Pastor’s Report for 2008
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. - Lamentations 32:21-23
Well the old year has past and the New Year is upon us. Weird, the old year barely seemed old and out it goes ready or not. So, like it or not, we begin a new year, and as we most often do, we begin a new year with new vision, new freshness, a new start, and hopefully, a new or renewed optimism as we believe that He will give us new mercies for each day.
I have to start off by saying that Bonnie and I are truly amazed, and truly thankful, as the Church has been so supportive and receptive to my becoming Pastor here and we thank God for re-affirming us this past September in our calling here.
While many are feeling the effects of a world wide economic crisis, and many are affected by a number of devastating natural disasters, and of course many are affected by government and civil unrest in many parts of the world, it would seem for the most part, that most of us each day, in our little corner of the world, just continue to do what we’ve always done.
But, something that stands out in my mind as an example of people not doing what they’ve always done is our young people and how they have lead the way in stepping out. With 3 more of them this year going to Teen Missions, and 5 of them stepping out in obedience to Jesus’ command to be baptised.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. - Lamentations 32:21-23
Well the old year has past and the New Year is upon us. Weird, the old year barely seemed old and out it goes ready or not. So, like it or not, we begin a new year, and as we most often do, we begin a new year with new vision, new freshness, a new start, and hopefully, a new or renewed optimism as we believe that He will give us new mercies for each day.
I have to start off by saying that Bonnie and I are truly amazed, and truly thankful, as the Church has been so supportive and receptive to my becoming Pastor here and we thank God for re-affirming us this past September in our calling here.
While many are feeling the effects of a world wide economic crisis, and many are affected by a number of devastating natural disasters, and of course many are affected by government and civil unrest in many parts of the world, it would seem for the most part, that most of us each day, in our little corner of the world, just continue to do what we’ve always done.
But, something that stands out in my mind as an example of people not doing what they’ve always done is our young people and how they have lead the way in stepping out. With 3 more of them this year going to Teen Missions, and 5 of them stepping out in obedience to Jesus’ command to be baptised.
My desire is to see all of us take a step out and look at the world different this year, really look at it through the eyes of Christ, look at it with a truly biblical world view. People, all people, are created in the image of God and as C.S. Lewis says; “you have never met a mere mortal, all of us are immortal.” All people have souls that will live forever, but the key question is; will they live forever with God in eternal joy, or will they be eternally damned in hell? Serious question wouldn’t you say?
With that in mind, I am finding it harder to see each day the same as the last.
I find it amazing everyday, that God, the All-wise, All-knowing, All-powerful, God of the universe has chosen me to be a part of His plan to make a difference in people’s lives. The question I have to ask then, each day, is; am I? Am I making a difference in people’s lives? Is my family different; is it more in love with Christ today then it was yesterday because of my spiritual leadership? And is this Church, my Church family and friends different today then we all were one year ago under my leadership?
I am glad to see that more and more people are interested in taking in the Truth Project to help get them have more of a biblical world view. It is a good tool to go along with the good teaching we are getting in our Sunday School classes, and, from some of the comments I’ve received lately, I think there are even a few who are getting some things from the messages each Sunday. And, because of my inadequacy, I find this truly amazing but know and give all the credit and praise to the One who gives wisdom generously to all who ask.
I am very thankful that I was able to take in some conferences and seminars that have given me a few more tools and a bit more confidence in my role here. One of the most impacting might have been the “Suffering for the Sake of The Body” seminar at the Bethlehem Institute under the teaching of John Piper. One thing from that seminar that stood out has caused me to look at suffering in a different way. Many people are angry when suffering comes and that isn’t bad, it’s only wrong when the anger is directed towards God. Our anger needs to be directed towards sin, and even further; my sin contributes to the suffering that is in this world; “it was my sin that held Him there”.
I was also blessed to be able to attend the Pastor’s Conference last February with Daniel as the theme was; “Fathers and Sons”, and we had a wonderful time of learning together.
I took in a Marriage counselling seminar that is a tool to be used in pre-marriage and marriage counselling called; “Prepare and Enrich”. I look forward to using it, by God’s grace, as a “pre” counselling tool only!
On that note, I also look forward to the Adult Retreat in February as we look to enrich our marriage relationships and to help those who are not yet married gain some insight into what a good Christian marriage should look like as Peter and Pam Charlebois from First Baptist come and minister to us using some of that marriage counselling tool I just spoke of.
Again each year we often do look forward to having a good year, but as life goes, there are years where we have a lot of turmoil and hardship and some very troubling and painful times of suffering. Some in this Church have experienced these types of things and my heart truly hurts, and many times, weeps with and for those people.
This past year has been a very good year for me personally. I have seen more of my family come to Christ and that is truly exciting. I have also enjoyed the reading and studying I do in preparation for the message and the teaching I do each week. God’s Word is so rich and full of amazing truths that you just find more and more gems that you didn’t realize were there until you dig deeper.
I don’t have any 3, 4, or 5 point vision outline for this year, I have had God lay only one word on my heart; connect. Connect with God and connect with one another.
My heart’s prayer would be that we all dig deeper into God’s Word and have a deeper, richer, more satisfying relationship with Him, and, that out of that would flow a deeper, richer, more satisfying relationships with one another. That we would truly be a Church rooted and grounded in the Truth so that the Community and all those around us would see our love for God and our love for one another, and would want to be a part it.
Let’s stretch ourselves a bit and go out of our way a bit more to build and strengthen our relationship with God and our relationships with one another and those around us in our community and our jobs and our schools, and;
With that in mind, I am finding it harder to see each day the same as the last.
I find it amazing everyday, that God, the All-wise, All-knowing, All-powerful, God of the universe has chosen me to be a part of His plan to make a difference in people’s lives. The question I have to ask then, each day, is; am I? Am I making a difference in people’s lives? Is my family different; is it more in love with Christ today then it was yesterday because of my spiritual leadership? And is this Church, my Church family and friends different today then we all were one year ago under my leadership?
I am glad to see that more and more people are interested in taking in the Truth Project to help get them have more of a biblical world view. It is a good tool to go along with the good teaching we are getting in our Sunday School classes, and, from some of the comments I’ve received lately, I think there are even a few who are getting some things from the messages each Sunday. And, because of my inadequacy, I find this truly amazing but know and give all the credit and praise to the One who gives wisdom generously to all who ask.
I am very thankful that I was able to take in some conferences and seminars that have given me a few more tools and a bit more confidence in my role here. One of the most impacting might have been the “Suffering for the Sake of The Body” seminar at the Bethlehem Institute under the teaching of John Piper. One thing from that seminar that stood out has caused me to look at suffering in a different way. Many people are angry when suffering comes and that isn’t bad, it’s only wrong when the anger is directed towards God. Our anger needs to be directed towards sin, and even further; my sin contributes to the suffering that is in this world; “it was my sin that held Him there”.
I was also blessed to be able to attend the Pastor’s Conference last February with Daniel as the theme was; “Fathers and Sons”, and we had a wonderful time of learning together.
I took in a Marriage counselling seminar that is a tool to be used in pre-marriage and marriage counselling called; “Prepare and Enrich”. I look forward to using it, by God’s grace, as a “pre” counselling tool only!
On that note, I also look forward to the Adult Retreat in February as we look to enrich our marriage relationships and to help those who are not yet married gain some insight into what a good Christian marriage should look like as Peter and Pam Charlebois from First Baptist come and minister to us using some of that marriage counselling tool I just spoke of.
Again each year we often do look forward to having a good year, but as life goes, there are years where we have a lot of turmoil and hardship and some very troubling and painful times of suffering. Some in this Church have experienced these types of things and my heart truly hurts, and many times, weeps with and for those people.
This past year has been a very good year for me personally. I have seen more of my family come to Christ and that is truly exciting. I have also enjoyed the reading and studying I do in preparation for the message and the teaching I do each week. God’s Word is so rich and full of amazing truths that you just find more and more gems that you didn’t realize were there until you dig deeper.
I don’t have any 3, 4, or 5 point vision outline for this year, I have had God lay only one word on my heart; connect. Connect with God and connect with one another.
My heart’s prayer would be that we all dig deeper into God’s Word and have a deeper, richer, more satisfying relationship with Him, and, that out of that would flow a deeper, richer, more satisfying relationships with one another. That we would truly be a Church rooted and grounded in the Truth so that the Community and all those around us would see our love for God and our love for one another, and would want to be a part it.
Let’s stretch ourselves a bit and go out of our way a bit more to build and strengthen our relationship with God and our relationships with one another and those around us in our community and our jobs and our schools, and;
“hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25)