The teachings were in a sermon delivered by the Vice-Chancellor at the preparatory retreat towards the commissioning of the 2022 batch of ministerial students of the School of Theology, Mission and Leadership of 51¶ŻÂţ.

With multiple biblical references including Obadiah 21, Daniel 7:26, Revelation 11:15 and Ephesians 3:10, the man of God clearly established that God’s purpose is that, the Kingdoms of the world would become His. He said “God’s agenda is revealed- He called Abraham (Gen. 12); out of him the nation, Israel (Deut. 7:6)- his treasured possession; and most importantly out of Israel, Christ Jesus, the Saviour, but His intent is as revealed in Eph. 3:10, “… through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Speaking on the call of ministers, Aps. Prof. Agyapong-Kodua said that through them, God’s purpose will be accomplished. He said “everything God is doing or going to do with us is for one purpose- to facilitate His agenda of reclaiming the Kingdoms of this world unto Himself.” He added that, “another way of putting that is, ‘the purpose of our call as Ministers is to pursue the possessing the nations agenda.’” The revered minister said, “It is a lifelong agenda”, and actually the heartbeat of Christ.”

On the kind of ministers that can fulfil the purpose, the 51¶ŻÂţ VC alerted that, “everything is warming up to the day that all the Kingdoms of the world will surrender to the authority of God” and that ministers have been called as agents to facilitate that. To achieve this objective, ministers are to be filled with the: (1) power of the Holy Spirit; and (2) lifestyle of Christ. He echoed that these two attributes are essential for the success of ministry.

In addition, the VC urged the soon-to-be-ordained ministers to channel the “enablers” of the faith to achieve the purpose of the faith. He enumerated activities such as evangelism, baptism, prayers, worship, among others, as useful enablers but should be intentionally channelled to equip people to accomplish the ultimate purpose- “possessing the nations.” He ended the sermon with a prayer for impartation of the Holy Spirit on the ministerial students.

The School of Theology, Mission and Leadership is a school under the 51¶ŻÂţ. It is responsible for training individuals called into the full time ministry of The Church of Pentecost and those interested in biblical and theological studies. It plays a critical role in the University A+ agenda of 51¶ŻÂţ.

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Speaking at the morning session of the first day of a 3-day retreat on Wednesday 6^th  October 2021, at 51¶ŻÂţ’s School of Theology, Mission and Leadership, the Vice Chancellor identified three main things: (1) that in comparison with the old covenant, the ministry they have received gives life and not death; it is more glorious; brings righteousness and not condemnation; it is permanent and not transitory; it is written on the hearts of people, not engraved on stones; and it is the ministry of the Spirit (2 Cor 3:7-11). (2) Despite the glorious attributes described in above, this heavenly treasure is contained in jars of clay (2 Cor 4:7). Hence the “condition of the jar or vessel can discolour the life within”.. Prof. Agyapong-Kodua said he said” The state of the jar therefore determines the ministry that it can give birth to.

He alerted that, the container or jar can be broken, crushed, and even leak hence must be treated with great spiritual care. He concluded with (3) that, the container can be worked on and be remoulded as depicted in Jeremiah 18 of the bible. He said, “we only have to allow ourselves to be remoulded by God and presented unto Himself, useful vessels for His glorious ministry.” (2 Tim 2:20). He emphasized that, whoever Jesus picks, He modifies, remoulds and energizes for His great work of ministry, if the individual is willing and ready.

When the University A^+Ěý VC was taking the students through the processes that will ensure victory in their ministry, he mentioned among other things that, “adequate preparation is key.” He said, “no good soldier goes to war without preparing.” He continued by saying that, preaching alone does not guarantee victory. Quoting from Proverbs 21:31, he affirmed that although preparation does not guarantee success, it is a reflection on our worship and respect for the One who has called us and the role we have been called into.

He alerted that preparations reduce mistakes. In other words, for one to be victorious without much mistakes, the person ought to prepare well. He said this to encourage the students to take their preparation at STML seriously before they leave for their various stations.

Praising the lecturers and staff of the School, he asked the students to make good use of them. Pointing at some of the lecturers present, he said “make good use of the finest ministers we have.” He told them to engage these experienced ministers and learn from them, in other to avoid or reduce mistakes in their ministry and lives.

Apostle Professor Agyapong-Kodua again challenged the students not to repeat the mistakes they once criticized their ministers of doing. “You know what you didn’t like about your ministers, so do not do those things when you also become a minister” he stressed.

Comparing their former employment to this greater call, Apostle said, ministers should wake up early to spend quality time with God in prayers, read and meditate upon the word of God, for ministry calls for hard work.  He said, doing the work of God is a serious business – “a noble task” (1 Tim 3:1)- the business of winning souls and preparing them for Christ is the most serious task. He therefore asked the students to start from now and spend good time in deep prayers, studying the word of God and reading good biblical literature.

He advised that, there is grace for all who wait on God and there is supernatural growth in ministry for those who allow God to work on them and their ministries. He added, “whoever engages with God all through his ministry will receive phenomenal growth, to the praise of our God.” He emphasized once more as he concluded and led the students in intensive prayers.

Story by

ALEX NANA OWUSU NKRUMAH

PRO, SRC, STML