This Sunday, May 1, 2016, marks my first anniversary as Lead Pastor of NorthLife Fellowship Baptist Church of Fort McMurray/Anzac, Alberta. What an interesting twelve months it has been! We arrived on the opening days of the Alberta Orange Revolution! We then became aware that we were about six months into a very significant crash in oil prices! My wife had four months of operations and biopsies. I coughed my way through pneumonia. Yet, what a blessed year it has been! I really like Fort McMurray and felt at home from the very first day. You as a congregation have been very encouraging as you received us into your hearts and into the church. Having come full-circle, from May to May, I have a better understanding of both church and city. Life would seem so much leaner if we had not been getting to know each other. God is good all the time!
Yet, what a blessed year it has been! I really like Fort McMurray and felt at home from the very first day.
We celebrated together NorthLife’s sixtieth anniversary last fall. Recently we completed a copy of a five-year strategic plan entitled “20/20 Vision”. I am filled with hope for the journey that God is taking us on. The next 60 months from 2016 through 2020 call us to hard work, clarity of purpose and focused prayer. Our fresh vision statement inspires us to intentionally advance the task of reaching the nations to the glory of God. “A family of nations loving God together.” We shall highlight the nations, the children and the youth as we step into each new day. The following four words capture the mission that will help us to realize the vision: Go! (Evangelism & Community Impact). Gather! (Worship & Fellowship). Give! (Stewardship & Service). Grow! (Discipleship & Disciple-Making).
“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” 1 Corinthians 15:58