Christians in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region ushered in the Christmas with watch-night services, singing songs of praise, hymns amidst dancing and waving of white handkerchiefs, in honor of God for the birth of Jesus Christ.
All most all the churches were not filled to capacity due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the need to adhere to its safety protocols.
Both regular and occasional worshippers, some of them clad in white attires to signify their joy to God for the birth of God’s only begotten son Jesus Christ.
Pastors in the various churches in the Bolgatanga Municipality called on Christians to make resolutions that would build bridges and enhance total transformation of lives and the development of the nation, by being ambassadors of peace, unity and reconciliation, and continue to pray for the well-being of the country.
They said the birth of Christ should serve as a period for reconciliation, tolerance and forgiveness among the people.
Delivering the sermon on the theme “The Manger Miracle” at the Holy-Ghost Temple Assemblies of God Church, Rev. Dominic Ziba, said the beginning of Jesus Christ was not anything big or something to glory at all.
However, with God on his side everything was made possible for him.
Rev. Dominic Ziba who is also the Upper East Regional Zone “A” Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church said Christ’s had a little beginning with the full-backing of heaven, the throne of God.
He also described Christ’s beginning as little with the ever conquering power. He charged Christians and for that matter believers to always look up to God in times of trouble.
At the Sacred Heart Cathedral of the Catholic Church in Bolgatanga, the Catholic Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, Most Rev. Alfred Agyenta, asked Christians whether they are responding to the post-electoral crisis by peaceful means or by violence.
He said violence in whatever form and for whatever reasons can never be justified by any person of good will much less by anyone who bears the name Christ.
He said it was for this reason, before the elections, religious leaders exalted all political actors to be decorous in their use of their language.
He said verbal violence is as lethal and deadly as any violent acts. He said it is in the same spirit that he is condemning any act of violence that is been carried out by anyone in the name of exercising his or her rights.
He said in exercising our rights we have a great responsibility of ensuring that no live, property or the environment is destroyed.
He condemned the burning of car tyres throughout the country by the supporters of the National Democratic Party NDC.
He described the burning of the car tyres across the country as a sin against mother earth. He appealed to those in engage in such acts of aggression to stop.
Most Rev. Agyenta asked how stakeholders and Christians in the region are responding to the conflict between the people of Doba and Kandiga in the Kassena-Nankana Municipal and Kassena-Nankana West District. He said the savior has taught Christians that an eye for eye is the sure way to destroy an entire people.
The only way to save a nation is to seek the path of dialogue and above all to overcome evil with good.
He said it is a narrow path which is difficult to travel and it is often ignored by many but it’s the only path that leads to live.
Most Rev. Agyenta said Christians need courage to carry out what they believe to be true and good even when this means going against the spirits and mentality of the current world and society.
He said country today and for that matter the world prefers recognition and compromise to doing what is right and truth.
The Catholic Bishop said Christians must choose the truth and prefer to be ignored because this makes us better people and by so doing we see to realize the goal and mission of the savior that has been given to us.
He said Joseph took Mary into his house as wife inspite of what is contemporarily thought about her who became pregnant without living with her husband.
Most Rev. Agyenta charged Christians to keep in mind the goal and mission of the savior that God has sent to them, which is fundamentally a spiritually one aimed at making them better and holy people.
The Bolgatanga District Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev. Manfred Wedam, cautioned the public not to take the prevailing peace for granted.
He described the post-election violence across the country as unfortunate.
Rev. Wedam stressed the need for the citizenry to love one another just as Jesus Christ demonstrated love to the sinner.
He appealed to Christians to tolerate the views of others and work together towards the development of the nation.
Christians were also charged the people in the country to love the country by supporting anything that are geared towards development in the country.
