By Sis Phoebe Wheeler
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On September 16 the Holiness Tabernacle Missions Department held its annual program. The theme for the evening was truly about hearing the cries of the poor and Pastor W. Cornick and Body of Believers COGIC were the invited guests for this service. The service opened with prayer and praise as is our custom at Holiness Tabernacle. Missionary Myrna Howard, president of the Missions Department, spoke briefly about the important role that missions plays in the community. She went on to give her testimony of how when she was homeless and didn’t have enough food to feed her children, it was a local church that stepped in and filled her natural and then her spiritual needs.
On more than one occasion, Pastor Pruitte has reiterated one of the main focus of Holiness Tabernacle – to meet the needs of the community. With great success, the local Missions Department with the support of the entire congregation has taken that challenge and remained a very active pillar in the community. From distributing fresh produce and meats two needy families twice a month, to sponsoring an annual Free Turkey Giveaway during the Thanksgiving holiday, to providing coats and other clothing during the colder months, HTC has proven to be a church on the move.
After the saints of God gave liberally to support the continued work of the Missions Department, First Lady Cornick blessed our hearts with a sermonic solo, singing “Go ye therefore,” which ushered us into praise!
Pastor Cornick spoke out of Proverbs 21:13, “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. He started by telling us that a person had to make a conscious decision not to hear the poor.”
“You have to choose not to hear!” he began. Pastor Cornick then went on to warn the congregation that the enemy wants the people of God to turn our backs on those in need. “When people are in a lower state, depression and doubt are able to come in.” He went on to remind the saints that, “when you give to the poor, you are lending it to the Lord!”
In contrast, Pastor Cornick also provided an example of people that just want to be seen giving, coming from Matthew 6: 2-3. He went on to tell the story of the rich young ruler. While he came to Jesus thinking he had everything in order, Jesus knew how to get to the meat of the matter and told him to go and sell everything he had! “God allows us to accumulate things in order to help others,” he told the people.
Pastor Cornick said that it should be within us to be agents of change, seeking those who are lost. We have to go beyond and get in the trenches and help, because it is our mission to help people that cannot help themselves. He closed by telling us that real listening is a process that includes three steps: hearing, understanding what you hear and finally judging or weighing if what you heard is worthy of your time or effort.
With those final instructions, the saints were encouraged to continue to support the work of the Missions Department. The Annual Day service was truly blessed and I for one am excited about where the Lord will take us next!