Stories of Hope

  Last week the leadership Summit took place locally at Liberty Church in Bowmanville. Many people in leadership at Hope Fellowship were able to attend.   Bill Hybels famously says and repeats, because it’s worth repeating, “Leadership matters. When leaders get better everybody benefits.

Sharon in Synodland In Alice in Wonderland the themes of identity and growing up are seen through a fantasy trip down a rabbit hole. Going to Synod was many unknowns being discovered along the way.

  Last Sunday (Nov 15), during the 11 a.m. service, a woman entered the sanctuary and spoke out loud. She seemed to be praising God and the Praise Team gently thanked her for an apparent charismatic manifestation of the Holy Spirit. In actuality, something else was going on and it seems good to let everyone know what happened and that it was handled so well by everyone involved.

  Loaves and fishes are still being multiplied today. There are people in need and if we donate now those donations can be multiplied. God will use what we offer and multiply that both financially and beyond.

  My husband’s willingness to share in church about porn could have surprised me. Yet when he told me God was nudging him, it didn’t. God can do that - call us to risk transparency. I respect Doug for listening and being vulnerable in sharing so publicly.

  The celebration dinner that followed the purity retreat gave beautiful insight to what the weekend was about. Parents were invited to watch a video by Pam Stenzel. The video was informative, challenging, funny and, most importantly, inspiring. After the movie we went into the atrium which had been transformed beautifully into a banquet hall.

  Endings are often disappointing. A vacation can take so much preparation and end so quickly. So why would we take a month off as a family and go to Nicaragua? A few of our reasons were adventure, curiosity, travel, awareness, restlessness, and a chance to bond. We prayed and asked God to open or close doors.