HE IS RISEN

 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; 1 Peter 1:3-7

Introduction

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, greetings in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—the foundation of our faith, the author of our hope, and the strength behind our mission.

Today, our sermonette is not just to reflect, but to celebrate with the Young Adult Fellowship of PCG—to celebrate our heritage, to rejoice in the journey of faith passed down to us, and to renew our strength as we persist in the mission ahead.

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana has a rich heritage spanning almost 200 years. It is a heritage built on determination and courage, on the shoulders of men and women who refused to give up even when the going got tough. This is not just history; it is a legacy we carry forward with purpose.

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Our Biblical Roots – Hope that Perseveres

1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us,

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Apostle Paul wrote to a young church surrounded by confusion and cultural pressure, but he ends his passionate resurrection message with this firm encouragement: keep going. Don’t give up. Why? Because our hope in the risen Christ is not empty—it produces fruit. Real fruit. Eternal fruit.

In 2 Timothy 4:1-5, we find Paul, this time writing from a prison cell. His days were numbered. Yet he urges young Timothy to,

“Preach the word... be prepared in season and out of season... endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Child of God, can you feel the heartbeat in here? Let us understand that: Perseverance. Mission. Purpose. No matter the season—dry or rainy, war or peace, colonial rule or independence, famine or in abundance, Paul says: "Fulfill your calling."

And 1 Peter 1:3-7 also reminds us why we can endure:  

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope...into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials...so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

We press on, we keep moving—not because things are easy but because our hope is alive!

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The Presbyterian Church of Ghana: A Legacy of Persistence.

Now let us walk a bit through our own history. The story of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana is not just a record of institutions and buildings—it is a story of mission against all odds, a story of persistence.

In 1780, a small group of Pietists founded the “German Society for the Promotion of Christianity” in the Swiss city of Basel. Out of this Society, the Basel Mission was founded in 1815. The Basel Mission trained missionaries to serve with older existing Protestant missionary societies. 

It is noted that the history of the Basel Mission in Ghana is one of stubborn determination and persistence in mission in the face of tragedy and death. This was because at three different times, whole parties of missionaries were completely wiped out by illness. Most of the early missionaries died of malaria and yellow fever at a time when West Africa was referred to as the “Whiteman’s grave.” 

The very first batch of young missionaries, Karl Ferdinand Salbach, Gottlieb Holzwarth, Johannes Henke, and Johannes Gottlob Schmid, arrived at Christiansborg on 18th December 1828, together with Frederick Noi Dowuona, a young Osu prince. Tragically, the first four missionaries died within three years of arrival. 

The Mission sent another team of three missionaries, Andreas Riis, Peter Petersen Jaeger, and a missionary doctor, Christian Friedrich Heinze. Unfortunately, Heinze, the doctor, and Jaeger passed on after six weeks and three months, respectively, on arrival, leaving Andreas Riis. He survived on the treatment of local herbs and later moved to Akropong.

Riis was joined in November 1837 at Akropong by two more missionaries, Johannes Mürdter and Andreas Stanger, who came together with Anna Wolters, the bride of Riis. Stanger died in a month, while Mürdter only survived until a year, November 1838. 

The mission was nearly aborted due to the high mortality rate and yet no convert was made. It was on the 16th April, 1843, when Andreas Rііs, Johann Georg Widmann and George Thompson arrived with some Caribbean families and bachelors (25 in all) that the mission to Ghana started to produce the required results. 

Fritz Ramseyer was arrested, chained in the open, and lost his only son, but still persisted in the mission. Some others were rejected, beaten, tormented, and murdered for the sake of the mission. Being inspired by the hope of the resurrection, they kept their faith high. This is our call today, as we celebrate this heritage, our persistence in mission must be stronger than before to make Agenda 2.0 a reality.

The PCG we see today has been born out of persistence in mission with the central Biblical focus of 1 Cor. 15:58, "Our labour in the Lord shall never be in vain." It is our time to reflect on this heritage of the forefathers to lift up the flag of the mission of the Church in our time.

Our forebearers didn’t have megaphones. No projectors. No V8s or SUVs. No Church buildings. No Sufisticated Manse. Not rich. But they had something greater: a burning hope in Christ, and an unshakable faith with determination to plant seeds, even if they didn’t live to see the harvest.

And see what God has done. From a few mission stations, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has grown into one of the largest and most respected denominations not just in Ghana but all over the world, with schools, hospitals, agricultural projects, and a prophetic voice in national affairs.

This is our heritage. And it is glorious not because it was easy, but because it was costly—and worth every drop of sacrifice. Indeed, "faith of our fathers living still..."

The Church, over time, has developed various programmes to provide effective Christian education to its members, reducing considerably the rate at which the Church loses its members, especially the youth, to newer churches. 

With the already established Children and Adult Services, in 1982, a decision was made at the Bawku Synod to accept a youth policy that addressed the PCG's difficulties in retaining youth by implementing grassroots education. This led to the creation of the Junior Youth, and later on the Young People's Guild, a plausible attempt to engage and nurture members according to their generational needs for effective Christian ministry. 

In recent years, the need for the creation of another generational group arose to give birth to the Young Adults’ Fellowship in 2005. This creation sought to bring together the youth group within the ages of 30-40 years. This decision was made due to the huge generational gap between 18 and 40 years put together, the church saw the need for the creation of YAF. 

Today, we celebrate 20 years of this decision in our heritage, persisting in mission - YAF in Mission under the inspiration of our hope. Let us reflect in celebration with our Biblical roots of hope that perseveres, PCG - a legacy of persistence, and our time of mission - hope must keep us moving.

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Our Time, Our Mission – Hope Must Keep Us Moving

Now, child of God, this heritage is not a museum piece. We don’t just admire it. We carry it.

Our communities today still need the Gospel. Our youth are searching for meaning. Corruption still eats at the soul of society. Family systems are under pressure. Profanity on our streets and on social media. The truth is often twisted. And in this generation, God is calling us to persist in mission.

It may not be malaria or yellow fever that threatens us today—it might be thirst for positions, desire for fame and popularity, apathy, disunity, and spiritual coldness. But the call, I believe, is the same: “Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord”

We need teachers who teach with the heart of Christ. Nurses who serve with the love of Christ. Politicians who lead with the justice of Christ. We need evangelists—not only on mega pulpits—but in markets, football fields, traditional leadership, classrooms, hospitals, buses, Facebook, TikTok, Zoom calls, Instagram, WhatsApp groups, etc.

Precious one, you may not be called to cross the ocean—but you are called to cross the street. Called to cross cultural lines. Called to cross barriers with love. Called to bring hope where others have given up.

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Conclusion

Let me conclude by saying: We Press On Because our Hope Is Alive. We are not tourists in the Christian faith. We are on pilgrimage. We are here as builders. We are carriers of faith and hope.

And so join me to make the following declarations today:  

•  We will not rest on the achievements of yesterday.  
•  We will celebrate our heritage by continuing the mission.  
•  We will persist, because the hope that brought the Gospel to Ghana is still alive in us!

As the hymn says:

“Faith of our fathers, living still

In spite of dungeon, fire and sword...  

Faith of our fathers, holy faith 

We will be true to thee till death.”

Let us move: men and women, young adults and youth, junior youth and children, not just as people with a great past, but as people on a great mission. Christ is our hope. The mission is ours to finish. And by God’s grace, we will persist. Amen!

Shalom aleikhem...