Dear Theophilus Archive: October 2002
A Letter from Pastor Paul
Dear Emmanuel,
What an exciting season for our Emmanuel family! Praise God for the recent birth of our children’s ministry, our women’s ministry, and our new chapel. I sense God’s hand carrying us into a new chapter of our church life. With the birth of our children’s ministry and the pioneering work of Jen Chung and our parents, we hope to build a vibrant ministry that will draw our kids into a relationship with Jesus from their youth. In addition, we praise God for establishing a women’s ministry and sending out a call for more mentoring relationships amongst the sisters. Lastly, we thank God for allowing us to build a new chapel and move our afternoon service to 12:00. It will be a contemporary worship service with extended praise and less liturgy. We pray that between the traditional morning service and the contemporary noon service, Emmanuel will be able to better reach a broader segment of our generation. I am thankful as I look back on our past, and excited as I look ahead to our future.
I believe God wants us to get past external religion and church culture. He doesn’t want to give us a superficial face-lift, He wants to mold our hearts and transform our lives. As we took a look at spiritual disciplines this summer, we realized that we cannot change ourselves; we need God to change us. We’re not motorboats trying to bust through the waves by our own strength. Rather, we’re sailboats trying to “catch the wind” of God’s transforming grace.
I believe one way God wants to do this is through community. He has given us one another to encourage, support, sharpen and challenge each other. He wants to build honest relationships of trust and intimacy. This coming year, we want to re-emphasize the value of loving one another and serving one another through our small group communities. May we not settle for artificial relationships but have the courage to bear our souls and bear each others’ burdens.
God is in the business of changing lives. There is power. There is hope. There is something to be excited about.
In Christ,
Pastor Paul
