Pastor’s Report – October 2015
This quarterly
meeting falls between two exciting outreaches to children and their families: our
annual Word of Life FASCAR event, and Trunk or Treat, a fall Halloween
alternative that has become a successful outreach to children in our community. This year we are looking forward to having
Kevin and Jen Lambertson here representing Child Evangelism Fellowship. They
will be presenting the gospel as they paint the faces of children. We anticipate handing out hundreds of Gospel
tracts, Bibles, and New Testaments to our visitors. Be in prayer that many
lives will be touched by the gospel! Help is always needed so contact Meredith
Fowlie if you can lend a hand.
These events
highlight our desire as a church to become more outwardly focused as we seek to
live out our vision statement of becoming “...a community of Christ followers, rooted
in the Word, treasuring God as supremely valuable, and proclaiming the riches
of His grace to the world.” Do you share that vision? Virtually every word of that statement is
critically important. We are a “community” of believers in Jesus. That
emphasizes our common faith, and also our “one another” responsibilities within
the body. As we’ve been looking at I Corinthians we are reminded of the fact
that we each have gifts to use for the building up of the body and the carrying
out of our mission. We are also to be “rooted
in the Word,” that means we believe the Bible, in its entirety, is the Word of
God to us, and we take Him at His Word. His Word is truth. If we agree with the
Word being foundational to our vision, we need to be in the Word daily for “man
does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of
God.” We need to avail ourselves of opportunities to study and learn together. Finally,
but by no means least, is our mission to proclaim the riches of His grace to
the world.
Our Sunday
School series, “Gospel Shaped Outreach” has highlighted that aspect of our
vision. God has us in the world on assignment, to bring the Gospel to our
friends and neighbors. We’ve also been
talking lately about a principle called “8/15.” That is, on average, most
people have between 8 and 15 people in their immediate “sphere of influence.” These are people we know well and interact
with on a regular basis. On average 95 percent of the people who visit a church
and ultimately come to faith have been invited by such a close acquaintance.
Relatives, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or classmates—there are some in that
circle that either don’t know the Lord or who have fallen away from church
attendance. We need to embrace the idea that we are God’s missionaries to our
8/15. We need to identify them, pray for them, and seek to invite them to
church or to a small group. We need to be a witness to them, ready to give a
reason for the hope God has given us.
I continue to
enjoy preaching through I Corinthians.
Our small group on Thursday evenings has been a blessing to Mary Ann and
me as we worship, pray, learn together, and enjoy fellowship. We are blessed to
join with a small but dedicated group for prayer on Wednesday nights. Our
devotional series is currently working through the “Songs of Ascent” and I call
the series “Songs for the Journey” as we live as “pilgrims in a fallen world.” Early Tuesday morning a few men come together for
coffee and prayer at the parsonage. Counselling for individuals and couples is
a privilege and an ongoing ministry. I have enjoyed joining with our youth
ministry team on Sunday evening as we seek to help our teens “get connected”
with the church family. As always it is
essential to be evaluating where we are as a church and how we are doing with
the responsibilities and opportunities God has laid before us. Your prayers are
appreciated as the leadership continues to evaluate and lead us forward
together.
Your co-workers,
Pastor Steve and Mary Ann
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