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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2006-02-23, Page 15Fehruur 26:2 Cor. 5:14ff `New Creatures & Commission" POTLUCK 11 Christ-ventrvd. Fdlow ship-Irient11:t. ;rim th-gcarcd fusing. -11,ater . crab Tel 10:30 a.m. Worship & Sunday School at Blyth Public School, corner of King & Mill 1„/TWWfare"M .xed.;k0ff, „4"xl,Ad Mondays 6:45 pm Junior Girls Mondays & Tuesdays 7:00 pm Small Group Fridays 7:00 pm Youth Group Pastor: Ernest Dow - 523-4848j geflivingwater.org t t t t t t t t t t t t 6ti Trinity, Blyth 9:30 a.m. St. John's, Brussels 11:15 a.m. THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA Wieecoota vac( to come ctect cooftoitift wit4 ud SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26 The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. 887-9273 _efk_ CC. sinunity Church Of VOI 4 004 cop, AND% ° I' "The Church is not a o . Building, 4-t It is People Touching People" Sunday 9:45 a.m. - Power Hour Circus (Ring of Relationships) 11:00 a.m. - Worship Service Mid-week Bible Studies Phone 440-8379 308 Blyth Rd. E. - Pastor Les Cook 523-4590 HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY CHURCH Auburn - 526-1131 PASTOR DAVE WOOD 9:30 a.m. - Family Bible Hour 10:30 a.m. - Morning Worship Service 7:30 p.m. - Evening Worship Service Tuesday 7:15 p.m. - Jr. & Sr. Youth Bible Study Wednesday 6:30 p.m. - Olympians 7:00 p.m. - Adult Bible Study BLYTH UNITED CHURCH Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street Sunday, February 26 Worship Service, Sunday School & Nursery 11:00 a.m. Transfirguration Sunday Minister: Rev. Robin McGauley 74etzeme Office: 523-4224 Sanctuary t Sunday What is the point of life? Is forgiveness possible? What happens when you die? What relevance does Jesus have for our lives today? The ALPHA course * an opportunity for anyone to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed, non-threatening manner * more than 2 million people worldwide have already found it to be a worthwhile experience * Alpha is for everyone, especially: those wanting to investigate Christianity, new Christians, newcomers to the church, those who want to brush up on the basics r YOU ARE INVITED to an ALPHA Celebration Dinner & Video Saturday, March 4, 2006 6:00 -8:30 p.m. at Blyth Public School Auditorium corner of King & Mill Streets, Blyth L Meal Is FREE but reserve your spot by calling 523-4711 or 523-4848 • Dinner Group teaching • Small-group discussion • Weekend retreat option' "An Opportunity to Explore the Meaning of Life" Reeue 7"oi./4 cat Oft coondeft Sunday, February 26 Morning Worship Service - 10 a.m. Evening Worship Service - 7:30 p.m. BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Pastor John Kuperus Hwy. 4, Blyth 523-9233 Wheelchair accessible Lt. MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Sunday, gelkuaty. 26 1 1 :00 a.m. - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School 9:30 a.m. - Sunday Belgrave Service Wheelchair accessible Nursery care available Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831 BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Sandra Cable, Worship Leader Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca Sunday, February 26 ti Ethel United Church 9:30 a.m. Brussels United Church 11:00 a.m. Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship Prussels Mennonite Fellows hi. invites you to worship with us this Sunday 9:30 a.m. Worship Service 10:45 a.m. Coffee Break 11:00 a.m. Sunday School (for all ages) Pastor Brent Kipfer 887-6388 We are a community of people learning to follow Jesus THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2006. PAGE 15. From the Minister's Study Pastor talks of snow days and God's grace By Pastor Brent Kipfer Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Snow days are pure grace — at least for our children.When they hear news that school is cancelled, the shouts of delight echo through the house. No need to cushion the blow. Of course, school is good. Our boys enjoy it - but a snow day breaks the routine. It opens up new possibilities. Breakfast can be a bit more leisurely. Toys get pulled off the shelves. There's time to put together an elaborate Lego construction. In the afternoon, we can head over to the church gym with an inflatable ball that's too massive for our living room. There's fresh snow to play in. Who could complain? It would be different if the snow kept coming. Then we would have to start home schooling. A snow day only has value if there is a routine to break, if there is a classroom waiting for another day, if there's work to put on the shelf. But when the timing is right, a snow day comes like a gift. You can't make these days happen. You can pray for a good storm — but you can't control the weather. Snow days come out of the blue — undeserved and unplanned: just like the grace of God. God has built this grace right into the fabric of creation. The first chapters of Genesis describe the pattern. On the first three days, God creates light and water and land. On the next three days, God brings order to the light and creatures to live in water and on land. There is poetry and symmetry to this effort: for six days, God creates, designs, works. On the sixth day, God makes humankind: male and female. God blesses them and gives them their own work to do. It is amazing to consider the responsibility that God places in our hands: to till the soil, to raise families, to teach, to care for the earth, to clothe the naked, visit those in prison, bind up the wounded and make disciples of Jesus Christ in all nations. This is work. And it is good. God gives purpose to our days - and work that is never done (at least it LA/17,m. Beat the temptation. Vzsmokers'HELPLINE TOLL-FREE seems that way). Some of us get consumed by this. It's so overwhelming - but only if we miss the seventh day. That is the day when God surprises us. The pattern changes: "So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day, having finished His task, God rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from His work of creation." (Genesis 2: 1 -3) God stops. Right into the foundation of this world, God inserts a pause. Like a farmer looking over a field, freshly ploughed and seeded ... like an artist standing back from the canvas, smiling with pleasure ... or a student handing in a major assignment, finished with care, God celebrates his work. The seventh day is set apart — different from the rest. God sets out a pattern: work ... rest ... work ... rest. The Lord builds grace into the order of our days (snow days without the snow!) and invites us to join him. It begins with a day of rest — a Sabbath. Every week, God invites us to rest with him and to celebrate. Some weeks, we might look back on our work — full of satisfaction — and say, "Ahhhh...wonderful." Other weeks, we shake our heads and say, "What in the world did I accomplish? I don't really deserve this break." One of my teachers ,pointed out that this kind of thinking misses the point. He said: "Imagine a father goes to wash the car, and he takes his five- year-old son along. Both work for a long while. Father cleans the car, while the little boy smears it up, so that the father has to work a bit harder to finish the job. Finally the car is clean, and the father says to his son, "'Look how the car shines! We have really worked hard, haven't we? Now let's go and have our snack. 11 God wants to celebrate with us. It's not about what we have accomplished. It's about working and resting with our Father. A Puritan Christian once said that. "A well-spent Sabbath we feel to be — a day of heaven upon earth." God has built grace right into the fabric of creation. He invites us to receive it with •delight - like a child greets a snow day.