A local pastor said that there are some connections that need to happen between churches in order to build the body of Christ. Speaking in Today’s sermon last Sunday, Pastor Stanford Simon called on church leaders to build a bridge to come together. He called on pastors, Bishops and other religious leaders to take the lead because walking alone can be dangerous. “We need to work together as believers because if three are crossing a bridge and one falls, one can catch the other,” he said.
In reiterating the idea of churches working together, Pastor Simon explained that he is in the business of saving souls and that’s his ultimate goal. “I am in the business of people giving their life to Christ. You are in the business as a Pentecostal, a Berean, Catholic, and Methodist of people giving their lives to Christ. We are in the same business. Let’s help each other.”
The pastor questioned why with ten thousand persons in our country and over four hundred churches why the island does not have more people belonging to the Christian faith. “Every village in Grenada has a church. In some cases there are up to five in one village and you telling me we can’t evangelise Grenada. Why? Because we are divided and it’s hurting the very essence of what we are trying to do.”
In explaining that in some instances, even the pastors prevent their members from visiting other churches, he used an example where there are some churches that have good singers but if he invites them to come and sing in his church they will tell him that their pastor will not allow them because they believe differently to what is being preached in his church. “To come and sing? To come and minister in song? Even that they have problems allowing, that’s how bad it is.”
In his sermon the pastor called on the public to avoid growing weary in doing good. “We have to get this thing right. Team work divides the task and multiply the success. That is what the church needs today –to multiply the success. We have a whole lot of tasks. There are many persons in a team, but there is one group. There are many believers but there is only one body of Christ. There are many believers from different denominations, but there is only one body of Christ.”
In referencing Christianity as the local supermarket Pastor Simon said that there is one store with different departments within that store and each depends on each other for success. “One department may do things the other cannot and so they function with each playing its part. When you walk in you go to the aisle so if the shelf packers did not do their job, you have a problem. If the cashier have to get up and come and pack out items on the shelves, problems! If them in the storeroom did not bring out the goods for those who packing the shelves, problems!”
But that’s what’s happening in the church. The church is messed up. We as human beings have messed it up. When we should be doing one, we doing the other. So the whole church in disarray. The cleaner want to sing, the councilor want to go and play the keyboard.
On the issue of effectiveness and the efficiency of the church as one body of Christ, he is calling for churches to lend strength to each other. He singled out the Seventh Day Adventist church as being exceptionally good in teaching about good health. “If they would open themselves to all other churches in teaching the topic, we would be much healthier. Baptiste is good at teaching and if the church would open up to other churches, it would help build the body. There are some churches that are good at prophetic word –Church of God, Pentecostal and so forth they are good in that area. If they would open up and teach those things the body will explode. “We have to move away from selfish thinking and start building bridges come together to do more”.
Pastor Stanford Simon, First St George’s Baptist Church
