…For The Annual Weeklong Spiritual Retreat
Annually, Celestial Church of Christ members worldwide, usually gather at Imeko every December to pray and honour the late founder of the church, Rev. S.B.J Oshoffa. He was the Prophet, Pastor & Founder of CCC Worldwide who passed on to greater glory in 1985.
A few days ago, thousands of Celestial Church members gathered at Imeko, from Monday 20 December 2021 to Saturday 25th December 2021 for what they call the Annual Christmas Convocation (IMEKO 2021), with the Theme: Emmanuel…God With Us.
One of the coordinators, Sup Evang. Oladapo Elijah Farodoye who is the ICC Media Chairman 2021 revealed how difficult it was preparing for this event.
The Imeko 2021 committee team led by SVME Adebayo Badekale (Badek) started putting heads together in what looked like a Herculean task. “We had all hands on deck working tirelessly both nights and days, amidst many trips to
Holy city Imeko.”
“We appreciate our social media platforms that made communication a lot easier for us, by using their different platforms for easy and consistent reach to all members of Celestial Church of Christ both far and near. The Media team in particular worked tirelessly to keep up the whole process, all to the glory of God.
The committee supervised development at Imeko town and paid visits to major key sectors. e.g. the traditional ruler HRH Oba Onimeko of Imeko and all security outfits to strategize on human protection, while we have our faith solidly in the God of CCC, the omnipresent and omnipotent God. “In the course of our journalistic pursuits, a lot of discoveries were made, all for the betterment of our common goal which is Imeko 2021”.
“The planning of Imeko 2021 took us 2 months, but who are we to complain, when able hands came on board the Holy Spirit took control! This annual Christmas convocation of CCC is ordained by God of our father Saint SBJ Oshoffa, which has become a yearly event for prayers, healing, Salvation, musical performances, drama presentation and importantly the gathering of the great people as written by Revelations 7:9 for a common purpose of spiritual rejuvenation.
Imeko Christmas Convocation is our collective responsibility, a task that must be done. Rev. Emmanuel Oshoffa, the Pastor & Spiritual head of CCC worldwide, in his convocation message, welcomed all CCC members to the event.
Let me also seize this opportunity to welcome you all to our Celestial Holy City, Imeko, Ogun State and to our annual Convocation programme for the year 2021 titled ‘Emmanuel- God With Us: It is my prayer that the grace and anointing of the Lord would continue to abide with us in the Celestial Church of Christ in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
It is the season of Christmas all over the world and we, in the Celestial Church of Christ, join the rest of the body of Christ to celebrate a season that is indeed very important to us. This season, we remember the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in very humble circumstances. Jesus was born in a manger surrounded by sheep and livestock and not in a palace studded with gold and diamonds, but from this humble background, he rose to become the Saviour of mankind, laying down his life for you and I on the cross at Calvary.
Christmas is therefore not just about the bright lights and all the fireworks, it is definitely not just about the good food and drinks and dancing and singing. Christmas is a time for reflection and a time to share the love of the season. It is a time for every one of us to look back and remember the goodness of God in our lives. When we look back, we have a reason to smile because the Lord has been good to us. He has opened the doors of blessings. Your being alive today is not because you are better than those who have laid down their swords and crossed to the other side of the great divide. It is simply because the Lord has been good to you. Take a closer look and indeed, you would see the hand of God everywhere.
I also want to call your attention to the fact that right from the start of his earthly journey, our Lord, Jesus Christ was faced with impossibilities and overwhelming situations. How on earth could a virgin give birth? How could anyone feed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two pieces of fish? How could anyone walk on water? Even after he was crucified, how could any man rise from the dead? In spite of it all, Jesus Christ overcame all difficulties. This was because he was not an ordinary human being. It was God that raised him from the dead. Acts 10:40.
If our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, had to face impossibilities and overwhelming situations, how could we, his followers, be spared? As a church, the Celestial Church of Christ has had its own fair share of difficulties this year. But this Christmas season reminds us that if God could open a virgin’s womb. He can open doors for us and He will continue to open doors for us. I, therefore, want to give thanks to God for opening doors for us this year.
Firstly, I want to thank God for opening for us the door of unity and reconciliation within the church. One of the most powerful metaphors of the Church used by Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 10 is that “A body can only function if its members work together as a team. As a team, there will be more burden sharing, transparency and accountability.” I pray that our efforts at attaining total unity and reconciliation within the church would yield positive results in the coming year.
Secondly, I want to thank God for future doors that He would be opening for us next year. Finally, I want to encourage all of us to pray. Let us be reminded of the words of our Lord and Saviour who tells us that, “these things can only be accomplished through Prayer and Fasting. “Let us all pray and fast individually and also join in such activities in our parishes. God opened a virgin’s womb at that first Christmas. That God is still alive … that God has not changed. May He continue to open the door of impossibilities for the Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide. Amen
SVMSE Adebayo Badekale, the Chairman, 2021 Imeko Convocation Committee also revealed a lot. “Allow me to take this opportunity to thank our Heavenly Father for the wonderful opportunity that has been granted today as we congregate here for this great event. We have come from far and wide for this convocation and as the Chairman of the Convocation Committee, let me welcome you in a special way. The Lord has promised in the book of Deuteronomy 28:6 “You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out” He is the one who started the good work in us and will bring it to completion according to the will that is in Jesus Christ.
The theme for this year’s convocation is tagged -EMMANUEL.” Mathew quotes from Isaiah 7:14 to show this miraculous pregnancy fulfilment of prophecy. The purpose of this prophecy in part is to point out that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy spelt it out to the letter. A virgin would conceive and give birth to a son. People will call him -EMMANUEL” which means “God with us”, Viewed in this light, the prophecy is clear that Jesus is God sent to earth to be with us, and to save mankind from our sins.
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