MY MINISTRY FOCUS – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA);25TH FEBRUARY, 2024

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

TOPIC: MY MINISTRY FOCUS

DATE: 25TH FEBRUARY, 2024

BIBLE TEXT: LUKE 4:17-19

Last week I talked about my Ministry Values. Today I am doing ICGC at 40; and my Sub Title is: “MY MINISTRY FOCUS”.

I want to talk about what I keep my eyes on.

Luke 4:17-19 (NKJV) – Jesus telling us about His Ministry Focus

17 And He was handed the book of the Prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the Place where it was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has Anointed Me To Preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the Brokenhearted, To Proclaim Liberty to the Captives And Recovery of sight to the blind, To set at Liberty those who are Oppressed;

19 To Proclaim the Acceptable year of the Lord.”

From the Passage, Jesus was talking about His Ministry Focus: What His Ministry is about.

And He used a Text in Isaiah’s Prophecy that talks about the work of the Messiah.

And Jesus announces that He is the Messiah, by going to the Book of Isaiah 61:1-3. After which He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” And the People almost killed Him for saying that.

You would think that they would be excited that somebody had come to Proclaim Good News. But they wanted to kill Him. Jesus said He was Anointed and He was sent.

Each one of us who are called by Christ, our Ministry, whatever we do must fit into what Jesus Christ came to do. Because we can have no other Ministry outside the Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Personal focus and desires must always find convergence in Christ Jesus.

In 1 Corinthians 1:22-24, let’s hear Apostle Paul speaking. He says, For Jews request a Sign, and Greeks seek after Wisdom; but we Preach Christ Crucified, to the Jews a Stumbling Block and to the Greeks Foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.

It is interesting that Apostle Paul talked about what the Jews are looking for. And he never fulfilled what they were looking for.

The Jews were looking for a Sign. He said, I am not going to give ve you a Sign.

The Greek said they are looking for Wisdom. He said, I am not going to give you Wisdom: I am going to give you Christ, who is the All in all.

Paul acknowledged that his Ministry was a Continuation of the Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

WHAT IS MY MINISTRY FOCUS?

I am going to talk about Seven (7) Things that are my Ministry Focus: Seven (7) Ideas that represent the thrust of what I am hoping to achieve.

1. To Preach the Gospel of Christ so that People can experience Salvation from sin through God’s Saving Grace.

This is the Primary focus of all Christian Ministry.

The Lord Jesus Christ Commanded us to go into the world and Preach the Gospel to everyone.

Jesus described the Preaching of the Gospel as the Proclamation of the Acceptable year of the Lord – The Proclamation of God’s year of favour.

That means God is not angry with you to destroy – God loves you, He wants to save, rescue and deliver you.

It’s like somebody rescuing a Person who is trying to commit suicide – The Person is at some building, at the top and he wants to throw himself down; and a Negotiator is sent to go and talk to him.

What is the Negotiator going to say?

Is the Negotiator going to say, “hey, you are about to die?” Or he is going to tell the Person, “listen, your Parents love you, we all love you and we want to save you. We want you to be free?”

Out of these two (2) Messages, which do you think is going to be more appealing to the guy who wants to commit suicide?

It is not the Message of “you are going to die”; it is the Message of “you are loved, you can be rescued, and you can have a new Life.”

That is the Acceptable Year of the Lord that Jesus came to Proclaim: That for those who have no hope, there is hope. And that God can save them. So that in Him, they may have Life and have Life more Abundantly.

… And that my friend, is the Gospel.

The Gospel is Good News – The Gospel is not criticism of human behaviour; the Gospel is the Proclamation of God’s Love to redeem even the most despicable Sinner and make that Person a Child of God.

And I am committed to Preach this Message – It is my Ministry Focus: to Preach the Good News, not the Bad News. That when People give their lives to Christ, they would have New lives.

When I am talking to Unbelievers (Sinners); I don’t criticize their sins because they are already Sinners – I Point them to the Saviour who can deliver them from their sins.

What Good is it to tell a bad man, “you are evil?”

Yes, you have affirmed who he is, but the Gospel says you can be made Righteous, you can be made Better, you can be Delivered. Your sins can be forgiven if you give your Life to Jesus Christ.

Good News is not an affirmation of the sins of the People; Good News is the Proclamation of Deliverance through Christ Jesus.

And that is what my Ministry focuses on.

In the Ministry of Jesus, the only People He criticized were the Religious People – The Pharisees, the Scribes, the Teachers of the Law!

But when it comes to People like Zacheous, the woman caught in Adultery; all these bad People, Jesus never condemned them. He never spoke evil about them.

He encouraged them to experience New Lives!

And that is what the Ministry of Christ is all about.

2. To Affirm and Exalt Jesus Christ as the True Lord over all Powers of evil and Manifestations of Spiritual Darkness.

It is part of my Ministry Focus to emphasize the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated all Powers of evil and Spiritual Darkness.

Many times People receive Jesus as the Lord of their lives; but they don’t see Him as the Lord of everything that is evil in this world.

The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is Lord over all Satanic Principalities and Powers.

Many African Christians Struggle with the Lordship of Jesus – They feel that although Jesus is Lord, the forces of Darkness are not fully under His Control.

And some Christians feel they must continuously fight against Evil Spirits, in order to experience Victory.

And that view goes totally against the New Testament – Which clearly shows that Jesus defeated Satan and made a Public Example of him.

What God has defeated, we do not continue fighting.

If you believe He is Lord over all Principalities and Powers, you don’t live your Life afraid of Evil Spirits, and expend all your Prayer time coming against Evil Spirits; binding the devil and binding Satan.

Because, most of us, all our Prayer is to gain Mastery over the devil.

And Jesus says, just trust me; I did that job for you; trust me, I have overcome this guy (Satan).

But Africans don’t like it that way! We like hard job.

But it is my Ministry Focus to Affirm and Exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and the True Lord over all Principalities and Powers.

• He is Lord over all gods, idols and deities.
• He is Lord over all Demonic Manifestations.
• He is Lord over all Witchcraft and Evil Curses.
• He is Lord over all the Curses in your Bloodline.
• He is Lord over every Man and Woman of God.
• He is Lord over your Present and Future Realities.

Jesus is Lord! And no matter how you feel, He is Lord:

• And I am never going to Preach a Message that diminishes the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• I am never going to Preach a Message that emphasizes the Power of Satan.
• I am never going to Preach a Message that shows how bad the devil is.

I am going to Preach Messages to show you how Powerful Jesus is; how much His Salvation and His Deliverances are.

There is no Curse I can break that Christ has not already broken; there is no Victory I can Preach that Christ has not already given. It is not in my Place to deliver you. He has already Delivered you. If you are Born Again, filled with the Spirit of God, you are already Delivered.

Somebody say: I am Delivered!

Two Thousand (2,000) years ago, on a Hill called Calvary:

• God became man, hung on a tree and died.
• Was buried, and He rose again on the third (3rd) day.
• When He rose again He said, “All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth” (Matthew 28:18)

How dare you diminish that?

How dare you belittle that?

How dare you believe that your tiny Village has so many Demons that God Himself who died for you cannot deliver you – That it takes something else for you to be Delivered?

The reality is the Word of God; the Pretension is your Experience – And the Word of God says: Jesus is Lord!

Somebody say: Jesus is Lord!

3. Encourage Christians to trust in the Sufficiency of the Scriptures to answer all the Important Questions of Life.

The Bible is the Word of God – It does not just contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God. It is Complete and Sufficient for all our Instruction in Righteousness.

The Scriptures reveal God to us, reveal His Will to us, reveal why God created us, what God expects from us, the state of Human Beings, how God relate with Human Beings, what God has done to Satan, what God has done for us in Christ.

And then reveals the Final state of Human Beings – Those who believe and those who do not believe.

It is food for our Souls and Spirits – And I endeavour to root everything in my Belief system to the Scriptures.

If it is not affirmed with the rightly interpreted Scripture Provisions, I don’t believe it.

You show me, and it is not Scriptural, I don’t believe it – Because, “let God be true and all men liars.”

We don’t walk by what we see, we have walk by what God says.

Jesus said, It is written, Man shall not live by Bread alone, but by every Word that Proceeds out of the mouth of God – Matthew 4:4

The Bible is Sufficient, Efficient and Proficient for every Question you have in Life.

It is your Enabler, your Wisdom, your Life, your Instructor, your Motivator and your Encourager.

Whatever Question you have, you’ll find the answer there in the Bible.

Of course, it would not be the answers to Questions like, “who stole the yam in my Village?”

You are not going to find a Bible Passage for that.

But it will show you the Character of thiefs and based of that, you can make your own deduction as to who stole the yam.

4. Make Christians aware of the Triumphant Life that is available to them through the indwelling Power of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian Life is a Triumphant Life and it is a Victorious Life.

Christ died and rose from the dead to give us Victory.

Although Christians experience Sufferings, Pains and all kinds of Struggles in their lives; we have the assurance that in Christ we are more than Conquerors.

We may not have Freedom from every Pain, and from every Suffering; we we may not have Freedom from every disadvantage, but in all of them, we are More Than Conquerors.

A Christian can be going through difficulty and still conquer.

A Christian can be going through pain and still win.

We can cry and still experience Joy.

The Christian Life does not exempt us from Suffering and Pain; but the Christian Life give us Victory through our Pain and Suffering because in all things, we come out Victorious through Jesus.

The Christian Life is a Triumphant Life – It is not a Mediocre Life.

It is not a Life of running away from Demons, Principalities, Powers, Witches and Wizards.

For most of you, almost all the Prayer you Pray is a run away Prayer – You are Praying to run away from some dark force.

An African is so “Incurably Spirited” – It is so engraved in our world view that we constantly look for some kind of Spiritual Manifestation troubling ourselves:

We see a cockroach on the wall, demon.

A frog just jumped and got into your bedroom, demon.

A nice lizard running away from the heat comes to hide under your bed, and you are binding and casting, in Jesus’ Name.

The lizard is like, “what have I done? – I just want a cool atmosphere.”

An owl just Perched on the tree, demon!

Thanks be to God who causes us to triumph always in all things through Christ – 1 Corinthians 15:57.

I don’t know what you are going through, but you will Triumph over it – Amen.

I don’t know what Life has brought against you, but you will Triumph over it – Amen.

You may be Weeping today, but you are going to overcome that – Amen.

You may be down now today, but you will be up – Amen.

That is the Christian Story – It is Triumphant in Christ Jesus. And ultimately, even in death we will be triumphant – Amen.

Some People die and die; we will die and live (in Christ) – Amen.

The Christian Life is a Triumphant Life; and it is my Commitment to focus your attention to that;

In Christ we Triumph over sin, over the desires of the flesh, over the Old Adamic Nature, over Adultery, and over all Powers of Darkness.

5. Break the Culture of Fear, Subservient and Dependency in the African Society: because of the effects of Idolatry, Slavery and Colonialism.

As an African I am aware of the Challenges that come with Black Africans.

But I believe God called me as an African to speak to the Culture I was born out of.

It doesn’t mean I believe Africa is Superior to other Continents, No!

All I am saying is, when God calls you out of a People, He sends you to them as well; to answer the Question of the People.

Questions of fear, of Subservient, of Inferiority and Complete Dependency – Our inability to take hold of our lives and run our lives.

We’ve always wished that somebody would pick up our lives and run it for us.

Simple decisions are difficult for most of us – We always want somebody to tell us what to do.

That is why the so called Prophets have a Free-Day in our Continent (African).

Because we don’t know how to take Charge of our lives; we don’t know how to make decisions; we are constantly unsure of ourselves – And it’s an African Thing!

Most People in other Continents of the world have learnt how to make decisions and bear the consequences of their Choices and their Actions but we somehow just want somebody else to make those decisions for us. And there is a history to it:

It is bind up in Idolatry, in Slavery and in Colonialism – A Triple Heritage!

6. Promote Christian Work Ethic that is rooted in Productivity, in Pursuit of Excellence and Prosperity for Honest Labour.

I believe that God wants us to do well – He wants us to live our lives in Dignity and Honour.

At the heart of Human Dignity is work.

After the fall, God told Adam that he will eat through his sweat and toil.

It is dignifying to sweat and to toil in your field – Hard work is Honourable.

It is through our sweat and toil that we become Productive Human Beings and Prosperity comes from Productivity.

… And I believe we must aim for the highest level of Performance in all we do.

I believe God wants us to prosper but I don’t believe in Magical Prosperity.

• I believe in sweat and toil prosperity.
• I believe you must sweat, work hard and trust God to bless the work of your hands.

That’s how we Prosper, and that’s how we do it.

God said to Adam, the Earth will Produce thorns and thistles for you – It is cursed. But if you Labour and you toil, you would eat.

In other words, you can be in a Cursed Environment but through toil and Labour, you will live a Dignified Life.

When you are in a tough situation; He gives you a Miracle and turns the situation around.

But it is not the Pattern of Life – The Pattern of Life is, wake up and work till you feel tired.

Hard work is not a curse; Labour is not a curse; getting up and going to hustle everyday is not a curse; standing by the roadside and selling is not a curse; being at your workshop and knocking things together is not a curse; being a Seamstress, standing in your feet to dress People’s hair, working hard as a Sanitation Person, sweeping and cleaning the street is not a curse – Hard work is not a curse!

Some do it as Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, Preachers; some Study Languages to have an Understanding of the documents that are forty (40) years old, and make it relevant in 2024.

You cannot say, “God will bless me if I don’t work hard” – You have to work hard, and you have to make a Choice in your Labour because, everybody’s work is hard.

The Person hawking and carrying something on their head, that is hard work.

The Heavy weight Person who wrestles – That’s hard work.

The Footballer who is playing and People are just kicking his feet and he is having all kinds of injuries – That’s hard work.

Everybody is working hard!

7. Empower Christians to take up Leadership Responsibility in all Spheres of Life and make Christ always known in their lives.

“Raising Leaders, Shaping Visions, Influencing our Societies through Christ.”

And when I talk about Leadership, I am not talking about a Positional one or a Title; I am talking about an attitude and a responsibility. Christians must get to a Place and be able to take Charge.

We must be Salt of the Earth – We cannot hide or run away from the world.

Wherever you go remember this: “you are an Ambassador of Christ.”

You are His Ambassador in a Fitting Workshop, in the Operative Theater, at the Hospital as a Doctor or a Nurse.

Wherever you go, wherever you work, you are an Ambassador of Christ – That’s what Leadership is!

You are not only going because Christ has Placed you there:

• You are going there to be Salt.
• You are going to make Him known as Light.
• You are going to Showcase Jesus.

That’s Leadership!!!

You may not get a Certificate for that; but when your Light is Shinning everybody follows you.

You may be the Lowest Paid Officer in your office; but everybody looks up to you.

People honour and respect you.

People come to you for Advice because you Showcase Christ wherever you go

That is what True Leadership is all about.

Those Seven (7) Things I have talked about are my Ministry Focus because I believe that’s what God wants me to focus on.

There would be other Pastors who focus on other things. I have no Problem with that.

Peter said, “such as I have I give…” This is what I give.

And if any of these Seven (7) Things resonate with you and they are of your Aspiration and what you want to become in Life.

Then you are listening to the right Message or should I says that you are reading the right Message now on the Label of DMC!

And it will help you become the Person that God wants you to be – Amen.

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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