First Services
In our last update, we shared with you all the exciting news that we were just about to begin our first church services. Since then, we have had six services, and it has been such an incredible time of God’s blessing that we cannot wait to share it with you all!
We mentioned that God had provided a location for our church to meet in, and at the time, we still needed to get it set up with certain necessities like chairs, room dividers, a screen, a sound system, and other furniture. We shared the need that we had for some additional finances to be able to afford all of these things. We are so pleased to say that God provided, and all of these needs were met! Our space is not huge, but we are able to fit about 50 chairs, as well as having a dedicated area for young children. The space is very versatile, which is great because before every service we provide a meal. We then take down the tables and transition to our worship service, and after our worship service we transition again to separate adult and children’s teaching times. We are so grateful for God’s provision of the finances to be able to furnish our space, and we are extremely thankful to those of you who contributed to this need.
Sunday, October 6th, was the first official Sunday service for Forthside Christian Fellowship. We knew of a few people that were planning to come along, but we were not sure what to expect. Amazingly, just after opening the doors, a couple of visitors we had never met walked right in! They have since shared with us that they have been praying for the last 15 years that God would provide Dalgety Bay with an evangelical church, and they feel we are a direct answer to those prayers. We had a total of 27 people on our first Sunday, which was a surprise and a huge blessing. Every week since then, we have been between 25 and 30 people. Not all of the same people have come every week, and we have seen a total of close to 50 different people visit since our services began in October. We currently have nine children that come every Sunday, and a diverse group of younger and older adults. Some are mature believers who have not had a local evangelical church they could attend until now, and others are new to the faith or still exploring what they believe about God. Please pray for all of these people. Pray that God would use this new church in their lives to bring them closer to Him and to bring Himself glory as we praise, worship, and learn about Him together. We expect that not everyone will stay after visiting, so please also pray for us as we move towards formally organising, that God would make it clear what steps to follow in which order.
We have been going through the book of 1 John on Sundays, and it has been helpful to explain the basic truths of the gospel for the unbelievers who have been coming, as well as be challenged by our need to reflect the love of God in our lives as believers. Our coworker, Trevor, has begun a study on “The Church” during the adult class time. We are discussing the biblical basis for the church and trying to focus on biblical answers to practical questions about the church, like why we do communion, adult baptism, giving, membership, church leadership roles, and more. These are particularly important for us to study together, since there is such a large variety of backgrounds in those who are interested in our church.
It has been thrilling for us to watch God putting together pieces and answering prayers that we have been lifted up for years. Please continue to pray for us. Pray for direction as we move from a group of believers worshipping together to an organised church with members, serving and loving each other as the Bible describes. Pray that God will protect us from the enemy, who would like nothing better than to sow seeds of dissent and disharmony as we establish this church. Pray that God will continue to grow the church and allow us to make a real impact in this community for the Gospel. Our mission is to make the good news of Jesus known to those who have never heard it in Dalgety Bay and the surrounding area. Pray that God will provide those opportunities.
Thank you all, once again. It would not be possible for us to continue to minister and do what we are doing without all of your prayers and your support.
