HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-08-18, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011.
By Andrew Versteeg
Brussels Community Bible
Chapel
August 6 marked a very special
day for Tricia and me and our
family. Our baby boy was born
healthy and strong and ready to
begin life in his new world outside
of the womb.
As I gazed at our boy I could not
help but think of how just nine
months before, two cells met each
other and became one. From this our
baby grew to be fully developed and
ready for birth in just nine months.
He was born complete with toenails,
eye lashes, ears and yes even good
lungs and a healthy voice. He is a
very complete, complex little boy.
A few days before our baby was
born my wife and I were reading
Psalm 139. In this Psalm King David
is reflecting on God’s loving and
protective care for his life. How the
Lord knows him intimately and is
always near to help and protect him.
David knew that he had been in
God’s plans even before he was
conceived.
David’s conception did not happen
by chance or coincidence, and his
development in his mother’s womb
was all accomplished under the
watchful guiding hand of our
Creator. This is what David said:
“For you formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made;
wonderful are Your works, and my
soul knows it very well. My frame
was not hidden from You, when I
was made in secret, and skillfully
wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed
substance; and in Your book were all
written the days that were ordained
for me, when as yet there was not
one of them.”
What a comfort it was before our
baby was born to know that all that
was about to transpire, and indeed
all that had already transpired, had
been ordained by God.
Sadly, today God is left out of the
picture far too much in our thoughts
and deliberations about life. God is
our creator, and there is simply no
other reasonable, logical, or
scientific explanation for our being
here on Earth. Since He is our
Creator that also makes Him much
greater than us in every way: power,
wisdom, and authority. We belong to
Him, our children belong to Him,
and all of creation belongs to Him.
How important it is for us to listen
to Him for every aspect of our lives.
One of the most difficult things
that my wife and I had to encounter
during our pregnancy was the day
we went for one of our last
ultrasounds. As we sat waiting we
overheard a conversation in the room
next to us between a young woman
and a nurse. The woman was
inquiring about how or when she
could terminate her pregnancy. Of
course we don’t know any of the
details surrounding this situation and
we don’t sit in judgment of this
woman. We were just deeply
saddened. No good would come
from doing something like this, only
regret, a guilty conscience, and very
likely physical repercussions. This
very clearly goes against our Lord’s
teaching about taking life into our
own hands. Life is from the Lord and
begins at conception and we have
been given the responsibility by the
Lord to do everything we can to
preserve it until He chooses to take it
from us. A true understanding of life
begins by acknowledging God as the
creator and sustainer of life.
Life is beautiful, especially at
infancy and the younger years. That
is the way God created life to be;
beautiful, wonderful, and to be
enjoyed forever. He created us to
enjoy Him, to live with Him, and to
have fellowship with Him, but we
chose a different way, a way of our
own determination without God.
The result is misery and death. Life
that was given to be enjoyed forever
is now plagued by hardship and is
snuffed out relatively quickly by
death. God offers to us life as He
says in His word: “I call heaven and
earth to witness against you today,
that I have set before you life and
death, the blessing and the curse. So
choose life in order that you may
live, you and your descendants.”
(Deuteronomy 30:19).
We have all chosen death, but
Lord in His goodness and mercy to
us still offers to us life, eternal life. It
is through the Lord Jesus Christ. He
died that we might live and this is
good news. The life that He offers to
us is experienced now in joy and
peace with God, but it is fully
realized after the grave with the Lord
in eternity. Death is experienced now
as well, but it too is fully realized
after the grave separated from the
Lord for eternity.
The Lord offers to us now the gift
of life, eternal life. Believe Him,
receive Him and you will live. This
hope is for everyone.
“For God so loved the world, that
He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not
perish, but have eternal life.” (John
3:16).
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
August 21 ~ Summer Psalm Series:
So Much Left To Say
August 28 ~ Summer To Do List,
One Week Left
Please join us for worship
Summer Intern Pastor Kevin Boss
Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743
www.blythcrc.ca
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca
Sunday, August 21
Ethel United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 11:00 a.m.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
August
Visitation Month
Evangelical Missionary Church
Worship resumes
September 4
at Blyth Public
School
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, August 21
Brussels Legion at 10:30 a.m.
and at various locations at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age (mornings only)
Childcare provided for infants and toddlers
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
Chris McMichael 519.482.1644
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come and worship with us
Trinity, Blyth
9:15 a.m.
Church Office: 519-357-4883
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Sunday, August 21
Rev. Perry Chuipka
www.nabcom.ca/church
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
For the month of August we will be worshipping with
Brussels United Church while Rev. Garland is on holidays.
Service time 11:00 am
119 John’s Ave., Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School
10:30 a.m.
Worship Service
Guest Speaker:
Rev. Eugene Neudorf
From the Minister’s StudyPastor marvels at life with son’s birth
Spreading the word
Andrew Versteeg of the Brussels Community Bible Chapel
recently took over duties with the fellowship and he has
taken up residence in Ethel with his wife Tricia, who has,
since this picture was taken, given birth to the couple’s
brand new son, and the rest of his family. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
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