To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
Would covet your prayers as this week Lori and I are at a TGC conference in Indiana. Exciting to go and hear God's Word (you can listen along on The Gospel Coalition website), and have leadership opportunities for both BC and Canada. These are exciting times, and I ask that you would hold us up in prayer as we travel and spend time with incredible men and women from all over the world.
There are things that delight a pastors heart. This week, reflecting on Dean's sharing on Sunday, someone shared with me through tears, that they believed that God was calling on them to be an intercessor for missions... This is one of the greatest things that we can do for one another, for missions, and for our church family...PRAY! In fact, my longing for our church is that we would be a catalyst for renewal in the North American Church, and that we could do this from our knees. Many of you responded last week in terms of joining my Partners In Prayer team as well, and I praise God as I see Him moving in our lives and helping us to become more and more a church that prays. Was with a director of a Canadian mission a short while ago, and he challenged me with a call to prayer. His biblical backup, churches are usually aware of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20); The Great Command ((Matthew 22:36-40); but rarely of Jesus call to, The Great Petition (Luke 10:2). As a church one of the things we are good at, and growing in, is this call to humble dependance on God! Thank you, and keep it up.
Visitation: If you know someone who could use a visit, whether that be that they are home bound, or in the hospital, or could just use someone to come by and pray with them, please contact the church office. We want to continually improve in the way we care for one another, and one of the ways we do this is through visitation, and to do this successfully we need to be aware of those who appreciate a visit.
Culture Of Evangelism: One of the longings of our JST is that we would have a culture of evangelism as a church. That we would be a place where every follower of Jesus is seeking to display with they lives and lips the greatness of the Gospel to friends and family. What makes up a culture of evangelism?
- 1. Each person knows the Gospel in a way that they can present it simply, and has experienced the Gospel in a way that they can authentically share their story.
Please make sure that you can give a brief, basic outline of the Gospel. As you reflect on your life we would love everyone in our church to have thought through their story, and be able and willing to share that as God provides opportunity.
- 2. Each person would see others through the eyes of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:16.
We realize that each person we come in contact with has an eternal destiny and we want to be a part of helping them to come to faith in Jesus.
- 3. Each person pray specifically for one or two (or way more) people who do not yet know Jesus by name.
We believe that God has chosen to work through the prayers of His people, and Romans 10:1 tells us that Paul's prayer and hearts cry for people was that they might be saved! For us to build an effective culture of evangelism, this to must be our hearts cry and prayer! When we understand that the Gospel is all of grace, a natural overflow of that will be ACTIVE DEPENDENCE on God. No one can be saved apart from His grace, and so we as a part of His plan, plead with Him for those in our sphere of influence who need to respond to Him.
This active dependence is driven by our own experience of the Gospel, and by eyes that see others through the lens of God's Word.
Thank you to so many of you who signed up to be partners in prayer with me! Deeply appreciated and impactful! I praise God for you all. THANK YOU!
Sunday Is Coming: Please take the time this week to work through the book with your family, friends, and of course Growth Groups. This is our opportunity as a church to encourage one another to walk in the Spirit.
Title: Works Of The Flesh
Text: Galatians 5:16-26
How do we define evil as Christians?
How does the world around us define evil?
Why is it important we have a Biblical understanding of what life in the flesh looks like?
Why does God make walking in the Spirit the solution to our war with the flesh?
How can we fight practically against the deeds of the flesh?
Looking forward to an amazing Sunday!
Privileged to serve you, by God's mercy
Pastor Rob