Dear Family and Friends,
I greet you well as we enter another church year. It marks the end of one year and initiates another.
It’s a good time for reassessment, for re-evaluation and renewal.
As you make your assessment it is useful to ask, what did I promise the Lord that I would do in His name and for Him in the outgoing year?
Did I promise to use my gifts more faithfully and fervently?
Did I promise to give more and sacrificially?
Did I promise to speak to more persons about Christ?
Did I promise to encourage more of the brethren by being present with them more often at worship and in fellowship activities?
Did I promise the Lord to speak the truth more and give up lying?
As you reflect, which sin or inappropriate behaviour did I promise to give up?
So, there were some things you promised to do and others not to do, how did you
fare?
Or perhaps you made no promises. Even so, how do you feel at the end of the church year? These questions are certainly not intended to judge you or make you feel guilty, but to help you in the journey of being a faithful steward and
disciple of Christ.
Contemplating or celebrating
So, you did all the activities promised, you had a productive year, fulfilling all the promises you made to the Lord, you feel on top of the world, you did much better than the previous year and the year before that, and you are reveling in praise to God, what a great place to be. So whether you are contemplating your failures or celebrating your faithfulness to God, you have come to this juncture.
What does the new church year hold for you?
It could include being more intentional about your service to Christ. It could mean stop sitting on the fence. It could mean stop being a part of the problem, seeing all the negatives, and start being a solution maker. This could be for you an opportunity to cease being a spectator Christion, stop seeking church for entertainment only and start taking up your cross and following Jesus.
It’s a year to make a difference. How can you do that?
There are five main purposes of the church. To worship, fellowship, evangelize, to minister and to disciple, (Matt 22:37, 28:19,20). Each person must ask often, how am I doing any of these and how often? This is a necessary reality check. For how will it matter if I have done everything else and neglect what is important to God? This is a test of the seriousness of your commitment to God, the strength and substance of your faith. May I appeal to you then, not to think that you are doing any person a favour, and so they will owe you one. Do it all unto the Lord. Do something different in worship; be a fellowship partner; commit to disciple another; make sure you have signed up for at least one task where your gifts will be used and resist the temptation to keep silent and speak up for Christ.
Let this be a year to rejoice, rejoice that you have really done what pleases God, which requires sacrifice, selflessness and Christ-centeredness.
Before I go.
Family losses
The church year has ended with some family losses, over the past month. Sis Pat Hanchard Smith and Bro William Kirkcaldy Bucknor, Sis Princess and Sis Latoya Robinson, Sis Judith Davis, Bros Paul Griffith Sr and Jr, Bro Noel and Sis Angela Stennett, Sis Venesia Malcolm and your pastor, have all lost family members. Do pray for us, as we grieve the passing of love ones.
Until
Pastor