People talk.
It doesn't take long for word to get out about who you are and what you're up to.
Just this week I was sent an email from someone from Muskoka who doesn't go Harvest but was loved on by a group of people from Harvest and he shared his impressions of us as a church.
It is very encouraging! Here are some excerpts:
Dear Kaj:
While we do not know each other particularly well, we have been introduced and have run into one another on occasion. In response to the love my family was shown, I wanted to write you with some impressions I have had of Harvest Muskoka:
More than a year has passed since Harvest Muskoka was officially launched, and I wanted to share with you the impressions I have gained of your new church and congregation. I have never attended a service, so these impressions are drawn strictly through word of mouth and my direct contact with those who attend Harvest Muskoka.
The word I hear most often about your church may be passion.
Everyone seems to agree that Harvest regulars are simply more passionate about their personal faith. Your congregation lives and breathes a love of Christ that is missing yet so needed in our modern society - a love of Christ that can be missing even within His church. Harvest attendees seem genuinely excited about their faith and share this love and the gospel with what can at times seem like reckless abandon.
My recent health issues have rocked my spiritual beliefs at times, and I am occasionally left feeling spiritually empty. Just the simple acts of prayer and spending time in His word have at times felt like a chore. In these moments I am tempted to attend a Harvest service in the hope that even a portion of your church's enthusiasm and passion might spill over into my life. And then this past weekend, some Harvest people spread Christ's love directly into my family. A burden was instantly lifted, a weight removed and my family's spirits lifted at this outpouring of Christ's love.
As we recounted the excitement my sons felt at seeing our yardwork done, potted plants and a pumpkin on our porch and then their surprise that our house had been cleaned and even their beds had been remade I was moved to tears. Some of the members of this group are complete strangers to me, and yet they had given of their time, their resources, to help me. Harvest Muskoka is clearly doing a wonderful work in the midst of or community -- truly a light in the darkness.
I have nothing but words of praise and thanks for Harvest Muskoka. Harvest Muskoka is sharing God's love and Christ's gospel in a way that I know is reaping rewards in heaven. Thank you Harvest Muskoka for your passion, your boldness, your commitment and your love.
I hope this is encouraging for you as we continue to strive together to live out the gospel. Story after story is being told of people being changed by you living and sharing the love Christ. Many stories are from people outside of our "family" and many from those who call Harvest home ... as I also just heard two great stories of people in our church who were loved on in very real and practical ways!
God is transforming Muskoka one life at a time and He is using you! May we continue to be a church that is full of passion for Jesus Christ and to let the love of Christ flow freely in our words and actions.
This is how we know what love is:
Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If anyone has material possessions
and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue
but with actions and in truth.
(1 John 3:16-18)
Living by His Grace,
Kaj