At last Sunday’s members meeting, Mel Goopy was voted in as a new pastor at The Grove. Praise the Lord! What a wonderful moment this was in the life of our church. I must admit I got a bit emotional after the meeting, thinking about how good Jesus is and all he has done in the lives of Mel, Chris and their family. It’s also a wonderful answer to prayer as we have been seeking the Lord about future leaders for a long time. While we continue our search for a family’s pastor, finding a leader who is home grown in The Grove is a beautiful story of fruitfulness. I won’t tell anymore of the story, as Mel will share her testimony in the service this Sunday about how God called her to pastoral ministry.  

There is no greater moment for any person than hearing God call them. Lots of people and organisations try to grab our attention and suggest a way for us to go in life, or what to invest our resources in. Yet there is only one who has the credibility and authority to make a call on our lives. The one who fearfully and wonderfully created each of us, who loves us without limit, and who prepared in advance the good work and purpose that will fulfill our lives and change the world around us (Ephesians 2:10). 

On this Commitment Sunday we give thanks to God for his call on The Grove, which is a call on all who have made The Grove their spiritual home and family. We are called together to be a city on a hill in our neighbourhood, and in the new financial year, to increase our capacity to reach more people of all ages in our neighbourhood and the nations.

Jesus’ call on us is like his call on Peter to put his boat out into deep water for a catch (Luke 5). Peter wasn’t convinced about the plan at first, but the catch of fish was immeasurably more than he could have imagined. It was a defining moment in his call to become a fisher of people. This Sunday is our defining moment, to step out in faith and obedience into a place out of our depth. A place where only God can provide, and where only Jesus will get the glory for all he does. A place of tremendous fruitfulness. 

There are seasons where Jesus calls a small group to carry a larger load, but then the season changes and he calls for more people to join. A little like how Peter called for more boats to gather the large catch of fish. Movements of God can suddenly accelerate, and we can see the signs of this through a growing hunger for God in many. So by faith we are seeking to prepare, believing for immeasurably more. 

This year we are stepping out to grow a leadership team that matches the capacity of the building the Lord gave us. We are investing more in the next generation with pastor Henry moving to full time. We are preparing to love our neighbours by calling Mel, who will equip us with the COACH program to bring hope and help to those in need in our neighbourhood. And an exciting step is the fitout of our kitchen, which will be a much needed hub for hospitality, including our Neighbourhood Cafe dream. May God provide through our special offering this Sunday to raise a further $77,000. In our vision and finance booklet, there are many more visions we are committed to as well.  

Our response couldn’t be expressed better than God’s words to Israel through Joshua. 

Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things 

among you.” (Joshua 3:5).

Marty