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2016 NEW YEAR SPEECH PRESENTED TO THE CONGREGATION BY REV S. ADE AYOOLA AT PHILADELPHIA BAPTIST CHURCH, APETE, IBADAN, OYO STATE, 

ON 1OTH JANUARY 2016

I bring greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and on behalf of my family. We give thanks to God for this grace that made us crossed over from 2015 to 2016 in peace and whole.  If we look back in retrospect, several socio-political, economic and spiritual related issues consumed people while others are still entangled in various untold hardship occasioned by the year 2015.  For us, we are not unfortunate,we are among the apples of God’s eyes, we benefited from God’s mercies and favors and in all, here we are today, beautiful and radiant in His presence. It is not our doing but God’s wonders and benefits to his children. It is my prayer that we shall not depart from the presence and mercies of God in Jesus Name.

For us as a Church, we have multiple reasons to give thanks to God. Our transformation from the smaller and uncomfortable worship auditorium is enough reasons to continue to thank God. In most Churches, an edifice of this magnitude has become a memorial building which out-lived those who started it, but in our own case, we thank God for granting us the grace to achieve this unprecedented height in the course of our labor in His Vine yard. To God be the glory and honour now and forever more.

Another reason why we are grateful to God is the bond of unity, trust and the symbiotic relationship He has endowed us as a Body of Christ, through which we were able to record lots of achievements and advancement in our various activities without be-labouring anyone with building and other forms of levies. Also, the Church, in the face of the economic malady and various cases of default in salaries across sectors, the Church is not at any point in time, indebted to any of its 32-man workforce, rather, the Church has continued to motivate them for greater performance. The statutory contributions to the Convention, Conference and Associations were duly remitted to-date. This again is not our doing. To God be the Glory.

We are equally grateful to God for preserving us, these 17 years of our ministry among brethren at Philadelphia Baptist Church. Seventeen years of existence is by no mean a short duration in the course of human existence. In the course of these periods, we have recorded series of changes but to God be the glory because we have multi-dimensional reasons to give thanks to God for the various advancements, growth, development and fruitfulness among others we have all recorded in all spheres of life. In the course of these periods, we have given birth to several children, contracted many marriages, celebrated various graduations at varying levels, increased in movable and immovable materials, and not doing badly among our contemporaries. All these, God granted us because, He is on our side. We have advanced in status and ages and each time we look back, we do not sorrow because it is a good thing to grow old and increase in God’s wisdom, but it is absolutely a misnomer to be referred to as old fool. Several people also tried the approaches we adopted that brought success to us but did not work for them. Who takes the credit? It is God Almighty. The God that changes people but does not change all along, the God of the past, of today and who will continue to exist evermore.  Even if the whole world combined to say there is no God, God remained unchanged and forever we shall continue to praise Him. Praise the Lord!

Here we are again in year 2016. At the dawn of the New Year 2016, we give thanks to Almighty God for his constant watch over us during the past year 2015. Our thanks is with due regards to the many pleasant or unpleasant things that we may have encountered or experienced along the way. The fact that we are alive would suggest that we are hopeful. This is no just mere hope. This hope is a firm assurance, based on the promises that God Himself has decree for all who will put their trust in Him.

It is in recognition of the above that I declare the message God gave me for His Church thus:  Year 2016 My Year of Advancement.  The supporting text is taken from the book of Philippians Chapter 3 verse13–14, while the corresponding song is Hymn 319 of the English Baptist Hymnal.

The Quarterly themes are as follow and they are also listed in our calendar for the year:

1st Quarter

Theme:  Advancing in the Knowledge of God

Text:        Acts 17:11

2nd Quarter

Theme:  Advancing in the Power of God

Text:        Luke 10 18–19

3rd Quarter

Theme:  Advancing in Prosperity

Text:        Gen. 26:12–13

4th Quarter

Theme:  Advancing in Glory

Text:        Exodus 34: 29 – 35

As mentioned earlier, this is the plan of God for us this year and the process for its attainment has been highlighted on monthly and quarterly basis.  Brethren, since the above will guide our activities for the year, I enjoin all of us to be actively involved as we periodically receive from the heart of God for each phase.  It is on this note that I admonish you all to understand the interconnectivity of the four quarters and follow all the steps to a logical end.

It is my prayer that the Lord Almighty will grant us the wisdom to understand His words, He will adequately empower us for relevance and able to cope, in the face of the inherent challenges of 2016, when it is time for prospering His children, our blessings shall not elude us and in the end the glory of God will manifest in all our total being in Jesus name. I am sure you all believe with me that with God, all things are possible. What God expects from us is to trust and obey.  It is on this note that I charge you all to study the wordings of the Hymn 319 of the English Baptist Hymnal, meditate on it daily, and sing it when things appear cloudy and pray to God to grant you the ability and capability to obey all tenets therein.  As you do so, the joy of the Lord shall be your strength in Jesus Name.

I beseech you in the name of the Lord to pray for the good of our own today Jerusalem, our Nation, Nigeria, Our states, respective places of abode, our employers and all those who one way or the other had or still contributing to our welfare and well-being and our family which is the unit of the Society. Pray Specifically for the Church of God at Philadelphia, the Servants of God, Deacons and Deaconness, the Pastor’s Assistants, other Church Staff,  Church workers in their various capacities, the Philadelphia Nursery and Primary School and the Management team and others that were not mentioned here. It is true that our nation is passing through some challenges, believe that God’s ways are not like ours, His thoughts and plans differ significantly. Hence, I endear you to prophesy positively and be cautious in our public utterances especially on sensitive issues.

CONCLUSION

Once again, I thank members of my family for their cooperation and understanding in the course of my ministry. I wish to appreciate Pastor & Mrs. Ayo Olanrewaju for their dutifulness, commitment, sincerity of purpose, loyalty and many more.  It is my prayer that the Almighty God will reward them in due season and people shall serve them too in Jesus Name. In a similar vein, I thank the Church of God and all members for making my ministry to advance through various provisions too numerous to mention. The same applies to individuals whose name I will not mention but God knows you all.  Therefore, in closing, according to the book of Jude 24-25, I wish to commit you to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our Saviour, be glory, majesty, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages now and for evermore, Amen.

Go and advance in all facets of life through the power of God

REV. S. ADE AYOOLA
GOD’S SERVANT-IN-HIS-VINEYARD