Central Abbotsford

The smoke filling the air daily this week is as good a reminder as any that we are now well into August, having turned the page to the second half of summer. Labour Day (and back to school) are now just a short month away, which means (at least at my house) that, sad as it may be, planning for the fall has already begun.

The same, of course, is true at Northview. The regular rhythms of the ministry year will start back up again in September, including our Men’s and Women’s Bible Studies. I know that many of you have been a part of our studies over the years, and are looking forward to starting up again.

If you haven’t been involved in any Bible study recently, though, can I challenge you to give it a try this year? I have had the privilege of overseeing our Men’s study for the past two years (As well as being a part of its leadership for two years during my Immerse training), and I have seen many examples of the men of our church coming away encouraged; in large part, certainly, by being edified by the teaching and the study of God’s word, but also from being present with one another around the table.

At Northview, we have used the verbs “gather, grow, and go” as the framework for how we hope the people that make up this church will approach their walk of discipleship. It can be easy to simply categorize something like Bible study firmly in the “grow” category. It is abundantly necessary to study the Scriptures, because they are what point us to Jesus! However, in my time at Men’s study, I have been increasingly convinced that the gathering aspect of these times is also vitally important.

We intentionally carve out time at our studies not only for fellowship and social interaction, but also for prayer for one another around the tables. Maybe you are in a time or space in life where you don’t find yourself regularly in the company of people who will pray with and for you – that is a vital component of our study time, so please come and take advantage of it!

This year, our Men’s and Women’s studies will be working through the gospel of Mark, and our Women’s Precept study will be looking at the Psalms and Hosea. Registration for all of these studies is open now, and you can join in by clicking this link. If you have more questions about these studies, or any aspect of discipleship at Northview, feel free to email me at eheath@northview.org, or our discipleship department at discipleship@northview.org.

In His name,

Eric