By Boluwatife Oparinde
Christ Apostolic church, Oke Igbala Districts' Coordinating Council (DCC), Akure, Odubanjo Region has held her 2023 Annual Refresher Course and special prayers for Ministers, Elders, Deaconesses, Church workers and members of the church.
This year's refresher course themed “Providing our Growth through sound doctrine" taken from 2nd Timothy 2:15 held at the DCC Headquarters, under two lectures and a heartfelt prayer session.
Pastor Julius Abiodun delivered the first lecture titled "Bridging the gap between the old and new Generation in growing the church of God" while the Odubanjo Regional Superintendent, Pastor Benjamin O. Akanmu delivered the second lecture titled “Growing the Church of God through self knowledge and responsibility” and the third session, dedicated for prayers was anchored by the General Overseer of Prayer Center Church of God Worldwide, Prophet Samson Oluwamodede.
The Superintendent, CAC Oke Igbala DCC, Pastor Solomon Abayomi Olaiya in his welcome address and speaking on the text, observed the need for sound knowledge and acquisition of individual abilities for Christians to be committed in the house of God.
In the first lecture, Pastor Julius Abiodun citing Jeremiah 6:16 which says “stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls”, described church growth as everything involved in the process of bringing unbelieving men and women into fellowship with Jesus Christ and becoming responsible church members.
The cleric who also identified three main component of church growth as Qualitative growth, Quantitative growth and Organisational growth, affirmed the need for proper maintenance of these components for balance, ffective and realistic growth of the church.
In bridging existing gaps between old and new generation in the growth of the church, Pastor Abiodun recommended that brethren should, return to God completely in a solemn assembly; Go back to the Apostles teaching; Go back to the ancient path; Go back to your first love for God; Cry to God in unity for revival; and build collapsed walls.
Delivering the second lecture, the Odubanjo Regional Superintendent, Pastor Benjamin O. Akanmu stated that the will of God is the growth of His Church, stressing that growing the church of God requires a lot of prayers and strategy.
Pastor Akanmu said that the agreement of man's path to God's will aid church growth, adding that humans need to, "ensure that we know the owner of the church; help believers to build a strong relationship with God; design worship that is inspiring and relevant; build a positive leadership team; stay spiritually focused; have a servant heart; pray always and study the scriptures; lead for growth and not control; and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you."
The cleric concluded with signs of a growing church, some of which are, the church glorification of God always, the keeping of the unity of the spirit, provision of a place to grow, incorporation of newcomers and making disciples as in Mathew 28:19-20.
The refresher course programme ended with a powerful prayer session led by the General Overseer of Prayer Center Church of God Worldwide, Prophet Samson Oluwamodede.
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