GBC Community Update: Be filled with love

Good morning! It was an amazing kickoff to fall on Sunday. I was excited with the Ministry Fair and the effort all our different ministries put in and those of you who engaged with them. Then the Lunch on the Lawn had a great turnout and was a super time of building community.  What a great way to start the fall!
 
 
Youth@GBC starts up tomorrow
Our youth ministry kicks off for a new year tomorrow night. Starting at 6:30pm and going every Wednesday during the school year, there is a time of study with practical life application, games and a chance to hang out and make friends. Youth@GBC is for both junior and senior high students (gr.7-12) and is open not only to those who go to GBC but those students who’d like to be part of it.
Beyond Wednesday night ALIVE there are monthly events coming up plus the return of SURGE, our monthly community service project. Youth@GBC are on the move!
If you’d like more details contact Caroline or David Lewis
 
 
Introducing our pastoral candidate
As was mentioned on Sunday, we’d like to introduce our pastoral candidate. Dan Andrade has a heart for the Lord, passion for the Bible and a desire to see the gospel move. You’ll get the opportunity to meet him and his family and get to know them better in two weeks.
A handout that was distributed on Sunday is available from any of the elders that tells you more about this as we move forward with this exciting new development many months in the making!
 
 
Saturday Night Supper Report
Our latest installment of the Saturday Night Supper service opportunity through Royal City Mission saw 88 guests served.  In total there were 15 volunteers from GBC either provided a food item or a monetary donation to the meal.
This was the first time since the start of the pandemic that we were able to serve the meal in person, and so along with the team at RCM 3 GBC volunteers were able to stay and serve the guests at their tables. It also provided us an opportunity to get to know and serve alongside the team at RCM.
Thank you to everyone who served last night either by donating their time, resources or prayers to this ministry and thank you to Carroll Chapman for her leadership of this ministry.
 
 
Thought for the day: Be filled with love
Thursday I talked a bit about fear.  Here’s another way of looking at this issue.  God is love and those who follow God must also be filled with love.  If we want to get rid of fear, we must replace it with something. If we keep our minds empty, fear can easily return.  That’s why we read in 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”  Now, here’s one of the most important keys to getting rid of fear: We must be filled with love.  We can cast out fear with love.
But how?
Love is an affection and emotion that does NOT produce any fear. In fact, if we truly love God, we should not fear anything.  We don’t need to fear death because after death, if we are secure with God, we can be confident that we will meet our Creator during our next waking moment.  As long as we have love in our hearts and lives, we can expect fear to never bother us. The moment that our love wavers, that’s the same moment that fear starts to creep in again.
When love prevails, fear stops from existing.
When love overcomes, fear is suppressed.
And when love reigns, fear is banished.
Sounds pretty good, huh? Let’s be filled with love!
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris