Church Update
September 16, 2026
Dear Church of the Open Bible,
If Gus could, he would be a full-time athlete. He probably gets that from his father, who was a gym rat in school. As a 13-year-old, these are the sports he was seriously interested in playing this fall: volleyball, indoor soccer, rec hockey, gymnastics, cross-country, and a 6-week basketball skills camp. Add to this his first year of reffing ice hockey and a love of disc golf, and Gus would have to quit school to fit it all in. Needless to say, while that would be no issue for him, it is for his parents. So we have to talk with him about what he is most interested in and what he can be faithful to do well in this season.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all the things you could be doing? As believers, there are so many good options for how we can spend our time. How do you decide? As much as this can be a challenge for us individually, it is also a challenge for us corporately, as a church. With all the desperate needs vying for our attention and involvement, how do we prayerfully determine what we at COB Ponoka should invest in when it comes to living out the Great Commission?
Something that has been helpful for me in wrestling with this question is determining what makes us unique. What is it about who we are and where we are that allows us to serve in ways others cannot? One these factors is our proximity to a mission field at our doorstep. Maskwacis is made up of four First Nation reserves, with a total of over 15,000 members, and COB is a five-minute drive from it’s southern border. We have also been gifted with experienced missionaries serving especially with youth on the reserve.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” - Acts 1:8
As we consider the spread and support of the gospel through us as a church, we want to lean in to the places and people that God has uniquely given us. Pray for opportunities to be Jesus’ witnesses, and for wisdom in pursuing them, both individually and as a church.
In Him,
Pastor Jeremy