In one heart and belief, connected to the Chief Apostle all around the world, our family of the New Apostolic Church, celebrated the second Divine Service for the Departed for this year on 7th July 2019. At Nkawkaw (Nkawkaw district) and Tema (Accra East district), our family members shared this special occasion with their Rectors, Shepherds Eric Donkor and Boateng Amponsah respectively.
Both divine services were based on the bible text Ezekiel 34:12, ‘As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.’
Jesus Our Shepherd, Man His Flock
At Nkawkaw, Shepherd Donkor explained to the 179 souls gathered that Jesus Christ is the Shepherd and mankind is His flock. Jesus came to share the gospel of salvation to all. And to all who turn to Him in faithful belief become His flock to be safely kept and are to be saved from eternal damnation; a commission He continues to task the Apostles’ ministry with. He explained that the lost sheep are all who do not know or have turned a deaf ear to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, both in the living and beyond.
Community Evangelist Awuah and Priest Isaac Osarfo supported service.
Reaching Out to the Lost Sheep
In his sermon, Shepherd Amponsah said to the 130 attendants at Tema, “We are the Lord’s children. We have been baptized with Water and the Holy Spirit; and so we are complete in Him. When the pressures of this world pulls us away from His loving flock and shepherd’s fold of love, He does feel and care to seek out for us. We, are also required to be shepherds to our socially, emotionally or geographically distanced brothers and sisters. Seek their welfare, encourage and comfort them, stretch out a helping hand and bring them back home.”
Priest Samuel Tetteh assisted the Tema Congregational Rector in the service.