GBC Community Update: Sharing your faith-look to your motives

It was a very blessed Easter weekend.  I hope you were not only encouraged but challenged by what you experienced as we remembered and celebrated the cross and the empty tomb.
As was mentioned on Sunday, there are a number of opportunities for us to share the Good News of the gospel coming up this spring so for the next few weeks we’ll be looking at ways to share our faith.
 
 
Meet your city counsellor event at GBC
As a church we desire to be good neighbours, build relationship with the community and earn the opportunity to share the hope in Jesus we have. With this in mind, in conjunction with the Junction Neighbourhood Group, we are hosting an information meeting with our Ward 3 counsellors.  “Meet your city counsellor night” is a great outreach opportunity and chance for we as a church to shine.  The event will be held on Thursday April 27, 7-8:30pm. Please come out if you’re in this ward to meet your neighbors. If you’re not, you’re still welcome to support this event.  May we let our lights shine!
 
 
Oasis@Midweek is tomorrow
Our next Oasis@Midweek is tomorrow night!  This event is for kids JK to grade 6 who are invited to join us from 6:30pm to 8pm for an Oasis Camp themed evening of music, games, life lesson and this week our popular drama led by our youth team.  O@M is not just for those who went to camp but for all who would like to remember how MONUMENTAL God is and celebrate his awesomeness.
 
 
Thought for the Day:  Sharing your faith: look at your motives
When I was a younger in my journey as a follower of Jesus sharing my faith felt like a never-ending assignment hanging over my head at all times. I felt like I never did it enough and never did it right. Have you ever felt that way?
Now things have changed and I feel different about sharing my faith. It’s become a far more natural part of my life—something that’s motivated by love instead of motivated by fear. So, over the next couple of weeks, I want to share some things that have helped change my perspective, and I hope they can help you as well.
First, look at your motives.
It’s easy to approach sharing the gospel out of fear. Here are a few examples:
“If I don’t say something right now and this person gets into a car accident and dies and goes to hell, it’ll be my fault!”
“If I don’t tell enough people, will I go to heaven?”
“If I tell this person about Jesus, then people at church will think I’m a really good Christian.”
Ever thought any of these?
 
But here’s the thing: When our motivation is fear, the people we’re talking to can tell—and they’ll feel used. It will seem as though we’re telling them about Jesus to ensure our own salvation, appease our own conscience or make ourselves look good.
Ever feel that way?
 
Now the amazing thing is God can use anything, even wrong motives! Anytime we share about Him, He can use that (which is good news because I don’t think we’ll ever have perfect motivations). But for me, it helped to think about why I was sharing the gospel, and I realized that genuine concern and love for the person should be my “why.”
 
Here’s what I mean: Jesus has changed my life for the better, and I couldn’t imagine life without Him. So, I really want people I care about to know how He can do the same for them.  I want them to know how much God loves and cares about them too.
 
Can you see how this shift changes not only our approach but also our attitude?  It’s not about being pushy; it’s just sharing what has helped you because you care enough about the other person to share what hopefully is a pretty major part of your life.
I think then, sharing your faith with the right motives is not only more effective but also the proper way to do it.  I hope you agree. More to come on this in the days ahead.
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris