Sermon: Mind Renewal & ‘Hip Hop’ Prayer

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(Gen 37:1-4, 12-28; Rom 12:1-2; Mtt 14:22-33) FBCA, J G White

 I guess I am in training. Not for any marathon or race in particular. Just for the sake of being in shape and being able to run. At least once a week I run with the Amherst Striders, and about once a week on my own. Started with them in January. Last week I ran with them on Wednesday evening. I started out great and fast, with the front runners. I was pleased! But after about seven kms, I was losing steam. I really slowed down. The main pack circled back for me and the others pulling up the rear. I walked a bit. I ended running, but tired. I started too strong, too fast, I think. 

So that’s good. Good if I learned something. In my mind, and in my muscles. It is all part of the training, and the transformation. I may not look transformed; I need to stop eating all the extra stuff I eat to change my appearance. But my renewal has restarted.

I’m going to talk about personal renewal today.

We had a little study group for the younger adults in Digby. One Sunday evening, when we were dining together before our lesson, a child in the household brought a toy to the table. We were trying to help mould a Transformer from a vehicle into a robot, and back. Little Sam was able to manipulate the toy better than the parents and other grown ups! 

At that meeting, the Bible study group took on a new name: The Transformers. Is that not what the life of Faith is all about? Transformation? Is that not what a Church fellowship is for? Developing people; us being changed for the better?

I am taking us into Romans chapter 12 this month, spending four weeks here. We start with just the first two verses. There is so much packed in here. So much, that Marva Dawn’s book about this one Bible chapter has 31 chapters. You could take a month and read a chapter a day of her book, to learn how truly to be the community we call a local Church: First Baptist Amherst, Trinity-St. Stephen’s, First Baptist Moncton, Falmouth Baptist, any other.

As with any other improvement and development, it takes training, training to be disciples of Jesus Christ. There are practical activities that train us to do more and do better in our life with God. Many of them can be called spiritual disciplines, or focal practices. 

My older step-daughter and family has a new member: a puppy. A golden retriever. Ellie is learning what it means to be with the Doucettes, and the Doucettes are learning how to live with Ellie. “It’s all in the training.”

If you are a Christian, Romans chapter twelve can influence your training, your being apprenticed to Jesus. Paul the apostle wrote: I appeal to you therefore, [dear siblings], on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship [service]. 

Nine pages into this letter, Paul turns to some practical things, with four pages to go. Give your body - really, your whole self - over to God. Be a living sacrifice, not a dead one like all the pigeons and goats and sacks of grain from their ancient worship tradition. Live for God, with God, in God, overflowing with God. 

Sounds great, but it ain’t usually that easy. That’s why it takes training. It takes so many steps, so much practice, learning some practical lessons. And discipleship to Jesus is more like a trade school than a philosophy degree. It is whole-life discipleship. Apparently this is reasonable, a reasonable expectation from God, ‘your reasonable service.”

Years and years ago, author and pastor, Richard Foster, reported that he saw in the churches that people were trying, and trying hard, to follow the Bible and be successful Christians, but that was not working. Too much trying and not enough training, thought Foster. 

Maybe Yoda was right, in The Empire Strikes Back. To Luke Skywalker he said, “Do, or do not, there is no try.” To grow and develop in all our skills we need to do many things, not just try to get the finished product. 

2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. I believe that when Paul speaks of “renewing of the mind’ he means the whole person. We do get changed from the inside out - by the grace of God - yet we cooperate in this process by many day-to-day things we do with life. 

I’m at work; what’s my next best thing to do today? I’m retired: what is the opportunity for me among people now? I’m sick, and getting some help from medical experts: how do I add prayer to the healing process? With Jesus we can learn all about these moments. We can learn all about our lives. 

We have so much to learn about life, living the best life. This can sound like an accusation against us, and it is, but I like to receive it also as a joyful opportunity. There is so much to gain! So much development and improvement that can happen in us! So much progress available to me, to you! What Paul called the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect, is the actual potential in the rest of your days. There is some flourishing that is a gift from God, from the inside out. Instead of being moulded by the world.

In her book on Romans 12, Marva Dawn tells of the little boy who was trying to open up a flower bud and see the flower. It just crumpled and fell apart. “Why does the bud fall apart when I try to open it,” he asked his mother, “but when God opens it the flower is beautiful?” The mother was speechless. “Oh, I know!” said the little fellow. “When God opens it, he opens it up from the inside.” (Truly the Community, 1992, p. 29)

Perhaps we have learned all our lives, in Church, that this is what God is up to: renewing people from the inside out. Instead of being moulded by the world around us, conformed to this age, we get transformed by the Spirit of God, reaching inside us. And yet we have so many ways to cooperate with this personal renewal by God. There are many things we do on the outside. 

I don’t know about the United Church of Canada, but in Baptist life, I find that most of us learned about three things to do, only three spiritual disciplines: Bible reading, praying, and worshipping together. Come into Church on Sundays, and as you go, take a little book with you, like ‘Christ in Our Home,’ with its Bible reading, short story, a tiny prayer and a prayer request for each day of the month. Good. Great. Yet there are many other activities that are the training ground for our mind, heart and body. Maybe we heard about fasting, to go with prayer. Dallas Willard suggested these other approaches to transformation, such as solitude, silence, frugality, secrecy, sacrifice, study, celebration, fellowship, confession, submission. 

Some of you heard me mention, in the spring, the conference Sharon and I attended in St. Andrews, NB. There, Dr. Amy Sherman inspired us to notice that where people work and volunteer is a big part of life, and where God does transforming work. So the administrator going into the office for the day, the farmer ‘out standing in her field,’ the retiree out at the cottage for the summer, in those places are in the place to be trained by the Master, Jesus. That is your training ground.

As is our families and social lives. Family dynamics are complex and challenging. Experiences like that of Joseph and his brothers repeat themselves in every culture and age. There is a great deal of learning from Jesus that can happen in families. I believe His Spirit keeps speaking to me about letting go of correcting others, of telling them what to do and how to do it, and trying to keep the peace when it is not my job to do so. But, as an old children’s hymn said,

He’s still workin’ on me, to make me what I ought to be.

As the little boy suggested, there is an opening and blossoming that happens from the inside out, thanks to the Creator. Our part is the faithful watering and living in the sunshine and all. Let us be disciplined and devoted to our training. ‘Do or do not; there is no try.’ ;)

 

PRAYERS  Today, with a nod to the 50th anniversary of hip hop:  Let us pray, let us say 

God we bow, right now, to Thou,

to the presence of Your grace,

in the glory of Your face,

as we run the Christian race we can’t make it

take it, fake it or shake it:

all the trouble that we’re seeing,

all the sin the world’s not fleeing,

and the climate’s not agreeing,

and the Church is just not being

what our Jesus was decreeing.

            Help our seeing.

So we pray here to confess,  that our world is a pure mess,

            wars and battles keep on raging,

                        nations, powers, keep on staging

                                    all the violence that’s deranging

                                    and we claim it's there and them

            but it's still us, we’re just repeatin’

                        in our hood and fam and nation

                                    what our prayers for peace berate on.

God, we bow, right now, to Thou:

to the presence of Your grace,

in the glory of Your face,

as we run the Christian race we can’t make it

take it, fake it or shake it:

Now there’s fires in Hawaii, 

there’s too many people dyin,

       there’s too much news got folks cryin;

Now the floodings in Korea, it’s in every land we see, ah,

            and our praying… do You hear, draw near, and bear,

                        and clear, and rear up to help?

Here at home, where we roam, there’s always mourning.

            But we trust that You are just and will just

                        comfort those who cry for those who die.

Harriet we thank You for; Gracious God she was so sure

            of You, what’s true, & all the things she liked to do. 

Bless the friends who are sick and in pain, 

or energy drained,      relationships strained, 

            reputation stained, or trauma gained. 

Holy Spirit, set them free, just one more step,

            one move, one hope, one door, one restful moment.

God, we bow, right now, to Thou:

to the presence of Your grace,

in the glory of Your face,

as we run the Christian race we can’t make it

take it, fake it or shake it.

Oh, we thank You, Jesus, Jesus, for the good things

            that have pleased us. 

You have opened up a door to pray, a sabbath day,

            ways to confess, and bless, de-stress and reassess,

                        would You help us to fast, and to last, 

                                    and to get past our apathetic traditions?

                        Yours is the mission! And we are deployed.

                                    This world won’t be destroyed!

Master, the Baptists just met: we decided, reported, 

rejoiced and restarted as we meeted. 

God, be with our new Executive Minister, Renee 

MacVicar, she’s the one You have picked for, us.

Guide now us, First Baptist, we insist, we persist, 

as we search for our next Minister 

of family and outreach - 

to teach and preach & repair the breach.

And Trinity-St. Stephen, bless for every reason

            in this season, for pleasing You, Lord. 

That's our word of prayer; You, God, are there.

            You’re ahead, there’s no dread, now we’re fed, led, 

                        You’ve sped to the needy and shed glory:

Our lives are Your story. 

Praise You! Raise You! We’re amazed with You! 

            Now You will DO; and we’ll follow too. 

That’s the en’, till we talk again: 

Amen & AMEN.

That’s a ‘rap.

Amamean Anguish

in

10:30 am, Sunday, August 6, 2023  

(Gen 32:22-31; Romans 9:1-5; Mtt 14:15-21) FBCA, J G White

Here we are, together for worship of the Living God. We bring ourselves, and put ourselves in this place together, no matter what else is going on in life. We bring our lives before God, together. We start a new week with new hope. For we have our own anguish and anxieties, not only for ourselves, but for those near and dear to us.

Today, we peek again into the New Testament book of Romans, presented to us as a long letter from the apostle Paul. At this point in the letter, Paul is looking back to his Jewish people, with their traditions, their history, their faith, which go back hundreds of years. Paul is in anguish over them, so upset that so few have recognized the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my siblings.” (9:3)

With Paul’s deep feelings, I could just as easily have called this sermon ‘Semitic Sorrow,’ or ‘Hebrew Heartache.’ I called it ‘Aramaic Anguish’ for the sake of alliteration.

It can be important to express anguish over those we want to have faith. We each have different experiences of wanting more for those we love. It can be as simple as longing for someone to ‘see the light’ and get connected to God through Jesus, like we are. The Baptist tradition is rooted, partly, in evangelicalism, with its deep concern for people to be saved by Christ, and be assured they will live for God here in this life, and the next. But our faith also believes so strongly in individual human freedoms, including the freedom to choose to be a follower of Jesus, or not. So we pray, and we find the best ways we can find to show The Way. 

There are many people who had experience in churches, but do not take part in any community of faith now. What is the number of young people who spent time in these hallowed halls, or those of Trinity-St. Stephen’s, and are no longer youths, but are no longer practicing Christians? The deep longing that is akin to what’s in Romans 9 is a genuine concern for people to have a better life. It is not so much about making our Church congregations more successful; it is about the people who could use a faith community.

There is also the anguish over loved ones who are simply going a wrong way in their day-to-day lives, as we see it, and we wish they would find the right path. I think of a young man I met in Amherst this past winter. I had known him back when he was but a child. It was good to get reacquainted. I’m not sure what he has been doing, where he’s been living. His grandmother is a long-time friend of mine. I know she is concerned about him: is he taking care of himself? Is he taking his medication? Is he finding work? Is he keeping in touch with immediate family, or not? 

Sometimes people wish they could do something, even give up something to help someone they care about; a bit like the apostle Paul. He seemed willing to do anything to convince his fellow Jews that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Paul said so. And we confess our anxieties for those dear to us. This also leads us to prayer.

A second thing I pondered this week, from Romans 9, is this simple fact that our religion comes out of Judaism. Remember: our Faith is built from another, older tradition. More pages of our Holy Bible are the Hebrew Bible than the New Testament. Seldom do we notice, or acknowledge, that we took their Holy Book, claimed it as our own, and added to it. Perhaps if we saw it more often in its original Hebrew language and Aramaic language, we’d remember the deep roots of our Faith. 

It is important to remember from whence we come. It is so valuable to have some deep roots to grow from, and not be simply creating and inventing our own spirituality in this century. Looking in to the Hebrew Bible, we see how they valued their history - or, needed often to be reminded of it, for the sake of living well!

For instance, thousands of years ago, when they got into their promised land, they were to worship and make their first offerings of their first harvest by reciting a speech that began with this: 

A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populus. (Deuteronomy 26:5)

With a brand new start, they were to remember their ancestors. The Arameans, by the way, were people from a region of the Middle East, including the ancient Hebrews, the Jews. In some Bible times, the Aramaic language was spoken; words of this common language pop up in the scriptures, and a big part of the Old Testament’s book of Daniel was written down in Aramaic. 

From the wandering Arameans, Abraham and Sarah, to his contemporary Jewish rabbis and leaders, Paul understood and respected the faith, the traditions, the beliefs the Jews had. Their life with God was rich; their stories dramatic and dynamic. From this fertile ground the Messiah arrived, and the new faith in Jesus grew. A thorough study of our book of Romans will teach us the place of Jews in the plan of God on earth.

So this brings me to a final observation from chapter 9. There is so much in Christianity, passed on to us from Judaism. Our spirituality is rich and full. So, remember all the aspects of faith, such as those Paul listed here. I could play with words again, and name them all starting with the letter A. From our Hebrew faith roots we gain

the Adoption

the awesomeness (glory)

the agreements (covenants)

the axioms (laws given)

the adoration (worship)

the assurances (promises)

the ancestors (patriarchs)

and the Anointed One (Messiah/Christ).

The holy glory of God is shown in the story of the Hebrews. The covenants between God and people grow and blossom thru history. The giving of the law - as a gift to people - is celebrated. The worship of almighty God develops and evolves in Judaism, and keeps growing in Christianity. The promises of God are there in the past, and fulfilled in bright new ways by Christ. The ancestors, the patriarchs, have their stories still told: like that today of Jacob wrestling and getting a new name, Israel. And from Judaism comes their Messiah and ours, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, our Saviour, Teacher, Master and Friend.

And there are so many other facets of the diamond we call Christian Faith! No wonder we have a sermon every week. Speaking of this, in the next Sundays, I am going to move ahead to Romans chapter 12, and stretch it out over four weeks. It is a rich chapter that can influence our community building.

Until then, we express our own anguish - to one another and to our God - and find that a sorrow shared is halved, while a joy shared is doubled. May it be so; in the name of God the Parent, the Sibling, and the Spirit. AMEN.

SERMON: Kindred Spirits?

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10:30 am, Sun, June 25, 2023 - JGWhite/FBCA

(Gen 21:8-21; Ps 86; Rom 6:1b-11) 

Stories from Genesis are carrying us into the summer. Next Sunday, and on into August – when we are back in these pews – we will still be reading the saga of the patriarchs and matriarchs. Today, this dramatic story about Abraham, Sarah, and their son Isaac, AND  their household servant or slave, Hagar, with Ishmael, the son she had with Abraham. Talk about drama.

Looking at this familiar scene in Genesis 21 got me thinking immediately about some religions of the world. The three Abrahamic religions, as they are called: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They all look back to Abraham and Sara. The Arabs of the world, and the Muslim faith, look to Father Abraham. Islam actually claims Abraham as the first true Muslim. Of course, he was a primordial Jew. And then, in our New Testament, we have the authors of Romans and of Hebrews (and other scripture texts) speaking of Abraham’s faith, consistent with Christian faith. In Romans 4, for instance, the Christian writer speaks of those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us…)

But let’s take a couple minutes to reflect on this child, Ishmael, who with his mother is rejected by the Abraham-Sarah family. He and his mother survive, by the grace of God, and with a promise to be the ancestor of many people. Ishmael goes on to have twelve sons; his tribes are considered to be at the roots of the Arabs, & many Moslems.

We Christians, would we say we are kinfolk of the Muslims? With them and the Jews we are monotheistic, declaring there is actually only One God in the universe. Are we kindred spiritualities, despite what seem to be our many differences? Is it to the same God they and we pray and devote our lives? Whatever our attitude is about this, it is important how we relate to this other faith group in the world, as well as all the others. Today we saw young Isaac and Ishmael as half-brother playmates. Sarah decides this other child and his mother have to go, have to leave the household. Abraham is reluctant about this, but YHWH God assures Abe that this child will be well, in fact, will be blessed. Today, we might bless Muslims or we might curse them.

What I truly want to get to in this sermon is some dialogue about what the core things are about being Christian. Getting to know another faith can help us clarify who we are, and how we relate to God.

Islam is a world religion that is complicated, like Christianity is, but we can simplify what it means to be Muslim. They are known for their five pillars, five main things they do.

There is Bearing Witness, which in essence is that they declare the following: I bear witness that there is no god except God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God. To declare this with words is confirmed, of course, by declaring it in the rest of life.

The second pillar is Prayer. At the heart of this, for Muslims, are the prayers said five times a day, at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark. Other prayer and devotion are in addition to this.

Another core practice of Islam is Almsgiving, sharing with the poor and needy. Not only are those in need helped by this, but the giver is understood to be purified from greed and attachment to material possessions.

The fourth pillar is Fasting during Ramadan, a special month in their lunar calendar, so it moves, starting about eleven days earlier each year. Other special things are done in this time also.

And the fifth pillar of Islam is the Pilgrimage to Makkah. Not everyone manages to do this of course; it involves a journey to a sacred site in Saudi Arabia, with a structure Muslims believe was set up by Abrahm and his son Ishmael!

We are not here to study this religion today; I simply mention these Pillars to reflect on what we know we might share in common with these millions of folks, and then how to be clear about what we say we Christians are. We don’t say we have five pillars, or an eightfold path (like Buddhism), but what do we say are our main things, Christians? Here is where we get to dialogue, and build our sermon together. What things we do because of our lives of Faith? What binds us together, so we are kindred spirits, in the name of Jesus?

Let me start the conversation right here, with Jesus. To take our angle on the first pillar I just stated, I’d say we are bearing witness that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. And there is a lot more we experience with Christ that we explain in a lot of other ways. So much of it rooted in our scriptures. We heard today a bit from Romans 6, and a bunch of language about sin and forgiveness, dying and being resurrected with Jesus.

Maybe there are two things here. One is the idea of Christian witnessing: we have a role to let the world know this. We show and tell this. The second thing is how God helps us with all the problems of life: evil, sin, suffering, unfairness, and death. How does God help us? With Jesus, His life and everything Christ is and does. The whole story. We call this the Gospel.

OK, what are other main things that make Christians Christian? How would some alien visiting from another galaxy know you are a Christian, or not one? How do we act differently?

Prayer and worship (Ps praising)             Contemplative

     (Abraham, Hagar w God)                   Evangelical

                                                                 Holiness

Service/serving                                        Social Justice

                                                                 Charismatic

                                                                 Sacramental

Discipleship to Jesus: following              Mtt 10:24, 25a

4 “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. We are kindred spirits, in a fresh way, when we are disciples of the Master.

SERMON: Dad Jokes

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10:30 am, (Fathers' Day) Sunday, June 18, 2023  

(Gen 18:1-15; Mtt 8:18-21) FBCA, J G White

One more reading, today, from Olde Charlie Farquharson’s Testament (Don Harron, 1978, pp.18, 20) in Jennysez 18.

God never fergot about the I-sick projek. One day He come before Abie-ham sittin in front of his tent flaps in the heat. It was so wavy hot God looked like three people at once. Abie-ham sed, “Come in, wash yer feet, rest yerself. I’ll git you bread and milk before you pass on.” Abie-ham run back into the tent, sold Sairy to kneed some meel and whip up a cake. He got a servant to pick a calf and prepair it, with curds and milk along the wey. Abie-ham stood by them wile the three of them (who was still reely God) et. 

They (God) ast after the wearabouts of his wife Sairy. “In the back of yer tense,” sez Abie-ham. 

Then the three Lords sed, “Be back next spring to have a look at her brannew, bouncin baby boy I-sick.” 

Sairy, as was her want, was listening behind the tent door in a flap. Sairy thot fer sure she was past all that. She started to laff at the thot of it starting all over again. God herd her, wunderd what she was laffin’ at. Becuz nothin is too hard fer the Lord. Sairy got scairt, clamed she never laffed. God sed, “Oh yes you did, but if you think we’re kidding now, wait till next spring.”

Humour and fun and laughter have a role in life, and in our faith. Today, I wanted us to know that, celebrate that, have fun with that. In a few minutes, before our Prayers of the People we’ll have ‘Jokes of the People.’ Some of you can take turns telling a good joke to us. 

Can joke telling be worship, Divine Worship? 

Well, preachers get away with it.

‘How many Baptists does it take to change a lightbulb?’

‘Change!?’

I am relieved. Years ago, such lame laughs in Church would be called ‘preacher jokes.’ Now they get called ‘dad jokes,’ and we ministers are not all to blame for such silly stuff. 

Looking back, thousands of years, it can be hard for us to see all the humour in the Bible. But it is there, It is just from a different culture, and different languages. Does not always translate great into English today. When God showed prophet Amos a summer fruit basket, the word for that was qayits, to which Yahweh said, “The end has come upon my people,” the Hebrew for ‘end’ bing qets. Qayits and qets, a pun. Same with other prophets, like Jeremiah. 

He was asked, “What do you see?” 

“A rod of almond,” in Hebrew, shaqed. 

The Lord said, “I am watching over my word to perform it.” Hebrew for ‘watching’ is shoqed. Shaqed and shoqed. A pun with punch, we might say. 

Today’s big text was with Abraham and Sarah. Famously, Sara laughed. But follow the whole story, and you find Abraham laughed - falling on his face, in fact - in chapter 17, then Sarah laughs outside the tent flap in 18, then their son finally is born in chapter 21, named ‘Isaac,’ which apparently means ‘he laughs.’ 

Parenthood was no laughing matter, in ancient cultures, of course, and being childless carried a lot of stigma, not to mention some family and economic hardship, at times. Today, raising children, and not having children, can have serious challenges. 

This week I am seeing that face-to-face. A funeral home recruited me for a service in honour of a 44 year old mother who suddenly died, leaving her fiancée, a 14 year old daughter, and a one month old daughter! Oh, this is terrible.

It could be a long while before there is much laughter and joy for this family. Have mercy, O God - let there be joy and happiness in their future. Let it be. Let the words of this hymn come true:

Even in sorrow and hours of grief, 

laughter with tears brings most healing relief.

God, give us laughter, and God, give us peace,

joys of your promise among us increase.

In the face of death itself, there will be laughter. Jesus laughs at evil and mortality. In many ways, our Saviour used humour. That little Gospel reading today, it sees Jesus’ intense use of humour. The saying about the ‘dead undertakers.’ Ever notice the ‘dead undertakers?’ I’ll have to point this out to Mischa and Weston and the rest. “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” In the Jewish culture and faith, family funeral responsibilities were huge. Jesus’ saying packed a punch! Our sense of fun often is more joyful.

A minute ago, I quoted a song we will have to learn, as ‘hymn of the month,’ sometime. Give to Us Laughter,  by Canadian hymn writer Walter Farquharson (he’s a real Farquharson!).

Give to us laughter, O Source of our life.

Laughter can banish so much of our strife. 

Laughter and love give us wholeness and health.

Laughter and love are the coin of true wealth.

Laughter is good medicine: for society, for self and soul and body. Some people have a real gift for humour - it is such an asset to them, and those around them. 

I think of lots of people, one being dear Donna Childs, God love her. Lately, she has been in and out of hospital, had tests, and surgery, and pills, pills, pills. So many pills only the VON can keep track of them! But I so enjoy getting to talk with Donna, she is always laughing and telling stories, and having fun in the chatting, in fellowshipping. She perks me up! “Might as well laugh as cry’ could be her motto, and there’s a lot of truth to that. 

God’s grace is so BIG, we can laugh in the face of trouble. Remember, in his big sermon, Jesus proclaimed: 11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Mtt 5)

Humour puts our life into perspective. It is a good ingredient for keeping us humble! Jesus called the proud religious Scribes and Pharisees whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of uncleanness. He called king Herod, that Fox. He said those who would not follow His practical teaching were like the person who built a house upon the sand, a laughable construction project.

So, joy and fun have power, real power in this world. We must let people know they need not underestimate the importance of humour. At the beginning of his brilliant book, The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis quotes the protestant church reformer, Martin Luther, and the Catholic saint, Sir Thomas More. 

The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn.

The devil… the prowde spirite… cannot endure to be mocked. 

There is a serious, spiritual sarcasm that tears down evil, and breaks up bad plans. Political cartoonists have always known this. So have stand-up comedians. I learn a lot about national events by listening to ‘Because News’ on CBC radio. World events are so discouraging; we need to rejoice in how ridiculous evil activities truly are. All the great humourists know the power of telling the truth by making people smirk. The greatest preachers have known this too.

So I can end my funny thoughts today, quoting the apostle Paul, from his great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, as he mocks and makes fun of death itself. 

54…the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?

    Where, O death, is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s last laugh is on evil and death. They don’t win. This is the best ‘Dad joke’ of all. 

SERMON: Doubt & Worship

10:30 am, Trinity Sunday, June 4, 2023  

(Gen 1:1-2:4a; Mtt 28:16-20) FBCA, J G White

About fifteen years ago I heard Brian McLaren speak, in his early, ‘progressive Christian’ days. He was at the evangelism conference in Saint Andrews, NB. One of the things he pointed out, that I’ve always remembered, is how worship and doubt were still together among the eleven disciples of Jesus, at their very last moment with Him, when Christ gave them, one final time, their mission in the world. Matthew tells us, as they met Jesus in Galilee: When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. 

There are many different doubts that circle around Faith. For a century or two now, many people have had doubts about the Creator of creation. Today, we heard the recitation of the first creation story from Genesis. It is well-known, pivotal scripture for us. Its ancient beauty still speaks; it has mythological power in our culture. And people still debate things about creation: is it a creation - designed and created by Something? How did it come to be - how long was the process? Can I be a churchgoer and think differently about the universe? Me, worshipping and doubting at the same time?

God created humankind in his image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

I can still remember, from a Baptist Sunday School classroom of my youth, a poster with fish and octopus and monkeys on it, making fun of the theory of evolution: because God created it all in 144 hours (six days)! In my childhood, with my love of nature and of dinosaurs and of volcanoes, I could never accept an actual six day creation, or reject continental drift or the evolution of life. I wanted Genesis 1 to work differently. When I was eighteen years old, I learned it could, and was given permission to enjoy both perspectives: science and my spirituality. 

To be honest, I never doubted God as the Creator. Many people do doubt this, and give up on the whole divine idea. With them, we must strive to be together in awe of life and the universe. We have that in common. Then, with believers of a more literal-historical view of Genesis, we must remember our oneness in Christ, as well as the respect for creation and Creator that we share. 

Let’s face some other doubts people have. A very personal one can be doubts about my own life purpose, my value and goodness. Today’s poem, inspired by Psalm 8, says to God:

I wonder what am I that you remember me

that you love me as you do 

you have called me from the height and depth of all creation

Over and over in Genesis 1, the six days of creation, we hear God speaking. The one who spoke each element of creation into being then observes all as good. God saw that it was good. Seven times, God saw that it was good. Including humanity, adam.

Next Sunday, Christian Education Sunday, we will view a scene of father Abraham, pictured on our bulletin cover this month. As seniors, Abram and Sarai were given - by YHWY God - a new life purpose, a whole new plan, a journey to take to an unknown place, and a mission: to bless the world! Stay tuned next Sunday for that.

What is my plan? What is my little purpose on earth? Everyone needs to know. Some do know. Some get it wrong, for a while. Some never quite know. They doubt there is meaning to life, at least, to their own life. Perhaps most of us have had moments of this, at some time or other. So we can understand how deep the need is when we find someone lost in themselves, not knowing why they live. When we know they are made in the very image of God, we will value them and can come alongside them, to share the hope.

Also notice again, that those with doubts are still given a mission, a purpose, a plan, by Jesus. ‘Go, and do some beautiful things,’ Jesus says to those who worship and those with doubts.

Many people have doubts about what God would and will do with the world. Is God truly as good as we make him out to be? Because there is not a lot of good winning out in this world! And how can we understand all this scripture stuff, anyway? All the great promises? There are so many theories, so many interpretations, and not too many are coming true. Or are they?

Tomorrow evening, the Bible Basics group will tackle the book of the prophet Ezekiel, all 45 pages of it. I opened this service with words from chapter seventeen. Words from God, back then.

I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree.

I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it. 

This is an echo of many songs of faith that have been sung: like that of Hannah, mother of Samuel, and Mary, mother of Jesus. God brings down the nasty, greedy, prosperous people, and lifts up for blessings the poor, the weak, the hurting, the hungry, the disabled. 

All this is certainly what Jesus began to bring about, in His neck of the woods, for three years. What has happened since?

Martin Luther King, Jr. paraphrased an earlier preacher, Theodore Parker (1853), when he declared, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” (~1964) This is in the story of our faith, in so many of the faith stories we tell.  We have this faith that things are headed in the right direction, that God is up to something, behind the scenes, and “all will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well,” as Julian of Norwich said. 

But it can be doubted. It can be so hard to have that faith when all manner of things are not going well at all. 

Yet we pray, all the same. We have some doubts, and we worship. We learn in the life of Faith to lament - to complain to God - and to ask ‘Why?’ ‘How long?’ Let us seek, and let us find. Let us thirst for what’s right, until the showers of blessing come down.

Another basic doubt is about our relationship with God. Do people feel they are abiding in the Vine, Jesus? When does someone just live in hope, but not feel connected? 

Most Sundays, our first song says,

Let us build a house where love can dwell

and all can safely live…

here the love of Christ shall end divisions. (Marty Haughen, ‘94)

Do you feel safe with God? And is your own body a home for the Holy Spirit, as the Bible tells us it is? Are you unsure? 

For years I think I took for granted that no church people were worried about if they were right with God, going to heaven after death, and so forth. I guess it was my Minister Emeritus in another Church who taught me how important the ‘assurance of salvation’ is for so many believers. People need a sense of being sure about their life with God, here, and after death. Even people of the pews often have doubts. 

I remember a Baptist Church I spent time with one year. The organist at the time was an amazing person. She had been playing in churches and directing choirs for sixty years, at least. She was a grand musician, and knew just what to do with each choir she had. I remember that summer, 1993, learning ‘Brother James’ Air’ in the little church choir, among other sublime pieces. I remember, vividly, as she once played for a soloist singing ‘His Eye Is On the Sparrow.’ 

Anyway, a few years later, I heard from a colleague that she was at the end of her life. My minister friend was with her. This elderly woman of faithful musical ministry expressed some doubts about what might happen to her next! My wise friend said, “You believe in God, and that God is Love?” 

“Yes,” she said. 

“And you have experienced love? And you have loved others?” And so forth they talked. Even that great woman of the Church needed some personal assurances of the Gospel message she had expressed in so much music through the years. Never forget that most people need encouragement, not correction, when it comes to their relationship with God. 

One last doubt we should recognize, when we worship, is doubt about religion and local church. I think many of us preachers, at the front, easily forget that a person in the pew can have a lot of questions about the value of this whole venture. It can be too easy for a minister to be surprised when someone drops out. Or we take it personally. A friend who is a preacher in Edmonton wisely speaks of being so grateful - and amazed - that people still do come to the pews on Sundays! Me, I used to get upset when I heard of any retired minister who quit going to church, or when there was no funeral when one died! Let that be a lesson to me that we all have moments of doubt about our religion, if not our spirituality. 

Church… I love Church. You can probably tell. But don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. We are very much a faulty, failing, sometimes flailing, human institution. Yes, I believe Jesus birthed us. But we are still us. And so stuck in our ways, and getting in our own way. Ever since the Church in Corinth, we have had real troubles and confusion. So, let’s not fret when people, you and me included, have real doubts about the Church. This also goes hand-in-hand with being worshippers. 

Remember. God made each of us good. 

God made the Church, and that’s a good thing too.

This whole inbreaking of God’s Kingdom is a world-wide, history crossing endeavour. It is far greater than we can see here now.

And we have Jesus. Jesus still leaves us, and leaves us to some of our own devices; yet Christ is, on another level, with us always, to the end of the age. That’s what this Holy Spirit is all about. Once again, the Spirit reminds us we are sent, we go into all our world, to build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live. 

Amen.

SERMON: Tending the Fire

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SERMON: Tending the Fire (Earth Days 6/6) - Jeff G. White

10:30 am, Pentecost Sunday, May 28, 2023  (Acts 2:1-21; 1 Cor 12:3b-13) FBCA, J G White

To tend a campfire you have to know how fire works: how it burns, and what puts it out. Most of us learned about this as children. Sharon White is preaching today at Parrsboro Baptist, but if she were here I’d ask her to explain the fire triangle. What are the three things needed for fire to burn? Fuel. Oxygen. Heat. Take away one and the fire goes out. 

‘Fire’ can be for us a symbol of all the energy we use in our lives. Even our metabolism, our bodies, use fuel with oxygen to give us energy and heat. All our electronics, at home and in cars and all, use electricity, not to mention the combustion of fuels, or direct solar energy to get things done. In our personal lives, we talk of the emotional energy it takes to live life, the creative energy we have to make beautiful stuff, the physical energy to move and be active, or the spiritual energy to be who we are meant to be. 

So fire, in ancient days, was a power and a symbol of so much energy. In scripture it burns away what is bad. It lights the way in the darkness. It prepares food. It energizes humans from within. Today we glimpse those little flames of the Holy Spirit of God, seen above each disciple of Jesus on that festive day in Jerusalem, long ago. The wind of the Spirit, and the fire, came upon the people; Christianity was born, communication was opened up wide, and the Jesus people were energized as never before.

As a lovely campfire so often is, our glowing inner light and life is a community thing, shared by a group. We all help. We did not invent fire, and similarly, God the Spirit is so creative in our midst. But how do we do our part to tend the fire kindled in our souls? What helpful activities do we say we offer the world around us? 

We would do well to mention just four things, among many. I pick three things from Richard Foster’s classic book, Celebration of Discipline (1988). And  the three ‘spiritual disciplines’ or practices I choose he said were ‘corporate,’ for the fellowship, for people to do together: Confession, Worship, and Celebration.

Here we are doing one now: worshipping God, together. We know the deep human need to get together, to be together, to share our spirituality. At its best that’s what ‘religion’ is, a way to share our spiritual lives, the inner life. We help one another keep the inner flame kindled. We each are lights in the darkness: together we shine.

The ways we happen to gather is based on patterns and traditions that are quite old. It happens to be on a Sunday morning. It happens to be in a special building we have built for this purpose. The things we do, and who among us does them, is based on ways of the past. In every age, in every year, it is worth reviewing - with the Spirit - how this is working for us, and what else we might do. Perhaps, when our Music Committee meets tomorrow, we will wonder about how our music is working for us here. 

Worshipping together is one action that makes Christians Christians, and puts us in one place where the Spirit can bless us. Another spiritual practice of the fellowship is actually Celebration! This also kindles the fire of the Spirit within people. 

Maybe you don’t think of celebration as a ‘spiritual discipline,’ but the great teachers on Christian spirituality declare that it is. As Baptist preacher and teacher, Tony Campolo, said, “The Kingdom of God Is a Party.” Just think of how many times we read in scripture of Jesus at feasts and festivities. From the wedding in a village called Cana, to the Revelation vision of the marriage feast of the Lamb (Jesus) and his bride (the Church), God parties with God’s people. 

I know that you, dear Church, know how to party. You know how to eat, and eat well. You can decorate. You can put together speeches and skits and songs. Perhaps we can bank on this strength - is it a spiritual gift? - and grow our celebrating skills, share them, include more people in the parties. Parties for God. Parties of welcome. Parties of purpose. 

A third Christian spiritual practice we have that is a real blessing to offer the world is Confession. Confession and forgiveness. I think this happens in subtle ways among us, is more hidden, and that we have more to learn here than in other arenas. We do well to start this as Richard Foster started his chapter on the subject, with a warning, a reminder. 

The usual notion of what Jesus did on the cross runs something like this: people were so bad and mean and God was so angry with them that he could not forgive them unless somebody big enough took the rap for the whole lot of them. 

Nothing could be farther from the truth, wrote Foster. Love, not anger, brought Jesus to the cross. Golgotha came as a result of God’s great desire to forgive, not his reluctance. Jesus knew that by his vicarious suffering he could actually absorb all the evil of humanity and so heal it, forgive it, redeem it. (p. 143)

Confessing and seeking forgiveness is so often a personal, private thing. But these inspiring experts put it with the spiritual practices we do together, not alone. Why? Because so much can happen when what’s wrong and what hurts is heard by others, and we receive their blessing in Jesus’ name, when we give forgiveness from Christ to others. We tend the fire of our faith when we share ourselves, warts and all, and find welcoming love from the people around us. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer so beautifully taught about confession in the fellowship in his little book, ‘Life Together.’ One who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person. Bonhoeffer had earlier written of the ‘pious fellowship’ not daring to allow a ‘sinner’ in! But there is no true, deep fellowship when everyone pretends to be only a saint, and the deepest needs for God are never shared. 

Early in his pastoral ministry, Richard Foster went to a trusted friend in his congregation for confession and forgiveness. Richard had taken three moments on three days to write down on paper things from his life that might need forgiveness or healing. When he finally met with his confessor, he slowly, sometimes painfully, read his lists to him. As he started to put the papers back in his briefcase, the friend took them. Without a word, he tore each paper into tiny, tiny bits, and dropped them into a wastepaper basket. With the laying on of hands, the man prayed a prayer of healing for all the sorrows and hurts of Richard’s past. The power of that prayer lives on with him to today. 

We, dear congregation, are a healing place, when we develop and practice the habits of confessing and forgiving. There may be more skills and training we could undergo, and learn from the Master to do this all the better. We can be apprentices in forgiveness. What a ministry to our community, to be a people of real forgiveness! How powerful. How healing. How purifying, with that fire of the Holy Spirit to consume the evil and hurt in each of us.

Can we believe what is written in 2 Corinthians 5? 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Christian Church. Born to do such good in the world. Needed more than ever today. Together, whether worshipping, celebrating, confessing and forgiving, or doing other miracles, we are tending the fire of the human spirit. 

Thursday, December 29

Psalm 148:13-14  Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his glory is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
    praise for all his faithful,
    for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!

 

Friday, December 30

Hebrews 2:11-12  For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.  For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters;  in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

 

Saturday, December 31

Matthew 2:13-15  Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

Wed, Dec 28 Devotional

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Isaiah 63:8-9 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
    children who will not act deceitfully,”
and he became their savior
9     in all their distress.
It was no messenger or angel
    but his presence that saved them;
in his love and pity it was he who redeemed them;
    he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

For he said “surely they are my people, children who will not act deceitfully,” and he became their Saviour in all their distress.

It was no messenger or angel, but his presence that saved them; in his love and pity it was He who redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

              - Barb Lowther

Mon, Dec 26 Devotional

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 Unto us a boy is born! The King of all creation,

Came He to a world forlorn, The Lord of every nation.

          Christmas is past, the tree and decorations are put away.  Many days and money were spent for yesterday’s big party.  For what reason-just to have a big party, or was it for another reason?  Did you open your Bible and read Luke’s account of the birth of baby Jesus?  Did you bow your heads and thank God?

The baby Jesus grew to manhood to be our Saviour.  At the age of 30, He started His three year mission of teaching, preaching and healing.  Great crowds followed HIM.  The religious leaders hated Him and made plans to crucify Jesus.  Besides being our Saviour, Jesus gave us three more gifts.

Death: Jesus died on a cruel roman cross bearing our sins in His body and shedding His blood to wash away our sins; so we can stand before God the Father - justified - just as if we had never sinned.

Resurrection: After lying in the grave from Friday sunset to sunrise Sunday, Jesus arose and appeared to His disciples and faithful followers.  Someday, we too shall arise to be with Him.

Ascension: Jesus told His disciples to go to a nearby mountain where He would meet them.  He spoke His last words and told them “...go and make disciples of all nations…” Matthew 28:19.  He ascended through the clouds and is seated by God, His Father.  One day we shall ascend to be with Jesus in that most beautiful placed called HEAVEN.

Is Jesus your Saviour?  He’s mine!

      - Eben Lennox

Sun, Dec 25 Devotional

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Luke 2:6-7 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.

      Whether it is an unexpected visit at just the wrong time, an unscheduled meeting in the middle of the day or a flat tire on the way to hockey practice, life is full of interruptions.  These unplanned and unwanted little inconveniences alter our plans and change our agenda, often leaving us irritated and upset.

Jesus was born amidst just such an unplanned and inconvenient interruption.  I am sure that the unscheduled trip to Bethlehem or the added inconvenience of sleeping in a stable were not in Mary and Joseph’s plan, particularly in the ninth month of pregnancy.  Yet, what seemed an unwelcome interruption to Mary and Joseph was really a part of a much bigger plan.  The journey to Bethlehem and birth in a stable were necessary parts of fulfilling the prophesies concerning the Saviour.

It is my belief that God has a purpose and plan for our lives, that plan being to create in each of us the very character of Christ.  Ordinary, everyday problems have a way of forming our attitudes and shaping our reactions.  If we have God’s perspective, it is in the unexpected that we can expect to see Jesus.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to see You in all circumstances in our lives.  Thank You for making our lives a part of Your plan.  Teach us always to follow the footsteps of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  In His name we pray.  Amen.

 - Greg Wilson

Fri, Dec 23 Devotional

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Psalm 96:11-13

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar and all that fills it;
12     let the field exult and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13     before the Lord, for he is coming,
    for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
    and the peoples with his truth.

When we read a bit of this Psalm, I think of church services. Our whole plan can be seen in the 13 verses of Psalm 96. Here is: singing, saying how amazing God is, telling what God does, and bringing offerings/gifts. Author, Marva Dawn, has written a whole book about Christian worship, modeled on this text.

What we usually do in Churches is a far cry from what ‘worship’ was for Jews at the time of Jesus’ birth in the Middle East. The traditional Christmas Eve Service in our pews tomorrow evening will draw a large crowd. It is nothing like the animal sacrifices or ceremonial washing prescribed in the Old Testament. Yet the Psalms - and other texts - are filled with words of praise that still inspire our singing and talking and praying when we worship God.

One interesting image at the end of Psalm 96 is that mention of the trees (of all things!) singing for joy: God is arriving to make things right! Let’s pray for this.

Holy God, do you really bring joy even to the trees? In these days may we join all creation and all Christians in loud praise of Jesus, making things right. And give us quiet moments amid the hustle and bustle to rejoice as quietly as the trees do.

- Rev. Jeff White

Thrs, Dec 22 Devotional

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Isaiah 9:6-7  For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Great will be his authority, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

The moment I read the words “for unto us a child is born” I begin to sing them in my head, doing my best to capture the sprightly cadence of the 12th part of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah. I do not possess a talent for recounting scripture, but I am confident I can recite Isaiah 9:6—sing it, even. My familiarity with these verses is because my father listened to the entirety of Handel’s Messiah every Christmas Day while we cleaned up from the morning’s activities.

My father also made efforts through the years to attend live performances of Messiah with me, each of which occurred during the days leading up to Christmas. As such, Isaiah’s foretelling of Jesus’s birth and establishment of His kingdom, and the zeal by which the Lord (Jesus’s father!) will perform these feats, is as much a part of the Christmas story for me as the account of Jesus’s actual birth as told in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. With each line, Isaiah’s words impress upon me the love of a father, whether it be my earthly one or my heavenly one.

Prayer: Jesus, during this season of your birth let us remember the love of fathers, as Your father loved You and as You love us as our everlasting Father.  Amen.    

   - Joshua Shelley

Wed, Dec 21 Devotional

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Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

Gloria in excelsis Deo.

 The shepherds went back, singing praises to God for all they had heard and seen: it had been just as the angels had told them.

When the shepherds returned to their flock of sheep after seeing the baby Jesus, do you think they may have been singing Gloria in Excelsis Deo?  The same song they heard the angels singing.

Sometimes a sing gets into your head and you can’t stop yourself from singing it. The song may make you happy, it may make you sad, or it may have you remembering someone you love. I truly believe God likes to hear us sing. He doesn’t care how we sound, it just makes Him happy. It doesn’t matter whether we are singing about Him, singing a popular jungle or a lullaby to soothe a crying baby. Sing it loud and proud God and you are enjoying it and He loves to hear you sing.

Prayer: Dear God we have so many reasons to sing your praises. As this Christmas season draws near help us to be grateful for all you do for us. Always remembering Your son Jesus is the true reason for this season of great joy for over 2000 years. Amen

- Sherrill Pettigrew

Tues, Dec 20 Devotional

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Angels we have heard on high, Sweetly singing o’er the plains.

And the mountains in reply Echo back their joyous strains

Gloria in excelsis Deo.

The angels sang. The mountains replied - heaven & earth harmonious! The familiar carol recalls the experience of the trembling shepherds' from Luke's Gospel, so vivid and gripping it prompted them to search for the birth of Love.

On Christmas Eve morning 2020, fleeting as it was, I experienced a heaven-and-earth moment myself. Out early to complete last minute errands, I was grumpy - a pandemic was messing with family plans. In seeming accord with my frame of mind, the most dreary Christmas carol I'd ever heard  was playing on CBC.

 In its rhythm, the traffic light flashed green.  At the same time I registered the only clear lyrics from the grating carol, ..."dreams do come true"...hmp.  Making a left turn onto Robert Angus Drive I noticed,  for the first time that morning, a clear azure sky.  Straightening the car, now heading directly East, that sky was lit by a brilliant white flash, then a cascading watercolour vapor trail: blue to aqua to green to pink before fading.

 It must have all happened in a moment , but at the time I felt transported to the heavens. I'd become a part of the splendour of a rare daylight fireball! As the heavenly body vanished my heart sang a new song  -  gratitude and love. Like the shepherds of old, I would praise the day knowing: a young couple can surmount daunting circumstances; a stable can be a home for a time; & a little child can lead us.

Prayer: Wondrous God, open our hearts to perceive the glory of your presence in our everyday lives. We need  to hear the Angel choirs singing peace to troubled minds;  breathing softness and compassion. And hearing the songs,  we ask your guidance to act in harmony.  Amen

- Cynthia McCarthy

Mon, Dec 19 Devotional

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Matthew 1:19-21 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

My Poem:  Joseph was worried about his dear wife 

Because she was ‘bout to give birth to a life  

But she was a virgin and he was ashamed,

He’d divorce quietly and not be to blame

But that night on high, an angel came to him,

And said that the child would clear man of sin.

The angel also said that he should not leave his son

Mary was to name him Jesus and he’d be the only one;

To save all God’s people from the sin that they had done.

 

My Reflection: Frankly, I’m impressed at how brave Joseph would’ve had to be to face that he might have been publicly disgraced. But, he was brave, and in the end, he chose the option of protecting and raising his son - at the risk of being mocked - instead of the latter. I, in this position, would have found it very hard to decide. Of course, I don’t have any experience raising a child, but I bet it was hard for Joseph. 

Prayer: Lord, help us today to make good decisions even if we don’t want to. Help us also to be brave like Joseph and the unfathomable decision that he was told to make. Many times in the day we do not follow this, and choose not the right path but the most convenient option we see. In Your name, Amen.     

- C. W. SHELLEY

Sat, Dec 17 Devotional

Psalm 80:1-3 1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 2  before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!

3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

On October 16, 2015, my family and I received the call no one wants!  “Your husband had a bad work accident and is being life-flighted to Halifax.”  He had fallen 17 feet from a ladder and had crushed his skull, crushed his pelvis and broke ribs, his shoulder and bones in his back and neck.  He had three brain bleeds.

As we sat together in the family room the doctor gave us the bad news that he had 99 percent chance that he would not survive!  At that moment I felt a peace come over me and a feeling that everything would be alright.  We prayed every hour and had people praying all over the world.

By December 24, he was giving a day pass to spend Christmas with our family.  The doctors call him the “miracle man” because they have no scientific how he survived.  He is our “Christmas miracle”.  God is with us not just through the happy times, but also through he darkest times.  When we call to Him he answers.

Prayer: Thank you for always being there for us and hearing our prayers.  Because of you, we are never alone.  As we celebrate another Christmas may we always remember your gift to us of your precious son.  Amen.

         - Tammy Arseneau

Fri, Dec 16 Devotional

Isaiah 7:13-14 13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.

At times of uncertainty, we may look for a sign from God to guide us.  There are moments in our lives when we may reflect on having little faith and not trusting.  At these times, we may pray and ask God to show us the way to restore our faith.  However, we may be uncertain of whether to ask for guidance, and if so, how?

Signs from God can appear in many ways before the reveal themselves to us. They may be subtle and appear ordinary or they may be obvious, as in the scripture referred to above.  Patterns may develop that point us in a particular direction or we may notice signs shortly after praying for guidance.  Signs may occur as passive observations or they may occur by suddenly surprising us.

Are you open and receptive to receiving signs from God?  Are you able to recognize them when they present themselves?

It is important to regularly take time to be thoughtful and reflective.  Create quiet time and a clear mind so that God may speak to us.  God may send messages through various ways - whether in church, through another person, while connecting with nature or other means.

I invite you to practice meditating regularly, if only for a minute or two, allowing you to create inner peace-a time to be present and attentive to signs.  Start now by taking a few deep breaths and actively paying attention to the signs around you.

               - Tammy Allen

Thrs, Dec 15 Devotional

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Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Hail, the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings,

Risen with healing in His wings

T’was the night before Jesus came and all through the house

Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.

Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care

In hopes that Jesus would not come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed,

Not once kneeling or bowing a head.

And Mom in her rocker and baby on her lap

Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter,

I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!

When what to my wondering eyes should appear

But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.

With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray

I knew in a moment this must be the day!

The light of His face made me cover my head.

It was Jesus! Returning just like He had said.

And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,

I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the Book of Life which He held in His hand,

Was written the name of every saved man.

He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;

When He said, “it’s not here,” my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love

He gathered to take to His Father above.

With those who were ready He rose without a sound

While all the rest were left standing around.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;

The coming of Jesus is drawing near.

There’s only one life and when comes the last call,

We’ll find that the Bible was true after all!

 

-  a traditional poem, submitted by Pauline Lusby