Divine services for the departed take place three times a year, on the first Sunday of March, July, and November respectively. New Apostolic Christians offer intercessory prayers on these occasions that souls who have died in an unredeemed state may find salvation in Christ.

On Sunday, 3rd November 2019, at the Kukuom and Tema congregations, District Rector Addo Dapaa (Kukuom District, Sunyani Apostle Area) and Shepherd Amponsah (Accra Apostle Area) celebrated the divine service for the departed with our brethren.

Forth, Forth Our Hearts to Heaven
At Kukuom, District Rector Dapaa read a text from Colossians 3:1, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.”
In his sermon, the District Rector explained that Christians will not only die in Christ but rise with Him, in the likeness of His resurrection, that we may walk in newness of life; in Christ, we become new beings.
He also explained that the things above are things pertaining to our true home, “the New Jerusalem” and “the heavenly citizenship”. These include the vision of Christ, the enjoyment of God, which are promoted by our fuller knowledge of Him and our growing love for Him as well as through the manifold expressions of His love to us.
District Rector Addo Dapaa was assisted by Shepherd Williams Abekah.

Jesus, Lover of Our Souls
Serving the Tema congregation with the text word Psalm 34:18: ‘The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit’, Shepherd Amponsah Boateng highlighted the ever loving nature of God, taking on a human form to live on earth as Jesus Christ. Doing so, the Lord personally gave comfort and solace to the suffering and broken hearted, but above all, salvation to repentant hearts; both living and departed.
He said: “Jesus Christ understands us. He took on the human body and lived among us. He was true God and true man. In our current sufferings, Jesus Christ experienced and suffered even worse.”
“Jesus saves!” the Shepherd continued. “He has all the power over life and death; He can do all things. In the text word (which is of praise and prophecy), David praised the Lord for delivering him from his desolation and point of death.”
“The Lord does watch over us, and draws near to the broken-hearted. In our penitence, the Lord does hear our prayers and saves us. And in our humble intercessory prayers, the Lord redeems repentant souls in the beyond” he concluded.
Priests Tetteh, Tulashie and Badu assisted the service.