Christians have been advised to always give back to God gifts or sacrifices that cost them something in appreciation to what He has been doing to mankind, especially His continuous protection of lives.
The administrator of Etche South Arch Deaconry of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Chokocho Etche, Rev. Prospect Chinwe Ezeji, gave this advice in his sermon during the 2021 Annual Harvest Thanksgiving Service of the Emmanuel Anglican Church, Umuebule II, Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State over the weekend.
He explained that Harvest Time is an annual event when people are expected to show appreciation to God for all His faithfulness. The man of God explained that when one willingly give out to God or to the less-privileged in the society, God Almighty has a divine way of blessing the giver.
According to him “whatever mankind have is actually provided him/her by God Almighty and so, it is not out of place to return thanks to Him in order to continue getting more from Him,” he said.
The Guest Speaker also made it clear that one giving his/her life to God through genuine repentance and holiness is of utmost importance and desirable for continuous divine connection, stressing that he who sowed sparingly would equally reap sparingly, adding that God is indeed expecting mankind’s gifts or returns in various ways for his benevolence.
“We should develop the attitude of giving for God’s work and never to bother about how it is being used either.
We should also desist from giving God our bad/rotten products or money as He is the owner of the world and its fullness thereof” he emphasized.
The harvest committee also used the opportunity to sell out the harvest proceeds that was brought to the church back to the congregation.
The event equally witnessed the giving of Awards of Excellence to some personalities for their contributions to the society especially for church work.
Those who bagged the awards included Barr. Obianuju Emesiobi; Lady Sandra Onunekwu; Mrs. Juliet Udeagu; Master Okechukwu Marvelous and Mr/Evg (Mrs) Divine Zik Ukaeje.
In her response on behalf of other awardees, Lady Evg (Mrs) Divine Zik thanked the organizers for remembering them and promised their continuous support to the church of God.
Mummy Divine who is of the knowledge of God Ministries, Oyigbo disclosed that she was excited to be part of the event, adding that there is no gift or returns to God without a corresponding reward.
She used the opportunity to appeal to the parishioners to persevere and ensure that the church building project is completed in a record time.
Mr. Christopher Onyeagwara, a businessman who also harvested, testified to the goodness of God.
He too promised to be giving back to God in appreciation of His faithfulness to his family.
The Vicar/Cantor of the Emmanuel Anglican Church, Location 15 Umuebule II in an interview said he was overwhelmed with the recorded success of the event and thanked God Almighty especially for the clement weather granted them.
He advised that “It is important members stick to the theme of the event which says “manifesting our gratitude in great magnitude”.
He also added that it is the duty of the men of God to keep on praying for the members’ welfare as their success is in that of the church.
The 2021 Annual Harvest Committee Chairman, Hon. Michael Emesiobi in his vote of thanks expressed their appreciation to God, the congregation and invited guests for making the day a huge success and prayed for God’s blessing for them in return.
He confirmed that with God all things are possible.
