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The Citizen, 2016-10-20, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2016. From the Minister's Study Pressure wash your spiritual life: Clark By Rev. Gary Clark Blyth and Brussels United Churches What a great Saturday we had last week. The weather was perfect for the outdoor work necessary to prepare for the coming winter. The garden was put to bed, lawn furniture stored away and that deck project that I have been putting off finally got done. For weeks I have been promising myself that I would borrow a pressure washer and clean off the cement pad and the wood privacy wall. Not that they are in bad shape, actually they look pretty good for having zero maintenance in the last six years. But it was time to freshen them up and the day was, as I said, perfect for the job. Within minutes of starting the process I was shocked at both the amount of grime that could come off under the pressure of the water but also by how good the wood and later the cement looked. Once again I want to be clear that things looked okay before I started. Maybe that is what led to my surprise at the big revel. It got me thinking about our lives. Most of us bump along day to day and feel life is o.k. and occasionally great. We begin to expect that next Monday will be pretty much like last Monday and that will be true the week after as well. Unfortunately too many of us have that sense that life is passing us by and we aren't getting very far. This really becomes obvious when the kids leave home and there are fewer markers, like graduation or the getting of a licence, to tell us that life is good and proceeding as it should. Somewhere, somehow the awesomeness of life is lost in the mundane tasks of living. Wouldn't it be great if someone came along with a spiritual or life renewing pressure washer? The grime that has subtlety layered and dimmed our lives and souls being washed away to revel a brightness that was there all along. The truth is that life is far brighter than we have come to expect or anticipate. Yet undeniably there is a longing for something brighter. We are far more awesome and talented than we give ourselves credit. But like my deck when our `living' is not tended to on an ongoing basis we lose sight of just how great life is - not can be, but is! There is a very sad picture coming out of a small town in Ohio. It is of a couple passed out in their SUV while their four-year-old child sits in his car seat in the back. They must have thought that they were being responsible parents making sure he was safely strapped in his seat but somehow thought it was okay to do drugs in the front seat. I assume this �it�iatg Water Ciiriatiaat Telletvdip Oct. 23: Prov.22:1, Eccles. 7:1 Guest Speaker Davies Mpinga "The Legacy of a Good Name" Coming Oct. 30: POTBLESS; Dave Martin, Voice of the Martyrs Evangelical Missionary Church Tues. 7:30 pm Small Group at G&M Lisle's, Wingham 1st Wed. each month, 7:00 pm - Women's Ministry 10:30 a.m. - Worship & Sunday School at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God) Pastor: Ernest Dow - 519-523-484 + getlivingwater.org couple was seeking escape from the dullness of life and chose drugs as their pressure washer. However I've never met or heard of anybody who said illegal drugs made their lives better, brighter and more exciting. All they have accomplished is an even greater level of numbness and the alienation of themselves from any other relationships that might actually brighten their lives. To what or where do we turn to for a spiritual or life affirming pressure wash that works? The first step in my opinion is to simply say, "today I want `more' out of life and I'm willing to look for and work for that `more' in how I live my life." You can't hope that somebody else pressure washing their life will make you feel better about yours. That is the limitation of a good sermon. I can preach it but the listener has to live it to make it worthwhile. You and I must walk that path for ourselves. Second is to find a way BRUSSELS to give of yourself to the community at large. There are lots of groups and organizations in every community that are working for the common good. Participation in any one of them will call forth gifts and skills from you that are challenging, tiring, maddening and finally satisfying. In getting involved, new facets of your character rise to the surface and are polished. A whole new you is discovered where you least expected it, within yourself! Lastly, I invite you to prepare for the struggle that will come when you are part of a group. In group dynamics we don't get our own way. There is compromise, negotiation and lots of meetings which doesn't sound like fun. However, the truth is that nothing can become better, purer and brighter without struggle, heat and friction. On your own you can mostly avoid this but in groups it is going to happen. You will not like it much but that is the pressure washer of life. Sometimes getting United Church WORSHIP SERVICE AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 10:00 am Everyone Welcome Minister: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M.Div. Bulletin notices: 519-523-4224 blythunited(a�tcc.on.ca Church bookings: 519-887-6377 Other concerns: 226-963-1175 ANGLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS B LYTH Trinity 6 9:15 am Church Office 519-357-4883 BRUSSELS St. John's 11:15 am Church Office 519-887-6862 Everyone Welcome! COME WORSHIP WITH US! DISCOVER WHY WE ARE GROWING ALWAYS A PLACE FOR YOU Every Sunday @ 10:30am huronchapel.com Blyth United Church Est. 1875 Worship Service & Sunday School at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, October 23 Moses Feels the Heat A« Welcome MINISTER: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. OFFICE: 519-523-4224 rubbed the wrong way is exactly what you need to discover your principles, your character and what matters to you. In this process you discover your true self. Oh and where might faith come in? Faith tells me and anybody who will listen that God has made us for great things. Things that we can't achieve alone. Things that are right here in our community and in our families. We need community and we need each other to be the best we can be. Community living can be messy, argumentative and conflictual. But it is also where we see the best of humanity and the potential that lies beneath the everyday humdrum. Get involved and find the life that you have been missing. It's not going to be easy but it will be worth it, because you are worth it. C4A.,,J.JOS ON $6.00 THURSDAYS Drop into either of our offices any Thursday with your word classified (maximum 20 words) and pay only $6.00 + HST (paid in advance). That's $1.00 off regular rates. The Citizen You're invited JCS SUNDAYS Morning Service Evening Service 7011'!/L L.S �I'1 1,� ,01:5 10:00 am 7:30 pm 111, BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH'4. j® ..., 4" 117 Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 We invite you to join our church family in: Worship & Sunday School - 10 am Coffee & Snacks - 11 am Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Nursery care available 519-887-9017 $iuQQeld eocrrsc2tittv 'i&e eitaizet You're ZnvitedT to come worship with usi eJ ? Sunday, October 23 Brussels Business & Cultural Centre at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service. For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph's Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N.