2008-04-22

A Renewed Call to Compassion & Community

Dear church family,

If you haven’t already noticed, Spring is in the air. Flowers are starting to bloom, the days are longer and our hearts delight that another winter season is over. Personally, spring time is one of my favourite seasons because there is a sense that all is new again; and this gives me renewed optimism for the year.

 

Spring time also signifies change. Here at Pacific Grace, we have experienced some change; some would say, we have experienced a lot of change in the last few months. At times, these changes were met with sadness, other times met with joy and gladness but change in any shape or form can be difficult.

 

Perhaps, you will remember when Stanley Park was changed forever by the winter storms of 2006. Recently, I heard that the park has completed the restoration process. For those of you who visited the park after the storms, it was difficult to see the damage of a beloved landmark but today, even though the landscape has changed, the foundation of the park remains. From this firm foundation, new growth will take place which will transform Stanley Park once again. 

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the landscape of our church has changed but our foundation in Christ has not. As Ephesians 2:20 teaches us, “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.” While we have this foundation, let us consider how we can plant new seeds for new growth in the coming years.

 

Early on this year, I shared a message from our “Is Jesus just for Christians?” Sermon Series, teaching on the principles of compassion and community that are inherent in God’s nature, character and purpose. As people of God, who are daily being transformed in Christ’s image, these principles apply to us as well. So, our renewed challenge for this year is how can we foster compassion and community in everything that we say and do in our relationship with God and each other, our ministries, our workplaces, our schools and our neighbourhoods? I believe this is a challenge for us individually and corporately, and I sincerely hope and pray that you would seriously consider your role and contribution to this end.

 

This Spring we look forward to our new sermon series entitled “Inspired Lives”, looking at the lives of Christians past and present who have exampled compassion and community and what this means for us. We also look forward to the continuation of our Christian Foundations course, 301: Committed to Ministry in May. Fellowships and small groups continue to meet and we are always on the lookout for opportunities to serve our communities. And not to look to far ahead, but we are planning our English Summer Retreat and Short Term Missions trip to Edmonton for July and August.

 

It’s going to be a full Spring and Summer and we look forward to what God has in store for us for the next few months. Please continue to pray with us.

 

Blessings from your English Ministries pastors,

Sherman, Lawrence and Raymond