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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2010-11-04, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2010. PAGE 19. 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 Nov. 7th - Remembrance Sunday, “Letters From The Front Line” Nov. 14th - “Shining Lights in Our Community” Welcome to Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Sunday, November 7 9:30 a.m. - Together for Worship 10:45 a.m. - Coffee Break 11:00 a.m. - Sunday School for all ages Pastor Brent Kipfer 519-887-6388 brusselsmennonite@on.aibn.com Lord, Open my eyes and ears to do some work of peace. Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, November 7 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 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 Nov. 7: Jer. 18:1-11 “Potter, Potential, and Peril” 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: Rev. Gerry Wilson From the Minister’s StudyGod’s mercy is for saints and sinnersBy Perry Chuipka, Minister for Trinity Anglican Church in Blyth and St. John’s Anglican Church in Brussels A middle-aged woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near-death experience. During that experience she saw God and asked if that was it. God said no and explained that she has another 30 years to live. Upon her recovery she decided to just stay in the hospital and have a face lift, liposuction, breast augmentation and tummy tuck. She even has someone come in and change her hair colour. The woman figured since she had another 30 years to live she might as well make the most of it. She walked out of the hospital after the last operation and was killed by an ambulance speeding up to the hospital. A little later she arrived in front of God and complained. “I thought you said I had another 30 years,” she said. God replied, “But, I didn’t recognize you.” I am sure that we all have had days where we think that God doesn’t recognize us because he isn’t answering our prayers the way that we want him to. But that being said, how many times do we not recognize when someone should be given God’s mercy even when they have done a terrible thing. How many of you have been following the Col. Russell Williams court case and have heard of all the terrible things that he has done? At first I did what many of us did when I heard about all the this. I thought this is terrible and he should be put away for life. But as I reflected, I realized that I was reacting like we all do (especially, when the media makes things bigger than they should be) in hasty. It is so easy for us to pass judgement on him and think, “Oh my God I can’t believe all those things that he has done.” I, for one, am not condoning his behaviour, but what often gets lost in many of these horrible stories that we hear about is – Why did this person do this? My wife and I have often questioned why these serial killers do such terrible acts of crime. And then we saw a show on television that dealt specifically with serial killers. We learned that in many cases, these persons had grown up in a terrible home life. Often they had one or both parents that were alcoholics, drug addicts and often they were abused or neglected children. Through watching this show our question of why they did these crimes became more evident. For me, it all comes down to them being shown no mercy or love as children and teens. They had no idea about God’s mercy and love because no one around them showed them any caring whatsoever. So why should I be surprised when this person grows up and shows no mercy and has no conscience in terms of doing terrible things. It is no wonder they never showed any love or mercy to anybody else or had any compassion for another human being, they had none for themselves. They were the unloved that went out and did not love anybody else. For me, being unloved is probably our biggest crime-maker today. When we cannot show love or mercy to someone else, then our lives become more about judging others. In a reading from Joel, we hear about a people that were also stuck in judgement. They had just been hit by a devastating invasion of locusts that swarmed both the crops in the field and the people in their houses. They believed that God had sent this upon them. But the author of Joel tells them to concentrate on humbling themselves and looking for God's mercy. He says, return to your God for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relents from punishing. Sometimes the hardest thing for us to do after something terrible has happened is look for God’s redemptive power by humbling ourselves in looking for not our will but his will. So what should our reaction be when we hear about all the terrible details of the meaningless deaths of those two women and the other crimes towards those other women. To demand that Mr. Williams be locked up and throw away the key doesn’t do anything for anyone. The prison that he is locked up in costs you and me millions of dollars through taxes. The grieving families, although they may feel better, does not accomplish much more for their grieving lives. It relives the Old Testament lesson, “an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth “ which its literal interpretation doesn’t solve anything. Wouldn’t it be better if Mr. Williams had to do some community service with women where he could learn about God’s mercy and love first hand. I know some of you reading this may be outraged at this suggestion, but are we not looking for a way that starts to eliminate these terrible crimes? To me the answer is in the way that we rehabilitate these people. The crime, as I mentioned, is in how these people were unloved in the first place. We owe it to ourselves, our communities and those who are unloved to show them a better way. 9:45 a.m. Sunday School for all ages 10:30 a.m. - Sunday Morning Worship Mid-week Bible Study Blyth Community Church of God Featuring Live Music by singer songwriter Blair Miskie Saturday, November 6th from 7 to 9 pm Blyth East Side Dance ~ 273 Hamilton St., Blyth Call 519-523-4590 or e-mail jackiecook@ezlink.ca for more information • Admission Free • Donations to Operation Christmas Child ~ A project of Samaritan’s Purse Sponsored by Blyth Community Church of God & Blyth East Side Dance 308 Blyth Rd. E., Blyth ~ Pastor Les Cook ~ 519-523-4590 COFFEE HOUSE 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 BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Sandra Cable, Worship Leader Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com B russe l s Uni t e d 1 34t h A nni v e rsary S e rvi c e Sunday, November 7 11:00 a.m. No service at Ethel United. Guest speaker Dave Williams, special music by Laura Elligsen and Brussels United Church Choir. Lunch to follow service. Everyone welcome. Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship 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, November 7 Rev. Perry Chuipka MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7 Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available 519-887-2664 10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School Continued on page 22