Now, more than ever before, there is a need for collaborative work to advance the message of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, according to Pastor Noel James.
Pastor James made the comments during brief remarks prefacing his sermon to mark his installation at District #3 of the North Caribbean Conference that includes the St. Thomas Shiloh Seventh-day Adventist Church and the New Horizon congregation, made up of believers from the Dominican Republic. The event was held Sabbath morning at the Shiloh Tabernacle in Anna’s Retreat.
“…In view of the devastation that has ravaged our territory, we really need to – more than ever before – do what I call collaborative work and it is not enough for any one of us as pastors or even members to think that we can do it alone by ourselves where we are,” Pastor James told the congregation. “Really and truly we’re all in this together, we need to come together and we need to see ourselves as one here on St. Thomas… We’re all working together for the advancement of the work of the Lord because it is not about Pastor James, it is about the work of God.”
Reiterating the importance of unity, James added, “Until we can embrace that focus, we will not really achieve the success that God has planned for us. United we stand; divided we fall. I think God has called us to a work and I keep saying over the past few months what a time, what a time, what a time to be in anyway at all involved in the work of God; really extraordinary times.”
Meanwhile, in his first sermon, “But we are A..?” in congruence with the event’s theme, “Transformed ministers in a changing world,” James reminded his new congregants that they ought to be a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light,” as described in 1 Peter 2:9.
“What better identity can one have? The Bible says we are God’s sons and daughters. God says when I do His will with the Holy Spirit with me, I am His son and I’m his daughter. But based on our connection with God, it will decide just where we fit in as we seek to answer this question, ‘But we are A…?’” he said.
Flanked by his wife, Perdita, James took the oath, in the form of a litany, to accept the challenge. “Under God, I pledge to do my best to always lift Him up,” he vowed. Pastor Noel James replaces Pastor Jerry Languedoc, who now leads the Philadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church congregation, following a similar installation ceremony on July 7.
Lt. Gov. Osbert Potter was among those in attendance to share in the joy of the auspicious occasion.