Dear church: As followers of Jesus, we are a proclamation people.
I want to remind us of this wonderful truth as we head into the weekend.
As a community who are following Jesus into the neighborhood, part of our ministry is to join with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit to do what we read in 1 Peter 2:9, “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light“.
Over and again in scripture we see God calling a person or a people to go and tell. Many times this invitation is met by hesitation, fear, and even trepidation. Take a look at Abraham, Moses, Jonah to name a few examples. So these reactions are normal yet God is always persistent in his initiative to use us and work in and through us to bring people into a relationship with Him. He is not limited to this avenue as we know he shows up in miraculous ways at times in dreams and visions, but more times than not he would seem to prefer using new creations (you and me) as instruments in bringing more new creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
With this newness comes a message, a new voice, and a confident expectation in the work of God in the world. I love in the Book of Acts how we see Peter rising in this new voice and belief in God’s ability to change things. It would not have been easy and it most definitely turned some heads, but Peter spoke of the loving work of God to redeem people from their sin and in doing so proclaimed Jesus and his resurrection to all. As we engage in the marathon work of loving our neighbors we do so realizing their greatest need is to be rescued, forgiven, and set free in Christ. He is the one who renews, heals, and restores.
What does the proclamation of Jesus look like in your current season? Who are you in relationship with that needs to hear your voice? May God give you courage, joy and humility as you speak of the great love and hope found only in Jesus Christ.
~Chris Nikkel
MacTerrace Parish Pastor
Family Ministry Sunday Activity
Join us this Sunday during service for a fun family activity! Click here to view the instructions and printable sheet. Gather the following supplies and join our streaming service: two paper cups, glue, scissors, crayons, and string.
Wednesday Night Worship & Prayer
Join us Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM on Facebook Live or YouTube Live for a time of worship and prayer. We look forward to interacting in real time as we re-center our hearts on what God is doing.
Gatherings for 8
Join us for a Social Distancing Gathering on Saturday, July 25th! You will have two opportunities to gather with people from our community. Whichever you feel most comfortable doing, we hope you will join us in this new community event. These in person or online gatherings will be created by neighborhood and/or location so you can get to know people that live in your area! Our hope is that while we can’t have conversations and gather on Sunday mornings, that this will provide an opportunity for the church community to still develop relationships and have community during this season. You can choose to do an In-Person Gathering of 8-10 people in a front yard/driveway from 6-8 PM, bring your own dinner and drinks, or a Zoom Happy Hour 8-9 PM. We hope you can join in one, or both, of these events! Click here to join a group.
Church Chats
Join us every Thursday morning on Facebook Live at 10am for Church Chat. We will have some pastors from our church community gather to discuss topics and questions sent to us from you, our church family. To submit questions, email questions@theparksa.org.
Covid-19 Needs and Assistance
The Park is still gathering the needs of our community. We have created a way for you to request assistance. If you have a need you can click here.
If you are able to offer assistance to others you can click here.
Stay in Contact
If we can pray for you, please contact your parish pastor directly or send us an email at prayer@theparksa.org.
If you are experiencing any hardships during this time, we want to be there to support you. If you have questions or needs we can help with, email us at info@theparksa.org