The 20th edition of The Experience, one of the world’s largest gospel music gatherings, will be held tonight, Friday, December 5, 2025, at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) in Lagos.
The annual event draws international attention as it celebrates two decades of uninterrupted worship, prayer, and musical celebration, reports The Nation.
At a press conference earlier today, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, Convener and Senior Pastor of House on the Rock, spoke on national development, Christmas, and Nigeria’s recent designation by the US President as a “state of particular concern.”
Addressing national development, Pastor Adefarasin called on the country’s wealthy to contribute more intentionally to social and infrastructural progress.
“The rich in the country, the wealthy, the wealthy thieves all have to learn to come back with wealth and put that into infrastructure, education, schools, hospitals, and energy. We need energy to industrialise,” he said.
On the occasion of Christmas, he highlighted its spiritual importance, emphasising the Christian understanding of Christ’s incarnation as a central message of the season.
He said, “I agree with the Jehovah’s Witnesses that this was not the day Jesus was born, but by convention we accept celebrating it together because as Christians every day is supposed to be Christmas. “We’re conscious of him, we offer service to him, we worship him, and we celebrate that God came.
“He took on the incarnation, lived a perfect life, and then was nailed to the cross. He bore the price for all my sins, original sin, historic sin, ancestral sin, personal history sin, present struggle, and any future struggle that I have. He died to pay that price so that I could have consistent access to him and be great friends with my father in glory. Jesus did that.
“Hey, Jesus came, he lived perfectly, he modelled the life that you are supposed to live, God in man, Christ in you, the hope of glory, so that when he went to the cross, he could take the Christos from within him and put that in you so you could be just like him.
“That’s called the manifestation of the sons of God. If you look at Christmas like that, it’s when we celebrate what he did through his incarnation, his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension, which gave the heavens permission to release the Holy Ghost, the Holy God, God the Holy Spirit, to live in man who believes upon the cross of Calvary. Merry Christmas.”
Reacting to the US President’s recent comments regarding Nigeria, Pastor Adefarasin said that even if the claims were untrue, God would use the development for the nation’s good. He added that criminal activity must be addressed decisively.
“Well, if the enemy was involved in the separations, God has taken it already and he’s using it to work for the good of Nigeria, it’s made us conscious that we can’t have complicity in high places in the market, high places in the polity and the politics, we can’t have that sort of complicity and then crimes should be prosecuted as crimes, where the police is, is not capable of fighting a military, then government must bring the military behind the prosecution of crime and the arresting of criminals.
“It’s as simple as that, and nobody should be above the law.”
Kaduna-born gospel singer Solomon Lange, who returns to minister at The Experience, spoke about the distinct nature of worship in Northern Nigeria.
“I can say boldly and at the same time sarcastically that the worship from the north is the purest in Nigeria because we do it in the midst of pain. But we just love to worship God regardless of whatever it is we’re going through,” he said.
Responding to questions on alleged Christian persecution in the North, he added, “I’m from the north, and it’s so good to see that the world is talking about what we’ve been experiencing all our lives. We’ve gone through this all these years, but I don’t know about genocide; what I know is that the Bible teaches us not to hate those who hate us. We must love them because Jesus loves them too.”
Gospel duo Mr M & Revelation said worshippers should expect an intense spiritual atmosphere at tonight’s event.
“Like we said, those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. So, no matter what you face, if you wait on the Lord, if you are in the presence of God, you will have the strength to face whatever. So, the joy of the Lord is our strength.
“Through whatever is happening in the world. Jesus is there to see us through. Thank you very much.”
On what to expect, they said, “We’re going to experience power. Jesus. Healing. Miracles. That’s what we’re going to experience tonight. And very good music. Alright, thank you very much.”
Addressing how they function individually when ministering without each other, they added, “Powerful. It’s really about Jesus. It’s not about us. It’s about Jesus. It’s about the mandate, it’s about the call, and it’s about Jesus.”
With thousands expected to gather physically and millions joining virtually, tonight’s event marks a significant moment for one of the most influential worship gatherings on the African continent.
