HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-12-24, Page 37THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
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Sunday, December 29
MORNING PRAYER
Sunday, January 5
HOLY EUCHARIST - EPIPHANY
Trinity, Blyth
9:30 a.m.
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. 887-9273
Communion - 9:45 - 10:30
Family Bible Hour and Sunday School - 11:00 - 12:00
Prayer & Bible Study - Tuesday 8 p.m.
Ladies' Time Out - The last Thursday of each month
7:30 - 9:00 p m. - starting again February 27
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
Call Pastor Andrew Thursdays or Fridays at 887-6123
Cornerstone
Bible
Fellowship
Ethel
254 Drummond St. E., Blyth
Sunday Mass 9:00 a.m.
Christmas Eve Mass - 6:00 p.m.
New Year's Day Mass - 9:00 a.m.
May the peace of Christ be with you and yours at Christmas
and throughout the corning year.
Father Lance Magdziak, Pastor
519-527-0142
email: stjames@rreciondon.on.ca
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Joan Golden - Diaconal Student Minister
Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wcl.on.ca
December 29, 2002 and January 5, 2003
Ethel United Church
9:30 a.m.
Worship Service & Sunday School
Brussels United Church
11:00 a.m.
Worship Service & Sunday School
Epiphany Event, Saturday, January 4 at Ethel United Church
4:30 p.m. Epiphany Activities for children of all ages
6:00 p.m. A potluck supper followed by "A Journey with the Magi"
Evening of games to follow - please bring your favourites
Come to celebrate with us the birth of the Christ Child
and the Season of Epiphany
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Sunday, December 29
Morning Worship Service - 10 a.m.
Evening Worship Service - 7:30 p.m.
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face
to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.
- Luke 2:11
BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
zt\ Hwy. 4, Blyth 523-9233
Wheelchair accessible
St. Michael's
Roman Catholic Church
BLYTH UNITED CHURCH
Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street
Sunday, December 29
First Sunday after Christmas
Sunday, Jan. 5
Epiphany
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Minister: Rev. Dr. Eugen Bannerman
Office: 523-4224
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
11:00 a.m. - Morning Service
- Sunday School
9:30 a.m. - Belgrave Service
December 31st - New Year's Eve Communion Service at 10:00 p.m.
After the Service there will be a family time of Games and Goodies
Wheelchair accessible
Nursery care available
Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831
The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. 887-9273
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
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Christmas Eve
,Holy Eucharist Family Services
4:30 pm St. John's, Brussels - Young Family & Seniors' Service
7:00 pm Trinity, Blyth (corner of Dinsley St. & Gypsy Lane)
9:30 pm St. John's, Brussels (corner of Turnberry St. & Church St.)
HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL
MISSIONARY CHURCH
Auburn - 526-1131
PASTOR DAVE WOOD - 523-4941
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday 9:30 a.m. - Family Bible Hour
10:30 a.m. - Morning Worship Service
7:30 p.m. - Evening Worship
Wednesday 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.- Crusaders & Youth
7:15 p.m. - Adult Bible Study
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Christ-centred, Bible-believing,
Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared
December 24 - 7:30 p.m.
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CHRISTMAS EVE from your friends at LWCF!
10:30 a.m. - Worship & Sunday School
Pastor: Ernest Dow - 523-4848 L at Blyth Public School, corner of King & Mill
www.tcc.on.ca/-dowfam
THE CITIZEN, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2002. PAGE 37.
By Pastor Ernest Dow
Living Water Christian
Fellowship, Blyth
"Silent ,night... all is calm... sleep in
heavenly peace."
tile scene piesented by the well-
loved Christmas carol is idyllic,
tranquil, almost surreal. Perhaps
that's part of its appeal to our stressed
and busy souls, an island of calm in
the sea of frantic pre-Christmas
preparations. Yet neither the carol's
origins, nor the holy event it recalls,
were. in fact so wonderfully peaceful.
God's graee is often birthed in
brokenness.
Helen Rizk (Stories of the Christian
Hymns) informs us that Silent Night
was written on Christmas Eve in 1818
at Oberndorf, Austria by pastor
Joseph Mohr. The pastor asked
organist Franz Gruber to compose
some music in time for the Christmas
Eve service (no pressure!). It so
happened that before the hymn's first
performance, the organ broke down
— so the author and composer sang a
duet to guitar accompaniment. And
that might have been that.
But as it turns out, the organ's
breakdown was instrumental in
popularizing the carol. After repairs,
Gruber played the new hymn to test
the organ's tone. Fascinated, he took a
copy to his village of Zillerthal, where
it was well received. Four daughters
of a glove-maker used the song in
concerts from town to town while
their father sold gloves. Soon
everyone was singing Silent Night,
Holy Night.
A hurried last-minute
composition... failure of a church's
musical centrepiece.., the origins of
this beloved carol in history form a
contrasting backdrop to the song's
sublime serenity. Yet when we
consider the narrative of Jesus's birth
in the Bible, a similarly startling
contrast to the song's images
emerges. A miraculous conception by
an engaged but not yet married young
woman would have been socially
embarrassing and tricky to explain;
Joseph had in mind to break the
engagement quietly until a divine
messenger filled him in on God's plan
(Matthew 1:19).
Timing of a census required the
nine-months-pregnant woman and her
husband to travel nearly 120
kilometres over uneven terrain from
Nazareth to Bethlehem (e.g. Blyth to
the Blue Mountains - and Scripture
doesn't indicate it wasn't on foot; this
was not a wealthy couple)'. Nor could
Joseph phone ahead and guarantee a
reservation at the inn, so a cattle shed
had to suffice.
Missionaries in Jordan were
recently explaining the origins of
Christmas to their neighbours. One
little boy asked, "What hospital was
Jesus born in?" Truth is, our Saviour
was born in a barn, wrapped in rags
and put to bed in a feeding trough
(Luke 2:7). "Sleep in heavenly
peace" — not the phrase that comes
to mind when describing a night spent
in the barn with the animals!
Knowing the real background
brings Christmas more "down to
earth" for us. Truth is, this season
often accentuates the brokenness
rather than balminess of our situation.
The stress of fitting so many extra
events into our calendar. Frustrations
over trying to find a date that's
suitable to the rest of one's extended
family for getting together. Lack of
co-operation on the part of some.
Getting fed up with shopping and
malls and hard-to-find items on lists.
Financial strain — but feeling you
have to go ahead and buy it anyway.
And for some, this Christmas will
be unlike any other because certain
people will be absent from the
gathering, through death or other
separation. The bleakness of our,
relational brokenness can be
overwhelming.
Yet somehow in this brokenness,
when we have ears to hear it, God
gives a song. Gruber's broken organ
becomes the vehicle for launching
Mohr's poem into immortal history.
An annoying decree, the tedious,
aching journey of a pregnant young
woman, turn out to be part of a
marvelous collusion that fulfills
prophecies from centuries before and
points to this Child as David's kingly
descendant (Isaiah 9:6f). The babe
born in a barn who grows to
understand our deepest human trials
and temptations is thus qualified to
die
on a cross as the perfect Lamb, an
offering for our sins.
"It was necessary for Jesus to be in
every respect like us, his brothers and
sisters, so that he could be our
merciful and faithful High Priest
before God. He then could offer a
sacrifice that would take away the
sins of the people. Since He Himself
has gone through suffering and
temptation, He is able to help us when
we are being tempted." (Hebrews
2:17)
Having experienced our
brokenness, Jesus offers grace to
cope, to believe there is meaning and
hope behind this mess - to hear and
hum Eternity's song when this life's
tones seem cracked and off-key.
You are Welcome at the
BLYTH COMMUNITY CHURCH OF GOD
9:45 a.m. - Sunday School for all ages
11:00 a.m. - Morning Worship
(Junior Church during service)
7:30 p.m. - Evening Worship
Bible Studies - Wednesday morning 10 a.m.
Wednesday evening 7:30 p.m.
Phone 523-4590 308 Blyth Rd., Myth
From the Minister's Study
In our brokeness, a song