• ‘Anyone working for the devil is not of Abraham’s seed’

Christian fathers, last Sunday, trooped out in their thousands to celebrate Father’s Day at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral (AVMCC), GRA, Ikeja, Lagos. Decked in different attires, many of the fathers came with their wives to appreciate God’s benevolence.

In his sermon for the day with theme, “Christians: Treasured And Holy People of God,” Dean of the Cathedral, The Venerable Ebenezer Adewole, described fathers as lovers, leaders, providers, instructors, trainers and forgivers.
He urged them to always exhibit those qualities, which according to him, are found in God, the ultimate father.

Quoting Galatians 3:26,29, Adewole noted that fathers are sons and children of God, not sons of darkness/perdition or children of the world.

“God is our father and if you ask, ‘ who is our mother?’ God is also our mother because he is everything to us. So, he is all in all. We are his children and belong to him. God’s DNA is in us. He created us for his pleasure, according to Rev. 4:11. So, we are not children of wrath, but children of His pleasure,” Adewole said.

The Dean disclosed that before they came to Christ, they were children of wrath destined for destruction until Jesus Christ redeemed them from the kingdom of darkness and made them children of His pleasure. He, therefore, urged fathers to walk in the light and ensure that their thoughts, words and actions please God on daily basis.

Adewole highlighted five important things to show that fathers are God’s children. He said: “We are Abraham’s seeds, not the seed of the wicked one. And if ye be of Christ, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs, according to the promise. By virtue of our salvation we are the seed of Abraham and because we are Abraham’s seed, no power can uproot us. God has established us; therefore, no power can uproot us. He has planted us, so, we are at peace. We are Abraham’s seed if we do the works of Abraham. If any one is here doing the works of the devil you can’t claim to be Abraham’s seed. You can’t break promise and then claim it. It is not possible. Three, we are light, and not part of darkness. We are not part of darkness in the offices, where we work, or do business because we are the light and we should show the way for others to follow.

“Four, the topic is talking about us, we have to identify some things about us. We need to remind ourselves that we are children of God. We have been translated and cannot go back to evil works. We can’t go back to cultic practices again. We have been redeemed and also translated. You can’t be a cult member again, therefore, serve God in spirit and truth. We have passed that level of going back to cult. For instance, you hold a Ph.D. in mathematics and somebody is now giving you 2 + 2 to solve, you will just look at the person, and say, ‘What do you mean.’ If anybody comes to you to say ‘come and join our cult’ tell the person no matter their faction you have passed that level.

“We are not dogs that go back to their vomit, we have been translated. Five, we should forgive and emulate from the father of the prodigal son, who showed us a good example to follow.”

The Dean admonished fathers to be problem-solvers and not destroyers and also to be an advocates of godly virtues like Jesus.

The service featured Men’s Harvest; 17th anniversary of Band of Glory Society; and the 28th anniversary of Christian Brothers. Every father went home with a gift from the church.