In the Garden of Eden, God established a divine eternal perfect fellowship with man. Sadly, man lost this standing with God; this unabated intimate interaction where God and man were in the same place and time. However, Jesus, through His work and sacrifice on earth, has reestablished this fellowship in our hearts. The Spirit of God now dwells in His Temple, built in our hearts, through the belief and living of the Apostles doctrine, began Lead Apostle Samuel Oppong-Brenya as he conducted the Pentecost divine service.
On this day, he celebrated this special anniversary of the Church with the brethren at the Tarkwa Central congregation. The bible text for the service was taken from 1 Corinthians 3:16, ‘Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?.’
Foundation of the Church
The Northern Ghana Leader, in a brief expository about the foundations of this Church of Christ, narrated that the Church was established over 2,022 years ago. “No one is expected to build any foundation apart from what Jesus Himself built. Jesus said to the Apostles that when the Holy Spirit comes, He shall direct you into all truth and upon which the Church shall grow.” The outpouring of the Holy Spirit provided talents and gifts to the Apostles which gave them the needed strength to build the church. They continued steadfastly in the teachings of Jesus (Apostles' doctrine) and fellowship, in the breaking of bread (Holy Communion) and in prayers.
The fruits of the Spirit
According to Galatians 5:22 the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. He said: “If we are able to practice the preaching from the Apostles, we can also exhibit the fruits of the Spirit so people can look to our lives and be drawn to Jesus. Let pray for our enemies, forgive those who trespass against us and give to those who ask from us. Our Lord, who has given us the grace, is expecting us to do the good deeds of the spirit and with this we can build on the foundation of the Church.”
God’s Spirit remains in us
God has built a temple in us through Jesus Christ because the temple built by King Solomon was destroyed by the activities of our forefathers. “Believing in the gospel maintains the temple of Christ. Participating in the celebration of the Holy Communion grows the Spirit in us. The grace is sufficient to sustain us and beyond if we believe in Jesus Christ.”
“Let us accept the gospel in faith and believe Jesus Christ. Let us celebrate this day of Pentecost; the disciples waited for this day in the establishment of the Church. Let us remain united and continue to build this temple, His Church, till our Lord returns.” he concluded.
Apostle George Sam and Priest Peter Buabeng assisted the service. Priest Peter Buabeng was later retired from his ministerial work.