The Citizen, 2010-06-03, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2010.From the Minister’s StudyScenery and Sinnery throughout the world
YOU ARE WELCOME
9:45 a.m. Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. - Sunday Morning Worship
Mid-week Bible Study
C H U R C H O F G O D ,ANDERS
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Timeless Truths
For Today
308 Blyth Rd. E., Blyth
Pastor Les Cook ~ 519-523-4590
Blyth Community Church of God
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, June 6
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m. and 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:
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Chris McMichael 519.482.1644
119 John’s Ave.,Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
Celebrating our 30th Anniversary
this Sunday
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School & Small Groups
10:30 a.m.
Morning Worship Service
Guest Speaker: Rev.Eugene Neudorf
Church Family Picnic following service
PLAN AHEAD FOR SUMMER
Huron Chapel is offering two
summer experiences
for your children.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
July 5th-9th
ATHLETES IN ACTION
SOCCER CAMP
August 16th - 20th
Contact Melodi at
melodi@huronchapel.org
for all the details
By Pastor Ernest DowLiving Water ChristianFellowship (EMC), Blyth
The warm sunny weather we’ve
enjoyed lately heralds the approach
of summer holidays. Every year,
millions of Canadians take
advantage of time off from work or
school to go camping and travelling
in this land blessed with great raw
natural beauty. The thundering roar
of Niagara Falls beckons tourists
who stand spellbound by the power
of countless tons of water spilling
headlong over a cliff. To the west,
the peaks of the Rockies take our
breath away as we see them seem to
scrape the sky. En route through the
Canadian Shield, motorists pause at
scenic lookouts to admire waterfalls
along gushing rivers, and
breathtaking views from the cliffs
hemming the north edge of Lake
Superior. But such wonderful
scenery in nature can also remind us
of features of immense spiritual
importance.
The prophet Micah lived in a time
not unlike ours – Israel was enjoying
a time of relative prosperity and
people indulged in pleasures that
were immoral and idolatrous
compared to the expectations set
forth in God’s law. Micah’s dramatic
imagery should have caught their
attention: “Look! The LORD is
coming from his dwelling place; he
comes down and treads the high
places of the earth. The mountains
melt beneath him and the valleys
split apart, like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.”
(Micah 1:3-4)
Can you picture what the prophet
is portraying here? The most awe-
inspiring mountain peaks would
melt like wax were God Almighty to
tread upon them; raw ore would
change to molten metal and plunge
downward into the valleys like a
waterfall or Niagara Falls. The
features of Earth, or our lives, that
we view as “fixed” and take for
granted, such as security and
prosperity, can suddenly disappear
once Sovereign God chooses to act
in His righteousness, power, and
holiness.
Micah explains the cause of such
momentous upheaval in the very
next verse: “All this is because of
Jacob’s transgression, because of the
sins of the house of Israel.” (Micah
1:5) Religious idolatry involving
Canaanite fertility gods and
associated gross sexual immoralityand social violence in which leadersroutinely tore a strip off people who
were less privileged (see 3:3), were
standard practices.
Do we understand the seriousness
of our sin today in our culture? Is
righteousness distorted and justice
despised in North America? (3:9)
Micah warns the people of the
consequences imminent for such sin
- a coming Assyrian invasion would
destroy the northern kingdom of
Israel in 722 BC. The prophet
cautions that the communities of the
area would experience weeping,
shame, mourning, deception and
defeat (1:10-15). Children would be
separated and alienated from their
parents in the approaching exile to
dispersed areas throughout the
Assyrian empire (1:16).
Today too we see the disastrous
after-effects of sin that ruptures
relationships: marriage break-ups,
workplace hostility, family feuds
brought on by harsh words, jealousy,
selfishness and chasing after the
‘gods’ of pleasure and pride. We
value the wrong things, idolizing
fleeting trophies of this life while
ignoring eternal truths and our
obligation to our Creator.
Children pick up on the attitudes
and selfishness exhibited by their
parents. Recently a local older
elementary student was telling me
about the problem supply teachers
have when assigned to their class:
behaviour is abysmal because
there’s no respect for the teacher’s
authority.
Our culture’s emphasis on ‘me’
and ‘my satisfaction’ breedsstubbornness and rebellion. The OldTestament closes on a note
anticipating a time of repentance
when the hearts of fathers would be
turned to their children, and vice
versa, proper roles of authority and
affection being recognized (Malachi
4:6).
The apostles in the New Testament
also warned against the damaging
consequences of sin, but they were
able to point out the means by which
our huge sin problem can be dealt
with - the sacrifice and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. They affirmed that
this sinless One appeared “so that
He might take away our sins.”
(1John 3:5) Paul observed that those
who used to offer their bodies in
slavery to impurity and to ever-
increasing wickedness are now able
to offer them in slavery to
righteousness leading to holiness
(Romans 6:19). He challenges us to
do a ‘cost-benefit analysis’about our
sinning: “What benefit did you reap
at that time from the things you are
now ashamed of? Those things result
in death! But now that you have been
set free from sin and have become
slaves to God, the benefit you reap
leads to holiness, and the result is
eternal life.” (Rom 6:21-22)
Check out those benefits. Who in
their right mind wouldn’t prefer
unending life in communion with
God over an eternity cursed with
shame, guilt, and gloom?
In many areas of life, we reap
what we sow. There is a piper to be
paid. The God of Malachi whose
very tread would cause mountain-
tops to melt won’t be mocked, butholds each of us accountable. Yet Healso offers us something far better
than what we deserve. “For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” (Rom 6:23)
We were camping as a family in
the mountains of New Mexico in
1993 when our 11-year-old son, who
suffered from asthma, wandered
away from our campsite. If you’ve
ever been at such altitudes, you
know you can’t move very fast
without encountering some
difficulty breathing - even more so if
that’s complicated by other
pulmonary problems. Some anxious
minutes ensued while we searched
high and low for our missing boy.
We wanted to run in the search, but
were forced to walk. Thankfully
eventually he was discovered, very
relieved himself at being back with
Mom and Dad again. How glad
we as parents were to have found
him!
The gap between us sinful humans
and a holy God is indeed great:
Micah’s picture of melting
mountains barely begins to
communicate how awesome the
Lord is. Our wandering has
dangerously alienated us from Him
and each other. But the Father in
Heaven has loved us so much He
gave His Son – enduring the pain ofseparation while we crucified Himand buried Him – so that by our
trusting in the Resurrected One, we
too might be reconciled despite our
tremendous shortfalls. That thrills
me more than any beautiful natural
panorama ever could!
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Bible Study
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women at the Well
Fridays 7:30 pm - Youth Group
Christ-centred, Bible-believing,
Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared
June 6: Acts 14:8-20
“Good News for
non-Jews:
Kindness and
Clues”
This Sat., June 5, 9 a.m.: ABC Women’s
Spring Breakfast at Heartland EMC, Clinton
Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street
Blyth United Church
Office: 519-523-4224 Rev. Gary Clark
All Welcome
Sunday, June 6
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
Please join us for worship
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00am
Evening Service 7:30pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Pastor John Kuperus
Hwy. 4, Blyth
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, JUNE 6
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-2664
10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca
133rd Anniversary
at the Ethel United Church
Sunday, June 6 at 11:00 a.m.
Guest minister is Kathy Douglas
Special music by Karli Purcell and the Brussels United Church Choir.
Lunch to follow, please join us.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
There will be no service at Brussels United Church this Sunday.
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come
and worship with us
Trinity, Blyth
9:15 a.m.
519-523-9595
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Sunday, June 6
Did you know…
1.4 million Canadian men and women suffer from
osteoporosis. A further two million Canadians are at risk of
developing the disease in their lifetime.
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