Re-entry. This term “re-entry” has practically become a byword for we who live in the city of Fort McMurray and environs. As we enter the Autumn Season (which in Northern Alberta can be fairly brief) there are signs of “re-entry”. Schools have begun their new academic year, businesses and stores are attempting to regain a respectable and profitable level of operation. Rebuilding permits are being sought in preparation for the time when circumstances allow construction. “Re-entry” often requires accepting new challenges, substantial change and fresh skillsets. Yet “re-entry” can mean re-energized, re-connected, renewed and refreshed with insights never before discovered, resources previously unused and new relationships developed on the basis of common experiences.
Let us stir up our God-given gifts and skills so it becomes evident to all that we value the church where we are spiritually fed and where we may faithfully serve.
As we gather in worship, learning and service at our church, I encourage each church attender, guest or regular, to consider “re-entry” into the opportunities and activities of NorthLife. For some individuals, it may have been a long time since you have connected in a committed way with a church body. Re-entry may seem a bit daunting yet could prove to be the best thing you have done for quite some time.
Scripture reminds us to “think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meetings together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24, 25). For your church, this is a season of re-entry and re-engagement. Get involved! Seek out a place of service. Inquire of opportunities. Take action so that your passion to serve Christ in and through the church becomes a practical reality. Let us stir up our God-given gifts and skills so it becomes evident to all that we value the church where we are spiritually fed and where we may faithfully serve. “Neglect not our meetings together”. Meetings of worship, meetings of learning, meetings of service, meetings of planning. Every believer is a minister. Every minister is gifted. “A family of nations loving God together” is the vision statement of NorthLife. Let us celebrate this motto through practical involvement at this time of “re-entry”.