"A pastor? That's so interesting!"
When I told my randomly assigned financial advisor, as I was opening a new TFSA, that my occupation was a pastor, I wasn't expecting to hear that response. It's no secret that our increasingly post-Christian culture is no longer warm or even neutral to the gospel. Many people perceive "Christianity" more as part of the problem, not the solution. Often, when I tell people I am a pastor, they typically respond with deafening silence, and the conversation seems to end there.
But not this conversation. The woman from the bank flooded me with dozens of questions, from how I plan and write sermons to why I became a pastor and almost everything else in between. She shared that her family wasn't 'religious,' but through navigating recent suffering and the grief of losing a loved one, she has been more curious about "spirituality." In that moment, I discerned that God was at work and felt the Spirit empower and enable me to witness.
My own story involves wrestling with God through pain and suffering as He miraculously saved me from certain death at the age of 16 due to a severe bowel blockage, which ultimately led to a diagnosis of Crohn's Disease. This is something I still navigate today. Despite experiencing a miracle, I still face very real physical challenges that I have prayed fervently for healing from. Considering my story, I have become very comfortable in the thick of sickness and suffering. That's exactly what I shared with a woman at the bank. I conveyed how one of the main reasons I became a pastor was to walk alongside people amid moments of pain, doubt, and suffering and help them set their eyes on the person of Jesus. To help people truly live in the hope found in Revelation chapter 21, where we read about the glorious future in which He will wipe every tear, where there will be no pain and no death.
We often assume that because someone isn't currently a disciple of Jesus, God isn't at work in their life. But what if we started with the opposite assumption? That God is all-present, full of love, and drawn to sinners? He is likely already at work in their lives. In this paradigm, our job is to look for signs of the ever-present God at work and join in when we do (because we absolutely will).
I didn't go to that appointment to evangelize to the advisor I was meeting for the first time, but God was already at work. He invited me to join Him in the transformation He was bringing about. CLA, that's it. That's our vision! We join God in transformation. And that, friends, is our vision for Abbotsford. We believe that God is already on the move in the city of Abbotsford, bringing transformation and building His church. He is doing it through His people, empowered by His Spirit.
It's been an exciting month! Aside from the birth of our second daughter and getting the keys to our new home in Abbotsford, we've started gathering in the city for vision and interest meetings! We've been amazed at how God has brought this new campus expression together. People are beginning to be drawn to the vision and find connections within the community. Please continue to pray for this. This campus isn't just an initiative for our team and me; it involves our whole church. Together, we are planting this campus in Abbotsford.
If you want to join our Launch Team for this new campus, I encourage you to pray about it and mark your calendars for August 4th, our next interest meeting. You can sign up for Abbotsford-specific emails here.
I am so thankful for you, CLA!
God is on the move.
