Join Us – Page 3 – GCI Update

2026 Denominational Celebration

The Denominational Celebration
will be held
in Dallas, Texas, U.S.
on July 23-26, 2026.

Please mark your calendars. More information will be made available in mid-2025.

Prayer Guide—July 2025

“Prayers outlive the lives of those who uttered them; outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world.” — E.M. Bounds

Halfway through 2025, we pause to give thanks and seek God for what’s ahead. The July Prayer Guide helps you reflect, intercede, and stay connected to what God is doing across our church family.

View or download the full guide here, and join with us in prayer.

Would you like to receive this Prayer Guide straight to your email inbox before the first of the month? Sign up here.

2026 Denominational Celebration

The Denominational Celebration
will be held
in Dallas, Texas, U.S.
on July 23-26, 2026.

Please mark your calendars. More information will be made available in mid-2025.

From Equipper—Parable of the Sower

Join us! We invite you to read this article from Equipper.

Subscribe to Equipper today!

By Bill Hall, National Director of Canada
Winnipeg, SK, Canada

Not too many of us in the Western world live in an agrarian society. For instance, although I’m surrounded by farms in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, I am an urban dweller. As a result, we may have some issues trying to understand various parables that have first-century agricultural overtones.

Looking at this parable found in Matthew 13:3–28, Mark 4:1–19, and Luke 8:4–15, we see Jesus’ conversation with the crowd on the lakeside is divided into three parts:

1. Jesus shares the parable.
2. Jesus explains why he speaks in parables.
3. Jesus then explains the parable to his disciples.

In his story he speaks of a sower casting seeds that fell on inhospitable and hospitable ground. Some of the seeds fell on the path and were eaten by birds; some fell on rocky ground and, while sprouting, couldn’t survive exposure to the elements. Other seedlings were choked out by weeds, and finally some seed fell on good soil and flourished into a bountiful harvest.

Reflecting on his words, even with my limited agricultural knowledge, it is obvious that what Jesus is describing in this parable is not how to be a successful farmer. A successful farmer would value every seed and give it the best opportunity to flourish. To do the opposite would be fool-hardy and a waste of valuable seed.

Instead, Jesus is describing something about the kingdom that is ushered into the world with his coming.

N.T. Wright explains that this message, with the interpretation given to the disciples (Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23), had a very prophetic meaning regarding Jesus’ ministry:

The Sower, in other words is not simply an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, a moral lesson about listening carefully. … It is full of the music of the Kingdom, the new song of God after the long silence of exile. It encapsulated Jesus’ challenge to his contemporaries to be Israel, because God was at last ‘sowing’ them again; and the warning that if this final word was not heeded the alternative would be catastrophe. [1]

Certainly, the Gospels give many examples of how Jesus’ words and actions were perceived differently by various individuals and groups. Some celebrated his coming, while to others, such as the religious leaders and the empire that was Rome, he was a threat to the status quo.

In his interpretation to the disciples (after he explains the reason for parables), he is not actually talking about seeds as much as the “type” of soil on which the seeds fell (Matthew 13:18-23).

As people who are reading these words over the shoulder of first-century disciples and their contemporary situation, modern Christians can learn some important lessons.

First, as we reach out into our neighbourhoods with the message of the kingdom, Jesus’ words help to explain why not everyone we develop a relationship with will respond to the kingdom message. The parable also helps to explain that even those who become disciples can get distracted and move on sometimes.

This can be very disconcerting. However, I find in Jesus’ words something very encouraging. The fact is, long before we encounter people in our neighbourhood, the Spirit is already preparing some to be the soil ready to accept the gospel. Could we be that person, in partnership with the Spirit, who plants the seed resulting in them becoming a part of that bigger harvest?

Secondly, I find encouragement from the reflections of David Lose. He calls God the “reckless sower,” because from our perspective God is a farmer who throws seed with abandon where three-quarters of the seed appears to be simply wasted. He adds:

Why does this shift of focus matter? Because as we give our attention to the crazy abandon of this ridiculously wasteful farmer, we get a hint about the character of the kingdom Jesus preaches. It is a place where God’s love and God’s word are scattered with equal abandon, with no regard for how any of it will be received. It’s as if God just can’t help but share love and grace and mercy and will do so recklessly, even wastefully, because God alone knows that grace is never exhausted, and love never wasted. [2]

Let us all participate with God as “sowers” in our own right to share his love, grace, and mercy in our neighbourhoods. More than ever our neighbours need to feel the touch of God’s kingdom in their lives!

[1] (page 86, Twelve Months of Sundays: Biblical Meditations on the Christian Years A, B & C, Morehouse Publishing 2012)

[2] (https://www.davidlose.net/2014/08/matthew-13-1-9)

2026 Denominational Celebration

The Denominational Celebration
will be held
in Dallas, Texas, U.S.
on July 23-26, 2026.

Please mark your calendars. More information will be made available in mid-2025.

Prayer Guide—June 2025

God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world, the better the world will be. — E.M. Bounds

Join us this June as we lift our voices in unity and faith. View or download the full prayer guide here.

Would you like to receive this Prayer Guide straight to your email inbox before the first of the month? Sign up here.

2026 Denominational Celebration

The Denominational Celebration
will be held
in Dallas, Texas, U.S.
on July 23-26, 2026.

Please mark your calendars. More information will be made available in mid-2025.

GCI Testify

Discover the transformative power of Christ’s love in our new series, GCI Testify. Join us as members from our global fellowship share testimonies of their experiences with Jesus through GCI congregations and ministries. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness firsthand the impact of the Spirit in and through GCI.

Watch the entire series here.

LiLY Women’s Conference—Register Soon!

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

2025 LiLY Women’s Conference
April 25-27, 2025
Embassy Suites in Independence, Ohio (in person)

Rose Hamrick, Shenequa Rogers, Salisa Bruce, Julie Frantz, Tanazia Morris, Robyn Dykstra 2024

Theme: As He Has Forgiven You

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

We have an amazing keynote speaker, Tess Scott, who has a special message for you. You can listen here.

There will be a Teen Session this year. Make sure to spread the word!

Registration Fee:

- - $75 Early Bird Pricing — Register by Friday, April 4, 2025
  - $85 Regular Pricing — Register by Friday, April 13, 2025
  - $95 Late Registration — After April 13, 2025
  - $50 Special Teen Rate — Ages 13-17

Online registration ends on April 13, 2025.

Hotel Reservation/Cost:

Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd. Independence, Ohio

Overnight hotel rate: $132 per night, per suite, 4-person room
(Total with tax is $310.20 for both nights. Breakfast and manager’s reception is included for hotel guests only.)

Click here to make your reservation online.

Group Name: LiLY Women’s Conference
Group Code: LW5
Central Reservations Number: 1-866-344-7548
Deadline for hotel reservations at the special rate is Friday, April 4, 2025.
Register today online at gccle.church/lily

If not registering online, mail your registration fee with checks payable to:
Grace Communion Cleveland
4499 Canterbury Road
North Olmsted, Ohio 44070

(Please include your name, address, phone number, emergency contact name and address, and if you are staying for Saturday night dinner)

If you have any questions, please email us at: LiLYwomensministry@gmail.com

Rosa Hulse
Women’s Ministry Leader
Grace Communion Cleveland

Like/Follow us on Facebook at LiLYWomensConference.

2026 Denominational Celebration

The Denominational Celebration
will be held
in Dallas, Texas, U.S.
on July 23-26, 2026.

Please mark your calendars. More information will be made available in mid-2025.

Category: Join Us

2026 Denominational Celebration

Prayer Guide—July 2025

2026 Denominational Celebration

From Equipper—Parable of the Sower

2026 Denominational Celebration

Prayer Guide—June 2025

2026 Denominational Celebration

GCI Testify

LiLY Women’s Conference—Register Soon!

2026 Denominational Celebration

GCI Update

Follow Us