GBC Community Update: Sharing your faith- be a friend

Good morning.  I hope you’re making this a great week!  Hooray!  We’re all excited by the birth of Nathaniel to Ken, Rebekah and Levi. Congratulations!  What great news for a beautiful, sunny day.
 
 
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING  AND LUNCH - Sunday
Please plan to join us for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) this Sunday (the 16th) following our morning service.  The purpose of the meeting is to approve the 2022 financial statements, approve the 2023 budget, appoint an auditor and elect Directors to hold office until the next annual general meeting.  We will also be providing important updates on GBC ministries, pastoral transition and some other interesting topics that you will not want to miss.  If you are member and are unable to attend, please complete a proxy form (attached) to ensure that we achieve quorum for the AGM.  
We will also be having a fellowship lunch as part of the AGM.  
We hope to see you there!  
 
 
Join us on Sunday in-person or on our livestream as we return to our series, “Firm Foundations”-a study of the book of Romans
The foundation of a building is critically important for the stability of the structure that sits on it. In many ways our faith and relationship with God needs the same thing.  How is your foundation? We continue to look at this idea as we study the book of Romans, perhaps the best book of the New Testament for this kind of thing. 
This Sunday Pastor Dan will continue on as he finishes chapter 8.
Want to prepare? Read the text for Sunday ahead of time: Romans 8.
If you can’t make it you can connect through our website:  
www.guelphbiblechapel.ca  our YouTube channel as well as Facebook LIVE.
 
 
Thought for the Day:  Sharing your faith: Be a Friend
Tuesday I started my new series of thoughts on sharing our faith. I examined first that we should look at our motives and why we’re doing it before getting started. So, motives in the right place? Great!  Let’s look at the next step.
Be friends to be friends, not to “get someone saved.”
This is huge. I think it’s easy to give the impression that we’re only friends with someone to try to “get them saved.” This leaves people feeling used and devalued, which is the opposite of how God feels about them.
If I’m going to be friends with someone, we are going to be friends whether or not they come to know the Lord.  That being said, sometimes I will pray for more friends who don’t know God because I want people to know about Jesus. I want people to naturally see how much joy He’s brought into my own life! (And I also don’t want to get stuck in a totally Christian bubble.) But I’m definitely not going to stop being friends with someone if they don’t become a Christian.
That said, our friends are very influential in our lives, so it’s important to be careful about who you choose to be your closest friends. We can have acquaintance friends and then we can have close friends who play a significant role in our lives. And those close friends make a big difference in the person you become.  It’s important to choose them wisely.  So just be careful as you choose close friends (no matter what their faith), and ask yourself: “Do I like who I become when I’m with this person?”
As you’re genuine friends with someone, as you spend time together and are there for them in hard times, then they’ll know you care. And that will make it so they can actually hear your heart and your love when you tell them how much Jesus loves them.  That opens the door for conversations and natural opportunity to share your faith. More on this next week!
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris