Along with the rest of the world, Christians in Nagaland celebrated Resurrection\/Easter Sunday, with religious fervour and piety. The day commemorates Jesus Christ\u2019s resurrection from the dead.
In Kohima, people congregated for the sunrise service at Naga Solidarity Park, organized under the aegis of Kohima Baptist Pastors\u2019 Fellowship.
Delivering the resurrection greetings, Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) general secretary Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho said the resurrection completed the redemptive work of God. \u201cResurrection is not the invention of humankind but a demonstration of God\u2019s power,\u201d Dr Keyho said.
He said resurrection \u201ccompletes our salvation and gives us the indescribable hope of life that is eternal.\u201d Dr Keyho pointed out that the empty tomb gave believers the power to overcome the fear of death and the confidence for future.
Quoting 1 Corinthians 15:13 \u201cIf Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith\u201d, Keyho said the essence of the statement was \u201cwe stand or we fall on resurrection\u201d. He however observed that people today took Christianity and faith for granted because they focused less on the power of resurrection and more on modernising one\u2019s faith.
He noted that people were influenced whatever they came across in social media platforms like WhatsApp and YouTube without even bothering to think what was right or wrong, or find out the source of information.
\u201cFor some it (social media) has become their primary and the Bible their secondary source of information.\u201d He also noted that what went around in social media seemed to be more appealing than what the Bible says.
He cited how people forwarded messages some that read \u201cForward the message to 10 different groups and you will receive your blessing, type Amen and God will bless you\u201d.
Dr.Keyho stressed that blessings did not come by forwarding messages ten times and termed it a \u201cChristian scam\u201d. He said God did not grant one\u2019s wish by typing \u201cAmen\u201d, but blessings of any kind came through faith in the resurrected Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.
The NBCC general secretary also observed that biblical Christianity was fading and that churches were becoming more like social clubs.
While there was nothing wrong with beautiful structures, yet he emphasised that the beautiful architecture \u201cshould not deter us from saving souls, bring hope to the hopeless and ministering to the world around us.\u201d
For the church, he said nothing could substitute building lives.
In his message, Khedi Baptist Church pastor Dr Ruokuovilie Sach\u00fc said resurrection of Jesus Christ was the moment that marked the fulfilment of prophecies as the resurrection hadbecome true. He termed the message \u201cHe is not here, He has risen\u201d as not only the defining factor not only in earthly life but to see Jesus\u2019s face to face.
He mentioned that the resurrection of Jesus was not fake and that there was nothing to be afraid or frightened of. Instead, as believers, he said one should be firm on his faith and rejoice because \u201cHe is the way, the truth and Life.\u201d
According to Sachu resurrection had not only given humanity the hope of eternity, but also reshaped people\u2019s thinking in daily affairs. Without Jesus in one\u2019s life, he cautioned that everything would be lost and that the whole system would crash down.
He also commented that it was time to return to Jesus, high time to call upon the name of Jesus, repent and stand firm on \u201cour faith because the Lord Saviour has risen victoriously from death\u201d.
Sachu said when Jesus Christ gave his best for mankind, made way to live with God for eternity, nothing could separate the believers from the Love of God and thereby one should not be afraid by the vices of the world.
Pastor of Sumi Baptist Church Daklane pronounced invocation prayer, while pastor Chang Baptist Church Anung Chang and New Capital Baptist Church pastor Bendangtens\u00fc read the Bible from Old and New Testaments respectively.
Choir from Chakhesang Baptist Church Minister Hill, Kohima and Konyak Baptist Church, Kohima presented special songs.
The programme was chaired by Kohima Phom Baptist Church pastor Rev Phom Lee Van, while Metei Baptist Church pastor Jonathan pronounced benediction prayer.
In Dimapur, the service was organized by the Dimapur Baptist Pastors\u2019 Fellowship at Clock Tower.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Along with the rest of the world, Christians in Nagaland celebrated Resurrection\/Easter Sunday, with religious fervour and piety. The day commemorates Jesus Christ\u2019s resurrection from the dead.In Kohima, people congregated for the sunrise service at Naga Solidarity Park, organized under the aegis of Kohima Baptist Pastors\u2019 Fellowship.Delivering the resurrection greetings, Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":339447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[679],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nagaland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}