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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2013-01-24, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013. By Pastor Ernest Dow Living Water Christian Fellowship (EMC), Blyth “Only one in three Canadian young adults who attended church weekly as a child still do so today.” That’s just one statistic among many explored in a recent book that’s been challenging me: Hemorrhaging Faith: Why and When Canadian Young Adults are Leaving, Staying and Returning to Church. The authors (James Penner et al.) studied over 2,000 Canadian young people between the ages of 18 and 34. Researchers set out to understand why many who have grown up in church are no longer strongly engaged by the time they reach their adult years. One area in which youth are at variance with the religion of their forebears is what the study calls Ultimate Truth. The study says, “For most Canadian young adults, right and wrong are considered a matter of personal opinion. To them, no one has the right to lay an exclusive claim to the truth. Everything is relative. That is to say, it’s up to each person to decide for him, or herself, what is acceptable and what isn’t. It also means that right and wrong may be redefined based on the situation. When it comes to faith, young people are bothered by religious groups they see as claiming an exclusive hold on the truth. To the emerging generation, this is restrictive, intolerant and altogether narrow-minded.” Young adults who were interviewed said things like, “There is no right and wrong ever in anything, it’s what you believe in you as an individual and what you choose to do.” Another added, “How can we think it’s right to tell people that we are the only ones who are right?” Yet a third observed, “I just don’t think that people need to be labeled as a Christian or a Protestant Christian or a Muslim or anything like that. We all have one common goal, which is belief in God.” The report sums up young adults’ key viewpoints thus: “1. Truth is up to each person’s interpretation. 2. You can’t say your belief is the only right one and all others are wrong. 3. Your beliefs don’t matter. What matters is being a good person. 4. All religions are equal. We have the same goal to believe in God.” So, how’s a church to respond to these complaints? Do we need to back-pedal on fundamental truths we’ve clung to for centuries? Is it really ridiculous, as so many young adults seem to think, for any one religion to claim it holds the truth while others don’t? The study reports that many youth leave church over traditional views on premarital sex; the party scene; homosexuality; and gender roles. Do churchgoers need to revisit and revise their views in these areas just because “the times, they are a-changin”? This pastor would maintain that historic Christianity is founded on certain absolute truths that do not change with the times or people’s interpretation. Consequently, the church - and people in leadership positions in social spheres whether pastors, elders, or parents - are obliged to teach various standards of righteousness, and warn or even discipline those in their care who flaunt them. Not only because those standards are unchangingly true, but also because they were instituted in the first place for our good – the good of people in general. Briefly, the absoluteness of truth can be seen in God’s holy nature; Jesus’ primary mission; and Scripture’s basic use. First, God is holy, and He will hold us to account. In the vision of the prophet Isaiah, heavenly beings near God’s throne called out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Is 6:3) When God gave the Ten Commandments and other laws to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, the whole mountain was declared out-of-bounds and billowed with smoke and fire underscoring the Lord’s mighty awesomeness. (Ex 19) Peter reminded the early church, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1Pe 1:15f) God calls us, and empowers us by the Holy Spirit if we trust in Jesus, to behave according to a higher standard than others who don’t know Him. After all, it’s not the church’s judgment that finally matters. Prophets and apostles bear witness to a judgment that will take place at the end of time (Rev 20:12). All the church is doing is serving people by helping them be prepared for that final accounting for what they’ve done. Second, Jesus’ primary mission relates to the whole matter of what sin and righteousness are all about. He was named Jesus “because He will save His people from their sins.” (Mt 1:21) He warned people in His opening sermon that, unless their righteousness surpassed that of the religious leaders of their day, they would “certainly not” enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 5:20) And His earthly ministry, while containing many instances of teaching and miracles of healing, was not primarily oriented to such things; He summed up His purpose thus – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:45) The last half of Mark’s gospel zeroes in on Jesus determining to yield up His life as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of others. And following His resurrection, He commissioned His followers to teach others “to obey everything I have commanded you.” So, Jesus not only gave His life that we might be spared the punishment due for our misdeeds; He calls His 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 Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N. Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, January 27 Brussels Business & Cultural Centre at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday School for children 4 to 11 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 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service 7:30 pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Interim Minister: Pastor Gary Klumpenhower 519-523-9233 Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743 www.blythcrc.ca MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, JANUARY 27 Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available 519-887-9017 10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m. CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS MINISTER Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. All Welcome MUSIC DIRECTOR Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224 JANUARY 27 ~ Guest Speaker FEBRUARY 3 ~ No Leaders? No Wonder! ALWAYS A PLACE FOR YOU HURON CHAPEL Every Sunday at 10:30am www.huronchapel.org BRUSSELS Sandra Cable, Pastor Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com SUNDAY SERVICE 11:00 am Sunday School Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship United Church getlivingwater.org Living Water Christian Fellowship Evangelical Missionary Church 10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School Wingham Bible Study - Tuesdays 7:30 pm Youth Group - Tuesdays 7:30 pm (at CRC) Women At The Well - 1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God) Jan. 27: Psalm 19 “How can God Communicate with Me?” February 15, 8 pm at CRC: Faith-In-Song February 17: Special Guests - Teen Challenge Farm, London 250 Princess St., Brussels 519-887-6388 www.bmfchurch.com Pastor Jim Whitehead Guests Welcome Jesus Is Lord! Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Worship Service 10:00 am Sunday School 11:15 am From the Minister’s StudyHow can the church be so judgmental? Continued on page 16 Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848