Yesterday was an emotional day. Those who know me know that I do not show my emotions (I think that was something ingrained in me from childhood, and I have never really expressed my feelings openly). However, yesterday . . . yesterday I was touched . . . and while those in attendance at the service may have thought that I was pretty close to as staid as I normally am, my heart swelled (the joke in our family is that I . . . from an old comedy sketch . . . was verklempt. I . . . felt).
Thank you, Trinity Church. Thank you for your kind words, shared as we spoke, and shared in the card given to us. You cannot know how much we appreciate being appreciated. You cannot know how much hearing that we have meant something to you over the years means to us. You cannot know how much hearing that we were a positive part of your spiritual journey encourages us.
Thank you, Trinity Church. Thank you for your thoughtful gifts to us. They made us realize (once again) how much you care for us . . . and how well you know us.
Thank you, Trinity Church. Thank you for your friendship over the years. From that day in December of 1994 until today we have developed relationships. Arms length in that initial “feeling out” process, as you discovered who we were and we discovered who you were. Then, a warming when it was no longer “us and you” (from both sides) but just “us”. We laughed together. We cried together. We became more than ministers and congregation . . . we became friends, people who realized that there were imperfections in the other, but that it didn’t matter.
Most of all, thank you, Trinity Church. Thank you for the trust that you placed in us for the last twenty-eight years. It began with your call to us – your invitation for us to become your pastoral team. You didn’t know much about us but thought that we could help in your desire to reach people for Jesus – that we could lead you to become more involved in the Riverview Park community. And we did. Together we developed ministry programs, and then worked together to implement them so that God’s kingdom would grow. Over the years we have seen successful children (such as the Friendship Club) and teen ministries flourish. We have become part of the community through allowing people to use the Trinity property as we host a community garden. People have become part of the Trinity Church community – and have found Jesus – because of your willingness to (to quote William Carey) expect great things from God, and attempt great things for God. Not everything we tried was successful, and some ministries did well at their start then waned, but God was – God is – in the middle of everything we did as we worked together, and that would not have happened without mutual trust.
So thank you, Trinity Church. Thank you for who you are – a kind, generous, loving, committed people of God. It has been an honour to be your pastoral family these past years. And as I said last week, we leave you with an interim pastoral team that has learned to lead over these past years – a team that loves God and loves this church. Matt and Johania have grown to a youthful maturity, guided by the hand of God under the watchful and supporting love of this congregation. Pastor Kevin will give mature direction and help to these young people and to the church as he becomes part of the fellowship. Pastor Lloyd will step in when needed. And the church will continue to touch people for Jesus.
Nothing I have done . . . nothing you have done . . . nothing we have done . . . everything that Jesus has done! In our message yesterday I shared His great promise to us: that He was going to build His church, and that the gates of Hades would not prevail against it. The church . . . the body of believers . . . the people of God . . . can be sure that He – the builder – is going to do something special – if we will let Him – and will help us in making a difference in our world – for Him. He has been doing that, with us, for the past twenty-eight years. He has been doing that – through Trinity Church – for the past over fifty years. He has been doing that – through the Church of the Nazarene in Ottawa – for the past almost eighty years. He has been doing that – through the power of His spirit – for the past two plus millennia. And He will continue to do it until He returns in power.
The Great Promise – the basis of our message – is found in Matthew 16:18. The message has been posted to our web site – you can find the manuscript in the SERMONS section -- or click here to download a copy. You can also “revisit” yesterday’s service on our Facebook page (click here) and on our YouTube channel (click here).
This coming Sunday Kevin Laffin will be with the congregation to share from God’s Word. Through the summer into the fall the pulpit ministry will be shared by Kevin, Johania, Matt, and Pastor Lloyd.
Services will begin at 11:00 –we continue to stream our services through our Facebook feed (click here) and our YouTube feed (click here). You can link directly from our web site (click here). Please “check in” – let us know if you worship with us “live or delayed”.
Congregational prayer will continue every Wednesday evening at 7:00 through ZOOM to pray together. We share with one another, we discover the needs of others who are part of our church near and far, and we pray . . . some silently, some vocally. Join us this week!. Please e-mail the church office for log on information.
Thank you for your faithful support of the work we are trying to accomplish for Christ through what we do as a church . . . for giving generously of your tithes and offerings to the meet the needs of our local church. We continue to receive our tithes and offerings through e-transfer (ottawatrinity@rogers.com) and through the Canada Helps web site (click here).
The Alta Vista Nursery School (AVNS) – now with Andrew Fleck Children’s Services – have contracted to have some improvements made on the Trinity building this summer. The washrooms will be updated (the women’s washroom will change to include a child’s toilet and sink); the wall between the two rear Sunday School classrooms will open with a passthrough, the outside play area will be renewed, and the kitchen will have a full renovation. Work began this morning. Be careful in the construction zones when you are here!