Our church is going to be celebrating its 70th anniversary next weekend. On September 5, 1937 the very first service was held for Courtenay Foursquare Church and on that day God began writing a story that now spans 7 decades and continues to go strong. Elwood & Mary Shannon were the first pastors and by all accounts they modeled a great faith in God as they moved to a brand new area, pioneered a brand new church where they knew no one and simply trusted God to 'build His church.'
With each turn of a page, and each brand new chapter, there have been various triumphs, challenges and obstacles but the story is not one of challenge or obstacle, the story is one of God's great faithfulness. For 70 years God has shown Himself so very faithful to our Foursquare family in the Comox Valley. He has revealed Himself as provider, as healer, as deliver and restorer and as Saviour. The list could go on and on of the wonderful ways that God has displayed His goodness and His power over the last 7 decades and I'm looking forward to hearing some more of these stories at our celebration (Sunday September 2nd).
My dear friend Gertrude Frelone has worked tirelessly to pull our celebration together, along with Ruth Fox, and she is certainly qualified to do so. She has attended the church from the very beginning (thus the personal parking space!!) and is still actively involved today. She helps out in our childrens ministries, our 50+ ministries and probably hands out more candy on a Sunday morning than some houses on halloween (I'm exagerating...slightly).
As the day of our celebration gets closer I have this question that keeps recurring in my mind. The question started out quite soft and in the back recesses of my mind but with each passing day it has gotten louder and drawn closer to the forefront of my thoughts. I'm tired of pondering it alone so let me pose it here for you to mull over;
QUESTION: After 70 years of faithfulness what am I accountable for and what will be required of me?
In Dueteronomy 29:29 the Bible tells us that "we and our children are accountable forever for all that God has revealed to us, so that we may obey...".
As wonderful as looking back on 70 years of God's faithfulness is, I don't think for a moment that God desires us to simply look backward and bask in what some might refer to as 'the good old days'. I think that with each successive display of His kindess, goodness and power, God has used the last 70 years to prepare us for what He is about to call us to. The lessons He has taught us, the truths He has revealed to us, and the promises He has fulfilled for us, should have developed in us a maturity and preparedness to move into this next chapter.
In a few days as we pause to look backwards, I must be truthful, I am already sending my eyes towards the horizon in anticipation of what will come next. I know that it will require us living in the promises of the past years to fully possess our next years but I feel up for the challenge. Do you?
