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| Tuesday, June 24, 2008 |
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Keep Pressing On!
Church of God Ministries, Church of God - General
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Growing in maturity to unity in Christ
By Susan Kane
 The spirit of unity was apparent Tuesday night as the Kid’s Place choir led worship, Alejandro de Fransisco shared his heart through song, and Richard Mansfield presided over the 2008 Partnership with Possibilities Offering. The annual offering helps to promote leadership development and support church multiplication.
The evening message was brought by Rev. Rod Stafford, senior pastor at Fairfax Community Church in Fairfax, Virginia. Using Ephesians 4:13, Stafford shared that we are to press on in our faith until we are mature and have “attained the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” We are not to be immobilized by the situations life may bring our way or to allow pain and loss to take hold of us. We should not linger too long on our own pain but always press on, even in the midst of paralyzing circumstances.
“Wherever you are in your journey with Christ,” he shared, “God does not want us to get stuck at that point. God calls us to do more.” Stafford reminded the congregation that it is only when we pursue what we already possess in Christ that we attain maturity in him. It is then that we can experience unity with Christ.
Stafford’s message closed with a poignant video clip. He played a portion of a message by his brother, Dr. Gil Stafford, at the anointing service of the 2007 North American Convention. In that clip, Dr. Stafford, who died in March 2008, shared that Jesus is always out there in our future. We need never abandon him because he is in the midst of our challenges and will never abandon us. “There is still a goal out there, and Christ is the victor of every circumstance.”
The evening concluded as those in the auditorium who wished to do so took part in the annual anointing service.
A version of this article appears in the Wednesday, June 25, 2008, edition of the NAC roundup/08 newsletter. To view the newsletter in its entirety, click here (1.98 MB). The document is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat in order to read and/or print it. If you do not have Acrobat installed on your computer, you can download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here.
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