2019 will be special in many ways for us in SAC. As you might know, we are preparing for the Celebration of Hope rallies from 17-19th May and this is going to change the shape of our year as a Cathedral community. We know COH is organised to bless our wider Body of Christ and our society. We can also ask, how can COH be a blessing to us here at SAC?

You may have heard of this phrase: "If you change nothing, nothing will change.” So, we are asking each of you to consider these:

That we participate in COH as small groups. This will be largely through our Connect groups but many of you can also band together through other ways. This is the way we are going to sign up to help with the logistics (ushers etc) for the Filipino-English rally on Sunday morning (10.30 am, 19th May). This is also how we will encourage each other to participate in the training on Friday evenings in January, culminating with the regional prayer at end January. We are going to encourage each other - via small groups - to pray, engage and gather (PEG) our friends and family members who do not know about the love of Christ. This means we have to plan differently for the first five months of the year. If you proceed BAU (business as usual) with your Connect Group plans, your group is going to miss out on this unique opportunity.  

That we engage deeper in prayer. We will be hosting a monthly regional prayer gathering on the last Friday. Be there yourself and encourage your group to come along. Apart from that, we also have smaller prayer groups which meet each week to seek the Lord. Think of joining one of them. I cannot think of anything that can be as powerful as prayer that will keep us engaged with God's Kingdom work.

That we free up space in order to focus. I am asking that we go lighter on other activities during this period (Jan-May) that are not related to outreach or prayer. We cannot keep adding without subtracting. This is one way we can serve each other while ensuring we are not distracting ourselves or others from the urgency of the harvest. Some of these distractions may not be events but trivial issues or conflicts that can consume an inordinate amount of time and energy which have no useful or lasting purpose. There is this cliche which puts it very simply: “Don't sweat the small stuff."

That we be more intentional as we think about how we may plan our activities. For example, interest group activities are important. Activities like cooking demos, birthday parties, talks on money management and so on can be very relevant to our non-Christian friends. I have personally conducted some cooking demos for Cell groups (not from SAC) where many guests turned up. I will be most happy to serve our Connect Groups here and there are others in our food ministry who can do likewise. I am sure you can think of other activities. My point is, if you are not intentional with connecting with your friends, it will be a tall order to get them interested to go to the Stadium with you.

Remember, if you change nothing, nothing will change. Start now and make 2019 a special year for you, your group and the SAC community. Invest 2019 with eternal value. Live it without regret. Let Him be glorified in our lives.