The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2005-12-08, Page 19From the Minister’s Study THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2005. PAGE 19. Poor=rich in God’s economy, says pastor By Pastor Dave Wood Huron Chapel E.M.C. Someone has written, “If lasting happiness could be found in having materia] things and in being able to indulge ourselves in whatever we wanted, then most of us in America should be delirious with joy and happy beyond description. We should be producing books and poems that describe our state of unparalleled bliss. Our literature and art should rival that of the Ancient Greeks and Romans and Renaissance craftsmen. Instead we find those who have ‘things’ trying to get more of them, with no apparent reason other than to have more. We find high rates of divorce, suicide, depression, child abuse, and other personal and social problems beyond description. All this is surely proof that happiness is not found in the state of having all we want and being able to get more.” This past weekend, my wife and I had the inexplicable joy of being part of the ever growing and harmonic consumer crowd. In layman terms, we went shopping. And friends, I’ve got to tell you; it was wonderful. To see all that variety, to be lulled into a sense of perverse materialistic desire and unmitigated greed, to find one’s self wanting and wanting and being tempted to use that old card magic. Potluck Truly, it was not wonderful, it was disheartening and depressing, not because everything we wanted was beyond what we were willing to pay, but because mere things were replacing that which is really of value. No, I am not a Scrooge or a Grinch. I love Christmas and everything that it used to stand for and giving of gifts and cookies and candies etc., are all fine within reason. But what freaks me out, is that the spirit of materialism is real and that day in the mall and the shops we visited I saw it and was pulled in by it and could have easily bought into it, (literally). In many ways this nation is plagued by its wealth. Forget about poverty and disease that our friends across the globe endure, our poverty and disease is just as debilitating for it causes us to be egocentric and blinds many to the spiritual poverty that is decorated with bows and ribbons. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to a searching people, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed means blissful, fortunate, or happy, so happy are the poor in spirit, blissful are the poor in spirit. Hmmm? Poor equals happy! I don’t think so. This does not sound too attractive and 1 betcha some of His listeners were scratching their heads too. Our society chants an altogether different mantra . . . excel, exceed and enjoy. But poverty of spirit, poverty of any kind for that matter, doesn’t sound too appealing to me. Come on, doesn’t it sound like a bad thing, let alone a thing that is going to make you happy? (imagine the freedom!) Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and yet many in our society would argue that poverty of spirit leads to despair, not happiness. They would say, “Happy are the successful, the powerful, the rich, the famous, the aggressive, the self- reliant, the self-confident, the glamorous.” To be poor in spirit means that we see our total spiritual poverty before God and our utter dependence upon Him. Poverty of spirit must be our attitude toward oursehes.You see, before God, in and of ourselves we are found to be morally bankrupt and apart from Christ we are spiritually destitute. To be poor in spirit is to recognize that without Christ we can do nothing. It is to recognize that without* Christ we are nothing. It is to come before God with empty hands, humble in heart, seeking only to receive from Him. This kind of person is described in Isaiah 66:2: ‘To this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” Jesus came to a people who were spiritually bankrupt and He revealed to them their poverty and the next step would be up to them. At Christmas we celebrate the greatest gift ever given to mankind but this gift is being more and more shadowed by the gleam and the glitter. / It becomes the Gift that remains unopened for many fail to recognize that although they think they are rich and have need for nothing, Christ is still the reason for the season and blessed are the poor in spirit for to them is given the greatest gift, the kingdom of heaven. Open the present this year. Merry Christmas to all. THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA ‘Wetcwied (face ta came cud caandAcfe cca SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 Trinity, Blyth 9:30 a.m. St. John's, Brussels ll:l5a.m. begins UCW meeting The Christmas meeting of the Blyth United Church Women was held on Thursday, Dec. 1 in the church auditorium. A potluck supper was enjoyed at 6:30 p.m. The property committee is starting on the wheelchair accessible washroom. The United Church Women is making a donation. Rev. Robin McGauley is preaching at the ecumenical service at the Memorial Hall on the evening of Dec. 18. ON $4.00 THURSDAYS Drop into either of our offices any Thursday with your word classified (maximum 20 words) and pay only $4.00 + GST (paid in advance). That’s $1.00 off regular rates. The Citizen £iwigy lVat£r\ Cfimtion Tdlwwfup I)ec. 11: John 1:6-28 The Baptizer's Witness to VJ Mystery EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY ( III lit II 10:30 a.m. Blyth Public School FREE PUBLIC SKATING Fri., Dec. 9 (PD Day) 3-4 pm at Blyth Arena Cookies too! The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. 887-9273 S' HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY CHURCH S1NGASON5OF Auburn-526-1131 PASTOR DAVE WOOD Sunday 9:30 a.m.Family Bible Hour ii Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 523-4848 http://getlivingwater.org . Tuesday Wednesday 10:30 a.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:15 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Morning Worship Service Evening Worship Service Jr. & Sr. Youth Bible Study Olympians Adult Bible Study BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Sandra Cable, Worship Leader Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca Sunday, December 11 Ethel United Church 9:30 a.m. Brussels United Church 11:00 a.m. Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship Blyth United Church Comer of Dinsley & Mill Street Sunday, December 11 Worship Service, Sunday School & Nursery 11:00 a.m. Minister: Rev. Robin McGauley Office: 523-4224 The Church sanctuary will be open every Wednesday during Advent (Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14, 21) from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm for Prayer and Meditation. The Minister will be available for anyone who would like spiritual guidance for this time. Come into the quiet of God and away from the busyness of this season. Sanctuary Please foot fat (wia/lc/l Sunday, December 11 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 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS 11 :OO am 9:30 am - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School - Sunday Belgrave Service Wheelchair accessible Nursery care a/ailable Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831 Church "The Church is not a Building, 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 God so loved the world that He gavejlis only Son. John 3:i6 9:15 am Praising God 9:30 am Worship Service 10:45 am Coffee Break 11:00 am Sunday School Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Pastor Brent Kipfer 887-6388 SI