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| Pastor Festus A. Oyebade By Boluwatife Oparinde |
The Minister-in-Charge of Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Itura Soyoye, Sabo District, Abeokuta, Pastor Festus A. Oyebade, has described the celebration of Christmas in the absence of Christ as a meaningless venture.
The profound cleric, who stated this at the Christmas Day Celebration held at CAC Oke Itura Soyoye, Sabo District, Abeokuta, expressed that celebrating Christmas in the absence of Christ is like celebrating someone's birthday behind or without the celebrant.
"Buying new clothes, new houses, cars and so on, are not the important things to Christ; although they are good. It is meaningless to celebrate Christmas if Christ is not in us," he said.
In a sermon titled "Are We Celebrating Christmas As Christ Pleases?', Pastor Oyebade explained that all the calendar dates are significant and important and the only difference between "September 16 and December 25 is the Christmas attached to the latter."
While he urged that Christians would live their lives fully on Christ, and non Christians would accept Christ as their Lord, the cleric identified the significance of celebrating Christmas annually.
According to him, "We must see Christmas as a time of decision and determination to follow Christ. It is a time of direction; preparation for His second coming; a time of submission; a time of association; a time of appreciation that He came to die for our sins; a time of identification with Christ; and a time of celebration."
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