Opawa Baptist Church’s passion and vision for this year is Growing Birthing Blessing. I have been very encouraged by the commitment and desire of people to become new Growth Coaches, as well as the ongoing enthusiasm of existing Coaches.
All of us need to grow in one way or another. Whether it is in our devotional life or our exercise life. In our marriage commitment or our mechanical expertise. In our household maintenance or our prayer life, we all need to grow. It doesn’t matter if you are 2 years old or 93 years old, growth is a natural and essential part of life. This is why I have a passion to see as many people as possible get involved in Growth Coaching.
Imagine, for example, you had a desire to learn to play the guitar but were unsure of where to get help. Someone suggested that you “…get involved in Growth Coaching, because if you do, they’ll see you grow!” A Growth Coach can help make your dream a reality.
Is there some area of Growth you have been thinking about, perhaps for a while, and this spring seems the perfect opportunity to make the first step? Then get in contact with me, or pick up an information brochure from the foyer today and enjoy your Growing.
Let us thank God for our Growth Coaches, for the time they put into Blessing others, for their heart towards seeing Growth occur among us and for dreams and passions being Birthed (NOT OUT THEIR EARS!) this spring.
“I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full!” John 10:10
Last Sunday morning I asked the question: what type of father was Father Abraham? I suggested that his actions remind us that his family and his parenting was far from perfect families. And so we find Bible families are actually real families, filled with ordinary human people, caught up into God’s story.
The sermon drew a lot of positive feedback. (In fact, the amount of positive feedback on my sermons has increased over the recent months. I am not sure whether I have improved, or whether there are more encouragers appearing among us (and I am thinking here of people being Elizabeth-like in Luke 1:39-45, speaking words of blessing and hope)).
Encouraged by your feedback, I continue this week, looking at family through the eyes of Hagar and Ishmael; asking: Where is God when families break up?
I remind you of some guidelines for translating the world of the Bible into the world of today; (taken from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth);
Bible stories describe what happened, not what should have happened.
Most of the people in Bible stories are far from perfect.
What people do in Bible stories is not necessarily a good example
We are not always told whether what they did was good or bad.
Bible stories are selective. What appears is what the author thought important.
Bible stories will not answer every one of our questions.
God is the ultimate hero of all Bible stories.
May your family this week be both real and become an experience of God’s story this week.