Good morning! We as elders were praying this morning using elements of Proverbs 3 as our base. The words have stuck with me. The idea of trusting or having faith in God, leaning or relying not on our own knowledge, strength or understanding is a good reminder not just today but every day. May this guide us as HE makes our path straight.
Changes to our Sunday morning experience [insert Dan’s letter as an attachment- Sunday morning letter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] As Dan shared on Sunday, coming September 11, there will be some changes to our Sunday mornings at GBC. The biggest is a change in start time to 10:30am, plus a formal increase in our service length to 1 hour and 15 minutes. There’s a number of other things that go along with this that you can read about in the attached letter if you weren’t out on Sunday. I’m excited by these natural enhancements to what we’re doing here at GBC as we move forward out of the recent years dominated by Covid. While I’ll be discussing this more in the days ahead, if you have any questions please let me or any of the other elders know. Summer thoughts to keep you on the journey: When tempted to turn inward, turn your gaze to Jesus Under threat, scarcity and stress we sometimes find ourselves understandably becoming self-protective. We turn inward, we think only of ourselves. And yet, the demands of these days call us outward, to the world around us. The needs of those around us—whether children, aged parents, neighbors, a spouse, those who are sick—require our time and energy. This puts us in a bind. We want or need to move outward in love to others, especially those in greatest need, but our own internal resources feel strained and thin. How should we act as followers of Jesus in times like this? Paul gives us this advice: “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Phil 2:4–5). It’s important that we remember that we are disciples of the living, ascended, and enthroned God. When Jesus called his followers to go and make disciples, they did not make followers of themselves. Rather, Jesus called them to announce the availability of an ongoing discipleship relationship with himself. Every Christian is currently in an intensive, interactive, discipleship relationship with the person of Jesus, and that school of discipleship is always in session. The Jesus who said, “And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” remains with us today by his Spirit. When we are tempted to isolate and turn inwards, we need to repeatedly turn our gaze to the availability of Jesus. Throughout our days we need to develop the habit—now more than ever—of finding encouragement and comfort in the real presence of Jesus’ love. It’s hard to look inwardly when we’re looking at Jesus. And when we realize this, we then in turn should share it. 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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