Dear Northside
Here we are approaching the end of February already. Next weekend is half term.
As I mention in my sermon this Sunday we have 3 really exciting weekends in a row. Our KidzCan Orange Day service was a great success. The décor was amazing. So many people came dressed in orange. We raised USD1350 for KidzCan. And it was so good having the children and their caregivers (mothers) with us in the service. These are the people we minister to through KidzCan and Rainbow Children’s Village. This weekend we have our Taste of the Nations. We love to celebrate love, but feel that Valentine’s Day is not inclusive enough, so we celebrate God’s unconditional agape love for all the nations and all people. Thank to all who came and who brought something to eat and drink to share with us all. Makes you long for heaven! Next weekend is our Baptism service. Come and witness a diverse group of people be baptised, come hear their stories and let us celebrate together.
And then we have a little bit of a rest until our church AGM at the end of March.
Our Easter program starts when Lent starts on the 5th March. Join us as we spend 40 days preparing ourselves for Easter. As we say every year, Easter for Christians should be a bigger event than Christmas. Our Passover Meal will be held on Wednesday 16 April with our Good Friday service on the 18th and our Easter Resurrection service on the 20th. If you are in Harare, may I encourage you to attend as much of this you can. You will not regret it. Please start booking in for the Passover Meal. There will be a cost to cover expenses, but we keep it as low as possible.
I read a story this week about a man who got his sofa stuck in the door as he was trying to get it out of his house. He goes and asks his neighbour to come and help him. After 20 minutes of effort both men are tired and the owner says to his neighbour, ‘It’s no use, it’s really stuck, we’ll never get it out of the house.” At which point his neighbour exclaims, “Out, I thought we were trying to get it in the house.” The importance of communication and everyone aiming in the same direction. This year our theme is “Walking in the Spirit: Activated for Growth.” It is my prayer that we will all focus on that and work together to achieve this. I am looking forward to our preaching series in the 2nd term as it will be based on the theme. I am also looking forward to seeing all the ways our ministries will be working this theme out in all that they do. On an individual note – what are you going to go to Walk in the Spirit this year and help us as a church to grow, both deeply and in width?
God bless, Pastor Gary