To God’s Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
Thank you
These are words I want to express to you from my heart, and words that so many of you have expressed to our leadership team as you have filled out your surveys.
Thank you
I was gratefully overwhelmed with the large number of positive survey comments, it was an encouragement to my heart during this pandemic crisis. The joyfulness and thankfulness you expressed is a wonderful reflection of how a church that loves Christ can shine even in the darkest of times.
I am encouraged by how many of you filled in the survey’s (138), and the gracious and kind response you have given. In our congregation there is overwhelming support for our online services, sermons, worship and Bible studies. We acknowledge we are far from the perfection we are seeking, and the pursuit of excellence drives us forward for God’s glory, even as your appreciation for what we are doing shone through. Outside of a few survey’s (2) the response was overwhelmingly positive, and the comments a blessing to my heart.
We are a church family that loves each other and is growing during this pandemic.
Thank you
What we have learned:
We have learned that a small majority of you want to come back for services if we can provide them safely (65%), and are willing to join God’s people in the gym or fellowship hall if that is all that is offered (54%). We will work towards this for August, so please stay tuned and in prayer as we seek to follow the PHO in their counsel and match that with our desire to worship together.
We have learned that there are a number of different views of the pandemic in our congregation and we need to be sensitive to one another in our response. Some of you feel it would be unloving to meet until the pandemic is over, and some feeling it might be disobedient to not meet right now. Please be in prayer, and seek unity and love regardless of where you fall on that scale. We will seek to follow the guidelines of the PHO and ask you would join us in this when you come to live events.
We have learned that God’s bride at CBC loves His Word, and singing praises to Him, even in the heartache of isolation as it is defined by the current situation.
We have learned that media and how we communicate is important. Getting our services to our people at a time like this is a high priority and something we will continue to work on from our end. We think the bugs are mostly ironed out and are receiving positive feedback to our on-line services. By far the deepest concern expressed in your survey response was for our feed to be one that is a quality feed to your homes. We are continually working on improving this, and also know that often the problem is not always on the sender side.
I am so thankful for those who are working so hard in these areas at pursuing excellence in service of Jesus and His people at CBC.
Now What?
Stay tuned as we seek to continue to minister to you effectively and as we push forward in our response to this pandemic in a way that glorifies God and ministers to His people and this community.
We are continuing to work toward a live gathering of God’s people and hoping this can start in August. If this is something you want to be a part of please stay tuned as we prepare to do this in a safe, smooth, and fair manner. Please be patient and loving as we take the next steps and realize with us that the new normal only allows for a fraction of the gatherings we desire.
Keep praying and being an encouragement. One of the questions that you expressed a few times was, “are we contacting everyone in our congregation”? The answer is yes, BUT NOT ENOUGH. So please continue to make phone calls, send emails and even snail mail, and help us stay connected. We are trying, but to make sure NO ONE falls through the cracks we need your help, so please join us in being the loving connecting church family God wants during this pandemic!
THANK YOU
Growth Groups: We have heard that growth groups are starting to gather, and some being tremendously blessed by being together for the live feed on Sunday mornings. This is great and we encourage you to gather together if you can safely, following the PHO phase 3 instructions, and be together. This is a wonderful next step, and growth groups a huge blessing in times like these. If you are not currently in a growth group, but would like to be in one, please contact the church office!
Prayer Meeting: We have Elder led prayer meetings over the summer, so join us at the church on Wednesday nights for an hour of prayer 7-8. If you are unsure that this is safe for you, please set the time aside at home and join us!
We continue to welcome new members to our church, and Jarod and Lisa Graham will be welcomed into the family in a few weeks. If you have any concerns or would like to pursue membership please contact one of your elders.
Growing Together Over The Summer:
There are five KEYSTONE HABITS that if we practice will not only deepen our walk with God, but impact everything else about us. If you are not practicing these daily, your walk with God will suffer, and it will impact your entire life. So, choose to know these, and DO THEM!
- Preach: The Gospel to ourselves every day. This is an intentional pursuit of being Gospel Centred and experiencing His forgiveness and full devotion to Him through the experience of His love
- Pursue: Word Saturation. God's Word is how we learn who He is and what He has done for us, and how we check everything else. It is the pathway to conformity to His image and community with others who love Him! It is central to growing!
- Prayer: This is simply communicating with God, we listen by reading His Word, we respond by crying out to Him. We are called to always pray and not give up, to cast our anxieties on Him, to engage in spiritual warfare with prayer as our key foundation...
- People: We are saved by grace through faith, always into a relationship with the living God and His people. A Christian is always a part of the universal Church, and makes belonging to a local church a priority, a people to love, serve and join in the mission of becoming like Jesus and reaching others for Jesus.
- PERSON: This is very similar to the first one, and is a focus on Jesus and our first love devotion to Him. We never want the disciplines of the heart to be something we do outside of relationship, rather we want them to always be deepening our relationship with Him!
So we must always remember that our pursuit is not of more religion, but of DEEPER RELATIONSHIP. We want to be those who are driven and defined by our relationship with Jesus, and live this out with GREAT JOY! To experience His grace and approval, and deepen our obedience and submission to Him is a great privilege.
Hebrews 12:1-3
So, fix your eyes on Him, and pursue your identity in Him, and grow more and more to be like Him (Galatians 4:19).
When we keep it relational, we will make sure our devotion is radical (Romans 12:1-2) and our experience of grace is real. The key to living of victorious Christian life is truly believing that the God of the Bible is real, and being authentic in your pursuit of His glory.
Sunday Is Coming:
This Sunday is a little different as we are rejoicing in our Camp In A Box kick off. We are so thankful for our creative Kids Min team, and praying that this year our impact would be huge because God is using us for His glory. Please pray for the camp!
Title: You Know It’s A Bad Day When: The Worst Day Ever
Text: Genesis 3
- Can you think of your worst day ever?
- Why is it important to understand what happened in Genesis 3?
- It has been said, “you can’t experience the cure until you know the crisis”, do you agree with this?
- What is the crisis that Genesis 3 introduces to humanity?
- What is the cure?
- How can you live in light of Genesis 3 in your life as you seek to show others the greatness of God and His Gospel?
Looking forward to a great week, and THANKFUL to serve in a church family like ours!
Pastor Rob
Announcement of General Business Meeting
Tuesday, July 14th, 21st, 2020 7:00 p.m. Online Zoom Meeting
The following will be considered at the above meeting: general business items and the following Special Resolutions:
That the Agenda for the July 21, 2020 General Business Meeting be adopted.
That the Minutes of the October 23, 2019 Annual General Meeting be adopted.
THAT Lee Wiebe, Jeff Coleman, and Brent Warkentin be appointed as Scrutineers to tabulate and report survey results.
THAT the 2020/21 budget be approved as presented.
THAT the following be elected as Deacons to serve for 2-year terms, effective September 1, 2020:
- Dave Esau – Finance (New)
- Albert Chuang – Fellowship (Re-elect)
- Wilf Radke – Interior Properties (Re-elect)
- Wes Osterman – Hospitality (Re-elect).
THAT the following be affirmed for 3-year terms as Elders, effective September 1, 2020:
- Emilio Cabrera (Incumbent)
- Raed Guirguis (Incumbent)
- Heinz Nienkaemper (Affirm).
THAT Judi Turner (Incumbent) be appointed as Church Clerk for a 2-year term effective September 1, 2020
THAT Judi Turner be affirmed as Privacy Compliance Officer for a 2-year term effective September 1, 2020.
THAT the non-paid Elders be affirmed as Directors for the 2020/21 Fiscal Year.