Pastor’s Report – January 2016
As we begin a new calendar year we have
the opportunity to look back on the past year, evaluate where we are in terms
of our mission and vision, and then refocus our priorities as we look ahead. Our succinct mission statement says we are here
“To know God, and to make Him known.” We
envision “A community of Christ followers, rooted in the Word, treasuring God
as supremely valuable, proclaiming the riches of His grace to the world.” The focus is on treasuring God, and faithfully
embracing the mission and message He has entrusted to us. We are convinced that
we are here, each one of us, by God’s sovereign design. He has brought us
together from various backgrounds and with different experiences, to carry out
our mission and implement our vision, as we discover our place in God’s story.
God has placed each of us here on purpose for a purpose. And He will give each
of us work until our life is over, and life until our work is done. Do you
agree with that? It is an exciting idea to consider that each of us has been
chosen by God to be a part of His team! Part of God’s plan for each of us is to be a
witness in the “sphere of influence” where He was placed us. Is there someone
you can be praying for who needs to know Jesus?
A key aspect of my calling as I see it
is to “...equip the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the
body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). An important part of that is the Sunday morning preaching time. This year we’ve been focused
in the Sunday morning series on lessons from the first letter to the
Corinthians (the series should conclude in February!). Many of the issues that the church struggled
with then also face us today in one way or another. Paul’s words are as relevant
today as they were 2000 years ago. Counselling has continued to be a privilege
for me as I help individuals and couples deal with some of the struggles of
living in a fallen world. Working with our volunteer team in the Sunday night
youth ministry has been good as well, and we were blessed this year to have two
of the teens take the step of publically professing their faith in baptism.
Thanks to Karen Lawless for her faithful coordinating of this ministry in
recent years, and also to Jamie House and the Fowlies for their participation!
This kind of “intergenerational ministry” helps the teens to get a broader
picture of the church family, and ultimately we pray, will help them to get
integrated into the body.
The Advent season included some special
services including a Children’s program and a Christmas Eve service. On New
Years Eve we once again read aloud through the Book of Revelation, and sang
some worship music as well. What a great way to end one year and begin another! Could 2016 be the year of His return? God knows, for our part, may we be
faithful!
Our small group continues to meet on
Thursday nights and this time is a high point of the week for Mary Ann and
me. We would love to see more groups
form as this is an excellent setting for the kind of encouragement and
accountability that we all need. If you are not a part of a group and would
like to be, please talk to me about it.
If there is not a group that fits your needs, perhaps another can be
started!
Our elder board suffered with the sudden
resignation of Mark Kamen who is dealing with some serious health issues.
Please be in prayer for Mark and for the elders who are tasked with the
shepherding responsibility of the church.
We need to prayerfully seek God’s direction for qualified candidates to
fill the gap when the time is right. For
the last couple of months we have replaced one of our two monthly elder
meetings with a “combined leadership meeting” of elders, deacons, and
deaconesses. The elders still meet once a month to discuss shepherding issues
and the ministry and direction of the church.
We don’t know what changes, challenges,
and opportunities we will face us in 2016. But God is faithful, and He will
build His church. May we look ahead with excitement and joyfully embrace the
opportunities He sets before us!
Your co-workers in Christ,
Steve and Mary Ann Nash
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