Looking back and pressing forward

Below are reflections I shared as part of our annual report.  No, I'm not hard up for material this month but rather I wanted to extend what I've been thinking about beyond that document. I hope it gets you thinking!

​This is always a great opportunity to reflect back on the previous year and seek to understand what God did in and through it. I write this now in early February so have the benefit of hindsight. As most of you know I journal throughout the year and then will re-read it at the beginning of the New Year. I do this to not only gauge how effective I’ve been with my goals but also as a reminder of what happened. If you’re like me life can get pretty hectic and it becomes easy to get caught up in the moment or the current experience. So it’s beneficial to look back, reflect and remember. 
 
We are reminded of this in 1 Chronicles 16: Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.  Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced
 
We remember so we can be reminded of God’s strength and what He brings to our lives.  So I would encourage you to read the reflections shared in this report despite the fact we’re already forging on into 2018 to see how God has been working in and through this place.  
But one question I ask myself is: what do we remember here at GBC?
 
2017 was a year of transitions in some ways.  We finished our time serving at the Saturday Night Supper (though we’re going to do one more in 2018), a number of the kids we’d connected with through our Willow Road Community ministry drifted away, and after several decades of faithful service we ended our Awana ministry.
 
This could be pretty depressing and you’d be right to ask what are we doing to further the gospel and build disciples?  Great question!  Awana was replaced by a new, monthly ministry called Oasis@Midweek. This has energized many of our GBC family and has led to the siblings of some of our community kids coming.  We’ve reorganized our Missions Ministry and this led to the excellent visit and potluck with the Cami’s in the fall. As well, we’ve been reorganizing our Care Ministry to ensure it meets the needs of our church family and can be a light in this community.  So while some things end, others begin.
 
Isn’t that so much like God?
 
So I ask, is God still moving here at GBC? I hope you’d agree with me that He is. But that still begs the question, and this is one we should ask: what is He now calling us to do and be? Not only is our world changing but so is our country, province and even city. How we as God’s people interact with our world is changing as well as is our place within this society. So we must develop wisdom and discernment as we continue to seek to let our lights shine.  This will be challenging for us but extremely exciting as well. So in the year ahead I’d encourage you to pray for this church, for our leaders and most importantly pray that God would reveal to you what your part to play in this is. Exciting times indeed!