The Citizen, 2017-09-21, Page 29THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017. PAGE 29.
From the Minister's Study
Findingthe artin a plowing match: van Leeuwen
By Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Blyth Christian Reformed
Church
I learned to plow from my father
when I was in grade school. My
father farmed by himself, so he
didn't have a hired man to help him
with the fall work. To get the
plowing done, my father put my
brothers and me on the tractor. He
told us to keep things as straight as
possible, but he didn't get upset if
we didn't. And we didn't. But the job
got done, and the land was laid to
rest for the winter.
I had attended the International
Plowing Match (IPM) when I was
young, but I had never actually seen
the plowing. I vaguely knew
someone was plowing somewhere,
but I never bothered to search out
the competition. It wasn't until about
15 years ago, when I attended a
regional plowing match in eastern
Ontario that I realized what an art
form plowing can be. The
meticulous set-up of the plow and
the hours of practice create
beautiful, even rows of turned sod. I
must confess that what I called
plowing really should not be in the
same category as what happens at a
plowing match.
One might wonder why anyone
would spend so much time
perfecting a craft that is going to
disappear under the snow in a few
weeks and then be cultivated apart in
the spring. Why bother? I suspect
that the men and women who spend
all those hours perfecting their craft
do so because they like to create
something beautiful. The furrows
they create are their workmanship,
their handiwork.
In Ephesians 2:10 we read that we
L 'Water
Cfiristiam rellaatp
Sept. 24: Jn. 13:12-17, 34f
40 Days of Love, #2:
419L-ovuE315 "LovingLoveslikeMe"Jesus
"Sunday Morning Fellowship Hour"
11:45 a.m. (for September)
at home of Herb & Bonnie Shannon
East end of Hamilton Street. Blyth
Oct. 1: 16th Anniversary! Noon Potluck, 1 pm Helen Keenliside
Volunteer Ambassador • Canadian Foodgrains Bank
Evangelical Missionary Church
Mondays 7:30 pm • Blyth Small Group at H&D Snell's
Tuesdays 7:30 pm • Wingham Small Group, 136 Patrick St. W.
Wednesdays 6:30 pm • Youth Group at Huron Chapel, Auburn
Pastor: Ernest Dow - 519-523-4848
getlivingwater.org
are God's workmanship, his
handiwork. It has occurred to me
(and many others) that when we
think about God, we must wonder
why in the world he would bother.
God, as we understand him, is
completely self-sufficient, fully
content and utterly able to exist
without ever having had to make the
world. He didn't need to make us.
Rather, he chose to make us along
with the rest of the world.
His motivation is the same as that
of those craftsmen and women who
love to compete at the plowing
match: God made us because he
wanted to make us. He made us for
the sheer pleasure of creating a
complex creation. And, very
importantly, when God made this
world, he designed it in such a way
that although he doesn't need us, we
need him.
Many people aren't aware of that.
It doesn't take long for us to discover
that for the majority of Canadians,
God is not all that important. Yes,
many might profess that they believe
in the existence of a god of some
sort, but they don't put much effort
into discovering who God might be.
In fact, for many people the whole
idea of the existence of God is
somewhat bothersome and
restrictive. They perceive that God is
merely out to make their lives less
free. They don't think they need
God.
But that is not what God is all
about. Knowing God and being in
relationship with him enables us to
live life to the fullest. True, God's
You're S/iwiteCl •L join CLS : n Co silt) 1 1
No Evening Service
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
tli
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
ANGLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS
BLYTH
,Trinity
(JS. 9:15 am
Church Office
519-357-4883
BRUSSELS
St. John's
11:15 am
Church Office
519-887-6862
Everyone Welcome!
COME WORSHIP WITH US!
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
We invite you to join our church family in:
Worship & Sunday School - 11 am
Coffee & Snacks following the service
Come out and meet our new minister, Rev. Charmila Ireland
No Soup and More on Friday, September 22
Will resume on Friday, September 29. Looking forward to
seeing you as we begin our 8th year of service.
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
SAME HURON CHAPEL SERVICE
TWO TI
ES
9onio'k//oiii
Beginning October 15th
Until then 10:30am - Every Sunday in Auburn
huronchapel.com
Word, the Bible, does ask us to live
such that we love both God and our
neighbours, and that does eliminate
certain kinds of activities from our
lives, but we must understand
that this is for the best. God wants
us to be what he intended us to be.
He wants his craftsmanship to
shine through. He wants us to be
those straight, even furrows that
we see at the plowing match
instead of crooked and uneven
BRUSSELS
ones that you would have seen after
I had finished an afternoon of
plowing.
To be the kind of person God
intended us to be means that first we
need to be in good relationship with
him. That is only possible in Jesus
Christ. Without faith in Jesus Christ,
without accepting the sacrifice he
made on our behalf as a way to atone
for sins, we cannot have the broken
Continued on page 31
United Church
Welcome to Sunday morning worship
& Sunday School
at 11:00 am
Hillary MacDonald (905) 246-7386
Macdonald.hillary@gmail.com
Everyone welcome
61444€14, eamotIlactv Sae eitaftet
Krou're Invited
to come worsh p
with. us
ra
Sunday, September 24
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
650 Alexander St. (former Blyth Public School)
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Blyth United Church
Est. 1875
Worship Service
at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday, September 24
Come celebrate our recent
renovations in making us
more accessible to you.
Worship held in our
newly renovated sanctuary.
Hillary MacDonald
All are welcome
OFFICE: 519-523-4224
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph's
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.