Grow Give Go

Jon Eagleson

Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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**ANNOUNCEMENTS:**

**We are going to have a lot this week, so i'll try and get through them fast!**

**1. We are moving a lot of the stuff we do online or via phone**

aa. We are going to move to two online services! Every Sunday (kids program starting at 10:15, sunday service at 11am) and Tuesdays (Kids program at 6:15pm, main service at 7pm). You can catch both of these services at [watch.parklandchurch.ca](http://watch.parklandchurch.ca)

a. We will be hosting an online video-based bible study right on our facebook page every thursday starting at 7pm, with a video and phone call chat immediately afterwards for anyone who is interested

Now, here's the interactive stuff:

b. Youth will be every monday, from 7 to 8pm - we will play a game and have a discussion

c. We are going to start a kids program! Every Tuesday, 3 to 4pm

d. Our prayer meeting will be every Wednesday, from 9am to 10am.

e. We are going to start up two 'virtual coffee times' a week - Sunday nights from 6 to 7pm, and Wednesdays, 1 to 2pm

2. **Now the question is, how do I connect to each of these things?**

- The services and the bible studies, you can catch either live on our facebook page or through the website watch.parklandchurch.ca

- All the interactive stuff, we will be running through a website called Google Hangouts Meet. If you go to the website parklandchurch.ca/meet, you will find everything you need. There will be links to download the program, instructions about how to use it, and whenever we are doing anything, just visit that website and I will post a link to the specific room you need to join

Now the question is, how do I connect to each of these things?

- The great thing about this program is that, if you don't have data or have limited data, you can join anything - whether it's youth, or the kids program, or the coffee times - over the phone. You'll just call a phone number, enter a code, and you'll join with us

The services and the bible studies, you can catch either live on our facebook page or through the website watch.parklandchurch.ca

- We will advertise how to connect to each thing when the time comes, but if you're ever not sure how to get into something, just go to [parklandchurch.ca/meet](http://parklandchurch.ca/meet) and that info will be right there for you.

All the interactive stuff, we will be running through a website called Google Hangouts Meet. If you go to the website parklandchurch.ca/meet, you will find everything you need. There will be links to download the program, instructions about how to use it, and whenever we are doing anything, just visit that website and I will post a link to the specific room you need to join

The great thing about this program is that, if you don't have data or have limited data, you can join anything - whether it's youth, or the kids program, or the coffee times - over the phone. You'll just call a phone number, enter a code, and you'll join with usWe will advertise how to connect to each thing when the time comes, but if you're ever not sure how to get into something, just go to parklandchurch.ca/meet and that info will be right there for you.

**3. We are trying to provide some resources for people to continue to live and grow spiritually from home**

Just a highlight of a few of the things

- Rightnowmedia (parklandchurch.ca/rightnow)

- Just a highlight of a few of the things

- Kids Church Online (parklandchurch.ca/kidsonline)

- Hangouts Meet (parklandchurch.ca/hangout) If you want a way to be able to set up a group chat - video and phone - please contact pastor jon, and i'll set you up in your own 'room'. That way, you can use the kind of tech we have in your own lives as well

- Rightnowmedia (parklandchurch.ca/rightnow)

- Kids Church Online (parklandchurch.ca/kidsonline)

- Hangouts Meet (parklandchurch.ca/hangout)

Phone Call Program

- If you want a way to be able to set up a group chat - video and phone - please contact pastor jon, and i'll set you up in your own 'room'. That way, you can use the kind of tech we have in your own lives as well

'Game Night' Every other week:

**4. Lastly, we're trying to also still have a great impact on the community, so this is what we're doing:**

Wednesday the 8th from 6 to 7pm

Now the question is, how do I connect to each of these things? The services and the bible studies, you can catch either live on our facebook page or through the website watch.parklandchurch.caAll the interactive stuff, we will be running through a website called Google Hangouts Meet. If you go to the website parklandchurch.ca/meet, you will find everything you need. There will be links to download the program, instructions about how to use it, and whenever we are doing anything, just visit that website and I will post a link to the specific room you need to join The great thing about this program is that, if you don't have data or have limited data, you can join anything - whether it's youth, or the kids program, or the coffee times - over the phone. You'll just call a phone number, enter a code, and you'll join with usWe will advertise how to connect to each thing when the time comes, but if you're ever not sure how to get into something, just go to parklandchurch.ca/meet and that info will be right there for you.

- Phone Call Program

- 'Game Night' Every other week:

- We are going to do a virtual 'At Home Scavenger Hunt'. Check out www.parklandchurch.ca/gamenight for all the rules and instructions. The big thing - we want you to register a team ahead of time, so we can keep a live scoreboard during the event! Check out the website to get yourself registered.

- Wednesday the 8th from 6 to 7pm- We are going to do a virtual 'At Home Scavenger Hunt'. Check out [www.parklandchurch.ca/gamenight](http://www.parklandchurch.ca/gamenight) for all the rules and instructions. The big thing - we want you to register a team ahead of time, so we can keep a live scoreboard during the event! Check out the website to get yourself registered.

Just a highlight of a few of the things Rightnowmedia (parklandchurch.ca/rightnow)Kids Church Online (parklandchurch.ca/kidsonline)Hangouts Meet (parklandchurch.ca/hangout) If you want a way to be able to set up a group chat - video and phone - please contact pastor jon, and i'll set you up in your own 'room'. That way, you can use the kind of tech we have in your own lives as well

- We are still trying to find new ways to do this! So if you have an idea - send me a message.

5. We are still trying to find new ways to do this! So if you have an idea - send me a message. I know this is a lot of information to take in. We will post it all later for you to remember.

Phone Call Program'Game Night' Every other week: Wednesday the 8th from 6 to 7pm- We are going to do a virtual 'At Home Scavenger Hunt'. Check out www.parklandchurch.ca/gamenight for all the rules and instructions. The big thing - we want you to register a team ahead of time, so we can keep a live scoreboard during the event! Check out the website to get yourself registered. We are still trying to find new ways to do this! So if you have an idea - send me a message. I know this is a lot of information to take in. We will post it all later for you to remember.

5. I know this is a lot of information to take in. We will post it all later for you to remember.

THE MESSAGE:

Acts 20:22–24 NIV

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Our Vision for the next little while is simply this: Grow, Give, and Go.

Each part of our vision has two ‘arenas’ so to speak: the church as an organizational structure, and the church as the body of Christ. So each ‘word’ has two parts to it - what we are committing to do as leadership, and what we’re asking everyone (including ourselves) to do as the body

GROW

Acts 20:22–24 NIV

GROW

Growth in the bible isn’t defined as an increase of safety, or security, or an easier life. Growth in the bible is defined by obedience

And that is a great thing, because you can do it literally anywhere, in any situation, at any time. Because think about it - something is going on in your world, God tells you to do something, so you do it - that growth.

Growth doesn’t depend on outside factors - it depends on inside faithfulness

As a structure, we’re commiting to still being here to help with growth.

Pastor Jon is available to chat through the week.

But we have lots of other resources available to help with that. We have our kids online for your children, we have our online bible study, we have our prayer time. We have rightnowmedia.

We are in a time where we have unbelievable access to resources, tools, and information to help us no matter where we are, or how much we know.

As a people, this is an amazing time to start and practice spiritual disciplines.

And this is also a time to never forget that we still are the church, and we still have ways we can gather.

Do whatever you can to get connected to others, and to stay connected with others.

This is an integral part of growing in our faith -growing together. And i know it’s really hard to think that we can be and stay connected in a time like this. But we still can - and maybe we can even be MORE blessed.

Sometimes, our ‘weaknesses’ can really be strengths - just in different areas. We did our first purely online service last week. It sucks that we couldn’t meet in person. But you know what we could do? Reach way further geographically than we could before. We had people in southern ontario watching. We had people in other provinces. We had people who hadn’t sat through a church service in years tuning in.

Doing a pure online service has enabled us to move to two services with very little extra effort. That means we can reach more people who may not be able to come on a sunday morning.

The point is this -we may not have things the way we want, or the way we’re used to. But let’s not for one second think that God can’t take what is going on and use it for our good, if we’re faithful and obedient to him.

Don’t miss God doing a great thing because you miss a good thing.

So stay connected with people. Make phone calls, send emails, send texts, whatever you need to do. But stay connected.

And support each other. Pray with and for each other. Check up on each other. Help to carry each other’s load.

What’s really, really ironic is that in light of churches all over the world closing their doors, we’re seeing a huge uptick in people doing stuff like this - caring for each other, checking on each other, praying for and with each other, and growing on their own in their homes. Basically - in a time when so many of us have lost what we thought church was, we’ve started growing in ways that church actually should be.

GIVE

This one is fairly self explanatory. We’re here as a church to provide for other people’s needs.

As a structure, we’re trying to meet people where they’re at. We are trying to stay connected to others to provide relationship - we’re trying to provide resources and content to give people multiple ways to grow - and we’re trying to do things in the community to help carry the burden with others.

As a people, this has two simple words attached to it - generosity and compassion. Especially when, for so many hours a week, we are literally just sitting at home, its’ really easy to just focus on ourselves. But do anything you can to be generous to and have compassion on the people around you. Whatever you can do - do it. If all you can do is give a call and check up on somebody - do it. If you can help financially, or with yard work, or picking up or delivering things, whatever - do it.

Respect the laws and the social distancing that the government is asking from us, but nowadays we’re presented with a unique opportunity - we have an entire world of people that are in trouble. Everybody around us is in need. And whatever ways we can help - we need to. That’s what Jesus wants us to do.

And that leads to our last point. God is still building His kingdom - so go.

As a structure, we aren’t going to quit. If anything, we’re looking forward to how many new things we can do in the coming months. All over the world, churches are doing crazy new things to be a light in the world. And we’re no different. We’re here to go and make a difference, and we’re going to do that.

As a people, we need a deep conviction that God still has a job for us to do. Do we honestly think that God had this great plan for humanity, and then this happened, and he went ‘Well, that sucks. Guess I have to start my plan over.’ No.

The last part of our vision, Go, starts with this conviction that what God has done before was looking forward to this being the next step we take as a church. It’s not opposed to the growth in the past - it’s built on top of it. God saw this coming before the beginning of time itself, and He has a plan.

So let’s go out into the world and continue to make a difference. Let’s continue to build God’s kingdom. This doesn’t change that, because there’s nothing that can happen on earth that can stop God, which means God hasn’t stopped.

I want to finish with a scripture.

Acts 20:22–24 NIV

We understand as a church, as a people , that we don’t know what’s going to happen in the world. We also know that we are going to face hardships.

But let’s join with paul in saying that our lives find worth in finishing the race and completing the task that Jesus has given us - that task being, testifying the good news of God’s grace to the people around us. So let’s keep doing that.

PRAY

We are going to host our prayer live stream starting around noonish, if you are on facebook, look for a new live video, and if you’re on our watch site, literally just stick around and it’ll start itself.