So Trinity Central is on the move once again!
It reminds me of a time when God spoke to the people of Israel: “You have stayed long enough on this mountain…” They had been encamped at Mount Horeb for a significant period of time, but now God was on the move again. It was time to start the campaign to take the Promised Land, the land of their inheritance.
God has called us and given us an inheritance in this wonderful city of Vancouver. It’s not an inheritance in terms of land, but in terms of people. It’s an inheritance of hearts. Jesus loves people, and even when we were still dead in our sin, the apostle Paul tells us that Jesus came to pay the penalty for us, that we might live again in Christ. Jesus made it very clear that His purpose on Earth was to seek and save lost people. And today, as part of His Body in this city, our mission is no different – we are participating in what He started some 2,000 years ago. We are participating in Jesus’ love of redeeming people who are precious to Him! What a privilege!
God has so graciously provided us with great meeting spaces each time we have needed a new one. It is exciting to be growing. It is exciting to see friends coming to Alpha and engaging with Jesus. And so, for the season that is to come, God is providing us with a new home. A while back we had a prophetic word about God “bringing us out of the basement” and this is exactly what’s happening.
We’re coming out of the basement into a new ‘family home’ – a home where we will see many visitors, many strangers, many who’ve never encountered Jesus before, come to ‘sit with us at our table’. We want to be the most welcoming family in our city. We want to be a family who embrace all people, encouraging each one to encounter the transforming love and power of Jesus for themselves. Each of us has a part to play in this.
As we come to this new home we want to encourage everyone in the church family to be involved in serving. Jesus said these astonishing words: “I did not come to be served, but to serve!” The King of kings came to serve His subjects? How can this be?
This is the example He has set for us to follow. So let’s follow in this way and be a serving people.
That means that we commit to giving of our time and energy on a regular basis, often to doing things that might seem to be mundane. But each of these things is important. A family, when it gathers to a meal, needs someone to prepare the food, someone to set the table, someone to serve the food, and someone to wash up afterwards. So when we gather we need people to set up our meeting place, to prepare spaces for our children to encounter Jesus, to rig sound the sound system so people can participate in worship together and hear the teaching of scripture, to set up catering so that people can fellowship together.
We need others to welcome people and help them find their place in our community, and others to invest into the lives of our children. What will you do? How will you serve?
We’re on the move! Let’s go together, a servant hearted people, serving one another and looking outward towards the inheritance of precious people that Jesus has for us to touch in this great city.
