Let Our Faith Speak for Us, Baptist Youths Coordinator, IbukunOluwa, Urges Christians
By Our Reporter
The National Coordinator, Youth Ministry Division, Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), Rev. IbukunOluwa Joshua has urged youths to let their faith speaks for them.
He said this in a statement congratulating Nigerian Baptist Convention youths on the celebration of the 2020 Youth Week.
IbukunOluwa noted that the Coronavirus pandemic period is not a time to be discouraged, but a time to allow our faith in Christ to speak life to the souls of men.
The statement reads:
“How can a young man live at a time like this?
My brethren, I see the answer to the above question in the theme of our Youth Week for this year. The simple response is ‘A Living Faith.’
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 3-4). This year’s Youth Week focuses on our faith. We live in a generation where Christianity has become a thing of the mouth. Many confess Christ as Lord but He is not seen in their character. Many people outside the church are confused because our preaching does not match our lifestyle.
“It is time to let our faith speak life to men even at this difficult time of COVID-19 pandemic. This is not a time to be discouraged, but a time to allow our faith in Christ to speak life to the souls of men. So, I am trusting God to divinely visit us for freshness and visit our land for total victory over COVID-19 pandemic.
“The writer of Hebrews wrote to Christians of the first century who were tempted to return to Judaism. They had begun their journey in the Christian faith well, but as opposition and persecution arose around them, their commitment to Jesus Christ softened and they began to drift spiritually. The author encourages these struggling believers not to give up their superior blessings and realities in Jesus Christ for the mere shadows and rituals of Judaism. Are there things we can learn from this book that we help our faith in Christ to be a living faith; can our faith in Him still speak? The answer to this question is yes, there are many things the Lord has for us from this passage as end time soldiers.
“We need to agree as the body of Christ that we are already in the end time. It is actually what the Bible calls the ‘beginning of the end time’. It is obvious that the faith of many young people is already waxing cold. This year’s youth week is packaged in building up our faith in the face of life challenges.”
The theme for the 2020 Youth Week celebration is “The Living Faith” with the text taken from Hebrews 10:36-11-10.
