Speeches

27th Anniversary Celebration Of Christ Apostolic Church-Ijaiye 1

May 31, 2009 - Today is the day the Lord has made for this Church and we will rejoice in it. It is a thing of joy to celebrate the good works we have been doing by His Grace in our respective capacities as pastors and members to keep this Church going for the past 27years and to face the challenging but exciting years ahead.

Let me however, set the tone for today’s occasion with these brief remarks. Twenty-seven years in the life of an organization is important in many respects. It is a story of vision, creativity and imagination fulfilled, of sacrifice, and devotion to an ideal which has surpassed the dreams of its founders and serve as a monument to the ability and capability of its members to sustain the vision through the times.

May I, therefore, express my pleasure to be among you today to celebrate the 27th anniversary of your church, Christ Apostolic Church–Ijaiye1. To the Assembly Chairman and his executive members, the pastors and members, I extend cavalry greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Twenty-seven years ago, this area was all bushes and accessing it was tough business as good, motor-able roads, which we now pass to come for worship here were non-existent. The challenges that came with building the church and furnishing it for worship was another river the founders had to cross.

So as we celebrate today, 27 years after, let us remember our founding fathers and thanked them for giving us a place to worship the Lord in peace and harmony. Let us resolve to keep the banner flying and do the things that would not stain their memory and preserve their vision.

Let us resolve to renew our faith in the timeless teaching of our Lord to be our brothers and sisters keepers, to love our neighbours as ourselves and to contribute to the growth and development of our State and Country. Let us examine our conscience every blessed day and resolve to forgive, to love and to build constructively.

Upholding these values will enable us to flow with the current of world events and exhibit the principles of solidarity and fraternity necessary to rid our planet of violence, hatred, global warming, toxic waste and cruelty to animals.

This is the challenge you face as inheritors of the vision of your founding fathers, to practice what you preach and ensure that this church continue to grow from strength to strength in terms of the quality of membership, maintenance of the building and offices and contribution to growth of the society.

The Lagos State government will always remain grateful to you for your prayers which we can never tire of asking for as we strive to build the Lagos of our dreams. On this note, I wish to appeal for your continued prayers and support. We must always strive to be law abiding, pay our taxes regularly and avail yourselves of the opportunity for self- development available in our governments’ programmes.

Finally, I thank the anniversary organizing committee for inviting me to this occasion and wish you all a fantastic time out.

I thank you for listening. May God bless us in Jesus name. AMEN.

“Eko ni baje!”

Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State