Advancement and Rest

October has flown by and, as usual, God has been gracious. We officially started our beta services at the beginning of the month and have been continuing to preach through the book of Philippians as we gather on Sunday afternoons.

As thankful as we’ve been to be able to visit with different churches over the past year and have a regular rhythm with West Edmonton Baptist, it’s been so great to be able to gather together as Grace Edmonton - singing, preaching, and celebrating communion in our own distinct way as a local congregation, small as we are.

One of the great things about being a church plant is being able to set a culture from the beginning. Our hope is that we’re building into our people a desire to rest in their identities as beloved children of God through which we now go into the world representing our heavenly Father.

One of the ways we’ve been privileged to do this is through putting together some survival bags that we are able to pass along to those less fortunate than us as we run into them on the street corners or the boulevards. Our hope is to be a blessing to this city - not for our own sake, and not for the sake of advertising our church, but for the sake of letting people know that there is a God who loves them and wants to provide for them in their need. And his name is Jesus.

The bags were filled with things like deodorant, socks, water, toothbrushes and toothpaste, hand warmers, gloves and toques (for our American friends - toque rhymes with Luke - this is what you might call a winter hat or a beanie), as well as smaller bags inside filled with snacks, protein bars, a McDonalds gift card, and gum. And then most important of all, their bag contained a small New Testament or Gospel of John so they can not just be filled and comforted physically, but spiritually as well. 

It’s amazing to be part of a group of people who are excited to be generous with their time and finances for the sake of reflecting God’s grace to those around them.

Another great privilege we had this month was to be able to fly to Dallas to participate in the Acts 29 Conference. These conferences are always such a blessing and a boost to our spirits as we get poured into, prayed for, and reminded of God’s great plan of salvation and his mission to rescue the lost and build his church. While we were at the conference, the church gathered back home to spend time worshiping Jesus together through a dedicated time of prayer and song, reflecting on God’s goodness and grace, and calling on Him to do the work that only He can do to see Edmonton transformed by the Gospel.

It’s crazy how you sometimes don’t realize how tired you’ve been until you take some time to rest. 

The stresses of regular family life, continuing to work bi-vocational jobs, and looking for meeting spaces, on top of the regular duties of preaching, studying, evangelizing, and shepherding those God has put in our path can sometimes be a bit heavy and tiring, to put it lightly. 

But being able to gather with hundreds of brothers and sisters to sit under incredible preaching, to be reminded of the mission, and to hear the call to engage the culture while letting go of our self-importance and self-sufficiency was spiritually and emotionally empowering and restorative. 

We were also able to take some time after the conference to just rest and enjoy the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth where we got to have some great Tex-Mex and some of the best Texas BBQ of our lives.

But as much as October has been a fruitful and enjoyable month, it’s not been without its challenges. We are currently still on the lookout for a space to meet in, starting in January. The search continues to come back with results we’re not thrilled with. 

A few of the spaces we were excited about have been met with disappointing responses when we receive back the email or call. Aside from the responses simply saying that Sundays are already in use in their facility, if it’s not a demand that we pledge allegiance to the rainbow flag, it’s just as heart-breaking to hear straight-forward responses saying, “We don’t want any religious services happening in our building.” 

We’re trying to look outside the box, but we’ve also met with other challenges like zoning issues, building sizes, or, the realization that we don’t have the funds available to just rent a place that needs to be renovated and retrofitted only to have to then also pay a monthly rent that would be nearly impossible to cover even if it were filled to max capacity.

But we’d love it if this is something you’d be willing to be in prayer for us as well. We know God has a plan. We know He’s called us here for a purpose. And He always comes through in His perfect timing. But we’d be lying if we said it wasn’t still difficult. 

In the meantime, however, if you’re Edmonton, and you’re excited to see what God is going to do next through Grace Edmonton, we’d love to take you for coffee or have you join us on Sundays at 2:30pm at 17821 98 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB. 

Thanks for praying for us and sticking with us. 

If you would like to contribute at all to any of our expenses or the ongoing cost of serving in these roles of missionary-church-planters, you can do so at https://graceyeg.com and click the “Connect” link on the top left.

If you'd like to read previous editions of the newsletter, you can do so here: https://graceyeg.beehiiv.com/

On behalf of our families,

Clay Bitner and Jared Klassen