As part of the Accra East District Youth program for the year 2020, a Zonal Youth divine service was held for the youth members of Tema, Ashaiman, Sun City and Gulf City congregations on 23rd February 2020 at the Ashaiman congregation premises. District Elder Ebenezer Adjei led the service.

The District leader advised the youth with a text word from Genesis 25:29-32, ‘Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.  And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”’

The blessing of the firstborn. District Elder Adjei explained the special blessing attached to all firstborns in any Jewish family. “With the Jews, all firstborns inherit a special blessing. This was a covenant made by God with the Israelites, that any firstborn will be blessed. Till today, Jews take the birthright of all firstborns very seriously.”
 
Will you sell your birthright? Following an explanation for the context of the text word, the district leader highlighted the importance of the blessings in our election and firstling in God by asking the youth some rhetorical questions:
* “Will you sell your birthright in God?”
* “Do you recognize the value of our inheritance as children of God?”
* “Do you value our eternal future as prepared for this congregation by our Lord Jesus?

We can easily become Esau. “What happened to Esau can easily happen to us” he said. “Maybe out of enjoyment, or in search of a job or out of the pressures of marriage; we can lose our inheritance.” Drawing from an example of Naboth’s defence of his inheritance against King Ahab of Samaria in the book of 1st Kings, the district rector encouraged the youth not to lose focus on our eternal heritage.

“We face the same worldly pressures just as Naboth faced from Ahab. We have an inheritance in our faith, in the bridal preparation to meet our Heavenly Father. There is a price attached to this inheritance; we shall be transformed into eternal beings, and there we shall see our Lord Jesus Christ, and live with Him as royals. For this reason, we must cherish our rebirth, and our firsthood in Christ.”

Let us count our blessings. He further advised the youth: “My beloved, in the New Apostolic Church the bridal congregation is continually prepared. In our faith, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit after baptism with water. We also await the return of Jesus and the first resurrection. Thus, He has given us the name that we shall be called the sons of God.”  

He concluded: “Let us not lose our inheritance. Let us value what we receive in our divine services, and receive these divine gifts as our inheritance with joy. Let us count our blessings, in our birthright, daily one by one. Let us always come to the Lord with open hearts and the Lord will bless us.”

The district leader was supported by Shepherds Afenyo, Boateng as well as Community Evangelists Kanatey, Bone and Priest Tetteh.