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The Citizen, 2001-08-22, Page 12Help for Today Hope for Tomorrow. AlzheimerSociety Cornerstone Bible Fellowship Ethel Communion - 9:45 - 10:30 Family Bible Hour and Sunday School - 11:00 - 12:00 Prayer & Bible Study - Tuesday 8 p.m. John 14:6 - Jesus said, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, no one comes to the Father, but through Me." Everyone Welcome For more information call 887-6665 THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA weiconwo. you to come and wo,ohip, with to, TRINITY, BLYTH ST. JOHN'S, BRUSSELS 9:30 A.M. 11:15 A.M. Deacon in charge, The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. Making a joyful noise Some of the 48 children enjoying Knox United Church, Belgrave's Bible School Tuesday really got into singing the morning song. Children from ages four to 12 are spending the weekday mornings participating in games and fun, both indoors and outdoors. The children break up into age groups to do the varied activities. Several volunteer teens are assisting adults with the program. (David Blaney photo) HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY CHURCH Auburn - 526-7555 PASTOR DAVE WOOD - 523-9017 Sunday 9:30 a.m. • Family Bible Hour 10:30 a.m. - Morning Worship Service, Speaker, Mr. Hank Huigenbos 7:30 p.m. - Evening Worship, Video: "Where Jesus Walked." Wednesday 7:30 p.m. - Family Night Friday 7:30 p.m. - Youth BLYTH UNITED CHURCH Corner of Dinsiey & Mill Street 11:00 a.m. Worship Service Worship at Blyth Community Church of God during August Office: 523-4224 11:00 a.m. 9:30 a.m. BRUSSELS - Morning Service - Sunday School - Belgrave Service Wheelchair accessible Nursery care available Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831 You are Welcome at the Blyth Community Church of God 9:45 a.m. - Sunday School for adults & children 11:00 a.m. - Morning Worship A special welcome to our guests, the Blyth United Church congregation, who will be worshipping with us for the month of August. 1: 308 Blyth Road, Blyth 523-4590 A gleatse lain ua (cu wusltip tibia Sandav Morning Worship Service - 10 a.m. Evening Worship Service 7:30 p.m. "1 will praise you, 0 Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples." — Psalm 108:3 BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Rev. Adrian A. Van Geest it\ Hwy. 4, Blyth 523-9233 Wheelchair accessible BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Joan Golden - Diaconal Student Minister Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wcl.on.ca Ethel United Church Brussels United Church We will be joining our neighbours in worship at Melville Presbyterian Church until September 9th. MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH For the month o August we welcome our friends from russels United Churc and Knox United Belgrave PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2001.. From the Minister's Study Pastor talks of thirst for living water By Pastor Ernest Dow Living Water Christian Fellowship Until this past week our area has been suffering from an extended dry spell. Throughout July and half of August, rainfall was negligible, lawns turned brown, municipalities issued watering restrictions; crops withered: Corn, for example, though fully grown in height, remains very sensi- tive to drought stress during its reproductive stage (tasselling, silk- ing, kernel development). The recent rains have provided welcome relief to all kinds of creatures. An extended drought reminds us moderns that, high-tech and sophisti- cated as our systems may be, our physical existence still depends on some very basic elements over which we have little control. We are not God; we cannot "manufacture" rainfall. Prophets, ancient and modern remind us that life on this planet is dependent upon a delicate balance of interrelated systems - material resources, climatic factors, forests and wildlife, human consumption and management -which we abuse at our peril. In Noah's day human wickedness had become great, every inclination of the thoughts of peo- ple's hearts "was only evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5) - and a watery cataclysm,resulted. Around 860 BC Elijah warned King Ahab of Israel that rain would be withheld the next few years in order to show the powerlessness of the regionally-worshipped fertility god to provide sustenance, and to prompt people to stop their immoral idolatrous worship practices. (1 Kings 17:1) A century or two later, the prophet Joel saw a locust plague intensified by drought as a call to people to turn to God and acknowledge their dependence on the Almighty: "Return to me with all your heart... rend your heart... Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing..." (Joel 2: 12-14) The Walkerton tragedy has shown how calamity can result from human negligence. Standards and proce- dures were in place, but were not fol- lowed. What should have been a town's supply of life-sustaining water became polluted and deadly instead. When we get sloppy in our behav- iour and refuse to have regard for higher authorities or policies that were given to protect people's well- being, somebody (or the planet) can end up getting hurt. Jesus Christ used water as an anal- ogy for the life-giving supply that God grants a person who seeks to be rightly related to Him. Only God can quench our thirst for significance, fulfillment, and meaning in life; chasing after other attractions leaves us parched, dry, and devoid of a lov- ing surplus to share with others. Jesus said, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:38) To a woman who had endured a series of disappointing, painful rela- tionships with men, Christ suggested if she'd asked He would have given her "living water"; whoever drinks the water Jesus gives will never thirst, but will experience "a spring of water welling up to eternal life". (John 4: 10,14) Our society is driven by "con- sumers" who may be hoping their disposal of material goods will pro- vide deep personal satisfaction, reas- surance of the soul through perpetu- al stimulation of the body by some mysterious alchemy promised by the wizard of advertising. Yet Jesus baldly states that those who believe in Him "will never be thirsty". (John 6:35) The leaders of the early church echoed this promise of fulfillment in Christ using liquid language, urging people to "wash your sins away, call- ing on His name"; they described Jesus' cleansing of his followers as "washing with water through the word", experiencing "the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit". (Acts 22:16) God's word, His message of salva- tion through turning to Jesus, empowers us to be cleansed, filled, empowered by Christ's Spirit to please God and find genuine satis- faction in living an obedient life informed by the Spirit's guidance in God's inspired book, the Bible. With the writing of this article, a word of explanation is in order. Readers of this column will note that although I was previously pastor at the United Church, I am now associ- ated with Living Water Christian Fellowship, a new congregation in Blyth. A year ago this month, the United Church General Coulncil passed some startling resolutions. It renounced the 1960 statement that homosexuality is a sin; affirmed that human sexual orientations (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, hetero- sexual orientations) are a gift from God; and affirmed lesbian and gay partnerships, resolving to actively work for their civil recognition and to recognize them in church documentation and services of bless- ing. Yet scripture consistently views the appropriate context for sexual activity as being marriage between a man and a woman. (Matthew /9: 4- 6) As even Walkerton has taught us, it is dangerous to take liberty with or disregard regulations that were given for our good; dismissing standards results in pollution and eventually damage, physical or spiritual. Attempts to persuade higher church courts to reconsider the above decisions were unsuccessful. A survey of the congregation showed a substantial portion was in favour of exploring other denominational affil- iation. Thus, not without much pain and searching of heart, came the decision of myself and some others to begin a new congregation, one we pray will be "Christ-centred, Bible- believing, Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared". Affiliation is being pursued with the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada. Sunday morning worship is scheduled to begin at the ,local school Sept. 16. We want to be loving towards all persons regardless of sexual practice, for we ourselves have sinned and are only accepted graciously by God who loves the whole world, but also is Judge in the long run. We want to emphasize that our departure is not at all a result of differences with mem- bers of our former local congrega- tion; we hope all churches in Blyth will continue their good working relationship. Our common goal is by Christ's Spirit to offer His "living water" to all who seek more than the dry, dusty parchedness that is the best end- result that substitutes can offer. And for that, we don't have to wait for the next rainfall!