At the end of January, I was able to join brothers and sisters from the Grace Connexion (New City, Grace Fellowship Church, Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills) and West Toronto Baptist Church network for a retreat in Guelph. Titled “Elect Exiles: Set Apart for the Sake of Christ” the retreat focused on 1 Peter, and while I won’t go into detailed notes from the sessions, some things we focused on were:
- We are sojourners, just passing through
- Suffering which we experience as Christians is momentary, purposeful/necessary, unsurprising and light
- Hope; we have the hope for future eternal glory, so we should hold fast to it and spur others toward holiness
As the speaker, Mark Carrington, spoke about us as sojourners and being in exile I could not stop singing Thrice’s “In Exile” in my mind.
And now, forever aloud.
My heart is filled with songs of forever, a city that endures where all is made new. I know I don’t belong here, I’ll never call this place my home; I’m just passing through.
