GPCC WEEK CELEBRATION 05-10-2015 OPENING MESSAGE FOR LA ZONE AT TCOP, SMT, LA.

THEME: "Come Holy Spirit, Unite us for Service"
TEXT:       Eph. 4:3

INTRODUCTION : The Church of Jesus Christ, being the body of Christ on earth was established and destined to be a firmly United family of God on earth. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who are the Co- Founders and builders of the Church are firmly United in heaven. Hence unity of the Church He established on earth to represent, worship and do His work, is indispensable.
The longest recorded prayer of Jesus Christ while on earth was for the Unity of the Church as recorded in John 17:11, 21-23.
The content of the prayer, with greater emphasis on the unity of the Church was that:
That they may know the One True God, and JESUS whom He has sent, so that they may have eternal life; And that God will keep them in His name and from the evil one so that they may be one. And that they will be sanctified by the truth of His word.
In His prayer He repeated Four times "that they may be one".
If Christians dare not care to work with what Christ Himself repeated Four times in prayer, which is a big sin of omission, why do we have all the boldness to daily bombard heaven with our prayers expecting instant answers. May the almighty God have mercy on Christians and forgive us all.
The key pillars of the foundations of Christianity and the Church are:
Faith, Holiness, Love and Unity, Prayer and Obedience to God's word, Humility and the fear of God. All other factors for the survival and growth of the Church hinge on these key ingredients and principles.
But from all the key factors it is UNITY of the saints that proves to the world that we belong to God for them to accept our Message.
In Ephesians 4:3-6, Paul gave the sources and reasons for our Unity:
We have one body and One Spirit, one hope.
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in all.
The early Church at Pentecost, was powerful and influential because of unity of purpose and mission. This made her experience rapid and phenomenal growth unparalleled in the history of the Church to date.
If the early Jerusalem Church at Pentecost was undivided like we see today then what caused the division and the Denominationalism?
Church history shows that the misunderstanding that came by the power struggle on where to cite the Headquarters of the Church when Constantine became a Christian and made Christianity a national religion in his Roman Empire, was the root cause. Formerly the Headquarters was in Constantinople but the misunderstanding brought about two Headquarters, one at Rome headed by the Pope and the other at Constantinople headed by the Bishop.
This division weakened the Church which gave cause for the Ottoman Turks (Muslims) to conquer the Eastern bloc of the Church under the Bishop of Constantinople during the Crusader wars. Hence the whole region of Western Asia Minor, where the Apostle Paul labored to establish many Churches has been under the Islamic occupation and religion to date. The Muslims capitalized on thus division to conquer the North of Africa that was the most powerful base of the Church before 1000 A.D.
The abuses of the indulgences of many Roman Catholic Bishops after this division also brought about the reformation and Nationalism in Europe that also gave rise to Protestantism and the subsequent Denominationalism starting from Martin Luther, and John Wesley.
The fact is that the Western Missionaries who came to establish the Church in Africa brought a divided church that has remained to date because the Church had been divided in Europe where they came from. This has contributed to Church disunity in Africa which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, should be broken in our time to give the Church a new focus in our part of the globe.
The Founding fathers of GPCC saw this major weakness of the Church and labored hard to restore the lost unity.
It behooves on our contemporary Leaders and members to heed to JESUS Prayer and Paul's teachings and also pray asking the Holy Spirit to help us see the beauty of unity in diversity.

SOME ENEMIES OF UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST:
1.0 Unrepentant sin is the number one enemy of Church unity.  Ministers and some Church Officers who are suspended for gross misconduct often leave or separate from their Mother-Churches to form theirs.
2.0 False ambition and pride. This has led to the mushrooming and multiplicity of Churches in our part of the world.
3.0 Lack of Fellowship among member Churches. Separation Leads to hostilities. Many Pastors and Church Leaders today do not see the need for GPCC organized fellowship meetings.
4.0 Immaturity. The reason for competition among Churches, Church-shopping by some Christians, separation from the Mother-Church to start one's own church may have a root cause of immaturity either from the Mother-Church or from the aggrieved person leaving to form his or her own Church.
Hence GPCC exists to help settle conflicts within and among her Member-Churches to avoid break-away factions and multiplicity of emerging churches.
5.0 The attitude of knowing it all and having it all. One common enemy or danger pertaining to all Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches is the attitude of "knowing it all" and "having it all".
Hence majority of some Ministers think they do not need the fellowship of other member-churches. But God is our Father who loves and sees the beauty of our unity in diversity, and uses our various gifts and potentials to complement one another during our fellowship meetings to promote each member -church. Hence it can be observed that Member Churches that support GPCC programs and activities enjoy rapid and holistic growth than those who are lukewarm or disassociate themselves from fellowship.
Beloved saints in CHRIST, we have seen the positive influence and rapid growth of the Early Church before being divided in the pre-medieval period and the period of Reformation in the 16th century. We have also seen the losses and dangers of the divided Church during the Crusade wars, and the time of reformation, the innocent people that were murdered by fellow Christians.
The divided Church today may not stand the devastating persecution from the "ISIS", but when we stand together in unity and pray, no amount of the Devils arsenals can match the power of the Holy Spirit-filled Church of Jesus Christ.
Secondly, I believe that no one Church can address fully the problems of our country, Ghana, but the united Church has everything in its power to transform our nation for growth and development.
With our concerted effort and teamwork we can make ACCRA very, very, clean and beautiful from next Saturday, 10th. October 2015 which is earmarked as GPCC Sanitation day. All Member-
Churches are expected to mobilize their members to clean their Communities where their Church buildings and worship places are located. Key centers chosen for the program are: Kaneshie
Market complex; Abeka-La Pas Lorry Park; Accra Newtown Malata market area; La Polyclinic area; Spintex Road; Tema Main lorry park; Ashaiman main lorry park etc.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR BENEFITS OF CHURCH UNITY?
1.0 The strength, power, growth, development and influence of Member Churches are boosted. This is evidenced by Member Churches that are committed to the cause and growth of
     GPCC like The Church of Pentecost, Assemblies of God, and Global Evangelical Church.
2.0 The country with Church Unity continues to enjoy peace, the presence of God and His abundant provisions.
3.0 The opportunity to tap from the gifts and potentials in other Member Churches.
4.0 The blessings of Christian fellowship by connecting with one another and knowing one another promotes the beauty of Unity in diversity.
5.0 The full body of Christ in prayer and worship has abundant power to change things positively in the country, it brings God's presence and peace to the nation. The reason Muslims and Christians are living peacefully in Ghana is the Unity of GPCC Member Churches which must be re-enforced in our time and generation.
COME HOLY SPIRIT, UNITE US FOR SERVICE IS A CALL  TO THE CHURCH TO RE-ENFORCE OUR DESTINY OF ONENESS AND UNITY IN THE SPIRIT!

Presented by Apostle Emmanuel Achim Gyimah, Gt. Accra GPCC Chairman.