Now is not the time to lose faith in God, says Dr Kenroy Burke.
The Administrative Bishop and National Overseer of the New Testament Church of God, who was delivering the sermon at the National Independence Thanksgiving Service yesterday in the Wildey Gymnasium, St Michael, said Jesus was still the cornerstone of Barbados.
“We need to learn to be a little bit more thankful. God has been too good to us as a nation for us to have an ungrateful attitude in 2023. Everything is not perfect but Barbados has been blessed over the years with some of the best and we ought to give God thanks even for the little mercies we see every day.
“There are several others which have more might – financial might, military might – but Barbados still stands tall amongst them. Can you imagine God allowed us to be a world leader in the handling of the (COVID-19) pandemic, this 166 square miles?” he asked.
The Pentecostal cleric also cautioned the country to ensure the price of progress was not too high.
“We must maintain our identity as a people. As we progress, it is way too costly to give up our spiritual foundations so I pray we never grow so sophisticated we try to progress without God. Citizens of Barbados, let progress therefore be balanced with a strong foundation of acknowledgement that God has brought us this far and a strong faith which will take us forward. We cannot do it without the Lord,” he said.
Burke advised the congregation to preserve the cornerstones of their faith and keep what was good while getting rid of anything evil.
“Jesus still remains the chief cornerstone of our nation, therefore it is incumbent on us to ensure He is also the cornerstone within our households. We need to embrace this at this point in time. History shows us we were a strong nation built on a cornerstone named Jesus Christ so where it does not need fixing, all we need to do is to continue to build on it,” he said.
The cleric then turned his attention to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and the Cabinet of Barbados. He prayed for God’s wisdom, guidance, knowledge and understanding for them and said he hoped Mottley would continue to seek strength and guidance from God. He also prayed for the judiciary and Barbados’ legal system.
“Citizens of Barbados, as we celebrate our 57th anniversary of independence as a proud nation, I salute your resilience and strength of character and the foundations our forefathers left for us but I suggest to you the way forward is the same way we started, with a strong faith as our foundation, as we advance forward ever, backward never as a nation. God bless you, Barbados,” he said.