Fall Growth

In our last newsletter, we mentioned that not much had been changing over the previous few months. Things were steady, and we knew we needed to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Sundays

We’ve been continuing to work through our typical way of doing things on Sunday mornings: prayer, singing, preaching and teaching through the Scriptures, and expecting God to continue to change his people through his word.

After finishing the book of 1 Peter, we did a short mini-series through Jonah for the Summer, and then began teaching through the book of Proverbs early in the Fall. 

The consistent feedback we keep getting is that people appreciate our straightforward approach to opening the Bible and just teaching what it says with clarity and conviction. If the Scriptures talk about it, we won’t sugarcoat it, but we’ll point you back to the beauty of Jesus and the Gospel as the answer for the deep longings we find within ourselves. 

Wedding Season

In our last newsletter, we also mentioned that Grace Edmonton was about to celebrate its first wedding together. Well, not much later, we were able to double that blessing as we had our second wedding only a month after the first. 

It’s a gift to the whole church when we get to witness the grace of Jesus in how we see young couples pursuing marriage to the glory of God.

New Growth

It’s not uncommon for many churches to experience some growth in the autumn months. In talking with other church planters, September usually seems to be the beginning of a season of growth as people feel inclined to test out the waters of something new: a new school, a new job, or even a new experience of trying out a church service.

Well, September hit and we kind of had that expectation, but then instead of our numbers going up, Sunday after Sunday ended up seeing our numbers go down. 

What was typical of two or three new visitors every week over the previous few months, September saw essentially zero new visitors, and on top of that, many of our regulars were taking last-minute trips before the bad weather would come tumbling in, making September one of our lowest attended months for the whole year. 

So when October rolled around, we really didn’t know what to expect. We were at least hoping that those who had committed to joining us in the previous months would indeed come back and continue on. 

But as October came, each week we saw one or two more families come. New visitors, friends, family, or co-workers of those who had already been joining us came for the first time, and many decided to keep coming back. 

And by the last week of October, we ended up with 67 people in attendance. That’s more than double our average number for most of the early months of the year.

Gospel Communities

After taking a break from our previous Bible-study rhythm, we figured that we’d get started with our plan of launching Gospel Communities in late October (expecting that we’d likely have visitors show up in September who might like to join up).

So by the end of September, we had made our plan of how many Gospel Communities we would need, who would lead, and who would host.

But then with the sudden rapid growth in October, we had to throw all those plans out and rearrange because now more and more of the new people were actually getting excited about being part of a Gospel Community. Where they can learn to really live out the one-anothers of what it means to be the church rather than just going to church. 

So as of this week, we started with 3 Gospel Communities. Two of them meet on Tuesdays, and one group meets on Wednesdays. 

It means we’ve had to split up some of the families who would have otherwise loved to be a part of a Gospel Community together for the sake of allowing some other new families to join in just so that we can actually fit in a house together.

With a few larger families joining us recently, along with many of the houses represented in our church not built to fit more than 12 people in a single space, it means we have to get creative with who hosts and how we meet. 

But it’s great to see people excited to participate in the life of the church in this way.

Not only have people been wanting to join these groups, but there have been those so moved by the Gospel, that there was even a very generous anonymous gift given to one of the newly married couples to help them start out their new life together. I’d tell more of the story, but I want to honor the anonymity of the situation.

All to say, it wasn’t just a blessing to the couple, but a testimony to the rest of those who got to be a part of it in how God delights to answer the prayers of his people - as the need for the gift wasn’t even presented to the giver before they felt compelled to give it. 

What’s Next

We have a few weeks left in the book of Proverbs, before we start teaching through the book of Luke leading up to Christmas and then continuing again in the New Year. If you want to follow along with our teaching, feel free to find it on the website or on YouTube.

And throughout the week, our Gospel Communities will hopefully be learning what it means to be the church: developing real gospel–centered friendships, learning how to devote themselves to one another for the sake of belonging to something greater than ourselves, and echoing the design God has given his people to show the world who he is and what he’s like.

Continued Prayer

Last time we asked that you would pray for our hearts, and I’d say that’s still the biggest thing to pray for. 

We want to see Edmonton transformed by the Gospel. But we also want to have our own hearts renewed by the Gospel. 

With the constant change and uncertainty around us, with expenses continuing to increase, and with responsibilities and expectations sometimes feeling overwhelming: it’s sometimes hard to truly believe that God will provide: whether that’s time, finances, or people to help. 

We might preach it over and over, we might even see miraculous prayers answered right before our eyes, but there are still days that the task of just continuing on feels difficult, if not impossible. 

And it’s true. The task of church planting, if we do it in our own power and strength, is impossible. That’s why we need to continue to lean on Jesus. To keep trusting that he will build his church. With God, all things are possible. We just get to go along for the ride, and walk in obedience to the call he gives us each day. 

So we ask that you pray that we would trust Jesus for this work, and that we wouldn’t rely on our own strength, power, or abilities. 

And if you’ve been supporting us financially, we again want to say thank you. It truly does make a difference. Doing what we do with work and ministry takes effort, time, and endurance. And we’re hoping that God continues to provide the ability for us to serve well. Your generosity helps make that possible.

Thank you again for praying for us. Thank you for supporting us. We’re encouraged and we’re tired, but we’re hopeful. Jesus is building his church, and we’re grateful to be able to be a small part in what he’s doing.

If you want to continue to play a part or you know of others who would like to be a part of this mission to Edmonton, head over to https://graceyeg.com.

On behalf of our families, 

Clay & Jared