Merry Christmas from beautiful Dundas, Ontario! My how time flies! Another month has passed and many more milestones have been met. God has been at work this past month advancing the cause of his Kingdom in the planting of a new, grace-centered church in Dundas. Allow me to share some highlights from the last month.
As you can see, we now have a name for our new church. After much prayer, conversation, and consultation we have settled on “Grace Valley Church.” The name reflects well the mission of our church — to establish a grace-filled worshiping community that centres our life in Jesus Christ and seeks to bring His gospel to bear on every area of life.
We want to emphasize that we are a community of grace, open to all who feel they cannot measure up to God’s perfect standards and long to find peace with God through Jesus Christ.
We also want to emphasize that we are a church committed to the good of Dundas. This is why we are called Grace Valley Church. Dundas is known throughout the region as, “the valley town” and we want our neighbours to know that we want to be a vital part of this community. We are a church “in town, for the good of the town.”
On Sunday, November 29, I (Paul) was installed as a church-planting evangelist at New City Church in Hamilton. The service was attended by family and friends, along with members of the Grace Valley launch team. Elders from New City Church and Dundas Calvin CRC prayed over Jessica and me, asking for God’s blessing on our work and the great folks at New City hosted a luncheon after the service for our launch team and their congregation. It was wonderful for our launch team to be encouraged by our brothers and sisters in Christ from other churches.
Our launch team has grown to approximately 25 adults in the last month and we are so excited about who God has brought to join us in this effort–people with a heart for mission and willingness to follow God’s leading outside of their comfort zones. This will be an adventure for all of us. Our prayer is that we will reach 30-40 adults by the New Year so that we can begin weekly small group Bible studies in January. Pray that God continues to add to our number.
I (Paul) have also had several more opportunities to connect with community leaders in Dundas to learn more about the town culture, the area churches, and the needs of the people. With a population of nearly 30,000 people and only seven churches in town, there is no doubt about the need for another gospel-preaching church in town.
I (Paul) also spent last week at Smithville Christian High School during their spiritual emphasis week. I was privileged to spend each morning digging into the book of Ecclesiastes with the students, seeking answers to the big questions in life. I’ve also been able to fill the pulpit at several area churches this past month, having the chance to do what I love to do most — preach God’s word.
As we now enter the season of Advent, we pray that you and your family will experience afresh the wonder of Christmas. To think that, as CS Lewis wrote, “once…a Stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world,” is a marvel to behold. That the God who upholds the universe was Himself held as a little baby in the arms of his teenage mother; that the One on whom everything depends, was fully dependent upon others for the smallest things; that He who was clothed in unfathomable majesty would humbled himself to the point of being a squirmy, helpless baby…for us. It’s a truth that is undoubtedly out of this world.
Have a blessed Christmas,
Paul and Jessica and family.
We are so thankful that God provided us with a house precisely in the area of Dundas we wanted to live. It’s a real “fixer upper”, so the next month will be spent “gutting” the house in preparation for tradespeople to put things back together during the winter months. If you like demolition work, drop us a line and we’ll put you to work. It’s a great stress reliever!
Our hope is that we will be able to move into the house by the end of March. We are very grateful to Calvin CRC for their willingness to let us continue to live in their church’s parsonage while we are renovating. Without their kindness, we’re not sure how we would be able to pull this off. We cannot adequately express our appreciation for their generosity.
Already we have begun building relationships with our future neighbours, most notably Henry and Darlene, who live across the road and brought us a pie to welcome us to the neighbourhood. They were very excited at the prospect of a new church starting in town.
Prayer Items
For a building permit, so we can begin the renovations on our home
For continued momentum as we build toward launching small groups
For continued interest from potential launch-team members
For the preparations for beginning small group Bible studies with the launch team
For fundraising efforts as we seek to reach our five-year budget requirement
For the wisdom to use time wisely as a husband, father, church-planter, and home renovator
For commitment to prayer — “What a man is on his knees before God in prayer — that is what he truly is, and nothing more.”
If you would like information on how you can support us, please email Paul and [email protected]