Register for General Assembly: allianceassembly.com
Sign up for Summit: envisioncanada.org/summit
The Alliance Canada YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@theallianceanada
Transcript:
Rev. Darren Herbold:
Hi, Ailliance Canada. I just need to say I know some places around Canada are cold right now, but today it’s supposed to be plus 16 here in Toronto. And I am thrilled. But I kind of feel like it might be a trick. However, regardless if spring is already here for some or not, it is right around the corner, especially as we look towards Easter very soon. And so this is an exciting time of year with new life beginning to bud all around us. As mentioned previously, I want to provide quarterly updates on our giving and related financial trends.
Now, firstly, to all of you who give to the Global Advance Fund, thank you for your trust and for your generosity. You’re the reason our workers and ministries make the name of Jesus famous in Canada and around the world. It’s one of the things that makes us as “Alliance” - our shared sense of sacrifice for mission in Canada and around the world, and this deep desire to see God’s kingdom flourish, as the Gospel spreads.
To update our year-end financial picture, the budget of our general fund for 2023, the Global Advance Fund, was just over $13.25 million, with actual, generous giving of $12 million coming in, leaving a shortfall to budget of approximately $1.25 million. Now, for this year, until the end of January, we are approximately 95%+ to budget. So, thank you! And as always, the Lord has been and continues to be faithful. And through our collective efforts, your generosity, we ended the year with an actual shortfall, not of over $1 million, but of only just over $12,000.
While not yet break even, I am grateful for the Lord’s kindness to us and the increasing measure of fruitfulness we are witnessing across the country. I can’t overstate this. I am constantly amazed by our family of churches' sacrificial giving, and seeing the things God is doing through your gifts. I’m committed to sharing more stories each month and you’ll hear even more at Assembly.
Now, we know from Scripture that the Lord is jealous for his glory. And so, we want to continually redirect all glory back to him and to make his story of his faithfulness in our lives more accessible.
So to that end, we recently launched a YouTube channel. You can see the website URL on the screen, to both highlight and have a central location to easily share our collection of growing stories about God and his work through The Alliance. You can feel free to share these videos with others and use them in your churches or wherever it might be helpful to you. If you have a video, please send it my way. I would like nothing more than to share that with others, so that Jesus might be magnified further.
Now, two really quick reminders before a story.
Number one is General Assembly registration is open and early bird pricing ends March 31st. So, please sign up now to get that those early bird rates. And I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone there come in July.
Second reminder, Envision Summit registration, which we’ve talked about over the last few months, is open. It’ll be held May 7-10 in Toronto. This is an excellent opportunity for young leaders in your churches to grow and connect with other kingdom leaders. I actually have someone from my home church that's attending, and I hope there may be some from yours as well.
As has become our norm, as we continue to highlight the goodness of Jesus and glorify the Father, let’s take a moment to view this inspiring video from Kamloops Alliance Church, highlighting their commitment to Indigenous communities, fostering friendship, unity, and healing.
Chris Throness
Lead Pastor
Kamloops Alliance Church
Before I became the lead pastor here, which was August 1st, 2018, just spent some time thinking about this new assignment I was given. It’s pretty clear that there is a significant portion of Indigenous people in Kamloops. I wonder if the Church like Kamloops Alliance Church or just even the church in Kamloops is doing anything about that. So, we thought, let's just grab a team and start somewhere. So we have a committee. Churches love committees, but we started with another committee.
We’ve had an Indigenous Connections Team made up of volunteers from our church. Half of them Indigenous, half non-Indigenous. There’s just no playbook. And so, we just started to figure stuff out. We knew that education was a huge piece. And so, we started with education.
Norman Mccallum
Indigenous Elder
Kamloops Alliance Church
I felt from the very beginning that as a native person, I almost used to feel insignificant. But when we had that, I felt that, we as a people moved from the back of the bus to the driver’s seat. We moved from the back of the church to the stage.
Chris Thrones:
We just want to bring people into the room, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, and just to listen to each other.
We want friendships to be built. So much of the conversation nationally, I believe, is so supercharged and so polarizing that it alienates people. It actually separates people. I just think like the Gospel brings people together. And so, that’s what we’ve wanted to highlight. And Us Together is like, let’s bring people together, highlighting places of unity, highlighting places of maybe similar desire to have a better future than our past.
So we brought in Indigenous artists, speakers, voices, residential school survivors, you name it, on the stage. Here’s the stuff, and then we just would talk about that in small groups.
Norman Mccallum:
It’s inclusion, bringing us together with one focus - him only - and in Cree we say, Him only. That’s our focus and the rest will follow.
Chris Throness:
I did some research, talked with a bunch of people who are already doing these sorts of things. And the wisdom I got was - it’s slow and it’s messy to do these things. It’s like, “Ooh, look, let’s sign up for that,” you know?
But, as we’ve gone into it, so they said it’s slow and messy, but they said it’s worthy and it’s beautiful as you build a relationship. And so, as we see this happening, it’s like “This is actually what’s possible.” And the church is always joining Jesus in his mission, not the other way around. And so as we started to do this, it’s like, “Oh, there’s actually a lot of great things happening in our country.”
But, you have to focus. You have to look. And so as we saw these stories happening, we’re like, we need to tell these stories because they want to tell these stories. And so, that was a privilege to be able to do that, to be able to put together a documentary just to highlight, “You know what?
With so many stories of disintegration and of disunity, of all of these things that we hear, there’s actually a lot of great things going on, too. and that the future is bright and can be brighter, and we want to be a part of it.”
Norman Mccallum:
I told Diane or I told somebody that we should have a student exchange. Top of FormBottom of FormChildren from here to Kamloops and Kamloops to here, to build that relationship for young people. And we’re just praying that they will grasp the gospel, grasp the love of God and the friendship and the learning from each other.
Chris Throness:
As we think about the church in Canada, I think this is something that is not going away and that the church in Canada, as we think about the past, has contributed very negatively in the storyline of Indigenous people. But think it’s time for us to say now it’s time to do, ask Jesus to rewrite some of that story. And so, start to pray for that. My hope for our church, as a primarily non-Indigenous, primarily white church, is that we understand more of the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus for every tribe, every race, every nation. Through this initiative.
Norman Mccallum:
I would say, pray, and learn more from our people. We learn from each other. Okay? and participate what you can. And all my years working out in the field, I’ve finally seen a church that has taken our people from the back of the room to the front.
Rev. Darren Herbold:
I discovered a profound sense of hope in Chris’ words when he shared, “Now is the time to ask Jesus to rewrite the story.” I firmly believe that with the support of our Indigenous communities, The Alliance Canada can be part of new narratives of reconciliation. And through this fruitfulness that is found through loving partnership. Reconciliation is the call of the church. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 says, that we’re to be like Jesus and our God is a God of mission. He tabernacles amongst us. He sets the captives free and announces the good news of the Kingdom. His ministry is reconciling with those who are far from God and bringing them near. That's the good news of Easter. It's not just a sacrifice. It’s complete redemption. Christ is victorious over death. He’s made away that we can be remade new in him.
And through his spirit, we’re filled with his power to live like him, on mission and reach those around us who are in need of a saviour. Those who choose Jesus, whom Christ indwells are Christ’s ambassadors sent out to bring the message of his reconciliation of all things to the world so that it might be made whole again with resurrection life. This Easter, I pray that you’d be filled with the power and presence of Christ - you would feel it tangibly, and that Jesus in you and through you, the resurrected Jesus Christ, would fill you with joy, hope, and with bold faith to speak his name so that others might know that Jesus is alive, that Jesus saves and that Jesus can and does change absolutely everything. I love our family of churches. Have a wonderful month and an even better Easter.