News for the week of September 28 to October 4

It’s great to be able to touch base with you this afternoon. I’m so grateful for your prayer support as we move forward into the fall.

Last Sunday, we were grateful to be able to launch our new Sunday School Program for children up to grade 6. Our recently hired Director, Kenny, along with his fiancé, had a fabulous first Sunday together with our children.

Personally, I’m grateful for all who made this initiative a reality. We are very close to reaching our goal of $40,000 to cover the costs of this initiative for the next year. I want to thank all who have given so generously to this project.

On another note, I got a phone call from Gillian who phoned me from her hospitable bed to tell me her surgery went very well and she is so grateful for all of your prayers. She will spend the next few days in hospital recovering from major surgery. Gillian is a very special member of our church - a woman of prayer and service who has had a profound impact on many of our lives. If you have a card you would like us to deliver please drop it off at the information table and we will make sure she gets it.

This Sunday, I feel led to interrupt our series of messages in Acts and focus on some practical advice on how to deal with the disappointments and crises of life as believers. The title for my message is “Finding Hope in the Darkness of Grief” and the scripture is taken from Psalm 77 in The Message.

I would encourage you to read through the text and reflect on how it can be applied to your life.

This Sunday following the service we will gather in the church sanctuary to vote on our Mission and Vision Statement. This document will serve as a template and guide to help us ‘flesh out’ and evaluate the direction of our church going forward. You can pick up a copy of this proposal as you enter the church this Sunday.

Just one word of caution.

It will be easy for us to get bogged down in the details if we are not careful. All of us will probably have what we consider better words to describe the same thing. So, we could spend hours voting on words that say the same things in slightly different ways that we think are clearer or more precise. So, I’m suggesting that if you have suggestions in this regard that you write them down and place them in the box on the information table. A small committee from the council and congregation will be formed to consider each suggestion before drafting the final document.

But they will not alter the intent of our mission and vision. This means that we need to trust in the wisdom of a few.

In closing, let me ask that you ask God to lead and guide us as we move ahead as a church.

Next week I plan to suggest that we set aside one day following Thanksgiving for a designated day of prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting have always been connected to waiting on God for direction and mission. Prior to launching his public ministry, Jesus withdrew into the wilderness to pray and fast.

As we move ahead we have some important decisions before us as a church and we need to wait on God for His direction.