I want to be completely upfront with you about Sunday’s message. It will be filled with boasting.
But this won’t be chest-thumping, look-what-we’ve-done braggadocio. It isn’t going to be an awards show with all manner of self-aggrandizing and showcasing of our accomplishments. There will be no arrogant assumption of personal credit for what has taken place this year.
Nevertheless, I am going to boast. It is just that I’m going to do it as Paul did. In 2 Corinthians 10:17 he wrote, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” He actually uses the word “boast” and its variants some eighteen times in the space of three chapters. While Paul had done amazing things in his life, he wanted his readers to know that it was all the Lord. His boasting was in things that showed his personal weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30) and showcased the Lord’s awesome strength (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul’s intent was to manifest the glory of Jesus Christ in his life. And so, he boasted in that.
And so will we.
We know our weakness. We have been brought low and we have experienced the joy of being raised up. We have known want and abundance (cf. Philippians 4:12-13). In every situation, we have seen God’s glory manifested among us.
And we will boast in that!
Sunday’s message is going to start with our theme and theme verse for the year. “To him be glory” is taken from Ephesians 3:20-21 and formed the backdrop to a tenth anniversary year that was filled with God’s abundance. We saw him work in amazing ways over the past months and, again, we want to be able to boast in that.
The message will be less traditional than usual. I won’t be taking a single passage and working verse by verse through it, but instead we will be touching down in a bunch of passages and hearing a bunch of stories of God’s glory radiating in our Harvest family. My hope is that we will all be encouraged and built up by what we hear, that unbelievers will be drawn to the church and to the Lord as a result and that God will be glorified further in the boasting we’ll do.
If you are ambitious, read the passages I’ve lined up for this message—Ephesians 3:20-21; Revelation 4:11; Matthew 6:19-21; Romans 5:1-5; Colossians 2:6-7; Acts 4:31; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; John 13:34-35; Ephesians 4:1-16; 2 Corinthians 4:5-7—and look for the way God glorified himself in each passage.
Pray that God will do a powerful work in us as we gather as the church. The last two weekends have been amazing displays of his glory. Pray for the Spirit of God to continue to pour out his presence in his church.
Listen to the great worship songs that the team has lined up for us to sing and prepare your heart to be here.
Two special elements in this Sunday’s service are an interview with Kathy Pedersen of the Barrie Pregnancy Resource Centre, one of our compassion partner agencies. The baby bottle drive concludes next Sunday. And, on a similar theme, I’ll have the privilege of helping some parents dedicate their children to the Lord. That’s always a great time.
God is doing a powerful work in our church. It is exciting to be part of it. And I’m looking forward to sharing some of it with you. I’m looking forward to boasting in the Lord.
See you Sunday!