GBC Community Update: What does it mean to be a person of character?

Good morning. Many have likely heard of the engagement of my son Caleb to his girlfriend, Paige last week. We are obviously pretty excited as she’s a great lady and makes him better.  They’re really good together.  But, you likely have not heard that a good friend of mine who coached with me at my track club died somewhat suddenly on the same day. It was quite the emotional roller coaster but throughout all God was faithful to smooth out the highs and lows for me. God is good.  May he be praised in good times and not so good!
 
 
May calendar is here!
The May calendar is out and available at the back of the Main Auditorium

 
Mary’s Wilson is turning 90
Mary Wilson, a long-time member at GBC, is celebrating her 90th birthday coming up. Though she is no longer in Guelph as she’s in a retirement home she is engaged in what we’re doing here. So, for any of her friends who would like to attend, her family is holding a party for her at the home of the Thornbacks 7451 Sideroad 15, Moorefield, ON N0G 2K0. The date is Saturday, May 20th 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. No gifts please. Your presence is enough to bless her. R.S.V.P. by May 12th to Natalie by text: 647-654-0956 by email: [email protected]
 
 
Thought for the Day:  What does it mean to be a person of character?
I’m going to be looking at the issue of character over the next couple of weeks.  Lately in the news there have been lots of example of POOR character and we seem to be sinking as a society in this key area.  So, I’ll look at an element of character and then share some practical tips on how to grow in this important area of being a disciple of Jesus.
To start with, character is defined as the attributes and features that make up a person. That’s good, but I like to take it one step further: character is ‘moral excellence and firmness. strength of moral fiber.’ Pastor and author A.W. Tozer described character as “the excellence of moral beings.”
As the excellence of gold is its purity and the excellence of art is its beauty, so the excellence of people is in their character. Persons of character are noted for their honesty, ethics, and charity. Descriptions such as “man of principle” and “woman of integrity” are assertions of character. A lack of character is moral deficiency, and persons lacking character tend to behave dishonestly, unethically, and uncharitably. It’s pretty straightforward but hard to attain!
Here's your first tip on growing in character: Read! 
Let's say you get an e-mail from one of your close friends you haven't heard from in a while. What do you do? You read it, of course!  God wrote several letters to us that address this issue.  When was the last time you read them? We develop character by understanding how God sees it and then applying this to our lives. Make sense?  Good!  But don't take out your dusty Bible and read it from cover-to-cover tonight. No guilt trip here. Instead, find and following a reading plan but also read other books, like devotionals, studies or commentaries that repeatedly talk about and look at the Bible; then you should read chapters of the Bible dealing with the issue in your devotional. We have some excellent resources in our church library in the Side Aud to help you with this. Check it out or ask Elaine Finlay, the librarian, for options.
A good standard of Bible reading time is ten to twenty minutes a day. You can do more if you want, obviously.  Do this and you can’t help but grow in character!
More to come!
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris