Apostle Opoku Mensah of the Nkawkaw Apostle area conducted a united divine service at the Kade congregation in the Kwaebibirem district on Sunday, 15th May 2022. It was a happy joint service when members from the Kade district met their newly ordained Apostle for the first time.

The text word for the divine service was taken from 1 Samuel 10:6, ‘Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.’

Apostle Mensah began by saying “When the Spirit of the Lord comes into your life, and you give it the opportunity, it causes great transformation in you. People around you will see that, yes, something new is happening in your life”. He asked:  “Are people in our neighbourhood, church and work place seeing this great manifestation of the Holy spirit in our lives? Are they giving glory to God because of the works of the Holy Spirit in our lives?”

The Spirit inspires obedience
Recounting the story of Samuel, acting on behalf of the Spirit to direct King Saul, the Apostle narrated that the Spirit of God instructed Saul to utterly destroy everything in the nation of Amelek and not spare nor take anything living or object with him. Although Saul meant well to sacrifice the best of the livestock to God, he had disobeyed God’s instructions and placed his will and desire ahead of God’s. Subsequently, he was rejected by the Spirit of God as the King of Israel and his reign suffered a great deal afterwards.

“When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, we need to be obedient and do exactly as the Lord and our Apostles tell us to do. Do not let us assume that doing otherwise will glorify the Lord; we should always have in mind that obedience is better than sacrifice.”

Jesus moved with the Holy Spirit
When Jesus was baptized in the river of Jordan, the Spirit of the Lord descended on Him like a dove. Subsequently, Jesus was empowered and strengthened by the Holy Spirit in all His works and ways. He obeyed the will of the Father and kept to His task here on earth no matter the circumstance; the Spirit manifested Himself in Jesus. He went about preaching the gospel and healing the sick. The Apostle emphasised: “Something should change positively in our lives when we receive the Holy Spirit. We must also move with the Spirit and let the Spirit direct and sustain our relationship with our Heavenly Father.”

The manifestation of the Spirit in the Apostles
On the day of Ascension, Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit as their comforter and guide. The Holy Spirit did descend onto them and enabled them. They began to speak in different tongues, preach, forgive sins and work miracles as the Spirit motivated them to do. They preached the gospel of Christ to the Jews and to every nation under the heavens.

Ending his sermon, Apostle Opoku-Mensah said, “There are countless manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the scriptures in people’s lives. It was evident wherever they went. We have also received the Holy Spirit, let us allow Him to manifest in our lives so that people will see that great change and give glory to God.”

The joint congregation comprised of members from Kade, Akwatia, Twumwusu and Nkwantanang. Thirty (30) members were sealed with the Holy Spirit.