RCCG convention ends with night of prophecies

The 2021 annual convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), the 69th edition, ended on Sunday with a thanksgiving service at the Redemption Camp of the church and in its numerous parishes around the world.
For all God has done for the church, which now has footprints in over 198 countries and territories; and for the success of the week-long convention, a thanksgiving, featuring many of the leaders of the church and elders couldn’t have been misplaced.

But for the millions of participants, a major highlight of the convention was the Night of Prophecies at Friday’s Holy Ghost Service of the convention.

The Friday service, which draws the largest congregation, causing overflow at the auditoriums at the camp, went the whole hog, with the usual activities of a typical RCCG service.

They included opening prayer, praise and worship, ministrations by other ministers, special prayers for nations by Pastor Folu Adeboye, wife of the general overseer, testimonies, special ministration by the about 1,000-member mass choir of the church and the general overseer’s sermon.

A thick cloud of solemnity falls on the auditorium when Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye mounts the pulpit in his usual short-sleeve suit and bow tie; and when he kneels down to pray after a brief general prayer, the congregation falls on its knees.

This Friday, as he prayed, he paused repeatedly to say, “Thank you, Father,” an indication that God was communicating with him.

Oftentimes, he relays the messages as they come, but on Friday he didn’t, even as he remained on his knees praying aloud.

After the prayer, there was a noticeable change in his countenance. It wore the serious look of one processing a serious message.

However, his face soon brightened with large creases of smiles as he introduced another of the highlights of the night.

It was time for couples God had blessed with babies in the last one year or so, through prayers of the church, to bring their children to the altar for blessing.

A long stream of people flowed from various corners in the congregation to form a large pool of heads at the altars in the new and old auditoriums of the church. By rough estimation, they were in their thousands.

When the streams seemed to have dried at the source, Pastor Adeboye cast a look around and said, “You can see the number of homes where there was sorrow, but now there is joy.

“You can see the thousands of souls that have been blessed. I want the congregation around the world to join me to shout, ‘halleluiah!’”
After that, he blessed the new mothers and prayed for the replication of their miracles in other homes.

When he launched into the sermon proper, he announced that following the theme of the convention, “A New Wave of Glory,” the night was going to be a prophetic one.

He however warned that he was sure God could ask him to stop the sermon sooner than expected because people who were going to be blessed had received their blessing already.

“I’m telling you this, because in the next five minutes, God may say ‘stop’ because the one that He has in mind has received what He wants to say,” Pastor Adeboye said.

It was not clear if that was part of the message he had received on his knees at the altar but the sermon was heavily laced with prophecies, which the congregation happily received with a loud shout of Amen. Some people even danced over prophecies that spoke to them.
But even as he preached on, she kept on saying that, “I am sensing in my spirit that God will stop me soon.”

The Bible passage for his sermon was 2nd Corinthians 3:18. Ministering, he acknowledged God as the creator, provider and King of Glory, with the power to promote and demote a person. He said glory comes as waves associated with individuals.

He cited many Biblical examples like Joseph, who as a respected house help in Potiphar’s house, carried God’s glory and when he was offered the opportunity to consolidate his position by his master’s wife, he declined her advances, saying “how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

As the scriptures show, Joseph was able to fulfill a dream of leadership he had earlier on because he refused Potiphar’s wife. Even at that, he was thrown into jail on trumped-up charges. He said, like Joseph, we should be determined never to offend God because “when the whole world is against you, but you have God on your side, all is well with you. But if God is against you, who can be for you?”
According to him, glory comes in waves, one after another and nothing should be done to abort the process.

“It is possible for a person to know glory at some point and then move into shame. But God could give the person a new wave of glory out of His mercy.”bAlso, he said, although the wave of glory is for individuals, the recipient could spread it to benefit others.

He gave examples of the flow of waves: He said a wave of glory elevated Joseph from prison to become a Prime Minister and brought his family to flourish in Egypt.

But the wave ceased when Joseph died and a new Pharaoh didn’t know his importance. Then after some years of suffering in the valley, Moses emerged to liberate his people. They could have been stranded in the wilderness when Moses died, but a new wave came in the name of Joshua, who took them to the Promised Land. He assured people who have fallen materially, financially, spiritually, those who have lost prominence because of personal weakness, and others, that a new wave is possible for them, as it was for Job, Nebuchadnezzar and others in the scriptures.

He said, even for those who feel destiny has not been kind to them and those who have become ex-champions, there are promises of a new wave. He said with God, the waves of glory never cease and we should avoid anything to cause its cessation despite our condition as rich and powerful or as impoverished and suffering from want.

He advised that to be a partaker of the new wave one should not annoy God. On God’s side, waves of glory never cease, so, that is the best place for you to be, but he explained that it starts by surrendering our lives to Him.

The landmark service on Friday was followed on Saturday with a Holy Communion Service and on Sunday with the thanksgiving service.
He prayed for all participants on Sunday to close the convention: “My Father and my God, the Ancient of Days, Thank you. Thank you for the convention, a type that we have never seen before.

“Thank you for your presence with us; thank you for divine support; thank you for this great move of a new wave of glory. Father, accept our thanks in Jesus’ name.

“As your representative, Lord, I pronounce your blessings on all these your children. As I say it, please Daddy, confirm it. God Bless You!

“In the morning, be blessed; in the afternoon, be blessed; in the evening, be blessed; in the night time, be blessed; at home, be blessed; on the journey, be blessed; in your place of work, be blessed; in your churches, be blessed; your children, be blessed.

“Like never before, be blessed! From today onwards, begin to fly high, dwell on the mountaintop of joy, dwell on the mountaintop of success, dwell on the mountaintop of victory.

“For you, no more wars, no more weeping, no more failure, no more poverty, no more sorrows. From now on, all your prayers will be answered by fire.

“Wherever you go, God will go with you: He will protect you; He will stand by you; you will reign with Him on the Last Day and you too will serve Him.

“Everything you need to serve God very well, He will provide them for you.

“And if the Lord tarries, I will see you next year. By then, your testimonies will be very, very many, In Jesus’ name.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Segun Komolafe