His Promptings.

4. To Build my Life on a Firm Theological Base, rooted in Rigorous Bible Studies:

As a Preacher, I am an Expositor of the Bible – I cannot teach from a Place of ignorance. I cannot just Preach about my Experiences. I must seek to understand the Scriptures, so I can teach its Messages.

And knowing the Bible goes beyond knowing Verses of the Bible or Memorising Bible Verses; It requires extensive Study.

And I seek to understand that.

So I study extensively across the Ages of Christian Theology.

I seek to understand what Christians over the Ages have taught and Preached about.

I quote some writings of the Founders of different Christians Denominations; even from People whose Core Beliefs I do not share. Because I don’t like condemning People when I haven’t understood them.

I want to understand where I stand, where he stands and be able to make an intelligent Choice, that although I fully understand where he comes from, I don’t agree with his Conclusion. I don’t want to make rash Judgements.

So, I read about all Christian Faith – I read about the Catholic Faith, the Anglican Faith, the Presbyterian Faith. I read about Methodians, I understand where they come from. I understand what formulate their beliefs and I have the full grasp of what they teach.

But in the end, I have to also come to my own Conclusion based on my reading of the Scripture and how God has revealed Himself in Scriptures.

Although I may fully understand somebody, it doesn’t mean I fully agree with them. But I would not make a Point based on ignorance and I would not condemn somebody because of ignorance.

If I am going to take a stand, it has to be an informed stand. Because that is what God requires from each one of us.

*My Theological Base is very important – I study intensely, I think and reflect deeply, before I Preach. And in my Preaching I don’t quote too much from contemporary Christians – Not because they are wrong:

I believe my Theological Reflection goes deeper and wider historically, than just what contemporary People think.

5. To Develop an Inner Life of Prayer, Reflection and Self Examination:

This is very important to me!

Jesus frequently taught that, what manifests outside of us comes from within us.

What you have within you is critical to what you do outside – It’s called, Inner Life.

And I have endeavoured to build an Inner Life – An Inner Life is Life Inward.

It is Prayerful, Contemplative, it is Meditative.

I search my Heart, my motives and desires and it is me judging myself very deeply, soberly and sincerely.

I seek to know myself better than anyone would ever know. And I think very deeply about my world, about my Life, about my experiences.

I spend hours examining myself. And sometimes I can be a harsher judge of myself than anybody can ever judge me.

The Bible says, if you judge yourself, you will not be judged.

I am the first judge of myself – I judge myself so deeply, that I am not able to listen to myself Preaching.

People love hearing me, I am not able to hear myself.

Because every time I hear a recording of myself, I go into judging mood – And I start criticing everything I said. “Why did you say it that way? Couldn’t you have said it in another way?”

People get blessed listening to me but I don’t get blessed listening to me, because I judge myself.

My wife likes listening to my Messages but the moment I enter she has to put it off because I don’t like it.

That’s just me – It may be a crazy Part of me!

So, I consider Prayer as a part of my Inner Life.

Much as I believe in External and loud Prayer; I believe Prayer is not designed to Change God. Prayer is designed to Change me, so that I can conform to the Will of God.

There has to be an aspect of Prayer that helps me to Change from within and not just try to move the Hand of God as most of us like to do.

There are different forms of Prayer but I believe in an Inner Contemplative Transforming Prayer that Changes us.

6. To remain Called by God’s Grace that Saved me, Sustains me and Uses me to Serve God’s People:

I do not take the Grace of God for granted – I don’t!

• The Grace of God sought for me and saved me.
• The Grace of God Picked me in my Youth and Called me to serve God.
• The Grace of God helped me when I thought I was lost in my Life; and brought me to an awareness of God’s Sufficiency.

And I know myself more than anybody would ever know.

If it was left to me, my Personality and who I am; there is no way in God’s Earth that I would end up talking to People because I am not a Public Person – It is the Grace of God that enables me to Stand before People;

And I have been doing it for over forty (40) years – Talking to People.

I do that knowing this is not my Natural Disposition; it is God’s Grace. And it is His Gift of Grace that has allowed that to happen.

So I don’t take the Grace of God for granted – His Grace is what sustains me and uses me. And I am always in awe of the Grace of God.

7. To Share the Profound Truth of the Bible in a demystified Practical and Easy to Understand way:

One of the most important Characteristics that I have as a Pastor is to Preach from the Bible – It is a very difficult task.

The Bible is God’s Revelation to us.

However, the Bible was not written in our time; it was written in an older time, an older culture and it is different from the times we are now living in.

To understand what the Bible is saying, I have to carefully look at its Language, its Culture, the Timeframe, to understand God’s Timeless Truth. And after that, I must find a way to Communicate it to a Modern Generation.

So they can understand what God has said in time Past, and is saying to them now.

Because of that, when I teach the Bible I aim at demystifying the Bible and aim at Simplicity.

I don’t aim at Complexity; I don’t aim at blowing your Mind with something, because your Mind is already blown!

I aim at putting the Mind together. Because my aim is to Simplify the Profound Truth of God.

God’s Word is already Profound, and so I can’t make it anymore Profound – I have to simplify it.

And I follow after Jesus Christ who taught the Profound Truth of God in a very, very, simple way.

Somebody asked Jesus, who is my Neighbour? And you would think Jesus would say, “A Neighbour is No. 1, No. 2…”

Jesus said: a Man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, he feel among Robbers.

Then He said, Nobody helped the Man, but a Samaritan.

And Jesus asked the Question: Who do you think is a Neighbour?

Jesus simplified Profound Truth! And that is what I do.

And by the way, I Prayed for that Gift for years – In my formative years I used to Pray for hours, “Lord help me to simplify Your Word; Lord give me the Wisdom to simplify Your Word.”

And I believe God is answering that Prayer.

8. I Endeavour to Point People towards Christ, and away from me:

This is not a Church you hear a Pastor telling Powerful Testimonies of his Exploits -;Christ is the Center of our lives as Christians. He is our Saviour, He is our Example. He is the One we imitate.

In all my Teachings, my Hope is that you’ll discover Christ and not discover Mensa Otabil.

And it’s very easy for Preachers to make themselves the focus of People’s Faith.

My desire is that your focus would be in Christ Jesus.

• He is the Word of God made flesh.
• He is the Ultimate Sacrifice for all Humanity.
• In Him is Life, in Him is our Hope.

If you have Faith in your Pastor it Profits you nothing because there’s nothing a Pastor can do for you.

But if your Faith is in Christ Jesus, He will make all things Possible for you, and He will not fail you.

That’s what my desire is: That you will discover Jesus Christ. That you will Love and serve Him. And you’ll center your Life around Him.

9. To see the Pulpit as a Sacred Place – Not to be Profaned or used for Personal Advantage:

Standing in front of People to speak to them is a Great Privilege I have.

It is a Powerful thing to have People sit in front of you, listening to you. And that Privilege is very easy to abuse.

Because, if we don’t understand the Privilege and the Grace that allows us to stand before People, we will abuse it.

The Pulpit is not about me – I don’t use the Pulpit to settle quarrels.

I come to encourage you, because Life is giving you bad stuff already.

My desire is to help you know that this God you serve is a Good God; that He can lift you up, bless and Prosper you.

I consider the Pulpit a very Sacred Desk, behind which I stand to do my job.

And although it is my Pulpit in the Church:

• It is God’s Place, and I must use it intentionally to represent Him.
• I must use words that Glorify Him,
• I must use Language that Glorifies Him.
• I must use temper that Glorifies Him: I cannot come and manifest anger and frustration on you.

Because that is not what the Pulpit is meant for.

And because I take the Pulpit seriously, I’m also very Selective about who comes to my Pulpit – They also have to be People who respect the Pulpit and don’t come and abuse it and use it in a Profaned way.

People think if a Pastor talks in a real way, He is being real. But Profanity is not being real. Profanity is Profanity!

10. To Seek to become the Kind of Leader I can look up to and would love to Work with:

God has made me a Leader of People – He has made me a Leader of my home as a father, He has made me a Pastor, a Leader of my Congregation. He has made me a General Overseer and the Senior Pastor of ICGC, with so many Pastors and Churches (in this Denomination).

That’s a very Powerful Place in Leadership.

Everytime I reflect as a father and a Leader of my home, I ask myself:

• If I was a child would I be happy to have me as a father?
• Am I the kind of father I would love to have; a father I can look up to?
• If I was not me, and I was my child, would I be the kind of father that I would look up to?

Because, growing up as a child, I didn’t have the best father.

Fathers have Weaknesses and Strengths; but my father’s Weaknesses were more than his Strength. And he didn’t set the best example in his Marriage.

As a father; he didn’t set the best example literarily about everything.

The Natural thing, you know “like father like son” – I should be like him. But I have said it many times that, when I was growing up, one of my Greatest desires was not to be like my father.

Unfortunately, I look like him – My voice is his voice; I have a voice tone like his (which I like).

But I try to move away as much as Possible, from the way he conducted his Marriage, the way he raised his children.

I’ve tried so hard to be very different. Because if I repeat that, my children will be like me, and I will be like my father.

… That is what people call Generational Curse.

Generational Curse is broken by Choice and Will; and I chose the Will to break it!

I want to be a different kind of Leader at home but I also want to be a different kind of Leader as a Pastor.

Now I have Pastors under me, I always ask:

• If I wasn’t the General Overseer and Senior Pastor of ICGC, would I want to be under a Leader like Mensa Otabil?
• Would I want to be a Pastor in ICGC?

I. My desire is to build a Church that people who are not the Ultimate Leaders still feel confident to operate in; because in that Place they find opportunities to be their best selves for God.

II. And it is my desire that People who serve under me don’t feel disadvantaged – They don’t feel that their lives have been shortchanged. That they have been denied Opportunities; that their Potentials have been sat on.

III. It is my desire that when People work under me, they would feel that they have the opportunity to be all the Lord wants them to be – If that is really what God wants them to be.

IV. I want to be the kind of Leader that I can work under.

You would normally ask yourself;

• If I wasn’t the Boss, would I work in this Company?
• If I was just a Staff, would I work in this Company?
• If I was a Pastor in ICGC, would I be happy?
• If I was a Staff in the Office, would I be happy?

The truth is, not everybody can get to the ultimate Top.

Most People are going to spend their lives working under somebody; spend their lives looking up to somebody.

So, those of us who have the Privilege of being the ones People work under, and People look up to; we have the great Opportunity to ensure that although they work under us, their lives and not under us! That they can truly become what God wants them to be.

And ultimately, that’s the kind of Leader I want to be:

• The kind of Leader I can work under.
• The kind of Leader I can serve.
• The kind of Leader I can respect.
• The kind of Leader I can look up to.

And in Summary, these are the Ten (10) Values that have guided me in my Ministry – I have not arrived, I am not Perfect by any Chance.

But I endeavour, I strive, I think, I Pray and I work so hard to be the kind of Person that I truly believe God has Called me to become – In my Morals, in my Thoughts, in my Actions, in my Beliefs, in my Relationship with People, in the way I love and care for People.

I want to be the kind of Person that People can truly look at and say, “he is a Christian” – that’s all.

The Greatest Honour I receive in Life is for somebody to say: That’s a Christian!

If I end up being called a Christian, I think I would have Succeeded in Life.

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, let the words of my mouth and the Meditations of my Heart be acceptable to You.

And as I have shared these with Your People, help each one here and all those reading now on the Label of DMC, to also develop the Values of their lives.

The things that are important to them and how they want to live their lives; and how they want to be known – As parents, as Business People, in every areas of their lives.

Help each one of us live Christ-Centered lives, Purposeful lives, Intentional lives, that we are building to Glorify You.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen.

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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