City Harvest’s advisory pastor Phil Pringle pens a letter to the church for the new year.
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| CN PHOTO: Christopher Teh |
2011 is going to be one of our most exciting and greatest years ever! We are going to expand like never before! WE’RE MOVING INTO SUNTEC CITY!
This will be a history-making event for the Church everywhere. With every great step forward there will always be challenges, but these are only opportunities for growth. God is building His Church not for defeat, but victory. The challenges we encounter on this journey are designed to strengthen and enlarge us, not weaken and diminish us. Jesus came to maximize all our lives for Him. He achieves this through leading us into moments of stepping out like we are right now.
I am always so impressed with the faith and faithfulness of the members of City Harvest Church. Your strength, support and faith over many years have brought us all to this year of amazing possibilities. So many Singaporeans and people from the entire Asian region will be impacted in so many powerful ways through this next step of faith we all take into a future of increase.
After Isaiah the prophet spoke of enlargement in Isaiah 54, he then went on to tell us to “Let them stretch out.” We will see many hundreds of new leaders stretching out, starting new cell groups, enlarging the ministry in foreign fields overseas, and locally, helping the poor and disadvantaged, while also reaching out to the business, entertainment, sporting and educational arenas.
Then Isaiah says, “Lengthen your cords.” Our future depends as much on our relationships with one another as it does with God Himself. As we enlarge, we must also care for our relationships so we keep the unity of the Spirit, loving one another, appreciating one another, encouraging one another, forgiving one another, having hearts filled with grace toward each other, refusing criticism and fault-finding, and speaking words that build the mighty House of God.
Finally the prophet says, “Strengthen your stakes.” Let’s deepen our commitment to God, to the Church and to one another. Our loyalty to the Lord is demonstrated in our loyalty to where He has placed us. This commitment is what stabilizes and fastens the “tent” to the ground when fierce winds blow.
2011 is going to be very exciting. See you there!
