Church Family Update - May 19, 2020

First, some good news!

I have just been informed that the Canadian Foodgrains Bank was seeded on Saturday. That’s 140 acres planted in order to bless those in need. Praise God! Our economy has slowed and many people are being deeply impacted by that. But isn’t it good to be reminded that God continues His beautiful work of sustaining His creation? Seeds put in the ground still sprout and grow and multiply a hundredfold!  

Some prayer requests:

On Sunday afternoon Roy VanBoom’s mother passed away and went home to be with the Lord. Please pray for Roy and his whole family as they both grieve their loss and celebrate the life of his mom. Plans are being made for an outdoor service which will hopefully be live-streamed. More details to follow in the coming days.

This morning Ravi Zacharias passed away. This is not directly related to our church family but as many of you knew about his ministry I thought I’d mention it. Please be in prayer for those who are grieving the loss. I count myself among them. And pray for the ongoing effectiveness of his ministry. 

A Devotional Thought:

“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” Proverbs 21:21

I grew up in a country where I was taught that the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right. I don’t necessarily have a problem with that idea but I do think it would be better if we emphasized the pursuit of some other things. This verse from Proverbs reminds us to pursue kindness. 

I like that image. We’re called to pursue kindness. That means it’s going to take effort and intentionality. One of the ironies of life is that if we only pursue our own happiness and don’t think about the happiness of others, we’ll end up unhappy. But according to this verse, when we pursue kindness to others, we find life, righteousness and honor. 

May I share just one small example from my own life? I was on the receiving end of a small act of kindness that impacted me greatly. For reasons that are too boring to explain, I found myself invited to have breakfast with Ravi Zacharias. I arrived at the hotel where the breakfast was being served and found my table. No one was seated there but I noticed an old worn-out Bible at one of the places and had a feeling that it was probably Ravi’s so I sat down right next to it. 

Sure enough, a few minutes later Ravi sat down next to me. There were probably 12 people at the table and I assure you that every single one of them was far more impressive and important than me. But Ravi engaged me in conversation the whole time and seemed genuinely interested in who I was. He was pursuing kindness at that meal and I was the beneficiary of that. 

About a year later I was getting married and I again found myself in the same place at the same time as Ravi. Knowing he would be there, I brought along an invitation to the wedding. I sought him out and said, “I know you probably don’t remember me…” but he actually did. 

So I reached out my hand with the invitation and said, “I know there’s no possible way that you’ll be able to make it. But I just wanted to invite you to my wedding as a kind of symbolic gesture because you’ve had such a big impact on my life.” He smiled and thanked me and we talked a little more. 

Marco and I were married on December 30, 2000. Many of you were there. After the ceremony, we gathered up gifts and flowers and cards and we found one beautiful mystery bouquet of flowers that had been delivered directly to the church. I opened the card and it was a handwritten note from Ravi wishing us well and saying he wished he could have been there with us. 

That was a small act of kindness from him but it meant so much to me. Leaving behind a legacy of kindness is a beautiful thing. When we pursue kindness we have the opportunity to bless others in both small and large ways. Perhaps you can think of one way that you could pursue kindness today? And then could do it again tomorrow. And the next day. If you do that, you’ll leave a legacy of joy and blessing behind you. And you’ll find life, righteousness and honor. 

Have a blessed day.

Pastor Jason