To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
It is gardening season...it seems to have taken a little while this year, but here it is. How do I know this? Because the weeds are out, the lawn is long, and the growing is taking place. Perhaps spring has finally arrived, and good thing, just before summer... Two things that this should remind us of...we should be growing in our own spiritual walk. Sometimes summer can be a time of distraction, Sunday School is taking a break, AWANA is in rest, and the beach calls, sometimes even on Sunday morning...so...this is your reminder that it is a time to continue growing. How do you grow? Many different ways, but the top 3 are: 1. Time in the Word (seeking to understand and obey); 2. Time in Prayer (seeking to walk aware of His presence, praise Him and actively depend on Him); 3. Time with God's people in church. Make sure this summer, as you rest, relax and rejuvenate that you keep your spiritual strength up and GROW! Take time to be thankful to God for what He has done for you, and is doing for you, as you use spring and all its freshness to remind you to grow closer to God.
The second thing that summer can remind us of, is that this is growing season...and so our own church gardening is in need of doing. Rumour is that this is the weediest soil in the world, and although I don't know if that is true or not, I sure appreciate all of the people who are actively serving by helping weed our garden areas in the parking lot. If you are interested in helping us with this, WE NEED YOU, and Mark LaFleche is holding work bees on Saturday afternoons. Please join us, and if you have any further questions, please give Mark an email mlafleche@coquitlam.ca.
One of the key areas that we need to grow in as a culture is thanksgiving. This is not a new problem for people who follow God, it was the Israelites downfall when they were saved by God out of Egypt and spent more time in grumbling than thanksgiving. We also see in Romans 1, that not being thankful is one of the key sources of sin and the downfall of a culture (reading Romans 1:18-32, is a little scary, 1:21). 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us that following God's will, will mark us as thankful people in all circumstances. As a staff we are seeking to make, being thankful, a major part of who we are (thank you Pastor Thomas), and let it chase out all grumbling against God (all grumbling is against God). So, if you see one of our staff members, ask them what they are thankful for, and when they have stopped (hopefully after a long time), tell them some things you are thankful to God for! This kind of culture is honouring to God, and chases out some of the things that threaten to invade that are not! Thanksgiving is one of the remedies for sin.
Speaking of being thankful, Lori and I want to thank so many of you for the wonderful day we had on Sunday celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. It is a special time for us as we rejoice in the years we have had, and look forward to many more coming in the future. Almost half of our married life has been at Cloverdale, and we praise God that we were able to celebrate this day with you! Lori loves her golf club, and I enjoyed a haircut and pedicure at Spa Utopia, so we are very thankful! It is a joy to have the privilege of serving God's people here! We praise God for Cloverdale Baptist Church! THANK YOU!
My brother, Dan, a pastor from Moose Jaw came to visit yesterday, and it was a joy to see him. I am thankful for his heart for God and the Gospel, and as we chatted and walked around our church building it reminded me once again what an amazing tool God has blessed us with in this facility. Made me thankful for all of you who prayed, gave,and put your time in to plan and be a part of the building process (thank you building committee!). What a blessing, and God helped us so much that we had baskets full even after being so blessed! THANK YOU! Now we have this amazing tool to display the love of God to people of all ages and different ethnicities. THANK YOU!
Sunday Is Coming:
Please Prepare Your Hearts To Hear From God.
I am thankful for John Neufeld and Jonathan Neufeld, and over the next two weeks this dynamic father, son team will be preaching at Cloverdale. Please pray for them as they preach over the next two weeks and come ready to be changed by God's Word. Both are great friends, and perhaps more important, powerful preachers.
We will be skipping the mid-week email next week, as Lori and I are in the sun (well, technically I am in the shade), but we look forward to getting back to you and continuing to seek to be a part of what God is doing here in making disciples!
Thankful to serve with you, and with my eyes on Jesus, ever more thankful,
Pastor Rob