Be cautious of your lives - Pastor Oduro advises Christians

The Yennyawoso District Minister of The Church of Pentecost in the New Tafo Area in Kumasi, Pastor Charles Oduro, has admonished Christians to be wary of how they live their lives since that could either bring their downfall or success.

"If Christ is the source of your strength, no demon can destroy you, nonetheless, you must be careful with how you live your life because one's way of life in Christ Jesus determines his or her fate," he said.

Pastor Oduro said this in a sermon he delivered on Sunday, February 16, 2020, to climax the District Revival Week at Dichemso Royal Assembly. The week-long event was held on the theme: "A Glorious Church To Possess The Nations" (Ephesians 3:21, 5:27).

Speaking on the topic: "Who Killed Sampson?", Pastor Oduro charged believers to commit to righteous and holy living to be able to serve the purpose of God for their lives on this earth.

Reading from Proverbs 14:34, the District Minister centered his sermon on lessons from the life of Sampson who was divinely mandated to deliver the Israelites from the hands of their enemies but failed miserably following disobedience and ungodliness. He noted that Sampson's life promised so much but he delivered so little.

"Sampson, a man of divine prowess who was purposely raised for the deliverance of the Israelites from the hands of Philistines could not live up to his mandate because of sin. Not being conscious enough of his mandate and his identity as Nazarite, he lived his life anyhow, acted sacrilegiously and eventually died shamefully," he explained.

Pastor Oduro emphasized that sin is a disgrace to any people and it plunges them into destruction. He mentioned transgression, trespass, iniquity, lawlessness, unbelief, among others, as forms of sin and cautioned Christians against them.

"Just like a Nazirite, Christians have been set apart unto God and since Holy Spirit makes His home in us, we are holy, and for this reason, we are to keep our lives pure by upholding the holiness we have received in Christ," he said. He, therefore, advised believers to consistently live lives of unimpeachable rectitude and integrity to be able to live up to their mandate as agents of transformation by influencing all spheres of life with kingdom principles and values.

With further reference to Proverbs 19:3, Pastor Oduro explained the ruinous power of sin and admonished Christians to be cautious of their actions so that they might not blame God for the end results, citing Moses and David whose own actions spawned their downfalls. "The nations along the way during the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land could not destroy Moses but his own action (anger) brought his downfall. Likewise, David was not able to be defeated by Goliath, however, his adulterous life occasioned his own downfall," he said.

He noted that downfall is a gradual process, therefore, Christians must guard against pride because pride precedes downfall saying, "Success attracts people, however, if care is not taken that success will make you fall".

Pastor Charles Oduro concluded his sermon by charging believers to bridle their tongues on certain issues to avoid their own downfalls with reference to the young prophet in 1 Kings 13.