DAILY GRAPHIC, Thursday, December 27, 2012. Front Pg & Pg. 3. Church services mark xmas

 Story: Graphic Reporters
Church services were held throughout the country to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ on Tuesday.

While some people trooped to the churches to praise God for His mercies throughout the year, fun-loving ones thronged entertainment joints to have fun, with music and movies taking centre stage.

On the night of December 24, some Christians attended church services, while others engaged in a variety of entertainment activities to usher in the Christmas celebrations.

For most people, especially Christians, the events of Christmas Day began with church services.

Others also organised parties and exchanged gifts to express the love they have for their neighbours, family members and friends.

During the church services, the sermons focused on the need for peace, unity, reconcilation and love for national development.

 The congregations also prayed for the development and prosperity of the country, the government and Ghanaians in the coming year.

At the Calvary Methodist Church, Community Three, Tema, the Very Rev Rosebud Margaret Adjaottor reminded Christians that the significance of the birth of Jesus Christ was the celebration of joy for mankind and continuous evangelisation, Albert Sam reports.

 Rev Adjaottor, however, noted with regret that some Ghanaians were not celebrating the festive occasion with joy and happiness for the simple reason that they had not accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

She, therefore, urged Christians to say ‘no’ to unbelievers and continue vigorously with their evangelisation to win more souls for Christ.

At the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS) Church at Odorkor, Christmas Day church service was marked with praises and thanksgiving to God for the birth of Christ, who is the founder of Christianity, Mary Ankrah reports.

Preaching on the theme: “Without Christ there is no Salvation”, the Priestess, Senior Christ Servant Sister Priscilla Mensah, encouraged the brethren to continue to believe in Jesus, so that they would not be disappointed in their daily endeavours.

She said Jesus’ birth had saved all mankind and for that reason Christians would continue to rejoice and celebrate His birth.

At the Atomic Hills Baptist Church, the Assistant Pastor, Robert Assilenu, tasked Christians to see Christmas as a time to build their spirituality and belief in God and not just see the season as a festival worth celebrating, Jasmine Arku writes.

Basing his sermon on Matthew chapter 2:1-12, he urged the congregation to count the protection, grace and mercy that God had bestowed on them throughout the year.

 “Count the accidents, sicknesses and difficult times that God has delivered you from. The best way you can give back to Him is offer yourself to Christ in praise and worship,” he said.

 For his part, the General Overseer of the Global Revival Ministries, Rev Robert Ampiah Kwofie, urged Ghanaians to live in peace and love and draw lessons from the significance of the birth of Jesus Christ, reports Salomey Appiah.

He said Jesus Christ was born to bring peace and goodwill to humanity and so in this Yuletide love and peace must reign among the people of Ghana.

“We should not allow anything, including political affiliations and our differences, to rob us of our peace in this season and after the season,” he said. 

Rev Ampiah Kwofie, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said Christmas should be seen as a special occasion, since it marked the birth of the Saviour.

He urged Ghanaians to be humble, no matter their positions, because Jesus Christ was born in a stable where animals were kept.

In a Christmas message from the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), its President, Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah, sent greetings of love and peace to members of the church and all Ghanaians who had lived as a united people under the banner of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, saying that although there had been challenges in 2012, “our Living God once again proved Himself faithful to us”.

The council’s theme for 2012: “Walking in the Steps of Christ”, focused on the subject of discipleship in the Ghanaian church.

From Tamale, Vincent Amenuveve reports that residents of Tamale marked the season with church activities and other social events.

On Christmas Day, various churches organised special church services, while some residents, including holiday makers, trooped to the various nightclubs to have fun.

Preaching the sermon on the topic, “Understanding the power and the purpose of Christmas”, at the Winner’s Chapel in Tamale, the Resident Pastor, David Olaiya Oladobe, reminded Christians that Christmas was more than just the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

“It is rather the celebration of your deliverance and liberty and the Glory of God in your life,” he said.
Making reference to Luke 2:8-11, Pastor Oladobe said the purpose of Christmas was to reveal God’s glory to mankind.

George Ernest Asare reports from Kumasi that at the St Peter’s Catholic Church at Asuoyeboa, Rev Fr Isaac Manu, who delivered the sermon, advised Christians to allow the love that the birth of Jesus Christ brought to the world to reflect  in their lives.

He said that could be done if the Christian community always empathised and sympathised with those who were lonely, poor, sick, dejected and rejected by society.

He said celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ without the characteristic of the Man who exhibited great love for mankind undermined the essence of Christianity.

“When we fail to sympathise and empathise with the poor, the lonely and the downtrodden in society, it shows that we are celebrating Christmas in darkness, which is sinful,” he said.

From Koforidua, A. Kofoya-Tetteh reports that the Eastern Regional capital witnessed its heaviest vehicular traffic on Monday, December 24 when hundreds of vehicles of all types converged on the town.

The vehicles, which carried both holiday makers within the New Juaben municipality and people from the surrounding towns and villages, were in Koforidua for  last-minute shopping for the Yuletide.

What worsened the situation was the diversion of a larger fleet of vehicles on the Nsawam-Suhum-Bunso stretch of the Accra-Kumasi Highway to the town as a result of the bad nature of that portion of the highway which is currently under construction.

The heavy vehicular traffic, which started about 8 a.m., eased about 11 p.m.

The traffic was also partly due to an annual street carnival organised by Y&K, a trading company, during which the Asafo Adjei Street, the main artery in Koforidua, is blocked between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. for revelers to have their day.

The heavy vehicular traffic, coupled with the large number of people who flocked the town, compelled the Eastern Regional Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), under the command of Chief Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, to deploy 70 policemen to direct traffic, especially at vantage points.

Chief Supt Peprah, who personally led the operation, said he was compelled to deploy such a large number of policemen because Koforidua had not seen such a large fleet of vehicles before