Moving Along Nicely - God Willing

It's Monday morning and before things get too occupied I will try to get you all up to speed with what has been going on here. I want to begin with an overall statement. There are times in ministry when things are confusing and there is strain and even frustration when things don't happen as quickly or in the way "I" want them to. There has been a sense of calm these past weeks and the evidence of growth is obvious. There is a real air of belonging occurring within the older kids. I am always cautious now when things are going well and slow to look too far ahead, because things can change quickly and the foundation you thought was there may not be. I am gradually learning to be thankful for the times there is growth and also for the times there are challenges. It is through the trying times that our love and care is best displayed and afterward the evidence of growth is more obvious. Anyway, I wanted to begin with sharing the fact that we are growing.

At the beginning of this term we made a conscious decision to spend more time one on one with the teens if there was opportunity. I want to say that this may be the reason why there is an obvious growth spurt, but I am not sure yet. All I know is that Alex and I have tried to spend one or two morning/afternoons a week with whoever wants to meet up. We usually meet for coffee and either play snooker or tennis. There are usually 4 teens, Thomas, Shaun, Stuart and Ryan who are able to meet. We want the teens to know we are there for them and want them to know we are committed to their lives and their faith. I am constantly weighing up the question of whether we are simply "playing" with the boys or if there is in reality opportunity for deeper relationship and in turn opportunity for Christ to be more real to them. I am settled in thinking that the latter is the case and pray that in committing this time with their young lives will reap a harvest for the kingdom in due time. A couple of weeks ago we spent a morning setting up a "Facebook" page for our youth group. This has been a huge success and I am so dalighted at the comments and encouragment being shared through this avenue. If you want to see it you will have to recieve an invite from us before you can join. We wanted to keep it private so the youth can feel they own it. The page name is "Peterhead Church of Christ Youth Group."

I am prayerful that we are able to spread into family territory through our work with the youth. There is one family who are drawing closer and, God willing, will continue taking steps nearer to the kingdom. They have two sons, one of which is coming to the Friday night teen class. His dad has stayed the past two classes and is loving the time with the group.

Last weekend our church held it's annual "Social" where Christians come from all over the country to spend the day with us. The hall was full! The day consisted of food, Fellowship and worship. We had invited Bert Ritchie from the church in Colraine, N.Ireland to preach - he is one of my favorite preachers! He spoke about the reality of change and our need to embrace and serve within it. The church was encouraged and challenged! The day was a joy, and in spite of much labour behind the scenes getting everyone fed physically, no-one left without being filled Spiritually.

We had a group helping the church for two weeks. The "Sojourners" a group of retired and able workers came over, rolled their sleeves up and got busy doing work around the building. I was able to spend a little bit of time with them and was blessed by their desire to serve. They were a great encouragement to many in our congregation. Michael and Alex Shonie were the ones taking care of the group and as well as putting them to work balanced things out with a trip to the beautiful Isle of Skye. There is no doubt the group left an impression on the congregation for good.

We had a bit of fun with the kids on Saturday. We hired the swimming pool and had a blast! There was a bunch there and a few of the kids who come invited a friend to come as a way of introducing them to the church and potentially sparking some interest in coming to classes at the church. For an hour and a half we just laughed and enjoyed pure fun! There was a huge inflatable obstacle course that we all battled to conquer. For the last half hour we moved to the diving board and played "chicken." You had to copy what the last person does or else jump off acting and sounding like a chicken. There were 5 parents there and we were able to show how Christan's care and enjoy life. The time passed too fast, but there were plenty memories made and memories make for great talking points. As long as I am on the topic of fun, I have shared some funny pics of our "Fluffy Bunny" challenge on Wednesday night.

One last comment about yesterday. It was my joy to preach in the morning. I loved the challenge from preparing the lesson. We shared an insight into what motivated Paul to serve the way he did. We looked at 2 Corinthians 5 and saw how Paul was motivated by, The hope of Heaven, The goal of pleasing Christ, The reality of Judgment, The compelling Love of Jesus and the Great commission to share the ministry of Reconciliation! God worked through my heart and His word was active!


God Bless!