Harvest, My Home

I decided to add a whole section to my blog that focuses on my local church and how it influences my life week to week. I’m thinking most of these posts will have to do specifically with the sermon preached during the weekend worship service but because there is so much more that goes on at church and so many other ways in which it impacts me, there will be some non-sermon related posts as well. Before getting into any of these posts, I thought I would take this first post and introduce my church.

My church home is Harvest Bible Chapel Oakville. It has been the community of people with whom I worship for the past 4 years, where some of my dearest and closest friendships have begun and developed, where Courtney and I got married, and where we joyfully serve. I started attending Harvest in my first year of University (2007) occasionally with some friends from school. This was during a time when I was feeling growingly dissatisfied and almost bitter with the church I was attending at the time. This church had taught me many important things in my walk with the Lord – how to deeply and genuinely worship, the importance of a Christian community, it had given me opportunity to invite friends to church, it had given me a church family to encourage me, and teach me, and love me. But slowly my heart began to grow dissatisfied with some crucial aspects of this church and I knew I had to start looking for a different church to serve in and worship. It was during this time that I started visiting and attending Harvest’s weekend worship services and young adult meetings. This new church was similar to my old church in many ways (which made the transition quite easy) but there was one aspect in specific that caught my attention and attracted my thirsty and hungry heart to this church – the faithful, transformative, exposition of the Word of God.

Harvest Bible Chapel Oakville is a plant out of the Harvest Bible Fellowship. It was one of the first churches in the fellowship planted in Canada, back in 2003.

"A Bible study began in the summer of 2003 in response to the demand from people who were passionate about this church plant. The first Bible study met in a local office space. When those quarters became too tight, the Bible study was moved to a church basement in Mississauga. By the grace of God this core group continued to grow and develop and attract high quality disciples of Christ. It was in the early fall of 2003 that God clearly led the leadership from HBC Oakville to be connected with the leadership from Calvary Baptist Church in Oakville. In what can only be described as miraculous, God arranged for Calvary Baptist Church to become Harvest Bible Chapel Oakville which included giving Harvest their church building, property and most importantly their people”.

As a Harvest Bible Chapel plant, HBC Oakville exists to “Glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) in the spirit of the Great Commandment” (Matthew 22:37). With Jesus Christ as our foundation, the four pillars on which Harvest stands are:

1. Proclaiming the authority of God’s Word without apology (2 Tim 4:2)
2. Lifting high the name of Jesus through worship (Jn 4:24)

3. Believing firmly in the power of prayer (Eph 6:18)

4. Sharing the good news of Jesus with boldness (Eph 6:19-20)

Since first coming to Harvest, I've had the opportunity to serve in the worship ministry (playing violin) a couple of times a year. Playing with the worship band at Harvest has been and continues to be a HUGE blessing. I love worshiping God through music and the talents and abilities He has given me. Courtney and I have also been serving with the youth ministry by leading Gr.9 boys (myself) and Gr.9 girls (Courtney). We've had great opportunities to lead, teach, and mentor the youth in our church. We've had the great opportunity to listen to and befriend the youth in our church through our weekly meetings, camping trips and retreats. We've also helped out and served in the library and bookstore (I love books!). It's amazing the excitement that helping people find books and CD's can bring! It is a joy to see how the Holy Spirit uses authors, pastors, and artists to encourage and build up His Church, and we got the chance to serve in this area. We are currently serving in the Discipleship 101 ministry, getting to know people who are wanting to look more into Christianity, who are learning about what church is all about, and who are learning what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We love, Love, LOVE are church, and we are infinitely grateful for this faithful, imperfect, blessed group of people that the Lord has given us as a community for our sanctification and edification and for the glory of His name.