Have you ever tackled something way over your head! My first canoe trip down the Elbow River in summer of 1975 was an experience I will never forget. We started out near Brad Creek and our goal was to drift lazily down the river to Calgary, enjoying the scenery on a Sunday afternoon. There were three of us; my Dad weighing in at about 250 lbs in his Sunday finest, my friend who owned the canoe who was about 160 lbs, and me about the same weight. Plus we had a cooler full of drinks, food, and all the necessary things for a great ride down the river. While we had great faith this would work out, the only problem was that we had never canoed before. We were about 150 lbs over capacity, and we never considered wearing life jackets. In fact we didn’t even have them in the canoe.

I was at the front, my friend was at the back, and my dad was in the middle, supposedly there to enjoy the afternoon adventure. Our wives left us, we launched, and five minutes later we capsized. That should have been a good clue. Fortunately the water was only waist deep at this spot in the river. So we righted the craft, put our soaking wet bodies in the canoe and started out again. After all, what else could we do? Our ride home was long gone. Without our cooler, we tried again. This time we did well for about 200 yards and over we went again. Again the water was about waist high, but undeterred we tried again. This time our confidence grew as we made at least a kilometer or two, then the river changed. It got deep and fast. We went scooting around a bend and over we went. This time we were in way over our heads. Fortunately, I was swept near the shore in safety, but my dad was floundering in the swift current. I jumped in and was able to propel my dad out of trouble. Now I was in trouble. Down the river the current swept me. Fortunately a big old tree with a huge branch was hanging over the river to which I was able to latch on to and pull myself to safety.

I write this to say, if we are going to do something new, start off small, with some training, and easy manageable steps.

I think sometimes new believers or those that have not learned how to increase their faith, hear success stories of others and think I can do that. They jump in and fall flat on their face. Maybe that is your experience and now struggle with faith.

I would love to hear your story of either when you did something by faith and it failed or if it was a great success.  Email me and let me know. If you got dumped in the water like I did and are struggling with faith, I would particularly love to hear from you. It may be that God is calling you to try again.

Jesus said, faith is like a mustard seed. It grows into a large tree. The point is faith grows. As we exercise our faith it grows bigger until we are able to do great exploits before the Lord and in our lives.

This Sunday I will be speaking about how to increase our faith without falling flat on our face or getting dumped in the water.

I look forward to being you this Sunday.

Greeting/Host Ministry Meeting

Do you enjoy meeting and engaging with new people? The Greeting/hosting team at KCF welcomes you.  We will be meeting on Sunday, January 21 at 1pm.  If you are interested in joining or just learning about this great ministry opportunity, we look forward to seeing you at this meeting.

International Dinner

We are partnering with Rotary to host the International Dinner which will be held Thursday, Feb 8, 5:30pm at Mary Hall, Selkirk College.  They money raised will go towards a teacher at Haiti Arise and towards food security in Nelson, namely Our Daily Bread and Polio Eradication. 

Tickets are available at the KCF office.  $50 per ticket (includes 20 dollar tax receipt).

Our Daily Bread

Most days at ODB, we put out donated quality fresh vegetables and fruit as well as bread etc. for anyone to take home for free. Firstly, we welcome you to come and select from this abundance of food. Secondly, people often require plastic bags to take this food home in, and so we have an ongoing need for plastic bags.  If you have extra plastic bags that are overflowing in your closet or cupboard, please keep ODB in mind and drop them off anytime during our open hours or on Sunday mornings.

S.H.A.R.E. Nelson

S.H.A.R.E. is accepting and receiving donations and new items are being put out for sale every day.  Come down and support the poor.  If you would like to volunteer at S.H.A.R.E. we currently have great ministry opportunities.  Call the store at 250.352.1222 or stop by the store to inquire.  Click on this link to check out S.H.A.R.E.’s video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aZX9v7gxdM

Calendar of Events

• KCF Greeting/Host Meeting, Sunday Jan 21 at 1pm
• International Dinner, Thursday, Feb 8, 5:30pm at Mary Hall, Selkirk College - Tickets at KCF office
• Bright Lights for Kids K to Grade 4, Tuesdays, 3:30 – 5pm at KCF
• Junior Youth for ages 11 – 15.  Fridays, 4pm – 5:30pm at KCF 

Visit our website at http://www.kootenaychristianfellowship.com for all the news, sermons, and places to donate.

Pastor Jim