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1160 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC, V6E 3H7
In September of 2014 as our church was celebrating our 20th anniversary, I was reflecting on what the Lord had done and praying that the Lord would help us to continue to thrive and be even more vibrant for Christ. Although this prayer was 8 years ago, it is the same cry to our God we have today, “God keep us strong in our relationship with you and may we shine brighter in this broken world for Your glory.”
Unfortunately, in Canada, the USA, and around the world, you can find numerous examples of churches that a decade ago were full of life and growing, but today are in decline or gone. According to Stats Canada, in 1985 about 45% of Canadians attended religious activities at least monthly. By 2019 that number had dropped to about 20%. Across our country churches have closed and the recent pandemic has only added to these numbers.
In my search for answers on how our church might not be such a statistic, I was brought back to an old book by Charles Finney called Revivals of Religion written in 1868. When Finney wrote this, the USA had experienced a revival with thousands coming to faith in Christ in a short time. In his book he listed several reasons a work of God can be stopped. Here are a ten that stood out to me:
As we meditate on these points, my prayer is that we stay true to the course He has set before us, remembering that Jesus is the only One who can be the Author of our faith and our Finisher.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2021079-eng.htm
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© 2023 Coastal Church. All rights reserved | Privacy & Security
1160 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC, V6E 3H7