HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1995-11-29, Page 20Table of treats
Lorraine Blake was just one of the many volunteers
tending the tables overflowing with Christmas, goodies
and gift ideas at the St. Ambrose craft and bake sale,
Nov. 25. Items on sale sold quickly and the loonie auction
had many participants.
Missionaries hear duet
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Cathrine Campbell
11:00 a.m. - Morning Service
- Sunday School
9:30 a.m. - Belgrave Service
We welcome you to come and worship with us.
887-9831 Wheelchair Accessible
BRUSSELS UNITED CHURCH
Rev. Cameron McMillan
Church Office 887-6259
11:00 a.m.
9:30 a.m. Ethel Morning Worship
Shepherd, shine upon us from on high and make our graces grow
Everyone Welcome
Manse 887-9313
Morning Worship
"Christian Charity'
Church School - Nursery
HURON CHAPEL MISSIONARY
CHURCH
PASTOR JAMES H. CARNE AUBURN 526-7515
Sunday 10 a.m. - Family Bible Hour
11 a.m. - Morning Service
8 p.m. - Evening Service
Wednesday 8 p.m. - Prayer & Bible Study
Friday 7:30 p.m. - Youth
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
%u are welcome this Sunday
December 3 - Advent 1
HOLY EUCHARIST
Rev. Nancy Beale
Trinity, Blyth St. John's, Brussels
9:30 a.m. 11:15 a.m.
You are WeCcome at
the
BLYTH CHURCH OF GOD
9:45 a.m. - Surtday School for Children and Adults
11 - 12:15 - Morning Worship
- Bible Studies - Wednesday 10 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Phone 523-4590 McConnell St., Blyth
It\
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
HIGHWAY 4, BLYTH--523-9233
Sunday 10:00 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Rim Adrian A. Van Geest
The Church of the "Back to God Hour and "Faith 20"
Back to God Hour 10:30 am. CKNX Sunday
Faith 20 5:30 a.m. Weekdays, Global T.V.
Visitors Welcome Wheelchair accessible
PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1995.
From the Minister's Study
e
`Prepare ye the way of the Lord'; says pastor
By Nancy Beate
St. John's Anglican, Brussels
Trinity Anglican, Blyth
Well, the day after Halloween it
all began in earnest. Stores began
their mad cash grab to be the store
in which we would buy all our
Christmas gifts.
It seems that every store you go
into these days is bright and filled
with Christmas decorations. Bing
Crosby crooning White Christmas
fills your ears. Apparently the
Christmas season has begun ... at
least for the secular world.
I would like to take this oppor-
tunity though, to get up on my soap
box. There are a number of things
that I would like to remind you of,
as you go about your preparations
It was the Twenty-Fifth Sunday
after Pentecost with Christ the King
being the theme at Blyth United
Church this past Sunday. Greeters
were Cliff and Bev Snell. Ushers
were Les and Evelyn Caldwell and
Bill and Julie Howson.
Rev. Ian Diamond opened with
Call to Worship, Announcements
and Words of Welcome. He had a
Virginia Stright and Elizabeth
Bowman blended their voices
together in singing, 0 Magnify the
Lord with Me at the Auburn
Missionary Church on Sunday,
Nov. 26.
Martin Baan gave a presentation
about the Gideons.
Pastor Came's message, "Dealing
with our Differences", had scripture
from Acts 15: 1-20. There were
two opposing delegations, Jews and
Gentiles, but they resolved the
problem, he said.
In dealing with differences
people must elevate to equality.
Human nature is to put down those
who don't sec eye to eye with us,
Pastor Came said, and in an
for "The Holiday Season".
1. This Sunday marks the
beginning of the season of Advent.
Advent is a season of preparation.
We prepare ourselves for the
coming of the Christ child — the
birth of Jesus. Over the next four
weeks, the Bible readings in
churches will generally focus on
preparing for the birth of Jesus, and
the hopes and expectations of the
people of Israel 2,000 years ago.
As you prepare for Christmas,
you may want to join with other
Christians, and hear the stories of
other faithful people who longed
for a Messiah to come.
2. Advent is also referred to as a
penitential season. While you make
all your other preparations for
Christmas, I hope that you will also
very special welcome to the friends
and family of the new baptismal
members. The hymn 0 Worship the
King followed.
The Sacrament of Baptism
followed. During the singing of the
baptism hymn See Israel's Gentle
Shepherd Stands. Lisa Whitfield lit
the baptism candles.
Lorna Fraser, Clerk of Session,
argument we say I want it my
way". We should make a point to
lift up.
God accepted the Gentiles and
whom God accepts you dare not
refuse, Pastor Came said.
"When we have a tendency to put
down others then we are treading
on dangerous ground. There is no
room for Christians to put others
down. Respect one another as
equals." "We must bury the biases.
Custom and tradition can become
doctrine. We must aim to
accommodate. Arguments come
because of wrong attitudes. If we
arc totah committed to Christ then
we can deal with our differences,"
he said.
take some time and prepare your
heart for the Coming of Jesus. This
means taking a bit of a look at your
life - thinking about the things that
you have done which you are not
proud of or perhaps the thing
that you maybe.shou]d have done
that you never 'got around to.'
Then, you might want to offer a
prayer to God - say you're sorry,
ask forgiveness. God's love is so
great that no matter what it is, it
you truly are sorry, God will
forgive you.
In the same way that you would
perhaps be intentional about
cleaning the house before inviting
people in, it's good to "houseclean"
your soul. Set things right with God
so that as you celebrate Christmas,
you can truly welcome and receive
presented the children Sadie Lisa
Marie Chalmers, daughter of
Darrell and Lynn, Kelsey Nicole
Kerr, daughter of Paul and Nicole,
and Kennan Barry MacDonald, son
of Scott and Kathy.
Following the ceremony the
Choral Kids, under the direction of
Susan Howson, sang Welcome to
the Family after which the children
and their teachers went to the
Sunday School rooms.
Lenora Davidson read the new
Testament Lesson from Colossians
1, 11-20. The Gospel Lesson was
from Luke, chapter 23, verses 33-
43. It was read by Rev. Diamond
on which he based his sermon
entitled, "Christ rules, O.K.!"
Rev. Diamond talked about a
young mother and her husband who
lost a baby two years ago in
Australia. The baby had seemed
healthy but the day after the birth
the doctor revealed a problem and
tests proved the baby was deficient
in one chromosome. It would not
take nourishment and died two
months later. He had the sad task of
conducting the funeral.
He_said, "We cannot deny the
pain and wreckage, the ruin and
rubble that afflicts many in this life,
in this world, in this community.
The pain is real and the questions
are large. Answers don't come
easily. We manage to go on even
after our defeats for we know who
sits on the throne."
Rev. Diamond said, that about
two months before he left Bowral
for Canada, the baby's mother came
to him with news. She was
expecting again.
He said a few weeks ago he had a
letter from a much loved
grandmother in his home parish
with tidbits of news. Include& in
the news was that this couple had a
beautiful, healthy baby girl. She
was to remind him about the
baptism in January when he went
home.
Rev. Diamond concluded this
inspirational sermon by saying,
"Sometimes our world falls apart
and crumbles. But there are
moments of ecstacy, of hope and of
despair, of those profound,
reminders that Christ is King!"
Following the sermon, Harvey
Snell read Minute for Missions
followed by a solo by Cheryl
Cronin, The Gift, accompanied by
Mrs. Boak at the piano.
Sunday, Dec. 10 at 11 a.m. there
will be a service of carols and
readings with a White Gift
segment. In the evening the Sunday
School Christmas concert will be
held.
Joan Chalmers is in the Clinton
Hospital following a fall.
God's Christmas gift - Jesus.
3. Christmas is a word derived
from two other words — Christ, and
Mass. Christmas is the time set
apart where we have our Mass to
celebrate the coming of Christ
Jesus into our world.
Not all denominations refer to
Eucharist or communion as 'The
Mass'. Nonetheless, as Christians,
this is our heritage. So, when you're
looking at your calendar over the
next few weeks, and making your
plans for the Christmas season, I do
hope that you will remember why it
is that we celebrate Christmas —
and plan on attending some kind of
worship service to help you recall
the real point of this celebration.
4. Finally, in your Christmas pre-
parations, I hope that each one of
you can remember the point of all
this. The point of all of this is love.
God sent us Jesus because God
loves us. In his lifetime, Jesus tried
over and over again to teach us
about loving.
As Christmas draws closer, and
the list of things that you 'need to
do' gets longer, try not to get
frazzled or frustrated. Love God,
love your neighbours, love your-
self. The point of Jesus' coming is
about love.
Snells greet at Blyth United