By Bimbola Oyesola
The season of Christmas is characterised by love, happiness, excitement and joy. Those moments and mood played out at Rhema Christian Church and Towers, Champion Peace Cathedral, Sango-Ota, Ogun State, during the 2021 Great Carol service by candlelight.
The colourful evening had guests and ministers from all walks of life in attendance. “Unto us is born a Saviour,” the theme of the celebration, brought excitement, testimonies and thanksgiving with different choirs ministering to congregation, guests and children, who had a separate department.
The youth choir dressed elegantly in red, black and white with a touch of kente prints kicked off with, ‘O Come O ye faithful’ in a performance that was awesome.
Also electrifying were the renditions from the Rhema Yoruba choir consisting of women clad in white lace apparel and headgear in three different colours of red, green or yellow.
The excitement was overwhelming as people jumped and dance, filled with the joy of the season.
In his exhortation and impartation, Bishop Taiwo Akinola spoke extensively about the theme, Unto us a Saviour is born, reading from Luke 2:10-11.
“The celebration of Christmas is not like any other, even all through the annals of time. It is a lumpsome event and a time of Joy for everyone.
“From then till now, Christmas has been bringing and still bringing joy. We welcome all our guests and couples. Please, know that you are in the house of champions, be fully assured that you are heartily loved and you would never go back the way you came,” he said.
Pastor (Mrs.) Ireti Akinola took the fourth Bible reading and she admonished everyone to follow in the footsteps of Christ and be their brother and sister’s keeper.
“The message I have for Nigerians at this time is to remember why Jesus came. He came to save people from their enemies so that they would be able to serve God without fear. If people are serving God without fear and they are open to God, things would get better. Our God is love, if we walk in his ways and work as people who believe in God, truly things will get better. Our relationship with one another would be better, society will be better and there would be love. When there is love, all this kind of behaviour that we are witnessing will change. If I love you, I will not come to your house with a gun or defraud you,” she noted.
Pastor Tofunmi Opaleye, the director of prayer, praise, deliverance, music director and also the coordinator of the annual programme, gave more insight into the celebrations. “It is in commemoration of the birth of Christ our Saviour. Indeed, Jesus Christ came to die for us, to rescue us from the grip of sin, from the grip of the devil. And so, this season is very important because without the birth of Jesus Christ, we are hopeless.
“That is what makes it different from other celebrations. The Bible says that the path of the righteous is a shining light that shines more and more. So, we try as much as possible to see what we can do differently every time.
“This year, we also factored into the programme blessing of families and this is very crucial for us because we know that families are the bedrock of society. If the rule of God rules and reigns in families, it will affect the entire society. So, we invited couples this year and a section of the programme is devoted to blessing them.”
One of the interesting highlights of the carol service was Santa Claus. He danced with everyone, performed with the choir and played with the children who sought his attention as he doled out gifts and prayers to them.
However, the most significant was the lighting of the candles by all members of the church. Before then, the presiding bishop called for all the electric bulbs to be switched off and while the rendition of ‘Silent Night’ was going on, he lighted his candle and through his others numbering thousands were lighted.
Akinola said the significance was the fact that people should be a light unto others and illuminate the lives of others by bringing joy into their lives as Christ did through his birth.
He said: “The programme is great carol service by candlelight; without the candle, it’s not a complete programme. We believe that, no matter how dark the situation may be, even for our nation, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ is the reason for the season and we must remember the reason why He came: to bring joy to the world, hence we, the followers, must always replicate what we learn from Him and put smiles on the faces of the less privileged,” he said.