Dear Church Family and Community,
I love our church’s commitment to share Christ’s love globally as well as locally. We are physically in Harrisburg, and live and work across our region. This makes it easy to forget that our impact goes beyond what we see every day. Spiritually, we know this is true: the impact of what we do for God echoes for eternity. However, our global impact also goes beyond what we see in our daily life experience here in Harrisburg.
The primary carrier of our global impact is the Holy Spirit who transmits our prayers, love, and financial support for our missionaries into global kingdom impact. We currently have thirty missionaries and children who are serving the world over. Our boldness in sending out and helping our people spread the gospel here and the world over is a rich part of our work and legacy as the Harrisburg Brethren in Christ Church.
You can support our missionaries through prayer. Next time you see John Hawbaker or Pastor Lynda, be sure to ask them how you can pray. They may even give you a prayer sheet to help you join our global work by praying for a different team or person each day. You can support our missionaries with your love. You can support them financially as well. You can also support by remembering their work, sharing their stories, and asking God to help their witness be a blessing to others.
One last way you can support our missionaries is by joining us next Saturday, October 12th for our annual Missions Prayer Breakfast. The event will begin at 9 am. Come join us for fellowship, a delicious hot breakfast, and a time to pray for our missionaries. If you plan to attend, please sign-up at the Information Center on Sunday or by e-mailing the church office (office@HarrisburgBIC.org) by next Wednesday, October 9th.
Last week, I was very grateful for the timely message we received from Pastor Lynda. Her sermon, The Call to Bear, reminded us of our need and work to bear with one another, to uphold one another, to live by and in step with the Spirit, to not grow weary of doing good, and to bear fruit. I especially loved her story about the old professor who was so filled of love that she served enemies at Tiananmen Square. If you missed hearing this message, please be sure to check it out here on our website, or through our sermon podcast on Soundcloud, Google Play, iTunes, or Stitcher.
This week, we will be returning to our sermon series, Miracle: Making God Known by looking at Jesus the Compassionate. Like God our Father, Jesus is often moved with compassion to act for the benefit of others. Jesus is so filled with the Spirit, that compassion is foundational to His life and work. The story of Lazarus in John 11 shows us Jesus’ compassion in a very personal way. Jesus loved Lazarus. Jesus wept at Lazarus’ death. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead so that all would believe.
We are deeply blessed to have a God who has such compassion. Our weeping is met with God’s mercy and comfort. Our sorrow lasts for a night, and God’s joy always comes in the morning. We also have hope in Christ, who is the resurrection and the life. In preparation for our time together Sunday morning, please take time to read and pray through John 11. As you read, please write out a few ways God has comforted you and used you to comfort others. Write out the ways God gives you hope. Choose one way you can give someone else hope today.
As always, thank you all for reading. I hope and pray this finds you doing well.
May the Lord continue to bless and keep you all!
Love in Christ,
Pastor Hank (John 11:25-26)
P: (717) 561-2170, ext. 104
E: pastorhank@harrisburgbic.org