THE official opening ceremony of the 64th annual convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, took place Tuesday night at the old Arena of the Church with hundreds of colourfully attired children depicting biblical narration.
The welcome service which started at 8.00p.m. featured a heart rendering performance which included Bible recitation, musical performance, parade, a short playlete, and scintilating choreography that was used to form the theme of the convention by the children/teens department of the church.
Glorifying God with their God-given talents, the children easily heralded entry of Jesus Christ into the convention in line with the theme of the convention: “Amen” in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, English languages and Pidgin English. The young lads dressed in flowing white garments with others in red garments carrying the King of kings dressed in golden royal apparel with a crown of gold amidst angelic guards on both sides.
That was followed by a young girl who recited Revelation 1:1-20 in English language to the admiration of the entire congregation and others who took the Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin English versions and they got a standing ovation from the crowd. The General Overseer of the church and the indefatigable coach, Pastor Adeboye offered each of them a handshake in acknowledgement of their wonderful performance.
The young lads now dressed in black trousers and skirts with red T-shirts, thereafter took to kalestelics to do a dance drama which ended with the formation of the word, A-M-E-N to the delight of those watching. That was followed by a short playlette derived from the biblical book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3 and the key focus was to express the need for soul winning.
After the various presentations, wife of General Overseer of the church who is also the Director of the Teens Department, requested the chief host, Pastor Adeboye to pray for the children and their teachers.
Acknowledging the wonderful performance of the children, Daddy G.O. said this year’s convention would go down in history as one convention that participants would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Urging the participants to tighten their belts and get ready to pray earnestly during the programme, he said: “This year’s convention is not going to be like any other one because I called on my Father in heaven and my prayer is that He will do a new thing. I urge you to tighten your belts and get ready to pray.
“The sermon will not be a regular kind, I may make the altar call long before the end of the sermon. So, get ready for your blessings”.
His first sermon at the convention
Pastor Enoch Adeboye preached his sermon of the convention entitled; “You Shall See God” at the end of the official opening ceremony. The man of God said it will be pathetic for a Christian not to make Heaven at the end of his sorjourn here on earth, saying “if you don’t have the intention of going to Heaven, don’t bother yourself coming to church.
“Of what use for one to be a Christian, if at the end of the day such person does not see God. I have announced severally, if you don’t have the intention of going to heaven, do not deceive yourself, enjoy very well, use every method to get money, so that when you die, you can be with Satan, your master,” he enjoined his listeners.
Using biblical Moses who longed to see God despite his seeming closeness to God, to illustrate his thought-provoking message, Adeboye explained that there is tremendous possibility that one will see God and however, such possibility can either be a promise, prophecy, decree or prayer. The man of God maintained that holiness, sanctification, Holy Spirit as conditions that a Christian must meet before he or she can see God.
30 Babies as at Tuesday
THE number of babies born during this year’s annual convention has risen to 30. According to the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye the number as at 8.00 p.m.
On Tuesday, is made up of 19 boys and 11 girls. Mum at the kitchen EFFORTS by our correspondent to unearth the volume of food consumed on a daily basis during the ongoing convention did not yield much dividend as all the kitchen volunteers we approached declined comments.
Participants are feed province by province two times daily but the details of the arrangement were kept under rap, with nobody willing to tell even the number of cows being killed daily or the number of bags of rice cooked every day.
A female worker in the Kitchen Department, who spoke on condition of anonymity, merely told us that lots of cows are being killed on a daily basis to feed the participants and hundreds of bags of rice and beans including thousands of tubers of yams are daily spent to feed the huge crowd of people in the sprawling Redemption Camp for the convention.
Today’s Events
8.00 – 9.30 a.m.: Plenary Session 3 (Topic: You shall be whiter than snow)
10.00 – 11.30 a.m.: Plenary Session 4 (Topic: You shall receive power)
3.00 – 4.30 p.m.: Special Seminars
1-13 5.00 – 6.30 p.m.: Service of songs
8.00 p.m.: Deliverance Service (Plenary Session 5)
– Vanguard
