THE ESSENCE OF MINISTRY – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA);10TH MARCH 2024
SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)
TOPIC: THE ESSENCE OF MINISTRY
DATE: 10TH MARCH 2024*
BIBLE TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:5-10
Last week I talked about my Ministry Focus. Today I am doing ICGC at 40. And my Topics is, “THE ESSENCE OF MINISTRY”.
In 2 Corinthians 4:5-10, this is the Apostle Paul writing – The Corinthian Church was one of the difficult Churches that the Apostle Paul dealt with. It was a Church of Great Promise and also Great Difficulty.
They did do many things right and so many things wrong.
And he wrote two (2) long Letters to them. In 2 Corinthians 4:5-10 this is what Paul says (NKJV):
5 For we do not Preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For it is the God who commanded Light to Shine out of Darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in Earthen Vessels, that the Excellence of the Power may be of God and not of us.
8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are Perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
10 Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
The Apostle Paul in essence is talking about the real essence of Ministry, of what God has called us to do – He has called us to manifest Christ and to make Him known.
And in the last two (2) weeks, I have shared extensively on my Ministry Values and my Ministry Focus.
DMC NOTES: You can get to read the Full Text of both Messages on this Link:
Our Bible Text today – 2 Corinthians 4:5-10 summarizes and captures everything I believed that the Christian Ministry is supposed to be.
- That we do not Preach ourselves, we Preach Christ.
- That we who serve as Pastors are Slaves and Bondservants for Jesus’ sake. We are not Masters, we are Bondservants.
- And it is God who make all things Possible, because we are just Earthen Vessels.
And yet He does so many amazing things with us, so that we can end up saying, “To God be the Glory.”
And that is how I feel – That as we celebrate our Fortieth (40th) Anniversary in ICGC; the only thing I can say is, “To God be the Glory for the Great Things He has done”.
When I was growing up as a Young Christan, the Christian Ministries didn’t last for long.
Those days some of the Great Men and Women of God we came to meet in the 70’s were used by God tremendously. But their Ministries lasted for very short Periods of time.
Now, when I think of it, some of them were very effective for just three (3) years, and then Nobody heard of them again.
Some of them were very effective for five (5) years, and Nobody heard of them again.
Some of them built huge things, and in just five (5) to six (6) years everything was down and they left.
Some of them are still living; but after forty (40) years, they stopped doing Prominent works for God.
And so, staying in Ministry for forty (40) years, there are People way better, far more Gifted than us, who have not done anything in the last forty (40) years.
“But we have this Treasure in Earthen Vessels, that the Excellence of the Power may be of God and not of us” – 2 Corinthians 4:7
God wants to put us in a Place where we can only say, “Only God could have done this; and only God could have kept us together as a Church.”
Through all that we’ve been through – “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are Perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken” – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We’ve gone through rain, through flood; but the Lord has kept us.
… And only God could have done that.
And the reason God does it is to leave Himself a Witness, a Testimony that: As He does for your Church, He can do for your Life.
And for the things that He wants you to do – That God will be with you and He will keep you, He will Prosper and sustain you – Amen.
Because, sometimes Life can be tough; but the Grace of God is your Sufficiency – Amen.
And I just want to encourage every one of you here today, or reading now on the Label of DMC – I don’t know what you are doing: You may not be a Pastor but you a doing something.
May God give you a Story Greater than what we’ve experienced today – Amen.
If you are a Business man or Woman; we want you to build a business that does not only last for forty (40) years, but goes on and on for over three hundred (300) years ahead of you – Amen
That your work would not Perish in your hands – Your work would be enhanced – Amen.
That your family would not Perish in your hands and your Marriage would not Perish in your hands – Amen.
That whatever God gives to you would be sustained and would be kept together for the years ahead – Amen.
What God does for us as a Church, He wants to do for you as a Person, as an Individual – He is the same God, the same Bible, the same Holy Spirit, the same Grace that is your Sufficiency.
So, as we mark our forty (40) years, I am trusting God that you will also mark Great years in your Life in the things that you do – Amen.
One of the things that I really want to see is building something that outlives each one of us and keeps going.
Churches are not like businesses – Most businesses would last may be forty (40) years, a New Technology would come and knock off the business.
In the last few years of Vulnerability, Companies have gone bankrupt. But Churches are made to last for thousands of years.
So, we expect the Church of God to go on for thousands of years!
Churches are Lifelong Establishments and Institutions and so we must build a Church that has within it the DNA that survives for a very long time.
And that means that the Choices and Decisions we make now, the Actions we take now must always be focused on building a Legacy that outlives each one of us.
If we make ourselves the Center of everything that is happening, we will not be able to build for those who are yet to be born.
Because in the next forty (40) years, if you add forty (40) years to your Present age, you can determine where you will be.
I am not pronouncing your future – Just add forty (40) years to your age.
I was having a chat with my wife and she said, “so it means that somebody who was even a year old when the church (ICGC) started is forty one (41) years; a baby who was born the day the Church started is forty (40) years old” – That’s awesome!
But the next forty (40) years – Add forty (40) years to your age now: some of us would be before Jesus, while others will still be on Earth.
But if you add another forty (40) years – Eighty (80) years from now; then Nobody who is here or reading this Message now on the Label of DMC in the year 2024 is likely to be there.
And if you add another forty (40) years – One hundred and twenty (120) years from now: a whole New Generation, a whole New People would be around.
A whole New Pastors, New Worship Leaders would be around then.
I don’t know the instruments they would be using – Whether there would be Microphones, you have no idea!
Technology would have Changed Profoundly.
But Jesus Christ is the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever” – Hebrews 13:8
I believe that if the Apostle Paul comes to our Churches today, he would not find his way out because he didn’t have a Screen, he didn’t have a Platform. Microphones were not there, Speakers were not invented.
None of these were there!
There was no Air-Conditioning in his time.
But the same Message he Preached is what we are Preaching – The Technology has Changed, things are Modernized, but the Gospel is still the same.
And that’s how it’s going to be one hundred and twenty (120) years from now! – Technology would be mind-blowing: People may come to Church sitting on chairs that float or whatever; but the Gospel is still the same!
Time does not Change God, does not devalue God, does not depreciate the Power of the Gospel – The Gospel would remain the same for ever.
Now, what we need to do in this time, is to build our Churches in such a way that one hundred and twenty (120) years from now, when all of us are not here; there would be a Church that still loves Jesus, and still Proclaiming Jesus as “the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever.”
There would still be a Pastor quoting from the Bible – May not be from a Book, but it may be from another Technological Device.
But the words must be the same – “In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth” – Genesis 1:1
It used to be written on Stones, Tablets, Scrolls, on Paper then; but mow it s written Digitally. But the words are the same – “In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth”.
The Church s Permanent! Technology Changes, but Christ remains; God remains.
And we must build the Church that remains in spite of the Changes of Time – Amen!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
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