If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one book of the Bible, what would it be? This would be a hard choice. My choice would be the Letter to the Romans because it teaches me so much about God no matter how many times I have read it. We start this Sunday studying Romans and may God use it mightily in our lives to transform us to become more like Christ. What Book of the Bible would you want if you were stranded on a deserted island? Let me know and why at [email protected]

If you knew someone was coming to replace you, how would you prepare for them? What needs would you make sure you met for them so they would get off to a good start in their new role? How would you get your co-workers and friends ready? It has been said that there is no success without good succession. No wonder some experts suggest that you should start preparing for your successor the moment you begin a new job so that you can reverse engineer what would be a good handoff. Do you pray and prepare for your successor? These are some of the questions we will be wrestling with as we conclude our study of Titus with Titus 3:12-15 this Sunday. It will be Groundhog Day! Let’s not repeat the mistake of not being ready to hand-off our jobs and ministries to those faithfully coming behind us.

Why did Jesus save you? There are a lot of reasons God saved you! Before I focus on why God saved you, let’s focus on some common misconceptions why God didn’t save you. God didn’t save because He needs you. The triune God is sufficient unto Himself. God didn’t need to create us human beings because He needed our love or our service or our praise. God also didn’t save us because He saw that we would be good enough to choose Him. So why did God save us? Last week we learned from Titus 2:14 that God is saving and redeeming a people for Himself. God wants, but does not need, a community for Himself. This week from Titus 3, we are going to find out another reason why God saved us - not because of our good works, but to do good works. How did He save us and is continuing to save us?

As we begin this new year, our focus is to watch your life and doctrine closely. Who discipled you in the ways of the Lord? As I reflect on my life, I am thankful for the many disciplers in my life. Who discipled you? I would love for you to email me at [email protected] and let me know who discipled you and how. Also, who are you discipling? This will be the focus as we study Titus 2 this Sunday.

As we begin this new year, our focus is to watch your life and doctrine closely. What do you look for in a church leader? Do you look for one who loves Jesus? Who has integrity and is faithful in all areas of life? Who leads their home in the ways of Jesus? Who cares for you individually? Who sees the big picture for the church? Who teaches the Bible well? This Sunday, we are going to learn what to look for in a church leader from Titus 1:5-16. We don’t believe that "everything rises or falls on leadership." Everything rises and falls on Christ. Church leaders first lead by example as they follow Christ. As the late pastor of Grandview Church in Kitchener Steve Baxter taught, “Your church will look like your elders.” This is why we need you to pray for our current leaders and ask God to raise up more. After studying Titus 1, if you know of a godly man 18 years or older who meets the qualifications of an elder, please let me know. In fact, I would love to hear from you about what you look for in a church leader as well as any names you would like to nominate for Elders at [email protected]. I am thankful for the leaders God has given our church. If you are also, please let them know.

As we begin this new year, our focus is to watch your life and doctrine closely. This is a call to be vigilant

because the unholy trinity (the world, the flesh and the devil) would love for us to fall into sin or fall for

false teaching. This is why we are starting a brief series in the Book of Titus followed by a study in the

Book of Romans. Titus is a book that encourages us to place our hope for eternal life in Jesus Christ. Are

you placing your hope in Jesus Christ? You can show it by watching your life and doctrine closely.

I hope you had a great Christmas. As we conclude 2024 with the year of living wisely, we end with a family service. I can’t think of a better way to end the year as a whole church family, than taking time to celebrate God's greatness. There will be times of singing, a couple of God stories, the preaching of God's Word from Pastor Kyle, and a child dedication. May this coming year be one where we lean hard on and follow the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas! Do you know that I am from New Brunswick? I am a Maritimer! Do you know why Maritimers are wiser? This is because wise men come from the east! :) (By the way, you can use that joke anytime you come from a place or country further to the east.) Of course, “wise men” is another name for Magi - those who followed the star to Bethlehem to see Jesus - most likely by the time they arrived, Jesus was a toddler. This Sunday, we continue with our 2024 theme of live wisely. There is nothing more wise than following and worshipping Jesus. This is why I would also encourage you to come to our Christmas Eve service at 6 PM to worship Jesus once again.

How often do you remember your Creator? As we wrap up our series in Ecclesiastes, Pastor Kyle will be teaching us from Ecclesiastes 11-12 that the time is right now to remember our Creator God, and to honour Him in everything we do before we get old and serving Him gets harder due to physical limitations. Honouring Him means to fear and obey Him. Living in light of knowing that we will meet our Maker will help us live a life for Him. How are you remembering your Creator today?