“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth”
(1 Corinthians 3:7)
We have much to be thankful for as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday this weekend. I was so encouraged to receive a message after our service this past Sunday that the Niagara church plant had over 250 people at their launch service. Thank God for answering prayer! What a privilege to have a front row seat as God is doing a new thing in our midst through Harvest Bible Chapel!
As we are SEEKING HIS FACE this year as a church, it seems that more and more people are joining us in the pursuit. Our church is growing and more new people are coming every Sunday. Here a few things I’d like to communicate to you as we continue to be amazed at what God is doing.
1. GIVE GOD ALL THE GLORY As exciting as it is to see God working and growing our church it is also dangerous. We must continually guard ourselves against pride and against distraction. Our heart needs to express “not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory” (Psalm 115:1). It’s “only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7) and it’s only God who gets the glory! As we head into Thanksgiving this weekend, we should be giving God so much thanks and praise for all that He’s done in and through us!
2. MAKE IT YOUR GOAL TO MEET AT LEAST ONE NEW PERSON EVERY WEEK - Since we've only been in existence for two years, all of us can remember what it was like when we came to a Harvest Bible Chapel service for the first time. "Where will I drop off my children? What will church in a school be like? Will anyone talk to me?" These are the kinds of questions people are always asking themselves when they arrive at a new church. We want our visitors to be able to answer those questions as quickly as possible so that they can focus on Seeking God's face in worship and in the Word. I want us to make it our aim that we reach out and welcome these people as Christ has welcomed us (Romans 15:7). Most people that I talk to can remember the first person they met at Harvest Bible Chapel. The sad thing is, it's normally the same 2 or 3 names that people keep mentioning. Don't leave it up to the greeters and ushers to greet people, reach out connect with people yourself!
3. PARK FAR AWAY AND SIT UP CLOSE On a more practical note, anyone who has arrived at Gage School anytime close to 10:30 knows that it's next to impossible to find a parking spot in the lot. This is a great problem to have because it means that more and more people are coming out to seek God's face on Sunday mornings. One of the ways we can practically love people in our church who are new, who have small children, or who have physical challenges is to park over at the Queen St. Public School parking lot and walk. Parking is available on both the near and far sides of Queen St. Public School. We’re also asking that you take the opposite approach to parking your car, when it comes to parking yourself on a seat in the gym. We're asking people to sit as close to the front as possible to make room for newcomers and latecomers.
4. USE PRE-AUTHORIZED PAYMENT FOR YOUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS. As Spirit-led, sacrificial generosity spreads among the people of our church, it is becoming a challenge for our tellering team to count and process donor information in a limited time frame. One way all of us who call Harvest home could help with this process is to sign up for Pre-Authorized Payment donations using this form. It's safe, simple and smart.
Here are a few upcoming events that you should consider attending. There's something for everyone.
Work for Christ Training Day October 15th
Christianity Explored Starting Sunday October 16th
Prayer Meeting Thursday October 20th
Youth Bible Studies (Gr. 9-12 Wed & Gr. 6-8 Thurs)
Have a great holiday weekend!
In God's love,
Ted