GBC Community Update: To grow we need each other

​Good afternoon. I hope you’re making this a great week. I love the summer time (even under Covid!) but about this time of year I get really excited about all that’s to come in fall ministry.  We’ve got a lot of great things starting over the next few weeks. Stay tuned as more is shared.
 
 
Join us on Sunday
This Sunday I’ll be finishing up our summer series looking at fear as addressed in the book of Psalms. I’ll be looking at Psalm 91.
If you’re joining us here for our live service, the paving on Wellington Street and Silvercreek is still going on. So, be sure you leave a bit more time to get here and navigate the detours.
 
 
Update from the Elders
On Sunday, September 27 we’re going to launch our fall ministry season with a VISION SUNDAY.  Please plan to join us in person or via Facebook Live for our 11:00 service as we highlight the priorities that we are moving forward with this fall in line with GBC’s vision to see God transforming lives.  We will celebrate the ways in which God is working in our midst and highlight opportunities for you to be involved. 
 
Following the service, we will hold a short Annual General Meeting to approve the 2019 financial statements, approve the 2020 budget, appoint an auditor and elect Directors to hold office until the next annual general meeting.  Normally the AGM is held in March or April but was delayed this year because of COVID.  We will be asking members to complete a proxy form to ensure that we achieve quorum for the AGM.
 
Following the AGM, for those who can stay, we’re going to have our first “LUNCH ON THE LAWN” of the year. Bring a blanket, bring a lunch and enjoy a fall day.  We’ll have self-contained beverages available for you to drink to ensure safety and please be sure to observe physical distancing.  I’m looking forward to having the chance to hang out as a church family.
I hope to see you at Vision Sunday on September 27!
 
 
Thought for the day:  To grow we need each other
Another essential element of discipleship that needs to be remembered and especially in these times is that disciples of Jesus never minister alone. As Mark’s gospel records, “And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two” (Mk 6:7). The one time the Gospels record a disciple doing something alone is when Judas goes to betray Jesus. The point is a much broader one and is summed up in this, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Gen 2:18). Particularly in times when we are tempted to turn inward, we must intentionally engage practices of Christian friendship and community.
 
Our church family is essential for our spiritual health and growth. Honestly, in times like this, we won’t make it without each other and we will certainly not serve others consistently or well alone either. In the best of times we appear to do alright in independence and autonomy, but we’re only fooling ourselves. The busyness and distraction of “normal times” keeps hidden our desperate need for spiritual family and the consequences of loneliness. The writer of Hebrews said this: “Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching” (Heb 10:25).  We all need to be in community to grow in God.  Who’s in yours?
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris