By Iddi Yire
Accra, Dec 24, GNA – Apostle Dr Samuel Vincent Ansah, Chairman, Ghana National Council, Great Commission Church International (GCCI), has urged Christians to use the Christmas occasion to reflect on their callings as Christians.
The Christian calling is to pursue the purpose for which God has created every born-again Christian.
“Let us note that at point zero of Christianity, that is, when Jesus Christ was born, he was in absolute minority as far as his mission on earth was concerned. There were no Christians!,” Apostle Dr Ansah stated in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
“By the time of his return to heaven, there were 120 people who saw him off and who were committed to his mission and waited for the baptism of the Holy Spirit which he had promised.”
He said after the advent of the Holy Spirit, and the expansion of the church throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Sam-aria and to Antioch, followers of Jesus were known as the people of the way and as the sect of the Nazarene.
“However, in Antioch, the followers of the Way were for the first time called Christians. Why? Their behavior and lifestyle represented Jesus,” he said.
He said it was reported by Jews in Thessalonica to the authorities of the city that Paul and his entourage of Christians had “turned the world upside down”.
The Chairman said the people of the way did not go around telling citizens of Antioch that they were Christians; saying “their lifestyle and character so resembled Christ that they nicknamed them Christians, or those who resembled Jesus Christ”.
He said with the population of Ghana being more than 70 per cent Christian, it was time for Christ-likeness to show and not be announced by word of mouth only.
“The citizenry of Ghana should see our lifestyle in the schools, government offices, private organizations, in the security services, in politics, in the behavior of the clergy, in the community etc that truly we are followers of Jesus,” Apostle Dr Ansah said.
“Our lifestyle should speak louder than our words. And our words should match our lifestyle. May our profession as Christians be not disdained and ignored because it is only in word.”
Touching on Ghana’s election 2024, Apostle Dr Ansah expressed gratitude to God for his unspeakable blessings in granting Ghana peaceful elections.
He also expressed his deepest condolences to those who lost their relatives during the election.
“May their souls rest in peace. May the perpetrators be brought to book! May such unfortunate incidents never recur as we vigilantly ward them of off!” Apostle Dr Ansah stated.
GNA