By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC
New Years blessings conference family! I pray that this very unusual and quieter Advent/Christmastide has centered you in the unchanging and lavish love of our Savior. As we experience the insufficiency of the world’s systems and means, we are reminded of our inherent need for the Christ Child. We are broken people in a broken world panting for God’s touch.
I love this from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.”
I pray that as you step into this new year that despite what might be happening in or outside you that you are finding your way to the Lord. I earnestly hope that despite…you find yourself being led by the Holy Spirit along that path, perhaps an unexpected path, to experiencing God like never before: intimacy with God during the exhausting and most painful of times; intimacy with God in the mundane and in the ecstatic.
This is the treasure [we have] in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.1
This treasure is the most valuable of gifts ever given that points to God himself declaring from his throne, Look, I am making everything new!2
Amidst times of such great uncertainty and need, we have Good News to share, Mission Friends. The baby we are still celebrating, grew up to call us to go make disciples. He told us to love with the most radical of loves that seeks God’s intended shalom for all. This life of disciple-making and people-loving points to specific individuals and our specific ways we experience each other in our communities and in society. Momentum develops as we make choices to enter the flow of Christ’s life for us.
As we start to vaccinate and begin to realize what this “new normal” will actually look like, the conference staff has decided that we will have quarterly foci for 2021. We will load our communication channels with stories and resources to bring a higher level of concentration on four areas of our life together. Starting this month we are focusing on EVANGELISM/DISCIPLESHIP. More about this later.
As we go into and come out of our Annual Meeting Celebration April 24th – whether it’s completely online or a hybrid with some in-person – the second quarter we will focus on PRAYER. We remember that the prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective.3 And Jesus explained that sometimes spiritual forces are so strong that they can only be overcome with prayer and fasting.4
As we move into the summer we will focus on COMMUNITY. In this third quarter with our summer window of good weather, we hope to be moving closer to each other in various ways. One way of course is gathering at Cascades Camp. We will also focus on moving more intentionally into our wider communities including our Youth Journey to Mosaic in August.
Lastly, the fourth quarter will focus on SCRIPTURE. As we all look at our fall launches, what better foundation could we have than to do it with an eye on God’s living and breathing word, inspired by the Holy Spirit for us? Many churches have engaged or continue to engage Immerse, our Covenant’s community Bible reading experience. There have been many beautiful stories of how blessed people have been.
We will share more specifics as we develop each theme, but let me come back to our first focus for this quarter. To do this, here is Associate Superintendent Dawn Taloyo’s invitation to us:
As we move into 2021, we encourage you to engage in the mission that God has called us to with renewed energy, passion, and delight.
How is the Holy Spirit calling your church to love your neighbor? To whom is God calling you to share the Gospel message of hope, forgiveness and freedom? Will you be evangelists, bearers and communicators of the Good News that you have experienced and want to share with others?
This first quarter of 2021, as a conference, we are renewing our focus on our shared mission of being bearers of this Good News. We will highlight resources and stories through our social media and newsletters, and hosting a webinar in later February.
As we begin, we want to encourage you to consider utilizing and engaging in the Covenant’s resource called BLESS, which you can find on the Covenant website here.
BLESS is an evangelism initiative created by the Covenant for churches. BLESS is an acronym for: begin with prayer; listen with care; eat together; serve in love; share your story. It’s a suggested pathway for engaging intentionally in blessing others with the Good News we ourselves have experienced.
The BLESS resources are not meant to be a one-time study or sermon experience. Our hope is that BLESS will become second-nature, embedded in your church life and culture.
Every April, during our conference Annual Meeting, we invite churches to submit their “BLESS” cards with the names of those you are praying for. We look forward to receiving those and joining you in prayer.
Last year we were praying for and connecting with over 2600 people on our BLESS cards. Exciting! We know that God longs to come close to everyone, everywhere. He is patient and waiting not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.5. I urge you to individually and as a church to commit to BLESS and download a card or fill out a virtual one. Schedule a BLESS Sunday sometime before our Annual Meeting Celebration so you can add all of your names to all the others from around the conference. Look for more in the coming days.
The staff individually schedules weekly at least an hour to pray for your health, wellness, wisdom, unity, zeal, and faith. New Years blessings to you! And don’t forget that Chinese New Years is February 12th, year of the ox! Remember, “God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.” As you walk closer to the Lord, may you know the fullness of his blessings on you and may you generously share with others.
1 1 Cor. 4:7
2 Rev. 21:5
3 James 5:16
4 Mark 9:29
5 2 Peter 3:9