Pastor’s Letter – June 26th

Dear Friends,

In Ephesians 3:10 God gives such a surprising explanation of what his purpose for church is:
“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms…”
I think that’s amazing: That God’s purpose in bringing us into his family, gathering us together as family, growing us to be more like our big brother Jesus, his purpose in all of this is that we would demonstrate to unseen spiritual powers the wonderful wisdom of God. But as grand as this is, we’ve seen that it actually happens in some of the most mundane ways: as we relate to each other with gentleness and patience, as we say no to temptation, as we encourage one another to live sacrificially in light of God’s grace to us in Jesus.

So it’s not too big a stretch to say that this is the reason we’re taking time to reflect on how we partner together as a church in our serving and our giving. Over time our circumstances change, so it’s good to pause and reflect on where we’re at now and how our partnership in the gospel will be expressed in this season. If you’ve not already done so, can you please set aside a few minutes this weekend to complete our Partnership survey. You can use the paper copy available on Sunday morning or the online forms here: https://www.trinitybay.church/serving/

I’d also like to let you know about a change in season for Jane Finlayson. Many of you know that Jane has served very generously over many years as part of our church family. In particular, Jane has taken on a paid role over the last 6 months during the time of transition between Senior Pastors. Now that I’ve started, and in light of our current budget pressures, that paid role will be coming to an end soon. I am so thankful to God and to Jane for how incredibly helpful she has been during this time of transition. Jane’s final Sunday on the staff team will be on July 10. That Sunday we’ll be saying thanks to Jane and thanks to God before Jane goes on holidays with family. After her holiday, Jane will return to her studies at BCSA and we’ve been discussing ways that we can support her as a member of our church in her ongoing development in ministry. And again, I don’t think its too big a stretch to say that this is also part of how God’s manifold wisdom is made known in the heavenly realms: as people such as Jane are so captivated by the love and grace of God that she would invest so much of herself in being equipped to serve him and his people with the gifts that he has given her.

Let’s pray that we’d all find great delight in demonstrating just how good and kind and wise our great God is!

In Him