Happy Reformation Day! It’s time to do a quick review of the posts that you’ve been looking at over the past 90 days. All in chronological order, and the most popular of all in bold. Wow, it’s been quite the three months.
In spite of an absolutely crazy week before big event, God blessed our 2nd anniversary service in Las Palmas!
As I mentioned last time, the owner of the hall did eventually let us rent it for the normal time. After the service, we went to a property owned by someone in the church for food and activities.
Above you can see the theme for the service, taken from Hebrews 2:3 (the key verse of the day was actually Hebrews 2:9). There was a lot of participation in the service – kids, youth, adults – music, drama, even some puzzles. We talked about our values as a church, and most of all we focused on the Son and His Salvation. As often happens – unplanned, but not by coincidence, everything fit together well.
After the service was a potluck. One of our friends also organized some activities “for the kids” – which in the end most certainly included almost everyone!
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that fact that Shari made some very cool cupcakes for the occasion. 😜
Thanks to everyone who prayed for the service. We’re so thankful for those who prayed, and for so many people who worked together to make the day a great success. We look forward to seeing what God will do in Year 3!
This coming Sunday, Lord willing, we’ll be celebrating the second anniversary of the Path of Life Bible Church in Las Palmas. Which means it’s kind of a busy week. Ok, crazy busy.
On Monday we were leaving the state for an overnight visit with our team of missionaries. It had been an exhausting weekend, and we were ready for a bit of a break. And that’s when I got the news.
The news was that we wouldn’t be able to use the hall on Sunday. That is, the hall where we meet as church each week. That is, where our anniversary service was going to be in a few days. The owner sent his apologies, and suggested maybe we could have it for more time the week after.
Because, you see, we were using it for a longer time on the 28th – special service, invited guests, decorations, activities for the kids, a special meal….
It would be impossible to move it to the next Sunday, because the 4th of November is the annual joint service with churches around the Mexico City area. We’ll all be out of state that Sunday.
Well, I left it in the Lord’s hands (after some initial shock). But God was kind, and sent us a bit of encouragement.
So Shari told her – well, she wasn’t sure what to tell her – sure, you can come … not sure where our church is, exactly. It might be somewhere this Sunday, somewhere else in 3 weeks – and then we will move to some unknown location….
So you’re welcome to come to our church, as soon as we find it.
Anyway, in spite of the church-of-no-fixed-address problem, it was just the encouragement we needed.
You’ll be glad to hear that when we returned home last night, we found out that the owner was going to let us use the hall after all – but only for the regular time. So we’re scrambling now to see if we can find a place for the after service meal and activities.
So — lots to be done in the next few days — lots more than expected! But we’re praying that somehow it would work out, and that we would have a special time together, and learn from the Lord about His great salvation (that’s our theme for the service – “Such a Great Salvation!”).
Lot’s of people are going to be involved on Sunday – special music, special presentations – we’re looking forward to it! Wherever “it” may be!
It was good to see many of you during our visit to Alberta and Saskatchewan this past summer (and we were sorry to miss many more of you!). It was a real encouragement to see what the Lord is doing in Canada.
We did notice a couple of unintentional/unexpected themes emerging during the summer. One theme was aircraft – yes, strangely enough, starting with a tour of CFB Moose Jaw, a centre of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) aircrew training (a visit arranged by a friend – thanks!), and continuing with other events, such as seeing the Snowbirds (the Canadian Forces 431 Air Demonstration Squadron) in Cold Lake, visiting flight museums (such as…), and spending time with people who have flown or repaired aircraft (most notably family members!). It wasn’t planned – it just kinda happened throughout the summer.
The other theme kept coming up quite unexpectedly as well. That is – God’s Word. Now, of course, that was the topic of the main sermon I preached throughout the summer. But hearing people’s responses – and then seeing the topic come up again and again without us mentioning it, with people who hadn’t heard the sermon – there’s no doubt there’s something on people’s minds.
Of course, Christians are always talking about the Bible. But it was more specific than that. It had to do with learning from the Bible, the preaching of the Word.
Many, many people were concerned about the direction preaching has gone in many churches.
Personally, I think that the preacher’s job is to stand up, read the Bible, explain what it means, and sit down.
However, many Canadians are concerned that the focus is shifting elsewhere. And those who are hungry for God’s Word are not getting fed. Some people were concerned about their denomination. Others had actually left their church, to find a church where the pastor actually taught verse by verse. Still others were in churches that had changed and were no longer really teaching this way, or were attending a church (due to limited options) that seemed to have a very low view of God’s Word.
No one likes people who complain about their churches all the time. But these weren’t complaints about the colour of the walls, or differences of music style, or “that one guy” who is a real pain. These were not people jumping around from church to church because nothing “fit”. These were people with genuine concerns, trying to make sure that they and their families were being taught from God’s Word.
Over and over we were in a random conversation, and the topic would come up, and Shari and I would look at each other – “Again!”.
I learned a lot about Canada and the direction things are going. But this was certainly the topic that stood out. And here are the two things I came away with:
Thank God He is working in Canada! May all of God’s Word continue to teach His people. That’s the only way we’ll really fly.
Of course, you can worship God anywhere, can’t you?
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father … the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
John 4:21-23
It was our first Sunday back in Ixtapaluca after our summer in Canada. The very first person I spoke to was the owner of the party hall where we meet.
“We’re converting the hall into squash courts”, he said. “We’ll be dividing up the room, so you won’t be able to use it anymore. You’ll have it until the end of November.”
He went on by explaining it was nothing against us – in fact, he has quite a high opinion of us. Well, that’s good.
But it does leave us without a place to meet in about 6 weeks.
So, before taking any action whatsoever, our church decided to have a week of prayer. (If you receive our email update, you might have joined us – thanks!)
Then, last Sunday, we started to discuss some of our options, and start investigating the possibilities.
The reason why it is such an urgent matter of prayer is that the options, from a human standpoint, aren’t great. There are a couple of places in the neighbourhood that might fit our group, but they’re either not really suitable/available, or extremely expensive. There are some other possibilities that we’re looking into, but from a human standpoint it will be a real challenge to find something.
So, you’re welcome to join us in prayer as we look for a place to use as we continue to make disciples. At this point, I don’t think we’ll be on the street (although pitching a tent is a current option!), but we want to pray that God would provide a suitable place – we’re thinking bathrooms, a place where the kids can do their Sunday School, chairs, electricity… and even space to grow.
I agree with Ezra – “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him” (Ezra 8:22).
Shari also encouraged us on Sunday, by reminding us that God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). So – let’s ask!
