MAINTENANCE OF THE AIM – 7 Components of the Great Commission

Day 2 of the MAINTENANCE OF THE AIM CONFERENCE with the Prophet, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, was another blessed time in the Presence of God. Just like the woman at the well of Samaria who encountered Jesus at the well and joyfully went into the city to call others to come and listen to Jesus, participants from the first day sent word of the great move of God at the Conference to their friends and loved ones. As a result, the crowd on the second day was far larger than what we saw on the first day, resulting in several people taking up seats outside the ultra modern edifice of the Truth Cathedral of Loyalty House International.

The Day began with a powerful prayer session, followed by praise and worship which ushered in the great presence of the Lord. Participants were also treated to Documentaries of the Healing Jesus Campaign held in various cities within Africa. This was sobering for many as they appreciated the great work that God was doing with the Prophet, inspiring them to continue supporting the Healing Jesus Campaign.

The highlight of the service was when the Prophet mounted the stage amidst loud, jubilant shouts. He reminded Conference participants of the theme of the Conference: MAINTENANCE OF THE AIM. He pointed out that the name of the Conference in itself is an important message. He reiterated the points discussed on the first day which he maintained are necessary for the maintenance of the aim.
Quoting 1 Corinthians 15:58,

• Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord- Prophet emphasised that this scripture tells us to maintain the aim steadily and never move away from it. He said that the scripture tells us what we should not move away from: The Work of the Lord. He indicated that our ability to do well beyond a certain level will come from our ability to maintain the aim. Maintaining the aim he explained makes you do well and successful in a sense. He explained that maintaining the aim requires us to continue with the same things we started with, continue with Church Planting, Missionary Sending, Winning Souls, Training People, Open Air Crusades, Breakfast meetings, Person to person, Visitation and Night Schools – The Work of the Lord.

Bishop Dag admonished that our duty is to maintain the aim of working for the Lord, because it is very easy to shift from maintaining the reason why one started doing whatever is being done, but it is only experience that teaches us that.

He revealed that when you start fighting a war like America started fighting in Afghanistan, you will not know that you have changed the aim. He mentioned that in a war this is called “Mission Drift” or “Mission Creep” which represents drifting from the mission. He stated that in Afghanistan they drifted from fighting a war to building a nation, which though a good thing but was not the main mission or the aim. He related this to how a church does many good things such as providing fellowship, entertainment, health care and education, which are all good but are not the aim of the church. He reiterated that the aim of the church is the great commission which is the aim of getting people saved.

In the second session, Bishop Dag outlined the seven components of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, which include: the Commission of power; Going; Teaching; Baptism; Commission to all nations; Commission which goes with His Presence, and a Commission until end the world.
He tasked the participants to commit to the seven components of the commission.

The last session was fully charged with excitement as participants were eager to hear from Bishop Dag. It was like how the Bible describes in Mark 12:37
..” And the common people heard him gladly…”

He declared that the church has been called to the great work of soul winning. Gleaning from John 15:16, he emphasised that as a church we shouldn’t departmentalize evangelism because many have been called to fruitfulness. He outlined the various characteristics of the called.
Bishop Dag then encouraged many to respond to the Call of Ministry, pursue and enter the full-time ministry by giving them themselves wholly to the call.