After the Fire

Connectors,

I think tomorrow I am going to wake up and ask myself,
"Was yesterday all just a dream?  Did the Ministry Centre REALLY burn to the ground?"

Let me assure you, it did.
Nothing is left.
Nothing can be salvaged.
We will not even be allowed to walk through the ashes.

But I can tell you that God is good!

The outpouring of love and support from Connections, the community, and people around the world, has been amazing.
Not just amazing.
Humbling...
Inspiring...
Life changing.

We have been overwhelmed with phone calls and messages.
Flowers have been sent to my home.
Churches are praying for us.
Doors have been opened to us.
Support already given to us.

People have shed tears to grieve our loss.
They have offered hugs and kisses of comfort.
And they shared words of promise and hope.

Here is the word I hold onto tonight...

6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 
1 Peter 1:6-7

Connectors, I do not write this flippantly.
I do not state this without feeling grief for our loss...

Though we are tested by fire today, this will bring about praise and glory and honor for Jesus.
I know that out of the ashes, a stronger Connections Community Church will arise.
I know that our faith, more precious than any building, will grow.

In faith and hope I ask for your prayers tonight:
- Give thanks to God that no one was hurt, and for the fire fighters who worked through night and day.
- Pray for the owner of the building, who just this week lost her husband to cancer this week.
- Pray for the businesses destroyed- London Trim and Door, and Gibson Flooring.  They are impacted so much more than we are.

Then pray that tomorrow will start anew at Connections.
Our mission is still clear:
We will continue to worship Christ,
share His love,
and serve our community in His name.

We spent the first 3 years of our church learning to be a church without a building.
What's a little while longer!

In His Love,
Pastor George