Acts 28:31
"Hallelujah! My soul, praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I live." - Psalm 146:1 CSB Hey everyone, I want to continue to thank you for your prayers and support. As I type this, I’m entering into my final year of Seminary. By God’s grace, and after 2 1/2 years, we've gotten to this point. As I'm typing this it feels exciting to be this close to graduating. Even though, I'm close the job's not finished. In this post I would like to just share what our future plans are after we finish this school year, some goals that we have for our next steps, and some prayer requests for reaching those next steps. For my final year, my courses are more practical. Each one challenges me in a unique way that works specific weaknesses not only in ministry, but in my own spiritual life and equipping me with the tools I need to thrive in ministry, especially a daunting task such as church planting. I can't talk about this semester without mentioning my amazing wife. Sara has been my rock during this semester, even more than the previous ones. This semester has been very active with my classes. For my final semester, there are two classes that I'm looking to take as transfer credits from other schools as the Seminary does not offer them for the time that I need them in order to graduate. I've applied to both schools and I'm just waiting to hear back from them. By God's grace I'll be able to complete these courses and graduate in May. If so, Sara and I are making plans to move into Calgary and apply for my permanent residency. Moving into CalgaryFirst move after graduation would be to move into Calgary. Just as everywhere else, we're experiencing a recession after Covid, and the cost of living has gone up. Calgary has also increased rapidly increased in its cost of living here recently. I have below a link to the current estimation for cost of living. We've gained a community here in Cochrane, however, we know the Lord has called us to Calgary to continue our pathway, and Lord willing launching a church plant after going through two rigorous assessments by our local church planting network Aspen Network and also through NAMB (conditional on passing the Aspen Assessment). After this year, Sara and I are planning to move into Calgary. We're prayerful about some potential opportunities. One of those is through an organization called Apartment Life. Apartment Life is an organization based in the states that partners with living community complexes to provide a living space for a person (or couple), that serves as a community organizer. In short, we would live in an apartment complex with the established and explicit purpose of putting together community events for the residents. While the opportunity is not explicitly Christian it does open up the doors for Gospel conversation and community. Internship with Hope HillsWhen I first moved to Calgary, I entered into an internship with Hope Hills to help develop ministry experience and practical pastoral opportunities to help shape me as a pastor. I've been in this internship while taking courses at the seminary. During the semester my responsibilities were a bit more limited to the week-by-week needs, while during the summer, I've taken on more responsibility. However, after graduating, I will dive head first into the internship more as a church planter, gaining practical experience. Graduating from the seminary is merely the beginning. For one of my classes, Capstone Ministry I, alongside Dustin and another member of the church named Jonny, will revitalize our discipleship pathway for the church. We will start with introducing this pathway to our young adult small group and then to the church. This internship is to prepare me for planting a church out of Hope Hills, equipping me with the knowledge of success and failures of Hope Hills. Prayer Requests
0 Comments
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." -- Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV Today's Blog PostToday's blog post is going to be a little different. Normally, I've composed my posts regarding ministry and family life. Today, I'm going to share my recent theology paper topic. My topic is the doctrine of Unconditional Election. The main idea is to define, and defend the doctrine of Unconditional Election. My aim with this paper is to understand the doctrine, where it stems from out of a proper exegesis of scripture, as well as its development through church history. I do not aim to cause division within our Lord's church, just merely understand a doctrine that reveals a little more about who He is. I wish not to offend, and dissent with the brethren over a doctrine that describes the events of salvation and not alters its efficacy on the believer. IntroductionGod made the church through the work of Jesus Christ, His life, death, and resurrection bought for Himself a people redeemed and made up of a diverse group. Every one of those people (you and I included) were chosen by God from before the foundations of the world to know Him and to love Him. The doctrine that stems from that statement is called "Unconditional Election." Here my aim is to clearly define this doctrine for you to understand. In order to do that I will first start off with one of the main verses that talk about it Romans 8. "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." -- Romans 8:29-30 ESV Out of these verses (and others) the doctrine of election arises. This post is setup to define and defend unconditional election, by first defining election and explaining how unconditional election came to be. This will be done by placing unconditional election within what's called order of salvation (ordo salutis). The order of salvation is the particular way that many theologians have used to describe the Christian's experience in conversion. Each section will be a summary of the corresponding section in the paper, thus will not contain every source used to construct the paper. I hope this is an encouragement for those who agree with the doctrine of Unconditional Election. For those who do not agree, my prayer is that you receive this post with grace, generosity, and humility. I am open to generous dialogue on the subject. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this post. What is Election?Election can be found in both Old and New Testaments. It is the doctrine that describes God's ability to choose a person, or people for himself designed for His explicit purposes. In the New Testament, the word used is "eklegomai" which means "to choose something for oneself." For example: God chose for Himself people (such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), in order to establish Israel as a nation. So this use of God's election points to his plan to provide a means of salvation for the church as applied to the ordo salutis. So every person that is a Christ follower is elected by God. Within the Order of Salvation, Election is the first step taken to convert the lost, bringing them to know Christ. However the question arises, of what happens with those who do not know Christ? Are they elected for destruction? In a word, no. Rather, what is apparent is that God will call anyone to based on his choice, and will. Election in the Old TestamentBefore digging more into Election in the rod of salvation, following God's plan of election throughout the scripture will build the argument for what happens with all people and how they respond to the Gospel call. God's plan is not only leading towards salvation, In the Old Testament, Abraham, Isaac and jacob are an excellent example of God's election. When He established Israel as a nation for himself he chose from among them leaders, Moses and Aaron, the Judges, Kings and Prophets. God would elect each one of them with according to his own purposes. Israel was supposed to be an elected people set aside to reflect proper relationship with the living God amongst a people who are without Him. In Genesis 11, God called Abram out of the land of Haran. In chapter 12, God promised an heir, land, and peace for Abram. Genesis 15, God ratified the covenant on His own, thus making the covenant unconditional, in that God will complete the requirements of the covenant to Abram on His own. After the Exodus, God established Israel as a nation and raised up King David. In 2 Samuel 7 God raised up David to establish him as the king of Israel, and again God ratified this covenant on His own proclaiming that He will complete the work needed for it. These two are just an overview of God electing people--choosing them for His own purposes. Other authors in the Old Testament refer to them and others as the elected: Abraham (Neh. 9:7), Moses (Psa. 106:23), Aaron (Num. 16:1-17; 13) David (Psa. 78:70), Solomon (1 Chr. 28:10), and Zerubbabel (Hag. 2:23). Election in the New TestamentIn the New Testament, God's grace remains the same. In that He still acts according to His own purposes and will, not only that, but God's purposes and will directly affect His people. While in the Old Testament God's election was pointed towards Israel through the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants in the New Covenant God pours out that grace on a remnant of people made up of all nations. The very first example of election in the New Testament would be Jesus in choosing the twelve (Luke 6:13; John 15:16). Another use throughout the New Testament refers to eschatological events (Matt. 24:22, 31; Mark. 13:20). Paul the Apostle as he writes his letters offers three specific texts that explain election; Rom. 8:28-30, 9-11; Eph. 1:1-12. This would be applied directly to individuals whom the Lord has saved. In this context, election offers a Christ-centered viewpoint through which God chooses for Himself a people, not based on foreknowledge, but merely according to God's own good will and pleasure. Romans 8:28-30 Paul introduces what is now called the order of salvation (ordo salutis). This is the logical ordering of events that describe what happens in and to the believer as God is bringing them out of the kingdom of darkness into His kingdom of light. In Christian thought, election has been discussed and some questions rise when it comes to this view, namely; does unconditional election teach a form of fatalism? Is it still necessary to preach the Gospel? What about those who view this as a mark of pride? All of which will be addressed in the next section. Total Depravity and ReprobationTo begin, when people understand election it is easy to question if election teaches either double predestination, or fatalism. Double predestination is the belief that God has chosen for Himself a people for salvation and a people for destruction. While fatalism is the philosophical belief that everything a person does is a result of fate. That there are no true choices in a person's actions because God has foreseen them and in fact configures events to happen. Both of these teachings are inextricably absent from scripture. Instead, what should be studied first is the doctrine of sin. When understanding the capability and effects of human sinfulness paired with how seriously God views sin, then unconditional election is easier to understand and even hold to. For starters the extent of human sinfulness reaches the core of humanity. The extent of sinfulness involves physically (the presence of disease and death), psychologically (mental health issues, which are not in-and-other selves), and spiritual condition. When all three of those things diverging away from the Lord then the only way to describe humanity is in rebellion against God, in totality. Therefore with those who reject God, God does not need to send anyone to heaven or hell rather, God simply leaves those to their own devices. This is understood as reprobation. Romans 1-3 are a the basis of this argument, as well as Ephesians 2:1-3. The entire point of the Romans 1-3 can be summed up with on section 1:18-25 In this section Paul explains how people suppress knowledge of God, and how He revealed Himself in creation and decided to turn and worship creation. As a result God gave them over to their desires. So by nature humanity does not want a relationship with God according to Romans 1-3. Verses 18-25 in context focus on the Gentiles, however, Paul applies this same principle to the Jews in chapter 2. After that it leads Paul to pen 3:23 "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The point here is humanity's sinful condition, by nature and by choice is what condemns them, not God's election of them for destruction. Election is God's Sovereign ChoiceThe doctrine of unconditional election, as it applies to the church is can be seen in Ephesians 1:4-6; 11 where Paul writes, "Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved...In him we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will." Ephesians 1 and Romans 8:28-11 clearly shows that God has the ability to choose for himself, and he has actively done so throughout the Old and New Testament, and still does so today choosing for himself a people to redeem. Those who are already numbered as believers and followers of Christ's church would be understood to have been chosen since before the foundation of the world and God worked out his redemptive plan and applied to them.
God has a type of freedom that is exists outside of humanity's understanding of freedom. God is the ultimate and perfect authority wherein He rules over our own. In that humanity's freedom is similar to a highway with a guardrail. Humanity is free to move within the constraints of the guardrail but God is free to move however He pleases. Therefore, unconditional election is the result of the sovereign choice of the supreme authority over all things doing as His pleases, according to His will and whatever it is He sets out to accomplish; He succeeds. For the believer unconditional election ought to be a comfort, knowing that God has set His love upon us in a unique way that simply because He loves us, should be a comfort. This would bring a stronger understanding to the what Paul writes in Romans 8:28. We can be sure that God is indeed has our good in mind as He works in the world and those who have yet to know Him will experience the goodness of God in that same way. "The Lord is good and upright; therefore he shows sinners the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the Lord's ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep his covenant and decrees. Lord, for the sake of your name forgive my iniquities for it is immense." Psalm 25:8-11 CSB Thank you everyone for your prayers and support, I’m writing this to update you all on my journey. I’m now entering year 3. The Lord has been so good to me since moving here. Hope Hills is continuing to grow and flourish despite the rough start to the new year (more on this later), and heading into this year, I’ll have some more challenges, things to learn, and opportunities to seize. My spring semester is in full swing, Ministry opportunities are abundant and I have a few plans that I would like to share for this coming year. Hope Hills ChurchEntering in to this year, there was a mix-up with the city regarding our rental agreement with the school. For January that left us without a location. However, another church that we had a partnership with allowed us to share their worship space for the month. Despite the inconvenience, we were still able to gather and worship the Lord. Dustin was able to correct the issue and we’ve began meeting back at the school starting the last Sunday in January. This week we’re starting to bring back our community groups after the winter break and as part of my own training, I’m going to co-lead the group with Sara, and the Conner’s. I’m nervous yet excited to lead an adult small group (up to this point I’d only led youth groups). Most of the people in our group is older than me, all of them are parents with small children so a completely different life stage than Sara and I. From previous conversations with Dustin, we're anticipating a decent number of teams coming up from the states to help us in our summer camps. It's encouraging to hear, as I've stated in previous posts, our camps are the primary way of reaching our community with the Gospel. It helps free Dustin up to engage with the community as well as our members who volunteer as well. Also it gives us the opportunity to share Calgary and our vision for the city with our partner churches in the states. If you are interested in bringing up a team please contact me and we can organize a trip with you as well. Life UpdateFor Sara and I, this past winter has been tough. To begin in November, Sara’s grandfather’s health began to deteriorate. Through some gracious gifts from a classmate, and a church member, Sara was able to go spend the month of December with her family and with her grandfather. The emotional strain was tough for the both or us, and we struggled with the separation, but the Lord is good and He kept us through the difficult time. He passed away the week before Christmas, and I was able to fly out at after the semester ended to be with her and the family in time for the funeral and stayed through to celebrate Christmas. It was a tough time for her family and I would ask that you remember the Urribarri family as they continue to navigate this reality. By God’s grace for this year, Sara and I are planning to make two trips to North Carolina, one in July, the other for Christmas. I would like to give an account for the past two years here, and a testimony to God’s work in Hope Hills, in Sara and I, and progress in Sara and I’s plan for ministry. Right now we’re rounding out the first quarter of our plan, graduate from Seminary, the next part is going to be a church planter’s internship/assessment, Currently I am in the internship technically, after graduating I’ll be full time in it leading to the assessment with the Aspen Network, and then assessment through NAMB to prepare to a lead church planter role in Calgary. Semester UpdateI'm now on the back end of my studies here at the Canadian Baptist Theological Seminary. Praise the Lord for his faithfulness in this endeavor. It's a joke for me these days, but I started off as a guy who was so done with school by grade 7. Grade 10, I. made it up in my mind that I didn't want to go to college. But God had other plans and here I am with an Associates, Bachelor's and finishing up a Master's degree. I know that this is only something that could've happened by God's work in me, and everything that I'm learning now will be used for his glory. If I've had the opportunity to talk about my plan for moving up here in the first place with you, reader, it is a 10-year plan. Right now I'm entering into year 3 of this plan, by God's grace, if everything continues to follow suit here, I'll finish up my degree, dive deeper into my internship with Hope Hills and the Aspen network, working towards being assessed to go before NAMB to be assessed as a lead church planter. I have below the slides from previous presentations I've put together to aid in communicating the goals the Lord placed on my heart in leading me up here. Prayer Requests
"A man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." – Proverbs 18:22 CSB
Thank you all for your prayers and support, its been a busy summer with a slew of things to catch you up on with the future of Hope Church, our first month of marriage and the upcoming semester.
Newly weds
July 8, 2022 was the best day of my life. I got to marry my best friend. We had a small ceremony with about 100 people outside the seminary. The week of was hectic, driving to the Airport to pick up friends and family, fixing up the last minute details, hoping and praying it wouldn't rain, but it all came together. Our God showed up and showed out, the day was perfect. Sara and I got to welcome so many family and friends from Toronto and the states and we were just floored with the amount of love and support for us from both sides. We had a lot of friends and family who couldn't make it too, but for them we had a streaming option too. Sara's dad officiated the wedding for us too. I'll have pictures posted at the bottom of the post.
To this point we've been married for about a month and we're loving it, still some adjusting to living together, and making our house a home, but we're progressing day by day. Each day i learn something new about Sara and I find something to enjoy about her. We celebrated her birthday August 20, by going to the zoo. Just her and I. We had a whole day together, just her and I. She got calls from family, and friends all day. We ended the day by going out to eat all you can eat sushi. Right now we're actually facing a bit of an uphill battle though. Sara had been working for our Baptist convention this past year, but unfortunately due to the changes, she is being let go at. We're actively looking for a job, and truly praying that the Lord will provide one for us. So if you could please keep us in your prayers. Hope Church Update
So from the last post I shared, there was some pretty major news that Hope church was going through that I couldn't share. However, as we're still going through the process, I'm glad to announce that Hope Church currently is in the process of merging with another church here in Calgary. The church is called Northern Hills Church and they meet in a movie theater called the Landmark Cinema in the NE quadrant of the city. The merger isn't finalized, but we are quite far ahead in the discussions. By God's grace we will make an official announcement in time for our relaunch (September). A little about Northern Hills Church:
1 Year Down 1 Year to Go!
I'm halfway through my degree program here at the Canadian Baptist Theological Seminary. I'm taking a full load this year:
Prayer Request
“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him. It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” — Lamentations 3:22-26 CSB Thank you so much for your continued prayer and support. There’s a lot of good things I have the opportunity to update you all about. The Lord has been moving in my life personally, and Hope Church. Also, I will be presenting an opportunity that I’m praying through, and am looking for the support to make happen. So by the end of this update my goal is to share an opportunity to pray for, as well as, partnering with. Hope Church NewsTo start with Hope Church, we’re going through some amazing changes, I shared previously about the financial struggles that we’ve had. The Lord has been good to provide funding for us and we have not been without. So to that, I can say God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good. Most recently there has been a presented opportunity that will drastically change the landscape of Hope church. I can’t fully share now on here, but I will update as time goes on. For this opportunity though, I know the Lord is in it, and He is providing. My prayer is for wisdom in Dustin, and the leadership teams involved. The Lord has brought us this far and I know He won’t leave us or lead us astray. We’re in the middle of a sermon series on Ruth. We began at the beginning of May, and just over halfway through it now. I preached a sermon in this series on Ruth 2. It was my first sermon from the Old Testament, and I must say, I enjoyed this sermon prep the most out of the five sermons I’ve preached. I will have the video at the bottom of this section. The point of the sermon is that Jesus is our perfect Redeemer, who gives us everything we need, He is our peace, He gives us protection, and offers us promotion, out of the outer edges of His grace, and into the fellowship and community with Him. We are no longer foreigners, but we are now family to Christ. Summer PlansThe Lord has definitely been providing for our wedding. One measure of God’s grace in this comes in the form of a discounted price for our reception menu. We’ve ordered a food truck voted “Best Food Truck in Calgary,” in 2019. The owner has been very gracious in working with us, serving 100 guests. We were able to pay for the food truck at a discounted price to serve our guest list. We’ve paid for our wedding bands, and almost through paying for my suit. It’s been a very busy season, as we’re getting closer to the wedding day. For me this summer will be split between three things, first obviously wedding planning, second work at Rexall, and lastly a summer job with Hope Church to help coordinate our summer plans. The funding from this job with Hope will come from my MSC account, dedicating a portion of my funds raised to help pay for our wedding and setup ourselves for marriage. However, as I’m working with Hope, there is a level of anticipation and excitement here. What I’m praying through and trying to discern is whither or not the Lord would lead me to consider working for Hope and what it would look like for me to raise support for working for Hope exclusively. The tough thing about this season is that I see that there are too many things that demand a lot of me: from wedding planning, and my relationship with Sara, to Rexall, school, and church. I want to move towards a point where I limit what demands so much. Plus working with Hope will give me experience and opportunities to seeing church planting up close. I haven’t figured what that looks like funding wise and a good timeline to start moving towards that yet, but I will have something more concrete by next post, granted that the Lord provides and answer by then. Semester UpdateThe semester has wrapped up and by God’s grace I survived. If we’re friends on social media, then you’ll see that Sara graduated this year too! Praise the Lord for that, it was a long journey for her and she’s definitely ready to move to the next stage of life, marriage and a career. She currently works from the Canadian National Baptist Convention (CNBC). It is the sister organization to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) that partners with the SEND Network and the North American Mission Board(NAMB) leading church planting efforts throughout Canada. She works as the assistant to the Director of Missions/Evangelism/Youth. There are some changes coming to the CNBC we are getting a new President, Jeff Christopherson. As a convention, it’s pretty exciting for him to step in and lead us. Sara is getting an inside scoop on his style and vision for the convention. We also just recently had our Church Planting Assessments with 9 couples all from Alberta, 6 from Edmonton which is about 2 1/2 hours from Calgary, 2 from Calgary and 1 from Airdrie which is about 1 hour from Calgary. I had the opportunity to work the A/V table and see first hand what an assessment looked like. Sara had the opportunity to serve in taking notes for the Assessors for their final report. I was an amazing opportunity to see the vision of the planters, their passion for their cities and their respective communities. As I watched, and gleaned from their experiences it fed fuel to the fire to see God’s kingdom expanding in Calgary and Alberta as a whole. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait until Sara and I are there together as a couple to be assessed, sure we will be nervous just as our predecessors are/were here, but I’m praying to be ready for the challenge. "Lord my God, you have done many things – your wondrous works and your plans for us; none can compare with you. If I were to report and speak of them, they are more than can be told." Psalm 40:5 CSB Hey y'all, thank you for your prayers and support! Thank you for your patience as well! After my last post I needed to buckle down on the semester to finish strong. I finished with 3 B's and one C. After the semester, I began working more hours at Rexall to prepare for a trip with Sara back to North Carolina to spend New Years with my parents. This post marks a full year since moving to Canada. I've enjoyed my time, learned a lot, and experienced the Lord's providence, and favor in many ways. I look forward to year two and will dive into that later in the post. Christmas and New YearsThis was my first Christmas away from North Carolina and family. While I missed my family and friends, a little extra time time of year, I enjoyed beginning new traditions with Sara and her family. For starters, her parents surprised her for Christmas! They drove 36 hours almost nonstop to spend Christmas with as a family. The weather was a whole different type of cold, -25˚F from the middle of December until mid January. It was rough! After Christmas, Sara and I took a trip to North Carolina. We went to so that she could meet my family and closest friends. Obviously we tried some good ole NC and stateside staples, Chick-Fil-A, Cookout, Biscuitville, Bojangles, you name it we had it, almost. My family loved her, Sara and my mom clicked very well. They went shopping together and just had a ball. Overall the trip showed me how much she clicked with my family. When we got back, it was a back to the grind but not before a special moment. January 14, 2022 after a long day of work for the both of us, I got down on one knee and asked Sara to be my wife and she said "YES!" Sara and I are engaged now and planning a wedding for July 8, 2022. For all of my partners on here, I intend to supply a zoom link for those that wish to see it. Spring Semester Starting upBy this point, I'm three weeks into the new semester. The courses I'm taking are: Old Testament II (a survey of the prophets, Psalms/Wisdom Lit), Biblical Interpretation, Missiology, and a Biblical Archeology Lectureship. I'm learning a lot just through these three weeks, and again seeing how I'm able to use this in my daily life both in Hope Church and through personal life engagements. Between two classes, I have to write 40 pages, so it's definitely a Master's course haha, but I look forward to writing these papers and coming out on the other side of it all. Life at Hope ChurchAs I'm writing this post now, I'm preparing a sermon to preach this Sunday. To which I will upload it here once it's available. the passage is on a series through 1 John, where we parallel the epistle with the Gospel of John. It's been amazing to open God's word and see how the Lord used John to not only record his eye witness account of the Messiah, but also how that eyewitness account influenced his writing of this letter. For the foreseeable future I'll have more opportunity to preach. Some more good news is that, I've met with two of the denominational leaders who are praying with me through a possible community to consider planting in. Nothing serious yet, there's no identified area yet, but just the beginning of that process. There's a community in Calgary, the northernmost community in the city about 20 minutes from Cochrane called "Tuscany" that doesn't have a church, that could be a possible community to begin a work in. This is going to be a process over the next 2-3 years I'll keep you all updated on this end as the Lord reveals where and provides the means. Prayer Requests
"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; proclaim his deeds among his peoples" –– Psalm 105:1 Hey y'all, thank you for your prayers and support. My apologies for such a lag in posting. When I got back from North Carolina the semester began and I've been adjusting to the new semester. In this post, I'll be updating you from August through to September. A lot has happened, and I still have a lot planned so stay tuned! North Carolina Trip and SuchMy trip back to North Carolina was a long planned one. I was talking with a Pastor since September 2020 about meeting together, but due to COVID those plans were pushed back. By God's grace we were able to maintain contact and August 11-19 the trip was possible. The trip was great! I had an opportunity to meet family and friends, and the church was very friendly and welcoming. I had a great time. On that Monday, my best friend Richard and I drove across the country to Great Falls Montana to get me along with my car back across the border. Obviously it was a success! I'll have some pictures of our trip posted. That trip was amazing, and it was probably one of the best moments I had with my best friend. Thank you Richard and Loren, y'all always have my back. Also, by this time we've celebrated Thanksgiving. In Canada Thanksgiving is on the 2nd Monday in October. Sara and I cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal, turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy, cranberry sauce and mac and cheese. I'll post a picture of it as well. It was a great time with friends here to celebrate a time of thankfulness and knowing Who we're thankful to and what we're thankful for. Lastly, Sara and I are planning a New Years Eve trip back down to NC. I've had the opportunity to meet her parents in person, and now it's hers. We're both nervous and excited, but it'll be a great time. right now our flight is scheduled for the 28th, and we will be there until the 5th of January. We're making plans now for what we plan to do, and everything. Each day that passes, crawling towards that day is just a blessing. right now we're sitting in the library I'm writing this post and she's studying and its just a blessing. I'm truly blessed to have her in my life. I can't wait for her to meet my family and for them to meet her. As of now we've been dating for 4 months and each day is a new adventure. A Master's Degree is No JokeWhen I got back from North Carolina, I had to hit the ground running. Sara's parents flew in from Toronto 5 hours after I got back to town, and they spent two weeks here. It was a joy getting to meet them in person and celebrating Sara's birthday. Her Father is a church planter and pastor in Toronto and we really clicked. We had some great conversations about marriage, the Church, ministry, scripture and the four of us watched Ip Man together, which was really fun. The semester started their last week here and both Sara and I had to move like crazy and adjust to the hectic schedule. We had a lot of classes together last semester but this one we have none. But we're still able to study together which has been nice and helpful. By the time I'm writing this now it's reading week so we don't have classes and its given us a good opportunity to catch up and rest, and get ready for the second half. It's definitely much needed. I Honestly, this maybe the last post until the end of the semester, but I hope I can carve out the time to make at least one more before the end of the semester. Life at Hope ChurchAfter I left for NC, we were starting up our Kids Fest and Soccer Camps. This led all the way into the semester. I was able to help with the soccer camp and Kite Fest. Kite Fest was such an act of God. The whole day it was supposed to rain. We were leaning towards cancelling it, instead we decided to pray. We prayed for the rain to hold off, and for there to be a beautiful day for Kite Fest. We set up for the Kite fest and if you could just imagine, this giant ominous cloud looming off in the distance heading our way and you could only think it's a matter of time before you feel the rain drops. However, God had other plans. We continued to focus on the kite fest making kites, face painting, Sara and I manned the bouncy houses alongside another family. One hour passed and no sign of rain...another 30-minutes, still no rain. I looked up and it was like the clouds parted over our very spot and just kept going. No rain, not one drop. Praise the Lord we were able to run our kite fest with no problems and connect with families. Also this passed Sunday I preached again. As a church we're going through our core values as a congregation which are to: connect with God, connect with others, and connect others with God, and do ministry in those three ways. I preached on connecting others with God, and the text I used was Matthew 28, the great commission. I'll post a video of it when I get the chance to. Prayer Requests
"Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life." –– Psalm 54:4 ESV
Hey y'all, I hope you are well. I'm sorry I missed last month, June got away from me so quickly. I will update you all on some things from June and this mid point in July. The Lord has definitely been good through the past two months. Though this month has also presented some challenges. I hope you are encouraged with your walk with the Lord.
So Many Changes!
I have a trip planned for the second week of August to visit family, meet with a potential church partner and moving the last little bit of my things from NC. Among those things are my car. Originally, I was planning to drive my car up, however, I haven't been able to find anyone to ride with me. So my plan is now to ship my car up here. The most recent quote I received was for $2,150USD. I entreat you, if you feel led by our God to give in support of the moving cost here, please don't hesitate to reach out, or give through my NAMB account; the link will be at the bottom of the page. Hope Church, and I are making putting much to this expense as well. The Lord has provided and been good until now, and I trust that He will provide the means and the solution here as well. Mainly, and this will be listed in the prayer request section, I request your prayers in this matter as well, for a safe and productive trip and to move my car back up here safely.
Some of y'all are friends with me on social media and have seen the post about my new relationship. Some just read that sentence and just figured out I'm now in a relationship. Whichever you are, I'm happy to share that I now have a girlfriend. Her name is Sara and she attends the Seminary with me completing her undergrad with plans to get her masters in Social Work. We've been friends for 2 years having met through some mutual friends on one of my trip here in Summer 2019. We've been dating for a month now and we're having a lot of fun. I'll have some pictures posted at the bottom of this post. Right now, I'm in a season of learning, in the words of Andy Mineo, "I'm tryna go from selfish to selfless, not just thinking bout my needs but someone else's." I'm learning about my own tendencies that I never noticed, but it shows me opportunities to grow in my relationship with others and with Christ. Also, I transitioned away from my job as a Speech Development Aide, to retail at a local Pharmacy called Rexall. With the upcoming semester, I thought it would be better for me to make this move to limit the amount of time needed to prepare for work. I'm in my third week now and am enjoying it. The Lord has been good to me in these months providing not one, but two jobs without missing a beat. As the Lord continues to give and bless, my aim is to steward these blessings in a way that honors the Lord, and blesses others. I'm beyond grateful for His faithfulness and in this the lessons of dependency and trusting Him. Life at Hope Church
We've entered into our summer months which are typically the busiest around now. However, we've had to push back our summer schedule due to covid, but praise the Lord we are not cancelling our camps altogether. Instead of having them in July, we're having them in August. We will have a Doggy Day Camp for pet owners, Kid's Fest, and Soccer Camps. Normally we hold these camps in Nolan Hill and Sage Hill, this year we're adding Livingston to the mix. Please pray for meaningful relationships to be built in this community. We plan to prepare a church plant in this community specifically. Livingston is a newer community that houses around 3,000 people.
I had the opportunity to preach my first sermon on a few weeks ago. I'll post the video and some pictures at the bottom of the post. We're making our way through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel. I was pretty nervous about the sermon, but in building it, I had a lot of help in putting it together. My prayer is that the Lord was glorified and His people encouraged. The passage I preached on was Matthew 5:33-37. I've received a lot of encouragement after preaching it from my church family and from my family back home who heard it live over zoom or watched the recording. I will be on the preaching team schedule for every other month to help balance with the school and workload coming up. That does it for this post thank you for your prayers and your support, I look forward to the next update for you all! Grace and Peace! Sermon and Photo updatesPrayer Requests
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His faithful love endures forever...Let those who fear the Lord say, 'His faithful love endures forever." Psalm 118:1, 4 Hey all, thank you all for your prayers and support. This post marks the first post after the end of my first year! Praise the Lord! This has been a great initial year to my studies. I finished the year with three A’s and a B. Opening up to the summer break, my plans are to enjoy all that I can given the context here. COVID numbers started to spike again, while most of those cases coming from Cochrane (the town I live in and where the seminary is). Throughout the month, the numbers have been going down though. One prayer of mine is for the numbers to continue to drop and the restrictions to loosen. This is also my birth month, and it’s a major one for me. I’m turning 30. I used to not think much of this milestone, but I’m becoming more contemplative about it now. I’ll talk about that more later. Hope Church UpdateTo update you on the life of Hope Church, we just recently finished our “We Believe” sermon series detailing the core Christian doctrines that we hold to. We have a number of faithful believers in different places in their walk and from different traditions. That series was amazing to unify Hope on the message of the Gospel, its implications and the clearly defined teachings of the Scriptures. We’re now moving towards a series through the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is one of my favorite passages in scripture. I’m excited for this sermon series. I am preaching in this series, July 4 will be my first sermon with Hope Church. The text will be Matthew 5:33-37. I will post the link that service in the monthly blog post and newsletter. Lastly, we have a family that is in the process of adopting a child from Columbia. They are there now and have met with their daughter. However, there is great political turmoil, and COVID is spreading like wildfire there. I will mention this family in the prayer requests, but I want to mention them here for you to pray not only for this family, but for the country as a whole. Turning 30I’m 30, yo...and I’m celebrating it in Cochrane, AB. I reminisce on my 20’s and remember so many lessons, and experiences. On top of that, I’m opening up a new decade of my own life in another country. I’m not sure of what lies ahead, but I know that the Lord has every step planned. My hope and prayer is to spend the entirety of this decade in His will—each day, in his will. In this sermon series, the Sermon on the Mount reminds me of where my citizenship lies, and that I’m an ambassador, for God’s kingdom living by a heavenly law on an earthly plain. The day was well spent, I enjoyed some good sushi and quality time with friends I've made here. It was a little tough though, it rained all day but otherwise a good day.
"Make me know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long." Psalm 25:4, 5 ESV Hey y’all, thank you all for the prayers and support. I’m coming up on the last month of my first year in Seminary. Coming down the home stretch, I’m pretty excited and getting a bit tired at the same time haha. Last month, which was supposed to cover February, I didn’t do one for March, but a lot has happened in March by itself. So this post will update you about March and a lot of April. I’ve been looking for a job almost all of February, applying to Wal-Mart, Starbucks, and a few more retail areas around Cochrane. The Lord has been faithful, and heard our prayers: I have a job now as a tutor for a student teaching English as a Second Language. Resurrection SundayI hope you all had a happy Resurrection Sunday. For Resurrection Sunday, we held two services to accommodate people as they came to worship. The Lord is certainly moving in Hope Church, since Easter, we've had a lot more people coming to worship services and community groups. Praise the Lord for that, Hope church has been steadily growing even in the midst of navigating the changes due to COVID cases rising locally, as well as, nationwide. I'd like to take a moment to mention specifically, one of the beloved leaders here in Calgary; Bob Shelton is a Church Planting Catalyst, and mentor to many people here. He loves Calgary and I've even mentioned a video with him in it explaining what God is doing in Calgary. He is battling a serious fight with COVID right now. He's stable but there is still a major fight ahead of him, please keep him and his family in your prayers. Once a Teacher, Always a TeacherAs I mentioned earlier, I'm a Speech Aide Assistant, and my job is very similar to what I was doing back home as an Exceptional Children's Teaching Assistant. The Lord really provided me this job. A family was looking for a tutor, and they specifically wanted a Christian from Hope Church to tutor their son in English, specifically helping with speech. They reached out to a mutual friend and that mutual friend reached out to Hope Church, and I answered. My years as a TA are being put to great use. I'm beginning to see a trend of teaching shaping out in my life. There are some very nuanced differences that I won't go too deep into right now, but I can say that this is something that the Lord is guiding my heart towards. I really like teaching, and everything that I learn in classes, I learn with the thought of teaching others. I'm not sure what the Lord will do with this, but I do have a desire to be a college professor at some point teaching Theology, or an English/History/Philosophy teacher to some degree. Whatever is next, I know this: what I'm doing now the Lord will make use of it later. Prayer Requests
|
AuthorMy name is Nokomis Gregory. I'm a native of Winston-Salem, NC. After graduating from Piedmont International University I moved Calgary, Alberta as a church planting team member, with the hopes of planting a church in Calgary. Archives
September 2023
Categories |