Anglicans reminded that God’s shouldn’t be pushed aside

Anglicans in St Vincent and the Grenadines have been reminded that they are God’s servants working together, and that in all that they do, God should not be pushed aside, as it is He who gives the increase.{{more}}

Archbishop of the West Indies, the Most Reverend Dr John Holder, delivered this message last Sunday, in his sermon at the Advent Mission Service of the Anglican Archdeaconry of St Vincent and the Grenadines at the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex.

The three-hour long mission service, which was attended by hundreds of Anglicans and well-wishers, began at 10 a.m. and was held under the theme “Worship, Work, Prayer and Giving: Rudiments of Christian Living”.

Holder, who was the Chief Celebrant and Preacher, took his text from 1 Corinthians, 3:9 — “We are God’s servants working together, you are God’s field, you are God’s building.”

He said worship, work, prayer and giving are four important areas of Christian witness, work, mission and ministry.

Anglicans see worship as central to their Christian life, he said, and advised that time be put aside in one’s life to reflect and think about God. Worship, he said, is focusing on God, not an escape from the world and its problems, but an effort to bring our world before God, and every area of our life before God.

“We need to celebrate the presence of God in every way,” he said.

The Archbishop said as Christian workers, we work with the understanding that it is only through the mercies of God that we can make a special contribution to our families, our church, our community and our country.

“We give of our very best, knowing that God sees our work not in terms of money, but in terms of how much we are doing to strengthen the church and make his world a better place,” he said.

The world has had many experiments, such as Communism, in which God has been pushed aside and man placed as the first and last in everything and of everything, Holder, a Barbadian said.

“Something is missing when we push God aside.”

Despite these experiments, he said, the church is still here, reminding humanity that we need God.

“As we are reminded by St Paul, we are God’s servants working together.

In our work and witness, in our mission and ministry, it is God who gives the increase,” Holder said.

The Archbishop advised those gathered to let the text of his sermon be a constant reminder of what we are and who we are called to be as Christians.

“Let us be a vessel of God’s goodness and love, of his grace and forgiveness where ever we are, whatever we are called to do,” he said.

In his remarks, The Right Reverend C. Leopold Friday, bishop of the Diocese of the Windward Islands, said the archbishop’s visit to St Vincent was perhaps one of divine providence, coming at the time of the death of former Archbishop of the West Indies, Sir Cuthbert Woodroffe.

He said Sir Cuthbert had discerned Holder’s call to ministry and sent him to Codrington College to study to be a priest. Holder has become archbishop.

Among attendees at the mission service were Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs Maxwell Charles, Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture Cecil McKie, Minister of National Mobilisation Frederick Stephenson, MP for Central Kingstown St Claire Leacock, and Speaker of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Parliament and former minister of culture, René Baptiste.