Good afternoon! It was quite the day on Sunday! We celebrated communion together and then had the chance to celebrate the life of Levi Tamminga. It’s great to celebrate! I hope you’re coping well with the heat and humidity of late. Just a reminder, be sure you’re drinking lots of water in these days and staying hydrated. There’s your fitness tip for the day! Thanks to Those who gave and served! It was a great celebration on Sunday and worth the wait. Thanks to all of you who contributed to the group gift for Levi Tamminga as well as providing individual gifts. Thanks also to our amazing tech team who looked after all the production and livestream details. Finally, a BIG thank you to Andrea Thornton who organized the whole event. It’s such a joy when the family of God comes together in celebration. Join in Prayer This will be our last Tuesday afternoon prayer gathering for this spring. Join us this afternoon at 3:30pm. We continue to pray as prompted by God’s Word, intercede for our church family and city, and enjoy the encouragement of God’s presence. Please join us! Thought for the Day: What is the fruitful Christian life? The fruit of Good Works We’ve been thinking about living a life that bears fruit of late. This really is the by-product though of discipleship and being engaged in your faith journey. Here’s another way to look at it. The good works that the believer does can also be counted as fruits. We’ve certainly been looking at this in our study in James and a ‘faith that works’ but what might that look like? When you show even the simplest acts of kindness to Christians and non-Christian alike that you come in contact with, extend a helping hand to those in need or share your time and talent (or money) in support of our church ministry, you are bearing the fruit of good works. However, I want to emphasize a key biblical truth that good works do not have any bearing on our salvation. We have been saved by grace through faith alone in the Lord Jesus and this is not from ourselves. Salvation is the gift of God, not by our works so that none of us can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our works, therefore, flow out of God being in us through the act of salvation and through the Holy Spirit. The good works we do are fruits, then, of our salvation. In other words, they are evidence of our genuine faith, they show to us that we have received God’s gift of salvation. This is actually what James is pointing out when he said, “Faith without works is dead.” We don’t have to prove to God that our faith is genuine; He knows because He sees our hearts. But our good works will prove to others that we are truly saved and we belong to Jesus. I hope that distinction is clear and the call on our lives to do something with the gift of salvation is even clearer. Time to bear some fruit! In His grip, Pastor Chris
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Pastor Chris"At GBC we're serious about the Bible, serious about the truths that are found in it and living in Him but also like to laugh, cry and experience life together." Archives
January 2024
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