04 Nov 10,000 More Reasons
Tuesday Greetings y’all!
Would whoever left the door open between us & Antarctica please run & close it! I’m about to freeze here! Heavens! What happened to Spring?
I’m happy to see some rain…that’ll make pulling my weeds easier…but the temperature needs to be a degree or 10 higher.
I trust your week is off to a good start, & if not, that it improves as the days progress.
HUGE thanks to everyone who hung around for the AGM this past Sunday. It seemed clear to me in our discussion that God still has need of us here as a family of missionaries and we need to take that seriously to do whatever is essential to live up to Christ’s call to us.
HUGE thanks to everyone who hung around for the AGM this past Sunday. It seemed clear to me in our discussion that God still has need of us here as a family of missionaries and we need to take that seriously to do whatever is essential to live up to Christ’s call to us.
I shared at the end of the meeting a verse from Acts I’d read that seemed fitting. In Acts 11, Peter is forced to answer to a criticism from within the Jerusalem part of the church that he has evangelized Gentiles, going so far as to eat & stay in their home. As he shares his Holy Spirit-led encounter with Cornelius, there are several things that struck me. First, the early church was no utopia of everyone holding hands, singing Kumbaya & getting along fabulously all the time. There were real challenges, real conflicts & real debates that had to be addressed faithfully, trusting Christ was at work in all of it. Second, the insider/outsider challenge seemed to persist. “Who is allowed to be part of our community & under what prerequisites?” is a repeated question in more than one New Testament letter. Peter answers it the only way possible, “The Spirit came to them to produce faith in Jesus the same way it did with us.” End. Of. Debate. Sunday we used the language of opening both doors at the Guide Hall to get people in. Exactly! But finally, Peter admits he was not exactly sure what Jesus was up to until he saw Christ at work in Cornelius & his household and then “Since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
It’s that last sentence that still grabs me…I daily ask God to make us a path not an obstacle to people coming to know Jesus. Of course, that raises other questions about other obstacles…the big one we discussed Sunday was finances, but I trust Christ for those & you for growing generosity and assume the Spirit will move other obstacles out of our way as we walk with Jesus into our 13th year as a community of disciples in his mission to our city & beyond. Now…as we do that…
1. Zoom Bible Study Catch-up
Friday 7th November 2025 @ 1:00 p.m.
Join meeting — https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/89674789066/invitations?signature=1iYudE1yxYcWbuDkn2KiBYACntY_DJrJKi0JENjY–c — Meeting ID: 896 7478 9066
2. Living Water Prayer Morning – Saturday 8th November – 10:00 a.m. @ the Prenzler’s home
3. Ladies Fellowship Night Out – Thursday 13th November…Make sure you’ve talked to Mary!
4. Birthdays aplenty over the next few weeks! As always, we weep with those who weep & rejoice with those who rejoice!
5. 10,000 Reasons…our current worship series continues. A whole month of Thanksgiving for all God’s gifts! Be ready with your list of “Thank Yous” Sunday.
HSC Exams end this coming Friday…Please keep the year 12 students in your prayers. Congratulations are due all around to the students, their families, & their teachers. The final years of High School prove challenging in so many ways. So…do please pray for the last few days AND for all the celebrating soon to follow. Speaking of…THANK YOU for your overwhelming GBO generosity last week. Out gift to Red Frogs was overwhelming! Thank you. Let’s persist in that kind of grace moving through the next 12 months.
God keep you in his joy this week!
John
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