When my husband, Jay, and I arrived at Redwood Park Church for our candidating weekend almost four years ago, one of the first things that caught our eye in the foyer was a large poster featuring the Sleeping Giant, a local landmark, with words superimposed on top: “Church for the City.”
As we met the staff and board, we could see that this was not just a nice slogan: it was the heartbeat of the church. Given that we had a similar heart for the local church to be on local mission, when the church offered us positions we said “yes.” I accepted the role of Lead Pastor, and Jay served as the Pastor of Spiritual Formation. We knew God was in it.
Two years later, as we came out of the pandemic and could meet fully in person again, we launched a new sermon series, “Church for the City,” in which we explored how the Jewish exiles in the Old Testament served God and blessed their city—even when they were in cities that did not yet know God. The series ended with a sermon from Nehemiah 1.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king in Susa and got word that the walls of Jerusalem were broken, the gates burned, and the returned exiles disgraced. An ancient city without walls and gates was vulnerable. Nehemiah’s heart was broken for his people and he responded with fasting and prayer. A time for action would come, but first he needed to seek the Lord.
In Nehemiah’s prayer, he reminds God of God’s past deeds. He implores God not to forget his covenant people, and he asks God to give him favour when the time for action comes. He also does something unexpected: he confesses his personal and family sins, as well as the sins of the nation.
“… 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.” (Nehemiah 1:6-7) This confessional portion of the prayer was essential because God had big plans for Nehemiah and Jerusalem. If Nehemiah and the people could not own up to how they had walked away from God, they were likely to do it again. If they could not throw themselves at God’s feet in a posture of humility and dependence, they might remain prideful, and become a stumbling block in God’s big plans for Jerusalem. The more their hearts were aligned with God, the more God could work in and through them.
At the end of the sermon I posed a question to our community: “How is God breaking your heart for the things that break His?” Knowing that God could speak to us collectively through our broken hearts, we gathered the answers and looked for commonalities. We determined the four biggest things breaking Redwood’s collective heart were as follows:
- Personal sin patterns that people could not shake.
- Past church sin that resulted in people walking away from church or Jesus.
- Loved ones who are far from God.
- Overwhelming issues that plague Northwestern Ontario, that can only be solved with a God-sized plan.
This led us to a second question: “What do we need to confess, and of what do we need to repent, before God will invite us into His plans for our loved ones and our city?” Thus, we entered into an intentional season of repentance.
The Gospel of Mark record Jesus’ first words as he began his public ministry: “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
To repent is to turn towards Jesus and, therefore, turn away from the things in our lives that lead us away from him. The Greek word for “repentance” in this passage is “metanoia,” which means a changed mind and a transformed heart. Embedded within repentance is an acknowledgement of the things in our lives that are not in alignment with Jesus and His Kingdom. We must confess our sins. In our Redwood context, confession and repentance became a beautiful invitation from God: “I am coming near! The Kingdom is about to break out in your city! Repent and believe the Good News!”
Over the past few years, many individuals have confessed personal sins and we have corporately confessed the collective sins of Redwood. The more we have done this, the more we have seen the Holy Spirit showing up. Our sins break, rather than build up, our lives, our church, and our city. Every time we individually and collectively throw off and renounce these sins, the Holy Spirit replaces them with more of Himself.
In all of my years of ministry I have never seen the Holy Spirit move as profoundly and powerfully as He has in our church over the last year. God is doing holy and sacred work, person by person, and these are not my stories to tell. But I can say that the Holy Spirit is being poured out and the Fruit of Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25 – the evidence of a Spirit-filled life), is growing at Redwood. People are meeting Jesus for the first time and others are re-dedicating their lives to Him. Confession and repentance are now a core practice in our community because we do not want anything standing between us and Jesus.
Like Nehemiah after his repentance prayer, we know it is time for more intentional action in Northwestern Ontario. To that end, we are looking forward to adding a Pastor of Missional Engagement to our team this Fall. God has a dream for Northwestern Ontario and we count it a blessing that He has invited us to participate in His good work.
“The kingdom of God has come near [to Thunder Bay]. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
Let it be so!
How is God breaking your heart for the things that break His?
Read Nehemiah 1 and prayerfully consider:
- How has God broken your heart for what breaks His?
- What might you need two confess and repent of before you can participate in God’s plan?
- What does being a “Church for the city” look like in your local context?
Milissa is the Lead Pastor at Redwood Park Church in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where she serves alongside her husband Jay, the Pastor of Spiritual Formation. Together, Jay and Milissa have two teenage daughters and they all love exploring God’s creation and discovering good local restaurants and coffee shops. Milissa is committed to God’s ministry of reconciliation and is passionate about seeing men & women grow into the people God made them to be, fully participating in God’s vision to see Thunder Bay become one of the best places to live in Canada for all people.