If you’ve been considering joining the Ephesians Growth Group that meets every other Thursday, now’s a great time! The group is now meeting from 5:30-7:30 PM so they can get home and get the kids to bed at a better time. They will also be eating dinner together each time they meet, so if you want to join them, click the link below to get contact information for Pastor Lars or Caleb so they can plan for enough food.
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About That “Knitting”
Challenge Central: a CBC devotional
By: Pastor Jeremy Heikkinen
This past Sunday, we looked at Colossians 2:1-5,
“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit,
rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ” (ESV).
Distance can be challenging; it was for Paul! Yet, this was not the heaviest concern on his heart. He knew that even if the people in Colossae did not have him, they had Jesus! In the same breath, as he describes his great struggle of distance, he expresses a deeper desire than being united with them, “that their hearts might be encouraged, knit together in love.”
Do you remember the illustration of the sweater during our children’s devotional? Do you remember the observation of the boat that I missed? I am so glad for the body of Christ! Especially the little ones! Sometimes I miss things I would not see if I were not being knit together in love with others.
Whom can you help see the “boat” of God’s masterpiece this week? Whose heart can you encourage this week with the knowledge and understanding of Jesus? Whom should you ask for encouragement to aid you in seeing what God has done or is doing in your life?
Here are some great ways to start the conversation:
1. “Hey, how can I encourage you from God’s Word today”?
2. “Is there anything that I can be in prayer for you about”?
3. “Recently God has been teaching me… what has He been teaching you from His Word or through the circumstances of your life”?
4. “If I am being honest, I am really struggling right now…”
5. “How is your heart responding to the circumstances of your life these days”?
I encourage you to go and see that person, video call your family member, or call your friend. The challenge this week is to do it face-to-face where possible. God wants to use you to help others see “all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”.
Go to it, Central! Let’s work on our knitting!
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The Great Anticipation
Challenge Central: a CBC devotional
By: Pastor Lars Janssen
A friend of mine recently expressed his gratitude for the sense of anticipation that accompanies enjoyable events in life. We discussed how we associate this positive anxious feeling with vacations, holidays, seeing friends, special events, and even getting to eat food we enjoy. In a matter of moments, our conversation turned to the great anticipation—eternity with Jesus.
There is a triumphal sensation to knowing that all of history will turn out to the glory and praise of our Saviour (see Philippians 2:10). When we rejoice in this reality and settle into a deep-set sense of resolve because we are in Jesus, as Pastor Jeremy reminded us on Sunday, the great anticipation becomes almost unbearable.
And yet, we don’t always have that sense, do we? Sometimes we grow dull, but the work of God is anything but dull. Read how Isaiah appeals to God’s people in Isaiah 52. The train of thought is both powerful and unexpected.
“Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion…” (Isaiah 52:1)
We’re called to wake up and be brave because we are God’s people!
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news…‘Your God reigns.’” (Isaiah 52:7)
Sharing the great anticipation we have in Jesus is our greatest privilege!
“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted.” (Isaiah 52:13)
Yes! Jesus will be exalted and, as we are overwhelmed by the great anticipation of experiencing this reality, we are drawn into a resolve to follow Him anywhere!
“As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations.” (Isaiah 52:14-15)
What was that?! What happened to the triumph? Surely we aren’t following Him into being marred beyond human semblance, are we? But we are! Because we are the nations He sprinkled with His blood. We are the ones saved by the salvation of our God! And read the result of this victory through death; this triumph through unmeasured suffering:
“Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.” (Isaiah 52:15)
Our great anticipation is founded in the one act of power that overwhelms all argument. Even society’s influential people will one day be silenced when they see that the one we hated loved us enough to die for us—and then destroyed death by the power of his “indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16).
Now we get to be like Him to everyone around us—anticipating eternity in every current agony. The wonderful effect of this great anticipation is that the joy of the Lord burns in the hearts of His suffering people. As we suffer, we pray and praise and share. We look ahead knowing the cost is worth it—the anticipation is justified!
Central family, next time you’re looking forward to something, tell someone about your anticipation. Then remember the great anticipation and tell them about that too!
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Are You a “Practicing” Christian?
Challenge Central: a CBC devotional
By: Casey Korstanje
An American polling company recently decided to study what effect the Covid-19 pandemic had on churches and church life.
What struck me was their methodology. When presenting its conclusions, the company said it had polled “practicing Christians” for its research.
The firm defined a “practicing Christian” as “someone who attends church at least once a month.”
Yes, I blinked as well when I read that.
I am guessing that whatever conclusions the polling company eventually came to were targeted toward a secular audience. Christians, “practicing” or otherwise, already knew the answers.
But I kept thinking about the word “practicing.”
Overwhelmingly, for me anyway, the word carries a musical connotation. Most every afternoon, I tell Laurie that “I’m just going to go downstairs to blow my own horn.”
But here’s the thing, “practicing” your instrument is not the same as “playing” your instrument.
When you play your instrument, if you have achieved any facility at all, people listen and may derive pleasure from your effort. They may sing along or clap when you’re finished. And if you are really good, people will even pay to hear you play.
When you practice your instrument, they close the door.
Practicing is about metronomes, repetition, problem-solving, technique, working out fingerings, memorization, breath control, rhythm, and more rhythm, and did I mention rhythm? Practice is about setting goals and incremental improvement.
In the practice room, you are alone, but not completely. There is another felt presence there as you labour on. It’s your teacher, your conductor, or both, before whom, sooner or later, you will once again be sitting and presenting the results of your labour for their judgment and guidance.
In the practice room, the “master” is always watching.
Learning any new skill means eventually realizing that “you don’t know what you don’t know.” And you need a teacher, a guide.
In the Psalms, we find this: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. (Psalm 32:8 ESV)
A practicing Christian goes to Lord for instruction through the Bible and prayer.
At the end of June, Paul Nicholson, the music director/conductor of the Brantford Memorial Concert Band, took three of his most inexperienced members (me and two others) and offered, in an act of unbelievable generosity, to study with us over the summer before band started again in September. Of course, we said “yes.” And then, every Monday morning over the whole summer, we four played music together.
Practicing is about working on the things you need to work on, not the things you already know.
Paul formed us into a saxophone quartet, and we played song after song together, each with our own parts. In a big ensemble, like the band with 50 other musicians, you can more or less hide if you get lost or lose count. In a quartet, you can’t.
Paul knew that what we three needed most was ensemble experience. Playing together forced us to keep count in our heads, blend with the others, and reach for musicality.
Admittedly there were times when Psalm 32:9 applied: “be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.” (ESV)
Come September, when band regathered, I realized that my ability to count had strengthened, and I felt just a little bit more secure than before.
All summer, Paul had selflessly shared his gifts and talent with us. That’s what practicing your faith looks like.
A practicing Christian is not someone who attends church once a month.
A practicing Christian is someone who gives, who shares, who prays, who studies, who loves, and who worships. A practicing Christian senses God’s presence and knows they will one day be sitting before Him and laying what they have practiced at His feet.
Jesus puts it this way: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matt 7:24 NIV)
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Scam Warning
**SCAM BEING SENT TO CHURCH MEMBERS**
If you receive an email from [email protected] DO NOT open it or click on any links. This is a scammer pretending to be Pastor Jeremy. This is not Pastor Jeremy’s email address.
This person is trying to get people to purchase gift cards and saying “you will be reimbursed by the church.”
This is not associated with our church in any way, please don’t interact with it. Mark it as spam.
Pastor Jeremy said that if it was him, he would’ve asked for apple pie 🙂
Thank you for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience.
