Let somebody shout hallelujah! If you are happy to be alive, shout hallelujah! If you are proud to be a Nigerian, shout hallelujah! I’m happy you shouted hallelujah, we have no other country and we must imbibe patriotism because it’s part of God’s divine expectations for every one of us. Because if you don’t like your nation, I wonder who will like it.
Our Father and our God, we just want to say thank You to You. First and foremost, we appreciate You for the impact of Your mercy upon our lives, we recognize the fact that we are what we are today because we have received mercy. Thank You for Your mercy, thank You for Your grace, thank You for Your love, thank You for Your faithfulness, accept our thanks in the name of Jesus.
We also want to thank You on behalf of our nation, thank You because Nigeria is Nigeria today just by Your mercy and by Your grace, and thank You because Nigeria is not a product of accident, You designed this nation and You made it in a wonderful way that we will be citizens of this country and we thank You because in this country we shall be blessed. Accept our praises in the name of Jesus.
Thank You for this year, thank You for the journey so far; thank You for January, thank You for February, thank You for March, thank You for April, May, June, July, August, September. Lord, we cannot thank You enough because quite a lot has happened within the period, like the people will say, a lot of water has gone under the bridge but here we are standing in Your presence, Father, we return all the glory back to You, accept our thanks in the name of Jesus.
Lord, today we have come to register our gratitude, we pray You will accept us, You will accept our worship, You will accept our gratitude. And as we thank You both on behalf of ourselves and our families and of course on behalf of our nation, we trust Lord Almighty God that You will do great things for us in Jesus name. You will bring about transformation, You will bring about peace and progress in the mighty name of Jesus.
And Lord, we pray that the remaining three months in this year shall be more glorious than the past ones in the name of Jesus. Take us from one level of glory to the other, renew us, recharge us, strengthen us, empower us, enable us, work with us, and crown our effort with success, blessed be Your name forever, oh God.
We pray for all Your children who have been faithful in the payments of their tithes and the giving of the offerings, Lord Almighty God, that You bless them more and more in Jesus name, You will cause them open heaven in Jesus name. Glory be to Your name forever, in Jesus wonderful name we have prayed.
Good morning daddies and mommies, brothers and sisters, and firstly let me say Happy Independence Anniversary to you all. We bless God for the grace of another year and I pray in the name of Jesus that God will continue to take us from one level of glory to the other in Jesus name.
I would also like to welcome you very warmly to this our celebration service today, and I want to thank you for making CTL your church; CTL is a family church, we are brothers and sisters and we will remain that till Jesus comes in Jesus name. So feel free to be part of this church, express yourself, enjoy yourself in righteousness, create happiness as much as possible, and of course, don’t forget you owe your neighbor that responsibility of being his or her brother’s keeper. The Lord will bless you in Jesus name.
[Birthday Celebration]
By the grace of God, the month of October has been declared as our month of double portion, and our scripture is taken from Isaiah 61:7. Everything for you this month will be double, your grace will be double, mercy will be double, progress will be double, love will be double, strength will be double. Everything will be double-double and so shall it be in Jesus name.
By the grace of God, we’ll have our prayer chain tomorrow, the theme for tomorrow is God of Pleasant Surprises. How many of you are.trusting God for pleasant surprises? You know is in the month of double portion, and in the month of double portion pleasant surprises flow. I pray in the name of Jesus that you will catch your own in large measure in the mighty name of Jesus. The text for tomorrow is Psalm 126: 1-6, I look forward to seeing every one of you. The Lord will bless you mightily in Jesus name.
Now very quickly before we join with our father in the Lord for the national broadcast, I want us to turn our bibles to the book of 1 Peter 2:9 (turn your bible with me or your iPad because people hardly come to the church with Bible today, technology has actually helped in a way, but whether it is all way advantageous or not is also subject to a debate).
But meanwhile, your phone must be on silence mode. And that is a serious one, when you go to governor’s office or your MD’s office, you put your phones on silence, is tantamount to irresponsibility when we come to the presence of God and our phones are blaring here and there causing distraction, there’s no responsibility in that at all. Please, we are professionals, we are big people, we should give God that respect and that honor. The Lord will bless you in Jesus name.
By the way, everybody is looking very gorgeous and beautiful this morning, and we thank God for independent. I told the workers and ministers this morning that to me it’s like the independent is not yet free, until we are delivered from suit, coat and tie because you see all the ministers looking very good and radiant; look at myself, at least free, and suit and tie is part of the colonialism that we are talking about, because that dressing is not part of our culture. So I think the authority has to look into it. Praise the Lord.
1 Peter 2:9 says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Today we gather not just as citizens of an earthly nation called Nigeria, but as citizens of the kingdom of God.
As we celebrate another independence anniversary, the 66th edition of it, as we look back at our history as a nation with a profound gratitude, as we look at our present with faith and look to our future with hope. When Apostle Paul wrote his epistle, the people of God were scattered abroad, they had a lot of trials, a lot of challenges to contend with and they were cast in doubt, wondering about their identity.
But in the middle of the uncertainty, Peter reminded them of who they were. He didn’t point to their earthly political status, rather he pointed to their divine identity. He said ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
For the sake of a heading or a title, you can title it “A Chosen Generation”. Today, God is looking at us, this generation, and He’s looking at us as a nation and declaring we are a chosen generation, and of course, we are; one, we are chosen by grace and not by merit; to be chosen does not mean we are superior to others, rather it is by His mercy.
In Romans 9: 15, it says, for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and compassion on whom I will have compassion. What this simply means is that we are chosen by grace, mercy found us and it means that we have been selected for a specific purpose according to Apostle Peter. Therefore, you need to know that your citizenship of Nigeria is not by accident, that you belong to this country is not by accident, in other words, God did not make a mistake by placing you in this nation at this specific time in history.
In Acts 17 26, it reminds us that God determines the time set for humanity and the exact places where they should live. It says, and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.
Nobody anywhere in the world chooses where he or she was born, you did not choose where you were born, I did not choose where I was born, it was God’s prerogative and that had been settled long even before we were born. Our nation has survived seasons of darkness, economic trials and social upheavals, so if we are standing today, it is not because of our political brilliance or economic might, it is simply because of the sustaining grace of God. Grace made us and grace has brought us this far, so we therefore need to respond with gratitude.
As we have come today, firstly for us and on behalf of our nation, we must respond with gratitude. True thanksgiving begins when we realize that we didn’t earn God’s favor, none of us earns God’s favor, it is freely given. When we work 30 days in a month, at the end of the month you get your pay, you earn it because you work for it, but none of us work for grace, we earn grace, we earn God’s favor.
We thank Him simply because He chose to love us and preserved our lives. The Bible tells us in Romans that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Number two, (He called us) a royal priesthood. The mandate of intercession as far as Peter was concerned as a chosen generation, and a royal priesthood. In the Old Testament, it is not possible for you to be a king and also be a priest, it’s either you are a priest or you are a king, but in Christ we hold both titles, I’m a king and as a priest, we hold both titles. But when you look at the Old Testament, none of those big prophets or big kings had the privilege of combining the two titles.
So talking about the royal authority, as royalty, we are called to govern our lives, our families and our spears of influence with the righteousness of the kingdom. Romans 12: 1-2, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (for our lives).
In Genesis 18:19, God said concerning Abraham, for I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him. As royalty, as royal priesthood, we have the responsibility of governing our lives in righteousness and our families and of course our spares of.influence.
As a chosen generation, our priestly duty is to stand in the gap between God and man. Our highest civil responsibility as believers in such a time like this is not restricted to voting, paying taxes, but also intercession. Yes, we need to vote and ensure that our vote counts, we need to pay our taxes, we need to obey the law of the land. A lot of time we vilify our leaders, meanwhile our leaders were recruited from among us.
If you change them ten times, since you get them from the same society you are not going to get something different. And what this is saying is that he demands that every one of us has to change; He said don’t be conformed but be ye transformed. Determination is transformation, if there’s no determination for us to change, we’ll be here till tomorrow. We have that responsibility to do what is right, but in addition to that, we have a duty of prayer and intercession.
In Psalm 122:6, there we are enjoined to pray for our nation. It says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. People of God, our peace, security, wholeness, health, and prosperity lies in our prayer for our nation; the peace and progress that we all yearn for lies in our prayers, not in our negative confessions.
A chosen generation does not complain about his nation, but he prays for his nation. We are called to lift up our leaders, our economy, and our communities to the throne of grace. In 1st Timothy 2: 1-3, Apostle Paul confirmed that is the right thing to pray. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercession and giving of thanks be made for all men.
2For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. As a chosen generation, we are called to lead, we are called to build to last, and it is equipped on us to stand in the gap.
Number three, he calls us a holy nation. A holy nation is a nation that is set apart for a purpose, and the word holy simply means set apart. God calls us to be a holy nation within our earthly nation; He has called you and I to be holy within the nation of Nigeria.
We are blessed to be chosen for His own inheritance, according to Psalm 33:12, it says blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he has chosen for His own inheritance. God has chosen you and I for His own inheritance, that’s why I keep saying we are not ordinary men, we are not ordinary people, we live in a society often fractured by political division, corruption and moral decay, so as a chosen generation, we cannot and we must not adopt the toxic culture around us.
We cannot and should not be part of the negative narrative or rhetoric. There are many of us today, depending on the side we belong, we push all kinds of negative narratives. I belong to a group, people insult people, they will insult the northern part, insult the western part, it is not okay, you can’t be a church person and be pushing such narratives, that will not unite us, that will not foster unity and harmony. Politicians can do that to win votes but Christians, chosen generations must be far from it.
Today in Nigeria, ethnic profiling is so real; threats here and there just on the basis of ethnicity, meanwhile, you did not choose, none of us chose where we were born. We are called to be standard bearers of integrity, love and unity; we have the honorous responsibility to illuminate our communities and our nation.
We cannot be involved in those petty politics that others are playing and call ourselves a chosen generation, what we do or fail to do individually and collectively affect the general outcome and reflect either way on the nation.
In Matthew 5: 14- 16, it says, ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Brethren, the only way to national transformation and rebirth as a nation is when the church acts like a church and not like an ethnic juggernaut.
2 Chronicles 7:14, it says if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. We have the key to the transformation and rebirth of Nigeria but how are we using it?
When we practice honesty in our businesses, love in our neighborhood, and justice in our court, we reflect the holiness of God to our country because the Bible says righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to every nation, Proverbs 14:34.
Nigeria is a place that you buy an item, (as religious as we are) from Alaba or Ladipo, you get home, you find out that you did not buy the right thing, they will not take it back from you. You buy something from UK, America, you have your receipt, two months, three months down the line, you go back, they change it for you. We need to sit down and think.
We want to make money but in the process of making money, we endanger the life of millions of Nigerians. The Bible says, what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?
Today, many of us don’t keep traffic rules, we drive one way and when we say what is the problem in Nigeria, you say our leaders as if it’s your leader that is driving one way. If we all come together and say sorry, we will not recycle all these old politicians that have stolen our wealth, we will get it sorted, but we’ll resolve, on the day of election they give you rice, they give you 50,000, you will go and vote for them and afterwards, one week after you start shouting, it’s you that will get punished.
Righteousness, the Bible says, exalts a nation. There are many of you, you sell rice, the cup you use you push it inside, you have forgotten that the blessings of the Lord maketh rich and add no sorrow to it.
Today, our judiciary – those days they say judiciary is the last hope of common man, but that place has been messed up. Apologies to my friends here, with due respect I know you don’t do that but they’ve messed up your constituency to the extent now that you cannot even trust the judgment that is coming up from our courts. Appeal court, Supreme court will read judgment, they will complicate the matter even more than it was before.
Look at the political judgment, I said to myself, in this country are these men, honorable justice, are they Christians? Forget about Christianity, do they have conscience? A little bit to the right, a little bit to the left, at the end of the day you don’t even know where to go. And that’s why sometimes those who don’t have the Spirit of God are pushed to the point of self-help.
Money is good, but don’t forget that money is not everything. I was at a funeral not too long ago; the man of God said the clothes we are wearing does not belong to us, and it’s true. The day you drop dead, everything you are wearing they take it off from you, they put you in the mortuary, when they are going to bury you, they get something else for you, all the things you stock in your wardrobe will be given to other people.
Number four, proclaiming His praises. The final part of the anchor scriptures reveal the ultimate purpose of being chosen. You were not just being chosen, but you are chosen to declare, to show forth, and to proclaim His praises. He said that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Brethren, today it behooves us to remember the great things God has done for us as a nation and people. Psalm 103 says bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not his benefit and continue like that.
Every independence anniversary is a milestone to remember the darkness God has pulled us out of; whether the darkness of war, poverty or spiritual blindness, we have come a long way, as you all know, we have survived many frightening and dangerous predictions even until not too long ago, I think 2014, they said Nigeria will not exist beyond 2015 but we are in 2026, in fact we are getting ready for 2027.
I recall some of the darkest moments in history, the civil war and of course the annulment of adjudged freest and fairest election we have ever had in 1993. The level of despondence that they’ve pervated the nation then, in fact I was here, you will recall, Ikorodu road, you can play football there, everywhere shut down, you see pieces of human body on the road. If you have forgotten, let me remind you.
It is by the grace of God that we remain one as a nation today, our thanksgiving today cannot just be by songs we sing or holiday that we celebrate. As a people we love holidays so much; people like holidays, people like to stay at home and to enjoy, it doesn’t matter how big but it is when you run your own business that you don’t fancy too much of holidays.
Thanksgiving must be our lifestyle, something that we must intentionally engage on a daily basis. We must proclaim His praises by becoming the answers to our nation’s problems; we must be the hands that feed the poor.
Our responsibility number one, be a solution to our problems, we must be the hands that feed the poor, the voices that speak for the oppressed and the hearts that bring peace to conflicts. The Bible says in Hebrew 12:14, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
So in conclusion, as we wave our hands in appreciation of what God has done and celebrate our heritage today, let us remember that our highest allegiance belongs to the King of kings, and let it be registered in your subconscious mind that we are not a forgotten generation, we are not a defeated generation, we are not a conquered generation but we are a chosen generation, therefore, let us rise up to our divine calling.
Let’s continue to pray for our land, love our neighbors, and praise the God who has brought us this far. My prayer is that God will continue to bless us, heal our land, guide our steps as we continue our journey to growth, peace, and progress.
However, if you are here, you have not given your life to Christ, you cannot say you have an allegiance to God because allegiance brings you to the place of consensus and agreement. I just want us to bow down our heads and talk to God in a minute and say Father, have Your way in our lives, have Your way in our nation in the name of Jesus.
[Altar call]
The Lord will bless you, the Lord will bless our nation, He will heal Nigeria, He will give us a new Nigeria of our vision in the mighty name of Jesus. And He will help you, He will help me so that we can be someone that will contribute to the peace, progress and development of this nation in Jesus name.
God bless you. Happy independence anniversary once again.
