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By Young E. Freeborn, Warri
As activities marking the 2021 Father’s Day celebration in the Anglican Church and other Christian denominations across Nigeria came to an end on Sunday June 20, 2021, men of St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Unenurhie, in Uwheru Archdeaconary, Ughelli Diocese of Delta State have been advised to uphold moral values that would lift the Nigerian society “from darkness and total corruption.”
They were further reminded that God has placed them as the light of the world and heads of their different families.
Speaking in a sermon, titled, ‘Alive In Christ (The Responsible Man)’, with the message taken from the book of Genesis 18: 17-21, the guest preacher, who is also the coordinator of the AAPS in the parish and vice president-general of Unenurhie community, Evang. Isaac Oriodofe, admonished the men to always imbibe the virtues of a responsible man, which he said include being a man of prayer, of faith, generous, disciplined, a man of truth and a lover of his wife and children.
He however pointed out, with reference to Abraham as a man who had a job and was able to cater for his family’s needs at all times. The respected evangelist enjoined all the men in the church to emulate the life of Abraham, the father of all nations, as a responsible man that knew his duties as a husband, a father, a leader in his household and community and also as a man of God.
In a chat with our correspondent, the vicar of the church, Rev. Peter Atumremu, said, “My heart is filled with joy today for the commitment and dedication the men of this church displayed in this year’s Father’s day celebration. All the activities that lined up throughout the week-long celebration were all religiously observed till today, the final day.
“My advice to my fellow men in the church is that, we should try to take up our crown as heads and leaders of our families. This is not enough. As Christian men, we should equally take up our positions in the church of God. We should be role models to our children at home. As responsible men in the church and the society, we must strive to live the life of Christ that is quite different from the life of the world. We shouldn’t join the world to do all kinds of evil because we are living in a corrupt world or society.
“Our purpose of this new life in Christ is to tell the world that old things are passed away, now all things have become new. We must therefore use the new life in us to bring more men from the dark world to join us as responsible men in our church and community. Let’s try to be shining examples to our wives, children and finally, to unbelievers in our various communities. Once again, we thank God for his abundant blessings upon us, the men and also to the entire church in this year’s celebration.”
Also, Evang. Isaac Ekah, a lay reader in the church who was filled with joy for the successful celebration, said: “I’m happy that many of our men in this church can now realize their responsibilities as men in their homes, and as men of God in the church. It’s not only the ordained priests that are men of God. We are also men of God if we can faithfully play our roles as men in the church. Today, the work in the church has greatly improved as more men are available to do the job.
“In this case, I want to passionately beg all the men to firmly stand this time without falling back to the world. This kind of dedication and commitment shouldn’t end with this celebration, it should be a continuous commitment and dedication till Christ comes again. I also want to thank our vicar for his words of encouragement to us. In the same way, we thank our wives and children and the entire church for joining us in the celebration.”
