…. Celebrates Christians at Easter
Lagos state Chairman of the All Progressives CongressAPC, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi has congratulated the Christian faithful on this year Easter celebration. Ojelabi felicitated Lagosian Christians with the message of hope and joy. Easter is the annual feast marking the death and eventual resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The message reads:
“Glory to God in the highest for blessing our Christian brothers and sisters with good health and life in abundance to join the rest Christians all over the world to celebrate this year’s Easter in peace and happiness.
“May the name of the Lord be praised always for sending His only begotten son to the world to die for our sins and become the Saviour of the world”
Pastor Ojelabi, in a statement in Lagos, made available to Newshereandthere advised Christians and believers of Christ, “to always see and accept the Risen Christ as their role model either when things are rosy or difficult”, saying “tough times never last but tough people do”.
He admonished the people to accept the lessons of Good Friday which came with pains, agonies, sufferings, insults and challenges, but led to the joy and blessings of Easter. As he said, Jesus Christ made much sacrifice by carrying his cross on Good Friday amidst humiliations, persecution and torture so as to save the world.
Ojelabi charged the people to always be ready to carry their crosses by embracing their tough situations with humility and in non-violent ways after Jesus Christ. He added that people should learn to be submissive to constituted authorities at the various levels, be ready to make sacrifices in whatever situation they find themselves. “By doing so, they would be carrying their own crosses after Jesus Christ.”
He said that people must practice always what they preach through their attitudes and behaviours, and thus win more souls for Christ.
“We should also be ready at all times to forgive anybody that offends us as Christ forgave all his persecutors before he died on the cross,he said.
“My dear people,we all know that the situation of things are tough,harsh and unfriendly generally in our country and in the world at large. Our administration in Lagos State led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is doing and will continue to put on the thinking cap to ensure positive improvements in everything possible in line with the promises made during his electioneering.
*Let us continue to strengthen our relationships with God, our reliance on God and renewed hope in God, and he will surely perfect everything that concerns us at his appointed time, he advised them.”
He recalled that “through divine arrangement, as Christians were observing their 40 days of fasting, prayers and almsgiving to the poor, their Muslim brethren were also observing their 30 days of fasting in the month of Ramadan, which is one of the five pillars of Islam. May our prayers and supplications for ourselves and our country and our leaders be answered. Amen.”
He added that” this teaches us that Christians and Muslims worship the same God and they need to strengthen their relationships first and foremost with their creator, same with their fellow human beings, rely more on God with renewed hope no matter the situation they find themselves, be humble as Christ was as he submitted himself to the earthly Governor Pontius Pilate during his persecution.
He urged the people with philanthropic hearts to continue to practise charity, care of the poor in the society which they had embrace during the fasting period, manifest the fear of God, respect for one another in their daily activities, adding these are the hallmarks of Christianity and Islam which Christians practised during Lent and Muslims are currently practising as they observe the Ramadan.
Pastor Ojelabi implored all to discourage those who are into: kidnapping for rituals, abduction of innocent people for ransom, wanton destruction of lives, get- rich-quick syndrome, insecurity, bribery and corruption and other vices that have characterised our contemporary world to desist from them .
“Both Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammed never taught us those malaise but that we must be our brothers and sisters’ keepers through thick and thin,’ he said.
He urged all also to be law abiding while going about the Easter celebrations, that they should not indulge in acts that will hamper the peace of their neighbours either at home, parks during picnics or through reckless driving on the highways, wishing all Christians “a happy celebration of Easter.”