The Citizen, 2010-10-07, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2010.
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
Oct. 10 Always Room for More
At The Table
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
119 John’s Ave.,Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School
10:30 a.m.
Morning Worship Service
Guest Speaker:
Pete Humphreys
Ladies Fall Renewal -
“Sunshine & Showers”
Saturday, October 16
from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
at Huron Chapel EMC, Auburn
Guest Speaker: Pauleen Kerkhof
Registration is $15 which
includes muffins & coffee at
registration and lunch.
Call church office for tickets.
From the Minister’s StudyProblems in church need to be recognizedBy Rev. Tom Murray Knox United, Belgrave“For many years now I have taken
to going to church less and less
because I find so little there of what
I hunger for. It is a sense of the
presence of God that I hunger for.” –
Frederick Buechner
“Houston, we have a problem.”
Who said these words, beside TomHanks? Right, they were said byCommander James A. Lovell while
floating in the Apollo 13 capsule
hundreds of miles from earth.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
Without enough propulsion or
oxygen to get home safely, the
spaceship crew and NASA experts
in Houston and countless numbersall over the world faced a greatchallenge. We all know the result.
They came through! And Lovell and
his fellow travelers arrived home,
safe and sound.
It took hundreds and thousands of
people working together to
accomplish this task.
Today, the Church can say
something similar as Lovell:
“Heaven, we have a problem.”
These may not be words that cross
our lips much, but I believe they
cross our minds often. We may not
want to hear them, but like Houston,
we have to if we’re going to
collectively face our problems. If we
don’t, we will never be able to
correct our path to be on the way
that is God’s way.
Pollsters of our day, tell us again
and again that a large number of
those who have no active faith are
indeed interested in Christ but not in
attending church. For example, our
United Church of Canada 2009
Annual Report tells us our Emerging
Spirit invited Canadians to visit our
website: www.wondercafe.ca and
through it identified three million
people whose interest lean toward
the United Church.
I don’t know that we’ve seen many
of them in our churches, but there
are at least two bumper stickers that
I saw this summer in the southern
states that relate the problem we face
in reaching out; and they face in
reaching in: “Jesus, Yes! Church,
No!” or this one, “I love Jesus; it’s
Christians I can’t stand.”
Obviously, people are interested
and want to hear the voice of God,
and in our case as Christians the
voice of Jesus, as it applies to our
Creator’s desire to shape the world
and our future. But the other thing
that is also clear, people are not
interested in the institution of church
as it is. We do have a problem. And
what I say applies across the board
for denominations and other faithcommunities in North America andaround the world. We need to
change, some things.
Taking to heart the relationships of
life as an example, Paul used Christ
as Groom and the Church as Christ’s
wife as a metaphor for the way we
relate to one another and to the
world (Ephesians 5). Unfortunately,
we have reduced the Gospel
message so that it is inseparable
from the institution of the church. As
Neil Cole describes it in his book,
Organic Church; “We tell people
that they must take the bitter pill of
‘church’ if they want to even hear
about Jesus,” and realize as he
continues, “most would rather die
than consume that medicine.”
What is our immediate task or
challenge? Simply this, to discern
what parts of the institution, its
policies (values), practices
(allowances), and processes
(freedoms) need to be adjusted,
eliminated, or redeveloped for the
church to regain a place in our
world.
Specifically, to rework these
elements of purpose and mission
that will allow us to regain the trust,support, and missionary passion thatGod desires us to use in seeking to
build a humanity that will fulfill
God's (his/her) hopes for creation.
Let us begin the process and do
our part. God, be in each of us as we
work together to meet the future that
is rushing towards us.
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, October 10
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
6:30 pm - DVD series on the Book of
Revelation by James MacDonald
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
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com
Sunday, October 10
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
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Small Group
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women’s Ministry
Fridays 7:00 pm - Youth Group
Christ-centred, Bible-believing,
Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared
Oct. 10: Deut. 26:1-11
Joy and Perspective
in Offering Firstfruits
Happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday, October 30:
FREE Community Breakfast at Memorial Hall
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come
and worship with us
Trinity, Blyth
9:15 a.m.
Church Office: 519-317-4883
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Sunday, October 10
Rev.Perry Chuipka
Please join us for worship
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00am
Evening Service 7:30pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Pastor John Kuperus
Hwy. 4, BlythHwy. 4, Blyth
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-2664
10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
Yummy!
Twenty-month-old
Ayden King had a full
plate that he was eager
to get to on Sunday at
the 156th anniversary of
Melville Presbyterian
Church. A dinner was
held the night of the
anniversary church
service to help celebrate
the milestone. (Vicky
Bremner photo)