This weekend we are celebrating 18 years as a church. When a person turns 18, they are officially recognised as an adult. I am not sure that's transferable to churches. But if it is, then we can be sure our Father in Heaven has been preparing us for adulthood! This got me thinking about key lessons Jesus taught us in 18 years. Many lessons indeed, and we can be thankful for them all. Let me share just four of them.
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Jesus builds his church, and nothing can stop him.
The journey hasn’t been easy, but the Lord has been faithful. There were times when obstacles looked insurmountable, yet Jesus overcame them all. This last year has been incredibly difficult for our family, staff and church, however, we have experienced the strength of God and depth of his love through his church. In every season, we can trust Jesus, because his church is unstoppable.
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Prayer is powerful and essential.
‘Pray always’ was the first word to The Grove through a miraculous sign. On our first prayer walk at Easter 2007, we found a car mat someone left on the path with the words ‘pray always’ painted on it. We took this as direction from Jesus to never stop praying as a church, and we haven’t for 18 years. We give thanks for the many powerful answers to prayer we have seen, and for how prayer has taught us to rely on God. Let’s keep praying in increasing measure in our 19th year.
3. God is faithful to his word.
We thank God for all who have taught the bible to adults, teenagers and kids each year. We also praise God for the many promises he gave and fulfilled. Faith is hearing God speak, and responding in active obedience. One example is 10 years ago Jesus gave us a promise about our monthly PM service, that this mustard seed would become a large tree. Two years ago we remembered that word and started a weekly congregation at 5.30pm. We begin 2025 with a growing faith community of youth and young adults, and baptize one of our teenagers on our 18th birthday. We praise God for a church who keeps listening, trusting and obeying God as he speaks.
4. One person at a time.
The story of one person reaching another is in the DNA of The Grove. We were led to our property because a cancer patient walked across a hospital ward to share Jesus love with another. There are many wonderful things we do as a church, but the missional edge of the church is the people reaching out to one person at a time. In the gospels, this is how Jesus changed the world.
Something significant happened last term mostly behind the scenes - the completion of our Kitchen! Praise God for this wonderful provision! Our new kitchen provides the infrastructure needed for hospitality and our Neighbourhood Café dream, which serves our one at a time mission. Jesus calls us to love our neighbour, and we believe there will be many conversations and love shared on our back deck, where hearts will open to our awesome Saviour and King.
On our 18th anniversary, we celebrate and give thanks to the founder and head of The Grove Baptist Church, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is building his church on the foundation of his word, and empowering his church as his people pray. He has grown his church to reflect the heart of Jesus, who gave living water to a woman at a well, sight to a blind man beside a road, and led a celebration when a lost son came home. Thank You Jesus for 18 years and for all that's to come,
Marty