News and Events
News and Events are reports of current happenings within the Apostolic Faith Church family.
Mortgage Payoff Celebration
By Carrie V. Keju
God does great math! He multiplies blessings in our lives. H
e increases grace and wisdom. And He decreases and removes obstacles that hinder our service to Him. Things like... Mortgages! On Sunday June 7th, the Apostolic Faith Church here in Washington D.C. celebrated the payment in full of our twenty-year mortgage.
In January 2005, we purchased our new edifice for approximately $946,000. In March 2009, with improvements and interest we paid in full, by God's grace over $1 million. A twenty-year mortgage entirely paid in four!
The orchestra opened our Sunday Morning worship service, dedicated to celebrating the loan payoff, by rendering “Holy Ground” and “Looking for a City.” Other special music was provided throughout the service including “Every Move I Make” (Children’s Choir), “One God” (Youth Choir), “You Are Lord” (Adult Choir), “I Just Want You” (Winnie Mobolurin), and “Here We Are” (Mixed Trio). While our pastor, Reverend Josephine, made every effort to recognize the contributions and roles of those involved in the purchase and move to our new church, the Assistant Pastor, Bro. Ayo Mobolurin, turned the table on her when he recognized “… our Deborah …” prior to the morning’s scripture reading.
Drawing from Luke 2:49 and John 1:29 Reverend Eugene Segres, pastor of our sister church in Brooklyn, NY, brought the morning message. S
tressing that Jesus knew his mission and was not distracted from it in the almost two decades between his boyhood visit to the temple and his baptism by John. Reverend Segres reminded us that God’s tomorrow (the ‘next day’ in the text) is always better and requires more spiritual growth from us. Jesus’ ministry started after he was baptized by John and after he “… paid the debt …” of spending time in the desert, was tempted, and overcame temptation through prayer and fasting.
Jesus was then free to focus entirely on his ministry and his Father’s business. Reverend Segres reminded us that we as a congregation are now free of debt so that we too can be about our Father’s business. “… God is always working with us; we need to work with God …,” were the concluding words of the sermon.
As a church body, we are free from debt — but we still have bills and we still have responsibilities in our Father’s business. Where are we going from here? Let us pray individually and collectively that God will be glorified in us as we move forward without the weight of a mortgage. Let us pray that He will receive the glory and benefit as we continue to bring all our resources — financial, physical and spiritual — into His storehouse.
