A week
ago on Sunday night, after our evening worship service at Redeemer, I rushed
across town to try and make it to the end of Curt’s Ordination
Celebration. I made it just in time to
congratulate Curt and take home a plate of food from the reception. In many ways as I drove home that night, I
felt like a child who has recently been sent off to college and who only comes
home to get his laundry washed and to pick up some grub when he’s hungry.
One
major difference between “college Ford” and “church-planting Ford,” is that
this version of me drove home with a heart full of gratitude, aware of all of
the sacrifices that my ‘mother’ has made for me. (If my real mom is reading this--sorry I
didn’t appreciate you more in college. I
had no idea at the time all that you were doing for me!) We are now 3 months into worship at Redeemer
Anglican Church and thought that this would be a good time to ‘call home’ and
let everyone know how we are doing.
We
have had a wonderful start down the road at Redeemer. Our prayer from long before we started was
that the Lord’s presence would go with us as we were sent out to begin this
church (Exodus 3:14-17). God has
answered that prayer week after week as we have gathered for worship. The Holy Spirit has been present in the
worship, in the preaching of the word and in the administration of the
sacraments (communion and baptism). He
has filled the church with His joy week after week.
As
I’ve reflected on the past 3 months, I’ve been humbled to realize how many
wonderful folks from Apostles have made this journey with us and how they have
used their gifts and stepped into key roles of leadership in order to help this
young church thrive. It’s been beautiful
to see the body of Christ function this way – each person using their gifts for
the building up of the body.
We
have a great (and growing) relationship with Mt. Sinai church (whose building
we are meeting in). We joined our
congregations together for worship on Palm Sunday and it was so much fun and so
rich that we’ve decided to worship together on every fifth Sunday. Their pastor, Bishop Rogers, and his wife have
become personal friends to many in our congregation.
Most
importantly, we’ve been having a trickle of visitors each week. This is the reason why we started Redeemer. There was no reason for Apostles to send so
many people away only to have them worship in another part of town. Instead, this church was planted for mission. The people of Redeemer have been inviting
friends and folks from the neighborhood have come to check things out. It has been exciting to welcome them in. We are asking the Lord that he would open
their eyes to faith.
Overall,
the past 3 months have gone as well as we could have hoped. We are encouraged and looking forward to what
the Lord has in store for Redeemer and Apostles in the yeas to come. Thank you again, for
all of your encouragement and support in helping us get up and on our
feet. And thank you for your prayers for
Redeemer. Please continue to keep us in
your hearts and prayers.
---------------By Ford Jordan
No comments :
Post a Comment