Celebrating Horizon Church

Today we're celebrating what God is doing at Horizon Church in Calgary, AB.

The infographic below captures what's been happening at Horizon Church since its launch last summer:

Says lead pastor, Nathan Hildenbrandt:

At Horizon Church our mission is to show and share the kindness of Jesus, and our mission is to be a community that is living in light of the kingdom of Jesus. We want to see the kingdom expand into every area of our neighbourhoods, our workplaces, and our relationships as we live out the good news in every area of our lives. We believe that we can see Jesus’ kingdom expand when we as his followers join God in His mission to restore lives and bring healing.

Nathan shares a story of how this mission is being lived out, one life at a time:

One story of how we have seen this happen in our community came when Kevin, a member of our church, began frequenting the same coffee shop on his way to work each morning. He began to notice another gentleman who also stopped in at the same time each morning, and he began to strike up conversations whenever he could.

As he built a relationship with this man, he began to hear some of his story, including some of the pain of a recent divorce and the struggles that accompanied that. What began as a simple stop for coffee each morning turned into a friendship where Kevin was able to listen to and pray for his new friend, and he began to invite him to join him at his Community Group with other members of the Horizon Church community.

Over time he became more connected not just with Kevin, but with others in the church as well. Just a few weeks ago, he attended our Easter service. While he hasn’t yet made a faith commitment, he is exploring the claims of Christianity, and what following Jesus could look like in his life. He recently told me (Nathan) at a Community Group event:

“I didn’t think that I could ever feel loved like I do when I’m here. And Kevin is teaching me about grace, and what it’s like to experience grace.”

Please pray that God will continue to use us to show grace to those who haven’t experienced it, and that many people will come to know, love, and follow Jesus!

Highlights from the year, in pictures!

1. Community Group Party: "every few weeks our missional community plans a 'party' as a way of connecting our friends and neighbours into the life of our faith community."

2. Christmas Serve Project & Party: we put together hampers for families in need in our neighborhood, and held our first ever Horizon Christmas Party.