alive @ 2010

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic games are over.  Canadians bask in the afterglow of a “successful” Olympic games.  Olympic athletes and spectators are returning home.  The temporary outdoor venues are being dismantled.  Streets are being reopened.  The SkyTrain is no longer jam packed with people.   Life, in the metropolitan area of Vancouver, is beginning is resemble normality.

The churches are lot quieter today as well!  The More Than Gold volunteers are back at their jobs or in school.  The Fusion teams are not planning for an afternoon carnival. Athletes in Action are taking a brief break from organizing neighbourhood athletic youth camps.  The large screen TVs in church gyms are being dismantled.  Bibles, brochures, DVDs, and pins are being packed away (at least until the beginning of the 2010 Paralympic Games).

The members of the Metropolitan Vancouver churches that participated in the Olympic outreach efforts are to be commended. The Christians who traveled to Vancouver so that they might share Christ’s love through words and deeds are to be applauded.  The fruit of their efforts, in terms of conversion growth, may never be measured in this world, but one cannot help but think that heaven is going to be that much more populated because of the “seeds” planted at the Vancouver 2010 games by these devoted disciples.

We hope you have benefited from reading the daily posts of this blog.  We have attempted to provide you with a snapshot into the outreach efforts of three Lutheran congregations in Metropolitan Vancouver.  We thank the members of these congregations for their efforts.  We know the Lord will bless the sowing of His Word!

St. Paul writes, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)

Our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Metropolitan Vancouver Area have provided us with an example worth imitating!  Our prayer is that all of you will imitate them!  We pray you will use your God-given resources — as individuals and as congregations — to share the love of Christ through your words and deeds. May you think first and foremost of those people in your community who do not yet believe in Christ as their Saviour and seek ways to dwell among them for the sake of sharing God’s gospel.  May you not only proclaim to your community, “come and see” but, with renewed vigor and boldness, may you “go and tell” the Good News of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension in your homes, schools, neighbourhoods, workplaces, hockey rinks, playing fields, coffee shops, and malls.

May the Holy Spirit empower you through His Gospel to be alive … to be Christ’s witness in word and deed … throughout 2010 and beyond!!!

The cheering crowds had flooded the streets to celebrate Canada’s hockey victory over USA giving Canada 14 Gold medals at the Vancouver 2010 games. The church was quieter than it had been since February 12th. Don Hindle closed his door and sat in his office. After spending 12-16 hour days at the church for the last two and a half weeks supervising Trinity’s outreach efforts, he simply wanted some “quiet” time … some time to pray … to reflect on Trinity’s efforts to witness of Christ.

As Don sat in his office, he sensed someone was outside his door. He opened his door to find a man wandering the hallway. This man was looking for the pastor. Don explained the pastor wasn’t in, but that he (Don) was a full-time worker at Trinity.

The man asked, “What is Lutheranism’s relationship to the rest of Christianity?” After taking a few moments to answer the man’s question Don went on to present how Lutherans recognize that all people have sinned and cannot, in any way, rescue themselves from their sin. Don also shared how God loved every person in the world so much that He sent His only begotten into the world to suffer and die on Calvary’s cross thereby rescuing all people from the curse of sin and death.  Don said, “Everyone who trusts in Christ as their Saviour receives God’s forgiveness and the certain hope of life everlasting in heaven.”

This man listened with interest and admitted that he did not have a church home but would like to find one. Don told him more about Trinity and Trinity’s worship times and encouraged the man to bring his family. The man expressed interest in having his children baptized. Before he left, the man had given Don his name and phone number.

Just when you think the work is all over, you discover that it’s not over! Reflecting on his opportunity to share the Gospel, Don said, “If this was all that our Olympic outreach achieved…I call it a smashing success!”

Please pray that this man and his family will return to Trinity (or some other Christian church) to learn more about God as their Creator and Christ as their Saviour!