“In times like this God listens to us, and pleading on behalf of our fellow brothers and sisters is a true exhibition of God’s nature. We have gathered here today for an important tradition of the church, which is to plead for the departed loved ones who cannot speak for themselves, as they find themselves in situation they never expected”, began Lead Apostle Oppong-Brenya on Sunday 4th July, 2021 at the Cape Coast Central Church.

The occasion was the divine service for departed on Sunday 4th July, 2021, for the brothers and sisters in the Cape Coast district rector area. He was accompanied by Apostle Ashie Kotei of Cape Coast Apostle Area.

The bible text for the divine service was read from Isaiah 26:1-3 “In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: ‘We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.’”

Striving for the wages
Lead Apostle Oppong-Brenya encouraged the congregants to strife on for the wages, as he compared the battle of salvation to wrestling. He said regardless of how difficult the game of wrestling is, wrestlers never give up. “If an ordinary metal title can motivate, how much more a promised eternity! Let us keep our eyes on the price, every hard battle comes with its good reward.”

Strength in the Lord’s house
Elaborating on the bible text, the Lead Apostle emphasized the strength of the Israelites was in the house of the Lord: “There is protection in the house of the Lord. This is why we have to open the doors of the church for others to come in, if a nation is great and outsiders do not have access into the city, how would their so called greatness be known?” He quizzed and reiterated salvation is not only for us, “let us therefore open the gate for others.” He referred to those who have been baptized with water and the Holy Spirit, and partake in the holy communion as already in the righteous nation. “They belong to the royal family, as they believed in one God and Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.”

Open the doors with joy
The congregants were reminded of their task: “The Son of God commissioned us to open up the doors and help bring others in and if each of us should win a single soul in a year, we can easily fulfill this commission.” The Lead Apostle implored the congregation to open the door with joy and plead for the departed, and said “many of them are wounded, chained, oppressed and grieved with so much sorrow. But by the grace of God, they are going to be washed with the precious blood of Jesus and dine with him.” This is not by law but by grace, through the forgiveness of sin, he stated.
 
In conclusion the Lead Apostle called on the congregants to hold on to their faith: “Our faith is like a car and the house of the lord is a fuel station, we should therefore be regular in the house of the Lord to keep the car going.”