From the pastor's pen: an intentional year
For most of us, September marks the beginning of another year and the beginning of a new journey. This is particularly so for our Church, as this month will mark the official beginning of a new identity and vision, as we seek to intentionally shine with the light of Christ in the darkest corners of Blackburn and beyond.
From this month forward, we will begin to explore ways to materialise such vision statement and be a lot more intentional about the things that are
close to God’s heart. Over the past month, God has in fact challenged us to strengthen a number of things that should be foundational to any Church, namely prayer, evangelism and discipleship. With this in mind, the year 2017/18 will see a number of changes in all of these areas
Prayer – Starting with this month, we have decided to launch prayer meetings each Sunday at 10am and 6pm up in the crèche to cover our services. Let me therefore encourage you to intentionally come to Church earlier and take part in something that will not only be beneficial to our Church but that will better prepare our hearts to enter his presence.
Evangelism – This year, Pastor Trevor will launch regular Evangelism and outreach training to better prepare us to reach out to our community with the good news of Jesus and to better engage with our non-believing friends, neighbours, relatives and colleagues. More info concerning days and times to follow.
Discipleship – Our Youth Alpha and Christianity Explored courses will be followed up by a “Kickstarter” course for all those taking their first steps in their journey with Christ. The course will take place on 5 Friday nights in October/November. More info to follow.
Also, in the spirit of building people up, we will also be organising for our heads of departments as well as other small-groups.
As a Church we are seeking to become a beacon of Christ’s light to this town. However, this isn’t just something that we seek to achieve as a Church only, but as individuals as well, taking the light of Christ with us wherever we go. Much of this year will therefore be dedicated to equipping individuals to shine in such a way. However, this will require intentionality on our part, a resolution to make time for and invest ourselves in the wonderful call to make an eternal difference in our generation and communities.
Let us, therefore, muster our will and respond to Christ’s eternal call!
