Reverend Terry Penney
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1 Thess. 1:5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.

There is a need in the church to be engaged and involved in sharing the Good News of Christ in a culture that has largely chosen to ignore and deny the truth of God. Our tendency is to be focused on our own selves, our well being, our comforts, and our wants, at the expense of the mission and purpose of Christ. The disciples who were traveling with Jesus from Judea to Galilee, when they stopped at Sychar, and while Jesus sat by the well, they went to buy food. Jesus, while they were gone, shared with a Samaritan woman about the living water from God, and engaged her in conversation about her faith and life, and her need of God. When the disciples returned, they were astonished to find Jesus talking to her, and urged Him to eat something. But Jesus responded, saying He had a kind of food they knew nothing about. The disciples thought someone must have brought Him food, and were confused, to which Jesus said, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.”

Jesus was clear. There is a greater need than our own needs, a greater cause than our own cause. His nourishment, what fulfilled Him, was to do the will of God and finish His work. That greater focus and vision were not understood or shared by His disciples. So Jesus uses a familiar example from farming, that after planting, it takes four months until harvest. But then He tells them to wake up, that the harvest is now! Now is the time, there is an urgency and a need to get to the work of harvesting! To the seventy-two that He sent out in Luke 10:2-3 He says, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. 3 Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.”

There is a great harvest and a great need for workers. The task is not easy. People aren’t welcoming of the message of the gospel or of Christians in our world today. Your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers may be resistant, hardened, unbelieving, and unreceptive. So what do we do? We wake up and see the need. We share what we can when we can. We pray. We pray for God to send more people to share. We remember that He is sending us. And we trust in this: the gospel is powerful! The Word of God doesn’t return empty.

Paul says to the Thessalonians, “When we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.”

The Word is more than enough! The power of the gospel is enough to do the work, but we need to share it!

 

I’ve included a link to an awesome video from Nicky Gumbel’s church that has two Iranian women sharing their testimony of how the power of the gospel changed their lives in the face of incredible darkness and hardship. I hope it serves as inspiration for us all!

 

This Sunday, in addition to our online service, we will be having Drive-in Church at 4 pm, with special music, worship, and a brief message! Everyone must park 2 meters apart, remain in their cars, and there can be no interaction. Our building, including washrooms, will remain closed. We will have an attendant on hand to help with parking, our worship team will practice social distancing, and all rules will be followed. 

Hope to see you there!

 Continue to take time each day to seek God through personal worship, prayer, and reading His Word. 
      Especially, take Thursdays to spend some extra time praying and seeking God. 

      The link to Pray Nova Scotia is below and this Thursday they will be interviewing Dwight Habermehl, Executive Director of Aaron Ministries and Harry Gardner, former President of Acadia Divinity College. Dwight and Harry will be focusing us on how to pray strategically and with faith at this time. Anyone is welcome to join in!

Pray Nova Scotia