COBOAM Church History 2018
We give all praise and honor to God alone on this occasion of our 16th Church Anniversary celebration. Certainly, God has been our shield and strength. He has guided us with His counsel; blessed us immensely by His providence and inspired us by His spirit. Thus, the history of COBOAM is preserved with the hope of inspiring and encouraging both our present and future congregation as we create a lasting legacy with the souls we lead to Christ, the families we encourage and the lives we touch in a positive way.
COBOAM was in God’s plan and His will. On November 10, 2002 Channel of Blessings became a reality. A small, but faithful group regularly came together for prayer services in the home of Elder and Evang. McCarthy in Lithonia that subsequently led to what we now come to know as Channel of Blessings Outreach Apostolic Ministries. It is indeed our founding members who planted the seed of faith.
God can turn any unpleasant situation or past experiences into something good and fulfilling” and use it as the blessing we now experience in this ministry. It was during these prayer and worship services in the home of the McCarthy’s, that the Word of God provided the light to guide our path and the love to inspire fellowship. The gathering steadily grew numerically and spiritually. Recognizing the need for a larger space, the group moved to a building at 145 New Street in Decatur on June 8, 2003.
The mantra “You can run but you cannot hide” echoes true to the visionary of this assembly. But, in similar fashion of Samuel’s response to his name being called, Elder E.W Edwards responded to his assignment of the call to leadership of this great ministry. The responsibility was great but he steadfastly adhered to the directive that God gave for this ministry. With keen ears and a patient heart waited on the next instruction that would take this ministry to the next level.
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It was during this time at New Street that offices were instituted and officers appointed in the areas such as the Ladies Ministry (Women of Royalty), Missions and Hands Helping Hands which focuses heavily on outreach and is now incorporated as an arm of the Missions Dept. Many were blessed both spiritually and naturally through the unselfish efforts of these ministries.
Undeniably, the journey was not without trials, challenges, obstacles, and losses. But, through God we made it! It was our past experiences that crystalized us together in determination and faith to “fight on” knowing that Jesus Christ would not take us where His grace was insufficient to sustain us. Amidst it all, we experienced some glorious days where the presence of the Lord permeated the atmosphere and souls were saved, baptized with water and the fire of the Holy Ghost. We witnessed appointments to various offices in the ministry.
Once again we outgrew New Street and had to secure a new home for the ministry. On October 15, 2005, COBOAM relocated to our present location, 4661-B Hammermill Road, where our church's membership continues to grow. Elder Edwards recognizing the necessity for organizational structure for the ministry to pursue and accomplish its goals, an additional twelve (12) auxiliaries were put in place. With these auxiliaries in operation, the church is able to fulfill its social responsibilities to its members and the general public. We now host specialized programs and outreach initiatives to enhance and enrich spiritual growth, encourage fellowship and interaction between church and community. We continue to provide food, clothing and toiletries to surrounding communities, and refreshment and interactive sessions to two nursing homes. We are excited that we were able to again send Missionary Audrey Williams this year on the international mission field alongside COBOAM – Canada to support the ‘We Care’ initiative in Jamaica.
We thank God for the ministry of the Youth department. They have been working assiduously and have been a great blessing to us. The Youth department now has total responsibility for the Media Ministry and Audio Visual.
Sunday morning and special services are now being streamed live and persons are now able to log in and join Bible study on Wednesday nights. We continue to pray for our young people.
We praise and thank God for the appointments and installation of officers to the office of elder, minister, evangelist, deacon and missionary along our journey. We have indeed witnessed the move of God upon the lives of many and for the very first time in this ministry we have appointed a junior Evangelist, Sis. Yasmin Edwards. We are kingdom builders and seek no glory for ourselves, but to diligently work the work of him who sent us because we are fully aware that the night is fast approaching when our work here must cease.
The Lord Jesus has blessed us with a unique brand of believers who have been faithful and supportive. This diverse body of believers contributes greatly to the body of Christ through their innovative ideas, natural talents and spiritual gifts. With that being said, we are excited to announce that among us, we have COBOAM’s first author, Mother Doris Clarke. Her first book is entitled, “God Cares”. As the ministry continues to advance, we are aware the journey will continue to bring new challenges. But, we will never forget who He is to us, what He has done for us and where He has brought us from. Hence, we will continue to hold on to His unchanging hands.
We thank God for assigning us a visionary in Elder E. W. Edwards, who was ordained Bishop in February of this year. Through God, he continually seeks the growth of members thus enhancing all areas of the ministry. Bishop E. W. Edwards is a man on a mission; who is unwilling to compromise the Word of God. He continues to encourage and push us to reach our full potential in God.
Tonight, we celebrate a rich history and the promise of a brilliant future. God has blessed us and is continuing to keep His arms wrapped around us. We can borrow the words of this song, “through many dangers toils and snares we have already come. It was grace that brought us safe this far and grace will lead us home”.
We have experienced some great losses along this journey through the death of some great Christian soldiers, but we know that their labor were not in vain.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God which qualifies us to seek out that secret place in God. There is a place in Him that we must get to where we can experience eternal security. We must push ourselves beyond the distraction and the noise of this world so that we can individually have our experience when we are LAUNCHING INTO THE DEEP.
Luke 5:1-4 “ So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Finally, we must thank God for answering prayers. We will forever praise Him for His divine inspiration that never fails. We rejoice in all that God has allowed us to do and every person whose life we have been able to impact. Yes, this year has been a year of many trials but our God is faithful, and He has seen us through every heartache, every misfortune, every obstacle and every disappointment that we have encountered. Through it all, God has taught us and is teaching us how to lean and depend on Him. He is our only source.
As we remember the cherished deeds of the past, let us not lose sight of the brilliant vision for tomorrow and seek to get to His secret place.
God bless you all.