The City of God Church has held a community outreach programme dubbed ‘Christmas Banquet’ to climax its Christmas celebrations at the Ashaley Botwe community in Accra.
Present at the event on Sunday, December 18 were some Elders of the Ashaley Botwe Traditional Council, children, mothers and fathers, and the elderly who joined the banquet which was held as part of the Church’s Sunday service.
According to the Church, the event, which is the second of its kind by the church, forms part of the church’s commitment to reach out to the community and share the love and care of God in a very practical way as per Luke 14: 23. In the biblical account, a story is told of a master who told his servants, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in so that my house will be full.”
A member of the Elders of the Traditional Council of Ashaley Botwe, Emmanuel Ashie Niikei, commended the church for its community outreach programme.
“I became so happy throughout the programme. It has been fine. This shows that the City of God Church has made the idea of coming together with the Ashaley Botwe Traditional Council [very paramount],” he said.
Meanwhile, there was a lot to cheer, eat and drink as the church opened its doors to the community in the spirit of Christmas.
In an interview with the media, Head Pastor of City of God Church Apostle John Kpikpi said the church is thrilled to have organised the event.
“It has gone beyond our wildest dreams. I think we set out for 1,200 people but I hear more than that have been here,” he said.
“We are encouraged the gospel has been preached. We had more than 50 people coming to know Christ today which is the greatest thing that can happen to anyone. We are very excited about this.
“We believe that God has given as a pattern now so that every quarter we would do this to the glory of his name: gather people, celebrate His name, people are saved, and people will be turning from their sins and coming to know Jesus Christ.”
Meanwhile, the Create Academy of the City of God Church thrilled the audience with a special ballerina dance performed by the young girls who were dressed in all-white angelic attires.
Delivering a sermon titled ‘A big man with a big trouble’, the Head Pastor of the City of God Church Apostle John Kpipki admonished all to endeavour to come before the presence of God as everybody has but in their lives which can only be dealt with when we come before Jesus, referencing the story of the Syrian army general, Naaman, who was miraculously healed of leprosy in the book of 2 Kings 5.
The Church is set to host the next Christmas Banquet in the first quarter of the year 2023.