By Roland Harmon

Parishioners of the Joy World Universal Church have called upon to put the leave behind vises that tend to divide and destroy them and move into the future with initiatives that with unite them in faith to be a blessing to the unreached, needy and destitute.

The call was made by Rev. Samuel Vansiea, Senior Pastor of the Joy World Universal Church when he delivered the sermon at the 2rd Anniversary Celebration of the church on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at the edifice on Minneapolis during the regular worship service.

Speaking on the "Maintaining a balance, "Rev. Vansiea pointed out that in order for the mission of the church to be achieved, the old must embrace the young and the both must work together in harmony to take the gospel to the people.

He pointed out that their merger is still new and infant, and their success in doing the will of God is contingent upon how they balance both their heritage of the "old" and the inheritance of the "new" or "the young."

He said if members of the Christian faith are only living in the past and old and ignore the modern and new and the contemporary, then that is gross mismanagement of the Kingdom.

Adding, "If Christians are only concerned about the new, modern, and contemporary, to the exclusion of the old and traditional then are doing gross disservice to the Kingdom and Christians are not good scribes. He describes a good scribe as a person who carefully preserves in his treasures both the old and the new.

Rev. Vansiea concluded his sermon with the followings:

1. "Our worship time will remain much more liturgical with the hymns liturgical formalities while at the same time we will strive to embrace the enthusiasm and exuberance of contemporary flavor that mark the worshipful energy of today. While we will maintain the formalities of the old we will adopt to the form and the strokes of the present. The worship time will be utilized in a timely manner. But there is more than that.

2. We will see much more performance and activities of the young and youthful in ways that are meaningful and appropriate for them in their interpretation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

3. Next, this year and from the very start we are resurrecting the previous goal for membership drive with a specific target of not less than 200 more new members by December 31, 2012. It seems to tell us in scripture that "If you’ve got the Spirit you’ve got to move." Men vs. Women, Teams, sides, left and right. Groups!!!

4. And this is the fun (d) part: We will be deliberate in funding the church because it is a biblical principle to store up goods in the storehouse ready to be used then to scramble around in time of needs. Therefore I propose the first trial plan as this: Every first Sunday Men vs. Women in giving. Half of the intake that day goes to benevolent."

He paid tribute to Rev. Lee Anderson as the pioneer of Liberian Churches and gospel outreach in the state of Minnesota. He describes Rev. Anderson as a true man of God who deserves to be honored for such initiative.