Dear Northside
Well, here we are in February. The world celebrates February as the month of LOVE. When you hear the word love, what thoughts go through your mind, what emotions do you experience? We live in a world that seems to be very short on love, even as it desperately seeks love.
The Bible is very clear, God is love, and love, true love, comes from God. From nowhere else. 1 John 4:7. Especially agape or unconditional love. Have you experienced God’s love in your life? Maybe consider sharing your story with someone during February? What a great way to tell people about Jesus and your story. Are you brave enough to share your story with the congregation? People are desperate for real love. Point them to God. And how do we know that God loves us? He sent His one and only Son Jesus to die in our place. In Jesus we see God’s love in action. 1 John 3:16, Romans 5:8.
Talking about love reminds me of our mission:
- Loving God completely
- Loving our community
- Loving to tell the story of Jesus
- Loving to make disciples or followers of Jesus.
We have chosen to accept God’s mission (I’m think of the Mission Impossible movies). What are you doing to help us achieve God’s mission for us?
And it is God’s love that motivates us to hold our annual Taste of the Nations. Psalm 96. This is being held this coming Saturday – 15th February from 2 to 4pm. We celebrate God’s love for the nations. And we do this by bringing a bit of what we believe heaven will be like to Northside. We read in Revelation that every nation will be represented in Heaven, and they will retain their uniqueness. Tony Campolo once said that it is going to take eternity for us to visit every nation, learn their language, stories, music and songs and eat their food and drink their drink. So, that’s what we are going to do. So please, come and join us, bring food from your nation or food from your favourite nation. Come dressed up. If you have music and songs (hopefully Christian) from your nation, bring it with you as well. Let’s create a bit of heaven next Saturday. AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! Please check the advert online for more information.
The Sunday after Taste of the Nations, the 23rd February, is our Baptism service. Come and see Northsiders responding to the love of God in their lives by being obedient and going through the waters of baptism, following Jesus. These services are always encouraging and full of joy. So do not miss out!
God bless, Pastor Gary