A new opportunity to pray together
There will be a weekly in-person prayer led by Patrick at GBC on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm for the summer. The focus will be on praying for the gospel to reach people in the city of Guelph, but also allow for specific requests. We will gain inspiration from Scripture, examples of people or prayer, and will periodically speak to the obstacles of prayer and how to overcome them.
Outreach update
If you recall, last month I invited you to participate in a survey about some outreach opportunities that our Outreach Team had come up with. I was very happy with the response rate and even more with some of the great suggestions that were made as well. THANK YOU!
I’d like to share with you what, based on your responses, and the team’s discussions, what we see as our areas of opportunity as a church going forward:
-Welcoming those who are moving into the new housing in the neighborhood
-Hosting an event, or series of events, for the community
-Connecting with our local neighborhood association
I will explain each more in detail in updates to come but one thing I wanted to remind all of us is this is not where the opportunity we have to share the Good News of the gospel ends. No, we need to pray and seek to find ways to connect with people and share the hope we have in God. These are just elements of this.
Are you interested in what we’re doing? We’d love to have you as part of the team. If you’d like to get involved with outreach or have any questions, please let me know.
Thought for the day: What is the fruitful Christian life: Pruning
I’m finishing off today my thoughts on living a fruitful Christian life. We’ve looked at the fruit of our works and the fruit that comes with perseverance. I have one last thought to share: the Father prunes. I suspect this might be the least popular one! Pruning is never fun but it always has a purpose- to grow more fruit. Our heavenly Father is never nearer to us than when He is pruning us. Sometimes He cuts away the dead wood that might cause trouble, but often He cuts off the living tissue that is robbing us of spiritual vigor.
Pruning does not simply mean spiritual surgery that removes what is bad. It can also mean cutting away the good and the better so that we might enjoy the best. Yes, pruning hurts, but it also helps. We may not enjoy it, but we certainly need it.
At times the Father also prunes us (the branches) by allowing difficult circumstances and situations in our lives such as poor finances, poor health, misunderstanding and conflict with others, difficult relationships, etc. These trials are designed to bring us to the end of our own strength and will awaken in us a need for deeper surrender to the Lord. Remember, you’re never in better hands than when you are being pruned by the Master. Work with his pruning and watch your fruit grow.
In His grip,
Pastor Chris